Do you have go-to recipes? I do. It’s such a great simplifying thing to have tried and true recipes that you know will come out well every time. Go-to recipes are so simple that you can practically make them without thinking and so fast that they don’t really make a big time impact on your day. But here’s the trick: they need to be your go-to recipes — so while I can tell you mine, you need to find the go-to recipes that truly speak to you.

When I need a quick dinner, we often have tacos with my Homemade Taco Seasoning. When we want a fancier but not time consuming breakfast, we whip up pancakes using a recipe I could recite in my sleep. In those moments when we need dessert on the fly, it takes just a minutes to make Molten Chocolate Cakes. And when everyone really wants some homemade bread with dinner, I dig out the bread machine (yes, I own it and love to use it!) and whip up the super simple Country White Bread recipe from Melissa Clark’s The Bread Machine Cookbook. It has a really short ingredients list, and takes literally two minutes to get going.

What recipes will make your go-to list? Think of foods and meals that your family loves, and then consider the ones that are fast and easy to make. Think uncomplicated but delicious. Also, consider what some of your favorite pantry meals are (as in meals that can be whipped up with things you have on hand) — because they make great go-to recipes too.

Back to that bread for a second. We love it in all it’s five-ingredient glory. (Yes, really — just five ingredients.) And since it’s so simple, I can toss the ingredients in the bread machine and have a fresh loaf of bread a few hours later. Then, all it needs is to be cut and spread with melty butter. Mmm. The thing is though that when butter is hard to cut and spread, it’s kind of a pain. And really, sometimes it’s nice to have a butter that goes from fridge to spreading without needing to come to room temperature. Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil does that perfectly, so I have been loving it lately.

But what really endears it to me is that it tastes like butter — no aftertastes or weird textures or colors. Just buttery goodness. Plus, I really appreciate that it’s made with three simple ingredients — sweet cream, canola oil and salt. Love!

So, now it’s your turn. What are your go-to recipes? And do you pull out the bread machine often?

——-

Disclosure: The author was compensated by Land O’Lakes for this post. All opinions are my own.

The post Simplify Your Kitchen: Why You Need Go-To Recipes appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

See how I used the AccuCore Stainless Steel 3-quart Sauté Pan and the Unison Non-stick 10″ Omelet Pan for My Set, My Hash Browns and Eggs.

Click here to read my post and enter for a chance to win one of 16 prizes worth $8,500! You can win a $1,000 cash gift card or one of 15 $500 Your Set by Calphalon gift cards so that you can build your own perfect set!

Click here to start customizing Your Set right now!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

—————————–

When I was at my cousin’s for Thanksgiving dessert last week, eggs came up — and my love of them. Actually, it went more like this: my cousin was giving some fresh farm eggs to my other cousin and said “Sarah loves eggs. She eats them every day.”

I wonder how he knew that. It’s really not common knowledge. I don’t think.

But it’s true — I eat eggs nearly every day and almost always ones that are in the runny, creamy style like poached or fried. Sometimes they are breakfast with toast, sometimes they are lunch served over veggies. Sometimes they are dinner or over rice or with avocado. But one way I really, truly love runny eggs is over hash browns.

Recently, I was asked to create a recipe that’s a fresh take on a classic comfort food — and hash browns and eggs immediately came to mind. It’s like the perfect diner food — but made better with sweet potatoes and an easy at-home preparation.

To make my dish, Calphalon provided me with two of their amazing pans to work with. The AccuCore Stainless Steel 3-quart Sauté Pan was perfect for making some tender, lightly browned sweet potato hash browns and the Unison Non-stick 10″ Omelet Pan was awesome for the olive oil fried egg, which slide right out of the pan as it should. You can check out my recipe for Sweet Potato Hash Browns with Olive Oil Fried Eggs on Relish.

Calphalon has developed a fantastic new way for people to buy their cooking sets — and it’s perfect for those who love to cook. You know how sets come with a prescribed array of pots and pans — and they are all one type (such as all nonstick)? Well, that’s always seemed a little impractical to me. I mean, while I love my set of stainless steel pans, I needed more than just one type of pan — nonstick is important to have for cooking things like eggs too. So my cabinets are filled with nonstick and stainless pans that I have assembled together to create my own set … but now making that perfect for you set is way easier. At www.calphalon.com/yourset, you can create your own set based on your specific needs (how cool is that?!?).

