Category Archives: Hamitarian

Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey

Posted on by October 19, 2015

This Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey is a variation on a Food and Wine recipe that I’ve been making for years. Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey is also one of my most requested recipes and it’s a great solution to send to the many people who complain that they don’t like turkey that much, it’s the weak link of Thanksgiving, or the turkey is always dry. Au contraire, mon frère! I promise that if you make this Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey there will be so few leftovers that you will go up a size next year so that you will have enough turkey leftover to make my Leftover Thanksgiving Enchiladas or Turkey Gumbo. I also promise that your guests will rave and the gravy will be the best gravy you’ve ever made. Tall promises, I know, but not tall tales. This Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey will deliver and the best part is, it doesn’t even require you to get up at the crack of dawn to cook it. When you do decide to make my Bacon Herb Paste Stuffed Turkey for Thanksgiving, please make sure to check out the complete Thanksgiving 2009 menu for awesome sides, decorations, and … Continue reading →

Fall Kale Salad with Spicy Garbanzos

Posted on by November 19, 2014

I’m back on the kale salad band wagon, but this time, I’ve taken a decidedly Autumn turn with my Fall Kale Salad with Spicy Garbanzos. This salad is definitely hearty enough to eat for dinner and it’s great vegetarian or with the bacon. When I make it vegetarian, I double the garbanzo bean part of the recipe. In fact, I pretty much always make double the garbanzos, or even triple, because whatever is leftover makes a delicious snack. I for one am always looking for ways to make healthy and delicious snacks to keep the munchies at bay. And the spicy garbanzos are definitely a delicious and healthy snack. If you aren’t just adding extra garbanzos and you are indeed using bacon, make sure you keep it separate until just before you’re going to serve the salad. That way it stays extra crispy, which is a great contrast to the squash which shouldn’t be mushy, but isn’t crunchy either. Finally, it’s time to get apple picking, because apples are not just for dessert; they’re great in my Fall Kale Salad with Spicy Garbanzos. I often add fruit to salad, but in this particular Fall Kale Salad with Spicy Garbanzos the … Continue reading →

Guanciale Béchamel Runny Egg Pizza

Posted on by November 19, 2014

Guanciale Béchamel Runny Egg Pizza is my knockoff of the Uova Pizza da Barbuzzo Restaurant in Philadelphia. Barbuzzo is one of my favorite restaurants in Philly, and the Uova Pizza is one of my favorite pizzas. They don’t make it year ‘round though; come springtime, quite seasonably reasonably, Brussels leaves give way to shave asparagus, much to my consternation. If you aren’t lucky enough to live in Philly, where you can go out for this Guanciale Béchamel Runny Egg Pizza, now you can make it at home so you’ll know what you’re missing, and why you need to come visit Philly ASAP. And you should absolutely let me know how close my Guanciale Béchamel Runny Egg Pizza is to the original. Of course, I don’t have a wood fire pizza oven, (dreams, right?) but with a pizza stone and a very hot oven you can get kind of close. But the sauce, well, let’s just say I think I nailed it with my guancial béchamel sauce. Mostly, this Runny Guanciale Béchamel Runny Egg Pizza is a really fun project that makes you appreciate all the work that went into the original and reinforces making a reservation at Barbuzzo. * One of my … Continue reading →

St. Brie LT

Posted on by January 19, 2015

Considering I grew up in a household that prized St. André cheese and fresh from the garden tomato and lettuce BTSs (otherwise know as Summer BLTs) above pretty much all other things epicurean, it was surprising to me when my friend Susan turned me on to the St. Brie L.T., and not the other way around. I mean, I don’t even like mayo and often have experimented with other condiments to sub in for mayo. Perhaps it’s because I settled upon avocado so long ago that I stopped my quest before I set upon adding the brie necessary to make a St. Brie L.T.? I’m not sure. Regardless, I’m happy to share it with you now, even if the addition of brie can’t be attributed to my genius. The name though: St. Brie L.T., that’s all mine. After all, you’ve probably figured out I like a good food pun, and this one has it all, a reference to the ingredients, a play on the traditional name, and the elevation of the perfect sandwich (with bacon!) to divine status… St. Brie LT covers all my food naming preferences. And even if bacon isn’t your thing, vegetarians, this one’s for you. Between … Continue reading →

