Welcome To My Blog!

For the past year, I've had the experience of being a part of the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club Cookbook Committee. Our committee is in the process of finishing our cookbook, A Stir In The Mist: Tastes and Traditions of Niagara Falls. It is a collection of recipes from the Niagara Falls community and local restaurants. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go directly to the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club. Just recently I have relocated to Ohio, but still wanted to be involved with the book. After watching the movie Julie and Julia, I was inspired to share the great recipes from our cookbook and the experience I had making each of them. I hope you will enjoy the journey I will take stirring my way through A Stir In The Mist!

Let the "stirring" begin!

Well I have started this venture through the cookbook. First things first, each recipe I do will only be a little story about the steps it took to get to the final product. There will be no ingredients given out and no steps to how I got every great tasting recipe to turn out so delicious. That is for you to find out when you purchase or when someone else purchases"A Stir in the Mist" for you!!

I will apologize now for any grammar or punctuation mistakes I may make. I know I am coming from a family of educators, therefore I should know better about these things, but I may make a few mistakes. Soo lets get started....

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Gagster's Restaurant Alfredo Sauce


Most people that know about Gagsters Restaurant on Pine Avenue in the market plaza, only may think about that delicious pizza and wings or better yet there amazing turnovers and saucers. Well the Gagliardo Family was kind enough to let us publish there very own Alfredo Sauce recipe in
"A Stir in The Mist".
Well as we all know, Alfredo Sauce is really not the healthiest of all sauces. So just make the recipe and live it up a little. It is not like you have to eat a whole pound of pasta along with it. With this recipe you can use it on your pasta, like what I am going to do. Or you can even use it on a chicken dish or with rice and shrimp. Alfredo really goes with anything.
Okay... you may have to use a lot of butter! Like I said you will love it in the end. If all these ingredients were not in here it would not be a true Italian Alfredo Sauce.
Melting the butter is the first step and then you will add your garlic
(I used a little more garlic, because we like garlic here at The Soffritti House.)
















Once you have added the 3 main ingredients into your pot you can now stir and simmer until the sauce has become thicker. I kept stirring every so often, especially so it does not stick at the bottom of the pot. This recipe is pretty big. Marco and I had dinner and I have a container full now in the freezer that I will use another day. So you are set for dinner and possibly another meal.
You will notice that the sauce is pretty runny, just keep stirring and leave it to simmer and it will thicken, believe me!
And remember you still need to add the most important ingredient... Cheese!

This recipe calls for Asiago and Parmesan.
Thanks to my husband he sat down one night and used our new Rotary Grater from Pampered Chef and decided to shred the blocks of Asiago and Parmesan cheese that we have all in one container. It made such a nice blend for pasta and other recipes. But who would want to sit there and just shred cheese, leave it to an Italian and a former employee of Latina.

Once you add the cheese you will see an extreme difference in the consistency. If you feel as if the sauce is becoming to thick, you can always add a little more Chicken Broth, that is a little tip that was given to us along with the recipe.

The only thing that we have not added yet is our parsley flakes and our salt and pepper to taste.
I used fresh parsley(i forgot to chop it up so i added a few pieces of whole parsley) and I also used a few sprinkles of dried parsley flakes.
Salt and Pepper you can add, I would taste a little as you go, just to make sure you are not adding to much salt. Remember your guests can always add more salt on there own if needed.

This recipe was very easy to make. Now that your sauce is just about there, I would boil your water and get your pasta all cooked and ready!

I did not get a picture of the final product, it slipped my mind and once this sauce is on anything it will not sit long enough in a dish to get a picture. It is that good!!
The Alfredo Sauce recipe from Gagsters is just one of the many local restaurants and businesses that will have a recipe in "A Stir in The Mist". So now you can bring some of your favorite recipes right into your own kitchen. Hope you enjoy!!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Howe's Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Howe’s Cookies was founded in 2007 by Joan and Kevin Howe's.  Joan uses traditional family recipes that have been passed down through the generations. They make many different cookie types and styles.  Everything from homestyle cookies to authentic Italian favorites.  All of their ingredients are hand selected for quality and freshness.
The cookbook committee was lucky enough to receive one of the cookie recipes from Joan to publish in "A Stir in The Mist".
Ricotta Cheese Cookies is the recipe you can get your hands on once you purchase
"A Stir in The Mist".
You may think that cheese and cookies are an odd mix, but wait till you try these! You will change your mind instantly on that opinion.
To make this recipe I used my kitchen aid stand mixer. There are a lot of ingredients that you will be mixing together and once everything is all combined it may get a little to heavy to use a hand mixer.


