Sweet & Savory

One of my favorite combinations is sweet & savory...I love the way they compliment each other. Ice cream and caramel for example...delicious union! The recipe I am going to share is one that does the very same thing. Pork is one of those meats that greatly compliments sweet tones. I had some butternut squash in my fridge that I needed to use, which became the perfect partner for pork.

One of my favorite ways to cook pork is by using a crust with nuts, any nut combination will do. Two of my favorite are almonds and pistachios. They create a crunchy texture and salty finish which leaves this pork to die for!

Almond-Pistachio Crusted Pork
4 pork chops
1/4 cup crushed almonds
1/4 cup crushed pistachios
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup milk


First I take my pork out of the package, grab a fork and poke holes all in it to help tenderize the meat and allow flavors to reach inside the pork. Then I pour the milk over the chops in a bowl. I let that sit for 30 minutes while the milk helps tenderize the pork even further and makes a creamy coating. While the pork is taking a milk bath I get my butternut squash ready.

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree
1 medium sized butternut squash
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 chopped onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp marscapone cheese

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and sprinkle on all the spices/onion, drizzle with olive oil then pop in the oven for one hour at 350 degrees to get nice and tender.

Meanwhile you can get your brussel sprouts ready, warm a pan on medium heat, add olive oil and pour in your brussel sprouts. Sprinkle with a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper. Keep them on medium for about 10 minutes then reduce to low until ready to serve. Mix them around a bit to get crispy on the outside.

When your pork is ready to go, remove from the fridge. Put your chopped nuts in a bowl, add salt and pepper and mix together. Dunk your chop into the nut mixture from the milk mixture and onto a baking sheet. Make sure the pork chops are evenly coated with the nut mixture, to create a crispy crust. Pop that into the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

One the squash is roasted, remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Once cooled, peel off the skin and chop up into squares, add to a bowl. Add in the milk, chicken stock and marscapone cheese, stir together. Then use your emulsion blender to smoothly blend all the ingredients together. (If you don't have an emulsion blender, use a regular blender or food processor instead.) Once blended make sure to taste to see if you need any more salt or pepper. The mixture should be thicker than soup, more like a puree.

Then check on your pork by cutting into the meat, if it is dark pink you want to cook it a little bit longer. Once it is done, take it out to rest. Then turn the heat off on your brussel sprouts. Spoon the puree onto your plate then place the brussel sprouts on the outside and place the pork on top of the puree. Then dig in!

Enjoy! xoxo Lo

Wingin' It Football Style

When the NFL playoffs start my husband craves wings...there is something about football and wings that just go together like biscuits and gravy. Well instead of purchasing the overpriced, extremely fattening and greasy wings...I chose to make them myself. How hard could it be? Turns out, it wasn't hard at all.

First you want to come up with an easy appetizer that you can entertain with before you serve up the delicious wings. Then choose which kind of wings you want to make. I decided I definitely wanted to do buffalo wings but wanted another option as well, I settled on sesame-soy sauce wings.

When you go to the grocery store you can either purchase regular wings or you can choose drumettes, which I did. I chose two packs of 30 drumettes for each flavor. Then the next most important part is your marinade and giving your wings enough time to marinate.

My easy appetizer was homemade raspberry jam and brie.

I served this on a beautiful cutting board, sliced some pieces of brie and placed a small dollop of jam on top with thin crackers...yum!

Sesame-Soy Sauce Wings
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp of freshly crushed ginger
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 fresh lemon (juiced)
salt
pepper
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 Tbsp olive oil
sesame seeds for garnish

Place wings in a deep bowl and pour over soy sauce, ginger, garlic, lemon and cilantro. Use your hands to coat the marinade all over the wings. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate and let marinate for two hours. After the first hour re-mix to make sure the marinade is coating each wing evenly.

While those wings are marinading start the other set of wings:

Buffalo Wings
2 cups hot sauce
2 Tbsp worchestire sauce
cayenne pepper
salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

With the next batch of wings, place them in another deep bowl and pour over one cup of the hot sauce, worchestire and salt. Use your hands to make sure they have coated the wings, then cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for two hours. Same as the first batch, after one hour re-coat the wings. Once the buffalo wings are done, place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes on 350 degrees.

