Greek Comfort Food

We occasionally go to two restaurants on York Road that make wonderful Greek food. Something that stood out for me was slouvaki, specifically the tzatziki sauce. I love eating it....so I figured, hey why not? So I bought ingredients that I assumed would go in the sauce. Funny thing ....when I was checking out at Wegmans, the guy behind me was also making a tzatziki sauce. I was impressed. 


Either way, this recipe was a hit with the JG. I will be making this again in a few days for Miller & Sarah's wedding extravaganza. (I will also be taking a stab a guacamole for the first time....you'll see a post soon enough about that one. ) This came from AllRecipes.com. 

Tzatziki:

• 2 (8 ounce) containers plain yogurt
• 2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled

If I had to do it all over again, I'd put it all together in a food processor. I didn't register for one of those... I would use all of these measurements as guides.... except the plain yogurt.  Everything is to taste. I think I used 4 cloves of garlic and a little bit more dill. It was dried dill. 

Once you put this all together, I would advise you to put it in the fridge to set for a little bit. Justin ate the sauce about 5 days later and thought it was even better. 

I seasoned and grilled chicken to taste. I served the chicken with diced yellow onion and tomato over a whole wheat pita. 

The Perfect Summer Drink, Part 1

Justin played bartender on this one. The excuse for this recipe was to use our brand new drink dispenser from Crate and Barrel. This is a Guy Fieri recipe. We took a few ingredients out and added some in... (didn't think 1/2 c of sugar was necessary!)

Ingredients

• 6 cups ice
• 6 ounces light rum
• 1 (750-ml) bottle Sauvignon Blanc
• 3 ounces peach schnapps
• 6 ounces fresh lime juice
• 4 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 6 ounces sprite
• ~1 lb frozen peaches
• ~1lb frozen strawberries

Directions

In a pitcher add ice and stir together all the ingredients except for the garnishes. Serve drinks over ice garnished with lemon and lime wheels.

Pretty easy. I'm going to continue making a good signature cocktail ala Sandra Lee. 

Cheers!

We shall experiment with a Part 2 soon. 

Small Beautiful Muffins

I made these muffins for a morning with Cirucci, Myers, Big, JD, and the JG. I got up early knowing that I should make something & because sleeping until 7 meant I had slept in 2 hours. I looked at my pantry....hmm only 2 eggs....no milk....no bread....

I found this recipe in America's Test Kitchen cookbook. Instead of Big... I made them mini, using my Pampered Chef mini muffin pan. They came out delicious and they were still warm when I brought them over.

Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups Stoneyfield french vanilla non-fat yogurt
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted & cooled

This recipe yielded about 2 1/2 dozen mini muffins. I baked each batch at 375 for about 10 minutes or so. (To be honest with you, I can't remember exactly as I am catching up on recipes.)

My biggest hints for baking anything- if it says to bake it for a certain time, (like 30 minutes) set the timer to go off after 2/3rds of the way.... (i.e. 20 minutes) Because ovens heat differently, I don't always trust the instructions. I like to determine how long the "last third" will be.
Also, when you start to really smell the wonderment... it's time to at least check it. Then touch it for firmness. (Obviously this only goes for baked goods.)

Pineapple Upsidedown Bundt Cake

It's been awhile since my last blog. I'm teaching, I'm tired, and I can't wait until I'm done on May 13th. (I apologize for my shortness.) I want to shout out to my great friends whom featured this blog at my bridal shower a few weeks back. 

Pictured: Me at my bridal shower opening up my new Pampered Chef's fluted stoneware pan. Thanks Auntie Sharon!

They really made my shower unique and personal to me and Justin...so they handed out my recipes. I did get recipes from the family...so when I have time, I will go through them and start making them. One by one. Why not? I will be jobless and "schooless" in t-10 days (not counting weekends, of course). 

So Baby Justin came to town and Julie is not a big fan of chocolate. (wish I had the same will power) So I decided to make this cake as I remembered when Julie was pregnant she could not get enough pineapple. 

Justin with Baby Justin. 

