Tilapia Puttanesca

I think I have mentioned before how much I love the ease of frozen tilapia in a single serve pouch.  They are great for a quick meal since they are easy to defrost on the spot and cook quickly.  Tonight I served these with a Mediterranean blend quinoa and zucchini.  On a busy Monday this was the perfect quick meal which took all of about 25 minutes to prepare.  Be careful not to add salt to the salt as it gets enough saltiness from the capers and olives.

Recipe:

1 pound of tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion thickly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of diced tomatoes,  undrained
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of red pepper flake
1/4 cup Kalamata olives
1 tablespoon capers, drained

Thaw fish.  Rinse and pat dry with paper towel.  Sprinkle with salt.

In a large skillet heat oil and cook onion for about 5minutes until tender.  Stir in garlic, tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flake. Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Add olives and capers to sauce, stir.  Top with tilapia fillets.  Return sauce to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer.  Cook until fish flakes about 10 minutes.  Plate fish and top with sauce.

NYC Bites Third Edition

Belgian Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Croissant

Le Pain Quotidien- Many locations throughout NYC.
~One of the places my husband and I love to grab a bite at is le pain quotidien.  This place is awesome for lunch for a snack, or even just hot chocolate on a cold day.  Which by the way is served as a HUGE cup of steamed milk with a little pitcher of hot melted chocolate on the side that you then pour into the steamed milk. Oh my it is like heaven in a cup.  If I could have licked that little pitcher I think I would have.  And I have to confess even though I have eaten there a few times I always order the same thing the Tuscan plate.  I just love it and crave it.  It comes with shaved parmesean cheese, thinly sliced proscuitto, a bowl of olive tapenade with pesto, and the creamiest and yummiest ricotta cheese.  All with plenty of varied breads slices to dip into all.  My mouth is watering now just thinking about it all.

Mediterranean Plate

Tuscan Plate

OK now moving to down in the village where there is just an abundance of little places to try.  I keep taking food tours with my friend to try new  places, which then inspires me to research on my own and create my own little food tours for my husband and I.  The places below are a result of these excursions. Most are small places or what one might consider a hole in the wall, but so worth the trip!

Two places that my husband and I stopped at one afternoon were both on MacDougal Street near Bleeker.  And If I attended NYU I would weigh a million pounds with all the great cheap food in the area!  The first was The Kati Roll Company where I ordered the Chicken Tikka Roll and my husband ordered the Shami Kabab Roll, both were fantastic.  This is a small place with just three little tables to sit at.  But with each roll just costing around $6 it is a delicious cheap eat.  The spices in both were both wonderful leaving my husband and researching for a place near us that makes these rolls.  Sadly we have not found one yet.

The second place we stopped which literally is just a few doors down from the Kati Roll Company was Mamoun's Fafafel.  Since we had just ordered a roll each we decided to just share the fafafel plate which was just $5.  It's picture above it came with 6 fafafels, little salad, yogurt sauce, and a few pitas on the side.  I think these are the best fafafel I have ever eaten.  Again its a small place with only a couple of tables to sit at.  Again an awesome cheap eat! Check it out: Mamouns

Within the same area is the Meatball Shop ( but they have a few locations).  Which is a place that I had seen on  one of the many cooking channel shows and wanted to check out.  I enjoyed it very much my husband was not overly impressed, I think that was because we had already had some bites and were not especially hungry by the time we got here.  But on the menu you can select the type of meatball you would like and the sauce, these are the naked balls.  We went with the spicy pork meatball with parm. cheese cream sauce. YUM! Paired perfectly with a beer.  We needed more bread to dunk in the sauce which I loved.  And the spicy pork meatball definitely had some bite to it.

