I love chicken fingers and always feel jealous that kids get to enjoy these delights on most restaurant menus. The idea of getting to eat with your hands and dunk crispy, fried, boneless chicken into yummy sauce, makes me smile! Tonight, I felt like making my half fried, half baked chicken fingers with spicy mustard sauce and barbecue sauce. Here is my recipe for Somewhat Healthy Chicken Fingers....
Serves 2
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper
3 cups vegetable oil to shallow fry the chicken
In a bowl, place the chicken and pour the buttermilk over it. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and set in the fridge for 30 minutes. In a plastic ziploc bag, place the flour, allspice and cayenne, then shake. Strain the chicken and then add to the flour. Give the chicken a good shake, ensuring all the chicken is coated. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the vegetable oil, test the oil by throwing a pinch of flour in it, if it sizzles the oil is ready, if it sinks let the oil heat up some more. When oil is ready, lay the chicken fingers in the oil. Cook, until golden on both sides, they will have to be flipped, as you are just shallow frying these. Then place on wire rack and that has been placed on top of a sheetpan. When all the chicken is browned, place the pan in the oven and finish baking. The chicken should take another 15-20 minutes in the oven. While the chicken is cooking, whip up your favorite dipping sauce. Here's what we had tonight....2 tablespoons whole grain mustard, 1 tablespoon hot pepper jelly, 1 tablespoon honey, pinch of salt and pepper. When the chicken is cooked, sprinkle with some kosher salt and start dunking. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monesta
Last week mom made a classic dish, Monesta or savoy cabbage and pork. I have seen many variations of this recipe. Some recipes use escarole instead of cabbage and some add white beans as well, which I think would be delicious, but I wanted to share my mom's recipe for Monesta.
Serves 4
2 heads Savoy cabbage, cut into quarters and blanched in salted water
2 lbs pork pieces, boneless or with the bone
2 pepperoni links, cut into 2 inch rounds
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch red pepper flake
salt and pepper
When the Savoy cabbage is blanched, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid, then strain and set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, go once around the pan with olive oil and preheat it. Sear the pork pieces and then the pepperoni. When completely seared, set aside in a dish. Go once around the pan again with oil, now adding the garlic, rosemary and red pepper flake. Let this season the oil. Add the cabbage and 1/4 cup of the reserved water. Stir cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Add the meat back into to the pot and add 1/4 cup more of the reserved water. Cover and let cook about thirty minutes. Taste the cabbage and adjust seasonings accordingly. Let cook fifteen more minutes. Serve with some crusty bread or how mom serves it, with a simple black pepper and rosemary flatbread. Enjoy!
Serves 4
2 heads Savoy cabbage, cut into quarters and blanched in salted water
2 lbs pork pieces, boneless or with the bone
2 pepperoni links, cut into 2 inch rounds
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch red pepper flake
salt and pepper
When the Savoy cabbage is blanched, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid, then strain and set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, go once around the pan with olive oil and preheat it. Sear the pork pieces and then the pepperoni. When completely seared, set aside in a dish. Go once around the pan again with oil, now adding the garlic, rosemary and red pepper flake. Let this season the oil. Add the cabbage and 1/4 cup of the reserved water. Stir cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Add the meat back into to the pot and add 1/4 cup more of the reserved water. Cover and let cook about thirty minutes. Taste the cabbage and adjust seasonings accordingly. Let cook fifteen more minutes. Serve with some crusty bread or how mom serves it, with a simple black pepper and rosemary flatbread. Enjoy!
Friday, March 25, 2011
My not so Border Cafe Quesadilla
Last night we celebrated a much deserved promotion at Rt 1's Border Cafe. Border Cafe is known for their Tex Mex menu, buzzing atmosphere and reasonable prices. I sat staring at the menu, listening to the toddler behind me screaming, and couldn't decided what to eat. I quickly chose the vegetable quesadilla for my dinner when the server came to take our order. The quesadilla turned out to be your average quesadilla, not crisp, just kind of soggy with a random assortment of vegetables including carrots, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and way too many red onions.
