Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Here are my two favorite things about this recipe.  First of all, it takes one of my favorite things in the world, cinnamon rolls, and turns them into a cookie.  A cookie!  I thought I had reached cinnamon roll heaven when I made bacon cinnamon rolls, and believe me when I say I have to restrain myself on a regular basis from making those Very Bad (and by Very Bad I mean Incredibly Decadently Scrumptious) bacon cinnamon rolls every dang day.  But then I saw these cookies, and new cinnamon vistas opened up for me.  Vistas covered in cookies that had those swirls of cinnamon and frosting made of cream cheese and angel dust.  Okay, cream cheese and sugar.  You get the drift.

My second favorite thing about this recipe is that I found it when I was poking around for cinnamon roll recipes and found this one on the Picky Palate blog.  Oh, this blog.  It's a lot of fun, and contains some of the most outrageously inventive sweet treats I know.  Right now it has a recipe up for something involving Oreos and peanut butter and brownie mix.  Yep, that's the kind of fabulous blog it is, and so no surprise that Jenny from Picky Palate figured out that cinnamon rolls could become cookies.  One day I hope I can thank her in person.

So, here you go.  You pretty much make the cookies in the same general way you make cinnamon rolls, but without all that pesky yeast and rising and all that.  You make an easy cookie dough, roll it flat, spread it with a cinnamon sugar butter mix, roll it into a log, slice it up, bake the cookies, cool them and frost them with an easy cream cheese frosting.  Then secure them in a room with a padlock on the door so you don't stand there and eat every last one yourself.

Now, if despite all this you are still a cinnamon roll purist, you might want to try my mom's recipe, which you can find by clicking here.  I've never actually made them myself because so far I have been able to get her to make them for me.  Having a mama who will make you cinnamon rolls on request is pretty much as good as it gets.

So in between your next cinnamon rolls, give these cookies a whirl!

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies, from Picky Palate

2 Cups sugar
1 Cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup sour cream
6 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons softened butter, (slice 2 Tablespoons 6 times totaling 12 tablespoons)
1 1/2 Cups packed light brown sugar, divided into 1/4 Cups
1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon, divided

Frosting
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
2-4 Tablespoons milk, to thin icing

1. In an electric or stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well combined. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.

2. In 2 batches, place in plastic wrap in a disc shape and chill for at least 2 hours for best results.

3. Once chilled, cut each disc into thirds and roll into a 1/8 inch thick oval, about 12 inches X 5 inches.  Spread each rolled pieces of dough with 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 Cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Start rolling from the long end closest to you, rolling into a log shape.  Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough then placing onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

4.  To prepare frosting, beat the cream cheese until softened and smooth, slowly add powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency.  Frost cookies then place in refrigerator until ready to serve. 

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Crispy Potato Salad with Chimichurri Sauce

I have to confess, I'm not a potato salad lover.  I do have this one recipe that I like, probably because it does not involve mayonnaise and it DOES involve bacon, and because I do love you so much I am going to give you the link for it, even though it is from the first month of my blog's existence when I knew next to nothing about how to write a blog, put pictures up on a blog,  or that if you were going to include recipes on a blog it would be handy to have something that lets folks actually print it out.

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

I have learned so much.  I have graduated from Blog Nursery School to at least 4th grade.  I think.

Anyway.  Being the non-potato-salad-lover that I am, I perked up a little when I ran across this recipe for a crispy potato salad with chimichurri sauce.  Crispy = fried = a potato salad that even I could get excited about.  And don't even get me started on chimichurri, which is a scrumptious sauce of parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and in this case two special guest stars.  The first is a tomatillo, which I have never run across before.  They have nothing to do with tomatoes other than the fact that they are vaguely the same shape.  They are a tart little vegetable covered in a papery husk, and there they were, right in my grocery store.

It gets chopped up in the food processor with the other chumichurri ingredients, along with (don't be scared)...some anchovies.  I promise you that your potato salad will not taste one little bit like salty fish...the anchovies somehow disappear into the sauce and give it that extra bit of flavor that folks will love but won't be able to put their finger on.  Promise.

All this delicious sauce gets drizzled over some potatoes that you have boiled, sliced and then quickly fried in a little olive oil until they are golden and perfect.

Now that's a potato salad that I can love.

