Calabresella Importers-Italian

yeah so this is half of a small (I already chowed the other half)...
price $5... i'm in heaven :)

So there is this little Italian import shop literally 2 blocks away from where John lives. I've driven past it hundreds of times and never gone in. Two weeks ago on a lazy saturday afternoon John said "you should go up and get yourself a good old fashion italian sub, I know you'd love that place up there" So off I went... and then again the following weekend... and probably again this weekend... it's so tasty!! Talk about old school. It's awesome, you have all the older and younger Italian guys with the thick accents calling you sweetheart. I had to go with the golden standard, italian assorted, genoa salami, capicola, ham, extra sharp provolone... have you ever had extra sharp provolone?? it's insane seriously, so sharp and intense. Anyway if you are ever in the area of Gates a suburb of Rochester... also known as little italy... take a stop at this place and order up something good!

chow!!!



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Chunky Apple Sauce

So my roomie and I went apple picking a few weekends ago and have had a perpetual very large trash can size container of apples sitting in the garage. She's made 2 batches of apple sauce, and I've made 2 batches... there are still more apples out there... hahaha She wants to make apple butter this weekend mmmmm I can't wait to try some!

Apple sauce can me a very very simple thing, if you pick a bunch of different sweet varieties of apples you don't need to add extra sugar to the mix. This is the simplest way to make apple sauce! Grab an apple slicer/corer and fill a large pot to the top with sliced and cored apples. No need to remove the skins or anything (adds fiber mmm fiber!). Let it simmer for about an hour on low, stirring it up every so often. When the apples are to the point that they fall apart easily when you poke at them with a spoon you're all set. Mash them up with the spoon or potato masher until your desired consistency. Add a little fresh lemon juice, cinnamon and any other spices you like. Jar it up in sterilized jars and boil the jars for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool. Add a cute little label and give as a great gift!

chow!

Pumpkin waffles

mmmm vermont maple syrup... mmmmm

As you all know I have a pumpkin addiction and it comes out it full force this time of the year! I'm a sucker for "breakfast for dinner" and made up a batch of these after the gym last week. They came out so good and crisp on the outside, drizzle a little Vermont maple syrup on top and be prepared to melt into a pool of happiness... yes they are THAT good.

I'm actually headed to VT in two weeks, I'm going with my friend for a work weekend at an adorable B&B. We help stack firewood, clear trails, paint things, and in return we get to stay for the weekend and enjoy the sauna, miles of hiking trails, and the culinary 4 star chef from England who will be preparing all of our meals.... a YUM!! Don't worry I'll be taking tons of pictures for you all to see!

Ok onto the waffles!

Pumpkin Waffles
(recipe from cooking light)

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preparation
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (flour through cloves) in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (milk through egg) in a bowl, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.

Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray; preheat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter per waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading the batter to the edges. Cook 5 to 7 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat procedure with remaining batter.

These things will be a crowd pleasure for sure!

Chow!

Panko crusted talapia

John and I eat a lot of chicken. This is mostly due to the fact the man wont eat red meat... this stems from when all the scientists told people red meat = bad for you. I keep trying to convince him that the scientists were wrong and now it's good for you. *like nana says everything in moderation!* See this is why I totally live by nana's philosophy. No matter what you eat, at some point someone will find a study to say it's good for you or bad for you, and it will flip flop 5 times during the course of yoru life... So I'm all about everything in moderation, I figure I'm safe that way.


Anyway I picked up a bunch of tilapia to mix things up, dipped them in a little red hot then tossed it into some panko and cajun spices and served it up with some sweet potato chips. YUM! Cook the talapia in a pan with a little cooking spray for 3 minutes each side and you are good to go quick and easy!

Chow!


Check back tomorrow for some delicious pumpkin waffles!

Potent Apple Pie Punch

Red and white wine, apple cider, various sodas, and some potent apple pie punch. The favorite of the 24 24 24 Cold Comfort night was definitely the punch. It's super easy, apple juice or cider, spiced rum and cinnamon schnapps. I must say I'm really not a big drinker by any means so when I went to the liquor store I was a bit at a loss as to where to find cinnamon schnapps, first of all I never even knew it existed. So off I went searching... after finding the red and white wines I wanted along with some Captain Morgans I still couldn't find the cinnamon schnapps.

