First dish?

So I've been trying to think of the first thing I actually learned how to cook was. Searching back through my years, I've come up with the answer... chicken parmesan. I think this is why it's my favorite dish to make for people. I can do it with my eyes closed, always comes out amazing, and never disappoints. 

My mother taught me many moons ago and it couldn't be easier! It's a great first dish and I've definitely tweaked it a bit to make it my own, but here you go!

-8 thinly cut chicken breasts

-1 pound spaghetti (or your favorite long pasta)
-1 cup flour
-1 cup panko breadcrumbs 
-2 eggs
-3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce  
-16 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1. Beat those eggs in a bowl. Oh ya.
2. Put your flour in a plate.
3. Put that panko in a plate. Set your stations up as flour, then egg, then panko.
4. Preheat your oven to a low setting- 200F and prep a sheet pan to hold your cutlets while they keep warm.
5. In a large skillet on medium heat, coat the bottom with oil. I'd stick with a vegetable oil, not olive oil, that can get heavy. 
6. While you're at it, throw a tablespoon of butter into the pan for taste... and who doesn't love butter? 
7. Get a large stock pot and fill 3/4 of the way with water. Place on a high heat and wait for the boil to come.
8. Cover a cutlet in flour, then egg, and then in the panko.
9. Repeat this until your cutlets are done.
10. Switching gears- once the water is boiling dump a good couple tablespoons of salt in the water (this is the only chance you get to flavor the pasta.) Drop you pasta and stir around, make sure it doesn't stick. 
11. Once the cutlets are all dressed up and looking pretty, gently lower them into the pan. Don't splash the oil... it hurts.
12. These are thin pieces so they're going to cook all the way through here on the stove. Cook until golden on one side, a few minutes, and then flip that baby over and cook until the other side is golden. 
13. Once the chicken is done place on a sheet pan and pop it in the oven to keep warm. 
14. When the pasta is done to your liking- if you're not sure, test one.. and last resort... the directions are on the box. Drain well, throw the pasta back in the pan and put some butter and a little olive to keep the noodles from sticking. You can even throw in some leftover sauce, that's quite yummy as well!
15. Remove the sheet pan of golden beautiful chicken from the oven and set the oven to high broil. 
16. Place two slices of the fresh mozzarella on each cutlet. 
17. Place the chickens back onto the sheet pan and pop it under the broiler to get that cheese good and melted and a slightly golden.... oh man it's so good. 
18. When you're all satisfied with the way your chicken looks, pull them out!
-Serve up with your pasta and you're good to go. This serves 4, unless you get those guests that don't like to just stuff themselves full of goodness, they can just have one chicken instead of two. More for you! Also goes well with a salad so you can say you got your greens in. 

This is another really easy dish. And pretty cheap. Andddd it's impressive- serve this to a potential man friend, potential best friend, someone you're trying to bribe... you get the picture. 

Speaking of pictures...

Am I right?

What was your first dish?

-Meaghan

...You Guys Want Some Cookiessss

Holiday baking is in full swing around these parts and is there anything better than a homemade gift? Especially when it's food! Some of my favorite holiday cookies are in the making right now so I thought I'd share : )

Prancer Sugar Cookie
Sugar cookies are probably the most simple cookies you could make but you can do so many things with them! Flavor them, color them, shape them... eat them. The way I like to make them always reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movies- Prancer. Yes, an oldie but a goodie. I admit, I have been watching this movie on a VHS tape I had recorded off the tv many many years ago up until... recently. I'm now the proud owner of one of these fancy DVD things, you don't need to rewind! Anyway, back to the cookies. In the movie Jessica feeds these cookies to Prancer and I have always had the image of that's what a sugar cookie should look like. These sure won't disappoint, everyone loves a good sugar cookie!

