Breakfast Savory Crepe Burritos

I have a stepsister who lives in Washington state. If you can believe it, I don't think I've ever actually met her in the 25-some years my mom has been married to her dad. I do know, however, through my mom that she has been a dedicated vegan for many years. She gave me a great vegetarian crepe recipe, which involves chick pea flour and several ingredients. I've had them when my mom has made them for me, and they are very good. However, I have yet to buy any chick pea flour, and I don't often like too measure too many ingredients. So I came up with a "quickie crepe" recipe for savory crepes that is pretty good, and has fewer ingredients, and no measuring at all. The numbers listed are for "parts" - so, however much you like, in the following proportions:

• 1:1:1/2 parts Bisquick, whole wheat flour, and nutritional yeast, respectively 
• 1-2 Tblesp. miso paste, whisked smoothly into a little veggie broth, then added
• water and veggie broth until the mix is fairly thin 

So, that's one part Bisquick (vegan! Yay!) to one part WW flour, to a half part nutritional yeast. I just dump some Bisquick in the left side of a bowl, then add an equal part of the flour, then a half part nutritional yeast. Totally "eyeballed." The resulting crepes are just a little "puffy," and not as paper thin as a true crepe would be. However, they are satisfying and great for filling. I made breakfast burritos out of this batch, filled with a western-style tofu "scramble," lentils, and vegan cheese.

Tofu Scramble

1 diced baked potato (a leftover)
one diced bell pepper
one small diced onion
one package sliced mushrooms
1 block of pressed and crumbled tofu
garlic powder or blackening seasoning, salt and pepper
about a cup of cooked lentils, which I had withheld from my lentil mushroom loaf

I peeled my cooked potato (I make 5 or so baked potatoes at a time in the oven, so that I have them throughout the week for use in cooking, or to top for a quick lunch) and toasted it on high heat in a little vegetable oil until well-browned. Then I added and sautéed the pepper, onion, and mushrooms first, then added the tofu and lentils just to warm them through, and seasoned the mix. I put a little filling down the middle of a crepe, and added vegan cheeses on top. I folded them up, and decided that half would be plenty for a single breakfast!

I first folded them in Glad Press and Seal, then in aluminum foil. They "peel" more easily out of the freezer this way, are protected against freezer burn, and I can drop them in a bowl and re-use the piece of Glad wrap to re-heat them (about 2 minutes a side, covered and on high power).

Mmmm, steamy.

Now I have a hearty breakfast stockpile for the next several months, since I save these for my hurried work mornings.

Lunch at IKEA

Lunch at IKEA with a magazine, and two kinds of dressing. ALONE. I am living the dream.

German-ish Christmas Eve

I've hosted a few holiday meals since I've had the kids, but until this point, they've mostly involved paper plates at service time, lots of extra sticks and leaves in a messy front yard, a microwave I've had no time to clean that mornings splatter out of, and a very pretty vase that I'd put on the table, but forgotten to get flowers for. And I remember these things, because I've had the same two relatives who were only too happy to come over, and point these details out to me. Happy holidays!

Okay, so I'm starting with a little bile, there, but truly, TRULY, I love to host dinners. And I really do own a plate service, and some serving platters! So I was really excited when our friends Nick and Ania, and their two handsome little fellas could come over for a Christmas Eve dinner. My girls are just old enough to let me get some stuff done, and my sweet husband is only too happy to vacuum for me. (Also, we raked the leaves this year! Woo!)

Nick has a Germanic tattoo on his arm, and Ania is Polish, so I guess those things came together in my head to give me the idea of having a generally Eastern European, completely inauthentic-themed meal. You know - cabbage, potatoes, meat, and a beer or two. That sort of thing.

I started the meal with something that has nothing to do with Eastern Europe, and everything to do with "festive": Brooke's artichoke spinach dip, with toasted pita points.

Then, the one-two punch: the humbly self-titled World's Greatest Cornbread. I wanted to serve some bread with the meal, and nothing gathers compliments like Old Faithful. Also, I have put a piece of this bread on the bottom of a chili bowl many times, so I thought it work well to go under the brisket, and sop up some beefy juices. You see a clear theme now, right? Farm-y, Fourth of July picnic-y, BBQ-y, German-y. Makes sense to me.

Now for the brisket. My success in getting this meal together (with two kids three and under, and a heavier work-week up until the day before) is three-parted: 1) use internet rankings to find new recipes, and combine them with old stand-by's, 2) start everything two or three days ahead of time, and 3) get the groceries delivered. This last part freed up some extra time for me (for doing stuff like ironing tablecloths, and watching more television), and reduced my stress quite a bit. So I went with what was on special on Peapod - brisket!

I had never made it off the grill and in the oven, but my arch-nemesis, Paula Deen, had a very highly rated "Texas Oven-Roasted Brisket" recipe on FoodTV.com. Easy, no-fail, and no mayo or stick of butter added (as is her wont). It was very simple, very tender and we could have fed at least four more people with the 5 to 6 pound brisket. It made lots of juice in the pan that wasn't greasy (I had trimmed off the fat before cooking), and went down over the cornbread. (I did cut the salt down, as some reviewers had recommended). Mmmm. Many thanks to the Smiling Silver Blob for that one. (So mean, but come on. That woman won't rest until we all have diabetes.)

For sides, I didn't want to go too far over to the picnic side of things with lots of mayo. I had to have some warm German potato salad, which I've never made at home. I stumbled on this recipe, and was able to prep everything but the dressing ahead of time. I stored the cooked potatoes and bacon in a ceramic dish, then just took them out and put them over the oven vent on the range top while the brisket cooked. The potatoes warmed through, and I just had to mix the dressing. I've never made dressing like this, but the taste was just what I wanted it to be. It's a keeper!

Lastly, I had to have the stewed red cabbage that I've had in German restaurants. I got lucky again, and Googled up this recipe. Again, it tasted exactly like what I had pictured in my mind, and as a bonus, it might be the easiest thing I've ever cooked in my life. It actually started a small marital rift when Nick said to his wife, "I like this cabbage a lot. I'm not crazy about cabbage, but I would eat THIS cabbage." Don't slight a Polish woman's cabbage.

As usual, I just kept tasting and adding seasoning to everything as I went, which I think is the biggest secret to dinner-party success: taste it before you put it in the serving plate (and I added a bit more sugar to the German potato salad). Everything worked together really well, and I got some new "old stand-by's" out of the deal. Also, all of this stuff re-heated beautifully for almost a week! (I really should have invited more people).

For dessert, we had served coffee with some home-made candy: I got this idea for white chocolate lollipops from Ina Garten (nothing catty to say about that lady, I just love her food), and I made Ritz-cracker cookies, which are peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, inside a Ritz sandwich, rolled in melted Hershey bars. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the huge batches of candy I made, but ah well! Some things have to fall by the wayside. I'll post about the cookies later... I added a pinch of coarse salt to the top of each of the lollipops, and I think it really worked well with the sweetness of the white chocolate.

With the delivered groceries and the head-start, I was able to help the elder child construct a centerpiece that would bait any plump little German kids into an old witch's oven (if this old witch were into that). I made the squiggles, but she dazzled me with her path creating, shingling and paving ability! As you can (partially) see, we had a lovely street light feature, until the younger child decapitated and ate it...

Incidentally, we bought the Wilton pre-baked gingerbread house, and I was shocked (at demolition time) at how delicious and flaky the gingerbread was. I expected it to taste like plywood, since the function was similar - but it had lots of spice. Lots of sugar, sure... But there's a time and place for that! (And the time is Christmas).

Hope your holidays were as happy as ours were!

Panini on the Grill Pan

Currently obsessed with panini...

I used to go into panini shops and order without the butter... This may work in restaurants, but don't do it at home. What you get without butter is a crunchy toasted cheese sandwich, and it burns too quickly (before the inside gets melted). You have to spread the bread with butter to get that flaky crust, and keep the bread from burning too soon. I use spreadable butter (like Land O' Lakes Light Butter), and not margarine, because, well, margarine isn't food. You can use any bread you like and get a pretty good result, but with hard-crusted bread (like focaccia or french rolls) you should turn them soft-side out, and butter the inside as the outside. I like to use the Pane Turano slices.

I use my grill pan. I don't have a weight, so I put a piece of aluminum foil on the top and set my cast-iron dutch oven on top - about 2 minutes on one side, flip, repeat.

For fillings, I like mozzarella (either fresh or shrink-wrapped work fine), but I've used gouda and even taco shreds and gotten a good result. I like tomato slices, basil, and roasted red pepper in mine, but sky's the limit. Prosciutto is a good meaty addition, or bacon.

By the way, the chips in the photo are baked Kettle brand BBQ... Best baked chips I've ever had (and by that, I mean they taste fried)!

