Tortilla soup

Don't get me wrong. Chicken soup is a must in any momma's recipe repertoire. But sometimes, you need to spice things up.

And I must say my Chicken Tortilla Soup really hits the spot. Especially on those chilly willy nights. Since it's been forever a day since my last moment of blogginess, I will get to the recipe straight away:

Chicken Tortilla Soup
About 6 servings

2 chicken breasts with bone and skin on
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
2-3 cups water
1 cup frozen corn
Olive oil

To serve:
Shredded cheddar jack cheese
scallions, chopped
sour cream
Tortilla chips

On a sturdy baking sheet, line up the chicken. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in a 350-degree oven. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, shred or dice the meat.

Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven or soup pot, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add jalapeno, onion and garlic. Add cumin and chili powder. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Add broth, water and chopped tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add cilantro, chicken and corn. Cook until heated through

To serve, break up your fave tortilla chips onto a piping hot bowl of soup. Top with cheese, scallions and sour cream. Avocado would rock too, but the Jersey Girl can not groove on that due to annoying food allergies.

Labor of Love

Cleaning the house. Folding the laundry. Crossing off the to-do's on that never-ending to-do list. So what's a girl got time for:

Peeling tomatoes in 20 easy steps, obvi!

OK. Just hold your horses. It doesn't REALLY require 20 takes to get a delicious fresh tomato saucy outcome, but  getting down and dirty with a few pounds of plum tomatoes, a pot of bowling water and another pot of ice cold ice water could seem a bit tedious to those of us feeling crunched on a spare moment.

I so meant to post this post back in August, when all of you do-gooder home-gardening types were harvesting your bushels of tomatoes. There ain't a green thumb to be found in this house. Piano thumbs and shopping thumbs are all I gots.

But, I do know how to make a totally delish fresh tomato sauce. So I'm providing you with my process complete with pics and instructions. Yay, me! One of these days I will be seasonally correct. But you can totally use this with the imported plum  tomatoes that are lingering in your grocery right about now. And stash this for the summer when the fresh tomatoes are at their peak.

I used this sauce to make my Chicken Parm with Fresh Tomato Sauce. SO much tastier than reg chicken parm, for sure!

So here's the dilly-o: To peel a tomato skin off a tomato, you need to cut out the core, score an X on the side opposite the core, plunge that sucker into boiling hot water, wait around for 2 to 3 minutes, scoop out the hot tomatoes into a bowl of ice ice baby ice water, swirl it around, peel off the skin, chop.

You got that?

Is it a pain in the bootie? Well, maybe. But I'm the type who clears my mind in the cucina, so tomato peelin' is all good in my hood. In addition to my tutorial, I will provide you my totally awesome fresh tomato sauce recipe and how to roll it all together into a chicken parm that is SO much better than that slop you pick up at your go-to takeout joint. I swear on my life, my glass of wine and the good ole' Bible, that I will repost this in July when the Jersey tomatoes are large and in charge.

Getting ready to take care of business. 

Here's how to peel plum tomatoes:

Step one: With a paring knife, cut out the core on the end of the tomato. 

On the opposite end, cut a small X. (See above)

In batches, plunge about five or six prepared tomatoes into a large pot of boiling water. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until skin becomes loose.

Using a spider ladle or a slotted spoon transfer cooked tomatoes to a large bowl of ice water. 

Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove from ice water.

Gently peel off the skin of each tomato.

Chop until your heart's content.

Cook a fabulous sauce. My recipe is below!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

2 to 3 lbs. peeled plum tomatoes (See process above)

8 fat cloves of garlic, sliced

15 to 20 fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Add garlic, cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes if using. 

Add tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add fresh basil.

If cooking pasta at the same time, add a few ladles of pasta water to thin out the consistency of the sauce.

Serve over chicken or pasta.

Chicken Parm with Fresh Tomato Sauce

(Serves four comfortably)

1 to 1 1/2 pounds thin-cut chicken cutlets (6 to 8)
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs (Cento rocks!)
Olive oil
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh tomato sauce (see above)

Set up an assembly line as follows: Chicken cutlets lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, bowl of beaten eggs; plate of bread crumbs. Dip each cutlet in the eggs, then the bread crumbs. Set aside.

