Homemade Fig Gelato

I am so excited to announce that I have undertaken a new endeavor! I recently became a Cooking Examiner for The Examiner Philadelphia.

It is such an exciting opportunity!

Here's a snippet of my first article, in which I give you a YUMMY fig gelato recipe:

"It was one of those quiet, no one is around moments. It was just me and my delectable bowl of fig gelato. I did not have time to grab a spoon, so my fingers had to do. Ah, the joys of adulthood in which I can eat gelato for breakfast and not get caught and scolded by mom. I grabbed a couple of finger fulls of pure heaven and ate it. My husband was not around to make fun of the fact that I am like a pig at the trough. Yes, I got away with it.

...Until my husband came back in from taking out the trash....."

AH! What happened?!?! Click here and check the rest out!

Salmon and Pesto on a Whole Wheat Parmesan Flatbread

I am an experimenter. What can I say?

My mom used to jokingly call me her 'little risk taker' when I was growing up. I suppose I haven't changed all that much since my youth.

-My hair still is curly.

-Big bird is still my main squeeze.

-The movie Beetle Juice still freaks me out.

-I like to break the tension with my husband by karate chopping him, or channeling my inner Chuck Norris to roundhouse kick him. I'm mature.

-I am still insanely klutzy and have the bruises and scars to prove it.

Yeah, not much has changed, aside from the fact that I am no longer a size 2. Sigh.

Where am I getting with all of this? Oh yes, back to risk taking.

Now, I channel my risk taking nature into cooking dinner. My poor husband.

At least I'm not yelling "Geronimo!" and jumping from the top of the steps and consequently hitting my head on the drop ceiling and knocking myself out. Yes. Yes, that really happened. I wish I could say it was the only time I knocked myself out with my childhood shenanigans, but it isn't. (Ah, why I am such a weirdo is coming into place now!)

Sometimes taking risks with dinner is worth it and completely rewarding. However, there are times when it can be a total flop! But like Wayne Gretzky said, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

I tend to take the majority of my risks out on flatbreads. You can get away with more on a flatbread, I think!

This, ladies and gents, was NOT a flop! Crisis averted and dinner served! :)

Salmon and Pesto Flatbread

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the dough-

1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

for the pesto-

3 cups arugula, washed and dried

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup walnuts

for the toppings-

4 oz salmon, cubed

2 artichoke hearts

1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced

2 TBS walnuts, chopped

Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, preferably with a baking stone!

2. In a food processor combine all of the ingredients for the dough, except for the water. With the machine running on low, slowly add the water until a ball forms. Knead the dough for 2 minutes on a lightly floured surface, wrap up in either plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and set aside for a few minutes.

3. Also in your food processor, combine all of the ingredients for your pesto. Run the machine, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides, until a nice sauce forms. Feel free to add or lessen the olive oil, depending upon how thick you would like the sauce.

4. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Top with the pesto sauce.

5. Place toppings on top, put some occasional pours of mustard on top of the flatbread.

6. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, keeping an eye to make sure it doesn't burn!

7. Eat and enjoy!

One Hot Mama! Baby Shower Cake

Check out this cake that I recently did for a baby shower!

It was such a ton of fun to do!

Sage, Brown Butter & Walnut Mashed Cauliflower

There are some things in life that you will just have to emplace your trust in me that it will turn out okay; this recipe is no exception.

Sage, brown butter and walnut mashed cauliflower. Delish!

Sure, it sounds like the oddest compilation of ingredients since putting cheese whiz on a steak sandwich, but similar to the famous Philadelphia cheesesteak, you have to just absolutely trust that it is worth eating. And, as many know, there is nothing quite like the taste of a whiz wit cheesesteak... or whiz witout!

The main ingredient to this recipe that really makes it tick is the red wine. Actually, it's really the best component to just about every one of my dinners.

Red wine, huh?

Yes! Red wine! Take a glass and keep it in your hand to accompany you while the food processor does all of the work.

Hehe.

The great thing about mashed cauliflower is that it will fool a great number of people into thinking it's mashed potatoes; and it obviously has fewer carbohydrates than spuds. A win-win situation!

Cauliflower has a safe and mild flavor, like the potato, that serves as a beautiful canvas upon which to layer a great number of flavors that enable this side dish to take the main stage! After all, the best part of most meals are the side dishes.


Sage, Brown Butter & Walnut Mashed Cauliflower
Yields 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

3 TBS butter

2 TBS sage, chopped

1/3 cup walnuts

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cauliflower florets onto a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 25 minutes. When there is 5 minutes' time left to the roasting, add the walnuts to the baking sheet.

