Fontina & Asiago Grilled Cheese Panini & Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

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For those of you who live in parts of the country that have been getting hit hard with the Winter of 2010 blizzards, snow and ice storms . . . here's the perfect cozy-up lunch idea that I made last week when the weather rolled through the Carolina's. Here's a few photos of what we experienced that was just enough 'weather' to build a roaring fire in the fireplace and put my diet to the side for one day!

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Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! What could be more perfect for a cold winter's day lunch? So many of us in the U.S. grew up with this classic, yet simple combination of soup and sammy. But traditionally we've used Velveeta cheese alone or at least in combination of other cheeses. And for the soup, we usually opened up a can of tomato soup and added milk and butter in place of water. Not bad for a quick and comforting lunch. This used to hit the spot, but as our tastes mature canned soup doesn't satisfy anymore, especially after a taste of this creamy tomato basil soup from the Barefoot Contessa, which takes this classic combo to another level!

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I always keep my cheese drawer in my frig full of a variety of cheeses at all times. (It may not be good for a diet, but discipline is key there, huh?). The cheese staples always include an assortment of Fontina, Asiago, Parmesan, Pecorino, Feta, and Maytag blue cheese. Since these are constants in our 'cold pantry', a more interesting grilled cheese sandwich is always at the ready!

Italian Grilled Fontina & Asiago Cheese Panini

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What you need to make the panini:

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Italian bread, sliced fairly thick

Fontina cheese, sliced

Asiago cheese, grated into slivers

Parmesan cheese, grated

Pecorino cheese grated

Olive Oil

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What you need to do to make the panini:

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Brush the olive oil generously on one side of two pieces of Italian bread

Layer the Fontina slices on top of one slice of bread (not the olive oil side)

Sprinkle a lot of Asiago slivers on top

Sprinkle a lot of Parmesan cheese on top

Sprinkle a lot of Pecornino cheese on top

Place on your hot panini grill.

Grill for about 2 1/2 minutes and then flip over and grill until golden and cheese begins to ooze onto the grill.

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Serve hot with Barefoot Contessa's Creamy Tomato Basil soup! A few posts earlier, I posted a recipe from my new cookbook that I received from my niece for Christmas. So instead of the old canned soup standby, I referred to Ina's recipe on pp 58 - 59 for homemade tomato-basil soup. For this I used fresh-frozen tomatoes from my garden that have been screaming for me to take out of the freezer! If you use high quality canned tomatoes, you should also get nice results. The changes that I made to this recipe included: not adding any sugar, using sea salt instead of Kosher salt, adding more garlic, and increasing the cream to 1 cup. I also use an immersion blender to get everything working together better.

Cream of Tomato Basil Soup (by Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten)

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What you need for the soup:

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
5 large fresh or frozen from the garden tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

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What you need to do to make the soup:

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Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over low heat.

Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until tender.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper.

Bring this to a boil, and then lower the heat to simmer uncovered, for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.
Blend in the cream.

Place an immersion blender into the pot and blend well.

Using a sieve/strainer, pull out any large unwanted chunks of anything.

Reheat the soup over low heat.

Garnish with basil leaves.

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Stay warm now!

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Tied For First Place on FOODISTA: My Guacamole Recipe!

Well, I'll be!

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My most recently posted recipe, "Awesome Guacamole" tied for First Place on FOODISTA's contest for "Best Super Bowl Appetizer". The announcement was made today on FOODISTA's Facebook page (you need to go there and click on "Become A Fan" to receive announcements).

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Well, what a hoot and a great way to start my Super Bowl weekend cooking! I truly am all smiles right now! :-)

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Many thanks for this wonderful and very unexpected surprise!

**Psssst! ..And it really is darn good guacamole! ;-)

Can't Get Enough Of This GUACAMOLE For The Super Bowl !

"ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?"

