Superbowl Bites: Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip

It can't be the Superbowl without a dip.

My all-time favorite will always be onion dip.  I can literally eat vats of it.

It also can't be the SuperBowl without something buffalo.  I, of course, mean the spicy flavor of buffalo wings, not the Buffalo Bills, who sadly haven't been to the show in almost 10 years and have never actually won!

Anyway, since I have yet to make a delicious spicy buffalo treat for this year's round of Superbowl bites, it only seemed right to combine the two classic dishes into one Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip.

Superbowl Bites: Oven Fries and A GIVEAWAY!!

And we're back with the 2012 edition of Superbowl Bites and I'm not going to lie and couldn't be more excited about this Superbowl.

Why, you ask?

Why because my beloved NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS will be heading down to Indy to (hopefully) destroy the Giants.  I promise I'll keep this and future Superbowl related posts free of trash talk, I'm not that kind of fan.

Did you know that the Superbowl is the second biggest food holiday, second only to Thanksgiving?!

Nutty, right?

Grilled Corn Salad

Sweet corn will forever remind me of my childhood.

It has been a favorite summer treat for as long as I can remember.  We didn't have alot of farm stands or markets when I was growing up outside of Boston. But one thing you always saw were makeshift stands in the middle of the summer selling fresh sweet corn on the cob.  We'd eat these delicious and sugary kernels almost every day.

That meant husking enough cobs for a family of 6 every day.  A task that very often fell to me or one of the other kids.  Sitting out back in a still wet bathing suit, with a brown paper bag, stripping the husks and trying to get all of the silky threads off of each cob.  It's a task that I hate and love today.  Hate because it's just a pain and a big ole mess, love because it reminds me of those steamy summer days.

Cheddar & Tomato Tarts

We have a slew of tomatoes growing in the backyard.

So many green ones that I'm just waiting to turn red.  I can't even explain it.

I haven't been posting garden updates lately because I've been swamped at work and weekends have been devoting to preserving the amazing produce I've been finding at local farmer's markets.

But last week when Bon Appetit linked to this recipe from the most recent issue on their facebook page, I knew that I had to make it with tomatoes from the garden.

Cheese and tomatoes, I mean seriously?!  Two of my favorite food combined into one of my favorite methods of delivery, a pie!  Well it jumped to the top of my list and while I was at the grocery store this weekend I picked up the issue because it has an article on preserving AND an article on summer pies, inaddition to the tomato article that this recipe comes from.  I swear to god the editors of Bon Appetit were thinking of me specifically when they put out this issue.

What do you mean they don't even know who I am?

Easy Asparagus Salad and reflections on Home

Home.

It's an idea that has always been really important to me.  I've always loved to travel and even embraced moving from one coast to the next to finally another country. But in all of my travels the one thing that's been important to me is to have a home.  When I first moved to LA, Boston was my home.  I can't pinpoint when it happened, but on one of my many trips back to Boston, LA started to feel more like home.  As I headed to Logan to catch the 5 hours flight back to LAX, I had the sense that I was returning home, to the place I belonged, where I most liked to lay my head.  That's not to say Boston didn't still hold a place in my heart, it was where I grew up, where my oldest friends are, where my parents and one of my siblings are.  But there was that small almost imperceptible shift that happened somewhere in the first year or so I lived out West that made it my home.

Meatless Monday: Ramp & Arugula Pesto

Have you ever foraged for food before?  Picked wild raspberries off of a bush you found in the forrest or on the edge of your property when you were a child?  I vaguely remember picking berries with my grandfather when he would take my brother, cousins and I to find the creek, or "crick" as he called it,that was set deep in the farmland behind their house in Westmoreland, NY.  The few times we did it, I remember those wild berries tasting so sweet, maybe it was that we were on an adventure with Grandpa, maybe it was the sweetness of  sun-kissed berries in the heat of summer, I think it was a combination of these and many other factors.

