NEW SITE!

I have moved to a new site!! It's easier for me to maintain and I like the new name better, so head over there!!!


www.cheesyrice.com

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Farmer's Tomato Pie

My blog was recently accepted to the Foodie Blogroll site, which made me realize I really need to stop slacking and start posting! Foodie Blogroll is a collection of food blogs all rolled up into one neat site for you to browse. Check out the widget thingie they gave me over on the left side of the page!

Before I get going on the recipe I thought I'd give a little update on the garden. We're still getting an overwhelming amount of tomatoes, and as a result my mom and I have made at least 4 batches of my grandma's sauce (a recipe that will never be on this blog!) and yet there are still more. There are always more. We went away for a week, and upon our return we had more tomatoes, green beans, an eggplant, and some cucumbers. I'm very pleased to inform you all that I did find a way to use up many cucumbers, Julia Child's baked cucumber recipe! It uses 6 whole cucumbers, and the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking provides a variety of ways to serve them. I've made it with the cheese sauce.  j'ai adore.

My herbs are doing alright. The basil and sage are growing strong, the parsley is ok, and the dill has completely died. I think I over-planted the pot, not expecting them to grow so much, and the dill suffered for it. Also, the green beans somehow made their way over to the dill and started growing wrapped around it. I wanted to take pics, but it's rainy out so I didn't. 

There is also some delicious looking butternut squash growing!! I'm excited! I'm going to make butternut squash risotto for my brother's birthday on Wednesday, and you can betcha that I'll put the recipe on this here blog :)

We had a plethora of chili peppers as well, and as a result we ate some, froze some, and are drying out some more. And there are still many growing. Here's how the drying ones are coming along:

I know, they are very pretty and strange looking. 

Now on to the recipe! Normally I post original recipes, however as a result of my whining in my last post about too many tomatoes, my friend's mom, Marilyn Leibe, generously suggested I make a Farmers Tomato Pie. I was unimpressed at first, thinking of a pie crust filled with ketchup, but she assured me that it is tasty and emailed me the recipe. The recipe looked way more interesting than my initial impression, which was mainly based on the name. When one thinks of a pie, they normally think of the sweet dessert kind and not the savory kind. Since this is full of tomatoes and cheese I chose to think of it as a pizza pie. 

I was wary of making it at first, but faced with so many tomatoes and a lack of desire to make more sauce I figured I might as well try. I've never actually made a pie before, and as you'll see in the pictures I couldn't care less if the crust was properly crinkled or whatever it's called. I probably should have baked the crust a little longer, but lessons have been learned. 

I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I had two bags of cheese that were mostly finished so instead of measuring I just used what I had left. I used up a bag of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. They became good friends in this dish. The recipe also didn't specify what to do with the basil other than just topping the pie after it baked, so I went with a fancy chiffonade (roll up the leaves and cut into long, thin strips).

Before baking

After baking

The end result was quite pleasing. I should have baked it a little longer, but I was nervous about over-cooking it, as well as a little hungry, so I'll try to be more patient next time. It reminded me of pizza, but with a lighter crust and more tartness from using fresh tomatoes instead of a sauce. It tasted absolutely nothing like a ketchup pie, and for that I am grateful. I'll probably end up making it again this week with more adjustments since I now know how it works. Maybe some chili peppers next time? And sausage too? I think it will be spectacular. 

Click here for the recipe!

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Garden Sauce

We are very fortunate in that our garden is producing a large amount of produce, however it has been difficult at times for us to use everything before it goes bad. For example, we have been eating cucumbers with almost every meal and we still have an extra 6 on our counter, and many more left to be picked. We have more hot peppers than I know what to do with (don't worry, I will figure it out!), and up until today we had multiple bowls filled with tomatoes sitting around.

Plus, my herbs are going mad. Check it out:

So today my mother and I decided to make a red sauce, using our home grown tomatoes and fresh herbs. Using more than 7lbs of tomatoes, a healthy handful of basil, and a few extra ingredients we managed to make a delightful garden sauce. I mostly enjoyed how it didn't have any of that tinny taste you can get from using canned tomatoes to make sauces, therefore giving me the freedom to relax and not worry about covering that extra, unwanted flavor.

This is just one bowl of them

We discovered that the best way to get the most juice, with the smallest amount of seeds and skins, was to first blend the tomatoes and then strain them in a mill. In case you are unaware, when I say "mill" I am referring to a strainer that has a handle for you to rotate and squish all the juice out while keeping the seed and skins inside. If you don't have one, then just using a strainer and pressing on the pulp with a spoon will work fine.

Here is a blurry picture of ours:

We washed, cut in half, blended, milled, and sauce-ified. It was a pleasant process. And way less obnoxious than it might sound. In the end we created a very fresh tasting sauce, sort of like pasta fresca but a little more complex with the addition of wine and cheese cooked in. Of course we have many more tomatoes on the way, and I will have to find many more uses for them! 

This recipe does make a lot of sauce, so feel free to cut it down or be prepared to have some leftover. 

Click here for the recipe!

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Rosemary and Sage Peasant Bread

There's this bread that I sometimes make, it's ridiculously easy and versatile, and very quick. None of that waiting 12 hours crap. Plus you can mess with it all you like with a good chance of it resulting in genius. I first came across it through Sarah, who found it here. You don't need to use all the equipment in that post though, I just use a bowl and wooden spoon.