2. Get your red wine ready. Snicker.

3. In a small saute pan and on medium high, melt the butter, whisking often, after the butter melts, add the sage. Continue to whisk the butter until it bubbles, begins to get a beautiful brown shade, and has a nutty aroma. You just made brown butter, huzzah! Immediately remove from heat and set aside.

4. Once the cauliflower and walnuts are finished roasting, add them to a food processor. Blend on low for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the brown butter, milk and cheese with the processor still running. Process for another minute or two.

5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Strawberry Blueberry and Rhubarb Ice Cream

Hooooooo Doggies.

I wish that I had something more sophisticated and Jane Austen-esque to say about this ice cream other than, Hooo Doggies.

Who am I kidding? If Queen Elizabeth were to taste this herself, she would absolutely exclaim Hooo Doggies!!! (I am hoping that you are also getting an incredibly amusing mental picture!)

After my first bite of this I died and went to heaven, and then came back down to finish the rest.

The rhubarb tanginess absolutely makes this ice cream!

Hurry!! Go get these ingredients and make this ice cream while it's still in season and at the height of their yumminess!!!

...I think I may name my firstborn child Rhubarb. Rhubarb Blue Malloy. We'll call him Rhu.

Strawberry Blueberry & Rhubarb Ice Cream

Yields 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

Group 1-

1 & 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp lemon extract

3 TBS orange juice

3 TBS water

Group 2-

1 pint strawberries, chopped

3 TBS granulated sugar

1 TBS orange juice

Group 3-

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 cups whole milk

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the first group of ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring often, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. After it has thickened, run the thickened sauce through a blender. Remove 1 cup of the sauce and save the remaining sauce for another day! (I'm thinking compote with pork! Yum!!)

2. Combine all of the ingredients from the second group of ingredients and set aside.

3. From the third group of ingredients, heavily whisk the eggs and slowly add the sugar, whisking until well incorporated. Slowly add the milk, then the blueberry-rhubarb sauce.

4. Using your ice cream machine, pour the egg/milk mixture into the bowl, with the machine running. Allow it to freeze in the machine for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, add the strawberry mixture, mix for another 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Place into a freezer safe container and freeze for 3 hours, up to overnight.

6. Hide in your broom closet and consume all by yourself. Or, if you are a kind soul, you'll share it with a friend, just one. If you are a saint, you'll share it with more than one friend.

7. ENJOY.

Guest Post Exchange with Tasty Trix! Philadelphia vs. Baltimore Cuisine!

Guest Post Exchange with Tasty Trix!

Philadelphia vs. Baltimore Cuisine!!

It is my expressed pleasure to introduce you to Trix of Tasty Trix. She is a wonderful blogger who creates the most unique and beauteous of dishes, the one below is no exception. I am so honored to have her here. Do me a favor would ya? Show my girl some love (I know you will!) Also stop by here to check out my spin on a Maryland Crab Cake.

When Emily asked me if I wanted to do a guest post exchange, of course I was on board right away. She is, after all, fabulous, as all of you loyal readers of her blog are undoubtedly already aware.

But everything is more fun with a theme, right? So we put our heads together and came up with this: We would each put our own spin on an iconic dish from one another's respective cities. Emily would create something original representing my city of Baltimore (you can check out her yummy creation here on Tasty Trix) and I would make my own version of something famous from Emily's amazing city, Philadelphia. (I not-so-secretly wish I lived there.)

Now, most people think that Philly food begins and ends with the cheesesteak, but I think the city's sandwich culture is much richer than that. To me, the truly iconic Philly hoagie is roast pork, broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone on a seeded roll, and if you ask me, nobody does that better than Paesano's, one of the best sandwich shops in the world (I am not exaggerating). Behold their "Arista," made from juicy roast suckling pig:

slurp

For my Philly creation, I wanted to capture the flavors of this sandwich, but in a new form. I also wanted to incorporate Italian American influences, given that community's profound historic influence on shaping the city's food culture. And so I came up with ...

... broccoli rabe and sharp provolone ravioli, smothered in a rich pork ragu:

Yes, it is every bit as good as it looks! Be warned, though, it's definitely a weekend dish - you've got to start the sauce in the morning and just let it simmer all day until it's thick and porky and infused with layers and layers of flavor. Then, if you're unlucky like I was, your pasta rolling machine will break and you'll spend half of your afternoon hand rolling your ravioli dough in a 300 degree kitchen. I don't recommend it.

