Happy belated...

So two things to belatedly celebrate - my friend Kathleen's birthday, and my first blogaversary! (Okay, I promise to never use that word again.) For me, a year of blogging is an accomplishment - so let's pretend the pictures below are for both occasions :)


For Kathleen's birthday, I hosted a 'comfort' theme party...meaning, I made some of my favorite comfort foods and encouraged everyone to wear comfy clothes so we could just relax and enjoy some games and each other's company. On the menu? Chicken casserole, homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese, butternut squash gratin with pesto, and apple tarts for dessert.

Eating our comforting dinner

This chicken casserole is something my mom has made for as long as I can remember; I even requested it as my birthday dinner growing up. It's totally unsophisticated - heck, it's only 6 ingredients! - and yet totally comforting and delicious. Think of it like chicken pot pie in casserole form - yum!


Mom's Chicken Casserole
(super-stuffed 13x9 serves 12, regular 13x9 serves 8)


1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 bag regular-seasoning stuffing mix
1 8-oz container sour cream
1 14.5-oz can of low sodium chicken broth
1 14.5-oz can of cream of chicken soup
2 rotisserie chickens, meat taken off the bones and shredded (sure, you can cook some chicken yourself, but why complicate an otherwise no-fuss dish?)
1/2 bag of frozen peas/carrots mix (optional - my mom doesn't do this, but I felt a little guilty serving all that comfort food so I threw in some veggies!)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add the bag of stuffing mix and the stick of melted butter (hey, I never said this was healthy) and mix it all together to distribute the butter. Spread 2/3 of the stuffing mixture onto the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, the cream of chicken soup and 3/4 of the can of chicken broth until it's combined and smooth. Add the cooked, shredded chicken evenly around the baking dish on top of the stuffing, then pour the sour cream/soup mixture over the chicken and spread out so all the nooks and crannies get covered. Top it all off with the other 1/3 of the stuffing mix, then drizzle the remaining 1/4 can of broth over the top of the whole thing. Bake for 40 minutes, or until it's bubbly and golden brown and crispy on top.

Kathleen blowing out her scented, non-birthday-candle candle

Everyone does birthday cake, right? I had to go for individual apple tarts!

Roasty toasty soup

Surely, sweltering summer said sayonara and autumn arrived abruptly...

(Annie adores alliteration!)

...which is why I'm bringing back soup! That, and also because once again, I was too lazy to go grocery shopping. Yup, another weeknight, another dinner born from ingredients on hand and a little experimentation. I'm psyched to say that this is now going to be one of my go-to soup recipes! You can use regular peppers and tomatoes in this, but the fire-roasted variety lend a smoky, slow-building heat that's incredibly warming - and the addition of brown rice and lentils makes it a healthful and filling meal in a bowl.

Fire-Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

(makes about 4 servings)

1 T olive oil

1/2 c chopped onions (about 1/2 medium onion)

2 t ground cumin

1/2 t ground coriander

1 t chili powder

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1 jar fire-roasted bell peppers, drained and chopped

1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted or 'chili-ready' chopped tomatoes with juice

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 c to 1/2 c chicken/vegetable stock or water

1/4 c dried lentils, picked over and rinsed (I used French green lentils)

1/4 c short-grain brown rice (I used a boil-in-bag)

(Note: Cook the lentils and rice together in a separate pot while the soup is going, and undercook them, as they'll finish in the soup - refer to your package directions and go about with about 5 minutes less cooking time. Also, 1/4 c of each may not sound like a lot, but trust me - your soup will be packed!)

In a 2-qt saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions, sweating for about 1 minute. Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder and black pepper to the onions, and cook for another 5 minutes, until the onions have softened and the spices have become fragrant and toasted. Add in the chopped roasted peppers and stir to coat in the onion/spice mixture, cooking for about 1 minute. Add in the can of tomatoes along with the juice and the salt, stir everything to combine, and turn up the heat to bring the mixture up to a simmer for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, and carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor (or use a blender/immersion blender); first process on low for about 30 seconds to get things going, then scrape down the sides and continue to puree until the soup is almost entirely smooth. In between your pulses, add the chicken/veg stock or broth, using your judgement about how much you need. If you had a really juicy can of tomatoes, you may need less, and if your mixture is really thick, you may need more. I used about 1/2 c total of additional liquid.

