Summer is here, Jersey! It’s time to dust off the grill, uncover the pool, and start saving for the gas price increase. Anyone doing anything fun this summer? I’ll be interning at Zagat three days a week, and I couldn’t be more excited!

So that picture up at the top, those are mini crab cakes. As I mentioned in my recent monkey bread post, I love my Food Porn Daily cookbook. So when I found a recipe for tarragon crab cakes, I knew I’d have to make them. I’ve always wanted to make my own crab cakes and this was it. It was time to fulfill my crab cake making dreams!

I actually made these twice. The first time for dinner and the second as an appetizer for a party. They are truly delicious. Don’t know if you like tarragon? Try it. You can get a little pack of fresh tarragon leaves at the food store for like $0.99. If you end up not liking it, find a new recipe. Seriously, just don’t leave the tarragon out of these because that’s what makes these tarragon crab cakes. Get it?

You need to start this recipe with the tarragon aioli which takes an hour to marry in the fridge. When that’s nice and combined, you can start mixing the cakes and rolling them into patties. It really is so simple to make crab cakes. What I like most about this recipe is the unique mix of spices, ingredients, and the ratio of crab meat to bread crumbs – the bread crumbs don’t overpower the crab meat. The only things I changed were the subtraction of the tarragon in the crab cakes (I only used it in the aioli), the subtraction of macadamia nuts all together, and the addition of a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Other than that, these crab cakes are grade A yummy!

Tarragon Macadamia Crab Cakes
from Food Porn Daily The Cookbook

Crab Cakes

• 16 oz. lump crab meat, picked over for shells
• 3 tbsp. tarragon aioli (recipe follows)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions

Place all ingredients for crab cakes into a mixing bowl. Mix well, trying not to break up any lumps of crab meat, Form crab mixture into 5 even crab cakes (or more if you want to make mini ones), using your hands to free-form or a ring mold as your guide.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot and butter has melted,add 2 or 3 crab cakes to melted butter. Saute over medium-high heat for 6 minutes or until bottom of crab cake releases from pan and edges turn golden brown. Flip and cook or another 6 minutes until golden.

Melt remaining butter in saute pan and repeat cooking process with remainging crab cakes. (Note: Trying to cook all the crab cakes at the same time will overcrowd the pan and make cakes hard to flip.) Serve crab cakes immediately.

Tarragon Aioli

• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 egg yolk, as fresh as possible
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus extra
• 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, plus extra
• 1/2 cup canola oil, or other flavorless oil (I used vegetable oil)

Directions

Whisk together first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl or add to the bowl of a food processor and pule to combine. While continuously whisking vigorously or with the food processor running, very slowly drizzle in the oil in a thin stream to form an emulsified sauce. If you note any oil beginning to pool, stop drizzling oil and continue whisking until incorporated. If the sauce breaks, start over. Adjust seasoning to taste with more salt and pepper. Chill for as least an hour before serving for the flavors to marry. Store chilled for up to 4 days.

After a long weekend of celebrating Chris’s 23rd birthday and a night out in Atlantic City, you’d think all I wanted to do on Sunday was lay on the couch and nap, right? Wrong. I was feeling overly ambitious yesterday and decided that I wanted to cook dinner. Specifically, I wanted to make these raviolis I found the recipe for the other day. I was sold when I saw goat cheese. All I could think of was breaking open one of these raviolis and melty goat cheese pouring out. See, now you know why I absolutely had to make these.

Please don’t be discouraged by making your own raviolis. These were super easy, but a bit time consuming so if you do plan to try these, keep that in mind. I made the filling and the sauce from scratch, but did cheat with the actual making of the ravioli. The recipe called from won ton wrappers rather than making your own pasta. This way was much simpler. Next time I make these and have the time to make my own pasta, I will. For now, won ton wrappers will work. (Please note: these are found in the produce section of your grocery store by the tofu. I spent far too long walking up and down the frozen food aisle looking for pasta dough of some sort.)

