A Lovely Evening at The Scotch and Sirloin :)

    (This post is a restaurant review, and therefore recipe-free, but don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow with a Molasses Cookie recipe :)

    Tonight, Michael and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 6-month Anniversary. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Scotch and Sirloin . There is one here in Syracuse, NY and another in Rochester, NY and they are both EXCELLENT. Every dining experience I have had at both locations has been a win/win with both food and service. Here are some reasons why:

- Perfect table service. And by that I mean knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive enough to feel well taken care-of, but never crossing the bridge into disruptive or annoying.

- Excellent pacing of the meal. The kitchen will not begin your entree until after you have been served your appetizer and/or you have visited the salad bar, which spreads the courses out nicely and minimizes that *my entree isn't even here yet and I'm stuffed* feeling. One never feels rushed in this restaurant. Michael and I lingered over our meal for two hours, savoring every bite. (don't worry, we're not campers, we ordered dessert and hot tea and we tip VERY well).

- Upscale rustic atmosphere. Classy, not fussy :)

- THE FOOD: Crisp lettuce, fresh bread and homemade dressings at the salad bar. Prime Rib and Top Sirloin Teriyaki both cooked a perfect medium-rare with crispy/fluffy baked potatoes. Homemade French Silk Pie and a Brownie Sundae with real hot fudge. This food is not pretentious, it is merely the best version of itself. The chefs here are true masters of their craft :) (The menu is much more extensive than this, I'm just listing what we ordered as an example)

Whether for an intimate dinner with a loved one or a large celebration, The Scotch and Sirloin will give you exactly what you are looking for :) Although we were there on a pleasantly quiet Sunday evening, be sure to take the extra insurance of making a reservation, because this place has been around since 1967, and their awesomeness hardly a secret :)

Love,
Lynn





 

Chicken Piccata: Part One

Happy Sunday!

  To me,one of the best parts of cooking is the improvisation. I love taking a base recipe and tweaking it, tinkering with it, making it my own. I'm sure many cooks would agree :)

 So that is where we begin today. A recipe that arrived in my hands via a co-worker of my mother's. The recipe is for a Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss, which my boyfriend and I made last night for my parents. For the first try, I followed the recipe virtually to the letter (minus the parsley and capers). What followed was a very good Chicken Piccata, but, admittedly, one that I feel could be improved in several ways. I am going to post the original recipe now, tweak it a bit, and then post my version of the recipe here in the coming weeks. Why post both? Why not just post my version later? Because recipes evolve, and it's not necessarily about getting everything perfect the first time. Cooking can be about trial and error, learning, experimenting, etc. At the risk of sounding too abstract, I'd like this post to be about the journey, not the destination. So here were are, Chicken Piccata Part One, Part Two to follow shortly :)

Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss
- 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 11/3 lbs chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
-1 1/2 tbsp. butter
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 good sized shallots, chopped
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
- 1 lemon, juiced, or 1/3 cup lemon juice 
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 3 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained (I didn't have any capers, so I left these out)
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped (again, I didn't have any fresh parsley, so I had to leave this out)
- 1 cup (or one small jar) quartered artichoke hearts in brine (drained and squeezed well)
- 1lb penne rigate pasta, cooked al dente

 - cook pasta to al dente, keep warm and set aside
- heat large, deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add about one tbsp. of EVOO and the chicken to the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown until lightly golden all over. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm. (I put it on a tray in a 185 degree oven).
- Reduce heat to medium and add the other tbsp. of EVOO to the pan along with the one tbsp. of butter and the garlic and shallots. Saute for about 3 minutes, keep an eye on the garlic so that it doesn't burn.
- Add the flour and cook for two minutes
- Whisk in the wine and reduce liquid for about 1 minute
- Whisk in the lemon juice and broth, stir in artichokes, capers and parsley (if using)
- When the sauce starts to bubble, add remaining 1/2 tbsp of butter Add chicken and heat through
- Toss with hot pasta

I very excited to tweak this and then compare the two :)

Love,
Lynn

Hummus Double-Take :)

Greetings, My Hungry Friends :)

  For this week's offering, I submit to you what my friend Liz calls (with my enthusiastic agreement) *Sex in a Bowl*, or, for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure: Hummus (or, as some would spell it, Humos).