When the soup is the desired consistency, transfer it back to the original saucepan and bring up to a simmer. Add in the slightly undercooked lentils and rice, and allow everything to simmer together for another 5 minutes. Serve with crackers or crusty bread!

Chili, take #35

Chili is one of those things that I've never made the same way twice. I have yet to find the 'perfect' recipe, and my favorite chilis I've eaten have been made by Potbelly's and my friend KP - and they're not giving up their recipes anytime soon.


I'm not even sure that this recipe counts as chili, because there are no chilis in it, and in fact not even many other veggies...but there are beans. Per a quick wikipedia search, it seems that 'chili' is merely a spicy stew - so I guess by that definition, this counts! (Though my version isn't even that spicy?) At any rate, I've been wanting to try out a black bean-sweet potato flavor combo for a while, and I had some ground turkey to use up as well - and considering Chicago's winter is getting its second wind, I felt like I needed a little something warm and comforting to counteract the still-dropping temperatures outside.


This chili is hearty, healthy, and full of aromatic spices like cumin, coriander, and even cinnamon - which goes perfectly in this recipe, and was a stroke of genius on my part at the last minute :)


First, you brown the meat, and get the veggies chopped and in the pot.

Then, you add the spices and let them really toast and coat all the ingredients with their delicious goodness for a few minutes.

Tomato sauce and black beans finish it off.

I actually kept it on the thick side this time so I could eat it with some rice, but adding just one 14-oz can of diced tomatoes next time will take this into soupier territory, perfect for dunking tortilla chips.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Turkey Chili


1 pkg ground turkey (about 1 1/3 lbs)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 large sweet potato, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 t salt
2 T chili powder (this chili was NOT spicy...I might add more next time!)
1 T cumin
1 t coriander
1/2 t cumin seeds (optional)
1/2 t oregano
1 small can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c tomato sauce
2 T taco sauce or salsa (you can just add a little more tomato sauce if you don't have this)
pinch cinnamon


In a large dutch oven or stockpot, brown the ground turkey in a little olive oil over medium heat for about 6-7 minutes. When nearly cooked through, add the onion, garlic, sweet potato, and salt to the pot. Lowering the heat slightly to medium-low, add all the spices except for the cinnamon, stirring to coat all the meat and vegetables, and cook about 5-7 minutes until the veggies are just starting to get tender. Add the rinsed, drained black beans along with the tomato sauce and taco sauce, and stir to combine. Allow everything to simmer together and the flavors to merry over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the pinch of cinnamon and stir to incorporate. Serve over rice with some cheddar cheese on top.

A look back at family recipes

Since I've been working so much lately, I haven't had much time to cook (which then stresses me out even more...it's a whole cycle thing). So today I thought I'd share one of my favorite posts from my now-defunct original food blog, written back in 2008. I love that certain foods and recipes can hold so much meaning to families, so much so that they're carried on forever - and this is a classic example. Do you have family food traditions? I'd love to hear them!

The most important day of my life

There comes a day in the life of every young woman of Italian heritage...a day filled with equal parts dread, excitement, and chaos. A day on which the rest of her future depends. On this day, she is put to the ultimate test...and her true colors (hopefully red, white and green) are revealed. You know what I'm talking about.

Making "The Sauce."

Sunday, August 17, 2008: My first attempt at making The Sauce - the pasta sauce recipe that has been in my family for generations.

I received the recipe for Christmas last year, in a homemade recipe book filled with Nonni's recipes (Thanks to Nonni and Aunt Susan for putting it together!). This is the sauce that I grew up on, eating it at Nonni's and at my own house for the last 23 years, usually accompanied by homemade meat and cheese ravioli or pasta.

At this point, I'd like to take a moment of silence to honor those less fortunate than myself...you know, those who aren't Italian.

Nonni gave the recipe to my mother - a gasp non-Italian - when she married my dad, so he could continue eating it for the rest of his life. If I had to name the ONE food which best characterizes the Italian family, it would be The Sauce. Each family has their own version, their own history and tradition...but each one savors it, treasures it, and NEVER wastes it. To this day, I've never seen anyone leave a drop of The Sauce on his/her plate.

