an unlikely source of inspiration

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this recipe in--of all places--Cosmopolitan. (Yeah, I read Cosmo. No judgment!) It's actually a reprint from Giada De Laurentiis's new cookbook, Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California, and it is surprisingly delicious. I found a prepackaged assortment of cherry tomatoes at my local market, which added a colorful twist to the dish.

Pasta Pronza
recipe courtesy of Cosmopolitan, April 2010
reprinted from Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis 

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter, for greasing
2 cups halved red cherry tomatoes
2 cups halved yellow cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs (I substituted plain bread crumbs)
1 pound ziti
1 1/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves 

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish.

Combine tomatoes, capers, olive oil, salt, and pepper in prepared baking dish. Toss to coat. Sprinkle bread crumbs over mixture. Drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta, and cook until tender but firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl. Spoon the tomato mixture on top. Add the cheese, and toss well. If needed, thin the sauce with a little of the reserved water. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

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cookie randomness

Some chocolate-white-chocolate-and-butterscotch-chip cookies I whipped up during my visit to Pennsylvania last weekend, featuring an assortment of odds and ends found in my parents' pantry...

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mozzarella, tomato, and basil pizza

Before..

And after!

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only in new york, kids...

I awoke this morning to find the following message in my inbox:

Dear Rebecca,

Over 28,000 doormen, elevator operators, porters and other residential building employees have indicated that they will strike at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, 2010, if agreement is not reached on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement.

A strike may impact FreshDirect orders scheduled for delivery Wednesday, April 21 and beyond. We encourage customers in potentially affected buildings to stock up now and schedule delivery for Tuesday or sooner. We will post updates to the status of our delivery service at the top of the FreshDirect.com home page. We will also provide additional information by email as it becomes available.

As always, thank you for being a valued FreshDirect customer. Whether or not a strike occurs, we will do everything in our power to deliver high-quality service and food.

Sincerely,

FreshDirect Customer Service 

For those who've never tried it, FreshDirect is a grocery delivery service. Basically you log on to their website, click the stuff you want to order, choose a delivery time, and wait for everything to show up at your door. It's especially popular among New Yorkers, since most of us don't have cars, and cooking a big meal can easily require 2-3 trips to the grocery store. I don't use it regularly, but it's great for dinner parties and holidays, or for ordering heavy stuff like bags of flour or cases of bottled water.

I'm not knocking FreshDirect, but this e-mail did make me laugh. Where else but New York would people launch into panic mode because the doorman might not be there to accept the groceries! New Yorkers don't even freak out when there's a snowstorm--I've never witnessed the "bread and milk" rush common in other parts of the country--but no doorman? That's a crisis. "Stock up now!" the e-mail urges. Do it! Otherwise, you might have to (gasp!) accept the groceries for yourself, or (double gasp!) actually go to the grocery store! 

It's really not that difficult, people. Poor, doorman-less souls like me have been doing it for years.

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make. this. now.

For the past month, the March issue of Bon Appétit has taunted me from my coffee table. "Make me!" screamed the Eggplant Parmesan on the cover. "You know you want to!" And I did want to--as a quasi-vegetarian, I'm always on the hunt for new meat-free dishes--I just hadn't had the time. Until last night, that is, when I finally gave in to temptation and gave it a shot.

I am so glad I did.

First, I'm always excited when a recipe introduces me to a new ingredient. Until yesterday, I'm pretty sure I'd never cooked with (or maybe even eaten?) Swiss Chard before, but I'll definitely be using it again. It's so beautifully green and leafy that just carrying it home from the market on a sunny spring day made me a little bit happier.  

Oh, and have I mentioned that this recipe is good? Like, restaurant-quality good. So-good-I-can't believe-I-made-it-at-home good. It's a perfect dinner-party dish, appropriate for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. I followed the recipe almost exactly--the only changes I made were substituting part-skim ricotta for whole-milk, and using regular mozzarella instead of the kind packed in water.

Go make it!

Eggplant Parmesan Rolls with Swiss Chard and Fresh Mint
recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit Magazine, March 2010

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants (about 2 1/4 pounds total), trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Coarse kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 1-pound bunch Swiss Chard, center ribs removed
2 large eggs
1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups finely grated parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 15-to 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 8-oz ball fresh water-packed mozzarella, drained, thinly sliced

Directions:
Cover bottom and sides of each of 2 large colanders with 1 layer of eggplant slices; sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Continue layering eggplant slices in each colander, sprinkling each layer with coarse salt, until all eggplant slices are used. Place each colander over large bowl; let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Rinse eggplant slices to remove excess salt; dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat source and preheat broiler. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oild. Broil 1 sheet at a time until eggplant slices are tender and beginning to brown, watching closely and removing eggplant slices as needed if cooking too quickly, 3 to 4 minutes per size. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool eggplant while preparing filling.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add chard to pot and boil until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Squeeze chard very dry, then chop coarsely. Squeeze chard dry again between paper towels. Whisk eggs and pinch of coarse salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped chard, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, mint, and black pepper.

Lightly oil 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Spread half of tomato sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Divide chard-ricotta filling among eggplant slices, placing about 1 heaping tablespoon filling in center of each. Starting at 1 short end of each, loosely roll up eggplant slices, enclosing filling. Arrange rolls, seam side down, atop sauce in baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over. Place mozzarella slices in single layer over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and chill.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake eggplant Parmesan rolls, covered with foil, until heated through, about 30 minutes if freshly made or 40 minutes if refrigerated. Uncover and bake until brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

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cadbury conspiracy?

When it comes to holiday candy, Halloween and Valentine's Day get most of the attention. Sure, Trick-or-Treating is great, and I like chocolate-covered cherries as much as the next girl. But for me, nothing beats Easter when it comes to candy.

I'm a big fan of the Cadbury products, especially the milk chocolate "Mini Eggs" (the crunchy, pastel-colored ones that come in the purple bag) and the traditional Cadbury Creme Egg. But when I received my Easter basket in the mail (thanks, Mom!) a few weeks ago, I was once again reminded of just how small these darn things have gotten.

I know this "conspiracy" has been written about somewhat extensively. B.J. Novak from The Office even talked about it on Late Night with Conan O'Brien a few years ago, and brought some "vintage" eggs along as proof. Cadbury's spent a long time denying that the Creme Eggs are shrinking ("you've just gotten bigger!") but it still bugs me, and I'm not alone. Try typing "cadbury eggs smaller" into Google, and you'll find an entire legion of disgruntled Cadbury fans.

Don't get me wrong--I still love my Cadbury Creme Eggs. With that yummy milk chocolate outside and sweet creamy center complete with fake yellow yolk, they're a treat that I'll continue to enjoy for Easters to come. I just wish they weren't half the size they used to be, and that I didn't have to eat two of them to make up for it.

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buttercream eggs (the recipe)

No-Cook Buttercream Easter Eggs

recipe courtesy of "The Kitchen Shoppe" cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1 T. vanilla

3 T. milk

Pinch of salt

Milk chocolate (for coating)

Directions:

Combine butter, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add sugar and milk alternately until all sugar is worked in. A pastry blender works well. Shape into balls and dip in chocolate coating.

Variations: Use 1 1/2 T. vanilla and 1/2 T. of any flavor you desire--maple, cherry, strawberry, coconut, etc. Add the 1/2 T. flavoring slowly until you have the taste you desire. Walnuts (black) can also be added if you use maple flavoring.

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