Here it is with ham and cheese! A most delicious combination

We played with it and made many different versions, besides just the rosemary one. For example, we made it with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. Fantastic! And we also made it in muffin tins and used it as sandwich bread. Trust me, it was awesome.

The thing about this bread, other than the different ways in which you can play with it, is the fact that you don't have to knead it at all. Not even a little. All you have to do is stir the dough. I hate kneading, and I try to avoid it. This recipe was a godsend. I'm not even joking, all there is to do is stir. Don't be deceived, these are not biscuits! It does take some patience since it is a yeast dough, but when it's done it has a much sturdier and more satisfying bite to it than most biscuits.

Another thing that scares people off the bread making train is the use of yeast. Yes, there is yeast in this one. Here's the thing, it's recommended that the water you use is between 100-110 degrees (it even says it on the packets or jar). One way to go about this is to do what I do and use a little thermometer. You could also just try using water that feels warm but not painfully hot to touch. Or you can cheat and use fast rise yeast. I'm pretty sure that type has you just add it straight to the flour and not worry about dissolving it. There are many things to try, but don't be scared. Adding the sugar the way this recipe tells you to is a huge help in making the yeast dance. And you'll know it's working if the yeast gets kind of foamy. Just give it a few minutes and don't freak out.

The reason I chose both rosemary and sage for this version of the bread is simply because I have come to the conclusion that these two herbs are glorious together. Also, I have an abundance of them in my garden. Adding them into this dough makes the bread savory with a flavor all on its own, but not so overpowering that you can't eat it with other food, such as in a sandwich or with soup. Enjoy it as is, or eat it with other food. Either way I promise deliciousness.

Ham and Cheese, Eggplant, Chili

I chose to make this bread last week (I was lazy in posting this) because I was thinking of all the great herb breads I can make when I get my bread machine in a week (which I now have and have used at least 4 times and love it!), and then I remembered that I know this classic recipe that I can use to tide me over until then. And so bread was made.

This time I made it into little sandwiches, but sometimes I make this recipe into loaves. For your culinary enjoyment I made sure to include instructions for both ways.

Click here for the recipe!

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Winning is fun

Well, this isn't a recipe, and it isn't advice, but instead it's even better. This is me telling you about how amazing I am! Why? Well, besides the obvious reasons, it's because I won a Food Network Magazine Secret Ingredient contest!!!

Every month, on the last page of their magazine they print a new ingredient. Then within that month it's up to readers to make their own recipe using that ingredient, much like an Iron Chef would.

On my second try I won. The ingredient was peanuts, and I had been making many types of semifreddo so I figured I could just go with that. But I needed a fruit to go with the peanut butter, and so I selected bananas. I made the ice cream, and poured it onto a graham cracker and peanut crust that I invented in order to have more peanuts in the recipe. It was good, but not awesome, so I changed it and made it again. It approached awesomeness. So I changed it again. And submitted the recipe.

Many things happened between then and now. That was in April. Now it's July. The point is that I won, and am currently in this month's Food Network Magazine. I won't post my recipe here, you just need to go buy the magazine to see it. It's pretty epic.

Oh yea, and I spent my $500 winnings this morning. It was fantastic!!

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Dill Macaroni Salad

Dill weed. It's a silly name for a tasty herb. An herb I have not much explored. I gathered some recipes, was offered some more, and have been patiently waiting for my dill to be usable. It has reached that point.

I decided to start with a dill macaroni salad. Why? Because I am unfamiliar with dill and I am very familiar with macaroni salad. I found a recipe using dill for a potato salad, and just adjusted it to fit with the way my mom makes macaroni salad to create some sort of monstrous taste-pile of goodness.

I found the dill to be pleasant to work with. Very easy to chop and with a pleasant smell. The reason I have been so hesitant to venture into this culinary realm is due to the fact that I absolutely despise pickles, and in my mind "dill" and "pickle" are forever together. I thought maybe the flavor in pickles that I can't stand came from dill. I was wrong. Turns out that anything pickled, even olives, instantly triggers the up-chuck reflex. Gross.

I have since learned the error of my ways. People have made many delicious treats involving dill, such as the ever hilarious Dill Dip. As much as I now know that dill is not the reason for my pickle hostility, I still am a little uncomfortable with it. Hence the familiar recipe made in a new and crazy way.

Plus, this has mayonnaise in it. You can't go wrong with a recipe involving mayonnaise. I love the stuff! In the recipe I wrote that you should use 1 cup of mayo, however keep in mind that more is always an option. An option I frequently choose. Needless to say, yet I'll still say it, I highly enjoyed this foray into the joys of dill weed.

Click here for the recipe!

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Minty Raspberry Limoncello

It's starting to be a tad bit sweltering out, so it's time to make cooler and more refreshing recipes for this here blog! What's more refreshing than a liquored up citrus drink? A liquored up citrus drink with mint! I'm a genius. Also I've been wanting to use mint in more things, and this was the first thing that came to mind. I have future plans of turning this into a semifreddo. I can already taste it, and damn it's good.

