All Hallows Eve

This weekend was filled with some really good eats. It began Friday evening with our friends Dan & Amy and a Weinberger favorite: Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza and Chocolate Candy Corn-alicious Cup Cakes.

For the Pizza:

1 Large pizza dough from your local pizza joint

6-10 Cremini Mushrooms

1 8oz. can of garlic and herb tomato sauce

3 Links of Italian Sausage

1 8oz. package of Low Moisture Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F

Begin by slicing and sauteing your mushrooms and It. sausage in a non-stick pan over medium heat.

Meanwhile roll out your room temp. pizza dough.

Dab a paper towel with oil and spread the oil around your cast iron to prevent sticking. Lay your pizza dough over the cast iron skillet & cut off the excess dough.

By now the mushrooms and It. sausage should be done. Fill your pie with the meat mixture, your sauce, and cover with cheese. Traditional deep dish has the sauce on top- but I like to see the beautiful browned cheese.

With the excess dough I like to make bread sticks covered in 1 TB of butter, garlic powder, & herbs de provence.

The pizza should take about 25 min. depending on the oven. I like to check mine after 20 min.

Voilà!

For the Cupcakes:

For the record I did make scratch chocolate cupcakes, but they weren't chocolate-y enough. It was Friday afternoon and I didn't have time to do it again. This box mix actually turned out really tasty!

Go Here for the icing recipe!

Sunday we had all orange food in honor of Halloween, so we enjoyed homemade tomato soup and sweet potato oven fries.

For the Soup: Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Serves 6

tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic (optional)

2 (14-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups Basic Chicken Stock, or water

1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic (if using), stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes, their juices, and stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Working in batches, transfer tomato mixture to a blender, food processor, or food mill. Puree tomato mixture (if using a blender, cover the lid with a kitchen towel while machine is running).
*I actual used an emersion blender, which worked great. While I was blending I slowly added 1/2 & 1/2 in place of the cream.

For the Sweet Potato Fries:

Serves 2

2 average sweet potatoes

Salt & Pepper

Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 415 F

Peel and slice potatoes, we do ours about a cm thick. Sprinkle with olive oil, s & p, and garlic powder. Spread over a cookie sheet and bake in oven for about 30 min. *Flip after 15 min.

As you can see I like it pretty simple. Sometimes I like to jazz it up, but I don't see that happening for another week and a half or so. Until next time Joyeux Cuisson!

Date Night

On Saturday night Mr. Weinberger and I had a much deserved decadent meal. Being newlyweds and all we spend most of our time figuring out different ways to scrimp and save, but this weekend we really enjoyed ourselves. I have to give him most of the credit for this meal. He planned, prepped, and did most of the actual cooking. I was the su chef if you will, and I enjoyed ever minute of it. We had braised short ribs, traditional mashed potatoes, and champagne. Mmmm delish!

For the Short Ribs: Courtesy of foodnetwork.com

4 English cut beef short ribs, trimmed (roughly 8 ounces each)

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 bottle full bodied red wine, such as Cabernet

4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Serves 4

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Pat ribs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ribs and brown on all sides.

Transfer the ribs to a plate, then add the garlic and stir until softened but not brown, about 1 minute. Carefully pour in the wine, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to about 1 cup.

Add the ribs and any juices they have released back to the pot along with the stock. Reduce the heat and bring to a simmer, then cover the pot and transfer it to the oven, tobraise, until the meat easily falls off the bone, about 3 hours.

Transfer the ribs to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Strainthe braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a saucepan set over medium-high heat. Simmer the liquid, skimming fat as necessary, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Transfer the ribs and sauce to a serving dish and serve.

For the Mashed Potatoes:

Serves 2

3 average size baking potatoes

3 TB of butter

A splash of milk & 1/2 and 1/2

1. Wash and peel your potatoes (if you desire) and cut into even slices. Honestly I like to do mine pretty thin so they will cook quickly.

2. Boil in a medium sauce pan for about 15-20 minutes or until very done. Drain and mash in a mixing bowl. I like to mix my potatoes, milk, and butter with my stand mixer (because I am lazy), but you of course can use a hand mixer. I whip mine pretty good- because that's how my southern momma does 'em! It doesn't get any better than mashed 'taters!

I hope you enjoy this really rather simple and economical meal. Until next time, Joyeux Cuisson!

My First Post

Hello Foodie Blog world! This is my first official post on my new Foodie/DIY blog. I was going to try and hold out for Halloween, but I just couldn't make it. I am so excited about this blog. Honestly, I'm really not sure why. I'm not especially great in the kitchen, nor do I have loads of time on my hands to do DIY projects; however, I just really feel the need/want to document my role as a wife. As explained in the 'about' section, being a wife for me means doing the above in addition to all the other fun stuff. So- off we go!

Fall is well underway and one way to enjoy this wonderful season is by baking. The first time the weather changed I made one of our new favorites with a slight twist: Fall Doosies. AKA: Mr. Weinberger's favorite chocolate chip cookies with orange butter cream icing.

For the Cookies: These really are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
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• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• 
  
• 2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts.
• 
  
• 3. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. Let cool on a rack.
• 
  

For the icing: Adapted from another foodie blog.

3 sticks room temp butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

7-8 cups sifted powdered sugar (just about 2 lb)

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

1. Cream butter/shortening until smooth, approx 3 minutes on medium using paddle attachment.

2. Slowly add sugar, once all added crank up speed on mixer to med- high and whip it up for approx 1 min.

3. Add milk, depending on your liking: stiffer~ less milk, creamier ~ more. If you add too much, no worries, just sift in a little more sugar.

4. I only add vanilla extract if I am coloring the frosting, otherwise, it is just as tasty without and the extract tends to make it a little tan, unless you use clear vanilla.

This will frost 24 cupcakes (piped on)

or cover 9" round cake.

Spread icing on underside of cookie with your choice of utensil (I like to use an icing spatula), and voilà! Tu finis!

While this isn't the most difficult of recipes, they are quite délicieux!

Until next time, Joyeux Cuisson-Joyous Cooking!

To Be Continued...

I'm not quite ready to commit full time to this blog, but I wanted to get it up and running. First official post coming later.

Much Love,

@MrsWeinberger