I love the dip with potato chips.  The salty chip and dip combo is completely addicting.  We actually had this first at our friends’ holiday party (thanks Kathy and Mike!) and we had to put distance between ourselves and the dip because we just couldn’t stop eating it!  I wouldn’t make this for myself or even for just Erin and I because there is no way it wouldn’t be finished! You definitely need a group of friends to put this one back.  I guess it probably would be good with veggies too (if you are in to making it a little healthy).  I actually used light cream cheese, and you couldn’t tell it was missing 1/3 of its fat!  I think you could probably safely do the same thing with the sour cream if you wanted it to be a little more waist friendly.

Easy Blue Cheese Dip
Recipe from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 oz. tangy blue cheese, such as Point Reyes
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• Potato chips and/or Crudités for serving

Directions:

In a bowl, using a handheld electric mixer fitted with the beater attachments, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes.  (You can also do this by hand with a fork – I did, and it turned out fine.)  Reduce the speed to low, add the sour cream and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Add the blue cheese and beat until the cheese is crumbled and no large lumps remain, about 1 minute. Stir in the chives and pepper.

Transfer the dip to a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 week. Serve with potato chips and crudités. Makes about 2 cups.

It is hard to find a really good cookie recipe…but this one hits the spot! It’s rich without being overly sweet.  I think it would be good with nuts or coconut in it, but Erin likes them best just as we made them.  They are great right out of the oven when the chocolate chips are still ooey and gooey.  You definitely need a glass of milk to polish this one off.   Cookies and Milk – love the classic combo!

Super Chocolate Cookies
Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or dark chocolate cocoa powder)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Depending on how much batter you eat, it makes around 26 cookies!

If you want to change it up with a little meat – I think this might be good with some chicken apple sausage.  Or it would make a great side for your favorite chicken, turkey… steak, pork… okay anything.

Doesn’t this make you hungry?  Oh, one more thing, don’t be shy with the salt – it brings out a buttery flavor in the dish.

Hearty Winter Veggie Pilaf

Featured in Rachael Ray Magazine, February 2010

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups quinoa
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, preferably shiitake, sliced
3 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup dried currants or cranberries
Salt and pepper
1 pound brussels sprouts, quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Prepare the quinoa as directed on the package.  In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes.  Stir in the scallion whites, pine nuts and dried currants; season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the nuts are light golden, about 2 minutes; transfer to a bowl.  In the same skillet, heat another 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-hit heat.  Add the brussels sprouts and 1/8 cup water; season with salt and pepper.  Cook until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes.  Toss with the mushroom mixture, quinoa, scallion greens, parsley and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Here is a really easy and healthy recipe as a side for any meal.  We had it with fish tacos, but really, it would be good anything.  It’s super tasty.  With just four ingredients it also a rather inexpensive dish.   And I’m not really a carrot fan, but even I like it.

The only downside is that your hands may end up a little red from the beets if you don’t use gloves… but, I promise it’s worth it.

And it is so easy – it doesn’t really require a recipe.

You just need one beet, two carrots and a grater.

Peel the beet and grate the carrots and beet.

Mix them together with a little balsamic vinegar and black pepper – and serve! Yes- voila! That’s it. I told you it was easy.

Try it – I promise it’s good.   If you have a food processor, that might save you some time, but we were too lazy to get it down from our top cabinet.  If you use one let us know how it works!

We used to make this pie growing up and I haven’t seen (or tried) one like it since.  I’ve been telling Erin about it for years and I finally got around to buying a box of peaches to make it.  After all of the talking up of the pie that I’ve done over the years, I hoped that Erin would love it as much as I do – - – and since she’s not a huge fan of pies, I knew that the chances were slim. But surprise – she LOVED it – and now I’ve been tasked with making another one for her family before the fast approaching end of the peach season.  If you’re anywhere near large, juicy peaches, I suggest you make one too for the end of Summer!  Just make sure you have some extra hands around for the peeling of the peaches, it’s a little lonely for one person.

I definitely recommend making your own pie crust instead of using the pre-made ones at the grocery store.  This recipe is really easy and seems like its hard to mess up.  It may not look store bought, but I like the homemade look of an amateur pie crust!

Fresh Peach Pie

Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp shortening
2 to 3 tbsps cold water

Pie Filling

10 large, ripe peaches
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Heat oven to 475°F. With floured rolling pin, roll pastry into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate.** Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; flute as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry thoroughly with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on cooling rack.  The pie won’t be going back in the oven, so you want to make sure that the bottom of the pie is fully cooked and lightly browned otherwise it will be too moist once the filling is on top.

In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch.  Set aside.

Begin peeling your peaches and then slicing them into wedges.  You will want to work a little quickly so the peaches don’t begin to brown.   You will need about 1 cup of mashed peaches, so as you are slicing the wedges,  if you come across any over-ripe (but not rotten) parts of the peach, just put them aside in a bowl.

In small bowl, mash enough peaches to measure 1 cup.  Gradually stir in 1/2 cup water and mashed strawberries to the sugar/cornstarch mix.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute; cool.

As the glaze is cooling, arrange the peach slices in the cooked pie crust.  You can arrange them in layers or, as I do, just dump them all in at once.  There won’t be a second crust, so you want to make sure that you pile the peaches high into a peak.  Drizzle the peach glaze on top.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Enjoy!!

** Added bonus.  With the extra pastry trim, press it into a ramekin to make a mini pie for the baker!  That way you can get your hands on some pie before dinner and no one will be the wiser!!

