Fridays, Feasting With Friends- Featuring Bradley Gillette

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends."

~Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking'

Bradley Gillette

In keeping with my local Cleveland Bloggers trend as of late, todays guest for Fridays, Feasting with Friends is Bradley Gillette of the ever popular blogs Cleveland Food and Brews and Cleveland Food and Brews- Craft Beers.  Brad's blogs are so much fun!  Not only does he review and talk about all the wonderful food and restaurants in the Cleveland area, but the beers as well!  I always see sites about wine, but not so often about craftbeers.  Brad has made this a wonderful way to learn more about the drink, but also discover events and news surrounding the beer culture.  These events are always a blast, so I highly recommend paging through Brad's site and finding an Up-and-Coming one to attend.  It will definitely be a night to remember!

What is your favorite thing to cook?
I really enjoy cooking steaks on my outdoor grill. If I had my way I would always use charcoal because I think it gives it a better taste than a gas grill.

How about your least favorite thing to cook?
I guess I don’t like cooking things I don’t like to eat. I’m not a fan of rice, so I really don’t like cooking it.

What is your favorite local restaurant and what is one you are dying to try out?
Since starting my blog in September 2010 I have had the pleasure to eat at some of Cleveland’s finest restaurants. It would be very hard to narrow it down to just one so I’ll name a few. The Greenhouse Tavern, Lola, Lolita, AMP150 and Washington Place Bistro and Inn are just a few of the restaurants my fiancée and I have really enjoyed. There are many more reviews listed on my site of amazing Cleveland Restaurants. Two that I’m dying to try are Chinato and Flour.

Brad and Chef Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern

Music and food go together so beautifully. You are hosting a dinner party, what would be on your playlist?
I’m Italian so Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are two of my favorites for a dinner party.

What would you choose to be your last meal on earth?
My Mother’s homemade cavatelli and my Grandmothers homemade ravioli and macaroni! It doesn’t get any better than that!

What are you currently reading?
Between reading educational materials for work, my real job is a school teacher, and reading other fabulous Cleveland blogs I have plenty reading to keep me busy!

What is your favorite Kitchen Gadget?
I love my little magic bullet blender. It really makes doing small tasks quick and easy.

Do you have a signature go-to dish?
If I had to make a go to dish that is sure to please I would make my spicy mac and cheese!

What is your favorite thing about the Cleveland area?
I love that there are so many great things to do. Sporting events, Metroparks, and of course an amazing culinary scene!

Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood and do you cook it today?
I’ve try to recreate my grandmothers sauce but I have not quiet perfected it to taste like she does it! I’ll keep trying though.

Top 3 Movies of all time?
Wow this is a tough question. Field of Dreams, Rocky 1-4, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

What was your happiest moment in life?
Wow…Seeing my niece be born and meeting my fiancée!

Brad and his beautiful fiancée Michaelene

Where do you do your grocery shopping?
Depends…Giant Eagle, Heinen’s, Whole Foods

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food?
I love Doritos!

Can you tell me about what you are most proud of?
I’m most proud of the fact that I make a difference in the world every day by teaching the youth of America!

Do you have Culinary Resolutions that you would like to accomplish this year?
I plan on taking some cooking classes with my fiancée. I’d like to learn different techniques and how to combine flavors I might not have thought of using together.

One word that best describes you is: Honest

And now please share a favorite recipe:

I love the spicy mac and cheese recipe I use. I originally got it from Food Network’s Sunny Anderson. I did change it up a bit by altering some portions and adding some things like bacon, chorizo, or prosciutto. I recommend you make it her way at first and then experience with it to tweak it how you like it. Here is how I have it as of now. (This won 2nd place in our work Mac and Cheese Throwdown!)

Spicy Mac and Cheese
2 cups elbow pasta
16 ounces Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
16 ounces pepper jack cheese, cubed
¼- ½ lb Bacon, prosciutto, chorizo (really whatever pork or sausage you like and you can add more or less to taste.)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper depending on how much heat you like.
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
2-quart baking dish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook Pasta to ALMOST al dente and crisp pork or sausage until cooked, be sure not to overcook!
In a large bowl, toss together cooked pasta with the cheese cubes and pan crisped pork/sausage, and pour into the baking dish. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and sour cream, egg, heavy cream and half-and-half. Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just golden brown, about 35-45 minutes.

Fridays, Feasting With Friends- Featuring Alicia Hansen

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends."

~Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking'

Alicia Hansen

For today's Fridays, Feasting with Friends I would like to introduce you to another local Cleveland blogger, Alicia Hansen.  She writes the very popular blog Poise in Parma and also works with the Ohio Blogging Association.  Poise in Parma is a blog about finding balance in her life in this crazy town: Her non-stop life of family, career, food, fitness and one amazing golden retriever. How She lost 110 pounds in under eight years – and have managed / struggled / survived to keep it off. But most importantly, the discoveries she makes in Believeland along the way.  It is a fun blog, full of wonderful inspiration and of course all things CLE.

If you live in Ohio and have a blog, and haven't done so already, be sure you head over to Ohio Blogging Association and sign up.  It is fantastic place to network with other local bloggers, find out about fun events and help grow your blog.  I only recently discovered OBA, and am so loving the connections I have already made.  I have yet to make it to an event- but already have the next one, Saturday, May 14th: OBA May Meet Up: Cleveland Marathon Pot Luck Pasta Dinner written on my calendar!!  I can't wait!

So as Alicia likes to say: "Run those 3.1 miles then eat some potato & bacon pierogies with me." Cheers!

What is your favorite thing to cook?
Savory oats. It’s very therapeutic for me – to stand at the stove, stirring the oats, boiling off the water,getting them to the right consistency. I love cracking the egg in the finished oats, breaking the yolk and evenly distributing it to get everything nice and fluffy. It’s definitely a practice in developing patience. The end result is always worth it.