Well, the big American football day is nearly here . . . and even though most folks are focused on the game, I know that I'm going to focus on preparing and presenting all of the food while W.D. sits in his "man-chair" with remote control in hand! (Yes, he helps, but I really like doing it all so he's just out of the way!)
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First and foremost on our Super Bowl menu is ALWAYS, fresh guacamole! I have made this recipe for years now after trying numerous versions of the green stuff. Personally, I feel that this is just plum awesome. But we all have our own ways to make 'gwauk', and this is my humble little attempt of green bliss on a chip! Just look at these fresh avocados and limes that I picked up at the organic food store . . . incredibly beautiful colors!!

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Set out all of your ingredients at one time and set in your work area, so that your preparation time is more efficient. Just the colors of these avocados and limes make your mouth water! Gosh, fresh produce is just so beautiful!!

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Awesome Guacamole

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What you need to have to make the guacamole:
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3 large ripe Haas avocados, peeled and cubed

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1/4 cup lime juice salt to taste Cayenne pepper (if desired)

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What you need to do to prepare the guacamole:
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In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated.
Add the salt and mash.
Fold in the onions, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro.
Add 1/2 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice.
Taste and add any ingredient to your taste preferences.
Serve immediately with tortilla chips.
When cutting or seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect your hands.
And avoid touching your face.

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Start with slicing the avocados in half. With a knife pull out the pit. With a large spoon, in one large scoop, take out all of the pulp from the peel. It should look like this (below):

Then slice and dice the avocados and place in a bowl . . . these are absolutely PERFECT!

Take the lime and cut in half to . . . .

squeeze the juice (with the help of a teaspoon pressing into the lime) onto the avocados.

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Dice the onion, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers . . .

Chop the cilantro into tiny pieces . . .


Then put all of the chopped and diced ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Add chopped jalapeno peppers.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add cayenne pepper (if desired).

Mash it to your preference level. We like ours chunky and not blended, but it is totally up to you.

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Garnish with more chopped tomatoes and cilantro and start digging in. Watch this stuff disappear FAST!

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And this recipe is JUST the beginning . . . there's more to come, so stay tuned!

I know that I'm going to be checking in on all of your blogs to see what you're cooking up for the big game day!

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Web-Sites to Purchase Mojo or My Recipe for Home-Made Fresh Mojo

Well from the number of emails and comments that I received about my last post on Mojo marinade, it sounds like most of you were like me, in that you had never heard of Mojo marinade before. So I did y'all a big favor! I did a search on the Web for sites where you can buy the marinade and I also included my own home-made recipe version of this signature Cuban marinade. As with every recipe that I try, I make my own adjustments. For this, I added more garlic and cilantro, and I added some lemon juice. Cilantro is not typically used in the traditional Mojo recipes. But we love the bite of cilantro in combination with lime, so that's just how we do it.

Mojo Marinade

What ingredients you need to make the marinade:

8 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup minced yellow onion, finely minced
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (traditionally, 'sour' orange juice is used, but the addition of lime juice solves that issue)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (to add more tartness, add more lime juice)
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano flakes
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 - 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco (this is optional if you want some 'fire')
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

What you need to do to make the Mojo marinade:

In a deep saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat.
Saute' the garlic and onion for about 45 seconds until a nice aroma develops and they are golden, but NOT BROWN.
Pour in all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a full boil.
Taste and make any preferred seasoning adjustments.
Cool completely.
If you like, you can also place your immersion blender into this and give it a whirl.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Tyler Florence (Food Network) also has his own version of Mojo for chicken:

4 garlic cloves
2 serrano chilies, seeds removed
1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves
the juice of 2 limes
the juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put the garlic, chilies, cilantro, lime juice, orange juice, and olive oil into a blender and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

To purchase on-line, if your stores do not carry Mojo, and/or you don't have the time to prepare the marinade, here are a few options:

Badia: (shown above)

http://www.badia-spices.com/cooking/cooking_prod_detail.cfm?id=131

Goyo: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00032CV8O/ref=asc_df_B00032CV8O1020031?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=googlecom09c9-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B00032CV8O

Conchita:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001SAQENS/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00032CV8O&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0VVDBSKT3W4KJS0RH7YKAnd

For a lot of Latin shopping fun, if you want to take a look at a HUGE variety of Mojo marinades, a great site to visit is the Cuban Food Market.com:

http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=TFM&Store_Code=CFM&Category_Code=11204

So if you're often swamped and busy like I am, for whatever reason that may be, sometimes it is just so nice to know that you've got a bottle of this stuff just waiting to be used instantly.

