Dear Marian,

I really wanted to post this one two days ago but work and just general housekeeping got in the way! Anyway, I was hoping to post this on May 7th, or Matt Bonifay’s Birthday which is whom the meal was prepared for. We decided to cook dinner at his place a couple of weeks back, so I bought over the provisions and Matt and Alison provided the beer and yummy dessert from some ridic pie joint of which the name I cannot recall.

Grilled Chicken Kebabs with Tangy Asian Sauce

The good thing about this post is that there isn’t much to write about it. I started by cutting up partially frozen chicken breasts, purple onion, yellow bell pepper and eggplant into 1 inch chunks. (I salted the eggplant and let it rest on a bed of paper towels after this and before skewering to let the moisture and bitterness come out) You can always use any veggies of choice, these were just the ones that looked best in the market that day! Adam and I recently purchased some Kebab skewers, so I used those to pierce the chicken and veggies, alternating them as I went along - in no particular order.

After grilling them around medium-high heat (350-375) I took them off the grill and doused them with an Asian sauce recipe that I made years back and decided to try again. The sauce was definitely a hit (at least that’s what it seemed like after Matt asked if he could have the rest and the recipe :-)

For sides I made the Caprese Quinoa from the Austin trip - cooked quinoa, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, salt, pepper and olive oil, Easy-peasy, and served up some awesome warm rolls Adam and I found at our new local Kroger grocery in the Bakery section.

I am going to have to add in a picture of the pie’s at a later date because I don’t have my photo storage device with me! get ready, your lips will swell with anticipation of taking a bite out of your computer screen…

LOVE YOU

and

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MATT BONIFAY!

Melanie

Dear Melanie,

I’m SOOO happy for you and your new hubby. I have another brother! That makes four :) Your wedding was really so perfect and you looked so beautiful. I’m jealous of all the fancy kitchen gifts. Your dinner parties are going to be so glam. I want to try and stretch myself as much as possible this year in the kitchen and try things I haven’t done before and can you believe I’ve never brined a whole chicken much less roasted one? So here goes. For the app…

Tomato Bruschetta with Whole Wheat Bread

I sliced up some small pearl tomatoes, red onion, and a pinch of garlic and tossed it with some olive oil, lemon juice, Flour de Sel (fancy salt) and pepper and fresh basil and let it sit on the counter for a few hours before dinner. It was so simple, so fresh, and yummy! Some recipes complicate bruschetta and add all of these unnecessary, confusing ingredients. I say, simpler the better - let the tomatoes shine!

Rosemary Lemon Roasted Chicken with Olive Pesto Pasta

I started by brining my chicken the morning of my dinner. I pulled out the junk the chicken trunk and put it in a big pot with a water salt mixture I made by heating up some water and mixing in salt (about 4 tablespoons of salt in 5 cups of water). You have to wait until the brine has cooled before adding the chicken. I threw in some peeled garlic cloves, squeezed and cut lemon, fresh sage and rosemary sprigs (from my garden) and pepper. I let that sit for about 6/7 hours.

Then I popped it in the oven, discarding the brine, and adding fresh garlic cloves, fresh squeezed lemon juice. I stuffed the skin with chopped rosemary, sage, and garlic. I roasted the chicken for about 1.5 hours at 425 degrees until the chicken was cooked - I used the thermometer attached to my electric oven which keeps track of the temp which is kind of cool ;)

I boiled some brown rice pasta I got from Tra Joes, blanched with cold water and set aside. I made the pesto in a regular blender (I don’t have a food processor) by first adding olive oil (1/2 cup), then filling the container to the top with plucked basil leaves (about 2 cups). I pulsed it a bit and then added 3 big garlic cloves chopped, about a 1/3 cup  of pine nuts, a 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. I blended it all up, put it in a pot on the stove poured in the pasta, added chopped olives, more parmesan cheese, and whole pine nuts. And voila! A little Italian feast was made.

Send me that meatball book. 

Love,

Marian

Dear Marian,

I have a feeling we are going to have a couple of posts based around the wedding - I am sorry, the food was abundant and all over the place so I feel like we need to share it with the world!