Check out their menu: http://www.themeatballshop.com/index.php/menu

Recently in the city with a friend we came across Benny's Burrito- Greenwich.  And well it happened to be National Margarita Day so of course we had to celebrate with some of our own.  I ordered the coconut margarita, all I needed after that was a tropical beach near some crystal blue water, instead of the cold February that we were glad to have a break from.  The burritos in one word are, HUGE.  But they were also very tasty.  I think I only ate half of mine, BBQ roast pork adobo burrito.  Since it was lunchtime we had the lunch special burrito: $7.  You had to add $2 for sour cream and Guacamole which of course we did.  But in my book worth every penny.  Another cheap eat! Benny's Burrito Menu

Margaritas! Cheers

~~DESSERTS~~

And now for some dessert places!  The first one is Milk and Cookies where you guessed it they serve yummy cookies.  Where I enjoyed the Salt Oat Surprise cookie it was warm and chewy and salty and sweet and just perfection!  I definitely needed a tall glass of milk with it.  I do admit I also was very curious of the bacon smack cookie, hmmmm next time.

http://www.milkandcookiesbakery.com

This final place was a little cupcake shop that was discovered while taking a cupcake tour from Great New York Tours.   This tour took us to 6 stops, 4 cupcake places, one cookie place, and a gelato place.  Now the tour stopped at Crumbs and Magnolia bakeries which both have delicious cupcakes and I enjoy them both, however today I was introduced to Molly's Cupcakes.  Where you can build your own cupcake.  I went with the red velvet cupcake with brown butter frosting.  The cupcake was so moist and the icing fresh and not too sugary as some can be.  It was my favorite of the entire day!

Molly's Cupcakes

Get out there and feast on life......

White Pizza: Asparagus, mushroom, and carmelized onion

I think there are two things that my husband and I can never tire of, tacos and pizza!  Although we have a love for pizza for all the years I have known my husband we have never ordered take out pizza together.  That's not to say I am above meeting friends at the local pizzeria for a slice.  My husband does tend to turn his nose up visiting them.  He does enjoy making them at home though with fresh, delicious ingredients.  Recently we were out for a nice romantic dinner and ordered a flatbread with mushrooms and truffles as an appetizer.  My husband had never encounter truffles before.  He fell in love.  His dinner that night was Steak Frites which came with a truffle infused aioli to dip his fries in.  A few days later while wandering around doing some shopping I came across the bottle of truffle oil.  I had to buy it.  It was an outstanding addition to this pizza.

Pizza:

1 store bought pizza dough
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon herbs de provence
1 tablespoon black truffle oil
3/4 cup thinly sliced asparagus
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 caramelized onions
1 cup thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
cornmeal for dusting pizza stone/peal

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone on rack in middle of oven.  Combine ricotta, milk, herb de provence, and truffle oil in a small bowl.  Stretch pizza dough out to desired thickness and shape on a prepared pizza peal.  Top with ricotta cheese mixture around dough leaving edge free.  Top with onions, mushrooms, and asparagus.  Top with sliced mozzarella cheese.  Slide on pizza stone and cook about 15 minutes.

Paired perfect with a nice Chianti!

Fish Tacos

We are suckers in this house for tacos.  Any kind of taco!  These are perfect to use with the big bag of frozen single pouch tilapia I keep in the freezer at all times.  And bonus its an easy weeknight meal ready is half an hour or less.  Equally easy is the black bean salad served on the side.  Again very easy and using one of the many cans of black beans I keep in the pantry.

Tacos:

2 pieces of tilapia, cut into smaller pieces

2 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of panko bread crumbs

1 egg

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of oregano

1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

taco shells

cabbage slaw

shredded cheese

avocado slices

lime

salt and pepper

Mix panko, cumin, oregano, and chili powder together in shallow bowl.  In another bowl beat egg, add milk.  On a small plate mix flour with salt and pepper.  Dredge pieces of fish in flour, then into egg mixture, finally coat with panko.  Heat oil in skillet.  Fry fish a few minutes or until flakes.  

Warm tacos shells. Top with cabbage slaw, shredded cheese, and avocado slices.  Serve with lime pieces.

Cabbage Slaw:

1/4 of head of cabbage, shredded

1 carrot finely shredded

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of chili powder

1 lime juiced

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand 15 minutes.

