we’ve made our own pizza several times before, each time a little differently. the first time, i was trying out my baking stones, and this past summer, we tried making pizza on the grill. each time, i was amazed at how easy the process went and how delicious the end result was. this time around, i had a secret weapon to make the pizza even better – 00 flour.

the flour came from Kalustyan’s, a specialty foods store we visited in new york city. the place is basically a warehouse of spices, jams, mixes, olives and anything else you might have a hard time finding at your local supermarket. seriously, check out their website, and prepare to salivate.

in italy, flour is classified by how finely it is ground, from most coarse (2) to most fine (00). the classifications go deeper (there are even myriad types of 00 flour to choose from in italy), but the general rule is that 00 is best for pizza and pasta. i wanted to try it out and see how it compared to ordinary all-purpose flour.

everything i read about 00 flour before getting started assured me that it would extremely easy to use, which proved to be very true. the dough came together extremely quickly and cleanly, even as i mixed it with my bare hands. after a few rises, it was easy to shape into rough discs. handling the dough as little as possible results in a chewy, crispy crust, while overworking it gives you a dough that’s too dense and tough. luckily, these kept their shape without too much trouble.

one of the biggest challenges of making pizza at home is getting the oven hot enough (most home ovens don’t reach 800 F). when the girl and i moved into our new place last summer, i was skeptical that the electric oven we would now be using would stand up to the gas oven we had become accustomed to previously. to the contrary, the electric oven has heated more quickly and evenly, and in the case of baking pizza, finally gave us the just blackened melty mozzarella cheese we wanted.

here’s one with a pesto base, caramelized onions, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. these pictures are making me hungry again.

this pizza (one of the favorites of the night) was topped with a bean salad, mexican cheese and cilantro. overall, the difference in taste between the 00 flour crust and the all-purpose flour crust (both recipes below) was pretty minimal. regardless, it still may be a fun idea to try again, either with a different 00 flour brand, or incorporating it into pasta rather than pizza.

pizza
dough recipe from The Fresh Loaf.

00 pizza dough (makes 3 pizzas)
500 gr 00 flour
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
375 gr water (weighed, not measured)
1 Tbsp olive oil

1. whisk the dry ingredients together to get them evenly incorporated and add the water and olive oil. mix until combined and knead for just a minute or two.

2. let rest loosely covered in a large bowl at room temperature for 20 minutes. knead, and let rest for another 20 minutes. repeat this process two more times. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight.

3. the following day, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. if you want to use the dough immediately, let it rest a room temperature for 2 hours before attempting to shape and bake. the dough can also be kept in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for several weeks.

olive oil pizza dough (from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. makes 4 pizzas)
2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp granulated yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a large bowl. mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon or in a stand mixer with a dough hook.

2. cover the bowl and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours. the dough can be used immediately, though it is easier to use when chilled in the refrigerator (dough can be stored for 2 weeks).

making the pizza
1. on the day you want to make the pizza, two hours before baking, remove your dough from the refrigerator and divide it into equal pieces. flatten into rough discs, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest.

2. twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 550 F, with your baking stone(s) on the bottom shelf. dust a working surface with flour and flatten the dough with a rolling pin or stretch it with your hands. dust a pizza peel with cornmeal and lay the shaped dough down. cover with toppings.

3. slide the pizza from the peel to the baking stone and bake for 8-10 minutes, until crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted completely. let cool a few minutes before slicing and enjoying.

when the girl and i moved in together this past summer, we knew we’d have some doubles of kitchen equipment, but it didn’t become apparent how bad it was until we filled two giant plastic storage bins with extra utensils, plates, pots, broiling pans, and stand mixers (to be fair, the two stand mixers we have actually both belong to me). despite the excess, we somehow keep finding kitchen “things” that we didn’t know we needed – like mini ramekins. until recently, i figured they were only good for a) crème brulée and b) filling with mise en place on cooking shows. it turns out you can also use them to make an incredibly simple, fast and delicious breakfast.