Give yourself a little break sometimes and put a little Mojo in your life!

And I do hope that you tell me what you think of this after trying it someday.

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Do You Mojo Your Chicken?

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Mojo marinade, that is!
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We have a wonderful friend who was born in Cuba and became a U.S. citizen many years ago. He has shared incredibly delicious recipes with us, that I have never mastered. However, one simple thing that he led me to that both you and I can easily add some Latin zest to any meat or fish is this marinade called "Mojo".
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This marinade is a blend of garlic, onion, citrus, and more in which I give my chicken a nice soak in for a terrific grilled chicken. You can find a bottle or a jug of Mojo in the ethnic/Mexican section of your grocery stores and also in any international grocery store.
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I'm still on the losing weight track and grilled, marinated chicken with a super mixed salad and a light raspberry vinaigrette fits the 'loaded-full-of-flavor' requirement for me.
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For our salads, we always garnish with 2 chopped garlic-stuffed olives, a few sprinkles of low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes, and slivered almonds (we love the crunch, in addition to the health benefits of the almonds). Of course, I've got to be very disciplined with the dressing, so that's why you can see in the photo that I just drizzle the dressing.
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Here's what to look for in the market when trying to locate "Mojo" marinade:
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In a bowl or pan, pour some of the Mojo on the bottom and then lay your chicken, meat, or fish on top and then generously pour more of the marinade all over. I also prick the meat with a fork so that the sauce gets deeper inside. Place in the frig for 15 to 30 minutes and allow the marinade to do its magic.

Even though it is still quite chilly here in the Carolina's on this first day of February, we can still go outside on the deck to use the grill. For Christmas, W.D. and I always buy just one gift, and the gift has to be something that we both enjoy. So below is our Christmas present to each other, because our 17-year old Weber gas grill finally kicked the bucket. We are always so pleased when we get such high mileage out of anything that we purchase (Our longest-lived purchase was our Jeep Grand Cherokee that clocked 340,000 miles -- but, alas, I've gotten off topic!) Anyhow, back to the new cooking toy . . . we bought it in a rich, dark bronze to match the brick on the house.

. . . it comes with this handy-dandy burner on the side now, which we think is a nice feature!

Place the chicken (or whatever you choose to marinate) on the grill and discard any remaining marinade.

Grill to your desired level of done-ness. . . about 10 - 15 minutes total, when you see those beautiful brown grill marks on each side.

Make your salad or side dishes either before or during the grilling process, and serve your entree immediately while hot. Here, as I mentioned earlier, I prepared a simple, but loaded salad dressed with a light, raspberry vinaigrette!

Happy Healthy Eating, my friends!

The Carnevale Lasagna is DELICIOSO!

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Well, it may have taken me half of a day to make this lasagna recipe, but it was totally worth the time and effort. The recipe is quite extra-ordinary from my own lasagna recipe with Bolognese sauce because it has the following extras in the recipe that take the lasagna over the top:

1. meatballs with prosciutto are added

2. each layer has chopped prosciutto and Genoa salami included

3. the Bolognese sauce has red wine included

Each of these additions contributes to a very intense marriage of flavors. The added strong flavors really take it to the WOW factor level. I just cannot describe how delicious this lasagna is!

So if you've got the time, go for it! This lasagna certainly lives up to its name of "La Grande"!

The recipe is posted below in the previous post and is also featured in Foodista (the link is provided here)

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La Grande Lasagna di Carnevale

OK, here I go . . . jumping into a new Italian recipe as promised. This is one of the most traditional recipes prepared for the Italian Carnevale 2-week long celebration. Now, I do have my own lasagna recipe that my family cherishes . . . and there are numerous types of lasagna recipes in cookbooks and online.

