Rippin Another Blog: Parmesan Roasted Fennel with Mozzarella di Bufala and Reduced Balsamico

Good morning sugar loves!

It's my opinion that food is something that unites us all. Without getting all humanistic and homogenizing (because I learned in my Women's Studies classes that's a bad thing), we all need food. We all eat food (hopefully). We all want food (except those with eating disorders). And we all love food. Who doesn't enjoy eating?? (again, see above).

While what we eat differs from country to country, region to region, home to home, person to person - we do all eat.

And thank God for that. She must love food too.

That's why for the month of February I selected a Swedish blog to rip a recipe from. Min ugn är min tv. We might not speak or type the same language but with photos as fantastic as this Mattias', how can we not connect? The best part was looking at the food and trying to figure out what dishes were. And when it came to actually making one of his dishes, as Haydn mentioned yesterday, Google translator is a handy-dandy-translating magic machine! 

Fennel gets an incredibly tender flavor when it's cooked, losing most of it's aniseed punch, while the creaminess of the mozzzarella paired with the crunchiness of the cheese is unreal.

Small note: Buy the best ingredients for this that you can afford. They key to simple dishes like this is getting the good shit. Your mouth will thank you. Twice.

tack så mycket, Mattias... and Google Translator.

Roasted Parmean w Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
(printable recipe) - serves 2.

Ingredients:

2 Large Bulbs of Fennel.
2 Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
Real Parmesan Cheese, finely grated.
Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Coarse Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper. 
1 Batch Balsamic Reduction.

What to Do:
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

As it heats, chop the woody and fuzzy tops off the fennel and slice in half. Place on a baking pan and drizzle generously with oil, salt and pepper. Place in the hot oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until it starts to brown nicely. 

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with a good helping of Parmesan cheese. Place back in the oven and continue to cook until the cheese has a juicy golden color (approx 15 minutes). 

As your fennel bakes, remove the fresh buffalo mozza from the package and in a sieve to drain well.

Once the fennel is done, pile it all up on a big plate, drizzle with a good helping of balsamic reduction and olive oil, garnish with some fennel tops and serve with a loaf of crusty bread.

Eat.

Rippin Another Blog: Chocolate Covered Bananas Wrapped in Walnuts

Good morning dear readers!

Can you believe I'm still eating sweets?? 

I can. It seems to me that we crave what we eat. If you're in the habit of munching on salt, you want salt. If you tend to lean toward green, you want veggies. Meat eaters like their meat. And sweet eaters like their sweet. 

Christmas made a sweet eater out of me. And while I'm definitely on the road to vegetables again, I still crave a treat. 

This snack was about as split as banana can be. Well, except for the ice cream and candy sprinkles. But it was half fruit, half sweet. And I'm good with that. Throw in the nuts and you've got yourself one tasty, happy fat rich snack.

The recipe comes from The Joyful Table. A blog by a woman named Noelle who reaches out and touches my little heart soul. Not literally. Ouch. But figuratively - she's all about finding joy in the cherished moments around her kitchen table. That's my kinda scene. And while she touts this recipe as "embarassingly simple" - it's the simple things that make a dish worth eating. 

Thank you Noelle - I needed this today. Or at least my mouth did.

Chocolate Covered Bananas Wrapped in Walnuts

(printable recipe) - Serves 4.

Ingredients:

2 Bananas, with the peels just a little green still.

1 C Good Quality Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped.

1 C Roasted Walnuts, roughly chopped.

4 Wooden Skewers.

What to Do:

Peel the bananas and slice them in half lengthwise. Impale them on the skewers and place on a parchment paper lined plate. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Get the rest of the ingredients ready...

Dump the chocolate pieces into a double boiler (a pot with 2 inches of water and a glass bowl that fits over top works well - make sure the water doesn't hit the bowl).  Heat the water to a boil over medium heat, stirring the chocolate constantly to ensure it doesn't burn. Once melted and hot, remove from heat.

Place the walnuts in a large shallow bowl. Set aside.

Remove the bananas from the freezer and dredge in the chocolate and then the nuts.

Place back on parchment paper and place in the fridge for 30 - 60 minutes or until chocolate hardens.

Eat. 

What are your go-to desserts? Are you still stuck on the holiday sweet train? Choo choo!

RPI Eggs: Super Simple Poached Egg Sunday Breakfast

Happy Thursday darlings!

The best part of my day? I logged into Blogger, checked the blog's stats for the day, and opened up my draft for RPI Mission Eggs... I was greeted by this:

Jingle bells, batman smells, Robin laid an egg.

Batmobile lost a wheel and Joker got away.

Oh the joy of sharing a blog with a close friend who you wished lived closer. I've heard this song eight million times and was always kind of annoyed by it. Until now. Now it's the endearing gentle message my dear friend Haydn left me in my draft copy of RPI Eggs - a small but significant message that he hopelessly misses me. I miss you too, Haydn. Stupid, giant, Canadian country.

