Yesterday, The Village Voice hosted the Brooklyn Pour event at the Skylight One Hanson. It was a beer tasting event of over 100 craft brews from around the country. Tom and I successfully tried beer from every brewer there except for the ones that either didn’t show up or were sold out by the time we got to their table. I think that was one hell of a feat. Our first favorite was from The Brooklyn Brew Shop who brewed their Bourbon Dubbel. We’re actually using The Brooklyn Brew Shop’s products to produce the place-cards for our wedding (yep we’re getting married! and our place-cards are going to be home brewed beer). Our second favorite was the brew from Private Tap. We found it interesting that our two favorites both came from home-brews. Happy Sunday!

Cooking Spray
4 slices bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
5 oz spinach
Salt
Pepper
Italian Blend Cheese, shredded
4 whole eggs, if making 2 servings
2 ramekins
Bread, for toast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a fry pan with cooking spray. Heat pan over medium heat. Add in bacon. Cook bacon until crisp. Once cooked remove the bacon from the pan and place on paper towels. Cool the bacon. Once cool crumble the bacon into pieces. Set aside.

In the same pan remove the grease and add in the olive oil. Add in the onions. Cook the onions until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan to allow the spinach to steam. Cook the spinach for about 3 minutes or until wilted. Remove from pan.

Spray each ramekin with cooking spray. Add in the spinach mixture to the bottom of the ramekin leaving a hole in the center. Next add some bacon pieces. Top with cheese. Break two eggs over the cheese being careful not to crack the yoke. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat for each ramekin. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake eggs in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are just set and the whites are not runny.

Toast up some bread, top with more bacon and serve!

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your taste)

1 tablespoon cornstartch

1 pound boneless-skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil or Canola oil

1 bunch of broccoli, cut into florets

1/4 cup water

2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a large bowl mix together the soy sauce, 1/2 the garlic, sugar, cornstarch and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Season with pepper. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the soy sauce mixture. Mix together. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

In a large saute or fry pan heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add in garlic. Then add in the broccoli. Season with salt, pepper and more crushed red pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add in water and cover the pan. Continue to cook the broccoli while covered for another 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the pan (about 2 tablespoons) and crank the heat up to medium-high. Add in the chicken and the scallions. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add in broccoli. Stir to combine and cook for an additional minute.

Serve over rice and Enjoy!

1 3-4 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed (I like to leave a little fat around the edges because pork fat rules! but you don’t have to if you don’t want to)

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons Whole-grain Dijon mustard

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Olive oil

3 Garlic cloves, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Season the pork loin on all sides with salt and pepper. Spread the whole-grain mustard over the top of the pork loin. Set on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the panko breadcrumbs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in olive oil and mix together until the breadcrumbs are coated. You may need more or less olive oil depending on the brand of panko you use, some are drier then others.

Coat the pork loin in the panko breadcrumbs putting most the breadcrumbs on the top where the mustard is so it will adhere. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered. After 15 minutes cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake for 1 hour or until the meat internally reaches 155 degrees F.

Allow to rest before slicing. Enjoy!

So to finish Pizza Week(s) here is a chocolate pizza recipe. It makes for a great dessert and you can play around with all the toppings to suit your needs. Have fun with it and Enjoy!

1 pizza dough

2 tablespoons buter, melted

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread like Nutella

Your favorite toppings I used mini marshmallows and dark chocolate M&M’s

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire. Brush the dough with melted butter. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone until the dough begins to become golden, approximately 17-20 minutes. Don’t let it get as brown as I did (I walked away).

Spread the chocolate hazelnut spread all over the pizza dough. Top with your favorites toppings. Place pizza back in the oven and bake for 3 minutes or until the chocolate begins to melt and marshmallows puff up.

Slice and Enjoy!

