Jim's personal timeline, a place to collect and share things from Jim's life.
Created by ourfamilyfoodfight on Sep 13, 2009
Last updated: 03/06/10 at 03:47 PM
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The end of 2009 was an exciting whirlwind of activities. My girlfriend fiancée moved in on December 15 and just 10 days later we were hosting an intimate Christmas Dinner for 18 people (our immediate family) .
Moving and unpacking brings it’s own stress and problems, and many relationships crumbled under less stress than that. Secure in our relationship, we upped the stress ante with Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, decorating trees and hosting 18 people for dinner. And to top it all off, there was no room to unpack all of Julie’s belongings into my townhouse! At one point, i considered wrapping her moving boxes in Christmas paper, just so we could leave it in the living room!
By December 17th we realized that no Christmas miracle would allow us to comfortably fit in the townhouse, let alone start a new family. So along with the stress of “moving, unpacking, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, decorating trees and hosting 18 people for dinner” we decided to house hunt as well!
This is a food blog, so let’s talk about food. For Christmas dinner, we decided to make a traditional porchetta roast. Something i’ve never had, nor had I ever heard of until my mom returned from her FoodBuzz weekend in San Fran. Undaunted, I added to my list of “moving, unpacking, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, decorating trees and hosting 18 people for dinner, and house hunting” the search for pork belly in Palm Beach County. Which apparently, is a lot harder than I thought. Thankfully, chef Jeremy had some contacts that allowed me to cross pork belly off my list of “moving, unpacking, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, decorating trees and hosting 18 people for dinner, house hunting, and finding pork belly” and helped us get a couple of Kubota Pork bellies.
I used this three-part video (1, 2, 3) that I found on Jamie Oliver’s site of Gennaro making the porchetta roast as my inspiration. BTW, these roasts measured over 21-inches long and barely fit in my oven! And we ‘needed’ two roasts to feed our 18 guests, since Genarro said they would reduce in size by almost half!
Obviously, Gennaro never used Kubota Pork Belly, since these were so lean and delicious, they barely shrunk! The roasts paired well with Creamy Polenta with a Fricassee of Mushrooms and Truffle Reduction, as well as pumpkin risotto, and string beans with romesco sauce that were made by my mom.
Whew! Now that we survived “moving, unpacking, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, decorating trees and hosting 18 people for dinner and finding pork bellies” it was time to focus on house hunting full time.
Offers were made, countered, rejected and we ultimately found “exactly-what-we-never-knew-we-always-wanted” on January 2. We happily closed a month later and now sit amongst boxes, loving, laughing and giggling at the echos and playfully getting ‘lost’ in the our new home as we happily plan another big event — the wedding!
And finally, our new kitchen with the realtor and home inspector as models! New photos to come once we unpack the kitchen.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/397204732
This Thanksgiving, Cassie made a batch of her delicious Cranberry Sauce. Fresh cranberries cooked with orange juice and a healthy dose of fresh orange zest. Yummy!
We are also testing out a cider-poached apple sauce as well as a pomegranate cranberry sauce. I hope you come back to see how we did.
From our family to yours, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/257750986
This week Cassie modeled a fancy new t-shirt and invited one of her bffs to join us for one of our family food fights. It was fun having Megan join us, and just like Natalie Portman on Top Chef and Zoey Deschanel on Top Chef Masters, Megan’s vegetarianism presented a few challenges to the Our Family Foodfight team.
A recent convert to all things Mediterranean, Julie has been known to go a whole week eating hummus for EVERY meal! That was until she ‘discovered’ Maoz Vegetarian at our local food court! Now, not a week goes by without a journey to the Town Center mall for falafel. So this week started with Julie’s homage to falafel.
Crispy falafel, garlicky tzatziki, and oven-roasted cauliflower drizzled with tahini.
Next up was Cassie’s Cousa, a traditional Lebanese dish made with yellow squash and typically filled with lamb and rice. Cass used her great-grandmother’s vegetarian recipe, and enlisted her friend Megan to help hollow out the squash, fill it rice, tomato and chickpeas and ultimately cook it in seasoned tomato broth.
Cassie’s Cousa served with leban.
Back from a week in San Fransisco sipping, eating and FoodBuzzing — Mom made this latin-inspired vegetarian treat.
Crispy plantain cups filled with rice and beans topped with a sweet plantain salsa and served with a fresh avocado, olive and parsley salad.
Our last course was pumpkin gnocchi. I’ve never made pasta from scratch, so this was a real challenge. And in the end, although tasty, the pumpkin flavor didn’t come through as much as I’d hoped.
Pumpkin gnocchi with crispy sage, browned butter and toasted pumpkin seeds.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/245118592
Ah, Halloween! One of our favorite holidays. Although Cass is getting older, she’s still not too old to go trick or treating. This year she had a record setting haul - after sorting out all the smarties and lollipops and other junk candy, she netted 4.5lbs of candy which was 178 pieces of delicious chocolate goodness.
Surprisingly, 178 pieces of chocolate is more than a 13yr old can eat in one sitting. So what did we do with the leftovers?
That’s easy! We baked cookies, not just any cookies, but our traditional Halloween Cookies. Cass and I ‘invented’ the cookie recipe a few years back, taking a traditional chocolate cookie recipe and substituting the chips with halloween candy.
Butterfinger bars, Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeer, Twix, KitKat, Baby Ruth, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, Krackle, Crunch, Mr. Goodbar, Special Dark — everything makes it into the cookies. The caramel from many of these candies has a special way of oozing out while baking and becoming super crunchy when it it cools.
I’m not gonna include ‘our’ recipe, this is an easy one to figure out, and it’s more fun to ‘invent’ your own family recipe and create your own tradition. For us, cooking and by extension this blog is our way of spending time together as a family. Laughing, cooking and making more than good things to eat, we are making memories and new family traditions.
Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and enjoy inventing your own recipe.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/239725137
This past Saturday, we went to a Halloween/Oktoberfest beer tasting hosted by our friends Chalie and Michelle. Everyone was asked to bring a ‘sixer’ that related to one of the themes and be prepared to discuss why the beer fit into the categories. There were a couple of pumpkins, one or two devils, a few Oktoberfest, two Coney Island freak shows, a pirate, a chocolate and a hard cider rounded out the mix – in all, 15 beers teased our taste buds. In addition to our sixers, we were asked to bring an appropriate food pairing. This is where we had some fun.
Lots of thoughts went through our heads as we wandered the isles of our local Total Wines looking at specialty brews. Our first thought was pumpkin ravioli with a pumpkin ale beurre blanc. Then we wondered if Morimoto’s hazelnut ale would make a better ‘sauce’ especially if paired with actual toasted hazelnuts. Mmm
Dazed by the sheer volume of great selections, we chose Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and JK Scrumpy’s Hard Cider (although not a beer per se, it was bottled and fermented).
Julie chose the chocolate stout as an homage to ‘trick or treaters’ and paired it with a little treat/trick of her own -
Salt-n-Pepper Brownies
These delightful dark chocolate brownie bites started with Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie mix. We substituted some of Chocolate Stout for water in the mix and added a heaping TABLESPOON of chipotle powder for a little smokey heat.
Inspired by a recent post on MattBites.com, I was on a mission to make cinnamon-spiced candy apples to pair with my hard cider.
I know i said ‘inspiried’ in the preceding sentence, but obsessed may be a better word. I shopped at a local craft store to get the black enamel bamboo sticks, called more than a dozen grocery and craft stores trying to find black food dye and cinnamon oil. Ultimately finding the necessary ingredients at Palm Beach Cake & Candy Supply.
Armed with both red and green apples, we started by trimming and inserting bamboo sticks in each apple and then began boiling, coloring and flavoring the sugar mixture thereby transforming them into the spooky Halloween treat below.
You can find the complete recipe and a full how-to at MattBites.com and more of our pix from this spooky treat at flickr.
Make sure to come back next week for Cassie’s de-fright-ful Halloween cookie recipe.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/223971381
This week the “our family food fight team” is taking Sunday off to enjoy “Sunday Supper” with chefs Jeremy Hanlon and Wayne Dever. These two chefs are preparing a one-night-only dining experience that combines each chef’s unique culinary perspective into a four-course tasting menu.
Therefore, instead of our traditional food fights, i offer you a little insight into our family and our Sunday dinners….
Our Family Foodfight’s Sunday Dinner
Growing up, Sundays were the day the whole family got together for dinner. Typically at my aunt & uncle’s house, my mom and I would join the family for the traditional spaghetti & meatballs with gravy. Yup, gravy! That’s what we and a generation of Italian-American New Yorkers called ‘spaghetti sauce’ that was slow-cooked all day with meatballs and sausage and sometimes with the addition pork and bracciole.
This past Sunday, we continued the tradition and invited my cousin and her family over for dinner – Sunday Dinner – complete with meatballs, sausage, ricotta and of course, my own slow-cooked gravy! Perhaps hard to tell, but that platter is HUGE. It is holding approximately 7 pounds of food! Two pounds of linguine, three pounds of sausage and at least 20 meatballs (which include a pound each of ground beef and ground pork as well as cheese and fresh bread crumbs).
As if that wasn’t enough food, for dessert I whipped up these tasty cannoli bites which were inspired by a recipe we found on Big Red Kitchen. We didn’t deviate much from their recipe, mainly slight adjustments for taste, and we used Siljans Crispy Cups we found at IKEA instead of the phyllo as suggested by Big Red Kitchen.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/216509218
This week we battled it out “Chopped” style with mystery ingredients. We each were given a random category to shop for, with the only proviso being “keep it secret”.
For those of you new to the site, let’s introduce our chefs first:
Cassie- an 8th-grader currently enrolled in a pre-med program and enjoys fencing and listening to Metallica.
Nana – the matriarch of our family and self-proclaimed culinista, publishes – Foodalogue.com a blog about food & travel.
Jim - Lead Visioneer for a Fortune 100 company and publisher of Our Family Foodfight.
Julie - the newest member of Our Family Foodfight has previously appeared on TV with both Mr. T and Webster
The Mystery Ingredients…
Callaloo
Soy Sauce
Pomegranates
Chicken Thighs
Nana’s “Chicken Thigh Wellington”
Chickpea floured chicken thighs, quickly fried and then baked. Served on a toast round with paté and topped with soy-braised callaloo with pomegranite seeds.
Jim’s Callaloo-wrapped Chicken Dumplings
Chicken thighs minced with ginger, garlic and pom seeds, wrapped in callaloo leaves and steamed over the beef based, soy pomegranate broth.
Cassie’s Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Cassie stuffed the soy-marinated chicken thighs with callaloo cooked with bacon and mixed with breadcrumbs and cheese. This was roasted in the oven and served with a pomegranate sauce.
Julie’s Callaloo Wraps.
Lettuce-wrap inspired, these callaloo-wrapped bites were stuffed with garlic spiced, diced chicken, water chestnuts, and carrots and served with a rich pomegranate reduction.
Although the ingredients were a mystery, it was no mystery who won! Congrats go to Cassie for a perfectly executed and well-thought out dish, with great fall flavors. And a special congrats goes to Julie, who although new to the challenge, stepped it up this week with this inspired fresh bite.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/206127519
This was a fun challenge, that although seemingly simple, resulted in some of our most exciting flavors and lots of good eating! Unsurprisingly, no one made a traditional sauce and cheese pie.
