Broccolo, broccoli, what’s it to ya?

Before dating an Italian American, boy was my pronunciation of certain cuisine way off. It’s still not that great – it’s a strenuous thought process before ordering calamari (think, gal-a-maa, NOT cal-a-mar-ee). This side bar has little to do with my recipe today other than the fact that true blooded Italians know the veggie that inspired this dish as broccolo, rather than the traditional nomenclature of broccoli. And you know what I say to that?

Please, sir, may I have another?

Broccoli soup.
Broccoli with cheese.
Chicken and broccoli.
Broccoli and cavatelli (cav-a-teel).

Whatever kind broccoli you’re selling, I’ll take some more.

This dish is semi-homemade, sans Sandra Lee. Our farmer’s market has a stand that sells homemade frozen raviolis in every flavor imaginable. Think lobster, pumpkin, squash, three-cheese and, yep, you guessed it broccoli and mozzarella (or just mutz, if you please).

Boil some water, pop those babies in and by the time they’re floating – they’re ready to eat. You could just drizzle some olive oil and garlic over OR you could take a walk on the wild side and chance a broccoli overload with a creamy broccoli sauce.

If you chose the latter (woo hoo!) here’s a great recipe to try.

Broccoli Cream Sauce

3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1/4 C chopped yellow onion
1 1/2 C chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen – if frozen, one 8 oz. box will do)
1 1/2 C milk (I like to use 1%, just adds a little fat to it and fat = flava flav!)
Flour
Salt and pepper to taste

In large skillet, heat olive oil, garlic and yellow onion until onion is soft. Add in chopped broccoli and cook until desired tenderness is reached. (I cooked it until about al dente, but you may cook for a longer or shorter period of time if you please.)

Slowly wisk in milk, mixing all ingredients together. Heat until a boil. Now, when I made this, I needed about 1 T flour just to thicken up the sauce a bit. You may need more or less, depending on how much liquid your broccoli contained. Use salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! Although I used this over a broccoli and mozzarella ravioli, it would be good over angel hair or any pasta or risotto. (In fact, I was dipping break in it for the taste test! Yummy!)

I was a bit worried that the broccoli flavor would be a bit overwhelming, but the garlic and onion infused broccoli sauce really accented the broccoli from within the ravioli “meat” – which otherwise might have been lost with a traditional Alfredo or tomato sauce.

Something old, something re-new…

Okay, so perhaps that’s not exactly how the saying goes. But you certainly know how this goes:  splurging on a gorgeous dress or a pair of designer shoes for a special occasion can be risky - you may only wear it once maybe twice before you get sick of it, too many people see it, it gets ruined.  More often than not, those cheap-as-dirt Payless Shoes or TJ Maxx clearance items are the ones being brought to the tailor or cobbler so you can get more mileage out of them.

Hence, the case of my formal wear for Betsy’s wedding this weekend.  Last spring, my boy was in a wedding and I was meeting some of his friends for the first time.  I ended up finding this steal-of-a-deal black dress at Marshalls – you guessed it – on clearance for $15.00.  Yes, you read that correctly:  $15.00.  It was a bit dressier than a LBD (little black dress) so it wasn’t versatile enough to be my staple item, but it was ideal for this occasion: perfect length, gathered at the top, “flowey” on the bottom, this dress was made for me.

Well, here we are – 16 months later, and I am yet again, bringing that sexy little number out of the closet.  Best thing of all – it’s a whole new social scene.  For all anyone knows, this is a brand new dress.  (Except, of course, for you who I’m sharing my dirty little secret with.)

Sangria – fresh, fruity, flavorful, frisky, fun…

Nothing like a glass of chilled love potion, ahem, sangria, on a muggy, summer evening.

Want a four-ingredient recipe? Well, here’s a visual recipe card…follow along:

(one bottle – 750 mL)

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(2 cups your choice flavor)

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(2 liter bottle)

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(enough to make 2 cups – drain all liquid)
*also, to make the presentation prettier, you can slice up some citrus-y fruit such as limes, lemons and/or oranges

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(lets just say that this recipe has been known to have a baby-making effect on some people…)

Recreating the best…

My boy is a man of routine. Whether its the morning (coffee with cream in-hand, reading the New York Post with one eye as the other watches a Fox & Friends segment), noon (meal of tuna fish and chicken noodle soup) or evening (unwinding in our enclosed patio while previewing that evening’s sports contest) he knows what he likes and he likes what he knows.

