My deep-rooted love of Italian flavors is constantly flooding my brain with new ways to explore classic ingredients. I also love sushi. Like most of my ideas, this one seems so obvious that looking back I cant believe this was the first time to try it. Using a little poetic license, I’m gonna call this experiment “Italian Sushi”. Cheesy orzo, Italian sausage, roasted peppers, basil. It was easy, and it was awesome. These would make a great appetizer for a holiday party, get everyone laughing and telling you how super cool and creative you are.

With a few sweet potatoes left over on Monday, I was indecisive all day about what to make with them. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Endless Simmer came to the rescue with one of their classic “100 ways” posts about sweet potatoes! After getting over the initial pride (this is the first time I have made one of their lists, can you find me?), I got down to business trying to figure out which of these amazing dishes I would make that night. Instantly I fell in love with the idea for these tamales, but completely changed the recipe when I made them that night.

Every time I think I have done everything possible with buffalo chicken, someone I know comes up with a new one! This time it was my roommate Sal who suggested making a buffalo flavored chili. Now, I have always been a fan of spicy dishes, but thanks to living with Sal, a true chile-head, I have become all out obsessed! We buy a big bag of habaneros weekly. I never remove a seed from any chile I come across, it all goes in the pot! I have decided to start adding a spice scale to my recipes, and telling you exactly how many peppers I used to achieve that number on the scale. Tonight’s heat scale is:



Before you go scoffing about 7.2, I want to warn you, 7.2 is nothing to scoff at! In fact, this is one of the hottest things I have ever made. Let me tell you a bit about the scale to put it into perspective. Remember when you ordered thai food and your curry dish has 3 chiles next to it and you were sweating while eating it? That would be placed around 5 on this scale. Anything 8.8 and above is pretty much inedible. Still scoffing? Then make this and follow the directions as closely as you can.

I had a friends thanksgiving at my apartment this weekend and it was a huge success! Lots of amazing food, friends and good times. The event will be the focus of the website this week. To start with, I have a savory bread pudding made “stuffing” style. Playing around with traditional stuffing recipe can be a little nerve racking because people really like their stuffing. The thing is though, everyone has a different idea of how stuffing should be. Calling this a bread pudding stuffing takes some of the pressure off. I really like how this ended up, it was creamy in the middle and really really crunchy on top with just the perfect amount of stuffing flavor. Stay tuned this week to see what else I made and all the awesome stuff people brought over!

A few years ago, if I found out someone had a dietary restrictions, I would usually say “too bad for them” and still cook whatever I was cooking, rudely forcing people to feel left out! I am glad to say that I have fully changed my ways, and now when someone tells me what they can and can not eat, I suddenly feel like I am on top chef, being faced with a new challenge! I am constantly inviting people over, hoping to be inspired by my new ingredient set. “what do you miss?” Is something I like to ask. “I really used to like chicken piccata” a strict vegetarian friend recently answered me. ChickPEA piccata seemed like the obvious choice. I’ll serve it with some home made ravioli… Oh wait, she doesn’t eat eggs…

I wasn’t going to post this dish. This is actually a perfect example of what I cook when I’m not “working.” Sort of the definition of comfort food for me. Make some pasta, toss some awesomeness into it, and the whole day changes. I put some marinade on the skirt steak and thought to myself, maybe I should take a picture just in case. By the time I was grilling, I was taking pictures of everything. Grilled food in mac and cheese? How could I not post this?

This bbq sauce is amazing. Like, to the point where I almost didn’t want to post it it was so good. It made me want to open an Indian-southern US-southwestern fusion restaurant it’s so good. So let’s keep this a secret you guys ok? Don’t tell anyone about this recipe! I served this with another awesome Indian-southwestern dish that I will post tomorrow.

The party I have been talking about the past few days was a great success, despite a few people bagging at the last minute. You know who you are! The party was a bit of a housewarming for me, but also to celebrate the changing seasons, and to inaugurate our brand new Beer Pong table! My friend rich (who did a lot of the art on this website) was commissioned to paint us a table for the new place, and it came out awesome. I made a few dips for the begining of the party, and these mini calzones for halfway through. I have come to realize that grilling is the best cooking method for a party. It doesn’t heat up the house or smell up the house, can add a nice break and some fresh air to the party, and can be done fairly easily if you have prepped well. I made these calzones early in the day and just threw them on the grill when people were getting hungry. Along with the apple jalapeno gruyere option, there were some BBQ chicken and cheddar broccoli varieties.