• Breakfast Mac and Cheese

    Mac and cheese for breakfast inspired by the flavors in eggs benedict with buttery toast, tater tots, ham, eggs, and hollandaise.

  • Italian Chili

    A chili recipe that uses Italian ingredients and flavors, and is topped with grilled polenta

  • Asparagus in a Pasta Blanket

    Creative pasta dish that is almost a spin on ravioli. This instead has asparagus wrapped up in fresh pasta sheets.

  • Lemon Pepper Chicken Soup

    Some people say that your soup is only going to be as good as your stock, and that store bought stock is not really an option if you want a really good soup. If you read this blog at all, you probably know that I disagree with this statement, and have no problem using store bought stock in most of my soups. Most of my soups though, are loaded with lots of stuff, and the broth isn’t really the star. This soup however, making your own broth is essential because the broth IS the soup. It’s loaded with spicy peppercorns, savory parmesan cheese, and bright lemon flavors. I get this soup as takeout when it’s been a long week, but I decided to make it from scratch last week. It worked out well because I was sick over the weekend, but I had a ton of this soup to help make me feel better!

  • Potato Chip Salmon Rolls

    While watching a late season Red Sox game on ESPN a few weeks ago, I noticed that one of my favorite announcers John Kruk seemed to be having trouble with Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s last name. He kept calling him Saltamaki, and all I could think was mmm sounds like a nice sushi roll. When setting out to make the Saltala-Maki Roll, I was first thinking salt cod, but I couldn’t formulate it into something that wasn’t either A. bacalao fritters, or B. disgusting. I kind of got stuck on it for a few days, until I decided to switch the focus onto something else really salty. Once I thought of using potato chips, the whole thing came together perfectly!  I’m thrilled to have the Sox back in the Postseason this year as I live only a few blocks from Fenway.  There is nothing like the excitement in my neighborhood on game day!   And I even have tickets to game 2 this Sunday night. Go Sox!

  • Pickle Flavored Pretzel Pieces

    When I go on road trips, and I did several this summer, I am completely addicted to these Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzels. I always grab them at the first rest stop, and snack away for the rest of the trip. Well road trip season is over, but I still found myself craving these pretzels the other day, and decided to try my hand at making them.

    The best thing about the pretzels is that the flavor is not just on the outside but throughout the bites. I realized upon inspection that the pretzels were yellow most of the way, but the very centers were sometimes white, which led me to believe that they were soaked in a liquid flavoring and then dried or baked further. I used that plan to make this recipe and it totally worked perfectly! I knew that I needed a totally unique flavoring liquid to justify making these at home, and that’s where the pickle flavor came in.

  • Maple Habanero Ice Cream

    Habanero ice cream has been on my list for a while, because habaneros pair extremely well with dairy, and also sweets so I thought the combo would be only natural. The milk and sugar also helps remove the heat from the peppers and leaves that sweet tropical pure habanero flavor that is like nothing else in the culinary world. At a farmers market last week Warren Farms had a free sample of their habanero infused maple syrup, and I instantly knew that that would be the flavor of the ice cream. I made it only a few days later!

  • Arepa Burger

    A double smash burger served on an arepa with guacamole and cilantro

  • Beans and Greens Stuffed Mushrooms

    These mushrooms were a healthy and easy weeknight dinner and came out wayyy better than I even imagined. In fact, I was having a beer with some friends at a burger place near my apartment and I had to leave to make these just as their burgers were arriving to the table. I was really questioning my sanity, but after one bite of the mushroom I totally forgot about the burgers!