Black Bean Salad:

1 can black beans drained/rinsed

1/2 cup frozen corn thawed

1 avocado diced

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, enjoy!

Brunch for Dinner: Asparagus Mushroom Fritatta and Cinnamon Chip Waffles

I have to say that my favorite breakfast is one someone else makes for me! Not that it happens very often.  This fell into our weeknight rotation since I was in the mood for a good breakfast but schedules being what they are my husband and I rarely get to have a leisurely breakfast together.  So why not just put breakfast later!  I did cheat with some pre-made items such as the potatoes, they are Baby Cakes from McCain, we love them.  And the breakfast sausage was just heated.  But the rest of the meal was made from scratch (well almost) including the mushroom asparagus frittata, and the cinnamon chocolate chip waffles. Served with coffee and orange juice of course!

Frittata:

5 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

1 tablespoon olive oil

3-4 stalks of asparagus sliced

4-5 baby bella mushrooms

1/4 onion chopped

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used a blend of 5 Italian Cheese)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In pan heat olive oil.  Cook onion until soft and golden add the asparagus and cook another 2 minutes.  Add the Italian seasoning and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms begin to soften.  Remove from heat. 

In a bowl beat together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Heat an oven proof skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Pour egg mixture into pan add the vegetable mixture to the eggs.  Sprinkle cheese on top, allow bottom to set then place in oven and cook about 25 minutes or until eggs are set in the center.  Remove from oven loosen with a spatula and slide on to a plate or place plate over pan and flip frittata out.

Cinnamon Chip Waffles:

waffle mix

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

I cheated and used box mix.  Prepare box mix according to package.  Add in 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, 1/2 chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) mix and prepare according to package.  The waffles smelled amazing cooking and tasted great.

Mexican Stuffed Pepper

Lately I seem to be buying ground turkey in family size packs and then separating into smaller portions to keep in the freezer.  This is a relatively new protein for us to be eating so always on the look out for new recipes.  Tonight was a new creation after reading a few recipes I took some ideas from each and made it my own, using items that I always have in stock in my fridge and pantry.  Always in the pantry are black beans and always on hand is frozen corn.  I can honestly say after eating these I got the seal of approval from my husband as he told me they were blog worthy!

Recipe:

3 red bell peppers (or any color)

1 cup cooked rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb. ground turkey

1/4 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 teaspoons of cumin

2 teaspoons of oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 cup of chicken broth (separated) 

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

shredded cheese to top

sour cream and guacamole to serve with

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in pan and cook onion and garlic for a few minutes.  Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink and cooked through, breaking up with wooden spoon.  Add cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir and cook for a minute.  Add tomato sauce, corn,  and beans.  Cook for a minute or two stir in 1/2 cup of chicken broth.  Add in cooked rice.  Cook for about 5 minutes absorbing some of the liquid.  

Slice peppers in half lengthwise.  Remove ribs and seeds.  Place in a casserole dish fill with turkey mixture.  Pour 1/2 cup chicken broth in dish. Cover tightly with foil.  Cook for 35 minutes.  Remove and top with cheese.  Serve with sour cream and guacamole on the side.

Swiss Chard and Sausage Pasta

This is a hearty meal on a chilly evening.  It's also pretty quick to make perfect for a weeknight dinner. I know I posted about a sausage and escarole meal earlier, this meal was to start as that this evening but then I just kept on adding things to it as I cooked.  And my husband had put a request for Swiss Chard. As it is something he grew up eating.  One thing led to another and this was the outcome.

Pasta:

1 bunch of swiss chard chopped (escarole or spinach will also work)
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1package of Italian sausage casings removed
1 can rinsed cannelli beans
1 red bell pepper
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon of red pepper flake (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 shallot sliced
1/2 pound bow tie pasta
1/2 cup chicken broth
crusty bread and grate Parmesan cheese (optional to serve with)

In a pan heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Brown sausage breaking into small pieces.  Once sausage is cooked and no longer pink remove from pan using a slotted spoon and allow to drain on paper towel covered dish.

