My Comfort Food

For as long as I can remember, I have loved the combination of broccoli and sweet Italian sausage. When I was around 11, I spent the night at my Aunt and Uncle's manhattan apartment where she made me my first bowl of Orechiette pasta with sausage and broccoli. My aunt was the woman who throughout my childhood would get me to try foods whether I wanted to or not. She used to say, "what's the worst that happens, you spit it out?"

Words like those have gotten me to try many things over the years and as a result I love brussel sprouts, chickpeas, and why I get to share this recipe with you today. To be honest, I am glad I have tried so much because I wouldn't be writing here today if I hadn't.

Pasta with broccoli and Italian sausage

Ingredients:

1 lb sweet Italian pork or turkey sausage removed from casings
2 heads of broccoli
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of chicken stock
1 lb rigatoni
Red chili flakes (optional)

Directions:

1) Heat EVOO in a skillet and brown sausage over medium/high heat
2) Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add pasta.
3) When sausage has some color on it and no longer pink, turn to medium and add in minced garlic. cook for two minutes.
4) Stir to combine and pour In chicken stock. Allow to come to simmer. Drain your pasta and set aside.


5) Once the sausage has had a chance to simmer with garlic and stock, stir in broccoli and let cook for 3-5 minutes covered.


6) Uncover and allow broccoli to soften to your liking. I usually cook another 3-5 minutes.
7) Add butter and cheese and stir to combine. Cook another minute and add more stock if you desire a thinner sauce.
8) Add your cooked pasta to skillet and stir to combine. Add stock or cheese as you wish.
9) Remove from heat and stir once every 30 seconds for 2 minutes to ensure even coating. Serve with red pepper on the side or cheese for topping and eat up!

Tips:

*For a different spin on this recipe, you may also try using whole wheat pasta for more fiber or sub broccoli rabe or kale for broccoli. Just be sure to use a pasta that has ridges to soak up the sauce.
*Try serving the broccoli and sausage concoction on its own with a green salad and some crusty Italian bread for an alternate to the pasta.


Enjoy this comforting meal and happy eating!!!

Location:Carlton Ave,Brooklyn,United States

Yogurt Craze

I am taking a departure this post to discuss a trend that has been blossoming for quite a number of years in NYC. With the summer months feeling as though they are within reach and the temps in and around Brooklyn fluttering between the 60 and 80 these past few weeks, it feels natural to discuss this fun fad.

So, what does one do when life hands you beautiful weather and record setting temps? Well, in my world, we go for frozen yogurt! Ok, so for some this may not be earth shattering and I know that this is a topic that may or may not excite everyone. Yet, I am bringing it up because on a recent trip to the West Coast of Florida, I quickly realized that in different parts of the country, yogurt is a bit of a newer fad. I also noticed that everyone takes their yogurt just about as seriously as me and my fellow New Yorkers.

In recent years in New York City at least, self serve yogurt shops have popped up throughout the boroughs and around the country as well. I remember my very first experience in a self serve shop. It was  June about 4 years ago and a colleague of mine took me into the original location of 16 Handles on 2nd Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. It was magical. It was bright and felt like joy lived right there at 16 Handles.

The shop was so welcoming and was decorated in neon pink, orange, and green accents scattered around the white backdrop. On the back wall you had your choice of paper cup sizes and next to that was a wall of yogurt machines. 8 machines positioned side by side each dispensed 2 Flavors ranging from French vanilla to tart pomegranate. You had the option to fill your cup with as many flavors and as much yogurt as you would like to indulge in. When I was done mixing and matching my coffee, chocolate, and vanilla yogurts in my cup, I was guided by my friend to the front of the shop where a wonderland of sweets awaited me.

In awe, I scanned the array of items available at the yogurt toppings bar. There was fresh fruit, cereal, chocolate, cookies, and sauces in a wide variety of options. Maybe 40 items in all from my recollection. I opted on my first trip to have health bar, shredded coconut, chocolate cookie crumbs, and a cherry on top. As I had my first bite, I was over the moon excited about how awesome a creation I made. I had eaten tons of frozen yogurt like Pink Berry through the years, but nothing compared to the delicious yogurt and toppings at 16 Handles. There was something fun and mesmerizing about making it myself as well. It made it special. It made it mine.

Yes, i know that we are only talking about frozen yogurt, but that is what makes it great! It may sound funny, but I think that ones choice of yogurt and toppings is a very personal and intimate one. Doug and I have had conversations about what you can learn about someone through their cup of fro yo. Yes, these are some of the conversations that we have.

Below are a few pictures that I took while at Yogurtology in Sarasota, Florida while we were visiting there last weekend. I am usually not one to take photos in yogurt shops that I frequent in NYC, but Yogurtology truly was unlike any place I had been.