But then it seems that sometimes my family gets so loyal to our own family recipes that to try something new is almost sinful! But I really think that part of the fun and JOY of cooking is experimenting and trying new things. So here I go, jumping right in with the first Carnevale recipe! HOWEVER, after reading 2 or 3 recipes that I found in my cookbooks, I will have to say that I HAVE ALREADY MADE SEVERAL ADJUSTMENTS to the recipe that I found to be lacking in a few ways!
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Le Grande Lasagna di Carnevale

First prepare the 'ragu' or Bolognese Sauce -- "Sugo Alla Bolognese" (often called 'gravy' in Italian-American homes, although this term was never, EVER used in my family because as Americans we associate 'gravy' with what is poured on mashed potatoes).

Bolognese Ragu (Meat Sauce )

What you need for the Bolognese Sauce:

6 Tbsp. butter
3 medium onions, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs. ground sirloin
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground veal
salt and pepper
2 cups fresh tomato sauce or tomato paste
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth/stock.
1/4 cup Italian parsely, finely chopped

What you need to do to prepare the Bolognese sauce:

Saute' the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the butter.

After about 5 minutes and the vegetables are softened a bit, add the ground meats. Add the salt and pepper, the tomato sauce, wine, broth/stock, and parsley.
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Simmer this mixture slowly for approximately 2 1/2 hours, adding another 1/2 cup of beef broth/stock to your desired thickness . . . which this should be fairly thick, not like a thinner marinara sauce is.

Next prepare the meatballs, which is one of the major reasons why this lasagna is so different from mine: the addition of little meatballs! :

Meatballs (Polpette alla Napoletana)

What you need for the meatballs:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground pork
1 pound ground veal
1 prosciutto, finely chopped
1 cup Parmigiana Regiano cheese
8 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced (my addition again!)
1 cup plain bread crumbs
3 Jumbo eggs, slightly beaten
Butter to saute'
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This makes about 4 batches of meatballs, so divide up what you do not use and FREEZE them for using later . . . this will save you so much time later on when you want meatballs.
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What you need to do to prepare the meatballs:

Chop up the prosciutto.
With your (clean) hands, mix the 4 meats and Parmigiana cheese together.
Add the parsley, garlic and bread crumbs.
Add the beaten egg. Check moisture level: if too wet, add more bread crumbs.

.Form this mixture into very small 1/2" to 1" size meatballs.

Saute' the meatballs in butter (about 2 Tbsp. should be enough) for 10 minutes, stirring so all sides of the meatballs are cooked.

Remove from butter and place on a plate. Use an absorbent towel if desired and then keep the meatballs warm.

Next make the white sauce by blending the following 3 ingredients:

2 cups Ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp. Italian parsley
1 Jumbo egg

ASSEMBLING THE LASAGNA:

Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees (180 C).

1 lb. Barilla lasagna noodles
1/4 lb. prosciutto (in one big piece), then finely chopped up
1/4 pound Italian Genoa salami, cut in 3 slices, then finely chopped up
1 cup grated FRESH Parmigiana Regiano cheese
1 cup grated FRESH Mozzarella cheese

In a LARGE deep pot, boil some slightly salted water. Partially cook the lasagna noodles HALF of the time indicated on the box (they continue to cook in the oven). Remove the noodles from the water and in a colander, run COLD water over the noodles.

Butter or spray with olive oil (such as 'Pam') a DEEP lasagna pan.

Lay a very thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan to help prevent the first layer of noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Lay the first layer of lasagna noodles onto the sauce . . . overlapping each noodle just a little bit.

Spread a thin layer of of the Ricotta/egg/parsley mixture.

Evenly spread a layer of meatballs.

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Sprinkle a layer of the chopped prosciutto and salami.

With a large ladel or spoon, pour on a layer of sauce (ragu) on top.
Sprinkle a thin layer of Mozzarella.
Sprinkle a thin layer of Parmigiana cheese.

REPEAT until all ingredients are used up.
I try to always have a minimum of 3 layers, but let's see how many this recipe will make.
Bake for 30 minutes.

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