A Great Start to the Week

When I woke up this morning, it was 27-degrees... that's not a very good start to the first full week of Spring, now is it? Well, I walked the dogs on the sunny side of the street, so it wasn't so bad.

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Ready for breakfast!

I always feed them a small wet food breakfast when they come in from their morning walk, so I thought this morning (afternoon, really) would be a great one for me to have a nice breakfast, too.

I started with a hot cup of coffee, which is something I haven't made in a long while. In fact, I haven't even had a coffee to drink since... before the end of January? I tried to water it down a little, so the caffeine wouldn't overwhelm me.

My breakfast comfort food is chilaquiles, and now that I'm eating eggs again, I decided to make my chilaquiles with fried eggs instead of scrambled. I've always worried that there would be some gross texture things going on, what with the combination of egg yolk and sour cream, but it turns out it was delicious! I'm talking, the most delicious chilaquiles I've ever eaten, hands down.

This cast iron pan is one of the lights of my life. It cooks everything so evenly, and it's easily "washed" with a quick paper towel wipe-down.

I finally found a carton of eggs that I'm not grossed out by.  Phil's Fresh Eggs are certified humane, tasty, and affordable -- hooray!

A gorgeous plate of food.

I made my own salsa, but started before I realized we were out of onions, so it only had pablano pepper, Kumato tomato, garlic, black beans, cilantro, and a little salt. I couldn't believe how tasty it was, even without the onion! This might be my new go-to salsa recipe.

I hope y'all are having a nice start to the week, despite the still-cold temperatures. Just hang in there. :)

Vegan BLT

Da-amn... this was one helluva sandwich...

This is the kind of sandwich that has me saying "ommmmffffgggg mmmmph".  You can translate that as you will.  Finger lickin' good.  Crave-worthy.

It isn't really a B LT sandwich as much as it is a TB A LT sandwich (tempeh bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato).  Positively slathered with vegan mago.  Generously sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Layered perfectly between toasted slices of sourdough bread.

Make one as soon as you possibly can, and your tummy will thank you!

Challah French Toast - The Best Thing I Ate This Week

Sometimes, you just have to go there -- French toast?  Try to stifle that yawn...

French toast made with Challah, and orange?  Oh yeah, now we're talkin' some serious breakfast-talk.

Challah bread

1 egg

Milk

Sugar

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Vanilla extract

Juice of 1/2 orange

Reserved orange and peels

Maple syrup

Do your usual French toast thing, but squeeze half of the juice of the orange into the batter.  Thinly slice the other half of the orange into 4-6 slices, and fry them right alongside the bread.  Smother with maple syrup, sprinkle with orange sugar (if you have it, or can get it, it is SO worth it!) and powdered sugar if you are so inclined.

Consume with copious amounts of sugared and creamed coffee.  Sit back, and make yummy sounds.  Wish you could do this every day.  Brag about your awesome breakfast/brunch to all of your friends.

The Best Thing I Ate This Week

Meals like this rebuild my confidence in my ability to cook, because they're the kind that are thrown together from what (little) I have in the fridge at the time, they're usually made when I'm exhausted and don't feel very inspired, and then, miraculously, they turn out to be delicious.

I sautéed some escarole & garlic in olive oil, then added slices of radish & some fleur de sel.  I tossed all of this with a little linguine and voila -- yummy dinner in a pretty bowl.

Believe it or not, I think I got a sunburn today.  It makes sense, because I spent hours sitting in the sun... that kind of thing happens, I suppose... it's only strange because it's April in Chicago, and that usually isn't sunburn season.  The Cubs home opener was Thursday, and of course I was working, but I got to spend Saturday and Sunday at the park with my 'fella.  Ike came with us on Saturday, but proved to be a little high-strung, so today we left him at home.  I had my pendants out, and got a few new sign-ups for the newsletter -- yay!  I also received a message about a cool opportunity this Summer, but I won't say anything about it until it's set in stone.

All in all, it was a nice weekend, and I hope yours was the same!  Back to the grind tomorrow, and pretty soon I think I'll just go to bed.  Sitting in the sun is surprisingly exhausting (I know, what a rough life I have) and I'm just about ready to fall asleep.

The Best Thing I Ate... Last Week

The time to cook -- to actually carefully put together a meal and sit down to enjoy it -- is few and far between these days.  I had been thinking about an awesome brunch all week, and on Sunday I finally got it.  I didn't get it until 4pm, hehe, but better late than never, right?

Mmm... chilaquiles... the food of the gods, as far as I'm concerned.

