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My husband Bryant and I are absolutely obsessed with Jet's Pizza - we love the fluffiness and how crispy and buttery the crust is. This is the closest I've ever come to making something that tastes similar at home!!

Full disclosure I used this recipe from Serious Eats to learn how to do this. I made a few adjustments based off what worked for me!

What you need:

2 cups bread flour
1 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup room temp water
1 tbsp butter for greasing the pan
1 cup plain tomato or your fave pizza sauce
8 oz of shredded brick cheese (on my Amazon shop) or high fat mozzarella
Pepperoni (optional)

What to do:

Add the flour, yeast and salt to a stand mixer and combine with a few turns of the dough hook. Add the water and mix on the lowest setting with the dough hook until a ball forms. Let that rest for 10 minutes.
On the lowest speed setting, knead the dough with the dough hook for 10 additional minutes - the dough shouldn’t be sticking to the sides, only the bottom of the bowl.
It should be kinda sticky unlike pasta dough, and silky. Remove the hook from the kneaded dough and set the dough in the bottom of the stand mixer bowl. Cover tightly and let rest for 2 hours in a warm place.
Spread a tablespoon-ish of room temp butter all over a 9x13 baking sheet. Then spread out the dough. (It shouldn’t stretch all the way to the edges just yet so cover the dough in the baking sheet with saran wrap and let it rest for 30 more minutes.
Preheat your oven to 550° F or as high as it can go. (Mine only goes to 525° F)
After the dough relaxes for the 30 extra mins, spread it all the way to the edges and make sure it’s evenly distributed.
Coat the pizza dough with a thin layer of your fave pizza or marinara sauce. Cover with cheese, all the way to the edges. (All the way to the edges is important for crisping the crust because the cheese melts and seeps down to crisp it all the way to the bottom of the pan.)
Add additional dollops of the sauce to the pizza on-top of the cheese. I love the bites of pizza that have the sauce cooked on top of the cheese!!
Cook the pizza on the very bottom of the oven (not the rack, the actual oven) for 6 minutes. This achieves a crispy bottom crust! After the 6 minutes, move it up to the next level and lowest rack of your oven. This will finish off the melty cheese and prevent the bottom of the pizza crust from blackening.
Slice up and serve hot!

3 Comments

Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies

4/1/2020

25 Comments

I'm truly at a loss for words. Banana bread meets oatmeal cookie meets chocolate chips?? These are the best cookies I have ever made and believe it or not, I actually guessed the amounts of each ingredient as opposed to using another cookie recipe as a base and it freaking worked. That almost never happens when I try and bake!! Ah! My very own and first ever original FOJ cookie recipe!

FYI, this recipe made 16 cookies. You'll want to pay close attention to the consistency of your finished dough since it's super hard to measure flour properly for baking without weighing it. Since baking measurements are way more sensitive than cooking measurements, I bet even the size of the banana you use compared to the one I used could make a difference in the texture! The finished cookie dough should be firm enough to hold a somewhat of scoop shape and def shouldn't start spreading out onto the cookie sheet before baking. If your dough is too wet and looks like pancake batter, I would add in flour, 1 teaspoon at a time and then mix it in until it seems thick enough to scoop. Also, throwing the dough into the fridge for twenty minutes helps to make things more solid for scooping as well.

If you're one of those people (guilty!) that skip through the beginning text of a recipe here's what you need to know before making these: have 1/4 cup of extra flour handy to add to the dough if you need to. Sometimes, the size of the banana you use can throw things off and the dough will need more flour to prevent flat and completely melted cookies from coming out of the oven.

What you need:

1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup oats
1 cup AP or GF flour (an additional 1/4 cup flour might be needed - see the bold note above.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 mashed banana (must be ripe)
1 egg
1 stick melted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane or regular sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and set out a cookie sheet and a piece of parchment paper.
Combine the oat flour, oats, all purpose or gluten free flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mash the banana and mix in the egg, butter, olive oil, vanilla extract, and both sugars.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and then mix in the chocolate chips. If the dough looks more like cake batter than cookie dough here, add in that additional 1/4 cup of flour.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours before baking. (You can skip this step but your cookies will be more flat than fluffy.)
I used an ice cream scooper to place each cookie dough ball onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (Pro tip - spray the ice cream scooper with pam and add a few chocolate chips into it before scooping the dough to ensure they get to be on top of the cookie, prettier that way!!
Bake for 11-13 minutes. (I did 11 mins bc I prefer more undercooked cookies.) They won't look done in the center but that's where the gooey part comes in once they take their final form while cooling off. The edges of the cookie should be more firm than the center.
Smack the cookie sheet against the counter top gently in order to create that wrinkled-cookie texture on top of your cookies and let them set and cool for 15 minutes before eating.

25 Comments

Garlic Chicken + Broccoli

3/25/2020

I've been making my husband Bryant this garlicky, soy sauce flavored chicken and broccoli for a long time now and it's one of his all time faves. It's come along way since the first time I made it back in college and it's gotten to the point where it's so damn good that I wanted everyone to be able to try it!!

A few tips:

You don't have to, but if you want to go above and beyond, soaking the chicken in a 1 cup water:1 tbsp salt solution (it's called a brine) for an hour or two up to overnight makes the flavor and texture exceptionally amazing and juicy.
Coating the chicken slices in a few tbsp of cornstarch before cooking them in the skillet with oil makes a huge difference in flavor and texture. The chicken is more soft and browns easier on the edges. It kind of reminds me of the teriyaki chicken I grew up eating and loving from fast food stands at the mall, except this is homemade so it's better for you!
In order to get the crunchiest broccoli possible, I like to buy a fresh head of broccoli instead of using frozen florets and I barely steam them towards the end so that they don't get soggy.