you can see here the basic ingredients for a baked egg (ironically my mise en place is not in ramekins). the original recipe i found used some fresh herbs and cheese, but i quickly realized this was an opportunity for me to bring back an old tradition. you see, back in college, my roommates and i made a lot of chicken parmesan. when we finished breading and frying the chicken, the two things we were always left with were eggs and bread crumbs. so, while the cheese melted on the chicken, we scrambled the eggs with the leftover bread crumbs, dubbed it “breggs,” and ate it as an appetizer.

this is sort of a grown-up version of breggs. it can be fun to customize each one with different toppings – but any topping that requires cooking should be cooked beforehand, as they’re only in the oven for a few minutes. if you make a baked egg just right, breaking through the crust will reveal a perfectly runny yolk. it’s a deceptively easy breakfast that looks elegant yet rustic and tastes completely delicious. what are you waiting for?

baked egg
recipe makes 4 eggs (1 egg per small ramekin). if using a larger ramekin, adjust measurements accordingly.

1/4 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan
1 Tbsp crumbled cooked bacon
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 Tbp butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. preheat the broiler while you prepare the ramekins.

2. combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parmesan and bread crumbs. add 1/4 Tbsp butter and 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream in each ramekin. put the ramekins on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, until melted and bubbly.

3. remove the ramekins from the oven and very carefully crack 1 egg into each. quickly sprinkle with the crumb/herb topping and place back in the broiler for anther 2-3 minutes. the eggs will continue to cook after you remove them from the oven. let cool for 1-2 minutes before serving warm.

at some point in the future, we’re going to look back and realize how absurd it was to wrap everything in bacon. we’re not there yet though, so in the meantime, i’m going to indulge. these are strawberries. wrapped in bacon. and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. yes, they are delicious.

and oh boy, are they rich. the recipe is pretty straightforward, but i had a bit of trouble getting them to stay upright in the oven so they cook evenly. it pays to watch them really closely to make sure you’re not burning one side of the bacon and leaving the other side raw.

i wait all year for strawberries to be in season, just so i can do stuff like this to them. if you’re having a party during the summer, it’s really easy to make a huge batch of these guys. the only downside is that it’s way too easy to just down 5 or 6 without thinking, so you’ll run out before you know it.

for my vegetarian/vegan readers, you can still make this recipe minus the bacon. just toss some strawberries with a bit of sugar and balsamic vinegar and roast on a baking sheet. they’ll melt in your mouth and make you very happy.

bacon wrapped strawberries
from E Chronicles. make 1-2 servings.

6 fresh strawberries, washed and capped (stem removed)
6 strips bacon
2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar

1. preheat oven to 450F. wrap each berry horizontally with one strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

2. place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 7 minutes. check after 5, and if the bacon is browned, turn each piece with tongs. roast for another 2-3 minutes until all sides of the bacon are cooked and brown.

3. remove from the oven and immediately place each piece on a plate covered with two layers of paper towels to drain the grease. cool slightly, then plate and drizzle with the aged balsamic vinegar.

we’ve gone totally crazy for the grill here in our new place. you know that feeling, on the very last day of school, when you know you’re done for the year, and you’ve got a whole summer of doing whatever you want ahead of you? having a grill makes every day feel like that. there’s nothing more relaxing than lounging in the backyard and cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers, or something a bit more sophisticated, like pizza (that’s right, i’m calling pizza sophisticated).

it’s a little nerve racking throwing pizza dough right on the grill for the first time. i was sure it would fall through the grate, but sure enough, it cooked right up perfectly. the charcoal gives the dough a smokiness you don’t get from a conventional oven, plus the perfect combination of a crispy crust with a soft chewy interior.

here’s an extremely rare shot of me actually cooking. and readers, meet the girl. ain’t she sweet? sorry, no pictures of us together – it was just the two of us, so we had to take shots of each other. she’s a amazing cook and i’m an extremely lucky dude to have her.

look at those grill marks. this crust is about to be topped and tossed back on the grill to finish cooking.

here’s the girl adding a bit of sauce with fresh basil.

as you can see, i’m not a master at making a perfectly round pizza. we’ll just call it “rustic.” this one was topped with barbecue chicken, caramelized onions, mozzarella and more fresh basil. if you’ve never grilled pizza before, or even ever made pizza at home before, it’s actually easier than it looks. have all of your friends over, tell them to bring their favorite toppings, and just keep cooking them up until everyone is too full to move.

