March 2015 – Parmesan Princess

Month: March 2015

30
Mar
2015

Rice Krispies Treats Easter Eggs! Adorable And Fun Treats!

categories: Desserts, Fun for Kids, Party Time, Recipes

Is it the crispy bite or the gooey yummy marshmallow we love so much about Rice Krispies treats? Loved by children and super easy to make, Rice Krispies treats can be made fun and festive with a drop of food coloring or an addition of colored sprinkles!

To make the colorful treats, divide the butter/marshmallow mixture into thirds and added yellow, green, and purple (red and blue) coloring. Then add the cereal, mix well, and mold into a nonstick coated plastic egg! These can be a sticky mess so be sure to also grease your hands!
Enjoy making these treats everyone will love!

Rice Krispies Treat Easter Eggs
(Makes approx. 30 1-1/2 inch Eggs)

Ingedients:
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
3 tbsp. butter
1 10 oz. bag mini marshmallows
food coloring

Directions:
Melt butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat so it doesn’t burn.

Add marshmallows and stir until melted and the ingredients are incorporated.

Remove from heat and separate into thirds- three mixing bowls.

Add food coloring to reach desired colors.

**It is important to work quickly at this point. Mix in the cereal before the marshmallow starts to harden.

Add 2 cups of cereal to each bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until cereal is coated.

Grease hands and a plastic Easter egg. Press the cereal into the egg. After a few seconds, remove the cereal egg and place it on a piece of waxed paper.

Serve in an egg carton or in the plastic eggs!

Enjoy!
Ciao!

23
Mar
2015

Cook At Home! Easy Button Honey Mustard Parmesan Crusted Chicken!

categories: Around Pittsburgh, Dinner, Healthy Living, Recipes

“Cook at Home” …a resounding theme popping up everywhere. A command whose meaning encompasses healthy eating, a healthy lifestyle, and makes a mean case for family dinners. The theme at Pittsburgh’s Farm to Table Conference this year, Cook at Home -for some- is an anxiety ridden task chalked full of botched recipes, a race against time to get dinner on the table, and often a defeated conclusion when take out and drive thrus lessen the stress.

Fortunately, thanks to a growing interest in food preparation and origination, and an endless recipe box available on the Internet, people are finding easy, healthy recipes and cooking more. Food bloggers are popping up and want to share with others a lifestyle change that can and does save lives and families!

How about a sweet, savory, and totally simple family dinner recipe? Enjoy!!

Honey Mustard Parmesan Crusted Chicken

4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 8 thighs, 1-1/2 lb. chicken tenders
Marinade:
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. brown mustard or yellow mustard
1 tsp Sriracha
Coating:
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. dried basil
2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, honey, balsamic vinegar, yellow mustard, and Sriracha.

Marinate the chicken in the above mixture overnight in the refrigerator OR Pour mixture into a Ziploc bag add chicken and move around until coated.

Mix the dry ingredients together and spoon into a pie plate. Press each piece of chicken into the mixture, flip to coat both sides, and place on a foil covered baking sheet.

Sprinkle the coated chicken with extra parmesan cheese and bake for 25-35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Enjoy!
Ciao!

Farm to Table Pittsburgh 2015 Conference
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
March 27 -28th

13
Mar
2015

Hellooo Friday!! Start The Weekend With A S’mores Cake!!

categories: Desserts, Recipes

Sometimes we NEED chocolate! Don’t you?

S’mores Cake

You favorite boxed cake mix
OR up your baking game and try…

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Filling and Frosting
Your favorite chocolate buttercream frosting
OR
Beat 1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. milk or half and half
Add more sugar or milk until desired consistency

1-2 cups Marshmallow Creme
2 sleeves 12 grahm crackers crushed to crumbs in a Ziploc bag

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch /9-inch x 2-inch round or square cake pans.
Grease pans with Crisco and light flour.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl.

Using an electric mixer, mix on until well combined and smooth.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.

With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Whether using boxed cake mix or homemade, pour the batter into the greased pans and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before icing.

Slide a knife along edges of cake pans. Cake should have pulled away from the pan. Flip upside down and tap with a knife until cake comes loose.

Place on platter rough side down.
Frost the first layer with chocolate frosting, add a layer of marshmallow creme. Sprinkle a layer of crackers.

Remove the second layer of cake from the pan.
Place on top so the smooth side is facing up.
Frost the top of the cake and sprinkle the remaining crackers.

Enjoy!
Ciao!

11
Mar
2015

Meat Sauce featuring Clarion Farms Beef!

categories: 20 Minutes or Less, Around Pittsburgh, Healthy Living, Recipes

We would all love to meet the farmer that feeds and raises the cows that supply our beef, right?
You should and you can!!

Photo Courtesy of Clarion Farms Beef. John and son John-Scott hanging out!

If you are in Pittsburgh, Clarion Farms Beef sells their family farm beef at the Pittsburgh Public Market on Saturdays. Shop local and buy fresh, no hormone, no antibiotic beef from a local family farm. True farm to table and focused on sustainability, Clarion Farms Beef sources local feed and mixed it fresh on the farm. Go see John-Scott! Bonus, the prices are incredible!

I paid $4 for the 80% ground beef (that yields about 2 tsp. of fat!! So technically its a grocery store’s 95% lean?)
And $5 for the most lean ground beef! (That yields about 1 tsp. of fat- which is 98% lean or almost no fat?)

The ox tail ($5) for a 1lb. package. Cook it all day for a tender finish!!

