Sausage and Pepper Hoagies

Hey!  


The snow here is wild!  I'm in awe as this is my first "winter" but all the real New Yorkers are pretty over it!  Maybe tomorrow will be a snow day??  I wish!  


Since I have a caffeine buzz from my afternoon french press and can't fall asleep, here is a wonderful meal I though together after some inspiration at the Whole Foods Hot Bar -- except it won't cost you an arm and a leg!


Sausage and Pepper Hoagies 
Serves 4


- 1 tbsp olive oil or cooking spray
- choice of sausages (I used precooked Aidells Italian Style Chicken Sausages)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 sweet onion
- two small cans of tomato paste
- parmesan cheese 
- 4 hoagie rolls

First heat up your olive oil in a non-stick skillet and add your onions - cook them until they soften and begin to brown

While your onions cook, slice your bell peppers into strips and then add them to the onions

Let everything cook together for a while - making sure to salt and pepper them - until the peppers have become soft and the onions are almost caramelized 

While the peppers cook, slice your sausage and then add it to the pan when the peppers/onions are done cooking since the sausage is precooked

Allow your sausage to brown and heat through and then add your cans of tomato paste - WARNING: this will be thick and tomato-y - but I really liked it this way - you can water the tomato paste down if you wanted to

Fill your rolls 

Top with cheese and enjoy!!

Delicious, easy, affordable, 

Love, Allison

Trips to the Cape

Hey! 


Well, I guess my weekend of fun has caught up with me since I am SICK!  :(  But, going to Cape Cod and Boston was totally worth it!  My boyfriend and I rented a car and visited:

- 4 STATES

- 1 AMAZING CUPCAKE SHOP

- 2 IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS

- THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

and 

- 1 FROZEN RIVER

Here are some of the highlights (including food, of course).....

Yale - where I had coffee with Rory Gilmore at Blue State Coffee

Frank Pepe's Pizza in New Haven, CT -- famous pizza that reminded us of the Da Michele pizza in Naples

 We got there when it opened at 11:30 am, and by the time we left at 12:00 the line was out the door for a table in freezing weather!

Next, we headed to Providence, RI and stopped for dessert at the cutest sweets shop named Pastiche. They had a cozy fire place inside and we had a hard time only ordered two desserts: a cannoli and a slice of lemon mousse cake.  

We checked into the charming Liberty Hill Inn on Cape Cod, MA in the late afternoon - I could LIVE in this place.  

While it was still light we checked out a cute boardwalk  - I pretended I was Joey, and was waiting for Pacey to pick me up for our date.... 

 There he is!

That night I had my first bowl of New England Clam Chowder in New England!  I slept like a baby in the inn's wonderful beds and awoke to snow on the beach!  A first for me!

As we tried to cram every last dollar out of our rental car we went up to Boston for the afternoon... we did some sightseeing (mostly from the car), visited both Sweet locations for cupcakes (I can't beleive I just admitted to that :) , and pretended we went to Harvard :)  it was lovely!

Sweet's cupcakes beat Sprinkles hands down!   Frosting SHOT!

"Studied" at Crema Cafe in Cambridge, MA.  Had the most amazing Red Crema Latte - vanilla rooibos tea, milk, honey, and cinnamon!

That is the river in Boston -- FROZEN

P.S. While daydreaming I went to Harvard, I slipped on BAD ice on the sidewalk and my feet went completely out from under me -- I landed flat on my back as Harvard students tried to get around me...... haha

Love, Allison

P.S. Can you tell I watched the WB throughout high school :)

Parmesan Polenta, Grilled Asparagus, and Eggs (over easy of course!)

Hey! 


  I've been back in snowy, cold, New York for almost two weeks - I actually don't mind the snow too much -- it is gorgeous, especially in Central Park!

Tonight for dinner I recreated a dish the boyfriend and I had for brunch on New Year's Day.  We ate at a local French cafe named Nice Matin - their menu reads like a foodie's delight.  However, their portion sizes were TINY for the price ($12/entree) and the food was just so-s0.  I mean come on -- we ordered Orange Buttermilk French Toast with Creme Fraiche and were given two puny slices --

The highlight of the meal was the polenta, asparagus and egg dish which was flavored with parmesan cheese.  

This is my version - I think it tasted better (and was hell of a lot cheaper!) , but I am partial to my own cooking :)

Roasted Asparagus and Eggs over Parmesan Polenta

1/2 cup polenta

2 cups water

1/2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper

asparagus

olive oil

eggs

1)  Preheat your oven to 425 - place asparagus on a cookie sheet, spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally.  Make sure to cut enough of the "woody" end of the asparagus off.  When I am not in a hurry, I hold the asparagus in both hands and bend it until the woody end snaps off (this method is supposed to be more precise), however tonight I eyeballed it with my knife and paid the price with some chewy ends.  

2)  Boil water, add polenta, whisk for 3 minutes to prevent clumps.  I then turned the heat to low and simmered the polenta for about 10-15 minutes until it developed with texture I wanted.  I then stirred in the butter, parmesan, salt, and pepper.  

3)  Cook eggs to your liking (I like my yolks runny, so I cook them over easy).  

4)  Assemble - lay your asparagus and eggs on top of your polenta.  Sprinkle with more parmesan, salt, and pepper!

This meal was extremely easy to make and cheap!  I spent $5 for asparagus, and $.50 for the polenta in the bulk bin at Fairway.  The rest I had on hand and needed to use up since the eggs and parmesan were about to expire!  

I'll leave you with some photos of our NYC New Year's Eve since this meal brought back memories!

Love, Allison 

2010 Year in Review

All of my favorite bloggers are recapping 2010 with some of their favorite photos.  


Here is my 2010 in review:


ringing in 2010 in San Fran with my OT friends

serbian christmas in las vegas

Sarah and the OTs visit las vegas

spring training in AZ

kendall comes to las vegas

took the saebo course and started trying it out on all my patients!

milos graduated with his mba

"graduated" from NCEP

left my car and my apartment in search of big adventures

Italy

Serbia

Paris

fun in CA with my family

surprising marko for his 30th birthday

moving to NYC

apple picking in NY

macys thanksgiving day parade

marko and sarah were married

christmas in the city

meeting the barefoot contessa

scout joins the family

can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

love,  Allison