Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Halloumi with Griddled Vegetables

September 27, 2016 by Mary 8 Comments

Today we’re spreading the LOVE with a guest post from Rachel Stinson. She reached out to me with a post about halloumi, a cheese with which I was unfamiliar with and excited to learn about. Halloumi /həˈluːmi/ or hellim is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk, and sometimes also cow’s milk. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled. (Wikipedia)

Rachel Stinson has always had a knack for writing, food, fashion, and places. Blogging has combined all four for her with an added bonus of enthusiastic audiences. She expertly analyzes real estates and restaurants with respect to pricing and people involved and can express her opinions in an unhesitant, engaging manner.

Without further ado, here is her recipe!

I’m going to start with a rant, a cheese-o-phile’s rant. It resulted from my last trip to the supermarket. I strolled my way through lofty racks stacked up to the brim with tempting confectioneries and gloriously tinned food. As I approached the cheese section, my heart skipped a beat. I was almost tempted to grab four to five of those yellow cheese blocks wrapped in flashy packaging and toss them in my cart.

But, I didn’t. I felt a sadness descend me as I realized the disturbing monotony wrapped in the name of ‘cheese’. I had tasted all of these brands and they all tasted the same to me. I needed something purer, cruder, and closer to unique hand-crafted cheese. I needed something like the splendid cheese I had once tasted at Operation Falafel, Dubai. That’s when I found Halloumi.

It was love at first bite and now I am addicted to this Cypriot cheese for life. It’s still largely saved from adulteration and carries the true taste and essence of the ‘cooked curd’ cheese category. For this very reason, I use Halloumi in lots of my cheese recipes. My favorite one I’ll share with you:

HALLOUMI WITH GRIDDLED VEGETABLES

225 g Halloumi cheese
2 shallots
100 g frozen broad beans
2 courgettes (zucchini)
1 small bunch of asparagus
1 Tbs. capers
½ bunch of flat leaf parsley
200 g ripe cherry tomatoes
½ bunch of sweet marjoram or oregano
2 Tbs. olive oiL

Shake together all the dressing ingredients in a clean, dry jar. Once thoroughly mixed, put the jar aside.

Boil the broad beans for 5 minutes or until soft. Drain out the boiled water and pass beans under cold water to cool them off. Once you can comfortably touch then, peel off the beans’ white outer skin.

Cut the Halloumi into slices a width and shape of your choice. Trim off unnecessary asparagus leaves. Slice together asparagus and the courgettes longitudinally. And let loose some olive oil over the three.

Get your griddle pan warmed up over high heat. Toss in the Halloumi, asparagus, and courgettes drenched in olive oil. Cook until they are nicely charred and emanating a tantalizing aroma. Then, set them aside in the same pan.

It’s time to cut the shallots into rings and halve the tomatoes. Then pick a flat platter and layer by layer add the shallots, the tomatoes, and the griddled mixture of Halloumi, asparagus, and courgettes.

Fine chop the fresh herbs to sprinkle with the luscious dressing.

Halloumi with Griddled Vegetables tastes even better with friends. So, as much as you want to savor the entire platter all by yourself, call over some cheese lovers and have a grand Halloumi party. Thank me later.

(Photo credits: Shutterstock)

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and My Italian Dinner

September 3, 2016 by Mary 17 Comments

We are still basking in the memories of our European trip and this post is about the Italian part. Our friends in Italy are so generous. They are generous with their time, their attention and their gifts. Tiziana so graciously took me to buy the best cheeses in all of Italy – award-winning Pecorino’s in many different “flavors.” I bought two different kinds (now I wish I would have bought more…) plus some Parmigiano. I bought 3 large wedges but ended up giving two away to each of my kids. Why was I feeling so generous at that moment???

Tiziana was so gracious in equipping me with an insulated bag with a cold pack plus another suitcase that I could put all the cheeses in and check the bag for flying. And did I tell you about the olive oil? Every guest at the wedding got this can of olive oil pressed from olives from the olive trees in their yard!

This is THE BEST olive oil – so fruity, so pure, so DELICIOUS!! I wish to never run out of this but that is really wishful thinking since I only have two cans.