Meatless Monday...Guest Post

Welcome first time guest poster Tania from Love Big Bake Often. I found Tania and her blog as soon as I started blogging and have considered us virtual friends ever since. She is Canadian, married to an American; the exact opposite of me, an American married to a Canadian. The big difference is that her hubs is in the US Army and she spent most of last year as a single mom to her two adorable boys while her hubs was deployed. She believes in making everything from scratch and much like me shows love through the things she makes for her family. She'll be posting twice this week and I'm sure it will all be delicious!

Hi there! Tania here. I love guest posting, so when Jen asked me to help her out, I jumped on the chance. Jen was actually the first person who told me about Meatless Mondays, and since then I have been trying to participate as much as possible. Jason hopped on board as long as it wasn't too much tofu! Though I have to say that he has thoroughly enjoyed the tofu stir-fry that I have made for him and eats it with gusto. And I am always on the look out for new tofu recipes, so if you have one leave me a link would ya? Thanks.

I am a Quiche Lover! Jason wasn't so much a quiche lover when we met, but I think I have turned him into one. Yes, I see a trend here....there are a lot of things that Jason had never experienced before he met me. This is one quiche that I make often....and we love. For dinner, breakfast, lunch...it's good hot or cold.

Meatless Monday: Three Bean Salad

This is by far one of the top Meatless Monday recipes I've come up with for awhile, if not since I started taking part last fall.  The Boy wasn't a fan, mainly because he just doesn't love beans, but I figure you can't win them all.  Plus it meant there was plenty left over for lunches and snacks all week.   It's beyond easy to throw together and works well with all kinds of spring and summer meals. It's even completely picnic friendly since it's best at room temperature with no dairy AND vegan, something I don't often pull off with out specifically aiming for it.

I came up with this salad to go with some chicken tacos I made with leftover roast chicken. I always prefer the beans part of the rice and beans that are often served with most Mexican meals so a salad made with just beans sounded good to me.  On this night, since I made the tortillas, pickled onions, guacamole and cilantro sour cream for the tacos a simple no-cook side was just what I wanted.  A few years ago when I was still living in LA, my sister and hosted a BBQ for our kickball team.  One of our teammates brought a salad similar to this, so that's what I decided to emulate.  I remembered the beans she used, but not much else.  Since I was making tacos I went with the  Mexican flavors of cilantro, chipotle and lime.

Meatless Monday: Polenta with Greens

Polenta has been a bit of a bone of contention in our house, I like it and the Boy doesn't.  To be fair I haven't made it very well the few times I have tried.  In the last little while we have ordered it out at a few restaurants and his view had changed, to the point that he said if you can make polenta like this I'll eat it.  Of course when he said it we were at Susur Lee's restaurant eating his Top Chef Master's dish.  Talk about setting a lofty goal for me.  But I took the challenge because polenta is a great whole grain option especially for Meatless Mondays.

About a year ago a bought a cookbook by Susan McKenna Grant called "Piano, Piano, Peino: Authentic Food from a Tuscan Farn" but have yet to cook anything out of it.  Beacuse of No ReEEATS I have been consulting my cookbooks alot more this year and have really enjoy not only using the books but learning different recipes and techniques from them.  Since I was challenged to make polenta as good as Susur Lee I know I'd need to go to a cookbook, and an authentic Tuscan one seemed like as good a place as any to start.  Since I was looking for a Meatless Monday dish when I saw a recipe for Polenta with Greens, I knew that it was what I wanted to make.  Because paired with a simple green salad it would (hopefully) make a tasty and pretty simple supper.

Grilled Cheese Month: Grilled Brie & Pear

I can't go on enough about how much I love ooey gooey melty cheese and soft bread with a hard crust that has been grilled to golden brown in butter.  Seriously if it wasn't wildly unhealthy I'd eat it three times a day.  Lucky for me, but not my waistline, this month (also known as Grilled Cheese Month) gives me an excuse to eat grilled cheese more than I normally would.  While brainstorming ideas for different takes on this wonderful sandwich the Boy helped out with the core idea of this one¸ by suggesting pears and brie.  I took those ingredients and expanded on it with fresh baked artisan bread, thinly sliced red onion, peppery arugula and fresh cracked black pepper.

