Time to Eat More Greens

I often resolve to eat more greens. They are so good for, loaded with all the good stuff a body needs. But I don't always succeed in my quest. But sometimes I do. While shopping at Krieger's Market in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, I was looking at the many varieties of greens available and saw the most beautiful, fresh bunch of swiss chard I have ever seen.



It was vibrant green with clean white stems like it had just been picked. The bunch was huge, but I knew once it was cooked it would be just enough for Nick and I to share as a side dish. So I cleaned it, chopped it and threw it in my biggest skillet with a little olive oil, about 5 cloves of chopped garlic, a little salt, a little pepper and we're off!


If it doesn't exude enough of it's own liquid and the pan starts to get too dry, just add a little broth/stock. They don't take very long to cook. You just want them to wilt and the stems to get tender. Maybe about 15 minutes or so.



You'll notice that they will shrink down considerably. But they are delectable.

Alas Poor Burek....

One day, I was driving down Graham Rd. in Cuyhoga Fall, OH and passed by Kiflis Bakery. I have never been in there and quite frankly I'm a little confused by the place. They have signs for gyros and they have signs that state "Walnut Strudel made us famous" Gyros are Greek. Strudel is German. Kiflis itself, I believe, is an Hungarian dish. I don't know what to make of the place. Maybe it's just a melting pot of stuff.

At any rate, I was driving by and they had sign out front that said, "Fresh Burek with Beef today." I was intrigued. Just what is burek? Right away I got out my cell and called my friend Madonna. She is the most knowledgeable foodie I know. So I asked, "hey, what is burek?" She didn't know, but we decided I should go in and find out and give it a try. After hanging up, I called another friend, Elaine. She's Lebanese and knows way more about cuisine of that area than I ever will. I struck out again. She didn't know either.

Well by this time I was close to home and decided it would have to wait for another day. I looked online to see if I could find out what the heck burek is. Wikipedia had a whole ton of information. Confusing information really. It seems like it is from many many places, but generally the area along the Adriatic, but not exclusively. Many many counties have their own versions of burek. I welcome an education on this dish, so please right me if you know about burek.

So fast forward to this past Saturday. Nick and I were heading to Kreiger's Farm Market and had to go past Kiflis. Wouldn't you know the fresh burek sign was up again! This time I wouldn't be passing it by. We went in and the aroma in that place was heavenly! We went straight to the warm case and saw the burek for the first time. It was round and coiled. So for $4.95, you get this large pastry filled with beef or with cheese (the two they had available on this day). We bought beef.



Burek. I finally bought it and got it home and was ready to dig in. I split in half and Nick took half and I took half.



The level of deliousness here is off the charts! The meat is so savory and flavorful. Truly, if I didn't know it was beef, I would have thought it was sausage. It was amazing. I was so enamored with this dish that I didn't even pay attention to the spices and herbs that were used in the meat. I was just too busy enjoying it. The phyllo was flaky and crispy, but tender inside. The meat the perfectly cooked and not the least bit greasy. Nick said at first that he wasn't going to eat his whole half because he wanted to have something else too. But after the first bite he said, "I think I'm going to eat all of this."

So the moral to the story is, if you see a sign that says, "fresh burek today" don't hesitate! Now I can't wait to try the cheese one and the spinach and cheese one.

Quick and Easy Peasy

This really is one of my simplest dishes but quick and easy does not have to mean bland or boring. It's chock full of flavor and aroma and you can make it in less than 30 minutes. In fact, get your pasta water boiling because by the time the pasta is done, the sauce is done. You can use any pasta... long, short, round, whatever you like.

In a large skillet heat up about three Tablespoons of olive oil (extra virgin please) and add three to four cloves of garlic chopped. Do NOT let the garlic brown, so before that happens, add a whole lot of sliced mushrooms. The day I made it, I had the smaller container of whole mushrooms and sliced them myself. If you buy pre-sliced, buy them at the last possible minute because they go bad much quicker.



It looks like a lot of mushrooms, but they cook down considerably. Most likely the mushrooms will soak up whatever oil you have in the pan so I like to add a splash of white wine. You don't have to do this if you don't cook with wine, but it does add that somethin somethin to the dish. If it's too dry, add a little stock or you can go straight to the tomatoes.

