Thanks for Food and Family

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. It's a day to be surrounded by family and food, two things I absolutely love!  There's no pressure to buy anything or wear fancy clothes. Just bring an appetite. And in my family of cooks, there's usually plenty to eat. 

For the third year in a row, we've hosted Thanksgiving at our house. I may be one of the select group of people that really enjoy entertaining. Partly because it forces me to have to clean my house, but mostly I like enjoying simple and good food in a relaxed atmosphere that I can create. No need to take your shoes off but there will be candles and real plates and glasses and hopefully lots of wine. I don't own China and probably never will. The dishes I use for dinner parties have such sentimental value. Most of the olive green dishes you might see in my pictures were my parents when they were married over 25 years ago.  The small glass bowl for the cocktail sauce was my other grandmother's. My huge salad bowl was given to me by my mother-in-law and was made in Italy. The small orange pitcher I use for cream for coffee was my Noni's when she was young. My napkin place mats were purchased at a vintage store in town. I guess I would describe my whole style, from what I wear to how I decorate, to what I cook, as "modern vintage,"combining old with new. I find it comforting I guess...

Thanksgiving is my favorite because it reminds of holidays at my Noni's house growing up. All us cousins would be there, setting the table, making pilgrim hats or playing the piano. It was a time when there was nothing to worry about, everything seemed easy... a rare occasion nowadays. Somehow about 15 people sat at my Noni's dining room table. Us kids would usually fight over who got a chair and who had to sit on the piano bench...I feel like I always ended up with the bench. Sitting in a chair just made you feel like a "big" kid so my older sisters won those. But I didn't mind much because then I got to sit with my younger cousin.

Although we're Italian, I don't remember us eating anything "traditional" Italians would have on Thanksgiving...besides my Popi's salad. No one can make a salad like he did. He'd make it with tons of red wine vinegar so you'd have the perfect amount leftover to sop up with a big fat chunk of Italian bread. He'd even sneak us a splash of wine in it too. We always had my Noni's sausage stuffing but I have to admit, that to this day, I still prefer Stove Top. And the turkey was at least 20 pounds, which I also never ate. Mashed potatoes, corn and some stuffing is all I need. Not much has changed.

But, now that we host Thanksgiving, I get to have all my favorite foods and throw in some new dishes. We did have sausage stuffing thanks to my mother-in-law, and green bean casserole and cranberry sauce...yuck. My Noni make an amazing cranberry sauce with chestnuts, it's the only kind I'll eat. My husband fries the turkey. I take on the tedious task of making mashed potatoes since our moms got plenty other stuff to do...like make stove top stuffing for us and lots of desserts.  I tried out a few new recipes this year that I absolutely loved. So here's a few...

* I have to apologize in advance for the lack/quality of photos. Once the food was out, nothing else really mattered.

For starters...

Kale, Cranberry and Goat Cheese Salad

adapted from the Clara Persis blog

Makes 4-6 servings

• One large bunch of kale, cleaned, ends removed and chopped
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup toasted walnuts pieces
• 1/3 cup of crumbled goat cheese
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• sea salt 

Drizzle the oil, lemon juice and vinegar over the kale. Use your hands and literally massage the kale. This is super important because kale is very hearty and fibrous. The oils and acids will help break it down a bit so it is easier to eat. Raw kale makes a great salad because it doesn't get soggy like some other kinds of lettuces can be.

Sprinkle on a few pinches of sea salt.

Throw your cranberries, walnuts and goat cheese in. Carefully fold all the ingredients together coating them with the olive oil and lemon juice.

Chill for about 20 minutes and serve.

Makes for a perfect Christmas dish too! Love the colors!

I was almost disappointed having some leftover but surprisingly, it held up and was still good to eat the next day! This is my new favorite salad...until I OD on kale again.

Bloomin Onion
Makes 10 servings

•  2 large yellow onions
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 bottle of good beer, think we used Sam Adams Boston 
• oil for frying

Prep your onions. You want to cut off a small part of both ends so it can stand. Then, you need to cut almost completely through the onion about 1/4 inch from the bottom. Do this at least 8 times. You should end up with about 16 sections. Here's a link WITH PHOTOS, since I forgot. 

