I love this little piece that could have been written about my family.  I haven’t kept all of my Italian family’s tradition, and made some new ones with my own family now, but one that I strive for, even in this crazy, busy life we lead, is eating dinner together.  It’s definitely not easy.   Read Eating Dinner As a Family Matters (More Than Making It to Every Ballet Class and Soccer Game) and let me know what you think.

Ok, who’s hungry?  It’s lunchtime as I write this and looking at these photos and reading the reviews of these 15 pizza places in NYC is making me drool.   What’s your favorite pizzeria?

Last link combines music and food, what could be better?  This NY Times article speaks to the emergence of better food at concerts and specifically highlights the upcoming Great GoogaMooga Festival this weekend in Brooklyn (wish I had known about this earlier!)  Also, check out this food porn, I mean, slide show of some of the food being served at GoogaMooga.

Thanks for reading!  Have a good weekend

Sorry about not uploading pictures.   I’m still having issues with my camera that I hope will be resolved soon, like tonight, as my daughter has her first Band Concert!  Thanks for reading and leave a comment, let me know what you think, what else you’d like to see, etc.

Nutella-Filled Hazelnut Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting

(recipe adapted from a Baked In recipe)

For the cupcake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp Hazelnut Liquor

1 cup buttermilk***

Nutella, for the filling

***I didn’t have buttermilk so I used this substitute.  Squeeze juice of one lemon into a measuring cup then add one cup of regular milk. Let sit in the fridge for about 5 minutes, then use to substitute for the one cup of buttermilk.

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup Nutella

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Line two muffins pans of 12 with paper liners and set aside.  This batter will actually make a bit more than 24 cupcakes because you will not be filling the muffin pans to the top.  So you will need an extra muffin pan (or wait until the original cupcakes cool) and extra paper liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar on medium speed for a couple of minutes, until light in color and thick.   Then add oil, hazelnut liquor, and buttermilk.  Then beat until combined, about one minute.  Add the flour mixture to this and beat until it’s all combined, about two to three minutes.

Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups.  The original recipe suggested they be filled 2/3 of the way; I am recommending only filling them 1/2 way because they do expand when cooking.  Bake for about 18 minutes, or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.   Cool in the muffin pans for about 8-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cool, use a paring knife or teaspoon to cut out a cone in the center of each cupcake.  Be careful not to cut through the bottom of the cupcake.  Fill with 1/2 tsp of Nutella.  If you scooped out the cupcake neatly enough you can put the top back on the filling.  I didn’t put the top back on, but the frosting covered the opening so you couldn’t tell. (And it obviously didn’t impact the quality or taste of the cupcake!)

To make the frosting, beat together the Nutella and butter until creamy.  Then alternate adding one cup of powdered sugar, beating well, then one tbsp of milk.   If after 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp of milk you think the frosting is too thick for your liking, add another tbsp of milk.   Frost the tops of the cupcakes and enjoy!

I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart’s.  It’s easy, delicious and you know, nothing says springtime like pumpkin.  ;)

Credit Our Family Eats for the photo

Chocolate-Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

about 35  vanilla wafers

2 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 8-oz packages bar cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.  Set aside.

In a food processor, blend wafers with sugar until finely ground.  Add melted butter and pulse until moistened.

Transfer crumb mixture to the prepared pan.  Press gently into bottom.  Bake until slightly firm, about 12-15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Place cream cheese in food processor and blend until smooth.  Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt.  Process until combined.

Melt the semisweet chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, stirring frequently.  Add 1 cup of the pumpkin puree mixture to the melted chocolate and stir to combine.

Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into the prepared pan.  Drop dollops of the chocolate mixture onto the pumpkin mixture.  Swirl with a knife. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes.  The cheesecake should be set but jiggle slightly when gently shaken.

Cool in pan on a wire rack.  Then cover and chill for at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days).  When ready to cut, use the overhang of the foil to transfer the cheesecake to a cutting board and cut into 16 squares, using a knife dipped in water.

