Neopolitan Cheesecake

Taste Verdict: Success
                   Presentation Verdict: Eh                   

Neighbor-worthy

This was one of my riskier attempts at making my own dessert.  I love cheesecake and have been craving it something fierce lately.  I have already posted my margarita cheesecake, but this one was a stretch and I thought would be a good blog entry. 

This weekend I wanted to make my own marble cheesecake.  Then I thought "Ok, I'll make a strawberry-marble cheesecake for the blog".  Then I thought about trying to make a vanilla bean cheesecake.  Blah, blah, blah-I was obviously longing for a fun cheesecake-and I thought up a really fun thing to try: Neopolitan. 

Neopolitan is the ice cream choice that my parents (and probably yours) made for gatherings thinking it would cover more peoples' preferences as it is 1/3 strawberry, 1/3 vanilla and 1/3 chocolate. More times than not, we were left with a carton of strawberry 'cause no one wanted it.  That was fine with me as I hated it (SEE NOTES).  Well, I don't think that could ever be the case with cheesecake...cheesecake is just too good to avoid a flavor. 

I used this recipe for the basis of my recipe. I tweaked it by stripping it of its flavor and made the rest up as I went along. 

Ingredients:

Vanilla Simple Syrup:

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 vanilla bean split with seeds removed but reserved

Crust:

1 3/4 2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 stick melted butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cheesecake(s):

3 8oz packages cream cheese reduced-fat cream cheese
3 eggs plus one yolk
1 15oz can pureed pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup sour cream reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons strawberry jam
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate

Heat a small sauce pan over Medium-high heat and combine water, sugar and the stalk (pod) and seeds. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir occasionally as you cook it until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and allow the syrup to cool. 

In a medium bowl, place the graham crumbs, sugar and cinnamon and mix the hell out of them.  Add the butter and mix.  Press mixture firmly into a 9" springform pan (trailing it up the sides some).

Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and add the sour cream and sugar, then eggs, one by one.  Add the flour and the vanilla and continue to beat until combined.  Separate into three bowls.

In a small sauce pan, melt your chocolate and allow to cool-but not long enough for it to harden.

Bowl 1: Add your chocolate and mix well.
Bowl 2: Strain your simple syrup, add 1/2 cup and mix well. 1/4 cup.
Bowl 3: Add your jam and mix well.

Pour the contents of your chocolate mix into your crusted pan first.  Chill in fridge for 10 minutes.  Then CAREFULLY layer your vanilla above on top of the chocolate and chill for 10 minutes.  Pour the strawberry upon the vanilla.  Place in the oven and bake for 1 hr.  Remove from the oven and let sit for 20 minutes.  Cover with plastic wrap and throw in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Before you pop the spring to serve, run a knife along the rim to loosen the side crust trail.  Some will fall off-no big deal.

Notes:
I love being adventurous.  This was my creation including making a vanilla cheesecake as I have never seen one nor read a recipe for one.  I had used a simple syrup in another recipe and thought "why not try it here?"
This is probably the worst presentation I have had for something I've made to date (on the blog).

No-foul Error in Judgement:
When I do this again, I will use less syrup for the vanilla.  It watered that layer down causing the strawberry to integrate with it when poured in.  It ended up tasting just fine (well, awesome actually).

Happy Accident:
**The strawberry ended up being the slightest layer which works for me.  :)


Tweaks:
I made the receipe Neopolitan
I substituted reduced-fat sour cream and cream cheese for the recipe.
I (obviously) removed the spices and pumpkin from the recipe.
I added graham cracker crumbs to yield more crust (I LOVE crust).


Any ideas for me?  themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Bloody Mary Burgers

Verdict: Success

Neighbor-worthy

I had my first Bloody Mary not all that long ago (like 4 years or so ago).  It was with my cousins Dana and Ignacio and their 2 kids (Nico and Naia) at a Santa Breakfast at my parents' country club.  I love spending time with all of my cousins' kids, but this time was extra special and not 'cause they were at that age where they were so cute you wish there was a shot that would keep 'em that age forever, but because their event brought me to my now favorite brunch drink.

I love trying to incorporate multiple favorites into one recipe (see my Margarita Cheesecake) and when I heard about this recipe, I had to try it.  And tweak it some.

The recipe below is for 4 servings.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion diced

2 ribs of celery diced   (I LOATHE recipes that ask for this--where you need to buy a "bunch for a pinch")

1 tablespoon celery salt   (What the hell is celery salt?)

