A Very Merry Dinner!

The holidays are my favorite time of year, and there is nothing I love more than Christmas!  My family does not eat a traditional Christmas dinner (we usually have beef tenderloin, potatoes, and vegetables).  But, for the blog I wanted to try to make a typical Christmas dinner.  I did a little research and found that a lot of people eat turkey and stuffing for Christmas (which seems strange to me because we just had that meal at Thanksgiving)!  I am too intimidated to cook meat with bones in it (especially since I don't have the right cooking materials for that), so I decided to modify the dinner slightly.  I thought maybe they would have some kind of boneless turkey breast roast, but I couldn't find that (maybe it doesn't exist, but I think it should), so I decided to go with a pork tenderloin.  I used the same spices and herbs that I would have used on turkey and it turned out great (even though it probably would have tasted slightly better on turkey).

Drink...

Christmas Cocoa

This is a delicious holiday drink!  I would love to snuggle up by the Christmas tree with this!
Ingredients:
(serves 1)

• 8 oz hot chocolate
• 2 oz Baileys Irish cream (I used the original Baileys, but the one with mint in it would be extra good here!)
• whipped cream
• crushed peppermint candy

Directions:

1. Prepare the hot chocolate. 
2. Add Baileys.
3. Top with whipped cream and crushed peppermints.

Dinner...

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Holiday Stuffing

I was very impressed with myself after making this meal because it involved cooking a lot of things I have never made before.  It was pretty easy and it turned out soooo good!
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Perfect Gravy
*recipe adapted from Disney Family

Like I said earlier, this would probably be slightly better on turkey, but it was still super good on pork and very easy.
Ingredients:
(serves 2-3)

• 1 lb pork tenderloin
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• grated zest from one orange
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• gravy
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Drippings from pork
• 1/8 cup flour, whisked into 1/2 cup of chicken stock until smooth
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. Mix salt with herbs and zest and rub liberally on the pork tenderloin.
2. Place pork in a large Ziplock bag or wrap in foil. Refrigerate for 24 hours.  ( I only refrigerated mine for about 5 hours and it was still great).
3. Remove pork from fridge and let sit at room temp for at least a half hour before roasting.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
5. Rub entire surface of the pork with softened butter, and place on a rack in a roasting pan.  Put it on the lower oven rack. 
6. Roast for about 35-45 minutes. 
7. Remove pork to a carving board, and cover with foil and allow to rest for up to 30 minutes. 
8. Make gravy: 
1. Place roasting pan over two burners on the stove. There should still be some brown bits clinging to the pan.
2. Turn heat to medium, then pour in wine, scraping up all those brown bits. 
3. Add flour/stock mixture and stir constantly until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Add more turkey stock to thin gravy as necessary, turn burners to low, and continue to stir occasionally until you are ready to pour into a serving vessel.
4. Taste for seasonings. You probably won't need to add salt, but a good pinch of pepper will be necessary.
9. Carve pork and serve immediately.  

Holiday Stuffing*recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

I love stuffing and I think this was one of the best I have ever had!  I really wanted to use roasted chestnuts in it, but they were ridiculously expensive, so I went with chopped walnuts instead.  Next time I will try the chestnuts to make it even more Christmas-like!
Ingredients:
(serves 4-5)

• 2 1/2 cups cubed white bread
• 1/2 pound ground turkey sausage (I used Trader Joe's smoked Chardonnay Apple Chicken Sausage and it was perfect!)
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 1/4 teaspoons dried sage
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or chestnuts)
• 1/4 cup dried parsley
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a casserole dish.
3. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the  sage, rosemary, walnuts, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
4. Pour sausage mixture over bread. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, and parsley. Drizzle with chicken stock (you may not need all the stock.  Just enough to make the bread moist but not soaked) and melted butter, and mix lightly. 
5. Cover with aluminum foil and back for 40 minutes.
6. Uncover the stuffing and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Dessert...

Candy Cane Cookies

*recipe from Kraft
These are the perfect end to a Christmas dinner!
Ingredients:
(makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies)

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened 
• 3/4 cup  butter, softened  
• 1 cup sugar  
• 2 tsp.  vanilla  
• 2-1/2 cups flour  
• 1/2 tsp.  baking soda  
• 4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted  
• 1 pkg. White Chocolate Chips, melted  
• 12 hard peppermint candies, crushed

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat first 4 ingredients in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Blend in melted chocolate. (Dough will be stiff.) 
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 52 balls; roll each into 3-inch-long rope. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets, bending top of each slightly to resemble candy cane. 
4. Bake 10 to 12 min. or until puffed and set; cool 5 min. on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. 
5. Melt white chocolate; drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candy. Let stand until chocolate is firm.  

And I'm Back...With An Italian Feast!

After a long hiatus I am back to blogging!  We finally got a new stove and I can cook again.  This was the meal I was going to make before our oven broke, so I figured I would try again.  Enjoy some delicious Italian food!

Drink...

