Vegetarian Pizza Monkey Bread

When I was searching for a third dish to make for our friends this past Saturday, I immediately thought of my friend Elina's blog post about Pizza Monkey Bread.  I adapted the recipe by replacing the pepperoni with chopped basil to make this a vegetarian-friendly dish for our friends.

First, I gathered my ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds pizza dough (I used pre-made dough from Whole Foods when I discovered too late that I had thrown out my frozen pizza dough when we lost power during the storm last month)
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
• Handful of basil, chopped
• 2-3 cups of marinara sauce, warmed, for serving

We got to working prepping our ingredients.  First, I let the pizza dough rest on a cutting board.

Meanwhile, Bret cut the mozzarella cheese into cubes.

I thinly sliced the garlic and chopped up the basil.

I then warmed the garlic and butter over medium heat until the garlic began to brown.  I poured the garlic butter into a bowl and let it sit.

The next steps were easy.  I lightly brushed the inside of a bundt pan with garlic butter. (Thanks Mom for letting me borrow the bundt pan!)  Bret and I then had fun putting the monkey bread together.  We took off chunks of dough (probably the size of two large marble-sized balls) and flattened them.  We stuffed the dough with chopped basil and a cube of mozzarella cheese.  We wrapped the dough up into a bowl and pinched the edges tightly to seal.  The final step was to brush the dough ball with garlic bread before putting it in the bundt pan. 

The basil stuck to our hands and the dough a bit because of the garlic butter but I thought this made the monkey bread look more colorful.  I let the monkey bread dough rest for about an hour before baking it at 400 degrees for thirty-five minutes.  I only let the dough rest for so long to time it with the arrival of our guests.

When I took it out, the monkey bread looked fabulous!  Some of the balls had opened up a little bit for some beautiful baked cheese bits.  I let the monkey bread rest in the bundt pan for about ten minutes before flipping it onto a platter.

The monkey bread was a big hit!  Everyone kept going back for more and it was so fun to pull pieces of the monkey bread and dip it into the marinara sauce.  This was so easy to make and I can't wait to make this again!

What are some of your fun and favorite appetizer dishes?

Creamy Horseradish Dip

In addition to the Sweet and Salty Pecans, I wanted to make a nice vegetable dip for our friends on Saturday night.  I asked Bret to browse through the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (another gift from the Boston Brunchers' Birthday Brunch) to see if any of the dip recipes looked appealing to him.  He pointed out the Creamy Horseradish Dip recipe, which sounded like it would be pretty flavorful.

First, I gathered the ingredients:

• 3/4 cup light mayonnaise (original recipe calls for regular mayo) 
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish, squeezed of excess liquid
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

I combined all of the ingredients in a plastic container until the dip was smooth and creamy.

I put the dip in the refrigerator to chill and to let the flavors blend together.  The recipe says that the dip should be chilled for at least one hour but can be refrigerated for up to two days.  I just kept it in the refrigerator for about six hours.

Before our guests arrived, Bret and I cut up some celery sticks and cucumber slices.  I transferred the dip to a serving platter with baby carrots, celery sticks and cucumber slices.

Overall, the dip had a great flavor because of the horseradish.  However, I felt like the mayo flavor was way too strong.  Bret disagreed and our friends seemed to enjoy the dip a lot.  I think I would love to make this creamy horseradish dip again with sour cream and Greek yogurt.

As the holiday season approaches, I'm looking forward to discovering new dip recipes.  Tell me, what is your go-to dip recipe?

Sweet and Salty Pecans

This past weekend, we had some of Bret's friends over to finally see our new place.  I'm embarrassed to admit that we've been living in Andover since August and that some of our good friends still haven't seen our place!  Since Bret's friends are vegetarians so I thought this was a good opportunity to try out some new meat-free recipes that would still be pretty flavorful!

My plan was to make a few different dishes that would be easy to nibble on.  I browsed through the complimentary Salty Sweets cookbook that I received at the Boston Brunchers' Birthday Brunch and the recipe for Sweet and Salty Pecans quickly caught my eye.

First, I gathered the ingredients.  Since I had about two cups of pecans, I decided to double the recipe:

• 4 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon iodized salt (original recipe calls for fine sea salt)
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 cups pecan pieces

I combined the brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and water in a small bowl and whisked to dissolve the sugars.

Since we purchased whole pecans, Bret helped roughly chop the pecans into pecan pieces.

I placed the pecans in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

I pour the sugar mixture over the pecans and stirred the nuts to make sure they were evenly coated.

I continued stirring as the sugar mixture heated up and started to bubble.  I let the pecans cook until the moisture was almost gone.  This took me about six minutes.  Per the recipe's instructions, I didn't let the water cook off completely.

I removed the pecans from the skillet onto a parchment-lined baking sheet to cool.

