Stuffed Artichokes

I am not a big fan of winter. I am a total wimp when it comes to surviving the cold weather. Around here the cold sets in, in late October, and runs all the way through May!! I always fool myself into thinking that April is going to make everything all better. The reality is Boston weather seems to jump right from the 30's in April to the 90's with serious humidity in July. In between, dreariness, rain, rain and more rain. The only thing that makes it slightly palatable is the blooming of the trees and flowers. Then there are years like 1997,  when the weather played a serious April Fool's joke on us, pounding the city with 26.5 inches of snow!
I manage winter in "blocks" of time. Once school starts, my goal is to make it through to Halloween. The weeks between the beginning of school and Halloween make up the first block of my winter time line. Once Halloween is over, I start thinking about Thanksgiving. The weeks from Halloween to Thanksgiving make up my second block of winter. The second block is not so bad. Who doesn't like Thanksgiving! I even get a little excited thinking about Christmas.  The day after Thanksgiving, the third block starts. The weeks from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day is always a mad dash, so this block definitely goes by the fastest! When I hit January 2nd things get ugly! The fourth block of my time line begins. I am usually coming down from my holiday high and there is not much to look forward to until Valentine's Day. Except, sometimes the Super Bowl, IF the Patriots make it exciting for us!  Unfortunately, they blew it this year, so there was no reason to watch the Super Bowl. We did get Nemo 2013!! The storm made it a little exciting, but the girls had many days off from school, which brought me to tears every afternoon! 
At least the snow cheered up the landscape, transforming the winter ugliness into a winter wonderland! It looked like this...

 Fortunately, I started seeing Valentine's merchandise down at the drug store right after Christmas and that picked up my spirits. The girls and I kept busy making "love bug" cookies their school friends and teachers. 54 cookies to be exact! They were really cute. Here is what they looked like...

After Valentine's Day I hit rock bottom. The fifth block of the time line. The weeks between Valentine's Day and Easter, by far the longest and hardest block of my winter time line! It's around this time that I really start noticing the very bare trees and gray skies. Our winter wonderland has turned into my worst nightmare! Mile high, dirty piles of snow lining the streets, sidewalks of ice and freezing temps with wind that knocks the breath right out of my lungs! I am working very hard to make it through the current block of my winter time line. Baby steps... like the Golden Globe Awards! Just a week from the Golden Globes to the Grammy Awards and two weeks from the Grammy's to the OSCARS!! Thinking about Easter helps. Ah...Easter...bulbs blooming...days are noticeably longer and preparation for the garden starts! I even bought a box of Peeps yesterday.

 A couple of other things brightened up my week.  The first was I noticed yesterday morning that the sun came up at around 6 AM. The second, I laid my eyes on these beautiful, big artichokes! My heart skipped a beat! Soon spring onions and fresh peas!

We used to sell a gazillion of stuffed artichokes at Cremaldi's. The two big times were Christmas and Easter! We couldn't make enough. They are soooooo good! I decided to drowned my winter doldrums with a couple of stuffed artichokes!
Here are the steps to prepping the artichokes...
First step is to trim the stems and tops of leaves. The tops have pinchers so handle with care! We use a pair of scissors. Don't take too much off! Just the tip!

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I enlisted the help of my mother for the pictures! Thanks Mom! xxoo

When you cut the stems off make sure you they are level so they stand up like this...

Carefully drop each choke into boiling water. Push them down into the water and then cover the pot.  Boil for 13 minutes or until there is no resistance when you tug on a leaf with a pair of tongs

Once they are tender carefully pull out of water with a pair of tongs. BEWARE...be careful that the boiling water does not go down the handle of the tongs. It will burn your hands! Keep them upside down on a tray so the water drains out of them.
While they are cooking start prepping your stuffing ingredients. (See below for recipe)
It is time to stuff!

Use your thumbs to carefully open up the leaves and sprinkle filling in...

Give them a little shake every now and then to make sure the filling is getting down in there!
Next step is to drizzle them with oil. We like to use a 10% olive oil/vegetable oil mix. It is not as heavy as straight olive oil.
Don't skimp on the oil!! You don't want them to be dry like the Sahara desert!

Then bake until golden on the tips! 400 degrees about 10-15 minutes. Don't over brown.

