Cooking Show: Spice is Nice! Fajita Rice, Cinco de Mayo Salad with Chicken, Ginger Soy Shrimp Salad and Frozen Mango-Peach Cocktails

Our recent cooking show featured recipes to wake up your taste buds.

A bit of spice makes everything nice! 

My friend, Maribeth, cooked with me and we covered all the bases with salads, festive rice, and a fruity, frozen concoction to wash it all down.

Frozen Mango-Peach Cocktails

We've featured this recipe on a previous show, but it bears repeating!! Toss frozen mango chunks, simple syrup, lime juice, peach schnapps and ice cubes into a blender and minutes later you'll be sipping this tropical cocktail.  

Fajita Rice with Chicken

Easy clean-up because you only need one pan! Rice, veggies, seasonings, broth, rotisserie chicken--stir it up, let it simmer, sprinkle with cheese...

 ...add your favorite toppings and voilà!

A fabulous combination of spicy/melty/creamy/YUM.

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Salad with Salsa Dressing

A meal that's easy to throw together if you're pressed for time! 

This has recently been the go-to salad in my house.  I marinate the chicken for 15 minutes (a simple mix of olive oil and spices) and while it's marinating I prep the salad and whisk together the dressing.

 Ginger/Soy Shrimp Salad

If you're in the mood for an Asian-inspired salad, we've got you covered!

Another quick salad where you're going to marinate the protein (in this case, shrimp) while you prep your salad and dressing.  A few minutes under the broiler is all it takes to cook the shrimp!

Cooking Show: Slow Cooker Ribs & Chili, Wedge Salad and Roasted Potatoes

We're still waiting here in New England for this seemingly endless winter to end.

Snow in April? Check.

Comfort food still on the menu? Check.

I've been looking forward to spring for months (since the first week of January), but until warmer temperatures actually arrive I'm still cooking comfort food and our latest cooking show menu featured a few favorites!

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Fall-off-the-bone perfection.  When they're done, throw them onto your grill or stick them under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp them up!

Click here for the printable recipe.

Slow Cooker White Chili.   Perfect chili for a chilly day!

Roasted Parmesan Potatoes.  

My friend, Amy, cooked with me and she has informed me that these are "Everyone's new favorite potato!"

They are so quick and easy to prepare.  No special skills required!

And finally....

Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

I admit that this was my favorite recipe of the night.  Try this and you will agree that salad can be a comfort food!  Crunchy lettuce, creamy dressing and sweet tomatoes topped with crunchy pancetta.  What's not to love?

Cooking Show: It's a Wrap!

Our recent cooking show featured an assortment of wrap sandwiches--Southwestern, Italian and Asian-inspired.

Although each type of wrap has its own distinct flavor, the method of preparation was the same: start with shredded chicken (use a rotisserie chicken!), add assorted veggies, drizzle with a flavorful dressing.

Caprese Chicken Wraps with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. My favorite combo!

Asian Chicken Wraps with Ginger Teriyaki Dressing

Always a hit in my house.  Loaded with fresh, crunchy veggies, it will curb your craving for Chinese takeout and you can pat yourself on the back for making a healthier choice!

Southwestern Chicken Rollups

I unabashedly admit that this is my favorite.  Combine the chicken with the dressing, then customize the rollups with assorted add-ins--avocado, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce.  I'll take the works, please.

Butterscotch Pudding

Pudding from scratch, so creamy and so dreamy!

Cooking Show--Tomato Recipes

I feel like I beat this subject to death...but am I the only one who wants to skip right through winter and into summer?

I'm not even going to pretend that winter tomatoes can compare to summer tomatoes...but cooking with ingredients that remind me of summer is one way to beat the winter blues.  Bring on the tomato recipes!

We started with BLT Salad with Buttermilk Dressing.

So simple, yet so good!  The assorted tiny tomatoes are very sweet and flavorful, drizzled with a creamy buttermilk dressing...I can close my eyes and almost feel like summer is here.  Almost.

Italian Chicken Wraps with Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

A couple of tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes in the dressing provide a big punch of flavor!

Creamy Tuscan Shrimp with Pasta

Another recipe where a handful of sun-dried tomatoes add a wallop of flavor!

