Teriyaki Glazed Boneless Chicken Thighs

I've been debating what to make for dinner, and decided on a simple organic chicken thighs, and a side of jasmine rice with a little bit of steamed peas, and sauteed sliced mushrooms, mixed into the rice. Yumm!...simple gourmet, is always a winner! Topped off with fresh thin sliced scallions, mostly green parts, over the rice, and the chicken.
I could not decide on the chicken thighs whether to bake, broil, fry, or grill, so I opted for simple baking. I opted for a nice recipe for the chicken, from The Food Network.com, Ellie Krieger which I adapted a little.

Chunky Tomato Soup, and a Winner!

I made this chunky tomato soup, on the same day that I made the sausage and the polenta, just to have a comforting soup on hand, since I had all the ingredients. I gave a huge amount to my daughter, not to mention the huge pot of chicken soup I made for them, coming back from cold, and freezing NYC. The first thing she asked me was, "did you take a photo of the tomato soup?"...and I said, no! "It's too mediocre"...on second thought, which was a day later, when I heated up the soup..."why not?"...yes, I will take a photo of it, along with my "creme fraiche" topping.
But wait!...I only have about half a portion of soup left over! Oh well!...no worries, still tasted so good, I would have loved a nice grilled cheese sandwich with that, but did not have sliced American, or Cheddar slices on hand, so I just enjoyed the soup with crackers!

Italian Sausage with Grilled Cheddar Polenta, and a Giveaway

After posting my vegetarian spaghetti carbonara, now I feel so guilty...Not!...but I should be, for posting sausage of all things, but not just any sausage, this is homemade, by my favorite Italian meat market, Mario's that's been around forever...about 30 years, with the same owners, now the owner's daughter in charge. This is the sausage, hot, and mild, that I bought for New Year's and still had another 2 lbs left over. I invited a friend over for dinner last night, and she was appalled and I could tell just the sound of her voice saying..."sausage?"...and then, silence!

Oh, my! I committed the "Cardinal Sin"...yes, I said "sausage, Italian sausage"...in her mind, since she doesn't eat sausage, thinking I was making these "dinky little breakfast sausages"...or, as she said...is it "Jimmy Dean sausage patties?"...no silly homemade Italian sausage. Enough said, just come on over, and "stop complaining, already!" I recently, or actually the other day, browsing through my followers blogs,

I found a blog, which had the most delicious Hungarian polenta, well in Hungarian, it's called "puliszka", which I thought looked so delicious, and more tempting was the amazing meat stuffed with sauer kraut, and topped with Hungarian bacon. Wow!...just looking at the photo made my cholesterol, go high, but I had to make a polenta dish which I have not made in a few years.
Lucky for me, I had everything on hand, and did not have to buy a thing.
Do check out Gesztenye
which in English mean Chestnuts she also has another blog too, all about truffles, or as she calls them bon-bons.
Another talented, and creative food blogger, from a different country, Hungary, my mother's birth country!

Vegetarian Pasta Carbonara

Last Saturday, we were all so busy with gathering up warm clothes for the kids, to wear in the snowy and cold NYC climate. Suppertime was nearing, and my sweet daughter was so concerned to make some kind of pasta for the kids... her hubby working in his restaurant as usual, so he doesn't eat at home, only on his days off. Lora decided, on Pasta Carbonara...oh, but no pancetta left over from Teresa's care package?...no bacon?...what is one to do!?....Alas, suddenly, I got a great idea, "how about some Carbonara without pancetta, or bacon?...A "Vegetarian, Pasta Carbonara!...So, I agreed to make it, so easy, told my daughter just go pack...she even had 3 egg yolks left over, which she saved, from a cake she was making, and handed me a bag of frozen peas....frozen peas?...."yes, she said, the kids like that"..."OK, so let's get started," I said..."just go pack, and I will take care of it. 

Vegetarian Pasta Carbonara

3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
salt, and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bag of frozen peas, about 12-16 ounces
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb. spaghetti (I used organic, from Whole Foods)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

The first thing you must start, is to boil the water for your pasta. In the meantime, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion starts to get a nice rosy color. Now, add the peas, and saute all together just until incorporated. In a medium bowl, add the yolks, the whole eggs half of the cheese, salt, and generous amount of freshly grou d pepper, the cream and with a wire whisk, blend it well, until nice and creamy, but just a few strokes of the whisk. (Do not over beat it.)

Strain the pasta into a colander, and save about 1/2 cup of the cooking water.(you might need it later) to thin out your pasta, if the sauce gets too thick. Put the pasta back into the pot, make sure the heat is OFF, drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, mix it up, and pour the carbonara mixture into the pot with the pasta. Gently mix all together, just make sure you are not scrambling the eggs, heat has to be turned off. Now, take the carbonara pasta mixture and pour into a large serving pasta bowl, Add the peas and onion mixture, and gently combine.