Stuffed Artichokes
(The Cremaldi Cookbook, Doubleday)
Serves 6

6 Artichokes

2 cups coarsely chopped Italian parsley

1 heaping teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 cups unseasoned breadcrumbs

3 cups grated Romano Cheese

3 large cloves garlic, chopped very fine

3 cups oil

Filling can be frozen in a baggie for up to two months

Fried Peppers

My mother discovered these baby bell peppers at Cosco. At first, they were hard to find and we could only get them at Cosco.  Now I can get them at Market Basket and I have seen them at Whole Foods. I love the color! One night,  I walked into my mother's house and she had a large skillet on the stove with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom. All of a sudden she dumped the whole bag of baby bell peppers in, stems and all! They began sizzling!

 She didn't touch them.  I kept asking her if she was going to stir. She kept saying "NO". After about 6-7 minutes she stirred and it was amazing. The peppers were charred like they had been directly over the flame. She lowered the flame once they all had a nice even char and let them cook through. When they were nice and tender she added sicilian black olives. The heat of the skillet plumped up the olives and then she turned off the flame. 

We ate them with fresh bread, cheese and some salami! We eat the seeds and all! 

 I've been waiting to post this because I have wanted to get a video of my mother cooking them.  We haven't had time but maybe at some point I'll post a video just to show the technique. Technique makes them sound hard but they are VERY EASY so make them!

Just grab one by the stem and pop into your mouth!

Heaven!

genevieve cremaldi

Asian Noodles

Every now and then my kids floor me. They taste something I think they will never like and end up loving it! Rose recently tasted an Asian noodle salad that I bought in the prepared food section at Whole Foods. She loved it! I try really hard not to give the girls store bought prepared foods. I really like knowing exactly what is in the food we are eating. I even go as far as making my own fish sticks and chicken nuggets because unfortunately that is what the girls eat.
I decided to create my own Asian Noodles for Rose's lunch box. They came out sooooo yummy that I want to share the recipe! It is really easy. All of the dressing ingredients go into a jar. Shake and mix!

Rose's Favorite Asian Noodles

My Rasp! I love my Rasp!

1lb box dry Linguini, cooked al dente
1/4 cup tamari (soy sauce)
1/8 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup grape seed oil (or other light oil-canola)
Juice of 1 lime (1/8 cup)
2 tablespoons of grated fresh ginger (I used my rasp)
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic (I used my rasp, again!)
3/4 teaspoon crush red pepper flakes
    (leave out if making for kids-unless they like spice!)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bunch broccolini, blanched
1 cup shredded carrots

1.  Put all ingredients in glass jar with lid. Shake. Done!
2. You can add anything you want. Vegetables (snow peas, asparagus, red pepper strips)
    Nuts (peanuts, cashews) Meat (stir fried chicken, beef, pork) Sesame Seeds would be great!
   Cilantro! Go Wild!!!

They are good cold or room temp!

Enjoy!

Peach and Prosecco Sorbet

My daughter Rose (almost 7) is perfect! (OK I'm bias!) I really admire her! Rose is always happy! She loves art, music and dance. She cherishes her friends and adores her family! Everyone means the world to her! Rose is peaceful!  She is my flower girl, hippy chick! Rose floats through her life and enjoys every minute of every day! She will most definitely become a person who sees the glass as half full! Rose drew the picture below. It is an illustration of her sister Iris, who was drawing a picture while sitting at our dining room table.

My daughter Iris (4) is very different than Rose, but equally as wonderful! (Again, being very bias!)  Iris has a very adult sense of humor, knows exactly how to tease and knows how to be sarcastic!  Iris observes people and situations intensely and then forms an opinion which is either black or white. She is cautious and always becomes the leader of a group! She has better executive skills than her father and loves the challenge of mastering new tasks!  

 Do these two completely different sisters get along? Hummmm...most of the time.  Nooooo, maybe just some of the time. Actually, the truth is they fight like WWE fighters!!! From the minute they get up in the morning until the second they fall asleep they screech, pinch, bite, slap, pull each others hair and throw things at each other ALL DAY LONG!!  I feel like I must be doing something wrong! It is exhausting to watch it, listen to it and try to referee it EVERYDAY!  I can't take it anymore! If I told you that I scheduled an eye appointment just to get away from the girls for an hour of peace would you believe me??? Well, believe it! 

What does this have to do with peach and prosecco sorbet? Well, my 43rd birthday is knocking at the door! Lately, I've noticed that my eyes seem tired and refuse to focus when I read. I have had to hold whatever I am reading out at arms length to try to make out the sentences.  Unfortunately, my arms aren't long enough anymore.  I went to the eye doctor for the very first time! Yikes! That's all I have to say! A few things I didn't like:

1.  "these drops are going to sting and then your eye will go numb"    WHAT!!!!

2.  "just put your chin on here and don't move" as a little blue neon light thing TOUCHES YOUR

       EYEBALL!!!!  YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

3.  My eyes were so dialated that I couldn't see the dashboard of the car on the way home! I figured by the time I made it home my eye sight would be clear! IT WASN'T! My eyes were so blurry that I couldn't even tell if the meatloaf I made for dinner was cooked! 

ANYWAY, the end of my long story is that I was so nervous from the day (between the girls fighting AND trying to focus my eyes) that I decided to open a very cold bottle of prosecco! While I was sipping my second tall glass,  I noticed a very out of focus bowl of fresh peaches on the counter. I took a bite of one and then a sip of prosecco! What a combination!

Peach and Prosecco Sorbet

1 ½ lbs peaches, blanched and pureed

1 1/4  cup sugar

½ cup water

¾ cup Prosecco

      1.  Bring sugar and water to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes and set aside to cool.

      2.    Cut an “x” into the bottom of each peach. Bring a large pot of water to boil and

           carefully drop in the peaches. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon to ice

           water bath. Peel the peaches; halve them and remove the pits. Transfer the

           peaches to a food processor and coarsely puree. Pour into a medium bowl.

3.    Add simple syrup (sugar water mixture) to peach puree in the food processor. Blend well.

4.    Stir in Prosecco. Pour into bowl or large measuring cup and chill in fridge.

5.    Transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.

      ***This recipe can be made without an ice cream maker. Proceed up to step 4, but instead of chilling in fridge pour into shallow covered glass dish. Freeze until just firm about 2 hours. Once frozen take out and break it up and put in bowl of food processor. Process until completely smooth.***
BTW can't see these instructions without my new reading glasses!

Steak!

A few weeks ago I was asked to make Osso Bucco for a dinner party. I was waiting for my meat purveyor to pack up my veal shank order, when I glanced down into their retail case.  I gotta gander at the MOST amazing looking cowboy steaks. They were almost 2 inches thick! My mouth was watering right there in their shop! I have been dreaming about that steak ever since and yesterday was the day I gave in to my steak craving! I didn't have time to go back to get one of those amazing cowboy steaks, but I did stop by our local meat shop and found these great looking boneless rib eyes.

Sometimes, the pure flavor of the steak, no frills, is all I need from my meat. However, every now and then I like a sauce and yesterday I happened to have some fresh herbs. Chimichurri is filled with fresh herb flavor, and a little bite from vinegar and chili flakes.  A perfect way to use fresh parsley and cilantro, which is already going nuts in local herb gardens, thanks to all of the mild weather we have had around here.

Last night I was dipping everything into the chimichurri before the steak was finished. French fries that I had made for the kids, crusty bread that was lying around and even a cheese stick yesterday afternoon!  It is a great condiment along side grilled fish, pork or chicken. But I think the tang is exactly the right bite to cut through the richness of beef. Look at all that wonderful fat! I am not a tenderloin fan. Not enough flavor for me. I need a steak with lots of marble!

Right now life is crazy. The girls are down to their last few days of school and our schedules are filled with end of the year picnics and celebrations. The reality of summer vacation is hitting me hard. I needed a treat! Plus, what better way to kick of summer vacation then a nice, big, FAT steak? 

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup parsley (can use stems)

1 1/2 cups cilantro (can use stems)

2 tbsp. fresh oregano

1 cloves fresh garlic

2 tbsp. chopped red onion

1 tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1. Put parsley, cilantro, oregano, garlic, red onion, red pepper flakes and salt into bowl of food processor or blender. Blend until very finely chopped (but NOT blended as fine as a pesto sauce-you want to be able to see some texture!)

2. Add vinegar and olive oil and give a quick pulse to incorporate. THAT'S IT! EASY!!

Lemon Laced Ricotta Pancakes

I love getting up early in the morning and listening to the birds chirp, smelling fresh coffee brewing and taking in the peace that envelopes the beginning of each day.  To me, there is nothing better than feeling the warmth of the house early on a cold winter morning or the scent of my garden on a  summer morning, right after the sun appears in the sky.