Can you use grocery store mass made bread for this? Of course. Do I recommend it? Absolutely not. The master recipe for Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is so ridiculously easy that you really have little excuse not to make a loaf.  If that just isn't in the card for you, or you don't have the book (to which I say buy it right now) a loaf of French or Italian bread from your local bakery or even grocery store bakery will do.  When it comes to bread, always go for fresh made even if it's not from you own kitchen, it makes everything exponentially better.

Knitting & Food: Grill Roasted Baby Potatoes

And we're back with our next installment of Knitting & Food.  April is Baby Month at In the Loop and I tossed around all kinds of ideas incorporating "baby" foods.  Not jarred baby food, but things like baby greens or baby peppers.  The thing is here in the Southern Ontario and in New England where the lovely ladies of In the Loop are, alot of those baby veggies aren't really locally available yet.  They will be this summer, just not in April.  We do have gorgeous little baby potatoes that are easily procured year round.  Once I settled on potatoes I then needed to figure out how to prepare them.  I wanted something that was super simple, that would carry through the spring and summer we are all so desperately wanting to actually arrive. 

We had a couple of gorgeous days here in Toronto, where all you needed was a light jacket.  It was during these days that I decided I wanted to try out some sort of grill roasted potato, one where the prep and clean up was super simple and it could easily be made along with other grilled meats.  The foil pouch is the ultimate in easy clean-up, especially when done on the grill.  

Meatless Monday: Red, White & Blue Quinoa Salad

Have you ever seen purple yams? Carole first wrote about them over at NoREATS.  We shop at the same Chinese Supermarket and when I saw that she had picked them up there I ran over and got some myself.  They made some delicious yam fries, their gorgeous purple color and floral flavor was a great compliment to orange yams.  They baked up much crispier than the orange yams and held on to their great color. I had never seen them before so I have a feeling they aren't too readily available, but if you ever see them, you have to pick some up.  You won't be disappointed.

Last week, I had picked up a whole bunch of purple yams, more than I needed for just fries.  When thinking of something to do with these jewels I knew their color and flavor would pair wonderfully with quinoa for a great Meatless Monday Salad.  I found Mark Bittman's Sweet Potato & Quinoa salad and used it as the inspiration for mine, making use of ingredients I keep in the house and what I thought would taste good.  I of course had to add some cheese because just about everything can be made better with cheese.  It will absolutely work without it and make for a nice vegan salad if that's your preference.

Meatless Monday: Beet & Carrot Salad

Last weekend the Boy, my father and I went to the Brickworks Farmer's Market.  It was the first time we had been, even though it's been on my list of things to check out for quite sometime.  First because I love Farmer's Markets but also because it takes place year round.  There aren't many winter farmer's markets in these parts and the fact that this one was in the East End made it even more appealing.

The vibe at the farmer's market was great.  It was cold outside and so warm in the building where the market took place.  Full of families and fellow foodies, there not only for some great food to bring home but also for Saturday morning coffee & breakfast.  The boy got some belgian waffles with crunchy caramelized sugar on the edges and apple beignets. I had the best crepe I've ever had in my life from Clement's Crepes. The All-Day Breakfast Crepe had eggs, maple smoked ham, green onion, mozzarella cheese and hollandaise.  Clement does this fancy thing with the cheese, called a hangover, where he lets it hang over the edge of the crepe onto the grill and it gets all crispy and brown.  The hangover is a great name because I'm sure this filling and savory crepe with that little bit of crunch would cure whatever ails you the morning after. Dad got freshly fried French Fries sprinkled with fresh thyme with sides of  homemade ketchup and cilantro & lime mayonnaise.  This was all in the very first room!  Had we continued on we would have found ooey gooey cinnamon rolls (I did buy one for later even though I was obnoxiously stuffed from my crepe), pies from the Canadian Pie Company, various sandwiches and soups and a vendor selling Ethiopian food.  Luckily we were more than happy with our choices, but a return trip is definitely in order, though I'm not sure I'll even make it past Clement's Crepes.