A few lessons learned on grilling pizzas. Put the rolled-out dough on the grill BEFORE you put all the ingredients on the pie. It’s a lot easier to get it off the ‘peel’ and onto the grill that way. Make sure you have a FULL tank of gas - pizzas take a long time to cook when the tank is empty.
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Papaya Marinated Chicken with Grilled Pineapple
As usual, Cassie made her pizza first. She had great fun this week teasing my mom as to what she was making, keeping her ingredients a secret until the dough hit the grill! It was fun (and scary) to see how playful and cunning she has become.
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Grilled Potato Pizza
Next up, my mom presented her version of a potato pizza. Featuring thinly-sliced russets, creamed blue cheese, bacon and leeks this ‘pizza’, much to my mom’s chagrin, captured the flavors of a loaded baked potato perfectly.
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Pepperoni Stuffed Calzones
Julie made stuffed-pizzas known as calzones. Filled with ricotta, mozzarella, and pepperoni, these empanada-sized turnovers were delish!
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Backyard BBQ Pizza
Slow-cooked pulled-pork BBQ layered with extra sharp cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon, and once off the grill, a pickled watermelon rind salsa with fresh corn, scallion and cilantro was sprinkled over the top with a creme-fraiche drizzle to pull it all together.
Although there was a lot going on, it was quite tasty going down!
We’d love to know if you have a favorite pizza recipe, grilled or otherwise, so please leave a comment.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/194382942
As many of you know, my mom also publishes, Foodalogue, a food blog separate from OurFamilyFoodfight.com. She recently started hosting “Tapas Tuesdays” and although she has not yet invited her favorite son to Tuesday Tapas, I decided I would invite myself to join her albeit online.
Dinner started with a delicious pitcher of white wine & cava sangria
My girlfriend Julie and I enjoyed a few glasses of sangria while i finished cooking, plating and shooting the following tapas.
1. Figs wrapped with serrano ham and a triple creme goat’s milk brie.
2. Chorizo - simply cooked with garlic and fresh parsley
3. Patatas Bravas - angry potatoes, roasted with red pepper and paprika with a delicious garlicky and spicy alioli.
4. Gambas Al Ajillo - Key West shrimp cooked with garlic, chilies, parsley, lemon and a splash of sherry.
5. Last to the table were racciones de paella (racciones are larger tapas portions).
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/183013058
Growing up, we lived in a basement apartment in Staten Island and the homeowners were first generation immigrants from Italy and filled the yard with tasty fig trees, basil & tomato plants and an italian plum tree.
Flash forward 30 years, and fig trees and plum trees are all but a memory, until I discovered a 3lb tub of italian plums at my local Coscto. Not blinking, or thinking, i immediatley bought the plums. Aside from eating them right out of the tub, i was at a loss as to what to with the remaining 87 plums!
First-up were delicious individual upside-down ricotta plum cakes inspired by a recipe at Baking Obsession. And with the remaining plums (about 5-6 cups sliced and pitted) I made a simple summer plum pie! Fresh plums tossed with sugar, flour and a touch of allspice baked till bubbly!
What would you make? Please let me know. Send links and pix.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/175147490
“Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.” Although, that’s the recipe for one of the most famous burgers in the world, this week’s OurFamilyFoodfight challenge resulted in three soon to be world-famous burgers.
Mom’s Gaucho Burger was first - made of ground beef, mixed with chorizo, and filled with provolone this ‘cowboy’ burger was topped with roasted peppers, grilled red onion, chimichurri and was served with shoe string plantain fries. To learm more about this burger and to get the full recipe be sure to check out Foodalogue.
Cass’ Middle-Eastern burger was next and an homage to her heritage. A flavorful lamb burger, sandwiched between grilled pita, and sitting on babaganoush and topped with leban (a mixture of greek yogurt, garlic, cucumber, mint and a touch of all-spice).
Last up was my Steakhouse burger - Ground beef mixed with pureed raw bacon, simply seasoned with s&p and grilled to perfection. Crusty ciabatta bread, rubbed with roasted garlic, layered with crispy bacon then topped with the steakhouse burger, a slab of iceberg lettuce, homemade blue cheese dressing, tomatoes and crispy proscuitto lardons. It was as big and as good as it sounds!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/170170810
No longer a guilty pleasure, BRAVO makes it easy to bring friends together for a Top Chef Masters viewing party. Featuring branded evites, party ideas (chef bingo, pot luck, etc) and my favorite idea:
Top Chef Masters Drinking Game: Set up a drinking game for you and your guests based on trends you see in the episodes. For example, every time a charity is mentioned, a judge laughs, a chef curses, etc, you drink!
I know i’ll be inviting my foodie friends for a Pot-Luck Foodfight. Each partygoer will be required to bring a home-cooked dish which will be plated and photographed. At the end of the night, we’ll vote for our favorite and award the winner the title of Top Chef Master.
Check out Bravo for more information about hosting your own Top Chef Masters Party.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/162860753
The second in an ongoing series of family recipes.
Steak Pizzaiola was a dish i grew up on. Typically made with a lesser cut of beef, it was braised with onions, oregano and tomato sauce. Like many of the dishes of my youth, it was SIMPLE, cheap and delicious! The braised steak cut like butter and the pan drippings and sauce make an excellent topping for the pasta of your choice.
Last night I recreated the magic of steak pizzaiola using a NY Strip.
1 can (32 oz. crushed chunky style) Italian tomatoes
3-4 tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
1 large onion sliced
1 NY Strip steak (seasoned with salt & pepper)
2 tablespoon dry oregano or 3-4 fresh sprigs chopped
Saute garlic, onions and oregano in an oven-proof pan. Remove and reserve. Add steak, searing it well on both sides. Cover with tomato sauce, add onions, garlic and oregano back into pot, bring to a simmer then top with grated parmesean and place uncovered in 350° oven for 20-30 mins.
