In hindsight, I'm really disappointed that I didn't take an outcome picture of one of the first recipes I've created in a while.  Rest assured, they didn't look all that spectacular - just your average looking corn muffins.  I let a few of the mini ones cool and tasted them while they were still warm, and was immediately disappointed that there was no heat, that I'd used far too little pepper.  Then, oh snap!  There it was.  Just a few seconds after I'd imbibed it, that little bit of warmth snuck right up, and it was perfect.  I will say it was a tiny bit of smoky heat to finish, not even too much for my 18 month old son to handle.  If you like a higher level of sass, seed and mince one additional chile for the recipe.  I took this one to a cookout, so I erred on the side of caution and went with just what regular folks would enjoy.  I had to wash and reuse muffin tins between batches, and this still only took me an hour, start to finish.  Makes about 4 dozen minis.


2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
3 eggs, beaten
1 stick butter/margarine, softened
8 oz creamed corn
1/3 C milk
1/3 C shredded asadero cheese
1 whole chipotle pepper, seeded and minced
1 tbsp adobo sauce from the can of peppers
1/4 C diced yellow onion, sauteed

Mix all of this together and spoon into greased muffin tins.  Mini muffins will take about 15 minutes at 350, while larger muffin or popover tins will take 20 minutes or so.  if you decide to do this in a cast-iron or loaf style, I'd give it at least 45 minutes.

I don't have very much time to create OR post my own recipes lately, but for the love of all that delicious, make this soup.  Why don't more recipes contain a component called "cheesy yum?"
 I used cavatappi pasta and cooked it separately because I hate mushy pasta and wanted the opportunity to freeze leftovers (which there are never any of).  Although it gives me radiating heartburn, it's worth it.  I actually daydream about this soup, and crave it at least once every week or so. Honest to goodness, one of the best things I've ever eaten.

For all of the years that I've loved quiche, making a good one has always been one of my greatest undoings as an unprofessional chef.  I've tried the most basic recipes to the most complex, all with lackluster (and sometimes inedible) results.  It dawned on me that since buying a new stove and pie pans, I hadn't given it another go.  I'd looked at so many recipes that I felt cross-eyed, so I decided to Frankenstein them together into what seemed like it would turn out best.  The recipe itself was incredibly simple - the secret is in the temperature adjustment.

1 refrigerated pie crust
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 C heavy cream or half & half
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 C onion, finely diced and sauteed
6 slices bacon (or more), chopped and fried crisp
1 C shredded Swiss cheese (bonus if you have gruyere to throw in, too!)

Pre-bake the shell in a pie plate or custard dish in 425 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes until it starts to turn golden brown. Don't forget to poke it with fork tines or a toothpick before baking, or it will be a bubbly disaster!  Pie weights or dry beans will also keep it from bubbling.

Bake 15 min at 425, reduce to 300 and bake another 30 minutes.

Wings, dip, now casserole.  Is there any format that you can't find Buffalo chicken in?  I would say milkshake, but I'm sure it exists somewhere.  I didn't come up with this recipe - Betty Crocker did, but wanted to share it with you guys, because it was easy and damn tasty.  Follow your nose!

I cooked my chicken halfway through prior to tossing it in the wing sauce, because I'm funny about tossing raw chicken into a casserole with other ingredients.  Yes, I'm a spazz - but it didn't dry out.  Here's a photo of how ours turned out. The only thing I might go flip mode on next time is cutting the bleu cheese dressing a smidge with some ranch.  It was a bit overwhelming for a couple of folks who never use that dressing.