The pecans were mostly sweet and had a nice hint of saltiness.  While the cookbook recommends eating these as a snack or as a dessert topping, the sugar coating made the pecans sticky and a bit messy to eat with your hands as a snack.  However, I'm sure they will make a perfect topping for a pumpkin ice cream sundae!

What is your favorite food that incorporates both salty and sweet flavors?

Thanksgiving Recovery at Den Rock Park

After running a 5K in the morning, you feel like you've really earned your Thanksgiving day feast.  But after Thanksgiving, I still felt a little guilty from overindulging on my favorite carb-filled dishes.  As a result, on Friday morning, I pushed myself for an hour-long indoor bike ride.  My legs were tired but I definitely a little better as I made myself a Thanksgiving-leftover sandwich!

After sleeping in yesterday morning, Bret and I decided to get some exercise and fresh air by checking out a hiking trail at Den Rock Park in Lawrence. 

Den Rock Park is less than five minutes away from our home and right across the street from where I regularly do our grocery shopping.  However, I never heard of it before until my dad mentioned it to me a month or two ago.  Saturday was filled with sunshine and warm temperatures, which made it a perfect opportunity to go for a hike and work off our Thanksgiving leftovers!

Here are some photos from our hike:

What did you do to enjoy some of this beautiful New England weather this weekend?

Feaster Five Re-Cap

For me, Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, drinking lots of wine and eating fabulous food.  Thus, it was pretty surprising when I did something this Thanksgiving that I never thought I'd do...run a road race!  In Andover, the Feaster Five is a major road race that takes place every Thanksgiving morning.  When a co-worker mentioned it to me, I thought I'd sign up for it, especially since the runners pass right by our house.  I managed to convince Bret to do it as well.

It was a beautiful but chilly morning on Thursday.  We were bundled up and ready to go!

I've run the course a handful of times on my own and it is a bit challenging.  There is a pretty steep hill in the first mile.  The rest of the course is mostly flat but after the third mile, the home stretch is another steep hill.  The first hill actually went really well.  I think I was encouraged by all of the runners around me and they helped push me faster than I would have run on my own.  The last hill was a bit challenging.  I was definitely tired but I probably could have pushed myself a little more.

Overall, I thought I ran at a pretty good pace even though the race was a bit of a mess.  Walkers, runners with strollers, runners with dogs, families running four or five across made it an obstacle course to tuck in and out around them.  Parts of the course were really narrow to make room for the 5-mile race so it got a bit hectic.  Still, I was happy with my end time of 35:04, especially since I was running 36-37 minutes on my own.  I wish that I had pushed myself a little harder to get under 35 minutes, but I guess this just gives me a goal for next year!

Bret's bib unfortunately tore during his run and as a result, his time never got recorded.  He was definitely bummed, especially since this was his first 5K.  He faithfully ran with me the entire time but I know that he could have easily run faster than me if he wanted to. 

I originally ran my first 5K in April because it was an item to cross off on my 30 by 30 list.  I never thought that I would keep signing up for more.  I definitely never thought that I would have run three 5Ks in a year, or that Bret and I would ever run a race together!  While I still wouldn't call myself a runner, I've definitely started enjoying challenging and pushing myself with each race.  Bret and I are already talking about doing another one in Andover in April. 

For Bret and I, running the 5K together might be a new Thanksgiving tradition.  Tell me, how was your Thanksgiving?  Was it filled with old traditions or are did you start any new traditions? 

Spicy Glazed Chicken Thighs

While I had my Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple in the oven, I decided to whip together a quick and easy glaze to make Spicy Glazed Chicken Thighs.

In a small roasting pan, I mixed together the following ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• Few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 habanero pepper, finely chopped with seeds in

I added four small boneless chicken thighs to the pan and turned the chicken thighs several times to get a nice coating of the glaze.

I put the roasting pan in the oven on the top rack at 450 degrees while my sweet potatoes and pineapple roasted on the lower rack.  I let the chicken bake for about twelve minutes on the top rack.  I then turned the chicken thighs over, continued baking for ten minutes on the lower rack, and then broiled on high for about five minutes.  And then dinner was done!

The spicy glaze helped give the chicken thighs a nice crispy exterior while keeping the meat juicy and tender.  The red pepper flakes and habanero pepper made the chicken really spicy and it went perfectly with the milder and sweeter roasted sweet potatoes and pineapple.

The spicy glazed chicken thighs came together pretty quickly with all of the ingredients in my pantry and freezer.  Tell me, what was the last dish that you threw together with ingredients on hand?

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple

When I was flipping through my most recent issue of Everyday Food, I automatically tore out the recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple.  I have been obsessed with roasted sweet potatoes lately and I loved that this recipe played on sweet and spicy flavors.

I pre-heated the oven at 450 degrees while I got the ingredients together.  There were only a few ingredients but I couldn't help myself and modified the recipe a little bit:

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (I left the skin on)
• 1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces (I cheated and purchased a contained of already peeled and cored pineapple already cut into chunks)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used about a 3/4 teaspoon)
• Salt, to taste (I also seasoned with fresh-cracked peppercorns)

I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed the foil with cooking spray.  I tossed all of the ingredients together on the baking sheet.