Blue Ridge Mountain Benedicts

Posted on by January 22, 2015

This Spring, one of our mini adventures was a weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA. It’s a gorgeous town, situated at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains for which my Blue Ridge Mountain Benedicts are named. It’s a tiny town, but it’s packed with art, music and great food. We had lots of awesome meals, but the one I knew I had to recreate, and I dare say best, was a breakfast sandwich from the Bluegrass Café. It was a sweet little breakfast place that’s so good at what it does that it can afford to yell, “No Substitutions” at you. That said, if you’re famous for made from scratch biscuits and you’re located in the South, you should serve your breakfast sandwich on that, and not a store bought English muffin. Since there were “No Substitutions,” I ate it as recommended, but was wishing I had a biscuit all the while. So, when last Sunday night turned into a little party to toast, and well-wish, and “Bon Voyage!” some dear friends moving to California… I had a hankering of what to make: Blue Ridge Mountain Benedicts. And then they sealed the deal. “We’ll bring bubbles” they said. “All we … Continue reading →

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

Posted on by January 23, 2015

There were figs in the market this week, and that’s all the reason I needed to make this Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula. Whenever I find fresh figs, I can be relied upon to buy them up and dream of all the wonderful things to do with them, all the while eating them straight out of the grocery bag while walking home. I really like figs. I even found a really awesome strawberry fig tree in South Philly that’s abandoned. Don’t ask me where it is though, I won’t share this urban foraging secret. This week, since my figs actually made it home (they must have been at the bottom of the bag), this Fig and Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula was on the menu. As with all of my pizzas, I start with my standard pizza dough recipe and modify. In this instance, I make a wheat crust with rosemary, which adds to the sweet and savory theme of my Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula. I also like adding some whole wheat flour to make the crust a little more substantial. A balance is key though, too much whole wheat flour and it can be a little tough. This Fig … Continue reading →

House Pizza: Hawaiian

Posted on by January 26, 2015

If I ask Marc what he wants for dinner, there are a couple of likely responses: 1. Spaghetti. 2. Shrimp Pineapple Curry. 3. Pizza. When Marc asks for pizza, I know he means our House Pizza: Hawaiian. You may have notice that two of the three involve pineapple. Pineapple is one of the few things on the planet that Marc is undisciplined towards; in fact, I’ve seen him eat a whole pineapple and then of course, feel terrible afterward. Hawaiian Pizza has been Marc’s favorite for as long as I can remember, most likely because of the pineapple? While I like a lot of variety when it comes to pizza toppings, it doesn’t make me sad that Marc always requests Hawaiian because it’s a favorite of mine as well. There’s something about the salty meat and the sweet pineapple that just works, particularly when paired with melted mozzarella; so leftover ham is always good news in our household. I do tend to change things up a bit from your standard Hawaiian pizza because I spice up my crust with chili flakes or jalapeño, but there’s not reason you need to if spicy isn’t your thing. Aside from being generally awesome … Continue reading →

Kitchen Sink Black Bean and Ham Soup

Posted on by January 26, 2015

When it comes to using up leftover Easter Ham, it doesn’t get much better, or much easier than Kitchen Sink Black Bean and Ham Soup. And I got to run down some of the odds and ends I’d stashed in my freezer. That’s not to say that this improvised cooking project didn’t require a little creativity and flexibility. In one of my previous lives, I was a high school English teacher, and I taught Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. To introduce the book, I’d always start with Robert Burns poem, To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough. I often quote from his beautiful poem, (from which Of Mice and Men takes its name) when things don’t work out as I’ve expected. In my terrible Scottish accent I say, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley.” That phrase inspired a whole category of recipes I call “Gang aft agley” and it includes Beet Gnocchi, an amazing artichoke tale you can read all about before making Artichoke and Preserved Lemon Soup and to a lesser degree, this Kitchen Sink Black Bean and Ham Soup. I started in the crockpot, but I didn’t end … Continue reading →

