Fresh Mozzarella Salad

A couple weeks back, a friend decided to take me to a little restaurant i have been wanting to try for a long while, Pizzeria Bianco. If you haven't heard about this historic place, let me tell you a tiny tidbit of what i know off the top of my head: Chris Bianco is a humble guy who just loves to make pizza. He not only makes his own mozzarella and dough, but he also makes all the pizzas that come out of his restaurant at Pizzeria Bianco. He has been on Oprah, Jimmy Kimmel, The F Word (Gordon Ramsay), and many many many other shows/magazines/etc. Bianco's restaurant was awarded "Best pizza in the world" and, let me tell you, the pizza is good. This blog entry may just be a rave of how amazing the food at Pizzeria Bianco is...but just a little more. The wait may have been about two hours, but i was informed that we were lucky; a prior visit my friend had waited four hours for the amazing meal. Needless to say, we went all out. The Times said he makes the best pizza in the world, and i must say, it is.

I can't begin to tell you how amazing the story of this man is, but what i can tell you is that there are only 6 pizzas to choose from. Six amazing pizzas that, my friend and i, were very close to ordering. Sadly we decided on two (and ended up making friends with the couple sitting next to us, so we got to try their two as well). But, alas...the fresh mozzarella salad is what i am supposed to be talking about today. Let me just say, if i made mozzarella like Chris Bianco, all of my problems just might melt away.

The Caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato, basil) at Bianco's was amazing because of the just picked basil and tomatoes, handmade mozzarella, and local olive oil. My salad was special because i happened to have all the ingredients in my fridge. Although this modest mix of few ingredients seems simple, its about the quality you put into this dish- not the amount of items it takes to make it. Balsamic was an important difference between Bianco and i, my ingredients were store bought, so not as high quality. So try this one, its simple, but amazing.

Fresh Mozzarella Salad

(remember the best ingredients make the salad)

5 Thick slices of garden grown tomatoes

5 leaves of garden grown basil

5 thick slices of the best mozzarella you can find (this is fresh mozzarella, it comes in water usually)

A drizzle of your favorite olive oil

(and depending on the quality of your ingredients, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar)

Please enjoy!

Buttery Noodles

I have never had a comfort food more comforting than buttery noodles.
Perhaps it is the simplicity in this dish that makes it so wonderful, or maybe it's the fact that the dish is only carbohydrates and cheese.
Besides being a comfort dish, this entree can be made in about 15-20 minutes with one pot!
Also, if you are worried about the carbohydrate count in this, I have discovered a "low carb" pasta that tastes EXACTLY like full-carb pasta. The product is by DreamField and can be found closer to you than you think. I found it in the store that I shop in all the time, I just had to look for it. If you are interested in it, the website: www.dreamfieldsfoods.com

But really, after a long day, your stomach is growling, and all you want to do is eat something you love, make this. It just makes you feel ...mmmmmm.....

Buttery Noodles
2tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (real, not canned please!)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 cups (or so) pasta of your choice

boil water and make pasta as directed on box. Drain and return pasta (on same heat setting) to the pot, add butter and milk, bring to a boil and only turn off the heat when the milk starts to thicken. when thick, add the garlic salt and half the cheese. mix and serve, with remaining cheese sprinkled over the top.

i love this dish.

Ultimate Brownies

Just look at it.
Beneath the flaky top layer of this chocolate explosion is a ooey gooey, moist, cakey, fudgy center. This brownie was so good and so rich that I will definitely be making it again.
The only "tweak" to the recipe will be the amount of coffee (yes, coffee) that is added. When added to chocolate, the coffee makes the brownie richer and makes the taste more intense, but too much coffee with make the brownie bitter and too little coffee won't help the flavor. The brownies were almost bitter, so next time less coffee.

When using a thick brownie batter, make sure that you allow enough room in the pan (upward) for the brownie to rise. If using a smaller pan than indicated, allow more cooking time so that the brownie is cooked throughout.

Caution to those making amazing brownies: too many may lead to a sugar high and a tummy ache. But oh are they delicious.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

This is not the best picture of these cookies, but i forgot to take one before these went to work.

So, oatmeal cookies are delicious...and butterscotch is delicious...so i thought oatmeal cookies and add butterscotch. They were chewy and perfectly butterscotched. Definetly a winner in my eyes, and seeing how fast they went when i brought them to work, the girls must have thought they were yummy also. The only thing i would recommend is the "optional" salt; not optional, definetly add it!

I was part afraid that these cookies might be flat (like my chocolate chip cookies were for a very long time) but you just have to be paitent, let the butter come to room temperature and you will be rewarded with fluffy cookies. Also, if there is a "high altitude" alteration to the recipe, make sure you use it if you are at high altitude (around 5000ft).

Since i struggle now with making the same size cookies, my wish list now includes a cookie scooper (a larger one) so that all of my cookies are the same size. other than that, these cookies were a success!

