Recipe Archive

Dinner for 7 in a 7x7 kitchen:
Garlic Bread

Ingredients: Baguette of your choice (I use the French Baguette from FreshDirect), 1 container of margarine or soft butter (Plugra European Salted Butter is delicious), Garlic Salt,Grated Parmesan Cheese, Chopped Parsley.
Preheat the Oven to 400 degrees F.
(1) Mix the butter in a bowl until soft
(2) Add Garlic Salt to taste (about 1/4 cup);Grated Parmesan Cheese (about 1/3 cup); and Chopped Parsley (1/4 cup)
(3) Stir until the mixture has a creamy consistency
(4) Slice the Baguette in half place open-face on a cookie sheet (use tin foil for easy clean-up)
(5) Spread the Garlic Parmesan Butter (And refrigerate any leftovers) on the Baguette
(6) Cook in the oven until Golden Brown (usually about 20-25 min)
(7) Let cool for 5 minutes
(8) Slice and Serve (Salt and Pepper to taste)
*Time saving tip: Make the Garlic Parmesan Butter in advance


Chicken Cutlets:
Ingredients: Chicken Breast (about 1.5 per guest), Eggs, All purpose White Flour, Breadcrumbs (Progresso Italian Style Breadcrumbs recommended), Vegetable Oil
(1)Slice the chicken breasts thinly (You can use a meat pounder to get them extra thin)
(2) Heat about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet
(3)Assembly Line Breading: Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour, dip in egg, and coat with breadcrumbs
(4) Pan-fry the chicken cutlets (about 2 at a time) until golden brown (about 5 minutes each side As always with chicken: Slice a chicken cutlet in half to verify it is cooked all the way through! *Serving raw food = embarrassing
(5) Place on a cookie sheet (lined with aluminum foil) and reheat in the oven (350 Degrees for about 5 minutes before serving)


Lemon Asparagus:
Ingredients: 1 bunch of asparagus, Lemon Juice, Red Pepper Flakes, Garlic, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
(1) Wash the asparagus thoroughly and slice in half (Presentation key: cut asparagus at a slant rather than straight across)
(2) In a mixing bowl, add 1/2-2/3 of a cup of lemon juice, 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper (Add a dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce for an extra kick)
(3) Refrigerate until about 30 minutes before serving
(4) Heat about 1 tsp. of olive oil in a large skillet
(5) Add the asparagus and lemon mixture
(6) Sauté until the asparagus softens
(7) Serve as a side dish or let cool and serve as antipasto


Rigatoni Alla Vodka (Semi-Homemade)
This is the easy part~ homemade sauce recipe coming soon... for now, I'm sticking with Rao.
Ingredients: Barilla Rigatoni, Rao's Homemade Vodka Sauce (Also try Mario Batali or Lucini Brand Sauce), lots of Parmesan cheese!
(1) Boil water in a large pot
(2) Add pasta and cook for about 7-10 minutes, until "Al-Dente"
(3) Strain out liquid
(4) Return the pasta to the large pot and add the sauce
(5) Over low heat, stir until the sauce heats
(6) Add Parmesan cheese to taste