-3 cups flour                                                            -2 eggs
-1/2 Tsp baking powder                                        -1 Tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 Tsp salt                                                            -Lemon zest to taste
-1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature          -Sprinkles the color of your choice 
-1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until incorporated and light and fluffy. 
3. Add lemon zest, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix to combine.
4. Slowly add the baking powder, salt, and flour- mix on low so you don't get it all over you!
5. When a dough forms, dump the lump of lovely dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Tightly wrap up the dough and put in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up. At this point feel free to split the dough and throw it in the freezer for later use!
6. When the hour is up, take the dough out and leave at room temperature for 5 minutes to make it a bit easier to roll out.
7. On a floured surface roll the dough out to your desired thickness. Have fun with the shapes- today I chose a star, circle, and a gingerbread man.
8. Move cookies to a sheet tray lines with parchment or a silicon mat.
9. Feel free to put as many or as few sprinkles as you wish- I load em up.
10. Pop the cookies in the oven for about 8 minutes, watch them though they can burn quickly. You want them to be turning a light golden color. The color of deliciousness. 
-Let the cookies cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Salted Chocolate Espresso Cookie
I originally spotted this gem on Pinterest. The name simply has all my favorite things in it so it had to be good right?! I made these for a housewarming I had recently and they were gobbled up almost immediately. I snuck one and yes, they were amazing. These are the perfect chocolatey cookie- the espresso brings out the chocolate like crazy and it's just flavortown USA- one of my favorite vacation spots. And the salt, ohhh the salt, just brings the flavors out even more. These ones require a bit of extra time so I always start these the night before. These cookies will be sure to please the chocolate lover on your list this year!

-10 ounces of bitter sweet chocolate (don't use chocolate chips)       -2 eggs
-6 Tbs butter                                                                                                    -3/4 cup sugar
-2 Tbs instant espresso powder                                                                  -1 Tsp vanilla extract
-1/3 cup flour                                                                                                   -Sea salt for garnish
-1 Tsp baking powder
-1/2 Tsp salt

*At least an hour before wanting to bake them or the night before(I like letting this batter sit overnight).*
1. Chop your chocolate and melt with your butter and espresso powder in the microwave or a double boiler if you're feeling fancy, set aside to cool.
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Whisk the chocolate mixture, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract into the dry ingredients- combine well. It will be a pretty wet mixture, don't worry, you're doing it right!
4. Place in a sealed container for at least 1 hour or overnight.
5. In an hour or the next day, preheat oven to 325F.
6. Scoop the batter in 1 inch diameter balls onto a sheet tray lined with parchment or a silicon mat(silicon mat works best I must say). These cookies will really flatten out so space wisely! 
7. You can either do this step before baking or after- I like to do it after, the salt sticks better.  But the world if your pickle, do what you want, make it rain salt all up on that cookie.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Every oven is different, so check at 10 I'd say. They will look a bit puffy and underdone, but they are done. Once they cool they will harden and become flat.
-These cookies can be touchy just out of the oven- give them a few minutes to cool down and set up before transferring to a wire rack for complete cooling. Enjoy!

Almond Joy Chocolate Chip Cookie
What's a cookie swap without a classic chocolate chip cookie! I've put a little twist on these ones though, but they are just as great! A close friend who will remain nameless calls them crack cookies because you can't just stop eating them! And a certain roommate that will also remain nameless ate quite a few one day... for breakfast. Needless to say, they are a good time. 

-1 1/2 cups flour                                     -1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 Tsp baking soda                           -1/2 cup white granulated sugar
-1/2 Tsp salt                                           -1 Tbs vanilla extract
-3/4 cup butter room temp                 -1/4 Tsp almond extract
-2 cups milk chocolate chips              -1 egg
-2 cups sweetened shredded cocoanut

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. On low speed, add your egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and your dry mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl down if it builds up.
5. With a spatula, incorporate the cocoanut and chocolate chips. 
6. Spoon 1-2 Tbs of batter onto a sheet tray lined with parchment or a silicon mat.
7. Bake 10-15 minutes, check frequently because all ovens are different don't ya know.
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!

French Macaron

Time to get a little technical with your bad self. These pretty little cookies always scared the you know what out of me. How to they get to have that perfect texture? How do they get those signature little "feet"? I'm not a master baker! My opinion is that it takes a few tries but you can definitely get the hang of it! They are such a crowd pleaser too- everyone will think you took the concord to Paris, picked up an assortment at a cute little patisserie, learned to play La Vie en Rose on the accordion, and jetted on back to display these beautiful little things! Wrong- what they don't know is that your kitchen is a complete mess but they look darn good eh? The possibilities are endless when it comes to macarons, with some food coloring and flavoring you can make any concoction that comes to mind! This time I decided to go for some Christmas colors and a Nutella filling. YUM. 