My friend, Trish, was cooking with me and we discussed adding a few mushrooms in...we ultimately decided against this, but next time I make this recipe I'm planning on adding some 'shrooms!

 Oatmeal Sheetcake with Caramel/Coconut Frosting

Okay, this recipe certainly departs from our tomato theme, but Dan the Awesome Cameraman is a fan of all things sweet. We haven't filmed a dessert since November and I want to keep him happy!

This dense cake is oozing with cinnamon flavor, and the caramel topping (perfectly browned by placing the frosted cake under the broiler for a minute) adds a crunchy texture.

Cooking Show: Recipes with Lots of Fruits and Veggies!

My friend, Kerry, joined me for the latest episode of the cooking show.  The recipes we prepared were loaded with fruits & veggies.

Recipes that are perfect for this hot summer weather, when you're looking for something refreshing and not heavy!

We started with Tropical Mimosas.  

Okay, they're nothing like mimosas, there is neither orange juice nor champagne in these drinks.  I just thought it was a nice name for a light, fruity drink.

They're sort of a riff on Pina Coladas, but I swapped out the coconut creme (which has lots of calories) for coconut seltzer (no-calorie seltzer for the win)!

Next up was Brussels Sprouts Salad with Buttermilk Dressing.

Why bother with store-bought dressing when you can whip up buttermilk dressing of your own? If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can make your own substitute--for the 1/3 cup that is called for in this recipe, simply put 1 teaspoon of white vinegar into your measuring cup and then add milk to the 1/3-cup mark.  Stir and let it sit for five minutes.  Voilá, buttermilk substitute!

Arrange the salad ingredients in rows so that your family can easily spoon out their favorite combination...or avoid the ingredient that they don't want, as the case may be.  There are a few members of this household who avoid the gorgonzola!

We also used brussels sprouts in our Ginger/Honey/Soy Chicken Stir Fry.

If I had to to come up with a nickname for this recipe, I would call it Egg Roll Stir Fry.  With the shaved brussels sprouts and shredded carrots, the flavor is reminiscent of an egg roll, but without the calories of the deep-fried egg roll wrap.  Score!

Finally, we ended with Nectarine Crisp.

Similar to apple crisp, but it takes less time to prepare because unlike apples you don't need to peel the nectarines!

Cooking Show: Lemons!!

My friend, Gayle, recently told me that she lived in California when she was a child and there was a lemon tree in her yard.  My reaction was like, GET OUT!!!

It was fitting that Gayle should join me for our recent cooking show!  Lemons were the featured ingredient in each recipe that we prepared.

Gayle also told me that they had an avocado tree as well.  Mental note: future show.

Okay, back to lemons.  We started with Limoncello & Raspberry Fizz.  So refreshing!

Next, we prepared salad with grilled lemon chicken and lemon vinaigrette.

Click here for the printable recipe for the vinaigrette.  It's loaded with fresh herbs and a little goes a long way!

Toss together a salad using your favorite fresh salad ingredients.  We used 4 cups of romaine, 1/2 English cuke (chopped), 1 cup of grape tomatoes, 1 avocado (sliced) and 1/4 cup of kalamata olives.

We also used my favorite Grilled Lemon Chicken in this salad. It's one of my summer staples!  I like to prepare a large batch of this chicken at the beginning of the week and use it in weeknight dinners.

It's a great addition to salads, sandwiches, pasta and as you're about to see--pizza!!

Yes, PIZZA. Specifically, Chicken & Broccoli Pizza with Lemon Cream Sauce.   All the recipes you need--pizza dough, grilled chicken, cream sauce--are included in the link!

If you like Bertucci's Silano pizza, this is my attempt to replicate it.  It disappeared quickly when we finished filming the show...I think it was a hit!

Finally, we finished up with a Lemon/Almond Tart.  Sooo good, and also gluten-free.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

I've received a few emails recently, asking about my dogs and why I haven't been posting much about them.

I guess I've been too focused on recipes!

Last week was Clyde's birthday, however, so I guess this is a good time for a Clyde-pic.

Here he is, November 2012, the day I brought him home.

And here he is last week on his birthday!  I snapped this photo right after he chased a squirrel under the fence.  That's the look he gives whenever the animal he's chasing disappears under the fence.