But, all's well that ends well. Just have a gander at these beauties:

Considering the fact that I am not an Italian grandma (or granddaughter, for that matter), I had to roll the stuff by hand, and this was my first-ever attempt at home ravioli making, I don't think they turned out too badly! Here's what you do:

First, get your sauce going. In a large stockpot over medium heat, gently saute 2 medium onions, 3-4 celery ribs, and 2-4 carrots, diced small, in 5-6 tablespoons of olive oil. To this, add a few slices of chopped prosciutto and a dash of sat and pepper. Next, add 1 pound each of ground pork and sweet Italian sausage that's been removed from its casing. Don't let the meat brown - just cook until it's fragrant and loses its pink color. Now add one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and one 28 oz can of San Marzano plum tomatoes. Give everything a stir, turn the heat down very low, and just let it all come together for hours, stirring occasionally. Once the meat is cooked you can start tasting the sauce for seasoning, but don't go crazy with the salt too early because your sauce will continue to reduce and concentrate in flavor.

Meanwhile, make your dough. You can use AP flour or, ideally, farina tipo "00." Basically, figure you'll need 1-2 large eggs per cup of flour. I used 3 cups of flour and ended up needing 5 eggs. Make a well with the flour (add a good pinch of salt), put the eggs in the middle and mix until the dough comes together. Don't knead for too long or the dough will get tough. I did a pictorial on it here. Let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

Now make your filling. Blanch one large bunch of broccoli rabe for one minute in boiling salted water, and immediately plunge into ice water. Dry thoroughly and chop very finely. To this, add 2 ounces of grated sharp provolone, one beaten egg, and enough ricotta to hold everything together.

When you're ready to make the ravioli, roll the dough out into thin sheets, and place one-inch balls of filling at even intervals. Fold the dough over the filling, and cut the ravioli to your desired size. I started out using a ravioli cutter, but I found that in my hot kitchen it was pinching the dough, and I had better luck with my trusty bench cutter and a fork.

You know the rest: Boil the ravioli in salted water for just 3 minutes, top with that luscious sauce, grate a little sharp provolone on top, pour yourself a glass of red wine, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

The flavors of my favorite Philly sandwich - slightly bitter rabe, garlic, pork, pungent cheese - really were present in this dish, but in an entirely different configuration. Just look at that ravioli filling ... I could eat pounds of it. I think I actually did:

Thank you Emily for having me as your guest - I had a great time! And thank you to Emily's readers for checking out my post - don't forget to go check out her fabulous Baltimore-style creation on Tasty Trix!

Grilled Asparagus

There is just something about the wonderful aroma of a charcoal grill that evokes the feeling of the summer, quite unlike any other smell!

We Malloys grill quite often, as often as the weather will allow us, that is. If the sun is out, our charcoal grill is going!

Our beautiful little Philadelphian home was built in 1930, and consequently has no air conditioning. For 10 months out of the year, it is simply fine! Once the time period of the end of July through to the first week of September comes to be upon us, we become a tad sweaty (if only you could grasp what an understatement this is). We're talking cold showers and still sweaty after. Eek! Nightmarish. (Don't worry, we do have window units, but usually wait until the last minute to turn them on!).

Considering all of the above, we have become quite experimental and persistent with our grilling because there is no way on this green earth that I am turning on that oven or stove. Ah! So grilling it is.

Granted, I've had some flops, but also some successes. Last week, we had quite the heatwave, with temperatures topping out at 100 degrees! IN JUNE! Bad news bears for my complexion, but good news for our dinner!

Ah, I love to come home to the smell of the charcoal getting ready in the chimney grill starter. It just comes in through the windows and smells like heaven!

My absolute favorite thing to grill is asparagus. The smokey charcoal taste on this little wobbly green vegetable is amazing. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Top it off with Parmesan cheese?! Stick a fork in me. I'm done for.


Grilled Asparagus

Yields: 2 to 4 servings


Ingredients
1 bunch of asparagus, rinsed and ends removed
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Brush the asparagus with olive oil.
2. On a grill- charcoal or gas- cook the asparagus using indirect heat (not directly over the coals, but pretty close to them) or on medium (if using a gas grill).
3. Cook for approximately 1 to 2 minutes per side, rotate until all sides cooked. The asparagus should brown beautifully.
4. Top with cheese and season with salt and pepper.
5. Yummm!!!

Getting the Most Out of Summer's Bounty: Fresh Salsa- from your garden!

I’m not sure if you’ve seen the news as of late, but in America, it’s HOT.

