Two weeks has passed since moving day and things have taken a turn for the better. The husband’s slapped some fresh paint on the wall, baby’s furniture has arrived, I’ve gotten acquainted with my new kitchen, and with a bunch of visits from friends and family, it’s really starting to feel like ours. Actually, I’m beginning to love it.  I have a powerful gas stove, an oven that heats in no time, and – something I longed for in my last home – windows in the kitchen.  This place has more natural light than I know what to do with, which is a killer feature from a photography standpoint…  Halleluljah!  And, best of all, there’s more than enough room for us and our new roommate.  That’s right, baby will be here in four weeks!  Where has the time gone?

Painting the nursery. Now don't get any ideas about gender based on the color. Despite what some people think, we do not know the sex. As far as our color choice, I do not believe a girls room needs to be Pepto Bismol pink. Enough said.

Now, on to that delectable pie you saw in today’s feature snap…

When you read the word “pizza,” what comes to mind? Deep dish or thin crust? Traditional plain or something more exotic? Perhaps, an image of a pudgy moustached Italian man twirling a circle of dough? I’ve had many pies in my life, ranging from thick hardy crusts to tissue thin, the simplest margherita to an unorthodox sea scallop pie, but, when I dig deep to recall one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had, I’m brought back to one, in particular, that I had during my travels this time last year… in Argentina. Argentina? Oh yes, Argentina! Due to the large influx of Italian immigrants beginning in the mid 19th century, the cuisine of this South American piece of paradise is strongly influenced by the Italians. As a matter of fact, roaming around this country, I found myself nothing short of shocked to find some of the best Italian food around in the Southern Hemisphere. Go figure!

Anyhow, we noshed on this style of pizza at a couple different restos during our travels and, while all were slightly different, the common threads were plenty of fresh oregano and briny olives over a tradtional cheese pie. I’ve attempted to bring a little slice of Argentina back home in today’s recipe – bon appetit!

One of the pies from Argentina

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Argentine Pizza
Serves a few

Mom’s pizza dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
Cornmeal

Topping:
1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes, drained in a fine mesh strainer
Salt
Pepper
2 sprigs fresh oregano – leaves torn off and minced, divided (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly
4 ounces of your favorite olives, pitted and halved (I used pimento stuffed gaeta)
Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Combine flour, water, yeast, and salt in a medium bowl or stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Mix until combined and knead for 5 minutes. Shape into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely in plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 3 – 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 500-degrees for at least 30 minutes.  If using a pizza stone, be sure that the stone is in the oven at this time. In the meantime, empty tomatoes into a mesh strainer and let drain for 5 – 10 minutes. Crush and tear the whole tomatoes gently with your hands. Set aside.

Punch down the dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for for 1 minute. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough or knuckle into a 14″ circle.

If using a pizza stone: Remove stone from the oven and liberally sprinkle with cornmeal. Working quickly, transfer the dough onto the stone. Perform the steps below.

If using a pan: Lightly oil a round metal pan. Transfer the dough and press lightly into pan. Perform the steps below.

Scatter crushed tomatoes on top leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and half of the fresh oregano. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until crust is set and very light golden.

Remove from oven. Top with fresh mozzarella and then olives. Return to oven and bake 5 – 7 minutes until mozzarella is melted and slightly golden. If mozzarella is melted, but not golden enough and crust is sufficiently cooked, you can finish the pizza under the broiler for 1 minute.

Remove from oven and let set for 3 – 5 minutes on the stone or in the pan. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining fresh oregano. Cut and serve immediately.

In the midst of the real estate craziness, I’ve been trying to keep focus on having fun and all of the excitement that is the new little peanut about to join us.  The key word here is ”trying.”  I’ve had some ups and downs the past couple months when I just wanted to be a “normal pregnant woman” (whatever that is).  Instinctively, I feel like I should have been nesting – buying furniture, picking out drapes, and painting walls in our baby’s room- and putting my feet up  leading up to this time.  However, those things have been near impossible to do without knowing if we’d still be in our current home or a new one by the time the stork stops by.  The “not knowing” has been extraordinarily frustrating, but I think it has made me stronger and given me a renewed faith that all things happen as they should in due time.  When does anything in life truly happen according to your schedule and plan?  In my life, not often.  Within the past couple weeks – after nearly exhausting our last bit of sanity – we found a fantastic home to start the next chapter in our life that will allow us to move in immediately, giving ample time to get settled and even some quiet time to enjoy with each other before our new addition arrives.  Hallelujah!

