Vibrant Vodka Pasta

What a fabulous little cook! My daughter has an idea, and it comes to life on the plate and the palate.

Along with baking, her pasta dishes are becoming a specialty around here. This deeply delicious vodka sauce has the perfect balance of salty, spicy and tomato creaminess. What a satisfying treat!

Before making the sauce, put a big pot of water to boil for the pasta. Don't forget to heavily salt the water. It makes or breaks the dish! Use a nice big, thick type of pasta, rigatoni, fusilli etc...

The trick to this sauce is to let the layers cook down in between steps.

Saute: in olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
at least 1 tbsp chili pepper flakes, more if you want to spice it up
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

Once golden, add in half a tube or half a small can of tomato paste and allow it to cook down
Add a half small can of crushed tomatoes
Throw in 2 crushed garlic cloves, these will be removed later

Now the sauce needs to simmer for a while. Once simmered add in 1/3 cup vodka and stir, allow to cook down.

Then add about 1 cup of 15% cream and this rose sauce should now have a very silky consistency. At this point taste for salt and pepper.

Now it is time to add the pasta to the sauce. Loosely strain with pasta water if you using a spider spoon to transfer the pasta to the sauce. If not, reserve a cup of the pasta water to add in the sauce. It really smooths everything out and gives a glossy finish. For an extra richness, add a nob of butter.

Serve right away, nice and hot, adding parma and basil to every plate. This is a great birthday dinner for Dad!!  And goes so well with a big glass of delicious red wine for Mom.

Bravo sou!!!

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Super Simple Fresh Bean Salad

Over 20 years ago, my brother in law served this bean salad with dinner. It was fabulous then, and here we are still making it all the time! 

For posterity, here it is...super simple and colorful!

Canned beans, rinced and drained. We love any and all beans in this salad. One kind or mixed, depending on the crowd, just scale this recipe.

Add, frozen corn niblets that have been thawed. A must.

Diced onion, red is best, or scallions.

Some carrot and celery if you have it.

Tons of finely chopped fresh cilantro.

Olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Salt and pepper

That's it! This is a great side, we especially love it on a hot summer day, with fish or any grilled meat.

Why not add a few other fun textures? This salad can be a base for lots of good stuff. 

But best loved as is.

Enjoy! 

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Orange- Scented Cardamom Coffee Cake

In the mood for a "breakfast" sweet but not too sweet treat? This is a really delicious orange- scented and spiced cake, perfect friend to a good strong coffee.

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, combine:
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp salt

In a smaller bowl, mix:
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. melted butter (1 stick)
vanilla or almond extract, just a hint

Pour the liquid into the dry and combine but don't over mix. It will be a fairly dense batter. Place this into a buttered or "pam-etized" pie plate sized cake pan. Bake for 25 min. Do not over bake! It will be a dense and moist cake.

I made a mascarpone and cream cheese icing with orange zest, only because I had these in the fridge. Decadent for sure. An orange juice and icing sugar glaze would be really good too. Get the zest in where you can.

I love the cardamom aroma in the kitchen in the morning, and serve this warm, it is really great!

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Mom's "Throwback" Tuna Casserole

Our Mom made this casserole many times when we were kids, and my sister and I just loved it! I was telling my own kids about it and they just about gagged. No way, tuna schmoushola!! I was out to prove them wrong. With one, there was no convincing, the other took it on as a challenge, and WOW, what a huge delicious surprise (haha to you) and success!!

The best noodles to use are the thick "No Yolk" noodles, actually keeps the dish light. You can pre-cook these "al dente" as they will bake in the oven in a pyrex or corning ware type pan.

Saute:1 small onion, a handful of mushrooms, couple of stalks of chopped celery and 1 chopped leek  Set this aside.

Make a light bechamel type sauce: in a small pot, on medium heat, melt to sizzle 2 tbsp. butter, add 2 tbsp. flour and cook down. Slowly add 1.5 cups of milk (warm it up a bit before using here if you can) and whisk, add 1/2 chicken stock for flavour, of course salt and pepper. Once thickened, add a half can of cream of mushroom or celery soup, some chopped fresh rosemary. Add some cheese, strong cheddar and gruyere is a super combo, or any mix you have. Luxe, thick sauce!!

In a large bowl, gently combine the pre-cooked noodle with the sauce, add lots of small green peas and the sauteed vegg. To this, add 2 cans of tuna. Place this into a buttered baking dish. Top with a lightly buttered panko mixed with more cheese.

