And we're going Italian with the appetizer. I have to say while this might not be the best tidbit for a wedding (unless you want your guests to walk around with tomato up and down their front), it does, however, make an amazing homestyle side dish or appetizer. "Crunch, onion! garlic, acid, sweet, chunky cheese, there's that kick of basil!" is literally what you think when you bite into this pile of Italian goodness. Will you crave it, you ask? .... yes...yes you will. WARNING: may cause out of control devour-ment which will leave you without friends because you left them without food.......sorry loves.
Tomato Basil Mozzarella Bruschetta
Ingredients:
1/2 of a Baguette (about 12 thin slices)
Olive Oil
1/2 of a Shallot, minced
1 clove of Garlic, minced
5 Campari Tomatoes, chopped into small cubes (I try to get out most of the seeds and discard them)
2 quarter inch slices of Mozzarella, (cubed the same size as the tomatoes)
1 T. of chopped Basil
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
Directions:
Put the tomatoes into a bowl, and set aside.
Brush all the slices of baguettes on one side with olive oil. Drizzle large skillet pan with olive oil put on burner over a medium heat. Put in the baguette slices, olive oil sides down, and let cook for a minute or two, until it is nicely golden-brown. Turn over a cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute more on the plain side. Turn off heat and remove the bread from the pan, arranging on a plate.
Meanwhile in a small skillet pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot and cook till translucent, about a minute (don't let it burn!). Add the garlic and cook for another 20-30 seconds. Remove from heat and add to the tomatoes in the bowl. Stir together with wooden spoon and let cool a couple of minutes. Then add the basil, mozzarella, salt, pepper, and a small drizzle of olive oil. Stir together and then top all the baguette slices with a small pile of the tomato mixture. Eat right away! Serves 4
Enjoy!
Got my wisdom teeth out Monday, let myself recover for two days before totally overdoing it by jumping right back into the kitchen and making up a recipe of caramel and peanut-butter drizzled banana topped french toast. Now I'm lying on the couch, dizzy, lightheaded, but with a full belly. Sadly, some technical issues prevented this dish from being perfect. I wasn't really counting on the caramel hardening quite so much and so quickly (which is also bad for a person recovering from a wisdom teeth extraction to eat). I felt stupid, and a little let down, but it made for some good photos, and the flavor was yummy! Plus I've thought up a simpler, less sticky version which is below.
Caramel and Peanut Butter Drizzled Banana Topped French Toast
Ingredients:
1 lrg. egg
1/4 c. milk
2 T. Heavy Cream
Dash of Vanilla
2 slices of French Bread
1 Banana, sliced
Some jarred Caramel Sauce
1 T. Peanut Butter
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, milk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Butter a griddle pan and put over a medium heat. Once hot, soak each side of each piece of bread for a few seconds in the egg mixture. Put onto the griddle pan and cook a few minutes on each side (about three minutes). Meanwhile, in a tiny saucepan, melt the peanut butter over a medium-low heat, set aside. Once the egg in the bread is cooked all the way through, and the bread is lightly browned in color on the outside, remove from pan and plate. Top the french toast with the bananas. Using the directions on the caramel jar, heat the caramel until you can drizzle it. Drizzle the toast and bananas with the melted peanut butter and a few spoonfuls of the warm caramel sauce. Eat while hot. Serves 1.
Enjoy!
For the first time ever I made real fried doughnuts! I'm so excited about them! I found a great and really easy looking recipe on pinterest and decided to test it out! The difference was that I just glazed them then dipped some of them in chocolate ganache instead of doing the whole coffee glaze with bacon. These are very easy to do and I highly recommend them: Coffee-Biscoff-Bacon Doughnuts
We're all Italians at heart, right? Well, at least when it comes to our appetites. ;) Who doesn't like a good tomatoey Italianey past dish? This one is just perfect to a cool spring night. While Italian food can be considered comfort food, and very much cozy in the winter, I love the tomato sauced up pastas in the warmer seasons. It's just so fresh.
Tomato Penne Pasta
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
1 1/2 T. dried Oregano
2 T. fresh Basil, well chopped
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/3 c. Heavy Cream
14 oz. Penne Pasta
Directions:
Heat water to a boil in large stock pot for the pasta. Meanwhile in a large nonstick skillet pan, drizzle in some olive oil. Heat over a medium heat. Add the onion and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook till the onions are translucent, a couple minutes or so. Add the garlic and cook for about 30-40 seconds, don't let it burn. Add the crushed tomatoes and turn heat down to medium-low heat. Stir in oregano and basil with a wooden spoon. Add the salt and pepper and stir. Heat over the medium heat for about five minutes until the sauce is nice and hot. Add the heavy cream and stir together with a wooden spoon. Turn heat down to low and leave the sauce alone.
Then add the penne to the boiling water and cook till al dente. Drain the pasta and then put back into the stock pot. Take the sauce off the heat and add to the pasta. Stir together completely. Serve immediately. Serves 5
It turned out pretty yummy!
