crispy carbs AND a dirty joke?!?!

Well, tonight was Italian food for us!  Luckily, there are three sections of tonights dinner that I can share - since I won't be cooking for a couple of nights.  (Sorry! I have to work tomorrow, and Friday is party night!)  So, I thought I would start out with a quick way to add some delicious carbs to your meals! (They look nice too!)

Crispy Breadsticks

This is one I put together after I saw a crispy breadstick recipe in the latest edition of Food Network magazine. I thought the picture in the magazine looked delicious, but they wanted me to use fennel seeds, and I decided I'd rather change up the seasoning - let's get on with the result!

What you will need

• An oven
• 2 baking sheets
• Some parchment paper
• A rolling pin
• A pizza cutter
• A BBQ brush & a small bowl (if you have the pump sprayer from Pampered Chef, and use olive oil in it... or if you buy the aerosol olive oil, you won't need this)
• A roll of refrigerated breadstick dough
• About a 1/4 cup olive oil
• Some Italian seasoning
• Some garlic salt
• Some grated Parmesan cheese - that kind you don't think you should use for anything but pizza anymore since you can get good Parm now!
• Some flour for dusting

Okay, now that I hopefully told you all of the supplies - onward to the directions!

Let's do this!

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
2. Go ahead and line the baking sheets with parchment paper and get them out of the way (not too far out of the way, though!).
3. Dust the space where you intend to roll out the breadstick dough with some flour. (I just use the counter top after I  give them a good massage with some disinfecting wipes.)
4. After you open the dough, you will want to piece it back together - seal the creases with a firm pinch.
5. Grab your rolling pin, shake it at something and express your disgust about something that is really pissing you off, before giving it a flour dusting.
6. Roll your dough into a rectangle that is approximately 16"x8".
7. Brush the dough with olive oil - or spray it on if you have those fancy items I mentioned earlier.
8. Sprinkle the dough with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (Be careful not to go overboard on the garlic salt!)
9. Using your pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips. (I'm not going to give you an exact measurement - just try to make them equal in size for baking purposes.  I will mention, if you make them fairly thin, they get crunchier, and they will be longer.)
10. Okay, before you touch those oily strips of delicious dough, put your baking sheets in a convenient place for loading.
11. Pick up each strip, and twist - as tight or loose as you want (HAH!  That's what she said!) - before you put them on the baking sheets.
12. Before you throw the sticks in the oven,  give them another light brushing (or spray, you rich, fancy braggart!) of olive oil, and a sprinkle of the Parmesan.
13. Toss into the oven, and set a timer for about 10 minutes.  (Mine had to bake for about 13 minutes, but I don't want yours to burn!)

Done, and done!  If you want to serve these crunchy sticks warm, I would suggest a basket lined with a tea towel to wrap over them.  I'm going to throw it out there that these would be great to serve as an appetizer - stick them out of a plain vase like an edible arrangement - very bistro chic!  It doesn't have to be Italian night for a nice crispy bread stick!  Perhaps you want to make these and keep them around for snacking, or to pair up with your salad at lunch!  I hope you won't feel obligated to stick to my seasoning choices, either!  After dinner I wished I had bought a second tube of dough - because I wanted to slather it in butter, and sprinkle cinnamon & sugar on!  Don't you worry!  I'm sure I will!  I'll post it in phoodos too when I do - and have it routed to this recipe as well!    Enjoy these - and be sure to check out tomorrow's installment - Mimi's Spaghetti Sauce - a treasured family recipe!

blast from the past

I promised to give credit where credit is due... so be it!  a few months ago, I made a delicious Pavlova, and every time I see the picture floating around on my computer, I wonder why I haven't made another....  so here's the deal...

Chocolate Raspberry/Strawberry Pavlova

I get the Food Network Magazine - honestly, it was such a great Christmas 2009 present from Kris & Tony that I asked for a renewal for for Christmas 2010!  I try to test the recipes, and I take inspiration from others that look appealing but would never fly at one of our family dinners! (I have a few picky eaters to battle, and Mom has a dairy issue - sometimes it is a challenge!) The magazine had a very detailed feature of Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova - which was not only fairly easy to make, but was also a hit at our house!  I used strawberries rather than raspberries when I made it - (strawberries go over better with the diners I was catering to, and they are also cheaper!  Especially if you want to whip out this fancy dessert during strawberry season!)