Despite less time in our evening than normal for cooking, we’ve been attempting to eat in when we can.  Today’s recipe is my spin on traditional chicken milanese that incorporates all things salty and tasty that I’ve been craving during my pregnancy, such as cheese and olives.  It’s simple and quick to throw together if you stock chicken in your freezer and a few pantry staples.  Plus, you can easily transform it into a filling salad with a few tweaks (see this tip in the notes below).

Mediterranean Chicken Milanese
Serves 4

1 large egg
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (or whole wheat)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally and pounded into thin cutlets
3/4 cup extra light olive oil

For the topping:
1 whole roasted red pepper, roughly chopped
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved long ways
2 cups packed arugula leaves
A couple slices of red onion
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
8 – 10 shavings of Pecorino Romano cheese

For the dressing:
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 150-degrees.

Beat egg in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Pour bread crumbs onto a large plate.  Dip the chicken in the egg and then dredge in the bread crumbs, pressing gently to adhere.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium.  Fry each chicken cutlet 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.  Drain on a paper-towel lined plate.  Transfer the cutlets to a prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

In the meantime, combine the red pepper, olives, arugula, red onion, and pine nuts in a medium bowl.  Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Toss the dressing with the arugula mixture.  Remove the chicken from the oven and top each cutlet with a healthy plop of the dressed greens.  Finish each with a few shavings of cheese.

A few notes:

• To transform this meal into a dinner sized salad:  Double every ingredient in the topping and dressing, plus add 2 – 3 more cups of arugula depending on how big you like your salad.  Slice the chicken cutlets into 1″ strips and toss with the greens and dressing before plating.
• I love peppery arugula in this dish, but escarole or your favorite leafy green would be fine substitutes.

In the meantime, has the color red caught your eye this month?  Maybe you noticed a co-worker sporting a red sweater or little crimson ribbons pinned onto handbags and clothing.  Well, it’s not in celebration of our favorite Hallmark holiday, but instead, in spirit of the American Heart Association’s  campaign for American Heart Month.  Their annual crusade to raise heart health awareness is in full swing this February and with good reason:  More women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined.  Unreal.  Considering I always associated heart attacks with middle-aged men, this statistic was a moment of reckoning.

I have heart disease in my family, along with cancer and diabetes, but these black clouds looming overhead don’t make me feel too “special” per se.  In this day and age, most people I know have one or some combination of the threatening three in their family tree.  If you, like me, feel like you may have gotten – to put it bluntly – a little genetically shafted, have no fear.  You can take charge of your destiny with a few simple preventative measures:

• Don’t smoke:  It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancers.  Need I say more?
• Drink in moderation:  Excessive drinking increases blood pressure, which can lead to heart failure or stroke.
• Eat well:  Fiber-rich whole grains, good fats, fruits and veggies, and lean protein do a body good.
• Get moving:  All it takes is 30 minutes a day on most days to see the effects.  That’s as simple as a stroll on your lunch break, using the stairs everywhere you go, or a quick yoga DVD.  And, P.S. – make it enjoyable!  That’s the key to making exercise an enduring part of your lifestyle instead of a short-term fad.

So, the trend here is that these measures are all within your power!  Wouldn’t you much rather make a few smart choices instead of being a slave to prescription drugs and worries about your health?  I would.   While you can’t help what you’re genetically predisposed to, you can help keep those diseases at bay with a proactive approach to your health.  Here’s to our hearts!

In the spirit of good food choices, I bring you a heart healthy bran muffin spiked with lemon zest and blackberries.  There’s so much flavor in these little nuggets, you won’t even realize you’re doing your heart a favor with oodles of fiber rich whole grains…

blackberry + lemon bran muffins
Yields 12 – 14 muffins
Adapated from Heidi Swanson’s bran muffin recipe in Super Natural Every Day

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup barely melted butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
Zest of a lemon
1/2 cup unprocessed wheat or oat bran
1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened bran cereal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
3 Tbsp. ground flax seed
1 1/2 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen and thawed

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven.  Spray or line and spray a standard muffin pan with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon zest.  Sprinkle the bran and cereal across the top, stir, and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, in a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder,  salt, and flax seed.  Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top of the wet and stir until just combined.  Gently fold in the blackberries with a rubber spatula until evenly dispersed, careful not to smush.  Immediately fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.

Bake for 20 – 24 minutes or until the edges of the muffins begin to brown and the tops have set.  Let cool for 5 minute sin the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.  Eat warm for a good time!

