Eggplant Parm Naan Bread & Bonus Leftover Recipe

              Ricotta Cheese. Oh how sweet the sound! I seriously adore this stuff……layered, dolloped, stuffed, or just plan spooned- I could eat it all day. The best ricotta cheese I’ve ever had is actually from one of my best friend’s family restaurants: Capone's in Toms River, NJ. The ricotta they use is exceptional, like nada I’ve ever had! I could eat the cheese raviolis right from the conveyor belt thingy that helps them make their homemade ravs. Oh, who am I kidding??.. I've done it quite a few times!  Their distributor, Anacapri, provides them with the ricotta and it is beyond creamy. I would actually like to bathe in it, I think my skin would glow, don’t you?!?

            Point being that I love ricotta cheese and have pretty much grown up eating it- from the fresh raviolis at Capone's to my favorite frozen brand ones (Seviroli ) and from good ol’ eggplant rollatini to just on top of some spaghetti, I , <3 me some Ricotta any day!

            Loving it so, I usually have some in the fridge. The other day I was craving eggplant parmesan yet had nil time to make that beauty. Luckily, I had eggplant, some great flat bread, and of course Ricotta.What went from a craving to a dinner took a mere 30-45 minutes and I had lunch supplies for the next day! Winner , winner, more than just a cheesy dinner! Okay, maybe I’ve consumed too much calcium or something…..Anywho, this recipe was fantabulous and I am definitely glad I made a little time to quench my craving. I hope you do the same….Enjoy…

Eggplant Parm Naan Breads & Leftover Bonus Recipe

Serves: 2

OBJ: TCW be able to use her favorite flatbread along with her favorite cheese by making one of her favorite things: pizza

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, sliced ¼ inch thick

2 Naan breads

¼ C Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus additional for drizzling

½ C – ¾ C whole milk ricotta cheese

½ C – ¾ C shredded mozzarella

2 tomatoes, sliced thin and layed out on paper towel to drain

S & P: salt and pepper

Red pepper flakes (RPF), optional

¼ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

6-8 fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced

Procedures:

1. Preheat grill over medium flame

2. Simultaneously, place pizza stone in oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees

3. Brush each side of eggplant slices with ¼ C oil and season each side liberally with S & P

4. Grill for about 10-15 minutes, flipping once until golden brown. Remove from grill and turn off. Once cooled, cut each eggplant into quarters

5. Assemble breads/pizzas: Drizzle each bread with about 2 tsp oil and brush to spread. Place tomato slices over bottom.  Top tomato slices with eggplant pieces. Dollop the ricotta all over each bread and then sprinkle each with mozzarella. Season with S, P and RPF. Top with Parmesan and an additional drizzle of olive oil (1 tsp over each bread)

6. Place each bread/pizza on preheated stone and bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are dark golden brown and cheese has melted

7. Remove from oven and top with basil. Slice, serve and enjoy
 

Leftover Bonus:

 

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Serves: 2

OBJ: TCW be able to use up her leftover grilled eggplant for a satisfying and veggie-friendly lunch

Ingredients:

4 slices grilled eggplant

Caramelized onions (or grilled)

½ C baby spinach, rinsed

2 TBS honey balsamic dressing: I highly recommend Ken's Chef Reserve

2 slices tomato

4 fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly slices

S & P- salt and pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 rolls- any soft kind would work except something too tough like Portuguese

Procedures:

1. Place the two bottoms of rolls side-by-side

2. Top each with 2 slices eggplant, onions and ¼ C spinach. Add basil, S & P and Parmesan on top of spinach

3. Spoon and spread 1 TBS dressing on each top half of roll

4. Place top half on the sandwich, enjoy!

 

 

 

Wave Bar Greek Yogurt Parfait

           A little late on this post, I know. Hubby and I just got back from a family trip out to Lake George. Much fun up in those parts, especially the hiking and grilling! Can’t say I found any 4 star dining experiences but I’m one who believes that when the company is good, the food is that much betterJ So with that, the eats were exceptional!

            Back to the blog….I recently was grateful to receive a few samples of Wave Bars- all natural, soft-baked granola bars that are packed with “deliciously disguised veggies’. I was given their 2 favors: Mixed Berry and Baked Apple.