On Sunday night of that amazing weekend in Italy, if you can imagine, Andrea and Tiziana had yet another dinner party. These are the parents of the bride who held a party in their home for 50 people on Friday night, hosted the wedding on Saturday, which started at 5 pm and ended at 5:30 am and then had about 20 people for dinner on Sunday night, with Tiziana making yet another pasta dish – pici with her mother’s pomarola sauce – so delicious!! Not yet knowing how to make that, I came home and immediately made this pasta with fresh tomato sauce – twice already!

Super quick and easy Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce.

My Italian Dinner - bowl of fresh sunny gold pasta sauce

You can also use sunny gold tomatoes – super sweet and delicious.

The tomatoes are so abundant, fresh and flavorful this time of year, perfect to make this dish. It’s so darn easy and quick too. I didn’t have any basil in the city so I substituted sorrel in the first picture.

Parsley would have worked too – the little bit of green is nice.

Here is this very simple recipe to make a perfect and satisfying meatless meal:

PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE – serves 6 as a main course

1 lb. dried pasta – I used spaghetti
Coarse sea salt or Kosher salt to salt the pasta water

SAUCE:
2 lbs. fresh tomatoes – preferably heirloom or sunny gold, washed, dried, cored and chopped
¼ cup of olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, grated
Salt to taste – preferably French Grey
Black pepper – fresh ground to taste
Pinch of red chili flakes

Torn basil leaves or sorrel or flat leaf parsley for garnish

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a large shallow bowl.

Cook the pasta in ample boiling water, salted to taste like the ocean. Start testing the pasta 2 minutes before the lesser time on the instructions. You must have the pasta al dente. No one likes overcooked pasta. Before draining, save some pasta water.

Immediately place drained pasta in the bowl with the sauce ingredients, adding 1 – 2 Tbs. of pasta water, to make the sauce adhere to the pasta better and toss all to combine. Garnish with torn basil leaves or sorrel or parsley. Serve immediately.

That same Sunday night in Italy, Cristina, Tiziana’s best friend and my sweet Prada buddy (she took me to the Prada store) came to dinner with a jar of her favorite Tuscan meat sauce – she said Tiziana knows cheese but she knows meat!! She brought the best bresaola I have ever tasted. And she brought her favorite Tuscan cookbook for me that is thankfully in English and Italian! I don’t know how she even found the time to go get these gifts in between the Prada trip and dinner that night. Everybody was so SWEET!! Cristina asked if I had room in my suitcase. Heck I’d find room come hell or highwater.

Just take a look at this book – beautiful and I want to make about 99.9% of the recipes…

Tuscan cookbook open to bean soup recipe.

I cannot wait for the weather to get a little cooler to make this soup!

Tuscan cookbook open to Pici pasta recipe.

This pasta dish sounds amazing too!!! Don’t worry, I will share!

And how sweet this is because every time I see the book, read or use a recipe, I think of Cristina and Tiziana and our amazing time in Italy. All the wonderful memories come flooding back – the scenes, the conversations, the sunsets, the lavender, the cypress trees, the food, the wine, our four kids all dressed up and bouncing around in an open jeep, hair flying, not caring, and the most beautiful wedding.

We all have been continuing the conversation via email, discussing our kids and recipes. Soon I’ll share with you Tiziana’s mother’s recipe for the Pomarola Sauce. I made it once already last weekend, but not the way Nonna makes hers so I want to make her recipe exactly and share that with you.

But for now, let me share with you a little dinner party we hosted for our good friends, Margaret and Wayne, the first Saturday we were back. My appetizers were the two different kinds of Pecorino along with some bruschetta with truffles that I bought at the airport. Super delish!

Then I served my gazpacho soup garnished with avocado.

Then I made some pici pasta I picked up at the Pisa airport and served it with Cristina’s sauce and OMG – it was sooooo good!! A garnish of basil was all that was needed. Dinner served!!

Then I served a salad of greens from my garden – lettuce, sorrel and basil with tomatoes, radishes and chives – tossed with a champagne vinaigrette. A good light clean palette cleanser,

and then we finished up with this strawberry rhubarb crisp with a little vanilla ice cream.

So don’t “labor” this weekend! Make this pasta with fresh tomato sauce, with LOVE, so super easy, and kick back and relax!