Wayne's Pizza

About six months ago, I found out my cholesterol was slightly high. That was the wake-up call that I needed to lose the last fifteen pounds of pregnancy weight. Coming off Thanksgiving weekend (okay, week if I'm being honest), I'm back to eating big salads and righting myself again. But the week sure was fun while it lasted! And hey... Now that the weight is off, it's all part of the maintenance plan. (Meaning, I can hog out now and then.)

When one of those times comes around, one wicked place to eat is Wayne's Pizza in Arlington Heights, IL. They have a great thin crust pizza (my favorite is spinach and mushroom), and their "nibbles" are amazing. I love the cauliflower bites. I could drink a liter of their ranch dressing (yeah, if that sounds disgusting, try it... And then you tell me). And recently (dammit), I discovered that their chicken wings are my favorite (even over Hooters' wings, which I heard a rumor that they have changed, anyway). This place isn't paying me, so believe me when I say that if you eat here all the time? Your health is gonna suffer. But if you eat at Wayne's now and then... I think it might make your life better.

Pizza Stone and Pizza on the Grill

Lookie my new toys!



I've been messing with this all summer. I bought a pizza peel (the big paddle), and a large rectangular pizza stone on Amazon.com. I went by the ones with a high rating. I have been buying the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's, and I've had a lot of success with that. But you could make your own. I tried Pillsbury refrigerated dough on the stone once, and it scorched on the bottom and was raw on the top. I had to throw it out. But at a lower temperature, it might have worked.

I started this because I've never had a crispy bottom crust in the oven, ever. Sure, Boboli work, but I wanted real pizza: chewy inside, floury on top, and crunchy on the bottom. Well, turns out you need a stone. And it could not be easier.

You build the pizza on the paddle, and you're supposed to use corn meal. Well, I've used Italian breadcrumb, and that seems to work okay. The purpose of this is just ball-bearings... You know, to move the dough off of the peel easily. The stone gets pre-heated on the propane grill (or in your oven). Mine gets up to just over 400 degrees (medium-high works pretty well). Also, you MUST use room temperature dough. Otherwise, it's like trying to roll a rubber band. Also, it won't puff up while cooking.



I use marinara out of a jar, but I've found it can be watery. You can mix it with tomato paste and heat it, or barbecue sauce. Or, just touch a paper towel corner to the watery parts when it comes out, and the water will wick up into the towel.



I've made all kinds of pizzas this summer, but all a little bit healthy. Turkey sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella... Take my advice and use the shrink-wrapped cheese, not the kind in water. Too much water on your pie. And I dunno about you, but I've never sat on Santa's lap and asked for a watery pie.



After some trial and error (and a lot of blackened dough), turns out these babies cook in about four minutes! (Lets see Domino's beat that). But you want to burn it just a LITTLE bit... This is supposed to simulate the coal or wood-burning pizzeria oven, after all!



I also bought a honkin' pizza blade to cut the pizza with, shaped kind of like a saber and a mezza luna combined (they have them at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Your little wheel just isn't ready for this kind of crunch.

Turkey Marinara Burger

What better time to post a run of burgers than the week of July 4th? Most of these are "alternative burgers," since I thought perhaps this might be the only time of the year when we all might be a little burnt out on the regular kind. In the last week, I've seen a thick, juicy looking, Grade A veggie burger at not only J. Alexander's steak house, but Wrigley Field as well. It's a beautiful time to be alive, friends.



I'm starting things off with something simple (it IS a holiday, and I've had a long day of rainy ball games, dinners out, baby baths and two Old Styles, though not all concurrently). This is a ground turkey patty, having seasoned the meat with Italian seasoning and garlic, salt and pepper. I topped it with melted mozzarella, marinara, and put it on a toasted, buttered roll. I also had some leftover pesto, and I shmeared that on the bottom part of the roll, though you don't necessarily need that part. Deliziosamente sciatto! Which means, "deliciously sloppy." I think.

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

I'm not doing a low-carb throwback to 2001 here, but a good veggie lasagna can be made without the noodles. It's kind of fun, and you can have big pieces of vegetables without grinding them into the sauce or the filling... I just use them instead of the noodles.

I cut the vegetables lengthwise and grill and season them first (I use a grill pan). Then, importantly, you have to pat them very, very dry with paper towels. Otherwise they will cook down further in the pan, and you'll have a soggy lasagna (which is still pretty good, actually, you just have to drain it somewhat.) Then you put a bit of sauce in your pan, and lay the veggies down as you would the noodles.