Meatless Monday: Roasted Brussel Sprout Soup with Hazelnut Pesto

Even though I was out at a foodie event tonight, I have had this soup on my list of things to make for quite sometime and to dissuade the Boy from ordering in pizza, especially after last nights Superbowl pigout, I decided to make it this afternoon.  Without planning ahead I managed to have all of the ingredients on hand, which is what sealed the deal for me.  Generally if I'm going to make a meatless meal that I hope the boy will eat whether I serve it to him or not, it has to include pasta or potatoes and lots of cheese.  But this recipe stood out because he loves brussel sprouts and with the cream and the nutty pesto I knew I could get him to heat this up and eat pretty easily.

The original recipe called for vegetable or chicken stock, but since this is a Meatless Monday post I knew I'd be making it with veggie stock.  I've never made vegetable stock and for this soup, since I wanted it to be quick, I used my goto brand for stock, Kitchen Basics.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the rich color and flavor of the stock.  It was so dark that it looked like beef stock and if you buy the all-natural box it comes without salt, which is great for me since I prefer to exercise alot of control over the amount of salt I add while cooking.

Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli

As I've written about before, I was lucky enough to receive the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid  as a wedding gift.  I haven't used it as much as I should mainly because of poor planning.  While homemade pasta doesn't take long to make, it is more time consuming that throwing a box of pasta in boiling water.  Of course that extra time is soooooo worth it.  As is proven by my pesto with homemade fettucine!

Something I've been dying to tackle with the pasta maker is homemade ravioli, since Thanksgiving when I roasted and pureed pumpkin for pumpkin pie I have wanted to make a Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli.  Lucky for me pureed pumpkin keeps beautifully in the freezer so I was able to pull some out to make these little beauties.  Boy am I glad that I did!

Meatless Monday: Sherried Mushroom & Goat Cheese Frittata

Back to reality and back on the Meatless Monday track.  I took the easy way out today with a frittata, but since I really didn't eat too many eggs over my trip back to Boston I had a craving.  Besides that I love frittatas, they are easy, hearty and keep great for leftover lunches or dinners.  With the boy back to work today and me heading back on Wednesday, I'm all over easy leftovers.

I love how meaty mushrooms taste and for a carnivore they are a great substitution for meat especially if cooked right.  These mushrooms are so full of flavor and come together very easily.  They can easily be used in anything you like mushrooms in or on, a steak, risotto, let your imagination run wild!

Meatless Monday: Domestic Divas Wild Rice Risotto with Cranberries and Walnuts

I feel so lucky to have the Domestic Diva herself back with a very special Meatless Monday holiday recipe.  It was the Diva who inspired me to take part in Meatless Mondays, and I can't think of a better guest post that this delicious sounding risotto.  What could be better on your holiday table?

From the Diva
I'm thrilled to be back for another guest post on Piccante Dolce! Even better, this special guest post is also a Meatless Monday recipe. How's that for service?

I created this recipe for Wild Rice Risotto with Cranberries and Walnuts especially for the holidays. The wild rice, sauteed with ginger and shallots, doused with white wine, and then slowly cooked in vegetable stock captures that rich, spicy, comforting vibe of this special time. The dish is finished with chopped parsley, toasted walnuts, and dried cranberries.

While this rice makes a great stuffing (try using it instead of traditional bread stuffing -- it's a gluten-free alternative) or a perfect side dish, it's also wonderful as a stand alone Meatless Monday main course. The whole grains and walnuts give it both fiber and protein. Oh, and did I mention that it's healthy, too? That's right! It's a winning recipe all around.

Meatless Monday: Quick Cheese Enchiladas

This week's Meatless Monday came about simply by trying to use items I had in the house as well as fulfilling a craving for Mexican.  While cleaning the pantry I found a can of chopped tomatoes, with onions, garlic & green pepper.  While I usually prep everything from scratch, this is a short cut that makes sense every so often and absolutely came in handy since I wanted a quick and easy lunch.  This little can of tomatoes would be the perfect base for a spicy Enchilada sauce, especially when paired with some of the various chili powders I have collected.

