Author Archives: The Fresh Princess

Vegetable Soup

Posted on by under soups

With the snow rapidly falling here in New York, I had soup on the brain in a big way. And maybe a tropical beach vacation too. When my brother, Andrew, told me he was making my mom’s famous vegetable soup on his snow day, I knew I had to follow suit. Trudging through the snow, I made my way to the market to purchase the essential veggies and 45 minutes later it was soup time. Carrots, zucchini, potatoes and cabbage all in a rich tomatoey-beef broth will have you coming back for seconds. And thirds. This soup is really quite special and should not be overlooked when plotting your next pot. Add your favorite veggies, omit the ones you don’t care for, and throw in the ones already in your fridge. SOUP there it is!

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Vegetable Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced carrots (2 carrots)picstitch (47)
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
6 cups beef broth
2 cups canned diced tomatoes, including the liquid
1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup chopped cabbage or spinach
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 tpsp pepper
salt to taste
Briefly saute onion, carrots and celery over medium heat until they start to sweat a bit. Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the cabbage, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 35 minutes. Add chopped cabbage and cook at least 15 minutes longer, or until cabbage is tender. It’s very important to taste the soup and adjust the seasoning to your liking. I added more beef broth, salt and pepper and even a bit more of the canned tomatoes.
I told you I was dreaming about vacation. Does drinking this out of a stemless wine glass make it classier? Don’t answer that.

I told you I was dreaming about vacation. Does drinking this out of a stemless wine glass make it classier? Don’t answer that.

Comfort Pot Pie

Posted on by under mains

Sunday night is downright depressing.  With Monday looming over your head like a dark cloud, it’s important to treat yo’ self, especially in these cold winter months.  Mac and cheese, homemade pizza, a nice hearty soup or chili are all good options. But if you’re feeling fancy and all-American, which is pretty much how I feel all the time, chicken pot pie is the way to go for a cozy Sunday night supper. There’s something so incredible about that herbaceous, brothy gravy, crisp veggies and tender chunks of chicken all under a golden puff pastry roof. Now, that’s a house I would like to live in. All year round. Utensil advice: use a spoon for this. It’s that good.

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Chicken Pot Pie 

Based on Mark Bittman’s Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler recipe 

3 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, washed well and choppedpicstitch (42)

2 carrots chopped

2 cups quartered button mushrooms

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

3 boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced

salt and pepper

1 cup frozen peas (or any mixed veggies you like)

4 sprigs of thyme

2 tsp corn starch

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add chopped leek. Add salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add mushrooms and saute for 8-10 minutes. Add chicken stock, thyme leaves, carrots and chicken. Cook until chicken and carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Add frozen peas and cook for another minute or so. Whisk the cornstarch and a few tablespoons of the broth together and add the mixture back into the pan. Stir until the liquid thickens a bit. Pour into a baking dish, top with one sheet of puff pastry. Make sure there are no holes as the liquid will seep out and prevent the crust from cooking. Brush with lightly beaten egg and bake for about 30 minutes. If the crust is getting too brown just cover loosely with foil and continue baking.

Notes: The first time I made this, I put slits in the crust which resulted in lots of liquid seeping out and pooling on top of the crust. Bad news. Don’t make clever slits like I did. Also, I’ve used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs, and it’s just ok.  I found the thighs to be infinitely better. They stay super tender and moist.

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Holy Mackerel

Posted on by under mains

During one cruel summer at Park Day Camp, tuna fish was declared uncool by the Sisterhood of Evil, aka my seven-year-old peers. Those who dared to consume tuna were banished to eat lunch in the projects of grassy lunchtime real estate— far away from the cool crowd. That summer, mustard (my favorite sandwich condiment) and bangs (had ’em) also qualified as abhorrent. I might as well have just become home schooled. Even in middle school there was a period where fish was again uncool to eat. What the heck people? Fish is delicious. Fish is sophisticated and healthy.  It can be prepared in any number of ways — roasted, poached, fried. It can even be served raw. Can you say the same about chicken? No.  Salmonella anyone? So needless to say, the fish-haters did not get to me and I remained a loyal and fervent fish fan. Whenever I find a fish recipe that’s not tilapia or salmon, I get very excited. This mackerel recipe definitely intrigued me. Boldly flavored fish on a bed of crispy roasted potatoes with a tangy yogurt sauce. Yum.  Quite frankly, if you don’t like it, you can sit somewhere else.

