mozzarella

Fried Ravioli Caprese Stacks

16.07.2013 29 Comments

Back in January I very vaguely mentioned that I was involved in a Super Secret project that involved being sequestered without phone or internet for almost a week. My intention was not to be ambiguous, but to adhere to the Non Disclosure agreement I signed with Lifetime TV. Yesterday I was finally able to start talking about what I was working on, and if you follow me in Instagram, you already know.

I was on a brand new TV show with the Lifetime Network called Supermarket Superstars. The premise of the show is to take people with great ideas for food related products and turn those ideas into product lines on grocery store shelves. The producers of Shark Tank and Project Runway joined forces for the show.

The producers were amazing, really wanting everyone to root for us all. It was obvious in everything we did, they wanted us to talk about ourselves, our brands, our websites (my book!), and even cast the show with people you want to see succed. It’s not a show that’s full of cliche characters you want to see fail. They cast the show full of really wonderful people, really great ideas and fascinating stories.

(Photo on the right by Erika Kerekes of In Erika’s Kitchen)

Stacy Keibler, Debbi Fields (THE Miss Fields Cookies), Chef Michael Chiarello, and branding expert Chris Cornyn guided us through this process with so much encouragement and faith in what we could be. "We want you all to win!" I just kept hearing, the entire staff cheering us on, giving us amazing feedback, and they couldn’t stop talking about the opportunities this type of exposure could bring us. It was a great show to be a part of.

I spent the time developing a line of beer infused food products, you’ll have to watch the show to see what happens. It airs on July 22 on Lifetime TV at 10pm. My episode airs on August 22nd at 10:30pm, and even features my husband my little Tater! They spent an entire day just following us around, filming me with my family and friends, cooking, photographing, editing, and even (of course) drinking beer at a local brewery.

Once the show airs, I’ll give you an update and some behind the scenes info that I’m not able to share right now. Until then I have a fun little appetizer that I hope you love.

Fried Ravioli Caprese Stacks

Ingredients

Oil for frying
2 eggs
½ cup milk
2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
9 weight ounces prepared fresh (not dried) Cheese Ravioli
5 ounces cherry tomatoes, sliced
6 ounces Ciliegine sized Mozzarella Balls
5 leaves basil, ribboned
3 tbs balsamic glaze

Instructions

Place about 5 inches of oil in a pot over medium high heat. Attach a deep fry thermometer and adjust heat to maintain between 325F and 350F.
In a small bowl beat together the eggs and milk.
In a separate bowl add the Italian bread crumbs.
Working in batches dip the raviolis in the milk mixture and then dredge in the bread crumbs.
Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side. Use a metal slotted spoon to remove from oil, allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.
Place half of the raviolis on a serving platter. Top with a slice of mozzarella, and then a slice of tomato, some basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Top with remaining raviolis, secure stack with a toothpick.

Notes

It’s best to use small raviolis for this, look for ones (or make some) that are about 1 1/2 inch square.

Mango Wrapped Mozzarella

07.05.2012 22 Comments

I’m back. Sort of. When I say that I’m move into my new place, all that means is that my stuff is physically there.

In boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. But the gas isn’t on yet, so I can’t cook, and showers have been very cold.

Like this mango.

So the theme for this week is about food you can cook without a stove.

Which can be tricky. But when you are so sick of take out and pizza and all you want to do is cook a meal for your family and the stove is gas which hasn’t been turned on yet and the new place doesn’t have a microwave and your old place had a built in one that had to stay and you can’t figure out which of the billion boxes holds the cord to the electric griddle, you have to make do.

So this is what I made for breakfast for my first morning in the new house:

Scrambled eggs in the waffle maker. Totally works.

Bacon cooked on an electric crepes maker.

Toast.

It may have been my most creative use of heating elements, but it wasn’t the most delicious breakfast ever to be made by my hands.

In keeping with the motto of my life: Figure out what is great about the situation that you are in and enjoy the crap out of it, I decided to give you a tasty treat that requires no cooking. It only has three ingredients and the only tricky part is shaving the mango with the vegetable peeler. But even if you need two of three strips of mango to go around the mozzarella ball, who cares. Its easy and tasty and looks fancy. Don’t sweat it.

I hope to bring you pictures of my new place soon, right now the mess isn’t nearly charming enough to be photogrpahed. Except Taters room, it’s her perfect little sanctuary in the midst of the chaos, even the pictures are hung and every box has been unpacked. Other than that, the rest can wait.

Mango Wrapped Mozzarella

1 large mango

12 Bocconcini or Ciliegine sized mozzarella balls

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

Peel the mango with a vegetable peeler. once the peel has been removed, shave thin slices of the mango with the vegetable peeler until you have enough to cover the mozzarella balls.

Wrap the mozzarella balls with the mango slices and secure with a toothpick. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Pin this Post!

Follow me on twitter

Follow me on Pinterest

Like Domestic Fits on Facebook

Caprese Stuffed Chicken Burgers

10.08.2011 10 Comments

I am a finalist in the Foster Farms cooking contest. I’m going to San Diego at the end of the month for the big Cook Off. Of course, I would love to share my Semi-Finalist recipe for Pulled Chicken Sliders with Hoisin BBQ Sauce and Pickled Slaw with you, but I can’t, contest rules don’t allow it. And as much as I love you all, I’m so frickin' excited about this, I’m not gonna chance it. BUT in honor of Foster Farms, and their wonderful locally grown chicken, I AM sharing my favorite chicken burger recipe, as well as the secrets to a juicy chicken burger. And as soon as I am able to share that Chicken Slider recipe with you, don’t think I won’t.

Caprese Stuffed Chicken Burgers

1/2 cup fresh whole milk mozzarella

4-6 basil leaves

1 tomato

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb ground Foster Farms chicken

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup bread crumbs

4 hamburger buns

cooking spray

2-4 cups chicken broth

Slice the mozzarella ball into slices 1/4 inch thick. If you have shredded mozzarella, use about 1 tbs.

Chop the tomato and the basil and add to a bowl with 1/2 tsp salt, tossing to combine.

In a bowl, add the ground chicken, 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder and bread crumbs, mix until combined. One at a time, make 8 patties about 4 inches across and about 1/2 inch high. Place on parchment paper or an oiled surface so it does not stick.

On 4 of the patties, add 1 slice of cheese (or one tbs) and 1 tbs of the tomato/basil mixture, making sure to keep it in the middle, avoiding the edges.

One at a time, add the remaining 4 patties to the top of the filled patties, sealing the edges. Make sure that none of the filling is visible through the meat.

Spray the inside of a skillet (with a lid) with cooking spray and heat the pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the patties (don’t crowd the pan, cook in two batches if needed) and cook on one side for 4 minutes or until the bottom has browned. Flip the patties and allow to cook for 2 minutes, add the chicken stock to the pan until the broth comes to about half way point on the patties, but does not submerge them completely. Make sure the top of the patty is above the broth. and cover with a lid. Allow to simmer in the broth for 8 minutes. This method of cooking chicken burger is the secret to juicy chicken burgers. The brilliance is that even an over cooked patty is still moist and full of flavor.

Remove from pan and allow to drain on paper towels before serving on a bun.