A New Source of Scrumptious, Simple Recipes

Crazy delicious pasta e  fagioli,
courtesy of Chef Silvio Suppa.

Wish you knew how to cook up a fantastic marinara sauce? Think making fresh pasta from scratch is absolutely out of your league? Longing for amazing recipes that require only simple ingredients?

As I've learned in recent weeks, some of the dishes I'd always assumed could never be part of my repertoire are, in fact, deceivingly simple. Where did I learn this? Cooking classes.

No, I'm not talking about stressful, pricey lessons that for last weeks on end. No, you don't have to spend extra cash on kitchen supplies. And no, you certainly need not possess Iron Chef-like skills.

I'm talking a single two-hour weeknight outing that will prove to be fun, delicious, and educational - not to mention it's a lovely way to acquire some unbelievable new recipes while coming upon the revelation that cooking up some really great food is shockingly doable.

Today's Stefcations Highlights:

• What You'll Find: Several options for fabulous, user-friendly cooking classes.
• Where You'll Find it: Two of my latest finds include the Viking Center at 4 Laser Lane in Wallingford, Conn., and Martino's Italian Market  at 948 Terryville Avenue in Bristol, Conn.
• When to Go: Check their websites for upcoming class schedules, prices, and other details - Find Martino's classes here and the Viking Center's here.
• What It'll Cost: Usually around $60 a person, although you can find deals - like I did! - on LivingSocial, Groupon, and other deal-of-the-day websites. 

Sweet Victory

Super Bowl? Super delicious.

It's Superbowl Sunday, and this means good things are afoot.

Given my indifference to football, it's an event I would otherwise not have reason to acknowledge - were it not for the festive parties, wealth of beer, and heart attack-inducing snacks.

That said, I felt I had to do my part and whip something up for the shindig we'll be attending tonight. Since the chilis, chicken wings, and dips had all been claimed by other guests, I figured a dessert might be a good way to go.

Enter cupcakes, one of the universe's greatest gifts to humankind. You just cannot go wrong with them.

Rosemary Bread

Behold: Deliciousness.

Thankfully, the summer weather is still hanging around here in New England, but I know just from looking at the trees in my neighborhood that fall's inevitably on its way.

Some part of my sun-loving self always kinda dies inside when the cool weather kicks in, but once fall hits, I do find that I'm spending a lot more of my time in the kitchen, which seems to offer some level of comfort. And I'm the first to admit that I need some serious comforting once I realize summer's over.

Anyway, do I have any bread fans out there? I'm a huge lover of bread - well, carbs in general, really. And my favorite bread recipe, passed along to me from a friend and fabulous cook, is rosemary bread. It is so.damn.good. It offers the comfort factor of bread, with a kind of unexpected spice from the rosemary. I make it for just about every holiday feast, and often for dinner parties. It's great to bring along - maybe with a bit of honey butter, mmmm - to a potluck, too.

Not only does it take no time whatsoever to make, the ingredients are probably stuff you have on hand. Perhaps the wildest of the ingredients is the actual rosemary, but I'd think that most people have that floating around their spice rack somewhere.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of the lovely and genius Tammi:

Rosemary Bread
1. In a bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 4 teaspoons dried rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the zest from a lemon.
2. In another bowl, mix 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of apple juice, and 1/2 cup of olive oil (extra virgin).
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.
4. Pour into a lightly greased 9x9 square pan and baked at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until golden.

Voila. Cut it up and stack it on a plate with some fresh rosemary garnish to make yourself look super fancy. Oh, and if you like nuts (for me, meh), try some chopped up walnuts in there. It's seriously fantastic.

The Power of Pizza

If you've been on the East Coast recently, you may have heard about the hideousness that was Hurricane Irene. The flooding, the destruction of roads, homes, and trees, and the loss of power - in our case, for more than four days. Not a pretty sight.

Pizza, sans oven? = Love.

But fear not. Even with zero electricity, you can still cook up that singularly satisfying food that I'd personally want with me if I were ever to find myself stuck on a desert island: pizza. All you need is a grill and a grocery store nearby with power, where you can stop in for a handful of supplies.

Grilled pizza not only has a really great flavor, it cooks quickly and just plain looks cool, with its extra bubbles and lovely-looking char marks from the grill.

Here's the simplest version: