Cocktails

Monday Night Match Up Menus: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers

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OK, I’m somewhat tempted to hop in Oscar (please, everyone should name the car) and head down to SD for the game on Monday, simply because they’re not hosting the Raiders. We’ll see. In the meantime, here’s what we’re cooking up:

Coconut Almond Antonio Dates Darren SpRolls

Darren Sproles - RB SD

Antonio Gates - TE SD

Chopped Chicken Phillip Livers Pate

Phillip Rivers - QB SD

Laurence Macaroni and Cheese

Laurence Maroney - RB DEN

CaraMalcolm Floyd Popcorn

Malcolm Floyd - WR SD

Eddie Kir Royale

Eddie Royal - WR DEN

Coconut Almond Antonio Dates Darren Rolls

Ingredients:
2 c pitted dates (8 oz) – check the pitted ones, the bag I got still had a few lingering in there and jammed up the Cuisinart. No bueno.
1 c shredded coconut
½ c almonds
1 T orange zest (1 orange)
1 t water

Procedure:
Throw all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined and slightly clumpy.
Scoop out a heaping teaspoon at a time and shape it into a log.
You can refrigerate them first or just serve room temp. Happy vegan football fans!

Chopped Chicken Phillip Livers Pate

Ingredients:
¼ c olive oil
1 lbs. livers
2 c mushrooms, (I used cremini)
2 T garlic, minced
4 T scallions
3 T bourbon
2 T Shallots
4 T parsley
2 lemons, juiced
6 strips bacon, crumbled
salt
pepper

Procedure:
Clean the livers. There may be a proper way to do this but I just removed the connective tissue with my hands and got messy. Since it was all being thrown in the blender later, I didn’t worry about keeping the shape of the livers intact. SWOOPS* the livers. Cook the bacon well-done and crispy so it easily crumbles and set bacon aside. Add the livers and mushrooms to the pan with the bacon grease and cook on medium high heat for a few minutes. Add the garlic and shallots and stir. Cook another few minutes. Add the bourbon and deglaze the pan.

Once everything is just cooked through, transfer the pan contents to a food processor and add the parsley, scallions, lemon juice, bacon crumbles, salt and pepper, and blend until smooth. Works well with crackers or on top of crostini (toasted sliced SWOOPS baguette.)
*SWOOPS = Season With Olive Oil Pepper and Salt

Laurence Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
1 16 oz box macaroni, any shape you roll with
4 T butter
4 T flour
4 c milk
2 c cheddar
1 cup jack
1 cup parmesan
1 cup goat
1 cup velveeta
4 jalapenos, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
6 strips bacon, crumbled
4 T olive oil
¼ c panko

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the bacon in a skillet on medium high head until well-done. Drain on paper towel, crumble, and set aside. Saute the onion in some olive oil on med high heat for 2 min. Add the jalapenos and cook another 2 min. Add the garlic and cook another 2 min. Remove from heat and add the bacon. Set aside. In a large pot, cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside, (I usually add olive oil so it doesn’t get sticky.) In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Add the milk gradually and stir until thick and smooth. Stir in the cheeses one by one until melted into the sauce. Add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and bacon. Stir. Season with salt and pepper. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and mix well. Transfer everything into a baking dish. Top with melted butter or olive oil mixed with panko and some extra cheese if you desire. Spread the crust on top of the dish and bake for about 20 min. Turn broiler on for the last 3-5 minutes to crisp the top. But don’t burn it. Smack and Cheese!

CaraMalcom Floyd Popcorn

Ingredients:
1 c butter
2 c brown sugar
½ c corn syrup
1 t salt
½ t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 c peanuts
½ t cinnamon
1 T ginger root, minced (my secret ingredient)
¾ c popcorn kernels

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250. Pop the popcorn on the stove. Heat some oil in a big pot on high. Throw a kernel in there. When it starts to bubble, add all of the kernels and cover the pot, shaking it around occasionally to evenly distribute the heat. You will hear the popping. When the noise dies down, remove the pot from the heat and set aside in a bowl. In a medium pot, melt the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium high heat. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add the salt and ginger and stir well. Remove from the heat. Add the baking soda, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir well to combine. Add the peanuts and stir to combine. Pour the mixture over bowl of popcorn and transfer to a baking sheet (don’t line with foil), in an even layer. Put the sheet in the oven and cook for an hour. Every 15 minutes, remove the sheet and quickly transfer the caramel popcorn to the bowl and then back to the sheet and return to the oven. This will make sure all of the popcorn is evenly coated. (So you do this four times.)

