Slice of Love

There is nothing better to me than a slice, or 3, of gourmet pizza and a glass of Malbec wine. I will admit that I do not make my own dough. There are so many delicious doughs available to us for so cheap. For example: Whole foods, Trader Joes, and the new find thanks to Anna, Guiseppes. So I spend more time creating new pizzas while sipping on red wine. My brother, Kilgo, and his best friend, Sam came to visit us on Sullivans a few weekends ago. One night when I went to bed early, the boys ordered crappy/ greasy pizza. So I decided to spoil them the next night and make them two delicious pizzas...

 

Barbeque Pizza and Chicken Grape Pizza

BBQ

• dough
• one shredded cooked chicken breast
  
• mozzerella
• about a 1/4 cup Franks hot sauce (Kilgo's all time choice)

1. My brother is an extremely picky eater so this one is super simple. Spread the hot sauce all over the rolled out dough.
2. Add mozzerella to your liking.
3. Then the shredded chicken.
4. Bake according to dough; usually 400 degrees

Chicken and Grape Pizza

• dough
• one shredded cooked chicken breast
• about a cup and a half of sliced red grapes
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup basil pesto
• mozzerella
• Parmesan
  
• red pepper flakes

1. Roll out the dough and spread the pesto on. 
2. Next, sprinkle the mozzerella, chicken, grapes and walnuts.
3. Top with Parmesan and red pepper flakes.
4. Bake.

I have two more staple pizzas in our household to look forward to: Pear and Goat Cheese, and Chicken and Broccoli with cream sauce. :)

~Charlotte

Sweet Spicy Sticky Chicken

Almost always use CA blend...the best.

Asian food! Who doesn't love a good stir fry. This is one of my all time favorite recipes because I often have everything I need on hand to make it. Hint: I always keep a knob of ginger in my freezer, and almost always have a pack of stir fry veggies and chicken there as well.

Whatcha need:
1 lb chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut into bite sized chunks
Flour, for dredging
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable oil, approximately 4 Tbsp (eyeball it)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp honey
1/2 C soy sauce
4 tsp chopped ginger root
4 tsp hot sauce
4 tsp chopped garlic
1 bag frozen veggies, thawed out for an hour and drained of excess water
Rice, for serving

How ta do it:
1.) Start rice and dredge chicken.
2.) Heat veggie oil in a pan. Transfer chicken to the heated pan and cook through until no longer pink.

3.) Combine brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, chopped ginger root, hot sauce, and garlic in a bowl. Mix together.
4.) Add drained veggies to the pan.

5.) Cover with mixture and cook for approximately ten minutes, until heated through and sauce thickens slightly. Serve over rice!

Nom nom nom. In my mouth.

Just so yall know...we also made some a-ma-zing Kung Pao shrimp this week...recipe still to come.

Enjoy! This is a great dish to serve to guests...everyone who has tried it loves it!
~A

PS...Original recipe found here, although I've changed the amounts quite a bit!

Delicious Summer Basil Pasta!

My great photography skills...haha not :)

I went away for a week and when I came back my basil plant had absolutely exploded. There is now tons of glorious basil! How exciting. This was my first attempt at using the basil as a main ingredient, rather than on pizza or in a caprese sandwich (one of my absolute favorites!)

Hi Basil, I love you.

This is a recipe for pasta with basil cream sauce. I topped it with grilled chicken to make it more of a meal, but you could use shrimp as well. I used low-fat Neuchatel cheese in place of cream cheese and cut out some fat from the original recipe (found here on allrecipes.com) and it was still plenty delicious. A great dish using summer flavors!

Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked pasta, your choice (I used rotini, but anything would be good, especially angel hair)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed into bite-sized pieces
3 Tbsp olive oil
6 ounces cream cheese or Neuchatel cheese, cubed
1/4-1/2 cup of milk (the more milk you use, with higher fat, the creamier. I just used skim, though)
1 tsp minced garlic
16 fresh basil leaves (I used an assortment of sizes)
1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3 Tbsp grated Parmeson
3 Tbsp shredded Mozzarella

Method:
1.) Cook your pasta until al dente, drain.
2.) In the meantime, combine cubed cream cheese and milk. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until it is one smooth mixture. It's going to look...weird. And not very delicious.  