I can’t tell you how much I adore the two pans I tried out from Calphalon. They both cook evenly and feel so sturdy. With the Unison Nonstick Omelet pan, it’s so easy to cook up foods that would normally stick — like eggs — and let them slide to the plate without a broken yolk or stuck-on-bit. The AccuCore Stainless Steel, with its copper core for even distribution of heat, is perfect for searing meats (or making hash browns!), letting the food get a nice golden hue. I really, truly love these pans.

What’s your ideal mix of pans for cooking?

————————————-

Disclosure: I was compensated by Calphalon via Clever Girls Collective for participation in this program and also provided with two pans to work with. All opinions are my own.

The post Hash Browns, Eggs and Your Set by Calphalon appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Coffee cake is one of those things. It’s comforting and familiar and perfect for breakfast. This one, made from a recipe from the 1930s, has a dense crumb and an irresistible buttery cinnamon sugar topping.

No, it’s not that impossibly fluffy and almost-dessert-sweet coffee cake from the grocery store. But it doesn’t want to be. It’s a totally different coffee cake — one that stands up to the fork without squishing into oblivion and that can be eaten by hand without crumbling all over. And it’s really great with a hot, steaming cup of coffee.

It is coffee cake after all.

Making this, I wasn’t sure if the vintage sensibilities would make it a winner for us. But it was. Hugely.

I whipped it up for a brunch with friends last weekend where the cake quickly vanished. Seriously, not a trace was left behind. Good sign, right? And it was so good that I baked another just for our family.

Back to the brunch for a second. Though I adore brunch, I don’t have people over (or go out) for it nearly enough. So I was thrilled to have a little one at my house. The brunch menu was simple — bagels and lox with all the fixings, scrambled eggs, berry and pineapple fruit salad and this coffee cake. In the course of conversation, I shared that this was a vintage recipe — something dug out of my great collection of early 20th century cookery books, pamphlets and recipe cards.

This recipe comes from the third edition of All About Home Baking, published in 1936 (the original was published in 1933) by the General Foods Corporation, a now-defunct company whose products (Calumut baking powder, Post cereals, Maxwell House Coffee and General Foods International Coffees, to name a few) live on. I bought this hardcover book off eBay a while back.

My friend asked about my interest in vintage recipes, which really got me thinking about why I have been so into pre-1960s cookery. I made this conscious decision to reclaim lost cooking techniques because I feel like as the reliance on prepared, prepackage and shortcut based cooking has grown, we’ve lost some of the skill and technique that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used in the kitchen. To them, making a quick coffee cake for breakfast or brunch or whatever was just that. It was simple, uncomplicated and easy.

And when I find a winner — like this coffee cake — I love to share it.

All told, this recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake takes about 30 minutes to make — maybe 40, if you include the cooling time. And most of that time is totally hands off (making the dough for the cake takes maybe 5 minutes). Be warned, instead of a batter this really makes a crumbly dough. Don’t worry if it doesn’t form a ball — you just need all the ingredients to have come together before you press it into a pan with floured hands.

And don’t change a thing about the buttery cinnamon-sugar topping. It’s the best part. (Aren’t topping always the best part?)

You can do this. Dust off that cake pan this weekend and give it a try.

Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake
recipe from All About Home Baking, 1936
serves 8

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk

Topping:

1 1/2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan all over the inside with a little butter.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or two knives.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk until light and frothy.

Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir well until all combined. The dough will be somewhat stiff, but keep stirring until everything is incorporated.

Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Using floured hands, gently pat it down into one even layer.

Brush the top of the coffee cake with melted butter. Then, stir together the sugar, flour and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle all over the top of the coffee cake.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Let cool for five minutes in the pan. Then, gently loosen the sides with a butter knife. Turn out onto a plate and then turn back onto a serving plate.

Enjoy!