1 tablespoon hot sauce

black pepper

1 cup tomato sauce   (This is a burger recipe, go ahead and use jarred)

2 lbs ground beef sirloin ground turkey meat

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley chopped dried parsley*

2 tablespoons horseradish

2 palmfuls grill seasoning

4 kaiser or roll of choice

+ low-fat swiss cheese

Preheat Broiler to High.  Preheat a large skillet on Medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Put a small sauce pan on your range on Medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil.  When it ripples, add the onion and celery and season with salt and pepper.  Add hot sauce and cook until the onion is translucent (while stirring).  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a slight boil.  Lower your heat to Medium-low (or a little lower-like a low plus) simmer while doing the burgers.

Combine your meat, worcestershire, parsley, horseradish and seasoning mix in a bowl.  Make it so the ingredients are all evenly distributed.  Portion your mixture out into 4 equal parts.  Pound out (not "pound", just make) the portions into patties that are about an inch thick.  Push the center of the burger in a little so that it is more shallow than the diameter. 

Add the patties to the skillet and cook each side about 6-8 minutes and flip and repeat.  Add your cheese to melt toward the end.  Toast your rolls in your broiler---WATCH THEM, a broiler can burn bread fast.  Pour your sauce on top of your buger and serve with some sides.

Notes:

This is not for everyone but still damn good even if you don't like Bloody Mary's.  Add some hot sauce or Tabasco upon your burger to up the heat factor.

Tweaks:

I used "regular" salt instead of celery salt (I have no idea what celery salt it.  I'm not saying it doesn't exist, just that I'm not going to buy it.)
I added cheese to the burger.

Healthy tweaks:

I changed the sirloin to turkey meat (slightly less fattening and lower in cholesterol).

Cheats:
*I already had to buy a whole bunch of celery and use almost none of the mass of it.  I didn't want to do it again with the parsely, so I used dried.

Gimme some burger or grilled chicken sandwich recipes!  Send 'em to themaniccheater@gmail.com

Just the Tip:

Run the Dishwasher Before You Go Out of Town

MOM TAUGHT ME TO ALWAYS CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE BEFORE YOU LEAVE IT FOR THE WEEKEND OR A LONG TRIP SO THAT YOU COME HOME TO A TIDY PLACE That rule is one I always follow.  Beds made, floors swept, couch cusions in order and clutter, well, de-cluttered.  One thing on that list one should ALWAYS follow is running the dishwasher before you take off.

Even if there are only like 2 dishes and a couple of glasses, run that sucker.  If you don't, that shit'll stink up your whole house.  It's like leaving a full trash can to fester for days.  It's gross and not what you want to return too.

Any tip you wanna give me?  Bring it on: themaniccheater@gmail.com

Personal Note:

Things are going to be silent for a bit....

THERE WAS A LOSS IN THE FAMILY THIS WEEK AND ATTENTION IS GOING TO BE FOCUSED OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN.  Those readers that know me and my extensive family tree know how close we all are.  We lost my Uncle Jerry this week and his loss is one that is going to cause a ripple that passes through all of us and everyone that knew him.  To describe him in the highest light would fall short of doing him any justice so I am going keep my big mouth shut.

I am truly sick to my stomach but will give any shred of strength that I have to my Aunt Cathy, cousins Jerry, Leah and Jake.  There are so many other leaves on the branch that I would do the same for. 

Talk to your family today.....


Update:
I want to sincerely thank everyone that reached out to me this weekend regarding the family's loss.   I got e-mails, comments, text messages and phone calls.  My Aunt and cousin's are being so strong but have a long road of recovery ahead of them.  I have to say this however: they have an incredible support system surrounding them. On top of the sprawling family members, there are literally countless amounts of people that will be there for them in coming weeks and beyond.  Uncle Jer was a man that warranted a line that not only snailed through the funeral home but out of the building and though the parking lot where people stood in a queue in the hot sun.  And all were happy to wait to give their respects.

I was not able to make the funeral today but my immediate family was there to represent my brother and I.  My father was honored by being give the task of delivering the eulogy remembrance.  He shared with us before we had to depart and it was a beautiful testament to a beautiful man.

Pesto Arugula Pizza

Verdict: Success
Neighbor-worthy

This recipe is one of mine and uses 2 other recipes (pizza dough and pesto) I have already made and had in the freezer which is cool.  If you are going to do your dough fresh, make it a day early!

*You will need a pizza stone for this recipe.  And if you are as cool as me, a pizza peel.


Ingredients:

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour (and extra for dusting)

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt 
olive oil  

-or-

take a trip to your Pontillo's or local pizza shop and buy some dough.