A few notes:

• Once I stirred the dry ingredients into the wet, I was nervous.  The batter seemed a little too thick to work the blackberries in successfully.  Take your time and be gentle – the muffins ended up moist, delicious, and tasty.  The thick hearty texture is the nature of the bran-ny beast.
• I’ll admit it – I went to my grocery store and didn’t have a clue about the bran products I was looking for.  I ended up finding them in the organic and whole foods section.  I went with Bob’s Red Mill oat bran for the bran cereal and was able to find the unprocessed wheat bran in the bulk bins.  Bob’s Red Mill also had a larger bag of the latter available.
• Consider topping these muffins with your favorite chopped nuts or seeds and/or subbing in any mixture of your favorite dried fruit for the blackberries.
• I broke my own rules with the blackberries in that I used “fresh” even when they weren’t local or seasonal.   It’s definitely not blackberry season in Jersey, but I couldn’t help myself when I saw those deeply colored plump berries eyeing me in the store.  In any case, frozen is a really wonderful option because they are picked in season at peak ripeness and flash frozen, maintaining a high nutritional profile.
• I could have gone liner-less with my non-stick pan.  However, I wanted that coffee shop look of parchment muffin liners and followed these steps from our friend, Martha.

A traveler’s proverb oft rattled as you head out into the country is “bad roads, good people.”  Well, there were some bad roads on the way to our destination… and some even better people.  We were instantly embraced by our amazing ex-pat hosts at the Iguana Lodge, as well as the Ticos.  Coming from the New York metro area, I was a little skeptical of how good natured the locals seemed.  I recall spending the first few days wondering what their ulterior motive was for being so dang nice.  However, as the week went on, I realized they were – quite simply – happy, kind, and helpful people, not because they wanted something in return; but because they were genuinely happy, kind, and helpful people.

Every day on the Osa, we’d rise with the sun and feast on a stunningly fresh assortment of local tropical fruits (a food moment I’ll never forget was biting into the juicy sweet white fleshed pineapple), creamy avocado, eggs, robust coffee, and, today’s feature, gallo pinto.  Gallo pinto is a simple staple Central American side dish consisting of rice and beans, typically served at breakfast time with meat (carne) or eggs (huevos), but I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t also a mainstay at every other meal.  The synergy of the rice and the beans rocks, as the two eaten alone are good sources of nutrition, but together they’re even better.  When rice and beans are eaten in conjunction, all essential nine amino acids come together in the right proportions (this aspect is crucial) and form a complete protein in one sitting; something easily found in animal protein, but a relative rarity in plant sources.   As a healthy side note, the nine essential amino acids are required by the body to build the proteins that help maintain muscle, bone, and organs.

Despite gallo pinto’s short list of ingredients (mainly rice and beans), its flavor varies greatly around the country depending on the preparation and seasonings used.  Whose gallo pinto reigns supreme?  I say the Iguana Lodge’s.  All of the food was cooked on premises by the most amazing tico chef, and upon rave reviews, the owner published an amazing downloadable cookbook, allowing former guests and the culinary curious the opportunity to bring the taste of Iguana back home (wherever that is).  Today’s recipe is a loose adaptation of the gallo pinto recipe in the cookbook that we enjoyed every morning on our visit.  Now, if I feast on this, shut my eyes, turn up the heat in my condo, and download some howler monkey audio, maybe for just one moment I can bring myself back to our little piece of paradise…

Gallo Pinto
Loosely adapted from Iguana Lodge Cook Book
Serves 6

1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetagble oil
Salt
3 cups of cooked brown rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp. Salsa Lizano
2/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Coat a large deep skillet with vegetable oil on medium heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, and a couple pinches of salt.  Saute for 4 minutes until soft.  Add beans and another pinch of salt.  Cook, stirring often, on medium-low for 4 – 5 minutes.  Add brown rice and Salsa Lizano.  Cook on low for three minutes, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan.  Season to taste with more salt if necessary.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.  Serve immediately.

• As recommended in the post, this side dish goes well at breakfast time with meat or eggs.  A few slices of creamy green avocado and fresh fruit don’t hurt either… Yum!
• We like ours with a few healthy glugs of hot sauce, such as Cholula or Chipotle Tabasco… That’ll get your fire started in the morning.
• Get double duty out of this dish and serve again as a side with lunch or dinner.
• Salsa Lizano is a homegrown tico favorite!  I was able to order some on Amazon.com, but you may be able to find it locally if you have a good ethnic section in your supermarket or Spanish grocer.  A little goes a long way and it lasted for a while.   It also works great as a condiment on eggs, chicken, beef or pork.

