Nibbles for your New Year's Eve Party!

As 2010 quickly approaches, I want to wish everyone of you a Very Healthy and Happy New Year!

A good friend of mine says "health is wealth" and that is so true and most important, but I can't help wishing for just a little prosperity to go along with it!

Just a few ideas in case you want to add some other things to your New Year's Eve table. I know its cold, but pull out your grill pan and grill up some eggplant slices, all your grilling can be done the night before. There's still time!

Layer each slice with some roasted red pepper, a mixture of feta and herbed cream cheese, you can even use goat cheese if you like, top each slice with spinach or arugula, and then just roll them up and stick a skewer in each one.


A little drizzle of olive oil over the top, and you have a delicious combination!

Keep your grill pan out and make some Spiedini Di Mozzarella. Take 3 slices of a good quality country loaf or sourdough bread, brush each slice with olive oil, stack them on top of each other and place a slice of fresh mozzarella between each layer. Now cut the stack into quarters, and into each quarter stick one rosemary sprig. Grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese melts. Serve with your favorite pesto for dipping.

You can't go wrong with Portobella Pizzas either! After cleaning and scraping out the gills of each mushroom, place them for 5 minutes on each side under your broiler until they become tender. Then fill them with whatever you like, I used Italian sausage that was already browned, and tomatoes. Top them with some fresh mozzarella and place back under the broiler a couple of minutes until the cheese turns golden brown. Vegetarian options are just as delicious, you can even quarter them and also serve with skewers.

Have a safe holiday and see you all next year!

I'll Be Detoxing Until 2010!

I thought I'd leave you with a little visual of why I'll be eating nothing but salads all week.
My refrigerator is stocked with all kinds of veggies and various forms of greens.

And these are some of the reasons why!

And it was all repeated the next day with the leftovers!

I won't even mention the desserts and cookies!

See you all soon.

Ravioli with Artichokes, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Peas in a Champagne Cream Sauce

Making homemade ravioli each holiday season has always been a tradition in my family. I remember when my kids were young, mixing and rolling the dough by hand, and one by one placing hundreds of meat and cheese filled ravioli on a special white floured sheet that I laid across my bed. I can't say they looked real uniform, as some were square and some came out rectangled, but they all were a labor of love.

Fast forward to now, and we have the convenience of food processors to help mix up the dough in seconds and ravioli forms to make them look picture perfect, and now I would never think of rolling the dough by hand without a pasta machine!

We still keep our family tradition going, but now we have a lot more hands to help in the process, and it becomes a day we all look forward to, usually we try to get them done before Thanksgiving. I wrote a previous post on our ravioli extravaganza last year here.
Here's a couple of photos from this year. I love how the pasta machine gets the dough nice and thin.
My oldest Granddaughter is now part of the tradition, and before we know it our new little one will be joining in on the fun.

We even tried making whole wheat dough for the first time, it's a little tougher to work with and a little harder to crank through the machine, but they tasted great!Back to the recipe. Normally we eat our ravioli with a basil and garlic flavored marinara sauce, but for a elegant way of serving them you have to try my roasted garlic champagne cream sauce. It's not something you have everyday, but for a special occasion it's the perfect dish, and besides you'll have plenty of leftover champagne to sip while your eating. Don't worry, you certainly don't have to make your own homemade ravioli for this, you can use any good store bought kind that you like.



The sauce is simply made by sauteing 1/2 of an onion with 4 cloves of roasted garlic in some olive oil. Pop open your champagne and add in 1 1/2 cups. Cook until it reduces down then whisk in 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. Simmer until it all thickens together.



While the ravioli are cooking, in a large saute pan add some frozen artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and peas with a little olive oil. Add in your champagne sauce then add in the cooked raviolis, season with black pepper. Garnish with parsley and grated parmesan. The flavors are wonderful together.


On a side note!

I've been busy making pasta. The other day I decided I was going to make a bunch and give it out to a few of my friends for gifts.

I did this late at night.

Alone in my kitchen.

It was fun!

Happy Holidays to all my dear readers and friends out there! I know you'll all be doing some good eating!

Savoy Cabbage, Sauteed and Stuffed

This side dish of savoy cabbage is one I've been making for as long as I can remember, it's my absolute favorite way to eat cabbage. Simple, rustic, quick and easy, but the taste is phenomenal!

You start off toasting up some bread crumbs in olive oil in a small skillet, then you add in a generous amount of grated Grana Padana Parmigiano cheese, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, then set this all aside.

Meanwhile, take a larger skillet, drizzle in some olive oil, toss in minced garlic and sliced sweet onions, add in your partially precooked and sliced up savoy cabbage, keep tossing until tender and soft, then sprinkle in your toasted breadcrumb mixture, drizzle with more olive oil, and add more parsley. That's it! This goes especially well with an herb roasted pork loin.
I love the mild sweet flavor of savoy cabbage, and just look at those vitamin enriched crinkled leaves. Did you know it's considered one of the best for eating?

Not only good as a side dish, but equally delicious as a main course. I like to stuff mine Italian style and top it off with a spicy arrabiata sauce.

To remove the leaves, take the whole head, cut off the stem, turn it upside down in a pot of boiling water, cover it and cook for 10 minutes. Take the whole head out and let the steam continue cooking it until it cools down so you can touch it, then start to peel off the leaves, cutting the hard core off each one.

I decided to go healthy here and used cooked brown rice along with ground turkey that I had browned beforehand, adding in of course garlic and onion.