Bleu Cheese Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 minced shallot
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 lb bleu cheese
salt
pepper
celery sticks

While your wings are marinating, make your bleu cheese dip. Mix all the ingredients together and let merry in the fridge until ready to serve. Super easy! If you think the sauce is too thick, add more sour cream/mayo to thin it out.

Once the sesame wings are done marinading, place them on a greased baking sheet  and pour agave nectar on top to create a sticky sauce while they bake. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

When the buffalo wings are done, pour the remaining hot sauce on top and coat evenly. When the sesame wings are done baking sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Once all wings are cooled place on two platters for serving.

Simple Salad
arugula
dried cranberries
roughly chopped walnuts
goat cheese

For a simple salad with your hearty wings, mix all these ingredients together. Make sure to wash your arugula and get rid of the root. Add as much of the nuts, cheese and cranberries as you like. Serve with a simple lemony-olive oil dressing and voila a meal that will please any football watchin' man as well as his better half.

Enjoy! xoxo Lo

Winter Dinner Party

During the winter people tend to "hibernate" and long to be comforted by warm, toasty friends and food. What better way to achieve this than planning a dinner party?

This is my mom, her best friend and I with a holiday cocktail before everyone else arrived! The menu my mom and I chose was: 


- Pomegranate Lemon Drop with a Candy Cane garnish
- Dried Cherry-Pistachio Brie en Croute
- Bacon Wrapped Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- Roasted Potato-Leek Soup 
- Winter Salad with Fennel and Apples
- Holiday Pasta with Crusty Bread 
- Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart


Starting off with the holiday cocktail we combined 1 part vodka to two parts lemon drop mix and a slight pour of pomegranate with a mini candy cane as a garnish. We added the pomegranate to add red color for the holidays but you could keep the cocktail as a lemon drop or add any of your favorite Italian soda. 


Brie en Croute Appetizer
- 1 medium wheel of brie
- 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup dried cherries roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 sheet of puff pastry


Let puff pastry thaw and mix the pistachios, cherries, sugar and nectar together in a small bowl. Slice brie in half so you have two flat, thick pieces of brie that can be placed on top of each other. Add 3/4 of the nut mixture into the middle place the other half of the brie on top. Cover with the puff pastry dough and place the folded part down. On the flat side place the rest of the nut mixture and back at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve with crackers or crusty bread and prepare to be amazed! 

Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- 16 dried dates (you want about 2-3 per person)
- 8 slices of bacon (cut in half)
- 1/2 cup stilton cheese


Slice a line lengthwise through half of your date and stuff with cheese, wrap with bacon and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until bacon is crispy. This appetizer will blow you away, after one bite my taste-buds were doing the happy dance. Not a fan of blue cheese? I promise you with the bacon you cannot even tell it is blue cheese. 

Roasted Potato-Leek Soup
- 1 pound of diced Yukon gold potatoes
- 2 sliced leeks
- 2 diced shallots
- 1 bunch of arugula
- 3 cloves of chopped garlic
- 4 leaves of fresh sage chopped
- 1/2 heavy cream
- 1 carton of chicken stock
- 1/2 white wine
- a few pieces of crumbled bacon
- shredded Parmesan cheese 

Roast your potatoes, leeks and shallots on a baking pan for 30 minutes, in the last 10 minutes add arugula...roast until wilted.

Start your Dutch oven with olive oil, add garlic and sage on low heat. Once the potatoes are roasted add to the Dutch oven and add half of the chicken stock and white wine. Let simmer at medium heat for 15 minutes. 

Use your emulsion blender to blend the mixture until smooth. Add heavy cream and cook on low for another 15 minutes. You may need to add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick. Once the soup has finished, pour into small bowls (this soup is very filling!) and top with crumbled bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Winter Salad
Sadly we got so excited about this one that I forgot to take a picture but hopefully my description can help create one in your imagination :)

- 1 bulb of fennel
- 1 Gala apple
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 2 beets
- stilton cheese

After cleaning all your salad ingredients, roughly chop your beets. Mix the beets and pecans with maple syrup and roast for 20 minutes. Slice the bulb of fennel into thin slices, as well as the apple. Keep the top part of the fennel as a garnish. Crumble your Stilton cheese and once the beets are done assemble your salad with the sprigs of fennel on top. The licorice flavor of the fennel, crispness of the apple, creaminess of the cheese and crunch of the pecans will be a lovely palate cleanser before your pasta dish.