What you need:

2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp minced garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp neutral oil (I used vegetable oil)
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups fresh broccoli florets (use more if you want it's up to you!)
Optional: rice noodles or rice

What do to:

Slice the chicken breasts into very thin (1/4-1/2 inch thick) nugget sized pieces.
If you're doing a brine, soak the slices in 1 cup of water and 1 tbsp salt for at least 2 hours or longer.
Next, coat the chicken breast slices in the cornstarch and either minced garlic or garlic powder. Mix until combined and let it rest for a few minutes.
Heat up the neutral oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Once it's been warmed, add the chicken slices and cook for 2-3 minutes before flipping to the other side.
Once you flip the chicken, add in the soy sauce and continue to stir around the chicken until it's been coated with the soy sauce and it turns a pretty brown color. (Should look like mall chicken here.)
Turn the heat from medium-high to low-medium and add the broccoli right on top of the chicken in the skillet. Cover with a lid for 3-5 minutes. (This steams the broccoli!)
Remove the lid and mix the broccoli around with the chicken in order to get some of the soy/garlic flavor on the broccoli. Sometimes if there's not a ton of sauce left here I add in a little butter and or soy sauce.
Serve it hot as is or with rice or rice noodles.

3 Comments

Vegan Mac & CHeese

3/2/2020

There are so many different ways to make macaroni and cheese. I typically don't like starting off with a roux (which is a flour and butter mixture that acts as a thickener) but in this case, since the recipe is vegan and it'll need all the thickness it can get. Also, if you don't eat gluten, you could easily use brown rice pasta and then arrowroot or cornstarch in the roux instead of flour. (I used arrowroot starch but I feel like most people don't have that at home so flour is fine.)

For the butter, I used Melt Organic Butter but Miyoko's organic vegan butter is really good too. The brand of cheddar cheese will make a big difference for sure. I would recommend Daiya Foods or Follow Your Heart. I'm sure any dairy-free milk would work but I really like rice milk because it has the least flavor and is super neutral.

The sauce in this recipe is enough to feed four people decent-sized portions and pairs with an entire box of pasta (around 1 lb.) When I make this recipe, I make a half box of pasta with it (enough for two) an then I save half of the sauce in the fridge so that I can make it again in a few days without all hassle. To reheat it - just pour the cheese on top of cooked pasta in a pot on the stove and let it re-melt. Adding a little splash of rice milk can help the sauce loosen up a little better.

What you need:

3 tbsp flour (or arrowroot or corn starch for GF version)
3 tbsp vegan butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rice milk
2 cups grated vegan cheddar cheese (Daiya or Follow Your Heart)
1/2 box of pasta (brown rice pasta for GF version)

What to do:

Melt the vegan butter in a large skillet on medium heat and whisk in either the flour or starch depending on what your gluten preference is.
Once it's combined into a paste (roux), season it with the garlic powder and salt.
Slowly pour in half of the rice milk and whisk until the sauce starts to bubble. Slowly add in the other half and whisk again until it bubbles again.
It's ready for the cheese! Fake cheese takes longer to melt into the sauce so give it some time while stirring. Also, depending on what brand of cheese you used, you might want to add a little more salt so I would taste test it.
Once all the cheese is melted, let the cheese sauce simmer on low until the pasta is ready.
Add the cheese to the cooked pasta in a mixing bowl and combine before serving. (Any leftover cheese can be saved in the fridge for up to a week!)

1 Comment

Gluten Free Banana Bread

2/26/2020

I've been trying to find the best way to make a healthier banana bread without gluten or dairy and after tons of awful, grainy and tasteless test runs, I finally did it! The best part is that you only need 2 bananas - that's usually the amount we have leftover and over-ripening in our house anyways so it always works out perfectly. It makes enough for a smaller size loaf, but if you want a big loaf and maybe a few muffins on the side you can double the recipe!

The recipe below is just for basic banana bread. When I'm feeing fancy I like to add in a few tablespoons of oatmeal and or a few tablespoons of chocolate chips.

What you need:

2 ripened bananas - should be speckled and brown
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp celtic salt
1/3 cup grape seed or coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup your fave gf flour - I used Pamela's
1 tsp baking soda
Optional (oats for topping & choc chips)

What to do:

Grease a bread pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the mashed bananas, sugar, honey, cinnamon and salt.
Beat in the oil, eggs and vanilla.
Next, add in the flour and baking soda. Gently stir to combine, you don't want to over-mix bc it will result in a flatter loaf.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes. If you want to dress the loaf with oats and chocolate chips, do that here.
Remove the baking pan from the oven, cover and seal it with tinfoil in order to prevent the top from burning.
Bake for 15 more minutes and then let it cool outside of the oven for 15 more minutes before slicing and serving.

1 Comment

Vegan "cacio e pepe"

2/15/2020

I've been trying to eat a little less dairy lately and I wanted to see if I could recreate one of my all time favorite cheesy dishes without real cheese. Okay, so I'll admit it, it's not the same as the original dish that Italian grandmothers have been whipping up in Rome for years. But it's GOOD! It's just missing that sharp sharp taste that pecorino romano cheese gives off. Also, butter isn't a typical ingredient of cacio e pepe but since this is a vegan version, the (vegan) butter helps to add more of that silky texture that melting real cheese into the pasta water creates in the traditional non-vegan version.

