It’s Nigiri! It’s Maki! No, it’s…Antipasti?!?

It’s almost New Year’s Eve! If you’re hosting a party, this means you’ve got to upgrade your appetizers—your taco dip may be delicious, but it doesn’t quite go with the gallons of champagne you’re bound to pour. Special holidays call for dishes that are unique and presented with some flair!

Try my twist on the traditional antipasti platter, where rich cheese, prosciutto, and roasted red peppers and eggplant are shaped and formed into Roasted Eggplant and Prosciutto "Maki" rolls and Roasted Red Pepper "Nigiri." Perfect for a festive occasion, these delightful nibbles will certainly surprise your guests!

To save time on party day, prepare the cheese blend and roast the peppers and the eggplants in advance.


Cheese Blend for Antipasti “Sushi”

15 oz. / 425 g. whole milk ricotta, drained
8 oz. / 225 g. mozzarella, finely diced (pieces should be about the size of rice grains)
1 small clove garlic, pressed
1 t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch dried oregano

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well so that the garlic is evenly blended throughout. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate until ready to use.


Roasted Eggplant

1 t. salt
1 t. dried oregano
½ t. freshly ground black pepper, fine grind
1 small eggplant, sliced lengthwise into ½” slices

Combine the salt, dried oregano, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside. Lay the eggplant on a wire rack, and sprinkle with the seasoning. Rub the seasoning into the eggplant slices.

Preheat the oven’s broiler. In the meantime, line a baking sheet with foil and place the wire rack with the eggplant on top of the foil. When the oven is ready, place the eggplant under the broiler and broil for 5-7 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool until ready to use.


Roasted Red Peppers

2 red bell peppers*, cored and sliced lengthwise at natural rib

Preheat the broiler on high. Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet covered in foil (this makes clean-up much easier). Put the peppers under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, or until the peppers' skins have turned black and charred.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Using tongs, place the roasted peppers in a bowl. Cover the bowl and let the peppers cool.

Once peppers have cooled, gently peel off the charred skin and discard skin. The peppers are now ready to use.

* For this recipe, use the boxiest, most evenly square-shaped peppers you can find


Roasted Eggplant and Prosciutto “Maki”

Roasted eggplant, as prepared above
4 oz. / 115 g. prosciutto, very thinly sliced
Cheese blend, as prepared above

Prepare the eggplant by slicing lengthwise into thin batons, then slicing in half crosswise so that the batons are about as long as the prosciutto’s width. Set aside.

Lay a slice of prosciutto on your work surface. Heap a spoonful or two of the cheese blend onto about half of the prosciutto and spread until it is about ¼” thick. Place 2-3 eggplant batons about an inch in (see photo below), and roll up.

Using a sharp knife, slice each roll in half (see photo below), then trim the ends so that they will lay flat on a serving tray.

Repeat with the remaining eggplant, prosciutto, and cheese.

* Nutritional info per piece: 58 calories, 4 g fat, 2.7 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g protein.


Roasted Red Pepper “Nigiri”

Roasted red peppers, as prepared above
Cheese blend, as prepared above

Slice the roasted red peppers into rectangles, approximately 1 x 2.5 inches.

Place 2 heaping spoonfuls of the cheese blend into your hands and shape into pieces that are about an inch thick, and inch wide, and 2 inches long. Handle the cheese as little as possible, as the warmth of your hands will cause the cheese to soften.

Place a red pepper slice on the shaped cheese piece. Repeat with the remaining peppers and cheese.

* Nutritional info per piece: 97 calories, 7 g fat, 1.7 g carbohydrates, 6 g protein.

Coppa (Boston, MA) - Restaurant Review, Restaurant Replica Recipe

Last week, I entered a new decade. Goodbye, 20’s, you were pretty damn fun; helloooo, 30 - I have a feeling you’re gonna be just as fun! Although I definitely had a brief freak-out over my old age, the fear didn’t last long. I refuse to believe that my ability to enjoy life is determined by the amount of time I’ve spent on this planet. As long as I can read good books, watch hockey, surround myself with interesting people, and eat good food, the next 70+ years are going to be just as awesome as the first 30.