Holiday Pasta
Even though it's not Holiday season anymore...doesn't mean the wintery days doesn't call for a velvety, luscious pasta dish to warm your soul. This dish is named the way it is because it's like a Holiday party in your mouth!

- 1 pound of whole wheat penne pasta
- 4 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 3 13-oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 celery stick
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 pound of Italian sausage
- 1/4 pound pancetta
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- grated romano cheese for topping
- 1 loaf of ciabatta

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and add bay leaf, diced pancetta and garlic for 7 minutes. Add half of the Italian sausage (out of the casing) and brown and crumble up. Chop up veggies,  add to pot after about five minutes add the wine, let wine cook off for one minute and add beef stock and tomatoes.

Stir in allspice and chopped parsley along with salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes to let the flavors merry. Meanwhile cook the other half of the Italian sausage (with casing on, sliced) in a separate pan.

Bring your water to boil, add pasta and cook to al dente (aka slightly underdone). Plate the pasta on a large platter and spoon the sauce over. Serve with sprigs of rosemary as a lovely garnish. Cut up your crusty bread and sprinkle the grated romano on top. Your dinner guests will be pouncing to dig in!

Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart
- 8 biscotti cookies
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cherry preserves
-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Himalayan sea salt flakes

Chop up your biscotti cookies in a food processor, add in diced pieces of cold butter and brown sugar. Push into the bottom of a well greased spring-form pan and back at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once cooled (15-20 minutes) evenly spread the cheery preserves on top. Then make the filling- heat the heavy cream to just below a boil and add to chocolate chips, mix until the chocolate melts into a smooth ganache. Add pistachios and dried cherries, pour over the crust and top with pistachios. Refrigerate overnight and when serving top with Himalayan sea salt flakes.

Enjoy this delectable, healthy, comforting winter dinner party menu...this will surely impress any company you have over during this chilly season. 


xoxo Lo

2012 Resolutions

Part of our family's new year's resolution was to eat healthier, lose weight and get my husband's cholesterol down. The first thing I did was do some research on cholesterol-healthy foods. Then I came up with a menu for the week to serve these ingredients.

Last night I created broccoli-gruyere stuffed chicken divan with a kidney bean puree and southern collard greens. It was packed with flavor and nutrients to boost our healthy bodies for the new year.

Broccoli-Gruyere Chicken Divan
4 chicken breasts
1 head of broccoli
3 leaves of kale
1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
2 garlic cloves
fresh oregano
olive oil
salt
pepper

Start by roasting your broccoli, kale and garlic in the broiler for 15 minutes. Meanwhile work on your kidney beans. Once the puree is ready to go take out the roasted vegetables and let cool for five minutes. While cooling start on your southern collards. Once the collard greens are on their way, shred up your gruyere cheese. Then pull your chicken breasts out of the fridge and slice a line in the middle of them, push through with your fingers to make a pocket inside each breast. Roughly chop up your roasted veggies and mix with the cheese. Stuff this mixture into each breast, place the breasts back on the roasting pan and broil for 25 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on top.

Rosemary-Kidney Bean Puree
1 can of kidney beans
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt
pepper

First I roughly chopped the rosemary and added that to the beans in a saucepan. Add chicken stock and bring the bean mixture to boil, in order to release the rosemary flavor. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Then use your emulsion blender (or blender) to emulsify the bean mixture. You may have to add more chicken stock if the mixture gets too thick. Then put on low and stir occasionally until ready to serve.

Southern Collard Greens
1 bunch of collard greens
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken stock

Chop up the collard greens and get rid of the inner spine (hard to eat). Pour a little olive oil into a larger sauce pan and add greens plus diced tomatoes. Cover and let greens wilt- about 5-7 minutes. While the chicken is broiling, stir around your collards to make sure they are being evenly coated by the tomatos. Put on low until ready to serve.

Once all components are cooked, plate by adding the puree first, curve your collards around the puree and place a chicken breast on top of the puree. Your company will love this dish!!

Happy 2012 everyone!!

xo Lo

Lazy Day Leftovers

Ever look in your fridge and have tons of leftovers but don't know what to do with them? I have a perfect solution! All you need to do is think outside the box just a bit and you can materialize a grandiose meal. On this particularly lazy day, I had a lot of leftover brisket and ribs from a family get together where we smoked the meat all day long. Instead of serving the brisket and ribs up as is I decided to transform them.