Eddie Kir Royale

Ingredients:
Champagne of choice (At my 32nd bday champagne tasting, the final rankings were: 1) Krug, 2) Cristal, 3) Veuve La Grande Dame, 4) Dom Perignon, 5) Taittinger)
Splash of crème de cassis (a little goes a long way here)

Procedure:
Pour a few drops of the cassis in a champagne flute. Sometimes I toss in whatever berries I have lying around. Top with the bubbly. For added bubbles, sip in a hot tub.

Now Man Up! And Chow Down!!

Monday Night Match Up Menus: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins

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We’re on a liquid diet this week. All cocktails.

LeSean McCOysters Shooter

Oyster Shooter

LeSean McCoy - RB PHI

Brent Cazerak

Sazerac

Brent Celek - TE PHI

Asahi Samuel

Asahi Beer

Asante Samuel - CB PHI

Santana Mosscow Mule

Moscow Mule

Santana Moss - WR WAS

Killer Chris Cool-Aid

Killer Kool-Aid

Chris Cooley - TE WAS

Dom Perignon McNabb

Dom

Donovan McNabb - QB WAS

LeSean McCoyster Shooter

Ingredients:
1 raw oyster, shucked
1 oz chipotle vodka (I use hangar one)
1 squeeze lemon
1 splash tomato juice
1 splash hot sauce
Procedure:
Place oyster in shot glass. Top with vodka, lemon, tomato juice, and hot sauce. Shoot.

Brent Cazerak

Ingredients:
2 oz. rye whiskey
5 dashes bitters (combo of Peychaud’s and Angostura)
1 t simple syrup (sugar + water 1:1)
½ t pastis, absinthe, or herbsaint (I used Pernod because that’s my fave of the bunch.)
Lemon peel
Procedure:
Place all ingredients in a shaker. Pour into a tumbler. Garnish with peel.

Asahi Samuel

Open and drink!

Santana Mosscow Mule

Ingredients:
2 oz vodka
½ oz lime juice
2 oz ginger beer
Procedure:
Fill a copper mug with ice. Pour in the vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer. Stir.

Chris Killer Coolaid

Ingredients:
1 oz vodka
½ oz amaretto
½ oz pear liquor
splash cranberry Juice
splash of creme de cassis
1″ piece of melon
Procedure:
Muddle melon. Add ice. Add vodka, amaretto, pear, and cran. Stir. Sip.

Dom Perignon McNabb

Pop and pour. Tie one on. Know the rules of a tie.

Now, Man Up! And Drink Down!

Monday Night Match Up Menus: Steelers @ Bengals

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You’ve all heard about my Ben RoethlisBURGERS. We’re not doing that this week.

Salad: Romaine Gresham Salad with Tomatillo TerRelish Owens

Jermaine Gresham - TE CIN

Terrell Owens - WR CIN

Side: Hearts of Carson Palmer Slaw

Carson Palmer - QB CIN

Main: RaCharred Mendenhalibut

Rashard Mendenhall - RB PIT

Cocktail: Troy Cosmopolamalutan

Troy Polamalu - S PIT

Romaine Gresham Salad with Tomatillo TerRelish Owens

Ingredients:
1 lb tomatillos, husks removed and halved
1 small red onion, cut in 1″ chunks
3 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno, chopped
¼ c olive oil
½ c flat leaf parsley
1 lime, juiced and zested
celery seed
salt
pepper
2 hearts of romaine

Procedure:
Roast tomatillos, onions, and garlic at 425 for 20 min.

Transfer to food processor and add rest of ingredients.
Blend until desired chunkiness.

Cut each romaine heart lengthwise. SWOOPS* the cut side.
Heat grill pan to med high. Spray with non-stick spray. Grill 1-2 min until charred.

Remove from heat and spoon relish on top.
MMMM!
*SWOOPS = Season With Olive Oil Pepper and Salt

Hearts of Carson Palmer Slaw

Ingredients:
½ green cabbage, shredded
½ purple cabbage, shredded
½ pineapple, julienne
2 mangoes, julienne
6 stalks hearts of palm, julienne
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 limes, juiced
salt
pepper

Procedure:
You’re welcome to cut the fruit in any shape you desire, but since there’s shredded cabbage involved and it’s a slaw, I like to keep everything relatively uniform in long strips. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and TOSS, TOSS, TOSS! (Ya, that’s “TWO-US” in my mother’s world.)