I am not really going to go in any particular order, and since I have Adam and I’s brunch pictures available, I guess I will start with Sunday Breakfast. Let me set the mood for you… stayed up until 3am, woke up in a beautiful Suite at the Windsor Court Hotel, on a beautiful sunny - cool (!?) morning in New Orleans. What more can you ask for. Oh, yeah, waffles, grits and awesome breakfast links.

So here is a little food porn for you on this Friday Morning - something to look forward to on Saturday? Maybe I will wake up and try to recreate? Maybe something Adam will try and recreate for me? Probably not, but a girl can dream can’t she!?

As I come to an end, if you could all raise your glasses; I would like to raise a final toast to an AMAZINGLY-PERFECT weekend!

Cheers!

Mel

Dear Marian,

As they say, the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and from the toast’s at the Rehearsal Dinner last Friday that seems to be the way I won Adam over! I will admit though, I do recall Adam shrinking as our relationship grew and all of his “new jeans” not being able to fit after only a couple of months. I blame this on the fact that he swapped his late night McDonald’s runs for my home cooked meals that included new and strange veggies like broccoli, carrots, and green beans. Well, here is my “lightened” up version of a Blue Cheese Stuffed burger - lightened meaning I used Turkey instead of Beef (we never get ground beef for some reason) and only moderate amount of Blue Cheese instead of the half cup you would get at a restaurant. 

Blue Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Since we were stuffing these with Blue Cheese, we wanted to keep the meat relatively light, so we seasoned a pound of ground turkey with about a teaspoon of Tony’s Chachere’s (ps please click on the link and check out who their spokesman is now! amazing).

I divided the mixture into four equal parts and formed them into balls. With my thumbs, I created a crater in the center of the ball, stuffed the blue cheese in side, and then pinched the hole up with the meat. Gently, I formed the balls into patties and placed them into the freezer for about five minutes before cooking.

I served the burgers on a Whole Wheat English Muffin, topped with sweet caramelized onions, and damn were they stupendous!

I think I want this for dinner tonight again!

Love you tons and miss you more!

Melanie

Dear Melanie,

I would like to share with you the greatest recipe of all time. I wanted to introduce Josh to some creole cuisine and while I was at it, I added a little twist - BACON! 

Maple Bacon Wrapped Dates

I cut the excess fat off of the bacon and then cut a piece in half. I wrapped it around a dried date (you can find little bags by raisins and apricots in the grocery) and pierced it with a skewer. I repeated this two more times - three dates to a skewer. I rested the skewer over a deep pan so the excess fat would drip off and land in the pan and not on my ass. I cooked the dates for about 15 minutes or until the bacon was browned a bit at 375 and then drizzled some organic maple syrup over the top. I gave one to Sammy (Josh’s adorable bluenose pitbull) and his eyes burst open with intense lust.

Creole Shrimp on top Bacon Grits with Crispy Bacon Brussels Sprouts 

Creole cooking isn’t heavy on the greens but I have to have them with whatever I eat or else I start to feel guilt, and that is the death of enjoying a good meal. I cut the stem of the brussels sprouts and peeled the leaves until there was only a tiny nugget left and then I cut that in half. I filled up a glass pan with the sprouts. Then I chopped a whole big shallot and threw it on top the sprouts. I added garlic and a little bit of chopped bacon. I poured in some chicken stock (about 1/4 cup) and sprayed the top of the sprouts with canola oil for the crisp factor and placed in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes or until the top was crisped.

Then I made some grits following the directions on the box - cup of grits, cup of water, cooked down then added some milk. I added some crisped chopped bacon at the end before serving for that bacon BOOM factor.

I peeled a pound of jumbo shrimp and put aside in the fridge. I started by sweating down about a cup of chopped white onion and then I added about a tablespoon of garlic, browned that. Then I added a whole chopped green pepper and red pepper. I let the veggies cook down. Then I pushed them to the side and made a roux on the other side of the pan with a tablespoon of butter which I allowed to melt and mixed in with a tablespoon of wheat flour. I stirred it until it browned into a paste. I mixed together the paste and the veggies really good and cooked it a bit more. Then I added about a 3/4 a can of chicken stock and let the mix boil down a bit slowly adding some spices: couple pinches of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and a handful of fresh chopped parsley. Then I added the shrimp, stirring the mixture constantly. 