I finally gave in and asked an employee who looked at me weird and said "you mean Goldschläger?"

really that's what that stuff is??? Seriously I had no clue, all I knew is that people get really messed up on the stuff, and that there is gold floating in it... that's where my amazing knowlege on the subject ends haha. So anyway back to the recipe!

yup that's it in the HUGE punch bowl Zoe let me borrow, thanks Zoe!

Apple Pie Punch (and man this stuff has a kick to it!)
Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee, host of Food Network's Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee

Ingredients:
2 cups apple juice or cider
4 ounces spiced rum
2 ounces cinnamon Schnapps (aka Goldschläger)
1 red apple, sliced

Directions:
1. Combine apple juice, rum, and Schnapps in a punch bowl or pitcher.
2. Serve punch over ice and garnish with red apple slices.

I made 4 times this recipe for the night.

Chow!

24 24 24: Cold Comfort

Drool-worthy amounts of ice cream... ready to be chowed!

For some, Fall is a colorful transition into the winter months. For others, it means shorter days and grey skies. Whichever way you see things, a nostalgic summer treat mixed with the unique or traditional flavors of Fall can’t help but bring a smile to your face. On Saturday night, friends gathered to experience the tastes of Autumn from local creameries featuring Fall flavors:

Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pecan Crunch
Orange Chocolate Chip
Maple Walnut
Apple Carmel Crunch
Cinnamon
Maple Walnut Custard
Chocolate Almond Custard

The ice creams and custards came from three local shops, Bruster's Real Ice Cream, Corn Hill Creamery, and Abbotts Frozen Custard.

We also had some coconut milk ice cream for the unfortunate lactose intolerant in the group :) It was torture for her seeing all the flavors but she still had fun :)

Foodbuzz made this night possible and I am so excited to be part of 24 24 24. I mean, what's better than a bunch of friends sharing ice cream?!

Some friends enjoyed the ice cream a little bit more than others ;)
Chow Sugar, CHOW!!!

The tasting started will a small scoop of cinnamon ice cream from Brusters; most were skeptical but everyone enjoyed the light flavor.

Next came a BRIGHT orange pumpkin, also from Brusters. Some were put off by the intense color but others fell in love with the equally intense pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Pecan Crunch from Corn Hill Creamery was a less intense color and packed a spicier punch; people found this one to be a bit icy and less creamy than the first pumpkin.

Orange Chocolate chip, also from Corn Hill Creamery, left a strong aftertaste which turned out to be polarizing: people either loved it or hated it.

Apple Carmel Crunch from Brusters was as decadent and sinful as it sounds. The texture was amazing and the flavors were like eating real home made apple pie a la mode. YUM! This one was my personal favorite by far!

Maple Walnut from Brusters was chocked full of huge walnut chunks and had the taste of real maple syrup, none of that artificial cr@p :)

Maple Walnut frozen custard from Abbotts was next. This one was totally smooth and a bit more artificial-tasting maple (think mrs butterworth) although one of the tasters preferred it over the first one.

The final flavor of the night was Chocolate Almond from Abbotts. This custard was a rich delicacy brimming with hearty almond chunks.

After all of the scoops were chowed, everyone was invited back for more of whatever flavor they wanted. Once everyone's bellies were full, the votes were tallied and the winner of flavor of the night was....

CINNAMON!!!

Yes amazingly the flavor that people thought they would like the least came out on top! The other surprise about it... it's a no sugar added / non fat ice cream!! And everyone loved it!!! They had no idea it was a "better for you" ice cream :) At only 100 calories, 0g fat, 7g of sugar, 5g of protein per half cup, this ice cream tasted as decadent as all the others!! I've had plenty of gross fat free ice creams before and this one tastes nothing like them... kinda makes me think of the fat free Seinfeld episode... maybe it's not really fat free.. hmmmmmmmm

A bowl with a little of everything enjoyed by my roomie who was stuck at work during the tasting part of the night. Check out the neon orange scoop in the back right... WOW! now that is some intense color!