  Hummus is one of those foods that transports me. Hummus with pita or veggies will always take me instantly, in my mind at least, to the Mediterranean, along with my other great loves, dolmades and tzatziki, but that's another blog. Ahh, hummus, earthy, spicy (if you want it to be), unctuous,and.....wait for it.....healthy?!?!  I'm there :) Another thing I love about hummus is its blank canvas quality, one base recipe can be flavored virtually any way you want.


 This latest hummus making adventure was for a Greek-themed potluck dinner with a large group of my friends. The base recipe was taken from *The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook*, written by the venerable Ina Garten. This lady knows her stuff. Not a single one of her recipes has ever let me down. Ever. Her cookbooks are an excellent investment that you will turn to again and again. I really only made one adjustment to her base recipe, which was to oven- roast the garlic before adding it to the other ingredients. You don't know how to roast garlic, you say? Miss Lynn is here to help :)

 
Oven Roasted Garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 medium sized bulb of garlic (or however many you want to roast)

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel as much of the papery-white outer skin off the garlic bulb as you can, while still leaving the bulb intact.
- Carefully cut off the top 1/2 inch of the garlic bulb (the pointy part), so that tops of the individual garlic cloves are exposed.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the exposed cloves and rub the oil into the garlic cloves so that each one is lightly coated
- Place the garlic bulb(s) on a sheet pan and cover with aluminum foil. (You could also wrap the bulb in aluminum foil and place on the sheet pan.
- Roast garlic at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until cloves are golden brown and soft.
- When garlic is cool enough to handle safely, gently squeeze the cloves from the bulb. Add to recipe, or, alternatively, spread on bread or use to flavor dipping oil, YUMYUMYUMYUM!  Added bonus: roasting garlic will make your house smell AWESOME!!!

And now, on to the hummus :)

 Hummus with Lemon and Roasted Garlic
( Note: I doubled the quantity of this recipe, since I was feeding 12 people, but here are the original proportions. Obviously, it can be easily doubled or even tripled)
- 2 cups canned chickpeas (sometimes labeled as garbanzo beans) drained, liquid reserved
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 roasted garlic cloves, or to taste (I used an entire bulb of garlic in my double batch, but I realize that might not appeal to everyone)
- 1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste) It can usually be found in the ethnic section of your grocery store, with other Mediterranean ingredients)
- 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about two lemons). *the lemon juice HAS to be fresh, the bottled stuff tastes too bitter and chemical-y and will ruin the flavor of the hummus.
- 2 tablespoons of water or the reserved liquid from the chickpeas.
- 8 dashes of hot sauce ( the original recipe calls for Tabasco sauce, but all I had on hand was Frank's Red Hot sauce, and it worked great).

- Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste for seasoning. This can be served chilled or at room temperature. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and serve with pita bread and/or veggies for dipping.

After making this initial batch, I had some base ingredients left over. After a pantry search I found a jar of roasted red peppers, and altered the above recipe slightly to make some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
- Make the above hummus base recipe with the following substitutions:
 OMIT: -the roasted garlic
 ADD: -1 jar of roasted red peppers and their juice
          - 4 cloves regular garlic or to taste
          - a few splashes of liquid from a jar of hot peppers (I used the liquid from homemade hot pepper/olive salad, which you can also get at the olive bar or salad bar of most grocery stores. Drain some of the liquid off of that if you have it on hand, it'll give the hummus a nice kick:)
          -Taste for seasonings
          - Serve as above, room temperature or chilled with a drizzle of olive oil, pita and/or veggies for dipping.

Oh Yeah :)

Until Next Time!
Lynn <3




          


















 

Idiot Proof Pot Roast

Hello Hello and Happy New Year!!!