Anyhow, a rather large blog that I follow, bookmark recipes from, and regularly drool over, is Smitten Kitchen. Her site is full of fresh and inspiring recipes and witty little quips that keep me coming back for more. It was her recent post about this soup, in particular, that got me thinking about a carrot-ginger dressing I enjoyed from this past summer’s cleanse. At the time, my detox inspired a post about a surprisingly tasty sweet pea and basil soup that was also part of the plan, but I haven’t had the opportunity or mindfulness to blog about the other winner from my cleansing experience until today.

Now, I’m guessing your pretty little heart sunk a bit and expectations basically plummeted at the mention of me sharing a “cleanse” recipe with you. That word neither inspires excitement among crowds nor instills confidence in a recipe. Please, bear with me and have a little faith. I take care of you, don’t I?

In today’s recipe, I bring you a sunny, vibrant, and healthy carrot-ginger dressing. And, yes, it packs flavor that is as bright and fresh as its color! It’s not the consistency of dressing in a traditional sense in that it’s super chunky, but it still holds onto the greens and disperses just as well when tossed around. In addition, as my friend, Gwyneth, mentions, it can also be used as a vegetable dip, making it super versatile. I added some cilantro and tossed it with some buttery soft lettuce, pungent red onions, creamy avocado (it’s the season!), and pan-seared tofu. Carnivores, feel free to swap in whatever animal protein your heart desires in lieu of tofu. I went with this bouncy bean curd in an effort to create a perfectly tasty meatless Monday meal. Plus, I truly enjoy tofu as a regular part of my diet – it’s loaded with protein, takes on whatever flavors you mix it with, and sears up to a crisp brown in no time.

Carrot – Ginger Dressing
Slightly adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP.com recipe
serves 6 +

4 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
3 Tbsp. roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. sweet white miso
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sesame seed oil
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
2 Tbsp. water
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro (optional)

Pulse the carrot, shallot, and ginger in a blender until finely chopped.  Scrape down the sides, add the miso, vinegar, and sesame seed oil and blend together.  While the blender is going, slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil and the water.

For the salad
Serves 2 as a main dish

1 block of extra firm tofu
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 head of butter lettuce, roughly cut
4 thin slices of red onion
1/2 an avocado, diced

Drain a block of extra firm tofu and pan sear some rectangular chunks, about 1-inch long and 1/2-inch thick, in a dry non-stick skillet until crispy.  Toss in a bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper.  Combine the lettuce, onion, and avocado in a medium bowl.  Distribute evenly on two plates.  Top with tofu chunks and drizzle with plenty of  carrot-ginger dressing.  Serve immediately.

One tip:

• Carrot size varies.  If you feel your dressing is too thick, add water and oil by the tablespoonful until you hit the consistency you like.  You can always punch it up again with a splash of vinegar.

It has been part of popular folklore for centuries that chicken soup has healing properties, but within the past decade or so, some scientific evidence has come to light that gives that belief some credence. Studies showed that this particular soup possesses anti-inflammatory and inhibitory properties that dampen inflammation and reduce mucous. While they weren’t able to pinpoint exactly what the magic ingredient in the soup was, they were able to prove that these benefits had little to do with a placebo affect, as hot water did not produce similar results. If I can avoid a visit to the doctor and a dose of antibiotics by resting up and feeding my body some of this goodness, I’m in.

A couple weeks ago, Joe was a little down and out. Not feeling well, congested, etc… I decided to whip up a big old pot of chicken noodle soup for him, and, boy was I glad I did because the onset of my cold wasn’t far behind. It dawned on me when I was throwing it together that this was such a basic recipe, yet - very broad statement ahead, don’t get offended – many of my peers probably wouldn’t have a clue how to make it… and they should.

That moment sparked my idea for a new category on KarmaCucina called “Back to Basics.” I’ve preached before about the sense of urgency I feel when it comes to getting people back into the kitchen to prepare their own food and sitting down with their families for dinner, so I’m not going to spend a moment more on that. Instead, today, with this new category, I’d like to make a valiant attempt at doing just that by periodically reintroducing my readers to some very vanilla staples that I believe should be part of everyone’s culinary repertoire, kitchen-phobes and kitchen mavens alike.  I know I tend to get a little overzealous at times and perhaps prepare dishes that are a bit more involved than the general audience would ever attempt, but bear with me, because in this new category, I’m striving to entice you with simplicity and lure you into the kitchen with the fundamentals.  Consider this a challenge from me to you to take control of your kitchen (and your life) and start preparing more meals for yourself.  If you’re on the timid side, do not be weary.  This is a perfectly simple recipe to start with.  Plus, it makes a big old pot that you can freeze and stow away for a rainy (or sick) day.  Better yet, if you’re feeling like a super nice friend, make it for a pal who’s feeling a little under the weather.  They’ll love you for it!