I hope you all enjoyed our ice cream tasting, I know we did :) Check back for tons of recipes here at Steph Chows. I'll be posting later this week about the potent apple pie punch I made for the party. Thanks again to Foodbuzz!! You guys rock!


Chow!!

TCHO Citrus

Ahh TCHO my good friend, you know it's a wonderful day when you get home from work to find a happy little package full of chocolate waiting for you. YUM!!

So far I've had the pleasure of testing three of their flavors; chocolatey, nutty, and fruity. Of those three, nutty was my favorite by far... but it's having a run for its money now that citrus is here! TCHO doesn't add flavoring to their chocolate, it's all in the way they roast the beans to bring out the flavor tones they want. This latest citrus batch from Madagascar is delicious, I truely think I could just sit and eat it all day long and not get sick of it.

It's amazing how you can really taste the citrus untones in this chocolate, for being dark chocolate it is not at all bitter and has a smooth finish. So go and order some citrus, and get some nutty while you're there as well :)

chow!

Oh and I almost forgot TCHO gave me some nibs to try too!!! Along with some recipes, one is for a cacao nib and pecan cookie... oh yeah I'm totally going to have to make that!! So check back to see what I think :)

Chocolate issues

Hi, did i mention there is a literal cornucopia (yeah the thanksgiving basket horn shaped thing) FILLED with chocolate candies of all varieties sitting on my desk.. next to a container of M&M's... yeahhhh. I'm not one to be so masochistic... but it seems my coworkers are enjoying torturing me. Thatcher brought over the m&m's... Michelle gifted my desk with the cornucopia of chocolate. It's from a vendor she's working with and she doesn't eat any candy so it's on my desk now... I WANNA CHOW THE WHOLE THING!!!!

ok i think i'm better now... if I just don't LOOK at the candy I think I'll be ok...

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken

This recipe was a total hit with both John and me! I always ask him what he wants for dinner and a lot of the time he gives no input... last time he said, "something spicy, with lots of protein"... so off I went, what was something new and fun that I could make that was protein packed and nice and spicy!?

This recipe came from Cooking Light and was delicious. It was super quick to mix up and grill and packed a wonderful flavor! The spicy mixed with the sweet was amazing.

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation

Preheat George Forman Grill.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a grill with cooking spray. Grill chicken 6 minutes.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Grill for 1 more minute. Remove chicken from grill and coat with remaining honey if desired.

Chow!

I served this up with some broccoli and some mashed sweet potatos. yum :)

24 24 24... wooohooo

I have a surprise... and it's pretty exciting...


So foodbuzz says it's ok to talk about it now... Not sure if you know anything about FoodBuzz but they hosted the first ever 24 24 24 last month... 24 meals, 24 blogs, 24 hours. It's basically a big party held all over the world!! So I wrote a proposal to take part last month but I didn't get picked to host :( but I did this time!!!!! Wooohooo!!! So on Saturday I'm hosting Cold Comfort a fall flavors ice cream tasting!!! It's like a wine tasting but better since it involves ice cream ;)

So make sure to check back on Sunday to read all about the festivities!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls that are Ewwwey Gooey... and healthy?? wait what? really? can it be?

yes, yes it can... read on to find out how :) Oh and did I mention they are totally super easy to make??? awesome.

John's mom has been hinting to him that she misses getting to eat my various baking creations. *guess it's been a bit since I've brought something over... woops!* so this past weekend I figured it was time to whip something up for his mom and pops. She had made mention at one point that she likes cinnamon rolls, so I decided to give them a try... why is it I always try out recipes on his parents?? I've been lucky to not have any bombs yet haha.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Servings: 8

These cinnamon rolls are an adaptation/abstraction based on a recipe from the cook book Quick Recipes which was put together by the people at Cook's Illustrated.

