Yesterday was a typical March day in New England. (Freezing rain, driving wind, general malaise.) To lift the spirits, I set up my crock-pot with some pulled pork for dinner. Then I decided to eat dessert first, and turned to my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook.

Phil and I recently had an amazing bread pudding at 10 Prime Steak and Sushi in Providence, Rhode Island, and I’ve been craving the stuff ever since. I had all the necessary ingredients to make my own:

2 and 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
about 5 cups of 1 inch cubes of French or other firm bread

I had a loaf of a crusty tuscan bread, so I used that. I think any bread would work fine, just avoid using very soft breads. Bread pudding is great because it has a nice combination of soft, moist bread with crusty, almost-burnt tops.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together milk, sugar, cinnamon, and eggs in a very large bowl. Stir in the bread cubes and turn them until coated. Pour the whole thing into a small casserole dish. (About a 1 and 1/2 quart dish.) Pour any liquid remaining behind in the bowl over the top. I also pressed down on the top of the the mixture to kind of squish it all together. Pop this in the oven uncovered, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is cooked (Insert a knife or toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, it’s cooked through.)

While the bread pudding was cooking, I made a whiskey sauce to pour over the top. This was also surprisingly easy! You’ll need:

1 stick of butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of whiskey or bourbon, or brandy extract

You can make the sauce while the bread pudding is cooking, because the sauce will need time to cool. First, gently melt the stick of butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Don’t let it simmer! (I lifted the pan off the heat a few times and just swirled the butter around until the the whole thing was just melted.) Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

Whisk together the water and egg. Then pour the water and egg mixture into the cooled, melted butter. Whisk together. Whisk in your sugar. Now, place the saucepan back over medium-low heat, and whisk constantly until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture just begins to boil. As soon as it starts to boil, remove it from the heat, and stir in the whiskey. Set this aside and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Your bread pudding is probably done now. Cut out a nice big piece, and spoon a generous serving of the whiskey sauce over the top. Enjoy.

You can keep the leftover bread pudding and whiskey sauce in the refrigerator. Just warm both up before serving.

When I’m planning dinner I usually decide whether I want some kind of pasta dish or a meat dish. If I pick meat I then narrow it down to chicken, beef, or seafood. Somehow I never even think of pork, which is a shame. During February vacation I was staying with my Grandma down in Florida and she made Pork Chops one night. I have to admit I was a little less than thrilled, but they were very good. I decided it was ridiculous I had been cooking and blogging for almost 5 years (check out my old Summer’s Fusion – times sure have changed!) and I had never cooked Pork Chops. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve done Pork Loin several times (it’s especially good when you are camping) and I make a mean pulled pork, but the chops had evaded me up til this point. I bought some Chops Friday night and was especially happy about how inexpensive they are. No wonder so many moms have freezers full of frozen Pork Chops. When I was trying to think of what to do with the pork I remembered I had added apple sauce once when doing a slow roast and was also inspired by my mother-in-law Nancy’s ham and pineapple dish at the holidays, so I decided to give it a shot with some fruit. This serves 2 if one of you is a big tough guy with crazy metabolism. Otherwise 3.

Ingredients

3 Pork Chops

salt and pepper

cinnamon

rosemary

olive oil and butter

2 apples

1 onion

First heat up a large pan with some olive oil. Next season your Pork Chops on both sides using salt, pepper and rosemary. Cook your Pork Chops on both sides until a nice golden color (I think I did about 8 minutes on each side). In the meantime, chop up your apple and onion. Place in a bowl and sprinkle in cinnamon. Mix together. This is a perfect time to use up any apples you had been avoiding, such as anything with a bad spot. Some recipes I have seen call for Granny Smith apples but I use Gala because that is the kind we have with our lunch everyday, and I don’t see the need to buy anything different. Remove the Pork Chops from the heat.  Put a little dab of butter in the same pan. Add in the apple/onion/cinnamon mix. Stir occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes. I cut open one of my Pork Chops in the meantime because I hadn’t cooked them before and I was afraid of both under- and over-cooking them. They looked pretty good to me but I thought they could still use some more time to be on the safe side. After the apples and onions get some nice golden color and start to caramelize add the Pork Chops back in. I had to make room by scooping the apple mix on top of the Pork Chops. Cook for at least 5 more minutes. Remove when Pork Chop is completely cooked (depends on your stove!). Plate with the apple mix on top of the Pork Chop. I served this with some steamed broccoli and sour dough toast.

Ingredients

-french sourdough bread (It’s important to get good bread to make this restaurant quality. Any crunchy rustic bread will do.)