Ready to bake. At 375F, cook covered with foil for about 20 min, and then uncovered for another 10 min. Broil for a couple of min at the end to add color and crunch.

This casserole is really fabulous. Thanks Mom for all the fabulous dinners we always had as kids. Now to remember the filet of sole casserole...I will dig deep into my brain for that one. I know it has cream of shrimp soup!!!

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Perfection! NYC Style Chicken Parma

In our top 5 family fave repertoire must be Chicken Parma. I always thought I made a really good one as my family told me so. Oh, so sorry!!! Not as good as this new version. The taste reminiscent of the Parkside Chicken Parma we enjoyed with our Dad a hundred years ago in Corona, Queens, NYC. That salty, cheesy crispy, only in NYC flavour.

A bit of a process:

Make your favorite version of marinara sauce. I simply saute in olive oil- tons of chopped garlic until golden, some chili flakes, add 2 cans of whole of diced tomatoes which I crush in the pot, and lots of salt and pepper. No onion, no sweetness in my sauce!

For the chicken- the KEY to this amazing parma is the marinade and technique.

Butterfly chicken breasts, and pound them flat. One should be good for 2 people.
In a pyrex or pan, let the chicken sit in the fridge for a few hours in a marinade of lots of chopped garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. It may go opaque and that's OK.

Breading:
1 plate of flour and salt, eyeball enough to cover the amount of chicken you will dredge
1 plate of 2-3 beaten eggs, add 1 tbsp. each of garlic and onion powder, some oregano (Greek if you have it, so much better than the rest!) some rosemary nice, and salt and pepper.
1 plate of panko or regular breadcrumbs, no seasoning needed.

So, first the marinated chicken is dipped in the flour and shaken, then the egg, then the panko. Place this on a rack which will then go back in the fridge for about  30 min to an hour. It dries up which make a crispier fry. This is also KEY!!

In a large Creuset or deep pot, put about an inch of Canola or any light high- heat frying oil. Not olive oil here...the oil needs to get HOT. To test if ready, dip a corner of the chicken and

check for that sizzle. Drop the breast in the oil and let it deep fry for about 2 min. on each side. Keep going until all of them are cooked, one at a time. They will be golden brown!!

In a pan that can handle a broil, place sauce on the bottom, then the fried breasts on top, add more sauce not quite to the edge, and top with good quality mozzarella mixed with Parmesan cheese, (no other cheese!). Sprinkle fresh finely chopped parsley all over.

At this point, you can bake the breasts for a few minutes and then broil. If the chicken is thin enough, just broil.

Serve with your favorite pasta...it's a killer! 

I promise, this is the BEST chicken parma you will ever make. I'm sticking with it as my birthday meal!!

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"Club Med" White Chocolate Bread

Dreaming of a fabulous holiday with tons of sun and a turquoise sea? Dreaming of that other-worldly white chocolate bread share with best friends at the secluded Club Med Columbus Isle?

Make it at home!

Thankfully, my daughter has inherited her Yiayia's deft hand for baking and her Gran's knack with all things sweet and delicious.  The double whammy, just enough to make this famous vacation treat. And boy, it is as good or better than how we remember it.

1.5 c. all purpose flour
4 tsp. or 14 grams ( 2 packets ) of dry active yeast
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. water
6 oz white chocolate chips or chunks (quality chocolate please)

You can use a mixer with a bread paddle, but we make this by hand.
Combine flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl.
Add the water and knead or mix for about 10 minutes. If more water is needed, you can add some slowly.
The right consistency is when the dough is smooth and homogeneous, and should not stick to your hands or the bowl.
Add the chocolate and make sure it is well distributed in the dough.

Take the dough out of the bowl and shape into a ball. Let it rest for a few minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 400F.
After about 5 min. pound the dough into the desired shape loaf, we do long- ish. This may take a bit of kneading and folding till you get the right shape.

On a parchment lined pan, let the loaf rest for 45 min. You can put a damp cloth over it, and it should double in size. This works well when the pan is sitting on the pre-heating oven, seems to really help the rise.

Once ready, place a 1/2 cup of water at the base of the oven. This will create some vapor while the loaf is baking. Bake it for about 20 min. or until the top is a nice golden brown.

It looks so nice when some of the exposed white chocolate is dark and yummy. The loaf should be golden brown.

Serve this warm... the texture is surprisingly soft and the chocolate gives it just the right amount of sweetness.

We are thinking of using this same recipe for a savory loaf, like a garlic twist!!!

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