it doesn’t hurt to have a few glasses of wine to make the meal complete.

here’s the grilled chicken we added to the pizzas. we’ve been in our new place for 3 weeks, and this is the second time we’ve made this chicken. the girl whipped up a really incredible bbq sauce that caramelizes perfectly and makes the chicken tangy and hot.

hmmm…sausage, caramelized onions, local fresh ricotta, and swiss chard. this one got a helping of mozzarella once it hit the grill a second time. these were so much fun to make (and incredibly delicious), i might do it again this week.

one last thing – the kind folks at washingtonian.com were nice enough to do a little interview with me for their “blogger beat” section, which you can read here. it was totally humbling to get to do it, so i hope you enjoy it. i think i successfully came off looking like a total dork (totally my intention all along). big thanks to washingtonian.com and thanks to all of you for continuing to read this blog and just being generally awesome.

grilled pizza
same crust as the first time i made pizza. find it here.

1.day one: make dough.

2. day two: remove the dough from the fridge 2 hours before making the pizza. dust the counter with flour, place the number of dough balls down you are going to use, and sprinkle with more flour. gently press them into flat disks (about 1/2 inch thick). sprinkle with a bit more flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap. let rest.

3. about 45 minutes before making the pizza, fire up your grill. get it nice and hot. we started a bit earlier so we could grill some bbq chicken to top the pizza. when you’re ready to cook the dough, get all of your toppings ready. you’ll need a place to work quickly.

4. stretch the dough as you normally would (either by tossing or by rolling) and lay it on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel. it should be about 1/4-inch thick (the thinner the dough, the easier it is to cook fully). carefully slide the dough onto the grill. it takes a bit of practice, as working too slow causes the dough to bunch up and fall through the grate.

5. after 2-3 minutes, use a pair of tongs to lift up the dough and check to see if it’s baking. you should see some light grill marks. the top may bubble a bit as well. poke the bubbles with a fork. when it looks done on that side, pull it off the grill onto your pizza peel. flip it over so the uncooked side is down on the pizza peel.

6. quickly dress the cooked side with your toppings. slide the topped pizza back onto the grill to cook the other side. you can put the top on the grill to help melt the cheese. another 2-3 minutes later, check the underside of the pizza to make sure it’s done and remove from the grill. serve/eat immediately.

if you’ve got a few hours to kill on a sunday afternoon, why not whip up some pasta? hold on, you’ve never made fresh pasta? it’s easy – here, i’ll show you. now you have no excuse.

take 2 cups flour and pour it out on a work surface. form it into a little volcano. add 1 tsp salt in the middle. now things are about to get messy (and fun).

crack 3 eggs into the middle (or crack 1, mix, crack another, mix, etc). carefully mix the flour with the egg, being sure not to break the edge of the flour volcano. you can use a fork to start, but after a few minutes, get your hands in there and really work the dough.

after a bit of mixing and kneading, you’ll end up with this. if the dough is too wet, add a touch of flour. if it’s too dry, sprinkle in some drops of cold water.

divide the dough into a few pieces and run them through a pasta maker. if you’re without a pasta maker, use a rolling pin to get it as thin as possible. it will take some time and elbow grease, but eventually you can get it to about 1/16-inch thick (or thinner). the dough will be springy, so it’s best to work on one piece for a while, let it rest while you work on the next, and just move through each one until little by little until it’s thin.

loosely roll the dough up jelly-roll style and cut them into small rolls. sprinkle some dust on the pasta rolls and unroll them into long strands. don’t worry about tearing it – the dough is surprisingly resilient. from here, you can cook this up immediately or hang it on a rack of some kind (a laundry rack will do) to dry. when you’re ready to cook, only boil the pasta for 3-4 minutes at most. i suggest serving it with creamy caramelized leeks and crispy bacon. that’s what i made, but, true story, i couldn’t get a good picture of it before i ate it all. yes, it was awesome.

quick reminder – there’s still time to sponsor my upcoming 5k for the susan g. komen breast cancer foundation. to everyone who has already donated, i can’t thank you enough. to those who would like to donate, please click here and then click on the “donate to pete” button.

fresh pasta with creamy caramelized leeks and bacon
you can make the pasta ahead of time and let it dry while you start the leeks and bacon. serves 2-3. pasta recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.

pasta
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 eggs

sauce
2 leeks, diced
3 Tbsp butter
4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. form a small volcano with the flour and put the salt in the middle. crack the eggs into the flour and mix. work the dough with your hands until you have a firm ball of dough. add more flour if too sticky, or a sprinkle of water if too dry.

