It really has been a while since I have logged any recipes.  The little man in the photo is what has pulled me away for so long.  I have missed cooking and blogging about it.  But don’t fret.  I am coming back very soon.  For the past nine months I was baking a little person.  The timer went off about 6 weeks ago and we pulled him out of the oven.  He is a perfect little angel and I am enjoying being a mommy.

The further along I was with my pregnancy the less interested I became in cooking.  The last trimester was really challenging since I didn’t feel like myself.  I attempted to cook in my last month.  I was feeling energetic and it was like someone had turned on my pilot light.  Half way through cooking I was feeling clumsy (more than usual) and I couldn’t reach certain things and just didn’t feel welcome in my own kitchen.  My husband had to step in and complete cooking our meal, otherwise we would have ordered take out since I was about to burn everything.  So I succumbed to my pregnant body that was making it difficult for me to cook.  Honestly, I had not had the desire to cook anyway, so I was fine with waiting a few more weeks to cook again.

I am happy to report my cooking skills, desire, passion and flavors have all returned.  My kitchen has welcomed me back with open arms and I am ready to face my pots and pans again.  I have been cooking up a storm for the last couple of weeks.  Not being able to cook felt as if all the air was sucked out of the world around me.  I am busy in the kitchen and will be sharing some yummy goodness with you soon.

Stay tuned . . . .

Even though I have been spending time moving, I still managed to put together a small post.  I have been obsessing over hot chocolate lately.  Check out the new post on the new address.

Meezahnplahs.com

See you soon!

MZP

I have two words for you: Porcini Mushrooms.

God they are so good.  Open up the container and just stick your nose in it.  I smell food like a somelier smells wine.  Take it in, breath it, become it.  Okay, maybe I am taking it a little too far.  But I am sure some of you out there may feel the same way.

Porcini mushrooms have an amazing smell.  Earthy, nutty, sensual, and just exquisite.  In Italy they consider the Porcini mushroom to be the king of all mushrooms.  Here is a fun fact for you.  Do you know what a Mycologist does?  A Mycologist is a mushroom scientist.  A person dedicated to the world of fungi.  I just learned this the other day and I am fascinated and want to know more.  I would love to meet a Mycologist, have them over for dinner.  Maybe serve them mushrooms?  Or do you think they get tired of them?  I loooooooove mushrooms.  I know I love garlic too, but there is no jealousy in my love.  It is all good.

Place porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let the mushrooms sit for about 20 minutes to soften.

After your mushrooms are nice and tender, strain them and reserve the liquid.  Make sure to push them into the strainer to get all the juices out.  You can also chop them up a bit before you put them into the pan.  You will also want to strain the liquid in a strainer lined with a paper towel, to get the liquid clear of any dirt.

You can start on your prep while the mushrooms are soaking.  Grab your onions.

Chop up 1 1/2 – 2 onions depending on their size.

And don’t forget the garlic. I think I used about 6-7 cloves, but you may want to use about 4 or so.  I think I saw a recipe that called for 2 cloves.  That is just not right.  What are 2 cloves supposed to do in a rich sauce?  They will get lost; don’t let that happen to your garlic.

Grab some carrots and celery.  I used 4 carrots, but two of them were really small.  So two large or three regular size carrots would have worked.  Same goes for the celery.  I used about 4 short stalks.

When you have a few items that need to be sliced and diced, make the same motions before you proceed to the next.  Meaning take all the stalks and slice them into thin strips and then dice all the strips instead of slicing and dicing one stalk at at time.  Repeating the same motion will speed the process along.  Think of it as a factory line.

I wanted to add a bit of demi glace to my bolognese and I used this stuff.  This will add a lot of flavor.  Place the demi glace into a small pot, add 1/2 cup of water and whisk until combined and remove from the heat.

Get a big can of San Marzano tomatoes.  You could use other tomatoes, but why would you? San Marzano tomatoes are related to plum tomatoes.  They are well suited for a sauce like this, because they are sweeter than regular tomatoes and less acidic.