RaCharred Mendenhalibut

Ingredients:
4 halibut steaks (about ½ lb each)
olive oil
salt
pepper

Procedure:
SWOOPS Halibut. (Season With Olive Oil Pepper and Salt) Both sides. Grill on med high heat until charred and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from grill and serve on a bed of the slaw and top with the relish.

Troy Cosmopolamalutan

I forgot to photograph mine before I drank it... here's an example of what it should look like.

Ingredients:
2 oz. vodka
½ lime, juiced
½ oz – splash of cranberry juice
½ oz – splash of Curacao
1 slice of an apple
curly piece of citrus peel

Procedure:
Mix the vodka, lime juice, cranberry juice, and Curacao in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Sift drink without the ice into a martini glass. Don’t spill – Martini glasses are the stilettos of barware: Best looking. Least Functional.
Fork the apple slice into the prongs of a PICK and stick it in the drink. If you own Steelers D, this ceremony increases the chances of a Polamalu pick.
Drink through a CURLY straw. Garnish with a citrus CURL.

Now MAN UP! And CHOW DOWN!!

Monday Night Match Up Menus: Texans @ Colts

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Here’s what’s on the menu:
Lots of love for the receiving core.

Bacon Wrapped Kevin Walter Chestnuts

Kevin Walter - WR HOU

Veggie Wayne – Joseph PadThai

Joseph Addai - RB IND

Reggie Wayne - WR IND

FLANdre Johnson

Andre Johnson - WR HOU

Dallas Clark and Stormy

Dallas Clark - TE IND

Bacon Wrapped Kevin Walter Chestnuts

Ingredients:
1 can water chestnuts, drained and soaked in soy sauce overnight.
½ lb. bacon (sliced in half)
½ c mayo
¼ c brown sugar
1 T tomato paste
1 t Worcestershire
2 T soy sauce
1 t garlic, minced
2 T lemon juice

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350.
Cut your strips of bacon widthwise so they are half as long. Take a water chestnut and wrap a strip of bacon around it. Place the wrapped chestnut in a pan seam side down. Repeat until the pan is full. Bake for 40 min.

While the bacon wrapped water chestnut are cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
After about 40 min, remove the pan from the oven and pour the sauce from the bowl evenly on top so all of the bacon wrapped water chestnuts are well covered. Return the pan to the oven and cook for another 15-20 min.

Sauced and Ready for Round 2 in the Oven


Remove from oven. Remove the bacon wrapped water chestnuts and place them on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess grease.
Let cool and serve!

Veggie Wayne Joseph Pad Thai

Ingredients:
water on hand
2 T tamarind paste
4 T fish sauce
2 T sugar (I used coconut)
½ t chili paste
10 oz. rice noodles
14 oz tofu extra firm (pressed in towel and weighted for an hour, then marinated in soy and SWOOPS* overnight.)
4 T peanut oil
½ c scallions, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
2 T shallots, minced
2 eggs
½ c cabbage
¼ c carrots, peeled and chopped
½ c bok coy, sliced
1 c mushrooms, sliced
½ c bean sprouts
½ c peanuts, chopped (or cashews)
1 lime
*SWOOPS – Season With Olive Oil Salt and Pepper

Procedure:
To make the sauce, combine the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, and chili paste in a bowl.
Soak the noodles in a bowl with warm water until they’re soft, about 12 min. Drain them and set them aside.
Slice the tofu into little pieces, your shape of choice. I do about 2 inch spears.


Heat the oil in a wok.
Cook the scallions, carrots, bok choy, mushrooms and cabbage while stirring and tossing (pronounce that like my mother does with her NY accent: TOSS = “two” + “us”)

Add the shallots and garlic. TOSS!
Crack the eggs right into the wok, making sure none of the shell falls in. Let them set for a minute and then scramble them in with the rest of the veggies.

Add the noodles. TOSS!

Add the sauce. TOSS!
Add the bean sprouts and nuts. TOSS. TOSS. TOSS.

Squeeze the lime at the end and serve!

FLANdre Johnson!

