Jess.....lets hear it

[Toni Bunz]

What did you cook up this weekend?

[just jess]

oh man....i had a field day

i made scallops marinated with sun dried tomatoes, black olives and basil wrapped in prociutto..and served on a bed of arugula which i dressed lightly with some balsalic, olive oil, lemon and honey for sweetness

to accompany it i made a vidalia onion pie which (not for nothin ) was out of this world. I rolled out my own pie crust from scratch and everything, which totally made such a difference.

I also fried up some tostones (green plantains), with gino's help in the kitchen (such a surprise! lol) and they came out perfectly crunchy

we polished down almost 4 bottles of wine that night between prep time, dinner, and post dinner


oh--and a side note...we went to whole foods to purchase the scallops, which were 100 times fresher than the ones from shop rite ....and while we were there, the fish guy shucked up some oysters right on the spot, ran over and got us some lemon and hot sauce, and served them up to us right in the middle of whole foods now i am seriously craving some more oysters

[Toni Bunz]

WOW.

I'm scared to make scallops, but after reading that description i'm def gonna try to make them one of these days!!!!

I love shoprite so much (the one in Clark). I can't bring myself to go to another store

That onion pie sounds interesting. I never thought to put onions in a pie lol

My friend and I helped my aunt make homemade fusilli yesterday. We had about 20 ppl at my house so it took us over 3 1/2 hours, but it was so worth it

[Toni Bunz]

[just jess]

wow...thats insane! thats enough pasta to feed an army lol
ive never tried to make hommade pasta
i have lidia bastianich's book though with recipes...my next task will be trying to make that

the onion pie was soso good--if you love quiches you will love this
you first carmelize the vidalia onions (which are already sweeter than reg onions) but after sweating them out with some butter on the stove...they get so sweet and then you mix in some sour cream, eggs and top it off with some parmesean cheese for a nice salty crunchy crust....soo good

[Toni Bunz]

we eat A LOT in my house on Sundays There was actually a ton of pasta leftover. You should def try and make it. It's actually pretty simple (except when you have to make enough for 20 ppl lol) If it were up to me, I would have went out and bought pre-made pasta haha

OMG. DROOOOOOL.
I am def gonna have to try that out. Can you post the actual recipe when you get a chance?

[luvmeluvmycat]

lidia bastianich's

My grandmother watched her religiously right up until the time she passed


That onion pie counds bangin' & Antonia that looks like Christmas time making tarrale cookies!

[just jess]

i met lidia and her momma at the food and wine event at the foxwoods...she even signed my cookbook her momma kept calling me "bella bella!" LOL they were both so sweet

gino scared lidia though --he chased her and her grandkids through the casino after the event with a drink in his hand and everything...LOL she was picking up her pace trying to get away from him..dkgjkd

[Toni Bunz]

oh man...I wish my aunt was still gonna be here for the holidays. Her and my uncle are going back to Italy at the beginning of next month. We would have such a feast (even bigger than the one we already have haha)


Here are some of the desserts we had(my favorite part of the meal)
apple crumb cake, tiramisu, chocolate cake with strawberry mousse and some other filling (bangin!), tartufo, and gelato inside the fruit shell (lemon and orange).

[just jess]

here is the recipe ladies....it was fairly easy to make--just a bit time consuming. im not a big baker either, so i was surprised how easy the crust was to make and shape onto the pan


Vidalia Onion Pie Recipe courtesy John Michael Lerma
Show: Food Network Specials
Episode: All-American Pie Championship


Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher or Hawaiian salt
1/4 cup cold all-vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Cold water
Filling:
1/4 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 pounds Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher or Hawaiian salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan



For the crust: All ingredients should be cold. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using a pastry blender cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop, add cold water. Mix in with the fingertips, not with the hands as the palms will warm the dough. Continue mixing water in until the dough begins to hold together without being sticky but not crumbly. Place dough in plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap and press down to form a disk. This will make rolling out easier after chilling. Finish wrapping in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Lightly spray a deep 9-inch pie pan or an 8 1/2-inch fluted flan pan. Roll out dough and place in pie plate. Return to the refrigerator until filling is ready. Makes pastry for a 9-inch single crust pie.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

For the filling: Brush egg wash on the inside of pie crust. Return to refrigerator until filling is ready. Over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until translucent. Do not brown. Combine eggs, sour cream and flour. Add onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper and pour into chilled pie crust. Top with Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F for the last 20 minutes or until center is set.

[Toni Bunz]

gino scared lidia though --he chased her and her grandkids through the casino after the event with a drink in his hand and everything...LOL she was picking up her pace trying to get away from him..dkgjkd

:LOL :LOL :LOL

[just jess]

oh man...I wish my aunt was still gonna be here for the holidays. Her and my uncle are going back to Italy at the beginning of next month. We would have such a feast (even bigger than the one we already have haha)


Here are some of the desserts(my favorite part of the meal)
apple crumb cake, tiramisu, chocolate cake with strawberry mousse and some other filling (bangin!), and gelato inside the fruit shell (lemon and orange).

Attachment 10708

shut UP with that big chocolate concoction chillin in the middle there

[just jess]

:LOL :LOL :LOL

he blamed it on me though...
bc i was kidding saying "look theres lidia..get her get her!!" so he really did chase after her

i was standing there like noooO!! gino! stop! i was kidding!!!

[Toni Bunz]

shut UP with that big chocolate concoction chillin in the middle there

I was in HEAVEN with that thing. I wonder if we have leftovers (even though I was supposed to start my diet back up today pfffft). My cousin and his wife brought it and they bought it from shoprite! lol

[just jess]

[luvmeluvmycat]

Holy Apple Crumb Strip.

[antknee]

oh man....i had a field day

i made scallops marinated with sun dried tomatoes, black olives and basil wrapped in prociutto..and served on a bed of arugula which i dressed lightly with some balsalic, olive oil, lemon and honey for sweetness

to accompany it i made a vidalia onion pie which (not for nothin ) was out of this world. I rolled out my own pie crust from scratch and everything, which totally made such a difference.

I also fried up some tostones (green plantains), with gino's help in the kitchen (such a surprise! lol) and they came out perfectly crunchy

we polished down almost 4 bottles of wine that night between prep time, dinner, and post dinner


oh--and a side note...we went to whole foods to purchase the scallops, which were 100 times fresher than the ones from shop rite ....and while we were there, the fish guy shucked up some oysters right on the spot, ran over and got us some lemon and hot sauce, and served them up to us right in the middle of whole foods now i am seriously craving some more oysters

holy mackerel thats sounds mad good!

[antknee]

btw did you use that Vidalia Onion pie recipe I dug up?

[just jess]

no, but your thread about it inspired me to make it

i decided to go with this one bc i wanted to make a real crust...if i remember correctly the recipe you posted was made from crushed ritz crackers

[Gspot555]

That Onion Pie was excellent! Especially after a couple of hours, it settled and tasted even better

I was dipping the crust into Russian Dressing