Amaretto Mocha Italia

*recipe from Disaronno
This drink was quite delicious on a cool, fall day.  Be careful though, because I put a bit too much amaretto in mine and it tasted a little strong.  I would start out with less amaretto...you can always add more :)
Ingredients:
(Makes one drink)

• 8 oz. hot coffee
• 2-3 oz. amaretto (depending on taste)
• 1 tsp. instant hot cocoa mix
• Whipped cream
• Shaved chocolate

Directions:

1. Stir hot cocoa mix into the hot coffee until it dissolves.
2. Add the amaretto.
3. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. 

Dinner...

Eggplant Parmesan
*Recipe from Maureen K.
I have made other eggplant parmesan recipes that are quicker and simpler, but none are as good as this one.  It is well worth the time it takes to prepare it!
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

• 1lg or 2 med eggplants (small white, light pink/purple are great if you can find them!  
• For flour coating: mix together in a shallow bowl and set aside:
•  1 to 2 cups of flour (depending on the amount of eggplant slices you are cooking) 
• 1 to 2 tbs garlic powder -  again depending on eggplant amount 
• 2 tsp.salt (or more)
• 1 tsp pepper (or more)

• For egg wash coating: in shallow bowl mix and set aside: 
• 2 slightly beaten eggs(more if needed), diluted with 2 teaspoons to a tablespoon of water for each egg used.
• stir these ingredients together with 10 to 12 mild strokes. don't let the eggs get bubbly, as this makes the coating uneven.

• For bread crumb coating: in shallow bowl mix and set aside: 
• about 3/4 c of plain bread crumbs for every diluted egg (I used panko bread crumbs because that was what I had, and it worked well.)
• about 1/3 c of grated parmesan cheese (or a little more) for every diluted egg 

• 1 large jar (or more) of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• mozzarella cheese slices
• vegetable or olive oil

Directions:

breaded eggplants waiting to be fried

1. Peel eggplant and cut into 1 to 1 1/2" thick circles. 
2. Salt slices and place in a colander over a bowl or in the sink for 30 minutes. Eggplant is very watery and will dilute sauces. If your spaghetti sauce is thick this step can be eliminated. 
3. After salted, rinse salt off of the eggplant and pat slices dry w/paper towel.
4. Flour each piece of eggplant, tossing it lightly from one palm to the other, patting gently all over and letting any excess flour fall off. 
5. Put the flour coated piece into the egg mixture, making sure the entire surface is covered. Allow any excess egg to drip off. 
6. Place the slice in the bread crumb bowl. Make sure that the crumbs adhere evenly to the shallow sides of the eggplant as well as the large tops and bottoms of the eggplant. If you see any vacant places sprinkle a few crumbs on them. gently pat the crumbs to adhere. Handle the eggplant gently, so that the coating won't crack.
7. Place pieces on a rack to dry for about 20 minutes before frying. Keep prepping the eggplant slices. after 15 - 20 minutes all the remaining eggplant slices will be done and you can start frying the first slices that were coated. 
8. Preheat oven to 350.
9. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in large non-stick skillet.  Place eggplant pieces in heated oil (do not crowd pieces). Brown on all sides, being careful not to burn coating as the cheese in the coating mixture will burn if not attended to. remove from pan and place on cookie sheet,continue browning remaining pieces.
10. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 inches of sauce on bottom of casserole. Add a layer of eggplant using larger pieces for bottom. Top each bottom piece with another piece (a stack of 2-3!). Add remaining spaghetti sauce, covering the bottom layer and coming 1/2 of the way up top layer.
11. Cover casserole and bake 30 to 40 minutes or until sauce is bubbling.
12. Remove casserole from oven and turn oven temperature up to 425 to 450.  
13. Place 1 large piece of mozzarella on top of each eggplant stack. 
14. Place casserole (without cover on!) back in the oven and heat until cheese melts and browns a little, approx. 5-10 min depending on your oven. watch closely as cheese may melt to fast and just run off of your eggplant!
15. Let cool a little and enjoy!

Garlic Bread

This garlic bread is so easy to make, and so much tastier than store-bought garlic bread!
Ingredients:

• A crusty loaf of bread
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbs butter
• Parsley
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cut the loaf of bread in half lengthwise.
2. Melt butter.
3. Chop garlic and add it to the melted butter.
4. Brush the butter/garlic mixture on the bread.
5. Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan cheese.
6. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Slice the bread into pieces.

Dessert...

Easy Tiramisu

*Recipe from Pina D.
I got this recipe from a woman I worked with in Los Angeles.  It is so delicious, so easy, and such an impressive dessert.  It will look and taste like you spent a lot of time making it, but really it doesn't take much time at all.  It's sure to impress any guests!
Ingredients:
(makes about 16 servings)

• 8 ounces Cream Cheese
• 3 cups cold milk
• 2 packages (4-serving size each) Jello Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
• 1 Tub (8 ounces) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 48 Nilla Wafers (I use a bit more, about 1 1/2 boxes)
• 1/2 espresso coffee, cooled, divided
• 2 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely grated (2 ounces)
• 1 cup of fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually beat in milk. 
3. Add dry pudding mixes; mix well. 
4. Stir in 2 cups of the Whipped Topping. 
5. Line bottom and sides of a 2 1/2 quart bowl with half of the wafers (I used a Trifle bowl); drizzle with half of the coffee. 
6. Layer half of the pudding mixture over wafers, and then top with half of the grated chocolate. 
7. Repeat all layers starting with the wafers and coffee. 
8. Top with raspberries, and grated chocolate. 
9. Refrigerate overnight. 