Ingredients:
¾ c sugar
1 T water
2 T coconut rum
2 c milk
1 c cream
1 c coconut milk
3 eggs
2 yolks
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 325.
In a small sauce pan on med heat, cook the ¾ c sugar, 1 T water, and 2 T cocounut rum. Stir to combine them well and then don’t touch it. You will see it start to bubble and brown. When it is a golden caramel colored liquid, remove it from the heat and pour it into the bottom of whatever flan shaped container you want to use. (You can make one big one or smaller ones in ramekins.)

In a large bowl, wisk together the eggs, sugar, pinch salt, vanilla.
Then slowly stir in the milk, cream, and coconut milk. Wisk well.

Pour the mixture through a sieve into another bowl. This strains out the egg white membranes and gives the flan a smoother consistency.
Pour the custard on top of the caramel in the containers.
Now you have to place the containers in a hot water bath.
Boil some water in a kettle. Place a big pan on a shelf in the oven. Place the flan containers in the pan being careful not to spill. Then pour the hot kettle water into the big pan so the flan containers are surrounded in the water, but don’t get any water in the flan containers. Slowly slide the oven tray in. Bake the flans for about 45 minutes (depending on what shape/size containers you use). You should be able to stick a toothpick in the center and remove it cleanly. Remove from the oven and chill for at least 4 hours. Once cooled, slide a knife along the edges to loosen the custard, put a plate on top of them upside down, and flip! Lift flan container and they should now be on the plate with the caramel sauce running down the sides. Done!

Dallas Clark and Stormy

Ingredients:
2 oz. Goslings dark rum
1 oz. ginger beer (must be ginger beer, not ale!)
Procedure:
Fill a tumbler with ice. Pour the rum in the glass and top with the ginger beer. Stir. Best enjoyed while the sun is setting in Montauk, NY.

The Final Meal

Monday Night Match Up Menus: Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars

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This Monday, the division rival party is in northern Florida (but southern USA) as the Jacksonville Jaguars host fellow below Mason/Dixon liners, the Tennessee Titans.
Our menu is as follows:
First Down: David Garrartichoke Dip – what’s football without a dip?

Second Down: Blueberry Blintze Young – my favorite named dish. I’m as proud of that one as I am of a 119 pt. word in words with friends.

Third Down: Chocolate Fig Apple Chrisp Johnson – This one’s really cool because each Chris Johnson run burns the calories off of this dish. Sweet, right?

Fourth Down: Mike Pimms Cup Walker – toast and catch a high ball.

David Garrartichoke Dip:

David Garrartichoke Dip

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cans (14 oz each) artichoke hearts, chopped
6 oz cream cheese
1/3 c sour cream
1/3 c mayonnaise
½ c Parmesan, grated
½ t red pepper flakes
2 T parsley, chopped
2 T oregano, chopped
salt
pepper

 

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 375.
Saute onions and garlic until translucent.
Combine with the rest of ingredients in a big bowl and pour mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake until bubbly (about 20 min).
Serve warm with chips of choice.

COMPLETION!!

Bluberry Blintze Young

You ready to tackle the Blintze Young? You wanna Blitz the Blintze? OK, I’ll stop. This blintze is going to be well covered. One more, C’mon!

Crepe Batter
Ingredients:
1 c milk
4 T cold water
2 eggs
1 c all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
¼ t salt
¼ c unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Combine the milk, water, eggs, flour, sugar, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add butter and blend it to incorporate. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour to let it rest. I usually let it sit over night.

The crepe is flipped

Put an 10-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat and brush with a little melted butter. Pour a ladle full of batter into the pan and tilt the pan around so there is an even layer of the batter, (a method I call “pinball pan batter”). Cook for 30 to 45 seconds, until the batter sets. Flip the crepe. If you have time, you can practice flipping just with a HAIL MARY! flick of the pan. Or, if you’re Farve and you’re afraid you’ll just throw a pick, use a spatula. If you slide a spatula underneath (centrally), lift, and twist it 180 quickly, it should fall evenly pan in the pan. The crepes should be floppy, not crispy, and just browning. Slide them onto a platter and continue making the crepes until all the batter is used. (This makes about 8 crepes.)

Cheese Filling
Ingredients:
10 oz. ricotta cheese (fresh is better – much smoother consistency, the grocery store ones get grainy)
4 oz. cream cheese
3 T sugar
1 lemon, zested and finely grated
2 T butter, melted
1 egg

Procedure:
In a food processor, combine all ingredients. Chill the filling for about an hour to firm it up. (I make it the night before with the batter…)

Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 pints blueberries
½ c sugar
1 t cornstarch
1 lemon, juiced
½ t vanilla extract

Procedure:
Combine the butter, blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a small pot over medium-high heat. Bring up to a low boil and stir gently until the berries break down but are still chunky. Let it cool to thicken up.