You can use any veggie you like: eggplant (which you don't have to salt and drain if you grill them), zucchini, yellow squash, even potatoes, which have starch and actually help thicken things up a bit. (I know, I should have cut these eggplant lengthwise, but I forgot. Still pretty good. Doesn't matter, really, as long as they are sliced thinly.)



You alternate the layers with the filling: a mixture of one medium tub of ricotta (again, drained very well), one egg, one cup of mozzarella cheese, a half cup to one cup of parmesan, a couple tablespoons of diced flat parsley,  a little salt and pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Don't use too much filling, or you'll have the water problem again.

I top mine with smoked gouda or mozzarella, some more parmesan, and bake it at about 375 degrees for 45 minutes.



You can also add ground turkey meat or ground sausage to the sauce, or simply add tomato paste to the drained ground meat, and use that as a layer (which again helps it to stay undiluted). Or, go on your merry veggie way and skip the meat.



The smoky flavor adds a little interest to it. Just steer clear of Trader Joe's Light Smoked Gouda. Terrible. I'll never go the way of light cheese again. Remember the Friends episode where one of the guys compares how much he hates something to Monica's feelings on light mayonnaise? (She says, "IT'S NOT MAYONNAISE!!") Well, that's how I feel about light cheese. Plastic doesn't melt, folks. If you wanna go light, I say eat real food and try portion control instead.



Or not... It IS veggies, after all.

Italian Quickie

...And no, I'm not talking about the night that resulted in our baby girl. Oh man, I am KILLING with these jokes lately. Hello? Is this thing on?

The last week of my pregnancy, I wanted three things: meat, cheese, and not to do any work. But I wanted to do something that might convince my husband I was someone resembling the woman he married, so I made one last big meal before the hospital stay.

When he walked in the door, I had created little parcel-like appetizers by wrapping buffalo mozzarella slices, tomato slices, and fresh basil in prosciutto. I found the prosciutto at HALF PRICE at my new favorite store, Valli produce in Arlington Heights.



And yeah, the mozzarella was pre-sliced. Think that's lazy? Oh wait, it gets better.



When I had crammed about four of those into my maw, I decided to make dinner. I used JAR spaghetti sauce, and JAR bechamel or alfredo sauce. And before you have that thought, do me one favor: strap a fifty-pound weight to your stomach. Then cinch it up so that it presses on your heart. Then get someone to kick it up into your ribcage every fifteen seconds. Climb the stairs a few times, go to work for the day, and THEN you judge me.



I alternated the layers of ricotta, egg, parsely and mozzarella mixture with layers of tomato sauce and layers of the alfredo sauce. It was also my first outing with the no-bake lasagna noodles. I'd always feared them in the past, but desperate times...



The result was nothing like homemade or from scratch, but it definitely scratched the itch, if you know what I mean. It was rich, warm, and right on time!

Sliced Veggie Pizza

One of my experimental pizzas recently turned out very well, and if I'm not mistaken, it has the added benefit of being quite good for you.



I sliced up yellow squash, potatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. I used the grill pan for all of the veggies, but you could use a regular grill. If I ever do it again, I will sauté the thin potato slices in a separate pan. It took a long time to get them cooked through on the grill pan, much longer than it ever has in a regular sauté pan (I do potato slices like this for frittatas or egg pies). I wanted all of the veggies pretty much done, and then just leave the cheese to be melted. I started in the middle of the crust, and alternated veggie slices in an outward spiral until the obsessive child inside of me was warm and swaddled. I mean, until I reached the edge of the crust.

I didn't use any sauce, because I thought the finished product would be kinda juicy by itself. I was right. It was very good with just some garlic and olive oil on the crust (I used Trader Joe's pre-made whole wheat Tabula Rasa crust) and the oil and seasoning I used to grill the veggies.

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Chris and I were watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (which we rent via Netflix) last night, and there was an episode in which Larry David gets a sandwich named after him. This prompted a discussion about what our sandwich would be. On a kosher menu, I'd have to go with chopped liver, maybe on rye, for mine, and not just so I could say, "What am I, chopped liver?!" Chris is undecided, though I think a nice lean roast beef suits him nicely.