Filling
1/4 c packed splenda blend brown sugar (1/2 c packed dark brown sugar)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c pumpkin puree

Dough
2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 T splenda baking blend (2 T granulated sugar)
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 c buttermilk
2 T melted butter
1 T melted butter (to drizzle on top)

Icing (I made 1/2 of the icing to put on top instead of the whole thing)
2 T cream cheese, softened
1 T buttermilk
1 c powdered sugar


Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch round non stick cake pan (I used a silicon cake pan and it worked great, no spray needed)

Make filling
Combine sugars, spices and salt. Add pumpkin puree and stir until combined, set aside

Make dough
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk buttermilk and 2 Tbs melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

Pat dough with hands into 12 x 9- inch rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough.

Using bench scraper (i used a plastic spackle spatula that we bought at home depot and never used... I claimed it for the kitchen... John wasn't too pleased hahahaha), loosed dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place.

Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Drizzle with 1 Tbs of melted butter.

Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.
Making icing and finish
Set rack of rolls over foil-lined baking sheet (for easier clean-up). whisk cream cheese and 1 Tbs of buttermilk in large bowl until thick and smooth. sift powdered sugar over. whisk until smooth glaze forms - add up to 1 additional Tbs of buttermilk if too thick. spoon glaze evenly over the buns. Serve warm, they dry out a bit after they cool, so eat them all up warm! :)

Next time I think I would double the filling and roll the dough out thinner so I got more spirals :)

chow!

Spaghetti Squash Spring Rolls

This past weekend John and I went and picked out pumpkins, then on Sunday Steph and I went apple picking! Steph and I plan on making a ton of apple sauce.. mmmm. I also made some amazing wheat and pumpkin cinnamon rolls (recipe to come later in the week!) Here are some pics from apple and pumpkin picking!




Ok I told you guys about this recipe last week but didn't have the picture I read about this recipe on Vegan Yum Yum, tweaked a few things but mostly left it as is. These came out delicious! I used a different dipping sauce but I think it complemented these perfectly. yum!



Spaghetti Squash Spring Rolls
Serves Two
6 Spring Roll Wrappers (dry, rice based)
1 Bunch green leaf lettuce, washed
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Cup peanuts, crushed
145 g Shitake Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 Tbs sugar 1 pinch Salt
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp olive oil

Boil the spaghetti squash whole until soft (i.e. easily pierced by a knife), remove from water and let cool.

Meanwhile, sautee mushrooms in olive oil until soft, then add soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Sautee 1 more minute then transfer to a bowl to cool.

When squash is cool enough to handle, slice in half (do this over the sink or you may get a hot waterfall surprise!) and scrape out seeds, retaining the stringy part of the squash. Use a fork and scrape out the “spaghetti” strands into a large bowl. Mix the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar together and toss with the squash. Set aside.

Heat a shallow sautee pan and fill with about 1 inch of water. When the water begins to steam, turn the heat down to as low as possible. You want the water to be hot, but cool enough to place your hands in.

Clear your counter and have all your ingredients ready: bowl of crushed peanuts, washed lettuce, bowl of sauteed mushrooms, bowl of spaghetti squash. Place one of the spring roll wrappers in the hot water to soften, about 30 seconds. Remove from water and place in front of you. Add about two tablespoons of squash, mushrooms, and arugula. Sprinkle with nuts and fold closed. Repeat.

Peanut Dipping Sauce
3 Tablespoons peanut butter (I use 100% natural nothing added crunchy peanut butter... ingredients: peanuts... that's it. YUM!)
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

Mix and serve on the side of spring rolls.


Don't forget you can make some cupcakes with your leftover squash! click here :)

Pumpkin Bran Muffins with Jam Centers

This month for cupcake hero the theme is squash! As you know I made spaghetti squash muffins last night they were good but these are even better!! yum!! So I'm putting these up for the cupcake hero vote! As for the jam I used in these, you'll have to bribe April or myself for the jams... both are super tasty :)

pumpkin bran muffins... i mean cupcakes... with jam centers
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
dash salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup bran flakes (i like to do 3 big handfuls, crumble them in your hand before filling with next handful)
1/4 cups splenda brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree -- fresh or canned
about a 1/4 cup really good jam (i used home made raspberry jam made by yours truly, and a peach vanilla bean made by the wonderful April from abby sweets!)

mmmm close up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 convection). Spray muffin tins with non-stick oil. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In separate bowl, beat together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and the egg. Slowly add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Beat well, until smooth. Stir in crushed bran flakes. Fill muffin tins two-thirds full. Make a little dent in the middle and fill with a dollop of jam. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean.

mmmmmmmmmmm I love pumpkin... yum

chow!

i'm making myself hungry with all these close ups!