Fried tortillas topped with eggs scrambled with milk and salsa, with fresh queso, fresh scallions, more salsa, chopped fresh cilantro, and sour cream.

This is probably my favorite breakfast meal of all time, and is quickly becoming my go-to comfort food, as well.  It's so simple, but so perfectly wonderful.

The Best Thing I Ate This Week: Spinach Pesto

Super-yum!  I found this recipe on MarthaStewart.com, and it did not disappoint!  Martha rarely does disappoint, though.  ;)

Linguine with Spinach Pesto

12 ounces fettuccine

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)

2 tablespoons pine nuts, plus more for serving (optional)

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon grated zest plus 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; immediately drain pasta, and return to pot.

While pasta is cooking, place spinach, Parmesan, nuts, garlic, and lemon zest and juice in a food processor. Process until a paste forms. With motor running, add oil and 1/4 cup cold water; process until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add to pasta; toss, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time until sauce is thinned slightly and coats fettuccine (you may not need all the water). Serve, sprinkled with additional Parmesan and nuts, if desired.

I only had about 1 tbsp. pine nuts, so I substituted in some walnuts, and they worked great!  As always, if you make it, let me know how it turned out for you!

Cupcake & Frosting Recipe

Okay, as promised, the recipes for the cupcakes (and frosting) I made yesterday.  You're gonna love them!

Tried & True Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/4 cake flour

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325-degrees.  Line muffin tin.  In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Then add one stick of butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, mixing until you've got small pearls.  In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients: eggs, milk, vanilla.  With the mixer on medium (or, if your like me, with a wooden spoon), add wet ingredients slowly, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.  Mix as little as you can, just until everything's incorporated.  Divide batter evenly into muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Makes 12 cupcakes.

Variations: Add a dash of any extract you can think of: lemon, lavender, they're all good.  White chocolate chips never hurt anybody.  Try adding two bags of dry Earl Grey tea for a really elegant little cake.

Dream Buttercream Frosting

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

In a large metal mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Place a mixing bowl over a saucepan simmering with one inch of water and begin to whisk.  Whisk until the egg mixture is the texture of a velvety custard, technically 160-degrees if you have a thermometer.  Remove from heat, and beat for five minutes, or until eggs are light and fluffy and cooled to room temperature.  Then, add butter a tablespoon at a time, waiting for each pice to incorporate before adding the next.

The secret here is to just keep whisking.  If your frosting isn't setting up, try popping the whole bowl into the freezer for five minutes, and then beat some more.  When it happens, the frosting will come together all at once: satiny and beyond delicious.  Frosts 12 cupcakes.  (In my experience, it could have frosted probably 24 cupcakes.  I'll use the leftover for a cake.)

Variations: Here, as with all vanilla frostings, the sky's the limit.  Cocoa powder, maple, molasses, lemon and orange extract, rose and lavender -- the choices are endless.  But the beauty of this frosting is the delicacy of the vanilla flavor.

If you do decide to make the cupcakes, let me know how yours turned out!  Especially if you do any of the variations... the Earl Grey sounds particularly intriguing.

Homemade Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza

The Best Thing I Ate Last Week

Homemade Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza

I found this recipe via thekitchn.com (one of my favorite places to fine yummy recipes that never let me down), and I thought I should give it a go.  After all, I live in Chicago, so I know as well as anyone here that ordering in a pizza, enough for even two people, is going to set you back about $25 or more.  Now don't get me wrong, it's worth it (Chicago, by far, has the BEST pizza!), but it might be fun, as well as more affordable, to make it at home.

Lucky me, this recipe turned out to be fantastic!  I went ahead and baked it in a cast iron pan (featured in the pictures, but not in the directions) and I was not disappointed!  The crust was crispy & buttery on the outside, and perfectly chewy throughout.  I got to add whatever ingredients I wanted (without paying an extra $1.50 each, hello money-saver), and when I told my 'fella what I was making, I got a kiss, a huge smile, and a really heart-felt "I love you".  Motivation!

I ended up halving the recipe featured on the site, and then halving that to make one pizza for two people.  The rest of the dough is in the freezer, and my boyfriend said next time he wants to make the pizza for me -- double-motivation, all the way!

We topped ours off with Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese.

The recipe from thekitchn.com, as found in the book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, follows:

Source: thekitchn.com

Makes about one 8 × 2- inch deep-dish pizza or four 6 × 1- inch individual deep-dish pizzas

There's no question that deep- dish pizza was invented in Chicago, although there is some dispute over which pizzeria came up with it first. The pizza varies around Chicago, but for all, the crust is remarkable for its tender, almost buttery flavor and its luscious golden color, courtesy of cornmeal. Baking the pizza in a butter- coated cake pan fries the outside edge and makes for a crispy crust.