-cooked bacon

-pimentos (small jar)

-sharp cheddar cheese

-mayonnaise

-pepper jack cheese

-velveeta cheese

-butter

-spring salad mix

Using a shredder, shred the cheddar and pepper jack cheese (more cheddar-about 2/3 of my cheese used was the sharp cheddar) into a large bowl. I saw several recipes with lots of different and fancy cheeses. However, I had pepper jack in my fridge and I didn’t want to spend money on other cheeses like gouda. I also had a pack of velveeta from a Superbowl dip so I ripped some chunks and tossed that in as well. Add a healthy spoonful/squirt of mayo. Using a fork, scoop out all of the pimento from the jar. Mix all of these until well-blended. It will look like orange, red, and white goop. Butter a large skillet on medium heat. Butter both sides of your sourdough bread. Scoop the cheese mix onto a piece and top with about 3 pieces of bacon. Cover with another slice of sourdough bread. I grilled each side for about 4 minutes or until cheese is melty and bread looks golden and crunchy. Serve with a side salad.

The hubs only complaint is he wishes I had made him two.

The original recipe is here, but me being typically me, I made some edits. It’s really yummy, healthy and filling. This will give you plenty of leftovers (serves 6 MEN (i.e. 8))

Orecchiette with Sausage and Kale

What you’ll need:

-1 tsp salt (for pasta water)

-1 lb orecchiette pasta (I used the whole box so I would have lots of leftovers)

-1 lb fresh Italian sausage – I use Hot Italian (like me). I remove the casings because that stuff tears me up, yo. I used 6 sausages, which came in one package, because I like a lot of meat.

-about 8 cups of kale, stemmed and roughly chopped (I bought a big ol’ bundle)

-1 can drained cannellini beans

-1 container of cherry tomatoes

-grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

-1/2 cup grated Parmesan

-2 Tbsp parsley flakes

-2 Tbsp unsalted butter

-1 Tbsp olive oil

How to make it:

1. In a large pot, bring pasta water to a boil. Cook the pasta.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet with olive oil, cook the sausage on medium-high, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned. Transfer the sausage to paper towels. Add the kale to the pot and cook/turn until wilted, about 3 minutes. You may need to add the kale in a few batches depending on the size of your skillet. Just move slowly when flipping the kale. Otherwise you will be like the Swedish Chef in the Muppets with flying food all around (me?). Add the beans and tomatoes.

3. Drain the pasta and put pasta back in your large pasta pot. Add the butter and cheese. Mix. Add the sausage. Now add everything from the skillet (kale, parsley, tomatoes, beans). Add lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. Sprinkle more cheese on if you like while you eat. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe will make 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (that is one stick!)
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• <1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 healthy pinch of salt
• ~ 1 cup craisins
• ~1 cup white chocolate chips
• ~1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I had an open bag so I added them. One of the recipes I was looking at called for chopped macadamia nuts…I’m guessing most regular American women don’t have macadamia nuts lying around). I do think the nuts give a nice crunch texture but they certainly aren’t necessary.

Directions

Ingredients

-1 lb lean ground beef

-1 taco mix spice packet

-shredded cheddar cheese

-Philadelphia cream cheese

-kidney beans (I had these leftover from my chili a few weeks ago)

You could also use green pepper and onion but honestly I was feeling too lazy to bother. I think this would also work well with salsa and/or velveeta cheese.

Preheat the oven to about 325 degrees. In a skillet brown your beef. Keep breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Remove from the skillet once it’s cooked through and put in a large bowl. If you are using beans heat these up in the same skillet now. Add the taco spice mix to your bowl of ground beef and a handful of cheddar cheese (shredded). Mix.

In a glass pie dish (or something like it) spread a large spoonful(s) of cream cheese on the bottom. Be generous. Sounds weird but it’s delicious and keeps the dip moist. Then add your beef/cheese mix alternately with the beans. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Bake in the oven about 15 minutes or until cheese on top gets very melty. Serve hot with tortilla chips!

What do a Scotsman, Irishman, and German have in common? FOOTBALL

We let it marinate for about 15 minutes while our asparagus side cooked (asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese on a foil-lined pan).

In a large frying pan we heated up olive oil on high heat. Once it was sizzling we put on the tuna steaks (1 minute on each side for each inch of thickness). We removed it quickly and served. So delicious! Tuna steak fills you up but doesn’t leave you with that heavy feeling a beef steak can give you. I recommend this for a fancy night in!

I had extra sauce leftover from the recipe and froze it for future use.