Steamed Broccoli with a Dijon Butter Sauce & Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

July 23, 2016 by Mary 6 Comments

Inspired by her grandmother, Carrie Mae started making Crunchy Strips in her kitchen with all natural ingredients. While she makes several flavors, we chose the Chia Seeds to include in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. Chia seeds are so darn good for you! They are a “whole grain” food, and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Loaded with fiber, protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and various micronutrients, these crackers are a delightful little crunch of goodness.

All crackers are handmade with tender loving care; hence the company’s slogan – Made from the heart to feed your soul. I know that Carrie Mae herself hand made each one of these crunchy strips with a lot of LOVE and then actually drove them up from North Carolina to our warehouse in NJ, to make the delivery date for the box. This woman is determined and dedicated to her delicious and healthy craft, she’s bound to become a huge success.

I love using these crunchy strips as a topping to soups, salads and to this yummy steamed broccoli dish I made up. Think of them as croutons, but better because they’s light and thin. Using the strips on top adds another layer of texture, that crunch we all crave.

For those of you with little ones, I’ll bet this could be a great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables. Crush and sprinkle these little crackers on top to add a chia seed nutritious delight to anything.

Additionally, broccoli has huge health benefits. Check out this link http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/health-benefits-of-broccoli/ Broccoli is rich in vitamins, minerals, nutrients and compounds, promoting good heart health and known even to prevent cancer. So eat your broccoli and it’s even better this way, with our Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy strips!

STEAMED BROCCOLI WITH A DIJON BUTTER SAUCE & CARRIE MAE’S KITCHEN CHIA SEEDS CRUNCHY STRIPS – serves 4

One large head of broccoli, washed, trimmed, stems peeled and stalks cut in half or quartered
3 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
1.25 oz. Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

Steam the broccoli until crisp tender.

Melt the butter and whisk in the mustard and lemon juice.

Remove the broccoli from the steamer, pat dry with a clean linen towel and lay out on a platter. Drizzle the sauce all over the broccoli. Top with crushed Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on a salad.

Use Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy Strips to top a salad!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on chicken noodle soup.

Or garnish a soup!

Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zested Flatbeans

July 21, 2016 by Mary 4 Comments

THIS Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest is one of Oprah’s favorite things!!! Yes!

I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel sooooo baaad. Remember Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music? Of course you do.

Well I can assure you that if you like truffles, one of the most expensive foods in the world, you will LOVE this truffle zest in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. We were able to include three little packets, so you can try it out on a variety of dishes.

I love the truffle zest on scrambled eggs. Total delish!! And also great on a baked potato.

And lately I see a lot of truffle salt around, but this zest is so much better. It is much more potent and rich – it’s wonderful!!

I used it on these green flatbeans cooked in butter and water and I’m telling you, this is amazing!! It is simple to cook and quite frankly my favorite way to cook fresh beans. If you can’t find flat beans, just use regular fresh green or yellow beans. Finishing off this simple recipe with the Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest moves ordinary green beans into the spectacular, memorable area. And all you have to do is open up this little packet of goodness and sprinkle it on.

Of course you could also sprinkle this on a little buttered pasta or even buttered corn this time of year. Experiment and have yourself some tasty fun!!

Since I will be in Italy the week after next, I wonder if I’ll be eating some truffle garnished pasta…
SABATINO TARTUFI TRUFFLE ZESTED FLATBEANS – serves 3 – 4

3/4 lb. green flatbeans
3 – 4 Tbs. water
Butter
Salt
Pepper
1 packet of Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest

Trim the ends of the beans, removing any strings, and wash thoroughly.

Fill your skillet with about ¼” of water to cover the bottom and turn heat to high. Throw in beans and then top with pats of unsalted butter. SEE PHOTO.

Now let sit them a little to brown and then toss over the high heat. You want the beans to get a little brown and they will as the water evaporates. So toss to your liking – taste one for a tenderness check. The butter will start to brown and almost taste sweet. Finish with salt and pepper and place in a wide serving bowl with all the juices.

Sprinkle on the Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest. Total time should be 10 -15 minutes. This takes ordinary beans and makes them extraordinarily rich and special to make a memorable meal.

If you like what is in this box, you can still order it here as we have just a few left.

Additionally, our fall box ships on September 25^th! We are a proud supporter of Feed The Children.

Super Quick Broccoli Rabe and Pasta Recipe

July 10, 2016 by Mary 7 Comments

We all have our little tricks in the kitchen, right? And many of us have our secret ingredients we always turn to.