            I tried the Baked Apple first and I was decently impressed with the favor. I was hoping for a bit more sweetness but was won over by the hearty consistency. I ate that one on-the- go all by itself. My next experience with this product was the one I am bringing to you today…..

            You want more bang for your buck, right? Well I don’t think many of you don’t, so here is a quick lunch for you or a snack for your growing kiddos that will knock your noggins off with nutrition. Being that I wanted the bar to have more sweetness to it, I thought of combining it with ripe summer fruit and some protein-packed yogurt. I am a sucker for anything with granola and yogurt so I knew this was going to be killer.

            Since the bars have a ½ serving of veggies in each one (they contain carrots, pumpkin, beets, broccoli, and kale!) and Omega 3 healthy fat, the Greek yogurt has mucho protein and the fruit has both fiber and natural sugars, you are getting a wallop of a deal in this not-so-average parfait. When I did the calorie break down, it was 170 for the bar, 130 for the yogurt and around 50 for the fruit- that’s 350 well-rounded cals if you ask me. For an adult, that would be a great lunch in a pinch or for youngsters, a winning breakfast or after school snack.

            So if you are looking for either a great and tasty way to eat more greens yourself or just on the prowl for sneaky ways to get some veggies into your children, I think these bars are your answer. As for me, I’ll def. be storing these parfaits in my mini-fridge at work for lunches in a bind. As for you, a challenge: try to find other tasty and quick ways to get 5 different vegetables either in your system or your kiddies at one time!

            Here’s to riding the wave my friends! Enjoy…

For more information including  where to buy the products, please visit www.wavebars.com Like them on Facebook: facebook.com/wavebars

Wave Bar Greek Yogurt Parfait

Serves- 1

OBJ: TCW be able to include almost every food group into a snack-on-the-run

Ingredients:

1 Wave Bar- I prefer Mixed Berry flavor

1 6 ounce container vanilla Greek yogurt, I recommend Dannon Oikos ®

½ C mixed fruit

Procedures:

1. Use a butter knife or your fingers to crumble Wave Bar

2. Fill the bottom of a small Tupperware container with yogurt (or a small bowl if eating at home)

3. Top yogurt with crumbed Bar

4. Top with fruit

5. Seal and pack in cooler with ice pack (or if using bowl- eat up or wrap in plastic wrap for later treat)

 

 

Roasted Broccoli Calzones

          Uuurrrgggghhh, what a freakin’ frustrating day! I won’t go into details but just know that the original post I was to bring to you today was one I was really looking forward to. Un-freakin’-fortunately, I lost my camera cord and therefore I cannot upload the pics to share with you. So unless you want to come over and look through my view finder, you won’t be seeing the delicious and super healthy greek yogurt crumble parfait I was working on. But lucky for you, I will have a replacement cord shortly and the post will be up next Thursday….

            So since I had nada to post today and no recent pictures that I was able to upload, I had to go into my photo files and find something I wanted to share. Ah-ha! Broccoli Calzones! Ding ding ding, I knew I captured these gems for a reason. I honestly can’t remember why they were put on the backburner for the blog, hhhhmmm….oh yeah, roasted broccoli. I loved the flavor- kind of nutty and bit woodsy/earthy, but wasn’t sure how you guys would feel.  So I leave it up to you to decide- broccoli: to roast or not to roast??

            Looking forward to hearing backJ Enjoy…

 

Roasted Broccoli Calzones

Serves: 1-2

OBJ: TCW be able to extract the most flavor from her broccoli by roasting each floret

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, stem removed, diced into small florets

1 small-medium onion, peeled and sliced

3 TBS extra virgin olive oil  

S & P: to taste

1 pizza dough, defrosted and risen ( I rec. House of Pasta brand)

1 ½ C whole milk ricotta cheese

3/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

Sesame seeds, for garnishing

Prepared marinara sauce, for dipping

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Toss broccoli and onions with oil and S & P. Place on foil-lined jelly roll pan

3. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until golden and edges are charred (simultaneously place pizza stone on bottom rack to preheat while broccoli roasts)

4. Remove broccoli from oven, leave pizza stone in

5. In large mixing bowl, mix cheeses well and season with additional S & P

6. Divide pizza dough in ½ and roll each out to about a 12 inch oval

7. Split the cheese mixture up between each dough and spread a bit, but leave it so that it is still a semi-mound in the center

8. Place broccoli and onions over cheese mixture and press down to spread a bit more:

9. Fold each dough over so that you have a ½ moon shaped calzone

10. Seal the edges well and place 2 small slits on each calzone with a knife

11. Remove pizza stone from oven, place each calzone on it and brush each with egg wash. Sprinkle each with sesame seeds

12. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

13. Remove from oven and enjoy with marinara sauce

Marinated & Grilled Flank Steak

           He is at it again, Grill Master Matt (GMM) is continuing on his BBQing journey. For me, this has been one tasty trip so far!

