Fatty Friday Issue #17: The Breakfast Club

Hello folks! Sorry I missed you last week. I was up in Kenebunk, ME with the ol' ball and chain. While there I saw lighthouses, took long walks along rocky shores and ate delicious dishes like butternut squash soup flavored with Grand Marnier, morroccan chicken and one tasty blueberry coffee cake, all while faithfully sipping a strong g&t each night before dinner. One might say I had an a-maine-zing time! (cue sound of crickets chirping)

Anywho, we've been paying the sweets a lot of attention in recent issues, but now it's time to shift gears to my favorite meal time: brunch. As we all know, one of the perks of brunch is the opportunity to drink before 5 pm. We also love how brunch, many times, represents the wonderful marriage of sweet and savory tastes, featuring the faithful egg in a crucial role, see the monte cristo and hungry bear sandwiches.

One of my favorite savory treats - traditionally relegated to lunch time - is the club sandwich. You know the club: turkey, bacon, swiss, lettuce, tomato, many times on toasted white...it's the sandwich for those who want it all. Well, I took that idea and punched it up a bit! I present to you the modified Breakfast Club. No, not the movie, but rather, a beast of a breakfast sandwich, featuring that very faithful egg, savory pepper turkey, salty, greasy bacon, melty muenster, spicy arugula, and sweet tomato, all on crusty tuscan pane with just a touch of mayo and mustard. There are several apparent differences between my version and the original--here's some history on that, if you're interested--but the main distinction is the lack of that middle slice of bread. I never understood its necessity. Do you think it's needed?

While I wait to hear back from the hordes, how's about we go to the recipe?
To make one sandwich:
1. fry one egg (or two, depending) any style
2. fry up two to three slices of bacon
3. sautee a round or two of red onions
4. toast the bread and smear one slice with mayo and the other with mustard
5. top one slice with the hot egg, a slice of cheese and bacon
6. top another slice with turkey, arugula and red onions
7. fold slices together
8. enjoy!



I added a touch of Sriracha to my sandwich and, my word, was it tasty! Try this puppy out with a bloody mary or three. If you don't like it I'll come to your house and make one for you!*

*Author has the right to rescind statement depending on her mood.

Fatty Friday Issue #16: When Life Hands You Lemons...

...make lemon squares!

Yum yum yum, I love this recipe. It's my mom's and it never disappoints! I think the best way to describe this delectable dessert would be a visualization. So close your eyes and have someone read this to you. Or, if you are alone than maybe memorize this or something. I'll leave that detail to you. Here goes:

You are in a sunny meadow filled with tall, soft, swaying grass. You feel warm and happy and, for some reason, you smell confectioner's sugar. Suddenly, a fuzzy little gray rabbit pops up out of the grass and hops over to you. You bend down to pet it and the bunny nuzzles your hand. (Melt!) Then, as if it couldn't get any better, a gorgeous man (Or woman, depending on your gender and/or preference. Personally, I like to think of my boyfriend. I guess you can, too, since it's your fantasy and I won't know about it.) appears before you, with some sort of fancy car and says s/he wants to take you away to live in his/her villa in the south of France where it'll be less hectic. You hop in the car, knowing you will totally make out, with the fuzzy bunny still nuzzling you as you hold it in your arms. The End.

I mean, you can tailor this, but you get the gist. These lemon squares taste like perfection.

How's about we hit the recipe?

Lemon Squares

Dough:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar thoroughly. Press evenly into an ungreased square pan (ex. 8x8x2), building up 1/2" edges. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Filling:
2 eggs
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsps. grated lemon peel
2 tbsps. lemon juice
extra powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients except powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Pour over hot crust. Bake for about 25 minutes and then check that no indentations remain when touched in the center. Then place back in the oven for another 25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the pan to cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into squares and enjoy!

No photo this week, unforch. The squares were brought to a weekend getaway with some friends and well, I forgot to take pictures because I was having too much fun. Here's a fancy photo of lemon squares to tide you over until you make your own. :)

Fatty Friday Issue # 15: Cawfee Tawk!

Most of you know that I'm from Queens and in Queens we like to talk. We especially like to talk over food - I mean, who doesn't? As my father would say, "Am I right or am I right?" Of course I am!

Summer makes me think about visiting with my grandparents, the people who taught me how to talk. Whether at their beach house on Long Island or at their year-round house in Astoria, I loved to visit my grandparents when I was a little girl. One thing that I especially loved were the Entenmann's coffee cakes that my grandpa always had handy (my personal favorite is still the raspberry danish twist). I learned so much over those cakes: how to play Uno, checkers and chess; how to conjugate Italian verbs and (cheese alert!) I learned that I was grateful for my grandpa (and my grandma, too).

So, in honor of precious time spent with grandparents, this week's issue features coffee cake. The recipe I used calls for blackberries, but I added some nectarines, too. I also halved the clove and nutmeg, left out the all spice entirely and replaced the buttermilk with sour cream. The result? A cake that is incredibly moist and not too sweet. Perfect for a summertime snack that grandpa would have loved! (In fact, the author of the recipe credits it to her grandmother).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh blackberries
• 1 cup diced nectarine
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar (I used a mixture of regular and brown)
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss fruit with two tbsp of flour and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix until light and fluffy. Next add the sour cream. Then mix together the dry ingredients, slowly add to the wet ingredients. Then fold in the fruit, pour into a greased and floured cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Fatty Friday Issue #14: The Independence Version

Hey folks! Sorry I missed you last week. Things have been a little crazay in this lady's kitchen recently. But I'm back this week to share with you some independence day goodness.

I don't know about you, but nothing says "independence" quite like cheesecake. Am I right? And wasn't it Patrick Henry who said, "Give me cheese or give me death!" Or was that Henry Patrick? Or Patricia Henrichson... Anywho, someone dramatic probably said that at one point, and boy, were they right!

So today I bring you a recipe for mini cherry cheesecakes adapted from Amy Sedaris' cookbook "I Like You". This recipe is so cheesy and creamy and sweet...it just melts in your mouth. And it's pretty easy to make, too.

Check it!


Crust:
3/4 c graham cracker crumbles (just put them in a ziploc and whack with a rolling pin)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 stick of butter, melted

Mix all ingredients together and press into a muffin tin. Its less messy if you use those little paper muffin cups.

Filling:
3 pckgs cream cheese
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

Mix eggs until frothy and slowly add the sugar. Once that's all whipped up, add the cream cheese and vanilla and spoon into the cups. Bake for about 35 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Topping
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

Mix together and spoon over cakes. Bake for another five minutes.

Remove, let cool and top with cherry jam or pie filling. Eat, enjoy and have a happy Fourth of July!