Cookies:

-3 egg whites

-1/3 cup granulated sugar

-1 cup almond flour

-1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

-Food coloring of your choice if wanted(powder or gel)

-Extract if your choice

Filling:

-Nutella! (however much you want)

1. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whisk the egg whites on medium-high until foamy. 

2. At this point, pour in the granulated sugar into the mixer. 

3. Mix on high until you reach stiff peaks. This is where you want to add your coloring and flavoring if you desire- I wanted mine to look Christmasy so I opted for red and I threw some gold dust on there at the end to make it all fancy. Little tip- put a little more food coloring than you normally would, the colors usually lighten during the baking process. If you chose not to use food coloring, the macarons will turn a light tan color- still very yummy!

4. In a separate bowl, sift the almond flour and powdered sugar. You want all the lumps out so that you get a smooth cookie.

5. Gradually add the dry into your egg whites- fold very gently, you don't want to deflate the whites! At this stage you can also add any extract you'd like, I once made a lemon macaron with raspberry jam filling. Very tasty.

6. Once you have all the dry ingredients mixed in with the egg whites you want to continue to fold gently until you reach a "lava" stage where if you let the batter fall back into itself it will incorporate slowly and have a nice flow back into itself. This will take a few minutes so you probably won't have to go to the gym later on- good arm workout.

7. Carefully transfer your mixture into a piping bag or a zip lock bag with a small hole snipped in the corner. 

8. Onto a sheet tray lined with parchment pipe the mixture into dots as small or large as you'd like, but try to make them all the same size to make pairing up easier later on.

9. Once you have your dots piped out you have to wait a bit. Take the tray and lift and drop onto the counter to get any air bubbles out. This also helps give you those little feet. Do this at least a couple times and let them sit out until you can lightly touch the tops and it's dry- usually takes 25-30 minutes.

10. Preheat oven to 300F.

11. Once you have let your macarons set and the oven is ready, put the tray in for 10 minutes.
12. When they come out of the oven do not take them off the tray right way, they will stick! Let them cool for a good 5-10 minutes or until they naturally come away from the pan and you can transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. When they have cooled completely you can slap on your filling! Choose two halves similar to size and on one half place a small amount of filling and sandwich the other half pressing ever so lightly so spread the filling throughout.
14. Decorate however you want- I sprinkled mine with a bit of eatable gold dust... because who doesn't love gold dust?
-Enjoy! These cookies are a classic sandwich cookie and are always SO pretty. And they taste amazing, the texture is great the way they have that outside crunch and the inside chew of a classic macaron. They are a yummy little snack and will have you feeling very accomplished!



Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie
I took a small survey of friends, family, and co-workers to find out what their favorite holiday cookie was and this was a winner by a landslide. I don't know what it is about these babies but they are definitely a favorite, chocolate and peanut butter is one of the most beloved flavor combinations of course so this is a no brainer. These are best straight out of the oven, but if you don't want to burn your mouth off, they are good cooled too- knock yourself out!

-1 stick of butter                                     -1 Tsp vanilla extract
-3/4 cup peanut butter                         -1 egg
-1/3 cup light brown sugar                  -2 Tbs milk
-1/3 cup granulated sugar                   -1 Tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 cups flour                                     -1/4 Tsp salt

1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and the peanut butter.
2. Add the light brown sugar the granulated sugar- combine well.
3. Add the vanilla extract, egg, and milk- combine well.
4. slowly add the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5 Once everything is mixed well, put into a container and chill for 1 hour. The mixture will be on the wetter side.
6. Once you have waited for what feel like an eternity, preheat the oven to  375F.
7. Line with parchment or silicon mat and roll mixture into 1 inch balls
8. Bake for 8-10 min until lightly brown.
9. While these are baking, unwrap the kisses because need to place on as soon as they come out of the oven.
10. Once these little yummies are done baking press the kisses into the center of the cookie until they start to crack a bit.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
-Andddd this is the part where I give myself third degree burns and devour them, the kisses are all melted and the cookie is just so warm and soft, one cannot help themselves!

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as my friends and family do! There are so many more you could make but if I baked all of them to test I'd be on the fast track to a diabetic coma... and no one wants that! What's your favorite holiday cookie??

-Meaghan

PIZZA!

Ok so, pizza may very well be one of the best foods of all time. Good for you? No. But the best things usually aren't. Not only is it just the perfect thing, but it's the perfect vehicle for everything- you can put anything on a pizza!