            This week I picked out a cut of meat I wanted to try and found the marinade recipe below via Pinterest. Through doing this, I also learned there is a difference between Flank and Skirt Steak. Yes, I know, you also thought they were the same. They are not:

Flank: sometimes labeled “London Broil”, lean and wide cut, marinating a must

Skirt: long and ultra-thin cut, cooks quickly, marinating optional

            The cooking time difference was crucial for GMM as he was reading the recipe that used Skirt Steak, not what I bought. He attempted to grill it for the recommended 3-4 minutes per side for medium rare and what we were left with was something that I swore could have moo’ed! While he mumbled a few choice words and grabbed his meat thermometer (his new bf), I wrapped up all the sides to keep warm and let him go out and continue to grill and do his thang….

            About 10-15 minutes later, after checking the internal temp of the steak, he was ready to bring it in. Thank goodness because foil can only do so much to keep stuff warm and well, I’m not going to lie, I was kind of  flippin' hungry!

            What a masterpiece he made us. I loved every forkful from the charred ends to the tender middle cuts. The marinade was key here for depth of flavor. The meat itself, although cooked expertly ;), was basic in nature. The intense spice flavor we had was one to remember. The pineapple juice permeated just enough to offer a little sweetness while the red pepper flakes and Worcestershire sauce evened everything out. When you’re making the marinade, you might think the amount of dried basil is ridiculous. I say this because I had to reread the recipe to make sure I wasn’t making Basil Flank Steak! Anywho, the amount was right so no worries my friends.

            I highly recommend this recipe to you. I’d say go with either a Flank or Skirt steak too. Watch your cooking times though and be sure to marinade overnight! In other words, grab your meat thermometer and get whisking tonight! Enjoy…

Marinated Flank Steak

Serves: 4

Slightly adapted from The Chew

OBJ: TCW be able to let Grill Master Matt take over dinner

Ingredients:

1   Flank Steak, 2 lb

1/3 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Juice of 1 Lemon

1/3 Cup Pineapple Juice

2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

2 tsp Onion Powder

3 TBS dried Basil

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

2 cloves Garlic, minced

Procedures:

1. Combine everything but the steak in a large bowl using a whisk

2. Add steak and make sure the entire steak is covered. Marinate in refrigerator overnight

3. Preheat grill to medium-high

4. Season the steak generously with salt and fresh ground pepper

5. Grill the steak for 8-10 minutes per side for medium rare/medium. Use a meat thermometer to cook to your desired temperature then remove from grill and let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing

6. Slice against the grain and enjoy

 

Co Pizza, NYC

Co. Pizza

NYC

Final Grade: B

            More pizza, Gina?!? I know what you’re thinking, believe me I do. But even after eating way too many slices aboard The Pizza Patrol  or writing this review, or that review, or a Jersey Bites review , I always find myself craving a pie. Having visited the majority of the ones in good ol’ Jersey, lately I’ve been wanting some city pizza. Something about them sort of having their own genre if you will of pizza, I have a list of places I need to get to. I won’t bore you with that list, just know that for one, you can definitely find those places in my pal, Mr. Genovese’s newest book,  Pizza City and for two, I set my standards high. :)  

            So while I was in NYC last week for a blogging event, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to hit up one of the places I wanted to try.  It doesn’t take much anything to get Hubby to try a pizza place so after he stepped out of work and subway’d himself to meet me, we headed to my choice of the night. Co. or as the website states, Co Pane, was our destination.

 

            Nestled in Chelsea, this small and simple space, serves up some well known slices. When we arrived, although it was early, I was still a bit nervous about the lack of patrons. To me, when I don’t see a full restaurant or at least a more on the occupied-side than not one, I tend to have doubts. Apprehensively, I brushed aside my worries and took a seat. Within 30 minutes, I was glad I made that decision, let me continue….

