Helen's chicken

last night upon returning from work, I was greeted by this... Helen's molested chicken! As far as i'm concerned, there is not much to this. Here are the instructions..

*You can use a beer bottle or can
* Prop chicken up on a stand
* season lightly with a little salt and pepper
* Place small piece of foil at the top ( so oven will not burn it )


This takes literally minutes to prepare and is very healthy. Rocco ate an entire half breast to himself ;-)

Tongue

Hello!

I simply wanted to give you a sneak peak at a Tongue dish i'm working on. Once perfected, I will definately post more details. For now, enjoy salivating over a picture.

Ciao,

Me

Quick 30 minute Salmon Dinner

As some of you may know, I could probably pitch a tent and live in my kitchen. In reality however, most of us have full time jobs and it's difficult to spend more than 30 minutes preparing Dinner after a long day at work. Well, it's Friday today and traditionally Sicilians will only eat fish on this day. I'm going to share a very easy and quick way to make one of my favorite fish... Salmon.

Preheat your oven on " broil " at 425 for about 10 minutes.

Start with a baking pan and line with a piece of foil paper 2.5 to 3 times the size of your Salmon Fillet. Coat the foil with olive oil. Place the Salmon fillet on the foil. Season with minced garlic, salt ,pepper, pinch of parsley. Fold foil over the fish ( like folding an egg roll ). Place in the oven.

Broil from 15 to 20 minutes depending on fillet size. Salmon is served!

If you would like to add a bit more flavor to this dish, simply add pieces of Challenge Salted Butter before you cook it or you can adhere to the ingredients above and pour a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and pinch of salt over the fish once it's plated to be served.

Excellent side dishes to compliment this dish are steamed veggies, hot buttery corn or garlic mashed potatoes along with an exquisite glass of BV Chardonnay.

Auguri, buon appetito and have a great weekend!

Brucciuluna alla Siciliana

Bruciuluna... You are probably wondering what they are? Hmm, for some reason while reminiscing on life recently, I reflected on a very dear memory of my mom in the kitchen cooking in her green apron in which she sewed herself. She was making bruciuluna! I liked bugging her all the time to make these. Bruciuluna was a " once a year " tradition for us. Mom would only make them for New Years day... unless of course her youngest pest ( me ) itched for them throughout the year, then Bruciuluna's were once again being made.

So, what are Bruciuluna? Here's how they are made.....

1st things first...Prep Bruciuluna

you will need:

Thin sliced steaks ( approx 5 x5 in size and tenderized )Ground Beef, Ground Pork, Eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, parmasan cheese, parsley

portions depend on batch sizes and I'm only familiar with cooking big batches and " winging portion sizes " to my liking. I really make a horrible teacher but just hear me out.... these things are GREAT!

Keep your steaks on the side with a stack of toothpicks

Mix: Ground beef, ground pork, cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and add enough eggs to keep mixture soft.

Next; assemble the Bruciuluna

Take a 5x5 slice of meat, add mixing of ground beef, pork, etc to the middle. Add enough to wrap the steak around all the contents and secure with 2 to 3 toothpicks. Place on a plate. Repeat steps until all ingredients are gone.

Fry:

Next, brown the bruciuluna in a pan with olive oil. Few minutes max. Don't wait for the raw filling to cook. that will cook later.




Next step...Tomato Sauce.

I like to add red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, sometimes a pinch of red peppers, Challenge Salted Butter. Stir fry with virgin olive oil. Wait till onions and garlic brown lightly, then add 1 can tomato paste and one can's worth of water. Stir

Puree a can of peeled tomatoes, add in sauce pot.

Let sauce simmer for approximately 20 minutes, then add Bruciuluna. Simmer on low to medium heat for approx 1 hour.


Bruciuluna are served!

Excellent side offerings to complement these are fresh bread or pasta ( cause you've got delicious sauce coming out of the pot you just cooked Bruciuluna in YUMM )

Enjoy! I might actually make these this New Years!

Foods that taste good are always not good for us?

So, is that a myth or fact? I have personally been on many unsuccessful diets... meaning, I have lost 80 to 100+ lbs each time, but only to gain it all back.... and then some. It's always the " and then some " that is truly freightning me. 2 years ago, I embarked on the diet to end all diets, I dropped 108 lbs in just about 1.5 years! It's the most I have ever dropped, best I have looked or felt in my life. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long.

I have come to the conclusion that extreme dieting is very unhealthy. The frequent yoyoing of weight reeks havoc on vital organs... and not to mention the pocket book of always needing to buy different size clothes. I am embarking on a new era in my life.... I want to learn to cook healthy and tasty.

If Jared can be an Icon for Subway, Why can't I come up with dishes that are low cal and taste great?

My goal? I'm loosing weight this year. I'm not going to sacrifice it all, but I would like Ideas on alternative ingredients. I love to cook with alot of garlic, salt, pepper, red onions and parmasan cheese. Another ingredient my food swims with is Olive Oil. I love Olive Oil, put it in everything, fry with it, etc....

I refuse to do this on Salads, veggies, coffee and cigarrettes again. This time, i'm keeping my health in mind.

Idea's? I will be back tomorrow...