Carve out a hollow part right in the middle. This will allow the batter to seep through.
I also dropped mine in boiling water for about 2 minutes to soften it up a little so the pieces would spread apart easier.

Combine your dry ingredients. Then add your beer. The batter should be similar to pancake batter but if you find it's a little thick, add some water.

Coat you onion really well in the batter then drop it in the oil. Since we already had hot oil from frying the turkey, this was pretty easy.

Shrimp cocktail is a must. Always serve over ice!

Let the onions swim around for a few minutes, moving it around so it cooks all the way. It should only take maybe 6-8 minutes til its nice and golden brown. 


Serve with this dipping sauce that tastes even better than Outback's. 


1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbs A-1 sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 TBS horseradish

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate til ready to serve.

This thing didn't even have a chance for a cameo it went so fast!





Now onto dessert...normally we would have sweet potatoes with brown sugar but I always feel guilty eating double doses of potatoes. So, why not turn your typical sweet potatoes with marshmallows into dessert?! Even better... a bread pudding.

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding 
Adapted from Rachel Cooks
Makes 8-10 servings

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, should be about 1 1/2 cup mashed
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 1 1/2 loaves of cinnamon swirl bread, cubed
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 bag mini marshmallows

Preheat your oven to 350.
For this recipe, I cooked my potatoes in the microwave. It has a magical "potato" button on it that works perfectly.  Once they're done, cut them in half and just scoop out the flesh and mash.

In a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, spread out half of your bread. Spoon your mashed sweet potatoes on top then layer with bread again.

In a separate bowl, mix all your other ingredients. Pour on top of the bread. Use your hands to push down the bread so it gets a chance to soak up some liquid.

Bake for about 45 minutes until most of the liquid is gone.

Top with mini marshmallows and broil until just golden brown...aka don't shut the oven and walk away! Doing all these things made my kitchen a little chaotic and I ended up putting the bag of marshmallows on my hot burner, which resulted in the bag opening up once I realized the burner was hot and releasing tons of mini marshmallows that ended up at the bottom of my, also hot, oven. Thank you to my husband for cleaning them up immediately because honestly at that point, I didn't even care. They would've burned off eventually right? 
Serve warm and toasty.

I'm so very thankful to have spent another Thanksgiving with my family, although there were a few important people that couldn't make it. Looking forward to next year and many more to come!

Thank You. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

I like to bake. I originally made this blog with the intentions of sharing lots of baking recipes however, I cook more than I bake. Though it would fantastic to live off cupcakes, pies and pastries, I gotta eat veggies and meat sometimes. But since this weekend was my birthday, I figured I would bake myself a cake. Paired with my mother-in-law's meatloaf, this made for an excellent birthday dinner. Yes, the traditional ol' loaf of meat is one of my all time favorite dinners...and I eat it with ketchup.

One of my other favorites things to eat is chocolate covered cherries. Why not make this into a cake form? I'm not so much a huge chocolate fanatic, unless its combined with fruit.  Not sure exactly you can call maraschino cherries fruit but you get my point. Besides, I'm allergic to the real deal. A very rare occasion where I prefer a canned "fruit" smothered in high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring over the made-from-scratch recipes that I base my whole cooking style on.

I've tried several times to recreate the canned cherry filling and I just can't find anything close to it. I've used the real cherries, took time to pit them all, resisting the urge to pop one in my mouth...I have this genetic allergy where I get super itchy in my mouth and throat if I eat fresh fruit with skin on it, but if it's cooked, I'm good.  It's just not the same as the bright red, thick blobs that come out of a can, sorry to admit.

Mind you, I also do not typically bake cakes. Cupcakes are definitely my thing. They're just easier to make and eat. And don't take so much precision and patience.  When I was about ten, I took a cake decorating class that I absolutely loved, except when at the end of class the teacher let everyone stick their fingers in the bowl to lick the frosting. Double dipping at its finest. You might as well just stick your whole mouth in the bowl! It always grossed me out so I only got one taste.  But to this day, I use those skills I learned to make the few cakes I do bake. Thank you Girls, Inc.