    With my various performances closing or on a break and the holidays completed, I'm absolutely thrilled to come back to my Food Blog! As I stated on my other Blog, (<-- I  FINALLY  figured out how to  insert text links, yay!!!!) one of my goals for 2011 is to write in each of my blogs at least once a week. Obviously, I'm going to aim for more than that, but I think that shooting for once a week is a good place to start. I would have blogged earlier in the week than this, but I had a nasty sinus infection, and I am just in the last few days feeling better, thank goodness. I've missed this so much, and I can't wait to get started again :)

  For my first offering of the New Year, I turn once again to what is becoming one of my favorite *Idiot Proof* cooking tools, the Crock Pot :) I believe I sang its praises a few entries back when I made lasagna in the Crock Pot (OMG YUM). Seriously, this is another one of those recipes where (unless you care to brown the meat first) you literally just pile everything in the Crock Pot, turn it on, and then walk away from it for 6-8 hours, and the days is yours; work, shop, read a book, do absolutely nothing, or, in my case, make a few pies, but that's another blog post :)

  This is also useful in a *clean out the crisper* kind of way, I put in the veggies that I like with my Pot Roast but, really, if you like different ones, throw them in too/instead. I actually made this for the first time several years ago for a friend's birthday party, and was brought back to it a few days ago when making a low-stress holiday dinner for some dear friends :) This is pretty high up on the *Winter Comfort Food* List. Gather some friends around your table and Enjoy :)

                                      
Idiot Proof Pot Roast

- Chuck Roast ( for 4-6 people, use about 2lbs, scale up or down for number of people and their appetites:)
- a few carrots, cleaned and rough chopped
- a few stalks of celery, cleaned and rough chopped
- a few onions (or 1 large, it depends on how much onion flavor you like)
- 1 jar of tomato sauce, or one can of tomato paste, tomato puree, etc. Really, what you're looking for here is anything that will add a tomato base flavor. Yes, ketchup will work in a pinch, but you'll basically never see me willingly use ketchup in a recipe.
- An equivalent amount of water to the tomato (i.e. if you used one jar of tomato sauce, fill the same jar up with water)
- whatever other flavors you like in your pot roast, Wine ( my personal fave), Worcestershire Sauce, Steak Sauce, some people swear by Cream of Mushroom Soup (though I've never tried it myself), whatever you like :)
- whatever seasonings you like, I used salt and pepper (a given), a little bit of parsley and some French Thyme.

-  (If browning the meat, brown in a large saute pan ,cut into smaller pieces if necessary, add to Crock Pot with rest of ingredients)
- Add meat, veggies, tomato, water, flavorings and seasonings to Crock Pot (order doesn't really matter)
- Turn Crock Pot to High and let cook for 6-8 hours
- Tranfer meat and veggies to a serving platter. The cooking liquid can be served on the side as au jus. This is what I usually do, if you like you can turn the Crock Pot to Low and just leave the au jus in the and serve it with a ladle. Or you can thicken it into a gravy with a little flour and a little butter. Serve.

- This would be lovely with mashed potatoes, but we actually served it with roasted potatoes. We quartered potatoes, coated them with canola oil, salt, pepper and Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle (which is good on everything, not just pasta) and roasted them at 475 degrees for about 50 minutes until golden.
- NOM :)

Love,
Lynn

Oh! P.S. What do you think of the template? It's one of the stock background options that Blogger offers. I though the paint splatters went with the whole *Kitchen as Canvas* idea, but I don't want it to look too busy. Anyone feel like teaching me how to custom design my own template? Later Gators :)

Avicolli's is the Real Deal :)