Dating way way back in the day, pizza was always a thing. Flatbread with stuff on it, bam, a pizza was born. There are many arguments as to who exactly "invented" the pizza, but that's neither here nor there. Fast forward to today and there are so many different possibilities! From New York where it's all about a slice of that thin but sturdy crust, to Chicago where deep dish is king, and even out to California where I feel like low carb cauliflower crust is on trend now? The point is you can make pizza out of anything these days and put virtually anything on it. And of course there's the best way of cooking it debate- brick oven? Conventional oven? The grill? Personally I think nothing beats the sweet amazingness that is a brick oven pizza, but since I'm not an owner of one of those suckers, my conventional oven does the trick just fine : )

A few things to start with though, I rarely make my own pizza dough. I know, I know- but whyyyyy? Well, it's a lot easier and there are some really good options now! I just go to the store and pick up dough from a local pizza chain and I'm done. You can also go to your favorite pizzeria and buy some dough from them, it's all good! I personally like to make my pizza on the thinner side, so if you want to make these with a lot more dough, go for it! And finally, I don't like a lot of sauce, so if what I'm adding sounds like nothing to you, go on with your bad self and use as much sauce as you would like. 

Here are a few of my favorite things to play around with pizza. Get that bib out- you may drool.

Margarita Pizza 
I was never a huge fan of the margarita pizza, mainly because basil usually isn't my favorite taste. But on a trip to London jetlag took over my ability to make decisions and I ordered a margarita pizza. To my lovely surprise is was tomato, cheese and oregano! I am, however, a big fan of oregano so I'm pretty sure the travel Gods were on my side with this one. This is one of the best pizzas I've ever tasted and I knew that once I got home I'd have to try and recreate it! By the way- if you're ever in London get this pizza. It's a small Italian place right near the South Kensington tube station called Sole Luna. As you can see from the picture to the right... I hated it. Anywayyyyy, back to the pizza:

-1 dough ball
-2 cups shredded mozzarella
-1 Tbs dried oregano
-3-4 whole tomatoes(I like the steamed kind with the skins removed with salt added- best flavor!)
-Olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Take your dough out of the fridge about 30-45 minutes to come to room temperature.
2. When your dough is ready to work with, preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Flour your surface and a rolling pin and roll out to your desired size and thickness.
4. Lightly oil pan and dust with some cornmeal(gives a nice crunch and flavor). If you don't have cornmeal, use flour, or nothing at all!
5. Lay your dough onto the pan and coat with a thin layer of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
6. Crush your whole tomatoes onto the dough and spread evenly.
7. Dump the cheese on, add more, take some away, whatever you want. I like it cheesy.
8. Evenly sprinkle the oregano over the pizza.
9. Top with a touch more olive oil, salt, and pepper.
10 When the oven reaches temperature, pop the pan in and cook for 8-10 minutes or until it's golden and gooey and lovely looking. If you want an extra crispy crust, take it off the pan and let it hang out on the oven racks to cook for a few more minutes.
-Slice it up and enjoy! It's so simple but the flavors are just crazy good and it always reminds me of London.. weird, a pizza reminding me of London.

Artichoke Bianca Pizza 

White pizza is another fave of mine. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the sauce, but there's something about olive oil, garlic, and cheese that just does it for me. I've always liked a good white pizza, but on a recent trip to Las Vegas I went to 800 Degrees Pizza (right outside of the Monte Carlo) and fell deeper in love with this type of pizza, and I decided it would be paired well with artichokes- I was right. The warm juiciness of the artichoke combined with all the melted cheese and garlic........ sorry for the pause, I had to put my tongue back in my mouth. It was another travel find where I just had to remember to recreate it, so I did! It's a basic pizza so it starts the same way as before:

-1 dough ball

-1-2 cans of artichoke hearts(depending on how much you like)

-2 cloves of garlic

-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

-1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

-Olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Take your dough out of the fridge about 30-45 minutes to come to room temperature.
2. When your dough is ready to work with, preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Flour your surface and a rolling pin and roll out to your desired size and thickness.
4. Lightly oil pan and dust with some cornmeal.