Still, outside of a deli menu, I think my favorite sandwich is probably grilled eggplant, with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh basil (which has been growing like crazy on a pot on our windowsill this summer) and roma or garden tomatoes, on good ol' french bread. I make the eggplant on my grill pan (though next time I will try the new gas grill outside), and just season it. I also brush on a little olive oil first. When you prepare it this way, you don't have to go through the whole salt and drain procedure, which makes the eggplant much more friendly.



Chris doesn't care too much for eggplant, and I love it. I continue to sort of ignore his preference to not eat it, hoping that one day he'll come around to it like he did with avocado and one or two other things. He's always been willing to eat anything (which I'm basically taking advantage of), but eggplant hasn't risen to one of his favorites yet. Still, he can make his sandwiches without it. More for me.



With the leftovers, I like to reheat the grilled eggplant slices until they are just warm to the touch (just above room temperature). It makes a great summery dinner or lunch, and a sandwich that could represent me any day: all the colors of Italy, rustic and straightforward but a little smart, and with a little bite that's maybe not for everyone.

Marinara Sauce from Scratch

I have some friends who, since the advent in recent years of competitive cooking shows, have flattered me by saying that I should try out for one of those shows. The truth is, I am really just someone who likes to eat, and experiment at home. I have no clue as to certain types of cooking technique. There are areas I just haven't ventured into yet (see the following), and areas I never intend to venture into (why would I try and make great Chicago-style pizza at home when Lou Malnati's makes the perfect pie?) I would be sure to make a total ass of myself on national television. Want a for instance? Here is my shame: until last summer, I never ever made marinara sauce from scratch - meaning, from real, whole, fresh tomatoes.

But you can't say that about me now!



I have friends, blog-reading friends, and adamant strangers tell me that (especially as an Italian) I should be loaded into a cannon and shot straight into hell for not making my sauce from scratch every week. Maybe they're right. But how do you sustain this 100% of the time? Humbly and truly, I just do not get it. The sauce I was taught to make comes from canned tomatoes. That's not really "from scratch." (Maybe that's what some of these people mean, as opposed to jar sauce. Well, if that's what they mean, then THEY'RE not making sauce from scratch, either.) Anyway, that's all I've ever done: either dad's sauce or marinara from canned tomatoes, or a good jar sauce when in a hurry, sick, or hung-over. (I know, I know. But don't throw your tomatoes. Save them for sauce!)



Here's what happened. Ma came to visit, and brought (sorry Ma) a SHIT-ton of beautiful, fresh tomatoes and a lorry-load of okra. What I usually do with tomatoes from her garden is grab a salt shaker, slice, and eat. But this was more than we could have gotten through before the fully ripe beauties went bad. We ate our fill (she, Chris and I) at every meal, and I still had a ton left when she left. So I called my brother and said, "How the hell do I do this?" He said to wash up the tomatoes (natch) and to dip them for a minute or two in boiling water. Then you could peel off the skin, and seed them. These garden tomatoes were so ripe, I just had to run them under hot tap water. I peeled off the skin, split them open in my hands, and scooped out the seeds with my fingers. I set them all aside in a bowl.

I heated a deep skillet with some olive oil, then heated some garlic in it. I finely diced as much onion as I wanted in it, then heated that. I added some "baby bellos," (small portobello mushrooms), and sweated those. Then I added the tomatoes, as much fresh oregano and basil as I thought proper, and some red wine. I kept letting it cook down, adding salt, pepper and about a bit of sugar as I went (it cuts the acid). I just kept tasting it, and soon it was definitely sauce. Whoopee! The bellos are optional, and I like to add a bit of red pepper flakes, but if you don't care for a spicier sauce, you could leave that out, too. You could add green pepper but... guh. Not for this kid.

I had plenty of sauce left over for pizza and pasta throughout the week, so perhaps if I ever get a deep freeze and the garden going next year, I can make enough over a summer to ALWAYS make my sauce from scratch (or at least defrost it that way).

Smoked Cheese and Broccoli Pizza

Things have been pretty stressful around here lately... We have been house-hunting, and trying to figure out how to balance what we want in a house (Chris wants a basement, and I want either a nice kitchen, or a house cheap enough to renovate the kitchen) with the area that we want to live in (we like a walk to either downtown Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, or Des Plaines). As I write this, we are in a price negotiation over a house. I have decided to post in an attempt to distract myself from the worrying!

When my time is limited, I tend to rely on Trader Joe's or other places that I can get simple, prepped food to put together (Market Day helps, too). Chris requested "broccoli pizza" one night, and I thought that sounded good, too. I dunno where he came up with that, but I was happy to provide something so simple.