The first thing you have to do is roast your butternut squash. Grab a generally small squash and cut it length ways in half. This takes a little muscle work, but the cut doesn’t have to be even. No need to peel it before it goes in the oven either, but I did cut out the seeds and stringy stuff in the middle. Roast that for about a half hour in a 425 degree oven. I was really surprised to find how tender it was and how easy it was to scoop it out. While the butternut squash roasts, prepare your onion mixture, which is just chopped onions, sage leaves, garlic, and butter.

Mix your mashed butternut squash with the onion mixture and goat cheese. You’ll have a bowl of mushy goodness. Spoon about a tablespoon into the center of a won ton wrap, wet the edges with water, and place another won ton wrap directly on top. You don’t want any air in the middle so try to press any extra out at this time.

Make sure all edges are sealed up and place them on a clean kitchen towel. By now, you should have started boiling your water. When your water has gotten to a gentle boil, lower the heat just a bit because you don’t want your water boiling too much when the raviolis are in. These raviolis are very delicate and you don’t want them breaking open in the water. The recipe says they need to cook for about 6 minutes, but I took mine out around 5 minutes because I didn’t want the won ton wrapper too soft.

The combination of the butternut squash, goat cheese, sage, and hazelnuts is brilliant. It’s a burst of unique flavors in your mouth that I’m positive you’ll enjoy. You can either boil these or bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for 16 minutes (shown in the picture above). That method give them a crunchy outside and, for some reason, makes the goat cheese flavor really pop. This recipe makes over 30 raviolis, so you have a chance to try them both ways! Enjoy!!

Butternut Squash, Safe, and Goat Cheese Raviolis with Hazelnut Brown Butter Sauce adapted from epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 lb butternut squash; halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 medium onion; chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground sage
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 oz aged goat cheese; grated (about 2/3 cup)
• 60 won ton wrappers; thawed if frozen
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts; toasted lightly and skinned and chopped coarse

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Make filling:
Put squash halves, flesh sides down, an baking sheet and roast in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until flesh is very tender. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh into a bowl and discard skin. Mash squash with a fork until smooth.

While squash is roasting, in a skillet cook onion and sage in butter with salt and pepper to taste over moderate heat, stirring, 5 minutes, or until onion is golden brown. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Cool onion mixture slightly and add to squash. Add goat cheese and stir to combine well.

In a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a gentle boil for ravioli.

Put 1 won ton wrapper on a lightly floured surface, keeping remaining wrappers in plastic wrap, and mound 1 tablespoon filling in center. Lightly brush edges of wrapper with water and put a second wrapper over first, pressing down around filling to force out air and seal edges well. If desired, trim excess dough with a round cutter or sharp knife. Transfer ravioli to a dry kitchen towel. Make more ravioli with remaining wrappers and filling in same manner, transferring as formed to towel and turning occasionally to dry slightly.

In skillet cook butter with hazelnuts over moderate heat until butter begins to brown, about 3 minutes, and immediately remove from heat (nuts will continue to cook). Season hazelnut butter with salt and pepper and keep warm, covered.

Cook ravioli in 3 batches in gently boiling eater 6 minutes, or until they rise to surface and are tender (do not let water boil vigorously once ravioli have been added).

Transfer ravioli with a slotted spoon (letting excess cooking liquid drip off) to 6 plates and top with hazelnut brown-butter sauce.

Let me introduce you to fesenjan. Fesenjan is deliciousness. A proper fesenjan dish is made with pomegranate molasses, walnuts, and meat. It’s sweet but tangy, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll fall in love with the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg spices. After doing my research, I have found that it is a Persian dish usually made for special occasions and can be made with really any kind of meat you desire. I really do strongly recommend making fesenjan if you enjoy combinations of different flavors. It’s become one of my top 5 favorite dinners.

I had originally planned on making a recipe from Rachael Ray’s magazine that called for pomegranate juice, so I had that on hand, but the recipe I ended up making used pomegranate molasses. Molasses is thicker and more like a syrup, so I used Elise Bauer’s Simply Recipes recipe to make my own molasses. It was super easy, but did take an hour, so if you plan on making this, keep that in mind.

