Around the World: Italy

This is Olivia ...

She may look all sweet and innocent.

But she has a secret plan to take over the world, one meal at a time. Olivia loves cooking shows. Her favorite is Cake Boss.

(She's already saved more than $300 for a trip to Hoboken to eat one of Buddy's cannoli. And yes, cannoli is the plural of cannoli. I looked it up.)

One of her newest passions is this guy.

I don't know about his cannoli, but he's certainly a bit of eye candy!

And apparently Rocco (of Rocco's Dinner Party) has some cooking chops too. On his show, chefs compete to throw the best themed dinner party for a gaggle of celebrities, chefs and foodies. A recent episode featured an Italian theme and that, my friends, was Olivia's inspiration for Sunday night's dinner (a.k.a. her next step in total culinary domination).

An ambitious menu, no doubt. This girl doesn't mess around!

So, at 4 o'clock she assembled the ingredients. (well, most of them. With 5 courses, there's no way she could get all of the ingredients in one photo!)

Let's break this down into bitesize chunks.

Appetizer: Italian Chips

Ingredients

• 12 wonton wrappers
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Arrange the wonton wrappers on the baking sheet in a single layer. Brush each wrapper with egg white.

3. Sprinkle them with parmesan cheese and oregano, then cut into triangles with pizza cutter.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are brown, 6 to 7 minutes.

** DO NOT burn them, like this...

(dang oven, heats up so hot! Be sure you check yours regularly during the baking process)

If you need a do-over, take it .... and ask a friend to help!

(that's Olivia with newly-minted sous chef Emma, who's visiting from Dallas)

5. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Salad: Italian Macaroni Salad (though I'm not sure how "authentic" it is... lol)

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. macaroni
• 1 bottle Italian dressing
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 sm. jar pimentos
• 2 c. chopped ham
• 1/2 c. salad dressing
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook macaroni until tender but firm, drain well. Put cooled macaroni into large bowl. Pour Italian dressing over it and cover and keep in refrigerator overnight. Next day: add cucumber, onion, pimentos, ham and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Fold in salad dressing and sour cream. Mix well. Serve chilled.

Soup: Italian Wedding Soup (**problems with recipe noted below)

Ingredients - Pt. One

• 1/2 lb. meat loaf mix (ground beef and pork)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. basil
• 1/4 c. milk

Directions
Combine the ingredients above.

Form small 1/2 inch balls.

Drop into boiling salted water or broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, remove with a straining spoon, place on paper towels to drain briefly, then refrigerate.

Ingredients: Pt. Two

• 1 stewing chicken
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 carrot, thickly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, with leaves, cut up
• 1/3 teaspoon oregano
• 4 peppercorns
• 2 tsp. salt
• 6 quarts water or broth

Directions
Simmer chicken with the remaining ingredients in the 6 quarts of water or chicken broth for about 2 1/2 hours or until tender. Remove skin and bones, cut up and refrigerate. Strain broth and return to pot.

Add 1 head escarole, torn into bite sized pieces, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste. Simmer 20 minutes. (WAIT!!! What do you mean escarole?!? The ingredients list doesn't include escarole!! Fatal flaw with the recipe, as posted. Thankfully, we had some extra spinach, so we threw that in)

Meanwhile, break spaghetti into 4 inch long pieces and cook according to package directions; drain. (WAIT!! What spaghetti? That's not in the recipe either! ** ding, dang Cooks.com!! But we've always got pasta in the pantry, so we threw in some shell pasta)

Add 1 1/2 cups prepared chicken and meatballs to broth. Simmer 10 minutes more. Serve warm.

Entree: Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna
(this one's pretty straightforward, folks)

Ingredients

• 12 lasagna noodles (we use whole wheat -- the kids & pickier grownups don't even notice!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 small zucchini, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 (8 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
• 24 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

3. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot add broccoli, carrots, onions, bell peppers, zucchini and garlic. Saute for 7 minutes; set aside.

4. Place flour in a medium saucepan and gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Reserve 1/2 cup spinach mixture. In a small bowl combine cottage and ricotta cheeses; stir well.

5. Spread about 1/2 cup of spinach mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetables, spinach mixture and 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ending with noodles. Top with reserved spinach mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Dessert: Tiramisu

Yes, tiramisu is not a cannoli. But we discovered, as we were heading out to the grocery store, that to make a cannoli we needed a cannoli tube. We don't have a cannoli tube. We weren't sure where to get a cannoli tube. We were tired and wanted to get cooking. So, tiramisu it is ... prepared by sous chef Erika.

