Beer 'n Onion Soup

I love my Moo... this soup was one of the best ever onion soups I've ever made and he helped make it. You see, every now and then he "helps" in the kitchen by walking by whatever is on the stove and pouring some of the beer he's drinking, into the mix. Then he says, "see I help in the kitchen too."
Amazing soup.

Simple instructions.

1. Get a bit of oil heated up in a large pot
2. Saute about 4 slices chopped bacon. Remove it once crisped.
3. Add about 3-4 cups thinly sliced onions.
4. Add your seasonings now: about 1 tsp herbes de provence blend.
5. Once onions are nice and slimey, add about 1/2 cup blond beer.
6. Add about 5 cups beef stock.
7. Simmer soup for about 20 minutes then add back the bacon, salt and pepper to taste.
8. When ready to serve, put some crusty baguette in your (oven-safe) bowls, ladle in some soup and top with a blend of Gruyere and Mozarella cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly.


Moolicious!

Chewy Cherry-Chocolate Granola Bars

These are so yummy and they take a few minutes to put together. This basic recipe can allow for endless possibilities (i.e. cashews, peanuts, dried apricots etc...) but this cherry-choco mix was awesome. Moo, wait'll you get home.... you will love these!

Follow these steps and you won't fail!

Enjoy.

1. Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine in the microwave. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and prep your square baking dish with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, whisk 2 egg whites until frothy then add the following: a splash of both almond and vanilla extract, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 generous tbsps honey, dash of cinnamon, 1/2 cup brown sugar. Whisk all of this together.....

4..... and then add: 2 and 1/4 cups large cooking oats, a handul each of coconut, dried cherries, slivered almonds, and mini chocolate chips. Add the butter and mix together. Put in square baking dish, pat down nice and firmly and bake for 30 minutes, turn off stove and then allow 5-10 minutes more in the cooling oven.

So Moolicious.

Espresso Explosion Angel Food Cake

Here's what you asked for Buffa. I'm not sure why they call it "angel food cake" because this was so sinful that it could be food for the devil. Typically, angel food cake is light and fluffy because it's made with mostly egg whites, but the mini chocolate chips and espresso powder in this cake make it seem naughty. Oh and there's no butter in this either...which is why you can make an icing ! The mocha-explosion is like a firework in your mouth...or on your legs.

Need:
1 cup cake flour (if you use all purpose, take out 2 tbsps of the flour and replace with 2 tbsps cornstarch)
1/2 coarse sea salt
12 egg whites - room temp
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips
2 tbsps espresso powder
2 tsps vanilla extract

1. Prep a 9" springform pan- grease it and dust some flour on the inside so the cake doesn't stick.
2. Measure out all of your ingredients for extra ease and have them in small bowls because once the egg whites are fluffy, this comes together quick.
3. Preheat oven to 350
4. Dissolve espresso powder in 1 tbsp water and vanilla. Add the chocolate chips to this too.
5. Now, make your egg whites.... whip until frothy, then add the cream of tartar- whip for about 5 minutes, then start slowly adding in the sugar. The eggwhites should be shiny and whipped until stiff peaks form.
6. Gently fold in the flour mix in 3 parts- sift each part over the egg whites.
7. Next gently fold in the espresso/chip mix. Pour in your pan.
8. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Allow to cool. My frosting option: mix half a stick of melted butter with 2 tbsps cocoa powder, 1 tsp espresso powder and 2 tbsps icing sugar. Mix well and frost the outside of the cake. Sprinkle some coconut for extra pizazz.

Moolicious!

Green Eggs and Polish Ham; Sam I am.

Here is a quiche - a quick and satisfying meal for any day of the week.

You'll need:
1 cup clean broccoli florets (cut small)
1 cup Italian cheese blend
Half an onion, diced.
A small chunk of Polish sausage (Keilbasa) cubed
2 tbsp pesto (home made or jarred)
1 small ball of pie crust
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
bunch of fresh parsley

1. Roll out pie dough to fit your tart dish

2. Preheat oven to 350 and then saute your sausage with onion, until soft.
3. In a small bowl, whisk egg, flour and milk.
4. In another large bowl, put most of the cheese (save some for the topping), broccoli, ham, onion, parsley and then add egg mix and stir.
5. Brush pesto on the crust, then fill it up with mixture. Spread evenly and then top with more cheese.
6. Fold in the crust, if you want. Then top with more cheese.
7. Bake for 40 minutes.

Moolicious!

Chai Tea Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

Holy Yum Yum. Buffa, these cupcakes have your name written all over them, in the best icing ever. The cake part to these cute little creations is light. There is not much butter used, compared to some of those insane recipes with copious amounts of butter. They taste healthy and the blend of spices is quite impressive...so you won't have to feel guilty when you generously frost these bad boys. Enjoy.

Cake ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

2 tea bags ( I used a honey chai tea, which was perfect!)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp each ground ginger, cinnamon, sea salt.

pinch of nutmeg and ground cloves.

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened).

1. In a pot, simmer milk and add tea bags, remove from heat cover and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Cool.

2. Sift all dry stuff and set aside.

3. Put paper cupcake liners in a 12x tin and preheat oven to 350

4. With a hand mixer, mix the butter and brown sugar until smooth, add in eggs one at a time.

5. Mix in yogurt.

6. Now in 3 parts add the dry, followed by the tea-milk.

7. Spoon your mixture in your tins

8. Bake for 16 minutes.

9. Frost them once they have cooled!

For the frosting:

1. Mix 1 1/4 cup icing sugar with 1 tbsp honey, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, dash of nutmeg and a couple drops of almond extract. Mix until smooth and put in a piping bag.