Remove, slice and serve steak with your favorite pasta tossed with the pizzaiola sauce.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/161953926
WOW! The lobsters were great, really great. I forgot how tasty they can be. Obviously, if you saw the previous post, you knew there had to be leftovers. And sure enough, there was enough for this post as well as another tasty pasta post on Foodalogue.
A few basic ingredients
Using eggroll wrappers - a quick and easy substitute for pasta dough.
All cooked and ready to eat with a drizzle of truffled butter and a hint of lemon zest
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/148448929
This year, the FamilyFoodFight team traveled to Boston for the Fourth of July. It was an historic trip. Saw reinactments of the revolutionary times, participated in a witch trial in Salem, saw the Boston Pops play with Neil Diamond on the Fourth and of course, had a great time eating.
You can see pics from our Boston foodalogue, at my mom’s blog, appropiately named Foodalogue! And also a full set of images shot by all three of us on Flickr.
Aside from an AWESOME dinner in the North End that i twittered about, the highlight Boston meal was cooked … at home!
I brought back 2 live lobsters from Boston, in my carry on! Albeit a special carry-on, that fit in the overhead compartment and even went through security. Once the lobsters arrived safely in Florida, i whipped up a really New England dinner for my girlfriend Julie. Boiled lobster, corn on the cob, baked potatoes and Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes!
BTW, the lobsters were SOOO BIG, i had to buy large platters to serve them on.
Unpacking the box from the James Hook Lobster Company
Making new friends
Just a quick dip in the jacuzzi
Ready to eat, but first a few photos!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/148423521
Being the dad of a ‘teenager’, during the summer, in florida, means we do not spend as much time as we should in the kitchen. Although busy with friends, vacation and summer activities, we still find time for the occasional Family Foodfight.
So as the summer progresses, in addition to posting and twittering Foodfights and Leftover Makeovers, we will now add “Family recipes worth fightin’ for!”. These are the recipes our grandparents made when we were kids and their parents and grandparents made for them when they were kids. Food that was so good, we fought over the last bite. Recipes that may have lost their place at the modern dinner table but not in our souls.
The first of these recipes is Nanny’s Miscuits (pronounced miz-cuits). There is a real name for these, but as hard as I try to learn it, I know they will forever be known as Nanny’s Miscuits. Traditionally made during Christmas, these bite-size anisette cookies are a delight all year round. And the Floridian in me allowed me to make a lemon-citrus version with fresh orange and lemon zest in the icing. While the possibilities are endless, the basic recipe below is timeless and a family recipe worth fightin’ for!
#1 Family Recipe Worth Fightin’ For – Nanny’s Miscuits
For the cookies:1/2 cup butter1/4 cup shortening3/4 cup granulated sugar4 eggs3 cups all-purpose flour5 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon table salt1 teaspoons anise extract1 teaspoons vanilla extract For the glaze:3-4 Tablespoons milk2 cups powdered sugar1 teaspoon anise extractSift flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.Melt butter and shortening together in the microwave.Beat the melted butter and shortening together until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, about 1 minute each. Mix in anise extract. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture slowly, until fully incorporated. Don’t overmix. If the cookie dough is too sticky to roll in the palm of your hand, add a bit of flour. However, the dough should remain very soft, so don’t add too much.Roll the cookie dough in small balls (no larger than the diameter of a quarter) and place them on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies should be lightly browned but the tops of should remain light in color.Remove cookies from the cookie sheet and immediately transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before glazing.For the glaze, slowly mix milk with powdered sugar and anise extract. The glaze needs to be thick to adhere to the cookie. Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze, sprinkle with nonpareils and leave them to completely dry.This recipe made approximately 100 cookies.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/132946465
This week we took part in What’s Cooking’s Homemade Challenge and battled it out over homemade corn tortillas. Making them from scratch was very easy. And by ‘easy’ i mean, once we got all the right ingredients. We quickly found out that corn meal and corn flour were very different things!
Armed with a stack of tortillas in a variety of flavors ( l-r: cilantro-pressed, sazon-infused, and squid ink-infused) we then began the fun part of our foodfights - the cooking and most importantly, the eating!
We each prepared a filling for the tortillas. Mom made an excellent jumbo shrimp ceviche, Cassie filled hers with a fresh salad with a citrus dressing and I made slow-cooked, garlic-studded pork.
We had fun topping our tortillas with a variety of condiments: (l-r) Black bean salsa with queso blanco; Raw bi-color corn and citrus and pickled onions and garlic. [ Editor note - Cassie also made a fantastic guacamole, but we were too busy eating it to take a photograph! ]
We really enjoyed taking on a another food blogger’s challenge! look foward to more of that in upcoming posts.
For more information on this challege, check out Ben’s blog What’s Cooking
A behind the scenes look at some of our tortilla disasters, as well as my Mom’s perspective on the day’s culinary adventure can be found on FOODalogue.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/109515978
Leftover Makeover #1 is the first of an ongoing personal challenge — what to do with leftovers.
I cook a lot, i eat out alot too. Therefore my fridge looks like a hodge-podge of doggie bags precariously perched atop plastic wrapped plates, bowls and strategically placed ziplock bags holding it all together. This is not only a common scene in my fridge, but also my freezer. I hate to see food go to waste, so there is a delicate balance and shift of leftovers from fridge to freezer based on L.I.F.O and F.I.F.O. inventory models i learned in Economics (thank you, Brooklyn College).
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That being said, this post is dedicated to leftovers. In this case, a sweet potato pie leftover from a previous Foodfight and BBQ ribs from our favorite “wing-it wednesdays” rib joint! In addition to the main ingredients, a head of romain lettuce and a granola bar were also added to the dish.
The sweet potato pie was a treasure trove of goodness. The pecan halves were plucked from the top, chopped and then lightly tossed with cinnamon and sugar and tossed under the broiler to melt the sugar and crisp the pecans. These were then reserved to top the romaine salad with blue cheese vinigarette.