3.) Put basil leaves, olive oil, and garlic into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. (By the way, I hate big, clunky food processors. This one does the job well and isn't that hard to clean when you're done! I highly recommend it. It's a Hamilton Beach.)

4.) Add the cream cheese/milk mixture, process again until smooth. It will look...odd. Again.

 

5.) Toss cooked and drained pasta with this mixture. Stir in Parmesan and tomatoes. We topped our bowls with the chicken instead of stirring it in. Totally your preference. We also topped it with Mozzarella. Again, it's personal preference.

Honestly, I was a little nervous when I went to try it. It did look kind of strange but when I tasted it I absolutely loved it! It was a great way to use up lots of basil and have a nice summer pasta. I would definitely recommend it to anyone-serving with a side salad and crusty bread makes it a great meal.

Enjoy!
~A

Blogging Hiatus: Over!

We have had company for the vast majority of the time since our last blog posts! We had an amazing time and got to cook with those near and dear to us. Got to do some vegetarian, some super southern dishes, and some amazing brunches.

Now that stuff has settled down somewhat, we're finally back to blogging! We have lots of great recipes to share with you all :)

 For starters, heres a super easy way to make enchiladas to serve a crowd! This makes 10 enchilladas, with 2-3 being an average serving size.

Ingredients:
10 burrito-sized flour tortillas
2 10-ounce cans of red enchilada sauce, mild to hot depending on your preference
1 pound shredded chicken, ground turkey, or ground beef
4 cups Mexican-mix cheese

Preparation:
1.) Cook your meat. If I'm using ground turkey, I just brown it in a skillet. If I use chicken, I just cook chicken breasts in the oven it until no longer pink in the oven, and shred the chilled meat.
2.) Heat enchilada sauce in a large skillet until simmering.
3.) Dip a flour tortilla halfway into the enchilada sauce skillet

4.) Lay it flat on a large plate. Use about 1/10th of the whatever meat you choose and fill the enchilada like so:

5.) Sprinkle some cheese on top of chicken.
6.) Roll it up and put into a baking dish:

7.) Pour any remaining enchilada sauce on top of all the enchiladas and sprinkle with all the remaining cheese. If you want, you can add jalapenos on top for some more kick! Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melty and bubbly. (We didn't take any after pictures because we were starving! But it surely is delicious.) Serve with sour cream and guac.

I got this recipe from a great family friend when we were living in Austria, so I have to give her much credit! Definitely a staple when I need some awesome Mexican food. Thank KH :)

Variations:
Add salsa, sauteed onions or green peppers to the filling. Use hot sauce to give it an extra kick. Be creative.

Have a lovely Wednesday!
Anna

Breakfast of Paddle Boarders

I recently got into paddle boarding, thanks to my dad. My dad gave me a wind surfing board to use and it has been awesome. But as we all know, the only way to start my day off is a BIG breakfast :) So I went with strawberry french toast and bacon. My one recommendation for cooking bacon is putting it in the oven in a shallow dish. I put the temperature on 375. This way you don't have to flip it or get flung in the eye with hot grease. Now on with the French Toast.

• thick slices of sourdough toast
• eggs ( I used five eggs for 4 large pieces of bread)
• tsp of vanilla extract
• cinnamon and sugar
• maple syrup
• sliced strawberries
• 1/4 cup milk

1. In a dish beat all the eggs and add milk. Then add vanilla and cinnamon/ sugar to the egg mixture.
2. Add 1-2 pieces of bread at a time to the egg mixture and let the bread soak on each side. 
3. Heat large pan or skillet on stovetop and add the bread. Cook until browned on each side.

 Syrup:

1. Heat a small pan over the stove top and add about a cup of syrup.
2. Then add a handful of sliced strawberries.
3. Heat on low for about 5-10 minutes and our over french toast
4. Serve with oven baked bacon and enjoy

Eat up and get on your paddle board :)

http://www.paddleboarding.com/

Funny Bunny Carrot Cake

So I'm posting this recipe in advance (aka no pictures today!) but I made this carrot cake for Easter brunch last year and it was SO delicious that I'm making it again this year and wanted to share it with everyone :)

It was my first attempt at making carrot cake even though I am an avid carrot cake fan. In fact, my mom and I might have been known to eat carrot cake with our breakfast once or twice (or much, much more) especially at Chesapeake Bagel Bakery...

