So, the hubs made this in a pressure cooker. This Christmas I meant to buy him a slow cooker. WIth the arrival of our 2nd bundle of joy I thought a slow cooker would be an easy way to have a hot meal ready when we got home after work. But instead I bought a pressure cooker by accident. (I liked the way it looked and it took up less counter space but still held same volume as the other ones on display). BEST MISTAKE I EVER MADE because you can whip up dishes with dried beans in no time, like 20 minutes!!! No more gooey sodium laden canned beans for us!!!  (But this can be done on the stove top with prepared beans) Here are the ingredients.

1 cup dry black bean (1 can cooked black beans – rinsed drained if you are making in a regular pot)

1 diced banana

2 cups unsweetened silk coconut milk (NOT THE CANNED STUFF!)

1 diced onion

1 head of peeled and chopped garlic

2 teaspoons Penzey’s ground red chipotles

1 tablespoon za’atar spice blend

fresh cilantro – a couple of sprigs

4 small tomatoes – quartered

3 celery heart stalks – chopped

1 tablespoon salt (do not use if using canned beans!)

1 red and 1 yellow pepper diced

1 heaping tablespoon of Girardelli cocoa powder (or any other brand)

1/8 cup lemon juice (juice of one lemon)

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1. Sautee garlic and onion in za’atar, chipotle and lemon juice.

2. Add salt, beans, banana, coconut milk and cocoa powder, bring to a boil, and set pressure cooker for 22 minutes

3. Add peppers, celery, cilantro and tomatoes – pressure cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Serve over brown rice! So YUMMY!!!! My husband has never played by the rules. And is not bogged down by culinary tradition. His unique and spontaneous food combinations never cease to surprise and please me! I used to be a purist. I no longer am. Plus he is pretty cute and totally hilarious. I love you! (picture below at last year’s Emmy’s – we lost ALL SIX NOMINATIONS but had a blast nonetheless)

i heard that this recipe would send me into labor….and i’m at the point where i will try ANYTHING!!! i did, however, make some healthy changes to it.

i baked my eggplant until tender instead of frying it after i spritzed it with a little olive oil. i also used low fat ricotta cheese, but didn’t skimp on the parm, romano or mozzarella. bc it would taste as good!

and i used cans of san marzano tomatoes – cubed.

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
Ingredients:

3 medium size eggplants
1 cup of flour
6 eggs, beaten
4 cups fine Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Olive oil
8 cups of marinara sauce (see recipe below)
1/2 cup of grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 lbs of mozzarella cheese shredded
2 cups of ricotta cheese

Directions:

Peel the eggplants (optional) and slice them into ¼ inch slices. Using paper towels, press on the eggplant slices to get rid of any extra moisture. Salt and set them aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Take your eggplant slices and lightly cover them with flour. Dip them in eggs and then in bread crumbs. Saute your eggplant slices in oil until both sides are golden brown.

In a baking pan place a layer of eggplant slices and cover with sauce then ricotta, Parmesan and Romano cheese. Continue layering the eggplant, sauce and cheese and end with a last layer of cheese. Cover with mozzarella cheese and bake in preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Eggplant Parmesan Marinara Sauce
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
8 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 cup onions chopped
1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1/8 cup of fresh chopped sweet basil
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of rosemary
One teaspoon salt
One teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add your tomatoes and cook on medium high until sauce begins to boil. Reduce heat to low. Then add the rest of your ingredients. Cover sauce and simmer for about an hour.

ok, i’m actually using spaghetti…but i am taking the sage advise of my buddy lisa and eating WHATEVER i want WHENEVER i want it during these final days of pregnancy. i would have made it for breakfast, but i actually went to spin class – thankyouverymuch.

this recipe is from the food network’s tyler florence- who btw is not really a “chef”. he used to be the cook at the defunct Cafeteria on 7th ave and not to sound catty, was average at best (i mean, who can’t make mashed potatoes?). use it as a guideline. i use way more garlic, more white wine, no butter and barilla plus spaghetti. after the baby, i’ll be using fiber gourmet.