Crispy Potato Salad with Chimichurri Sauce, from Bon Appetit

• 3/4 cup fresh basil
• 3/4 cup fresh celery leaves
• 3/4 cup parsley
• 7 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tomatillo, husked
• 2 garlic cloves, 1 chopped
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper
• Salt
• 4 medium potatoes, boiled

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• Mix basil, celery leaves, and parsley with 6 of the 7 chopped anchovy fillets. Transfer 1/3 of mixture to a medium bowl; add sliced celery stalk and 1 tsp. each extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice; reserve for garnish.
• Purée remaining mixture in a food processor with tomatillo, garlic clove, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Season chimichurri with salt.
• Cut potatoes into 1/4" slices. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet; add potatoes, 1 chopped garlic clove, and 1 chopped anchovy fillet; fry until crispy. Divide potatoes among 4 plates, spoon some chimichurri over, top with garnish, and drizzle with more chimichurri.
  
  

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Pasta with Ricotta and Heirloom Tomatoes

Okay, so I haven't mentioned the word "ricotta" in WEEKS now, and it's time.  We're also rapidly coming to the end of fresh tomato season, and I especially hate to say goodby to the heirloom tomatoes - those funky-colored, lumpy, delectably delicious guys that are just plain summer in tomato form.  They come in red of course, but also yellow, purple, striped - you name it.  And they have an amazing sweet taste that is just addictive.  If you've been passing those heirloom tomatoes by, now is your chance to give a strange-looking tomato a break...and this is a fun and fast recipe to try it with!

All you do is chop up a few of those tomatoes (I like to mix up different colors) and let them sit in a lovely bath of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and whatever conglomeration of fresh herbs you like.  While the tomatoes are resting in this wonderfulness, cook up a pot of penne pasta, toast a handful of pine nuts, and get some fresh ricotta and grated parmesan cheese ready to roll.

When the pasta is done, save a little of the water and toss the pasta with the ricotta, the parmesan and enough of the saved pasta water to make a nice creamy sauce.  Now mix in the tomato mixture, sprinkle in some pine nuts, toss a little more grated parmesan on top, and go eat it outside on your picnic table while you still can.  Summer, you go so fast....

 Pasta with Ricotta and Heirloom Tomatoes, from Real Simple

• 2 pounds heirloom or other tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as chives, flat-leaf parsley, basil, and tarragon)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 12 ounces penne (3/4 box)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce), plus more for serving

1. Heat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, herbs, lemon juice, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Let stand, tossing occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.
3. Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven, tossing occasionally, until golden, 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Toss the pasta with the ricotta, Parmesan, and enough of the reserved pasta water to create a creamy sauce. Top with the tomato mixture and pine nuts. Serve with more Parmesan, if desired.

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Homemade English Muffins

Every once in a while I get an unreasonable, unstoppable, crazy need to make a specific something that I have never made before.  I have no idea why this happens, but once it does I can't rest until I make whatever it is.  This sometimes leads to flagrant violation of what is known in our house as The Chicken Fried Steak Rule (click here if you want to know), but every now and then rules are made to be broken.

Anyway, this happened to me recently with English Muffins.  I should state for the record that at the time this hit me, I had a perfectly good box of Thomas's English Muffins in my fridge.  Yep.  There's no understanding this one.  All I knew was I had to make them.    So I sat down at my computer to do some  research (and by research I mean typing "english muffin recipe" into Google) and the recipe that spoke to me was one by Alton Brown.  Most of the other recipes included hours of rising and kneading and other things I am afraid of.  Alton's took me from the starting line to finished muffins in about an hour.  And I am all about instant gratification, so this recipe was the one.  There was only one hitch...it called for English Muffin Rings.


Me: "Hi, Mom?  Have you ever heard of English Muffin Rings, 
and do you know where I could get any fast?


Mom: "I have 16 of them.  Come on over and get them."


I don't know why this keeps surprising me.

So I sped down the road, got the rings, sped back up the road.  If perchance your mom doesn't live down the road and have English Muffin rings, you can get them by clicking the link below.

English Muffin Rings

Then I started assembling my ingredients...and stalled on the first one.  Powdered milk.  Didn't have any.  But the recipe called for mixing it with water, so I thought, how bad could it be if I just used regular milk and no water.  Same thing, right?

