I’m baaaaack!! I apologize for the severe lack of posts over the past few weeks. I was on an extended business trip and even though I had photos and recipes ready to go, I was just too tired to actually write up posts while I was away. But I’m home and rested now and life is slowly getting back to normal – which means I’m ready to resume my regular posting schedule! And what better way to jump right back in than with a Daring Cooks challenge?
The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford, and Naomi Dugid. Mezze is a bunch of small dishes that are all served at once – sort of like a Middle Eastern tapas. The required parts of the challenge were to make pita bread and hummus. I also chose to make kafta (spiced meatballs) and taboule salad.
I’ve made pitas before, but I really loved this recipe and will definitely be making it again. Homemade pitas are so much better than what you can buy in the store – they’re soft, fluffy pillows of goodness. I found this recipe to be really easy to follow and the result was pure perfection. They tasted just like the pitas that I get at my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants! They were really cheap to make too, and I loved how they puffed up in the oven. Since I was planning to use them as a wrap, I flattened them while they were still warm. But if you want a pocket that you can fill, Leave them in the balloon shape to cool. The inside will be hollow, so you can cut them in half and fill just like a store bought pita pocket. As written, the recipe will yield 16 breads. I halved it and had no problems. [....]
Judging from the lack of reactions yesterday, it seems like everyone is tired of Brussels Sprouts? OK, no more of those for a while. Today I’m back with something that has a little more mass appeal – calzones! I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love a calzone. These are jam-packed with eggplant, caramelized onion, red bell pepper, and just a touch of sausage. Served with a side of sauce for dunking, they make a fun and easy dinner that’s bursting with fresh flavor. The neat little package shape also makes them extremely portable, and the leftovers make a great lunch at work the next day.
What I like most about calzones it that you can really stuff them with fillings. With pizza, I usually like to keep toppings relatively simple and limit myself to 2 or 3 things. But with calzones, I feel like i can go all out since it’s really all about the flavor. You can throw in whatever leftover vegetables you have on hand, or plan your fillings out more methodologically like I did here. I really wanted to use caramelized onions, and eggplant sounded like a nice change. I added some red bell pepper for color and a sausage link for zip. Topped it all off with a healthy serving of fresh basil and couldn’t have been happier with the results! [....]
Today’s post was brought to you by Nature’s Pride, cheese, the letter “P”, and the number “7″. Ok, maybe not the letter “P” or the number “7.” Foodbuzz recently sent me two loaves of Nature’s Pride bread to try out. I used the 12 Grain to make these delicious open-faced sandwiches full of prosciutto, asparagus, and melty cheese.
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Pulled pork is a funny thing – it’s one of the first things I look to eat as the weather begins to warm up in the spring, but it’s also perfect for a chilly Fall evening spent at home watching football. Although I usually go for a more traditional barbecue sauce,or a fruiter smokey mango sauce, the mustard glazed ribs I made earlier this summer inspired me to mix things up this time and go with a Carolina-style pulled pork. Cooked all day in the crockpot, it made the house smell wonderful and only required a few minutes on hands-on time. The recipe also made a TON of pork, so that combined with the ease of preparation makes it a great dish for entertaining.[....]
I haven’t cooked much this week. I’m still not feeling great and summer finally decided to join us, so out of nowhere it’s become ridiculously hot. I really wanted real food tonight, even though I didn’t feel like cooking, and this meal was perfect. It was easy to make, required very little prep, and was refreshing and not too heavy.
I’ve been dreaming of this sandwich ever since I saw the idea in Newsday a few weeks ago – it’s basically your standard BLT, but with watermelon instead of the tomato. I know I’ve said that I hate watermelon, but those cocktails I made totally changed my mind on that one. I also don’t love raw tomatoes, so I thought this might be a nice alternate. I served the sandwiches with homemade potato chips and blue cheese dip. I also did a little experiment – I had heard of people making chips in the microwave, so I fried some and microwaved some and did a little taste test.