If you cannot make out what the labels say, those are Nerds, Skittles, and Gummie Bears available for toppings!

Never in my life have I seen FULL Kit Kats and Twix bars as toppings at a yogurt bar. Amazing!

If you are more of a healthy type, there are always plenty of fresh toppings to choose from.

My partner in crime made this interesting combo with tart original yogurt and peach while we were traveling in Florida. His toppings of choice were tapioca balls and cinnamon toast crunch. His choices are quite a departure to my over the top candy land concoctions.

The nice thing about being a patron at 16 Handles in NYC or Yogurtology in Florida is that they charge you by the ounce, not by the size of what you are ordering. That means that you can have as little yogurt or as much topping as you wish. How many times have you gotten to the middle of your yogurt or ice cream and wished that you maybe had a few more colored sprinkles or nuts in there? Again, these may just be things that go on in our home, but I think that some can relate. There are also frequent flyer type cards that you can get where you buy 9 and the 10th gives you a few dollars off your next order. I LOVE a deal and whatI love more than a good deal is good yogurt shop.

In closing, it only took a few years, but my favorite self serve franchise has migrated towards my neck of the woods and is set to open very soon. 16 Handles Cobble Hill and Williamsburg are set to be open over the next few weeks/months and we couldn't be more excited (and scared). Let's just say that it is a 20 minute and 1 mile walk to the Cobble Hill location from my front door, that is a good thing!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Carlton Ave,Brooklyn,United States

Holiday Macaroons

Hey readers, friends, and family! At this very moment, I am writing this weeks post from 36,000 feet in the air. This marks my first time writing a post from an airplane and on an iPad. I must say that It takes some getting used to, this attempting to type an entire post on a larger touch screen, but very fun! I thought i would share this tidbit, but enough of that, onto food!

Nothing brings me more joy when it comes to my cooking than tackling a recipe for one of my favorite foods. The icing on the cake is when the experiment turns out delicious and appetizing. In recent years, I have recreated some of my favorites at home. A few of my favorites include: my tomato basil sauce, mu shu, braised short ribs, the perfect roast chicken, and now, macaroons.

On a very positive note, recreating a favorite can save you tons of calories in and at the same time save money. In my home, these are two things that I am thrilled about and what continues to excite me about cooking. Passover was last weekend and although my mom told me of 4 desserts that were going to be on the table, I couldn't imagine her holiday table without coconut macaroons. My very talented sister had made some of the best macaroons I have ever eaten last year and she had mentioned how easy they are to make. From there, it was just finding the perfect recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of Smitten Kitchen's food blog. I read her recipes religiously and for good reason. She manages to make anything and everything sound accessible and doable by anyone that has a kitchen. I selected The Smitten Kitchen blogs take on macaroons because the author tried tons of different recipes to get to her own ultimate recipe. I followed the recipe to the letter and was very pleased with the end result. The only small issue I found with the recipe was that we only came out with somewhere closer to 30 cookies, not 50. Nevertheless, they were worth every penny spent on ingredients and every moment spent from start to end.

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

Yield: Makes 30ish 1 1/4-inch cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

14 ounces (400 grams) sweetened, flaked coconut
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 pint (6 ounces, 170 grams or 1 1/4 cups) fresh raspberries (if washed, patted very dry)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor, blend the coconut for a minute. Add sugar, blend another minute. Add egg whites, salt and almond extract and blend for another minute. Add raspberries and pulse machine on and off in short bursts until they are largely, but not fully, broken down. (I counted 13 pulses. I might have been a little obsessive, what with the counting.) Some visible flecks of raspberry here and there are great. When you open the machine, you’ll see some parts of the batter that are still fully white while others are fully pink. Resist stirring them together.

With a tablespoon scoop batter into 1-inch mounds. You can arrange the cookies fairly close together as they don’t spread, just puff a bit. Scooping a little of the pink batter and a little of the white batter together makes them look extra marble-y and pretty.

Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, until they look a little toasted on top. Let them rest on the tray for 10 minutes after baking (or you can let them fully cool in place, if you’re not in a rush to use the tray again), as they’ll be hard to move right out of the oven. They’ll firm up as they cool, but still remain softer and less dry inside than traditional macaroons.

* i adjusted Smitten Kitchens cooking time and baked them about 15 extra minutes because I wanted some extra color and crunch on the outside. I did find that the white was easier to brown than the pink parts of the cookie.
* don't be alarmed if you find the cookies to be a bit wet. The raspberries do make the cookie much more moist once baked off.
* we experimented a bit and dipped the bottoms of 1/2 the batch in dark chocolate. It turned out pretty well, but they are just perfect on their own.