            We started with order of their Truccione Sar Bread with Ricotta ($6). My oh my, if you are anti-carb, you need to let loose and indulge here. The darkened rustic and charred bread was hearty and whole, which lent itself to my favorite way of eating bread- ripping it apart. The ricotta was creamy and seasoned just enough while being saturated with a glistening stream of extra virgin olive oil. We split a salad next and were again impressed. The option we went with was comprised of roasted baby beets, shaved fennel, toasted seeds and a citrus yogurt vinaigrette ($11).  Fresh, light, and dressed well, it left us and especially me, unbeknownst to the now lively and crowded restaurant surrounding us. I guess we missed the memo that no one in NY eats before 6:30.

 

            So even though through the first two courses, I knew it had to be us not the kitchen that was responsible for the empty tables, it was once we got to the “read goods” aka pizza, that I knew why I had already heard about this place. We went with two pies- one vegetarian and one not. That’s me being me and having to have a bit of variety on the table. If it were up to Matt, I think you know which one would have been ixnayed.

            Anyway, we shared the Popeye ($17) and the Meatball Pie ($18). Just take a look, the popeye pie lived up to its namesake, no doubt. But what was more impressive than that, was the sublime-ness that awaited us underneath. Gruyere, pecorino and mozzarella cheeses were the platform for which this Popeye stood, the best platform I’m sure he’s ever come into contact with. Heck, I’d love to hang out in those cheeses all day! The crust had gusto and held up each bite from beginning one to last. Better yet, I loved how immediately the greens popped not only visually but tastefully, however once you continued to chew, the salty, oozy, and sharp cheeses invaded your sense of anything else going on. The meatball pie was next on my plate and this was a new version for me: veal meatballs, tomato, mozz, caramelized onions, olives, pecorino and oregano. No, I can’t say that again! But what I can do over and over is eat it! I didn’t think I’d be swooning over the meatballs as I rarely request them, but these balls of velvet were divine. Perfectly proportioned, each crumble of meat had me eyeing up my next bite. The olives were omitted as per Hubby but I had them on my slices, I thought they added a nice brininess against the sweet onions. The pizza, actually both ones, were timed right and nicely teetering on the well-done/but not burnt side. Bravo, I wish more pizzerias knew how to do this.

 

            We skipped on dessert as catching our train was the next thing we had to conquer. We left Co. with some leftovers and a quick glance around the place. We realized every seat was taken and by the smiles on our faces and the feeling in our bellies, we knew exactly why. Oh and the now realized fact- New Yorkers eat after 6:00.

            Co. can be found at 230 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10001. www.co-pane.com

Total score 19/25

Final Grade: B

A: 21-25    B: 16-20    C: 11-15   D: 6-10    F: 0-5

Restaurant Rubric

	1	2	3	4	5
Food Taste	Bland, boring, overcooked, underdone	Very little flavor, not much aroma	Flavors apparent, basic ability to please palates	Flavor worth discussing, chef’s use of ingredients impressive	Great flavor, taste lingers and leaves diner wanting more
Restaurant service	disrespectful	Inattentive staff, no regard for wait time	Staff average in helpfulness, timing alright, either more/less needed	Staff knowledgeable and attentive to needs without asking, timing very well executed	Remarkable and noteworthy, service so good you forget it is ever an issue elsewhere
Food Presentation	Cover it up please	Sloppy and the eater can tell little thought went into it	Descent presentation: looks alright, not worth a picture but enough to make you hungry	Admirable, it is apparent the chef plated with a consideration for presentation	Presentational talents are here. Looks beautiful and too good to dig in
Prices match quality	Prices are too high for quality	Prices are still too high but not outrageously	Some items are priced accordingly but not all	Most items are priced accordingly	All items are matched accordingly
Would I go back?	Not a chance ever	Nope	Maybe	Looking forward to it	What time should I arrive?!?

 

 

 

 

 

Red Rubbed Chicken

          Mom always knows best. From ironing the back of your shirt first to keeping a tissue up your sleeve, the lady has the tricks. C’mon admit it, you’re Mom has taught you one or two things over the past ____ years. And if you’re lucky enough to have one like mine, then she’s taught you way too many to count and with that, one too many she keeps track of!

