More is Better

From Mario Batali and Carla Hall on The Chew --made it for Katie as a special holiday meal as Shrimp and Grits are one of her favorites! Yum Yum Yum and a fun presentation for company. I used jumbo shrimp even though it called for small. GRITS: 2 cups quick cooking grits 2 1/2 cups milk 2 1/2 cups chicken stock (plus more if needed) 1/4 cup butter (plus 1 tablespoon for greasing) 4 eggs (separated) 1 lemon (zested) 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste) SHRIMP SCAMPI : 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound small shrimp (peeled, deveined, tails removed) 2 cloves garlic (peeled, sliced) 1 tablespoon parsley (finely chopped, plus more for garnish) 1 lemon (zest and juice, divided) 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional) 1/2 cup white wine 3 tablespoons butter Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste) Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease a 6 1/2 cup souffle dish with 1 tablespoon butter. For th...

Kevin was back at the stove this past weekend and made dinner both nights. This was delicious and we made the full recipe and froze half for another quick weeknight meal. This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated I have to apologize because they wont let you get it off the web without paying a fee even though we subscribe to the magazine!

Kevin was back at the stove this past weekend and made dinner both nights. This was delicious and we halved the recipe as you can tell by the amounts noted beside the  recipe. This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated I have to apologize because they wont let you get it off the web without paying a fee even though we subscribe to the magazine!

This recipe came from the Amaro booklet and was created by mixologist Sam Ross NYC,NY.  It was really nice -definitely use fresh lemon juice not bottled. 1 1/2 oz Amaro Nonino Quintessentia 1 1/2 oz Aperol 1 1/2 oz Bourbon 1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice Mix equal parts of each of the above - shake over ice and strain. serve in a cordial glass. We served it over large ice cube and with a lemon peel.

This is my 3rd Lentil soup recipe this time a modification of Giada De Laurentiis recipe from the Food Network. Instead of the pasta suggested I used Sa Fregula Sarda which is a traditional Sardinian pasta. Also we added cut up cherry tomatoes on top like they did in Rome. 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 1 medium onion, chopped 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes 1 pound lentils (approximately 1 1/4 cups) 11 cups low-salt chicken broth 4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs 2/3 cup dried elbow pasta 1 cup shredded Parmesan Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. A...

We read an article on Friday night about a recent NPR show about AMARO a favorite aperitif  of ours from several  years of work trips to Italy  and sampling all the Amaro's from different regions. A recent NPR show was about a slightly more grown-up amaro experience. They took  All Things Considered  host Ari Shapiro on a tasting tour at  Don Ciccio & Figli . It's an unassuming establishment located in a Washington, D.C., warehouse with mermaid silhouettes painted on the walls. The air smells like cinnamon, eucalyptus and lemon peel, and the space is cluttered with wooden barrels and rows of glass bottles full of the rich auburn liquid made by proprietor Francesco Amodeo. They are open for tasting and tours every Saturday afternoon so off we went we were fortunate to have Mr. Amodeo as our tour and taste guide....Needless to say we went home with several bottles of their products! "Our traditions started back in 1883," he says. But the Amodeo famil...

This was a great leftover use of a fabulous Thanksgiving meal. It comes from Food Network - Katie follows them on Instagram and sent it onto me knowing I would try it!! We did find we had to run the waffle iron for 2 cycles to get it crispy and done enough. If you don't have enough leftover stuffing you can always whip up a package of stovetop and then add the egg and fresh parsley. 4 1/2 cups crumbled leftover stuffing 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 2 large eggs, beaten Vegetable oil, for brushing waffle iron Sliced leftover turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce, for serving Special equipment: waffle iron (preferably Belgian style) Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high. Combine the stuffing, parsley and eggs. Generously brush the top and bottom of the waffle iron with oil. Evenly and firmly pack each section of the waffle iron full with the stuffing mixture. Close and cook until golden and the waffles can easily be lifted out of the waffle iron, 4 to 6 minutes. Meanwhile, heat...

This was absolutely delicious and I quartered the recipe so that was plenty for two of us. It comes from a new website called Milkstreet. BTW I found vanilla beans at Costco at a great price. 5 POUNDS SWEET POTATOES 1 CUP HEAVY CREAM 4 BAY LEAVES 1 VANILLA BEAN ⅓ CUP PLUS 1 TABLESPOON PACKED DARK BROWN SUGAR 1¼ TEASPOONS KOSHER SALT ¾ TEASPOON GROUND BLACK PEPPER ⅓ CUP WHITE SUGAR PINCH CAYENNE PEPPER (OPTIONAL) Heat the oven to 400ºF with one rack in the middle position and another 6 inches from the broiler. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and arrange on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack, turning once, until tender, 1 to 1½ hours. Let cool.  Increase oven to 425ºF. While the potatoes roast, in a medium saucepan, combine the cream and bay leaves. With a paring knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise, then scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and pod to the cream and simmer over medium h...