There's no real story of how this drink came to be. Mostly just that I love Limoncello, I wanted to use it in a mixed drink with mint, and I happened to have a bottle of Raspberry Lemonade in the fridge. And so this delightful, lush drink of summertime refreshment was invented! 

You can easily substitute the Raspberry Lemonade with any other juice type drink you may have, for example I think a grapefruit juice would be an acceptable substitution.

The Limoncello, however, should not be substituted simply because I adore it. Go ahead, buy a bottle. You'll need it once you try this golden elixir. I use it mostly when I'm making fruit ice creams, and it's glorious. I usually simmer frozen berries in a little bit of Limoncello and sugar and then mix it into the custard to become the main flavor. I will be posting those recipes eventually, but on my main website and not the blog. No worries, I'll give you a link to it.

And yes, the bottle is almost empty. Time to get some more!

What is Limoncello? I'll just tell you how wiki describes it: 

Limoncello (or lemoncello) is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy.  Traditionally, it is made from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello. Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as an after dinner digestivo. Along the Amalfi Coast, it is usually served in small ceramic glasses themselves often chilled, the Amalfi coast being a center of both ceramic and limoncello production. This tradition has been carried into other parts of Italy.

Sound good? Yeah it does. It's tasty all on it's own, but sometimes it's fun to have brightly colored mixed drinks in the afternoon and not get completely wasted.

The nice thing about Limoncello, besides the color and usefulness, is the flavor. When you drink it, it's very clearly alcoholic but much smoother than vodka. When I have vodka in a mixed drink, no matter how much or little, it's the overpowering flavor. In this drink, you can taste the lemony goodness, but it's a subtle note that pleases your taste buds without feeling like you were just punched in the mouth. 

Click here for the recipe!

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"Infinite Riches in a Little Room"

While I was on vacation in New Hampshire last week, I found some old timey cookbooks that my family had told me were up there. First, let me briefly explain the house. It's really just an awesome cabin that a very nice lady left to my Grandpa back in the day. My entire family uses it for vacationing in the summer. It's a nice place, very much in the woods, and I am very much allergic to it. But it's still fun.

Anyway, so there were old cookbooks, and I had a chance to briefly go through them and take some pictures of recipes that I would like to try. Most I will have to change since they include a lot of cooking and frying in a large quantity of fat, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

 I have a plan of trying the recipes, and good or bad I will post them with both the original recipe written word for word as well as my own updated version of it. They're a little tricky because they have a lot of vague measurements and silly instructions (half a glassful of wine; besprinkle with sugar). I imagine this will be fun for me. Especially the recipe that involves baking egg yolks, slicing them, dipping them in pancake batter, and frying them in fat, and serving with fried parsley. Yum and death. That's in a book from the 1890's.

I did decide to share now with the world a page of quotes from one of the books. It's called: Favorite Recipes Cook Book, A Complete Culinary Guide, and it's from 1931. It has lots of good recipes but I think the quote page was my favorite. Sorry it's awkwardly split up. I was having trouble taking pictures with my less than perfect camera in a very dim room. I will try harder next time I'm there.

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Gardening Fun

Gardening is fun, especially if you have someone else do it for you, and then reap the benefits. That's how I roll. Earlier this year, my dad and brother (with my assistance, of course!) felt the need to make a huge garden structure thing, in order to keep the deer and critters out as well as to make us look fancy. I must admit, it does look nice. I mostly helped by halfheartedly digging a hole with a post digger. Turns out that I don't enjoy manual labor. At least I tried!

We planted some seeds, planted some already started plants, and I re-potted my herbs so they could have room to stretch. And holy crap did they stretch! The sage went insane! Especially in the past couple of days. I mean, it was doing alright outside, then when I looked at it yesterday they were giants! I definitely need to use them soon. And the basil has been growing well, but it seems some bugs might like it too since the leaves have little holes in them. Oh well, I still used some today in my grandma's sauce.

The parsley and dill had all but died before I re-potted them. Now they're coming back strong! It's quite exciting. And I also cheated and bought rosemary and mint since I couldn't find mint seeds, and the rosemary smelled too good to not buy. The mint is the only one not in the garden, I put it in it's own pot right under my window. No real reason for that, it's just where the pot already was.

Lots of stuff is growing, and I'm kinda looking forward to all the fresh and free vegetables that will be coming later in the summer. Oh, and the strawberries! I have learned that strawberries fresh off the vine are ridiculously fantastic.

Now you can all look forward to summer recipes with home grown ingredients besides just the herbs (which are finally usable and can fulfill the purpose of this blog!). I'm gonna make zucchini bread, butternut squash risotto, grilled vegetable sauces, green bean casserole, soups, desserts, drinks, anything and everything I can!

Now I'm freaking hungry.

Watch out, it's pic heavy below the cut. Click them to see them bigger
Ignore that is says to click for the recipe. What it really means is to click for the pictures.

Click here for the recipe!

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Spicy Mango Dip

I had a whole thing typed up about this recipe, and then somehow deleted the entire thing. I don't really feel like typing it all again, so I'll sum it up.


~Made it in Boston. Had a BBQ. Good times
~Made it again, some changes, still tasty. Good times.
~Made it for Memorial Day. More changes. Used fresh mint from my garden. Good times.