The remaining sweet potato pie, including bits of crust, were mashed-up, then formed into three-sided ovals called “quenelles” using two spoons. These were plated and topped with a quick & dirty, warm ‘praline’ of crushed granola bars, maple syrup and a touch of butter.
Lastly the ribs, which were so good that even as leftovers all they needed was a quick defrost in the microwave followed by a quick pass under the broiler to crisp up the BBQ sauce.
Hope you enjoyed my first Leftover Makeover. I hope to post a reader submitted round-up in an upcoming post, so please post in the comment section links to your leftover makeovers - successful or not!
thanks!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/106809548
Although we did not have a Mother’s Day foodfight, we did have a great dinner with the whole family.
(L-R, Standing) Mom, Cousin Teri, Aunt Mary. (Seated) Gram and Aunt Aurora.
Dinner was pasta-perfect! Three distinct flavors of pasta, red sauce with meatballs, mediterannean shells with feta, roasted peppers, walnuts, sundried tomoatoes and a pesto with fresh tomatoes.
And for dessert, i made a fresh blueberry and citrus curd tart.
It was a great day!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/106418761
Last week I posted “Pizza Rustica” a traditional Easter eat that our family and italians everywhere enjoy this time of year.
This week i pondered “What to do with all the left over Easter Eggs?” I decided that eggs go well with bacon and so, an Easter Egg stuffed Bacon Explosion was born!
Crispy bacon, wrapped around ground breakfast sausage, stuffed with cheddar and hard boiled eggs! Wow! Now, that’s how you rock an Easter morning brunch.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/98552169
Pizza Rustica is a traditional Italian Easter pie, the name literally means “rustic pie”. For Easter, my aunt traditionally makes this as an appetizer to our dinner. This year I asked to make this part of the meal. Typical filling includes ricotta, pecorino, mozzarella, salami, proscuitto, soppressata, sausage and cappicola.
I made 3 versions – traditional king-sized!
Medium (muffin-sized) and Small (bite-sized)
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/95461039
After a long virtual journey around the world, we welcomed my mom home with a Family Foodfight - Southern Style.
We started our Southern Foodfight with Mom’s Shrimp and Grits. I’m always a fan of shrimp and grits and mom’s, full of bacon and imported Irish cheddar, was delightful!
Cassie’s Crawfish-Stuffed Hushpuppies were an excellent second dish. Crisp hushpuppies, hollowed-out, filled with a creamy crawfish stuffing and served with a Creole Tomato Sauce.
Last up, was my Chicken-Fried Steak with bacon gravy, collard greens and sweet potato pie topped with candied pecans. The pie, was definitley the BEST part of my dish, followed by the greens and the steak, although tasty, was not my fav.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/94234214
This week I was in Lancaster PA for business and had an opportunity to spend a couple of days in Philly before I returned home.
And as i quickly learned, Phillly was more than cheesesteaks…
Friday night, my buddy Jimmy and I went on a self-guided ‘tour’ of Steve Starr restaurants. Cocktails and appetizers in each. We started at Morimoto with a trio of appetizers and “WOW!” is the only one word to describe the sashimi!
Next up was Buddakan, Jones and we ended our night at Continental.
The following morning we went to the Reading Terminal Fresh Market. I love fresh markets and can not understand why there is not one in every city.
And finally, our own side-by-side comparison of Geno’s & Pat’s Cheesesteaks.
At 11a there were about 100 people on line at both shops. All practicing their order - ‘whiz with’, ‘provolone without’. For those of you in the know, you can order your cheesesteak: With or Without Onions and with Cheese Whiz or Provolone. Jimmy G. ordered a “Provolone With” at Pat’s and I ordered the same at Geno’s.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/93178065
Although Sunday was my birthday, the celebration began on Friday with:
“Dress like Jim” day at work. Organized by my co-workers, everyone came dressed in my signature ‘black on black’ and untucked shirts.
Oatmeal, Paintball & Hurricane Wings Saturday, my girlfriend Julie cooked my favorite breakfast - oatmeal. Our bellies full of homemade oatmeal, she treated me to a day of paintball and chicken wings with the usual crew: (l-r) standing Cassie, Jeremy, Julie, Me, Jess. Kneeling (l-r) Amy, Tiff, and Montana. It was a blast! Aside from some bruising both to ego and body, it’s something we would do again.
Deep-Fried Turkey Sunday, B-DAY, the whole family came over for some Deep-Fried Turkey! Touted by most as the ‘best turkey ever’ it was surprising good, and white meat was definitley moist! Mom whipped up some delish sides - corn salad, feta rice salad with spinach & Artichokes, roasted sweet potatoes with honey & lime and a chorizo/chickpea pasta salad. I donned my father’s day work gloves to lower the turkey into a pot of oil, and 56 mins later, i pulled it out all golden and glistening!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/85550013
This week Our Family Foodfight packed our bags and ‘took the show on the road’ to join my mom on her “culinary tour around the world”. Only half way around the world, you can find my mom and her Culinary Itinerary on foodalogue. This week we found her wandering the streets and shores of Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi and Siberia in search of classic Russian dish fare - Beef Stroganov!
And so the battle begun, and not since Rocky IV has there been a bigger battle with a Russian!
BORSCHT
No it’s not the name of Borat’s mom, but it is the name of a classic beet soup. Typically a tangy soup made with beets, cabbage and beef stock, borscht can be served warm or cold. I decided to do it both ways!
Always one to push the limit and add a modern twist — I took cold to it’s Siberian limits with a Red Beet Borscht Sorbet and used organic golden beets to make a Roasted Golden Borscht.