So, there I was, standing nervously over the recipe in the kitchen Sunday morning. The Sauce takes 2-3 hours, and I wanted to follow every single step as closely as possible, to maximize the probability that it would turn out just like Nonni's. I gathered my ingredients on the counter before me, surveyed each one carefully, re-read the recipe, and embarked on the culinary endeavor of my lifetime.

I started with the meatballs, then worked carefully through The Sauce. Even though it has very few ingredients, I took my time and worked methodically. Then, before I knew it, the recipe was complete. There was nothing left to do...but wait.

For obvious reasons, I cannot share the recipe with you here. I'm sure you understand (however, if you are male and between the ages of 22-28 and end up marrying me, you've got a chance).

I am blissfully happy to report that after frequently and nervously watching my simmering pot for 2.5 hours, a not-so-blind taste test revealed that, while lacking some of the love of Nonni's original, my first attempt at The Sauce was surprisingly...great!

Sometimes, you just need to COOK

Have I told you about my job? I don't think I have. WELL...I love my job. I work for a market research company and manage several accounts - we do things like test ads before they go on air to see how they perform, track brands in the market to see how people feel about them, etc - and I've really enjoyed it for most of the two and a half years I've been there. HOWEVER......we all have our days, right? Sometimes weeks? Things get nuts, projects and deadlines hit all at once despite all the planning in the world, clients call with crazy requests. The past few weeks have been like that for me, and I've gotta tell ya - I'm weary! Last night I came home and knew that only one thing could help me zone out and relax.


Chop, chop, chop. There's something so calming about preparing ingredients! I love a silent kitchen, a silent apartment - all but for the sound of my sharp knife on the cutting board, the sizzle of food as it hits hot oil in a pan. My stress starts melting away the second I get in the kitchen, and last night I forgot all about work with the first bite of my hearty vegetarian enchiladas - sweet potato, red bell pepper, and crumbled up veggie burgers sauteed with some cumin, coriander and a little cayenne, rolled up in whole wheat tortillas then baked off with a topping of tomatillo salsa and cheddar cheese.

My roommate Jenn introduced me to tomatillos in a dish she made last summer, and now every so often I get a craving for this simple salsa. What do I love most about it? It's a tie between the taste (lime-y and fresh) and the ease (NO chopping required like my other favorite, pico de gallo). 


The Simplest Salsa Ever


1 can tomatillos
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
juice from 1 lime
1 jalepeno, ribs and seeds removed (I only like mild spice, so I used about 1/3 of it)

Open the can. Dump its contents into a food processor. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and jalepeno. Process until it's salsa (about 30 seconds).

Faux au vin

I don't know why I'm just discovering this, but chicken leg quarters are CHEAP! Even not on sale, they're about $.79 a pound at my local grocery store. "Chicken leg quarters" contain the leg, thigh, and part of the back of the chicken - and are so cheap because they require less processing than other cuts sold to consumers. True, they do come with a lot of fat and a fair amount of extra bits...but I have a pretty high 'ick factor' tolerance, and I'm never one to shy away from a challenge - especially if saving money is involved!

Wondering what to do with my $3.00 worth of chicken leg quarters, I quickly discovered several recipes for coq au vin and decided to give it a try. Coq au vin ("rooster in wine") is a classic French dish - essentially, a comforting yet luxurious chicken stew. The leg quarters didn't fail me - in fact, it seems like they were built for this recipe. However, for the time and energy involved (a good 2-3 hours total), the specific recipe I used was good - but not great. I imagine, though, that like pot roast or beef stew, it'll take some trial and error before I find a recipe with the perfect combo of flavors for my tastes.

If you have a great coq au vin or other chicken stew recipe, I'd love to hear it! Anyone else out there discovered the awesome cheapness of chicken leg quarters?

Simple soup for supper

It's official - this is my 4th soup post this winter (or 5th if you include the sidebar on chicken stock from this post).  What can I say? Soup is the perfect wintertime food because it's quick and easy to make with whatever ingredients you have on hand, it can be really healthful and filling, and it's comforting after a long day.