Ingredients
1 pound dry linguine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
4 garlic cloves, slivered
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds littleneck or Manila clams, scrubbed and rinsed well
3/4 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lightly toasted and fried bread crumbs (optional)
Directions
Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the linguine will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian “al dente.”) Drain the pasta well.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium flame in a deep saute pan with a lid. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes; saute for 2 minutes. Add the clams, wine, and lemon juice. Cover and cook, shaking the pan periodically, until all the clams are opened, about 7 minutes. Discard any that have not opened.

Crank the flame up to medium-high heat. Add the hot, drained linguine to the pan; add the butter and season with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta with the clams to it’s nicely coated. Shower with chopped parsley and toasted bread crumbs. Drizzle with a nice dose of olive oil before serving.

beofre summer is over, try this amazing recipe from Toloache…we featured this great Mexican restaurant on our show!

Guacamole de Frutas (medium)
Yield: 4

2 Mexican hass avocados
half of a sweet onion, like vidalia, diced
2 tbsp mango, diced
2 tbsp peach, diced
2 tbsp apple, diced
1 tsp of habanero, chopped
salt, to taste

Scoop the pulp out of the ripe avocados into a bowl, and set aside. Add the rest of the ingredients and a pinch of salt. Mash the ingredients together, and adjust the seasoning as needed. Serve with warm corn tortillas or chips.

the news hit yesterday that food network mag named KESTE the best pizza in nyc…..i am on a mission to see of they are right….must say, the picture is very promising!

from their website:
Keste Pizza and Vino is an authentic Neapolitan Pizzeria in NYC located at 271 Bleeker Street, NYC.

It is also the official location in the USA for APN (Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani whose mission is to protect and preserve the Neapolitan pizza tradition and promote the art of pizza making. The organization also certifies professional pizza makers in the tradition of Neapolitan Pizza.

“Since my first day in NY (10 years ago)”, says Rosario Procino, “ I always wanted to eat good Neapolitan pizza and I could never find it. Then three years ago I met Roberto Caporuscio and once I tasted his pizza it was like falling in love once again”.

“It was then that I thought that the only way for me to have my Neapolitan pizza in NY was to partner with him. We opened Keste a few months ago and it seems the rest of NYC is falling in love with it as well!

ROBERTO

Roberto Caporuscio was born and raised on a dairy farm in Pontinia, about an hour’s drive from Napoli where he first developed his culinary skills producing and selling cheese.

It was, however, in Napoli, the birthplace of pizza, that Roberto went to study the art and craft of this culinary delight with the most talented masters of the Neapolitan pizza makers. After training with the best, he opened two successful pizzerias in Pittsburgh, followed by A Mano in Ridgewood, NJ . Each endeavor brought critical acclaim from the culinary industry, as well as the rave reviews and articles in books and magazines.

Two years ago, Chef Roberto became President of APN (Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani) and consultant to a variety of restaurants in Chicago, Denver, St Louis, and Madison – bringing his knowledge, experience and influence to a wider audience.

A few months ago, Chef Roberto partnered with Rosario Procino and opened Keste Pizza and Vino – where authentic Neopolitan Pizza is made in the heart of Greenwich Village.

THE HISTORY OF PIZZA

The word pizza, as it is currently spelled, was used to describe both sweet and salty pies in the Middle Ages, but took the form that we are now familiar with in pre-Renaissance Naples, a large city in central Italy. Poor peasants used their limited ingredients -flour and water, creating a bread dough, stretched and baked to make a seasoned, flat bread.

It’s said that the pizza that made Naples world famous is the Pizza Margherita in Italian or Pizza Margarita to the rest of the world. A local man and the town baker called Esposito first baked it in 1889. He created the pizza in honor of a visit to Naples by the Queen of Italy, Queen Margherita.

To make the pizza a little more patriotic-looking, Esposito used red tomato sauce, white mozzarella cheese and green basil leaves as toppings to follow the colors of the Italian flag. Queen Margherita loved the pizza, and what eventually became Pizza Margherita has since become an international standard. Neapolitan pizza is still widely regarded as the best in the world, probably because of the fresh ingredients available to Neapolitan pizzerias: herbs, garlic, and tomatoes grown in the rich volcanic ash of Vesuvius, and fresh mozzarella from water buffalo milk.