One can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, juice and all. When I first started making this dish, Muir Glen was the only brand that made fire roasted tomatoes. Today there are more, but I still use only Muir Glen for this.




Simmer for a few minutes and let the juice reduce some. You don't want all the juice to reduce out or you'll have very dry pasta. But just simmer it about 10 minutes so the juices thicken up a little. By this time your pasta should be in the boiling salted water and on it's way to al dente.



While the sauce is simmering you can add whatever you like ... salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, basil, Italian seasoning...whatever you have on hand and like. Although I think if you are adding red pepper flakes that you should add them to the oil and garlic. I don't use them myself, but I think that is what most people do to bring out their flavor and heat.

Once the pasta is done, drain it and then if your skillet is big enough, pour it right into the skillet with the sauce and toss. If not, you can put it in a bowl or whatever and toss. Add some Parmesan cheese to the top or our favorite, Pecorino Romano.

Like I said, easy peasy and delish!

Pepperoni Pizza Meatloaf!

What a weird concept. I don't know why I was even thinking it. But I was taking my mom on her weekly grocery shopping trip and I was thinking of making meatloaf for dinner. Then I just started thinking to myself, "self, what would pepperoni pizza meatloaf be like?" I decided that adding some tomato sauce, pepperoni, Italian seasonings and mozzarella cheese would make a meatloaf kind of pepperoni pizzay.

I started off with two pounds of ground turkey. My logic being that if I'm making a meatloaf with cheese and pepperoni in it, I should probably try and save some calories and fat somewhere. I don't know how much I succeeded with this, but it makes me feel a little better about it.


From there, I took half a large sweet onion, chopped and three cloves of garlic, chopped, and sauteed them in a little olive oil. I do this for all my meatloaf. I like the sauteed vegetables more than adding them to the meat raw. It's just another level of flavor.



While the onions and garlic are getting all nice and soft and sweet, I chopped up some pepperoni in bite size chunks. Using the same twisted logic as the reason for ground turkey, I decided that if I saute the pepperoni, it will release some of the oil and I won't have all that oil in the meatloaf. As it turns out, that wasn't so twisted after all!


I also chopped the mozzarella into bite size chunks.



Now that everything is chopped, sauteed or ready to go, I mixed it all with the meat... the onions/garlic, the pepperoni (about a cup or so), the cheese (same amount), 3/4 cup of seasoned bread crumbs with a hearty pinch of salt, about 10 grinds of pepper, two tablespoons dried parsley, one tablespoon dried basil, one teaspoon dried oregano, and about half a cup of crushed tomatoes. Form the meatloaf and then pour about another half cup of crushed tomatoes over the top. And then top with thinly sliced pepperoni.


Bake at 350 for at least an hour. I suggest that you not use a loaf pan because even though you cooked some of the oil out of the pepperoni, there will still be some and if you bake it in a baking dish instead, you can drain it out.

This is a BIG meatloaf. It will take time to cook. And for a first try at something I just made up in my head on the way to the grocery store, it was pretty damn good! Sure, I now know that there are lots of recipes online for Pepperoni Pizza Meatloaf, but I had never looked one up until after I made it. I wasn't really surprised. Not much is original anymore.

You definitely want the pepperoni on top to be crispy, the cheese to be oozy and in general the whole thing to be a big mound of yummy deliciousness.





I served it with some orzo with asparagus. I think if I make it again, I might add an egg to the mixture. It didn't fall completely apart, but it was a little messy. It was even better the next day.

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

I am a lover of Caprese Salad, but only in the summer when I can pick tomatoes right out of my garden and they are fresh and juicy. And then my friend Elaine told me about Ina Garten's Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad and decided to give it a go. We were not sorry! It's delicious and different.

Of course, I made some small variations to the original because Ina calls for sugar and I really really loath when sugar touches a tomato. So I started out with 12 Roma tomatoes. Cut them in half lengthwise and then scoop out the seeds. Place them cut side up and sprinkle with chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.


These go into a low oven (the recipe says 275, but the first time I tried this, the tomatoes charred, so I changed it to 225) for 2 hours. When they are done they should be soft and caramelized on the bottom. Let them cool to room temperature.

When they are room temperature, layer them with slices of fresh mozzarella. Sprinkle with chopped basil then drizzle with more olive oil and balsamic. This was so incredible and really does quench the taste for caprese!







Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad
courtesy Ina Garten

12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not cores) removed
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces fresh salted mozzarella
12 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature.

Cut the mozzarella into slices slightly less than 1/2-inch thick. If the slices of mozzarella are larger than the tomatoes, cut the mozzarella slices in half. Layer the tomatoes alternately with the mozzarella on a platter and scatter the basil on top. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

Friday Night Special

Over the years, Nick and I have gotten away from buying processed foods. We try anyway and for the most part have succeeded. I cannot break that boy of his Stouffer's French Bread Pizza habit though. He really loves it. And for me, the one thing I haven't adequately figured out how to recreate myself is Zatarain's Dirty Rice. Thankfully the Zatarain's people now have a reduced sodium version, which I like just as well.




Friday Night Special is Dirty Burritos (thanks for the name Elaine!). It's Friday night's special because we do our grocery shopping on Friday evenings and when we come home I need to make something quickly.

So to make the Zatarain's Dirty Rice, you need a pound of ground meat. I always use turkey. And brown it first. I have started using this method that I saw Rachael Ray use when crumbling ground meat... a potato masher! It really works.



Once the meat is browned, drain and then add two and half cups of water, bring to a boil and then add the Zatarain's.



I think the box says to take the meat out, and then add it back in when the water boils with the rice mix, but who cares. It's not that big a deal, it all comes out the same. Turn down to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While that is cooking, it's time to get your burrito accouterments ready. I'm a firm believer in the Manny's Fajita Style tortilla. They are stronger than regular tortilla's and don't come apart when you fill them up. Shredded lettuce, check. Chopped tomatoes, check. Shredded cheddar, check. Salsa, check. Sour cream, check.


If you like, you can even heat up some refried beans, as I did on this day. I had those kick ass La Preferida Refried Beans with Chorizo. I can't always find them, so when I do, I stock up!


When all is ready, it's time to build the perfect Dirty Burrito. In my world that starts with beans on the bottom, followed by a scoop of Zatarain's. From there it goes cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa and sour cream.



Good luck closing it! We do our best, but we always end up overfilling. I did succeed this time though! Serve with chips and salsa. I don't make Spanish rice with this because of the rice in the Zatarain's.

Comfort Food = Pot Roast

Winter dictates that pot roast must be made. Quite frankly, I get into a cooking rut in the winter because I don't have access to my grill or my smoker. Right about now, I'm really missing those two things and can't wait until we're out of the threat of more snow and I can get them out of hiding again. But until then, here's how I make pot roast. It's not one of my favorite things really, but I don't mind it once in awhile. I start with a chuck roast. Probably between two and three pounds. It goes in a casserole dish with four or five cloves of garlic. I don't even bother to peel them. The peels will just slide off when the roast is done. Or if you prefer, you can cut little slits into the roast and insert the garlic right into the meat. That's yummy too. To that I add two cups of beef broth. If you have homemade, awesome. If not, I think I've mentioned before that I generally use Kitchen Basics brand when I don't have any homemade stock.




I like to saute my veggies just a little bit. I use carrots and sweet onions. I think Mom uses celery in hers too, but I prefer not to. You can add anything you like though... celery, parsnips, whatever. It's all good.




When the veggies are just starting to get some color, take them off the heat and put them in the pot over the roast. When using canned broth, I do not add more salt, but will add some pepper. I have a nice pepper seasoning blend that I used, but for the life of me I can't remember what it's called.




Slap a lid on that bad boy and cook it at 350 for two hours. It comes out just lovely. The meat is tender and juicy, the veggies are flavorful. I serve it over egg noodles, but I think most people make potatoes with their roast. I would suggest you add your potatoes about an hour into the cooking time then. You don't want them to be too mushy.

Take out all the veggies and the meat and then pour the liquid into a pan to thicken for gravy. I'm a cornstarch/water thickener myself, so I was a little taken aback when Martha Stewart was on Top Chef a few weeks ago and she called one of the chefs out for her sauce tasting like it was thickened with corn starch. Martha! What's wrong with this method!? I'm sure thickening with a roux made of butter and flour makes the sauce more flavorful, but a corn starch/water slurry does not add any extra fat and makes the gravy look so perty!