Egg drop soup, stracciatella, avgolemono - whatever you want to call it, I've bookmarked dozens of these recipes. The short ingredient list and stove-to-table time will appeal to anyone looking for a simply painless weeknight meal. When I opened the fridge yesterday and saw eggs and chicken stock staring up at me, I figured it was a sign from the universe to just make this soup already.

Egg-Lemon Soup
(makes 2 large servings)


3 c chicken stock
1/2 c pre-cooked rice (I had leftover wild rice, even leftover white rice from Chinese takeout would be great in this)
2 eggs
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 T fresh chopped basil
1 c frozen chopped spinach (or 1 c packed fresh spinach)
1 T fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper & salt to taste


In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil and add the rice. While the rice boils, about 2 minutes, crack the 2 eggs in a bowl and beat with a fork to break up the yolks. Add the parmesan cheese, basil and some salt and fresh black pepper to the eggs and mix with the fork till combined. Lower the heat on the stock to medium-low, so it's no longer simmering, and using the fork, stir in a circular motion as you drizzle the egg mixture into the soup, continuously stirring. The eggs will cook immediately as they hit the hot liquid and create little rags. After you've added all the eggs, add the spinach and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Serve with a piece of crusty bread, and you've got yourself a light and delicious meal.

Mom's "Italian Chili" and what's coming next

One of the reasons I wanted to make roast chicken was so I'd have plenty of homemade stock. One of the reasons I wanted plenty of homemade stock was so I could make this soup. My mom first made this a few months ago, and apparently it's been a runaway hit at home among my brothers and dad - so I asked her for the recipe. In all fairness, I changed it a fair amount based on what I had on hand and the fact that I'm only one person and she seemingly makes it for an army at a time (3 cans of cannelini beans? 3 cans of tomatoes? yikes!) - and though it'll never taste as good as Mom's, it's definitely inspired by her recipe.

Mama P's "Italian Chili"


1 T olive oil
1/2-3/4lb italian turkey sausage (about 3 sausages), casings removed
1 celery rib, small dice
1 small carrot, small dice
1 small onion, medium dice
1/2 large green bell pepper, medium dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t fennel seed, crushed (in your hand is fine)
1 T dried basil
1 T fresh oregano (or 1 t dried)
1 t cumin
1 T chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 19-oz can cannelini beans
1 24-oz can tomatoes (not diced; I used peeled whole and pureed them in my food processor, but you can use crushed or tomato puree/sauce)
4 cups chicken broth


In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, add the oil over medium-low heat and add the sausage to the pot, breaking up with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage, stirring and breaking up, until fully cooked, about 5-7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage to a bowl and reserve. Pour off excess fat from the pan, leaving about 1 T left. Add the celery, carrot, onion, bell pepper and garlic, and season with salt. Let the veggies begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and all the spices and herbs from fennel to chili powder, and cook for another 2 minutes, allowing everything to coat the vegetables and begin to toast and release their oils. Add the bay leaf, cannelini beans, sausage*, tomatoes, and chicken broth, stirring it all to combine, and bring up to a boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce heat and simmer on low for at least 10 minutes to let all the flavors meld. Taste, and stir in additional salt/chili pepper as necessary.


*Note: Instead of just dumping the sausage back in the pot, I make sure it's well-drained, and then like to finely crumble it with my hands as I add it back into the pot. I can never get it in that small of pieces using the spoon while I cook it, and this way there's more sausage throughout the soup, rather than just select spoonfuls.


Coming your way tomorrow: homemade nut butter and my first authentic (I think!) at-home Indian dish. Get excited! :)

Nog-alicious

That's the only word I have to describe this homemade egg nog. Or delicious. Or comforting. Or delicious. Anyway...when I was planning my annual holiday brunch (3rd year running, got 31 people crammed in my apartment this year!) a few weeks ago, I decided it would be really impressive cool if I made homemade egg nog that people could drink hot with coffee (Starbucks latte style) or spike with rum/bourboun if they wanted. Hilariously, one of my brunch attendees accidentally mistook the nog for gravy (?) and put some on her plate next to her bacon-egg casserole and french toast...but whatever! It turned out so well that I made it again a few days ago, this time just for myself.