Dump the tomatoes out of the can and into a large bowl.  Use your potato masher to crush the tomatoes.

Here we go . . . start with heating your pan, and then drizzle about 2 T of olive oil.  Heat the oil until it shimmers.

Add the beef (grass fed baby) and sausage to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Brown the meat, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Use the same pan.  Drop your carrots in first and sweat down for a couple of minutes.  The reason I  like to put the carrots in first is to get them browned.  Celery and onion have so much water in them that the carrots don’t have have the opportunity to get browned.  Getting them browned, or caramelized, just adds more natural sweetness.  Look at at all the juicy brown bits forming in the pan.  Yum!

Then add your onions, garlic and celery, rosemary and bay leaf.  Let the mixture sweat down for a couple of minutes.  Add your white wine, let it reduce by half.

Add everything else and  let the magic happen.  The longer this sauce simmers the better it gets. Use a hearty pasta, like a tagliatelle, bucatini or a rigatoni.  There are many varieties you can use, but make sure it is a pasta that can hold up to the meaty sauce.

Grate a bit of fresh nutmeg over your sauce.  You can use the pre-ground stuff but fresh is better.  It is also stronger so don’t get too carried away.

Garnish with some Parmesano Reggiano and enjoy!  A glass of sangiovese or chianti wine and crusty bread goes along very nice with this sauce.

1 1/2  onions, chopped small dice
2-3    carrots, chopped small dice
2-3    celery Stalks, chopped small dice
4-7    garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups dried porcini mushrooms
2        cups boiling water
1/2    cup water
2        tablespoons of olive oil
2        tablespoons of demi glace (one individual package)
1         pound ground grass fed beef
2        fresh Italian sausage links
1        28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
1        sprig of rosemary, chopped
1        bay leaf
1        cup dry white wine (you can also use red wine or leave it out)
1/8    teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1        pound dried rigatoni
parmesano reggiano for garnish

1. Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the boiling water to soften.  Let stand for about 20 minutes.  Strain mushrooms and reserve liquid. Squeeze the mushroom to get out any liquid.  Line another strainer with a paper towel and let the liquid strain to clean it, then chop.
2. Heat oil, cook both meats, season with salt and pepper. Once browned, remove with a slotted spoon and put aside.
3. Use the same pan and any fat left in the pan.  You can add more oil if the pan is too dry.  Drop carrots, cook down for a couple of minutes.  Add celery, onions, garlic, rosemary and bay leaf.  Let mixture cook down for 3 – 5 minutes.
5. Add wine and let it reduce by half.  Scrape any brown bits stuck on the bottom of the pan
6. While onion mixture is cooking, drain your tomatoes into a bowl and crush with a potato masher.
7.  Place the demi glace concentrate into a small pan and add 1/2 cup of water.  Whisk until fully combined and set aside.
8.  Add meat mixture back to the pan, porcini mushrooms, reserved mushroom liquid, tomatoes, demi glace, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Simmer the sauce for at least an hour and up to 3 hours.
9.  In the meantime cook your pasta.  Drain it and serve sauce over pasta.  Garnish with parmesano reggiano and mangia!

I managed to put together a yummy pasta dish with shredded chicken breasts, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese.  My favorite dishes are ones with few and simple ingredients.  I can now add this one to the list.

My mother-in-law (AKA Santa) gave us a basket of foodie goodies.  One of the items in the basket was this dainty pasta that reminds me of a tulip.

Can you see the similarity? Or am I just off my rocker?  Either way I think they are pretty.

And so colorful!  They will be a nice addition to the dish.  Go ahead and place a pot of water on the stove for the pasta.  Make sure to add a good amount of salt to the water.  I never measure how much salt I put in the water, but it is probably about 2 – 3 tablespoons.  I am guessing so don’t hold me to it.  Let’s just say it is a generous amount.  While you are waiting for the water to boil you can start your prep.  This is such an easy recipe you will want to make it once a week.