As you consider using this recipe, remember these words of joy expressed by my eloquent husband:  ”This is the best f%$&*n lasagna I’ve ever had.” Poetry

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium white onion, diced
• 1 large bell pepper (green, red, or yellow), seeds and veins removed, diced
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 28 oz can tomato sauce
• 16 oz stewed tomatoes
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 lb Ricotta cheese
• 1 lb Mozzarella cheese (large flat square slices cut thin)
• 3/4 lb freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Garlic Powder
• Oregano
• Italian Spice mix (I had some in my spice rack called “Italian”- I’m guessing it’s a mix of other spices listed here but what the heck)
• Salt
• Parsley flakes
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced

Cooking Utensils

• Large skillet (for browning beef, onions, green pepper)
• 6 Qt pot (for noodles)
• 3 Qt pot (simmer sauce)
• glass lasagna pan (or other similar)
• Large colander (drain noodles)
• Large slotted cooking spoon
• Large cooking spoon
• knife
• plates/bowls

METHOD (cook lasagna simultaneously or earlier in the day to reduce prep time)

1. Brown lean ground beef in skillet until lightly browned and cooked through. Keep mixing and breaking it up so it doesn’t get too chunky. Put a few layers of paper towels on a plate. With slotted spoon, remove browned beef from skillet draining off excess beef fat and put on top of blotting towels. After all the browned beef has been removed from the skillet, drain off and dispose of excess beef fat. Wipe skillet clean with paper towel. (If your ground beef is sufficiently lean, there won’t be any or much excess fat to drain.)

Add diced green pepper and onion to skillet. Brown for a few minutes on medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Add browned beef back to the skillet, lower the heat to low and continue to cook for 5 more minutes stirring frequently.

2 Transfer browned beef, green pepper and onions to 3 Qt. pot. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Open stewed tomatoes, drain liquid into the pot, and dice the tomatoes, then add these to 3 Qt. pot. Add oregano, parsley, Italian Spice Mix to taste, probably 2 teaspoons of each. Add a healthy pinch of garlic powder to taste. Add sugar a tablespoon at a time, until desired level of sweetness, no more than 1/4 cup of sugar. Note: It is hard to follow a pure recipe when it comes to pasta sauce. One Italian spice mix is not like the other, so you really need to taste the sauce as you are adding the spices and sugar.

Stir and allow sauce to simmer 15-45 minutes to thicken (do not scorch bottom, stir frequently). Remove from heat.

3. Cook lasagna noodles in 6 Qt. Pot per cooking directions (al dente). (Note noodles may be cooked in advance.) Stir often to prevent from sticking and be sure that water remains at a boil during the entire cooking to prevent noodles from sticking. Make sure you add salt to your boiling water to prevent stickiness. Drain in colander and place in a cool water filled pan to keep from drying out and sticking together (I let the original pot cool down with cold water and then put the noodles back in with the water).

4 In dry lasagna pan, ladle one cup of sauce and spread along the bottom of the pan. Apply a layer noodles 3 length wise (edges overlapping). Ladle in sauce sparingly into center trough of 3 noodles. (i.e. along the inside of each noodle) Apply a layer of mozzarella cheese slices on top of lasagna sauce. Place ricotta cheese dollops every 2 inches in center of noodles on top of mozzarella cheese slices, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese in thin even layer on top of ricotta cheese. Apply second layer of noodles, topping again with sauce and cheese. Finish with another layer of noodles. If you have extra sauce and cheese you can spread that over the top. Tent lasagna pan with aluminum foil (not touching noodles or sauce). Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Note – Flavor improves for leftovers and may be reheated in convention or microwave. Store with Saran wrap

Yield: Serves 6-8.

-3/4 cup of milk (I use skim)

-1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

-1 egg

-2 cups of flour (I use all-purpose but you could try wheat to up the health factor)

-1/3 cup of sugar

-3 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp or less of salt

-1 apple chopped into bite-sized pieces

-chopped walnuts

-cinnamon powder

(or 1 cup of any fruit or chocolate chips (semi-sweet) desired)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or use pam spray. Beat the milk, oil, and egg in a large bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt). Add these mixed, dry ingredients to your large bowl with the egg, oil and milk. Mix until all the flour is moistened. The batter should be lumpy.

Chop your apple and sprinkle cinnamon on the pieces, mixing it all together. Add this to the batter with your chopped walnuts. (Your batter will have cinnamon speckles throughout)

Cook 20-25 minutes or until the muffin tops are golden brown. Let them cool a few minutes before removing from the muffin tin.