2. roll the dough through a pasta maker or with a rolling pin until very thin (less than 1/16-inch thick). roll up jelly roll style and cut into tiny rolls. sprinkle with flour and unravel rolls into long pasta strands. hang on a rack to dry or cook right away.

3. put on a large pot of water to boil. dice the bacon into small chunks and cook in a large saucepan on medium-low. dice the leeks into small pieces and cook in a smaller saucepan with the butter on low heat. when the leeks become limp and transluscent, transfer them to the saucepan with the bacon.

4. when the water boils, cook the pasta for 3-4 minutes. meanwhile, add the cream to the bacon-leek mixture and stir around. once the pasta is cooked, spoon some directly into the creamy bacon and leeks. ladle some pasta water into the saucepan as well (contrary to popular belief, pasta water is great!). toss to coat the pasta with the sauce. serve immediately with crusty bread on the side.

over the weekend, i engaged in deadly (not really) food battle against nick! if anyone reading this blog doesn’t know who nick is, you need to get to know him. nick runs an amazing blog called macheesmo, where among many other things, he allows other bloggers to challenge him to a cook-off. i was psyched to find out that he accepted my challenge and the ingredients were chosen: lamb and leeks. read my post, then find out what nick made, and then vote for your favorite at the end of this post.

my head was swimming with possibilities, so i bought a few different cuts of lamb – shoulder and butterflied leg. i ended up combining them to make a great ground lamb mixture in the food processor. but what would i do with all this ground lamb?

dish 1: lamb sliders with caramelized leek jam. i decided on a mediterranean flavored slider, so i mixed the lamb with feta cheese, mint and garlic.

i quickly shaped the patties and set them in the fridge to firm up while i tackled the next dish.

here’s a nice picture of leeks to break up the photos of raw lamb. next up…

dish 2: lamb in a slanket with leek yogurt sauce. once i had the sliders going, i got inspired to make more lamb-ified bar food. lamb in a slanket are basically pigs in a blanket, except made of lamb, and indian-spiced. i mixed together ground corriander, curry powder, ginger, cinnamon, cliantro and a few other spices and shaped the lamb into mini-hot-dog shapes.

these are about to get wrapped in pillsbury crescent roll dough.

now the leeks! the first topping to make was the leek jam, which is leeks cooked down with butter and cream until it’s an incredibly thick and rich sauce.

the next sauce was a leek yogurt sauce for the lamb in a slanket. i was looking for something refreshing and cool to match up with the spices. leeks have a pretty mild flavor, but it still came through in the sauce.

here’s the assembled meal – one thing i didn’t get pictures of was the making of the crispy fried leeks. i dipped strips of leek in tempura batter and quickly fried them until crispy. the whole thing came together nicely, and everything was delicious.

the bonus to this food battle was actually getting to MEET nick face to face so we could try each other’s dishes. he and betsy were kind enough to host the girl and me over so we could feast and swap stories (oh the crazy lives food bloggers live). it was awesome to hang out and i can tell you that nick is just as generous, funny and talented as it appears on his blog.

finally, here’s a sneak peek at what nick made (it was great!).

lamb sliders with leek jam, lambs in a slanket with leek yogurt sauce and crispy fried leeks

lamb sliders
1 lb ground lamb (half shoulder, half leg mix)
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbsp minced mint leaves
2 cloves crushed garlic
salt and pepper
slider buns

lambs in a slanket
1 lb ground lamb (half shoulder, half leg mix)
1 tsp toasted and crushed coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbp minced cilantro
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp crushed ginger
salt and pepper
1 tube pillsbury crescent rolls

caramelized leek jam
1 leek, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup heavy cream

leek yogurt sauce
1 leek, sliced into long flat strips
olive oil to coat
1/2 cup yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced

crispy fried leeks
1 leek, sliced into short flat strips
3/4 cup ice water
1 cup tempura mix

1. to make the sliders: mix the feta, mint, garlic and a healthy sprinkle of salt and pepper with 1 lb ground lamb. shape into small patties without overworking the meat (overworking it will cause the burgers to be tough). refrigerate until ready to cook, or grill immediately. serve on a little bun with leek jam.