I love inviting folks over for dinner, even though we have nowhere but the floor to sit and eat.  Mr. FvF threw me a curveball a few weeks ago by inviting a vegetarian over for dinner.  I love a challenge, and as long as it's not vegan cooking - I'll rise to the occasion.  After giving it some thought, I realized I really love a good roasted veggie lasagna with bechamel, but have never attempted one on my own. Time to Frankenstein some recipes from the webbernet!  This is the part where I'll try desperately to remember how I did everything, since this all happened over two weeks ago.  Here's what you'll need:

1 box lasagna noodles*
1-2 jars alfredo sauce**
squash & zuchinni, 2 of each, sliced thin
1-2 large carrots, sliced thin
1-2 C fresh spinach
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 container ricotta cheese
1/2 C shredded parmesan (or any hard Italian cheese)
1C shredded mozzarella (the part skim stuff is fine here)
1 ball/container of fresh mozzarella, sliced
White wine
olive oil

*I prefer whole wheat, and I do NOT recommend the no-boil noodles for this.  This isn't a high water content dish, so they may not cook thoroughly. 
**Sure, about 2 cups of homemade bechamel would be great, but I don't have a sous chef or an extra hour in my day.  I used roasted red pepper for some extra flavor.  


First thing's first - get your noodles boiling in a big stock pot, so you'll have time to cool them before working with them.  Heat your oven to about 300 (350 tops) and start chopping your squash and carrots.  This was my first opportunity to really use my mandolin. Almost every other recipe I read said to "cube the veggies uniformly before roasting." In my opinion, paper-thin veggies make a much better looking presentation.  But, do whatever floats your boat.  If you're using a mandolin for the first time, for the love of God - be very careful. Fingertips in, knuckles out.  Even the cheap ones are seriously sharp and one fast move will leave you looking like your junior high shop class teacher.  Especially if you already have a mustache and a drinking problem.

Get all of your long veggies chopped to your liking, then toss them all in a roasting pan with a few hearty pinches of salt and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss around to make sure they're all covered, then roast them for about 15 minutes, watching closely that they don't get crispy around the edges.

While those are roasting, keep an eye on your pasta (never overcook your pasta, nerds) and start sauteing your diced onions and garlic over low heat in some olive oil and salt.  Remove from heat & set aside to cool off once onions are soft.

Your pasta and veggies should be done soon, so it's time to start your assembly line.  You'll be using nearly every inch of your counter space, but have everything you need out & ready with its own utensil.   You'll thank me later.  At this point, I like to take my roasted veggies, onions, garlic and spinach and toss them all on a bowl so I don't have to add them individually.  I do the same with the shredded parm and mozzarella (save the whole mozz for last, though!)

Start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, then a layer of noodles.  On top of the noodles, layer about 1/3 C ricotta, then a layer of veggies, then a layer of your shredded cheeses, then another drizzle of the sauce.  Lather, rinse repeat until you run out of fillings, and make sure you are left with a smidge of sauce after layering the last noodles.  Top those final noodles with a drizzle of the cream sauce, then add your sliced fresh mozzarella.  I like to sprinkle on a smidge of extra salt and red pepper flakes at the end, too.

Gaze in awe for a moment, then bake this BAMF at 350 for about 40 minutes covered loosely in foil, then another 15 minutes after removing the foil so that your cheese gets nice and brown & bubbly.

• 1 box whole wheat thin spaghetti
• 1 pound turkey breast, cut into cubes or roughly chopped*
• 1/4 C dry white wine
  
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced (fresh or canned will work)
  3/4 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2/3 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (any hard Italian cheese will work)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (condensed)
• 1/2 C panko bread crumbs, seasoned w/salt & oregano
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted\
• *If you don't have leftovers, here's what to do. Get turkey breast cutlets and season them w/salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder and pan fry them until they hit 165 degrees, then chop'em up.

Remember last year around Thanksgiving when I cooked three awesome dishes and told you I'd post the recipes? Yeah, me too. Sorry about that.  So, slightly in advance for this Thanksgiving, I'll finally be posting them - starting, naturally, with the appetizer.  I usually just do dessert or an appetizer for family dinner hosted at Ma and Pa FvF's house, but by Thanksgiving of last year, my swollen, pregnant ass was on partial bed rest and bored out of my mind. So, I insisted on making both.

