I was trying to delete some blog spam the other night and I got distracted (I know, so rare!) by looking through my iphoto annals. It got me to thinking, “hey! I should go through all my pictures from 2011 and pick my favorite two (or three) from each month and put them in a blog post.”

So, that’s what I’ve done here. It was a lot more fun than deleting spam comments from the moderation queue. Although, you have to admit, this one has a certain charm:

I beloved as much as you’ll receive carried out proper here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you want be delivering the following. unwell surely come further previously once more since exactly the similar just about very regularly within case you defend this hike.

It’s weird. It always seems . . . → Read More: 2011 in Pictures]]>

I was trying to delete some blog spam the other night and I got distracted (I know, so rare!) by looking through my iphoto annals. It got me to thinking, “hey! I should go through all my pictures from 2011 and pick my favorite two (or three) from each month and put them in a blog post.”

So, that’s what I’ve done here. It was a lot more fun than deleting spam comments from the moderation queue. Although, you have to admit, this one has a certain charm:

I beloved as much as you’ll receive carried out proper here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you want be delivering the following. unwell surely come further previously once more since exactly the similar just about very regularly within case you defend this hike.

It’s weird. It always seems like the year went by very fast, but then looking at all these pictures, I guess we did do a lot of fun stuff. I also still think that on the whole, 2011 was a pretty bad year, but this exercise definitely reminded me of some very nice moments that it had going for it.

Okay, so I almost forgot about this French Fridays with Dorie but I’m glad I didn’t, this was a very interesting FFwD experiment. I made a number of changes, mainly because I wanted to work with what I had on hand. Here’s how that went:

1. First off, I made a half recipe, so I had one potato that was about 3/4 of a pound. 2. I used a…sweet potato! I know, it’s probably not a real matafan then, but I had about 5 red potatoes (which I figured wouldn’t work at all) and 1 perfectly sized sweet potato. So, there you go. I used that. 3. I added about 1/2 tsp curry powder to the batter. 4. I went ahead and still oven roasted the potato on the bed of salt. I’m not sure it had the same effect, but is seemed interesting. 5. Strangely, I thought the sweet potato and . . . → Read More: FFwD: Matafan (Fluffy Mashed Potato Pancakes)]]>

Okay, so I almost forgot about this French Fridays with Dorie but I’m glad I didn’t, this was a very interesting FFwD experiment. I made a number of changes, mainly because I wanted to work with what I had on hand. Here’s how that went:

1. First off, I made a half recipe, so I had one potato that was about 3/4 of a pound.
2. I used a…sweet potato! I know, it’s probably not a real matafan then, but I had about 5 red potatoes (which I figured wouldn’t work at all) and 1 perfectly sized sweet potato. So, there you go. I used that.
3. I added about 1/2 tsp curry powder to the batter.
4. I went ahead and still oven roasted the potato on the bed of salt. I’m not sure it had the same effect, but is seemed interesting.
5. Strangely, I thought the sweet potato and curry powder combination tasted like pumpkin pie.

Here’s a link to everyone’s FFwD posts this week.

Pre-oven, on a bed of kosher salt. Waiting…

Experimental curry powder added to the mix.

About to fold in the whipped egg white.

I used olive oil rather than butter. Just because it seemed more sensible.

Golden and flipped over. They seemed to poof up quite a bit while cooking!

Stacked up on the plate, ready to eat.

This was one of the first food images that I came across on pinterest.com (follow me here!) that I pinned and yes, it’s now the first recipe I’ve made from my Savory Snacks board. Not a bad choice. I changed it up a bit and made it a spinach lasagna soup and also decreased the meat a bit (using chicken sausage for the regular pork).

Cooking the noodles separately will let you easily save some of it for lunch the next day (I hate it when pasta sits in soup overnight and soaks up all the liquid).

As a funny anecdote, this recipe is originally (I think) from a Disney site at go.com which is the name of the web property that Disney turned infoseek.com into, which is my old company. I actually worked there when Disney bought us. By the way, I think . . . → Read More: Cooking with Pinterest: Spinach Lasagna Soup]]>

This was one of the first food images that I came across on pinterest.com (follow me here!) that I pinned and yes, it’s now the first recipe I’ve made from my Savory Snacks board. Not a bad choice. I changed it up a bit and made it a spinach lasagna soup and also decreased the meat a bit (using chicken sausage for the regular pork).

Cooking the noodles separately will let you easily save some of it for lunch the next day (I hate it when pasta sits in soup overnight and soaks up all the liquid).

As a funny anecdote, this recipe is originally (I think) from a Disney site at go.com which is the name of the web property that Disney turned infoseek.com into, which is my old company. I actually worked there when Disney bought us. By the way, I think Go.com is a dumb name, I’m really surprised they kept it all these years. No, I’m not bitter (yes I am!). Kidding! Um , not really…

Anyway. No matter what the source is, this soup is pretty good and a perfect Fall/Winter meal. Leftovers are great for lunch the next day, just keep the noodles and soup separate until you’re ready to reheat, so you don’t loose all the broth to the noodles.

Lasagna Soup
Adapted from Disney’s Family Fun at go.com..(hahahahahaha)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 pounds uncooked Italian (pork or chicken) sausage (bulk or with casings removed)
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and then squeezed of excess liquid
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
4 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces (or 4 oz fusilli pasta)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
4 ounces ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (or a couple of slices fresh mozzarella)

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and sauté, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon (or use a potato masher — wow, that works great!, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.

Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes. The soup will reduce a little as it simmers and get all rich and tasty.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a separate pot of salted, boiling water, until tender. Drain. Season with soup salt and black pepper to taste.

To serve divide the cooked lasagna noodles (or fusili) between 4 bowls and ladle the soup over the pasta.

Top with a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta-Parmesan mixture and sprinkle with a little mozzarella cheese.

This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie is quite delicious, but then I’m already a pretty big fan of game hens. In fact, that’s the current plan for Thanksgiving this year (again). Seeing that it was just a Thursday night and we’re both currently fighting colds, colds are winning, I opted to just make one hen and jwa and I split it.

If it had been a weekend, however, we’d have each had our own hen. And probably there’d have been another side. Especially if we’d have both been feeling better. Stupid colds. Grrrrr.

Anyway. Notes/Things I Learned: 1. I made the tapenade in the cookbook but I used anchovy paste. 2. I carefully measured out 1 teaspoon of tapenade into a separate bowl to slip under the hen’s skin (no cross-contamination here!) but I think I could have used a bit more. 3. I roasted my hen on a . . . → Read More: FFwD: Olive Olive Cornish Hen]]>

This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie is quite delicious, but then I’m already a pretty big fan of game hens. In fact, that’s the current plan for Thanksgiving this year (again). Seeing that it was just a Thursday night and we’re both currently fighting colds, colds are winning, I opted to just make one hen and jwa and I split it.

If it had been a weekend, however, we’d have each had our own hen. And probably there’d have been another side. Especially if we’d have both been feeling better. Stupid colds. Grrrrr.

Anyway. Notes/Things I Learned:
1. I made the tapenade in the cookbook but I used anchovy paste.
2. I carefully measured out 1 teaspoon of tapenade into a separate bowl to slip under the hen’s skin (no cross-contamination here!) but I think I could have used a bit more.
3. I roasted my hen on a small rack set over a rimmed baking sheet at about 480 degrees F for 34-35 minutes. I haven’t cleaned my oven in awhile and I was a little apprehensive to go to 500F.
4. Wow! Crispy, awesome skin!
5. We had some broccoli on the side with some of the leftover tapenade and bread.

Okay, on with the photos (and everyone else posts).

Making the tapenade (I made a half recipe).

Hen about to get slathered under-the-skin.

Ready for the oven with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.

Tapenade on the side with some kalamata olive ciabatta.

OH HAI…Out of the oven and ready to rest for a few minutes.

Split in half and plated. Delicious, crispy, golden skin. non-nom.

I’m not going to go into too much introduction here except to say, oh my, why have I never put a little bacon on a pizza before? Also, this is one of the best flavor combinations I’ve ever put on a pizza. Yay!

Seriously Awesome Fall Pizza with Bacon, Apple, Fennel & Rosemary Adapted from a recipe in Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck, although, I used a different pizza dough recipe entirely, so there were no ancient grains here. If you want to try the original Spelt Crust, the recipe is here.

1lb pizza dough, homemade or store bought Olive oil for drizzling, etc.. 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (divided) 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup low fat yogurt 1/2 cup marscapone or cream cheese (full fat) 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese + 1/4 cup more 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and . . . → Read More: Seriously Awesome Fall Pizza with Bacon, Apple, Fennel & Rosemary]]>

I’m not going to go into too much introduction here except to say, oh my, why have I never put a little bacon on a pizza before? Also, this is one of the best flavor combinations I’ve ever put on a pizza. Yay!

Seriously Awesome Fall Pizza with Bacon, Apple, Fennel & Rosemary
Adapted from a recipe in Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck, although, I used a different pizza dough recipe entirely, so there were no ancient grains here. If you want to try the original Spelt Crust, the recipe is here.

1lb pizza dough, homemade or store bought
Olive oil for drizzling, etc..
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (divided)
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup low fat yogurt
1/2 cup marscapone or cream cheese (full fat)
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese + 1/4 cup more
2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced (you can use it raw or saute it in a pan with a little bacon grease, salt and pepper first and let it caramelize…I did that)
2-3 green onions (or a large shallot)
1 Granny Smith or Gala apple, cored and thinly sliced
3 slices of bacon, chopped

Add the yogurt, marscapone, and 3/4 cup mozzarella to a food processor and process it up well. Add about a tablespoon or so of olive oil to help smooth it out. You can also do this by hand, but make sure the marscapone/cream cheese is at room temperature, so it’ll be easier to mix all together. Season with a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fry up your bacon. Try not to eat many of the bacon crumbles when they are done. Hey there, you need those for the pizza!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Roll or spread out the pizza dough on a peel or baking sheet. I usually use a parchment paper-lined sheet that I can slide off onto my pizza stone in the oven after I get all the toppings onto it.

Drizzle and brush a little olive oil onto your rolled or pressed out dough. Sprinkle half the Parmesan cheese on top and get the pizza dough in the oven for about 5 minutes for a quick pre-bake.

Now it’s time for the real toppings. Spread the yogurt/marscapone/mozzarella mix out on top of the pizza. Leave about a 1-inch border all around. Then sprinkle on the capers, garlic and rosemary. Next, lay out the apple slices and fennel.

Finish it up with the crumbled bacon, green onions (or shallot) and your reserved 1/4 cups mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let sit a minute or two then slice up and devour.

This is especially good with an arugula salad on the side with balsamic vinaigrette and candied walnuts.