Pesto:

1/4 cup pine nuts

10 cloves garlic

5 cups fresh basil leaves (packed down)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1 cup pecorino romano

-or-

buy a bottle

Pizza Topping:
2 handfuls part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1 palmful romano cheese
2 chicken breasts cooked and chopped and seasoned with salt and pepper
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cups fresh arugula
flour for dusting
cornmeal for dusting

Preheat oven to 500º (and put your stone in the oven if you are using a pizza peel).

If making fresh pesto and dough, follow the links.  If you have made these recipes before and have a stock frozen, allow for time to thaw.  I threw mine in the fridge last night.

Flour up your work space and a rolling pin. Flatten your dough with flat hands and spread out.  It doesn't spread right away.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin when it has softened some (and for those who have worked with pizza, give it a toss or two).  Roll again until it's flattened some and around a foot in diameter and 1/2" thick.  Cut it on it's sides if you are particular about its roundness.  Me 'n my family spin to make sure the cornmeal is allowing for the pizza to move around a little.  Using your fingers trail the diameter with pinches to give your edges a bit of a lift.  This part makes the crust or "bones" (a term coined by my cousin Grady. One that we still use today in our family).

Spread about a cup of pesto onto your dough and using a ladle, spoon, spatula or fingers almost up to your pinched crust.  Cover your pesto with pine nuts, then mozzarella, then a layer of arugula.  Cover your arugula with the chicken and cover with a palmful of romano.  For the skilled peel owner, slide your pizza off your peel onto your stone.  Place your stone onto the middle rack of your oven and start to cook.

I'm a creature of habit and as I have always known how we do it at our pizza shops, I always turn my pies as they cook so they won't stick and get an even cook.  It is not necessary but it will come out better.  About 7 minutes into cooking, peel users and those not afraid of burns (or those used to burns that don't care anymore (read: me) slip your peel under the pie and spin it by the crust 180 degrees and close the oven and let it keep cooking.

After 7 or 8 minutes use your peel to remove your pie onto a workspace where you can slice up the pie.  OR just remove the stone as you can slice it right on there.  That's what I'm doing....I'm not going to risk hurting my slicer on my granite.  Formica owners: Don't hurt your counters!

Notes: 

We (extended family) are pros but even we get different results at home than we would at the pizza shops with the ovens we are used to.  You're going to have to learn by trial and error.  Mine still come out a little doughy in the middle sometimes.  When you cut into it the first time, check to see if you want to throw it back into the oven a little more.

Possible Cheats:

Buy your own dough and pesto--no one will judge you.

Injuries:
I burned the shit out of my hand, er, wrist...hang in there with me...you know the spot Spiderman shoots his web from?  There.  I know I got all cocky in this post about burns...well I didn't take into consideration that the stone rack thing that mine came with served more an obstacle than asset.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

(with MASSIVE Healthy Tweaking) 

I've made this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis before successfully and also slayed "regular" lasagnas.  BUT I have always slaughtered the "regular" lasagnas when I have tried to put a healthy spin on them.  I wanted to give her recipe a dose of the tweaks as A) I really wanted to make a healthier lasagna and B) I'm on track with a page hit goal I set and you people come in droves when I screw up!

(By the way, did anyone notice how odd it is that when I said "slayed" it was an obvious positive and when I said "slaughtered" it was clearly a negative....food for thought.)

Ingredients:

Bechamel Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter "fake" butter (me=Smart Balance Light) plus smearing for dish

4 teaspoons flour

1 1/4 cups whole milk skim milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

pinch ground nutmeg

+ 2 pinches cinnamon*

Lasagna:

1 (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese fat-free ricotta cheese

1 (10 oz) package frozen, chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup (plus a little for sprinkling) romano cheese

3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto chopped

1 large egg beaten

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

12 uncooked lasagna noodles multi-grain lasagna noodles

2 cups marinara (recipe here or bottled if short on time or just tired or lazy)

1 cup shredded mozzarella part-skim mozzarella 

Pre-heat oven to 450°

Bechamel-Melt the (non)butter in a medium sauce pan over Medium-low heat..  Add the flour and whisk for a couple of minutes. Add  the milk and increase the heat to Medium-high and continue to whisk until it becomes thick. Add in the nutmeg, salt, pepper and cinnamon*.  Set aside.

*My family has always added cinnamon to our ricotta in recipes.  I think it is regional to where our family came from in Italy as I know not all Italians do this.  Try it out or avoid it if you want.