Monte Cristo Sandwich

Posted on by January 26, 2015

Need further incentive to make a ham for Easter Brunch? For me it’s all in the name of the Monte Cristo Sandwich and other Hamitarian Week recipes. Gotta love leftovers… For Hamitarian Week, I’m starting off with the Monte Cristo Sandwich, because just thinking about this sandwich inspires me to buy the giant ham in the first place. In fact, I’m famous for buying both ham and the necessary sourdough bread on the same day, so the bread will be just the right amount of stale for my Monte Cristo leftover ham sandwich. It’s possible that my eye is on the real prize from the outset, the Monte Cristo Sandwich, and everyone who has ever made french toast knows that slightly stale bread absorbs just the right amount of egg to make the french toast rich and tender. In fact, that’s how french toast came about in the first place; the whole point is to save good bread before it goes from stale to bad. And what could possibly be better than putting a breakfast sandwich on this absolutely perfect French Toast? The salty ham and turkey, the melty cheese, the slightly tangy, but custard rich bread and a thick … Continue reading →

Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Glazed Baked Ham

Posted on by November 20, 2014

What’s so great about this Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Glazed Baked Ham? My brother likes to make ham, and over the years, he’s introduced me to coca cola glazes, pineapple glazes, coffee glazes, and a few more I can’t recall at the moment. For some reason he was often in charge of Easter. One thing I’ve learned about ham over the years (mostly from my brother Ivan) is that no matter what you do to prep it, it pretty much just tastes like ham, which is a good thing, since ham is so delicious. That said, it’s fun to try new glazes and preps and this year, I recommend this Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Glazed Baked Ham as the main dish for Easter Brunch. There’s a hint of spice and lots of sweet. But the very best reason to make this Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Glazed Baked Ham is that it pairs really nicely with the poblano potato gratin. Trust me, you want to have an excuse to make the gratin. Because it’s amazing. Also, while I just told you that you can’t really mess up ham… full disclosure… that’s only true if you start off with a good ham. In … Continue reading →

Two Bottle Boeuf Bourguinon

Posted on by February 8, 2015

Want to hear a Dirty Laundry Kitchen dirty secret? I’ve been struggling to cook and write the past couple of weeks. The oscillating temperatures, my intense need for Spring and sunshine, travel for work and for fun, none of this has been conducive to time in the kitchen to think creatively. And that’s sad, because there’s been lots of inspiration. Furthermore, being away from my kitchen meant that I didn’t do a Mardi Gras menu (which I’ve been itching to do for ages) and you’re stuck with last year’s ideas on St. Paddy’s. The good news? It’s so cold and windy today in Philly that I’m inspired to share my take on the French classic Boeuf Bourguinon. So here it is, in all its two kinds of onions, two kinds of meat, two bottles of wine, rich and hearty glory. Two Bottle Boeuf Bourguinon is all about slow food. And cold days. And tender meat and root vegetables. It’s about red wine that you drink while you’re cooking and buttered bread. Two Bottle Boeuf Bourguinon is satisfying and savory and every carnivore in the cold should know how to make it. Of course, Two Bottle Boeuf Bourguinon is based on … Continue reading →

Happy Birthday Eggs Benedict

Posted on by October 26, 2014

I wouldn’t do it often, especially for myself, but there’s no better way to say “I love you” and “Happy Birthday” than brunch. And brunch doesn’t get much better than Eggs Benedict. So today, instead of cake, I made myself what I really wanted: Happy Birthday Eggs Benedict. And I even made some spinach to go with it. Don’t think of it as a vehicle for Hollandaise, no, think of it as vitamins and minerals. You should do what you really want on your birthday too, and make Happy Birthday Eggs Benedict. English Muffins poached eggs (1 for each muffin half) sliced ham (twice as thick as lunch meat) Hollandaise sauce sautéed spinach with salt and pepper cayenne pepper or paprika for garnish Plan of attack: 9am The English muffin dough needs a while to rise. Start by making the dough. 9:30am While it’s rising, poach all the eggs and place them in an ice bath in the refrigerator. Sauté the spinach and leave it covered on the stove. Only add salt and pepper as you’re going to use the spinach to soak up the extra yolk and Hollandaise. 10am Make the Hollandaise. Keep covered on the stove, but turn … Continue reading →