Though my food wasn't great, the company was and we had a great time and finished our meal with homemade cheesecake and smores bars, thanks Meghan and Malissa!
I wanted to share my favorite recipe for lime chicken quesadilla with mango salsa....
For the quesadilla Serves 4
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 lime
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 yellow pepper, sliced julienne
1/2 red onion, sliced julienne
salt and pepper
4 flour tortilla shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salsa
1 ripe mango, diced brunoise
2 plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced brunoise
1 jalapeno, diced brunoise
1 tsp lime zest, 1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Cilantro
1 teaspoon hot sauce
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
For the chicken, cut chicken into cubes and put into bowl. Zest the lime and then juice it, then marinate the chicken with the zest and the lime as you preheat a saute pan on the stove. When the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers and cook for five minutes, season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and saute together until the chicken is golden and the vegetables are tender. On a sheet pan, lay the flour tortillas down and divide the chicken/veg mix among the four, covering only half the shell. Divide the cheese among the four tortillas and then fold them in half. Brush both sides with oil and put the pan in the oven. Bake for ten minutes, then flip them and bake for ten more. They will be golden brown and crisp when finished. Remove them from the oven and cut each into fours.
For the salsa, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and fold together. Serve with the quesadilla and your favorite flavored Jarritos. Enjoy!
Though my food wasn't great, the company was and we had a great time and finished our meal with homemade cheesecake and smores bars, thanks Meghan and Malissa!
I wanted to share my favorite recipe for lime chicken quesadilla with mango salsa....
For the quesadilla Serves 4
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 lime
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 yellow pepper, sliced julienne
1/2 red onion, sliced julienne
salt and pepper
4 flour tortilla shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salsa
1 ripe mango, diced brunoise
2 plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced brunoise
1 jalapeno, diced brunoise
1 tsp lime zest, 1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Cilantro
1 teaspoon hot sauce
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
For the chicken, cut chicken into cubes and put into bowl. Zest the lime and then juice it, then marinate the chicken with the zest and the lime as you preheat a saute pan on the stove. When the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers and cook for five minutes, season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and saute together until the chicken is golden and the vegetables are tender. On a sheet pan, lay the flour tortillas down and divide the chicken/veg mix among the four, covering only half the shell. Divide the cheese among the four tortillas and then fold them in half. Brush both sides with oil and put the pan in the oven. Bake for ten minutes, then flip them and bake for ten more. They will be golden brown and crisp when finished. Remove them from the oven and cut each into fours.
For the salsa, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and fold together. Serve with the quesadilla and your favorite flavored Jarritos. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Dinner with the girls!!
Last night Erica, Amanda and I had a wonderful dinner at Sportello. Sportello is Barbara Lynch's interpretation of the lunch counter and has some the tastiest Italian food in the city. I had the pleasure of being part of the Sportello team last year and met some great people while there. Sportello was a unique restaurant experience, having both a dine in and a bakery/cafe part to the restaurant. There are many mornings now that I wish I were back there enjoying some rosemary raisin toast with cheese and fruit and chatting with Amanda about her adventures from the night before! Working at Sportello made me solidify my dream to open a bakery/cafe and it also made me realize how much I had learned over the years about business, food and management. When I look back, I feel lucky to have been able to work with Chef Barbara and sit in meetings with her and the other managers while we brainstormed ideas about the retail area of Sportello. It really was a great experience and so was our dinner last night.