The Rest-Boil a pot of water and add salt. Top the water with the olive oil.  Add your lasagna noodles and cook al dente as directed (time wise, based on brand).  As the noodles cook, mix the ricotta, spinach, romano, prosciutto, egg,salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Lie your cooked noodles out on a workspace side-by-side and allow to cool a little for handling.  While cooling, spread your bechamel sauce evenly on the bottom of a (non)buttered 9x13 glass baking dish. Spoon the cheese/prosciutto mixture evenly down the length of each lasagna noodle.  Roll up each noodle like a sleeping bag and place seam-down in your baking dish on your bechamel.  The exposed roll-side should face the short side of the baking dish and each roll should not touch.

Cover (evenly) with the marinara, mozzarella and romano and cover with foil.  Put in oven for about 20 minutes and remove the foil.  Cook for another 15 minutes and remove.  Allow to cool and serve.

Notes:  I was very excited to try this tweaked version of a recipe I love.  I wasn't planning on cooking tonight but the opportunity arose and I thought I would go pretty big with the healthy changes. As mentioned, changing "regular" lasagna recipes has not gone well for me and I thought "What do I have to lose? I wasn't even supposed to see my kitchen tonight."

Tweaks:

I went multi-grain for my noodles tonight!!  This is a Heart Healthy way to go.  I have done whole wheat before and it was just a disaster and a waste of a meal, so this was a risk.

I used skim milk instead of whole which is also a big risk when one is trying to make a thickening agent like the bechamel.

I used part-skim mozzarella instead of plain mozzarella.

I dared to do fat-free ricotta instead of whole milk ricotta.

*I added my family touch of cinnamon to the dish.

Verdict: Success

This recipe is most definitely Neighbor worthy and one that I am VERY proud of.  I dare say this tasted EVERY BIT as good as the original recipe.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

2 Course TV Dinner:

Media Break


RUB SOME BACON ON IT! I'm seriously in love with this video, song and principle. Check this video by Rhett & Link out...






ON ANOTHER MEDIA NOTE, MY COUSIN DAVE (The Great Steak Challenge) SENT ME SOMETHING ALL YOU COUPLES SHOULD CHECK OUT--It's your chance to be on TV!
A MAJOR TV NETWORK IS LOOKING FOR EXCITING AND MOTIVATED COUPLES FOR A NEW COMPETITION SHOW!
ARE YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND DYNAMIC, OUTGOING, ADVENTUROUS, SPONTANEOUS & COMPETITIVE?
DO YOU KNOW SHE'S THE ONE?
WOULD YOU LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE FOR THE ULTIMATE ROMANTIC GETAWAY VACATION?
If this sounds like you and your girlfriend, then we want to hear from you!!
VPE Talent is looking for couples, WHO LIVE SOMEWHAT CLOSE TO NYC / NJ, to compete for an incredible romantic getaway on a new national TV series.
To apply: Send your name, contact info,  current photo and a few sentences describing why you guys are an awesome couple to Jennifer@vpetalent.com


Even though this post has nothing to do with yours truly, you can still share recipes or ask questions at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Thanks To You: Mom

Happy Mother's Day

I AM SO THANKFUL TO THE BEST MOTHER OUT THERE I'd be a better cook today if I wasn't such a bitch growing up.  I wasn't the easiest kid to have around and probably the world's worst eater so I didn't get to learn all that much about food 'till I was a bit older. 
Ma-I kinda ruined the joy of cooking for you and for that I am sorry. I did however get to enjoy the rest that you had to offer: kindness, generosity and support even when not warranted (re: I was even worse when I grew up some).  Thanks, Ma.  I love you.

My grandmother actually showed me the first cooking tweak ever when I was like 6.  She ran out of breadcrumbs when making chicken cutlets and used oatmeal...I'll never know if it was a success as I was, again, a bitchy kid and my brother and I chose to make the ordeal a family joke for eternity. 
Gram-At 90 you've got more spunk than me (which is odd really--odd, but awesome).  Happy Mother's Day xoxox.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Chicken Flautas

This post includes another of my favorite recipes, tweaked just enough to fit my taste and apparently everyone else's too--I think this is my most popular sharing dish.

Ingredients:
vegetable oil (either enough to fill your deep fryer or to submerge a few at a time in a deep pan)
1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon fake butter
1/2 red onion diced
1 jalapeño peppers 2 jalapeño peppers seeds removed, diced
1 garlic clove 3 large garlic cloves diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup salsa*
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (*if you used my cilantro salsa you can skip the cilantro)
1 cup shredded cheddar 1 handful reduced fat shredded cheddar

juice of 1 lime
16 (5-6") flour tortillas 8 (6") flour tortillas
11lb rotisserie chicken skin removed, meat stripped from bone
salt

I use my favorite appliance, my deep fryer, to do this recipe but I understand not everyone gets cooking things for Christmas and birthdays :) If you have a fryer and have been responsible and saved your oil, use your poultry stock and turn up to 375°. If not, use a deep pan with vegetable oil and heat to 375°

Heat a medium skillet on Medium heat and melt your (fake) butter.  Add your peppers and onion and cook until onion has become translucent.  Add your cumin, cayenne and garlic and mix it while cooking with a wooden spoon for a minute.  Add your chicken and your salsa (and cilantro if using another salsa than listed above) and mix with the other ingredients for a minute.  Take off your range and add cheese and lime juice and mix. Let cool a bit.