The walnuts are ground down so fine that they create a creamy (not crunchy) texture. They are sauted with the chopped onion until they give off a delicious aroma that fills your kitchen. I threw in about a teaspoon of both cinnamon and nutmeg during the saute. The raw chicken is then added, topped with pomegranate molasses and a cup of water. The chicken needs to steam for about 40 minutes, flipping once. I was really surprised how tender the chicken was in this dish, too. I used boneless chicken breasts and it shredded so easily.

Saffron rice is very commonly paired with this dish, but instead, I made a long grain white rice that was buttery and went really nice with the flavors of the fesenjan. The recipe that follows serves two, but you can change the serving size and get the correct measurements here.

Persian Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2/3 quart water
• 1/3 cup water

Directions

Boil the 2 quarts water and salt in large stock pot or dutch oven. Rinse rice until water runs clear (or as close to clear as you can get it). Add rice to boiling water, boil about 10 minutes or until rice is about half cooked. Drain rice in colander and reserve about ½ cup of water.

In the same pot, pour about 1/4 cup melted butter on bottom, tilt to cover 2 inches up sides. Pour the half-cooked rice into the pot, try to make a nice mound in the middle, and avoid the sides as much as possible.
With the end of a wooden spoon, make holes in the mound of rice (5 or 6 places) evenly around. Pour the remaining melted butter onto the rice, and drizzle 1/4 cup of the extra water into the holes you made. Cover pot with kitchen towel to absorb the steam, place pot lid on towel.

Cook on very low heat, checking after about 15 minutes. If the rice is browning too fast, add the remaining extra water a little bit at a time. Cook rice until it’s done, about 30 minutes. Try not to check it too often, as it needs to steam.

And to top off this ethnic dinner, I made a nice little American dessert straight from Dorie Greenspan’s bake-book. Chewy, chunky blondies. Yes, they are as magical as they sound and look. Recipe to come, because I have to get your all to come back somehow!

The fesenjan recipe comes from Leela’s blog SheSimmers. I added cinnamon and nutmeg, but that can be left out or the amount can be increased. Make this and enjoy this, it really is a palate-pleaser!!

Fesenjan: Persian Chicken Pomegranate and Walnut Stew

Ingredients:

• 4 large bone-in chicken breasts, skinned
• 2 cups raw walnuts
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
• 3/4 cup pomegranate molasses
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

In a food processor (or if you don’t have a food processor, a blender works just as well), grind walnuts into a fine meal, taking care not to over-process lest you end up with walnut butter. In a large saucepan, saute ground walnuts over medium heat with chopped onion until walnuts release some oil and turn darker in color. By that time, the onions will become soft and translucent as well. Arrange the raw chicken breasts in the pan in a single layer, bone side down. Drizzle pomegranate molasses and sprinkle salt all over the chicken. Add one cup of water to the pan and bring to a gentle boil; cover, lower the heat slightly, and let the stew simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

Flip the chicken pieces and scrape the walnut sauce off the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching. Continue to simmer gently for another 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and transfer chicken to a separate bowl and let cool (I didn’t let my chicken cool at all. I simply put it on a plate and shredded it, and then added it right back into the pan). Remove bones and shred into bite-sized pieces. Return the chicken to the pan and stir to cover chicken with sauce; heat through.

Correct the seasonings with more salt, if necessary. If the stew is too acidic for your taste, add a pinch of sugar to help balance it out. Serve warm over desired rice.

Last Saturday’s dinner was an easy, one (just the way I like it)! I always feel like I have all this time on my hands on Saturdays, then some how, it turns into 5 o’clock at night and I’m just starting my cooking and baking. I just don’t know where my time goes!

I’ve mentioned previously that I wanted to cook and bake at least once every weekend. The night for that is usually Saturdays because I [usually] have an entire day for whatever it is I want to do.

I found a recipe for grilled chicken and pineapple quesadillas on The Pioneer Woman’s blog and I knew right away that was what I wanted to make. It’s a very hands-on recipe, not like a chicken parm that you leave in the oven for an hour and it’s done. This takes grilling the chicken and pineapple, toasting the quesadilla shells one by one, assembling, and then again, putting them back on the skillet. Somehow, I consider this an easy recipe.

