Braciole

I have been working on a braciole recipe for quite a few years.  It began with a party we were having for my dad's 50th birthday a few years back.  His birthday is in December and we were going to be away for Christmas so my mom decided to have a big 50th birthday/early Christmas dinner with our extended family.  We decided to make it Italian themed but wanted to do something different, not just the same old lasagna, sausage and peppers, etc.  So I came up with the idea of making braciole.  I scoured the internet and looked at a bunch of different recipes and found them so varied that I just decided to put what I like into mine and not follow a recipe.  We had a couple of people over for dinner on Sunday and I knew I wanted to cook something that I could just leave in the pot and not have to worry about it.  So I made a big pot of sauce and braciole.  It was so good.  There are still leftovers that I am savoring.

Braciole
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 flank steak, approximately 1.5 - 2 lbs, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
Salt
Black pepper
5 oz. fresh spinach
Olive oil
1 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Kitchen Twine
3 quarts of your favorite tomato sauce

Directions
In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute spinach with olive oil, nutmeg and red pepper flakes.  Meanwhile, season pounded flank steak on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place on a hard, flat surface.  Put spinach on top of flank steak, leaving a 1 inch border free of spinach on all sides.  Layer bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese on top of spinach.  Roll flank steak up using kitchen twine to hold it together.  Heat 1tbsp. olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat.  Sear rolled flank steak on all sides, about 2 minutes each side.

Place seared flank steak in a large dutch oven with the tomato sauce.  Cook on low, stirring occasionally for at least 3 hours, preferable 4-5 hours.  Remove braciole from sauce and place on a cutting board.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Cut off kitchen twine and slice into thin slices (I find an electric knife works best for this).  Serve with your favorite pasta and sauce the braciole was cooked in.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream

I love ice cream.  Always have and probably always will.  For my birthday in December my parents bought me the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I never knew how much I actually loved ice cream until I made it at home.  There is just something about ice cream you make yourself.  You control the ingredients, you know exactly what goes into it, there are no preservatives involved.  It is wonderful!  I have only used it a few times but now that summer is in full swing I am sure I will be using it more.  Along with the ice cream maker I also received a fabulous ice cream cookbook by David Lebovitz called The Perfect Scoop.  All of the ice cream flavors that I have made so far have come out of this book and all of them were wonderful.

In order to make David's concept on Sunday, we needed some ice cream to go with the blondie.  I decided to do a nice and rich chocolate ice cream and throw some peanut butter chips in.  It made the perfect blondie sundae.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 tbsp. dutch-process cocoa powder
5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder.  Warm over medium-high heat, whisking to dissolve the cocoa.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.  Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth.  Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream.  Transfer the mixture to a medium-large mixing bowl.  Set a fine mesh sieve over the top.

In the same saucepan, combine the milk, sugar and salt and warm the mixture over medium-high heat.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  When the milk mixture is warm, gradually whisk into the egg yolks, beating constantly.  Return the egg-milk mixture tot he bottom of the pan with a spatula, until the mixture is slightly thickened.  Remove from the heat, pour through the mesh sieve into the chocolate-cream mixture and stir to blend.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

Place the ice cream mixture over an ice bath and stir to cool.  Refrigerate until well chilled.  Stir to mix.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Fold in the peanut butter chips at the end of the ice cream maker's cycle.  Store in an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

Chicken Fried Rice

Joe loves Asian food of all types.  I think if he could he would have some type of Asian food every day.  Before we met, I would have Chinese take out occasionally but didn't really try anything beyond that.  Now he has me eating Thai, Japanese, even sushi (only the cooked or veggie kind though).  We have come a long way.  I have also learned to make Asian inspired meals more at home.  I had boneless chicken breasts in the refrigerator that were supposed to be used for dinner on Saturday night but we wound up going out instead so on Sunday afternoon I made up a big pan of chicken fried rice for lunch and then for lunches for the rest of the week.  I have been playing with this recipe for a few months and I think I finally have it where I like it.  I am very excited for lunch this week!


Chicken Fried Rice
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. fresh grated ginger, divided
3 cups rice, cooked and cooled completely
Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and diced carrots
1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks in juice (not in syrup), drained, 1/2 juice reserved
3 large eggs (optional)

Directions:
Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder.  In a very large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tsp. grated ginger and saute for 30 seconds.  Add chicken and cook 5 minutes.  Add onion and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.  Add rice, remaining 1 tsp. ginger and an additional tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Cook, stirring constantly until the rice is a little crispy and ginger is incorporated, 3-5 minutes.  Add peas and carrots, soy sauce, teriyaki and pineapple juice.  Stir until incorporated.  Taste and add additional soy sauce as necessary.  Rice should be well coated in sauce but not too wet.