The most important thing to do when baking is to FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY! I tried lots of substitutions and shortcuts only to have total disasters. Baking is a science and every ingredient interacts differently. There is a reason you need to cream your butter and sugar. There is a reason you don't just dump your flour and milk into the bowl together.  So please, follow the directions and measure precisely. Here's a link from Chatelaine about more tips for baking the perfect cake.

Chocolate Cherry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves about 15-20 people
Makes 2, 8 inch rounds, one 9x13 or 24 cupcakes

For the Cake:
Adapted from Betty Crocker

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cocoa powder ( I use Hershey's)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350.


Cream your butter and sugar for about 5 minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate completely. *I recently did a lot of reading about creaming times. There's a whole amazing science behind it. Read it here. 
Meanwhile, combine your dry ingredients in a bowl. I use a sifter for the cocoa powder because its pretty thick in comparison to the flour. But if you don't have a sifter, make sure you whisk it really well.

Add one egg at a time to your butter and sugar once its been creamed. Then add your vanilla.





With the mixer on low, add about a third of your flour mixture and then a third of your milk. Repeat untill everything is combined. But don't let it mix for too long. Over mixing will result in a very dense cake. I would say 2 minutes is too long once the flour and milk are in the bowl.

Use a rubber spatula to fold in any remaining clumps of flour or butter at the bottom.

 In a parchment lined or greased baking round baking dish, pour your batter and divided it equally between the two. I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing this.

To get any air pockets out of the batter, lightly bang the bottom of the cake pan on your counter. This will also help the batter spread out evenly, since it can be a bit thick.

Put it in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Set aside to cool completely. 

Now for the filling...
Not only did I fill this cake with cherry pie filling but I surrounded it with Hershey's Chocolate Fudge Frosting...it's the recipe on the back label...and it is the best chocolate frosting I've had, ever. If you use a box mix for the cake, at least make this frosting. It's too damn easy and so damn good.

Hershey's Chocolate Fudge Frosting

• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 2/3 cup of cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 3 cups of powdered sugar 

I melt my stick of butter in a glass pyrex measuring cup, then add my cocoa powder. Stir together. It will be a really thick chocolate paste. As tempted as you may be to try to it, don't! It contains zero sugar so tastes really bitter.

Add this to your mixing bowl. Add your vanilla and beat away. I alternate adding my sugar and milk so I get the right consistency. I taste it often to see if it needs more sugar or not. Sometimes I add a bit more milk if I need a smoother frosting. *Unlike making a cake batter, you can beat the hell out of frosting, as my mom would say. The compliments I usually get on my cupcakes are always about the frosting. The key is real butter, I use salted, and whipping it for a while on high.

For the outside frosting I made cream cheese. My other favorite dessert is cheese cake with cherries so of course I had to find a way to fit it in too.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 2 1/2 stick of butter, softened
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Make sure your cream cheese is just as soft, if not softer than your butter. If the cream cheese is too firm, you'll end up with chunks of it in your frosting.
Beat the cream cheese first, making sure it's smooth enough.
Add your butter in smaller quantities, about 3 tablespoons at a time to let it incorporate with the cream cheese.  Once it's all combined, add the vanilla. Alternate your sugar and milk until you get the taste and consistency you like.

Now the hard part...assembly...

You can use the cakes just as they are, or trim them to make them more level. I did not trim them but next time, I would. The filling oozed out a little on the sides, making it difficult to frost.

Whichever cake I use for the bottom, I turn it upside down so the flattest part will be the middle. I frosted a thin layer of the chocolate fudge frosting, then added the cherry filling.

For the top part of the cake, I frosted the top of it so the flattest part would be the very top of my cake. I turned this upside down so the chocolate frosting was face down on top of the cherry filling.

Any excess chocolate frosting I used around the sides to help hold the cherries in place.

