Sunday Breakfast: Part 2

How is it possible that over a month of summer is already over. Where did it go? My first attempt at a big breakfast came out really well, so there were high expectations this time around. I'm pretty sure I delivered, everyone loved what I made, my mom is a bread pudding convert (she claimed she hated it and knew she would not like it this time around, she was wrong), my Grandpa had flashbacks to his childhood where him and his brother would call dibs on the sticky pieces of bread that stick to the side of the baking dish, so I guess the winner of this breakfast feast was the bread pudding. Along side the bread pudding, I served two quiche's one with red peppers and parmesan and one with bacon, ham and chedder, also bougata (which I made a version of last breakfast, but this time I used a little bit of a different technique), Pommes Chef Anne and some toast.

I kind of combined a recipe for bread pudding by Ina Garten and Paula Deen. Basically I used Ina's recipe but added the chocolate chips, brown sugar and cinnamon from Paula Deen's recipe, and I nixed the orange zest from Ina's (Orange is one of my least favorite flavors). It came out great, and everyone loved it, as previously mentioned, it will definitely be a recipe I go back to and use again.

For the quiche's I used this recipe, to get an idea of how to actually make a quiche, I used the same amount of eggs and cream as it calls for in that recipe as well as the baking time, but added the extras that I wanted (e.g. bacon, ham, cheese and red peppers). I also used a store bought pie crust which worked just fine.

Since I had recently seen the episode of No Reservations where Tony ate the bougata on one of the Greek Islands, I had a better idea of how it should be made. Last time, I just layered filo dough with sweetened marscapone, but what this dish is actually made by using one filo sheet putting a pile of the marscapone in the center folding it into a pocket and baking it like that. This is how I tried to make it this time, I thought it came out a lot better doing it this way, but I wasn't careful enough transferring them from the baking tray to the serving dish and they cracked open, oozing the cheese on the serving dish. It still was great but if they would have stayed intact it would have been better.

Finally for the potatoes I used this recipe, I used this recipe from Chef Anne Burrell. It came out really good, maybe a bit to crisp, but I didn't use as many potatoes as she called for in her recipe, which is I think why mine shrunk so much and turned so crispy. I actually sliced the potatoes myself instead of using a mandolin (since I don't have one), and it still worked just fine.

Another breakfast success, but it's disappointing to think that the next time it's my turn to cook breakfast it will be August, and way to close to going back to school. No reason to dwell on that though, because for the next 10 days or so I will be in New York City and Boston to stay with my cousin (NYC) and my sister (Boston). I can't wait, I think I'm in need of a change of scenery and I can't think of any better places in this country to to get that change.

Eat well, Live well

Catering: My Grandpa's Surprise 80th Birthday

Gina, Grandpa, my dad, Vinnie, me, my mom

I'm pretty sure my mom and I, along with my aunt, have been talking about my Grandpa's 80th birthday party since Christmas time. Our first priority was to decide on a menu. We went from a bunch of finger foods and appetizers, where I claimed I would be able to make all kinds of different bite-sized morsels (even though I've never really done it before), which we nixed because we realized it wasn't very practical since I've never really made appetizers and our kitchen space isn't really suited to make a bunch of different small dishes. The party was basically going to consist of 40 mostly older Italians, so we decided finger foods wouldn't be the best way to go (I can't imagine the crowd would have been too impressed by fancy looking bite sized dishes). So we had to come up with a menu that would be pleasing to the crowd and would actually be conceivable for a first time caterer with a lot more confidence than experience in this sort of thing. We decided on dishes that I've made before and I knew I would be able to make in bulk, the menu was going to consist of Penne:

meatballs:

eggplant parmesan:

chicken francais:

a potato dish, sausage with peppers and onions:

and salad:

I didn't really think it was going to be that hard, whenever I make spaghetti and meatballs it's in bulk anyway because I freeze the extras for the following weeks, so that wasn't going to be a problem. I've made my chicken francais enough that I didn't think it was going to be that difficult to multiply the recipe to have enough for 40 people, and all I really needed to worry about for the eggplant was if the eggplants I bought were going to be good, because there's nothing worse than a bad eggplant and you can't ever really tell if you have one. I actually fried it a few days ahead of time (a good idea because then I was able to sample it and see if it was good eggplant, and sure enough it was)

which only left me to have to fry the chicken the day of the party which I knew wouldn't be bad, just time consuming. So for me I really wasn't too worried about the food turning out right for the party.

As an aside, I do think it is pretty cool to say that I catered a party for 40 people but I certainly didn't and couldn't have done it all by myself. My aunt made the potatoes, sausage and a salad (which were great Aunt Jojo), and my mom and dad were my sous-chefs on the frying of the eggplant and chicken francais.