Speaking of good food, I used my big ol’ birthday as a good excuse to finally try a restaurant that I’ve wanted to try for, oh, two years. A few friends and I gathered at Coppa, a popular, well-known restaurant in Boston’s South End that specializes in Italian-inspired small plates, unique salumi and variety meats. Knowing Coppa’s popularity, I made a reservation about a week in advance. Thank God, because the place is much smaller than I expected! Reservations are a wise choice - the bar area is pretty small, and it‘s likely to be packed because this place is friggin’ awesome.

I started the night with a cocktail, as one should on her 30th birthday. After a painstaking decision making process, I chose the Fumo sull’Acqua (Mezcal, citrus, and chili syrup). I found a new favorite “away” cocktail (as opposed to the Godfathers and dirty martinis I like to mix up at home). Smoky, slightly sweet, mildly spicy, and totally delicious - I could drink these every day.

While each of us ordered an individual entrée, we split several small plates, including arancini, duck prosciutto, and bruschetta con ricotta (crostini with sheep’s milk ricotta and hen of the woods mushrooms). Although the duck prosciutto was phenomenal (the stuff literally melts in your mouth), the dish that we all raved about for the rest of the evening was the bruschetta. The four of us split one small slice of bruschetta, yet it was so rich that we agreed that a larger portion would have been too much.

My individual dishes were the Panino di Riccio di Mare (sea urchin and salami panino with mustard seeds) and the Orecchiette con Trippa (house made orechiette pasta with tripe, beef tongue, pork belly, chick peas and parmesan). If you’re into sea urchin, this mini-panini is to die for!!! Coppa does NOT skimp on the sea urchin in this dish - pieces were literally seeping out of the sides with every bite I took, so I had to eat carefully. It is small, but like the other dishes we sampled, it was so rich that large portions are unnecessary.

The orechiette was good, but I am a tripe lover and I would have been happier with the dish if it had contained more tripe. However, it was still delicious - the pasta was done just right, and the tomato sauce was very light and subtle, as to not overpower the other flavors.

By the end of the evening when our waitress asked us if we were interested in dessert, I didn’t think I could do it (plus, I was wearing a very tiny Free People sweater that revealed my entire midriff¾ I wouldn’t have been able to pull off the look if I’d been full and bloated!). However, being my birthday, our server brought me a complimentary dish of their honey-walnut gelato, topped with a lit birthday candle. As if the food wasn’t enough to encourage me to return to Coppa, touches like this stick in customers’ minds and can be the nudge that will elevate a restaurant from “great” to “favorite.” And the gelato?!? One bite, and I was mentally kicking my own ass for not ordering it in the first place!!! It wasn’t overly sweet, and you could definitely taste the honey. This is one of the most perfect desserts I’ve ever had, and I’m not even a dessert person.

Overall, Coppa is now one of my favorite dining spots in Boston. It’s one of those places with a menu so unique that you’ll want to make sure you try everything on it at least once. Just like a carefully assembled All-Star team, there is no weak link in Coppa’s lineup.

Because age has done nothing to diminish my curiosity, I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up the ingredients I thought I’d need to try and duplicate Coppa’s Bruschetta con Ricotta. Of course, when I say “duplicate,” I really mean “replicate as closely as I can, then tweak it a bit to personalize it.” One characteristic of Coppa’s ricotta topping sparked my curiosity¾while the flavor of the hen of the woods mushrooms stood out, I don’t recall biting into any mushroom bits. Were the mushrooms pureed? Possibly, but I suspected that the chefs pulverized dried mushrooms and folded the powder into the ricotta. So that’s the technique I used. I wouldn’t know where to buy hen of the woods mushrooms if my life depended on it, so I relied on the dried porcinis and shiitakes in my pantry. Using my spice grinder, I buzzed them into a fine powder. Needing my own touch, I decided to add a bit of Spanish flavor with a splash of dry sherry, some fresh thyme, and smoked paprika. Also, I used regular cow’s milk ricotta rather than sheep’s milk ricotta.

This recipe’s concept is the same as Coppa’s, and the flavor is similar, but the finishing touches differ. If you can’t make it to Coppa, make this recipe!



Brushchetta con Ricotta with Thyme

8 dried shiitake mushrooms
4 dried porcini mushrooms
2 T. melted butter
16 oz. Whole milk ricotta
2 t. dry sherry
2 t. fresh thyme
1 t. olive oil
2 t. white truffle oil
pinch kosher salt

Toasted baguette slices
Several thyme leaves, to garnish
Pinch smoked paprika, to garnish

Using a mortar and pestle, spice grinder or coffee grinder, pulverize the dried shiitake and porcini mushrooms to form a powder.