2. to make the lambs in a slanket: mix all of the spices with 1 lb ground lamb. shape into small mini-hot-dog sized sausages. heat a pan to medium-high and cook just until browned on the outside in a few teaspoons oil. do not cook all the way through. allow lamb to cool. unroll tube crescent rolls and cut each biscuit into 3 small triangles. wrap 1 sausage in 1 small dough triangle and bake at 375F for about 10 minutes (until rolls are browned). serve with leek yogurt sauce.

3. to make the leek jam: in a small saucepan, cook leeks with butter until they cook down and become translucent. add cream and bring to a simmer. turn heat to low and put a lid on the pot. cook until you are left with a thick and creamy jam.

4. to make the leek yogurt sauce: toss the leek slices in olive oil and place on a hot grill pan to quickly heat. cook until leeks become limp. remove from pan and place in a food processor with remaining ingredients. cover and refrigerate before serving.

5. to make the crispy fried leeks: stir the tempura mix into the ice water just until large chunks of flour disappear. dip each piece of leek into the batter to lightly coat. fry in deep fryer or in hot oil in saucepan until tempura just browns.

THIS FOODIE FIGHT IS ON! i’m a proud participant in the first ever foodie fight, a competition between 6 bloggers who all have to use the same 2 ingredients to put their best dish forward. it was created by nick of macheesmo and dan of the food in my beard (2 really awesome blogs). go check them out, then come right back here, because, oh, do i have something to show you.

as soon as i found out the 2 main ingredients for the competition were potatoes and lemon, my mind instantly went to potato wrapped fish. lemon works with both fish and potatoes, and potato wrapped fish = instant fish and chips. add a little spring veggie goodness, and it’s good!

i figured that the fish would be the most challenging part, but it was even harder than i thought. the key is to get the potatoes really paper thin so they’ll wrap around the fish and also fry up and stay crispy. using plastic wrap to pull the potato packet together was a huge help.

i love that the wrapped potato gives the illusion of giant scales on the fish. after wrapping all the fish pieces, i put them in the fridge to firm up and moved onto the veggies.

what’s better than asparagus and zucchini? how about grilled asparagus and zucchini? even cooking it up for just a minute or two really changes the taste. the veggies got tossed with a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest as well as salt and pepper. the slices were very thin, but even after they were cooked, they still had a healthy bite to them.

ok, back to the fish. unwrapping the fish packet from the plastic was pretty tough, but i could breathe a sigh of relief once it was in the hot pan. like anything you want to crisp up correctly, you have to actually walk away from the pan and give it a few minutes. the potato will naturally release from the pan once it’s got a good crust on it.

amazingly, the fish stays incredibly moist while the potato gets perfectly crisp. since the fish and potato were both seasoned before cooking, the only thing you have to worry about is getting it in and out of the pan carefully.

the last part of the dish that tied it all together was the aioli. i thought it would be a good sauce for the fish, and it really added a garlicky and lemony tang. finally getting to taste the finished meal just felt good. the best thing about this competition was that it pushed me to try new cooking techniques. now i just need to learn how to not have it take me 3 hours to prepare a nice meal. it’s an honor to be in this contest with the 5 other talented bloggers, and i can’t wait to see what they’ve concocted.

so one last thing – HEAD ON OVER TO THE FOODIE FIGHTS SITE TO SEE ALL OF THE ENTRIES AND VOTE!

or you can vote below:

potato wrapped cod with lemon aioli and grilled asparagus and zucchini salad
makes 2-3 servings, depending on your appetite.

for the fish
3/4 lb cod, 3/4-inch thick, skinned and cut into 4-inch long fillets
2 idaho russet potatoes, peeled
oil for frying (vegetable or canola will work)
salt and pepper to taste

for the lemon aioli
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tsp olive oil
3 cloves crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

for the salad
1 bunch asparagus
3 baby zucchini (or 1 large)
1/4 cup olive oil
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
2 oz shaved parmesan for garnish