Not the same thing.  My first batch came out like large golden hockey pucks.  I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of them.  The dog helpfully ate one, I tossed the rest, and went back to Google, where I learned a bunch of helpful stuff about milk proteins and other things that basically added up to:  use powdered milk in this recipe the way Alton Brown tells you too.  Off to the supermarket to get powdered milk.

FINALLY I was ready to roll.  You dissolve a packet of yeast in warm water, and meanwhile mix up the powdered milk with some water, sugar, salt and shortening.  Make sure the water is pretty hot so the shortening melts, or you can give the shortening a head start by nuking it for ten seconds before you add it in.  Now add in your yeast water, and 2 cups of flour that you have very carefully measured, sifted and measured again.  You are wanting a dough that is almost like a batter.  Not as runny as pancake batter, but not as firm as bread dough.  Sticky, gooey, slightly spreadable batter-dough.  Now cover it with dishcloth and leave it in a nice warm place for 30 minutes.  I like to pop it in my oven...even if the oven isn't on, it's still kinda cozy in there.

Now comes the fun part.  Get out your griddle - Alton has an electric one and that's what's in the recipe below.  I have an old-fangled one that just goes on the stove, so I put the burners on medium-low and sprayed it with Pam.  Put the rings on the burner and give them a good Pam spritz as well.  Now take a cookie sheet and spray the bottom of that as well.  Once your griddle is heated, spoon about 1/4 cup of dough into each ring.  This will fill it up about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way, and the dough should spread a tiny bit.  Now put the cookie sheet on top of the rings, Pam side down.  This will ensure that your dough will expand sideways and not upward as it cooks.  After 5 minutes or so take off the cookie sheet and peek under one of the muffins.  As soon as they are golden, flip them over to the other side.  If they are pretty solid you can take the rings off with tongs now, or you can leave them on until they are cooked on both sides...your choice.  After another 5-8 minutes cooking on the other side they are ready to come off the griddle.  Pop them onto a cooling rack.

I spent a fair amount of time just standing there looking at the muffins on the rack.  I had made English Muffins.  I had made ENGLISH MUFFINS!  There was just one nagging question in the back of my mind.  Would there be nooks and crannies?   There needed to be nooks and crannies.  I got out my fork and split one.

Nooks and crannies!!!!

My life is somehow complete now.  Thanks for living through this with me.

Homemade English Muffins, from Alton Brown

• 1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 envelope dry yeast
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• Non-stick vegetable spray

In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon ofsugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F. (If you are using a regular griddle, put it on the stove burners on medium low.)

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Place about 1/4 cup batter into each ring and cover with a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with vegetable spray and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork, toast and serve.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

I've been dying to make chicken tikka masala for ages...not only because it is so, so, so delicious, but because it is also fun to say.  Tikka Masala...it's up there with Zucchini Carpaccio in terms of things you can say you are making for dinner and sound super-exotic. 

So in order to do this, I needed two things.  One was garam masala, which is a special spice blend.  If you don't have any and neither does your supermarket, you can get some by clicking here.  Or you can do what I do, which is ask my mom if she has any.

Of course she did.

The next thing you need is an absolutely totally reliable recipe, because while the end result is wonderful, I'm not gonna lie to you.  You are going to be spending some quality time with your kitchen (so plan this one for a lazy Sunday afternoon.)  I went where I always go for totally reliable, which is Cooks Illustrated.  And sure enough, there it was, and now that I had Garam Masala I was ready to rock.

First you make a lovely, aromatic spice mixture that you are going to coat your chicken with.  Next, you are going to make a lovely aromatic creamy sauce.  Next, you are going to dunk your chicken into a lovely aromatic mixture of yogurt, garlic and ginger and broil it until it is gorgeously cooked with a little bit of char.

Now cut up that chicken into chunks, stir it into the sauce, and then spoon the whole thing over some rice.  Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley.  Say Chicken Tikka Masala three times fast and dig in.

Chicken Tikka Masala, from Cooks Illustrated

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1teaspoon table salt
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts , trimmed of fat
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh serrano chile , ribs and seeds removed, flesh minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
  
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4c up chopped fresh cilantro or parsley leaves

1. 1. FOR THE CHICKEN: Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adheres. Place chicken on plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic, and ginger; set aside.
2. 2. FOR THE SAUCE: Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.
3. 3. While sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler. Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture (chicken should be coated with thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture. Broil chicken until thickest parts register 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer and exterior is lightly charred in spots, 10 to 18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.
4. 4. Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1-inch chunks and stir into warm sauce (do not simmer chicken in sauce). Stir in cilantro or parsley, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve.