Erica and I started the night early at Papagayo (I will save that for another blog). We met Amanda for drinks at Drink before we went to eat dinner. I order a dark and stormy, which was spicy from the house made ginger beer. At around eight we made our way upstairs to Sportello and were seated in Haileys section. As always, we started with some sparkling and looked over the menu. I always stick to the classics when I eat at Sportello, Bolognese or Gnocchi, but tonight we were going to try some new menu items. To start we had the Vongole Misto, which had mussels, clams, periwinkles, potatoes and an herb aioli. This dish was fresh and light with really good flavor. I liked that there were periwinkles in the misto because I haven't had them since my grandmother were alive. Hailey sent out the calamari with garbanzos, and pea pesto. The calamari were tender and slightly buttery. For our pasta course we tried the smoke potato agnolloti with black trumpets, hedge hog and Monte Veronese. Erica and I were hoping they would be as delicious as the ones at No. 9 Park. These were soft potato filled pillows tossed with the mushrooms and cheese. We both agreed the dish was delicious, but the ones at No. 9 were perfection, no disrespect to Sportello. For our main course, we enjoyed the Crescent duck breast with swiss chard, marinated peppers and potatoes. Let me just say this duck had the crispiest, most delicious skin I have ever tasted on duck. The duck was also kept rare and when eaten with all the components on the plate, tasted sweet and sour (agro dolce). With our meal we enjoyed a bottle of the Sportello Barbera. I left full and inspired by the food.
The night couldn't end with just dinner. We enjoyed another drink across the street at Luckys and then headed home. It was another great night with the ladies. Erica and Amanda thanks for being the two most perfect dates! Hailey, what can I say, you crack me up, miss working with all you girls!
Thanks Sportello for a delicious meal...
Erica and I started the night early at Papagayo (I will save that for another blog). We met Amanda for drinks at Drink before we went to eat dinner. I order a dark and stormy, which was spicy from the house made ginger beer. At around eight we made our way upstairs to Sportello and were seated in Haileys section. As always, we started with some sparkling and looked over the menu. I always stick to the classics when I eat at Sportello, Bolognese or Gnocchi, but tonight we were going to try some new menu items. To start we had the Vongole Misto, which had mussels, clams, periwinkles, potatoes and an herb aioli. This dish was fresh and light with really good flavor. I liked that there were periwinkles in the misto because I haven't had them since my grandmother were alive. Hailey sent out the calamari with garbanzos, and pea pesto. The calamari were tender and slightly buttery. For our pasta course we tried the smoke potato agnolloti with black trumpets, hedge hog and Monte Veronese. Erica and I were hoping they would be as delicious as the ones at No. 9 Park. These were soft potato filled pillows tossed with the mushrooms and cheese. We both agreed the dish was delicious, but the ones at No. 9 were perfection, no disrespect to Sportello. For our main course, we enjoyed the Crescent duck breast with swiss chard, marinated peppers and potatoes. Let me just say this duck had the crispiest, most delicious skin I have ever tasted on duck. The duck was also kept rare and when eaten with all the components on the plate, tasted sweet and sour (agro dolce). With our meal we enjoyed a bottle of the Sportello Barbera. I left full and inspired by the food.
The night couldn't end with just dinner. We enjoyed another drink across the street at Luckys and then headed home. It was another great night with the ladies. Erica and Amanda thanks for being the two most perfect dates! Hailey, what can I say, you crack me up, miss working with all you girls!
Thanks Sportello for a delicious meal...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sweet Soda Bread
I believe that a good soda bread should be enjoyed throughout the year and not just on St Patrick's Day. My sweet soda bread is the perfect combination of savory and sweet. It goes perfect with a boiled dinner or toasted with jam in the morning. Here is my recipe for Sweet Soda Bread....
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 cup golden raisins
1 tsp sugar in the raw and 1 tablespoon melted butter for the top
In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together. Using your fingers, combine the cold butter with the dry ingredients, rubbing your hands together until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Fold in the beaten egg and then the buttermilk. When mixed, fold in caraway seeds and golden raisins. Pour into greased loaf pan or free form the loaf on a sheet[pan. Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with the sugar in the raw. Bake in the oven about 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Another fabulous time at Eataly in NYC...
Yesterday, I had a wonderful day in my favorite city, NYC with mom, Stacy and Auntie Joanne. As always, when I visit the city I always think about where I want to eat. NYC is filled with too many restaurants, some completely geared to the tourist and some for the foodies. I always try to plan where I am going to eat based on location, if I'm downtown I like Pastis and brownies from Fat Witch bakery and if I am uptown, you can't go wrong with Bouchon for something sweet and savory. Midtown is all about deli's Carnegie, Stage and Maxi's. You can't visit New York and not have a hot pastrami sandwich and a slice of New York style cheesecake.