A Proud Mama, Julie

So I've never made a pineapple upside cake. I've never made a bundt cake. So why not make them together at the same time!? I used my new Pampered Chef fluted stoneware pan.(Thanks Auntie Sharon!)

This recipe is so easy and soo good. 

Pineapple Upsidedown Bundt Cake

Preheat oven 350 degrees

- Mix white box cake, 1 pkg instant vanilla pudding together in a large bowl

- Add 3 eggs, 3/4 c of non-fat sour cream, and 1/2 cup of non-fat french vanilla yogurt (Stoneyfields, of course)

- 1/2 cup of pineapple juice (use the juice from can from the slices 

- Mix very well and carefully. It was really thick so I added a little bit more pineapple juice to get a thinner (not thin...I said thinner!) batter. 

In the meantime, after the oven has heated up, put about 2 tablespoons of butter in the fluted pan. (I chopped up the butter into smaller pieces so it would melt faster and more evenly) Once the butter has melted, take the pan out and try to get all the sides of the pan with the butter. Whatever the butter doesn't hit, spray with a little Pam. (Especially since my stoneware is brand new, I did this. Need time to season it!) 

Put about one cup (or desired amount) of brown sugar in the bottom of the buttered pan. Line the bottom with pineapple slices. Put cherries in the center of the rings, or your preference. :) 

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake springs back when you push down on it. 

This cake was FANTASTIC. I hope to dream about it tonight!

Bon Appetite. 

Homemade, Fall off the Bone, Oven Smoker, Babyback Ribs

Well, Lauren is usually the one who makes the post so I am trying my hand at it for the first time. To celebrate Valentine's day I decided to makes us a tasty dinner. I found inspiration in the meat aisle of Wegman's in the form of beautiful and affordably priced ($10.50 for a 13 bone rack) baby back ribs. Having done a lot of research on how to cook ribs from outdoor to indoor cooking methods and combination of both I think I have found a method that produces ribs that  are so tasty you would think they came from the kitchen of a competition barbeque professional. Any way here is how I did it.

First, the preparation of the rack:
1) Trim the fat from the sides and top of the rack.
2) On the under side of the rack there is a two part membrane. There is an outer layer  that you have to remove. It is a little tricky but work your fingers between the ribs bones and the membrane. Once you have a little pocket gently start to lift it off the bones. Then you can carefully peel the membrane off the bones. Ideally it will peel of in one piece.
3) With a sharp knife gently slice in between each rib. Be careful not to go all the way through the meat. You just want to slice the inner layer of the membrane.

Second, the rub:
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (reduce or leave out if you don't like heat)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the rub with a utensil, I prefer my fingers that way I can break up any clumps of brown sugar. Once it is all mixed rub it on both sides of your meat. DO NOT be gentle or stingy. It is called a rub for a reason! Give the ribs a good massage with the rub.

Photo 1: (The rack rubbed down ready cook note wire racks on top of the wood chips)

Third, the cooker:
To build your oven smoker your will need four things:
1) Large aluminum rectangular roasting pan
2)  2 Cooling racks (like you use for cookies)
3) Wood chips (I used mesquite)
4) Roll of aluminum foil

Dump the wood chips into the bottom of the pan a spread them out into a thin, even layer. Place the cooling racks on top of the chips with the legs folded up. Dump in about 2 cups of water over the chips. Let this sit about 15-20 minutes so the chips absorb the water. You can set this up before you trim the ribs and make the rub that way you can slap the ribs in once they are ready. After the ribs are in build a tent around the roaster with the aluminum foil. Make sure the peak of the tent is 6-7" over the top of the roaster. Also make sure that there are no gaps. Every thing must be sealed up tight.

Fourth, the cooking:

This is the easy part... Pre-heat the oven to 275 and then put the smoker in the oven for 5-6 hours. Don't peak! It is like Christmas when you open the tent, just be very, very careful because the tent is filled with steam!

Photo 2: (The Cooked Rack note the "bark" or skin made by the rub)

Five, the eating:
I served this with homemade fries (see the fish and chips recipe) and green beens with shallots and garlic olive oil sauce (see the Wegman's frozen food aisle). We sauced the ribs with Wegman's Memphis style BBQ sauce warmed up a little. We enjoyed the meal with Manage  a Tois, a blended, red, California table wine.