            Anyway, the rub below is not my Mom’s recipe. It is however a present from her. Funny, it is not the rub that I am getting to here; it is the vehicle in which she presented it to me that I love. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the rub. I just love the jar with the recipe on top better. Now I not only have a full jar of rub to resort to, but I have the recipe to refill it when need be! So clever, thanks Mom, you rock!

            And now for the chicken……here is the debut of…..Hubby, the Grill Master. Yes, Mr. Matt has taken it upon himself to conquer the open-flame. So far, with this item and the past month’s selections, he’s got me quite impressed. I’m actually not surprised because I have, what you would nicely call, a meticulous fellow to whom I’m married. To him, there’s no such thing as dabbling in a hobby, it is either do it 110% or get a new hobby. Consequently, I really can’t take any credit here for the chicken. All I did was rub it and hand it over to him. Which makes me chuckle because the rub was a gift so obviously I didn’t make that either.

            So basically, here is a recipe that I had nothing to do with besides eat it up. I hope you luck out like I did! Enjoy…

Red Rubbed Chicken

Serves: 2-3

Source: rub recipe: a variation from Dinosaur BBQ 

OBJ: TCW be able to grill skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts

Ingredients:

Red Rub:

½ tsp cayenne powder

½ C paprika

½ C kosher salt

½ C brown sugar

½ C granulated garlic

6 TBS onion powder

¼ C chili powder

1 TBS black pepper

1 tsp cumin

Chicken:

2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Procedures:

1. Rinse and pat dry chicken

2. Rub about ¼ C rub into all sides of chicken. Make sure it is rubbed well and generously:

 

3. Place on place and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight.

4. Preheat grill using 2 zones: one high heat, one low

5. Remove chicken from refrigerator and place breast-side down over high heat for 5-8 minutes

6. Flip and cook breast-side up over high flame for additional 5-8 minutes

7.  Place chicken over low flame breast-side up for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is done and is registering 165 degrees

8. Place on platter, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve

 

Notes:

*Grill Master Matt's tip: invest in a meat thermometer. It saves you the trouble of cutting your meat and checking for doneness, which also drains the meat of flavor. He swears by it. *

 

* Red Rub is quite versatile: use it on chicken wings, spare ribs, pork, etc. In our family, it was first used as the beginning step for Mom's pulled pork sandwiches. Yum! *

 

BBQ Bacon Chicken Burgers

        BBQ - good, bacon - great, burger - yes!, chicken  - oh jeeze, can’t we just have some beef? There lies ½ the conversation me and Hubby had when I began to tell him about these burgers a few weeks back. I know I’ve mentioned this a few times but here it is again, what is it with men and red meat?? Does it date back to cavemen days or is there something in their DNA that craves beef or are  steaks/burgers/meatballs/etc. all just survival requirements for the male species? If so, someone please queue me in….

            And until I get that answer, I will continue to replace red meat with white and have Hubby take back his remarks! J This burger was amazing, fabulous from the first bite to the last one. I loved adding the toppings into the burger for a few reasons. 1- the entire patty was flavorful rather than just the top half, 2- it was easier to prepare and to clean up this way and 3- (most importantly)there wasn’t one bite without bacon.  

            I realize this dinner isn’t revolutionary, but in my opinion it brings home some tried and true flavors that come together in a summertime cinch. Enjoy…

BBQ Bacon Chicken Burgers

Serves: 4

OBJ: TCW be able to incorporate a condiment into a burger rather than on top of one

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken burgers

½ C BBQ sauce

6 slices, cooked and coarsely chopped bacon

2 tsp dried parsley

S & P: salt and pepper (healthy pinches)

Cheddar slices or 1 C grated

4 fresh rolls

Lettuce, tomato: optional

Procedures:

1. Heat the grill over medium heat

2. In a large bowl, mix chicken burgers, BBQ sauce, bacon pieces, parsley and S & P

3. Divide mixture into 4 portions and shape each into a burger. Place on plate, cover and let set in freezer for 10 minutes

3. Grill burgers 7-10 minutes per side, totaling about 15-20 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through

4. Top with cheddar and let melt

5. Place on fresh roll and add your lettuce and tomato if you’d like