I was feeling garlicky.  So I grabbed three large cloves and one shallot.  I know, I know, it is New Year’s Eve night and I was headed out to two parties.  I had no business eating so much garlic, but  just knew this would be the right amount of garlic.  I could smell it.

And then a little miracle happened.  A garlic birth right in my kitchen.  One of my so thought large cloves, was actually a total of 5 cloves.  This little miracle made me giddy.  You could say I have a little obsession with garlic.  But it is a healthy one.  My mom mentioned to me that I used to eat raw garlic as a child when she would cook our meals.  As earl as the age of 3.  I know, I was ahead of my time.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled recipe for a quick tutorial on slicing a shallot.

The easiest way to dice a shallot and get your dices even is the crosswise slice method.  Please note – this is not an official term for this technique, I just make up my own vocabulary sometimes.  I encourage you to make up your own vocabulary, have fun with it. And tell me about it.

Keep the bottom (the root) of the shallot on after you peel it.  Slice your shallot horizontally about 2 – 3 times (depending on the size of your shallot) without going all the way to the end, keeping the root intact.  The number of slices will also determine the size of your dice.  More slices, smaller dice.  This is really more relevant in onions since they are larger.

Now slice your shallot vertically about 3-4 times.  See the little sticks that have formed?  We are on to something now.

As you move your knife down on the shallot you are producing diced shallot.  Getting your dice as even size as you can will ensure even cooking.  You don’t want small pieces to burn as they wait for the large pieces to cook.  Well – do you?  I didn’t think so.

Now back to the regulary scheduled recipe.

So far, you should have your leftover shredded roasted chicken breasts, diced garlic and shallots.  I also had sun dried tomatoes (Yum) in the fridge.  There was not much left but it was all I needed.  If I would have measured it, I would say it was around a 1/4 cup.  The tomatoes were already  julienned, and I chopped them up a bit.  I wanted to have little sprinkles of tomatoes in my dish instead of strings.  You can leave them out if you don’t like them.  This is one of those recipes you could substitute out the tomatoes, or even the chicken, for just about anything or even introduce more items to the mix.  Whatever you like.

I love this stuff.  This is Herbs de Provence.  I know – sounds very fancy. This herb mixture consists of fennel, savory, thyme, basil and lavender.  Look at how the pretty purple lavender accents the mixture like a painting.

Stop and smell the magic.  Once you add the herb mixture to your garlic and shallots your kitchen will start smelling like a french countryside. Let everything sizzle together for a minute, or three, before you add the next ingredient.  I feel that it is important to allow your aromatics or spices, whatever you happen to be using, to sizzle for a bit before you start adding remaining ingredients.  When you start adding each ingredient, let each ingredient sizzle with the rest of the ingredients before making other additions.  This will allow the ingredients to have their personal time before you introduce another ingredient to the mix.  Trust me the final dish will thank you for it.

Add your chicken to the mix, once the ingredients are acquainted, add the sun dried tomatoes.

Don’t be afraid to add some of the oil and juices of the tomatoes.  It is just more yumminess (another word from my vocabulary).

At some point during this process your water will start to boil.  Add your pasta to the water, only when you have a nice rigorous boil going on in the pot.  A wise old Italian woman told me once, “do not add the pasta until you water is boiling, not simmering, or a little boiling, but really boiling”.  I listened.  You don’t ever really want to go against the advice of a wise old Italian woman.  She also told me there is no need for oil in the water.  In addition to the salt I used to add a drizzle of olive oil in the water.  When I told her about the oil she looked at me like I had three heads.  “Oil? for what?  No – do not add oil to your water”.  Said the wise old Italian woman.
Why is this important for me to tell you?  I just want you to have the best pasta.  Do not use any oil in the water, this will just give you a slick oily film on the pasta.  If you wait until the water is really boiling, then the hot water will help keep the skin of the pasta together to prevent mushy pasta.  As soon as you drop the pasta in the water, stir it around to prevent from sticking.