Assembly:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Forming the blintzes is kind of like making mini wraps or burritos.
Spoon 2 T (heaping) of the cheese filling at the part of the crepe closest to you.

Fold the bottom edge away from you to just cover the filling; then fold the 2 sides in to the center.

Roll the crepe away from you a couple of times to make a cute little log package.

Place blintzes in a baking dish and bake for 10 min.

Spoon the blueberry sauce on top. I personally think powdered sugar is for pussies, but it’s your blintze, put whatever you want on top.
Look at you, you’ve sacked the Blintze Young!

Blueberry Blintze Young

Chocolate Fig Apple Crisp

Titans RB Chris Johnson who averaged as the #1 draft pick has been quietly showing up to work and leading the league with 6 rushing touchdowns through the first five games.
In other news, strawberry season is over. The carton I bought yesterday turned moldy on the way home from the Whole Foods just down the block.
It’s football season, people, get to know and love the fig.

Chocolate Fig Apple Chrisp Johnson


Ingredients:
5 oz white chocolate chunks (I used a serrated knife on a block of chocolate)
5 oz milk chocolate chunks (same method, hi.)
12 oz (two boxes) black mission figs
2 sweet apples, cubed
1 ½ t tapioca, granulated
1 lemon, juiced
1 T lemon zest
pinch of salt
½ c white sugar
¾ c brown sugar
1 ½ c all purpose flour
½ c almond flour*
1 ¾ sticks butter, frozen (in small pieces – cut into T and then cut into 9 little ¼ “ pieces or so)
1 t almond extract

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 375.
In a 9 x 12 baking pan, add chocolate, fruit, tapioca, lemon juice, ¼ c sugar, and lemon zest. TOSS! Make sure all contents are evenly distributed.
Place sugars and flours and extract into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add ½ of the butter pieces and pulse about ten times. Repeat with the rest of the butter until the dough is forming. If it is too dry, add a t of water.
Spread the dough on top of the berry mixture in the pan.
PLEASE PUT 30 MIN ON THE CLOCK!!
Bake on center rack for 30-35 minutes. The crumb should be golden brown and the berries should be bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Can be served hot or cold. You may want to add a cream to it (heavy, ice, whipped, etc.) or some yogurt when serving.
* To make almond four: grind 1 c whole raw almonds in a food processor until a grainy flour like consistency is obtained.

SCORE!!

Mike Pimms Cup Walker

Mike Pimms Cup Walker

Ingredients:
2 oz. Pimms
1 t lemon juice
½ Persian cucumber, par peeled (leaving a few stripes of green skin) and sliced into discs
splash Ginger Beer (NOT ginger ale! Cough, amateur!)
Apple garnish optional

Procedure:
Muddle the cucumbers in a high ball. (HOW on earth, did I live my life without a muddler until this year?!?!)
Squeeze in the lemon. Add ice. Add Pimms. Top with ginger beer. Stir. Garnish. Drink. Win.

Now MAN UP, AND CHOW DOWN!

Monday Night Match Up Menus on GG2FF (Patriots @ Dolphins)

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Here are the recipes from this past week’s Monday Night Match Up Menus on GG2FF.

TOMato Bready

Topping with TOMatoes

Ingredients:
1 packet of yeast
1 c warm water
2 1/2 c flour (approx.)
1 t honey (because the yeast feeds on sugar)
1 t salt
1/2 c olive oil
2 T fresh rosemary, chopped
cornmeal
4 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
2 T fresh basil, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 425. In a glass cup, add the yeast, warm water, and honey, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Let it sit a minute or two. In a large bowl, add half the olive oil, salt, and 1/2 c flour. Then add yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon vigorously until combined. Slowly add flour, half cup at a time, until dough is formed and ready (not sticky). You may not use all of the flour. It varies every time depending on many things such as humidity. Wash bowl. Add 1 T olive oil. Put dough in a ball and coat it. Cover bowl with a dish towel. Let dough rest and rise for at least 30 minutes. Punch it down.
Sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking sheet and press dough into it until thin.
Spread olive oil over top.
Sprinkle with garlic.
Place a layer of tomatoes on top to cover the dough, but leave a “crust” around edges.
SWOOPS! (Season With Olive Oil Pepper and Salt)
Bake for 20-25 minutes until pizza crust is golden and tomatoes are slightly shriveled.
See! Now you’re all hard-core bakers and bread makers!