This mug was a Christmas present from my mom. She has me pegged pretty well :)

Adjustments I made from her recipe over at Mommie Cooks! - I lessened the sugar to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup, added a pinch of cloves, and used 1% milk instead of whole milk. Next time I think I could even sub 1/2 and 1/2 or light cream for the heavy cream, and I don't think the texture would suffer. This recipe is creamy and rich, but not too overwhelming.

Fun fact: Egg nog = crème anglaise. (More or less. Did I just blow your mind?)

Classic Roast Chicken

Holy 2011, Batman! It's been almost a month since my last post, but that's what happens when the holidays come around I suppose. Don't worry though, I've been cooking up a storm - when I wasn't catching up on 5 1/2 seasons of Bones (my new obsession) or cramming 11 cookies into the VCR my mouth, that is. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season; mine was awesome and I always come back from home feeling recharged and grateful for my wonderful family.


One of the first things I wanted to make when I returned to the city was a roast chicken. It's easy, there's plenty of leftovers, and I had a few upcoming recipes I wanted to try that needed chicken stock (which I'll post about after this).


I've made roast chicken before, but this time I was thinking about brining. I've read so much about it, and I know it's supposed to make all the difference - but I wasn't sure for how long, and whether I could possibly get the same effect with just salting the bird several hours in advance. After researching dozens of recipes, I settled on rubbing the rinsed, patted-dry 3.75lb bird with a tablespoon of kosher salt, setting it on a platter and letting it hang out/dry in the refrigerator for about 3 hours (and another hour out of the fridge coming up to room temperature). In my research I also found that loosening the skin from the meat all over the bird would help the skin crisp up and not get soggy while cooking.


The result? A delicious, well-seasoned bird with crispy skin. I think this will be my go-to method from now on.

You're used to my bad-picture disclaimers by now. This one was taken on my phone and I had already started carving before I remembered to take a snapshot!

Classic Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables


1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs (if you use a kosher chicken, which is already salted/brined to remove impurities, DO NOT salt the bird in advance and follow the recipe after that)
1 T kosher salt
2 T butter, softened
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 one lemon
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sprig fresh oregano (or 1 t if dry)
4 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 2 t if dry)
1 small potato
1 sweet potato
1 large carrot
1 large parsnip


If salting the bird, shoot to do this in the afternoon before you cook that evening (ideally at least 4 hours in advance). Remove remove giblets and discard, then rinse all over and pat inside and out with paper towels till very dry. Use your fingers to loosen the skin in between the meat all over - the breasts, thighs, back, legs. Liberally rub kosher salt all over the inside and outside of the bird and under the skin, using about 1 T of salt (if your bird is smaller, you may use less). Place on a plate, uncovered, in the fridge for 3 hours. Remove from the fridge about half hour to an hour before you want to cook it to allow to come to room temperature.


While the chicken is coming to room temperature and you're preheating your oven to 350 degrees, chop the root vegetables into 1-inch pieces along with 2 cloves of the garlic. Distribute evenly on the bottom of a roasting pan - since I don't have a roasting rack, these veggies act as my roasting rack (I couldn't just say 'rack' there, lol) - but even if you have one, you could still do the veggies underneath. 


Using paper towels, wipe all visible salt off the chicken. Stuff the half of a lemon, the fresh herbs, and the remaining 3 garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken. Using your hands, rub the entire chicken - on the skin and underneath the skin - with the softened butter. Season with black pepper. IMHO trussing = a waste of time, not to mention I never have kitchen twine, so I didn't truss - and I actually think it helps crisp the skin better this way anyway. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, and roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes per pound, plus 20 minutes, flipping the veggies/rotating the pan once, until skin is golden brown and the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh is around 160 degrees. Remove from oven transfer chicken to a cutting board/platter and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before you DIG IN!


Note: Don't you dare throw away your leftover chicken bones and bits! Make soup, people! Throw the chicken parts into a pot with celery, onion, carrot, bay leaf, some peppercorns, cover with water, and simmer for a few hours!