1. prepare the fish: halve each potato lengthwise. using a mandoline slicer, slice each potato half very thinly. on a piece of plastic wrap, lay 5 to 6 paper-thin slices in a row, overlapping long sides slightly. make another row just like the first one, overlapping the short ends of the slices in the first row to form a rectangle. sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. pat the fish dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. place fish across overlapped short ends of slices. fold the loose potato ends over the fish, forming a packet. press to adhere, or pat with olive oil to help seal. use the plastic wrap to help fold the pieces over and hold them together. you can place the fish packet in the fridge while you make the rest, or while you make the salad and aioli.

3. to cook the fish, heat 3-4 Tbsp oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. once the pan is hot, carefully unwrap the plastic from the potato-fish packet and place seam side down in the hot oil. cook until golden on bottom, about 4 minutes. flip and cook on other side for 2-3 minutes more. remove from pan to rest for a few minutes before serving.

4. make the aioli: mash garlic and 1/4 tsp salt in a small bowl until paste forms. whisk in mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. cover and chill.

5. make the salad: using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini into long thin strips. thinly slice the asparagus on a diagonal. toss the slices together with olive oi. heat cast iron grill pan on medium-high heat and place vegetables strips on grill. cook for 1 minute, flip, and remove when pieces have light grill marks. toss grilled vegetables with lemon zest, juice and garnish with parmesan.

after i graduated from college, i wasn’t exactly batting down a barrage of job offers. that’s not to say that i wasn’t prepared to find a job, but as a creative writing major, i was a little uncertain about my future. graduation meant moving back to my parent’s house in pennsylvania while i job-hunted for positions in dc. getting an interview meant having to take a few hour drive south – or, as i did, crashing with my girl in baltimore, an almost halfway point. i had several interviews spaced a few days apart (for the job that i still have now!), so crashing for a night became crashing for a week…and a half.

so what did i do on those days in between interviews? well, besides online job-hunting, not a whole lot. so when the girl got home after a full day of summer classes to find me still watching tv in my pajamas, i figured i need to find a way to busy myself (and repay my incredibly gracious and beautiful host in the process). so began my quest for new meals!

i dedicated my days to cooking things i had never attempted to surprise the girl each night with a new dinner. that week marked a few first-time meals for me, but what really sticks out in my mind is this pumpkin corn chowder. using fresh corn helps, and make sure you use plain canned pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie mix, then adjust the flavors with your own spices. if you like hearty soups, this is the way to go. as with any soup, the fun is in playing around with the ingredients, so feel free to deviate from the recipe to make it your own.

pumpkin corn chowder
makes enough for a few nights of soup with your sweetie.

6 ears (about 6 cups) sweet corn
4 cups chicken broth
2 cloves garlic
1 russet potato, peeled and diced
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 container pure pumpkin (libby’s would do nicely)
¼ lb bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
4 medium tomatoes, diced (optional)
¼ cup basil
salt and pepper to taste

-simmer broth and garlic for 10 minutes
-discard garlic
-stir in potatoes and half of the corn, simmer 10-12 minutes
-stir in milk, salt and pepper, set aside
-cook bacon in a pot over low heat
-add onion, cook for 10 minutes
-add pumpkin and rest of corn, simmer 8 minutes
-stir in tomatoes and basil

there’s no shortage of fried chicken joints where i live, but my favorite kind will always be homemade. since the first time we had “corn flakes chicken,” i’ve been searching for new and interesting ways to fry delicious things. after trials with several different cereals (cap’n crunch, no crunchberries, thank you, and frosted mini chex – too sweet), i’ve settled on honey bunches of oats. it’s got the perfect amount of crunch, a good sweetness, and it tastes great cold when you’re looking for something to gobble down at 2 am.

the assembly line: breading and frying chicken can be an extremely messy task, and my one piece of advice is to constantly clean your workstation and keep your hands clean and dry. the worst thing you can do is get globs of egg and flour in the cereal breading. trust me, taking your time here can make a world of difference once you’re ready to start frying.

