Eggplant Pizza

  " There are over 9,000 pizzeria's in New York alone."

My favorite pizza place is in Maryland and I will not name it because well… it’s a chain. And since I have been living in New York for almost two year I should know better because chain restaurants aren’t usually this amazing. This place makes the best eggplant pizza. The crust is so paper thin and crunchy and I barely even liked this place until I had this pizza. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

   Anyway, the other day my roommate Alexis told me that whatever I was cooking up next I should not make it and I should make some grilled eggplant pizza. I agreed and here we are. This is so simple (I did cheat and just buy the dough) and is great if you make it before you go out and then have a fun snack for your drunkies when you come home ;)

What You Need:

• Pizza dough
• Olive Oil
• 1 Eggplant
• 1 package of Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 handful of Basil
• Salt and Pepper
• Marinara Sauce
• Rosemary
• Red Pepper Flakes

How to make it:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Slice your eggplant as thin as you can or about an 1/8 of an inch thick.
3. Fry or grill your eggplant in some olive oil until they are almost throughly cooked through. 
4. On a greased baking sheet, lay out your dough as thin as it can. Make sure it doesn't rip though.
5. Place about 2/3 of a cup of sauce on your dough and spread it evenly. (I used a spicy Trader Joe's sauce that was soooo yummy).
6. Then place your your grilled eggplant rounds and mozzarella cheese rounds one the pizza.
7. Add you chopped basil, red pepper flakes, salt pepper and rosemary.
8. Pop this in the oven for 17 minutes or however long your dough needs to cook.
9. Cut it up into squares and mangiare! 

Spanakopita with Fried Chickpeas

    Yesterday I was just in this mood. I wanted crunchy and veggies and soul satisfying but still something edgy and cultured. I found it. It was perfect. It was light and delicious and like I wanted, soul satisfying. My Spanakopita.

    While all my friends were out drinking at our local establishment, a classy place (right?), I was being a big boring college student make this traditional Greek treat. It was so tasty that a paired it with Fried Chickpeas which I have wanted to make for a long long time cause I saw it done really nicely on Food Network. I cooked, I ate, I was happy.  Matthew and I slept like babies. It wasn’t that hard to make and I had pretty much all the ingredients in my house. I hope you like it as much as I did. 

What You Need For the Spanakopita:

• Phyllo Dough
• Olive oil
• 2 Packages of Spinach
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 2 Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dried Oregano
• Dried Parsley
• Dried Basil
• Half a Lemon
• 1 Package of Crumbled Feta Cheese

How to Make It:

1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. Sautee the chopped garlic in a little bit of olive oil, barely browning it.
3. Add your Spinach. You might have to do this in two or three bunches depending on how big your pan is. Cook the spinach until it is very cooked down then strain it to make sure all the extra liquid is out.
4. In a separate bowl, beat together one egg with a tablespoon of salt and pepper and two tablespoons of the oregano, basil, and parsley.
5. Add your Feta cheese to the bowl and combine. 
6. Lay out your phyllo dough making sure it is completely defrosted. Stack three layer of phyllo dough with olive oil brushed in between each layer. 
7. Cut your dough in whatever shape you want (rectangle, square, circle) and know that it will be only half of what you make.
8. Put a lump of your spinach filling into the center of the dough and egg wash the edges with the second egg. Then fold over your dough and seal the pastry shut.
9. Place the pastry on a lightly greased sheet pan and place into your oven for 30 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
10. Enjoy! 

Chocolate Bowl Fail

   Today was one of the most boring and lazy days of my life. Even though I guess in more than one way it was very enjoyable. I decided to make this because I saw it in a magazine one time and was totally amazed with how beautiful and delicate they looked. Well, they were beautiful and they were easy to make... but they tasted really really bad. I was excited to surprise Alexis, Garrett and Kelly with these chocolaty desert but they tasted so much like the latex balloons I made them with that they just posed for this pictured and were dismissed to the trash can :( I need to think of something else to use as a mold but I can teach you how to make these... maybe latex free balloons?

What You Need:

• one bag of dark chocolate chips
• balloons
• cooking spray
• wax paper

How to Make It:

1. Melt the whole bag of chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Blow up the balloons to the desired size of the bowls, tie they off and spray with cooking spray.
3. Dip the balloons in the melted chocolate and roll the balloon so it is evenly covered.
4. Place on a baking tray coved in wax paper.
5. Place in the fridge  for 2 hours.
6. Take the bowls out, pop the balloon inside and carefully peel the balloon out.
7. Put your favorite thing inside like ice cream, pudding, yogurt, etc.

Not the best tasting but definitely a beautiful creation.