I plated the dish by spooning a little pile of grits in the center and pushed them aside to make a doughnut hole in the center. I put the brussels sprouts in the hole and then ladled on the shrimp. I served with a side of garlic french bread with sprinkled paprika and parsley and voila! The best dinner ever!

I hope you try it out. Remember, you don’t have to follow the recipe to a T since there isn’t really one. I never measure. Just add more of what you love and less of what you don’t.

A special thanks to all them Guste and Bruno cousin’s that read us! It was so wonderful to hear that you actually try out some of our recipes and get dinner ideas. That’s what we’re here for. We love you!

CONGRATS my bride! Enjoy mawwaige.

Love, Marian

Dear Marian,

I know this post is coming a couple days late, but life has been super busy lately with travel and wedding planning. Adam and I got back from NYC the day before Easter to absolutely no food in the house (can you believe it… if you don’t good, because it is not entirely true…) so after Easter Mass on Sunday we hit up our local Kroger on a mission to cook healthy all week long. Here’s where we started…

Easter Quiche with Asparagus and Balsamic Mushrooms

We didn’t get home from the grocery until 1:00pm, so I decided to buy a pre-made crust in hopes that it would save on some time. I opted for the deep dish style, since I wanted to load my quiche up with tons of veggies. I started by unwrapping the crust and letting it sit on the counter while I prepared the other ingredients. 

In a large pot I brought about 8 cups of water to a boil. While I was waiting for this to happen, I cut my asparagus into 2 inch pieces, leaving three whole for decoration on the top. I then took my container of pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms and doused them with water to get all of the dirt off. I know this is not the correct way, but I was limited in time. I dropped those into a saute pan with some slivered shallot and a little EVOO.

When the water was boiling I threw in the asparagus pieces and let them cook for right around 2 minutes. I quickly took them out with a sifter and ran cold water on top to stop them from cooking. For fun, I decided to add a little Balsamic Vinegar to my pan of mushrooms and let those simmer and reduce until I was read to stir everything together.

In a separate bowl I whisked 6 whole large eggs along with some milk, goat cheese, salt and pepper (although looking back, I should have placed the goat on top of the quiche before mixing it in). When the mushrooms were cooled, I stirred those in along with the asparagus pieces. I poured the entire mixture into the pre-made crust and topped it with the three remaining (whole) asparagus.

I cooked this at 350 for about 45 minutes, and then knocked the heat up to 400 to get a nice brown on the crust. Served with a refreshing salad of strawberries, blue cheese and slivered almonds, this was like eating at a restaurant.

Cannot believe it is already April 3rd! T-minus 17 days and counting…..

See you soon!

Love,

Mel

Dear Melanie,

This is my birthday post - won’t put the number it’s just too sexy. I had some of my closest friends over for dinner, set the table and then realized I didn’t have enough places, silverware, wine glasses, or plates. So, instead of disinviting people, I pulled in my kitchen table and put all of the neglected cutlery - camping spork, chopsticks, serving spoon, mardi gras cups and bowls and told the rejects to fend for themselves. They loved it! I prefer sit down dinners and I wanted to make it work. I also wanted to cook for my own birthday because I like the taste of my food and I like cooking. My ultimate meal:

Italian Sausage Lasagne

I started by making the sauce. I sauteed a whole chopped yellow onion with a few cloves of garlic in olive oil, then added a can of tomato paste and cooked it up, browning the paste a little. Then I added two cans of whole tomatoes that I chopped myself - this makes for chunkier sauce. Then I chopped up some fresh basil, sage, and rosemary from my herb garden and added it in the sauce with salt and pepper. I also added a couple tablespoons of raw sugar, a dash of red pepper flakes and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. I made the ricotta mixture with an container of ricotta, one egg, fresh chopped herbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. I layered the hard whole wheat noodles on the pan over some sauce, layered in the ricotta, then more pasta, and then added italian sausage that I took out of the skin and mashed up, then I added more pasta, more sauce, and a layer of mozzarella cheese.I bakes it for about an hour and a half at 350. 