In a deep mixing bowl, combine the mushroom powder and the melted butter. Mix well. Next, add all the remaining ingredients except for the baguette slices and garnishes. Using an electric mixer, beat well until the ingredients are all fully incorporated into the mixture and the mixture is nice and fluffy.

Spread a heaping spoonful of the ricotta mushroom mixture onto each toasted baguette slice. Top with a few fresh thyme leaves, and then sprinkle with a tiny pinch of paprika.

VARIATION: Instead of using the whipped ricotta as a topping for crostini, use it to sauce pasta. Simply use the recipe above to sauce 16oz. of dry pasta, adding about a teaspoon of salt, an extra dash or two of smoked paprika, and some additional thyme leaves.

OMG!!! I Baked a Cake!!!

Holy $#!t.  Last night, before having my heart broken by the Detroit Red Wings, I baked a cake.  Not only did I bake a cake, I baked a cake without a recipe and without firemen showing up.  Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.  Do you see that weather report?!?!? 

The first time I baked a cake, I was 19 years old and a freshman in college.  Broke as a joke, I couldn't afford to buy my mom anything nice for her birthday, so I decided that a homemade treat would be the best way to show her how much I care.  I whipped out her copy of "The Joy of Cooking," sifted through the recipes, and found one for which I had all the ingredients. 

I stirred, mixed, preheated, and did everything I was supposed to do.  I was going to make the best damn cake my mom ever tasted!  ...or so I thought.  The two layers didn't pop out of the pans like they were supposed to; half the cake stuck to the pan, leaving me with two concave half-cakes and a handful of crumbs.  Not to worry - frosting hides all sins.  Using crumbs like mosaic tiles and my homemade frosting as my grout, and I spackled and painted until the cake looked like it belonged on the cover of Martha Stewart magazine.  Then, using tubes of colored icing, I wrote the words "Happy Birthday, Mom!" in gorgeous edible calligraphy.  "I ROCK!" I thought to myself while I waited for her to get home from work. 

When my mom came home, she was certainly surprised - after all, at that point in life I had never used an oven unsupervised.  But the real surprise came when she took her first bite.  Anxious with enthusiastic anticipation, I watched her put the first forkful into her mouth.  Did she like it?

"Well honey, it's the thought that counts!"

What?!?  I didn't know whether to scream, laugh, or cry!  I tasted the cake to see how my beautiful creation could have been anything less than breathtaking.

UGH!  THE FROSTING TASTED LIKE SUGARY OCEAN WATER!  Yup, I must have somehow misread the recipe, because it tasted like I'd added about 1/4 cup of salt.  Calling it heinous would have been the understatement of the century, but my mom was right - it was the thought that counted, and to this day, we still laugh about my hilarious foray into the world of baking, and the gift of laughter was better than anything I could have purchased.      



Funny as the salt cake incident may be, I haven't exactly had much confidence in my baking abilities since.  I can do focaccia, and I've baked a few batches of cookies and dog biscuits, but cake?  Nah.  Besides, I'm not really a dessert person.  So what inspired me to bake a cake last night?

I have no idea.  Just a craving, I guess.  I wanted a light cheesecake that I could top with cooked, buttered apples. 

The Italians are pros at baking light, fluffy cheesecake-like dessert using ricotta instead of cream cheese.  In fact, I made one of these before.  It was supposed to have an almond crust, but since my crust stuck to my counter and the empty wine bottle I was using as a rolling pin, it ended up being more pudding than pie.  The filling turned out fine and tasted delicious, but crust?  Never again.  I avoid recipes that require me to bake a crust.  However, I hypothesized that I could cheat my way through crust by lining the bottom of a pie pan with crumbled cookies, pouring in the filling, and then topping it with more crumbled cookie crumbs. 

Grating nutmeg.

Turns out I was right!  I tested my hypothesis and ended up with a splendid cake, which I then topped with apples that I'd cooked briefly in nutmeg brown butter laced with a bit of sherry.  I've gotta bake this one for my mom - sure, it's the thought that counts, but it's the flavor that makes you want to go back for seconds!