Bad Cinnamon Rolls

something went wrong here...I thought they were going to be large and fluffy. Something had to have happened with the yeast. They are definitely not yummy looking and it leads me to believe i've done something wrong.... but Matt ate them anyway.

a few days after making this mess, I was watching Food Newtork and Alton Brown's show Good Eats came on. He just so happened to be making cinnamon rolls! There's something about that show that makes you think you've cooked or baked something wrong until you watch him make it. then for some reason you have all the right information to create what you probably haven't been making incorrectly. But his interesting food facts and food history lessons are always so interesting (to me...at least).

So what i've learned from Alton about cinnamon rolls...
-you should use real cinnamon. What you buy from the store is 90% imitation. the real stuff is called Cassia and is hard to find and expensive.
-yeast needs to be instant dry. not rapid rise
-eggs need to be room temperature
-the dough needs to rise about 2 and 1/2 hours...
-if you let the rolls sit overnight in the fridge just before you put them in the oven, the texture is much nicer

So, i will be attempting this one again today...and will let you know tomorrow how they are!

Poliberto's Quesadilla

Poliberto's is a little mexican joint that's just next to my apartment. It looked like a taco bell meets cheap birthday decoration explosion. i wish i could have taken a picture...The first thing i've ever tried from there: Chicken Quesadilla.

Okay, i know quesadillas are simple...cheese, chicken, and tortilla...but this one was over the top. If you look closely at the picture to your left, i'm sure you can see the lovely grease puddle being formed at the bottom of the container. i could only taste chicken, and not grilled chicken...shredded chicken that was probably poached. I'm not a fan of this one, but the boyfriend gladly ate it for breakfast the next day.

I'll let you know the next time i visit our neighborhood mexican joint, Matt loves this place and if it was up to him he would eat here for every meal.

Tuna "not so" Helper

Tuna not so helper…
One of the best canned food inventions may be “tuna in water” that dolphin safe food that you put on salads, in sandwiches, and a main ingredient to some simple boxed dinner solutions. In all of my years, I have never been introduced to this third option; tuna added to “simple boxed dinner solutions” also known as “tuna helper”. I was fortunate enough to be at a friend’s house while she was preparing this last minute meal. Since my mother raised me on homemade dinners, I need not say that was intrigued by my ability to try this new and easy “box food”. Words cannot describe how upset I was that my mother did not serve this wonderful item every night of my life. I could hardly believe the way that the tuna helper companies have created so many ways to combine tuna with pasta, spices, sauces, and even veggies, this made me wonder…whoever decided to put together tuna helper has an amazing knack for combining flavors and making dinner easier. My personal favorite part of tuna helper is how it’s not too fishy, too heavy, or too hard to make.
I soon found myself with boxes and boxes of tuna helper. I once went to the store and spent $20 on just tuna helper. But, as I continued to browse the varieties of my boxed tuna meal at my local grocer I wondered…why would you buy this box for $2.50 (sometimes more), a can of tuna for another $1.00 (at least), milk, butter, and not to mention invest 30 minutes into making it. As I looked at the other items to the left (pasta roni, $1) and to the right (rice a roni, $1.00) I thought, why would I spend so much on this box of dried pasta and spices which I also have to buy more ingredients for and still go home and make it when I can buy a can of vegetable soup for $1.50, cook for 3 minutes, eat all of it, and still feel good about myself?
So tuna helper is just…a helper…an expensive helper that is more inconvenient than convenient. Although time consuming for such a simple solution with the word “helper” in the name, I would recommend it for once-in-awhile indulgences, or people who lack in the cooking area, and individuals that don’t mind that each 1 cup prepared serving has 320 calories and 650mgs of sodium. Not to mention that no single person will be satisfied with one serving…there are five in a single box, and I personally could eat most of the box in one sitting. Calculate that out to about 3 servings, you have 960 calories with 1950mgs of sodium! Talk about not eating anything else for the rest of the day. In the end, no matter how delicious tuna helper is…I would rather save my love of “tuna in a can” for tuna salad, sandwiches, or even straight from its canned source.

First Post

Okay, so i really like this whole cooking thing. It's not exactly new to me...i mean, since high school i wanted to do something with it. This blog is just a little something for you to read and (hopefully) enjoy. If anything i hope that it will help you to try something new.






So everyone, for my first post i will share ... my first souffle....



if anyone has ever tried to make a souffle...it's not any toll house chocolate chip cookie recipe. First, the part where it says to, "Combine the egg yolks and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer or large bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and continue beating until ribbons form, about 5 minutes" first of all, this is hard to judge. how am i supposed to tell when ribbons form in a stand mixer?



and second, have you ever tried to "gently fold" anything into something else? Gently folding foamy egg yolks into warm melted chocolate is very time consuming...and no matter what, the frothy egg yolks become...well...not so frothy anymore.

yeah, next time it will be better, but i didn't expect it to rise so, i suppose it's great for the first try... even if it did only rise a half inch

Also, the directions say, "Serve immediately"...this is because within ten minutes one of my souffles had completely deflated