——————————————

More from Sarah W. Caron of Sarah’s Cucina Bella

• Easy Thai Red Curry Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans on Tablespoon
• Follow me on Pinterest

The post Cinnamon-Sugar Coffee Cake, A Vintage Recipe appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Veggie Dip review. They provided me with product to test and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

Greek yogurt in a dip? Um … That’s exactly what I thought when I first heard about Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Veggie Dip. While lots of people have fallen in love with tangy Greek yogurt, I haven’t. It’s just not something I enjoy.

Still, when I was a to review this new veggie dip from T. Marzetti Company, makers of those jars of salad dressing found near the lettuce at the grocery store, I was intrigued. The company happens to make my husband’s favorite blue cheese dressing and the Otria Greek Yogurt Spinach Artichoke Dip sounded like something I might actually enjoy, so I said yes. Honestly, since I always tell my kids that they can’t judge a food until they’ve tried it, I had to give it a shot.

Ok. Tell me that doesn’t look good. It’s practically begging me to go get more from the fridge.

What’s that I said about not being a big fan of Greek yogurt? Well, this is totally different. I was definitely apprehensive about trying the dip knowing that Greek yogurt generally isn’t my thing. So, I gave it the best shot I could by serving it at a recent party so that I could get many perspectives. I’m glad I did — I liked it, and our guests really loved it. The consensus was that it was a perfect addition to the appetizer table.

But what’s it really like?

Otria Greek Yogurt Spinach Artichoke Dip is many things: creamy, flavorful, packed with spinach and artichokes and a little tangy.  It has a lush, velvety texture with subtle bits of spinach and artichoke mixed in. It’s like the cooler, hipper cousin of the ubiquitous ranch dip often served with veggie platters. And when it came to dipping, it was perfect for it.

The combination of a good flavor with a hint of tang and the great texture really made it a hit for my guests and me too. Clearly, that’s saying something since I am not a Greek yogurt fan.

But be warned: don’t confuse this with hot spinach artichoke dip — It’s nothing like that. In fact, it couldn’t be more unlike it. Still, it’s great, easy and perfect for using on an easy veggie platter at your next party – holiday or not. You won’t be disappointed.

How to Make an Easy, Frugal Veggie Platter

1. Buy a Selection of Veggies – Cucumbers, all colors of bell peppers, sugar snap peas, celery and lightly blanched broccoli are all good choices. If you are really pressed for time, cook for precut veggies–but they will come at a premium.
2. Cut ‘em Up – Do this ahead of time. Cucumbers should be peeled and sliced. Peppers should be cored and cut into slices. Then, all you have to do is arrange the veggies on a plate around a dip.
3. Place a Premade Dip in the Center – There are a lot of great premade dips available from hummus to blue cheese. Choose one your family will enjoy and set that in the center of the platter.

All told, this takes under 10 minutes — even if you are cutting the veggies the day of the event (less time if you already cut them).

The post Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Spinach Artichoke Dip (And Making an Easy, Frugal Veggie Platter) appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

A few weeks ago, Will spied a lone very ripe (ahem, brown) banana on our kitchen counter and declared that I should  make banana bread. He adores banana bread. And bananas, for that matter. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to whip up a batch then.

Today I finally got around to baking some … in jars, of course. I was tempted to call this one Chocolate Chip Banana Cake in a Jar, but really it’s basically banana bread … or banana muffins, depending on how you look at it. Really the only difference is the vessel I used to cook it in. What would you call it?

Anyway, one of the reasons for making this today is that I wanted something to send in to Paige’s classroom for her teachers tomorrow. It’s teacher appreciation week at our school (yes, I know most schools already celebrated that!), so it seemed like the perfect time to gift them with a little something. We’ve been blessed with wonderful, patient and kind teachers who love kids and make their school days so special.

Really, this is the perfect something for a teacher gift. Just top ‘em with a canning lid and tie a little card to the top to let them know what’s inside. I used basic kitchen twine, but you could go fancy with some pretty ribbon too.

As for the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, it’s positively lovable. It’s perfectly moist, with a light crumb. I’ve added just a touch of cinnamon that gives the flavor a little depth, without really making its presence known. It’s subtle. And mini chocolate chips are the perfect addition to the sweet banana batter. It’s based on my recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread, but is minus the nuts to comply with the nut-free environment of our school.

The Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is baked directly in the jars on a baking sheet in the oven. I keep an old baking sheet around just for the occasion. It’s perfect for being the firm surface for small containers like this. And yes, jars are perfectly okay for baking. If you don’t have them already, you can pick some up at most grocery stores or online.

What’s your favorite food to gift?

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Jar
yields 6 half-pint jelly jars

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 6  half-pint jelly jars on a baking sheet. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy looking, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well until combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and bananas and beat on medium speed.

While the bananas are beating in, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add a little at a time until fully combined. Pour in the chocolate chips and beat for a few more minutes, until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the jelly jars, tapping each one lightly to spread it out a little.

Bake the jars on the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the tops just start to brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven. These can be covered with a canning jar lid and stored up to five days.

The post Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Jar appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Yesterday, I woke up in New York to a beautiful blue sky and a day filled with fabulous adventure … and sandwiches.

Do you like sandwiches? I do. But not plain, slapped together ones. They need to be built with precision and care. They need to be well-thought out and considered.

So, when the PR team for Hellman’s contacted me about being one of the Club Sandwich bloggers for their new Build the Perfect Sandwich program, I was happy to say yes. Hellman’s is the only mayo I buy, and it’s what I grew up on. That said, I am a little funny about mayonnaise. I don’t like it smeared on a sandwich. But if you mix it up with other ingredients to make an awesome spread, I am all about it.

Yesterday was the big ol’ kick off for Build a Better Sandwich in New York. The Club Sandwich bloggers spent two fabulous days in New York, eating well and picking up some great tips on sandwiches.

The ultimate highlight of the whole thing? Meeting and interviewing Bobby Flay. Oh, yes I did!

In person, Bobby Flay was a lot like the affable man you see on his many shows – funny, charming and filled with fabulous culinary knowledge.

He did a quick sandwich making demonstration, showing us three sandwiches — including a panini where he spread mayo on the outside of the bread (instead of oil or butter … super interesting). He also shared a tidbit on how to make your sandwiches look amazing when you cut them. Instead of just cutting diagonally, cut them diagonally on a bias (meaning at an angle), so that you can really see exactly what’s inside. Pretty cool idea, right?

Bobby Flay has long been on my short list of people who I really wanted to interview. So, you can imagine how excited I was to have the opportunity to have some one on one time with him as well.

I started off with a little story about how his cookbooks have personally impacted my family, and then I asked him about cooking at home (yes, he does cook at home!). Turns out he recently had a dinner party and made paella, tapas, a salad and a coconut cake. Um. YUM.

Flay’s wife, Stephanie March, cooks as well. And when I asked him about her, and he lit right up. It was nothing short of adorable. “She cooks about six dishes that she’s very good at,” Flay said with a smile, describing walking down the hall to their apartment and smelling the aroma of her cooking. “It’s always a nice surprise.”

So, what skills should we home cooks really hone? Here’s what Flay said:

• Knife skills
• How to sauté properly (at high heat with a light oil like canola oil)
• How to season properly
• How to roast

(Sounds like grounds for a great blog series, right?)

Flay also said that if we aren’t using smoked paprika yet, we should be. “The great thing about smoked paprika is that it has a nice heat to it,” said Flay.

As part of the whole experience, I also got to make a delicious sandwich as well. I went with a New Englander. It was turkey, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and cranberry relish mayo on marble rye. So tasty. Unfortunately, I can’t share the recipe for the sandwich I made yet. The cranberry relish mayo that I used on it turned out to be way too complicated for a simple, easy sandwich recipe. So, I am going to work on an equally flavorful alternative that won’t require you to make a whole batch of relish first. Although it was amazing relish.

Look for that recipe soon. Next week, maybe? I’ll also be sharing more from my interview in a few upcoming posts as well.

Bobby Flay’s next book, Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook: Celebrate America’s Great Flavors, will be released in September. Learn more about creating delicious sandwiches and get Bobby Flay’s sandwich recipes on the Build The Perfect Sandwich site. Also, be sure to visit the other Club Sandwich bloggers too.

DISCLOSURE: This post was created as part of my association with the Hellmann’s Club Sandwich Program. I was not compensated for writing this, and any opinions expressed are my own. However, Hellman’s did pay for my transport to and stay during the New York trip. Visit www.facebook.com/Hellmanns to share how you build the perfect sandwich.