The steak? Amazing!! Just buy some, seriously, I have no words. (Imagine that!) Timmy Reynolds from Penn Avenue Fish Co. and I made Clarion Farms Beef filets and lobster live for Valentine’s Day at the Pittsburgh Public Market ‘s Ikea kitchen!

I bought some ground beef this weekend and put it to the test in a quick and classic bolognese sauce. Local, fresh, and delicious! This beef did not disappoint!!

20 Minute Meat Sauce
Ingredients:
1 32oz. can Ciao San Marzano tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1 lb. Clarion Farms Beef ground beef
1 lb. of your favorite pasta, boiled until al dente and drained
1 tbsp. chopped basil
1 tbsp. chopped rosemary
1 tsp. olive oil
salt/pepper
parsley for garnish

Directions:

In your largest, deepest frying pan, heat olive oil and golden the chopped garlic.

Add onion and cook until softened and light.

In a separate pan, brown beef and drain.

Add beef, tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to garlic and onion mixture. apart

Break apart whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.

Cook for 8-10 minutes until heated through and bubbling.

Spoon sauce onto your favorite pasta.

Always top with fresh grated parmesan cheese and Enjoy!

Ciao!

Clarion Farms Beef
On Farm Store The Beef Barn
82 Port Farm Lane
Clarion, PA 16214
814-764-5811
Hours: Tuesday -Friday 10-5
Saturday 8-5
Pittsburgh Public Market
Saturdays 9-5

Visit on Facebook

06
Mar
2015

Farm To Table Ticket Giveaway! Plus, A Vegan Mexican Beer Chili Recipe!

categories: Around Pittsburgh, Recipes

Pittsburgh’s 9th Annual Farm to Table Conference is right around the corner. This year it is being held on March 27th and 28th at the David Lawrence Convention Center. The two day event will feature speakers, demos, local farmers, kids activities, and a taste of local food!

Spend your Friday Happy Hour at the Friday Night Tasting! Stop in for Breakfast Saturday! There are many ticketing options to meet your needs!

Get your tickets here!

Enter the ticket giveaway HERE!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This year’s theme is “Cook At Home,” the first step in your family’s health and wellness journey!

Here is an easy and delicious recipe I prepared at Farm to Table Pittsburgh’s For The Love Of Pittsburgh event in February!

Vegan Mexican Beer Chili
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 12oz. bottle of your favorite Mexican beer or something lime, jalapeño, chipotle flavored
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 jars Clarion Farm Organics jar tomatoes- 1 32 oz.can of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 16oz. bag black beans, cleaned and soaked until plump, or 2-15 oz. cans of you favorite beans, rinsed.
1/3 cup chili powder
2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. cumin
3 squeezes of Sriracha
Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Warm olive oil in a large, deep pan.
Add garlic and cook until golden.
Add onion, bell pepper, and beer.
Cook until vegetables soften, but are still crisp.
Add tomatoes and seasonings.
Cook 15-20 more minutes until bubbly.
Add beans and heat through.

Top with scallions, diced onions, a scoop of fresh guacamole, and/or your favorite Mexican toppings!

Ciao!

Farm to Table Pittsburgh will email the tickets to the winner directly! Thank you for entering and supporting Farm to Table, Cook At Home, and Shop Local, Pittsburgh!!

02
Mar
2015

Keith Fuller’s Root 174 !

categories: Around Pittsburgh, Restaurant Review

I met Keith Fuller the day he cooked in the Ikea demo kitchen at Farm to Table‘s For The Love of Pittsburgh event held at the Pittsburgh Public Market. He prepared homemade ricotta and made a ricotta gnocchi pork belly carbonara- you know, No Big Deal.
I made chili…

I met Keith, watched him cook, and knew I had to visit his restaurant…

Located in the center of Regent Square, Root 174 is a small, intimate, dimly lit restaurant. The best seats in the house are the cozy booths located at either window that look onto South Braddock Ave. We had a girls’ night party of three with an early 6 o’clock reservation on a Wednesday evening. There was one other table dining. By 8 o’clock, the restaurant was packed. I would suggest making a reservation!

Let’s start with a beverage.
Root 174’s cocktail list is as interesting as the dinner menu. House made bitters, citrus infusions, gin, whiskey, bourbon, and vodka creations with interesting names….Not in the mood, I was able to find a nice Pinot Noir.

The starters looked way too good to pass up. We chose the mussels, the brussels sprouts, and the wings!

Mussels in a chipotle tomato broth with cherry tomatoes, kale, and frites. ($12) Cooked to perfection and so flavorful. I always order the mussels (we have some greats in Pittsburgh) and these were fabulous.

Crisp Brussels Sprouts ($7) in a bacon black pepper glaze. The sweet, salty glaze paired nicely with the crisp edges of the sprouts.

Coffee Confit Chicken Wings ($9) served with a vanilla bourbon creme and dried banana. Deliciously different.

Like the starters, the three of us ordered three entrees.

Pork Belly Carbonara ($20) We had seen Keith cook this dish live at the Farm to Table event! Exceptional flavors.

Orecchiette ($21) Cauliflower, sage, hen of the woods. What a beautiful dish!

Chorizo stuffed chicken leg. ($20) My pick, was so delicious I forgot about trying the other entrées. Bad food blogger. I know. It only means there must be a next time!

Root 174’s chef Keith Fuller has been named “one of the best chefs in America you never heard of” – braiser.com
And now you have!!
Travel to Regent Square! Visit Root 174!

Enjoy!
Ciao!

Root 174
1113 south Braddock Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-243-4348
Closed Sunday -Monday

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