the key to flouring your chicken is to keep the coating very light. pat off any excess flour so there’s a thin even coating. if the flour layer is too thick, dipping it into the egg will get you clumps of egg-flour glue that will drip right of the chicken, putting you back where you started. keeping both the flour and egg layers thin ensures you get a strong glue to help the coating stick close to the chicken and stay on during the frying process.

can you find the chicken in this picture? here’s the giant tub of cereal i used to bread the chicken. since the flakes are a little large,  i dumped a bunch in a tupperware container and crushed it with my bare hands. i suppose you could also quickly pulse it in the food processor or pour some into a ziploc bag and crush it with a rolling pin but i like getting my hands in there. see all those tiny crumbs of cereal goodness? make sure you use them – the goal is to get each piece of chicken completely covered, and those tiny crumbs can fill in the gaps between the giant bunches and oats.

here’s a quick reminder that i’m also making macaroni n’ cheese. did you forget? this will also have breading on it. i can’t wait.

and now back to the chicken, post-fry. there are few sights as beautiful. i almost don’t want to ruin it by, you know, eating it. alas, i must. for blog purposes, you see. to backtrack a bit, i fried up the chicken in vegetable oil, although you can use your fat of choice – if you’re a purist, maybe a tub of crisco is the way to go. for some reason though, crisco just weirds me out.

i mean, just look at this chicken. if you start seeing honey bunches of oats chicken on the menus of fancy restaurants soon, don’t freak out. embrace it.

honey bunches of oats chicken and macaroni n’ cheese
chicken recipe from mom, macaroni n’ cheese recipe from FoodNetwork.com. serves 4-6 people.

chicken
1 lb chicken (your choice of cut)
1/2 cup flour (all-purpose)
2 eggs beaten
several handfuls of honey bunches of oats cereal, roughly crushed
vegetable oil (or other fat) for frying

macaroni n’ cheese
kosher salt
vegetable oil
1 lb elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, divided
1/2 cup flour (all-purpose)
12 oz gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 oz extra-sharp cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 lb fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (or panko bread crumbs)

1. get the macaroni and cheese started before you tackle the chicken: preheat the oven to 375F. drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. drain well.

2. meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. melt 6 Tbsp of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. while whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 Tbsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg. add the cooked macaroni and stir well. pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

3. slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. melt the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

4. for the chicken: pour oil into a large frying pan ( about 1/3″ up the side of the pan) on medium-high heat and allow to heat for several minutes. set up your fried chicken assembly line. take a piece of chicken, lightly coat in flour, dip completely in egg and roll in crushed cereal. place directly into hot oil.

5. flip chicken when piece browns and crisps on the bottom and cook until completely golden. repeat with remaining chicken. do not crowd chicken in the pan – the more chicken you put in, the lower the temperature of the oil goes, the more greasy the finished chicken is. set cooked chicken on a paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess grease. cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm until ready to eat.

most weekdays, i skip breakfast. it’s bad, i know, but the best i usually do is a bowl of honey bunches of oats at my desk. on weekends though, i crave giant hearty breakfasts. i want pancakes and omelets and bacon and muffins – like the “complete breakfast” you’d see at the end of a cereal commercial, where we’re expected to have a glass of orange juice and a glass of milk. above is my go-to breakfast for sunday morning, with a fresh mug of coffee (i’ve converted from instant to brewed!). eggs, sunny-side up, italian sausage, asparagus sauteed in butter and whole wheat toast – there’s nothing better. plus, it makes me feel like a line-order cook, if only for the 15 minutes it talkes to pull everything together -  it’s a fun game to see if i can it all ready at the same time so it’s still hot when i eat.

if you ignore the fact that i completely overcooked the eggs, this was an incredible meal. until recently, i never knew what to call sunny-side up eggs, because growing up we just called them “dippy eggs” (because you poke the yolk and dip the bread into it). and asparagus for breakfast? i’ve always loved it, but i was skeptical of the “asparagus and eggs with parmesan” craze until i tried it myself. there was actually another entire plate of asparagus that i wolfed down. that’s right, i ate an entire bushel of asparagus for breakfast. and it was worth it. what’s your favorite breakfast for a lazy weekend?