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Chicken Soup
8 – 10 servings

4 organic chicken thighs (≈ 1 ¹/₂ lbs)
6 organic chicken drumsticks (≈ 1 ¹/₂ lbs)
Salt
4 stalks of celery (including leaves), chopped (≈ 1 ¹/₂cups)
4 carrots, peeled and chopped (≈ 2 cups)
1 large onion, finely chopped (≈ 2 ¹/₄ - 2 ¹/₂ cups)
4 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 1/4 cups farfalline
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

Put thighs and drumsticks in your largest pot.  Cover with 5 1/2 quarts of cold water.  Add 1 tablespoon of salt.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Skim off foam with a spoon or a fine mesh skimmer.  Add 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 teaspoons of  salt, celery, carrots, onion and garlic.   Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook at a low simmer for 1 1/2 hours, giving an occasional stir.

Remove chicken from pot* and set aside, allowing to cool slightly.  Raise heat and bring soup to a boil.  Add pasta and cook until tender, approximately 6 – 7 minutes.  About halfway through cooking the pasta, add the parsley.  Turn off heat when pasta is cooked.

Meantime, pull meat from the drumsticks and thighs, discarding bones, fat, and cartilage.  Break the meat down into bite-size pieces with your fingers or a knife.  Return meat and any accumulated juices to the pot, give it a good stir, and season with more salt and pepper to taste.

*Chicken should be cooked entirely after 1 1/2 hours.  You will know it’s done if it’s nearly falling off the bones with a few pokes of a fork.  If it is not cooked, continue simmering on low until the fork test is successful.

Together, Joe and I have had many things to think about since we first found out the news, such as how we want to live, where we want to live, and what our new priorities will be.  Not to say that we haven’t pondered these things before, but when you find out someone’s going to be joining you for a lifelong ride in a matter of mere months, that it’s not just the two of you anymore… Geez, you feel a little more accountable and don’t want to screw anything up.  So, as you can guess, personally and professionally, we’ve both had and have a lot going on.

I’m several months away from formally earning the title “mother” (scary, huh?), but I already feel like I’m learning a lot about what that moniker means.  Now, I think about every single function I perform daily, from eating the right things to drinking enough water to working out, and how that’s going to affect the little monkey growing inside.  As far as diet’s concerned, there haven’t been too many changes to make, as I prepare 95% of my own food, never cared much for deli meat or soda, and could take or leave sushi.  As far as what I drink, historically, I’m just awful when it comes to drinking enough water and run a dehydrated little shop around here.  That’s had to change because I know there’s now a little  ”someone else” who can’t just grab a bottle of Poland Spring and needs that water more than I do.  Hydration aside, I think the biggest challenge I’ve faced is adapting my workout regimen and accepting my changing body.

Running is and has been my favorite go-to workout for a number of reasons; namely, it packs a huge bang for your buck (less time than walking and greater burn), is amazing for trimming fat, and it’s a welcome opportunity to be alone with your thoughts.  Pre-pregnancy, I managed to get away with eating most anything I want by countering it with my running habit.  Not so much anymore.  Now that I run for two, I’ve had to make some major modifications to my regimen, while other changes just happened naturally.  I’ve watched my heart rate increase dramatically to levels of an all-out pre-pregnant sprint, but at a seemingly “normal” pace.   As a result, I’ve had to slow it down big time, as I’m trying to keep my heart rate within certain parameters.  Now old folks and newbie runners glide past me effortlessly.  Early on in the pregnancy, this was enough to make me crack.  I’d come home from a run (more like a jog) with tears in my eyes and the feeling that the effort was futile.  As time has gone on, I realize just the fact that I’m getting out there is what matters.  Exercise in moderation is good for me and, most of all, good for junior.  More recently, I’ve been relishing in my growing belly and enjoying increased looks and smiles from other’s as we pass on the boardwalk.  I like to imagine they’re thinking “Hey, she’s running slow, but she’s running for two people.  Good for her!”   I think any physically able pregnant woman staying active is awesome.  Cheers to the fit mamas!