I served the lasagna with some baked zucchini (recipe to come - my new favorite that I improvised), a light Ceasar salad, and warm asiago bread.

Deconstructed Neapolitan Cake

For my cake - yes I made that too, I used a box of white cake mix, layered fresh strawberries in the center and whipped an icing together from a container of strawberry frosting, 1/2 a stick of light cream cheese, and fresh strawberries. The icing was fluffy and so tangy. I served it with chocolate ice-cream - like a reverse Neapolitan desert.

After dinner we played a super fun game called Citizens of Humanity which is a grown up version of Apples to Apples. I had the best birthday!

Love,

Marian

Dear Marian,

I picked up some amazing homemade Andouille sausage from a store called Kuby’s Sausage House (my kinda place) in Dallas a while back and finally decided to break it out and make Jambalaya on Sunday night! I used the recipe I made last year for Mardi Gras, (click Mardi gras to view) and this version surpassed last years by a landslide.

I made the suggested changes I mentioned in the post, including halving the cayenne and the addition of the entire can of crushed tomatoes. This version came out super moist and flavorful. It was almost like the rice had a rich jambalaya sauce on it - perfect! Note to self, this version was still very spicy, which I am guessing was because of the sausage I used - so if you are not prone to spice, lay off the cayenne altogether and add heat later with hot sauce - always easier to add then remove!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Love you,

Mel

Dear Marian,

I am super jealous that you got to go home for Mardi Gras and watch Suzer prance around in a big fancy dress. I am also jealous that you got to cook a  home cooked meal as I have not done that in a while because of my CRAZY work schedule. No work-life balance lately. I am surprised Adam is still around with my crazy self… 

Luckily, I get I see both of yous guys next weekend in Austin, which I am very pumped about. When I do finally get home after 12 days of being on the road I am actually planning on making one version of these meatballs again for our first night in A-town. I finally got the Meatball Shop Cookbook (aka Stole it from Dad, but there is an Autographed copy at his house now waiting for me… don’t ask how I got it…) and the Pork Ball recipe came from here. The red sauce is my own, but the Mushroom gravy is not - also from the Ball book. I will say though, that if you follow the directions exactly you will turn out with a salty MESS as they have a typo there mixing up teaspoon with tablespoon…

I am not going to publish the recipes online, go buy the book cheapskate - or get it from someone else blog. The Spicy Pork Balls and Mushroom gravy were my favorite combo. For dinner this night, Adam and I invited his “coworkers” over and we had a Meatball Shop fest - with an Arugula Salad to start. Roasted carrots with Apple Cider Vinegar. Spicy Pork Balls. Turkey Balls. And sauce options of Mushroom Gravy, Spicy Red Sauce and Pesto. Served on top of truffle risotto or as a slider on a mini bun. 

Awesomeness.

To yummy balls! Can’t wait to share these with you on Thursday!

Love,

Melanie

Dear Melanie,

I went in town for Mardi Gras to watch Suzzy prance around in that fancy Hermes ball. I also watched the parades and visited with family and friends but I must say the very best part was getting to just kick it with the Suzer. While we were home Sue, Dad and I cooked up a slammin’ meal. I was in charge of the fish and salad and so I’ll share that recipe. Sue Sue will have to tell you how she made her amaaaazing Lobster and Crab Risotto.

Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad w/ Parmesan

Dad had a big bag of shaved brussels sprouts from Patrick’s restaurant so I used that and spread them all out on a giant pan. I tossed the sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then topped it with Parmesan Cheese. If I had pine nuts and panko I would have added that to the top as well, but I didm’t - next time. I put it in the oven at 350 for about half an hour until the edges started crisping up and then served it up on small salad plates.

Pecan Crusted Red Snapper w/ Citrus Meuniere 

I played around with the recipe by Susan Spicer in her book “Crescent City Cooking” full of amazing NOLA dishes. I started by making the flour batter in a food processor. I pulsed a cup of flour, a cup of pecans, 1 tsp of Cayanne pepper, 2 tsp of Kumkwat Zest (didn’t have an orange but we had a kumkwat tree!), and 2 tsp of fresh thyme until it was a nice powder - not too fine and not too grainy. 