The post Bobby Flay on Cooking at Home, Sandwiches and More appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Homemade pasta with pesto

If there was just one carb to darken my doorway for the rest of eternity, it would be pasta. My kids request it nightly. I like it. My husband likes it. And there are endless ways to flavor and dress it. As far as versatile ingredients go, pasta is right up there.

Typically, we eat dried pasta. Heck, if you were to open my kitchen cabinets, you would find no less than five boxes of dried pasta. Go down to my basement and there is a whole tote of pasta (I stocked up during a great sale). It’s easy, and we like it.

But lately, homemade pasta has been on my brain. When I recently went to Minneapolis, I ate a delicate, tender housemade pasta that was out of this world. Every bite was creamy, silky bliss. Ever since then, I have been toying with the idea of making pasta again. The last time I made pasta was years ago, and I didn’t feel like the results were better than my favorite dried pasta, so I swore it off. But things change — skill levels, interests, desires … so this weekend, I did it again.

The recipe I used came from Vegetarian Pasta Cookbook, a cookbook that I’ve own for … a long time (and we will just leave it at that). It started like most pasta recipes do — flour and eggs. But it also had oil and water.

The dough is mixed together until it’s crumbly. Then, you turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it until the gluten breaks down and it gets smooth. It takes maybe five minutes of kneading to get it there. While I was working the dough, Paige came running in to see what I was up to. She, as is often the case, pulled up her favorite stool and stood to watch. I know she wanted to help, but being my first time, I decided to press on myself. Next time though, I would love to let both Will and Paige take a turn at knead (with just-cleaned hands, of course). It’s an interesting process to feel as the dough goes from crumbles and bits of flour between your fingers to an elastic-y ball of dough. The change in texture and composition is amazing.

In any case, one the dough is smooth, it’s stuck into a resealable plastic bag and left to sit for about a half-hour.

Once it’s all rested (and yes, that is an important step), the dough is rolled thin in a pasta roller into a sheet. Again, this could be a good place to get the kids involves — they could catch the sheets as they come out of the pasta roller and set them aside for cutting (natch, that’s the next step). I made linguine, using a pasta cutter attachment for my KitchenAid for this step as well.

Now, this is the point where I have gotten frustrated in the past — because when you are inexperienced in the art of pasta making, it all can be intimidating. But this time, I learned a few things. First, the dough needs to be relatively thin before feeding it into the roller for the first time — otherwise it will get stuck. Also, the dough that you aren’t rolling should remain covered so that it doesn’t dry out. And finally, the dough needs to be rolled thinner than you think you want it to be, because it will puff upon cooking.

In the end, the pasta was pretty good — tender, but not silky. Flavorful, but not perfect. The dough was firm — perhaps too much so — which made handling it a challenge as well.

So, no, this isn’t the perfect homemade pasta recipe, so I am not going to share it today. But I am on the hunt. One of the big things to come out of my pasta making was discovering that it’s not as intense a project as I remember it being. All in all, the pasta went from flour to plate in about an hour and a half, which isn’t bad for a lazy weekend day.

Do you make your own pasta? Have a favorite recipe? Share in the comments!

P.S. Love pasta? Johnsonville Sausage has recently launched Pastaville, a recipe contest using their Italian sausage. Head over to the site to find out how to enter — and yes, I will be entering soon too! Details on my entry to come …

The post Searching for the Perfect Homemade Pasta Recipe: Part 1 appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Fried Eggplant, Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Sandwich

Recipe creating is a hard process. It starts with an idea. Then it becomes an attempt at a recipe. Then it must be tested and retested and tweaked until it’s perfect. And sometimes, all the efforts in the world can’t make it right.

This sandwich was fabulous on the day that this photo was taken, back in August. The crispy fried eggplant was a beautiful contrast to the silky fresh mozzarella and the sweet, juicy tomato. Maybe I should I have stopped there, and been happy with it. But I wanted a slightly healthier version with all the flavor, but without frying.