TOMato Bready out of the oven

Bill BeliChicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
½ c flour
2 large eggs
1 T water
1 c breadcrumbs
½ c parsley
¼ c oregano, chopped
¼ c rosemary, chopped
¼ c basil, chopped
8 oz ball of mozzerella cheese, sliced
8 oz burrata cheese, sliced
1 1/2 c parm, grated
4 c my 12 –min tomato sauce (or any genius tomato sauce)
olive oil
salt
pepper

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Put the chicken breasts side by side on a flat surface (e.g. cutting board or counter), and place between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound the chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer (or the back of a cast iron pan if you don’t have one) until they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In another wide bowl, combine the eggs and water and beat until frothy. Put the breadcrumbs in a third bowl season with salt and pepper, ¼ c parmesan, and the herbs (parsley, oregano, rosemary, basil) and mix.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Now we go wet-dry-wet-dry. Lightly dredge both sides of the wet chicken cutlets in the dry seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour. Then dip them in the wet egg wash to coat completely, again letting the excess drip off. Then dredge in the dry seasoned bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, flipping once.
While the chicken is getting crisp, put a layer of tomato sauce in a baking dish.
Place chicken in a baking pan over the sauce.
Do another layer of the tomato sauce over the chicken.
Sprinkle a layer of parmesan cheese.
Then a layer of mozzarella and burrata.
Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

Bill Belichicken Parm

Chad Penne Pasta Salad

Assembling the Chad Penne Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta
4 c chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 c scallions
2 cup carrots, chopped
6 oz. spinach leaves
1 c Smoked gouda, cubed
salt
pepper
olive oil
lemon juice

Procedure:
Cook pasta, drain. Combine with all other ingredients and TOSS! (One of my favorite activities is making fun of my mother’s NY accent. “Toss” is one of her best. She pronounces is like the number 2, plus “us.” TWO-US!

TOSS TOSS TOSS!!

Tequila Lime Rickey Williams
I feel like I should be using a pot leaf to garnish this drink, but that joke is so two years ago.

Ingredients:
6 grapes, halved, muddled
2 T lime juice
2 oz. tequila, good, silver
club soda, splash

Procedure:
In a high ball, add and muddle the grapes. Then add the lime juice and fill the glass with ice. Add the tequila and a splash of soda.
Stir, stir, stir. Enjoy!

Not Ricky's most famous form of self-medication...

The Larry “Spritzer”gerald

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On Friday we had our all girls live fantasy football draft. (I’ve barely just recovered, I practically had to force myself to sample Kurt’s Paradigm Zin during the Emmy’s on Sunday. But it turned out to be a valiant effort. I drank it all down and added it to my list to get again.)

Every year our league has an official cocktail. This year’s cocktail is called The Larry Spritzergerald.  It didn’t hurt that our Mitches this year were handy in the kitchen. (In fact, one of them even wrote a cookbook, Freshman in the Kitchen.) Thanks Eli and Elliot!

The Larry Spritzergerald:

1 lg carton (we used 22 oz.) organic strawberries, stemmed and halved (don’t wash the strawberries if they’re organic, it takes away too much of their surface sugars)
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped (I so need an herb garden…)
2 bottles white wine (we used Geyser Peak Sauv Blanc)
1 bottle club soda (aka selter)

Place two strawberries and 1 T chopped basil in a cup and muddle. Fill the glass 3/4 full with white wine. Add splash of club soda (1 oz.) and mix. Ice cubes optional. Best sucked down with a straw.

The Man of Honor for our Cocktail of the Year

Orgone Sunset Junction Saturday 8/21/10

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There are a few things I always keep in my purse, (aka my pocket book; Hi, I’m from NY).

Some are none of your business (see future post on why it’s unacceptable to ever go through a woman’s purse…).

Others include but not limited to: lip balm (preferably Jack Black), hand wipes (EO Lavender ones – you can get them at Whole Foods), ear plugs (I have the baby blues from etymotic), and I keep a bottle opener on my key chain and wallet. (Anyone notice the food (wipes), booze (opener), and music (plugs) theme going on?!?!)