Smoked Brisket Ragout
1 lb brisket/ribs (any meat)
3/4 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
2 cans of diced tomatos (with juice)
1/3 cup red wine
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms
3 leaves of fresh sage
olive oil
salt
pepper

Start by chopping up your onion and garlic. Add onion to medium-hot pan with olive oil, after about five minutes add garlic. Cook until golden and translucent, stirring sporadically.

Meanwhile roughly chop up your brisket meat and rib meat (off the bone) place that into a bowl. Start on polenta. Once polenta is in the oven, add red wine to the onion mixture, let cook off for about a minute. Then add the meat, tomatoes, mushrooms, sage, salt and pepper. Let simmer while the flavors merry for about 30 minutes.

Savory Polenta
1/2 quart of chicken stock
1/4 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cup of cornmeal
1/2 cup grated parmesan
olive oil
salt
pepper

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan, add chopped onion, after a few minutes add garlic. Let saute and turn golden. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, add cornmeal. Add lid and place in 325 degree oven, stirring occasionally for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and add 1/4 cup of grated parmesan.

Plate the polenta on the bottom of two bowls and top with the smoked brisket ragout, add a bit of parmesan on the very top and indulge! This recipe is easy, nutritious and delicious!

Enjoy! xo Lo

Start your Winter day off right

In order to start your cold, blustery day off correctly a fulfilling breakfast is much needed. Eggs are a fantastic way to fill you up without a lot of calories or fat. Enjoy this simple yet mouth watering breakfast recipe.

Omelete

6 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
salt
pepper
3 English muffins
ground turkey
fresh berries
green onion
shiitake mushrooms

Slice disks out of the ground turkey and cook until juicy and slightly crisp. Chop up your green onions and shiitake mushrooms, add them to a pan on medium-low heat. Scramble the six eggs, whisk in milk, salt and pepper. Toast up the English muffins. Remove the onion-mushroom mixture and pour in 1/3 of the mixture, once the eggs start to solidifiy flip and add in onion-mushroom mixture plus shredded cheese. Flip one half over to create an omelette, leave for one minute then remove from heat.

Plate the omelete top with cheese and a few green onion slices with a side of turkey sausage, English muffins and berries. This meal will jumpstart your metabolism and give you energy to conquer the day!

Enjoy! xoxo Lo

Food for the Chilly Soul

During the winter season, I love to bake bread...as soon as they come out of the oven all steaming with deliciousness my soul is warmed. This sweet potato bread packs in nutrients and tons of flavors.

Sweet Potato Bread with Candied Orange Peel

2 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup oil (try grapeseed oil!)
4 eggs
1 sweet potato (shredded, skin on)
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts)
2 Tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup orange peel

Pre heat oven to 350, meanwhile wash and shred your sweet potato. I leave the skin on because skins are packed with nutrients and you can't even tell they are in the bread. Put the shredded potato in a bowl and add in sugar, water, oil and eggs- mix together. Add dry ingredients and lastly add in nuts and orange zest. Save some nuts for the topping. Divide mixture between two, well greased/floured loaf pans and bake for an hour.

While the bread is baking make your candied orange peels.

Candied Orange Peel

1 full peel of one orange
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup sugar

Bowl 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pan. While the water is heating up slice your orange peel into thin strips. Once the water is in a rolling boil, add your peels. Keep in water for one minute, then drain (keep water if you want for marmalade!), repeat process four times (this process helps release all the bitterness out of the peels). Once you've finished the fourth boil, add 1/2 cup of water to the same sauce pan, bring to a boil. This time add the sugar and add the peels. Let simmer for 15 minutes, this helps the peels soak up the sugary goodness.

After time is up, remove the peels and let dry on parchment paper until the bread is ready to be served.

Once the bread is baked (always check with a knife or toothpick), let cool for 10 minutes. Use the orangey, sugar syrup and brush it across the tops of each loaf. Top with extra nuts and finally with the candied orange peels.

This bread makes an exceptional gift and is simply scrumptious! Warm up your family's or neighbor's soul this winter season and bake up a batch of this bread!

Enjoy! xoxo Lo