5. Finely chop the garlic.

6. Place the dough into the pan.
7. Lightly top the dough with olive oil, salt, pepper, and your garlic.
8. Next, put your cheeses onto the dough.
9. You can either chop the artichokes or place them in larger pieces over your cheese.
10. Drizzle some more olive oil, salt, and pepper.
11. When the oven has come to temperature, pop the pizza in for 8-10 minutes or until golden and all the cheese has melted.
-Slice it up and dig in! My pizza doesn't look like the 800 Degrees pizza because they had obviously used a brick oven but it's still pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself and it's such a simple recipe!

Pizza Dip

Mixing it up a little here, I came across this while browsing YouTube late one night and immediately thought I MUST MAKE THIS. So the next day I marched myself right on down to the store to get supplies! This is a fun one because you can treat it like a pizza, top it with whatever you want!

-8oz cream cheese

-1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

-1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

-3/4 cup crushed tomatoes or 3/4 cup tomato sauce

-Any toppings you would like! (I went for plain Jane pepperoni)

1. 30 Minutes before starting, take your cream cheese out to come to room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 400F.

3. In a small baking dish, spread the cream cheese to cover the bottom.

4. Mix up your cheese and sprinkle half over top of the cream cheese.

4. Pour the sauce on top of the cheeses.

5. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the sauce.

6. Add your toppings! What I did was I threw my pepperoni into a cast iron skillet for a few minutes to crisp it up and to also render some of the fat. You don't want all that grease on top of your pretty pizza dip!

7. Toss it into the oven until melted, golden, and bubbly- usually about 15-20 minutes. Just want to be sure the cream cheese has warmed through.

-Be careful it is veryyyy hot, but enjoy! For dippers I like to get a baguette and slice it thin, throw it in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Toast them up until golden and crunchy and they make the perfect dipping utensil! You can also just get some Wheat Thins too- that will do the trick just fine!



Stop. Bonus Time.

Pulled Pork Pizza

This gem was born out of having an obscene amount pulled pork left over from the night before and not knowing what to do with it! You can do this with lots of leftovers by the way, some left over ham? Hawaiian pizza for you!

-1 dough ball

-2 cups pulled pork (Have more? Add more!)

-1/2 coleslaw

-1/4 cup BBQ sauce

-1/2 diced pickles

-1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Take your dough out of the fridge about 30-45 minutes to come to room temperature.
2. When your dough is ready to work with, preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Flour your surface and a rolling pin and roll out to your desired size and thickness.
4. Lightly oil pan and dust with some cornmeal.

5. Place the dough onto the pan.

6. Spread the BBQ sauce evenly over the dough

7. Now evenly spread the cheese over.

8. Place the pork on top of the cheese. You can put a little extra BBQ sauce over the top if you'd like for a little extra somethin' somethin'.

9. Pop the pizza into the oven for 8-10 minutes until the crust has cooked.

10. After taking the pizza out, now you can put the cold coleslaw and chopped pickles over the top of the pizza.

-Slice up and grub! This pizza is SO delicious with the hot and the cold together and the flavors are just crazy good. All pizza is great for kicking back and watching the game, but this one feels extra manly, extra game day, extra everything- you won't be disappointed!

-Meaghan







Cold Weather Comfort

When you're around the house and you start tucking your pjs into those lovely wool socks, wearing mittens, and sporting long johns, then it's winter in Maine! It's getting quite frigid around these parts so that makes me think of heated seats, hot coffee, and soup! 

Soup is one of my favorite foods of all time and definitely one of my top comfort foods. You can make it out of anything and everything and it's the ultimate budget food. When else can you throw some veggies and stock together and have it be a meal for days AND have it taste good? I also love how you can just add some rice, pasta, or barley and it just knocks it out of the park. One of my favorite memories is of mother making soup all the time in the winter and then not being able to eat it for an hour because it was like eating lava fresh from Dante's Peak, always a funny joke with her. There's nothing like a good bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out! 

Now I feel like there are three types of soup people:

-Enough broth to drown a small animal

-Even amounts of broth and contents 

-Lunch lady soup that can be classified as a casserole

I am somewhere in the middle of casserole and yin and yang. I like a lot of filler, but enough broth to keep it moving. I have many favorites, but here are a few that are on the top of my list to eat and cook any time of year, but it's always better in the winter. 