Spaghetti Squash Muffins

This past weekend I made this super tasty squash, peanut, mushroom spring rolls... *so where's the recipe??* well I have the recipe right here... but you see the nice picture I took with John's camera... yeah it's still sitting in John's camera over at his house... so you'll have to wait for that one... but let me just tell you.. YUM!!!!

Anyway after making said spring rolls, I had a bunch of spaghetti squash left over. This was the first time I've ever made spaghetti squash and I had no clue what else to do with the leftovers... to the internet I go! I found this great recipe on Cooking Light. These things were super tasty (even though John refuses to try one since it has *gasp* vegetables in it) I then pointed out he loves the pumpkin muffins I make... he had no response to this... hehehe

So once I post the spring rolls, make those then with the extra squash make these! yum!

Spaghetti Squash Muffins
Ingredients
* Cooking spray
* 2.5 Tbs splenda blend
* 2 Tbs packed splenda brown sugar
* 1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons skim milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped cooked spaghetti squash
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Place 12 cupcake holders into a muffin pan.

Beat sugars, margarine, ginger, and cinnamon at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in milk, vanilla, and egg; beat at low speed of mixer until well-blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in sugar mixture and squash. Spoon into prepared muffin pan, spreading evenly.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Chow!

Cottage cheese noodles and kielbasa

Autumn is upon us and that means comfort food... lots and lots of it. There is something about it getting dark early and the leaves changing that makes me want to chow even more then normal... and that's a lot, just ask my coworkers, they constantly make fun of me for it :)

The cool weather has also gotten me itching to go shooting, as in bow and arrow. It's been awhile since I've been out to shoot and after reading a bow hunting article in the paper this past weekend... I've got the itch to go!! It's funny I almost started wanting to train to start bow hunting... but who are we kidding I see a cute little raccoon on the side of the road smooshed and I get teary eyed... no way I could actually aim and shoot something living!! Maybe I'm just craving the woods, the smells, the sounds... yeah I need to get out into the woods this weekend... and maybe I'll bring my bow and target for a little fun.

Anyway I digress you people want recipes so here is a perfect fall dinner near and dear to my heart.

Cottage cheese noodles and kielbasa
4 cups dry whole wheat egg noodles
1/2 cup - 1 cup low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese
1 tsp unsalted butter (optional)
1/2 package turkey kielbasa (or whatever kind you prefer)

Cook egg noodles according to direction, strain and set aside.
Cut kielbasa into little round circles, pan fry until a little crispy. There should be some rendered fat left in the pan, (you can use this to grease the noodles or add a little butter to the pan).
Add noodles and toss to coat with butter. Add cottage cheese and stir around to warm it. Don't do this too long or the cheese with get stringy.. bleh. Remove from heat and serve.

Chow!

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches.

So as you may see in my side column I'm sponsored by Foodbuzz...
what's Foodbuzz you may ask??

"It’s here, it’s here! Foodbuzz, Inc. is unbelievably excited to announce the official launch of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community, which is comprised of more than 1,000 global food bloggers, our “Featured Publishers.”"

Read more about it here.

Foodbuzz rocks, keep an eye out for the next 24 meals 24 hours 24 posts. It's happening soon! Foodbuzz is all about helping it's bloggers, sending them micro business cards, aprons, spatulas, grocery bags, simply put Foodbuzz rocks :)

Butter Soup...

yeah you heard me right BUTTER SOUP...
but wait... steph chows is about eating healthy... and you don't use butter in your baking... what's going on!?!?!?

Don't worry dear reader I'm still all about cooking healthy... just keep reading...