Alright back to the story, so for at least the last month my mom was completely stressed about how I was going to make enough food for 40 people, how much I was actually going to make, how we were going to have enough room for everyone and how we were going to keep my grandpa in the dark to all of it. Within the last week alone, , she was on the verge of meltdown, and had a few mini meltdowns leading up to the event, but she gets a free pass because she stresses way to much about everything, and more importantly she's my mom, but also because my Grandpa, at the breakfast I made a week ago said that if we have any kind of party for him he wouldn't come, he said he would go to a movie or something, and he sure seemed serious about it. After that comment we decided it would be best to have him come early so he wouldn't see a bunch of cars at our house and just turn around and not come. It was definitely best to do it this way because not only were we having a bunch of people over for the party that he had no idea about (surprise #1), but my sister came home just for the party (surprise #2), who only comes home a couple times a year and my dad was home and he normally works on Mondays (surprise #3). He walked into our house and was already surprised and really happy to see them, it was funny because he made the comment that it was so nice to celebrate his birthday with his immediate family, and not with a bunch of strangers, then we lead him outside (after a bunch of pictures),

Left to right: me, my sister Gina, the birthday boy, my brother Vinnie, my cousin Lisa, pre-surprise (he has no clue what he's in for)

and most everyone for the party was there. He couldn't have been more surprised, and he ended up being really happy about the party. So, of course, it all worked out in the end, because as I always say (and tried to get it through to my mom) about anything I do, if you know you worked hard and tried your best at whatever it is your doing and believe that the result will be what you want, 9.9 times out of 10 it will work out in the end (that belief is why there isn't much I can think of that stresses me out).

The surprise as it happened

Happy to see you (he didn't run away yet)

Having a great time!

Enjoying the party, getting ready for cake (my aunt in the background cutting it)

Back to the food, if you were at the party you would have thought I was a seasoned veteran of catering, no mix ups, no spills and there was plenty for people to eat. The best part was that most everyone at the party were raving about the food, asking me for the recipes and how I did it all. My moms aunt, who runs our family reunion, actually asked if I would be able to cater that (it would be for at least 100 people), of course I said I could and would love to do it, but I'm not so sure my mom would be able to handle that, but we shall see. It was cool for me to see the reaction to the food from everyone at the party because I really only cook for myself, and my immediate family. While I know my food tastes good (hey, I do), and I always get rave reviews from my family, I can never be 100% positive they're not just giving me compliments because they're my family, so it was great to get such a positive reaction from people who've never eaten my cooking. After months of planning its all over, it ended up better than expected and my Grandpa enjoyed it all (definitely the best part of it all), now I have a 40 person party on my cooking resume, anyone need a caterer!...

Eat well, Live well

Sunday Breakfast: Part 1

Every Sunday throughout the summer, myself, my brother, my mom and dad are each taking turns on providing breakfast for us as well as my grandpa, and I would imagine my aunt will be involved some weeks as well. My brother came up with the idea because it seems the only time we eat a big breakfast is if we have it for dinner. Whose ever turn it is can do whatever they want, anything from picking up some donuts or bagels and coffee to enjoy at our house, going out somewhere or cooking for everyone. I love the idea because not only do I love breakfast, but I will get to try out some breakfast recipes that I’ve been wanting to make, needless to say when it’s my turn we won’t be going out for breakfast. My brother was up first last week, he took us to Perkins. We filled up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes and toast. Any time I get to use an exorbitant amount of syrup I’m happy with a meal. This week was my turn, I made scrambled eggs, egg beaters, bacon, Strawberry Brown Butter Betty’s in which I got the recipe from a great food blog Smitten Kitchen:

cinnamon and sugar filo dough layered with sweetened mascarpone cheese from which I got the idea from an episode of No Reservations, I think Anthony Bourdain was in Greece but I’m not 100% sure (oddly enough as I'm getting ready to publish this post the episode I am talking is on, it is from Zakynthos and the dish is called bougata, it is a little different from how I made but mine is similar):

some fresh strawberries, blueberries and peaches with homemade whipped cream and some of the best donuts around from White House Fruit Farms, it’s also where I got all the fruit. Surprisingly to at least me, everything came out really well and it all was finished on time, too. I don’t know what everyone liked more the brown butter betty’s or the filo dough, but by the time everyone was finished eating there wasn’t much left over. My brother, originally not planning on touching a brown butter betty (he doesn’t eat many fruits or vegetables), asked for a bite and ended up eating two of them, and my grandpa said it was the best meal he’s eaten since my grandma passed away, which is quite a complement because she was the definitely the best cook I will ever have known, and also where I think I get my love for cooking. It was great that everyone enjoyed the spread I made and I can’t wait until its my turn again.

Cinnamon Sugar Filo Dough w/ Sweetened Mascarpone Layers

size: 1 small cookie sheet

15 sheets of filo dough

16 oz package of mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

granulated sugar and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a bowl combine the mascarpone, powdered sugar, lemon zest and vanilla, and mix until everything is combined.

Carefully trim the filo dough so it is the size of the cookie sheet you are using.

On parchment paper put 1-2 sheets of filo and brush with melted butter. Then put little dollops of the mascarpone all over the filo. (I tried to spread the mascarpone to make an even layer but it ended up just tearing the dough, so I just put dollops all over the filo instead, and it worked really well).

Place another 1-2 sheets over the first layer and gently press down to flatten the dollops of mascarpone out. Repeat with the butter and mascarpone until all of the mascarpone and dough is used up.

On the top layer sprinkle sugar and cinnamon (can also be done in each layer) then bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the dough is flaky, crisp and golden brown. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Only empty plates after this one

Eat well, Live well