Originally, I wanted to use this vegan parmesan cheese I've had in my fridge for a while (Follow Your Heart brand) but at the last second I realized that there are chickpeas on the ingredient list so I had to abandon ship and just use nutritional yeast. If you can eat chickpeas, I might try half nutritional yeast and half the vegan parm - it might taste more cacio e pepe-ish and cheesy that way.

What you need:

1/2 lb pasta (I used Jovial Foods gf bowtie)
2 tbsp vegan butter
2 tsp black pepper (freshly cracked peppercorns are best)
1/4 cup pasta water
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

What to do:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions. (1/2 lb of pasta is usually 1/2 of a standard size box btw - enough for two people or three side dishes.)
Melt the vegan butter in a skillet and toast the peppercorns in it - heat should be closer to low than medium. Toasting the pepper brings out its flavor more which is an essential step in making traditional cacio e pepe.
Once the pasta only has a few more minutes to go, scoop out the 1/4 cup of water and add it to the skillet with the butter and pepper and turn the heat up so that it's hot enough to cause the mixture to start to bubble.
Add the cooked pasta and the nutritional yeast to the bubbling sauce mixture and stir. If you're using the vegan parmesan cheese I mentioned in the intro, add that in here too and stir.
Once the pasta is mixed with the sauce it's ready for serving. I always top with a little more black pepper too!

3 Comments

Bolognese

1/28/2020

I actually call this one Marcy's bolognese because the mom of a family that I used to babysit for would ALWAYS make this and it was always soooo different and good.

It makes a pretty decent portion, I would say enough for a family of 4-6 but you can freeze the leftovers and reheat in a pot anytime!

What you need:

2 tbsp butter
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
2 minced garlic cloves or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg (powder form is fine)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup whole milk (optional)
1 lb ground beef (the less lean the better tasting IMO!)
8 oz tomato sauce
12 oz whole tomatoes (I use the juice they come in too - whole jar)

What to do:

Add the butter, onion, celery, and carrots, garlic and nutmeg into a large and deep skillet or sauce pot and cook them until fragrant - about 10 minutes on med-high heat.
Break apart the beef to the size you would like the chunks to be in the sauce and cook in a skillet with a little salt, pepper and olive oil. Once it's cooked through, add it to the veggies.
With the heat still on med-high, add in the wine and let the alcohol evaporate and reduce until there isn't a ton of liquid accompanying the veggies and meat.
Optional, add in 1/2 cup whole milk and let simmer while it reduces by half the portion. I don't think the recipe needs it but sometimes that's how Marcy made it.
Next, add the tomato sauce to the veg/meat and then crush the whole tomatoes (I use my hands and leave them super chunky because I love the big pieces) and then add that in as well.
Season with salt and pepper, you could add in Italian herbs here too but I like it plain because I for some reason love the sort of tart flavor that the nutmeg gives off.
Let the sauce simmer for a half hour or so (with a lid off if you want the sauce to be more thick and meat heavy) and with a lid on if you want it to be a little more thin and saucey.

2 Comments

Cauliflower Gnocchi

1/23/2020

Just like the rest of the world, I'm in love with Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi. I love carbs, but if it's possible to eat a little healthier without noticing that carbs are missing, I'm game. I know there's a handful of you that don't have access to a Trader Joes or if you do, you live in an area where it's constantly sold out so I wanted to try and make a copycat recipe from scratch at home!

So the ingredients on the back of the TJ's package say cauliflower, cassava flour, potato starch, olive oil and salt. I actually had everything I needed at home to get started on recipe testing! Pamela's Products sent me a box full of goods so I had their cassava flour which is 100% yucca root so gluten free, paleo, non-GMO and vegan. I also have a lot of tapioca starch at home because I use it to make steamed rice noodle rolls so I subbed that for the potato starch that's in the TJ's recipe - Bob's Red Mill has tapioca starch so it isn't too hard to find in stores, unlike the Asian brand I have and use at home.

I decided to boil the cauliflower vs use it raw. I just felt like the moisture from boiling it (even though I removed most of it) was needed in order to create a softer texture gnocchi.

DON'T SKIP READING THIS PART!!
Every cauliflower head is a different size. The one I used was fairly large so keep that in mind. (I would say that once riced, the head I used produced somewhere between 2-3 cups of cauliflower and it make like 3 batches of 20 gnocchi pieces.) The best way to figure out if you have the right ratio of flour/starch to cauliflower would be to make one little gnocchi and sear it on both sides in a skillet with oil and then taste-test it and adjust the ratio from there. I found that adding in more flour or starch makes the gnocchi more firm so if your results are soggy - add more of the flour/starch in small equal amounts and taste test again.

A few cauli gnocchi life hacks:
If you don't have a food processor or want to save time, you could probably purchase pre riced cauliflower and use that - just make sure if it's frozen, you try and get most of the liquid out of the cauliflower so that it's easier to combine with the flour and mold into pieces.

Also, for more flavor, you could add parmesan cheese or (vegan) nutritional yeast. I would say a a couple of tablespoons. Also not against the idea of seasoning the cauliflower with garlic powder or herbs like oregano, parsley and basil.

You can either fry or bake them. I fried them in a skillet with olive oil and fresh sage but the trick to frying and keeping the shape in tact would be popping them in the freezer for 15 minutes before adding them to the skillet! No need to freeze with baking since they sit still on the baking sheet the whole time. I also bet you could air fry them but I don't own an air fryer so I would check other bloggers recommendations for temperatures and settings.