For dinner last night, we went to the Flat Iron district and visited Eataly Cafe for the second time. The place was buzzing when we arrived and again I walked through with my eyes moving every which way, trying to take in everything. We headed straight for the pizza and pasta restaurant, passing by all the sweets, the fish, the meat, the bread and wine. We managed to only have to wait about twenty minutes and then our dinner began. What I liked about the menu is that it offered various shapes of pasta in different sauces, some fresh pasta and some dried. The pizza menu, again good variety of veggie pizzas and meat pizzas, but not overwhelming. I knew when I sat down and looked at the table to my left, that I would be getting pizza as my meal, it looked just like the pizza in Rome. We placed our order, got some wine, I had a glass of Barbera and had some bread. A winter salad was our appetizer and it was the cold, crisp that we needed after all the walking we did. When our meal arrived, and the waiter placed my Massese pizza in front of me, I felt I was back in Italy and that when we left we would be walking through the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. The crust was thin and crisp, there was the perfect amount of sauce to mozzarella and then what turned out to be my favorite bit of the pizza thin slices of spicy salami dotted the entire pizza. I was ready, fork and knife in hand, I dove in. My mom had the meat filled agnolotti with a simple butter sauce and they were tiny pillows filled with a nutmeg spiced meat. Cooked al dente and with the right amount of sauce, perfection.
Again, Eataly Cafe who have surpassed my expectation and I thank Mario, Joe and Lidia for a wonderful concept that truly transports you to Italy for a couple hours.
For dinner last night, we went to the Flat Iron district and visited Eataly Cafe for the second time. The place was buzzing when we arrived and again I walked through with my eyes moving every which way, trying to take in everything. We headed straight for the pizza and pasta restaurant, passing by all the sweets, the fish, the meat, the bread and wine. We managed to only have to wait about twenty minutes and then our dinner began. What I liked about the menu is that it offered various shapes of pasta in different sauces, some fresh pasta and some dried. The pizza menu, again good variety of veggie pizzas and meat pizzas, but not overwhelming. I knew when I sat down and looked at the table to my left, that I would be getting pizza as my meal, it looked just like the pizza in Rome. We placed our order, got some wine, I had a glass of Barbera and had some bread. A winter salad was our appetizer and it was the cold, crisp that we needed after all the walking we did. When our meal arrived, and the waiter placed my Massese pizza in front of me, I felt I was back in Italy and that when we left we would be walking through the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. The crust was thin and crisp, there was the perfect amount of sauce to mozzarella and then what turned out to be my favorite bit of the pizza thin slices of spicy salami dotted the entire pizza. I was ready, fork and knife in hand, I dove in. My mom had the meat filled agnolotti with a simple butter sauce and they were tiny pillows filled with a nutmeg spiced meat. Cooked al dente and with the right amount of sauce, perfection.
Again, Eataly Cafe who have surpassed my expectation and I thank Mario, Joe and Lidia for a wonderful concept that truly transports you to Italy for a couple hours.
Happy St Patrick's Day
Happy St Patrick's Day Everyone! Though I am not Irish, I do believe in enjoying some of what St Patrick's Day has to offer, like soda bread and a really good stew! I also don't mind an ice cold Guinness to celebrate the day and if you add something sparkling to it, it's even better! Here is my recipe for a Black Velvet....
Makes 1 drink
3 oz cold Guinness
3 oz cold champagne or sparkling wine
In a champagne flute, slowly pour the Guinness into the glass and let settle a minute. Using the back of a spoon, pour the champagne slowly into the glass and let it rest for two minutes so that it settles at the top. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Makes 1 drink
3 oz cold Guinness
3 oz cold champagne or sparkling wine
In a champagne flute, slowly pour the Guinness into the glass and let settle a minute. Using the back of a spoon, pour the champagne slowly into the glass and let it rest for two minutes so that it settles at the top. Serve immediately and enjoy!
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