In a large frying pan, heat up a 2 to 3 Tbsp. olive oil over medium high heat. Brown chicken cutlets for about 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil. Repeat with remaining cutlets.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the cutlets are cool enough to handle, transfer to a clean baking sheet. Top each browned cutlet with a handful of shredded mozzarella. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of sauce.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melty and delicious. Serve with your fave pasta and more sauce!

Dippy Trippy

Summer is the time to rock it out in a bikini on the beach, but truth be told, the Jersey Girl doesn't always feel so svelte come August. There are many reasons for this perception of unhealthiness: Copious amounts of wine being consumed; parties, parties and more parties; lazy days spent lounging around (ha ha ha ha); and really, the chips and the dips. Oh, the chips and the dips.

So, I'm bringing you a fab dip starring feta and lemon that requires no mayo and no sour cream. Yay and yay! In addition, as agreed upon by The Jersey Girl and her trusty sisters and brothers-in-law, the dip is the perfect match for your fave vegetables in stick-and-dip form as opposed to salty, fatty chips. Super yay! Now that second bottle of wine doesn't seem THAT bad.

This is one of my Pinterest finds. Hopefully, on one of my late nights perusing the Interwebs, I will figure out how to rock a Pinterest button onto my posts. A technological mastermind, I am not.

The Lemon Feta Dip was snagged from the blog called One Ordinary Day. You should totally check it out!

And just for some awesome visuals, I will give you a glimpse or two of my Big Boy Evan. He is so no longer a baby. Eep! I can't believe summer is almost finito!

Now, this is a crudite platter that will totally get devoured! Holla.

Lemon Feta Dip

(from Sweet Paul)

8oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil+ extra for serving
fresh thyme

Place feta, lemon zest and juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with thyme.
Serve with grilled tomatoes and grilled pita bread drizzled with olive oil, salt and thyme.

Please note: The Jersey Girl served the dip with fresh vegetables including broccoli florets,  red bell peppers, cucumber slices, grape tomatoes and celery sticks.

Here's my happy, healthy Evan. Love him!

What's for Dinner?

I don't know about you, but in my day as a kiddo, weeknight dinner cooked courtesy of my Ma was always on the table. There was often a predictable weekly rotation - steak, clams and spaghetti, stir fry, taco night (yay!), roast beast, roast chicken, stuffed flounder, Shake and Bake (hee), etc.

Salad was always part of the mix. To this day, if some leafy greens aren't part of the dinner being served before moi, I'm like, "What, what, what just happened?" Fortunately, I'm pretty much the fool serving the dinner before me, so a lovely salad is often part of my day-to-day along with copious amounts of wine. Serenity now!

Here, dear, lovely readers is my most fave salad of the moment: Arugula and celery salad. Two completely boring ingredients on their own, but together - Sha-zam!

Totally fab.

I toss my arugula and celery with the best olive oil I have hanging around my cupboard. A little salt and peppa, topped off with small gems of Prima Donna cheese. If you're not familiar with Prima Donna, it is a hard gouda that is smooth and rich. It works beautifully with the peppery taste of arugula and the crunch of celery. I always have Prima Donna on hand, thanks to my local market Bagliani's, but you can order it online here at DiBruno Bros., which is another place of awesomeness, but since I am a glamorous working mother of a 2-year-old who spends her free time scrubbing bathrooms and making feeble attempts to maintain order in my perpetually disorderly home, I do not jaunt on over to Philly as much as I did in my carefree pre-momma days.

C'est la vie.

Anyway, here is a salad I do think my Mom would totally dig. I will have to make it for her the next time we dine together.

Susan's Arugula and Celery Salad
3 servings

3 to 4 cups baby arugula, washed and dried
2 stalks of celery, chopped into moons
20-25 small flecks of Prima Donna cheese
Salt and pepper
3-4 Tbsp. really really good extra virgin olive oil

In a salad bowl, toss argula and celery with salt, pepper and olive oil. Top with cheese. Serve!

Are You Kidding Me?

I watch my trash TV alone, uninterrupted with an air of indifference, an unflinching focus and a HUGE chunk of cynicism.

And a bottle of red and a plate of snacky poofs or a delicious cookie. As if you needed to ask?!?!