What you need:

1 medium sized head of cauliflower (makes 3 batches of about 20 gnocchi)
1/3 cup cassava flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional for flavor)
1/2 tsp celtic salt (regular is fine too, cetlic is just healthier and more natural.)
1/2 tbsp olive or grape seed oil
1 additional tbsp of olive or grape seed oil if cooking them via skillet
Parchment paper or non-stick spray if cooking via oven

What to do:

Cut the head of cauliflower into florets and boil for 6-8 minutes or until you can cut through it easily with a butter knife.
Use a food processor to blend the florets until you have a cauliflower rice texture.
Remove the rice from the processor and set on a dish that's lined with a few paper towels and then press down with more paper towels repeatedly in order to remove as much liquid as possible.
Combine the cauliflower, cassava flour, starch, garlic powder and salt in a large bowl.
Use your hands to grab teaspoon sized scoops and squish them into a ball with the palm of your hand. Press on them to get them to shape like a gnocchi and then lay it flat.
If frying in a skillet with olive oil, stick the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes before searing for a few minutes on each side in oil. If baking, put some parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12ish minutes on each side at 400 F.
Store any leftovers in the freezer and use whenever! I froze them on the cookie sheets first overnight and then added them all into the same ziplock bag once they were firm to keep them from sticking together.

0 Comments

Grandma's Pierogies

1/22/2020

4 Comments

I grew up eating these delicious little dough pockets every single year on Christmas Eve! They're a family staple from my dad's side. My Grandma learned how to make them from her mom (who I was lucky enough to have around for a lot longer than most people can say about their great grandparents!) This recipe has been passed down for generations from Polish roots so it's v authentic and v special to lots of people in my family.

My Grandma's recipe makes about 30-50 pierogies depending on how big you make them and how much of the dough you repurpose as you go along. (The key to making the most out of the dough scraps is covering them so that nothing dries out!) I really love how there's milk, butter and sour cream in the dough recipe - it makes it so much more stretchy and playable compared to a basic flour/water/egg dough mixture.

What you need:
(Dough)

5 cups flour
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 pint sour cream

(Potato filling)

5 lbs yukon gold or russet potatoes
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp salt

What to do:

Peel the potatoes and cut them in half. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are soft and can be sliced easily down the middle. (About 25 minutes - larger potatoes will take longer.)
Combine all of the dough ingredients by hand and knead until smooth for about 15 minutes. Let the dough rest covered for 10 minutes.
While the dough rests, mash the cream cheese and salt into the potatoes until smooth. Lumps are okay, just not huge lumps. (If your potatoes are too lumpy and you accidentally overcooked them, add a few tablespoons of milk and try mixing them in a blender or stand mixer.)
Split the dough in half or into fourths and cover whatever portions you don't plan on immediately working with in order to prevent the extra dough from drying out.
Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Use a cup or a circle cookie cutter to cut out the individual pierogi wrappers. They should be around 2-3 inches in diameter.
Important! The side of the wrapper that's underneath and touching the surface you're working on is the side you want to put 1 tbsp of potato filling onto. Since it hasn't been exposed to the air like the top side has, it will stick together better when you go to seal it.
Since the dough is very playable, so feel free to stretch it around when you're getting ready to wrap and seal the flattened dough around the potato filling in order to not have anything bursting out the seems. You can pinch the edges to seal, or use a fork. Sometimes I like to use the end of a chopstick because I like the look and texture of it when things are more spread out.
Melt some butter and add diced onion to a large skillet and cook on medium heat until they start to caramelize. (This will be the bath for the pierogies once they are done cooking.)
Boil the pierogies in a large pot of salted water for about 8 minutes, they should float once they're done.
Transfer the peirogies to the onion and butter mixture and cook for a few minutes. If you like crispy pierogies - cook and flip them longer than a few minutes until the sides start to crisp up and brown a little bit.
Serve with sour cream. My family loves to eat them with salt, pepper and hot sauce too!

4 Comments

Fried CHicken with Garlic sauce

1/13/2020

This totally looks like a normal fried chicken sandwich but what you can't tell from the photo is that it's not just any old fried chicken sandwich - it's a buttery, garlicky fried chicken sandwich. That's right. I roasted garlic and then mashed and combined that with melted butter in order to create the best non-buffalo tasting fried-chicken sauce I've ever had.

What you need:

6 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
2 tbsp seasoned salt (Lawry's)
1 head of garlic (use 6-8 cloves depending on how strong you like your garlic)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 stick of salted butter
3 cups veg oil for frying the chicken
2 cups flour
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
6 brioche buns
lettuce
pickles
mayo

What to do:

Brine the chicken thighs in 4 cups of cold water with the seasoned salt for at least two hours. (Overnight at the most and I find that a gallon ziplock bag works perfect.)
Roast the garlic. Slice off the top part of a head of garlic, place it on a sheet of tinfoil and pour about 1 tbsp good quality olive oil over the top. Wrap the tinfoil around the garlic head and make sure it's completely covered. I roasted my garlic head for 25 minutes at 400 F.
After the garlic has been roasted, the cloves should easily slide out and should be super soft so that you can mash with a fork. I prefer to blend them with the melted butter in a food processor - if you don't have them a whisk should work too!
Heat 3 cups of vegetable oil in a large pot. Every stove is different but I crank mine 3/4 of the way to as high as it can go. (If you're normal and own a thermometer, the oil should be around 350 degrees F.)
Combine the flour, garlic powder and salt in a large bowl and dredge each piece of chicken in it before dropping into the oil and frying until golden brown. (About 8-10 min)
Spread a little of the garlic butter onto each brioche bun piece and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Brush a generous amount of the garlic butter onto the fried chicken pieces before assembling the sandwiches.
I did bun, lettuce, pickles chicken, mayo and then top bun. Serve and eat while they're hot!

