"This is so much better than Olive Garden!"

This week, I decided to go Italian. I was in the mood, since I'm preparing to make one of my popular dishes on Friday for some friends, the LaRuffa's. (Peter LOVES (which is an understatement) Italian, so I'm making him his favorite Italian dish of mine, Crab Manicotti and Canolli's. You might look for that later this week.) So, last night, I made Chicken Parmigiana. In making this dish, I was actually staying at a friends' home with her 2 teenage daughters for the weekend. When we finally sat down to eat, Carli says to me, "This is so way better than Olive Garden!". It was a little random but hillarious and an awesome compliment. Hence, this week's title. (While I was cooking she also says to me, "I'm a pretty good cook too....I just don't know where the can opener is". I almost fell over, I was laughing so hard! lol Just a caution, what you say, when I cook for you, could just end up on my blog. :D lol haha)

In my opinion this is a pretty simple recipe. That could be because I've made chicken parmigiana quite a few times before, but none have ever had such a flavor as this! It was really like an explosion of flavor in my mouth. :)

To start the chicken parmigiana, you wash the chicken, season it (typically with just salt and pepper) and then coat the chicken with flour, an egg wash and a mixture of bread crumbs, parsley and fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano. Then you brown the chicken in a little bit of EVOO. (Extra Virgin Olive Oil-about 3-5 Tbsp)

The sauce was bursting with flavor. Saute'd onions, few cloves of garlic, oregano, tsp of crushed red pepper, parsley, fire roasted tomato's and fresh chopped basil to top it off. you place some of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish, add the chicken, and then pour on the remaining sauce. Now you can add cheese at this point and put it under the broiler, or you can bake it at 350 for about 15 mins. (to ensure the chicken is fully cooked but still quite tender) and then top with fresh smoked mozzarella and fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano and then bake another 15 mins. at 350. (I chose the latter....to bake it.) :)

When it's finished, top it with a hint of fresh chopped basil and fresh chopped parsley and you have a gorgeous and amazing dish, exploding with flavor! You can serve it by itself with some roasted or grilled veggies or you can serve atop your favorite pasta. (Which again, I chose the latter. Typical for this dish though.) I served it over some organic angel hair pasta.

Chicken Parmigiana is always a classic favorite; and simple as well.
YUM-O!

E 'delizioso! Felice Cotti!
I

BOB's debut

Hi, I'm I. As most of you know. :) (Or should know)

You all probably know of my love of cooking and how I enjoy cooking for others as well. I was recently inspired to begin my first blog while watching the new hit film, Julie and Julia. (which is why my blog is titled, ReRE and Rachael.) If you haven't seen the movie, here is a brief overview to give you some background:

Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book. Julie begins a food blog as she cooks her way through Julia Child's cookbook, with a goal to finish in 1 year which is a big challenge as she rarely finishes anything she starts. (Julie wants so badly in this movie to meet Julia Child...as do I wish someday I would have the honor of meeting Rachael Ray...did it happen for Julie?? It probably won't happen for me....and I'm ok with that....for a while.)

I, too, had the inspiration to begin a 'food blog', if you will, after watching this movie and decided I would use Rachael Ray's, Big Orange Book cookbook. (Which you will find that I refer to as, BOB.) I have been wanting to get this cookbook for a long time, as Rachael Ray is probably my favorite cook. (Next to my mom of course! :) hehe) So, the title of my blog...the Rachael part you have figured out by now and ReRe...well, that's the nickname my sister gave me so that my niece and nephew, Pebbles and BamBam, call me b/c it was too hard to teach them to say, Ireta. So, we have, ReRe and Rachael. :) (Just so we're clear though...I don't have a desire to finish BOB in a year but I will have a goal to try one new recipe once a week. Some weeks may have more but my goal is once a week.)

Some of you...ok, let's be honest, probably all of you reading this will be enjoying the "fruit of my labor" and this blog at some point in time. lol Which I'm very excited about! I was thinking though, I wonder if people will tell me what they really think of my cooking?? I mean, I really need to know so that I can do better. I thought, I wonder if I could leave comment cards for people to write anonymously, but, would that be a bit tacky?? I think it might be. I think it even took a little convincing for my wonderful roommate, to tell me what she really thinks when I cook, so that I can alter whatever I may need to to adjust to her tastes. I mean, I really do need to know people! :) lol Ok, I'm done.

We now arrive at BOB's debut! My first recipe prepared from BOB: Marinated, grilled London Broil, garlic Risotto aaaaand cannoli's. YUM-O!

First the London Broil. Which I have made a London Broil before. I different cut of meat and typically pretty simple. A marinade, and slap on the grill or in the broiler. This was a flavorful marinade with a little bit of spicyness for kick. (Yes, for those of you that know my tastes, just a little bit of hotness. ;) haha) The recipe called for placing the meat on the grill. I do not have an outdorr grill however so, I chose to use a cast iron skillet, brown the beef on each side and then slightly roasted in the oven for a bit for, an almost perfect, medium rare doneness. It was delicious.

Next, the garlic Risotto. I've only had Risotto once before...and it was pretty amazing. (I've kinda seen it made on Food network so many times...Giada makes it all the time. It's Italian after all.) So, what I've learned about Risotto is one, you give it the flavor. Risotto is a plain jane of rice and you give it the flavor you want it to have. The other thing I learned, Risotto requires patience. There's definately no rushing Risotto. So, I used some butter, garlic, a little Pinot Grigio....and "Viola", Risotto! I was very satisfied with my first attempt at Risotto. I think it was the perfect creamy texture. In my opinion though, I think it could have had more flavor than it did. But, it was tasty none-the-less.

The finish to this awesome meal....is not BOB's recipe but....a sweet, decadent, cannoli. I was inspired to make Cannoli's after watching an awesome episode of, TLC's, Cake Boss. I of course did some searching on foodnetwork.com and with a combination of Emeril Legasse and Paula Dean, and what I caught from watching Cake Boss, I put together a sweeet, cannoli recipe. A delicate cannoli shell and a sweet cream filling with some Ricottta cheese, heavy whipping cream, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, cinnamon oil and some semi-sweet chocolate chips. Now, I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I've never had a cannoli before but it looked so good. After I finished dipping the cannoli shells in some melted milk chocolate, I set them to dry and I began the cannoli fillling. I must admit, I was the tiniest bit afraid to try it knowing how much Ricotta cheese was in the filling but, I did it, I tasted it and it was such a wonderful flavor, a treat to my tastebuds. After the chocolate dipped cannoli's had dried, I filled them and they were beatuiful!! Not to mention, they were pretty, "YUM-O"! :) Again, I've never had a real cannoli but everyone that tried them seem to really enjoy them. I'm hoping I can find someone who has had a real cannoli and make them again to find out just how well and authentic my cannoli's turned out. :) mmmmmm....

So, that's it for BOB's debut. But, stay tuned as BOB will surely have more to present! :)

Happy Cooking!!