So that is why I was gleeful, stunned and a bit giddy when a recipe I rocked out from a cookbook by Teresa Giudice of Jersey Housewives fame was wonderfully tasty.

Yous guys. Seriously.

It was astoundingly fantastic. Or, if we're speaking in Jersey speak: It was freaking awwwwwe-some.

And, here I thought all Teresa was good for was botching the English language, gussying herself up in a totally tacky Jers wardrobe and holding lifelong grudges over sprinkle cookies.

I guess the awesomeness of her recipes should not be surprising. Because cattiness and jealousy aside, it seems that the broads on the Jersey sector of the Real Housewives franchise know a thing or 1,000 about the ways around the kitchen. If I had to dine in with any of these Bravo be-yotches, it would be with the Jersey girls. And of course if I was headed out on the town, dahling, it would be with the Bev Hills snobby snobs in a schi-schi restaurant or better yet, Lisa Vanderpump's closet, preferably with a view of the shoes, jewels and bags. (My name is Susan and I am an accessories whore ... and I need to read a good book. And maybe trash TV should be my sacrifice next year at Lent....Yeah, ok.)

Anyways, Teresa's Zucchini Spaghetti Salad from her Skinny Italian cookbook is a wonderful starter or side dish. It really lets the zucchini shine. So make this when the zucchs are in season, which is now, now, now in my lovely Garden State. Yay! It is light and refreshing and packed with flavor, all good things you should look for in a salad. Basically, you take an ordinary carrot peeler and peel the zucchini into thin strips. Don't go into the seedy part, because that will make the salad turn to mush. About a half hour before serving, toss with the lemon vinaigrette. As the strips marinate, they become wiggly and twirly like spaghetti glistening in the lemon juicy goodness. Love it! This would be great to serve on a night you're grilling since it involves zero cooking time.

And since this is my blog, I will now take a moment to boast: My 2-and-a-half-year-old son asked for MORE ZUCCHINI three times during dinner. In the words of Teresa, "Are you freakin' kidding me?"

More Ipad.

More Thomas.

More Apple Jacks.

These requests make sense to moi. But on this glorious night at din din, he ate zucchini, tilapia AND basmati rice.

"OK. Now, you're REALLY bragging," my sister Monica informed me via phone call after lamenting about her sons' current meal plan of McDonald's and pizza. (She's moving back to Hammonton in two days, so her cupboard is bare, people!!!!)

If it's any consolation, Monica, the odds are 90-10 that your No. 1 nephew won't want to touch any of the above-mentioned good eats the next time they are served. And, I'm pretty sure at our next family din he'll want to tap into my emergency stash of disgusting Perdue chicken nuggets, because he did declare last week: "Mommy. I love them... with ketchup. Ketchup. To dip. Yummy."

Oy.

Zucchini "Spaghetti" Salad
From "Skinny Italian"
By Teresa Giudice

3 large zucchini (about 1 1/3 pounds) scrubbed well, ends trimmed
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Using a vegetable peeler, mandoline, plastic V-slicer or spiral slicer, cut the zucchini into long, thin julienne strips. Do not use the seedy center of the zucchini as it can be too soft and will ruin the look and texture of the strips.

Whisk the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the zucchini and basil and toss well. Let stand at room temperature for a few minutes so the zucchini can soak up the dressing and soften slightly.

Using a fork with long tines, twirl each portion of zucchini onto the fork so it looks like a little bird's nest and transfer to a plate.

Sticks Stack Up

Stick-form vegetables dipped in egg and coated in bread crumb and cheese?

Why yes, your little one will eat these delishly awesome zucchini fingers.

Or maybe he'll throw them dart-style at your ruffled brow. Or sneak them to the dog.

But give them a whirl all of  you fabulous mommas and poppas out there. What do you have to lose besides patience, self respect and the will to have a calm and peaceful dinner?

I've realized when feeding my 2-year-old King of the Castle that what he was loving yesterday during Bubble Guppies is not what he may be feeling tomorrow during that never-ending Thomas and Friends marathon.

At least it's not Dora, people. That screech-mouth is on the banned-TV list in this house. I need to maintain my sanity during non-wine-drinking hours.

The recipe for Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks comes from a really dope cooking blog called Closet Cooking.  This is the type of blog I run in my dreams - the ones uninterrupted by insomnia, a screaming toddler, a snoring husband and a really weak bladder.