If you've ever looked at the right hand column of the page you'll see a quote from my Nana, "everything in moderation" and I truly believe it. This recipe came with her mother all the way from Hungary. I have many fond memories of Nana and my Mom making this soup. It really should be called parsley root soup... but the first thing that goes in the large stock pot is butter... so hence the name.

The soup is hearty but not as fattening or thick as the name may lead you to believe. The home-made spatzle noodles blend perfectly with the woody/smokey flavors of the root and paprika. i LOVE this soup.

The hardest part of this soup is finding the parsley root. Wegmans is a great store, seriously whenever I travel somewhere I can't believe how much I miss Wegmans. They however don't carry parsley root all year long. It's more of a fall type of product, so last weekend when I was in the Wegmans by John's house, I looked over from one side of the produce department... and there is was!!! In all it ugly big fat root glory with wonderful greens spurting out of the tops!! I couldn't make it over to it fast enough, plucked the biggest bunch I could find and off I went. Did I mention that i LOVE this soup??


This soup really is a humble meal, inexpensive, filling, and delicious. It takes an hour to simmer and another 20 minutes for the noodles to cook but it's well worth it. I'm normally a quick recipe kind of girl... but for this soup... it's a pleasure!

Butter Soup
1 or 2 bunches of parsley root with leaves attached
4 Tbs butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 quarts boiling water
salt (approx. 1 teaspoons)
pepper (approx. 1/2 teaspoon)
Hungarian sweet paprika (approx. 2 teaspoons)

Cut tops off the parsley roots. Peel the roots and slice in thin slices. If roots are large, halve them lengthwise first. They do darken when exposed to the air, so don’t do this too far ahead of time.
Wash the leaves. They usually have a lot of sand clinging to them. Fold them in half and tie into a bunch with kitchen twine. Depending on how much you have, make one or two bunches.
Melt & lightly brown butter in large soup pot. Sprinkle in 4 tablespoons of flour, stirring constantly. (a flat whisk works well)
Gradually add the hot water, stirring and breaking up any clumps.
Add salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well so it doesn’t clump.
Add roots and bunches of leaves.
Bring to boil, turn down heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour. If pot is not large enough, it can boil over. In that case, don’t cover tightly.
Remove the bunches of leaves. Cut the leaves off the stems, they can be very tough. Chop the leaves and return to the soup.
Make noodles and add to soup. Simmer uncovered for about twenty minutes.

Noodles
4 eggs, beaten
all-purpose flour (approx. 1 1/4 cup)
salt (approx. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon)
pepper (approx. 1/8 teaspoon)

Beat eggs in a large flat soup plate. (again the flat whisk works well)
Gradually add the flour three or four tablespoons at a time. Beat in with whisk until smooth. Add the salt & pepper. (You may not need all the flour or you may need a bit more. It just depends on the size of the eggs, the humidity, who knows what else.)
You should get a soft, reasonably stiff dough.
Drop small spoonfuls into the soup. Nana always kind of flicked it off the plate into the soup.


I really hope you enjoy this as much as I do, there is so much nostalgia in this soup. LOVE IT!

chow!

PS. all those stems you cut the leaves off of... don't throw them out. Cut them up put them on a plate add a little pepper and eat them! It's always my appetizer while the noodles cook :) Also the original recipe calls for 1/4 lb of butter... you really don't need that much 4 Tbs works just fine :)

UPDATE: (here is a little more about what parsley root is!)

Root parsley

Another type of parsley is grown as a root vegetable, as with hamburg root parsley. This type of parsley produces much thicker roots than types cultivated for their leaves. Although little known in Britain and the United States, root parsley is very common in Central and Eastern European cuisine, used in soups and stews.

Though it looks similar to parsnip it tastes quite different. Parsnips are among the closest relatives of parsley in the umbellifer family of herbs, although the similarity of the names is a coincidence, parsnip meaning "forked turnip". It is not related to real turnips.