Perfect summer-time dip recipe. Spicy, sweet, and refreshing at once.

Play with ingredients, change, substitute, have fun. If you have a lame allergy to mango, like Karen does, use peaches or something instead.


 Done. Enjoy!

Click here for the recipe!

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Chicken and Corn Risotto

I love making risotto. It's become one of my go-to meals. I  first learned about it in college, when Sarah taught me how to make it a couple times. Then, on a vacation in New Hampshire I had this really awesome mushroom risotto, but when I told my mom about it she had no idea what I was talking about. What kind of Italian doesn't know about risotto (ignore the fact that I had only recently learned about it as well)? So I planned on making some. We had butternut squash growing in our garden, so I made a butternut squash risotto. It was fantastic! (Recipe will be up when it grows again this summer!) Realizing it was my mom's new favorite, I made it again on different occasions, such as her birthday or a random Tuesday. Sometimes it's mushroom and beef, sometimes it's chicken and corn. Today was the random Tuesday chicken and corn version. It was pretty spectacular.

Usually I make it with those boxes of tasty broth, but we didn't have any and it's gross out so we didn't feel like going to the store. So it turns out that risotto works well with bouillon cubes! Lucky us! Plus we had leftover corn on the cob since I bought some yesterday to make a black bean, corn and mango salsa (which will also be posted eventually) as well as some parsley for that same recipe.

And don't forget, making risotto is always a good excuse to open a new bottle of wine! Both for the recipe, and for you to enjoy while endlessly stirring the rice. Comfort food and wine on a rainy day, it doesn't get much better than that!

FYI: Arborio is the best kind of rice to use for risotto, in fact the bags or containers usually say "risotto' on them. But if you don't  feel like buying fantastic risotto rice, you can always use medium grain instead, it just won't be as glamorous.

Click here for the recipe!

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Simple Mozzarella-Steak Pinwheel

Using pizza dough the way it's used in this recipe is a very simple, yet very impressive, technique. It's the most basic stuffed bread, but when your guests have a piece they'll think you spent forever making it because it is just that awesome.

Once again my parents had their friends over and I agreed to make a few snacks for them. These are good opportunities for me to practice cooking since I can pick whatever I want to make and then have them pay for the ingredients! I have made pinwheels before; I used a recipe out of one of Giada's cookbooks and have since altered it a little. Her recipe had the bread stuffed with mozzarella, spinach, and prosciutto. I made it that way, and it was fantastic. When I made it again this time, I took out the prosciutto since my mom's friend is a vegetarian. And it was still fantastic.

But then I was thinking, what about everyone else? Surely they would like a stuffed bread with meat in it too (mostly I was thinking of me). So I decided to make an entirely different recipe, using steak. And what goes with steak and bread better than pepper, onions, mushrooms, and cheese? That's right, nothing. And so this recipe was born. And then devoured.

Seriously, it was delicious. And so easy to make. Especially if you just buy the pizza dough like I do. You can make it from scratch, but the would negate the point of this recipe being quick and easy. It's also very versatile, so it's easy to substitute whatever you want. But you'll want to try this one, trust me.

Remember, the thinner the cut of steak you can buy, the better it will roll in the bread! So try your best, ok?
Also, props to Mark for seasoning the steak and helping me make this.

Click here for the recipe!

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Tips! Keeping parsley and researching recipes

I decided to be charitable today and share my genius with you all. Or, to be more honest, I was kind of bored and thought this is as good a time as any to share some of my little tips with the world.

#1
One such tip is the importance of researching recipes. I always always always go through cookbooks and websites to see what's out there and tasty looking. And I try many of the recipes I see. The first time I make a recipe I follow it exactly. From that I can usually play around with it the next time and turn it into something of my own. But it's important to see what other people are making in order to come up with your own ideas and use them to greatly impress everyone who knows you. When you want to do things and learn how food works, I suggest you research, cook the recipe exactly, and then experiment the next time you make it. When you get used to recipes through this method then you should do what I do whenever I want to try something different: research, pick parts of recipes you like, and make your own dish.

My research today for appetizers and snacks:

I'll give you an example. One day I decided that I absolutely had to make corn chowder. The only problem was, I had no idea how to do that. So I went online and found several of my trustworthy go-to cooking websites and looked over many different chowder recipes. Some were overly complicated, some had ingredients that I despise, and some were too simple. But the important thing was that they all had certain similar aspects to them. Many had a roux to start off with. A few had creamed corn, and some had just frozen kernels. And so on and so forth. So I took the common aspects and applied them to my own recipe, and then took the bits and pieces that sounded good and used those too, like using creamed corn and corn kernels and adding bacon fat (it isn't the healthiest of recipes!). I've learned by experimenting like this that you can just find a bunch of recipes for the same food and just take from them what you want to. Chances are that it'll come out spectacular and you will feel like a Culinary God.

Don't worry, I'll eventually post that recipe! It's just a little hard to do because I make it slightly different each time :)

#2
The next bit of advice is more directly linked to herbs. My herbs still aren't useful yet so I rely on grocery stores. The problem is that buying those little plastic containers of herbs tends to be a huge rip-off. So I buy the bundles that are dripping wet and always 5x more than what you actually need. But won't all that go to waste?!? Um...no. Chill out. I told you there was some advice here, didn't I?

