Infused Olive Oil

Since being in this wonder place, taking cooking class and learning about how to make some great authentic Italian dishes has got me in a cooking mood. After visiting Alberobello, Italy and tasting some of the best infused olive oils, I just had to come and try to infuse my own olive oils.

Very simple and you can infuse your oils with anything you like (basically). I decided to do a spicy oil with jalapenos and red peppers, the other with lemon (zest only).

Lemon infused olive oil

It is best to make sure whatever you are using is dry before adding to the oil. I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Clean your lemons well and then take off the zest only and lay on a paper towel to allow to dry completely. Do the same thing for the jalapenos. I used fresh so you can slice them and lay them out to dry out also.

The reason for this is because you do not want any water in the olive oil, which could containment the oil.

I also added crushed red pepper to my jalapenos as well. Let the oil sit for about 3 weeks before trying. It should be all infused and ready to use.

Jalapeno and red pepper infused olive oil 

It actually looks so pretty in the oil just floating around. The lemon oil I made to use for seafood but can be used for chicken as well. The spicy oil we actually use it to dip bread in or brush it on meat while grilling. Really good on chicken.

Pasta Time!

Alfredo w/ Chicken, Broccoli & Penne

Alfredo w/ Chicken & Broccoli

Cooking has become the norm for me around here. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking but I am doing a lot more of it now. Being a stay at home Mom, I really have no choice but to cook
(I guess). I enjoy trying different things and experimenting with recipes (my husband not so much). He feels, if it's not broke don't try to fix it
 :-)

Well, good thing he is not doing the cooking around here! This one is super easy. Most people know how to make a simple alfredo sauce. Season chicken, cook and cut in bite size pieces. I use the steam fresh bag of broccoli and heat according to instructions on bag. Once broccoli is done, I put it in a strainer to let all the liquid drain. You do not want to put the broccoli into your sauce without draining as it was thin out the sauce.

Season chicken and cook in pan, bake or use a grill pan

Once drained and pasta is cooked and drain, add all ingredients together including the alfredo sauce and toss.

Serve and enjoy!

Click here for Alfredo sauce recipe

Quick and easy alfredo sauce

Taking it South

BBQ Spareribs

It should be evident by now that I enjoy cooking. My family always enjoys to see what we are having for dinner and sometimes they like to stick with the favorites. Since I am from North Carolina, BBQ is something I grew up on. Having cookout's in the summer and I remember my Grandfather would always bring the ribs in first (kinda like the appetizer before the main course). Those ribs were always fall off the bone good.

Since living abroad and getting settled in, we yet to buy a grill as we are going back and forth over charcoal versus gas. With that being said, I have opted to fix my ribs in the oven. Let me tell you, they come out just as tender, juicy and succulent as if I grilled them. Key is to wrap them in foil and let them cook for about an hour. Then bast with your BBQ sauce of your choice, cover and back for another 30 minutes or so. Low and slow is the key and they turn out great every time.


I use bottled bbq sauce and I add a couple tablespoons of butter, brown sugar, a little honey and Dijon mustard. Coleslaw, just grate the cabbage and carrot. Add apple cider vinegar, mayo and sugar.

Nothing like good ole southern eating :-)

Pasta!

Spaghetti anyone?

Seriously, spaghetti is like my go to meal. It is quick and easy and I am sure I have made it different just about every single time. I always use fresh herbs (or dried) when I run into the issue where I thought I had something in the fridge and didn't. I always keep dried herbs and seasoning in my cabinet.

This spaghetti tonight, I actually used a jar of spaghetti sauce, a can of tomato puree, fresh parsley (I always use italian flat leaf), dried oregano, onion and garlic.

Spaghetti with meat sauce

I use tomato puree as it is much thicker than tomato sauce. I like my sauce a little on the thicker side to nicely coat my pasta. Another rule of thumb, never add oil to pasta when boiling. You want the sauce to stick to your pasta, not slide off. I know you think I have to add it so my pasta will not stick while cooking. Well, I never add oil and my pasta does not stick together. You just have to make sure you stir it (I usually use a fork for spaghetti, angel hair, linguine pasta). Once I drain it, I add about a tablespoon of a non cooking olive oil. One that you would use for dressings/dipping as it is much thicker and taste great.

I use beef, just brown it up and once done, I add my garlic, onions and herbs and cook for another minute or two. I then add my sauce and just let it simmer. I add just a little salt and about a teaspoon of sugar just to cut the acid of the tomatoes, not too much sugar that the sauce it sweet, unless you prefer it that way.