Bill Nye the science guy

Ok I'm realizing that Bill Nye is very much a generational thing to an extreme, either you grew up in love with his science or you have no clue who he is... I LOVE BILL NYE, he makes science cool!! I mean look at the picture, that's some seriously sexy science ;)

I went to see him this weekend at the RIT homecoming/amumni "Brick City" weekend and it was a ton of fun. He talked about global warming, hybrids, Mars, and had the entire multi-thousand audience in stitches the entire time. He is so down to earth and cool.

OK who grew up with him and loved him and who has no idea who he is??

And don't worry I'm posting a recipe in a few...



teaser?
any guess as to what this is? :)

Chow in Arlington Virginia

When I flew down to DC to see my new nephew we ate at a TON of great places. I flew
into DCA and landed before 8am... ugggg and was picked up by mom and dad. We headed to Old Town Alexandria for a little breakfast and the farmers market. We went to La Madeleine. Breakfast was amazing. I must have asked my mom if she had her camera while dad was paying since in reality he HAD the camera but she thought they left it at home.. bummer!! This breakfast was as beautiful as it was delicious, I wish I had known we had the camera! You can see their pictures (that don't do the food justice) here. Mom had croissant dough with raisins encased in caramelized cinnamon sugar, topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream and your choice of syrup. A little too sweet for me but very tasty. Dad ordered a very hearty breakfast sandwich of bacon egg and cheese on a croissant that was amazingly flaky and buttery. I had the Crêpe Romanoff two sweet crêpes topped with fresh strawberries, their signature brandy cream sauce and cinnamon. The sauce had a very complex and intriguing flavor, dad wished he had ordered what I did once he had a taste :)

Next we walked over to the farmers market and picked up some beautiful peaches, tomatoes, figs, yams... mmmmm (click on the pics to see them bigger)



For lunch one day we had some take out from a very tasty Peruvian chicken place... called The Chicken Place... gotta love the creativity of that name :) The spices on the slow rotisserie roasted chicken were so flavorful and packed with a combination of spices I couldn't figure out. The yucca was delicious (it's basically fried cactus haha) and then the plantains... mmmmmmmm soo good!!

For dinner the first night mom dad and I went to Evening Star Cafe. We started with a duck egg roll that was nicely plated and crisp without being too greasy. Mom had scallops that were cooked perfectly. I had a nice rare piece of tuna that was delicious (but not as good as the one John had in Cape Cod) and unfortunately dad had ravioli that were more like bricks of blandness then anything else. Bummer... we made it up to him with some ice cream from the Dairy Godmother yum!

Sunday morning was spent at Luna Grill and Diner. It was packed with a line out the door, luckily we got there before the rush. I can't remember what mom and dad had... but I had a simple 2 eggs with toast and potato, all simple and well prepared :)

The rest of the meals we had were ones we cooked up. I made some flourless chocolate chipolte cupcakes one night along with hamburgers, yam chips, and asian cole slaw. yum! Stockton made some yummy pizza one day, and the last day we had sandwiches.. mmmm sandwiches!

I had a wonderful time visiting and can't wait to go back and see Walton!!!

proud parents!

proud grandparents :)

Healthy Key Lime Pie

I got this recipe from Hungry Girl. I dressed it up by serving them in martini glasses and dipping the rims in graham cracker crumbs. It's funny how a simple glass can add so much fun to a dessert :) This is super quick and easy to make and tasty without all the fat and sugar.

Chow!


SERVING (1 pie): 82 calories, 1g fat, 103mg sodium, 15g carbs, <0.5g>POINTS® value 2*

Healthy Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:
One 4-serving package (or half an 8-serving package) Jell-O Sugar Free Lime Gelatin
dessert mix
2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
8 low-fat honey graham crackers (2 sheets)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with gelatin mix and sweetener. Stir for at least 2 minutes (until completely dissolved). Then add 1 /2 cup cold water, the lemon juice, and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until slightly thickened but still mixable.

Next, stir in the Cool Whip. Mix until thoroughly blended (a wire whisk works best). Divide mixture among 5 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours).

Once ready to serve, crush graham crackers, and evenly distribute the crumbs over the top of the dishes.

MAKES 5 SERVINGS