Jumping on the bandwagon: Sausage, Lentil and Kale Soup

Every winter, a flurry of warm, delicious-looking soup recipes start popping up all over the blogosphere. It must be universal; everyone loves to tuck into a steaming bowl of comforting soup when it's cold outside. After seeing several recipes for this type of soup, it was all I could think about. This batch, which I whipped up on Sunday (a particularly blustery day here in the Windy City), turned out to be DELICIOUS! I've been eating it for lunch and dinner this week, and when it runs out I'll have to find another soup to recreate.


(As you've probably noticed with my recipes, I'm all about customizing to fit your preferences and what you have on hand. Feel free to make substitutions, etc - but I'll post it how I made it).

Sausage, Lentil and Kale Soup
(yields enough to feed one person for a late lunch and bedtime snack on Sunday, lunch and dinner on Monday, lunch on Tuesday, and lunch and dinner on Wednesday...so 8 servings?)


3/4 lb mild italian sausage, removed from casings/bulk
1 T olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine (I don't like eating big chunks of onion in my soup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large carrot, chopped into 1/4" pieces
1 celery stalk, chopped into 1/4" pieces
2 T tomato paste
10 cremini mushrooms, quartered
1/4 t dried thyme
1 c French green lentils, rinsed and drained
2 lightly packed cups chopped kale
2 14-oz cans of low-sodium, 98% fat-free chicken stock
1 c water
1 previously saved, frozen rind of parmesan cheese (this adds a nice silky richness to soup)


Place a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-low heat and add the olive oil and the italian sausage. Breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, let the sausage brown until fully cooked, about 10 minutes. While the sausage is browning, you can prep all your vegetables - onion, garlic, carrot, celery, mushrooms, kale - on a large cutting board so when you're ready you can just drop them in. Remove the browned sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl, and drain any excess fat (you just want to keep about 2 teaspoons in the pot). Still over medium-low heat, add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery to the pot and saute, stirring frequently, until just they start to sweat and soften, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables for about 1 minute. Add in the quartered mushrooms and the dried thyme, and continue to saute everything for another 3-5 minutes until the vegetables have taken on some color and the mushrooms have started to wilt and give off moisture. Add some fresh-cracked black pepper at this point, but only a little salt (the chicken broth will add salt too).


Add the lentils and kale to the pot, then pour in the chicken broth and water. Raise the heat to high to bring to a boil, while stirring the bottom of the pot to get all the brown bits off the bottom. When the soup reaches a boil, turn the heat back down so it just simmers. Add your parmesan rind at this point, if you're lucky enough to have one in your freezer :) Cover, and simmer the soup until the lentils are tender but not mushy - about 20-25 minutes. Remove the rind, and season to taste. Enjoy!

Impromptu holiday soup

It all started with bacon fat.


Wednesday night, amid pumpkin and apple pie baking and stuffing making, my mom decided to cook up a batch of bacon for using throughout the holiday weekend so that "the house won't smell like bacon all weekend" (which, for some reason, would be a bad thing?). After crisping up the bacon, the 12" skillet was left housing a few precious tablespoons of bacon fat, and since we obviously couldn't waste it, we started thinking about what we could do with it. Inspired by an excess of sweet potatoes and my cold-weather obsession with eating soup, this delicious and savory recipe was born.

Sweet Potato Soup
(makes 8-10 servings)


2-3 T melted bacon fat (I suppose you could use olive oil/butter...but why would you?)
1 onion, medium slice (if not using blender/processor later, mince the onion finely instead of slicing)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large sweet potatoes, 1/4" dice
4 small (ours were smaller than palm-size) Idaho potatoes, 1/4" dice
1 1/2 T chopped fresh rosemary and thyme (sage would be delicious as well, use whatever you have)
6 cups stock (we used fresh-made turkey, could use chicken or vegetable)
salt and pepper
For serving (optional): crumbled bacon, sour cream/creme fraiche