Since April was Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and because Parkinson’s awareness and research is near and dear to my heart, let’s start with this article:  Flavonoids May Help Protect Against Parkinson’s Disease

$200,000 for a bottle of rare whiskey?   Can whiskey really be a good investment?  Read this article from Huffington Post about Whiskey Investors Clubs.

Since I love to bake, I had to include this list of The Best Baking Cookbooks (and sadly, I have only  one of these; but Mother’s Day is around the corner, hint hint)

On the subject of cookbooks, I find this a bit hokey but it certainly is different – famous chef’s recipes set to music. Give it a look/listen:  http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2011/08/the-recipe-project.html

Lastly, in honor of Weed Day that passed on April 20th, this Time.com article New Cannabis Cuisine

Have a good weekend!  See you next Friday night for the Next Charity Concert!  May have some goodies in hand too (though probably not the cannabis ones!)

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie (sorry no photos this time, so this one is from Food Network)

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup toasted hazelnuts, skinned

1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus more to dust the pie dish

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 hot water

4 eggs

1 stick butter, room temperature, cut into pieces, plus more to grease the pie dish

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Butter and flour a 9-inch pie dish.

To a food processor add 4 oz of the chocolate chips, the hazelnuts and the flour.  Pulse until the hazelnuts are coarsely chopped.  Pour the hazelnut mixture into a small bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining 4 oz chocolate chips and sugar in the food process.  Blend until the mixture is finely ground.  While the processor is running, gradually add the hot water until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Add the eggs, butter, vanilla and cinnamon.  Pulse until the mixture is blended.

Return the hazelnut mixture in the small bowl to the food processor and pulse to incorporate all the ingredients.  Pour the batter into the prepared pie dish.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Place the pie on a cooling rack and  cool for 1 hour.  You’ll notice some cracks in the top of the pie while it’s cooling; that’s normal, don’t worry.  Then refrigerate for an hour or two; bring back to room temperature before serving though.

Making vegetable stock

Vegetable Stock

In a large stockpot, add:

5-6 carrots, peeled and  chopped

1-2 medium onion, chopped

5-6 stalks of celery, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

a pint of button mushrooms, sliced

generous handful of parsley, rough chopped

Then fill your stockpot to the top with cold water and a little sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower and simmer for about an hour, or until vegetables are tender.  Taste and add more salt if needed.   Drain and reserve the broth.  I discard the onion, celery, tomatoes and parsley and keep the carrots and mushrooms for a quick and simple veggie soup.

Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cubed (you can find this already done for you in the supermarket to save time)

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, smashed

3 carrots, chopped

2 apples, peeled and chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

olive oil

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.   Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray and place squash flat on the foil.  Roast until soft, about 30-45 minutes.

While the butternut squash is roasting, you can chop the onions, apples, carrots, and garlic, and add them to a large stock pot with 1 cup of the water and 2 cups of the vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.

When squash is done roasting, add it to the stockpot with the remaining cup of vegetable stock and 2 cups of water.   If you have a hand blender, slowly blend the ingredients together.  Since I don’t have a hand blender (I need to remedy that soon), I used my stand blender and blend the soup in batches.  Stir in nutmeg and serve.

Garden Vegetable Soup

5 1/2 cups vegetable soup

1 cup tomato puree

14 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups frozen sweet whole kernel corn

2-3 carrots, sliced diagonally into 1″ pieces

5 stalks of celery hearts, chopped

1 red pepper, sliced

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp garlic salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

In a large stock pot, combine vegetable stock and tomato puree and stir.  Make it come to a slight simmer over medium heat.  Add diced tomatoes and juice and all the vegetables to the pot, as well as the oil and garlic salt.   Cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 30-40 minutes.  How easy is that?

Garden Vegetable Soup

I posted a recipe for Vegetarian Split Pea Soup sometime last year.  Here’s the link to that recipe.  http://allthingsnext.com/2011/05/16/vegetarian-split-pea-soup/    Happy eating!

