salami-ciabatta melt

Simple, but amazingly delicious...

I cut a small loaf of olive ciabatta in half, and layered the following:
-gruyere
-sliced herb-crusted salami
-sun-dried tomatoes (in olive oil)
-fontina
Then stuck it under the broiler, just until the cheese melted and the bread was toasted (only took a few minutes).

I bet this would also be good with things like sliced marinated mushrooms, artichokes, or olives (I would have used olives, if my bread didn't already have them baked in)

christmas dinner

I was in charge of cooking Christmas dinner for my family this year
(no pressure!), and this is what I came up with...

Rosemary pork tenderloin, with bacon on top (click here for recipe)

Horseradish and sour cream mashed potatoes (click here for recipe)

Green beans with bacon, blue cheese, and toasted almonds

(click here for recipe)

Also, not pictured was homemade cranberry sauce (you can see that in one of my previous posts).

sushi

Spicy salmon roll with tuna & avocado on top.
Seaweed salad on the side.
(no, I did not make this myself :-)

almond-ginger biscotti

Click here for the recipe.

tortellini with peas & bacon

Click here for the recipe (I substituted bacon for the prosciutto).

cranberry-apple crisps

buttermilk blueberry pancakes

twice-baked potato

& swiss chard, sautéed with sausage and onion

happy birthday, food porn!

A year ago today, I started Food Porn. So I thought, what better way to celebrate than by returning to its roots: bacon.

Here, we have brown sugar bacon, with brown sugar ice cream.

To make the bacon, coat with a mixture of 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and a pinch of black pepper. Arrange on a wire rack, set on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (the grease & some of the sugar will drip down into the pan. The foil makes for an easy cleanup). Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

The ice cream is Häagen-Dazs brown sugar. One of the flavors in their new "Five" line. It is so named because they only use 5 ingredients (which means it's...uh...good for you).

brownie sundae

Freshly-baked brownie + mint chocolate chip ice cream = heaven.

pasta with mussels & clams

1/2 a box of pasta shells

2 bunches broccoli

1 package grape tomatoes, roasted

2 lbs mussels

1 dozen littleneck clams

1 c. white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)

garlic

red pepper flakes

Roast the tomatoes: toss a pint of grape tomatoes with olive oil & coarse salt, and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Add some stalks of fresh thyme if you have it. Bake in a 450-degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Set aside when done.

Cook pasta in well-salted water. About 5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the broccoli to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, heat a pan with a couple of TBSP olive oil, sliced garlic & red pepper flakes, until fragrant. Add the mussels & clams, and 1 cup white wine. Cover and cook until the shells open (about 5 minutes). Keep an eye on them, because you don't want to overcook them (they're done as soon as they open).

Drain the pasta & broccoli, add to the mussels & clams, and toss. Top with the roasted tomatoes (they'll get crushed if you add them pre-tossing). Season with salt & pepper. Keep in mind that the broth will probably be pretty salty already, so taste before you season.

(made enough to stuff 3 people and have leftovers)

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This was my first time cooking mussels & clams myself, because I always felt intimidated by it (worried about food safety issues). The key is making sure they stay alive until you cook them. Turns out, it's very easy to tell:

Before cooking: discard any whose shells are open or do not shut when you tap on them.

After cooking: discard any that do NOT open.

Recipe based on watching Giada De Laurentiis.

potato rosemary pizza

Whole wheat pizza crust topped with paper-thin slices of red potato, rosemary, olive oil, salt & pepper. Finished off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.

plum galette

Recipe here.

garlic-basil chicken

I make variations on this dish often, and while I don't really have a specific recipe, this is my general method:

-Heat a pan on med-hi and add olive oil.

-Season both sides of cutlet (chicken, pork, beef, etc) with salt & pepper, and sautée until done (thin cutlets will only need a couple of minutes per side).

-Remove meat to a plate, drain any excess oil out of the pan, and add some kind of acid (wine, citrus juice, etc) to deglaze the pan. Maybe add in a splash of chicken stock as well.

-Add thinly-sliced or minced aromatic (garlic, onion, shallot, etc), turn down heat a bit, and let the liquid reduce most of the way.

-Turn off heat, add in a pat of butter and some fresh herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, etc), and maybe a little squeeze of lemon juice.

-Add meat back into the pan, and turn to coat in the sauce. Done!

Use whatever ingredients you like or have on hand. Some possibilities:
-chicken+white wine+garlic+basil (as seen here)
-pork+white wine+onion+lemon+parsley
-beef+red wine+shallot+rosemary

mozzarella-basil salad with herb-crusted salami

blueberry ginger pie

Recipe from Everyday Food magazine.

breakfast sausages

in a pool of maple syrup



(I was at a diner eating this—with waffles, not pictured—while my bf was doing a triathlon... is that wrong?)

gazpacho

When I think summer, I think gazpacho.

There are tons of gazpacho recipes out there, but I chose this one from Anne Burrell, because I was intrigued by her incorporation of bread (an ingredient that never would have occurred to me). I think the bread added a wonderful body to the soup, so it feels like you're eating something substantial (gazpacho can sometimes tend to be a bit watery). If you're looking for a good gazpacho recipe, I highly recommend Anne's.

french toast

dinner at sandra's

A glorious July 4th meal prepared by my friend Sandra...

Shrimp with hot peppers:


Baked asparagus with oil & balsamic:


Roasted fennel:


My contribution—Crostini with nectarine, goat cheese, scallion & jalapeno:
(is it just me, or does it look happy?)


Homemade pesto:


Fried zucchini:


Manchego with the chorizo, before it was cooked:


Chorizo and onions sautéed in red wine:


(don't worry, lonely chorizo, I will eat you.)


Biscotti and raspberries, with a raspberry lambic:



Thank you, Sandra!
As much as I love to cook, sometimes it's nice to just be the eater :-)