The Pioneer Woman cuts up an entire pineapple. I figured I’d save myself some time and a finger or two and buy the pre-cut pieces. I highly recommend this. Grilling them is super easy, and even easier if you have a skewer. The pineapple makes this recipe in my opinion, so don’t leave it out. I mixed the chicken around in a Frank’s Red Hot Sweet Heat BBQ sauce to give it some kick and the pineapple added a really nice sweet taste to it.

The official recipe is linked at the bottom of this post, but I took a few pictures to show you the assembly process =)

First, toast up your quesadilla wraps by adding some olive oil to a hot skillet, larger than the wrap itself. Flip it over after a minute or two just so each side is nice and toasty.

Then, add your chicken…
I cut mine into strips because The Pioneer Woman did and I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s doing in life.

Then, add your pineapple, cheese, and jalapeño pieces (not show in picture, but I did add them, and they are awesome! If you like hot, put these bad boys on).

Then, top this beauty off with another toasted quesadilla wrap and return it to the hot skillet with some olive oil. It gets this awesome crispy, golden-brown outside.

There you have it! Grilled chicken and pineapple quesadillas. I paired it with a corn chowder, a mix my sister got me from the deep south. It was yummy.

You know what else would be great with this? A tequila mockingbird. That’s a whole other post for a whole other time. But I’ll give you a little hint: tequila, pineapple juice, chambord. There’s more to it, but that’s all you get for now. If you really want the recipe, I’ll find it in my heart to give it to you. Heck, of course I’ll give it to you! I need to share this fabulous drink with the world. I, however, cannot take credit for it. Big shout out to Mel here: Mel created this drink and named it, and it’s fabulous!

Enjoy this tasty meal, and don’t forget some avocado and sour cream!

Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas from The Pioneer Woman

• 8 whole Flour Tortillas
• Butter Or Margarine
• 2 cups Grilled Pineapple, Sliced
• 3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Sliced
• Cilantro
• 3 Tablespoons Barbecue Sauce

Instructions

(To grill pineapple: stick wedges on skewers, and grill over low heat. Cut into slices.)
(To pound chicken, place inside a Ziploc bag and pound with a mallet or large can to flatten to uniform thickness.)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun spice (or cumin/cayenne, etc.) Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan and grill on both sides until done, brushing with barbecue sauce. Set aside and slice into very thin slices.
Warm griddle over medium heat and put sizzling butter or margarine [I used olive oil] in the pan. Slightly warm and toast tortillas on both sides, then remove from griddle and set aside.

To assemble, sprinkle four browned tortillas with grated Monterey Jack. Arrange chicken slices evenly over the surface. Add pineapple slices and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on cilantro [I didn't use any cilantro]. If desired, drizzle extra barbecue sauce over the top. Add second browned tortilla on top of each one. (You’ll have four complete quesadillas at this point.)

Add to oven to warm, or back to skillet to warm, until cheese is melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream, avocado, pico de gallo, and lime wedges. Yum!

As I browsed my twitter feed last week, I came across a tweet that stated this: “I want to make every recipe on this site: http://FifteenSpatulas.com/ @Fifteenspatulas.” Bold statement, eh? Well, of course I had to click on the link after that! (and I suggest you do, too!)

I was directed to Fifteen Spatulas’s food blog – a clean website full of beautiful photos of food (yes, I said it, food is beautiful). I was nothing short of surprised as to why someone tweeted about wanting to make every recipe; they all look a-maz-ing!

I browsed recipe after recipe and eventually scrolled over a photo of saucy, breaded chicken with brussel sprouts. Pecan and Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce. SOLD! I knew what I was making for Saturday night dinner =)

The chicken so easy to prepare, which I’m a huge fan of, and I had all of the ingredients on hand, which was also nice. It came out tasting so yummy and full of flavor! As it was cooking, I was afraid the cornmeal was to be too dry, so I poured the honey mustard sauce over the chicken about 5 minutes before it was done cooking. That helped the cornmeal moisten up a bit and the sauce to heat up right on the chicken.

I roasted up some winter veggies (butternut squash, parsnips, yams, and carrots) because I was craving them after watching Barefoot Contessa make them on her show the other day. They were so simple and went wonderfully with the flavors of the chicken. I also whipped up some muffins.

