Fresh Caprese Tower Salad

A couple of summers ago I was down the shore just for the day with a good friend and my two kiddies. We decided to have lunch at this lovely restaurant called The Columns right across from the beach in the beautifully Victorian shore point known as Avon by the Sea NJ.. We went in bathing suit covers and all, but then again that is the attire of the sea shore! Anyway, we ordered up this appetizer called a Caprese Tower, and I have been wanting to recreate it since then.

Well this week the northeast is in a little bit of a heat wave, 90+ degrees to be exact, and because of this unusually warm weather I have begun dreaming about the summer's tomatoes and fresh basil. Fortunately our local Thriftway had a huge sale on vine ripened tomatoes this week, so I grabbed a few just to have for salads. Much to my surprise they weren't spongy at all...they quite beautiful, perfect for the Caprese Tower!  

All you need is a nice ripe tomato cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Do the same thing with a medium size ball of fresh mozzarella. Pour some olive oil on your serving plate and kind of roll the oil around. Then grab some large fresh basil leaves and begin to stack your tower on the olive oil covered plate. Start with the mozzarella and finish with a tomato slice with one basil leaf between the tomato and cheese. Top with a pretty sprig of basil. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I also added some balsamic vinegar to the plate so I could swirl each bite of my tower through both oil and vinegar.

 We decided to really enjoy our tower and sit outside with a little white wine to accompany this wonderful dish. Kids are outside playing...wow what a great beginning to the summer season!

Ciao!!!

XO

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Mom's Favorite Picnic Chicken

OK...we are talking super easy and packed with flavor!!! Typically I use thighs and legs for this recipe but you can easily use breast meat too. Instead of dipping the chicken into egg and then coating it with bread crumbs, the chicken is first covered with a creamy salad dressing and then coated in crunchy Panko crumbs. The dressing actually helps to seal in the meat's juices so every piece is super moist. This chicken goes great with any summer salad, and is perfect for toting to any outdoor party!

6-8 pieces of chicken, skin removed, rinsed and patted dry

Any thick salad dressing like Ranch, Creamy Italian, Creamy Caeser and such

1 cup panko style bread crumbs

1/2 package of Good Season's Zesty Italian dry mix

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix dry dressing mix with the bread crumbs, then coat the chicken with the creamy dressing followed by dredging it in the Panko crumb mix. Place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. It's that easy!!

Hope you enjoy!!

XO

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Being Featured Today Over at Fox News Magazine

(source)

Last week I was contacted by Fox News Magazine editor Michael Bartiromo asking if TheBigGiantFoodBasket would like to contribute a recipe to an upcoming article. 

Well you can just imagine my surprise and thrill! And as many bloggers do, I didn't want to jinx the whole thing by revealing anything until the article was up in print. The recipe they were interested in was my Limey Roasted Corn Salad. The article it is being highlighted in is titled...

 10 Salad Recipes for People Who Hate Lettuce

Don't you  just love the title? To see the other fabulous non lettuce recipes follow the link above. 

Gosh you never know who is out there reading your blog.

Wishing you a wonderful day!!!

XO 

Fresh Blueberry and Sweet Basil Salad Dressing

This is one of my favorite summertime dressings to make. You really do not need much more than some greens, toasted sliced almonds and a little blue cheese or Gorgonzola...toss and you have this fabulous healthy salad with such a unique and delicious flavor.

The dressing includes...

1/2 cup fresh blueberries 

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons water

half a medium shallot chopped

one tablespoon basil chopped

 1/4 cup of olive oil 

and a pinch of Kosher salt.

Blend all the dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender.

 Blueberries are loaded with the antioxidant polyphenol that neutralizes free radicals in the body which can cause cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's Disease. Blueberries are rich in vitamin C too. Olive oil in the dressing along with the almonds in the salad are also heart healthy foods. Almonds are rich in vitamin E and a good source of high quality protein. Almonds can help lower LDL and lipids (fat). Olive oil can help reduce cholesterol as well as the risk of certain cancers like breast, prostate, endometrial and cancers of the digestive track.