I steamed a bag of pre-cut broccoli florets, and shredded some smoked jack cheese over some plain shredded mozzarella. I layered them over tomato sauce and extra minced garlic over a pre-made wheat pizza crust (Tabula Rasa is the Joe's brand.) While layering the pizza, I caught Chris making an appetizer out of the cheese and broccoli.



He was putting a small pile of smoked cheese atop a steamed broccoli floret and eating them one at a time. I tried it, and he was really onto something, there!



I knew that the pizza would turn out well because our snack had been so good. That rich taste that broccoli has, and the smoked cheese went really well together.

Pasta Regina Margherita

A lot of you are probably familiar with the basic pizza margherita, named after Queen Margherita of Italy. The colors of the neopolitan pizza are in honor of the Italian flag: the green of the basil, the white of the mozzarella, and the red of the tomato sauce. This cold pasta salad is my version of those same basic colors and flavors, and unlike a whole pizza, you can toss it in the air and catch it in your mouth, even if you're not a Border Collie.



one box of whole-wheat farfalle, or whatever pasta you like
a couple handfuls of the basil and scallions, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 small bag of sun-dried tomatoes, cubed
1 drained container of ovoline, the pearl-shaped fresh mozzarella
1 large handful of pignoli, or pine nuts, toasted and tossed in a skillet first

Cook the pasta, rinse it and drain it. Combine all the other ingredients, then dress it: combine 1 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, the juice of one lemon, at least a tablespoon of salt, some pepper to taste, and about a tablespoon of sugar. Whisk that in a Pyrex or shake it in a container. Toss the pasta in it, and taste it. Add salt or pepper, or red pepper flakes, as I like to do. You can chill this a little, or serve it at room temperature, which I think is better.



I brought this to a housewarming party some time ago, and I think everyone liked it. The sun-dried tomatoes and the pignolis keep it from being bland (and the red pepper, if you add it.) It was pretty cost-effective, and you could have fed an army with the amount it made.

Brooke's Artichoke Dip

Now that I've posted about baking something from scratch (even if I didn't do the cooking), I have to post about something simple to make, or I may end up with a rash. And, eyw, no one wants that.



When I was a freshman in college (age 19, I think), my friend Brooke would also be home, because she was still in high school. Her house was on my way back to route 17, which I took through Dwight and over to I-55 to Bloomington. And what a sad, dark journey that was, especially in winter. So Brooke's house was something I could look forward to, and help stave off the inevitable homesickness I got from going back to school on a Sunday night. I don't remember the particulars surrounding this visit, or what season it was, but I do know she and her mom sent me back to school with two slices of "white pizza" with artichoke hearts. I unwrapped the slices from their tin foil before I went to bed that night. That's because when I was 19, what I really liked to do was stay up too late, eat too much 'round the clock, and complain about why I was gaining weight, sluggish, and still a virgin.

Anyway, I was totally knocked out by what I was eating. I thought it was one of the tastiest things I'd ever eaten, and it wasn't even warmed up, as I was instructed to eat it. Brooke gave me the simple recipe, and I've used it countless times since:

2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan (FINELY grated -- the powdery kind)
1 cup mayonnaise (I now use Hellman's Reduced Fat, the greatest lowfat mayo ever)

To that, you can add:

1 bag of rinsed-until-thawed artichoke hearts, broken up a bit with your fingers (canned works too, but the frozen ones are much fresher-tasting), as Brooke taught me originally,
or/and
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I started doing this sometimes later),
or/and
1 jar drained mushrooms
or/and
a little smoked shredded jack cheese across the top (this is a "new" alternative)
and
garlic seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Pat dry any veggies you are using with a bunch of paper or one "real" towel. Mix well until combined, and then, in one version, you can place the dip in an oven-safe container (as in the photo above). Bake it for 45 minutes or so at about 350, and check on it. I like to put it under the broiler for a minute or two at the end, and serve it with pita bread or chips. Alternatively, you can spread it on a Boboli crust instead of the casserole dish, brushed beforehand with olive oil, and with some crushed garlic scattered about (then you can serve it as a white pizza).

As many times as I've made this, I've probably screwed it up just as many times. Benefit from my mistakes... Here are some things you should not do:

• Do not add the mushrooms/spinach/artichoke hearts until they are VERY dry, drained and then toweled off.