Note: Since I was cooking at my mom's house, I had access to a boat-motor (aka immersion blender), which is what we used to puree the soup. If I were at my apartment, I would have used a food processor. You can make this recipe work even if you don't have any of these tools. 
In a large skillet, heat the bacon fat over medium-low heat and add the onion. Season the onions with salt and pepper and cook for about 8 minutes or until the onions have softened and begun to caramelize, stirring frequently. Add the garlic to the pan and stir. Dice the potatoes while the onions are cooking, then turn the heat up to medium add to the pan. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes, stirring frequently to prevent burning, for 15-20 minutes until just starting to yield to fork (but not fully cooked). Add the fresh herbs and stir. Add 1 cup of stock to the pan and scrape the bottom to deglaze, then add 2 more cups of stock. Simmer the vegetables in the stock for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through, allowing the flavors to all meld together. Then, take a potato masher and slowly go around the pan, mashing the potatoes and breaking down the soup until there are no big chunks of potato left. Add remaining 3 cups of stock. (If not using a blender/processor, keep mashing until soup reaches desired consistency). Turn the heat to low, then use the immersion blender and blend the soup until pureed to desired consistency. Serve with crumbled bacon bits and a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I have much to be thankful for this year - great friends and family, and especially the fact that my first niece (and goddaughter!) was born last Saturday. :)

An easy, cheesy weeknight meal

Today was pretty typical. A busy day at work, followed by the gym, followed by coming home and realizing that I've run out of leftovers and the fridge and pantry look pretty bare. Rather than resort to my 'I-have-no-food' bowl of oatmeal for dinner - which is fine for once in a while, but definitely a bummer when that's what I had for breakfast too - I paused for a minute to think about what else I could put in that bowl. 


Surveying my options, I silently thanked God for making me Italian - because one thing an Italian girl always has in the pantry is pasta! Seeing that whole wheat rotini in the back of the cabinet saved me...this time. Armed with pasta, I glanced in the fridge hoping to find something, anything that I could use to round out my meal. Then, I hit the jackpot. 


In the back of my middle shelf, there it was - a half-block of cheddar cheese. I knew immediately what I had to do. Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting down not to a bowl of oatmeal, but a delicious and comforting bowl of...

I also found a half of a cooked chicken breast in the fridge, thus the white chunks!

Easy Weeknight Mac and Cheese for One, for Two
(that is, one person, two generous-sized meals)


2 cups whole wheat pasta (preferably in a shape that will catch and hold the sauce)
1 T butter
1 t olive oil
1 heaping T flour
a pinch of nutmeg
1/8 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1 t dijon mustard
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/2 cup 2% milk cheddar cheese
2 T boursin or other soft cheese


Fill a small saucepan with hot water and place over high heat with the lid on. Once it boils, add a generous pinch of salt and add your pasta. Cook according to package directions, which should be about exactly as much time as you need to make the sauce. In a separate non-stick saucepan, add the butter and oil over medium heat and melt completely. Add the flour, and whisk immediately to combine and prevent from sticking. Cook the flour and butter together for about 30 seconds, whisking constantly. When it's a nice blond color, add the pepper, nutmeg, salt and mustard. Still whisking, add the milk to the pan and combine until the butter-flour mixture (aka roux) is fully dissolved. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and, stirring occasionally, let the white sauce (aka bechamel, ooo getting fancy now!) just come to a boil. As soon as it boils, kill the heat. This part is very important, and was the source of all my mac-and-cheese-related failures in the past - high heat will ruin the texture of the cheese and make it grainy, so make sure the heat is off before you begin to add the cheese. Also, constant stirring as you add the cheese will help it cool down as well as turn out nice and smooth. Add the boursin/soft cheese first, whisking to combine, then add the cheddar cheese in a few batches until incorporated. Make sure to taste - depending on your specific cheese, you may need more salt. At this point, your pasta should be drained and waiting for you to dump it into the cheese sauce (aka mornay, even more fancy!). Et voila!


Note: You may think the mustard and/or nutmeg are weird additions to this recipe. I may have been made fun of more than once in my life for 'putting nutmeg in everything' - but I promise that both these ingredients are essential! The mustard helps play up the cheesiness and give it a deeper flavor, as well as provides just a touch of acidity - and the nutmeg adds a tiny underlying warmth that complements the cheese nicely.