The best example I can give you is with parsley, since that's what I always like to have on hand. That stuff lasts forever! It's awesome like that. I can buy a huge bundle, use what I want, and then I take the rest and put it in a cup full of cold water and put it in the fridge. Every once in a while I check the water and add more, or dispose of stalks that become unappealing. The parsley can last quite a few weeks like this and having it around will help you figure out how to use it. Here's a pic of my parsley after I've had it for about 3 weeks:

 Yea, it's a little sad looking, but it's still good and remember, it has been sitting in my fridge for 3 weeks! I find this system to be much cheaper and way more convenient than buying just a little bunch for an outrageous price whenever I need a tablespoon of parsley in a recipe. And I know there are tube containers you can also buy to keep it more compact in the fridge to save space, but i haven't gotten around to that yet, so this works just fine.

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The herbs are ok

I know it's been a while since I posted new info about my herbs. And no, it's not because I forgot or anything lame like that, it's because they honestly hadn't changed much since my last update. There was a few days when I thought they were going to die, and that wasn't cool, but since it got warmer they've been doing much better and have actually grown a little! I'm going to start watering them with a fertilizer water thing that my dad made for our garden and I hope it will make the herbs grow to the point where I can actually use them. I did NOT expect it to take quite this long!

The basil has finely grown some new basil like leaves. After remaining unchanged for 2 months I was concerned that I had duds, but now I see actual progress. See how cute? It actually resembles basil now! I just want to gobble it up!

Now, the parsley I was really really worried about. It was not doing well at all. It was losing the green color and being all long and floppy and terrible and kind of shriveled  up. Thankfully it looks like an actual plant again! I rescued it! I probably wasn't watering it enough because of my fear of over-watering my herbs. But now the parsley is quickly on its' way to a full and healthy recovery, all for the purpose of being eaten! Mmmmmmm tasty....

The sage has always been pretty and healthy looking. The only real change is the leaves are bigger and cooler looking, and there is more of them. Enough said, check out the pic.

My dill is being kind of strange. It's growing well, but with a purple tint to it. Is this normal? I guess I just have to wait and see. It is steadily growing, so it's still doing well, right? Oh well, at least it's looks neat!

We've also started growing plants for the garden in the back yard. My dad and brother (with my help of course!) built this huge wooden structure for our garden, so we're pretty excited about it. They had to build such a big garden so the deer won't be able to just eat everything. I'll put up pics of it when we've planted some of the plants outside. Right now the peppers and tomatoes and eggplant are growing inside, and are doing quite well if I do say so myself! Here are some of the tomato plants! They're huge (compared to the herbs at least)!

So many growing things! Only problem now is how to get rid of all the stupid little flies. I'm going to blame my brother's orange tree for them. No way can my cute little herbs be at fault!

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Grandma's Carciofo (Stuffed Artichokes)

My grandma always spoiled us rotten with scrumptious Italian meals, one of which is Carciofo (we pronounce it ka-chof). She used to always make it for my family once a year, usually during Lent, even though it is kind of expensive to buy enough artichokes to feed my family. It's a meal my brothers and I would always request and she would always make it no matter how much she really didn't feel like it because we are just so cute! It is a traditional meal for us that is very important and we wanted to make sure we never lost it.

My grandma passed away last year, and so we were extra diligent to keep the tradition going and were determined to have Carciofo for Good Friday even though we had no idea what we were doing. My mom and I used a scribbled and barely legible hand-written recipe of my grandma's along with the recipe off the box of Sclafani Bread Crumbs, which she apparently always used. The bread crumbs can sometimes be found at regular supermarkets, like Stop 'n Shop, in the pasta/International aisle. You might have to go to an Italian market for it though, or you can just use regular Italian seasoned bread crumbs. We just use this brand because it has the recipe on the carton and it's what we like.

For those of you not in the know, Carciofo is whole artichokes with the leaves stuffed with an Italian bread crumb mixture and then baked. Then you pull off each individual leaf and eat the bread crumbs along with the meaty part of the leaf that was attached to the base. When you get to the bottom, you spoon out the weird prickly stuff and toss it out, and eat the heart. It's messy, and takes some time, and you need many bowls to discard leaves into, but it is so very fun and perfect. It can also be prepared a few days ahead of time, which is kind of neat.

There is no way I can fully express how much I love this dish, and always have. Even when I was a kid I loved it, and kids are suppose to hate things like artichokes. A teacher in elementary school once asked me what my favorite food was and I could not remember the English name for it, I may have actually never learned it, and confused her greatly when I said "carciofo" and could in no way explain what it is. I ended up telling her to just trust me that it is really good.

Making it this year was confusing, and stressful, but in the end it was tasty and nostalgic and that made it all worth it. So while this recipe is not exactly my grandma's, it is our best try to replicate our memories with the vague directions left behind.

Also I have no idea why the measurement for cheese is 10 tbsp., but that's what my grandma wrote so that's how we did it!

Click here for the recipe!