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Eggs Benedict

I do love to mix things up recipe-wise on this blog.  Lasagna Cupcakes, Bacon Cinnamon Rolls, Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles...there's really not too many culinary boundaries that I'm not willing to jump right over.  But every once in a while I get a yearning for a tried and trusted classic, and one of my favorites is Eggs Benedict.  Whenever I see it on a menu somewhere I am sucked right in like a bee to honey, and so it was only a matter of time before I had to try it right there in my kitchen. 

And whenever I get a craving for something classic, there's one site that I tend to turn to over and over, because I know I am going to find perfect, clear, utterly reliable recipes, and that is the perfectly named Simply Recipes.  While there are certainly a ton of wonderfully exotic recipes on this site, it's also a terrific resource for things that you know and love but don't yet have the perfect recipe for.  So on that day that I simply HAD to make my own eggs benedict, I made a beeline for Simply Recipes, and there it was.  Canadian bacon, poached eggs, a simple blender hollandaise...classic and scrumptious and exactly, exactly what I had in mind.

It's like finding that perfect, regular, ordinary pair of jeans.  Sometimes in a sea of low-rise-flare-boyfriend-cut-indigo-wash-jeggings, you just want a good old pair of Levi's.

Or a perfect, regular, ordinary plate of eggs benedict, right in your own kitchen.

Thanks, Simply Recipes!

Eggs Benedict, adapted just a little from the simply wonderful Simply Recipes

• 8 pieces of bacon or 4 pieces of Canadian bacon
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, for garnish
• 4 eggs
• 2 English muffins
• Butter

Blender Hollandaise

• 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of cayenne or tabasco

1. Heat a large skillet on medium low heat. Add the strips of bacon or the slices of Canadian bacon. Slowly fry, turning occasionally, until the bacon is browned on both sides, and if using strip bacon, much of the fat is rendered out (about 10 minutes). Use tongs or a fork to remove the bacon from the pan, set on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat. 
2. Make the blender hollandaise. To make blender hollandaise, melt 10 Tbsp unsalted butter. Put 3 egg yolks, a tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, blend on medium to medium high speed for 20-30 seconds, until eggs lighten in color. Turn blender down to lowest setting, slowly dribble in the hot melted butter, while continuing to blend. Taste for salt and acidity and add more salt or lemon juice to taste.Transfer it to a container you can use for pouring and set it on a warm – but not hot – place on or near the stovetop.
4 Poach the eggs.  You can either do it the traditional way by slipping them gently into simmering water for about four minutes or so and then scooping them out with a slotted spoon, or you can take the easy way out the way I do and use silicone poach pods.  They are not totally authentic but they are completely reliable, which goes a long way.
5 While you are poaching the eggs in whatever way you like, toast your English muffins.
6 To assemble the eggs benedict, butter one side of an English muffin. Top with two slices of bacon or 1 slice of Canadian bacon.  Put a poached egg on top of the bacon, then pour some hollandaise over. Sprinkle some parsley over it all and serve at once.

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Blue Cheese and Fig Jam Crostini

I realize that for a while there I was posting about crostini ALL THE TIME, and I needed to get ahold of myself.  But it's been a while now, and I can only resist the crostini siren song for so long, and so here I am back again in my crostini groove.  This time with fig jam and blue cheese.  Can you blame me?  I can't blame me.  

So, just to repeat what I have already said a million times before, crostini is as simple as grabbing a loaf of french bread, slicing it on the diagonal into nice thin slices, brushing them with olive oil and baking them until they are just a little crispy.  We're not looking for brown here, except maybe around the edges...just a nice toasty feel.

Cool 'em down, and then all that is left to do is spread them with a little fig jam or chutney (I used jam) and a small slice of your favorite blue cheese.  I had some Maytag blue, but a creamy Gorgonzola would be heaven as well.

And there you are, right there on the crostini highway with me.

Blue Cheese and Fig Jam Crostini, adapted from Real Simple

• 24 thin slices baguette (from 1 small loaf)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fig jam or chutney
• 4 ounces blue cheese, thinly sliced

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides of the bread with the oil. Bake until just crisp, about 10 minutes.
2. Dividing evenly, spread the jam or chutney on the toasted baguette slices and top with the cheese.