BEEF STROGANOV
Tender chunks of beef, a creamy sauce over fancy pasta, this Stroganov was great! An assortment of pickled veggies accompanied this dish to help cut the richness of the sauce.
HONEY MOUSSE
Sweet. Fluffy. Goodness. This mousse combined a honey custard with fresh whipped cream to make a light, sweet ending for our trip to Russia.
Das Vadanya! My comrades!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/80900671
Cass got braces this past Thursday and as a result cannot eat a lot of her favorite foods. As a special treat, I made her favorite — chocolate pancakes, albeit super mini-sized (none were larger than a quarter!)
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/80263331
Seems like we have an never ending supply of bacon explosion. For this meal we took a basic store-bought rotissere chicken, dressed it up with lemon and roasted garlic and filled it with a cornbread & bacon explosion stuffing.
Simple, Quick, Easy, and Extremely Tasty!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/80262093
Slowly working through the remains of Suberbowl’s Bacon Explosion, i had a not-so-crazy idea for breakfast sandwiches! A Bacon-Explosion-McMuffin of sorts.
Simple to make-delish to eat. Layer cheddar, slab of bacon explosion and fried egg on an english muffin.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/77835755
Not a battle with the usual crew cooking, but there were enough tasty treats to make a special post for superbowl.
Julie’s ‘Now’ Famous, Watermelon Sangria
Pureed fresh watermelon, mixed with reisling and fruit that marinated overnight in watermelon flavored vodka, this sangria packs a punch!
Bacon Explosion
As seen in the NYTimes and on the BBQ Addicts blog, this is the real deal. Crispy bacon, wrapped in sausage, then covered in a woven bacon blanket slow baked to juicy perfection. Even without the BBQ sauce, this recipe did not disappoint. Cut in slabs and stuffed into Italian bread this makes a real ‘manwich’!
Also served up were the now infamous bacon-wrapped tater tots with a velveeta & beer fondue. Seriously, who could resist?
Other fabulous treats
Our favorite Fresh Chef, not only served up food so fresh it should be slapped™ — he served up food so good, it didn’t last long enough to photograph! Tuna Tartare, Mozzarella & Tomatoes with fresh basil and his mom’s Sausage & Cheese Pumpernickel Toasts were delicious! As Jeremy (pictured bottom left) puts the finishing touches on the superbowl pool, he is quoted as saying “Dude, of course i can can count to ten! 1-2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10! See! I ain’t stupid. I went to school in new jersey”
Amy brought pizza, the Koenigs (center) made Buffalo Chicken Dip, Cucumber & Habenaro dip, and the Bruders Chips & Salsa rounded out the snacks. Sarah (pictured left with Amy) made delicious mini-coconut cupcakes while Montana & Jess treated us all to McDonald’s Apple Pies, Cheeseburgers and Hamburgers!
Friends and good food always makes for a good time!
We are thankful to have an abundance of both.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/75378027
The only thing i like better than good alitteration is a good brunch! And with this weekend’s battle, we accomplished both.
For those of you who read this blog regularly, it will come as no surprise, that my mom whipped up something savory and cassie, as usual, satisfied her sweet tooth.
First up was mom’s . Colorful and tasty, these baked egg treats were filled with spinach, cheese and chorizo. WOW!
Next up was my favorite brunch item — Eggs Benedict — although with a decidedly Italian flavor. Poached egg over proscuitto, arugula, basil and garlic toast with an alfredo sauce drizzle.
And last, Cassie plated up a sweet treat – her famous Banana & Nutella Stuffed French Toast.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/75325932
Cassie competed in her first fencing tournament today. We were all very nervous but excited. Prior to the competition beginning, we laughed and made jokes about treating her epee (weapon) as a giant skewer and making a huge shish kabob out of her opponents!
Cass did great; she placed 3rd in her category, and only lost by one point to the person who came in first! We are very proud!
To celebrate the victory, WE ATE! And eat we did at LeTub in Hollywood, Fl. Formerly a Sunoco Gas Station, this bar has prime seating on the Intracoastal and serves up one of the best (and biggest) burgers in town! But be warned, this is not a place to go if you are in a hurry and they only accept cash (ATM in the bar).
a 13 ounce behemoth - click on the image to see it life size!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/70505665
When first invited to a Redneck New Year’s Eve party, i was perplexed. Growing up a ‘city kid’ in NY, I was at a loss at what to make for a redneck food party. Especially since this party revolved around a recently hunted & subsequently slaughtered ferral pig which was ground into fresh pork sausage before our very eyes! (more on that in a later post)Not knowing where to begin, I quickly consulted my ‘redneck cookbook’ which i purchased for $1 from a vagabond in Manhattan about 15 years ago. Unfortunately, nothing caught my attention and undaunted, i thought a little more about the audience and came up with these ‘heart-stoppers’.
Bacon-wrapped tater totsSmoky bacon, wrapped around tater tots and baked till crisp. I know, deep frying would have been more true to the audience, but i had a crazy plan to use the fat that was rendered out of the cooked bacon.
While I was rendering the bacon, Cassie was busy wrapping the bacon pieces around the tater tots, and readying them for baking. Once that was done, we started on dipping sauces. Garlic went into a pot with butter and red pepper flakes, quickly followed by a 2 lb block of velveeta, a few dashes of ‘slap your momma’ cajun seasoning and a variety of other dried hot peppers. Once the sauce melted down, i added my secret ingredient — champagne. NO, not the French variety, this champagne was straight from Milwaukee. Miller High Life - the champagne of beers!While the two liquids were melding flavors and creating a heady aroma, i took on a little craft project and using an exacto knife, i carved up the Miller High Life Can to make a cheese trough in which to dunk the crispy bacon wrapped tater tots.