I don't know whether that look means "Did you SEE that?!" or "Aren't you going to HELP me?" --but I'm always relieved that he's so slow and dopey when he gives chase, because I don't ever want to deal with a look of victory on his face!

Temperatures have dipped recently; I'm not really in that fall-comfort-food mode yet, but I'm ready to embrace the fruits of the season!  When I was at the supermarket a couple of weeks ago and I saw fresh cranberries, I think I might have exclaimed, "YES!!" out loud.  With a little fist pump.

What did I do with them?  I made a vinaigrette.

Isn't it pretty?!

You can prepare it in less than 10 minutes.  Make it in advance because it needs time to chill.  Then throw together this very simple salad (greens, a sliced pear or two, glazed pecans, dried cranberries and crumbled feta)!

Cooking Show--Trying Out New Recipes!!

Warning!  Long, rambling post right here!  But if you work your way through to the end, there will be recipes for Lemon Drop Martinis, Caesar Salad Dressing, Lobster Macaroni & Cheese, and Churros Poppers!

I promise that all of these recipes will eventually be posted with the usual step-by-step photos!  However, I have been receiving a lot of emails from viewers of the cooking show who would like to have the recipes that I prepared on the last show.  Please be warned that I'm still developing some of these recipes, and my notes will reflect some tweaks that I'm planning for the next time I prepare them!

We filmed another cooking show a couple of weeks ago.

The best way I can describe the theme would be "Attempting to prepare or develop recipes that I've never made before."

We happened upon this theme in a roundabout way.  I went out to dinner with my friend, Trish.  She ordered the house donuts for dessert, and our conversation went something like this:

Trish: Can you cook donuts?

Me: I never have, but I guess I could.  I don't deep-fry anything...it's one thing to eat them when you go somewhere and they're already prepared, but to pour all that oil into a deep-fryer...yikes.  I may as well just get a syringe and inject it directly into my thighs.

Trish: Do you have a deep fryer?

Me: Yes, I've never used it, it's sitting in my basement, unopened.

Trish: You should do a deep-frying cooking show!

Me: Only if you'll cook with me!

During the past year, I've asked her a couple of times if she would cook with me on the show, and she always said no.  I'm guessing that on this particular night, her defenses were lowered by the lemon-drop martinis that we had with dinner.  Lower defenses + joy at the thought of more deep-fried donuts in her future = YES!  If only I had figured out sooner that plying her with donuts was the key to getting her on camera.

Cooking Show- Lasagna Bolognese, Roasted Asparagus, Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad & White Chocolate Mousse

We filmed another episode of the cooking show.  Nick Iandolo from Nick's Sci-Fi Corner cooked with me, and since we both share Italian heritage, we prepared a main dish to pay tribute to our roots!

Lasagna Bolognese with Bechemel .  Click on the link to be taken to the recipe.

Ooey, gooey, cheesy, meaty, yummy.

We prepared roasted asparagus to go alongside the lasagna.  I don't have a link to the recipe, it is so simple, all you need to do is:

-Wash and trim 2 lbs. of asparagus.

-Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil (a tablespoon or two).  Season with salt and pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon of each).

-Roast for 10 to 12 minutes at 425 degrees.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Again, no link for this because it was a last-minute addition to the show.  I was shopping at the farmers market before the taping, and the heirloom tomatoes looked so amazing that I just had to figure out a way to get them onto the show.

So we sliced up a few tomatoes, added some slices of fresh mozzarella, drizzled it with a quick balsamic vinaigrette (whisk to combine 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard), and topped it with some fresh shredded basil.

And finally, we finished with White Chocolate Mousse, which we topped with fresh blueberries and golden raspberries.

These pictures just don't do justice to this perfect dessert!  How can you not love making a dessert that only has two ingredients?

I chose the asparagus, Caprese salad and mousse for this show because they are so quick and easy to prepare.

Unlike the lasagna, which needs to take its own sweet time.

Summer Salad Cooking Show!

We just finished taping another episode of the cooking show.  

Our theme was "Summer Salads."

Gayle joined me and we cooked up a storm.

BLT Chicken Salad

With a salsa dressing that is just perfect.

Strawberry Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad is topped with glazed walnuts, you can either buy them or click here to be taken to my recipe for glazed nuts.

Click on the above salad links to be taken to the recipes.

Southwest Sirloin Salad with Ranch Dressing.