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pound mascarpone cheese
• 1 1/2 cups strong espresso, cooled
• 2 teaspoons dark rum (we used vanilla extract instead)
• 24 packaged ladyfingers
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.

2. In a small shallow dish, add remaining espresso and rum. Dip each ladyfinger into espresso for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom.

3. Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.

4. Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours. Before serving, sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

(PHEW! I'm tired just typing all that!!)

It took a looooong time, but by...

Olivia had everyone at the table...

and Frank Sinatra on Pandora.

We ate...

We critiqued...
chips were easy & tasty

wedding soup was spicy, but really good

macaroni salad tasted like something we'd eat at a fancy bistro in Florence at the family reunion on the farm in Iowa

lasagna was a little watery (always a risk with veggie lasagna)

tiramisu was to delicious! and not very difficult

We laughed ("that's what she said!")...

And had a lot of fun.

Watch out world (and Rocco), 'cause here comes Olivia!

Necessary Pleasures Featured in B-Metro Magazine

We've been sitting on this news for a while, but our humble little family food blog is featured in this month's B-Metro Magazine!!!!!!

(do the exclamation points adequately capture how excited the girls are over this?!? okay, me too!!)

And wow - look at the photos Beau captured...

We might be using that one as a profile pic for a long, long time! I wish Jason had been in it, but he was busy cooking the dinner. The meal we featured (Mozzarella Chicken) is handed down from his family in Utah. Here's the super yummy photo:

Don't you just want to gobble it up right now?!? It's easy to make. Check out the recipe and learn a little more about our food philosophy here.

And friend us on Facebook ... we're always interested in what you're cooking!

Around the World: Ghana

What's to say? We made it. We ate it. We liked it!

Shoko (a.k.a. Beef & Spinach Stew)

Ingredients

• 6 small canned tomatoes, with juice
• 1 whole fresh hot chili
• 4 medium onions, whole
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb stewing beef, cut in cubes
• 1 cup water [or beef broth]
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cayenne [more or less to taste]
• 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 3/4 to 1 lb fresh spinach

Directions

1. Build up your arm muscles so you can actually use a manual can opener.

Oh, and while you're at it -- figure out how to cut onions without crying your eyes out! (suggestions?)

2. Reserve 1/2 cup of juice from the canned tomatoes, and discard the rest of the juice. Combine the chili, tomatoes, onions, and green bell pepper in a food processor, and process until the vegetables are minced but not pureed.

3. Heat the oil in a large, cast-iron pot, and sauté the vegetables and beef for 5 minutes over high heat.

4. Add the reserved tomato juice, water sugar, salt, cayenne, and ginger. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 2 hours. Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

5. Meanwhile, soak the spinach in warm water for 15 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly, separate, rinse again (and even a third time if you want to be extra careful), shred coarsely, and set aside.

6. After 2 hours, add the spinach to the pot and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, until the water is gone and the spinach is cooked.

7. About half an hour before serving, prepare boiled rice. Serve Shoko with rice.

Here's Olivia with her feast - Yum!

Want to check out some more recipes from Ghana? Go to Global Table Adventure. It's a great site that all foodies should absolutely follow! Sasha (the mama) and Mr. Picky (the daddy) explore a world of cuisine with their little cutie Ava. Here's Ava sampling Spicy Chicken Peanut Soup from Ghana.



That girl is one of the best eaters I'ver seen!

Around the World: Hungarian Goulash

These guys can do it ...

Why the heck can't WE? Afterall, we're a pretty smart bunch.  One of us has letters behind his name. One of us knows Latin. Another gets straight A's and another reads all the time.  Oh, yeah, and then there's me.

But we're still mucking up this Cook Your Way Through the World from A to Z thing.  We were A-Okay with A (Afghanistan), blasted through B (Belgium), choked down C (Croatia - ugh!), dared to try D (Denmark -- oy!), and then it started unraveling!

We spent days making E (Ethiopian) food, but still haven't blogged it.

F - We managed to post the French recipe, but only because Olivia gave up reign of the kitchen to Andrew.

And G? We made G (Ghana) last week but haven't even downloaded the photos from the camera!

Okay - self-flagellation over. We're getting back on track tonight with Hungarian Goulash.  (I promise, no goofy Hungry for Hungary jokes. Okay, well maybe just that one.)

When I was growing up my Mom (this is us in the north Georgia mountains) ...

made Hungarian Goulash with ground beef, potatoes, water and pepper. It was a comfort food for me, right behind Beef Stroganoff.