I rocked out my zucchini sticks when The Husband was away on work or at work, which let's be honest - same thing. I had made a fab pot of marinara with some gorgeous basil, so I thought let's give these zucchini fingers a go during nap time.  They use panko bread crumbs. If you don't have them in your pantry, snap to it momma, and get some!! This is a great dish to serve as an appie, especially if there are vegetarians roaming around your world. I set them up and then baked them about an hour later

Evan ate three sticks. He actually requested more after his first one. Yay! He was probably hypnotized by my marinara. Or the whole dipping aspect of it all.

Whatevs. What do I care? He ate it.

For my marinara recipe, click here.

And for the zucchini sticks, please see below:

Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks
From Closet Cooking
By Kevin Lynch

• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 pound zucchini, sliced into sticks and patted dry
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 
  
• Mix the bread crumbs, parmigiano reggiano and oregano in a bowl.
• 
  
• Season the zucchini with salt and pepper.
• 
  
• Dip the zucchini in the egg and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture.
• 
  
• Place the zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer with the skin side down.
• 
  
• Bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Pining Over Pins

Pinterest boggles my brain.

As if a small business owner/devoted wifey/domestic goddess/mom of toddler needs even MORE distraction in her life. I mean, prioritizing is of utmost importance when dealing with my diversions: Mad Men and Real Housewives take the top spots, natch. (All class, The Jersey Girl is. ALL CLASS.)

At first, I didn't quite get it, this Pinterest craze. Honestly, I still really don't. The bazillions of images are pretty and fabulous and boy, a girl sure can dream. Each pin leads you to more pins, delusions and hopeless unrealities. From remodeling to organizing to styling an outfit to buying more and more and more. It never ends.

But, ask yourself, fellow Pinners out there: Are you REALLY going to rock that dress like Jessica Alba in the 10 stalkerish images you posted on your Celebrity Style board? Are 50 different ways to DIY glitter nails really going to make or break you? And will your kitchen cupboards ever be THAT organized or that big or that awesome?

I think we all know the answer here, and yet, I probably pinned 20 different pins in the past 20 minutes just because. Admit it. Pinterest is insanely addictive and more often than not a massive waste of time. And that is that. I love it.

Recipe hoarders really fascinate me. Because honestly, when I'm piddling away my few and far between spare moments on Pinterest I wonder how in the world do people have the hours in their week to cook all of these recipes and make all of these crafts. Where have I gone wrong in time management?

 The Jersey Girl is crafty in manners of slyness, but not in terms of actually making objects out of twine and yarn and such. Drinking a bottle of wine is WAY more relaxing.

But I digress, dear readers. I'm about to give myself MAJOR props, because I did it! I made a Pinterest recipe with my own two hands. Yay!! I wasn't just wasting away my 2-year-old's nap time on the Internets by pinning meaningless pins, ie - inspirational quotes said by famous dead people in pretty fonts and 30 variations of opera-length pearl necklaces. No, no. I DID so much more.

Funnily, the recipe I made isn't the most food-pornish in terms of looks, but in tastiness, it is making the magic happen: Cilantro Lime Dressing from simplefoodhealthylife.com. This dressing was fabulous in so many ways. The brightness of the cilantro, the tang of the yogurt and garlic, the punchiness of lime juice and vinegar combine for a close-to-perfect dressing for any Mexican-inspired meal.

That night, we gave fish tacos a whirl. Evan ate three bites! Yay. We did jazz up the tacos, which featured grilled tilapia, with the dressing, but I thought the salad I made really shined. I combined quartered medium-sized tomatoes, red onion and queso fresco - a whole milk Mexican cheese, and then topped it all with a couple tablespoons of the cilantro lime dressing. The recipe below makes a huge portion. It will last you for a few recipes. In addition to fish tacos and salads, I think the dressing would taste fabulous over chicken and shrimp.

Cilantro Lime Dressing worked great over 

quartered tomatoes, red onion and queso fresco.

Cilantro Lime Dressing
From simplefoodhealthylife.com

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Chobani 0% plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tsp. sea salt

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Continue to add olive oil 1 Tbsp. at a time as necessary to create a smooth finish.