I tried roasting the eggplant, but the resulting sandwich was less than appealing — all the fillings were soft. Too much mush, not enough contrast (or flavor). It was so bad that I haven’t wanted to eat eggplant since.

Now, I am not sure where to go next. Should I be content with the original effort and just perfect that recipe? Should I seek a baked version that has that crispiness? Should I abandon the eggplant or find another crispy element to make this perfect?

What do you think?

The post On Crafting a Recipe appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

The first time I roasted asparagus, the browned bits at the tips made my heart thump. Surely, it must be ruined, I thought. Heck, I almost didn’t serve it … what a mistake that would have been.

As much as I love to cook, some aspects of cooking frighten me. It’s a classic case of fear of the unknown. This is most acute when it comes to meats with bones. For as long as I’ve been cooking, I have been avoiding bones. Bones worry me. With bones, meats cook differently. Bones add inedible weight …

I have the market cornered on excuses. Seriously.

It’s not something I am proud of either. I actually believe that if we, as a family, are going to eat animals, then we should be willing to do the work necessary – touching the bones, separating the breastplate from the flesh, butchering—to eat it.

So, even though it frightens me, I am slowly beginning to cook with proteins that have been handled less … whole chickens, bone-in chops, unbutchered portions of steaks. In the process, I am finding that I can do it.

Recently, I bought a split chicken breast from Ox Hollow Farm, knowing that it had a bone. The farmer said it was just one little bone that I would need to remove.

Little is a relative term.

When I cut open the package this evening, I found that the one little bone ran the length of the breast. And was L-shaped. In fact, it was more of a breast plate …

For a minute, I thought about abandoning the project, pulling out something else to cook and just worrying about it tomorrow (hello, inner Scarlett O’Hara). But I didn’t. That wonderful, local chicken was going to be dinner for my husband and children and I certainly wasn’t going to let a little thing like a bone (and some skin … ) get in my way.
So, I loosen the bone with my sharpest knife, then I slid it out. My first attempt was messy and I lost more flesh than I should have. But with my second breast, the bone slid free with nearly no lost flesh attached.

As I finished breaking down the two breasts into boneless, skinless beauties, I saw how pristine it was. The tenders (yes, chicken tenders are an actual part of the chicken breast) came off easily, the pink of the flesh was nothing like the golden color of chicken breasts in the grocery store. It was amazing.

Best of all, when I removed the skin, I was the first to actually touch these breasts. Not some machine, no one else. Just me.

And guess what? I will do it again, because I can.

Photo credit: peachyqueen from morguefile.com

The post Deboning the Bones appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

One of my greatest fears in cooking, before I knew how to cook, was making something incorrectly. What if roasting a beet would make it poisonous? (It won’t.) What if I accidentally failed to cook that chicken for long enough? (A greater fear should have been overcooking.) If I was unfamiliar with an ingredient, I would read as much as I could in cookbooks and online before even starting anything. And if I couldn’t find the exact process, I wouldn’t make it. So, I typically stayed within my comfort zone of foods.

That fear, coupled with a lack of knowledge of ingredients, led to dozens of soups with different add-ins that tasted strangely the same. It was a sad, sad time for my culinary endeavors.

So, I understand the fear of using new ingredients. I really do. But embracing new tastes and techniques will not only enrich your recipes, but your life. There is a wide world of flavors and tastes and textures out there just waiting for you to explore.

No. Everything won’t work. As a close friend, Virtual Frolic, recently said to me:

Well, if we got things right in the first try, we’d all be famous chefs =)

She couldn’t be more right. Don’t let the what ifs prevent you from opening up to new ideas and processes and experimentations. I encourage you to take some raw ingredients and play with them. Mix them up. Try unexpected combinations. That’s how delicious new dishes are born. You can cook by intuition too, if you let yourself learn to by trial and error.

There is no harm in seeing what other people do with something and then forging your own method. Try it!

As for the pasta above, it was pretty simple. So simple, in fact, I am just going to give you an approximation of how i made it: I chopped up about a cup of fresh arugula and two plum tomatoes and mixed it with some gorgonzola cheese, lemon olive oil, salt and pepper.

It was quick, easy and (most of all) tasty. Paige couldn’t get enough of it.

The post Intuition in Cooking appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.