Bring salted pot of water to boil and add pasta, cook until al dente.

Wipe pan out and heat another tablespoon of olive oil.  Cook shallot and garlic for about 1-2 minutes until tender and fragrant.  Add red bell pepper, beans, itailian seasoning, and red pepper flake.  Cook about 2-3 minutes to allow pepper to soften.  Add tomato paste.  Stir around pan.  Add chicken broth.  Add sausage back into pan.  Add swiss chard and allow to wilt in pan.  If more liquid needed add a little of the pasta water in.  Drain pasta and toss in pan.  Serve with grated cheese on top and crusty bread on the side.

Leftovers-Corned Beef Hash Breakfast

This morning the current temperature outside is a frigid 19 degrees with wind chill that is making it feel like 5 degrees.  I just came in from the gym where I am currently working on a couch to 5K program to get in shape for my first 5K.   I am not a runner I prefer kickboxing or cycling at the gym.  I have shed about 25lbs over the past two years and have plateaued so signing up with friends for a 5K has helped me push past and stat to lose again.  I look forward to participating in The Color Run in July!  So being sweaty out this cold is just brutal.  I was quite happy to come home to and use my leftover corned beef dinner and make some hash.  I think my husband enjoys this more then the actual corned beef dinner, he loves the letting the yolk run all over the hash.  Basically the hard part has been done the night before.

Hash: (using leftovers from night before of a corned beef dinner)

Corned beef chopped into pieces
Cooked potato chopped into pieces
Cooked carrots chopped
Cooked cabbage chopped (little less then other items)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
rye toast (to serve with)

In a frying pan heat olive oil over medium high heat.  place corned beef, carrot, potato, and cabbage in pan in one equal layer.  Allow to cook for a minute or two.  Flip mixture over and cook again in an equal layer.  Allow a crust to form on the potato mixture.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Place on a plate.  Wipe pan out.  Heat pan again crack egg into pan season with salt and pepper flip egg after 1 minute.  Cook another minute or two or until desired doneness.  Place on top of hash.  Served with butter rye toast on the side.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I know it's February 17th and not March 17th but I felt like a good Irish meal.  And after finding a good deal on a corned beef I could not resist.  I also found a great mini bundt pan while wandering through Marshall's and could not resist making some chocolate stout cakes with bailey's icing.  And honestly I find a nice corned beef and cabbage a really simple meal to throw into one pot and just let cook.

Corned Beef and Cabbage:

1 corned beef

half green cabbage

2 baking potatoes

3 carrots

1 tablespoon pickling spice

In a dutch oven place corned beef, cut carrots, quartered potatoes, half cabbage cut into pieces, and add pickling spices.  I use an old tea diffuser to place pickling spices in and throw it in the pot.  Otherwise spices can be placed in a cheesecloth that is securely tied.  Cover corned beef with water, cover and simmer.

Perfect Dessert is chocolate stout mini bundt cakes....check out my separate post for that.

Stout Chocolate Bundt Cake Link

Little Stout Bundt Cakes

To go along with a corned beef and cabbage dinner tonight these were the perfect dessert.  I found a great mini bundt pan in Marshall's this afternoon and could not resist using it.  I will have to remember this recipe for St. Patrick's day.  These cakes are very moist and rich.

Cakes: (adapted from Real Simple Magazine, December 2010)

2/3 cup unsalted butter, plus extra to prep pan
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for pan
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup stout beer (such as Guinness)
5 oz. semisweet chocolate
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees.   Butter a 6 mini bundt pan, dust with cocoa powder, tap out the extra.  In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter and stout. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted.  Remove from heat and add chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the chocolate mixture and sour cream.  Gradually mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

Pour bater into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean,  35-40 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.

Icing:

3 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon of Bailey's Irish Cream

Whisk in a bowl until a consistency to drizzle.  If too thick add a little more Bailey's too watery add more sugar.  Drizzle over cooled cakes.