Antipasto

Who doesn't love a great snack?

I love to snack and during the weekend what better way to unwind by watching some great movies or shows on hulu and having a great snack. That is where the antipasto platter comes into play. What a great snack in between meals. It may not be the healthiest snack but it is very tasty. 

Just choose a good bread, like a nice french baguette, variety of cheese, I used asiago for this one. Smoked provolone, buffalo mozzarella or smoked gouda will work. 

You can choose a couple different salami's, olives, good olive oil to drizzle over the bread, figs and even honey. 

 

Quesadilla

Quesadilla Kick

I have been on a quesadilla kick the last few days. It started by making them for my daughter for dinner. She loves anything with cheese on it. So, one day for lunch I decided to make one for myself and I almost forgot how good they are. Today was my, I don't feel like cooking, find what you can in the fridge day, I decided to make myself a quesadilla.

Thinking about what I should add to this and I wanted lots of flavor, I decided to take some of the roast that I fixed yesterday and shred it to add to my quesadilla. Sounded like a good idea to me. Next, I chopped some cilantro, tomatoes and onions...sounds like this is going in the right direction :-)
Started with a layer of Colby jack cheese, I heated the shredded roast in the microwave for a few seconds and added that on top. Then the cilantro, onions and tomatoes and the outcome was just delish!

I served it will some salsa verde and sour cream. My hubby kept saying he wasn't so sure about my combination but he couldn't stop looking in my direction. So, finally being the good wife that I am, decided to offer him a piece. Of course he enjoyed it and so being the giving person that I am, offered him a whole piece :-)  Happy quesadilla making!!

Salmon Teriyaki Style

Teriyaki Glazed Salmon

Seafood is a very easy food to prepare as long as you don't over cook it. This is so simple and easy to prepare. A quick weekday dinner sure to please.

All you need are salmon fillets seasoned with salt and pepper. I pan seared my salmon in coconut oil and prepared the teriyaki sauce. Once done searing, I put on a sheet pan and brushed with the sauce. There is actually no need to put in the oven but I wanted to glaze to sort of cook for a few minutes on the salmon. This turned out very delish and served with jasmine rice and roasted asparagus.

Leftovers anyone?

So, I made egg rolls the other day and had a little of the mixture left over but not enough egg roll wraps. So, my hubby decided to make some fried rice with it. Needless to say, it turned out pretty good. Just cook some white rice or brown rice if you prefer, sesame seed oil, and soy sauce. You can add an egg or two if you would like. What a great way to use leftovers. How do you use your leftovers?

Sandwiches

Did I ever mention how much I love sandwiches?! This is my go to lunch mostly all the time. I just love sandwiches, what can I say. So many variations and my hubby loves them for lunch as well. Pesto is a great add on to sandwiches, especially flat breads or wraps instead of mayo and mustard. Adding oregano or Italian seasoning is a plus. Also, sub spinach for lettuce. Fresh baked breads from the bakery and focaccia bread always makes a great sandwich! Happy sandwich making :-)

Chicken, broccoli and mushroom stir fry

Chicken, broccoli and mushroom stir fry, courtesy of Natasha's Kitchen a dish from a Pinterest post that I found and had to try it. http://natashaskitchen.com/2014/10/21/chicken-broccoli-and-mushroom-stir-fry/
It was very tasty! The grocery store was out of fresh mushrooms, can you believe that?  Well, here it is not hard to believe as they run out of items on a regular basis and I just used can mushrooms, which were not as bad as I thought they would be. I love trying new dishes and also coming up with my own recipes as well. Always fun to experiment and try new things with food. I actually forgot to take a pic of the finished dish....

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Quick, Easy & Delish

My family loves chinese food, well any food. I decided to make sweet and sour chicken. I actually cheat a little and use the La Choy sweet and sour sauce that you can buy at your local grocery store. Very quick and easy to make. This is a great meal to make during the week.

Here is what you need:

Onion & Bell pepper. Cook until tender

1 - 10oz bottle of La Choy sweet and sour sauce
1-2tbsp soy sauce (per your taste)
1 can pineapple tidbits (drained, reserve the pineapple juice)
1 bell pepper
1 small-medium size onion diced
3 chicken breats (cut in cubes)
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
1 cup flour
2tbsp canola oil
2tbsp coconut oil (if you do not have coconut oil, you can just 4tbsp of canola oil
1tbsp cornstarch
1tbsp water

Optional: Broccoli (use the stem fresh) or water chestnuts (drained). You can add either or both of these ingredients to your dish. Add these ingredients after you have cooked the onions and bell peppers. Make sure to drain the water chestnuts and the broccoli after you have cooked or steamed it.