Hey All!
I am a Bridesmaid in a very dear friend's wedding this weekend, which leaves me a twinge short on time. So, for this post, in lieu of a recipe, I'm going to give a VERY STRONG recommendation to a local, privately owned, non-chain Italian restaurant here in the Liverpool area that I had the privilege of working for for the majority of this past year. Avicolli's Pizzeria and Restaurant on Rte. 57 in Liverpool, NY. Here's their website :)

www.avicollisrestaurant.com

     I was a server at Avicolli's for many months. And the fact that I will still wholeheartedly recommend them after being employed there should speak volumes about the establishment. Before we even get to food, let me say that I really liked everyone that I worked with, the scheduling was flexible and very fair, the kitchen and prep areas are very clean, and everyone really does work as a team, I couldn't have asked for better :) Sometime soon I will be reflecting on my time spent there in my other blog, so check out *So I was Thinking* in the coming weeks to hear a more detailed account of my restaurant adventures.

And now, the important part, the FOOD:

- they make their own Marinara, and it's GREAT. Those of you that know me well know that I'm a huge snob when it comes to this, and I will rarely eat red sauce when I go out. Not only will I eat this, I will eat it GLADLY.
- All of their sauces are homemade
- The garlic knots are homemade
- A large portion of the desserts and the Italian bread are from local bakeries
- In the warm weather there is an herb garden on premises that the kitchen pulls from daily.
- In my opinion, the best Pizza in the Liverpool area.
- The building houses two separate dining areas, a classic counter pizzeria and a sit down restaurant.
- Homemade house balsamic dressing
- Best chicken parmesan in the Liverpool area

My personal recommendations:
- Chef Salad
- Antipasto Salad
- ANY of the Pizzas, though my personal favorites are Gramma's Favorite, Margherita, and White
- Baked Ziti Sicilian 
- Chicken Parmesan
- Any pasta shape with Vodka Sauce
- Any pasta shape with Amatriciana Sauce
- Chicken or Veal Francese

- Check them out, tell them Lynn sent you, you won't regret it :)

Love,
Lynn

Crock Pot Lasagna

    Is there anyone else out there who experiences Food Emergencies? I'm sure there are, but allow me to explain. In my world, a food emergency is akin to a craving. When, for reasons internal or external, a certain food becomes immediately necessary. Stress, PMS, good days, bad days, and so on, lead to food emergencies. I myself have been known to have Milkshakes Emergencies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Emergencies, and Fresh Fruit Emergencies, just to name a few :)

    Being Italian, Pasta is basically always at the top of my comfort food list. In all it's many incarnations, homemade pasta is basically love and comfort in a bowl, at for me:. Sometimes, you just need Lasagna, you know what I mean? However, sometimes I just don't have the time to make a traditional lasagna, as much as I would like to. Last year, my wonderful Mama gave me a cookbook that was a compilation of recipes from the people who work at her hospital, and in this book are several delicious stew and pasta recipes that have been designed for a slow cooker. My two favorites from this book are the Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese (that one will probably show up in a later post), and the star of today's show, Crock Pot Lasagna. Yes, friends, Lasagna wherein you can throw virtually all of the ingredients into the Crock Pot, uncooked, forget about it for a few hours, and then have it ready and waiting for you. The only "cooking" you have to do is brown the meat before it goes in. Oh, Crock Pot Lasagna, where have you BEEN all my life?

  BEFORE WE BEGIN: This version does not serve up as neatly as traditional lasagna (the kind you put in the oven and serve by cutting and serving in squares). Getting the lasagna out of the Crock Pot can make the layers more prone to falling apart, so they won't be pretty, perefectly shaped squares, but that certainly won't affect the taste. The flavor is not exactly the same as traditional lasagna either, but it's pretty darn close and goes together in about one quarter of the time. So, here ya go, throw this in the Crock Pot mid-morning and the bubbly, cheesy, meaty pasta goodness will be ready for you by dinner time :) YUM:)