I purchased my Ricotta Cheese over at Lariccia's Italian Marketplace, this is my Latina away from home! It is a a small store but it carries everything you could ever want for an Italian kitchen.
You will add in the Ricotta cheese once all your other ingredients are all mixed together.
Mix the Ricotta in very well, then you will add all your dry ingredients.
As you are mixing all your ingredients together you can start to grease your baking sheets and get your oven pre heated.
I found that this recipe is very sticky so I used a little spoon to scoop out about a teaspoon and half of the cookie dough. I was not able to roll the dough to make balls so just scoop a little out at a time and place on baking sheet.

To smooth out the top of each cookie before baking, I wiped my hands on a damp paper towel just to moisten the tips of my fingers and I patted down on the cookie dough and just smooth out the top a little. Make sure your hands are not really wet just a little damp this way the dough will not stick to your fingers.
Now it is time to bake!
I baked my cookies for 13 minutes, do not be afraid to take them out even though the top of each cookie still feels moist. They will harden a little more once they sit out on the cooling rack. You do not want these cookies to be crispy or crunchy, you want to take a bite and feel the moistness.
Once you have baked all your cookies. You want to let them sit and cool completely. As they are cooling you can now put together the ingredients for the icing! Before icing each cookie do not be afraid to have a sample of one of the cookies, or two!
Wow are they good.
I found that when I put together the ingredients for my icing I needed to add just a little bit more milk to ease down stiffness. Adding just a little bit more milk may make it a little easier to work with.
You can either ice the top of each cookie with a little knife or back of spoon. I just find that using my finger works a whole lot faster.
(wash your hands pleeease)

Once you have finished each and every cookie, you can let them sit until the icing has hardened.
This recipe can make 6 dozen cookies. I actually made a little over 7, the size of mine may have been a little smaller. The nice part about these cookies is that they are known to freeze well. So instead of keeping the whole recipe out on a dish I will put a couple dozen in a freezer bag and save for a later time when we have company. I hope you enjoy these cookies and Thank you Howe's for sharing such a great recipe with us!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

King Ranch Rice

Well if you have been following my blog, yesterday I posted the King Ranch Chicken recipe. I let it sit through the night in the fridge and it is all ready for dinner today. A great side dish to make with that recipe is King Ranch Rice. This recipe is under the sides in "A Stir in The Mist".
This rice dish is so easy and quick to make.
You can either use white or brown rice and the celery is an option.
The diced tomatoes and chilies add such a nice taste to this side dish. It gives it a little bite but it is not to hot to handle. The nice part about King Ranch Rice is that it brings together the whole taste of King Ranch Chicken. The ingredients in King Ranch Rice are so similar to the chicken recipe that there really is not another dish that could compliment it so well.






When making this recipe you will cook your rice separate with the chicken broth and then you will combine everything into one pan. This rice dish can be eaten cold or hot, whatever you prefer. When cooking the rice, I under cooked mine just a little because once you add it to the other ingredients you will cook a little more.
I hope you enjoy this recipe when you purchase "A Stir in The Mist" for your own home!




Monday, September 20, 2010

King Ranch Chicken

King Ranch Chicken was a recipe that my Aunt Sharon from Kentucky made for her family and was a recipe she shared with our family to enjoy.
This recipe was featured in "Creating a Stir", a cookbook out in Lexington, Kentucky and inspired the cookbook committee in
Niagara Falls, New York to create "A Stir in The Mist".
Whenever myself or my family makes this tasty recipe we always remember my aunt Sharon "Bean" Borgese and what a great cook she was.
King Ranch Chicken is like a Mexican lasagna. Instead of using the pasta to separate the layers of ingredients you will use tortillas.
This recipe can be made and baked in one day, but it is even better when you prepare it the day before you are going to bake it just make sure you cover and store it in the refrigerator.














There is a lot of chopping involved so if you do have a "Slap Chop" or even a Pampered Chef food chopper this is the perfect recipe to use it for.
You will saute all the ingredients while you boil your chicken in chicken broth.
Once the chicken is done you can use two forks to shred it apart or just roll up your sleeves(and wash your hands) and start pulling the tender chicken apart. The recipe calls for a certain amount of chicken, I used a little more just to add some more to the recipe.
That is the fun part about cooking to me. Once you try the recipe once you can alter it to how you want it to taste.