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Curry Lasagna

Yes, you did read the title correctly. This post is about a curry lasagna. There are probably herbs in the curry mix somewhere, so I deem it acceptable to discuss here. My friend Sarah was visiting from Boston so we could go to a Bridal Shower for our friend Laura (it was fun and I was wicked jealous of all the kitchen gadgets she got!) but before that we had a couple of days to cook weird and random stuff. Some amazing treats resulted from this cooking fun weekend such as caramel-apple semifreddo, strawberry lemon semifreddo, roasted red pepper hummus, guacamole, mushroom and sun-dried tomato pockets, and most importantly: the curry lasagna.

 I know the layers aren't perfect, but it smelled really good and made us all hungry, so we may have rushed the process.

Some of those recipes will probably be up later, but we just kind of made them and didn't exactly measure so I have to go back and see what it was we actually did. They were all fantastic, and only a few had fresh herbs, and I feel it is my responsibility to share these treats with the world.

Let's start with the curry lasagna. I really wanted to make something with curry since it's one of my favorite things in the whole world. To be more specific, I'm talking about Japanese curry. I usually use S&B Golden Curry boxes (found in the Asian section of your local supermarket). So, we knew curry was a definite plan. But then we wanted to be creative with it so of course we thought of fusion. Sarah, my brother Mark, and I all brainstormed our way to success. Curry risotto, while potentially delicious, is too similar to how curry is anyway, so there's no point to that. Curry on spaghetti? Been there, done that. Curry lasagna? There is no way that could fail. And so the adventure began.

There's no actual recipe, but it's quite easy to explain. We cut up the onions, carrots, and potatoes into really really small adorable pieces and cooked them for a bit. Then we added a package of ground turkey, probably about 1.5 lbs, and cooked it until it was brown. Since it's a lasagna we wanted it to be a little more tomato-y then curry normally is so we tossed in a small can of tomato paste. Then we followed the directions on the box. Simmer in some water, remove from heat, add curry cubes, mix mix mix, heat again, simmer for a bit, and it's done.

We mixed a pint of ricotta with 2 eggs and some salt and pepper. Cooked the lasagna noodles like normal. Put some curry into the lasagna pan, layer with noodles, spread some ricotta, sprinkle some cheddar cheese, spoon on curry, and repeat. Sprinkle cheddar on the top layer. We baked it at 375 for about 30 minutes.

When it's piping, burning, oozing hot all you can taste is the curry, but when you let it cool for a few minutes you can taste the cheeses and feel the texture differences. It's a little strange to have lasagna with small pieces of potato, but I found it to be pleasing. Success!

There are some variations that I want to try. I think it would be interesting to use some sort of vegetable in place of the lasagna noodles, and some more Italian flavoring would be good. Next time I will definitely add fresh basil and some more tomato. Curry has a very deep and savory flavor and I hope the basil and tomato will give it a slight hint of refreshing sharpness. I would also like to add some sort of flavor to the ricotta, but I haven't decided yet. Maybe that's where I should put the basil. Who knows? It might be awesome or it might be an epic fail. I'm excited to try.

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Drunken Herbal Chicken Marinade

My mom and I were discussing what to have for dinner tonight, and we decided on chicken, whipped carrots with dried cranberries (it's seriously awesome), and a salad. So, what to do with the chicken? I felt the need to make a marinade, and in my fridge I found some fresh parsley, fresh basil, and white wine that nobody wanted to drink since it isn't all that good. Plus I had a lime that needed to be used soon. And so a marinade was started. I added in some more flavors, and let it sit for a while. Then my brother used his indoor electric grill (it's rainy and nasty so no one wanted to grill outside) and we had a tasty and easy Monday night feast.

Click here for the recipe!

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Nutty Irishman Semifreddo (Ice Cream!)

Ok, so this really has nothing to do with herbs, but I make a lot of other types of food, and this is my blog, so I figure I can randomly post about awesome things I make. Let me tell you about how this most delicious of semi-frozen treats was created.

Isn't it beautiful? My new favorite ice cream surrounded by my favorite coffee beans, it's absolutely mouth-watering (at least for me!).

The Story:
I went to the Mohegan Sun a couple weeks ago with my brother, Mark, and my cousin, Jenna. While we were at the free Soul Asylum concert, we decided to be fancy and order Nutty Irishmen. It turns out that this is one of the best creations in the entire world. We all fell in love with it. Luckily, we knew we were coming back the next weekend to see Sponge.

The Nutty Irishman is just Frangelico, Bailey's, and hot coffee topped with whipped cream. It is heavenly and warming.

Back to the unnecessarily long story. During the week in between concerts, Mark and I craved it too much and just decided to buy Frangelico and Bailey's and make it ourselves. It was pure genius. Also, I learned that a little drop of Frangelico into whipped cream makes it a gazillion times more tasty.

So we went back, had it again, loved it. Last weekend I decided to make a Citrus Semifreddo from Giada De Laurentiis' book Giada's Kitchen. It was crazy easy to make, and so good that my whole family has been craving it since we first tried it last night. It's hard to hold back from eating the whole thing.