Lay out all of your tortillas on a work space--it's better to do all of them at the same time to ensure they all get equal filling (you don't want a runt of the litter).  Spread your chicken mixture onto your tortillas, a little toward one side.  Roll your tortillas up tight and toothpick 'em so they don't unroll in the oil.

Fry those suckers (3 at a time) until they are golden brown--toward a burnt sienna color but not charred.


Notes:

Be careful with frying anything.  Use tongs. 
I'm pretty much burn-proof from years of using the wing fryers at Pontillo's so, unless you're a relative, you most likely are not....be mindful.

Tweaks:

Read above for a list of changes I made to ingredients and amounts. 
*I dropped the cilantro as I had enough cilantro in my salsa that I used here.

Cheats:
Does the cilantro tweak count as a cheat? 

Verdict: Success

Probably the most Neighbor-worthy thing I can make.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Just the Tip

Save Your Avocado Pits


AVOCADO PITS KEEP YOUR GUACAMOLE FROM BROWNING My cousin, Ignacio, taught me a GREAT tip regarding guacamole.  If you put the pits into the finished product, it keeps it from getting that brown that ruins the appeal after a surprisingly quick amount of time.

Simple and surprising.  Love having real Mexicans in my fam as opposed to those of them who just look like they are when they are tan....Ang, Jerry....

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Gram's Pizza Bread à la Me
(White with Prosciutto and Spinach)

**This recipe requires a day's prep with this recipe*.  Don't rush it!

Ingredients:

pizza dough (my recipe* or from store/pizza shop)
2 tablespoons olive oil and extra for rubbing
5 cloves garlic crushed with a garlic press
oregano
baby spinach (fresh this time, no cheats: no frozen)
prosciutto thinly sliced (just get a ton if you are going to snack on it later)
black pepper
1 1/2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella
pecorino romano

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Take your dough--whether you used the recipe I did* or you bought yours at a pizza shop or store (which would make you lazy and impatient------"Hello, kettle?  You're black") and get it to a floured work space. 

[If you used the recipe I gave, use one of the pieces you made. If you are in NYC and went to a pizza shop, get one small piece of dough.  If in Rochester, go to a Pontillo's and get dough for a medium pie or a large and cut in half (duh).]

Flatten the dough with flat hand and spread out.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (and for those who have worked with pizza, give it a toss or two).  Roll again until it's flattened some and around a foot in diameter and 1/2" thick.

Pour about olive oil onto the center of your sphere and spread toward the edges with your hand.  Add the garlic to the oil and spread that evenly onto the slicked surface. Sprinkle liberally with oregano, black pepper and romano.

Spread whole pieces of spinach evenly and overlapping on the dough, spreading almost to the edges.  Repeat the same process with the prosciutto and sprinkle with romano and half of your mozzarella.

Starting with any end, start rolling it up like you would a poster, blueprint or treasure map.  Keep it nice 'n tight or it will unravel or grow too much while cooking.  It may have a hump in the middle like a snake working something down-that's fine.  Transfer your roll to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil slicked with vegetable spray (like PAM).  Slick up your rolled loaf with olive oil, especially the edges to almost seal 'em and poke a slit in the middle to allow for some of the moisture to escape while cooking.  Put tray in the oven on the lowest of the racks and cook for 30-35 minutes. 

(It may take longer based on a number of things--oven heat, dough quality, roll technique--so you will want to watch it so the outside doesn't cook too hard but also that the inside isn't overly doughy.  Take it out when you think it's done and let cool for like 5-10 minutes and cut right in half so you have two loafs.  Check the inside coils.  If the middle is overly soft or uncooked, pop back in the oven.)

Tip:  If you need to continually put back in the oven due to doughy insides and fear over cooking the outside, slice it up into many pieces (like you would any loaf of bread) and lay 'em out overlapping each other and throw them back in the oven and cook till you're satisfied.  There's no shame in this, it will still taste great and in some cases give it a great crunch.

Notes:

This recipe is based on a true story is based on my grandmother's (Gram's) pepperoni bread recipe that we've enjoyed, well, forever.  She's 90 so I think that a lot more people have enjoyed this that I can imagine.  I also do her version with pepperoni as well as tons of other creations and topping combinations with white, red or pink sauce...vodka too.