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Mackerel with Crushed Potatoes

Based on this recipe from Bon Appetitpicstitch (31)

1 whole mackerel filleted, skin left on

5 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp lemon zest

4 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp chopped basil

1 lb yukon gold potatoes or fingerlings

1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp white wine vinegar

Sea salt

Preheat the broiler.  Place potatoes in a pot of boiling water, add a good amount of kosher salt. Let the potatoes cook for about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool. Put the potatoes on a sheet pan and using a measuring cup press the potatoes down to flatten slightly. Pour over 4 tablespoons of olive oil, crushed garlic and season with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler for 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Take the potatoes out and put the fish fillets skin side up on the potatoes and pour the remaining tbsp of olive oil on the fish and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish and potatoes back under the broiler for 10-12 minutes. The  fish skin and potatoes should be crispy and delicious and the fish should flake easily. Top with basil, parsley, zest and sea salt. Spoon some yogurt sauce on your plate and top with potatoes and fish. Heaven. On. A. Plate.

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Chicken Marsala

Posted on by under mains

Cancel those Olive Garden reservations right now: it’s about to get Italian up in here.  Chicken cutlets, mushrooms and Marsala wine join forces in this elegant dish, which was a Friday night staple at my house growing up. Chicken Marsala was one of my dad’s favorite Shabbat dinners to cook. His other gourmet go-to’s included sun-dried tomato stuffed chicken breasts, hamburger soup, lemon chicken, BBQ chicken, and Mexican flank steak (to name just a few).  Most dads don’t step foot in the kitchen— let alone pound out chicken breasts, delicately pan fry them to perfection and finish them with a mushroom wine reduction sauce. This dish is a labor of love, something that became clear to me only when I whipped it up myself. But I would expect no less from my dad, whose tremendous love for his family shined through in his cooking. This chicken marsala is rich, delicious and tastes straight up restaurant quality. Pairs well with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, lemon-garlic green beans or a nice green salad—  make sure to cook this for someone you love.

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Chicken Marsala 

This recipe is based off of the Veal Scallopine Alla Marsala recipe from The New York Times Cookbook.

4 chicken breasts, pounded thinphoto 2

1/2 cup flour

salt and pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

10 oz mushrooms sliced

1 cup Marsala wine

1 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp margarine

Pound chicken breasts until about 1/4 inch thick. Season flour liberally with salt and pepper and mix with a fork. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Shake the excess flour off the chicken, place in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until golden. Remove to a plate. Lower the heat and add the mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes or so until nicely browned. Pour in the Marsala wine and let cook for a few seconds and then add the chicken stock and margarine. Let the sauce reduce for a few minutes. Place the chicken back in the pan and let everything mingle for a few minutes while the chicken heats through with the sauce.

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Chinese Meatball Soup

Posted on by under soups

This is a classic soup my mom always made for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot is a fall holiday, where family meals are eaten in a well decorated hut (re: Christmas lights everywhere) with a roof made of  some sort of coniferous tree that also smells suspiciously like Christmas.  In Cleveland, eating outside in the fall months can be downright blustery, so a hot bowl of soup loaded with meatballs and thin vermicelli noodles floating in a delicious tomatoey-soy broth was the perfect antidote to freezing your butt off in the Christmas tree hut. Naturally, when the blizz hit this week, my first instinct was to make this festive and satisfying meatball soup. While there are some additional steps to this recipe, beyond just throwing everything in a pot, it’s easy enough to prepare and features simple ingredients that are probably in your pantry already.

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Chinese Meatball Soup

1/2  cup chopped yellow onions

1/2 cup chopped scallions

2 cloves of garlic mincedpicstitch (21)

2 tbsp oil

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Pinch of cayenne

6 cups beef broth

1/4 lb thin noodles (vermicelli or angel hair)

Saute onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes over low heat. Add soy sauce, sesame seeds, cayenne and broth. Cover and simmer over low heat for an hour. Add meatballs (recipe below) to the broth and place cooked noodles in each bowl right before serving.