Carrot cake as a rule is pretty unhealthy, as most recipes call for a ton of oil. Well, that's one of the reasons at least. I have swapped part of the oil for applesauce and it still turns out delicious! You can swap applesauce for oil in many baking recipes. I usually still use some oil and replace about half to three-quarters of what is called for with applesauce. The swap rule is a 1:1 ratio, so if you decide you want to replace half a cup of oil, just replace it with half a cup of applesauce.

Without further ado!

Funny Bunny Carrot Cake
Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots (I buy them pre-julienned; if you grate them yourself, use the large side of the grater)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
You can either make your own simple recipe or...buy Betty Crocker. I'll let you guess which one I tend to do...


Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan.
2.) In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, white sugar, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Fold in carrots. Pour into pan.
3.) Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for ten minutes and remove from pan. Let it cool completely and then frost!
4.) If you wish, you can add some slivered nuts to the icing to make it look more carrot cake-like. Pecans, almonds, or walnuts would all work.
5.) ENJOY!

~Anna

Spring Has Sprung!

It definitely is Spring here in Charleston! It was a gorgeous weekend. We went to a beautiful wedding and have lots to celebrate around here :)
Our Sunday meal this week was Springtime Risotto-aka Risotto with Asparagus and Scallops. It's a beautiful dish to impress your guests.
I'll be the first to admit that the first time I made risotto I was daunted. Hopefully, this recipe will show you that risotto can be easy! Prepping all ingredients before getting into making the risotto can be really helpful and make you much less stressed.
And with that...

Springtime Risotto!

Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus (about a pound)
1 pound scallops (fresh or if frozen, thawed. If anyone cares, I used frozen because they were on sale. Boom.)
3 Tbsp + 1 tsp margarine
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 32-ounce box of chicken stock, about 4 cups
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheeese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Step 1: Prep your asparagus
Break off the woody ends of the asparagus. Depending on the crop, this might be a centimeter up to a couple of inches. The general rule is the larger in diameter the asparagus, the more you'll have to take off the bottom.
Chop the asparagus into one-inch bite size pieces.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have an ice water bath ready. Blanche the asparagus for two minutes and immediately remove to the ice water bath. This keeps the asparagus from overcooking and gives it its vibrant green color. Beautiful! Drain the asparagus from the ice bath once it's cooled.

Step 2: Prep your scallops
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spread your scallops on a cookie sheet and coat with a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 6-10 minutes, depending on how thick your scallops are. They'll be done when they are opaque.
If you have the larger variety of scallops (usually sea scallops, as opposed to bay scallops), after they are cooked cut them into bite size pieces.

Step 3: Simmer your broth
Pour the broth into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. You'll want to keep it at this simmer for the duration of making this risotto

Step 4: Make sure everything else is prepped
Make sure your shallot is chopped, your arborio rice is measured, as well as your wine. And while you're at it, pour yourself a glass.

Step 5: The risotto, it's about freaking time

•  Melt 3 Tbsp of margarine in a large pan. Saute the shallots for two minutes or until tender. 
• Add the rice and stir for two more minutes, until evenly coated.
• Pour in the wine, stirring until almost absorbed.
• At this point, begin adding the simmering stock about 1/2 cup at a time. Stir each addition until almost completely absorbed. Basically, you should be stirring the whole time. If you have a helper, it helps a lot (doesn't that make sense??)

My Helper :)

• By the time you've added the four cups of stock, the risotto should be tender but firm to the bite.

Yum. In my mouth.

• Note: You may need a little bit more or less stock. I've always used four cups but hey, stuff happens. You can always add reserved asparagus cooking water or plain water. 
• Gently stir in the last tsp of margarine, Parmesan cheese, and season with salt and pepper. 
• Fold in the asparagus and the sea scallops. Enjoy! We serve it as a main course but it could always be used as a side. This recipe serves about 4 people.
• One last thing: this can just be made with asparagus or any other vegetable you like for a tasty vegetarian meal! That was actually the original recipe...

Happy Monday!
Anna