1 Comment

Cinnamon & Oatmeal Pancakes

12/16/2019

I really wanted to make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies the day I invented these pancakes but I was out of brown sugar and v low on chocolate chips so I decided to make pancakes instead. I used cinnamon to give it an extra sweet taste since I originally was craving chocolate.

I know everything is supposed to taste better when it's made from scratch but I love Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix. It's just so good and always turns out so fluffy - plus, I use the kind where you have to add eggs and oil so it's not as big of a shortcut as the kind of pancake mixes where you just add water.

What you need:
For the pancakes

Aunt Jemima Original Pancake Mix (I doubled the directions for 1 batch)
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp cinnamon

For the syrup

1/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup of your favorite maple syrup
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk + more to even out the texture

What to do:

Make the pancake batter according to packaging instructions and combine with the oats and cinnamon. Set aside while you make the syrup - this allows the oats to soak for a few minutes before cooking.
Melt the butter in a small skillet and cook on medium-high heat until it starts to bubble and turn brown (about 6-8 minutes.)
Add the brown butter, syrup, sugar and cinnamon to a mixing bowl. Slowly start to add in the milk and whisk while doing so to combine everything. You want to add milk to the point where it looks like a frosting, but the texture is like syrup so that it can easily spill over the pancakes.
Cook the pancakes. My favorite method would be to use butter to grease the skillet and then start off by pouring 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet and then pouring a few more tablespoons of batter right into the center of that so that it forces the pancake to spread out a little more in the pan and creates a golden brown "ring" around the pattern of the bottom of the pancake. So good!!
Top with the homemade syrup and eat! I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon, confectioner sugar and more oats on top if I'm feelin' fancy.

0 Comments

Hot Chicken

9/4/2019

4 Comments

I'm sure you guys get it by now. I'm in love with fried chicken. Pretty sure I feel the same way about pasta. There's just soooo many different styles and flavors to choose from but the main ingredient stays the same. Versatile - that's the word I was looking for!!

Anyways, I spent a couple of days frying up different kinds of chicken in my kitchen and I would have to say that my favorite part of chicken fried "Nashville hot chicken" style would be the chicken thigh. You just can't beat that juicy dark meat especially once you've put the time and effort into soaking it in buttermilk for 24 hours.

Let me know if you have any questions below! And as always, the serving size for this recipe is for around 2-4 people. (Two starving people, three normal people, or four people who feel like snacking together.)

What you need:

Chicken - either 12 wings, 6-8 thighs or 6-8 chicken breasts (you can do a mix of thighs and breast too just make sure the total is around 6-8 pieces.)

For the brine:

3 cups buttermilk
3 tsp seasoned salt
2 tbsp hot sauce

For frying:

4-6 cups of vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp seasoned salt

For the hot chicken sauce:

2 tbsp cayenne pepper (more if you like extra hot)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil taken from the scorching hot frying chicken

What to do:

Soak the chicken for 2 hours or up to overnight in the buttermilk, seasoned salt and cayenne pepper.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot. I usually crank the heat to a little over medium. (To test if the oil is hot enough, carefully flick a tiny dash of water into it - make sure you stand back so you don't burn yourself. It will make a crackling noise if it's at the right temp. If it makes a super loud crackling noise that's almost scary, you've got the heat up too high!)
Combine the hot chicken sauce spices (not the oil that's listed because that comes from the hot pot) in a medium sized heat proof bowl and set aside until later.
Combine the flour, garlic powder, and seasoned salt in a large bowl. Make sure its mixed well.
Coat each piece of chicken (right out of the wet brine) in the flour mixture and then carefully place it into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown - usually 8-10 minutes. I usually do a few at a time so the pot I'm using isn't overcrowded.
While the first batch is cooking, scoop out that 1/2 cup of hot oil and carefully pour it into the spice bowl and mix. Set aside until it's time to brush the chicken before serving.
Set each piece of golden brown finished chicken on a cooling rack that has a paper towel layer underneath to catch the oil drippings.
Using a spoon or basting brush, coat each piece of chicken in the hot sauce before serving.
Best if served with white bread and thick crunchy pickles!! Ranch definitely helps with the heat too. :)

4 Comments

Pork Belly Poutine

8/9/2019

Poutine is something that I'll never stop dying over. French fries, gravy and cheese curds. Hot damn.

There's a restaurant in Cleveland called the Greenhouse Tavern and they make a dish real similar to poutine but it has juicy pork belly bits, a fried egg and whole grain mustard on it - it's so good and my version of poutine is totally inspired by it.

What you need:
(For the fries)

4 large potatoes
3 cups vegetable oil

(For the pork belly)

1/2 lb pork belly
Salt & pepper

(For the Gravy)

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
5 oz beef broth
5 oz chicken broth

(Other)

1/2 cup white cheddar cheese curds
Quail eggs
Parsley

What to do:
(For the fries)

Slice the potatoes in to thick french fry pieces and soak them in cold water for 2-3 hours.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot to around 300 degrees F and cook the fries in batches for 5 minutes at a time. After, set them on a paper towel to soak up the grease. (They aren't done, this is just to get them ready for the next step.)
Next, increase the oil heat to 400 degrees F and cook the fries in batches again, this time until they are golden brown. (About 7 mins.)
Season lightly with salt and set on paper towels to soak up any excess grease.