On the weekends, I like to make use of the quiet time to experiment with nicer breakfast recipes than our quick weekday regulars. We indulge in everything from tender crepes filled with fresh berries, to buttery lemon scones, to fluffy buttermilk pancakes. The ricotta pancakes above are another weekend favorite. They give traditional pancakes a run for their money!

Rose likes them plain with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Iris likes them with maple syrup. 

Note-My mother tasted the pancakes and thought they were wonderful, but she doesn't like flavored pancakes. She asked if the lemon could be taken out. Yes! If the lemon doesn't appeal to you take it out! If orange suits you better, make it orange zest! You could even take out the vanilla and just have a plain ricotta pancake! You choose!

Lemon Laced Ricotta Pancakes

makes 12-15 pancakes-serves 4

1 ¾   cups Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup Flour

1/3-cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4-teaspoon salt

1/3-cup buttermilk 

1/2-teaspoon vanilla

Zest of one lemon

Canola oil

Powdered sugar, maple syrup and/or berries

1.    In bowl mix together ricotta, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

2.  Mix in buttermilk, vanilla and zest

3.  Over LOW flame heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a skillet (I used my grandmother’s well seasoned iron skillet) Working in batches, adding more oil when needed, add ¼ cup of batter to form pancakes. Cook until puffed and golden on each side (approx. 4 minutes on each side). Serve hot! 

Longer Days Lighter Ways

Back in September, on a Sunday afternoon, Big Daddy took the girls for a ride. They came back with Daisy, an eight week old golden retriever. Big Daddy was more excited than the girls! He had plans! The dog was going to take the place of a health club.  He was going to get up at the crack of dawn to walk his new pup. He said all of the walking would melt the pounds away!

Well, Big Daddy was right about the pounds melting off! Off of ME! The crack of dawn wasn't all that it is cracked up to be! It was too cold and too early for B.D.. Daisy on the other hand wanted to go out every four hours. The cold and dark didn't make her roll back over and go to sleep!  Well, thanks to Daisy and all of her energy I lost 9 pounds in the first month of having her around!

Not only have I had to adjusting to having a dog around, but to Iris, going to school three full days a week.  For the first time since August 2005 (the month Rose was born), I can actually focus a little on MYSELF! I have time and energy to do things like...put make up on, comb my hair and floss my teeth. Most importantly, I have had more time to work on getting rid of the "muddle in the middle" which has prevented me from getting into a bathing suit for the past six summers!

 Although Daisy jump-started my weight loss it was just the beginning. I have been trying to curb my bad eating habits (like... eating on the run and finishing off what the girls leave on their dinner plates). In addition, I have been giving a lot of thought to calories: how many go into my mouth during the day, how to cut them, how to cut them without cutting flavor and richness, and how to break them up throughout the day so I won't start eating the curtains. It's was astonishing to see how many empty calories were going into my mouth when I started keeping track.

 I love take-out Indian food, but I cringe when I think about what must go into the Chicken Tikka Masala to make it taste so damn good! The chef doesn't care about how many calories and grams of fat I'm eating!  They just want the food to taste amazing. When you cook at home you know exactly what you're eating. I know it is hard after a long day to muster up the energy to cook a healthy meal.  The chicken curry recipe below is not only delicious, it is quick, made in one skillet AND it is approximately 450 calories per serving. That's not too bad. How can you NOT try it! The clock is going forward this weekend, the days are getting longer and swimsuit season is right around the corner!

Curried Chicken and Rice

serves 4

1 whole breast of chicken bone & skin, cut into three pieces (you can have butcher do this) or six   

   chicken thighs with bone and skin

4 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

4 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaping teaspoon ground turmeric

1 heaping teaspoon whole coriander seed or ground coriander

1/2 cup orange juice

2 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup basmati rice

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 oven proof skillet with lid (if you don't have lid you can you tin foil)

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In an oven proof skillet heat olive oil and saute the chicken until browned 

    on all sides. Set aside.

3. Add onion, ginger and garlic and saute until golden brown.

4. Add spices cook for a minute or so and then add stock, orange juice and

    rice.

5. Bury chicken back into rice stock mixture

6. Cover and place in oven for 20 min. If liquid is almost all evaporated take

    it out and let it sit. You can check to make sure rice is tender. Do not over

    cook! You want it to be moist!

7. Stir in raisins and nuts