Pappardelle with Sausage, Peppers, & Onions

I love this recipe. I was originally drawn in by the picture of the meal on The Cozy Apron's website, despite my ambivalence towards spicy Italian sausage. But I was totally sold on Italian sausage after taking my first bite of the finished product.

I was a little nervous that the recipe would be time-consuming to make because of the number of ingredients, but it was extremely easy and quick to throw together. I sliced the onion and peppers in advance so that I just had to throw everything together in the pot when I got home from work. And once you cut open the casing of the Italian sausage, the meat will easily come out in chunks, ready to be added to the pot. 

Rick and I were both thrilled with this fun twist on the standard sausage and peppers, and I can't wait to make it again!

Pappardelle with Sausage, Peppers, & Onions

(adapted from The Cozy Apron)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Olive oil
3 spicy Italian sausage links, casings removed and crumbled into large chunks
1 onion, sliced
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp black pepper
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice (or fresh tomato, diced)
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, julienned
8 oz Pappardelle noodles, uncooked

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan or pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, brown the sausage for a few minutes on each side. Once the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl. 2. Add the onion into the pot with the sausage drippings, and allow it to caramelize for approximately 5 minutes, stirring constantly. 3. Once the onion starts to become golden, add the salt, Italian seasoning and black pepper, and stir to combine. Then add in the bell peppers, and saute with the onion for about 2 minutes. 4. Add in the garlic, and once it becomes aromatic, add in the white wine and allow it to reduce for a few minutes, until almost completely reduced. 5. Add in the diced tomatoes with the juice, return the spicy Italian sausage back into the pot, and gently stir the mixture to combine. Allow it to simmer for about 3-4 minutes , then turn the heat off. 6. Add in the chopped parsley and about half of the basil; stir, and keep warm while you prepare the noodles. 7. Prepare the pappardelle noodles according to instructions on package. Drain the noodles and add them directly into the sauce, tossing the noodles with the sauce. 8. When serving noodles, garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining basil, and if desired, an extra drizzle of olive oil.

*Serves 4

Toby's Public House

It's about time that I write a post about one of my favorite places in Brooklyn, Toby's Public House. Ryan and I often go here on a night when we don't have plans and want really good food. It's a bar with a casual atmosphere and a brick oven stove where they make delicious food. We went there this weekend and it was as amazing as I remembered from my last visit there. There is also another location in Manhattan, which I haven't made it to yet, but I'm looking forward to trying. 

Toby's Public House in Brooklyn, is a small restaurant, on a residential street in South Slope. The service is relaxed, but always very friendly. There is usually about a half hour wait on the weekends. The bar is often jam packed and it's pretty noisy inside. I don't mind the noise, as I think it makes the place even more lively and fun. They have a full bar and a bunch of craft beers on draft. 

The menu changes frequently and there are often specials. We have tried a lot of the dishes and pizzas there. Our usual order, involves one of their small plates, a salad, and a pizza to share. On this particular night, we started with a chopped salad, which had romaine lettuce, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, chickpeas, red peppers, cauliflower, fennel, and feta, with lemon dressing. It's a nice size and the salads are great to share. For our small plate, we had meatballs, that were homemade and very flavorful. And then for our pizza, we tried something new and different to us, and got the Fig pizza, with fig, mozzarella, gorgonzola cheese, and prosciutto di parma, making it sweet and salty all in one bite. I would recommend any of the pizzas, as they have lots of different kinds of cheeses, vegetables, and meats as toppings and are all served on a fresh, crispy crust. We were already stuffed, but couldn't pass up dessert, and ordered homemade s'mores. The s'mores were perfectly cooked in the brick oven to melt the chocolate and marshmallow all over a homemade graham cracker. 

I would definitely encourage people to try out Toby's for a casual meal out. They use some fancy ingredients and everything is homemade, which makes it expensive for pizza and beer, but well worth it. Please let me know if you are going, so I can meet you there, since it's about five blocks from my apartment. 

*Toby's Public House - 686 6th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I was on vacation for a week and while I had delicious food throughout our tour of the South, I was excited to try some new recipes after coming back from vacation. Unfortunately, I tried a few recipes that were underwhelming and not fit for posting to the blog! I will continue on my mission to find new and easy recipes for you all, but in the meantime I was inspired by the sudden change of weather (hello fall!) to post my chicken noodle soup recipe.

For years, I avoided making soup of any kind for fear that it would take hours of me standing over a hot stove. Well, I was wrong. One day I was in the mood for chicken noodle soup - preferably not a canned version full of sodium - and I stumbled across a ridiculously simple recipe online. I played with the proportions of broth vs. meat/veggies, and tested out different herbs and spices, and made a soup that I think puts Campbell's to shame!