Ingredients

3/4 pound (large orange-size portion) Cornmeal Olive Oil Dough (recipe follows)
4 large Italian sausages (about 3/4 pound), cooked and broken into small pieces
11/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup thick tomato sauce
Butter for the pan
Cornmeal for the pan

Directions

1. Prepare and measure all toppings in advance.

2. Preheat oven to 500°F. Generously butter an 8 x 2- inch spring- form cake pan and coat with cornmeal. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 3/4- pound (large orange- size) piece. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter- turn as you go (if making individual pies, divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into balls).

3. Roll out and stretch the pizza crust: Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on a work surface to produce a 1/8- inch- thick round. Dust with flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface. Use a dough scraper to unstick the dough as needed. Transfer to the cake pan. The dough should hang over the edge of the pan, which will prevent it from "slouching" while you fill it

4. Add the fillings: Mix together the sausage and two-thirds of the cheese in a bowl. Spread the meat mixture onto the dough, then top with the sauce and the remaining cheese. Trim the overhanging dough with kitchen shears so there is about 1/2 inch of dough that will flop down over the filling.

5. Slide the pizza into the preheated oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F. Check for doneness in about 45 minutes (20 minutes for the individual pizzas). The pizza should be bubbling and the cheese evenly melted.

6. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, preferably on a wire cooling rack. This allows the filling to set slightly before removing from the pan and slicing. When cooled, cut into wedges and serve.

Cornmeal Olive Oil Dough
Makes enough dough for at least eight 1/2-pound pizzas or flatbreads (about 12 inches across). The Recipe is easily doubled or halved.

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups (1 lb 6 oz/625 g) lukewarm water
1 tablespoon (.35 oz/10 g) granulated yeast
1-1 1/2 tablespoons (.63-.94 oz/17-25 g) kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar, honey, malt powder, or agave syrup
3/4 cup (6 oz/165 g) olive oil
6 cups (1 lb 14 oz/850 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (4 oz/125 g) yellow cornmeal

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, and sweetener with the water and oilve oil in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3. Cover (not airtight), and allow it to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and ncollapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after its initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 10 days. Or store the dough for up to 3 weeks in the freezer in 1/2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, tahw it in the refrigerator overnight before use.

5. On pizza or flatbread day, roll out or stretch the dough into a round and finish with your favorite toppings, using any of the recipes in this book.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

So, if you try it, and like it (or don't), let me know how yours turned out, and what ingredients you used!  This could turn into a very creative and fun pizza, and a great stay-in recipe for you and yours.  Believe me, it's almost more fun -- and more tasty -- when you make it together!

Throw it together broccoli soup

I love soup, but I always end up making too much.  Today, I was desperate for a bowl, just one bowl, of broccoli soup.  I didn't want to make a whole batch, I didn't want to go to the store, I just wanted the bowl of soup as quickly and easily as possible.

Turns out, it's really not that difficult to make an awesome bowl of soup, for one.

Unofficial Ingredients:

Whatever is left in that bag of broccoli in the freezer (we'll estimate about 1/2 cup, here)

1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin

1 cup water and a chicken bouillon cube (or about 1 cup chicken stock)

Cream, as much or as little as you like

I boiled the water with the bouillon cube for about 3 minutes, then added the frozen broccoli and sliced carrots.  If you have a little extra onion, or garlic, throw that in too.

Boil, boil, boil until the veggies are mushy.  This way you can avoid blending or pureeing all the ingredients together, and just go to town on them with a potato masher.  Is it perfect?  No... but it's easier, creates less mess, and makes the soup delightfully chunky and homemade-y.

Once you have poured the soup into a bowl, add a little bit of cream, and stir.  Dip bread and butter into the soup, and mmm... enjoy.

What I'm Eating... Potato Gnocchi w/ Creamy Garlic-Butter Sauce

I finally made a meal at home, a round of applause for me!  Once the weather warms up, I'm less and less motivated to spend time in my tiny (hot) kitchen, but this dish was well worth the trouble.

Ingredients

Gnocchi: Potatoes, flour, 1 egg, salt

Sauce: Garlic cloves, butter, Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper

Follow the full recipe here: Potato Gnocchi w/ Garlic-Butter Sauce!

vanessauttaro.com

What I'm Eating... Sopes

I just love making Mexican food.  Seriously, I'm Italian & Polish, but I could really eat Mexican (or Asian) food for the rest of my life, and be perfectly happy.

Sopes with beans, ground beef, queso fresco, sour cream, lettuce, avocado, and hot sauce.

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

In other news... I need a new name for my website -- "Decorate, Eat & Repeat" is starting to sound a little too cutesy for me, and it rhymes too much... I'm just not digging it anymore.  Any ideas?

What I'm Eating... Chicken w/ Lemon & Green Olives

Another great recipe from Martha Stewart!  I only made slight adjustments, most importantly reducing the recipe from eight chicken breasts to two.

I really think Spring is the "season of lemons".  Yes, I know that sounds silly... but it really is the best time for them!  The bright yellow color, the tart sweetness, and of course the versatility -- lemons are just so bright and happy, just like Spring (if Chicago's Spring would ever get started).

Recipe:

Chicken w/ Lemon & Green Olives

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts, lemon, green olives, onion, garlic cloves, salt & pepper, extra virgin olive oil, chicken stock, red pepper flakes; egg noodles

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Pork w/ Honey & Butter Sauce

Yum!  We had this with sides of spinach and garlic sauteed in olive oil, and spicy sweet potato fries with red pepper flakes and cumin.

I'm really loving spinach, right now!

Recipe:

Pork w/ Honey & Butter Sauce

(clicking this link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Pork chops or tenderloin, honey, butter, salt & pepper, water

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Shrimp & Spaghetti

Last night, running low on ingredients, I put this together for a surprisingly yummy and easy dinner.  There's no use in making a to-do over a recipe, just add what you like (and however much) and hope that it turns out well!  For the most part, you can't go wrong with these ingredients.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti, shrimp (frozen, thawed), white wine, extra virgin olive oil, butter, red pepper flakes, sliced garlic, sea salt, Parmesan cheese, ground black pepper

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

It doesn't look like much, but it tastes great, and it is unexpectedly filling.

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Huevos Rancheros

The Mexican food (especially for breakfast) trend continues...

Recipe:

Huevos Rancheros

(Clicking link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Corn tortilla, egg, fresh cilantro, green onion, salsa, cheese, butter

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Tortilla Soup

Is anyone else noticing a trend, here?  I am way into Mexican food right now, I think because I got such a good deal on these organic corn tortillas at Whole Foods (99-cents!).

This is a pretty simple recipe, which is great when you aren't much in the mood for cooking dinner -- its quick, simple, and satisfying.

Recipe:
Tortilla Soup
(Clicking link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:
Corn tortillas, onion, garlic, jalapeño pepper, fresh cilantro, chicken stock, tomatoes (canned or fresh), olive oil, grated cheese or queso fresco

What I'm Eating... Chilaquiles

Ever since the Yelp brunch, I've been wanting to make chilaquiles at home.  Mine were, of course, a little different (mostly due to a lack of all the ingredients I would have liked to have used), but still completely satisfying.  This is probably my new favorite breakfast dish, and one that's worth the effort in the morning.

Recipe:

Chilaquiles

(Clicking link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas, salsa, grated cheese, green onion, olive oil, eggs, milk

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Guacamole (Superbowl Recipes)

I don't have any pictures of this one, because we were too busy eating it (and watching the game), but I think its worth sharing!  I actually found it in the back of a Whole Foods coupon book, so we have them to thank for it!

Green Pea Guacamole

1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro

1 16 oz. bag frozen green peas, thawed; or, 1 15 oz. can, drained

1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped roughly

4 green onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic

4-6 tbsp. lime juice (I used the juice of two limes)

Set aside 1 tbsp. cilantro, and then transfer remaining to a food processor.  Add remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.  Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with reserved cilantro and serve.

(I also added in a little spicy salsa!)

What I'm Eating... Spicy Roasted Okra, Potatoes & Onions

Apparently, okra has a bad reputation of being kind of yucky and slimy.  Luckily for me, I didn't have a problem, because I roasted my okra whole!  If you haven't tried it this way yet, you're in for a pleasant surprise!

Recipe:

Spicy Roasted Okra, Potatoes, & Onions

(Clicking this link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Potatoes, okra, onions, curry seasoning, sea salt, olive oil

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm Eating... Meatballs

I'm guilty of watching the Jersey Shore every Thursday night -- so what goes better with a show about a bunch of meatballs than an actual bunch of meatballs?  :)

Recipe:

Meatballs

(Clicking this link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Ground beef, ground sausage, fresh sage, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, red sauce/marinara

Decorate, Eat & Repeat