So eat up those brightly colored foods mother nature has generously provided for us, they are packed with nutrients which can ward of diseases and help keep our immunity in tack.

Enjoy!!!

XO

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A Favorite Italian Dish ~ Farfalle Estive

On Tuesday I had lunch with my sister and parents down in Lahaska Pennsylvania. The reason for us meeting for lunch was to say good bye to our parents because they were leaving the next day to go back home to Florida. (sad face) We met at one of my favorite Italian restaurants Villaggio,located across the street from beautiful Peddler's Village. So of course if I am eating in one of my favorite eating places then I must have a favorite dish there right? Well I do and it is Farfalle Estive. This dish is typically made with a pasta, assortment of vegetables, a protein like chicken or shellfish and this particular recipe it is tossed with a garlicky pesto. I wanted to copy Villaggio's interpretation of this entree, and this for the most part is what they use.

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, seasoned and grilled (I  grill mine on our Foreman Grill) and cut into 1 inch bite size pieces.

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 cups of fresh asparagus cut into one inch log pieces. (I really only use the thin asparagus, the thicker spears can be use to make soup.)

8 oz. baby portabella (bella) mushrooms chopped

1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes, cut jullienne style

One pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered

One 15.5 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Pesto, about 7 ounces and blended with 1/3 cup olive oil (I used Buitoni Pesto with Basil.)

EVOO for sauteing 

Fresh basil to garnish

And of course farfalle pasta, about half a box (6 ounces of dry pasta).

Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Then in a large deep sided pan or large pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil being sure not to burn the garlic, for about 4 minutes. Add the asparagus and mushrooms and continue to saute until asparagus softens and mushrooms release their juices. Finally add the beans, meat and the tomatoes, blend with other ingredients, toss mixture with the pasta and pesto until everything is well coated with the pesto. If you need to you can add more EVOO and mix. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt. I also like to toss in some fresh basil to garnish and flavor the dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is sooo yummy and does go a long way. Serves about 6 good sized portions.

Ciao 4 now and have a great day!!!

XO

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Strawberry Balsamic & Cracked Black Pepper Jam

We are now getting into strawberry season and the price of these yummy little berries has really begun to drop. I snagged some at my local grocery store and decided to make this jam which packs a little bit of heat. I was inspired by the recipe I came across over at the beautiful blog Honey&Jam. 

First rinse and hull your berries and then chop them into smaller pieces.

Then in a smaller pot add...

5 cups of chopped strawberries 

3 1/2 cups of sugar 

1 - 2 (depending on how much heat you prefer) teaspoons of cracked black pepper 

6 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar 

1 tablespoon butter 

I also use one packet of unsweetened fruit pectin

Heat ingredients in the pot until they begin to meld together. Simmer on the stove for about 15 to 20 minutes, until mixture becomes translucent and thickens.

In prepared jars, ladle hot jam into jars and then making sure the rims are clean, place the lid on top and screw on the ring.

Set jars aside and wait until you hear the "ping", this means your jars are sealed.

Once cooled you can enjoy the jam. Actually right after I shot these pictures I tried the jam with cream cheese...sooooo yummy! You can also spread the jam over the top of a block of cream cheese and use it as a spread with crackers.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

XO

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Skillet Peach Pie with a Cobbler topping

One of the things Michael and Grace have been bugging me to make is peach pie, but personally I have been a hankering for peach cobbler. So I thought why not combine the two recipe concepts, and while I am at it, why not bake the pie in a skillet which is a trend I have been seeing in all of the foodie magazines.

I began by making a simple crust using the old faithful single pie crust recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook" circa 1988.

For the crust...

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup shortening

4 T. ice cold water

Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Add the shortening and blend it with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like it's formed into small peas. (This will mean that your shortening is evenly distributed through the flour.) Add the water to the flour mixture, form ball, and then roll it out on wax paper covered with flour. Make sure you handle the dough as little as possible, this will ensure a flaky crust. (Thank you for this tip Ms. Mannis, my junior high school Home Economics teacher!)

Roll out your dough and flip into a 8 inch skillet. I did prepare the skillet by spraying cooking spray to cover it.