All in all this was a no muss and no fuss macaroon recipe. I think that everyone at our Sedar enjoyed them. They certainly brightened the holiday table with their pretty pink color and tasted great! I would make them again next time I have a craving for coconut or for a get together with s coconut lover. The cleanup is a cinch too because you do all of the labor in the work bowl of your food processor. A bonus is using the parchment on your cookie sheets which makes for speedy cleanup too. Thanks Smitten Kitchen for another great recipe and for inspiring me to keep experimenting.

Until next time, happy eating!

Passover Brisket

April is by far my favorite month of the year. This time of year holds so much promise and renewed hope for a great year that it leaves one feeling uplifted. In my world, April is filled with holiday celebrations, birthdays, and season openers around major league baseball. Where usually all of these fun events are sprinkled throughout the month of April, this year all the goodness is wrapped up in one week. This means lots of dinners, drinks, and cooking crammed into 7 days for my family.

Between April 5th and April 12th of this month we will celebrate Passover, Easter, my Father's 60th birthday, and my 29th. This "holy" week has been a somber one for me since September 2001 when my father died. We spent every year around this time celebrating the holidays and our birthdays together. Let me not forget that we also were always in "our" seats at Shea Stadium cheering on the NY Mets on Opening Day during the first weeks of April.

As an adult and soon to be wife, I have slated this week to hold a more positive feel from this point moving forward. This year I will partake in two Passover meals starting with one in my home. The second night will be spent in my mothers home with our loved ones. At our dining tables, we will be bringing together our traditional family with our informal one (friends that are our family). We will share wine and break matzo in environments filled with laughs and hope. This year I will honor his life and continue to prepare for my newly evolving one.

This weeks recipe comes straight from my mom's kitchen (with a few of my own tweeks thrown in along the way). I am beyond thrilled and so proud to share this recipe with you all this week. I have personally eaten this brisket for so many of the Jewish holidays that I have lost track. Some of my fondest memories of family gatherings include platters of this sweet and savory brisket in the center of the table. I remember traveling home from college for Passover and smelling the brisket from the driveway when mom was working in the kitchen. Although it is a 2 day process, this brisket has so much flavor and tradition behind it, that it is well worth the wait. I began testing out my own ways of making my mom's recipe over the past 4 years and I think that I have come up with a great product that even she is proud of.

Before venturing into the world of braising, it is important to understand the cut. Brisket comes from the chest portion of the cow. While it is super flavorful, it can be tough and chewy. Thus, it is best to use brisket for pot roasts and for braising as we are in this recipe. What you are left with at the end of the day is a succulent and fork tender meat that gets tastier and tastier over time. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

1 (5-7 lb) brisket, washed and drained

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 can Coca-Cola

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup honey

4-5 Tbsp. ketchup

1 cup baby carrots

1 Lipton onion soup packet

salt

pepper

My Tip: get a disposible aluminum roasting pan to prepare and cook your brisket in. It provides enough space for this huge slab and beef and can be thrown away at the end of the meal.

Preparation:

1. Place brisket in a roasting pan. Mix all seasonings and liquids together in a mixing bowl and pour over brisket.

2. Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.

3. Cover and bake at 325° Fahrenheit for approximately 4 hours, flipping half way through the cooking process to ensure even cooking and coverage in liquid.

4. Remove from the oven and set on counter. When cool, thinly slice the brisket against the grain. It is very important to remember to slice the brisket correctly. Otherwise, you will have chewier pieces. As you slice, place the meat back into the pan juices.

5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

6. Remove brisket from the fridge an hour or 2 prior to reheating. Let it get to room temp on your counter.

7. Heat oven to 375 degrees and reheat covered for 1 hour or until heated through. Half way through, add in your baby carrots.

My Tip: It is best to prepare the brisket the evening before it is served as the taste is enhanced after it sits in the fridge.

As I gear up to celebrate a week filled with many joys, I wanted to reflect a bit on starting my last year of of 20's. I feel as though I have found my comfort zone and my voice. I am so in love with my life and am excited about the direction that it is headed. Who knows what the next year of my life will bring (other than marrying the most amazing man at the end of the year). What i am sure of is that I will make sure that it will be filled with food and ALOT of love.

I will repeat myself and say that I continue to be grateful for this platform (my blog). I know that my dad would be reading this weekly and may have even been a contributor at some point with his cooking talent. I am sure of this because he was my biggest cheerleader. I miss him every minute of everyday. He loved unconditionally and in return I now love just the same. He was a remarkable man and I dedicate this blog to him.

Happy 60th Birthday, Pops and happy eating to all!