Move the rice to the side of the skillet to make a space to scramble the eggs or if you prefer, scramble the eggs in a separate pan and add to the rice.  Stir in the pineapple chunks and serve.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Blondies

Last night was the season premiere of True Blood on HBO.  My brother David and I love both the books that this show is loosely based on and the show itself.  Unfortunately David, he doesn't have HBO.  So last summer he started coming over on Sunday nights to watch the show and we started to take turns making a snack to munch on while watching the current episode.  We started calling it Sunday Snack and it got to be really fun thinking up something to do that week.  We do both sweet and savory snacks.  Last night was the first Sunday Snack of the season and we decided to do a sweet snack.  David came up with the idea of a blondie sundae and we ran with that.  So I made chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chips (recipe to come later this week) with my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment and went on the hunt for a blondie recipe that I liked.  I found one on Ghiradelli's website that I could alter just slightly to add peanut butter chips too since I had some left over from the ice cream.  We then whipped up some cream.  Melted some caramels in heavy cream and broke out the sprinkles.  Great start to this summer's Sunday Snacks!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Blondies
Adapted from Ghirardelli

Ingredients:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
8 ounces white chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9-inch square or round (I used round) baking pan.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and white chocolate and microwave in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after each 30 seconds until smooth.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the eggs until foamy.  With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow, steady stream.  Add the vanilla.  Add the melted chocolate and butter in a thin stream.  Then add the flour and salt mixing until well combined.  Fold in the chocolate and peanut butter chips by hand.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.  Let the blondies cool for at least 10 minutes.  Cut and serve warm or at room temperature.

Puerto Rican-Style Marinated Pork Chops

 I am a Food and Wine magazine subscriber.  I love getting it every month and looking at the recipes and reading about new techniques, restaurants and chefs.  Their What to Cook Next segment of the July 2011 issue is dedicated to marinades with bold flavors.  That is right up our alley for summer.  We love to marinate meat and grill it.  One of the first things Joe and I went out and bought after we purchased our home two years ago was a grill.  We had virtually no furniture in the house but we had to make sure we had a grill.  After nearly 10 years of apartment living we missed being able to have grilled food whenever we wanted.  That grill has gotten quite a workout since!  The Puerto Rican-Style Marinade caught my eye earlier this week.  This marinade is inspired by lechon, a slow-roasted Puerto Rican pork dish.  I had double cut pork chops in the freezer and going along with my theme of using only ingredients we had in house, I had all of the ingredients needed to make this marinade in my pantry.  Plus it had a quick marinating time so it was perfect for a weeknight meal.  I served the pork chops with beans and rice and it was very good.  I only marinated the chops for about 30 minutes as the recipe suggested but next time I will let them sit a little bit longer since they were double cut but the flavor was great.

Puerto Rican-Style Marinated Pork Chops
From Food & Wine Magazine

For the marinade:
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp. ancho chile powder
3/4 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

In a mini food processor, process the ingredients into a paste.  Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

For the pork chops
2 double cut boneless pork chops
1 recipe marinade

Rub the marinade onto 2 double cut boneless pork chops and let stand for 45 minutes or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.  Light the grill.  Scrape off the marinade, brush with oil and grill over medium-high heat, turning once or twice, until cooked, about 25 minutes.

Serve with rice and seasoned black beans.

Kitchen Sink Pasta

I am making a valiant effort this week to cook dinner only using the ingredients we currently have at home.  Every few weeks or so I try to do this to make sure I use up anything that is around that may go bad soon or is just taking up space and hasn't been used in awhile.  I almost always create a pasta dish of some kind during these weeks because it is a great way to combine a bunch of items that need to be used into a very tasty dinner with plenty left over for lunch!  Below is my recipe for what I created last night but you could use any mix of protein and vegetables that you had on hand and create your own version.  I love to eat it cold the next day for lunch.


Kitchen Sink Pasta
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" chunks
Salt
Fresh ground pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
Olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 small vidalia onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Handful fresh basil and flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb medium shell pasta

Directions:
In a large stockpot, bring water and 2 tsp. salt to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Add chicken to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes until brown.  Add in the onion and cook for 5 minutes more until onion is soft.  Add in pepper and tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes.  Stir in chicken broth, corn and peas and cook until warm, 2-3 minutes more.  Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.  Add drained pasta, chopped fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Mix well, adding some of the pasta liquid if the pasta is too dry.  Serve immediately, garnishing with more Parmesan cheese.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

I wanted to make a dessert for my dad for father's day.  I called him and asked him what he would like.  He said he wasn't picky and he didn't like anything with coconut or key lime pie.  Thanks for narrowing it down Dad!  I decided to do a bar type of dessert since it was for a barbecue setting and I knew I didn't want to make brownies.  I set about searching my favorite blog haunts and came across two possibilities.  A raspberry strudel bar or an Oreo cheesecake bar.  I couldn't decide so I asked Joe which he would like and his vote was Oreo cheesecake so that is what I went with.  I found the recipe at Annie's Eats.  Her recipe was for an 8x8 sized pan so I adapted it slightly for the 9x13 pan that I would be using.  They were very easy and straight forward to make especially since I have both a food processor and stand mixer.  The recipe is very versatile and could be changed to use other mix ingredients as well.  Definitely a recipe that I will be playing with in the future.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the crust:
32 Oreo cookies
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
20 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil.  To make crust, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor.  Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground.  Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.  Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.

To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the sugar until well combined.  Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and salt.  Beat in the eggs and egg yolks on medium-high speed until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Stir in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake for about 42 minutes until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature.  Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan.  Place on a cutting board.  Peel away the foil and slice into bars.  Clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.