Now time to prepare:

All ingredients in pan

Cut the chicken breast into cubes and season with salt and pepper. Coat chicken cubes with flour and set aside. Drain pineapple (remember to reserve the liquid). Dice onion and bell pepper and set aside. Heat oil in pan, once heated add chicken and brown. Remove and let drain. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes until tender, add pineapple and cook for another minute.

Add chicken back to pan. Add the La Choy sweet and sour sauce and the soy sauce to pan and mix all ingredients well, until everything is coated. Mix the cornstarch and water together and add to pan. This will help thicken the sauce. Cook for another minute, continue to stir. If sauce is too thick, add some of the pineapple juice that you reserved, only a tablespoon at a time. If sauce is too thin, mix more cornstarch and water together and add only a tablespoon at time until the right consistency has been reached.

Finished dish

Serve over white rice and broccoli on the side or mix the broccoli into the pan. Either way, it's delicious. You can also add water chestnuts to this dish as well.

Enjoy!

Turkey wrap w/ Pesto

So Simple and Bursting with Flavor

Delish pesto (found at the grocery store)

Today I decided to have somewhat of a healthy lunch, since I am trying to eat better and exercise. So, I thought that a turkey wrap with pesto would be delish. I found some great pesto in the store (as I did not make my own, still waiting on my household goods to be delivered).

Turkey wrap, pesto, asiago cheese, spinach and tomatoes and toasted on the panini grill. Quit tasty and I plan on trying a variety of wraps. My next one will be a veggie wrap....stay tuned and I will let you know how that turns out for me :-)

Before going on the panini grill

Finished product :-)

Christmas Eats

Christmas is a time for sharing and eating!

Well, let's see. I cooked dinner and just spent a quiet day at home with the hubby and two kids. I did not take photos of any of the dishes that I prepared but I can tell you what I cooked. Here goes.

Ham w/ an amazing sauce

Spinach Gratin

Mac & Cheese

Green bean casserole

Yams

Mash Potatoes & Gravy

Rolls

I also baked a few things to share with a couple of people. So I fixed, Lemon pound cake, orange spice cake and gingerbread with cream cheese icing. I did however take photos of that :-)

Overall, we had an incredible Christmas, very relaxed and laid back. Hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas as well. Hope that you all were able to enjoy it with some great food, family & friends!

Pizza Love

Pizza in Italy

Veggie Pizza

Today, we tried a different pizza spot and I must say that I truly enjoyed this pizza spot. I believe this is the fourth place that we have tried since we have been here and probably the best I have had so far.

The veggie pizza is by far the best pizza I have had. I know the veggie back in the states is decent, but this just puts veggie pizza in a whole other category. It was delish!

With bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant and cheese, my taste buds were singing!

Baked Tilapia

Another quick and easy meal.

Ingredients:
   Tilapia (about 4 filets) or however many filets you are cooking
   1-2Tbsp Butter
   1/4 cup Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
   2Tbsp water
   1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced onion
   Chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley
   Salt & Pepper
   Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350
   *Wash filets and pat dry with paper towels
   *Season filets with salt, pepper and garlic powder
   *Lay filets in casserole dish
   *Place sliced onions on top of tilapia
   *Pour or squeeze the juice of 1 lemon on top of tilapia
   *Pour the 2tbsp of water around the tilapia
   *Cut the butter in cubes and place on top of tilapia
   *Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until done
   *Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley
   *Enjoy


This can be served with white rice (I prefer Jasmine rice) and roasted asparagus or broccoli.

Caprese Salad

Afternoon Snack
Caprese Salad



Caprese Salad

One of those days where I just want something simple and light. After a good workout, this is just the thing to please my appetite.

Caprese Salads are served and presented different everywhere you go. So, here is the way I like to eat mine.

All you need are a few items:

Ripe vine tomato
Mozzarella cheese (I used a smoked provolone cheese)
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar
Good olive oil
Salt & Pepper


Time to put it all together

Slice the tomato, cheese and tear our cut the basil into pieces/strips.
Place tomatoes on plate  and season with salt & pepper. 
Place sliced cheese on top and place basil on top of each.
Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Sit back and enjoy.
This snack is great at room temperature.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is a quick pasta dish with lots of flavor. If you are able to get fresh pasta, I would suggest using it. If you have never had Spaghetti Carbonara, try this and I think you will really enjoy this dish. This recipe with make enough to feed about six, so you can always cut the recipe in half or just freeze what is leftover.