Meatballs image (10)

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Mix all ingredients together and form petite meatballs. Put them on a broiler pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Add them right to the soup.

The key to non-soggy noodles is to put them in the bowl just before ladling on the broth.

The key to non-soggy noodles is to put them in the bowl just before ladling on the broth.

Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas

Posted on by under mains

Thighs are better than breasts. There, I said it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move forward. These chicken thighs are easy to make and full of flavor. Chickpeas, which pack a protein-rich punch, make this a hearty and filling dish. Feel free to use any spices you like, and if you’re not into spices, that’s ok too, you can just go with good ol’ S and P. You could even turn this into a one-pot (and carb-free) meal by adding veggies to the mix. Carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash or zucchini would be great in this. I served the chicken with bulgur wheat, which soaked up all that yummy tomatoey-chickpea sauce. You’re going to want to add this one to your weeknight repertoire, trust me.

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The whole gang didn’t even fit in the picture!

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Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas

Adapted from Bon Appetit

4 chicken thighs

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tbsp olive oil

1 can of chickpeas

3 tbsp tomato sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper

1 small onion (I used 3 green onions and a little bit of red onion)

2 cloves garlic

Ok, let’s be clear. I didn’t really measure my spices, I just sprinkled a good amount of each spice on the chicken thighs. But it would have been around a 1/4 tsp if I had… Preheat your oven to 425. Season thighs on both sides with all the spices and salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the chicken skin side down in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn over and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes. Remove thighs and put them on a plate. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of shmaltzy goodness. Throw in the chopped garlic cloves and onions and saute for about 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, chickpeas and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Place the chicken back in the pan and finish it in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

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Breaky the Hangover Slayer

Posted on by under Breakfast

Happy New Year everyone! How’s that hangover doing?! Sorry, I’ll keep my voice down. After you brew some coffee and swallow that fistful of Advil, you should really consider eating some breakfast.   In college, Sunday mornings (and by mornings I obviously mean 1pm) were a time of self reflection, regret and carb loading. French toast sticks, grilled cheese, bagels, pizza, anything extremely carby usually put some zing back into my lifeless body. But, breakfast foods were really the winning ticket to not feeling like death the rest of the day.  Hash brown potatoes, pancakes and scrambled eggs.  Food of the Gods, really. Cooking the eggs slowly over low heat  makes them so exceptionally diner-licious, the crispy, oniony potatoes are insanely addicting, and fluffy pancakes drizzled with real maple syrup round out this decadent blue plate special.

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Hash Brown Potatoes picstitch (11)

1/2 lb fingerling potatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion diced

salt and pepper

2 green onions chopped

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a nice big frying pan. Add potatoes and onions and sprinkle with plenty of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Let the potatoes and onions cook for at least 5 minutes before flipping with your spatula. Occasionally toss potatoes. These will cook in about 20 minutes. I added more salt to taste as the taters were cooking. Potatoes tend to need a lot of seasoning. Sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.

Low and Slow Scrambled Eggspicstitch (14)

4 eggs

salt and pepper

cooking spray

Spray frying pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Whisk your eggs up and add a good amount of salt and pepper. Pour into the pan and lower heat. Gently fold eggs over with spatula until your comfortable with  their doneness.

Pancakes

1  1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together. Heat frying pan over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Add about 1/4 cup of pancake batter for each pancake. Cook for about 3 minutes until batter begins to bubble on top. Feel free to add any fruit you like on top like blueberries, banana slices, strawberries, chocolate chips (fine, not a fruit but so delicious). Flip and cook for another minute or so until brown. You can keep the pancakes warm in a 200 degree oven on a cookie sheet until your full breakfast is ready!