I roasted the sweet potatoes and pineapple for about twenty minutes on the lower rack of the oven, gave them a stir and finished roasting on the top rack for about ten minutes.  I basically roasted the sweet potatoes and pineapple until they were both tender to the touch and had a beautiful roasted color.

These cayenne added a nice level of heat to the sweet potatoes and the even sweeter pineapples.

We ate these with spicy glazed chicken thighs (recipe to come).

I've never thought of roasting pineapple before but now I know I'll try roasting pineapple with cayenne and other root vegetables in the future!

Mediocre Pub Fare at Grumpy Doyle's

On Sunday evening, Bret and I found ourselves absolutely wiped.  While babysitting our nephew was a lot of fun, he is a bundle of energy and he wore us out!  I originally had dinner plans with some friends and wasn't planning on cooking dinner.  But when my dinner plans fell through, we both felt too lazy to cook and ended up grabbing a bite to eat at Grumpy Doyle's.

When we arrived at Grumpy Doyle's around 5:30 PM, the restaurant and bar were both relatively full.  There was an Irish band singing live music and the place felt lively, despite the early dining time.  To start, Bret and I both ordered seasonal winter warmer beers.  I went for the Sam Adams and Bret went for the Harpoon.  At my insistence, we switched beers because the Harpoon had a nutmeg-flavor that was more to my liking.

We were both famished and decided to order an appetizer of grilled chicken nachos.  I loved that none of the tortilla chips were soggy and that there was a generous presence of melted cheese.

Bret and I tried to order several different dishes for our entrees but were told that a lot of our choice dishes weren't available.  We both ended up ordering dishes that really weren't our first choices.  I chose the chicken and pear sandwich - grilled chicken, brie, caramelized pears, arugula, tomato and herb aioli on a ciabatta bread.

I over-indulged on the nachos and only ate a quarter of my sandwich.  There was way too much herb aioli on my sandwich, which made it a bit soggy both on Sunday night and for leftovers at lunch today.

Bret ordered the pulled chicken sandwich and was disappointed when chunks of chicken was served instead of actually pulled chicken.  He found the sandwich lacking in sauce and the brioche bun that it was served on was cold.  The sandwich was supposed to come with a fried pickle spear, but none was to be found on his plate.  Bret was just so disappointed in his entire dinner, especially since this sandwich was not really his first choice either.

We've heard really great things about Grumpy Doyle's so were pretty surprised at our experience.  Perhaps it was an off night or a lack of items on the menu that lead to such a disappointing meal.

Have you eaten somewhere recently that was a total letdown?

Grumpy Doyle's is located at 530 Main Street, Reading, MA.

30 By 30: Go Fly A Kite

This past weekend, Bret and I offered to babysit Bret's four-year old nephew.  I know that I'm biased, but Noah has to be the most hysterical, contemplative, and bright four-year old in the world.  Like I said, I know I'm biased.  We did lots of things together in a short span of twenty-four hours, including crossing another item off my 30 by 30 list. 

I've got to say that I have never had as much fun working on my 30 by 30 list than I did flying a kite with the little guy.

1. Run a 5K.

• B.A.A. 5K (April 2011)
• Lawyers Have Heart 5K (June 2011)

2. Go camping, like real camping...overnight...in a tent.

3. Pay off all of my credit card debt.

4. Attend a live WWE event (don't judge).

5. Make Gordon Hamersley's roast chicken.

6. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge.

7. Go out to dinner and a movie by myself.

8. Watch all three of the original Star Wars movies.

9. Boil a lobster by myself for the first time.

10. Write my will.

11. Write a letter of apology to someone that I have wronged and send it.

12. Experiment with molecular gastronomy.

13. Learn to drive stick shift.

14. Learn to make my own kimchi.

15. Learn how to change a car tire.

16. Go to a shooting range.

17. Redesign "Fun and Fearless in Beantown"

18. Launch a wedding website.

19. Cook a three-course vegan dinner for my vegan friends.

20. Make turducken for the first time.

21. Climb a mountain.

22. Complete thirty (30) hours of community service or volunteering.

• Completed four hours at the Greater Boston Food Bank.

23. Finish an entire plate of Hell Pasta from East Coast Grill.
24. Floss every day.

• So far I've only missed four days of flossing since January 14th!

25. Take a self-defense course.

26. Make homemade ice cream for the first time.

27. Make gnocchi for the first time.
28. Fly a kite.
29. Milk a cow.
30. Participate in a city dinner crawl, which means having cocktails, appetizer, dinner, dessert and post-dinner cocktails each at a different place in one city in one night.

There is nothing more rewarding than a child's amazement and joy at something as simple as flying a kite.