Mario Batali has his own website and he shared his Thanksgiving menu and this is his signature cocktail --it was deelish! for the cocktails: 1 cup cranberries ½ cup water ¼ cup sugar ginger simple syrup (recipe below) prosecco for the Ginger Simple Syrup: 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 1 3-inch piece ginger, sliced in coins Stir cranberries, water and sugar together over moderate heat in a saucepot. Remove from heat once all cranberries have burst, about five minutes. Cool completely. Add 2-3 spoonfuls of cranberry mixture to the bottom of a champagne glass. Top with a splash of ginger simple syrup then fill the rest of the glass with prosecco. Serve immediately. For the Ginger Simple Syrup: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. Cool completely and strain. Store unused simple syrup in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks

This recipe comes from a friend of my daughters Naomi's blog -they were soooooooo good and the flavor of both the vanilla and bourbon was fabulous. I halved her original recipe and it still made 10 pancakes --however I did not halve the syrup and it will be delish on other pancake batches. They only thing I might consider adding is a dollop of fresh whip cream - would be perfect for a brunch or holiday morning delight! I didn't have buttermilk on hand so used the white vinegar technique. Be sure to let it rest the 15 minutes as thats why they are such light pancakes. Thanks to IVgreenhouse! Please know I am not in the same league with this very talented woman! 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 1/8 cup baking powder (Yup really that much!) pinch salt 3 oz bourbon 2 eggs 1 cups buttermilk (can be made with a cup of milk with 1 t white vinegar or lemon juice let stand 5 minutes) 1/4 cup milk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract For the Syrup 1 cup maple syrup...

This recipe was awesome it came from an Antica Formula Vermouth website and we used Buffalo Trace Bourbon. The only thing we would do different is chill our glasses as there is no ice in this recipe. The cherries are what my brother in law used--found online Amazon or Sur La Table or Italian stores. Whole Foods even had a little different jar one with hat was actually black cherries. Other ideas for the cherries are serve them over ice cream or pancakes! 2 oz. Bourbon (I prefer Four Roses) 2 oz. Antica Formula sweet vermouth (if you prefer dry substitute Carpano Dry) 3 dashes Angostura bitters 1 oz. Dark Morello cherry juice 1 dark morello cherry for garnish Place first four ingredients in a shaker without ice and shake to mix. Pour into a coupe and garnish with a cherry. Cheers!

This recipe was made on The Chew by Alton Brown. My Katie in her present state did not want a sweet item for brunch but was craving savory. This was fabulous and who doesn't love pasta for breakfast ---definitely add the pasta water as it needs it. Like Mario who made this recipe with Alton we agreed go regular white pasta not wheat and because it was not fresh pasta required the full 9 minutes to cook. Deeelish! 1 tablespoon orange zest 1/4 cup parsley leaves (finely chopped) 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 tablespoon Kosher salt 8 ounces linguine (preferably whole wheat) 8 ounces breakfast sausage 2 scallions (thinly sliced) 4 large eggs (room temperature) 3 ounces Pecorino Romano (finely grated) 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper In a small bowl add orange zest, parsley and bread crumbs and mix to combine. Set aside. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add 2 quarts water, the salt, and linguine. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and c...

We made this on Sunday after I found it own ALLRECIPES.COM the story behind it was a couple that had it at a B&B and the owner not named shared it. I was pretty true to the recipe with the only exception of the bread -- I used Trader Joes Brioche Sliced Bread --please remove the paper on each slice (Kevin made it as toast 2 days in a row before he discovered it --OOPS!) I bought maple syrup to serve with it but it doesn't need it at all --fresh whip cream and berries are lovely with it. 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1/3 cup chopped pecans 12 (3/4 inch thick) slices French bread 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 cup fresh orange  1/2 cup 2% milk 3 tablespoons white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 egg  2 eggs 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, and ...

Kinda made this recipe up on my own -it was a great last minute weekday meal. 3 italian sausage sliced out of casing and broken up (we used sweet and hot) 1/2 onion diced half jar Trader Joe's Fall Harvest Sauce 1/2 package orchiette pasta, cooked ( SAVE 1/2 c pasta water) fresh ricotta Saute sausage and onion in EVOO Add cooked pasta and sauce and reserved pasta water Top with ricotta. Great as a leftover! 

Finally from allrecipes.com a recipe for using kale that I liked since I was never a big kale fan! "These are a low calorie nutritious snack. Like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one. They are great for parties and a good conversation topic." Ingredients 1 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon seasoned salt Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.