Nelly Frittata

Posted on by under Breakfast

I love breakfast. Omelettes, lox and bagels, waffles, pancakes, these are the foods that really excite and motivate me to get out of bed where my true breakfast of  cereal and Folgers Coffee awaits me. On Sunday mornings, however, I have time to leisurely drink my French press coffee, read The New York Times  my Facebook newsfeed and cook some real breakfast. This frittata in a frying pan is one of my favorite breakfasts to make. It’s easy and very adjustable. Throw in any vegetables in your fridge that are nearing their end, a couple of eggs and some cheese (feta, goat cheese, parmesan or cheddar would be perfect) and you’re golden. Putting the pan under the broiler creates a golden crust on top and eliminates any qualms about runny eggs.

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Frying Pan Frittata

4 eggs

1/4 cup diced green onions

1/4 cup diced yellow peppers

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

handful of mushrooms

handful of spinach leaves

salt and pepper

1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 tbsp fresh parsley

olive oil

Turn your oven to the broiler setting. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil  in a frying pan over medium heat and add your veggies and saute until  the veggies are soft. Whisk eggs up, add a good pinch of salt and pepper and pour the eggs into the frying pan. Sprinkle goat cheese and chopped parsley over the egg mixture. Loosen edges with spatula and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 or so minutes. Place your pan under the broiler for maybe 3-5 minutes until golden on top. Cut frittata into slices.

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Naomi’s Brownies (Warning: Content May Offend Boxed Brownie Lovers)

Posted on by under desserts

I ate a lot of brownies in college. No, not those kind of brownies.  Please, I was not that cool. I’m talking instead about the Duncan Hines ones. The go-to dessert of the cash-strapped college student. Slap on some frosting and bring em’ to Shabbat dinner brownies. Sure, they get the job done. They’re sweet, chewy, and vaguely chocolatey, but true brownies are not supposed to taste like that. Boxed brownies never really did it for me because in my family we never used the box, we made Naomi’s Brownies. An age old family recipe dating back to my Aunt Jean and later published in an elementary school cookbook by my cousin, Naomi. If you’ve never had a homemade brownie, get ready for your life to change. Prepare yourself to be transported to a mind-altering state (still not those kind of brownies) of chocolatey bliss.

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Naomi’s Brownies

3 ounces of Hershey’s unsweetened baking chocolate

1 stick of butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to to 350. Grease and flour an 8×8 pan. Melt butter or margarine and chocolate in a small saucepan until silky smooth and let cool. Beat eggs and sugar and whisk into the chocolate mixture. Add flour, salt and vanilla and mix everything together. Stir in pecans and pour into your pan and bake for 25 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and watch people fall in love with a real brownie.

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The best study snack, second only to Red Bull and Adderall.

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Fa-la-la-la-lafel

Posted on by under mains

Tis the season to eat vegetarian Middle Eastern cuisine.  And what better way to get into the holiday spirit than whipping up some falafel for the whole Fam Damily? Homemade falafel is really delicious and pretty easy to make.  Lots of parsley, spices and lemon juice make these fried balls extra special. Crisp veggies, tehina, and sour pickles  add the perfect balance of freshness to this classic Israeli sandwich, or as they say in the holy land, “sand-veeech.” Put your reindeer sweater on, pour yourself a glass of eggnog and fry up some fa-la-la-la-lafel balls tonight. And don’t forget to put some hummus and pita out for Kfar SabaClaus!

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Falafel 

Based on the goddess of fine living, Martha Stewart’s recipe

15 oz can of chickpeas

2 garlic cloves

1 small onion

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

3/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp fresh mint

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil (come on it’s the holidays, put your fat pants on!)

Put half the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Place them in a large mixing bowl. Put the rest of the chickpeas in the processor with the garlic, lemon juice, salt, spices, parsley and baking soda and pulse until it becomes a thick paste. Lightly beat your egg and mix everything together in your large mixing bowl. Let the mixture chill for 30 minutes. The chilling is a VERY important step, I neglected to wait the full 30 and ended up with a bit of a falafel hash. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter into the oil and cook turning once until golden brown. Place balls on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

Serve with fresh pita bread, simple Israeli salad (diced cucumbers and tomatoes with equal parts olive oil and fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper) sliced Israeli style sour pickles, tehina, and really any other falafel accoutrements you like. Ho-Ho-Ho-Hommus anyone?

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