Now, if the thought of bacon-wrapped tater tots served with a veleveeta-beer dipping sauce wasn’t enough to clog your arteries, get ready for the real heart-stopper — Bacon Mayonnaise. Using the rendered bacon fat as a base, I blended/emulsified egg yolks, dijon, salt, pepper and lemon juice to make the world’s best mayonnaise (just imagine using it on a BLT, or a burger) MMMmm!
Now, i wish i had some photos of the crisped bacon-tots or even the finished presentation, but once out of the oven, these bad-boys were history.
And in true redneck stlye, according to Merriam-Webster, the word of the day is
chawbacon \CHAW-bay-kun\
noun
Meaning: bumpkin, hick
Example Sentence: Larry has been living in the city for almost a year, but he’s still as much of a chawbacon as the day he left the farm.
Did you know? “Chaw” is an alteration of “chew” that is still used in some English dialects, especially in rural areas. Cured pork, or bacon, was a staple of some rural folks’ diets in the past. Since the 16th century, “chaw” has been combined with “bacon” to create a ludicrous name for an uncultured yokel. Over the centuries, the word has lent its delicious dialect flavor to a wide range of publications, but it has become less common in recent decades. Today, city dwellers are as likely as country folk to chow down on bacon, and the word “chawbacon” isn’t often on the lips of either group.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/69218052
This week’s battle cry should be “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
Challenged to use anything ‘Christmas’ we were left to be very creative in our approach.
Leftover Christmas Turkey Soup
Full of fresh veggies and spinach, this hearty soup warmed our stomachs and emptied our fridge using leftover Christmas Day Turkey as it’s base.
Pork Wellington
Using leftover truffle mousse paté and pillsbury biscuits, these golden-baked puffs were stuffed with pork tenderloin, sauteed mushrooms with shallots and then topped with fresh cranberry sauce.
Pom-Beef Roll
Inspired by these set of four plastic Andy Warhol Ice Cream Cones, Cassie filled the cones with sushi rice, teryaki beef and pomegranite seeds!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/67322565
A traditional holiday favorite, these frittatas can be made full-sized for a brunch or baked in mini-cupcake pans for the perfect bite-sized appetizer.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/64977061
These are the ultimate brownie bite - rich dark chocolate coupled with the smokey spicy flavor of chipolte pepper and spinkle of kosher salt on top to tie it all together. Sweet + Heat = Delish!
Originally posted August 2008
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/64987797
Although we did not have a food fight, we still had to eat dinner! This Sunday we made a pot roast in the slow-cooker which allowed us time to pick up and decorate our Christmas tree, bake cookies and update Cassie’s Ipod!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/62991322
Chorizo & Fig Empanadas – Mom, stuffed her empanadas with a chorizo and fig puree, the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Served with a vegetable escabeche not pictured.
Orange-scented turkey empanadas – Although Cassie went more traditional with her emapandas, she did add a Floridian-flair by adding sour orange juice, fresh orange pieces and orange zest to her picadillo prior to filling her empanadas.
Seafood empanadas – an homage to our family’s recipe for empanada de galicia, jim took the traditional flavors of saffron, peppers, onions, oregano and filled these hand-held empanadas with octopus, calamari, mussels and shrimp.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/60573982
Last we battled, it was battle green of a monetary nature — this week it was a true greens. Each dish had to include at least 3 green items - herbs, veggies, fruits etc.
Soup & A Salad:
Green Gazpacho: Chock full of green goodness, Jim reinvented this classic chilled soup. Pureed cucumbers, green grapes, celery leaves, granny smith apple, almonds and chiabatta bread blended together with some excellent olive oil. Topped with a seared diver scallop, and sesame oil flavored croutons.
Grape Salad: sliced grapes, celery leaves and almonds tossed with extra virgin olive oil and rice vinegar
Zucchini ‘Pasta’ with Grilled Shrimp
Shaved fresh zucchini served as the pasta in this delightfully fresh dish. Using a vegetable peeler, Cassie painstakingly shaved fettucini-sized ribbons of zucchini which were tossed with an artichoke pesto, fresh lemon juice & zest, peas and topped with a grilled shrimp.
Sausage Rolls with Caramelized Onions and Toast Fries
Italian sausage wrapped with dandelion, escarole and swiss chard then roasted in the oven served with caramelized onions and toast ‘fries’
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/58984927
Montana, Jess, Julie and I got together for dinner last night and the theme was “taste of fall”.
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Acorn squash stuffed with cornbread stuffing mixed with craisins, pecans and fresh sage and baked until fork tender. Adapted from Cooking Light
Beer-Glazed Mini Meatloaf
Ground pork, veal, and beef mixed garlic, onion, spices and guiness beer. Baked in muffing tins with a beer glaze. Adapted from this recipe and also from Cooking Light
Pumpkin Mac & Cheese
Pumpkin puree heated throughout, mixed with cream, Frontal cheese and applewood smoked uncured ham. Topped with breadcrumbs, parmesan, and crisped applewood smoked ham and shredded Frontal cheese. Adapted from this recipe
Am’ih [AKA sliga or kolyva]
One pound winter wheat cooked till tender, mixed with slivered almonds, crushed walnuts, pomegranate seeds, Jordan almonds, golden raisins and seasoned with cinnamon and sugar to taste.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/57526689
The challenge — feed a family of four for under $11 (not incuding raiding the pantry for basics) and hopefully have enough for left overs the next day.
Stuffed Veggies
Nana led off the competition with a trio of stuffed vegetables. Cous cous stuffed peppers, sausage stuffed mushroom caps and eggplant rollatini.
Beef Lo Mein
Next up, Cass presented a real treat - Lo Mein. Stir-fried veggies, mixed with steak stir-fry sauce and spaghetti made for an excellent dinner (served 4 for dinner and 4 for lunch)
Shepards Pie and Chicken Pot Pie
Cheap leg quarters allowed Jim to really stretch the same ingredients. A bag of potatoes diced went into the pot pie and the remainer were mashed for the shepard’s pie topping.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/57507581
This weekend we celebrated the Feast of San Gennaro with a battle of our favorite foods from the festival: Sausage & Peppers, Meatballs, and Zeppole.
First a little background: The Feast of San Gennaro was first held in New York City on Sept. 19, 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples, Italy, settled in apartment houses along Mulberry Street in a section that soon became known as ‘Little Italy.’ In addition to seeking a better quality of life in America, these new Americans brought with them a rich culture and deep religious heritage, including the centuries-old tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate the day in 305 A.D. when Saint Gennaro was martyred for the faith. In the ensuing years, the Feast has grown from a one-day street celebration to a gala 11-day event. The Feast is a religious celebration that has become a proud tradition handed down from generation to generation of Italian-Americans.
We started this battle with one of my favorite end-of-summer treats – figs. These were wrapped in prosciutto and then grilled till warm and crispy.
Grilled prosciutto-wrapped figs with imported provolone and olives, fennel and Sicilian orange
As you walk down Mulberry Street, the smell of grilled sausage and peppers surrounds you. As an homage to the flavor of the street, i made a trio of grilled sausages with peppers and onions. Sweet pork, hot italian, and chicken with broccoli rabe.
Next, mom prepared meatball parmigiano. Well, almost…
Rice parmigiano with spinach and chicken meatballs.
And Cassie made for dessert, the true flavor of the ‘Feast’ — zeppoles.
Typical for the ‘Feast’, Cass served them warm in brown paper bags, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Not typical were the flavors: lemon, chocolate and orange.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/51163470
This week we battled it out in the kitchen over shrimp. Funny, how one ingredient, can be interpreted in such different ways and with such different flavors.
First up, was this Greek-inspired plate — grilled shrimp atop a cucumber boat filled with a salad of tomatoes and feta. Served with toasted pita chips, humus and tzatziki sauce.
Next was a this duo of asian treats — Lettuce wraps stuffed with sesame oil-marinated shrimp, avocados, cilantro, mint, peanuts and a variety of sauces. And a new take on japanese favorite - Shrimp and Beef Negimaki.
And lastly, we had mojito marinated shrimp with grilled pineapple and yuca. A simple syrup of fresh mint, sugar cane, Bacardi rum and fresh lime flavored the shrimp and the yuca, was basted with cilantro and garlic.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/50179791
A refreshing summer starter, this is a twist on the classic capprese salad —substituting farm fresh watermelon for tomatoes, with mozzarella and basil. Season with sea salt, cracked pepper, olive oil and a drizzle of aged balsamic glaze.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/48333405
This week we battled it out over a family favorite, pizza!
Mom was up first with a spanish tapas rolled pizza with a saffron-sherry vinaigrette. You can see her recipe at her blog, foodalogue
I was up next with a capresse pizza. All the traditional pizza ingredients, but fresher and uncooked. Heirloom tomatoes, burrata (fresh buffalo milk mozzarella) and garden fresh basil atop a thin pizzette.
And Cass, surprisingly, made a dessert pizza! decorated with bananas, strawberries and dark chocolate chips and shavings
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/48282816
Tomorrow, Weds. August 6th is Chocolate day in our office.
Over the weekend, Cassie and I tested and tasted a variety of brownie recipies to come up with the ultimate brownie bite - rich dark chocolate coupled with the smokey spicy flavor of chipolte pepper and spinkle of kosher salt on top to tie it all together. Sweet + Heat = Delish!
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/44797451
This weekend, Cassie and I cooked up some BBQ for Sunday dinner. Slow-cooked pulled pork, sweet potato pies and sugar snap peas. Simple southern fare, with a little bit of a twist. The pork was slow-cooked with a homemade BBQ sauce using Dr. Pepper as a base, the sweet potato pies were cooked with a graham cracker crust and each had a marshmallow stuffed in it’s center and the sugar snap peas were so fresh they needed nothing more than a little salt.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/44599127
Although, this was an off week for the Family Food Fight, I still spent some time in the kitchen creating these Paella Bites.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/43723823
Using leftovers from this weekend’s foodfight, i made chimichurri marinated steak tacos with this delicious fresh salsa of raw corn, watermelon, jalapeno and lime juice.
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/41390275
Back in town after spending a week in New Orleans, we decided to reinvent American BBQ classics: Franks & Beans, Burgers, Steak, Cheesecake, Cup Cakes and Watermelon.
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Nana reinvented Franks & Beans with “The Works” and Cheesecake
American favorites prepared Spanish-Style
Franks & Beans: Grilled baby chorizo and moricilla served on toasted pan de tomate with toasted garbanzo, diced moricilla and piquillo salad.
The Works: Green peppers, onions, tomato and olive salad
And for dessert
Cheesecake: Rounds of Queso Blanco (white cheese) with membrillo on cinnamon toast, warmed on the grill and topped with maraschino cherries.
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Cassie prepared bite-sized burgers, candied sweet potatoes, lemonade and cup cakes
Buffalo Burger Bites: Bite-sized buffalo burgers on French bread rounds with dressed salad greens and tomatoes
Candied Sweet Potato Napolean & Kabobs: Grilled sweet potato planks layered with marshmallow and topped with peanut brittle crumble.
Fresh Lemonade with Strawberry Ice: Fresh squeezed lemonade with strawberry puree ice cubes.
Grilled Orange Cupcakes: Vanilla cupcakes grilled in an orange took on an orange flavor and gained a lot of moisture. Delicious!
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Jim prepared grilled steaks, salad and watermelon.
Churassco Grilled Steaks: Skirt steaks stuffed with fresh summer greens and dressed with chimichurri and grilled corn
Watermelon: Watermelon granita with vanilla bean and mint
http://ourfamilyfoodfight.com/post/41107558
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