I mean it’s hotter than hot. Melt the make-up off of your face kind of hot. These are the days that I am so glad that I do not draw on my eyebrows! Ah! Can you imagine?!

With the heat of summertime comes the beautiful bounty Mother Nature gives us! It is such a pleasure to have a vegetable garden. There is nothing quite like making a meal from produce that you grew in your garden!!

Here's a sneak peek at how my garden is coming along:

oooo... she's a beaut, Clark! ($20 to the first person who knows which movie that's from... okay, so maybe only 50 cents.) It's just begging to be turned into salsa, pizza sauce, or simply sliced down with drizzled balsamic vinegar and sliced mozzarella. When it's ripe, of course!

Repeat after me. Pepper.

Pepper.

Pepppper.

Waiter there is too much pepper in my paprikash.

Any When Harry Met Sally fans out there?!?!?

I loooove jalapenos. I cannot WAIT for these to be ready. Yum, yum, yum!

To inspire you to stay motivated to keep up with your vegetable garden, or to get one started (it's not too late!), I am presenting to you a FOOL PROOF great recipe that you can use some of your garden's bounty to create!

And this way of making salsa won't require you to even turn on your stove! .....Your make-up survives another day!

Fresh Garden Salsa

Yields: 3 cups

Ingredients

2 to 3 medium tomatoes, finely diced (or 10 to 12 mini tomatoes, what ever you are growing!)

½ cup white onion, finely diced

1 jalapeno, seeds removed (and set aside) and diced

½ cup red bell pepper, diced

1 TBS lime juice

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

1 TBS each of the following: chili powder, cumin, cilantro, oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients. If you are a spicy kind of person, add leftover jalapeno seeds to add more of a kick.

2. Serve in your favorite way of eating salsa and ENJOY!

My Recent ShopRite Submission!: Grilled Kielbasa, Bell Peppers, and Onion

Family recipes are absolutely the best, aren't they?!

Well, my next ShopRite Potluck Submission is up! Go on over and check it out!

Stracciatella Gelato- My Guest Post for 5 Star Foodie

I will never forget the first time I ate gelato. After I had taken my first bite, I was strolling down Via della Paneterria in Rome, listening to the sounds of the birds singing their afternoon song and children’s laughter. The sun kissed my face as I watched a group of nuns quietly whisper and smile as they crossed in front of me. A man resembling Fabio had mistaken me for a young Sophia Loren.

The euphoric state continued with..... AH! Continued with what?!?!? Click here to find out, silly goose!

Scrambled Eggs with Arugula, Crab, Artichoke Hearts, and Tomatoes

Sometimes all that we need in life is a good breakfast; one that is full of a flavor which tantalizes the senses.

A good breakfast should wake you up and fill your mind with awe and wonder.

With each bite, you are thrown into a complete state of euphoria. You realize that your feet are no longer touching the ground as you are lifted high upon a cloud. In the distance you hear the soft voices of cherubim and seraphim.

You are at peace and all in the world begins to make sense. The puzzle pieces come together, including the true meaning behind James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake and its idiosyncratic language. Why did you ever flunk that exam in high school?!

Oh, yes! Not only do you understand this, but you have come up with the true path to world peace, yes, it all is coming together now...

...until you realize that in 30 minutes that you have to be at work and that your hair is still sticking straight up from your sleepless night and you have black eyes from the mascara that didn't fully wash off the night before, the dog still has to go for a walk, and you never took out the trash.

...But, who really cares because you have just had a breakfast that made your day. And your day has only just begun. And you wonder to yourself, could this possibly be the best egg scramble I have ever eaten?

Yes, dear soul, yes you are correct. It is truly the best egg scramble you have ever eaten.

Scrambled Eggs with Arugula, Crab, Artichoke Hearts, and Tomatoes

Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

8 eggs, lightly whisked

2 cups arugula, washed and dried

1/4 cup crab meat

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped

4 artichoke hearts, chopped

1 TBS Dijon mustard

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Whisk together until well combined.

2. Cook in a large skillet, heated over medium with 1 TBS olive oil, until no longer runny.

3. Serve over toast, in a long roll, or consume plain! And most importantly... ENJOY!

ShopRite LPGA Classic

Photo courtesy: Dolce Seaview Resort

I am incredibly excited to be attending the ShopRite LPGA Classic this weekend at Dolce Seaview Resort in Galloway, NJ.

Photo Courtesy: ShopRite

Stop by if you're in the area this weekend and see some of ShopRite's Potluck Bloggers at ShopRite's Pavilion tent! It should be a beautiful weekend!!