Tag Archives: Cheese

Michael Symon’s Pastitsio is Comfort. Pure and Simple.

19 Mar

I’ve told you before about my undying love for The Chew.  You know, that show on daytime television that makes you feel like you are in your family’s holiday kitchen, complete with all of the happy chaos that usually ensues.  I have DVR’d every episode since it’s very first (which just so happened to coincide with my birthday last year – what a great birthday present that was!), and have prepared quite a few of the recipes the hosts have shared over the past six months.  Carla Hall, Daphne Oz, Michael Symon, Clinton Kelly and Mario Batali are all very talented and creative (and usually quite hilarious too!), and I love to settle in after dinner each night and see what deliciousness went on during that day’s show.

Then, a little over a week ago, it happened.  I was watching a pasta-themed episode of The Chew, and Chef Michael Symon announced he was preparing one of my all-time favorite dishes – pastitsio!  This Greek take on lasagna al forno is one of my “cravings of longest standing.”  I just love the way the creamy bechamel mixes with the cinnamon-spiced meat sauce to create one of the most perfect comfort foods I know – warm, rich, creamy, meaty, and cheesy all baked into one drool-inducing dish!  I printed out Chef Symon’s recipe even before I finished watching the episode, and made it for dinner a few days later.  It took a little time to prepare, but was actually very simple to put together, and the end result was pure comfort food heaven!

Chef Symon’s addition of diced eggplant to the meat sauce added some really great texture and flavor to this dish.  The sauce had the perfect amount of cinnamon – just enough to create that warm, cozy feeling in your belly, but not so much that it begins to taste like dessert.  And that luscious bechamel!  You can go ahead and use Parmesan cheese, but if you can locate Kasseri cheese in your supermarket, it definitely makes a difference – it has a different tang than the Parmesan that takes the bechamel up into the stratosphere!

You can find Chef Symon’s pastitsio recipe on The Chew’s website.  We ate ours sitting curled up on our couch in our comfy PJs (what better way is there to enjoy comfort food?), but this dish really is amazing enough to serve for a dinner party, a holiday, or for any other reason that strikes your fancy.

Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes

15 Mar

In their first cookbook, Food Network Magazine Great Easy Meals, Food Network Magazine simplified weeknight cooking and made it a breeze to put a fantastic meal on the table in just minutes.  Their second cookbook, Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes: Super Fun Food for Every Day, is another quick-and-easy recipe bible.  But this time, Food Network Magazine takes it one step further, and gives us some help breaking out of the creative rut we usually end up in when we try to make good food fast.  

Let’s face it – there are only so many dishes that fall into the fast-but-fabulous category.  I mean, how many times can you make a hamburger or a salad and truly make it unique?  Lucky for us, Food Network Magazine has harnessed the creativity of all of their contributing chefs, and came up with tons of creative spins on mealtime staples. (54 burgers, 43 panini, 100 soups and salads, just to name a few!)  

Mushroom-Taleggio Panini

Regular readers of Food Network Magazine will recgonize the format of these extra-short, one-paragraph recipes…they are inspired by the “50 Best…” booklets that are inserted into each month’s issue.  And the recipes aren’t limited to weeknight meals – there are also chapters filled with unique twists on appetizers, breakfast, desserts and drinks.  In addition to the creative spins on favorites, there are also classic versions of all of these recipes, so that the next time you are trying to remember the correct amount of potatoes and leeks to use in potato-leek soup, the information is at your fingertips! 

Banana Smoothie

Some of the recipes in Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes are more out-of-the-box creative, and others are more subtle.  For example, Duck Confit Nachos and Crab Boil Potato Salad are definitely not your standard version of the original (but don’t they sound divine?).  However, using taleggio cheese in a panini stuffed with sauteed mushrooms and onions or using a bit of cinnamon in a banana smoothie are simple little tweaks that we just may not think of when we are busy putting a meal together.  And don’t even get me started about how scrumptious the addition of graham crackers baked into the bottom of the s’mores brownies are, instead of crumbling them over the top as usual!

S'mores Brownie

Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes is the perfect reference to have on hand while you are planning your meals for the week, or even to keep in the car for those unplanned trips to the grocery store when you are stumped for what to make.  There are also suggested menus, cooking tips and “Mix it Up” substitutes to catapult your creativity even further! 

Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes will go on sale this Tuesday, March 20, 2012…but you can WIN a copy of it just by commenting on this post!  To enter, leave a comment on this blog post (comments on Facebook or Twitter will not constitute entries) and tell me what inspires you to get creative with your meals!  I will select five comments at random after all comments have been submitted, and the winners will each receive a copy of Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes! 

But wait – there’s more! Want extra entries?  Just “like” Random Cravings on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or Google+ and then come back and leave separate comments here on the blog post to let me know you do.  Just remember – one comment on this blog post = one entry (i.e., if you enter by telling me your quick meal inspiration, and also follow me on Facebook, you need to leave 2 separate comments here on the blog post.)

And now the rules:

  • All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 18, 2012.
  • One comment on this blog post = one entry. 
  • Winners will be announced Tuesday, March 20, 2012.  If I do not hear from the winners with contact information by 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 22, 2012, new winners will be selected Friday, March 23, 2012.
  • Sorry, but the giveaway is only open to Continental U.S. addresses only.

So, tell me…what inspires your creativity in the kitchen?

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