Pizzerias in this era usually included a large brick oven, a marble counter where the crust was prepared, and a shelf lined with ingredients. Contemporary Neapolitan pizzerias are prepared in the same way they were 100 years ago. The large brick ovens make the pizzerias uncomfortably hot in every season except winter, but the unique flavor of these brick-oven pizzas is unmatched. Pizzaioli (makers of pizza) often assemble the entire pizza on a marble counter right before the customer’s eyes.

Today, the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (the Association of Neapolitan Pizza) maintains strict member guidelines for ingredients, dough, and cooking. This elite organization maintains that pizza dough must be made only with flour, natural yeast or brewers yeast, salt and water. Dough must be kneaded by hand or mixers which do not cause the dough to overheat, and the dough must be punched down and shaped by hand. Also, only wood-burning, bell-shaped brick ovens are permitted in pizzerias that belong to this organization. The pizza must be cooked on the surface of the oven (often made of volcanic stone), and not in any pan or container, with oven temperatures reaching at least 400-430° C (750-800° F). These ovens often have to heat up for hours before the first pizza is cooked.

Ingredients
Ice cubes
6 ounces vodka
4 ounces lychee juice
Splash vermouth
2 lychees, for garnish
Directions
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice add vodka, lychee juice and vermouth. Shake until chilled. Pour into 2 martini glasses and garnish with lychees.

All ingredients listed in the recipe are estimates. Add or subtract according to your taste. One of the things that makes sangria so wonderful is its flexibility. Depending on the ingredients used, sangria can be a light thirst-quencher or a potent cocktail that can set heads spinning. Adjust the amounts of liquor according to mood and the guests. Taste the sangria the day before your guests’ arrival so you can tweak the flavors a bit (add additional juice, brandy, liqueur, fruit, or sugar if you want).

Yields: serves many
Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

2 (750 ml. bottles) dry white wine (Pinot Gris, Chablis, Chardonnay, Riesling, or Sauvingnon Blanc, chilled
1 cup fruit brandy (your favorite)
Fruit juice of your choice (I use fruit juice instead of sugar to add some sweetness)
Granulated sugar or Simple Syrup to taste (optional if not using fruit juice)
Fresh fruit (use whatever combination of fruit and berries that are in season), sliced*
2 cups club soda, 7-Up, seltzer water, lemon-lime soda, or sparkling water (optional)
Ice cubes
Mint sprigs, for garnish

*Any other seasonal fruit that tempts you may be added (berries, melon, grapes, guavas, mangos, apples, etc). Fruit juices may also be added. Let your imagination be your guide!

Preparation:

In a clean vessel, large enough to accommodate the wine, brandy, and fruit (pickle jar, sun tea jars, etc), combine the wine, fruit brandy, and fruit juices. Pour in the sugar or simple syrup, stir or shake the pitcher thoroughly to mix. Add the cut up fruits of your choice.

Add ice. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the fruits flavors to come through.

Serve the Sangria over ice in large wine glasses. Fill serving glass half full with ice. Pour the sangria over the ice. Add a few slices of the marinated fruit along with some fresh berries. Garnish each glass with a mint sprig and serve immediately.

Simple Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Boil for 5 minutes, without stirring. Remove from heat and let cool.

And don’t want to leave your apartment? Well, this late night cookie delivery service was created for undergrads, but even if you are no longer a co-ed you can still get your midnight munchie fix delivered to your front door. And the cookies are good!

So next time chocolate chip, coconut pecan or snicker doodles are in need in the wee hours, just hit up insomnia cookies.

When we stumbled upon Johnny Gelato in Hudson Hil’s market in our Cold Spring some shows back, we knew by the reaction of our tiny (and big) tasters that this subject matter deserved a more serious investigation.

And that’s how we discovered this small storefront some 20 miles east in Kent, where father daughter team John and Meagan are hard at work building their gelato empire, one outrageous and innovative flavor at a time. Sure, they sell them here, but have also strated a whole sale biz and are in over 30 restauratns across Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and the Bronx and have their sights set on the entire Tri-State area!