(Or if you prefer, you could use a frozen pie crust)

Next is to make the filling...

For the pie filling I used about 3 1/2 lbs. of peeled and sliced fresh peaches. They were tossed with 1 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg along with 1/2 cup of both sugar and flour and a T of lemon juice.

Pour the peaches and their juices into the prepared crust.

For the topping...

I blended with a pastry blender: 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp. of both cinnamon and nutmeg and a 1/4 cup butter. I then dropped the topping over the peaches to cover.

The pie was baked in an oven preheated to 425 degrees F for about 50 minutes or until the topping was golden and the peaches were bubbling through the top.

Remove from oven and allow pie to cool slightly before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping!

And enjoy!!!

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Eggs Benedict Casserole

I made this yummy casserole for my Mother's Day brunch on Sunday and needless to say it was a huge hit. My mom loves eggs Benedict, but there was no way I was going be able to make it for all  8 brunch guests. So instead I used a recipe from January's issue of Woman's Day magazine for a casserole version...super easy to make and super tasty!

Ingredients:

olive oil for sauteing

6 English muffins, cut in half and quater each half

1 large leek white and light green part only cut into 1/4 inch thick half moons

12 oz Canadian bacon chopped

6 large eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp. chopped chives

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

pinch of cayenne pepper

For the Hollandaise I used a packet of Knorr's dry Hollandaise sauce and followed the package directions.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a 9 X 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place the English muffins in a large jelly roll pan and bake in the oven for 15 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

In the meantime, heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the leek, cook for about 4 minutes. Stir occasionally. Increase the heat and add the chopped bacon and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Remove the toasted muffins from the oven and place in the prepared pan. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and spoon the leek mixture over top of the muffins. 

Next in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, dry mustard, chives, heavy cream, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over top of the leek and bacon. Bake in over for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with prepared Hollandaise sauce and enjoy!

XO

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Easy Bake Lemon Bars

This lemon bar recipe is made easy because you use refrigerated sugar cookie dough for the crust of the bar. I made these for my mother as part of the brunch I am having this Sunday. My P's are up from Florida for 2 weeks so we will be able to be with my mother on Mother's Day.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. 18 oz. roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp lemon extract
the zest of one lemon
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Drop cookie dough onto prepared pan and with lightly floured hands, spread dough onto bottom of the pan until completely covered. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and baking powder. Ina a separate bowl mix the lemon juice extract and zest. The pour the lemon mixture into the egg mixture and pour over the warm cookie crust. 

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
.

XO

This recipe was adapted from the website Food.com.

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Dear Creatives

Roasted Corn Salad

I found some corn over the weekend at our local supermarket, and although corn this early is typically not as sweet, I bought it anyway and decided to roast it in the oven to give it some sweetness.

I bought 5 ears of corn...they were 5 for $2...and removed the husks and silks. Some extra virgin olive oil was poured over them and then they were seasoned with salt.

The ears were oven roasted at 350 degrees until they took on a golden brown color...it took about 20 minutes.

Next, when the ears were cooled, I cut off the the kernels and set them aside. 

Then I added my other vegetables...1/2 a red onion, grape (or cherry) tomatoes and cilantro, plus a can of drained and rinsed black beans. 

I made a dressing of fresh squeezed lime juice from 2 limes, and then cumin, chili powder and some onion powder to taste, and while whisking these ingredients together I poured in a stream of extra virgin olive oil, about 1/3 of a cup. The salad was tossed with the dressing and then some feta cheese was added, (add as much as you like) and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I actually made this for dinner last night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Chris and the kids put it on their tacos. But today when I was shooting my photos I tasted it again, and I think it is even better than yesterday since it sat in the frig overnight.

This is a great side dish for summer grilling or you can add maybe some grilled chicken to the salad and have it as a main dish. Either way just make sure to put the salad together at least 4 to 6 hours before serving so it has time to marinate.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a fun Cinco de Mayo if you celebrated. 

Wishing you a super start to your week!

XO

Special note...thank you to my friend Shari for the darling glasses!

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