I dipped the fish in a dish with scrambled egg and buttermilk and then into the batter and browned the fish in a little butter on a hot iron skillet. Then I put the fish on a big pan and finished cooking the fillets in the oven while I prepped the sauce. The oven was on at about 350 and they stayed in there for about 15 min.

For the sauce I browned a few tablespoons of butter until the solids separated and added about 3 tblsp of both lemon juice and orange juice freshly squeezed. Then I added a couple of teaspoons of fresh chopped parsley, swished it around on the pan and finished off the sauce with a couple of drops of hot sauce. The hot sauce really did it. This sauce was so simple but sooooo good, the fam couldn’t stop raving about it. I’ll definitely do this again.

We steamed some green beans, Sue made the risotto - which I learned is very labor intensive, and we toasted some whole grain bread with a roasted garlic sauce dad whipped up.

It was so nice to be able to be in the kitchen with the family. My favorite pastime. Can’t wait to see you in Austin and all three of us lady Brunos will be in the kitchen!

Love, Marian

Dear Marian,

I didn’t think this one was post worthy of the blog, but I figured why the hell not. I made it over a month ago and it was tasty but maybe needed a little more time for the broth to thicken so next time I will switch it up - and I will let you know what I did and what I will change for the future. If any of you guys have any ideas out there how I could make it better - reply and let us know!

Shrimp with Saffron Broth

I started out with a quick pour of EVOO in a large shallow pot. I added in mirepoix, or Frances version of the Trinity, which consists of 1 cup chopped onions, 3/4 cup chopped celery and 3/4 cup chopped carrots. I cooked these down until the onions were translucent and tender. I read the other day that in this step you should really cook the onions first and then the other two veggies because of the veggies high water content - if you do all at once, the onions end up boiling instead of caramelizing which is what you want.

I then added in two hefty pinches of saffron. Now, this is where I could have gone wrong - the saffron was not recently purchased and so it could have dried out and lost all flavor - still in the end I would have liked a more substantial sauce so moving on.

I let this cook and mingle in the pot until the saffron was fragrant and then added in about 14 medium shrimps - which I had peeled all of the shells off except for the very tip. This is where I would probably change the most of this recipe. I think next time I would not add the shrimp in just yet and instead proceed with the next steps - adding the shrimps at the very end to cook right before serving.

I poured about a cup of white wine into the pot and let this boil until most of the liquid has adsorbed and then I added in two cups of vegetable stock. I let this cook down for a bit and then served the shrimp and veg over quinoa (I have a plethora of this now because Adam and I bought a five pound bag from Sam’s the other day…).

So, for the next time I make this I would do the following… post saffron addition, I would add in the wine and then broth like above but cook this down until it reduced by half. I would then add in some type of thickening agent, like yogurt, cream, butter and flour (yep I think that last one sounds amazing) and then go from there.

Till Next time!

Love You!

Melanie

Dear Marian,

I made this delicious breakfast last Sunday after a night out on the town, and man was it delicious! It was more like dessert, but super healthy for you. I had a couple of folks over for dinner and we blew it out of the water with Moscow Mules and Wine, and then headed to this bar where a live 80’s cover band was playing. Great night. This might not be the best hangover food, but it hit the spot for me before an hour long walk with the girls on the Katy Trail.

Yogurt Parfait Pancake Rolls

Super easy. I started with my recipe for the perfect pancake, and make large tortilla sized cakes, let them cool for a bit before filling them with Trader Joe’s Vanilla Greek Yogurt, fresh fruit, granola and a little sprinkling of powered sugar. I added a little more of each of the filling to the top and voila!

I ended up having enough batter to make an extra cake, which after my killer training session on Monday morning was the perfect way to start my Monday!

I am only home in February for a total of 5 days this month - already left and am in Scottsdale right now for the next five nights! So not much cooking coming you way from me - but I do have some recipes up my sleeve!

So happy to hear your show went well on Thursday night! Keep up the awesome work and I am sorry I was not able to see it in person!

Love,

Melanie