Beef Stew with Dumplings

-2 large carrots

-2 large onions (I like a lot of onions)

-2 stalks of celery 

-6 cups of beef broth (add water if you'd like to dilute it as needed)

-1 pound of stew beef

-Salt and pepper to taste 

Dumplings

-2 cups Bisquick mix

-2/3 cup milk (or you could use the broth from your stew)

-1 Tsp each of salt, onion powder, and garlic powder

-1/2 Tsp pepper

1. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and butter in a large heavy bottomed pot(dutch oven is perfect) on medium high heat.

2. Season your stew beef with lots of salt and pepper and lightly coat with flour.

3. Drop the beef into the pot to sear. Don't move the meat yet- it will tell you when it wants to move when it naturally pulls away from the bottom. Brown all sides of the meat and remove from the heat- set aside for later.

4. Peel and prep your veggies into whatever shape and thickness you'd like. 

5. Lower the heat to medium and in the same pot with a little more olive oil, saute your veggies until slightly soft.

6. Toss your stew beef back into the pot with the vegetables and cook for a few minutes all together. 

7. Pour the liquid into the party. Make sure you get all those little brown bits on the bottom- those nuggets of flavor gold.

8. At this point put the lid on partially and let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, give a good mix and drop the heat to a medium low to simmer away for a couple hours so that the meat can really break down and become nice and tender.

9. While waiting for the stew to cook, now would be the ideal time to add a starch if you fancy, par-cook whatever you'd like and then throw it in the soup 10-15 minutes before it's complete. It will continue to cook in the stew absorbing the flavors and the remaining starch will thicken it slightly.

10. 20 minutes before the stew is complete crank the heat back up to a medium high to bring to a boil. 

11. Mix your dumpling ingredients together and once the soup is back to a boil, drop the dumpling mixture on top of the soup. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes then put the cover back on and cook for a final 10 minutes.

-When the time is up for the dumplings you are good to go. Dish up and dig in!

Chicken and Orzo

-2 large carrots

-2 large onions (Again... I like a lot of onions)

-2 stalks of celery

-2 pre-cooked rotisserie chickens (Makes it so much easier, but if you'd like to cook your own chicken, go on with your bad self!)

-6 cups of chicken broth

-Salt and pepper to taste

-1/2 cup orzo pasta

1. Break out those chickens and get to pickin'! Pull all the meat off that you can- watch for cartilage, bones, and fat! I discard the skin as well, it's only good when it's crunchy, am I right? Set the meat aside for later.

2. Prep and chop the carrots, onions, and celery.

3. In a large heavy bottomed pot (again, can't go wrong with that dutch oven) on medium high heat, warm up a couple tablespoons of oil oil and butter.

4. Drop your veggies into the oil with salt and pepper, cook until softened. 

5. Once your veggies are done to your liking, throw the chicken into the pot with the veggies so they can get to know each other and so it can warm through.

6. Once they have had a little party, dump your broth in and and any water you'd like to make it looser and a little more diluted. 

7. Partially cover the pot and let the soup come to a boil. Make sure to stir the soup, it can stick to the bottom.

8. Let the soup simmer on a medium low-medium heat for about 45 minutes stirring every now and then. 

9. While waiting for the soup to finish cooking, you can either pour your orzo directly into the soup or par-cook it and then dump it into the soup. If you want to cook the pasta all the way in the soup, just remember this will thicken the soup a lot, just add more broth or water as needed. Also be sure to keep stirring the soup! I sound like Henry Hill yelling at his brother to make sure he stirs the sauce... except I'm not being chased by a helicopter and trying to hide cocaine. No one's going to jail KAREN.

-Once the pasta is cooked through, you're done! This soup I usually make to be on the thicker side and it's just velvety and delicious- nothing better! I like to serve this with some toasted slices of good ciabatta bread slathered in olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

French Onion Soup

-2 large sweet onions (Have I mentioned I like a lot of onions?)

-4 cups beef broth

-1 Tbs mustard powder

-Salt and pepper to taste 

-Pinch of Thyme 

-2 cloves of garlic

-1 Tbs butter

-A few slices of good Italian bread...or sourdough... sourdough would be really good! (1-2 slices per serving depending on what your vessel can take)

-Gruyere cheese (a little more than 1/4 of a cup per serving)

1. Start by slicing the onions in "half moon" shapes pretty thinly. Or you can chop or dice them- whatever you like.

2. In a large skillet on medium low heat, melt the butter and throw the onions in to get all caramelized and scrumptious. Salt and pepper to taste and stir often. What you're looking for is to get your onions a deep brown color and very soft in texture.