Now we are gonna get a little saucy.  Your ingredients should be well acquainted before you add the liquid.  If you add the liquid before the ingredients know each other, you may lose some of the yummy flavor.  Basically, when you allow the aromatics to absorb into your ingredients, the liquid will not wash away the flavors, because by then they are stuck to your ingredients.  Got it? Good.

I added about a cup and half of chicken stock.  I didn’t use the measuring cup; I used my eyeballs.  Let the liquid cook down just a little, you want it to get acquainted as well, but if you let it cook for too long it will get soaked in and evaporate from your dish.  No worries, you can always add more liquid.   Once the liquid cooks for about 5 minutes or so, add about a tablespoon of goat cheese, or more if you really like goat cheese.   Strain your pasta and add it to the chicken mixture.

Being the goat cheese lover I am, I also garnished my bowl with it.  Yum!

The Recipe

• 1 package Dried Pasta
• 2 whole Shredded Roasted Chicken Breasts
• ¼ cups Sun Dried Tomatoes (diced Or julienned)
• 1 Tablespoon Goat Cheese
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 whole Shallot (medium)
• 1-½ cup Chicken Stock/Broth
• 1 teaspoon Herbs De Provence
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 dash(es) Salt And Pepper

1. Place a pot of cold water on the oven. Salt (2-3 tablespoons) the water once it is boiling, just before you drop your pasta.
2. While you are waiting for water to boil dice your shallot, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes.
3. Heat your pan, drizzle oil, heat the oil. Drop your shallots and let them sweat down for about a minute. Add your garlic, sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper and about 1 teaspoon of Herbs de Provence. Let cook for about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Let ingredients incorporate for about a minute or two.
5.Add stock slowly as you may not need to use all of it. Add goat cheese (and use more if you really like goat cheese). Let cook for about 5 minutes. Strain pasta and add to chicken mixture. Serve in a bowl and garnish with goat cheese.

So this is the trip that I referenced would be a great idea or it would the first and last time we drive for 16 hours.  I am not a big fan of driving for a long period of time.  It drives me insane to stay put in a car.  I have little patience for other drivers and that can make me very cranky, however the drive turned out to be not so bad.  My husband drove most of the time, but I still find it exhausting to ride in the car for such a long time.  We broke up our trip by staying the night with my sister-in-law, sweet Emily and her husband Stephen, on the way up and down.

I don’t have any food for you this week, but I do have these two things.  First: This amazing sky that reminds me of caramel.  I had planned on posting about the original hamburger sandwich from Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, CT, but when we arrived at Louis’ on Monday it was closed.  Then I was going to tell you all about the Darien Cheese Shop in Darien, CT, which our friends, Dana and Zach White, told us we must stop at on our way home.  But they were also closed for the holiday weekend.  When did Monday, three days after Christmas Day, become a holiday?  I didn’t get the memo.

So instead, I give you this beautiful sky that almost melts away all the hours we drove to make our way home.   Wherever you spent your holiday, (whichever holiday you celebrate) I hope you enjoyed your time, laughed with family and friends, and indulged in some holiday cheer.

Second: Behold The Big Peach, also known as the Peachoid or simply The Peach,  in Gaffney, SC.

This Peach is a water tower which holds 1 million gallons of water.  Really, it reminds me of a butt.

So I leave you with this butt of a peach, which may not make you hungry, but just may amuse you.

I think I mentioned before, breakfast is one my favorite meals, that I don’t get to eat often. The breakfast sandwich from the deli is what I miss most.

Ladies and Gents – I give you the classic bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

Look at that kaiser roll. It makes all the difference.

The white cheese, crispy bacon, and soft scrambled eggs are the perfect combination for this sandwich. oh – and a little ketchup brings it all together.

We also treated ourselves to a cruller.

We were on the train headed to Manhattan and I am sure the people around us thought I was crazy. Taking so many photos of our food. But how can you resist? This is something worth documenting.

Crispy sweet crust on the outside.

Fluffy tender cake on the inside. Tastes like something that came out of the heaven bake shop.

Go out and get yourself a heavenly treat. Whatever that may be to you and enjoy it!