Anyway, on Saturday, I mistakenly left the house w/o my earplugs (I sometimes miss something in the purse transfer depending on which one I grab). This proved untimely as I had headed to Sunset Junction.  I love the concept of this street fair and I try to go every year, but the sound is terrible and painfully loud by the stages.  The rock star parking gods were looking down on me and I got a killer parking spot on Virgil just south of Santa Monica Blvd. I made a straight shot for the Hoover (tee hee) Stage for the Orgone set. Orgone is my High Sierra Music Festival discovery 2010 (like The New Mastersounds are my Langerado 06 discovery). Two of my favorite funky bands. Thankfully there was a small sound board providing shade from the sweltering east side 4pm sun as it was too loud up front in the shelter of the stage shade. And someone didn’t have her earplugs in. Even more opportune was the Real de Mexicao Tequila stand just to the left of the sound board.  Gotta love a guy who not only will custom make my cocktail sans cilantro, but wipes the shaker out first from any lingering offensive herbs. He made mine with extra jalapeno, extra tequila, no simple syrup (I don’t like cocktails too sweet) or cilantro (duh), easy on the pineapple chunks and juice, and just a splash of sour. Mmmmm. Yes, please!

Jordan’s Jala-Pineapple-rita

Recipe:
1 t jalapeno, green, fresh, chopped
1 T pineapple chunks, chopped
1 T pineapple juice
2 oz. tequila
1/4 t sour mix
squeeze of a lime
Procedure:
Muddle the jalapeno and pineapple chunks in a cocktail shaker. Add tequila, sour, and ice. Shake. Pour into cup. Top with a little pineapple juice and squirt a lime in there. Enojoy!

After two of these, we wandered around to check out the other local offerings and fell upon this scene. There was no way I wasn’t going to take a picture. (There also was no way I was going to give them money for it. My photographic journalist friend made me promise to never pay for pictures, it makes his job around the world… or in his current position, India… really difficult.)
And, yes, I’m wearing a Kelly Nishimoto dress.

“Heiry” Mary – Jordan’s Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary

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I heart heirloom tomatoes. I can eat them like a peach, with a little bit of salt. I also have a huge thing for bloodies. There’s no better way to start off a Sunday morning. (Though, they can go well with day of the week.)

I’m currently writing a cookbook with my mother (working title: One Dish – Four Seasons) where we take a base recipe and adapt it into four versions of the dish, depending on what’s in season at the time. Each dish comes with a recommended wine pairing and suggested music album, with personal stories behind each element along the way.

For the summer tequila cocktail, I made an heirloom tomato version of a Bloody Maria (a Bloody Mary with tequila instead of vodka), called “Heir” of the dog-arita. After all, the bloody is queen of hair of the dog hangover helpers. Stay tuned on when you’ll be able to find it in the book.

In the meantime, here’s a vodka version that made my friend Beansie cry.

“Heiry” Mary (Jordan’s Oven Roasted Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary)

Yields: 4

Prep Time: 4 hrs.

Total Time: 4 hrs. 15 min.

Ingredients:

8 heirloom tomatoes, slow roasted*

2 garlic cloves, slow roasted*

½ c hearts of palm juice

1 t salt

½ t pepper

2 T horseradish, fresh, grated

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 T balsamic vinegar

3 T basil, fresh, chopped

2 T jalapenos, fresh, chopped

½ c lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1 c vodka, chipotle if avail

Procedure:

* To slow roast tomatoes and garlic: Pre-heat oven to 275. Cut tomatoes vertically in half and place on a foil lined baking sheet skin side down. SWOOPS! (Season With Olive Oil, Pepper, and Salt – a ubiquitous step in my cooking, so we gave it an acronym). SWOOPS a few peeled garlic cloves and throw them on the tray as well.  Place in oven and slow roast for about four hours, until tomatoes are starting to shrivel.

Slow Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes and Garlic

Place all of the non-alcoholic ingredients in a blender or processor and blend until smooth (about a minute). If you’re serving immediately, add the vodka to the blender/processor and blend until well combined.  Pour over ice and adjust seasonings to your taste (though it probably won’t need it). You can refrigerate the mix and enjoy it later. You can also adjust the vodka:mix ratio to your liking, or just warn people that they won’t be able to taste the 2 shots of vodka you’re putting in their hands.

There you go! Enjoy!

Beansie and Home Fry go to town on the "Heiry" Mary and "Heir" of the Dogarita