Something else that is dear to my heart? Eggs. Particularly, super simple Sunday breakfast eggs. When we established eggs as our Rock, Paper, ingredient mission this month, my mind immediately started digging into the various culinary fascinations of eggs - custards, cakes, aioli, souffle, blah blah blah. Ultimately, I chose to showcase the true nature of the protein powerhouse known as the egg. And stayed true to chicken.

Small side note: Duck eggs scare the squeezebox outta me. Much too large. Much. too. large. Pretty much anything that is larger in size than the average/normal freaks me out.

All you need for this recipe: eggs, bread, left over veggies. Maybe a little cheese. Golden. 

Super Simple Poached Egg Breakfast

(printable recipe) - serves 2.

Ingredients:

4 Pastured Eggs.

1 Tsp Vinegar.

1 Bunch Kale or Chard.

1/3 C Chicken or Veggie Stock.

Leftover Roasted Winter Veg.

2 Pieces Baguette or Sourdough Loaf, cut on an angle.

2 Shavings of Salty Grainy Cheese (ie Grana Padano, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to a high broil. Once hot, place sliced bread on a baking sheet, brushed lightly with olive oil, and slide under heat. Broil until golden. Remove from oven and lay the cheese on warm toast. Set aside.

Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. Re-heat winter veg in oven until hot. 

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Once hot, throw in the greens, season well with salt and pepper and stir well to coat. Add the stock and while stirring often, allow the greens to cook through and the stock to evaporate.

To poach eggs: Bring a deep saute pan of salted water to a light boil over medium-high heat. Once the water starts to bubble, add vinegar. Crack eggs into individual bowls and gently slide into the semi-boiling water. Using a slotted spoon, corral the whites around the yolks to help them keep their shape. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked through and the yolks runny. Remove from water and gently place eggs on top of cheesy toast.

Throw it all on a plate and chow down my friends, chow down.

Yes - eat.

How do your friends let you know they love you? How do you show you love them?

Apple Cinnamon Mashed Potatoes

The Lowdown:

Mike Bannon, 2012

Potatoes, as everyone knows, are the blue jeans of cooking. They can be as boring or out-there as you want. You can fry them, deep fry them, saute them, mash them, smash them, thrash them, mush them, stuff them, bake them, flake them. You can turn them into pies, fries, or chips, or dips. You can salt them, butter them, or coat them in any concoction. They can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or any snack in between. Yes, they truly are easier than a drunk prom date.

Potatoes, to me, have grown old and boring. They are sort of stuck in the pub fare fries section of the culinary sphere. Perhaps even in the I'm to lazy to make dinner so I'll make peas and mashed potatoes with ground beef section. By now, I feel like I've explored every avenue of patatoville. However, that theory was blown to smithereens when I went on vacation. Very rarely do I get surprised by a meals deliciousness when I go out for dinner. I always feel like the three bears story. It's too cold, it's too salty, it's just too unsatisfactory. Period. I'm not picky, so to say, I just have high expectations when I'm spending money on a meal that I could cook much better. I'm pretty sure we've all been there.

On the flip side, there are those rare occasions where you find a diamond in the rough. A great meal that seems to be a gift from the gods, tailored just for you. For me, this was the apple cinnamon mashed potatoes. Well, to be honest, I have no clue if they actually were apple cinnamon mashed potatoes. The menu was in Spanish, which I don't speak, and they looked like regular mashed something-or-anothers. The point being, if they were potatoes, they opened up my mind to the possibilities of potatoes once again. Good bye pub fare, hello renewed love for potatoes! Also, make enough for left-overs, because these make excellent "hash browns" for breakfast the next day.

The Playlist:

3 Potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Apple, peeled and finely cubed

1 Cinnamon stick, whole

1 Cinnamon stick, crushed (using a mortar & pestle)

1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Canola/Vegetable oil

1 tsp Brown sugar (or honey)

1/2 tsp Vanilla

2 tbsp Ranch (or sour cream)

2 tbsp Butter

Salt & Pepper, to taste

The Skinny:

1. Boil potatoes and cinnamon stick in enough water to fully cover the potatoes. Cook until they are soft to the touch.
2. While potatoes are boiling, saute apple cubes in the vinegar, brown sugar, crushed cinnamon stick, and oil. Cook until each side is browned then turn off the heat and cover.
3. When potatoes are done, remove the cinnamon stick and add the ranch, butter, salt, and pepper. Mash until desired consistency, then add the apple cubes (which should be soft, but not mushy by now). Mix everything together.
4. Serve warm and enjoy.

Featured on: Premediated Leftovers, 33 Shades of Green, Chef in Training, Food Renegade


Stay Rad - h