3. At the same time, in a medium stock pot add your broth and let simmer. You want this to be hot at all times so that everything is the same temperature when you throw it in the oven. 

4. When the onions start to soften, season again with salt and pepper if needed, add your mustard powder, thyme, and finely diced garlic. Give a good stir and continue cooking. 

*A tip to help your onions caramelize faster, spoon some of your warm broth in to deglaze the pan. This will give the onions flavor and break them down a bit more.

5. When your onions have caramelized, pour them into your broth to cook together. Let that boil for 20-ish minutes. 

6. Set your oven to a low broil setting.

7. Hold on- don't get rid of that onion pan just yet! Butter up some sliced bread and sear it off in the pan so it's brown and buttery and oniony... oh dear God. 

8. When your soup is done to your liking, grab an oven proof dish and fill that baby up with the soup- not all the way though, leave some room for your bread!

9. Place the cup onto a sheet tray, top with the bread, and pile on that gruyere. 

10. Stick it under the broiler to get all bubbly and melted and amazing. Make sure you keep an eye on it, don't want it to burn!

-To eat this one you might need an oven mit but other than that, dig in! If you want to boil it forever go right ahead, it will get thicker and more flavorful. YUMMO. This will make 3-4 servings depending on the size of your cup, enjoy!

If any of these don't make you want to put on your comfy pants and pop in The Big Chill then I don't know what will! Hope you enjoy these favorites as much as I do : )

-Meaghan

Throwback Thursday

It's throwback Thursday and I was thinking I'd recap my last trip to New York City.

I had the opportunity to make the just over an hour trek...by plane, to New York City with my sister for a whirlwind weekend. That's right, 48 hours only. When I told my friends they were puzzled as to why I was only going for two days and then wanted to know what I'd be up to. I was going to attend a pre fashion week event that my sister- The Dazzle Diva, was involved in. But of course, it all boils down to food. Typical. I knew my constant and probably unhealthy obsession with the Food Network would come in handy one of these days so naturally I had a list of places I'd heard of and seen on the Food Network ready and waiting for me when the opportunity came my way. Well it was knocking and I was going to answer that door if they had to roll me on the plane home.

Arriving first thing in the morning gave us the prime time to find some breakfast. Being very sleepy, greasy diner food would probably hit the spot. Our first stop was just that- 7A. A short walk through Tompkins Square Park and there it was! Buried underneath scaffolding was the small diner filled with the smell of flat top eggs, strong coffee, and hipsters. I'm a pretty simple breakfast girl, so bacon and eggs it was. Oh and it came with a side of fries. OK! When the food came out it was quite a sight, the bacon was so crispy looking I wasn't sure if it was going to melt in my mouth or crack my teeth, the over easy eggs were just begging me to give them a little poke to release the creamy orange yolks, my English muffin slathered in butter never looked so good, and the fries, well, they were fries! The plate smelt and looked like a heart attack and I couldn't wait to dig in. It was a pretty cheap and ideal way to start a long day in the chilly big apple. Also I'd like to say I walked off this meal and more during the weekend so it's ok, right?

After breakfast was your typical tourist day ducking in and out of the subway, FAO Schwarz, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center where I was secretly looking for Liz Lemon, and Grand Central Station among other hot spots. This day out had to end a tad early because of the event that brought us to New York in the first place. As we made our way back to the dreaded million stair walk up apartment we stopped for an early dinner at S'Mac- a literal hole in the wall dedicated to one of my favorite foods ever: macaroni and cheese. YES PLEASE. These personal sized bowls of gold come in all kinds of flavor combinations and sizes. There's no small, medium, and large in this place. It's nosh, munch, and mongo. I felt a bit like I was at Starbucks not knowing how to order... ummm do you have just a medium regular coffee back there? The menu serves everyone, I wanted to eat it all, but I had to stop myself because I remembered I had to fit into a dress later that night and no amount of Spanx would help me if I ate a truck load of mac and cheese. So I decided on a nosh 4 cheese- Cheddar, Muenster, Gruyere, and Pecorino. Needless to say, it was delish. Some strong coffe, hairspray and a few drinks later we were off to the show! After the show it was still pretty early...ish. The night was young and so are we! What can we do in the city that never sleeps? Coyote Ugly of course! My only experience up to now of this place was of course the movie- I was half expecting half naked girls and dancing on the bar to Def Leppard . Well, the evening didn't disappoint.  It's just as I expected but overall a good time. When it was time to head back we thought we would grab a slice of pizza, how New York of us, I know. We stumbled upon East Village Pizza and Kebabs and I had one of the best pieces of pizza I've ever had! I had myself a slice of white pizza, the flavor was so intense but there was hardly anything on it! It was a crunchy buttery crust topped with ricotta and garlic. Lots of garlic. I wasn't kissing anyone soooo bring it on. I ate it so fast I didn't get a picture, but please imagine this piece of heaven in your mind. It was a perfect end to a long day!