Fresh parsley was then added to the turkey rice mixture, along with fresh snipped basil, salt, pepper and grated Grana Padana cheese. I also spooned in in some of my arrabiata sauce to make the mixture a little juicy. Place a good size scoop on your presteamed leaves that have been cored, and place a couple cubes of fontinella cheese on top, provolone would work also. Of course you can use ground beef, white rice, or any red sauce that you like in place of what I used for this recipe.

Place your rolls in a greased casserole dish with sauce spread on bottom, place more sauce on top of your rolls, along with grated cheese and a drizzle more of olive oil. Bake covered with tin foil in a 375 degree oven until heated through.


All the flavors really come through in this dish, the sweetness of the cabbage, the distinct taste of each cheese, the fresh herbs, onions, garlic, and that mildly spicy sauce to top it all off. I think you're going to love it!

Buon Appetito!

Rice Krispie Biscotti

I've been on a biscotti making kick lately, as you can tell. For some reason it's the only thing I want to bake this year! I love that there's so many varieties and flavor combinations you can do with biscotti.

I saw these cute little Rice Krispie biscotti on the blog, Dinners for a Year and Beyond while wandering through the blogosphere one day, I instantly knew I was going to make these for my granddaughter. This is a great holiday treat to make for kids, but then again, I know a few adults that wouldn't pass these up either!

So easy to make and form, just dip them into your favorite chocolate, add sprinkles, nuts, mini chocolate chips or whatever else you like. Just think how creative you could be! Bag them up, tie some pretty ribbons on, and hand them out to your favorite kid. I ended up giving all these to my granddaughter, some for her, and some for her to pass out to her posse of friends.

HERE'S THE RECIPE:

Makes 20

40 Large Marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies

3 Tb. Butter

Chocolate For Melting

Sprinkles, Nuts, or Mini Chocolate chips

In a heavy pan, melt butter, add marshmallows, stir until they melt. Take pan off the heat and stir in your Rice Krispies, make sure they're all coated. When it cools down a little and you can handle them, form 1/3 cup each into the shape of a biscotti. Cool on parchment paper. Repeat til finished.

Melt your favorite chocolate, dip, and add your sprinkles. Place back on parchment until chocolate has hardened and it's safe to store them without smudging.

I've always had a weak spot for the gingerbread biscotti over at Starbucks, I always look forward to them each holiday season. Crunchy, spicy gingerbread dipped in white chocolate and studded with macadamia nuts. I attempted to make my own this year, not too bad for the first time, the gingerbread flavor was really good, but I didn't have macadamia nuts so I used pecans. Mistake! Not the same, and I sort of skimped on the white chocolate because I didn't have quite enough. But all in all they turned out great, I wrapped them up and gave them away to some happy people. Just a little more tweaking and I'm ready for batch #2 !!

Happy Baking!

Fig and Pistachio Biscotti

It's that time of year again, are you ready to bake some biscotti? With just one basic recipe you can make so many variations? Spend a marathon day of baking and you can acquire hundreds! Give them out as gifts to your friends, family and co-workers and they will love you for it!

This is my new favorite combination, fig and pistachio with a hint of orange and anise. I already made a huge batch, quadrupled the recipe and gave some out to friends and some of my fig loving family members. I'm ready to make more and so will you once you try these!

You'll love the way your kitchen smells when these are baking. The aroma lingered for days!

Of course you'll have to taste test them to make sure they came out alright, so put on a pot of espresso!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 t. of anise seeds

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. of anise extract

1 t. grated orange zest

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

4 oz. dried figs, cut into 1/4 inch dice with stems removed

**Heat oven to 350 degrees.

**With your mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until smooth, about 2 minutes.

**Add eggs, extracts, and zest, and beat until creamy and light.

**Combine remaining ingredients together, then add to the butter mixture.

**Mix everything on low speed until incorporated then remove dough and divide into quarters.

**Form into 9×1 inch logs, place on ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart, and bake until lightly browned (25 to 30 minutes).

**Remove from oven, and cool slightly. Using a serrated knife, cut logs on the diagonal into 1/2″ thick slices.

**Arrange biscotti on their sides on a baking sheet. Return to oven, and bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Turn biscotti over, and bake for another 15 minutes more. Cool on racks.

Makes around 36

ENJOY!

Post Turkey Day Reflections 2009

I hope all of your tummy's have recovered by now and you're getting ready for a turkey cranberry cream cheese sandwich from all your leftovers, I know I am. I thought I'd share some highlights from our dinner yesterday.

This gorgeous appetizer came from my daughter via Whole Foods. What a way to start the party!

I decided to try and brine our turkey this year, dry brining appealed to me. I saw Martha do it on her show. 2/3 cup of kosher salt with a few crumbled bay leaves. Rub your turkey down from top to bottom and inside, place in an airtight bag 2 days prior to cooking. Rinse well before cooking.

The result was a super moist tender turkey, we all loved it. Dry brining is my new favorite thing!!

Outside we grilled an additional bone in turkey breast that was rubbed all over with a paste of olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs. Great for that sandwich I'm about to make!

Ooops, I forgot my cranberries and rolls for the photo! I also made stuffing balls with different ingredient variations, great way to serve stuffing, nice portions, and they get crispy all over.

Giada's lemon ricotta cookies.

This was brought over by a good friend of the family, a homemade Derby Pie, I woke up thinking about how good this pie tasted. Premium chocolate laced in a carmel pecan filling.

Truely decadent, and worth every bite!

In the midst of such a terrible recession with many people falling on hard times, it's the simple things we're all thankful for, family, friends, our health, and of course.... food!

Buon Appetito!