Mine, of course, is LOVE. Cooking with the intention of LOVE – loving the dish you’re making or knowing that when you serve the food, your family and friends will LOVE it and you will make them happy, that’s what turns me on. And that’s why I always cook with LOVE. I just want to make people happy. Nothing makes me happier than to hear little murmurs of delight from folks while eating my food.

Our youngest son, Zachary, whose birthday is today, said he knew my food always tasted so good because of the LOVE I put into it while cooking. One sister-in-law of mine told me years ago that I was good at picking recipes. But then she asked, why did my food always taste so good. She had made some of the same recipes. I guess Zachary had the answer.

So I was talking to a new colleague about our MARY’s secret ingredients culinary subscription box and he told me his “secret ingredient” was capers.

I also love capers and caperberries even more! Roasted, they become that crunchy burst of saltiness that I just love. Anchovies are another – throw them into a dish and they melt and add that wonderful umami flavor. Pancetta is also another good one.

Back to the box, our summer box is hitting mailboxes right now and as usual, it has a great curated collection of new products, some are ready to eat and with all of them, I’ve created a delicious recipe to make meals special for you and your family. There are still a few summer boxes left and you can pick one up here. If you use the code SAVE20 you can save 20% on a full year subscription – that’s 4 seasonal boxes for about $87.00! And remember, we are a proud supporter of the worldwide organization combatting hunger, Feed The Children, so a portion of your box purchase goes to support them.

Back to this Super Quick Broccoli Rabe and Pasta Recipe, this is a great dish for a meatless night. Meatless Monday is tomorrow! My proportion of broccoli rabe to the pasta is great – a lot more broccoli rabe and depending on how big your eaters are, this can serve 2 or 3 with just 8 oz. of pasta. This comes together so quickly, using the already near boiling water from the broccoli rabe to cook the pasta in. Bringing the broccoli rabe to almost boiling removes the bitterness and starts to work on tenderizing those stems.

Super Quick Broccoli Rabe and Pasta Recipe in 2 bowls.

I was debating if it needed cheese and it didn’t!

Make this tomorrow night to start your week quick. Make it with LOVE and enjoy!!

SUPER QUICK BROCCOLI RABE AND PASTA RECIPE – serves 2 – 3

I bunch of broccoli rabe, ends trimmed, cut into 2” pieces, and washed in a bath of water to remove all grit. Never
buy broccoli rabe that has blooming yellow flowers – that’s a message that it will be very bitter
1/2 lb. spaghetti or other dry pasta
3 Tbs. olive oil
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
5 anchovies, blotted dry of oil
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Coarse sea salt – for cooking pasta and broccoli rabe
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

In a large pasta pot, place the washed broccoli rabe. Fill the pot with water to be at least 2 inches above the broccoli rabe. Add in the salt and stir to combine. Place the pot on high heat.

Meanwhile, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil in a large skillet on low heat, (large enough to hold the broccoli rabe and pasta too), add the garlic and stir. Do not let it brown.

When small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot with the broccoli rabe, remove the rabe with a slotted spoon into a colander over a bowl and let drain. Let the water in the pot come back to a full boil. When that happens, add the pasta and cook for 2 minutes less than the lower number on the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, (be sure to stir every once in a while), put the broccoli rabe in the skillet with the garlic and raise heat to medium – medium-high. Cook a bit more, and toss. Add in the anchovies and keep tossing and cooking.

When the pasta is near the end of cooking, take a large coffee mug and scoop out some pasta water. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the broccoli rabe, stirring with tongs to combine. Add about ¼ cup of pasta water, the crushed red pepper flakes and toss to finish cooking the pasta just to al dente and be sure the broccoli rabe stems are crisp tender. Taste to your liking with more salt and some fresh ground black pepper.

Serve in warm bowls with LOVE!

EXCITING TRAVEL NEWS!

I want to tell you, I’m so excited, we’re heading to Poland and Italy in 11/2 weeks!!! We will celebrate Zach’s birthday in Warsaw with his fiancée, Agata. They have big plans to take us all over including visiting local farmer’s markets and a day trip to Krakow. Then we will fly to Milano, 2 days there, then train to Arezzo in Tuscany for Bianca’s wedding. Bianca is sort of my surrogate daughter. She is the daughter of the family our oldest son lived with for his semester abroad during his university years. She and her fiancé have visited us in NYC often. But, it has been 10 years since both families have been together and Tiziana, the mother, has asked me to help her cook the Friday night family dinner before the wedding on Saturday! I am SO excited and honored!!! We have been emailing. I will shop with her in the morning for her cheeses and she has asked me to come up with ideas for dessert. I’m thinking of big pans of rhubarb and strawberry crisps. What do you think?