Tweaks:

The thing I tweaked was pepperoni and mozzarella removal for the spinach and prosciutto.

Verdict: Success

Definitely Neighbor-worthy

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Pizza Dough
(For home--not at Pontillo's)

This is lovingly executed following the recipe of Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour (and extra for dusting)

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt 
olive oil

Preheat the oven to nothin'-----you aren't cooking yet.  That's tomorrow.  

Put water into a small bowl and add yeast.  Stir with your (clean) hand until it has all melted into the water.  In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together.  Add the yeasty water to the flour mixture and mash together until a dough starts to form.  (If too dry, add some water--if too wet, you're screwed and should go back to the store, buy more yeast and start over.  I'm kidding, just add more flour.)

 

De-bowl your dough and place on a floured work space.  Knead the dough until your form is a ball that is smooth--when in doubt, keep kneading it.  You'll know what smooth is when you get there as it really does become an almost perfect ball.   My family members know the fold technique where, beyond the kneading, you almost tuck it into itself over and over.

Drizzle the inside of a bowl with your oil and put your dough ball in there covered by a damp kitchen towel.  Store it in a safe, dry place.  It will rise and [nearly] double in size after a couple of hours.  When it has, take it out to your work space and relieve it of any air that has gathered. (Just press down on it.)

Cut into 3 equal size pieces and tuck 'em again into 3 balls (at this point each will become a near-flawless, perfectly smooth orb is in your hands). Put them in 3 oiled bowls and cover (again) with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for an hour.  Remove the towel and wrap in plastic wrap and throw in fridge over night and wait till tomorrow.

Notes:

This recipe was made directly from an existing recipe---really nothing is changed here.  Though I know backwards and forwards how to make pizza dough from years of working at our family pizza shops, I only know how to make enough dough in a rip your arm off size mixer and have never made a small amount.  This is a first time thing, so I knead to be gentle--see what i did there?

Tweaks:

The only thing I tweaked was the fancy wording or overly specific things in the recipe.  I think I used sea salt.  It may not be fine sea salt but, truth be told, it coulda been crushed sidewalk salt--I don't really care.  Salt is salt and that's just "fine" by me. 
I also have our family fold technique mentioned in the above steps.

Cheats:

This whole post is a pretty much a cheat against the nature of this bog.  One big (credit-given) hack of a cheat because I didn't even try to make this one my own.

No Verdict on this one as the final recipe will yield a success or failure.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Rigatoni
with Marinara, Pesto and Ricotta
(The Effortless Kind)

Kneel to the King:  I started making this dish years ago after having something similar at our favorite pub down the street, The Half King.

Ingredients:
1 lb rigatoni
marinara (use whatever you like-homemade or bottled (if you wanna anger Ma))
pesto *recipe here or used jarred.
part-skim ricotta
2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese
salt
cinnamon


Easy Explanation: I am using already prepared marinara as well as the pesto that I made a couple of weeks back for my Simple Sandwich recipe and froze. I took it out last night to thaw so that today I could just make an easy meal.

Boil water and add salt to a large pot for your pasta.  Prepare your pasta, al dente, as instructed on your box.  While the pasta cooks, heat up your marinara (I had my marinara left over) If you want it fresh and new, prepare ahead for this recipe before you boil your water.  Take your pesto (jarred or pre-prepared) out of the fridge to allow to come to room-temperature.

When the pasta is done, strain and spritz with a little cold water to make the rigatoni (a little) firm.  Toss, still in the colander, with the romano 'till all are covered with cheese and plate, dish or bowl it.  Cover first with the red sauce, then the pesto and top it off with a spoonful of ricotta.  My family's regional background has sweetness in it's blood, so we always add some cinnamon to our cheeses.  My bf likes it in certain dishes, but not this one so I didn't mix the cheese or anything, I just sprinkled mine with a dusting of flavor.


Notes:

This recipe is one of mine. It is super simple...and uses ingredients that may already be in the house. 
I did use that Pesto I made a while back and froze--it was still amazing!
And btw, when you allow the heat of the sauce to essentially melt the ricotta into the pesto, uhh, so good!.

Cheats:

Though not technically cheats, as this is my recipe and my shortcuts (existing marinara and pesto) were made by me, others can cheat by using jarred sauces.

Verdict: Success

Definitely Neighbor-worthy.

Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Just the Tip

Don't Wear Your Gym Clothes While You Cook--People Will think You're Homeless and REALLY Fond of Your Ass


MARK! YOU'RE NOT A STREET URCHIN Don't make the same mistake I've (apparently) been making for years.  Don't wear clothes you just cooked in to the gym or anywhere in public for that matter.  Your fellow gym bunnies, or in my case your neighbors, will think you're gross.