Here’s a short list of what I’ve learned/noticed so far – I welcome any additional insight from other pregnant ladies or mothers out there in the comment section below:

• Leggings are a pregnant girls best friend.
• It’s not how fast you run, it’s the fact that you got out there and logged the miles.
• People have a lot of opinions such as how pregnant or not pregnant you look [my favorite:  "Are you sure there's not two in there?"], what you should name your child, and whether you should find out the gender.  The sooner you learn to take these opinions in stride the better off you are.
• Bows suck.  Words for consideration I’d like to pass along to maternity clothes manufacturers from my fellow pregnant girlfriend, Melissa, “Stop putting bows on maternity clothes.  I am not a present meant to be unwrapped.”‘
• You’re not proving anything to anyone by suffering in your pre-pregnancy jeans.  Embrace the panel.
• Speaking of panels, everyone, men and women alike, could benefit from maternity pants at the holidays.  Lots of room, people!  Just saying…
• When you see your baby on an ultrasound or hear the heartbeat the first time, you immediately know there’s something much bigger out there than all of us.  It’s really a miracle.
• People are really nice.  It’s overwhelming how many people are genuinely happy for you when you share your news, especially those that are parents.  I suppose it’s more affirmation (if you need it) that you’re about to endeavor on a really wonderful journey.

Now, on to today’s recipe.  I figured some sort of “bun” recipe would be apropos for my big announcement and since we’re all wrapping up the season of decadence, why not go out with a bang?  I bring you rum raisin cinnamon buns:  sweet dough wrapped around gooey pecans and drunken raisins, topped with a boozy rum frosting.  Hey, if everyone except me is having cocktails, why not just get my food drunk?  I kid.  Anyhow, this is a really stellar recipe that can be made the night before; a perfectly decadent and impressive treat for overnight guests or just yourself.  Enjoy!

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Rum Raisin Cinnamon Buns
Makes 8

For the dough:
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs

For the filling:
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 Tbsp. spiced rum
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp. half and half or light cream

In  a large bowl, combined 2 1/4 cups of flour and yeast.  In a small saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar, and salt over low until just warm and butter is almost melted.  Test with your fingers to ensure it’s not too hot and add to the flour mixture.  Stir in the eggs and beat with an electric mixer.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups of flour as you can.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.  Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning once.  Cover and let rise until double, about one hour.

In the meantime, begin the filling.  Combine the raisins and rum in a small microwave safe dish and cook on high for one minute.  Set aside and let soak at least 45 minutes.

Combine the brown sugar,  flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well.  Cut in remaining butter until crumbly. Set aside.

After dough has finished rising, punch it down and turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.  Roll the dough into a 12-inch square.  Sprinkle the sugar-flour mixture on top, leaving a 1-inch border all the way around.   Drain the raisins and dab gently with a paper towel.  Scatter raisins and chopped pecans on top of the sugar mixture.  Roll jell roll style and pinch edges to seal.  Cut the log into 8 pieces, beginning by first cutting in half and then halving each section again and again.  Arrange dough pieces cut side up in a greased 13×9-inch baking pan.  Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap leaving room for rolls to rise.  Refrigerate for 2 – 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.  Uncover cinnamon rolls and let stand for 30 minutes.  Break any surface bubbles with a greased toothpick.  Brush dough with half and half.  Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until light brown.  If necessary to prevent over-browning, loosely cover with aluminum foil.

Remove from oven and brush again with half and half.  Cool for one minute.  Drizzle with rum frosting.  Devour immediately.

Rum frosting:
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. spiced rum
2 Tbsp.  half and half

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Whisk well.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas at my parents’ house without doing things in excess.  And, whatever you think “excess” is, you should probably double it.  Frankly, if you’re coming by for dinner, wear something comfortable because by the time you leave, your clothes aren’t going to fit as fetchingly as they did when you walked in the door.  I’m talking belly-bulging pants-unzipped discomfort – with a blissfully delirious smile, that is…

Now, to get us on the same page, let me paint a picture for you and run through our typical menu to illustrate the feast that is our Christmas dinner, an eight-hour marathon beginning at 1:00PM with intermittent naps dispersed throughout.  Did I mention that 90% of this meal is prepared single-handedly by my mom (a glutton for punishment) for a meager group of eight to ten adults and a couple of small children?