How about your least favorite thing to cook?
I HATE pan frying fish/seafood at home. The prep, the cooking, the lingering smell… I would much rather pay for someone else to make it.

What is your favorite local restaurant and what is one you are dying to try out?
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of AMP 150. I really appreciate Chef Cooley approach to how he using his ingredients in his cooking. I’m also a huge fan of Zack Bruell, but have never dined at Parallax. It’s on my CLE dining bucket list.

Music and food go together so beautifully. You are hosting a dinner party, what would be on your playlist?
My John Coltrane Pandora station. Can’t beat solid jazz for background music for a social gathering in my opinion.

What would you choose to be your last meal on earth?
As I’m gluten intolerant, it would be a crazy gluten fest: a grilled turkey, roasted beet & goat cheese panini on a thick pumpernickel. On the side: sweet potato fries and the largest dill pickle you could find. For dessert: a waffle cone from Honey Hut Ice Cream: Honey Graham flavor please.

What are you currently reading?
I’ve been working my way through The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky as a personal project I’m calling How I’ll Find Happiness in 2011. The suggested practices in the book have been a great way to figure out what brings me joy and how I can embrace those things in my every day life.

What is your favorite Kitchen Gadget?
I chug coffee like it’s no one’s business. I love mine well mixed with a milk frother I picked up at La Sur Table.

Do you have a signature go-to dish?
I am always asked to make pasta salad for family get togethers. Mine is nothing special (bow tie pasta, black olives, green peppers, mozzarella cheese, grape tomatoes, etc.), but my family can’t get enough of it.

What is your favorite thing about the Cleveland area?
No question, it’s the people. Yes, we have amazing museums, restaurants, parks, companies and
organizations. But it’s the residents of our area that make all those things spectacular.

Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood and do you cook it today?
Elbow macaroni with meat sauce has a soft spot in my heart. I don’t make meat sauce much since my husband isn’t a huge “ground meat” fan. But when I know I’m making dinner for myself, I’ll break out some quinoa macaroni, ground turkey & some quality jarred pasta sauce for dinner for one.

Top 3 Movies of all time?
In no specific order, The Muppet Movie, Singing in the Rain & Office Space.

What was your happiest moment in life?
It’s so cliché, but my wedding day. The entire day was a dream. I practically ran down the aisle because I was so excited to marry my husband. My dad had to hold me back to slow me down! Also, our reception was a PAR-TAY – guests still say to me how much fun they had dancing the night away.

Where do you do your grocery shopping?
We do a weekly run to Marc’s Stores. We also it up Giant Eagle, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods as
needed. I’m trying to make it to more farmers’ markets in 2011.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food?
Ice cream. Good, high quality, homemade ice cream. I’m obsessed with Honey Hut. (See previous
question on last meal on earth.)

Can you tell me about what you are most proud of?
Professionally, coordinating a span of ten events in seven days in the Fall of 2009. The events included from organizing a performance for a Hollywood star, a formal sit-down banquet, a private home strolling dinner with an Iron Chef, a luncheon on a stage at PlayhouseSquare, and opening night cast party, and a backstage tour.

Personally, running the 2011 Walt Disney World Half Marathon this past January. When I was previously a size 22 at 250 pounds, I thought things like that were impossible. Now – much smaller and somewhat older – I know they aren’t.

Do you have Culinary Resolutions that you would like to accomplish this year?
Make gluten-free pierogies.

One word that best describes you is: Kindhearted.

Now please share a favorite recipe:
Spaetzle is an egg based dumpling that is served with many of my family’s old world recipes. For this recipe, you’ll need a spaetzle maker, but the tool is worth it for this side dish. This is adapted from a recipe found on the Food Network page – I unfortunately can’t find the original link.

Spaetzle

ingredients:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted
1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pam cooking spray
Butter (to taste)
Parsley

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer. Combine all the
ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Spray your spaetzle maker with Pam, then place it over the pot. Ladle batter into the spaetzle maker, then being creating dumplings by sliding the dough over the holes of the device.

Make sure to stir the water/dumplings for even circulation around the pot. Continue the dumpling making until all batter is gone. When the dumplings float, continue to boil until the dumplings look fluffy.

Remove the spaetzle by draining through a colander. Place dumplings in a serving dish, top with butter and parsley (and probably another sprinkle of salt) and serve.

Rapid Italian Onion and Herb Bread- Bread Machine Recipe

Look at all those pretty little herbs and onions speckled all over the loaf!

Print this Recipe

Rapid Italian Onion and Herb Bread- Bread Machine Recipe
1 1/3 cups water
3 Tablespoons powdered milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
3 3/4 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 Tablespoons dried onion (I used Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion.  This stuff is amazing!)
2 teaspoons yeast

Add ingredients in the order listed into the baking pan.  Insert baking pan into the oven chamber, twist to secure.  Close lid.  Select: Rapid Bake Setting. Select "regular" or "dark" crust, depending on personal taste. Press Start- There will be a 5-minute preheat delay before mixing begins.

Using oven mitts, remove bread when completion beeps sound.  Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

I baked this bread at 8:00 at night, and goodness it got everyone hungry!  This bread turned out amazing. While it was baking, the house smelled so heavenly, like a pizza shop.  It slices beautifully, with minimal crumb, and it is very soft.  This makes for the perfect butter bread, but it is also great for sandwiches and easy garlic toast.  I am so thrilled with this recipe.  It is a new favorite in our house.

look how tall this baby is!

*recipe for the large Black and Decker machine.  If you need conversions for another machine, please contact me!