Cooking in Pajamas

These are the grown-up, more sophisticated cousin of your Mom's Rice Krispy Treats.  You still have all your basics of the classic snack we have grown to love, but with a couple of added twists.  Browned butter adds a nuttiness that helps to counteract the gooey sweetness of the marshmallows, and a dash of sea salt brings out the nuttiness of the browned butter.  Who thought of this?!?!?  Brilliant!  Even better, it is still just as quick and easy as the original recipe.  Your kids will still love these, but adults will gobble these up faster than the little ones.

When people bite into these, they cannot figure out why they are so good.  Keep them guessing for a little while...it's fun to see what they come up with.  I have heard guesses like vanilla bean, crushed almonds, honey, maple syrup, one person thought I used organic brown rice cereal (yeah...like that's gonna make them taste better),  one person thought I browned them in the oven, and finally, one person thought I made, and then used, Ina Garten's homemade marshmallows (that's a lot of effort for a Rice Krispy treat!).

Although you cannot do much of the prep work to make this pizza ahead of time, it takes 15 minutes to get it ready to go in the oven.  I love the combination of spinach and artichokes together.  It is a match made it heaven, much like chocolate and peanut butter.   Throw tomatoes and garlic in the mix, and you cannot go wrong.  This trinity works on pasta, fish, chicken, couscous....pretty much anything!

Since I always have a few cans of artichoke hearts in my pantry, the only fresh ingredients I needed to make this pizza was a bad of fresh baby spinach (although frozen will work fine), a pint of cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and pizza dough.  You can buy a pound of pizza dough at Whole Foods, in your grocery freezer section, or at their bakery, or even at your local pizza place.  Or...be brave and make it from scratch.  It will keep in your freezer for up to 6 weeks, and it isn't hard at all.  Here is a really easy recipe for dough.

When I was growing up on Long Island...the three big fast food burger places where McDonald's, Burger King and White Castle.  You couldn't pay me enough money to eat McDonald's or White Castle, but I was obsessed with Burger King!  My parents never took me there to eat, but I went there for lunch almost every day of my junior and senior years of high school.  Burger King was just close enough that we would have time to drive there, eat, and get back to school during our one hour lunch period.  I would get the same exact lunch every single time I ate there....the fried chicken sandwich with extra mayo, a chocolate shake and, of course....onion rings!

If you have ever tried Burger King onion rings, you know that they taste as close to real onions as a potato chip tastes like a potato.  I didn't care.  I thought they were the most wonderful thing I ever ate.  Who wants soggy, boring fries, when you could have a crispy, salty, heavily breaded, perfectly uniform sized onion ring?  They didn't even need dipping sauce!

Sadly, when I moved to Atlanta in 1986, I didn't have a car, and my beloved BK onion rings were gradually replaced by the Emory University cafeteria onion rings.  They were weird!  There were actual onions in the center of the breading!!!!  It took some getting used to, but I liked them.  I began to order onion rings wherever I went, and discovered that I love all onion rings.  I would put them on my burgers, put them on a salad, serve them aside a roasted chicken...there is nothing that isn't made better with onion rings!

When I was 23 and pregnant with Jamie, my doctor discovered that I put on 10 pounds  between my 5th and 6th month. He was not pleased, reminded me that I was NOT "eating for two", and send me to a nutritionist (overreact much?!?!?) .  The nutritionist was kind of mean.  She made me turn in a food diary, and then proceeded to tell me that my baby was getting no nutrition.  She asked me in a very condescending tone if I really thought that a foot long sub, extra large Doritos, chocolate shake and Snickers bar was an appropriate lunch?  I didn't mention the onion rings.  Blah, blah, blah...I had to start eating healthy, and eliminate fried foods.  I thought I would be home-free when Jamie was born, but then the "breast-feeding lady", from the hospital, that Phil brought home from work one, day to teach me how to breast feed, put me on a diet too!  No fried foods!!!!!

Fast forward sixteen years and I still love onion rings, and still try to avoid fried foods...hence, my quest for a tasty, crispy baked onion ring.  After experimenting with many different breadings, I have found that this combination of cornflake crumbs and regular bread crumbs make a flavorful, crispy onion rings.  You will also notice they are cooked in a little bit of oil.  I have tried making a fat-free version, and spraying the onion rings with PAM to make them crispy.  I was not pleased with the results.  They had a chemical aftertaste, and were unacceptably soggy.

These onion rings do not need a dipping sauce, but I love the zesty Chili Dipping Sauce that I included with the recipe.

One of my favorite restaurants in New York City is Union Square Cafe.  I ordered a very simple meal of roasted chicken, but it was the BEST roasted chicken I ever ate!  The true test of a chef is to taste their roasted chicken.  Only the best chefs can turn out a perfect roasted chicken...crispy skin, moist, well seasoned meat.  I was so impressed, that I purchased the "Union Square Cafe Cookbook" on the spot!  I never do that.  I usually avoid restaurant cookbooks, because it is way too complicated to try and recreate a restaurant dish at home, but the roasted chicken was in the book, so I had to buy it.

The recipes turned out to be very adaptable for the home cook.  In the appetizer section, this recipe for Bar Nuts caught my attention right away.  I actually made these, before trying the famous roasted chicken.   Wow..were these a hit!  They were gone in an hour.  Now, when I make these, I double the recipe.  Even though they are amazing when served warm, they will keep in an airtight container for at least two weeks.  My friend Stephanie suggested that they would make a great topping for salads!  Why didn't I think of that?

I admit it...I don't like to watch the Superbowl (Super Bowl...is it two words?).  I love the half time show, and always enjoy the innovative and creative commercials, but I am SO not interested in the game.  I would actually rather stay home and take a hot bath.  What will get me to a Superbowl party is the food!  It is the one day of the year I can eat wings, chips, nachos, potato skins and pizza, without feeling too guilty, and a little bit like white trash.

This Buffalo Chicken Dip is perfect for the big game!  It tastes just like Buffalo wings, but without the mess.  It is spicy, tangy and creamy.  It is best when served hot, so if you are bringing it to someone's house, reheat it in their oven.  If you can find the Tortilla Scoop chips, get those, because you will want big bites of this dip.  This dish is so good, it has its' own....wait for it.....Facebook page!  With more friends than me!!!!