Turkey Meatloaf

In our quest to eat healthier  I have started to use ground turkey instead of ground beef.  Tonight I came across a wonderful recipe for a BBQ turkey meatloaf.  It was delicious served with some mashed cauliflower and roasted asparagus.  I do admit I have to work on the recipe for the mashed cauliflower. It did taste good but the consistency needs a little work. Something for me to work on for a later post.  The roasted asparagus is always a side I love, simply drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

BBQ Turkey Meatloaf: (adapted from Once Upon a Chef)

For BBQ Glaze: 

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

2/3 cup kethcup

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Meatloaf:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup minced yellow onion

2 gloves minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 large egg

3 tablespoons of BBQ glaze (from above)

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a bakin sheet with foil and spray.

Heat olive oil in saute pan and cook onion about 2minutes until soft and golden.  Add garlic and cook another minute.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl mix salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and egg.  Mix until well combined.  Add in onion mixture.  Finally add breadcrumbs and turkey mix by hand until just combined.

Form a loaf on the foil lined pan.  Spread BBQ glaze over the top of the meatloaf.  Should be plenty to coat top and sides.  Cook 40-45 minutes.

Fuel Filled Breakfast: Peanut Butter Banana Roll-Up

Mornings are hard for everyone.  Even harder to think about getting breakfast on the table.  It definitely has to be quick. Breakfast also needs to be something that will keep me until lunch, and give me energy for the morning.  One of my favorite things in the world is peanut butter.  This peanut butter banana roll up is also great to prepare and take with you on the go.  This breakfast definitely fills me up and keeps me full all morning!

* I have since updated this with a couple of variations at the bottom.  After making this a few times and a little different each times I have some suggestions.  Definitely slice the banana, something I did not originally  do.  Add some berries, either sliced strawberries or blueberries add a great flavor and helps to not have everything stuck to the roof of your mouth.  I love the combination of apples and peanut butter so I think that sliced apples would also be great.  After a recent trip to the  Peanut Butter Company we have a bunch of different flavors of peanut butter so we have been using them also, along with my husband's favorite...Nutella! But I am sure anything you can enjoy with peanut butter will work with this, it's just a quick very filling breakfast that can be eaten on the go.  I would even roll these in some foil and take it with me for lunch.

Peanut Butter Banana Roll-Up:

1 large tortilla
1 banana
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 tablespoon of granola

Warm tortilla to make it easy to work with. Spread peanut butter over center, place banana in center and sprinkle with granola.  Roll like a burrito, cut in half and enjoy.

Variations:

#1:  Using cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter with sliced banana, blueberries, and granola.

*adding the blueberries give its a nice touch a little moisture so everything is not so sticky in your mouth! Strawberries would also be great.  Acting as the jelly in PB&J.

#2: Nutella, cream cheese, blueberries, and granola.

This was my husband's idea and variation.  The nutella and cream cheese work very nicely together alongside the blueberries.

Shrimp Tacos

There are plenty of weeknights where dinner needs to be quick and easy.  Something that I have come to love is a bag of frozen shrimp.  It is quite simple to pull them out of the freezer defrost fast under some warm water.  Tonight an easy meal was pulled together using this ingredient.  Served with a quick side of refried beans and rice.

Shrimp Tacos: (makes 6 tacos)

Shrimp-

18 shrimp (raw, peeled and deveined) 

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of smoke paprika

1 teaspoon of chili powder

juice of half lime

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon of olive oil

Mix shrimp and all but olive oil in bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Cook shrimp until pink 5-6 minutes turning halfway through.

Carrot Slaw-

1 carrot finely julienned 

1/4 onion finely sliced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

juice of half lime

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Set aside to use as topping for tacos.

Warm tortillas or taco shells.  Place shrimp in tortillas, top with carrot slaw, shredded cheese, sour cream, and sliced avocado. Squeeze fresh lime over.  

