Bocconcini Tomato Skewers

Now, do you know what Bocconcini is? I didn't and I went ahead and bought some mozzarella that wasn't mushy because I only look at the picture to help make the decision to try this. Turns out Boccocini are small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese The smaller ones are called ovolini or cherry boccocini. Whatever, right? I think that is what I bought?

BOCCONCINI TOMATO SKEWERS
Prep: 20 minutes and chilling

20 ovolini
2 T olive oil
2 T fresh parsley
1 T fresh chives
20 cherry tomatoes
40 basil leaves
toothpicks

1. Put ovolini in a bowl with the oil, parsley, chives, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. Cut each cherry tomato in half and thread on toothpick, followed by a basil leaf, then bocconcini, another basil leaf and then the other half of the tomato. Repeat.
3. This can be served immediately or chilled for 8 hours.

I made 9. They were delicious. I like that they were a relatively healthy party appetizer. They are impressive as well. Only time consuming threading them all:)

KAY-sah-DEE-uh

This book that our Grandmother got us is great!! I started with a staple around our house, quesadillas. The book included the phonetic pronunciation so the chef could "impress their guests!" Now we usually butter the tortillas and make them just like a grilled cheese sandwich, but the book said to fry them...interesting.

Lay out 3 tortillas and top each with cheese, plus whatever you like: jalapenos, meat, etc. We just stick with cheese. Then, top with 3 more tortillas. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter. I used a star:) Heat a small amount of oil and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side. You can also serve with sour cream, avocados, guacamole, etc...

Holiday Fare - Black Eyed Peas for New Years

Sorry this is a couple of days late.

We eat Black Eyed Peas every New Years Day for good luck. I have high hopes for this year, so I ate a lot...

I made this recipe from Cooking Light and used kale instead of mustard greens. Everyone in the family loved it. I served it over brown rice to make it a bit more filling.

January challenge - finger foods

My grandmother got me a finger foods cookbook for this challenge and that is the inspiration for this challenge. The definition of finger food would be anything that does not require a utensil to eat it: cookies, sandwiches, appetizers....All courses are fair game.

New Year's Eve

Well, we kept on the Italian theme for New Year's Eve and I made my first Cioppino, a seafood stew. I kind of winged this one ... here is what I used for a generous 2 servings.

1/2 lb. halibut, skinned and cut into large cubes
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 large scallops
1/2 lb. mussels or clams

For the broth:
Chopped a leek up and used it to flavor the broth (remember to clean it really well ... they are really dirty vegs)
Peeled and chopped 2 large carrots
Chopped 2 celery ribs
2 garlic cloves cracked

Put the veggies with a swig of olive oil and a bay leaf and saute on low for a couple of minutes. Next I added 1.5 c. of dry white wine and 3 c. of seafood broth (I used Penzeys Seafood base dissolved in water), and a 28 oz. can of plum tomatoes with the juices. I added a pinch of oregano, a couple of Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste and let the broth stew for about 30 minutes.

Now you are ready to add your seafood. I did the mussels first and cooked them a couple of minutes until they opened then removed them to a plate. Next I added the fish, shrimp and scallops and cooked for about 5 minutes (the shrimp were done before then so we removed them to the plate as well. Once everything was cooked I removed the seafood to a plate and pureed the broth (removing the large pieces of veggies & bay leaf first). Then I added all the seafood back in and served in soup bowls with a crusty bread to mop up the great tomato broth.

This turned out so incredible. The only thing I might not do next time is the scallops ... I prefer them grilled and they turned a blah color when they cooked in the broth this way. I would save them for a different occasion.

For dessert we had Chocolate Souffles from the Cooking Light Dec. Holiday issue. These turned out great as well.

Christmas Eve - Polenta Coniglio

Whenever we are in Italy for Christmas, our traditional family dinner is Polenta Coniglio. Well, we were not in Italy this Christmas but decided to give it a try ourselves. Coniglio is rabbit. Yes, that's right ... when everyone here is having their Christmas turkey ... we are feasting on a Christmas Bunny. Say what you will ... but, it's really tasty braised with some wine and rosemary and supposedly even leaner than chicken. Do I even need to post the recipe ... or is everyone pretty much horrified? I will give you one polenta tip, however, the copper pot that every Italian cook & cookbook swears by for polenta making really does improve the quality of your polenta. I think the copper keeps the water temp high as you add your cornmeal so you don't end up with lumps ... I was impressed ... I received this as a gift last year and love it!

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Christmas morning was at my house this year. This was a lot of pressure for someone who admits that I don't do breakfast. Half of a bagel or instant oatmeal is good for me! So, what to make, what to make? I decided on Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon rolls. They were a hit. Even my dad ate one, and he usually saves such things for breakfast the next day. Oh wait, this was breakfast! It really wasn't all that much to put together the night before. You assemble the rolls into almost their final form the day before. The day of, you have a little rise, then bake, make some icing, and ta-da cinnamon rolls!



Andy got up first, so I prepped and allowed for the second rise. Right before "Santa Gifts" I put them into the oven to bake. When there were cooling, it was easy enough to make the icing and then serve. My mom said they looked liked they came from a bakery. My FIL said "they don't make them like this anymore." We will see if they make it to next years breakfast menu.