Beef Milanese with Summer Corn Salad

Ahh.. it’s been a while, too long!  I promise I won’t let that happen again, it’s been a busy couple of months but really nothing but  take out dinner between the months of February through May due to an overwhelming busy season at work! But I am back now and I will be sure to post plenty of fun summer recipes. I wanted to start with this first one Beef Milanese with a fresh summer corn salad. So here goes!

What You Will Need:

Beef:

6 thinly slices cut of beef

2/3 cup of flour

½ teaspoon rosemary

2 eggs (whisked with a splash of milk)

½ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup panko

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano

Canola oil for frying

Summer Corn Salad: 

2 large ears of corn (cooked and cut from the cob)

½ cup quartered  cherry tomatoes

1 fryer pepper

1 clove of garlic minced

¼ cup EVOO

Salt and pepper

The juice of 1 lemon 

What To Do: 

1. In a large bowl mix together, corn, tomatoes and garlic. Cook the fryer pepper in a large skillet with some oil until it becomes tender then remove the seeds, dice it up and add to the bowl. Season with salt & pepper then add evvoo and lemon juice. 

2. Set up 3 bowls (flour, egg then breadcrumbs mixture) make sure to season each layer with salt and pepper 

                  Flour: add flour and rosemary to a bowl and combine 

                  Egg: Mix together the 2 eggs and a splash of mix

                  Breadcrumb: Mix together breadcrumbs, panko and Pecorino Romano

3. Dredge each piece of meat through the assembly line 

3. Heat a large skillet with a generous layer of oil over medium then fry until the outside is golden brown (about 3 minutes per slide). 

4. Top the beef with the corn salad and enjoy ! 

Pasta Fagioli

This is one of my favorite foods but very rarely do I find a restaurant where I really like it. My secret in this one is red pepper flakes to make the soup a little spicy. It’s perfect on a cold winter day (like this week where it has been negative degrees here in NJ). I seriously think I could live off it and it doesn’t hurt that this soup can be ready in about 30 minutes.

What You’ll Need

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 slices pancetta, chopped
• 1 sprigs rosemary
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 carrot (chopped)
• 1 rib celery (chopped)
• 2 gloves of garlic (chopped)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
• 1 large tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups of water
• 1 quarter chicken stock
• 1 ½ cups ditalini pasta
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (can you less if you would like)
• Grated parmigiano for topping

What to do:

In a large pot over medium heat oil and add in pancetta (cook until brown) then add in rosemary, bay leaf, chopped vegs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook until vegetables are tender. 

Add beans, tomato sauce, water and stock to the pot and raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil and add in pasta. Cook the coup 6 to 8 minutes until the pasta is cooked. 

Remove the bay leaf and add in red pepper flakes. Let the soup cool for a few minutes and ladle soup into bowls topping with grated cheese. 

Don’t forget the crusty bread for mopping up the soup! 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

(This blog post is decided to my buffalo chicken loving husband)

When it’s super bowl time that means a few things, one of them being buffalo chicken dip or BCD! This recipe is so easy to make. I’ve made it so many times I just know what it should look like by now I don’t even measure out the ingredients any more. The traditional way to serve this dip would be with chips but I love it with pita bread!

Here’s what you’ll need:

•  8oz packages of cream  cheese (softened)

• ¾ cup of franks hot sauce

• ½ cup of ranch dressing

• 2 ½ cups of shredded cooked chicken

• 1 ½ cups shredded mild cheddar cheese

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, hot sauce and ranch dressing. Add in shredded chicken and 1 cup of cheese ( no need to over mix). Place in a large baking dish and top with last ½ cup of shredded cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes then turn on the broiler and bake for 5 minutes (until cheese is golden brown). As a side note, I love the broiler but you need to keep your eye on what you are cooking when using it things brown in just minutes! 

Serve it up with your favorite chips or pita bread and enjoy! 

Shrimp Scampi with Zoodles

I have been into the idea of vegetable noodles  zoodles for a while now. And I finally brought a zoodle maker from bed bath and beyond. First of all, the link above is for the Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Cutter and tonight was the first time using it and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It was easy to use, made perfect noodles out of zucchini and was easy to clean. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this product. 

This recipe wasn't too bad either, it was a take on shrimp scampi. I love everything about scampi sauce, wine, lemon and garlic. 

What You'll Need: 
3 zucchini made into noodles
1/2 lb of cleaned shrimp 
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons of evoo
3 large cloves of garlic grated 
1/2 cup of wine 
1 lemon (juiced)
1 tablespoon grated parmigiano cheese 
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes










What To Do: 

Season shrimp with salt and pepper. In a skillet heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of evoo. Cook the shrimp until they are no longer pink.

Place the shrimp on a plate then add the other tablespoon of butter and evoo into the skillet and melt. Add in grated garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes then add 1/2 cup of wine and add the zoodles to the pan. Cook the zoodles for 3-4 minutes then take off the heat, add in the juice of one lemon, parmigiano cheese, pepper flakes and add shrimp back into the skillet. 

Cinnamon Rolls

This sunday it was extremely bad weather and I was stuck in the house all morning so I decided to make the best of it by making homemade cinnamon rolls. This recipe was easy required no yeast, I recommend you try it on your next snow day! 

What You'll Need: 

Dough 
2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter (cubed softened) 
1 cup milk

Filling
4 tablespoons butter (cubed softened) 
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze 
1/2 cup powdered sugar 
1/4 cup milk

What To Do: 

For the filling, in a small bowl combine softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. 

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in softened butter then stir in milk until it forms a soft dough. 

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. 

Spread the remaining filling on the rolled out dough then roll it up. Use a sharp knife to slice into rolls and place in a 8 by 8 pan (rolls close together) 

Bake the rolls for 20 minutes of 400. 

For the glaze, combine powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Coat the rolls with the glaze when they come out of the oven.