Appetizers:
Clam dip
Assorted olives
Mixed nuts
Panzarottis or “freitalas”
Pepperoni and mozzarella stuffed bread
Antipasto stuffed bread
Assorted puff pastry hors d’oeuvres
Champagne punch

Antipasto / Seafood
Antipasto platter with prosciutto, salami, soppressata, provolone, and olives
Fresh mozzarella
Roasted red peppers
Freshly baked crusty bread
Mussels marinara
Baked clams oreganato
Shrimp scampi
More bread
Did I say bread yet?

Pasta:
Manicotti
Meatballs, sausage, braciole
Bread

Carne:
Roasted beef tenderloin with au jus
Parmesan potato pie
Green bean almondine
Bread

Dessert:
Apple pie
Cannoli cake
Cherry cheesecake
Assorted homemade cookies (cuccidati, pignoli, butter, rugelach, peanut butter kisses, snow balls)

Have I lost you yet?  If I was a betting woman, I’d say you’re either drooling or disgusted after working your way down that list.  Glutton that I am and shamefully proud of it (is that possible?), I’m in the first category.  Yes, it’s a lot of food, but this is how we roll.  Go big or go home.

When I found out my mom was thinking of cutting the pasta course this year due to her crazy schedule, I was dumbfounded.  That would be breaking tradition.  And then what?  Just go from seafood and antipasto to meat?  No pasta intermezzo <giggle>?  In that moment, I decided someone needed to step up and I was most certainly the gal for the job.  It wouldn’t be Christmas without homemade manicotti.

Today, I bring you my take on these luscious crepes of ricotta cheesey goodness; Italian-American comfort food at its best.  I stayed mostly true to our family recipe and added some chopped spinach in for color and flavor. And, yes, while the recipe below looks a bit lengthy, they’re really a piece of cake.  You can do it!

Spinach & Cheese Manicotti
Yields 20

Crepes:
6 eggs
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
Extra light olive oil

Filling:
3 cups ricotta
3 eggs, beaten
8 ounces of mozzarella, shredded
¾ cup fresh grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
¾ tsp. salt
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 quarts of meat or marinara sauce
Fresh grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano

Special equipment:  small cast iron skillet (approximately 5-inches)

Preparing the crepes:

Beat eggs in a large bowl until well mixed.  Add flour, water, and salt and whisk well until batter is smooth.

Preheat cast iron skillet over medium flame.  Set up a small ramekin with olive oil and a pastry brush alongside the stove.  Cut a few large sheets of wax paper and place nearby on the counter.

Brush the inside of the skillet with oil.  It’s time to work fast:  Use a potholder to grab the skillet handle (very hot!) with one hand and pour in a scant ¼ cup of the batter.  Swirl the batter so it disperses completely on the bottom of the skillet and just a hair up the sides all the way around.  If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.

Cook until just set, about 20 – 30 seconds.  Flip with a spatula or your hands (daredevils only) and cook for an additional 5 – 10 seconds.  Transfer from pan to the wax paper and repeat the process until all of the batter is gone.  It’s probably not necessary to oil the skillet for every crepe;  more like every other one.

Let the crepes cool completely.  At this point, you can begin the stuffing process or store them in the refrigerator or freezer.  For best storage, layer about four crepes per sheet of wax paper and gently transfer two to three sheets into a gallon-sized resealable bag.  The top layer of crepes should have an empty sheet of wax paper pressed on top.  Repeat this process with remaining ones.  These should keep in the refrigerator up to two days or in the freezer for a month.  If you freeze them, defrost them at room temperature for several hours before filling or move them to the refrigerator the night before filling for proper thawing.

Filling the crepes:

Combine the ricotta, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, parsley, and salt in a large bowl until well mixed.  Wring out thawed spinach with your hands over a strainer.  Then press spinach into the sides until you’ve expunged as much water as possible.  Use a spatula to gently fold the drained spinach into the ricotta mixture until evenly distributed.

Scoop scant ¼ cup of ricotta mixture onto the middle of a crepe.  Gently fold each side of the crepe up over the filling.  If top of crepe doesn’t stay down, wet it with a little cheese mixture and press.  Repeat until all are filled.  These can be frozen for up to two months and saved for a rainy day at this point in time or baked now.

Baking the manicotti:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously spoon some marinara or meat sauce into the bottom(s) of  one to two baking dishes, using enough to completely cover the bottom.  Arrange stuffed manicotti seam side up* on top of the sauce.  Be sure to pack them in snugly to ensure they stay closed while baking and prevent excess filling from seeping out.  Spoon a couple cups of sauce over the top of the manicotti to ensure they are covered and remain moist while baking.  Sprinkle with some grated cheese and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand for five minutes so the cheese can set.  Serve with more sauce and grated cheese.