Today, my brother and I were discussing other flavors we could make. He had the brilliant idea of trying to make a Nutty Irishman Semifreddo! So i looked at a bunch of recipes, realized they all have very similar measurements and very easy parts that I could substitute for the flavors I wanted. We made it. It is the smoothest, creamiest, coffee, hazelnut, beautiful, magic, indescribable-yet-I'm-still-going-to-try-to-describe-it kind of flavor. And it isn't even done yet. I know the flavor is good, but I'm waiting to see how well it freezes. I was so excited that I had to type this before it was even finished being made!

Update: It has finished freezing and it is just as perfect tasting as I thought! I apparently didn't fully incorporate the whipped cream, but I think it makes it look pretty and it still tastes bangin' so it's all good.

Click here for the recipe!

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Sage = Adorable & Dill = Wicked Cool

First off, I heard about how some random from NY wants to ban the use of salt in all NY restaurants. That's just a whole new level of stupid. Nothing will boost an economy like a massive chef strike! Hopefully NY realizes this is a silly idea and moves past it. If people are against salt in restaurant food, then they always have the viable option of cooking their own flavorless blobs of nothing at home. Oh well.

On to better things: herbs! Sage and dill are growing at an explosive speed! Meanwhile, parsley and basil haven't changed all that much. The sage has started growing little herby leaves that are simply adorable. They're all wrinkly and fuzzy and tiny, like a baby, except sage is actually cute.

The dill is just crazy whirls of mayhem. I like it. I had no idea that dill was quite so cool looking while it grows. I must say it is a pleasant surprise.

Poor basil and parsley are being wicked lame. They're still so small! The parsley is starting to sprout little herby leaves, however they are not all that impressive right now. I tried to take a picture of it, but it was just too lame to post. I hope you enjoy the sage and dill instead.

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Couscous Peperoncino

This is an Italian recipe that I learned about while I was in Japan. Most of their versions of Italian food I found to be incredibly hilarious, such as pasta with a ketchup ragu sauce topped with a raw egg. But this one was actually pleasant. I used to buy packets of the sauce mix while I was living there, but when I moved back I found them to be overly expensive. So I went to the store, found a packet, read the ingredients, and made my own version. Being cheap and poor has had the positive side-effect of forcing me to be a good cook.

This recipe is both spicy and fresh tasting. It would go well as a side dish with meat or fish, or is good as a lunch. The garlic is very subtle. You taste more of the spicy hotness from the peppers, which is slightly tamed by the parsley.

When I make this I used dried chili peppers from Asian markets, and I usually buy them pre-chopped into little rounds. You can always buy whole dried chili peppers and chop them yourself. Those are probably at regular stores, but I never really checked.

I also prefer whole wheat couscous because it's got an extra bit of flavor that is slightly nutty. This recipe can be made with pretty much any type of grain., I just like couscous the best for this. 

This recipe also only takes about a total of 10 minutes to prepare and cook. It's kind of awesome like that.

Click here for the recipe!

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Dill and Sage are finally growing. And Runsas are tasty.

My dill and sage have been growing awesomely. When they first started growing they were both kind of ugly, so I didn't take any pictures. They were brownish and wimpy looking. Luckily, that quickly changed. Apparently dill grows really tall in a short amount of time. One day they were just peeking out of the soil, and the next they were like 2 inches high! I might have to raise my grow-light if they keep up like this.






Some of the sage kept the seed shell on for a while after they busted the soil. I wanted to just pluck it off, but I figured it's probably a natural thing  so I left it. It's cool to watch it though because the stem is all fuzzy and weird. You can see one in the middle with the seed shell still on the top.

It's so interesting how all the herbs look so completely different, and the shapes of them remind me of the seeds. Dill, for example is really long and thin. The sage is very round and fat. Basil is round and thin. The parsley is long and very delicate looking. Maybe I'm looking into it all too much, but I think its fascinating.

On a completely unrelated side note, I just finished making Runsas (beef and cabbage buns) today and they are FANTASTIC. Savory filling wrapped in a lightly sweetened soft bread? Yeah, doesn't get much more delicious than that. I plan on using the bread recipe and inventing my own filling with various herbs. You should be excited, because it's going to be epic.

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Tabouli, Tabbouleh, Tabouleh

I have no idea how to actually spell tabouli, so I tend to stick with spelling it the simplest way for me. I use to love making this with the Near East box of it, which includes the spice pack and all I had to do was add tomato, cucumber, and feta. Then one day, I couldn't find it anymore! I checked multiple grocery stores across three states (I didn't travel specifically for the tabouli, I just happened to remember to look for it a lot) and I could not find a trace of it! The brand is still around, but not the box of tabouli! I use to make a batch every week, and put a little in a tortilla every day for my lunch, so how was I suppose to live without it?

About 6 months after my crazy tabouli panic began (and don't worry, I was still able to eat lunch, it just wasn't as fun), I found one lone box in a tiny convenience store near my college. I bought it, of course, and studied the ingredient list on the back and looked at the herb medley in the pouch. From there I created my own tabouli, which I found to be a thousand times more enjoyable because I had more freedom with the ingredients. I like it this way a lot more than the packaged kind at the store since it's drier and not mushy and weird. It may not be the official and correct way to make this dish, but it's certainly easy and satisfying, and that's all that really matters.

For an instructional video, watch the Food Ninja show you how it's done!

Click here for the recipe!