Photo 3: (Fixin' to eat these delicious ribs)

Photo 4: (The meat fell right off the bone and melted in my mouth)

I know what you are thinking...5-6 hours that is a long time...You didn't sauce the ribs while you cooked them...They must have tasted like you were eating a campfire... Well let me reassure that while 5-6 hours is a long time you don't need to tend to these in any way, so you can go about your business around the house while these cook, but don't leave them unattended (you know the whole fire safety thing). Again the research suggests that the best BBQ is sauced after it is cooked. The sauce is a condiment, not an ingredient. You don't put ketchup on your hotdog while you cook it so so don't sauce your ribs while you cook them. And as for the smoke taste, it is very mild and not over powering in the least.  This is a very easy way to make great ribs and the results are worth the little bit of effort. ENJOY!

Another Blizzard Breakfast

With all of this snow and no place to go, we've been cooking up a storm. (ha, ha) Here's the same location with updated snow level:

Since we still had challah bread from the Blizzard Breakfast Bake, I decided to make french toast.

Challah Bread

2 eggs

Milk

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon 

Confectionary Sugar

Heat up a grill pan over the stove so that it is evenly heated when you put the bread in the pan. Scramble the eggs and add some milk. Cut challah bread into 1" thick slices or so. Dip challah bread into egg mixture and put onto pan. Sprinkle cinnamon & brown sugar onto each piece. Flip over once the side is golden brown. Sprinkle cinnamon & brown sugar on other side. Once you plate the french toast, sprinkle confectionary sugar to taste. Easy, fast, and good. The best type of breakfast. 

The Blizzard Breakfast Bake

Over the weekend, we received over 2 feet of snow.... 25-30".  Besides the fact that I'm student teaching and I don't have to make up any days, I love snow because it makes you slow down and be able to spend time with family and friends. We are expecting about foot or so of snow Tuesday into Wednesday...so stay tuned to another post. 

I went to Wegmans just as the storm began so I was able to get some good things so I could bake this weekend. 


Blizzard Breakfast Bake: serves ~8 hungry people


* 10 eggs
* skim milk (about 1 cup)
* Bob Evans Low Fat Pork Sausage 
* 1/2 loaf of challah bread
* 1 1/2 cups (usually 1 package) of 2% lowfat cheddar cheese (I prefer Sharp)
* Butter or  nonstick spray
* Salt & pepper to taste


Butter or spray a casserole dish (10 x 13 if you have one). If you are serving to a lot of people, I suggest the butter because it tastes soo good. If you are making this to eat over a few days and want to save on calories, I'd use Pam. Brown the sausage. As the sausage is cooking, pull the challah bread apart and put it into the casserole dish. I would pull 1" cubes, no larger. Challah bread is a Jewish sweetbread. It is delicious! Also makes great french toast. I suggest Challah if you can find it, or another sweet bread. If I were home, I'd get Portuguese Sweet bread from Cornerstone Bakery.


Once the sausage is brown, pour it evenly into the casserole dish, over the bread. Evenly put the cheese over the bread and sausage. Scramble the eggs and add the milk. Season with salt and pepper. (Put more than you think you'll need) You could always use all egg whites, but I suggest you use some yolks. 


Pour the egg mixture over the bread & sausage & cheese. The mixture should cover the bread & sausage. If not, it does not hurt to add more eggs & milk. 


In a perfect world, cover & refrigerate over night. If not, let it sit for as long as possible. We didn't because we were too tired from shoveling & walking to and from the bar and I'm sure that's why it added to our cooking time. (The bread needs to soak up some of the mixture...less liquid = less baking time)


Bake in over for 30 minutes for 350 degrees or until the egg mixture is set. There should be no liquid. Just stick a spoon in there and try to scoop it up. I know Justin increased the temp to 400-450 for a few minutes towards the end because it was taking too long. It was wonderful. 


You can make many variations to this bake.... make it more mexican, make it spicy, put ground turkey meat in instead. The world is your breakfast bake.