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The Best Tomato Sauce in the World!

So, apparently I am the among the last people on the planet to find out about this incredibly amazing, incredibly easy tomato sauce.  When I think of all the many years of my life that have gone by without having this sauce, it makes me want to hide under the covers.  But as they say, better late than never, and now I get to make up for lost time. Silver lining!

If you, like me, haven't heard of this great great great sauce, here are the key things to know.

First, it tastes AMAZING.  I might have mentioned that.  Second, it only involves three ingredients and less than an hour of cooking.   Ingredient number one: tomatoes.  You can use fresh (which is how I made it) or you can use canned.  Which means you can make it all year round.  Which I plan to do.

Second ingredient: an onion.  You peel it and cut it in half and let it simmer in the sauce...but then you take it out at the end, so you are just getting a subtle taste of it.

Third ingredient?  BUTTER.  Because everything is better with butter.

Not THIS much butter, but this was the picture I had of butter, so I thought what the heck.  It gets the point across.

So there you have it - tomato, onion, butter.  Simmer for 45 minutes, then take the onion out and toss it.  If you like your sauce chunky you are ready to roll.  If you like it a little smoother, you can do what I did and give it a whirl with the immersion blender.  Boil up some pasta and ladle it on.  You can sprinkle on some parmesan cheese and fresh pepper if you want, but you don't have to.  Honestly, you almost don't even need the pasta.

So, with thanks to the amazing Marcella Hazan, here's the world's best tomato sauce.  Get ready to rock your pasta.

The Best Tomato Sauce in the World! by Marcella Hazan via Food 52

• 2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped*, or 2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
• Salt to taste

1. Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.
2. Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
3. If you like your sauce smoother, whirl it with an immersion blender, or pour carefully into a regular blender and blend.
4. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion before tossing with pasta. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table.

*Peel fresh tomatoes by cutting a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato, plunging them into boiling water for one minute, scooping them out with a slotted spoon and then peeling with a paring knife when cool enough to handle.

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Fried Green Tomatoes!

I have found that folks fall into two basic camps when it comes to fried green tomatoes.  There is the "why would anyone want to fry and then eat a green tomato???" camp.  The teenager is the president of this camp.  Then there is the "fried green tomatoes are one of the reasons life is worth living" camp, and I am the president of this camp.  The New Jersey chapter, anyhow.

So, you start with, yes a green tomato.  These are pretty widely available at farmer's markets in August and September as the tomato crop goes nuts and they start picking green ones that haven't ripened yet.  The green ones are firmer and will stand up to the frying you are about to do without falling apart.

You have to use them pretty soon after you buy them, though, because if they are more mature tomatoes, they will keep on ripening, and your fried green tomatoes will be fried orange-ish tomatoes.  And we're looking for authenticity here!

So, if you are looking for your standard fried green tomato, the basic approach is this: slice those green tomatoes into nice thick slices, dunk them in flour, then egg, then cornmeal, fry them in some canola oil until they are a handsome golden brown, drain 'em on paper towels, sprinkle them with salt, and then dig in.

However.  If you want to go to fried green tomato heaven, you can take things a step further.  After you have your fried green tomatoes all nice and golden, build a stack of tomato, mozzarella cheese, tomato, cheese, tomato.  You can even use a slice of a red one (unfried!) in the center for a little color.  Sprinkle with some grated parmesan, skewer them with a long wooden toothpick so they stay together, and then pop them in the oven until the cheese juuuuust starts to melt.  

Need I say more?  Hurry hurry, before the green tomatoes leave to make room for the pumpkins.

Fried Green Tomatoes,  basic recipe from Real Simple with embellishments from Framed Cooks

• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 pound green tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• Kosher salt

• Sliced mozzarella
• Grated parmesan

1. Place the flour, cornmeal and eggs in separate bowls.  Dip the tomatoes first in the flour, then the eggs, then the cornmeal, pressing gently to help the cornmeal adhere.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Working in batches, cook the tomatoes until golden brown, 1-2 minutes per side.  Drain on paper towel lined sheet and season with salt.
3. These are fine to eat just as is, but if you want to take it step further, preheat the oven to 400.  Make a stack of tomato slice, mozzarella cheese, another tomato, more cheese, one more tomato slice.  (You can use a regular red tomato slice in the middle for color if you like.)  Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and stick a toothpick down the middle.  Bake just until the cheese starts to melt, about 2-5 minutes.  If they slide apart don't worry, you can push them back into a stack once they are out of the oven.