St.Patrick's Day Pesto

     As St.Patrick's Day is quickly approaching the kegs and eggs, bar crawls, and green beers are all over this glorious city. I had planned to go out with my friends and drink green beer until the cows came home or even until I had to go to class the next morning. Instead I have be told that I have the great honor of going to Denver, CO to support my school's basketball team in the NCAA tournament. Although I rather spent my March 17th drinking shots with Irish names, getting dress up, and staying out all night making my roommate, Kelly, Irish step dance for us (which she will only do when she is drunk), I will not miss people calling me a leprechaun because of my 4'10" stature.
   Anyway, I wanted to make something for this holiday that was a little ironic. Even though is is an Irish holiday, I wanted to make a beautiful, textured Basil Pesto sauce. I have some yummy fresh ravioli waiting to be eaten in my fridge so I thought to myself at least this is green. Also if you have a blender (or a magic bullet) then you can make this sauce so quick and easy your going to forget that cooking is hard sometimes.
   This recipe was mouth-wateringly delicious. It was so good I just made up the word mouth-wateringly. Make it and eat is ASAP !

What You Need:

• 1 package of basil
• 1 package of spinach
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of  grated parmigiana cheese
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon of spicy red pepper

How to Make It:

1. Make sure you basil and spinach is completely clean.
2. Chop your garlic, basil, and spinach roughly but still finely.
3. Put it all in the blender if it can fit and add your cheese, olive oil, and red pepper.
4. Blend until it is a textured sauce, not completely pureed.
5. Spread over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

Parmigiana Rosemary Bread

   "You sing with your soul, you make love with your soul, you must have to cook with your soul"

  
   I promised myself that on this blog that I would put both my successes and failures when it come to cooking. I was certain that this was going to be a failure and before I even got close to finishing this one I remembered that promise and knew either way it would be published.
   This one was a going to be a little difficult for me because I have never made bread in my life and did not even know where to start. I found this recipe and improvised from foodnetwork.com. You have to give yourself almost a whole 24 hours for this recipe. Anyway, I decided to make this bread last night and pretty much just finished it. When I say finished it I mean I pull it out of the oven and hour ago and it is basically gone. Matthew, Alexis, and I were in total carbohydrate heaven. All in all, I have to say this is the biggest cooking accomplishment that I have had and I am so completely proud of this single, fragrant, golden, crusty, amazing loaf of bread. Make this so that you can understand the soul I have put into this bread and hopefully you can be proud of it  and share with your family too.

What You Need:

• 1 pound bread flour, plus extra for shaping
• 1 teaspoon instant rapid rise yeast
• 10 ounces bottled or filtered water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 quarts hot water
• Vegetable oil, for greasing the rising container
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• some rosemary
• some grated parmigiana

How to Make It:

1. Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
2. Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2 to 3 minutes just until it comes together. I didn't have this so i just used a wooden spoon and mixed it by hand.
3. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, knead the dough on medium speed for 5 to 10 minutes or until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.
4. While the dough is kneading, pour half of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven.
5. Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
7. Flatten dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your hands, moving in a circular motion.
8.  Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet pan that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it..
9. Combine the 1/3 cup of water and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with this mixture. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep. This is when i added the rosemary and parmigiana to the top of my bread. 
10. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto a sheet pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. 
11. 5 minutes before the bread comes out of the oven, combine the butter and salt and paint it onto the crust of the bread.
12. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing even thought we all know this is nearly impossible!

Ginger Honey Chicken

" The history of ginger goes back over 5000 years when the Indians and ancient Chinese considered it a tonic root for all ailments. "

  
 I know! I know! I have been the biggest bum and haven't posted in over a week. It was mid-term week here at good ol' STJ (wish me luck). But hopefully this next recipe will make up for it. Ginger is one of my favorite things to cook with because of the way it can be made spicy or sweet. I made this delicious Asian chicken last Friday night for my teammate, Kyla.  Good thing I made extra by accident because she loved it so much she had me make it for her again the next night. Its so delicious and easy to make. I also paired it with some plain buttered noodles with salt (love) and a mixed greens salad with an Asian dressing on top that I made and might share with you another day ;) .

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of honey 
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of ginger
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of asian hot oil 
• 2 tablespoons of hoison sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil 
• 4 chicken cutlets 
• 1 clove of chopped garlic
• sesame seeds
• 1/4 of a cup of chopped cashews
• a bunch of chopped green onions

How To Make This:

1. Combine honey and soy sauce in a bowl and stir until they combine.
2. Put ginger, salt, pepper, hot oil, hoison sauce, and sesame oil, into the bowl and mix it all up.
3. Add your chicken cutlets, make sure they are covered with the sauce, and cover the bowl some tinfoil over it and put it in the fridge for 4 hours.
4. In a grill pan add a thimble of sesame oil just to keep the pain moist and add your chopped garlic, sesame seeds, cashews, and green onions.
5. Make sure your pan is hot enough and add your chicken cooking is on medium heat on each side for about 5 minutes a side depending on the thickness of the cutlets.
6. Finally, plate your delicious Asian chicken, adding the sauce from the pan and some sesame seeds to top it off.
7. Go eat this little beauty!

Also, if you would donate even a dollar to this charity! My close friend just beat a horrible life changing disease and his brother and friends are all shaving their heads in honor of his battle. Please donate to this charity for childhood cancer research improvement!

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