Add  a little more (1Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil on the top of the pasta, another 1/4 cup grate Parmigiana Reggiano cheese;
(all together you will be needing 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, and 3/4 cup grated cheese)
The result of this outrageously yummy and rich pasta will be a memorable dish, that you will want to make over, and over again.
Note: you can omit the peas, and you also can use chili pepper flakes, or diced red bell pepper, or zucchini, sliced thin, instead of the peas. The choice is yours!
This was a version that I created with ingredients on hand, and I am happy to share with you!

CSN Gift Certificate Winner, and some odds and ends

 Without wasting any more time, I will get right over to the matter of things.

I stayed up till 12:15 AM, since the winner outcome would be final after that.

I just want all of you great friends out there to know that I really appreciate for participating, it's so much fun, and even more fun to hear from so many bloggers. I am really honored that you did follow my blog...gained 15 more follower, and I thank you for that...(I followed you back)...I hope you don't decide to "un-follow" me now, since only one person can be a winner! I promise you, I will have other giveaways after this...well, maybe not $50. but who knows, what?

Old-Fashioned Date and Nut Bread-Cookbook Sundays

Not again, not another banana bread?...you're probably wondering. Well it's not, it is a super wonderful Date bread, with walnuts, from another "thrift find" book of mine, which cost only $2.49, from Goodwill. This book does not have any pictures, it is, what it is! Just simple, and I love it, because these are recipes from backs of labels on cans, boxes,  jars, you name it...these are the forgotten, and tossed away recipes, compiled into one super great book.

I made this bread for my family, to have with their extremely early breakfast at about 4:00AM, for their caffe latte. They were rushing off to catch their plane to New York City...it's beyond me...why at this time for the year, would you wand to spend 3 days in snow, ice, and sleet in the city? ...the answer is...NEW YORK, NEW YORK..."the city, that never sleeps". It's a city that welcomes you 365 days a year, and 24/7. Also when you are in the restaurant business, as my son-in-law is, He likes to check out the restaurants in Miami, and the best ones, in New York.

I am staying away from the extreme cold and snow, but for them, it's an adventure. The little ones have never seen snow. My children got all bundled up in their snugly winter gear, from head to toe. For the last three days my daughter Lora was gathering stuff for them from her friend who has children their age. Her friend and little family spend every Christmas in Idaho with their family, so obviously they have all the winter clothes.
I've been away from the cold climate in Ohio for over 35 years, and that's a long time. Your blood thins out when you are not used to such cold weather, they say. We had our lowest temperature here, in South Florida, which is a record low of 29 degrees with a 12 degree wind chill, which cooled it even more into the teens. I was not about to budge and venture out that day.

Peanut Butter&Jam Crepes, and a CSN Gift Certificate

Now that the holidays are over, and all the great leftovers have been recycled into time saving meals, and we are just tired of eating so much cookies...if any left, as for me, I'm just fresh out of ideas, so I lean on my "tried and true" and easy dishes, and desserts. Crepes...or in Hungarian, (palacsinta)...in Italian (crescpelle) in English is actually the American version of pancakes, which is totally a different type, but thicker, and is consumed for breakfast.

My family loves crepes, I have at least 3 types of crepe pans, all three are only used to make crepes in. I have a 6 inch cast iron tortilla pan, which is so perfect to make the smaller size crepes, nicely seasoned pan, easy to flip the crepes over, which is the best part. The second one is actually just for crepes as well, which is an 8 inch skillet. The third, which is the most popular, and "fail proof" is an 8 inch non stick skillet that is most advisable. I do have the actual recipe, which I personally think is the best that I can share with you!

I could barely set up these little peanut butter&jam crepe pieces...within less than 5 minutes it was gone. I could barely take a picture of it, because my little grandchildren, and son-in-law just grabbed a piece. These paper thin crepes, and the peanut butter and jam not only satisfies, as a snack, but doubles as a dessert. The above presentation, is 2 pieces of crepes stacked, smooth and silky peanut butter is spread on it, and strawberry jam is spread on it. Folded in half, and into thirds, and sliced it in half, again. Just look at the thin, light as a feather crepes, you can just serve it with a fork, to cut a bite size piece.

Now, on to the recipe, and the $50. gift certificate giveaway from CSN!...isn't is marvelous?

Savory Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

On New Year's Day, it's been such a tradition in my mom's and aunt's Hungarian kitchen to have a huge casserole of stuffed cabbage, I have such fond memories from Cleveland, every New Year's Eve was a celebration of family, and friends in our house for the New Year's Eve, in our full "party basement" which most northern houses have...I sure miss that. On New Year's Day, was a huge early dinner celebration at my aunt and uncle's, with our families, siblings, and cousins. Every 1st of the year, my aunt would roast a cute "little" pig...(uggghh) the thought of it now, scares me...I could not be staring the poor innocent piglet in the face...ohh yes, the face, and the poor little mouth with an apple in it!
Anyway, these were traditions of the sixties, and since then, we had our tradition for our children, and times, have changed and we keep moving on with time, moving on to a New Year, and hopefully, a better tomorrow for all!