Please note that there is no sugar in this recipe.  Feel free to add 1/4 c. sugar to the filling if you prefer a sweet cake.  Also, you can use ground nutmeg if you don't want to grate your own, but ground nutmeg is the culinary equivalent of Van Halen with Sammy Hagar instead of David Lee Roth - it just doesn't compare! 

Ricotta Cheesecake

12 Stella D'oro Margherites (or similar cookie)

15 oz. ricotta, liquid drained off

2 eggs

1/4 c. whipping cream

1 t. freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375.  In the meantime, use your hands to crumble 6 of the Stella D'oros, and use the crumbs to line a 9-inch cake pan with removable sides. 

Next, combine the ricotta, eggs, whipping cream, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Again, use your hands and crumble two of the Stella D'oros into the bowl.  Using an electric beater, beat the ingredients for about 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

Pour the ricotta mix into the cake pan.  Using a spatula, smooth the filling on top.  Now, crumble the remaining cookies and spread the crumbs evenly over the filling.  Place in the middle rack of your oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is set.  Let cool for at least 30 minutes, then serve with Apples in Nutmeg Brown Butter.

Apples in Nutmeg Brown Butter

2 Golden Delicious apples, finely diced

1/2 stick butter

1 t. freshly grated nutmeg

2 T. sherry



Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-low heat.  Cook until the butter begins to froth and give off a rich fragrance.  Now, add the nutmeg and stir to incorporate. 

Add the apples to the pan, increase the heat to medium, and stir for about 2-3 minutes until all the apples are coated with the nutmeg butter.  Add the sherry.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 more minutes, or until the apples have softened a bit. 

Use as a topping for ricotta cheesecake.  This would also make a good condiment to serve alongside slices of roasted pork tenderloin. 

Homeless for the Holidays Bake Sale, Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Beginning tomorrow, the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center is holding its “Homeless for the Holidays” bake sale to raise money for the shelter animals.  Thursday 12/9 – Sunday 12/12, from 9-5, delicious baked goods will be available to the public, including some bearing the Bacon, Butter & Booze logo!

After exhausting myself baking gazillions of treats for the shelter’s Howl-O-Ween bake sale, I swore I wouldn’t do this again unless I had help, but alas, I got down to business and baked my little heart out.  After all, it’s for the animals, and they don’t understand the concepts of being too busy or too tired.  So, I dropped the gloves (OK, oven mitts) and squared off to fight my fatigue in order to bake Roasted Garlic Focaccia Bread (click here for recipe), Canine Crumpets (click here for recipe), and several batches of delicious, moist, almost cake-like Lemon Ricotta Cookies (recipe below). 

If you are in the Boston area and able to swing by South Huntington Ave., you can sample some of these fabulous treats along with other homemade goodies and donations from some of Boston’s best bakeries.  If you cannot stop in, do try this yummy cookie recipe at home! 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 2/3 cups whole milk ricotta cheese, drained if necessary*

Zest from 2 large lemons

Juice from 2 large lemons, separated

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and the sugar.  Use an electric mixer, mix for approx 3-5 minutes, or until the sugar and butter are consistently combined.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. 

Next, add the ricotta, lemon zest, and juice from one of the lemons.  Beat this again until well-mixed, then add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix until wet and dry ingredients are fully incorporated and a sticky dough is formed. 

Using a spoon, portion approximately 2 tablespoons of the dough (roughly golf ball size) per cookie onto a baking sheet, leaving enough room between cookies for them to expand (they will end up about 3 inches in diameter).  It is best to prepare each baking sheet just before it is to go in the oven; if you prepare the sheets ahead of time, the dough will ‘melt’ and your cookies will turn out flatter, less fluffy, and may collide with each other on the sheet.   Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. 

While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze.  In a small bowl, combine the juice of the 2nd lemon and the powdered sugar.  Stir until a smooth glaze forms.  Set aside.

Once you remove each round of cookies from the oven, give them about 20 minutes to cool a bit.  Using a small brush (silicone ones are best, as you don’t have to worry about bristles falling out), brush each cookie with the glaze and set aside to allow the glaze to harden for at least 2 hours. 

OPTIONAL:  Channel your inner artist - sprinkle the glaze with colored sugar while the glaze is still wet, or, once the glaze has hardened, use colored icing or glaze in a small-tipped tube to draw fun shapes or designs.

*  Use a high-quality ricotta (I prefere Dragone brand) – some brands tend to be watery, which will affect the texture of the cookies.