The other day I improvised.  I had a craving for french toast but did not have a brioche, Challah or another bread worthy for dipping.

But I did have some Bays English Muffins. So I thought, why not – let’s give it a try.

mmmmm . . . I love these muffins. Look at all the little holes that are just waiting, anticipating the butter.  In this case we are going to drench them into our batter.

They have no idea of their future, but will definitely live to tell about it.

The main star of the dish. Eggs.

Whip your eggs in a bowl and add a little milk, vanilla, salt and white pepper.  Drench your muffin into your batter.

And flip the other side and drench it.

Look at the sizzle – mmmmmm. You know there are a couple of things that just smell reeeeeeaaaaaalllly good.  And one of those things happen to be the smell of eggs frying in a saute pan.  I cook with my nose most of the time.  and just like the smell of onions sauting, the smell of eggs frying is a good one.  Now – the smell of your kitchen after the eggs are done frying – not so good.  But you take the good with the bad.

Before you flip, press down on the muffin to make sure all the egginess that filled up the holes is cooked.

can you smell it now?

Once you have all of your pieces ready, pop them into the oven to warm them back up if they cooled down.

if you like a little butter, go ahead and slather it on before you lay on the syrup.

I also dusted cinnamon and powdered sugar over my two pieces.

This is a sexy breakfast.  Enjoy!

Our culinary friends, Meryl and Matt, shared this recipe with us when we joined them for dinner a couple of weeks ago.  I loved it so much I had to have the recipe.  Meryl found the recipe on a site called You’veGotSupper which assists you in planning your meals and your shopping list for the week.  I don’t really follow the recipe but if you would like to make it their way check it out Chicken Chili.

I love cooking because it is a way for me to be creative and I love feeding people, and myself.  I really do enjoy feeding people.  It is definitely something I get from my mother and she got it from her mother.  I think I am beginning to see a pattern here.  About 5 minutes after walking into my mother’s house she will usually ask you if you are hungry or if you want something to eat.  Now, if she is already eating or about to eat, you have no choice but to join her.

When I make this recipe it will produce enough soup (or you can think of it as a chili) for about three or four bowls.  Usually enough for my husband and I to have for dinner and the extra bowl he eats for lunch the next day.

Start out with an onion.  I usually slice it in half then I slice each half three times from the side and about 4 times from the top.  Now chop over the slices you just made and you should have a nice chopped onion.  You will only need half of the onion for this recipe.

Lets stop for a moment and appreciate the onion.  The oldest vegetable known to man.

And what a fine vegetable it is.

Without the onion, our food would be a little bland.

Of course there are many other items we need to flavor our food, but the onion starts the foundation to a great dish

Now that you have chopped your onion grab some garlic.

How many cloves do you ask?  Well, what kind of relationship do you have with garlic?  I usually read the ingredient list and take the measurements and quantities as a suggestion and make up my own interpretation.

For this recipe I use three – four cloves depending on my mood and the size of each clove.  Chop your garlic well and place in a bowl while you prepare the rest of your mis en place.

For a little added spicy-ness and flavor, use a fresh green chile.  You can also use the canned chile or not use it all – it is really up to you.

Slice it in half and carve out the white stuff and the seeds.

Flatten the halves on the board by pressing them down before you start slicing.  Turn them over so that the shiny smooth side is on the board.  The other side is more course so it will be easier to slice rather than the smooth slick side.

Slice and dice.

This time  I used Red Pepper, Cumin and Rosemary.  With a dish like this you can really switch up the seasoning as often as you like.  Use spices you like or experiment with new ones.

I also used a dash or two of this stuff.  It is really good stuff.

and you can’t forget this stuff.  But use it sparingly. When salting something that will cook for a while you want to use as little or none in the beginning and more towards the end.  The longer the soup simmers, the more pronounced the salt will be.

Heat your pan, pour a little olive oil in it and sauté your onion, garlic and chile.

Add your seasoning to the pan and let it sizzle.