• Do not "eyeball" the measurements. Of COURSE I have attempted that, and it has always bombed, and the end result is "mayonnaise-y." When done properly, there is no hint of the mayo at the end. This was the first dish I made my husband, ever, and there was too much mayo in it. He was reluctant to try it again. (Now he likes it, knowing what it is supposed to taste like.)


• Don't over-salt it. The parmesan is already pretty salty.


• Do not forget the parmesan. Famously, I talked this dish up like crazy to my friends in college, made it, and served it to my friend Fred without adding the parmesan. The end result was too gross to even get into describing.


• Do not use shredded parmesan instead of grated parmesan. I find that it throws off the proportions.

Let ye all take heed. I know Brooke is laughing by now.

Anyway, when I make this for Chris and I as opposed to bringing it to a party, we have a lot left over. I found a third use for it: the dip makes great grilled sandwiches later on!



Just spread the cold, refrigerated dip between bread slices, or with grilled turkey as I've done here. Grill it as you would a grilled cheese. Delish.

Thanks for the recipe, Brooke! Hope I got it right. Love to you and your mom!

Portobello-Eggplant Burgers

While I was in Portland, I visited Powell's City of Books, an amazing multiple-story used and new bookseller downtown (and apparently, the largest of its kind in the world). One of the books I scooped up was "Great Burgers: 50 Mouthwatering Recipes" by Bob Sloan. The first recipe I tried was the vegetarian burger. Aren't I silly?



This burger is called the "Portobello-Eggplant Burger with Smoked Mozzarella and Tapenade." In the book, there are instructions to grind your own olive tapenade with anchovy dressing, but I lazily got the jarred tapenade from Trader Joe's. I also like their smoky Jack cheese, and I used that instead of the smoked mozzarella the recipe called for. The recipe recommended a "sturdy roll," and that was good advice. However, I had some whole wheat pitas I wanted to use up, and they worked just fine, though the ingredients were practically busting out of them.

I grilled the portobello caps, and melted the cheese on them. Then I added a slice of grilled eggplant. I also changed the recipe by adding basil leaves, and a shmear of roasted red pepper and eggplant dip (also from Joe's.) We added sliced tomatoes, and having no room for the recommended grilled onions, we were done! It was delicious. The flavors went together perfectly, and it was one filling, monster burger. Next time I will use the sturdier roll that was recommended, so I can pile them high like Dagwood!

My First Hollandaise Sauce, and Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups

And it was good!



I was inspired by this post on the Home Cook's blog to do another chicken roll-up with a creamy, lemony sauce. Theirs looked awesome, but I wanted just a straight hollandaise on this particular day. So I went hunting of the FoodTV site, and I found one by Tyler Florence that calls for a whole stick of butter. Ah, no. I figured there would be some way to lighten up what is basically warm mayonnaise once I found a feasible recipe... And this one by Paula Deen did the trick. Here it is reprinted, with my changes added in italics:

2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons cream (I used 4 tablespoons nonfat yogurt)
2 large tablespoons butter (I used light butter)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground mustard
pinch cayenne
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
Chicken broth, optional
1 tablespoon white vinegar

The instructions were, "Combine all ingredients in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Stir until thick, approximately 3 minutes; set aside until ready to use. Do not reheat or cover the pot. Thin, if needed with a little chicken broth. Stir in the vinegar." I did the heating part, and it wasn't coming together or thickening... So I quickly added a dissolved teaspoon of corn starch, and added a tablespoon of Just Too Good! light mayo and whisked those in. Then it came together perfectly. I don't know if I needed the additions, or if I was just impatient and it would have thickened anyway... But it worked!

For the chicken cordon bleu, I flattened two chicken breasts, and then covered them with some prosciutto I had bought for Chris' lunches (hey, it was in the house, anyway). Then I just put in a half-stick of string cheese in each, and some smoked Monterey jack cheese. I tied them with string, and just lightly grilled the sides of them.



I then put the chicken in a covered dish and baked them for 20-25 minutes more on 375. Then I grilled some asparagus, because you know, it is the dream of all young asparaguses to one day be bathed in hollandaise sauce. And who am I to dash the hopes of any young asparagi? Guses?



When all was done, I sliced the chicken and laid it out attractively on the plate for its close-up.



I have to say, it was just right. It had a lovely tang to it, and just the right lemony taste with a little vinegar in at the end. I ended up spreading it on not only the asparagus, but the chicken, and a dinner roll as well.