So get ready for some great fun stories and photography from Poland and Italy!!! Is there anything specific you’d like to see? Let me know…

Garlicky Lamb Stuffed Eggplant using the Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker

April 28, 2016 by Mary 8 Comments

There are garlic presses… and then there’s this garlic rocker!! Quicker, easier, kinder to your hand as there is no squeezing motion, just press down and rock! Yes!!! I minced 8 cloves of garlic in 47 seconds! How about that?!?

And, it’s gorgeous to look at. Being a designer, this is super important. Form follows function here. This one-piece brushed stainless steel tool is truly a thing of beauty. I think I might just leave it out on the counter at all times, just to admire! This amazing kitchen tool was in our spring MARY’s secret ingredients box. You can get your very own rocker and still order a box here.

Joseph Joseph is this incredible company based in the UK. It is owned by two twin brothers, hence the name, Joseph Joseph. All of their items are cleverly and beautifully designed and I was not familiar with them until recently. You should check out their site as I’m sure you’ll want more of their handsomeness and usefulness in your kitchen.

So I made up this lamb and eggplant dish with plenty of garlic to put the rocker to the test. Make this with LOVE and get 2 different meals out of it – the first night stuffed in the eggplant shells and the second night as a sauce over pasta. Works for me for busy weeknights!

While the first night does take a bit more time – about 45 minutes – the second night is just the time it takes to cook some pasta. All easy. All good.

GARLICKY LAMB STUFFED EGGPLANT – serves 2 with leftovers for 3 more meals with pasta

1 small eggplant
2 Tbs. olive oil
Salt
Pepper – fresh ground
1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
1 lb. ground lamb
8 cloves of garlic
1 yellow pepper, ½ chopped into 1/3” squares and the rest in strips for garnish
1 28 oz. can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes
2 pinches of red chili flakes
1 Tbs. ground cumin
2.5 oz. baby spinach leaves

Preheat over to 425 degrees.

Wash, dry and trim your eggplant. Cut in half lengthwise and score in diamond shapes as shown in the photo. Cut deep but do not cut through the skin. Drizzle 1 Tbs. of olive oil over each half, spreading open the cuts as you do. Season with salt, fresh ground pepper and the dried oregano. Roast in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, brown the ground lamb, breaking it up into small chunks, in a non-stick skillet. Mince the peeled garlic with the garlic rocker. There! That only took about 40 seconds, yay!!!

When lamb has browned, drain the juices and fat, leaving about 1 Tbs. in the skillet.

Add the garlic, the tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you add, and the chopped yellow pepper. Salt and pepper to taste and add the chili flakes. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring every once in a while. Your sauce should thicken nicely while the eggplant continues to roast.

When the eggplant is done, scoop out the chunks and add to the sauce along with the cumin and reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add in the washed baby spinach and stir to barely wilt it. Taste to see if any additional salt and pepper are needed.

Serve in the eggplant skin shells and garnish with the yellow pepper strips. Delish!!

And then on the next night, you can whip this up in a jiffy with the leftover Garlicky Lamb Eggplant Mixture!

GARLICKY LAMB EGGPLANT SAUCE OVER PASTA – serves 3

Leftover lamb and eggplant mixture from the above recipe
½ lb. pasta – I used spaghetti
Maldon salt
Grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Warm the leftover lamb and eggplant mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute to take the chill off.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it with coarse sea salt and add ½ lb. of pasta. Test at two minutes less than the package directions. When done to al dente, remove a cup full of pasta water and then drain the pasta.

Toss the pasta with the lamb and eggplant mixture, adding a few tablespoons of pasta water.

Did you know that adding pasta water makes your sauce adhere better to the pasta? Yes it’s true! Add enough water to make that work and loosen the sauce.

Serve in shallow bowls, season with crushed Maldon salt and grated Pecorino Romano cheese if you like. Enjoy!!