French Onion Soup

Now that November is here, the air is a little more brisk, for me this means it is officially soup season!  Last night, I made a delicious French Onion Soup that is easy, fast and full of flavor!

3 thinly sliced cooking onions

1 tsp. thyme

4 Tb butter

4 cups of beef broth

2/3 cup white wine

2 Tb cream

Gruyere cheese

garlic toasts

1 garlic clove

In a pot, add butter, onions and thyme.  Cook on  medium -high heat until caramelized (about 20 minutes).   Then add beef broth, wine and cream.  Simmer on medium heat for another 10-20 minutes.  Meanwhile, slice day old bread and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toast in oven about 5 minutes at 400 degrees.  When it's done, rub the garlic clove over the hot bread.  The garlic will melt into the toasts.  

Ladle 2 cups of soup into each ramekin.  Lay 1 garlic toast over the soup then layer with gruyere cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  ENJOY :)

Veal Cutlets with Fennel

This recipe is from a cookbook my mom gave me, Perfect Italian.  This is a great cookbook if you are looking for some new classic Italian cuisine.  The first time I made this dish, I was in love!  Usually, I make this dish with pork, but I found some veal cutlets on sale at Wegmans, so I felt adventurous.  If you have never cooked with fennel this is a great dish to incorporate it in.  It gives just the right crunch, sweetness and texture to enhance all flavors of your meal!

Fennel Sauce Mixture

Veal Cutlets
flour mixture (flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder)
1 egg
1 cup of thinly sliced fennel
thyme
sage
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup white wine
gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles
olive oil


Start by dipping veal in egg wash, then flour mixture.  Fry veal in pan on medium-high heat, about 3 minutes on each side.  You just want to brown the sides.  Since the veal is very thin, it cooks very fast.  You will also be putting the veal back in the pan so you don't need to worry about cooking it through.  Place on plate.  In the same pan, add fennel, thyme, sage and white wine.  Reduce to medium heat, cook until the fennel has browned and softened.  Add cream and cheese crumbles.  Reduce and heat sauce.  Add veal to pan.  Cook veal for another 2-3 minutes on each side in sauce. Plate and Enjoy :)

Pizza Italiana

I love pizza, simply because all of my favorite indulges are in one bite!  Hot, delicious crusty crunchy bread, saltiness, of fresh cheeses, salami and prosciutto, tomatoes, sauce and basil. YUM!


whole wheat pizza dough (room temperature)
pizza sauce
(both I cheated and bought from Wegmans :))
genoa salami (thick slices)
fresh tomato slices
mozzarella cheese (rolled with fresh basil and prosciutto)
parmesan cheese
pizza seasoning


Roll out pizza dough.  Layer sauce, tomatoes and salami.

Then cut mozzarella cheese roll into thin slices and layer on the pizza.  Top with parmesan cheese and pizza seasoning.
Bake pizza at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  ENJOY :)

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin Seeds!

Every year I love to carve pumpkins and bake pumpkin seeds.

After I scoop out the seeds, I boil them in water for about 5 minutes.  This just helps separate the seeds from the guts of the pumpkin.  I then toss the seeds with E.V.O.O. and sea salt. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 25 mintues (may need longer).  Toss seeds in oven after 10 or 15 minutes.  Enjoy :)

Sloppy Buffalo Joes

A few years ago, Jason and I were looking for a healthier option for Sloppy Joes that also was packed with flavor.  Of course, the first thing I did was go to food network and I found this great recipe.  It is easy and flavorful!  This sloppy Joe will surely please your family any night of the week!


2 TB olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup of carrot copped
1 small onion chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped
salt and pepper
1 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup hot sauce (franks red hot)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
blue cheese crumbles
4 large rolls

Heat large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add meat and break it up with spoon, cook 5 minutes.  Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper.  Cook for another 7-8 minutes.  I a owl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire hot sauce, tomato sauce and stock.  Pour into the pan and stir to combine.  Sinner for a few minutes. Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese crumbles.  Enjoy:)

Buffalo Sloppy Joes with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:

Split brussel sprouts in half.  In a bowl mix brussel sprouts with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  

Pesto Chicken

Garlic, Basil, pine nuts oh, my!  Pesto is a quick way to spruce up any meal!  In the summer I usually make my own pesto, but now that its back to the grind and we no longer have fresh basil in the garden, fresh pesto from Wegmans works every time!  If you are in a hurry and need a tasty chicken dish, this is the recipe for you!  I will need to give out some props for my husband, Jason, for this creation.   When we first started dating, I remember him making this meal and thinking, wow, this is really tasty and tender!  Impressive, right?  

All you need is:

Boneless chicken breasts

pesto

thinly sliced tomato

mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Layer pesto on top of chicken (if you do think of this ahead, you can always marinate chicken in Italian dressing).  Bake in oven for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, top pesto with 2 thin slices of tomato and a thick layer of mozzarella cheese.  Bake for another 5-7 minutes.  Enjoy :)