I have not made Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in several years, simply for the reason that my dear departed aunt

who lived next door to us made it every years, here in S. Florida, as my children were growing up, keeping up with the traditions. It's been over ten years that she's gone, and so have the Hungarian traditions.

But of course, if you live near by here, in S. Florida, and  wish to eat authentic stuffed cabbage rolls, you can visit the Hungarian/American club here, locally, in Lake Worth, where they still keep up with the authentic traditions.

Well, for some reason,  when I saw a  spicy Korean condiment of cabbage called "Kimchi" in my daughter's refrigerator, which I thought was so bizarre, because she is so sensitive to hot spices, and that is one spicy side dish! Of course, I ended up with the Kimchi, but that's another story!

I happened to have ground beef, the 1 1/2 heads of cabbage (really need 2) ...2 lbs of authentic homemade Italian sausage from our favorite Italian market, called Mario's in Delray Beach. I did not use Hungarian sausage because smoked Hungarian, or Polish sausage would be perfect for the cabbage, or use smoked ham hocks, which all have so much sodium nitrate, that again, my daughter cannot have, which unfortunately causes extreme headaches for some people.

Chocolate Chip Granola Banana Bread

What better way to end the Old Year,  than to snuggle up with a comfy little throw blanket, watch re-runs on T.V...
or if you're a thrifter like me, get some VCR movies for 69 cents at Goodwill, or if you're lucky, you can get DVD's for $2.99, and get some real good ones, if they're even available. One great VCR movie I still cherish, and like to watch it on New Year's Eve is "When Sally Met Harry" It's from the 80's and I love the 80's classics. There's a quote in there that makes you think,

"What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?"

I'm certain this has happened to a few of us, over the course of time..."old acquaintance forgotten"...not by choice, it's just how life takes a different turn. Everybody has something in their life that sometimes they just don't wish to share with others, so they fade away from sight, meaning...they would rather not be "acquainted" with you. I think it has a lot to do with the economy changing, location, jobs, family, relationships, so it's easier for them not to share things with you, or not wanting to divulge information, that might change your friendship...instead, ending it is the better option...sigh!

So, make yourself a nice hot cup of your favorite herb tea, and have a nice piece of banana bread...as for me and my family, I like to add chocolate chips, not just in the mix, but sprinkle them on top of the bread.

Just as with my cheesecake which I have memorized the recipe, which is so basic, so as the banana bread. It turns out perfect every time. You can of course, omit the chocolate chips, and add nuts, and raisins, or dried cranberries,but always add dried fruits, and not chopped fresh ones. The mashed ripe, (not overripe) bananas add the moisture, and any other ingredients other than the chocolate chips, nuts raisins or dried fruits will make it too wet, and it will not rise properly. I added half a cup of granola to it, knowing that it's dry and will even give it a better flavor, and make it healthy.  The baking time is done to a science, I promise you this is another "tried and true" over, and over again recipe. Recipe, to follow!

A Comforting Frittata

With Christmas behind us, and leftovers just about gone, too much sweets eaten...a nice comforting vegetarian frittata will not only satisfies your hunger, but you can have your "breakfast, for dinner" as well. How can you go wrong with a perfect blend of sauteed sliced potatoes, fresh chopped tomatoes, and fresh spinach, topping it off with shredded cheese of your choice ( I used, cheddar)...scramble up at least 6-8 eggs, and added all together cooking it on the stove top, making sure you are not scrambling it, just lift a little from the edges to let it cook evenly, and finishing it off in the broiler. Yumm! Something your family will enjoy on a lazy and not much to do, evening.

There's no set recipe for this fritatta, just start out sauteing some chopped onions in about 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, along with about 4 small potatoes peeled and sliced thin, saute until potatoes are almost tender, adding about 1 large or a couple small fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper and a good handful of fresh spinach right into the mixture. Let it all cook together until spinach gets wilted. I even added about 1/4 cup of plain crushed tomatoes, (tomato sauce, marinara sauce will also work) but not tomato paste. To serve 6 servings with this, I scrambled 8 eggs, and poured it right over the vegetable mixture...see photo below!

In this process, all you do is lift a little bit around the edges, not disturbing the rest of the egg mixture, letting the uncooked eggs flow to the edge. 

At this point, you can see the edges setting, but the middle is still kind of wet, so with a wooden spoon, or spatula, carefully make a small incision in the center, tilting the pan from left to right to get to an even flow for setting more.
This may sound like a small "surgery process" or some kind of experiment, but it's just to make sure you have an even, nice, and fluffy frittata. Here's the last process, below!

Last process, I added a 16 ounce bag of shredded cheddar cheese, and a small amount of Mexican style cheese...you can add in place of this, shredded mozzarella, Swiss, or just grated Parmesan cheese. Also, you can variate the vegetables, and the spices, but in this case my grandchildren were eating this, and I had to be careful not making it too spicy for them. You can top this off with a nice salsa, and serve it with crusty bread. This dish served 4 adults, and 4 young children. Satisfaction guaranteed!