Cin Cin

(cheers) 

Try the recipes...I guarantee you will enjoy them!

Magnificent or Mediocre? A Microwave Dinner that is Both.

I haven't written in a while because the gas in our apartment building has been (and still is) shut off.  There was a gas leak...the soonest ConEd could come fix it was in 4 months...we are getting new electric stoves in the meantime...but when?  Who knows!  
I have missed blogging and cooking, so I decided to try a microwave dinner.  I wanted to make things that you wouldn't usually think of making in the microwave.  You will have to read on to see how it went...

Drink...

White Wine (Pinot Grigio)

I Googled what drinks go best with risotto and all that came up was wine.  So, I thought...well, if that's the best...that makes it easy for me!
However, this choice did not turn out quite as boring as I thought it would be.  There ended up being a story to this wine...
Just a couple days before, Doug and I had a conversation about how, due to some strange law, you can not buy wine at a grocery store in NYC (only beer).  When I went out shopping for ingredients I was annoyed.  We had already been to one store, I was on my way to another store, and then I would have to go to the wine store (that's the other thing about NYC - you can not get all the ingredients you need in one store - it requires you going to at least 2-3).  So, here I am walking around Food Emporium (store #2) and there I see it...wine!!  I was so excited that I would not have to go to another store and I could prove Doug wrong at the same time, so I bought the wine.
I started cooking with it and Doug asked for a glass.  So, I poured him a one and he said, "Wow, this wine is really sweet."  I thought, oh, that's good.  I like a sweeter wine.  Then he said, "No, really it tastes like juice."  He proceeded to go in the fridge and look at the bottle.  That's when we found out it was not wine, but "a wine product."  It had alcohol in it, but a very low percentage and it tasted pretty disgusting, even to someone who likes sweet wine.  Moral of the story:  Do NOT buy "wine" at a grocery store in NYC.

Dinner...

Asparagus Risotto and Chicken with Pesto Sauce

Chicken with Pesto Sauce (Mediocre)
This chicken was not bad...just nothing to write home about. 
Ingredients:

• 2 boneless breaded chicken breasts (I used Trader Joes pre-cooked frozen ones)
• 2 tbs. pesto sauce
• 1 tbs. butter

Directions:

1. Microwave chicken breasts for 2 1/2 minutes. 
2. Melt butter and mix with the pesto sauce.
3. Top the chicken breast with pesto.

Asparagus Risotto (Magnificent)

*Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
This recipe was amazing to me.  It was almost like magic the way it cooked in the microwave.  Believe it or not, I have never had risotto before.  But, I must say this tasted pretty good to me!
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup cooked, cut asparagus
• 2 Roma tomatoes

Directions:

1. In a large microwave safe bowl combine butter, garlic and onion. Place dish in microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes.
2. Place chicken broth in a microwave safe dish. Heat in microwave until the broth is hot but not boiling (approximately 2 minutes).
3. Stir the rice and broth into the bowl with the onion, butter and garlic mixture. Cover the dish tightly and cook on high for 6 minutes.
4. Stir wine into the rice. Cook on high for 5 minutes.  Add the asparagus and tomatoes and cook 5 minutes more. Most of the liquid should boil off. Stir the cheese into the rice and serve. 

Dessert:

Mini-Moist Vanilla Cake (Miserable)

*recipe from: Delicious Microwave Recipes
This cake sounded too good to be true.  I mean, how can you make a cake in the microwave?  But, it looked so good in the picture on the website, I just had to try it.  I found out that some things are not meant to be made in the microwave.

I had high hopes for the cake 

as it started rising in the microwave.

The taste of the cake was ok, I guess.  But it was a very strange texture.  Also, even though it's vanilla cake, it turned out brown.  I think maybe I overcooked it.  But. it did not seem done after the amount of time the recipe said.  Here's the recipe in case you want to see how weird it was.  Or, maybe you will have better luck than me!
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar 
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar 
• 3 tablespoons applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 can of chocolate frosting

 Directions:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, milk, vinegar, applesauce, baking soda, and vanilla extract together by whisking vigorously, until smooth. 
2. Next, beat in the egg. 
3. Spray a large cereal bowl with non-stick cooking spray, and pour  the smooth batter into the cereal bowl (may fill more than one bowl, just pour into multiple bowls until mix is gone).
4. Baking one bowl at a time, place it in the microwave on high for 2 to 4 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  
5. Let cool before serving or frosting!

 And the Results...

One thing I made in the microwave was really good and I would probably make it again (especially in the summer when you don't want to heat up the house by using a stove or oven).  But, I am not converted to a microwave chef and hopefully I will be back to cooking with a stove/oven soon!