Stuff you will need

• An oven
• A baking sheet
• Some parchment paper
• A pencil
• A 9-inch round cake pan
• A mixer - you can use a hand mixer if you have a pretty powerful one
• A microplane - you are going to grate chocolate, and you want it to curl, a veggie peeler will make bigger curls if you don't have a microplane or if your grater isn't doing a great job
• A rubber spatula
• 6 large egg whites
• 2 cups of superfine sugar
• 3 tablespoons sifted, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 4 ounces total dark chocolate: 2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (ok this FINELY chopped bit isn't a joke, really fine, like grated - splurge on one of those fancy bars that is really thin, because it will be much easier to chop) this will go in the pavlova - PLUS 2 ounces for curling on top - so, yeah, total of 4 ounces
• 2 cups heavy cream (this is totally healthy!)
• 4 cups of raspberries (or strawberries)

Okay, so now that you have all of your supplies together...... how about some directions!

Let's do this!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line the baking sheet with some parchment paper.
3. Using your pencil and that random cake pan, trace a circle on the parchment. (you can press down!)
4. Flip the paper over so you don't get pencil contamination! (you should be able to see the pencil mark)
5. Make some meringue!
1. Beat the egg whites with that mixer until satiny peaks form
2. Beat the sugar in a spoonful at a time until stiff and deliciously shiny! (depending on the climate your sugar amount may vary a bit)
3. Sprinkle the cocoa, vinegar and chopped chocolate into the meringue and carefully fold in using your rubber ... spatula! SPATULA, I say! (hey, just make sure the cocoa is mixed in nicely without destroying the beautiful meringue you created!)
6. Waste a little meringue - secure the parchment paper with a dab of meringue in each corner (you don't want parchment paper stuck on the side, or any other kind of sliding mishaps!) - and while you're wasting it, you should probably just have a little tiny bite!
7. Make a meringue butte (yes,  I said butte!  It is a mesa that is round!) with that rubber spatula using the pencil circle you drew as a guideline.  Make it nice and smoothish on the sides and top while you're playing around in chocolatey goodness!
8. Bake it!
1. Stick it in the oven.
2. Immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Ignore it for about 1 hour and 15 minutes - you will know it is ready when it looks crispy and dry, but the center is squingy under the crust when you poke it. (if you put a hole in it on accident it is ok, because you're going to cover it up!)
4. Let it cool in the oven, just leave the door open a little bit!
9. When you are ready to serve your Pavlova, flip it over (GENTLY!) onto a big, flat-bottomed serving dish of your choice - and (GENTLY) peel the parchment paper off.
10. Make your own whipped cream!
1. Whisk the cream until it is thick but still soft - okay, fine, I didn't tell you to have a whisk, that's because I use the mixer on lower speed because this much whisking hurts my freaking arm! 
2. (Did you really think this needed a 2nd step?)
11. Plop that delicious whipped cream on top of the meringue Frisbee you made.
12. Scatter the raspberries on top (or strawberries)
13. Curl the remaining dark chocolate over the top using your microplane or veggie grater - but don't bury the fruit completely!

Okay - so, now it is time to eat this thing, since you have been drooling over it for a while!  (If that isn't the reason for the thing being called Pavlova - it should be!) This is where I hit my problem!  The reason I don't make this often - you really need to serve the whole thing at once.  No leftovers!  Leftover Pavlova is gross!  So - make this when you have a lot of people to share with - or if you are having a particularly horrible day and are sure you will be capable of taking down the whole thing on your own!  Enjoy it!!  It is really quite delicious! And, this will be added to the phoodos section so you can access the recipe anytime it catches your eye!

Lawson, Nigella. (2010, June). Try this at home: pavlova. Food Network Magazine, 3(5), 140-143.