Sun-dried Tomatoes and Peas Dip with Endive Leaves

I found this Giada deLaurentiis recipe when looking for a delicious, easy appetizer that can take the place of chips and dip.

Ingredients:

1 lb frozen peas, thawed

8 oz sun-dried tomatoes, drained

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

4 heads endive, ends trimmed and leaves separated

Combine the thawed peas, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic in a food processor.  Pulse the machine until the peas and tomatoes are finely chopped.  Add the olive oil and pulse until the oil is incorporated and the mixture is minced, but not yet pureed.  Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the salt and pepper.  Serve with the endive spears alongside.

Sun-dried tomatoes and peas dip with endive leaves

Simple questions with Chris Bro: Scott Vaccaro head brewmaster at Captain Lawrence Brewery

Talking beer with Goose Island. PS I loved the White Pine IPA. Will you be bringing that one back? I need another growler.

Simple questions with chris bro: Jared head brewmaster at Goose Island Brewery in Chicago.
A good showcase of Captain Lawrence (maybe The Brewery Show will do Goose Island next?)

Gotta have music right?

or maybe this

Tequila Lime Tart

Tequila Lime Tart

For the crust:

1 box vanilla wafers

1/3 cup pine nuts (I used almonds)

1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter

For the filling:

2 egg whites

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup tequila (I may have been a little generous…1/3 cup)

the juice from 2 limes (I used two lemons, but I would stick with the limes next time)

4 egg yolks

14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, add vanilla wafers and almonds and pulse until well ground up.   Pour the mixture into a bowl and added the melted butter.   Use a wooden spoon to mix together, then press the crumb mixture into a 10-inch tart pan.   Reserve about 4 tbsp of the crumbs to sprinkle on top when done baking.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet, then bake in the oven for about 8 minutes.

While that’s baking, preparing the filling.  In a mixing bowl, beat together egg whites and sugar until there are soft peaks.

In another mixing bowl, add tequila, lime juice, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk and mix thoroughly.   Fold in the egg whites.

Pour the filling into the cooked tart shell, and bake for 25 minutes.   Remove from the oven and sprinkle the reserved crumbs on the top.  Let it cool in the tart pan before cutting.  Serve with fresh whipped cream on the side.

Ingredients... and some ESPN football coverage!

Ingredients:

4 28-oz cans of San Marzano peeled tomatoes

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

olive oil

beef for gravy

2 pork braccioles

dry Italian white wine

rind from a piece of Parmesan cheese

basil

Pass the 4 cans of tomatoes through a food mill into a large bowl or pot.  Set aside.

San Marzano tomatoes

Pass the canned tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds

In a large pot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Heat oil, then add onions.  Cook until tender, about 5 minutes, over medium heat.

Finely chopped onion

Add chopped onions to hot olive oil

Slice beef into 3/4″ thick cuts.  Add beef and braccioles to the pot.  Brown evenly on all sides.

Beef and pork braccioles

Add to pot

Brown meat on all sides

Remove meat from pot, transfer for a dish, and deglaze the pot with about 1/2 cup of white wine.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape any pieces of meat stuck to the bottom of the pan.   Add the meat back to the pot and let wine reduce for about 5 minutes until it’s slightly thickened, stirring occasionally to make sure the meat does not stick to the pan.

Remove meat from pot

Add dry Italian white wine

Deglaze pot

Add meat back to the pot

Add the strained tomatoes and the Parmesan rind to the pot with the meat, onions and wine.  Add sea salt to taste.   Raise stove to high heat and bring to a boil.  Then, reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour.

Add strained tomatoes

Add the Parmesan rind (optional)

Add sea salt to taste

Remove meat from pot, and continue to cook sauce for another hour (or to desired thickness).  Add some fresh basil when the sauce is done cooking, and remove the Parmesan rind.

Remove meat

Sauce is simmering

Add basil when sauce is cooked

Yields 2 quarts of sauce that can be frozen or refrigerated.  Buon Appetito!