Risotto is never light, however, it doesn’t have to always feel so heavy.  I found that this recipe, with it’s lemon flavor and light ingredients, was the perfect warm weather risotto.  It was refreshing instead of rich. When I first starting making the dish, I was skeptical about the lemon but I found that I actually liked the flavor.  I ended up adding extra zest to the pot to make it even more lemony.

Lemony Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus

Featured in Gourmet Magazine, May 2009

Ingredients:

3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

3/4 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 small onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 1/4 cups Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

3/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1/4 cup grated parmesan

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Bring broth and water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add asparagus and simmer, uncovered, until just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer asparagus with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop cooking, then drain. Keep broth at a bare simmer, covered.

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed.

Stir in 1/2 cup broth mixture and briskly simmer, stirring frequently, until absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is creamy and tender but still al dente (it should be the consistency of a thick soup), about 18 minutes. (There will be leftover broth mixture.)

Stir in shrimp and cook until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in asparagus, zest, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, parmesan, parsley, and pepper to taste. (Thin risotto with some of remaining broth if necessary.)

Otherwise, dig in!  This is one of our favorite places in NYC.  They have cheap, creative hot dogs that are crave worthy.  There have been numerous times that I’ve found myself craving these hot dogs.  First off, they serve bacon wrapped hot dogs.  Yes you heard me.  Bacon wrapped hot dogs.  I’m a firm believer that bacon makes everything better.  This is definitely the case with hot dogs.  Is the bacon crispy you may wonder?  Why yes, it is!  I’m assuming they toss the bacon wrapped dogs in the deep fryer to retain the crispiness.  That’s just my assumption.

Aside from the hot dogs and East Village vibe, Crif Dogs is the keeper of a little secret.  There is a non-descript phone booth in the place that leads to the reservation only bar PDT.  People go into the phone booth, pick up the phone to call the bar and see if they can get in.  If so, a door opens up within the phone booth that leads to the bar.  Although I’ve never been, I hear PDT serves some pretty good cocktails.  Random, yes, that you have to access it through a hot dog joint that serves cans of PBR and cheesy tater tots.  We observed that there’s a clear difference from the type of people dining at the establishment to the type of people trying to get into the secret cocktail den.  If you go, see if you pick up on it.

Anyway, back to what’s important.  There are plenty of dog options here.  You can choose one of their specialty dogs or you can create your own.  My favorite choice is the Spicy Redneck.  It’s wrapped in bacon, of course, and is topped with chili, jalepenos and cole slaw.  YUM.  My next choice is the Philly Tubesteak which is a regular dog smothered in cheese and sauteed onions.  Nicole’s favorite is the Chihuahua which is bacon wrapped topped with sour cream and avocado.  We didn’t get any fries or tater tots this visit but I can recommend them from past experience.  Get the cheese though.  Like bacon, cheese makes everything better.

The Spicy Redneck and the Chihuahua:

The Philly Tubesteak:

Crif Dogs
113 St. Marks Place between Ave. A and Ave. B
212-614-2728

My advice would be to underbake the brownies.  That was my intention but I ended up baking them slightly longer than I would’ve wanted.  I know, I can’t cook boxed brownies correctly?  Geez, what’s wrong with me?  Anyway, they still came out fine but I just prefer them a little underbaked.

I used Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix.  Yes, the boring, old school one.  I thought I should go as basic as possible.  In retrospect, I think I would try a different kind of mix next time like one with extra fudge or dark chocolate or something like that.  Just to give it a little something extra. What the heck, I’d also try semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate.  That could be good too.  Here’s a tip:  when you remove the brownies with marshmallows from the broiler, drizzle with the melted chocolate right away before the marshmallow hardens.  That way you can marble them easier.  The brownies taste best warm so enjoy them right out of the oven!

S’mores Brownies

Adapted from Fahrenheit 350°

Ingredients:

Your favorite brownie mix

Graham crackers

Mini-marshmallows

Melted chocolate of your choice (I used Ghriadelli milk chocolate)

Directions:

Make the brownie batter.  Pour half into the pan (I used a 9″x9″ pan) and place the graham crackers side by side covering the batter.  Do not overlap the graham crackers.  Pour the rest of the batter on top, covering the crackers, and bake.

When the brownies are done and removed from the oven, turn on the broiler.   Cover the entire pan with the mini-marshmallows and put under the broiler until browned.  If you like the burnt marshmallow taste leave the pan under the broiler a little longer.

Remove the pan from the oven and drizzle with melted chocolate, marbling it with the marshmallow.

This recipe is SO EASY.  Empty can, shred, mix, and bake.  If you can’t make this one then well, um, there’s no hope for you.  Pack your knives and go.  No, I’m kidding.  I mean I guess you can forget about it in the oven and it could burn but otherwise you can’t really mess it up.

I admit, I like food like this.  Don’t think less of me.

This particular recipe is a low-fat one.  You can make it “full-fat” by using regular egg noodles,cream of mushroom soup and cheddar and whole milk.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Adapted from Pinch My Salt via The Crepes of Wrath

Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 oz. whole wheat egg noodles (wide or extra wide), cooked

1 small can of chunk light tuna, drained and flaked with a fork

1 can low-sodium/low-fat cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup skim milk

1 cup frozen peas, cooked

1/2 cup (or more) grated low-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs, tossed in 1 tablespoon melted butter

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, stir together first six ingredients until well combined.

Spread into a small greased 8×8 (I doubled the recipe to make it in a 9×13 pan) casserole dish then sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan cheese evenly over the top.

Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and serve warm.