Crock Pot Lasagna
- 6 Lasagna noodles, uncooked
- 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 1/4 lb Italian sausage (you could also use all beef or all sausage, depending on your tastes)
- 1 garlic clove (or 1/2 of a garlic clove if garlic isn't your thing, although I find it hard to believe people like that actually exist 0_o)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded  (okay, I'll be honest, the recipe in the book called for 1 cup, but if you think that's all I used you clearly don't know me very well :) Use however much tickles your fancy:)
- 14 oz. Pasta Sauce, we make our own in my family, but if you do jarred sauce, use your favorite brand.
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 can mushrooms (optional, I've made it both ways, and they're both tasty, again, do as you please)
- 8 oz. Ricotta Cheese (my Mom mixes one egg and a little parsley into the Ricotta cheese, even though the recipe in the book doesn't call for it. I prefer it my Mom's way, but it's your call)

- Grease Crock Pot (Unless it's non-stick. I was tempted to skip this, don't. A thin coating of oil or Pam should do you just fine)
- Break noodles in half and place 1/2 of the noodles in the bottom of the Crock Pot. Brown beef and sausage and drain. Spread half of this mixture over the first layer of lasagna noodles.
- Follow the meat mixture with half of the sauce, water, mushrooms (if using), ricotta and mozzarella. Repeat ingredients in this order for the second layer, ending with the mozzarella cheese.

- Cook on low for 5 hours. Serves about 4 people.

This recipe is enough for about two layers. If you have a bigger/deeper Crock Pot, or you are feeding more people, this recipe can be increased by 1/3rd (for a third layer), doubled or even tripled. That's why I love dishes like this, they can be adjusted to feed as many people as you can crowd around a table. Pasta is Magic :)

To give credit where it is certainly due, this recipe came from the Community General Hospital Family Cookbook:)

Enjoy <3
Lynn

UPDATE 11/26/11: I would like to apologize for the photo quality in this particular blog post. This was back when I was still getting the hang of food photography and wasn't very adept at getting step by step photos. The next time I make this dish I will reshoot the photos and put them up here so that they better illustrate the recipe :)

Fresh Apple Cake with Warm Butter Cream Sauce

I'm back!!!!

Hello My Darlings! After an amazing and amazingly busy summer, I return to my beloved food blog :) I've missed you all so much, and I've got tons of ideas for posts! As the dark months approach, recipes for homey, comfort-type food come to the forefront of my mind. Let's set the Autumnal mood with the aforementioned Apple Cake with Warm Butter Cream Sauce :)

An apple recipe? In October? The Hell you say!?!?
 No, friends, I am completely serious:) Here a few things I like about this recipe:
- It's not apple pie. Don't mistake me, I love me some apple pie. However, being mid-October, I have had apple pie and apple crisp several times already, and I am ready to move on to a slightly different type of apple dessert.
-If you served this without the butter sauce (or, heck, even with the butter sauce) this cake would be excellent for breakfast. Some hot tea or coffee, the morning paper if that's your thing, and you've got yourself Morning Bliss :)
-It's not too sweet.
- It keeps well, in a covered 9x13 pan, it'll last you for at least a few days, the apple keeps it nice and moist, but not soggy. The sauce can be refrigerated for several days also.

 This one comes from my Mom's vast recipe collection. Enjoy:)

Fresh Apple Cake with Warm Butter Cream Sauce 


- 4 cups apples, peeled and sliced

- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
-2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- Butter Sauce (recipe follows)

- Preheat oven to 350 F
- In large bowl, stir together apples and sugar. Add dry ingredients, stir well.
- In separate bowl, beat eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture in to apple mixture, blending until thoroughly moistened. Stir in pecans if using.
- Pour into greased 13x9x2 inch pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with warm butter sauce.

Warm Butter Cream Sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (personally, I don't use margarine, but if you do, or if that's all you have on hand, that'll work too)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla

- Place all ingredients in saucepan; stir. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and cook for three minutes. Serve over apple cake

This dessert sauce is, in my opinion, quite versatile. It could be served over gingerbread, pumpkin cake, ice cream, anything that could be imporoved by a sweet butter sauce (and, let's be honest with ourselves, what wouldn't?) This apple cake was the dessert for a Sunday Turkey Dinner with the family :) I couldn't be more pleased with it :) Thanks Mama!!!

Love to All :)
Lynn