Anyway I should be back in full swing and posting three times a week. I wanted to continue with pizza week even though it now spans two weeks lol. The inspiration for pizza week actually came during Lent. My friend Nicole wasn’t eating meat on Fridays and she was coming over for dinner. The perfect solution for me then was to make her pizza and I did. We had quite the pizza party that included all the pizzas I will and have shared with you. She loved them and I hope you do too. Enjoy!

1 pizza dough

Olive Oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 pound of white mushrooms

Shredded Fontina Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a saute or frying pan heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over medium-low heat until the onions have become soft and caramelized. Add in wine. Cook until wine has evaporated or reduced down. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan if necessary. Add in mushrooms and cook until tender. Remove from pan.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire. Top with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Then sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake for approxiametly 17 minutes or until pizza is crisp on the bottom.

Allow to rest for a few minutes before cutting. Slice and Enjoy!

2 dozen little neck clams

1 pizza dough

Flour for dusting

Olive Oil

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place clams on a baking sheet. Place clams in the oven and bake for 2-3 minutes or until the clams begin to open. DON’T WALK AWAY! This is only to open the clams a little so you can shuck them not cook them. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool remove the clam from the shell along with the clam juice and set aside in a bowl.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire.

Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle the dough with garlic. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza dough. Top with shucked clams and some of their juice. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone. Allow approximately 17 minutes for the pizza to cook. Remove from oven.

Slice the pizza and Enjoy!

1 celery root

3 cups of heavy cream (approximately)

Salt

Pepper

First you have to take of the outer rough skin off the celery root. The easiest way to do this it to cut it off with a knife after you cut off the root portion to make the celery root flat on one side. A peeler just isn’t strong enough for this task. Once you have removed the skin dice the celery root into pieces that approximately the same size.

Place the celery root in a large pot and then add cover with enough heavy cream to just cover all the celery root. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Cook the celery root until it is fork tender.

Place the celery root and some cream into a blender and puree until smooth adding more cream as needed. You can also place the celery root into a large bowl with some of the cream and use a hand blender to make it smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve warm and Enjoy!

1 leg of lamb (this one is approximately 6 pounds)

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 sprigs of rosemary, minced

4 yellow potatoes, thinly sliced (I used  mandoline, watch your fingers)

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut slits in the leg of lamb. Stuff the slits (cuts) with the garlic pieces and the rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle and rub olive oil over the leg of lamb. Set aside.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with salt, pepper and olive oil. Line the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting pan (one big enough to hold the leg of lamb) with the potatoes.

Place the leg of lamb on top of the potatoes. Cook in oven for an hour. Remove from heat and check the temperature. It should be 135 degrees in the thickest part for medium rare. I placed it back in the oven and cooked it for an additional 20 minutes before it reached that temperature. Remove from oven and tent with tin foil. Allow to rest for 14 minutes. Cut the lamb of the bone in thin slices.

Serve with the potatoes and Enjoy!

Olive oil
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 garlic clove, minced and 2 garlic whole and peeeled
Salt
Pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (you should be able to use 6)
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated cheese (I use Pecorino Romano)
Toothpicks
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add in garlic and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Stir around the spinach until it is coated. Cover the pan and allow the spinach to cook turning it every so often. Once spinach has wilted remove from pan and set aside.

In a medium size bowl mix together the ricotta and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut a slit in the chicken breasts to create a pocket. Don’t go all the way through the chicken. Stuff the ricotta mixture inside the slit. Then stuff it with the spinach. You can mix the spinach in with the ricotta too but I wanted a separate layer of spinach. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Place the egg mixture into a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish place the breadcrumbs. Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture and coat on all sides. Dip the chicken with the egg on it into the breadcrumbs and coat on all sides. Close the pocket up with some toothpicks by placing them in at an angle. Repeat for each piece of chicken.

In a large sautée or fry pan that is oven proof add in the garlic and about 1/4 cup of oil. Turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot add in the chicken. Brown on both sides. If needed add more oil to the pan. Once browned place the pan in the oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Serve over pasta and Enjoy!