Make Sure you save the chicken broth that you boiled your chicken in so you can put your tortilla shells in to soak.
You will combine all your ingredients in one pot and this will be your tasty filling.


Be careful when you take apart the chicken because it is very hot!
Once all your ingredients are combined and mixed up you can now cut up your tortilla shells into little triangles or however you wish and start soaking a couple at a time in the left over chicken broth.

Once you have soaked each tortilla, remove them from the broth one at a time letting the excess liquid drip off and you can start your first King Ranch Chicken layer. Cover the bottom of the baking dish completely.
Your chicken and the other ingredients that are all mixed together will then be your next layer and once you have covered the tortilla layer you can top it off with some cheese.
After you have used the cheese to cover the first layer, you will repeat everything all over again and your very top layer of this recipe should be cheese.
Once you have topped it off with your cheese you will either cover it and save it for tomorrow like I am going to do, or you can preheat your oven and bake away.
The final ingredient for the top of this recipe is the diced tomatoes and chilies. You can put these on if you wish, it is up to you. If you choose to use them make sure these are not put on till you are ready to bake! 
With this dish you can serve a great rice dish that I will be making tomorrow so I hope you enjoy!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Let the Countdown Begin!!

Well it is almost all complete. The publisher has our final proof and we are looking forward to receiving,
"A Stir in The Mist".
The pictures that are in my blog of the book is just the final proof. So the fabulous green binding is not included when you purchase your cookbook.
This is a hard cover book and its going to be such a great gift of the city's recipes and sketches.

If you do purchase 11 books you will get one free. So look over your Christmas shopping list and determine who you are going to buy a cookbook for.
We are in the process now of talking to retailers around Niagara Falls to sell the book. We are hoping to hear from the Outlet Mall soon about setting up a table so we can sell the books at the mall as well.




Remember this is a hardcover book so do not pay attention to the green!!
Please feel free to comment on maybe some places to sell the book. The more places the better. And do not forget about the biggest buyer and seller of them all, Word of Mouth. Spread the word on "A Stir in the Mist" and let them know they will not be disappointed. The cookbooks that most fundraisers and church groups sell are nice but this is
One Of A Kind!!
We hope you will purchase and enjoy all the hard work and dedication that this committee has put into
"A Stir in the Mist"


Friday, September 10, 2010

Confetti Rice

Sometimes when you are making a recipe, you just need something to put on the side. This Confetti Rice recipe is the way to go. It is easy, cheap and so quick to make. It goes well with chicken, beef or even pork. For vegetarians its great because it is all vegetables.
When boiling the water for the rice, the chicken broth is optional. You can use all water instead. The chicken broth will just add some more flavor to the recipe.
I went out of the cookbook for our dinner the other night, but just for the main dish. Due to us going out of town this weekend I wanted to use what I had in the fridge instead of going out for a whole new recipe. You do not have to use the recipes in the book for every little entree and side for everything. It is nice to use a recipe along with either a family favorite you may already have or even just something last minute you want to throw together.
There is a recipe in "A Stir in the Mist" for Pork Chops. I was missing two of the main ingredients to make the delicious dish so instead I went ahead with just an ordinary but tasty pork chop dinner.
As a side dish Confetti Rice was to the rescue.
You will notice when you purchase your cookbook that there are side bars that will allow you to get ideas on maybe what dish is good with what or even a tip on how to make baking or cooking the recipe easier. Confetti Rice can go with almost anything. The nice thing with a rice dish like this one, you can add an ingredient, like mushrooms are good. Or like I said earlier you can take out an ingredient. Instead of using some chicken broth and some water to cook rice in, you can just use water.

Once the rice and vegetable mix has soaked up all the liquid, I would just sample the rice to make sure it is nice and tender.
One trick I did learn about cooking rice is that instead of using the exact measurments of liquid to rice, just boil water and add rice the same way you would do for pasta. You will find that your rice will turn out nice and "fluffy"(if that is even a term to be used in the kitchen)
I suggest trying it, maybe not with this recipe. I promise you, you will most likely cook your rice the same as pasta from now on.
Well I hope you find an entree that this Confetti Rice dish will go along with well.
Enjoy!!