For the final frosting on the outside, I dumped a huge pile of the cream cheese frosting in the center of the cake. A long thin frosting knife will work best for this. When frosting, don't move our knife side to side! Always frost in the same direction or you will end up "picking up" your cake and it will get crumbly.

You want to carefully push the frosting from the middle of the cake to the outer edges. I spin mine as I go. There's no need to go back and forth, just rotate the cake keeping the knife steady as you carefully push the frosting towards the edge.

Once you're happy with the top, start pushing the frosting down the sides of the cake, always rotating it. Just keep spinning the cake holding your knife steady, staying in the same direction. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect! We're gonna cover the sides up with graham cracker crumbs anyways! Any imperfections can be creatively "covered up."

If you want to have a really smooth top to your cake, the one important trick I learned "way back when" in cake decorating class was to use a hot knife.  You can either keep a tall glass filled with hot water or just run your knife under hot water to heat it up. Wipe it dry and go over your cake again, using the same rotating motion. The heat from the knife slightly melts the frosting to make it smooth as silk.

I love to incorporate graham crackers for an extra crunch. Just smash some in a ziploc baggies and throw against the sides of your cake. Or you can put some in your hand and pat it on, but throwing it is just so much more fun and messy.

I had some extra cream cheese frosting I piped on along with some cherries.

Wipe down the edges of your cake dish and refrigerate until you're ready to eat!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Mediterranean Baked Chicken

Grocery shopping...a chore most of us despise. I think I am part of a small percentage of people that look at it like a field trip and a game. How little can I spend on some good quality food to make most of what you see here? And how fast can I get in and out of the store without running into someone I see to distract me from be beating my record of 28 minutes?

I usually at least write a list of stuff I need, but it never makes it to the store with me and sits on my kitchen counter. I was in the mood for something Italian but didn't want to make the traditional sauce. I've been trying to eat a little "lighter" lately and have been making some killer salads. Yeah, serious salads. But I was channeling my inner Italian, or my mom's antipasto squares, and ended up with salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, spinach and feta cheese in my cart.  If this was served with a huge end piece of fresh Italian bread, I would be in heaven.

My intentions when I started cooking were to make a tomato florentine soup.  I blended the rest of my tomatoes from the garden and began cooking it down, mixed with some chicken stock. I thew in some of my fresh spinach and grated cheese and garlic. It smelled amazing, buuuuut, it just wasn't feeling like soup weather so I put in the fridge and ate a salad instead.

All day long I think about food. My meals are sometimes planned while I'm daydreaming at work or on the spot when I open my fridge. This one I'd been drooling over out for a bit...




Mediterranean Chicken
Serves 2

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes (I used fresh but you can use a can)
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives
• 4 artichoke hearts
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 
• 1/4 cup breads crumbs
• salt and pepper
• dried parsley
• basil (I had frozen but dried will work okay too)
• French bread

Preheat oven to 350.
In a shallow baking dish, drizzle a little bit of olive oil and out your chicken breasts in (trim the fat, please!).
Toss in your garlic cloves, WHOLE!

Drizzle a litle bit of olive oil on top of the chicken then sprinkle the bread crumbs.

Cover and bake about 20 minutes then remove the cover, add the olives and artichoke hearts and bake another 10 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees. You want the chicken to have a light golden brown top.

While the chicken is cooking, prep your other ingredients, which there aren't many. 
In a pan over medium low heat, heat up your crushed tomatoes. Add the spinach, basil and parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste (This is where my "soup" comes in).

Prep your crostini. Slice the bread diagonally, just because it looks fancier. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, or butter.  *I would add this in the oven during the last few minutes the chicken is baking. You can sprinkle some garlic powder or oregano on it if you'd like.

Now that everything's done, the plating is the most important part!

Spoon some tomato/spinach "sauce" on a plate.
Add a lovely little chicken breast. Be sure to scoop some olives, artichokes and entire cloves of garlic on top too.
Sprinkle with some feta cheese and parsley.
Serve with at least 2 pieces of crostini to sop up all the delicious flavors left behind.

This was really really really good! And gone in seconds...

Mangia!