Moo-chai-licious!

Grilled Turkey Burgers with Honeyfied Dijon

These turkey burgers are dedicated to my Mom, Junie-Froo. These were so good! Another one of our favorite summer meals. What ever you do....DON'T leave out the caramelized onions for these burgers. We didn't use buns either.... we put them on half of a large pita. Restaurant taste.... ;) Enjoy.

Step by step process to topping success:

1. Caramelize one onion: allow to sweat out for a good 30 minutes in some butter until almost crispy, on low heat.

2. Slice a tomatoe and prep some lettuce

3. For the honey dijon- using a ratio of 1:1, make your dressing. I did 1 tbsp honey to 1 tbsp dijon mustard.

4. Provolone cheese.

BBQ style:

1. Season your ground turkey with salt and pepper.

2. Form 4 large patties and brush with oil.

3. Place on BBQ, on med-high heat, uncovered.

4. Cook for a generous 10 minutes before flipping and then another 10 for the other side.

5. Turn off the heat and top with 2 slices provolone cheese. Cover for 3 minutes until cheese melts.

6. To assemble, drizzle pita half with the honey dijon, place a lettuce bed, some tomatoe, then top with the burger and some caramelized onions on that!

Holy Mooliciousness!

Filet Mignon with Home Made Gnocchi and Swiss Chard

The prize-winner here were the home made gnocchi. It's an Italian pierogie....eggs, mashed potatoes and flour, what could be easier?

For the basic marinara sauce: Heat up a pot with oil, sweat out an onion, 4 cloves garlic, add a can of San Marzano tomatoes, add salt and pepper, simmer for 30 minutes, softly crush the tomatoes and add fresh basil at the end of cooking. Only use about 1/2 cup of the sauce for the gnocchi recipe.

For the gnocchi:

1. Boil 3 medium sized white potatoes in salted water until fork tender.

2. Peal the potatoes when cooled and mash.

3. Prep about 2 cups of all purpose flour by your side. You may not need all of it.

4. Put 1 cup of the flour on your counter, make a well and crack the egg.

5. Mix the egg into the flour and start adding the potatoes.

6. Repeat...add more flour and kneed the mixture until a nice soft dough forms.

7. Let rest for an hour.

8. When ready, get a large pot of water- boil with salt and have a frying pan with 1/2 cup sauce on low.

9. Roll out the dough in strips and then cut into bite sized pieces. You can roll them between your hands so they are all uniform.

10. Add to the boiling water, 5-6 at a time, for about 20 seconds, and then right into the sauce.

11. Serve with freshly grated Romano cheese

On the side: Swiss chard, boiled for 2 minutes, seasoned with salt and pepper. (cook like spinach)

The meat: Filet mignons seasoned with oil, salt and pepper and BBQed 2-3 minutes per side.... nice and medium rare!

Moolicious!

Zuppa de Pesce a la Giovanna

We paid homage to Giovanna by preparing an Italian inspired fish soup. She used to take pride in the preparing of her soup and wanted everyone out of the kitchen while she cooked it for hours. My version doesn't take as long and doesn't include a typical "fish head and bones" stock but it came out just the way we wanted; not too fishy, but clean, healthy, homey flavors. This recipe will make a huge pot; we fed 5 people easily, with leftovers.

Salute Giovanna.

Veggie Prep:

- The best thing to do it to get everything ready first (maybe in the morning) and set aside in a large container.

- Slice one large fennel bulb, thin.

- Mince one entire head of garlic.

-Slice two fresh carrots.

- Slice one onion.

- Slice 4 fresh sage leaves.

Spices and seasonings: In a bowl, put 1 tsp crushed coriander, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp cayanne pepper, salt, pepper, 1 tsp fennel seed, 2 bay leaves and about 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger.

Stock/Juices: 2 cans San Marzano tomatoes, 1 bottle clam juice (maybe 1 cup), water, 1 cup white wine.

Fish: 2-3 pounds of a blend of cod and tilapia and about 1 pound of shrimp.

1. Heat a large pot with olive oil and saute all prepped veggies. Sit and have a beer.
2. Once veggies are nice and soft, add spices and seasonings, white wine, clam juice, tomatoes and add about two cups water. Gently crush the tomatoes and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add fish (not the shrimp) and let cook for 15 minutes more. With 5 minutes before serving, add the shrimp.
4. Remove the two bay leaves and stir in freshly chopped scallions and basil at the end.
5. Serve with garlic bread!



Moolicious!

Jacob's Calzones

Superstar Jacob wanted to have a pizza party... so why not?!

Instead of regular flat pizzas, we made calzones. Use the same process of pizza topping, but just roll up and bake until golden. These pockets of delight put a smile on everyone's face- and it's a great way to put your kids to work in the kitchen.

Toppings we used:

- mozarella, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, fresh home made San Marzano marinara sauce, cooked and crumbled merguez sausages, and fresh basil.

- You'll need 2 balls fresh or frozen pizza dough, thawed and split into 6 small rounds. (you can make it healthy without telling your kids too.... Jacob didn't know the dough was whole wheat!)

1. Roll out the dough balls in flour (so they don't stick).

2. Preheat oven to 425

3. Get your guests to put the toppings of their choice

4. Roll in the sides and then roll up. The seam will be top-side up, but take a spatula and get underneath, flip and place on your tray, so it's seamside down.

5. Brush olive oil on each, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and have your guests put their own signature on it (a piece of basil, some extra cheese, etc.) so they know which one they made.

6. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Moolicious!