(For the pork belly)

Season the pork belly with a good amount of salt and pepper. (1 tsp of each.)
Roast the pork belly in the oven at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes - middle rack. Flip and roast on the other side for 20 more minutes.
You'll notice that the edges of the pork belly are a little crispy from cooking in its own grease so use a very sharp knife to slice it all up into cubes.

(For the gravy)

To make the gravy, melt the butter in a skillet and use a whisk to combine the flour and gravy to make a roux.
Slowly pour in each broth, little by little and whisk on low to combine and thicken. If it's too thick add more broth and if it's too thin, increase the heat and it will thicken up.

(Assembly)

Fry the quail eggs in a skillet. Each one takes about 60 seconds since they are so tiny.
Pour a little gravy on the serving platter, and then create a pile of fries on top of it.
Sprinkle the cheese curds and pork belly on top of the fries and then douse the whole thing in the rest of the gravy.
Top with parsley and the quail eggs. Serve/eat while it's still hot!

1 Comment

Pork Tacos + Pineapple Crema

7/23/2019

I'm REALLY obsessed with tacos al pastor right now. Seeing that I don't have any devices at home that can cook meat on a spit for hours on end, I decided to not try and do that, lol. I seasoned a pork shoulder with the same flavors as tacos al pastor and cooked the meat in a crockpot so that the pork turned into soft and juicy shredded meat.

Also, this is very much a long recipe. The best way to make it not feel like that is to start marinating the pork around dinner time and wake up and get it going in the crockpot in the morning so that it'll be ready by the next day's dinner time. It makes a lot of pork, I'd say to buy enough taco shells for around 6 people. You can refrigerate the leftover meat and it'll stay good for a few days.

What you need:
(For the pork)

1 pork shoulder (around 4 lbs)
1 tbsp dried cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
3 tbsp achiote paste
2 tablespoons guajillo chili powder
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup diced pineapple

(For the crema)

1 cup Mexican crema (or sour cream)
3/4 cup of the pineapples mentioned above (after they've cooked in the crockpot with the meat.)

What to do:

Mix all of the ingredients except the diced pineapple in a large bowl and marinate the pork shoulder overnight.
Place the pork shoulder in the crockpot and pour the marinade over the top of it.
Add in the cup of diced pineapple and cook on high for 8 hours.
Separate the pineapples from the meat and stick them in the fridge right away to cool.
After the pineapple has cooled (about 10 minutes, blend it with the crema in a food processor. Stick it back in the fridge to keep cool until it's time to use.
I like to char my corn tortillas in a cast iron skillet before assembling the taco - so do that. Add the meat, pineapple crema and then top with a little shredded chihuahua cheese. I love dipping these tacos in spicy pineapple habanero salsa!!

2 Comments

FOJ Boneless Wings

7/10/2019

What if I told you you didn't have to go to your favorite local chicken wing joint to eat the best boneless wings of your life?? I've tried hundreds of times to make them at home and they've never turned out like how they taste from a restaurant. UNTIL NOW, and guess what? It happened on accident, lol.

I was frying chicken to put on sliders for a recipe that I was working on and the batter turned out not so great. So I dipped the chicken into flour, after dipping it into the batter to see if that would help and I'm so glad I did!!

What You Need

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (I prefer thighs, way juicer!)
3 tbsp cornstarch
Buffalo sauce (or wing sauce of choice)
Vegetable oil for frying

To Make The Batter

1 cup AP flour
1 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder

What To Do

Slice the chicken into large nugget-sized pieces.
Soak the chicken in a salt water or buttermilk brine for at least 2 hours and at the most, overnight. (If you're doing a salt water brine, the ratio is 1 tbsp salt: 1 cup of water.)
Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and coat them in the cornstarch. Let them sit out and absorb some of the starch for 15 minutes.
Mix the batter ingredients. The consistency should be similar to pancake batter, more thick than thin. (Add more flour if it's watery and add more water if it's too thick.)
Heat the oil in a deep dish pan on the stove until it's hot. Test how hot the oil is by sticking your spoon in it with a little batter on the end. If it bubbles around the batter, it's hot enough.
Mix the chicken pieces in with the batter. Set aside a large shallow bowl of flour (around 1 cup) to coat each chicken piece as it comes out of the batter mixture.
After each wing has been coated in batter and then flour, drop in the hot oil. Cook as many at a time that fit comfortably into the pot without overcrowding for about 10 minutes, until golden and crispy.
Fill a large tall bowl with a decent amount of buffalo sauce and toss the wings in the sauce while they are still hot. Pour in more sauce if you need in order to fully coat the wings. Serve with tons of napkins!

2 Comments

10 Min Mac & Cheese

6/25/2019

7 Comments

“It ain’t easy bein’ cheesy” is a straight up lie because you can achieve the ultimate cheesiness in under 10 minutes with this recipe. #foolproof

Also, if you want to make this into a baked mac and cheese situation with bread crumbs, just use an additional 1/2 cup of heavy cream in the recipe. Once it's finished, top with a handful of breadcrumbs and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of melted butter and cook in an oven-safe dish for 15-20 minutes at 400 F. (I like to add more cream to ensure that the pasta doesn't dry out while baking.)