            

Day two meant more walking, sight seeing, and food of course! This morning we went for a more Sex and the City-esque meal. A short walk away was Cafe Mogador. For anyone who knows me, I'm sort of a picky eater so I was kind of apprehensive when heading here, do I like Middle Eastern food? Now I do! Approaching the restaurant was like being transported to some far off land. A step through the heavy jewel toned velvet curtains was another world. You were immediately slapped in the face with the smell of spices, coffee, and all things exotic. Families, 20 somethings, and even grandma and grandpa were enjoying a bite to eat and a fancy coffee- so cool to see so many different people. Nooks and crannies were all around filled with dining tables, an espresso bar with the most beautiful glassware I've ever seen, and carafes filled with juices so fresh you felt like you were sucking on an orange in some field in Florida. Again, the menu had all kinds of things to offer- I decided on the Country Breakfast: eggs that I had over easy, Arabic salad, labneh, and za'atar pita. Labneh? Za'atar? What the whaaaat? What are these things and what do they taste like?! The food came and oh my goodness it was amazing! I currently have a can of za'atar spice mix in my pantry if that's any indication of how much I liked it(it's great on pizza, breads, all sorts of things)! Everything was great and I pretty much had to be stopped from licking my plate, I was in public after all. Classy Meaghan, classy.

We set off once again heading to Times Square, Broadway, and Chelsea Market! While in Chelsea Market stopping at kitchen supply stores and Anthropology the market is full of the hustle and bustle of people, businesses, and food! While walking around Chelsea we came upon the most anticipated moment of the trip, for me at least. Artichoke Pizza. I first saw this on the Food Network of course and have been dreaming about it ever since. First of all, the building was beautiful, I felt like I was in the Godfather- the scene where Michael has to find the planted gun. Second of all, the pizza. THE PIZZA. This particular Artichoke didn't sell slices, only whole pizzas. Well guess I'd have to eat more pizza. Dang. Out comes this huge pile of slices of ooey gooey amazingness and when I bit in, I had no words for how amazing it tasted, it was perfection. The crust was so crisp and the artichoke topping was heaven. A messy dish but definitely worth it. I'm thinking of writing a letter to Mr Artichoke begging to open a branch up here in Maine. Even though I'd gain 100 pounds, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Walking out of there with the sexiest waddle you've ever seen, it was getting late and we needed to get back to pack up and get to the airport, sad face. On our way back we stopped for one of my favorite foods and another place I had on my list- The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop! I had my heart set on a Salty Pimp and I wasn't going to stop until I had it in my mouth. That came out wrong, but you know what I mean. It looks like a simple ice cream cone, however, it's anything but. A vanilla cone swirled and jabbed with dolce de leche and sea salt finished off with a dip in a fudge hardening shell. It was the perfect balance of salty and sweet- the best flavor combination of all. They have other crazy ice cream treats of course, next time I come back I'll have to try more and then walk a million miles. 

The time had now come to get to the airport and catch the flight back to good ol Maine. This trip was so fun, busy, and filling! Hopefully I'll be able to return soon where I plan on eating all of Brooklyn and hitting every food truck I can find. Big thank you to my cousin Barb and her husband Larry for being our New York City tour guides and leading me wherever my mouth wanted. I'm sure I gained a few pounds even with all the walking, it was worth it. I am now realizing that this post has made me sound like the biggest fat kid but it's not like have access to these things every day! Don't hate.

Until next time New York you big beautiful tasty thing you.

-Meaghan