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Grilled Shrimp Panzanella

There is something about cooking everything, and I do mean everything, on the grill that makes things taste just so much better.  And as these last days of summer fade into autumn, I'm kicking ye olde grille into overtime, baby.  This recipe is a case in point...technically it is a salad, but two of the major ingredients are cooked on the grill.  (In about 5 minutes, which makes it even more enticing in my book.)

Panzanella is traditionally a salad that substitutes bread for the lettuce (how great is that??), usually tossed with some tomatoes, olive oil and a little vinegar, which in and of itself is pretty wonderful.  This particular recipe adds some shrimp and basil and substitutes lemon juice for the vinegar, but here's the beauty part...the shrimp and the bread are cooked on the grill first.  That gives the whole thing that charred grill taste that makes everything feel like the best part of summer.

So while we still have these lazy, hazy days of summer, surrounded by tomatoes and basil, grab yourself some bread and shrimp and crank up that grill.  Salad never tasted so dang good.

Grilled Shrimp Panzanella, from Real Simple

• 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 small baguette (about 8 ounces), split lengthwise
• 2 1/2 pounds heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves

1. Heat grill to medium-high. In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Brush the baguette with 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil.
2. Grill the baguette and shrimp, uncovered, until the baguette is golden and crisp, about 1 minute per side, and the shrimp are opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Cut the baguette into bite-size pieces.
3. In a second large bowl, toss the shrimp, baguette, tomatoes, and basil with the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

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Mini Caprese Bites

My brother and I have been partners in crime for more years than either of us are prepared to admit.  

We fought like cats and dogs when we were growing up, and one of the proudest moments of my life is still the time during a loooooong car ride to Vermont when I tricked him into finishing his McDonalds fries before I finished mine...and then stretching mine out for the remainder of the four hour trip.  ("Boy, these fries are SO good.  I bet you wish you still had some.  Mmmmmmmm.")

You'd think that after that he wouldn't have my back...but he always does.  Through ups and downs, thick and thin.  My bro.  He also gave me one of the great gifts of my life, which is this character, otherwise known as my adorable nephew, otherwise known as the handsomest boy on the planet.

(Okay, I owe my sister-in-law for that too!  Love you, C!)

Anyway, I do have a point with all of this, and here it is: he also turned me on to the best, and I mean the BEST mozzarella cheese I have ever tasted in my life.  The first time I tried it, the Southern husband and I literally stood there in the kitchen and ate the whole hunk of it.  No putting it into lasagna, not even a cracker - I'm not sure we even used a knife, we may have just ripped pieces off of it and guzzled it until it was gone.

And now basically all other mozzarella cheese in the world has been ruined for me, so when decided to make these cute little caprese bites, it involved driving a half hour down and another half hour back to my brother's town to buy a nice big piece of this cheese.  Which did have the extra bonus of getting to hang out with him for a little while, so there was that.

If you are lucky enough to live in the northern New Jersey area and want to experience mozzarella cheese nirvana, it comes from Vito's Bakery (yes, bakery...no idea why and not asking questions) in Secaucus, New Jersey.  They make it fresh there three times daily, and whatever they are doing, I hope they never ever stop.  If you don't, just nab a piece of the best mozzarella cheese you can find.  This is the perfect little nibble to make right now when the cherry tomatoes and basil are at their delicious peak.  All you do is slice the tomatos in half, cut the cheese into tomato size cubes, and spear everything on a toothpick in this order: tomato half, cheese cube, other tomato half, basil leaf.  If you have the tomato half with the stem side on the bottom, it will do a good job of standing upright since it is flatter.

Now mix up some balsamic vinegar with some olive oil and some fresh ground pepper and drizzle it over and around the caprese bites.  And dig in - pop the whole thing in your mouth at once for the perfect sensation of tomato, cheese and basil.  Mmmm, mmm, mmm.  Even better than that last McDonald's french fry.

Mini Caprese Bites, adapted from My Recipes

• 1 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

• 1. Thread 1 basil leaf, tomato half, 1 piece of cheese, and another tomato half onto toothpicks. Place toothpicks in a shallow serving dish.
• 2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle oil mixture over skewers; sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper to taste.

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