A few notes: You could use milk if you don't have heavy cream since the cornstarch is a thickening agent - the sauce just won't be as luscious from all the fat in the heavy cream! One time I made it with half heavy whipping cream and half 2% milk and it turned out just fine. I also have a vegan macaroni and cheese recipe that's bomb if dairy doesn't suit you. If you can't eat gluten, the sauce is naturally gluten free so just swap out the pasta for your favorite brown rice pasta! Gotta look out for all my homies with food sensitivities or allergies. <3

If you're cooking ahead of time, pour the finished product into an oven safe dish before refrigerating. My favorite way to reheat it is to add a cup of Velveeta cheese cubes to the top and then pour in 1/2 cup of whole milk before warming in an oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F. The Velveeta isn't necessary but it just takes everything to another level. I do think that the milk is necessary though because it tends to dry up a little bit when it's been sitting in the fridge.

What you need:

1/2 lb rotini or elbow pasta
2-3 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

What to do:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. If you don't salt the water you might need to add salt to the finished sauce.
Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet on medium heat. Add the heavy cream and bring it to a low bubble.
While heating the cream, mix the cornstarch in with shredded cheese. (This helps evenly distribute it for the next step.)
Add the starchy cheese mixture to the hot bubbling cream and mix around until it's all cheesy and melted.
Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and combine before serving. (See instructions above for reheating if you're making ahead of time)

7 Comments

Pho Stir Fry

5/17/2019

Pretty sure pho is famous for it's slow simmered broth but I loooove picking out all of the noodles and spicy jalapeños whenever I'm eating it. A few people replied to my IG story saying it's not pho since I used soy sauce, but I'm allergic to hoisin sauce since there's peanuts in it so I had to improvise. It still has the flavors of pho with the beef broth, lime and ginger that I used and that's good enough for me. Ps, this recipe will serve two people or one VERY hungry person.

So it's not traditional pho, but it's still really phoking good, okay?!

What you need:

1/2 lb steak, shaved or very thinly sliced
3 tbsp soy sauce (2 for marinade, 1 for stir fry)
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 fresh jalapeños, sliced
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 of a white onion sliced very thin
10 oz rice noodles
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
cilantro for topping

What to do:

Slice and marinate the steak in soy sauce over night. It's easier to slice really thin if you throw it in the freezer for 10 minutes because the texture of it hardens a bit.
Cook the steak slices in a wok with 1 tbsp canola oil until they brown. Remove from wok and set aside.
Cook the ginger and jalapeños for 2-3 minutes in the leftover canola oil/steak juice until fragrant.
Add the beef broth and onion and simmer until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Cook the rice noodles while things simmer.
Next, add the steak, rice noodles, bean sprouts, lime juice, 1 tbsp soy sauce and rice vinegar to the wok. Mix it all together and fry for a few minutes.
Transfer the stir fry to a bowl, top with desired pho toppings and eat!

0 Comments

Chow mein Noodles

4/15/2019

The trip to your local Chinese grocery store is so worth it for these chow mein noodles. You could try to skimp and use spaghetti - but it won't be the same!

Growing up I used to pound my Grandma's cabbage and noodles which consisted of butter, onion, cabbage and egg noodles. This dish is inspired by that but it also has some Asian influence!

Also, yes I am allergic to sesame seeds, but the person I was cooking dinner for isn't so I put them on her dish! :)

What you need:

1 lb chow mein noodles
3 tbsp regular or vegan butter
1/2 head of cabbage, finely shaved
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp minced ginger
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

What to do:

Add the butter to a large wok or non-stick skillet and cook the shaved cabbage, garlic and ginger on medium heat until it wilts and is very tender. (About 10 minutes.)
While cooking the cabbage, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to package instructions.
Add the cooked noodles, soy sauce and vinegar to the cooking cabbage and combine everything while continuing to cook on medium for 5-7 more minutes.
Top with sesame seeds and serve hot!

3 Comments

Chicken, Cabbage & Ginger Dumplings

4/6/2019

Fact: adding cabbage to dumplings makes the filling a whole lot softer. It's less like a dry meatball inside of there and more like a juicy piece of meatloaf. I always get questions about what kind of dumpling wrappers I use and since I'm too lazy to make homemade dumpling dough, I buy gyoza wrappers from a local Chinese grocery store in Cleveland. (Nee How in North Olmsted or any of the grocery stores in Cleveland's Asia Town.)

If you think about it - a dumpling is very similar to certain food from other cultures, like a pierogi or an empanada. Meat or veggies stuffed into dough. I've learned about the common ingredients that are used in Asian cooking from following other food bloggers for years but also even just going out to eat at my favorite Chinese restaurants in Cleveland and seeing what's used in the food I order! So from there, I take what flavors I like and use them in my kitchen. I'm so thankful for Asian cuisine - I seriously cannot get enough of everything dumpling and noodle related.

Ps - if you prefer a slippery dumpling texture instead of the pan fried crisp, you can boil them for about 8 minutes (they should float when they are done.)

What you need:

40-50 circle dumpling wrappers
1 lb ground chicken (I prefer dark meat...way juicer!)
1/2 head of cabbage, finely shaved
1 egg
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt

What to do:

Combine all of the ingredients except (except the dumpling wrappers) in a large bowl and let it marinate and combine for 15 minute in the fridge.
Place about 1 teaspoon of filling in each dumpling and fold. (There are folding examples on my IG highlights.)
Freeze whatever you don't plan on eating for up to a two months in a zip lock bag.
Pour about 2 tablespoons of canola oil into a large non-stick skillet and place the dumplings face down in the hot oil. Cook until the bottoms brown a bit (about 5 minutes) and then add 1/3 cup of hot water to steam them. Cover with a lid immediately after adding the water and cook for another 5-7 minutes until the dumplings are steamed.
Serve with chili oil or a mixture of black vinegar and fresh ginger.