I used to think people were checking me out in the gym (and this may be partially true, don't get me wrong) but they may just be thinking "wow, that guy is filthy".  I gasp at the fact that they may have been thinking it since we moved into this building almost 6 years ago!  When you're as hyper and spastic in the kitchen as I am you (should) know there is crap all over your clothes after you cook or bake.  An apron only covers so much of your body.  I may have to start wearing a hazmat suit if I don't want to have a change of clothes between work and gym outfits.

Flour and my own handy work are THE worst offenders.  My friend Shireen pointed this out to me over a decade ago when we worked at my Uncle's Italian restaurant, Ciao! and I never grew out of it apparently.  I tend to wipe my hands hands on my ass instead of my apron.  This leaves perfect hand prints on my butt.  Unfortunately it doesn't even look like someone else couldn't keep their hands off of me--it is crystal clear they are my own hands.  I noticed that I have not broken the habit this morning at the gym. 

Sad.  I am proud of my ass but not that into it.


Do you want to be on the mailing list or have recipes you want to share with me?  Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

TV Dinner

Family Recipe


MY COUSIN DAVE PONTILLO WAS CO-PRODUCER AND SERVED AS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE GREAT STEAK CHALLENGE 2 Airing Tuesday night (April 10th) at 9:00pm est on the Cooking Channel. 

The Great Steak Challenge brings together two of America's timeless and tastiest obsessions...Steak and wine! Ten amateur chefs from around the country go head-to-head at the beautiful Beringer vineyards in Napa Valley for $25,000 in prize money, all to see who has the best steak recipe, paired with a Beringer wine. Bobby and Jamie Deen host, along with a panel of experts, to crown America's best backyard griller!

View the trailer here.

Keep an eye out for David.  He's a talented, hard-working guy that comes from a great family, if I may say so myself.  Check it out and look for his future projects!

The extended Pontillo clan (Pontillo/Fricano/Tepedino/Woodring/Spiecher) is not just responsible for a great family network to be part of, but also responsible for half of the burns on my forearms--from pizza ovens at the Pizza Shops we all worked at at one point or another (Pontillo's Pizzeria-Western NY's Finest-Since 1947).

Want to be on the mailing list or have a recipes to share? Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Dark Cherry-Red Velvet Roll-Up

Dark Cherry-Red Velvet Layer Cake

SALVAGE ATTEMPT

Ingredients:

Cake:

unsalted butter (for smearing)

1 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

1 cup dark cherry cola (I used Dr Brown’s)

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup buttermilk *see buttermilk mixture cheat at bottom.

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon red food coloring

2 teaspoons 1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Filling:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups 1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 confectioners sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 350º

Line a high-lipped cookie sheet with parchments paper.  (Unsalted) butter up the paper and the sides of the cookie sheet and dust with flour.  Lay out a kitchen towel (nothing soft like a bath towel or hand towel) on your workspace and dust with confectioner's sugar.

Cake:

Start with your cherry cola.  Put in a medium sauce pan and place on your range set on Med-High.  Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for like 20 minutes.  Let the soda reduce some.  You will need at least 1/2 a cup for this recipe.  Allow the cola to cool.

While the cola is cooling, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and powder and salt in a bowl.  In a bigger bowl whisk the granulated sugar, (cooled) cola, oil, food coloring, eggs, extracts and buttermilk mixture.  Slowly pour the dry bowl into the wet mixture bit by bit until the ingredients have mixed.

Pour the batter and spread evenly onto your parchment paper and put into your oven on the center rack.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Filling:

While cake bakes, whisk the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and the extract in a big bowl.  In another bowl, beat the other 1/2 cup cream and the powdered sugar with a mixer until it ripples.  Slowly fold the mixer mixture into the other bowl, folding the cream cheese over gently. Throw in the fridge to chill.

When the cake is done baking, take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack**.

When cake has cooled, carefully flip it (and for people like me, seriously, carefully) onto the sugared towel and peel back the still buttery paper.  Slowly roll the cake and towel, from the short end, into a loose coil and set on the cooling rack to kind of get used to that shape.

After you've checked your e-mail or taken a nap, unroll the settled cake. Spread the filling over the cake surface and carefully reroll the cake. Put on a plate or platter and trim off the sides to clean it up and dust it up with confectioners' sugar for aesthetics.