A Lil Asian Inspiration

I love any kind of Asian food. I cook it pretty often so I always have the right ingredients. Almost anything can be given an Asian twist by using hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame seeds..and of course Siracha.
 

Asian Style Pulled Pork

4 Pork Tenderloins
4 tbs hoison sauce
3 tsp rice vinegar
3 tsp low sodium soy sauce
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 fresh lime juice
quirt of Siracha, if you like it hot
Sesame seeds

Place your pork in the crockpot.
In a separte bowl combine all the other ingredients.
Pour over pork but be sure to coat all sides.
Cook on high for the first hour, then turn down to low for another 3-4 hours.
Use a fork to shred.
Serve in Romaine lettuce. Top with some sesame seeds.

*If you want to make a sauce to go with this, since the juices from the pulled pork tend to be a bit watery, just pour them into a small saucepan and combine with a teaspoon of cornstarch over medium low heat. Let it come to a boil and it will thicken almost immediately.

My husband was a little hesitant about the lettuce wraps...he loves his carbs...but it just goes so much better with this meal. It's light and fresh and the crunch of the lettuce is the perfect contrast against the tender pulled pork. And it doesn't make you feel like crap afterwards


Carrot and Cabbage Asian Slaw   

Half a purple cabbage, shredded
Half a bag of baby carrots, shredded
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs teriyaki sauce
3 tbs olive oil
Cilantro
Some scallions would be nice too, but I didn't have any

Combine the vinegar, sugar, teriyaki and oil in a bowl.  Toss with the cabbage and carrots.  Tastes best if you refrigerate it for at least an hour. Sprinkle with some fresh cilantro before serving.


Roasted Siracha Cauliflower

Whole head of small cauliflower, about 2 cups broken up
3 tbs low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tbs Olive oil
Siracha

Preheat your oven to 400.
Break up the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Spread in a deep baking dish.
Drizzle all the ingredients on top of the cauliflower.
Bake about 25 minutes, turning occasionally.

Homemade Apple Fritters

Every year since I can remember, I've gone to the Apple Festival. People don't go there for the rides or the crafts. They go for the apple fritters. I'm sure I've spent hours waiting for these things, which I honestly don't mind at all since they are after all, the best apple fritters. Ever. These people got it down to a science, and a really well organized assembly line.  The result is a perfectly round, warm, sugar coated, toasty-on-the-outside, soft and moist on the inside, melt-in-your-mouth, ball of diced apple and cinnamony sweet dough.



Yep. It's definitely worth waiting for.  One year, my husband and I got THE last batch of fritters, after waiting hours in line of course. We walked away clutching our white, greased stained paper bags in our arms like it was a million dollars, then devoured half of them in the way back to the car. You really should eat these right away. If not, they lose their nice crispy outside.

This year, I missed it. Sigh. But, I did go apple picking. And was having guests over for dinner. Though lucky for me, I didn't actually have to make dinner. My sister, who went to culinary school, came over on an extremely rare occasion and cooked us an amazing dinner that I cannot do justice by describing with words. She grills a mean steak. So I knew I'd have plenty of time to make fritters and guests to eat them.

Filet with Gorganzola Cream Sauce and Sauteed Portobello Mushrooms served with a Side of Fingerling Potatoes and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Apple Fritters                              

adapted from Seemingly Greek
Makes about a dozen

• 1 heaping cup of flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• oil for frying (I use canola)
• 3 apples, diced should come out to about a cup
• cinnamon and sugar mixture for coating
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine your dry ingredients, minus the extra cinnamon/sugar. Fold in your apples. This tends to help them stay in place.

Combine your milk, egg and vanilla. Carefully add to your flour/apple mixture.

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, pour enough oil so it come up about 3 inches. Heat up to 365 degrees.  If you don't have a thermometer to gauge this, just test it out with a tiny amount of batter. When it's hot enough, it will sizzle instantly.

When the oil is ready, use a mini cookie dough scoop to plop the batter into the oil. If you don't have one, a tablespoon should work good too.

Be careful not to over fill your oil so the fritters have enough room to cook.  They may need to be "flipped" while they fry using a slotted spoon.