*Every recipe I’ve come across calls for baking seam side down.  My family has always baked seam side up.  This can pose an issue if yours are not staying shut.  If you cannot get them to stay closed, bake seam side down.  It’s not going to make or break this dish.

]]> http://karmacucina.com/spinach-cheese-manicotti/feed/ 11 http://karmacucina.com/%e2%9d%a4-happy-holidays-%e2%9d%a4/ http://karmacucina.com/%e2%9d%a4-happy-holidays-%e2%9d%a4/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:28:07 +0000 KarmaCucina http://karmacucina.com/?p=2948

An excerpt from my food journal

My belly is swollen and my heart is heavy on today’s return flight from New Orleans.  I keep looping last night’s veal osso bucco over and over in my mind.  An inherently tough shank was transformed into tender perfection after being slowly braised in wine with lucsious marrow in tact for picking and smearing about.  To cut the fat, it was accompanied by a bright citrus marmalade and then – in complete contradiction – served on a bed of creamy goat cheese whipped mashed potatoes.  Pure glory in my mouth that nearly twelve hours later has yet to vacate my stomach.  Or maybe it’s the mile high banana cream pie I ate afterward; the one I nearly broke into a cold sweat trying to finish.  Whatever it is, this was a weekend of eating with reckless abandon…  and I don’t have one single regret.

Take a gander down Bourbon Street and you’ll quickly realize that all modesty goes out the window in this city.  This is a town without constraints; a place with an array of varied art and culture that together anywhere else would seem ludicrous, but here, somehow make sense.  It’s these characteristics that bode well for one of the top and most innovative food scenes in the country, famously associated with names, such as star chef, John Besh, and food empire magnate, Emeril Lagasse.  If you live on the planet Earth or, at least, follow me on Twitter, those names might ring a bell, as I tweeted about seeing them both at Besh’s restaurant, Domenica, on our last night; a scene straight out of a food-blogger’s wildest imagination:  Emeril Lagasse and wife with couple in tow, walking into John Besh’s restaurant for dinner.  Staff serves Emeril and crew with utmost care and attention, going so far as to bring a leg of prosciutto to their table and carefully shaving tissue thin sheets onto a platter.  Chef Besh pops up tableside in his bright chef whites and toothy smile hugging and greeting his old friend Emeril before disappearing back into the kitchen.  Yes, folks, these are the things dreams are made of.  Some people at my table wanted to take photos of the chefs at the table only a few yards away.  I brashly begged them to not to and just sat there, content to “casually stare” and simply observe two of the most acclaimed chefs in their natural environment; a scene not too far removed from viewing a lion and tiger on an African safari.

So, as you can tell, this was just a slam dunk fantastic weekend.  I was privileged to eat at the best restaurants NOLA has to offer and breathe the same air as two of its finest culinary alum.  Here are a few snaps from my weekend in the “big easy.”  I’ve also compiled a list – a “foodtinerary” of sorts – of what I ate and where.  I am listing everything because, quite simply, I would recommend it all, but please keep in mind:  this is just the tip of a gigantic iceberg.  This city has a throng of gems scattered throughout, and I was fortunate enough to come across a few…

blissed out in the big easy food-tinerary:

friday
Breakfast:  hotel
Lunch:  Johnny’s Po-Boy Oyster po’ boy and fries
Snack:  Café du Monde  Café au lait and beignet
Dinner:  Commander’s Palace   Trio of soups (gumbo, corn and crab bisque, turtle soup); escargot with wild mushrooms over buttered toast; pecan crusted gulf fish with champagne poached Louisiana blue crab meat, crushed corn sauce, and spiced pecans
Dessert:  Commander’s Palace    Creole bread pudding soufflé with creamy whiskey sauce

saturday
Brunch:  Luke  Cup of blue crab bisque, Croque madame and frites
Snack:  Sylvain  Chili roasted almonds;  fried eggplant with lemon-garlic aioli and shaved parmesan; homemade ginger ale
Dinner:  Domenica  Rabbit and chanterelle tagliatelle; stracci with oxtail and chicken liver; veal osso bucco (special) with citrus remoulade and goat cheese mash
Dessert:  Emeril’s  Banana cream pie

Highlight:  Veal osso busso at Domenica
Runner up:  Pecan crusted gulf fish at Commander’s Palace

Ever been to NOLA?  What’s your favorite dish?