But in searching for a Goulash recipe to make tonight, Olivia and I discovered there's a LOT of debate over what's "authentic". Apparently, "authentic" requires paprika and tomatoes and doesn't necessarily require potatoes. Who knew?

So, here's the recipe we settled on, from a webpage that has lots of info on the history of Hungarian Goulash and its many variations.

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds beef (any tender part), cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 carrots, diced
• 1 parsnip, diced (Not sure what a parsnip is?!? It looks like a carrot, only white)
• 1-2 celery leaves (Wasn't quite sure what this meant, so we skipped it)
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped -- or 1 tbsp. tomato paste (** Olivia's tips for peeling a tomato)
• 2 green peppers (We used 1, since most of us don't like green peppers)
• 2-3 medium potatoes, sliced
• 1 tbsp Hungarian paprika powder
• 1 tsp ground caraway seed (We started cooking and realized all we had was whole seeds. So we used 'em.)
• 1 bayleaf
• ground black pepper and salt, according to taste
• water

Instructions

1. Heat oil in skillet; add chopped onions and cook until they get a nice golden brown color.

2. Sprinkle the braised onions with paprika while strirring them to prevent the paprika from burning.

3. Add the beef cubes and sauté until browned. Add garlic, caraway, ground black pepper, salt and bayleaf. Pour in enough water to cover the contents of the pan. Let it simmer on low heat for a while.

4. When the meat is half-cooked (about 90 minutes) add the diced carrots and parsnips, the celery leaf, potatoes and more salt and pepper if necessary. You may also need to add water (2-3 cups) to cover the veggies.

5. When the veggies and the meat are almost done add the tomato cubes and the sliced green peppers. Let it cook on low heat for another few minutes.

Plate and Enjoy!

Reviews

Chef Olivia - It was harder to make than I thought. The carrots and parsnips are hard to cut. But the food was good.

Jason - It's soupier than I think Goulash is supposed to be. Maybe she added too much water? Still, I'll take another helping.

Hannah - Is there more meat?

Tanya - It was good, but Mom's goulash still holds that special place in my heart (and stomach).

How to Peel a Tomato

Step 1: Slice an X in the bottom of the tomato.

Step 2: Get water boiling in a pot, add tomatoes, and boil for 5 minutes.

Step 3: Peel.

So easy, a 12 year old can do it!

Seared Steak with Chard Salad

Returned home from a week in Shiny City, put in 8 hours at work, got home and discovered I'm sick. Not this kind of sick, but a run-down, working-too-hard, 101 fever kinda sick. So the last thing I wanted to think about was dinner. Thankfully, my mind-reading husband saved the day again (how lucky am I?!?) and whipped up some Seared Steak with Chard Salad for dinner last night.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups large crusty bread cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 to 4 anchovies
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak
• 1 teaspoon dried mint (we skipped this since Jason doesn't like mint)
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
1. Put the chard in a bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the bread cubes and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add to the chard.

3. Add the anchovies to the skillet, mashing them with a whisk. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook until the garlic is golden, about 45 seconds. Add the tomatoes and warm slightly, then whisk in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Pour the warm dressing over the chard, toss and set aside to wilt.

4. Wipe out the skillet and place over high heat. Sprinkle the steak on both sides with the mint, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Sear the steak until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until browned on the other side, 3 to 4 more minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.

5. Add the feta to the chard salad and toss. Thinly slice the steak and serve with the chard salad.

Reviews:

The kids bowls still had a fair amount of chard left (but they were begging for more meat!). Not surprising, though, as I'm pretty sure they have never had Swiss Chard and it usually takes a while for Miranda and Hannah to embrace new things. (Olivia gobbled hers up).

Jason and I agreed that putting the toasted bread cubes in with the oil mixture doesn't work. All we got was soggy bread crumbs. Next time we make this we'll hold them out until near the end, to provide a little more crunch.

Everything's Shiny in Crystal City

So, I'm in Crystal City (Arlington, VA) for a conference this week. And everything's ... shiny.

Big, shiny hotels (lots of 'em)

and big, shiny shops

and lots of chain restaurants

I'm a day late for the Farmer's Market

And I have no desire to go all the way to DC to eat at a chain restaurant.

But a pilot friend (Hi Andy!!) who regularly flies through Reagan National Airport suggested a hole in the wall indian place just down the road.

You had me at "indian" (despite what Olivia says), but throw in "dive" ... and I'm there!