Granted, I didn't make my own broth (which I'm sure would have made the process longer), but I used a low sodium version so it was healthier than the canned soups, and felt like the time saved was totally worth it. I had a flavorful, comforting soup made in about half an hour - perfect for a chilly day. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth*

1 onion, diced

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup celery, sliced (approx. 2 stalks)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp parsley

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 ½ cups egg noodles

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine chicken broth, onion, carrots, celery, Italian seasoning, parsley, pepper, and bay leaf.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in noodles, return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for approximately 10 minutes (until the noodles and vegetables are tender).

4. Remove the bay leaf, then stir in chicken and heat through.

*I prefer my chicken noodle soup heavier on the noodles than the broth, but feel free to add an additional 2 cups of broth if you would like a broth-ier soup!

Makes approximately 4 servings.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor

I remember going to Nom Wah Tea Parlor as a kid. My family would go there in the afternoon as part of an adventure in the big city. They have redone the restaurant since then and one of their family members became the owner of the restaurant, but it still has the same charm. I decided to venture back there for a dinner out with Ryan to relive some childhood memories.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor has been around since 1920 and you can tell that once you walk in. It is also the first dim sum restaurant in New York City. When we used to go they would have the carts that you pick what you would like off of. Today we are ordering off the menu, which makes it slightly harder to decide. You can’t see everything before you order it, which I kind of like. The menu has lots of larger dishes, but I would stick with the dim sum. We had many different kinds of dumplings: meat, shrimp, and vegetable. We both enjoyed the sticky rice with Chinese sausage, which is one of my favorites. We also tried the shrimp shu mai and the shrimp rice roll. It was an abundance of food, yet still being light and delicious. They also have beer, wine and tea to complement the food.

The prices are definitely right. Most dim sum dishes range from $2-6. The two of us ate a lot of food for about $30. The service is quick and appropriate. You can have a full meal in under an hour, which sometimes is a major plus. I would recommend Nom Wah Tea Parlor for some cheap, tasty food. Drop by when you are in Chinatown and have some free time.

*Nom Wah Tea Parlor – 13 Doyers Street, New York, NY

Lamb Chops with Yogurt Sauce

I decided to make this meal after getting some inspiration from a French cookbook. There was a recipe for rack of lamb that sounded delicious, but we quickly discovered that (a) rack of lamb is difficult to find in the grocery store, and (b) if you do find rack of lamb, it is very expensive! So that recipe didn't happen.

So I opened up the old cookbooks, and came across this easy-to-make recipe that used lamb chops rather than rack of lamb. When I saw that lamb chops were on sale at the grocery store (much cheaper than rack of lamb), I was sold! I was a little nervous about cooking lamb for the first time, but it was as easy as making pork chops, just with more flavor. The yogurt sauce had a unique flavor with the mint, and complemented the lamb perfectly. 

I served the lamb chops with a side of smashed potatoes (flavored simply with olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice), which also tasted delicious dipped in the sauce. One thing I look for in recipes is whether it reheats well in the microwave, since I like to make several servings in one batch. I can say with confidence that the lamb chops do reheat very well, and the yogurt sauce kept for a few days without a problem. Recipe success!

Lamb Chops with Yogurt Sauce

(adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook)

Ingredients:

¾ cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt

mini cucumber, peeled and chopped

¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped

3 scallions, sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

4 bone-in loin lamb chops

¼ tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Spray broiler rack with nonstick spray and preheat broiler.

2. To make the sauce, stir together yogurt, cucumber, mint, scallions, garlic, pepper flakes, and ¼ tsp of the salt in a blender or food processor and puree.

3. Sprinkle lamb with remaining salt and all of the black pepper. Place the lamb chops on the broiler rack and broil 5 inches from heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 145 degrees for medium (approximately 6 minutes per side).

4. Serve with a side of the sauce.

*Makes 4 servings (1 lamb chop and about ¼ cup of sauce)

Bareburger

I'm not a huge fan of chain restaurants. I feel like they just aren't as interesting as other places. However, I finally found a great chain, Bareburger, so I decided I had to write about it in this blog. Bareburger is an organic and all natural burger restaurant. There are a bunch of locations in New York City and they are expanding to outside of New York City soon. I tried out the Upper East Side location with a friend last week and was very happy with my decision.

There was no wait on a Wednesday night, but the place was pretty busy, especially by the time I left the restaurant. It is also fairly new to the Upper East Side. There are lots of burger, salad, and sandwich options. You can combine and create your meal to try lots of unique things. I opted for a vegetarian burger California style.

It was so flavorful with sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, watercress, tomatoes, raw red onions, and salsa verde. I had sweet potato fries, which are one of my favorites. They were 
delicious. I would try something different next time, because of how many options there are. They have all different kinds of meats and sides as well. It's good for meat eaters, but also lots of vegetarian options. Some of the more unique meat options are: Bison, Elk, Ostrich, and Wild Boar for burgers. My friend had a salad with jerk chicken that looked delicious as well. 

I would recommend this place for really good food and loads of choices. Bareburger is casual and comfortable. It's slightly expensive for what it is, but I guess that can be expected for a place that's organic and all natural. I'm looking forward to going back and trying something else new and exciting. 

*Bareburger - 1370 First Avenue, New York, NY