I find the longer you cook down your seasoning, more of the natural flavor is drawn out and therefore your food benefits from the sweetness of the Cumin and the spicy-ness of the Red Pepper.  After you have cooked the onion and garlic mixture for a few minutes, stirring often so you don’t burn anything, go ahead and add in the rest of the ingredients:

2 cans of beans.  You can really use one or two cans.  And depending on your bean preference you may choose different beans every time.  This time I used one can of Northern White Beans, and one can of Kidney Beans.

I shredded two chicken breasts leftover from the Roasted Chicken we ate the night before.

and the stock.  Turn the heat down so your soup/chili is simmering and walk away.

Turn down the lights, walk away for a while and let the magic happen.

The longer it simmers the more flavorful it will be.  But, if you let it simmer too long then you are somewhat reducing the soup and it will start to lose some of the liquid.  If you left it alone for too long and you would like more liquid just add more stock to it and let it simmer for a little longer on higher temp.

Not too high, and too long.  Just long enough for the added stock to distribute within the existing ingredients and to capture some of your flavors.  Otherwise your soup might taste a bit watered down and we would not want to eat watered down soup.

To plate this lovely dish, grab your bowl and place some cheese in the center of the bowl.  I used a hearty Pecorino, but you can really use whatever cheese you like.  Another reason why I like this recipe is for it’s versatility.  You can rely make it your own based on what you like.

And of course – you can put more cheese on top as well.

Next time I think I shall try adding wild or black rice.

]]> http://meezahnplahs.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/theres-no-place-like-home/feed/ 3 ncary DSC_0083 DSC_0081 DSC_0002 DSC_0004 DSC_0005 DSC_0007 DSC_0008 DSC_0010 DSC_0025 DSC_0030 DSC_0036 greenchile DSC_0042 DSC_0043 DSC_0045 DSC_0057 DSC_0058 DSC_0051 DSC_0052 DSC_0060 DSC_0059 DSC_0056 DSC_0063 DSC_0069 DSC_0066 DSC_0076 DSC_0077 DSC_0079 http://meezahnplahs.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/poolside/ http://meezahnplahs.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/poolside/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:01:55 +0000 Natasha http://meezahnplahs.wordpress.com/?p=16 ]]> French Fries are my weakness.

I just love potatoes.

I will eat potatoes roasted, mashed, gratin, pommes alligot and my favorite – fried.

With lots of salt and pepper.

French fries are a food item that take me back to my childhood.  Actually many food times take me back to my childhood.  Anytime my mother made us fries when we were kids she soaked them in water and salt after slicing them.

Soaking them in warm water and salt will remove some of the starch in the potato and the salt will actually draw out some of the water in the potato.  I don’t think this is something you have to do to make fries, but for me, it is just one of those things I do because my mother did it, her sister’s did it, my grandmother did it, and I am pretty sure my sister does it.  So her daughter one day might do it as well.

There was always the TEST fry.  It was the fry that took one for the team by slowly frying away in the almost ready oil.  Everytime my mother made fries, she placed one potato in the pan, waited for it to cook and then she knew the pan was ready.

The first batch can be dropped.  Now the fries are sitting in water so you have to make sure you drip dry when you grab them in your hand before you splash them onto the oil.

I am sure you have made fries before and you are thinking – why would you want to splash oil all over your stove and possibly hurt yourself?

I like tradition.  And even though I know better and there are many different ways I can go about this, I like to know I am keeping a part of my grandmother and mother with me when I am making fries.

During the summer in Jordan, we would visit the club often.  The club had a large pool and since it was quite hot in the summer, it was a great cool spot to hang out.

One of my favorite taste memories is the fries we would order poolside.  Maybe it is the summer desert air, mixed with suntan lotion and the spirit of childhood.

Whatever the concoction, I fondly remember the smell and taste of the fries hanging out by the pool and then having to wait 30 minutes before jumping back into the cool water.

Sometimes it’s okay to do things in a way that brings you back – keep the tradition alive and enjoy a plate of fries.