So Chris and I enjoyed a homemade meal of pecan crusted chicken, roasted winter vegetables, cheese and zucchini muffins, and a bottle of wine. I can’t wait to try more recipes from Fifteen Spatulas!

Check out Fifteen Spatulas’ for this recipe and so many more!

I’m trying to make it a weekly routine to cook dinner at least one night when I go home for the weekend. Baking has always been soothing to me. It’s a peaceful time for me in the kitchen. Cooking on the other hand has always been my downfall. Lately I’ve been giving it a chance though, and I think I’ve been getting better each time. I made this last weekend and it was phenomenal if I do say so myself. The brandy and chicken stock smell so good when they’re cooking with the browned butter and onions. Add in the cheese and shrimp, and all the flavors come together perfectly.

I was craving a creamy risotto over the weekend and found this recipe on Fifteen Spatula’s blog, so I knew I was destined to make this! I will definitely make this again. And for all you non-cooks out there, risotto is super easy, so I do suggest this recipe. Happy cooking!

Brandy and Brown Butter Risotto from Fifteen Spatulas

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 cup finely chopped red or yellow onion
• 1.5 cups Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup Brandy liqueur
• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (real parmesan, aged 2 years)
• 1/4 cup chopped Parsley, Chervil, or Basil
• 1/2 pound of shrimp, lobster, or other shellfish

Directions:

In a medium pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Put the lid on to keep it hot (you never want to add cold stock to hot risotto).

In a large and wide saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once melted, cook the butter for a couple minutes until it turns brown. The butter is first going to foam a bit, then it will take on that brown color you want. You see the white foamy stuff? Those are the milk solids, and they burn very easily. The most important thing to do when browning your butter is to make sure you don’t walk away from it. Why do we brown butter? Browning butter gives it a nutty character, which tastes gooooood.

Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, just to soften slightly. (I actually just threw my shrimp in at this point and cooked them while the onions were softening. I took the shrimp out when they were done and added them back in when the dish was done.) We are building the aromatics! Add the rice and stir for 3-4 minutes (we are toasting the rice…smell how aromatic it is)! Add the Brandy and simmer until it evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add a few ladles of stock to the rice, just enough to cover the surface of the rice.

Stir until the stock is absorbed, then repeat the process, until the stock is all gone (this should take about 15-20 minutes). Now, taste the rice. Does it taste crunchy at all? If it does, add more stock if you have it. If you don’t have more stock, add white wine. If you don’t have any white wine, add water. Remove your risotto from the heat, and beat in the parmigiano, 1 tbsp of butter, and desired herbs with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Don’t be scared. Grilled chicken is your friend.

You can eat it plain, on a salad, on a sandwich, make a panini, dip it in honey (as I used to do as a kid still do as a 21-year-old), throw it in pasta, make quesadillas, make pizza, anddd the list goes on.

What I’m trying to get at is that grilling chicken is so super easy, I think you should try it. You may be saying to yourself, “this post may be a bit more appropriate for the summer season, ya know, when my grill is not a frozen brick,” but I felt the need to write about grilled chicken now, in the middle of the coldest darn winter I have ever experienced.

We actually have a giant grilling pan in our house that goes over the stove top. It’s really convenient, and I do suggest one for anyone who likes to grill and not freeze their buns off during the winter. I’m not sure how elementary this post may sound, but I feel like grilling chicken may be one of those things some people just don’t know how to do. So first things first, get your pieces of chicken out and give them a few squirt of olive oil. Flip them over to cover both sides. Then, add your favorite grilling spice – I use Mrs. Dash’s Chicken Grilling Blend – but you can use lemon pepper, or cajun spice, or Montreal Steak Seasoning, or whatever your little heart desires. Add some salt and pepper, and you’re good to go. Make sure your grill is hot and throw those pieces on there. Let them sizzle away, and depending on how thick or thin your pieces are, flip them when you think the first side is done cooking. If your pieces are really thick, make sure you cut into them to make sure the thickest part is fully cooked. The outside may get a bit charcoaled, but you don’t want to serve uncooked chicken. When juices run clear, and no pink is left inside, you’re good to go! See, wasn’t that so fun and easy?!

Now go enjoy your grilled chicken. Go wild.