Living in LA and having tons of great Mexican at my fingertips I grew to love it.  Unfortunately good Mexican is few and far between in Toronto, especially because a burrito us generally my last choice when I have a craving.  It can be found, but not easily in my neighborhood.  As a result I am constantly looking to fill my cravings for it at home.  If I'm out of good corn tortillas and don't feel like driving downtown, I make my own.  It's time consuming, but oh so worth it.  Luckily for this dish I had the tortillas on hand, because making my own would take the quick out of the equation in this one.

After I made the pumpkin puree for my Thanksgiving pie, I tossed the pumpkin seeds with olive oil, sea salt and smoked paprika.  They are delicious and I knew the subtle heat and crunch would be perfect with the spicy savory enchiladas , so I sprinkled a couple tablespoons atop the enchiladas before baking.

Meatless Monday: Portobello Burgers

Have you been to the Burger's Priest?  This question only applies if you live in Toronto or have visited in the last 6 or 7 months, but it's a very serious question.  If you are in Toronto and haven't been, go today. Go for lunch, dinner, a snack, just go.

What does a place called Burger's Priest have to do with Meatless Monday?  I mean it makes no sense, right?  Wrong!  While it is any red-blooded burger loving carnivores dream, we aren't talking about meat today.  We are talking about veggies and specifically veggie burgers.  The Priest's answer to a veggie burger is something called "The Option." Sounds vague, right?  Totally vague, but when you ask you are told it's two portobello caps, sandwiched together and filled with cheese, breaded in Panko and fried.   I don't care whether you are a meat-lover or not, you have to admit this sounds good and completely unlike any veggie burger you've ever had.  At least it did to me.

I was at the Priest earlier in the month when my friend JM was visiting.  She's is a pescatarian and having heard about The Option from me, really wanted to try it.  Now my burger was delicious, but when I say her ooey, gooey burger of mushrooms and cheese looked unreal, it's an understatement.  I mean this burger flies right in the face of anyone who thinks being a vegetarian automatically means you are eating healthier.   Recognizing that, while nice once in awhile, this is far from a healthy option I wanted to see if I could recreate "The Option" at home but in a bit healthier of a way.

Meatless Monday & Love 4 Lasagna: Sweet Corn Lasagna

This past July my sister threw what could not have been a more perfect bachelorette (or stagette as they say he in the Great White North) weekend for me.  It was chock full of lounging by a pool, great food, great friends and a select few bachelorette type activities.  I had the best time and was able to eat some amazing food.  Our first night we ate at Cube Marketplace, a gourmet market mixed with a cafe that focus on traditional Italian cooking with a California twist.  They buy almost all locally at the Santa Monica Farmer's market and only buy from producers who practice cruelty-free farming.  This place was so up my alley it's scary and ridiculous that I hadn't eaten here before.  Each week they pick a different region in Italy to focus, so you could literally eat there every week and not have the same thing.  

For the life of me I don't remember what region was the focus when we were there, I just remember delicious wine, delicious cheese and delicious foods.  The one that specifically stuck in my head was the Sweet Corn Stuffed Pasta.  We agreed on a couple of appetizer items and then each of us selected a salad or pasta or other entree, one of my girlfriends chose the Sweet Corn Stuffed Pasta.  While I had heard amazing things about Cube, for me this is a dish that could have gone either way.  Upon tasting it I couldn't believe I was skeptical!  It was delicious a ricotta corn filling in a brown butter sauce with crispy sage, it was delicious!

When I was brainstorming ideas for Love 4 Lasagna I thought of this dish and thought it could potentially translate well into a lasagna and could do double duty for Meatless Monday.  The problem was I didn't entirely remember what was in the dish and since they have an ever changing menu I couldn't even go online to see how the dish was described in the menu.  So I went on the Cube site, went out on a limb and emailed telling them what I was doing and asked for the recipe.  In less than 6 hours I had the recipe in my inbox, such a pleasant surprise!  Upon reading it I knew that the sweet corn filling would be the perfect jumping off point for my lasagna.  I made a few tweaks along the way but the following recipe is where it ended up, all credit for the idea and the bulk of the filling recipe goes to Jun Tuan who is from Cube and sent it my way.