Once they are nicely golden brown, transfer them to a paper towel lined plate to absorbs any excess grease.

Right away roll them in your cinnamon and sugar mixture. You can probably use a big ziploc bag for this too or a deep baking dish.

Serve warm or with a piece of chocolate cheesecake after an amazingly delicious meal your sister just cooked. I mean that's what I did....

 

No need to wait in line anymore.

You're Welcome.

Buttery Butternut Bisque...A Perfect Taste of Fall

It's taken me a while to get into this whole fall thing, even though ironically enough, it's my most favorite time of year. Butternut squash screams autumn to me. I bought one, not gonna lie, a few weeks ago. I was planning on making bisque with it but just wasn't quite ready. The temperature is now 54 degrees and the leaves are falling. It's time to cook this squash.

I love it roasted with some butter and brown sugar. But I love it even more if I can eat it with a spoon. With heavy cream. And nutmeg. On the couch, in front of the fire. Butternut squash bisque is super easy to make and will definitely put you in the mood...for fall.

Butternut Squash Bisque
Makes a huge pot full

• One large butternut squash
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/2 bag of carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 large vidalia onion, diced
• 7-8 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• olive oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 3 tbs brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cut your squash in half. Place skin side down on a tray with a little drizzle of olive oil and roast in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a knife goes in easy.  I usually roast this a day ahead of time.

Once it's done and completely cooled, peel the squash and chop it into chunks.

In a large pot, over medium heat drizzle some olive oil and about a 2 tsp of butter.

Throw in the onion, celery and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Pour in the chicken stock. Dump in the butternut squash. Turn up the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Let cook for about 10 minutes, then turn down heat to medium.

Using an immersion blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, a regular blender will work too.

Once everything is smooth, add your heavy cream, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover and let simmer for another 15 minutes.

 

 The result is a velvety, smooth, perfectly balanced bisque. 

Serve with a little drizzle of cream and fresh ground cinnamon.

 

You're Welcome.

A Perfect Rainy Day Dinner

Summer has ended...sigh...but I still have tons of tomatoes from my garden and pureed in my freezer. I usually make sauce with them. But even Italians can get sick of homemade sauce so I needed to change it up a bit.

Of course, I ended up making a whole big pot of sauce. We usually make pizza or chicken parm when there's fresh sauce. Been there, done that way too many times lately.  I was in need of something new. I searched through my cabinets and found myself in the liquor cabinet staring at a huuuuge bottle of vodka. Like ginormous. Someone gave it to us a a gift last year...it was that big that it was still unfinished. Bloody Mary's are my favorite so I  always have vodka on hand.

There it was...vodka sauce. What goes better together than tomato and vodka?! It would not come from a jar or from a restaurant. Super easy to make with an already homemade batch of fabulous sauce.

I searched lots of recipes as I usually do the first time I make something. Most of them use crushed tomatoes instead of sauce. Finally found a few, one by my arch nemesis Giada DeLaurentis, which I will admit I was inspired by. She's just a bit too over the top for me, with her forced Italian accent and unnecessarily elaborate cooking methods. She's way too skinny to seriously eat her own food! Anyways, I created my own recipe...

Vodka Sauce

Makes 4 servings

• 3-4 cups of homemade sauce...or one jar of your favorite sauce would do 
• 3/4 cup of vodka
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream, room temp
• 5 slices cooked bacon
• 1/3 cup of grated cheese..I used Romano
• Red pepper flakes
• Garlic Powder
• One pound of pasta

In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine your sauce and vodka. Simmer for about 25 minutes in order to cook all the alcohol out. Stir frequently.

Meanwhile, cook your bacon. Chop into coarse pieces.

Taste the sauce after 25 minutes to make sure it doesn't taste too strongly of vodka...unless you wanna get a bit of a buzz from your dinner.

Slowly add your cream and whisk thoroughly.  Add the grated cheese, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce til smooth. Lower the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes.

The sauce should be somewhat thick and creamy. And pink!  Then add your bacon.

Serve over your favorite pasta! 

Perfect rainy day meal.

You're Welcome.