Familar Food: Making Pizza

Pizza is a Friday night tradition at home. Even though the pizza selection in Westborough, MA is quite limited, I always looked forward to this ritual as the true beginning of the weekend. As I grew up and my palette matured, I started to realize that pizza in Westborough really is not good. At all. To keep up with our Friday ritual without sacrificing taste, I started to make pizzas for my family. The best part about this was that I could easily customize our pizzas to fit the varied (and limited) taste buds of everyone--peppers and mushrooms for me, broccoli and ricotta for mom, plain ol' cheese for Emma. Pizza Fridays made for a stress-free, yet tasty (and much better than Papa Gino's) kick-off to the weekend.

Now that I no longer live at home, Emma has taken on the role of pizza-master. While both delicious, we each have our signature pies (mine has a crispier crust; Emma's a little softer). But just because I live in Pizza Paradise, also known as New York City, doesn't mean I can't carry on the family tradition here.

Luckily, homemade pizza is a cheap and easy solution to cooking with friends. Everyone can chip in with favorite toppings, and everyone can take on a task: rolling out the dough, chopping the veggies, sprinkling the cheese. It's a fun and nostalgic way to get those friends in the kitchen who don't usually cook for themselves. So that's just what me and a few of my friends did this Monday night. Albeit, it wasn't a Friday night and it wasn't with my family, but sharing laughs and good food with friends made the next 4 days until Friday seem just a little less threatening.

Veggin' it up!

Teamwork

Classic cheese pizza with fresh tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, and mushrooms

Feta cheese and pesto pizza with sliced tomatoes and mushrooms--the favorite!

Better than Takeout: Homemade Fried Rice

This past weekend was full of delicious food. From lobster rolls to burgers, guacamole and apple pie, it was a traditional Memorial Day feast. But one of the more unexpected dishes consumed in my gluttony this weekend was my friend's mom's fried rice. Many times I've heard about her rice; but never before had I tried...until now.

The fried rice was served as a side dish to a beautiful Chicken Marbella (recipe from the Silver Palate), but the rice easily caught my attention as the star. I literally could not wait to come back and make this on my own. I was too anxious to wait for her recipe that I went ahead and developed my own.

She explained the basic gist of it: sauté the veggies, add the cooked rice, drop in an egg, and voila! I cannot tell you how easy this recipe is, you just need to try it for yourself. The most time-consuming part is waiting for the rice to cook (but if you buy the pre-cooked rice from Trader Joes like I did, this will only take a minute in the microwave!) From start to finish this dish only took me 15 minutes to make--no doubt less time than it takes to order and wait for takeout delivery, not to mention a whole lot cheaper!

Knowing that I already had frozen corn and peas on hand, I decided to add some red pepper to the mix to keep with the bright colors, but you could use whatever vegetables desired--mushrooms, broccoli, shredded carrots. The egg gives that sticky texture to the rice that is so familiar in Chinese takeout, but without the extra grease and fat. This recipe makes about four servings, but I could not help myself from going back for seconds, it was that good. And just like takeout, this fried rice will taste even better as leftovers for lunch, dinner, even breakfast ;)

Fried Rice
Serving Suggestion: Serve with sautéed chicken, shrimp or tofu for a rounded meal

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
2-3 tbs canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
2/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons soy sauce, or more to taste

1. Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1-2 tablespoons canola oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until fragrant and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add red pepper, peas and corn (or other desired vegetables). Sauté until slightly softened, about 5-7 minutes. Remove veggies from pot and set aside.
3. Add another tablespoon of oil to the same pot. Add the cooked rice and stir to coat with the oil. Continue to stir the rice until it is glistening and starts to brown slightly, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the egg into the rice and stir immediately to distribute evenly throughout the rice.
5. Return the veggies to the pot and add a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. Stir to combine. Serve warm or cold.

Please Sir, May I have some More-occan?

The answer is yes, you can definitely have some Moroccan food...and lots of it!

Moroccan food is a cuisine that I always enjoy to order at a restaurant, but rarely cook on my own. Typical Moroccan spices, such as coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and saffron, are some of my favorites out there. These spices all have such distinct, deep flavors and beautiful colors that they make any meal feel special and exotic. Well last night, my friend Elana and I took a culinary trip to the exotics in her own Manhattan kitchen...

In anticipation for Glee's "Brittany vs. Britney" episode, which I have been waiting for since early spring, we wanted to celebrate with a delicious, homemade meal. I had a recipe for Moroccan Grilled Salmon saved on my computer that I've always wanted to try, but never got around to it. So with Elana and I both being adventurous cooks and eaters, this was the perfect opportunity to try it. Also being 2 girls with insatiable appetites, we knew salmon would not be enough to satisfy us; so Elana found a recipe for Moroccon Couscous from the Barefoot

Contessa. Parfait!

Elana started by making the marinade and sauce for the salmon--yogurt, garlic, olive oil, coriander, and cumin. I was in charge of all the chopping and cutting--smashing the garlic, slicing the lemon wedges, chopping the cilantro, etc. The kitchen filled with such wonderful smells. From the freshness of the cilantro, to the warmth of the cumin, it was like we were in an authentic Moroccan kitchen (well, almost).

After covering the salmon in the marinade and sticking it under the broiler, it was onto the couscous. The couscous was also very simple. We first sautéed some shallots in butter, then added chicken stock and the couscous and allowed that to cook for 10 minutes. One little mishap, however, was my failure to realize how HOT Elana's burners get...Luckily the majority of the couscous was in good condition, but there was a nice crusty layer of burnt couscous on the bottom of her pot. I feel terrible that I ruined a perfectly good pot (I'm buying you a new one!), but I think we were both relieved that we could still eat the couscous.

In the end, it was a very successful, simple, and tasteful meal. The salmon was cooked perfectly; and the sauce had such a distinct Moroccan taste from those spices--the best way to find out what Moroccan food tastes like is just to try it yourself! Despite my little cooking faux-pas, the couscous was great too--the pine nuts added great creamy, heartiness, and the raisins added a sweet touch.

Not that I'm an expert on international cuisines, but I'd say we came pretty close to makin' Moroccan in Manhattan.

Recipe for Moroccan Grilled Salmon

Recipe for Moroccan Couscous