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Herbs grow even when I'm not around

I came back a couple days ago from a mini-trip to Boston, and was very excited to see my herbs again! Does that make me wicked lame? Oh well. The day I left (last Thursday) there was a new baby basil growing, and when I came back there were like a thousand more! Or maybe just 5. You understand. It was very exciting for me. Still no dill or sage, but I'm hoping by the end of the week I'll see something.

And the parsley is starting to become awesome! They are sprouting new bits! I tried to take a picture of it, but I'm not sure how clear they can be seen.

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What can I make with basil, parsley, sage and dill?!

I went to the store the other day with the plan of buying sage and mint seeds, and what did they have? Practically nothing! I managed to find the sage seeds, but there was no mint to be found. I really wanted another type too since my brother replanted his pear tree and gave me the empty pot left behind. I couldn't just let an empty pot sit around when it could be the vessel for a glorious herb!

After a great internal debate (and about a half hour looking like a crazy person staring at seed packets) I finally decided upon dill. Why dill? Well, it's tasty, pretty, and makes me laugh because I think it's a silly name. Also I don't have a lot of experience with it and figured this was a good time to learn. Those are good enough reasons for me!

I planted the seeds last night, so it'll be a while until anything interesting happens with them. Although I do expect to see my extra basil soon!

Here are some photo updates of my basil and parsley:

 

Pretty, right?

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Basil and Garlic Pesto

This recipe was taught to me many many years ago (like 3 or 4) by my friend Sarah. The only difference is that we never used a recipe, so here's my attempt at measuring! Don't worry, I did test it out and make changes, and I like these amounts best. Obviously you can adjust it to your own taste, but it never hurts to have a guide!

I really like super garlicky food, but I toned this one down for normal people. When I make it, I tend to double the recipe, seeing as how my family is insane and eats more than one would consider humanly possible. It doubles well, but you might have to adjust the amount of oil or garlic depending on your tastes.

Click here for the recipe!

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Mushrooms, sage, basil, and maybe more!

2 new mushrooms in the parsley! This time I made sure to quickly get pictures before they died (good thing too, because I took the pictures yesterday and they already died by this morning). Is this a normal thing to happen? I have no idea.

A couple days ago I planted some more basil seeds, since there isn't all that much going on in the pot, so hopefully I can see those start to grow soon! Today I plan to go to Home Depot to get some sage seeds to plant next to the parsley, and maybe some other herbs too. Whatever strikes my fancy while I'm there is what will be planted next! It sucks because I want to grow tons of herbs and plants, but I don't really have the space for it, and I would also probably need to buy more grow lights (and I'm way too poor for that!). Oh well, we'll see how it goes!

Isn't the mushroom incredibly random?

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The Food Ninja!

In 2008, I made an amazing video for my final project in a video editing class. It's about The Food Ninja, who breaks into houses and makes delicious, and healthy, treats for people who would otherwise die of malnutrition. In this video, the special treat is Tabouli.

I will be adapting the recipe used in this video for fresh parsley, so this one doesn't quite fit with my theme right now but I just thought this little gem should not be hidden from the world anymore. And so I share it with you all.



The video might be a little strange and jumpy at parts, so you'll have to excuse me for that, but for some reason the audio on parts of the tapes got randomly severely distorted and unusable, so I did the best that I could with what I had.

Many thanks to Sarah, who put up with my craziness as a director and was very patient as a ninja should be.

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Quick Basil Marinara

This marinara is fantastic to use in lasagna, pizza, or even just as a dip for Italian bread. It's quick, simple, tasty, and easy to adjust to your own personal taste. You can always add some oregano for an extra pizza flavor, or add some spice, or meat. Play with it and you'll come out with amazing variations.

The sauce can be used immediately or stored in the fridge. When I'm using it the same day, I usually keep the heat on very low after it's done simmering, while preparing other ingredients, then store any extra sauce left behind.

This recipe is inspired by, and adapted from, Giada De Laurentiis's Quick Marinara recipe.

Click here for the recipe!

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Mushroom Mayhem

I swear I did NOT mean to grow mushrooms. I have no idea how this happened. I went to check my basil last night, got all excited to see some extra life, looked closely, and there it was: a mushroom. It did make me feel a little better, since at first I thought it was an albino basil or something to that effect. So I think I'll leave it alone for now and see what happens. I have no idea if it's from the soil, or the seeds, or cosmic weirdness, but it's at
least interesting. Whatever, that was last night. Today i discovered another basil bit! At first i thought "oh no, just more random musrooms", which, to be fair, is usually the first thing I think when something happens. However, as usual, I was wrong! It's more basil! I'm not a basil failure!

The parsley is a veritable forest. However adorable and miniature, it is still a forest. I didn't even realize I planted that many seeds! I hope they don't get too overcrowded. I might be exaggerating a little, but compared to the basil the parsely is growing crazy fast. Oh, and  what have we here? Of course, a mushroom has come to visit the parsley as well! I'm just going to go aead and assume it's completely harmless, and most likely from the soil. It is cute, and adds more character to the planters, so for now it can stay. The second it becomes unappealing and icky, it will get ripped out and destroyed. With glee.  

Update: Mushrooms quickly died before I got a chance to take a picture! What's that all about?

Here's my basil and parsley thus far!

                                              

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