We often frequent the same restaurants and through doing so have become friendly with the wait staff and bartenders. A favorite restaurant of ours is Carrabba’s Italian Grill – it’s consistent and hearty, not to mention reasonably priced and we always have a great time with the personable staff. Now, this says a lot. My boy’s parents have an Italian restaurant their own (best thin-crust pie around) therefore, finding a decent Italian chain restaurant (with good non-Ragu tomato sauce) can be a somewhat daunting task for my connoisseur.

Speaking of daunting tasks, last night he asked me to recreate a signature dish of Carrabba’s (which happens his fave) the Insalata Johnny Rocco. I knew I could not bear to break his satisfying routine of chowing down on this healthy dish. It would ruin the whole night! (Okay – perhaps that was just a little overdramatic…)

Hello, pre-game jitters. I had to bring my A-game and I had to put on my thick skin.

But every time I prepare a meal, I cheesily say to myself “how can a meal made from love garner any critisism at all?!” Ha! Then I come back down to the reality of living with an Italian son who was brought up on homemade “gravy” [sic - sauce] and chicken parm with fresh motz. (But he truly is wonderful and heck, I’ve become a better cook for it, as well!)

Alas, thanks to an Acme sale on seafood and some staple items from our farmers market – last night’s [very, very simple and frugal] dinner tasted elegant and was met with success!

Enjoy! The NJ version of the Insalata Johnny Rocco!

4 c. mixed baby greens
1/2 lb. both jumbo shrimp (peeled) and scallops
2 T. minced garlic
3/4 c. roasted red peppers (sliced long)
1/2 c. kalamata olives
2 T. olive oil
Fresh shaved Parmesan cheese (optional)
Ken’s Healthy Options Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing

In large skillet, heat 2T olive oil and 1 1/2 T minced garlic. When fragrant, add shrimp and scallops. Cook for 2 minutes on each side (or until shrimp is pink and scallops are semi-firm). Set aside.

In large bowl, toss together greens, roasted red peppers and olives. Add in cooked shrimp and scallops. Toss together with 1/4 c. Ken’s dressing (more or less to taste). Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Feeds two – if for the main course, four – if serving as a side. This would go great with a nice steak!

Oh, and if the taste wasn’t enough for you – check out how low-fat this tasty dressing is, too!

When the boy is away…

…the adventurous cook in me will play.

Despite how many times I tell my bf that experimentation is the ultimate form of confidence in the kitchen, he insists on “sticking to the recipe”.  He is so dead against it, that I wonder if he secretly think’s I’ll suddenly turn Hyde? 

Anyhow, since the Mets are home tonight (he’s in that insane northbound Parkway traffic right about now) and I’m flying solo – I can stray from our staples of chicken piccata, chicken and shrimp francese and chicken Parmesan (see a pattern here?!) and cook outside the skillet, if you will.

A new, quite odd, combination that has been working for me as of late is sauteed zucchini and marinated mushrooms.  Just like a forward who is on a hot streak, I will pass the ball to this combo to carry the load of tonight’s entree.  SLAM DUNK!

Ingredients:
1 medium green zucchini^ (sliced in thin rounds)
1 medium yellow zucchini^ (sliced in thin rounds)
1 c. marinated mushrooms^
2 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 c. tomato gravy (I used leftovers from earlier in the week…as a sidenote, my bf’s strong Italian heritage gives him the ability to sniff out a canned gravy a mile away, so I dare not use any other than homemade.)
crushed red pepper (for a lil’ kick put a full T.)
2 c. cooked whole wheat pasta
parmesean cheese – to taste

Directions:
In skillet on medium, heat olive oil, garlic and red pepper.  Cook just enough so the oil is becoming infused with the flavors, and garlic is just beginning to get brown. Add in sliced zucchini and stir until slightly brown on each side.  Add marinated mushrooms and gravy and cover.  Stir every 2 minutes until sauce is bubbly and zucchini is mushy.  Combine with cooked pasta in serving dish.  Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

*One thing I always like to point out when cooking pasta is to salt the water.  As Rachael Ray advises, it’s the only time to flavor the pasta – and if using whole wheat, it really makes a difference!

^ Indicates Jersey Fresh item from RB FaMa