Nutella Hot Chocolate with Frangelico

After a day of digging out from more then a foot of snow dumped on us from a blizzard, there is nothing better then hot chocolate! And what better way for Moms and Dads to enjoy their hot chocolate then with a little Frangelico liqueur added.  I am a huge fan of nutella and cannot get enough of it sometimes.  Adding it to the milk gives this hot chocolate a rich smooth texture.  Delicious.  Perfect end to a day out in the cold snow.

Makes 1 Drink: (adapted from an article in Saveur)

1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of nutella
1 tablespoon of hazelnut liqueur, such as Frangelico
2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
whipped cream
shaved chocolate to top

heat milk in saucepan until bubbles form around edges, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in nutella and liqueur.  Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

Easy as Pie Pizza

As with most people I do love a good slice of pizza.  However since I married my husband I have had less of it since he does not like take out pizza but will pretty much only eat homemade.  This caused me to buy a pizza stone and peal with a gift card I had received to Williams Sonoma (we bought the Emile Henry Pizza Stone). Today our lunch was a nice hot homemade pizza fresh out of the oven.  Perfect lunch after digging out of over a foot of snow that a blizzard dumped on us last night.  I don't think I can look at the movie Nemo the same ever again.  This yummy pizza with sliced mushrooms and chorizo was just what we needed after our first round of shoveling.  Unfortunately the apartment we live in requires us to park on the street so now waiting for the plow to come around so we can go out for round two of digging out.  I think later some nice hot chocolate will be needed!

Pizza Sauce:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 small yellow onion diced

2-3 garlic gloves minced

1 red pepper chopped

1 tablespoon of oregano

2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon red pepper flake

1 can of diced tomatoes (fire roasted works well)

1 (small) can of tomato sauce

salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and saute till golden and soft.  Add the garlic and red pepper and cook another minute or two.  Add spices and stir.  Add diced tomatoes and sauce.  Allow sauce to simmer 15-20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Season with additional spices and salt and pepper to taste.

Pizza:

1 store bought pizza dough

1 ball of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese (size that's fits into palm)

2 tablespoons of cornmeal

additional toppings of your choice, we went with mushrooms and chorizo since that is what we had in the fridge.  Others good be salami, pepperoni, other vegetables.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Using a pizza stone place it in the oven to heat.  On the wooden peal sprinkle cornmeal, this helps keep the dough from sticking.  Now shape dough to desired size and shape.  My husband likes to go around the edges to make a little ridge.  Next take sauce and spread around the dough leaving the edges free.  Next layer on the cheese and toppings.  Using the peal to slide pizza onto hot stone in the oven.  Cook about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it as ovens vary.  Use peal again to pull pizza out. Allow to cool and set for a few minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

Jambalaya

I think lately I have been enjoying foods that have that underlying heat, spice that bites back.  In my cooking I know at times I can have a tendenacy to give an extra shake or two of the red pepper flakes.  Last night we enjoyed ASian turkey meatballs with some spicy mayo which I made iwth a hefty squirt of Sriracha sauce.  Tonight it was a couple of extra shakes of the Tabasco in the Jambalya.  For most of the bowl it just tastes good with a little heat.  By the end I realized my nose was now cleared and my mouth was a little on fire.  As with any recipe adjust the heat to your own liking.  As I typed the recipe I realized when I added to the spices to the pot I threw in a little red pepper flake in for good measure even though the recipe does not call for it....oops extra spicy tonight at our house!

1 Tbp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 ounces andouille sausage, sliced (i used an entire Smithfield spicy andouille so lots of sausage in mine)
1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I think I went one too many shakes of the Tabasco...it was SPICY...oh so good)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 pound (roughly 10) peeled and deviened medium shrimp


Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, pepper, garlic, and sausage.  Cook about 5 minutes or until vegetable are tender.

Next add the rice and all spices.  Cook for 2 minutes to heat spices.

Add the broth, water, tomato paste, hot sauce, and diced tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat, simmer about 20 minutes.

Last add the shrimp and cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.

Tastes great served with some garlic bread and a red Irish Ale!