1.5-2 lb ground beef

2 large (or 3 medium) onions, cut into large chunks or half rings

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil (if needed)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1-2 tsps chili powder, to taste

½-1 tsp cayenne, to taste

½-1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ c. loosely packed brown sugar

3 (15 oz) cans dark red kidney beans, with liquid

2 (15 oz) cans light red kidney beans, with liquid (The recipe called for “light” but I honestly did not see anything called light red so I just use regular kidney beans)

10 baby carrots or 2 large carrots chopped

3 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with liquid

1 (12 oz) can tomato paste

Cook the beef, onions and garlic in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, using a small amount of olive oil to prevent sticking if the meat is lean, until the meat is browned and the onions are tender, about 8-10 mins. Transfer the mixture to a 5-qt slow cooker. Add the salt, black pepper, chili powder, cayenne, paprika, vinegar, brown sugar, beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste (what I have here just barely fit in my cooker, if you are getting tight on room don’t add one of your bean cans). Cover and let stew on low all day (or for at least 6h).

We have eaten this the past two nights with crispy stone ground wheat bread – so good. I think it tasted even better the second night. Also, on all the spices I went on the lower end in terms of amount because my man, who I love so much, is not one for very spicy food. If you like your chili spicy definitely go on the higher end of the spice quantities.

Enjoy! If it’s just the two of you this will last you quite awhile! I would say a family of 4 could certainly enjoy this two nights in a row.

Ignore the sloppiness in my pouring as pictured. Chili is not the kind of food you worry about being neat with.

a nice twist to a traditional dish…just in time for Thanksgiving too!

Recipe: for 2
-Cut the acorn squah in half (horizontally).

-Then scoop out the seeds as you would a pumpkin. Try to flatten each half by cutting with a knife so the squash can lay flat on a plate. If you can’t cut the stem its ok, it will cook fine off balance as well.
-Lay both halves (middle end up) on a microsafe dish with a tiny bit of water in the hole, just an eighth of an inch or so. Add a dab of butter, a few pinches of brown sugar, and a shake of cinnamon.
-Cover it with saran wrap and cook for 10 minutes in the microwave.

Carefully remove plastic and watch out for steam. Eat with a fork, enjoy! I believe you could add the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter right before eating as well.

This is what you get when you marry an Italian.

 I don’t know about you but I sure feel Fall in the air. Also, after all this restaurant eating, I could use something healthy. I decided to enjoy a little piece of home by making Portuguese Kale and Chourico (phonetically cherise) Soup. I had a bowl at home in Dighton at Georgio’s Restaurant and knew I had to learn it. I’m not Portuguese but maybe I get some points now that I know how to make this. Besides, my best friend is Portuguese…Mrs. Rezendes!

To start with, I used this recipe at Food Network penned by Rachael Ray (shout out to mom for sending it to me). However I have vetted it for you and found some small changes that I think make a difference. Also note the original recipe claims this serves 4. I found this to be more accurately 6-7 servings. If it’s just the two of you I would halve this.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium yukon gold potatoes diced (I keep my peels on for nutrients)
• 2 medium onions or 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pound kale, coarsely chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 can garbanzos (chick peas), drained and rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 pound diced (bite-size) chourico, casing removed
• 1 quart chicken broth (low sodium)
• Warm, crusty bread for dipping

Heat oil in a deep pot (for example, large pasta pot) over medium high heat. Add potatoes and onions, cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, bay leaves, and kale to the pot. Cover pot and wilt greens 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add beans, tomatoes, chourico, and broth to the pot and bring soup to a full boil. Reduce heat back to medium and cook 10 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender (make sure you give the chourico enough time). While serving, pick out bay leaves. Serve soup with hunks of crusty bread.

Note: It might seem like you have too much kale and not enough chicken broth when you first combine everything, but trust me, the soup will look just how you want after everything is together for about 5 minutes.

Nice title, huh? This is a quick dinner I whipped up tonight that is really healthy and flavorful. I was inspired by a meal I had at Park Slope’s Thistle Hill Tavern. Check out their entree Duck Leg Confit. It was delicious, but also expensive. I wanted to cook chicken tonight for some protein and I decided to come up with my own cheaper and easier version of this meal.

Ingredients

-chicken cutlets (or breasts if you want more)

-spinach

-dates (pitted). I found these in the produce aisle

-Dubliner cheese (any sharp cheese or blue cheese will work – I just wanted to use this since it was in my fridge – yay conserving my food dollar!)

-olive oil (EVOO recommended)

-bread crumbs

First dip your chicken in some milk and cover in fresh bread crumbs. Begin to cook this in a hot pan with olive oil. Next rinse your spinach and place in a separate pan that is on low-medium. Add the dates. Cover this pan with a cover to help the spinach wilt. Remove all when chicken is finished. Plate the spinach and dates first. Then cover with the chicken. Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Thistle Hill’s recipe calls for marcona almonds. If you have these, great. Otherwise you could use regular almonds or walnuts.