0 Comments

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwiches

4/2/2019

I legit never think to buy buttermilk when I'm grocery shopping but I saw it the other day and decided I wanted to try and make some seriously good buttermilk fried chicken. I typically use a salt water and garlic brine but this was SO MUCH BETTER!

I was trying to stop myself from eating the chicken all on it's own after it came out of the hot oil. The seasoned salt is such a clutch ingredient in turning the chicken that really pretty golden color and it smells amazing.

What you need:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
2 cups AP flour
2 1/2 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
5 cups canola oil (for frying)
1/2 head of cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup mayo
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
4 sets of brioche buns
Favorite hot sauce for sandwich

What to do:

Put the chicken in a zip lock bag with the buttermilk, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Make sure everything is mixed inside of the bag - let it soak for a half hour at room temp or for up to 2 hours in the fridge.
To make the breading, combine the flour, seasoned salt and garlic powder. Mix with a fork to evenly distribute the flavors.
Heat the oil in a large pot. It's ready to fry the chicken once you splash a few drops of water into it and the contact makes a crackling noise!
Once the chicken has soaked in the buttermilk long enough, dredge it in the flour and make sure each piece is really coated before frying.
Cook the chicken two pieces at a time. Watch the chicken once you put it in - if the color turns brown super fast the oil is too hot, it should take a little time to get that perfect golden brown (around 8-10 minutes.)
Chop the cabbage and combine it with the shredded carrots, mayo, rice vinegar sugar and black pepper to make the coleslaw.
Assemble the sandwich! Slaw on the bottom, chicken on the slaw, and cheese or hot sauce on the top bun.

0 Comments

Deep Fried Goat cheese & Rice Balls

3/28/2019

I love fried balls of any sort. Lol.

But for real, goat cheese is the GOAT - and I love arancini so this is sort of like a weird version of that. Also, how good is goat cheese with honey?? The best combo since pb & j.

What you need:

2 cups cooked white rice
8 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup flour
1 large egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups canola oil for frying
honey for drizzling and dipping

What to do:

Combine the freshly cooked hot rice with the goat cheese and roll into 2 oz balls (a little smaller than a golf ball) and refrigerate the rice and cheese balls for 15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a deep and small sized sauce pan on the stove.
Mix the salt in with the flour and then coat each rice ball in flour, then egg, then panko bread crumbs before dropping into the hot oil. Make sure the whole thing is covered nicely, you can dip in egg again to get more crumbs on the ball.
Fry 4-5 balls at a time for 5-7 minutes until golden brown.
Eat immediately and drizzle and dip with honey.

2 Comments

Chicken and Dumplings

3/6/2019

I used to beg my mom to take me to Cracker Barrel so that I could eat their chicken and dumplings and this is so much god damn better than that. LOL.

It's actually so easy to make dumplings, I was shocked when I started googling to find out how. I used dark meat because I think there's way more flavor and it's way juicer. #teamdarkmeat

WHAT YOU NEED:

4 chicken thighs
1/2 white onion
3 minced garlic cloves
3 big carrots
3 celery stalks
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
8-10 rough chopped sage leaves
Salt and pepper as needed for serving

WHAT TO DO:

Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear each side in a soup pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Dice up the onion, carrots and celery and add it into the pot.
Place the thyme and garlic into the pot as well and pour in all of the chicken broth. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Mix the flour, buttermilk, baking soda and chopped sage leaves in a medium mixing bowl until you have a sticky dough texture.
Remove the chicken from the soup after it's done cooking and shred it up. Set aside for now.
Drop a full tablespoon of dough into the bubbling soup one at a time. They get bigger as they cook so save room and do a couple batches of 4 dumplings at a time. (I put the finished ones into the bowl where I keep the chicken during this step.)
Once the dumplings are done, add the chicken back into the soup and serve hot.

3 Comments

Lemon vinaigrette bucatini + Garlic Bread Crumbs

3/6/2019

I love this recipe, the combination of that extra virgin olive oil + the zesty lemon flavor gives me all the light and crisp flavor feels. Adding more of the olive oil into the bread crumbs and then topping with more lemon zest at the end is what takes this one to another level.

What You Need

1/2 lb bucatini pasta (fresh is best)

To Make The Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup EVOO
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

To Make The Breadcrumbs:

6 garlic cloves
5 slices of Italian bread
1 tbsp EVOO
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

What To Do

Boil a large pot of water to cook the bucatini pasta.
To make the breadcrumbs you'll want to process the bread in a food processor. Add in the minced garlic, EVOO and parmesan after the bread is crumbs are...crumb sized lol.
Toast the breadcrumbs in the oven (350 F, for 5-7 minutes) or stovetop until crispy - the olive oil helps them crisp up. Set aside until it's time to top the pasta.
While you are waiting for the pasta to cook, make the vinaigrette by vigorously whisking together the EVOO and lemon juice. Save the lemons to use their zest in the next step!
Combine the vinaigrette with the pasta, plate it and then top with the bread crumbs, some lemon zest and fresh parmesan cheese. Season with salt & pepper as needed.

0 Comments

Beer & honey Mustard wings

3/6/2019