SALVAGE ATTEMPT: If the cake has cracked at this point, keep cake as is and (as the cracks most likely occurred on the edges where the folds failed to sustain their curve) slice off the edges and dust it up with confectioners' sugar for aesthetics.  You will be left with a long plank with visible layers.  From here, slice width-wise into several pieces and you have portioned layer cake that still looks good (and if not screwed up due to tweaks or errors) and tastes just as good as the product the original recipe would have yielded.

Notes:
I pieced this together from different recipes and tweaked ‘em and made them what I thought would be appropriate.  I changed measurements from said recipes and added or swapped items.

Tweaks:

I cut back on the amount of soda and added time to the reduction.  Whenever I "reduce" anything, it always takes longer than as prescribed by others.

I chose to use less heavy cream than proposed in the recipes I saw--isn't this dessert indulgent enough? 

Cheats:

*I substituted a mixture of whole milk and lemon juice for buttermilk.  I HATE buying a product to only use a small portion of it.  I always have milk and lemon in the house.  1 cup whole milk + 1 tablespoon lemon yields buttermilk substitute after it has had a chance to curdle (about 15mins.)

**I live in Manhattan and don't have a freakin' cooling rack.  I take out the tray from my microwave and out it on top of two bowls. 

Personal Errors:

I forgot to measure out the buttermilk mixture after making it, so I actually used a whole cup instead of 1/3 of it.

Injuries:

I burned my palm talking the cake out of the oven.

ORIGINAL Verdict: Failure

The cake tore a bunch of times when rerolling toward the end.  Tasting happens on Easter, so we'll see...

Salvageable? Yes

Successful Salvage? Yes
(For both taste and presentation)


This recipe is not now deemed Neighbor-worthy Holiday Family-worthy.


Want to be on the mailing list or have a recipes to share? Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Shameful Cheater

It's Sunday...Who's Making Sauce??


ITALIANS AND SAUCE ARE LIKE INOPERABLE SIAMESE TWINS-INSEPARABLE But, as I see it, so long a someone in the family (even if most of a state's distance separates them) is making it--it's kinda the same.


Skipping sauce and going for brunch is okay cause I know that my mom has her sauce on the table in Rochester.


Thanks ma.  I'm going to Crema with Bader.



Want to be on the mailing list or have a recipes to share? Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.

Dark Chocolate Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Ingredients

dark chocolate cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs 2 eggs, 1 egg white

nutmeg

cinnamon

25 paper cupcake liner cups

vegetable spray

2 2/3 cups 3 1/3 cups confectioner sugar

3 tablespoons 2 % milk

1/4 teaspoon maple abstract 4 tablespoon low-fat maple syrup

4 oz bacon

Pre-heat oven to 350º

Cupcakes/Bacon:

Follow cake directions to make batter and pour batter into 24 liner cups in either a muffin tin or laid out on a cookie sheet.  Bake as directed on mix box. 

While the cupcakes bake, heat up a medium frying pan (prepared with a vegetable spray like PAM) on medium heat.  While it heats up lay bacon strips horizontally and slice the bacon vertically into 1/2 inch strips.  Place bacon strips into heated pan and cook 5 minutes, draining oil mid-may, until browned and crisp-not burnt.  Place cooked bacon onto paper towels to soak up any excess oil/fat and to dry up. After cupcakes have baked, allow to cool and prepare icing. 

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and the milk and mix until desired consistency is achieved (you want it thick enough to keep from running of the cupcake but not so thick it rips a moist cupcake.)  I made mine thick enough to spread and thin enough to drizzle.  If you need to thicken your icing, add sugar.  To thin it out, add milk.  When satisfied with thickness, add syrup and mix.

Spoon icing evenly over half of the top of each cupcake (I used 1 soup-spoonful of icing per cupcake) and let it spread out on its own.  For the presentation-minded, let 1 or 2 high held spoonfuls drip in a light stream over all the cupcakes in a haphazard design.

Notes:

I pieced this together from different recipes and tweaked ‘em.   I changed measurements from said recipes and added or swapped items. (Like I my Gristedes has maple extract.)

Tweaks:

Substituted a 3^rd egg with an egg white and added nutmeg and cinnamon to cake mix

Increased the sugar amount and substituted the maple extract with maple syrup for the icing.

Cheats:

My mother and my Aunt Georgia used to laugh at me when I used to say that I wanted to make a cake from scratch.  They would always say “Why would you want to do that when a mix already perfected it?”  Totally legit cheat.

Verdict: Success

What would I change? 

I would do a cake frosting (like for a cake-cake) as opposed to the icing that I made here that is more suited for my mom’s cut-out cookies at Christmas.


This dessert is neighbor-worthy and approved.



Want to be on the mailing list or have a recipes to share? Contact me at themaniccheater@gmail.com.