Tag Archives: recipes

Happy Ultimate Pi Day!

14 Mar

Happy 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 (or thereabouts)

Today is a number nerd’s paradise.  (Note: I am a number nerd)

So in celebration, here are my favorite Pi(e) Recipes:

Drunk ‘n Nutty Pie

Pie Variation #1 (Apple, with detailed instructions on making pie crust)

Pie Variation #2 (Cranberry Apple Pie- Prepared Crust)


Another Apple Pie Variation


Key Lime Pie


Grandma’s Plum Torte (nearly a pie)


Peach and Pear Crumble
(kind of a pie)


And don’t forget about… WHOOPIE Pies!

HAPPY PI DAY! 

I will leave you with a ridiculous pie video that, for some odd reason, always makes me laugh:

The Fegguary Challenge: Eggstra Special Challenge

6 Feb IMG_2238

My friend Jeff started the #Fegguary Challenge a few years ago, and this year he upped the ante to an Eggstra Special Challenge (inspired by the Ice Bucket Challenge, I’m sure, but with a focus on health rather than donations).  I was on his first list of challengees (and now I have to challenge 3 people… stay tuned on Facebook for my official challenges).

Luckily, I am always stocked with eggs (because I love them!) and Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs are my favorite (it helps that they are also my favorite clients).

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What is not to love about small family farms, a great set of people, and delicious healthy eggs?

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So for my Fegguary challenge, I decided to try to make an egg dish I have always loved but never made.  The eggs that are in ramen soup are one of my favorite things on earth.  Also called Ajitsuke Tamago, I turned to Serious Eats for a quick “how to.”  Sadly, I didn’t have sake, so I decided to use rice wine vinegar instead.  This made sense in my head.  I also replaced the sugar with brown sugar because I saw that in another recipe and thought it would be a good change.

First step, boil eggs (since I’m pregnant, I went with hard boiled… which I also turned to Serious Eats for the real story on how to get them perfect… a bit creamy but not raw).

Put eggs covered in cold water.

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Bring to boil.

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Take off heat and cover for selected time (I went 8-9 minutes).

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As the eggs were cooking, I assembled my ingredients and mixed up the marinade per the recipe. (Though I just realized I didn’t add the water… so I guess I had a more concentrated marinade than I was supposed to!)

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Then I peeled the eggs (and these peeled pretty well… because they were a few weeks old.  I found out the hard way a few weeks ago that freshies actually don’t peel well when I got all excited about hard boiling some eggs fresh from the farm. Whoops.)

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And set the eggs in the marinade.

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Then covered them with a paper towel to keep them submerged.

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About 11 hours later, I drained off the marinade and stored them in the fridge for another 2 days (only because we weren’t ready to eat them yet).

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And then we had them over pastina. While, sadly, not ramen, the egg added a bit of protein and flavor to a simple pasta.

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They were “dyed” a really pretty color which went a few millimeters into the whites when cut open.  The touch of sweetness form the marinade was exactly what I was hoping for and it tasted a lot like the ramen eggs I have come to love.  Great flavor.

Thanks for the #Fegguary Challenge, Jeff. You inspired me out of my eggy comfort zone to hatch a plan for an eggceptional project.

And now I challenge YOU, dear readers.  Tag me if you take the #fegguary challenge!

 

Tursgiving 2014: The Meatballs Recipe

25 Nov

Yesterday I wrote about the amazing feast that is Tursgiving and promised our host’s famous meatballs recipe.

Here ya go!

Tursgiving 2014: The Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients

  • Sauce:
  • 3 cans of Crushed tomatoes ( I like pastene )
  • 1 carrots finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 4 bay leafs
  • 2 tbsp each of basil and parsley chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 4 tbsp of olive oil to start (separated)
  • Meatballs:
  • 1/2 pound each of beef, veal, pork and lamb
  • 1 cup parm cheese
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 green onions finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 shallot finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp of finely chopped basil
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • Few dashes of worchestire sauce (optional)
  • Flour to dust meatballs

Instructions

    Sauce:
  1. In a large sauce pot... large enough for all your meatballs plus the sauce, add 2 tbsp oil over med/high heat and saute your onions, garlic carrot and celery until onions are translucent
  2. Add the rest of your sauce ingredients starting with the tomatoes and let simmer on a med low for 30 minutes
  3. Keep tasting to make sure its not missing anything
  4. Meatballs:
  5. While sauce cooks, add all meatball ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well making sure everything is uniform
  6. Form into inch and a half sized balls (mixture shouldn't be loose... nor too dry... if too loose add a little more breadcrumbs)
  7. Then coat with a light dusting of flour
  8. Meatballs in sauce:
  9. In order to cook the meatballs, add them to the sauce gently until they are all in the pot (no frying!!!)... and cover.
  10. Then after 5 minutes gently mix with a spoon to rearrange the orientation of the meatballs.
  11. After another five minutes rearrange again and remove from heat and keep covered until they are room temperature.
  12. Tips from the chef:
  13. Make the sauce first so its cooking while the balls are being prepared
  14. I suggest preparing them the day before you want to cook them and then reheat... meatballs are always best reheated!!!
http://nycnomnom.com/2014/11/25/tursgiving-2014-meatballs-recipe/

Thanks, again, Mike!