Extremely Soft White Bread

My wife and I just returned from a three week trip to Italy and oh my goodness, were we spoiled with food and wine. One of our biggest take aways? That we take for granted how fresh foods really make a difference. Not only for our health but for the overall good it does for our bodies. Once we returned and settled back into the swing of things, we booked it to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchased a bread machine. Now, each Sunday I am making fresh bread for the week. This was the first recipe I followed to make a soft, delicious, white bread.

YIELDS 1 LOAF

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup hot water
2 teaspoons yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1⁄4 cup vegetable oil or butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups white flour

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put your hot water, yeast and sugar in your bread machine. Let stand 6-12 minutes depending on the temp of your water. Your yeast will foam.

2. Add remaining ingredients.

3. Use rapid or basic white cycles.

Nama's Cole Slaw

My Nama's (Grandma's) cole slaw is the BEST cole slaw. There is no other way around that. It's creamy, but not too creamy, and it has the perfect sweet and sour balance that a flavor combo profile can have. I hope you enjoy this as much as my whole family does. And feel free to play around with the measurements if you like your slaw creamier or more vinegar based.

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS:
1 head of cabbage, finely shredded
2 large carrots, finely shredded
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup oil
1-2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup mayo to start

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine apple cider vinegar and oil and mix very well. Add the sugar. The more sugar you add, the less acidic it will be.

2. Add cabbage/carrot mix to the large bowl and mix with the vinegar and oil.

3. Add may and mix well. For creamier cole slaw, add more mayo.

Garlic Edamame

This is such a delicious and quick snack or addition to a meal. Plus it's healthy, full of nutrients, and super flavorful. 

Serves 2 to 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Frozen Edamame
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Teaspoons Soy sauce
2 Teaspoons Garlic

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter over medium heat.

2. Add 1 Cup frozen edamame to pan, stirring occasionally for approximately 6-8 minutes.

3. Add 2 tsp. soy sauce to edamame, stir.

4. Chop 2-3 cloves fresh garlic and add garlic to pan and stir.

5. Continue stirring ingredients together until edamame and garlic are fully cooked (2-3 minutes).

Watermelon, Mozzarella, and Tomato Tower

This salad is so simple and so very tasty. I saw this once being made by a celebrity chef as a surprise to a couple getting married. It was so elegant and different that I had to try it myself. There's no real recipe here or right way to stack your three ingredients. I personally enjoy putting this tower over a bed of shredded lettuce and topping it with balsamic drizzle (not vinegar). Enjoy!

Kale with Quick-Pickled Apple, Gruyere Crisps, and Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette

This salad, both the ingredients to make up the salad fixings and the dressing, are out-of-this-world insanely yummy!! I had it as part of New Year's Eve dinner and made it again just two days later. Plus, kale! That's always a plus, right?

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS:

GRUYERE CRISPS
7 ounces cave-aged Gruyere cheese
Or Parmigiano-Reggiano

QUICK-PICKLED APPLE
2 tspn finely minced shallot
2 tspn cider vinegar
1/8 tspn salt
2 tspn extra virgin olive oil
2 tspn lemon juice
1 tart, crisp apple

VINAIGRETTE
2 tbsp finely minced shallot
3 tbsp cider vinegar
¾ tspn salt
¼ tspn freshly ground pepper
½ tspn sugar
3 tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream
2 tspn Dijon mustard
1 tbspn lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

SALAD
1 to 1 ½ bunches Lacinato or Red Russian Kale, washed and dried
¼ tspn flaky finishing salt
¼ tspn freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the gruyere crisps. Preheat oven to 325F Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Using a microplane grater, grate the cheese onto the mat as evenly as possible. Bake until cheese is melted and is a light golden straw color, 20 to 25 minutes. The sense won’t be crispy until it has fully cooled. Once the cheese has cooled completely, use your hands to break it into 3 to 4 inch pieces. The crisps can be made up to 5 hours ahead, set aside and uncovered.

2. Make the quick-pickled apple. Place the shallot into a mixing bowl, cover with vinegar and add the salt and set aside for 5 minutes. Quarter the apple and slice into 1/8 inch thick pieces. Toss to coat the apples with the dressing and let sit for about 30 minutes.

3. Make the vinaigrette. Mince the shallot and cover with vinegar while you get the other ingredients ready. Add everything into the same bowl and mix, lastly add the olive oil and whisk to emulsify.

4. Make the salad. Wash and dry the kale. Tear or cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Add the kale to a large bowl, toss with about two-thirds of the vinaigrette, add the apples and the cheese crisps and some fresh ground pepper. Salt to taste.

Welcome to My table

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home where nearly every meal was home cooked, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My mom never stopped working, providing us a home that was not only beautiful, but always smelled delicious! Although I'd help in the kitchen when it came time to bake cookies and lick the bowl clean of fresh dough, that was my extent of usefulness in that part of the home. 

Fast forward 19 years later. I am living on my own in my newly bought condo. Life could not be better. Except for the fact that now I have to feed myself, by myself. For the next 7, 8 years the meals in my home could either be made using the microwave or by dialing the number restaurant delivery. 

The day is March 26, 2016. It goes down in my books as the best day of my life. I am getting married! Along with this epic celebration come some pretty epic gifts: top of the line pots and pans, beautiful sets of China, NY Times Cookbooks, and of course, the one and only KitchenAid Mixer. Shortly thereafter, something went off in me. All of a sudden I started cooking up a storm. I would cook two meals a day, 4 days a week. Just like that. I started collecting more and more cookbooks and recipes, curtesy of Buzzfeed's Tasty, and would find myself going to the grocery store daily, to pick up fresh ingredients for that specific meal. For me, and my wife, parents, family, and friends, this was a phenomenon.

Hence this site. With my newly found passion of cooking and baking, I want a space I can call my own, where I can record meals I love to make, save recipes to be shared with you, as well as expand on my other passions, such as my family, photography, traveling, my business, and everything else that falls in between. 

B'tayavon, Bon Appetit, Enjoy!