1 pkg refrigerated breadstick dough
10 sliced precooked bacon*
1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese
1 tbsp herb of your choice (I used fresh rosemary)
1 egg, beaten + a table spoon or two of cold water

*Yes, the Oscar Meyer stuff that is shelf stable.  Trust me, this is one of the only things it's good for.  Real bacon just isn't pliable enough.  


Unroll the dough and separate it into sticks.  Coil the bacon and breadsticks together, pinching the breadsticks ends together as you go, to make one big, slightly loose spiral.  It's best to start on a cookie sheet or pizza stone, because this is impossible to move once you start.  Brush with the egg wash, then sprinkle your herbs and cheese over the top and bake about 25 minutes at 350.  After you've let it cool for 10-15 minutes, cut it pizza-style into thin, triangular slices.  This comes out a bit smaller than you'd expect, so I'd make two if you're serving more than 5-6 people.  Or any combination of one very pregnant woman and one or more people.

I have never been a fan of mushrooms themselves, but if you put mushroom sauce or cream of mushroom soup in something, I'm immediately interested.  The rich flavor of it has always been really comforting to me, which likely leads back to this dish that my mom always made when I was a kid.

I love using ramekins for tiny casseroles, especially when the recipe makes four. That way we have portion-controlled entrees for two nights. I tried this recipe first using lightly buttered (frozen & thawed) hash browns on the bottom of each dish, but it just didn't fit with the rest of the ingredients.  Since the wild rice always worked so well in my mom's casserole, I went back to that for the base of this one. Mr. FvF and I both agreed it was the perfect amendment to an already great recipe.  Here's what you'll need...



1/2 lb sage sausage, crumbled and browned
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup frozen peas & carrots, thawed
1/4 C cream or milk
1 pkg long grain & wild rice, OR 1 1/2 cups frozen hash browns, thawed
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 C panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

I love a good short cut, and the Uncle Ben's microwavable long grain & wild rice is just as good as the stuff you have to cook yourself.  90 seconds and it's done.  Either way, line your ramekins with about 1/4 cup of the rice and press it down in the bottom and slightly up the sides with a spatula or spoon.
Once your sausage is cooked, crumbled and drained, mix it with the soup, milk and veggies.  Peas and carrots work really well, but I also threw in some fresh spinach.  And of course, if I were cooking these for myself, I'd throw in some sauteed onion as well.

Divvy this mixture up over the rice, then mix together your melted butter and bread crumbs and divvy that up over all four dishes as well.  Bake for 20 minutes or so at 350.

I can't even begin to take credit for this wonderfully simple recipe, but it was a BIG hit at the last family dinner. Ever wish you could combine a brownie with a pie?  Turns out you can.  I served mine with some Grand Marnier-infused freshly whipped cream and raspberries.  Then put it on styrofoam plates.  Pinkies up, bitches!

The wheel turning and burger stuffing never ends at Chez FvF.  I'd been rolling around the idea of a brie burger after something I saw on Food Network, and would not be stopped until I made one that lived up to the expectations in my head.  Luckily, I got in on the first try - because frankly, sometimes I give up easily - even with all this big talk.

Here we go, eaters - FvF is officially in print!  Right now, the column is running in the Xenia Gazette, and will probably branch out to the rest of the Times Community Newspapers' weeklies and dailies.  As not to deprive you of any juicy gossip, reviews or recipes, I'll be posting the links here each time my column runs in the paper. everybody wins!

You can checkout the intro and a recipe for Chipotle Chicken Tostadas here, and last week's bit on making stuffed burgers here.  Enjoy, and please give feedback on my new print adventures!

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• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 lb lean ground beef (or lamb)
• 2/3 lb hot Italian sausage
• 2/3 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 carrot, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 1 rib of celery, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• large pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I used pinot noir)
• 1 C whole milk 
• 2 C chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp minced basil 
• For the ricotta mixture:
• 2 C fresh ricotta*
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp minced basil (fresh)
• 1 tbsp minced oregano (fresh)