Here is what you need to get started

1lb fresh spaghetti if not fresh, any box spaghetti will do
1/2 lb pancetta or 8-12 stripes of thick sliced bacon cut into pieces
4 eggs
2/3 cup of shredded parmesan
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt & pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
2 shallots chopped
10.8oz bag frozen peas
1 tbsp olive oil
Pam cooking spray
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Lemon wedges (optional)

Now time to get cooking...

Get water started for pasta, once boiling drop pasta. Cook until al denta. Fresh pasta only takes about 1-2 minutes to cook.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, parmesan, salt and pepper (about 1/4 tsp each).

Spray a little cooking spray in the bottom of the pan. Add pancetta or bacon and cook until crisp, stirring constantly.
Remove from pan and let bacon drain leaving bacon drippings in the pan.

Add olive oil to pan with bacon drippings
Add shallots and garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes add peas and white wine and cook for another minute over medium heat.

Drain pasta and add to pan with shallots,  garlic, peas and white wine. Make sure you are cooking over medium heat.

Add bacon to pan.

Add the egg, heavy cream and parmesan mixture to pan and toss all ingredients together and cook for 2-5 minutes over medium heat.

If sauce becomes too thick, add reserved pasta water to pan 2tbsp at a time. If sauce is too thin, add more heavy cream 2tbsp at a time.

Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta is now ready to be served with a salad and french baguette.

Squeeze lemon wedge over pasta if you prefer. Lemon juice always gives a pasta dish a little something extra....brightens the dish just a little.

*I never salt my water as you can tend to over salt the dish this way.
*Another side note is to never add oil to your pasta water. When you add oil, the sauce will not stick to the pasta and you don't want that.
*Also, before I start cooking any dish, I chop/dice/mince ingredients, so they are ready to use when I need them.

Egg rolls

HOMEMADE EGG ROLLS
(makes about 20 egg rolls)

Ingredients:

1/2 head shredded cabbage

Egg roll mixture

1-2 cups shredded carrots
2 tbsp grated ginger
3-4 cloves of chopped garlic
1/2 large onion chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
1 tbsp oil (will also need oil for frying egg rolls or you can bake in oven at 350, brush with oil and cook for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown)
1 tbsp sesame seed oil (optional)

All cooked and ready to fill the wrappers!

1 package egg roll wrappers (found in the refrigerated or freezer section). If they are in the freezer section, make sure they at room temperature before using.
1 tbsp water
Salt and pepper


Directions:

*Prep all items
*Heat the oil (regular oil and sesame seed oil) in pan. If not using sesame seed oil, you can use 2 tbsp of regular oil.
*Add onion, garlic and ginger to pan and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
*Add pork and cook until meat is done
*Add the cabbage and carrots
*Add in the soy sauce and oyster sauce and continue to stir and cook until veggies are tender.
*Add salt and pepper to taste.

Done and ready to eat

*Transfer mixture to a baking sheet and spread out
*Prop the pan up so that the juice will run as keeping the liquid in the mixture will cause the egg roll wrappers to become soggy.
*Or you can use a mesh strainer and let the liquid drain
*Once cooled and drain, you can start wrapping the egg rolls
*Take an egg roll wrapper and use about 1/8 cup mixture in each wrapper
*Make sure mixture is placed near the bottom corner of the wrapper
*Wrap the bottom end of the wrapper over the mixture, then fold in the sides to where they meet.
*Continue to tightly roll, while continuing to fold the wrapper inward.
*Place water on the top corner of wrapper to seal
*Make sure the egg roll is tightly wrapped so that the oil will not get inside of the egg roll. If not wrapped properly, you will have a very greasy egg roll.
*Heat oil in pan (medium high heat - that you will be frying the egg rolls in (I fry mine as I think they taste better). Or use a deep fryer
*Drop egg rolls and they only take a few minutes to cook.
*Lay on paper towel to drain excess oil and serve with soy sauce or sweet chili sauce

Egg Bake

Very hearty with shredded potatoes, spinach, portobella,  green bell peppers, shallots, garlic, cheese, parsley and of course eggs.

Sandwich and salad

Trying to do better when it comes to my eating  habits. Dinner: turkey  w/ spinach,  asiago, onions and tomatoes on focaccia...yum and salad with mixed baby greens, arugula, cucumbers, tomatoes and grilled portobella with balasmic vingerette. I try to stay away from cream based salad dressings.