Star Wars Recipe - Spicy Peach Cobb Vanth aka Barely Italian Spiced Peach Cobbler

Chef Bretto is back in the kitchen and he's working with fresh, summer peaches. And like a good, young man should, he's wearing his Star Wars tee shirt!!!

Chef Bretto preparing Spicy Peach Cobb Vanth

It's hard to believe how much he's grown up since he first started pursuing his passion for cooking/baking. What's even better about his love of food, is that when he makes a dish, he learns to appreciate the ingredients more often than not. Take peaches, guess who enjoys them now???  😁 🍑

Today's Star Wars recipe was fine-tuned and prepared by Chef Bretto. It's a recipe that's been around for many years in our family and recipes similar to this are online.

I don't normally care for the smell or taste of peaches, but I must tell you, he's made a peach-liker out of me! I think it's because he added more fresh grated nutmeg and cinnamon to this. He's a spice lover!

As usual, you can find the free printable food label on the Star Wars Mom website.

 

Spicy Peach Cobb Vanth Recipe
aka Barely Italian Spicy Peach Cobbler

Chef Bretto proud of his homemade Chocolate Hazelnut spread. So I removed it from him after using the "excalibur butter knife on him," which only the greatest cook/chef, Alton Brown, can remove. :)

My son, Chef Bretto, is responsible for me blossoming in the kitchen, (outside of desserts, something I have always excelled in thanks to my mamma). He started watching Food Network and would quiz me as to why I did not use certain spices, oils, etc in my cooking. Honestly, up until that point, my spice rack consisted of garlic powder, onion powder, iodized table salt, pepper, cinnamon, and parsley flakes. If one could not make a meal out of those, we were out of luck. ;)

I am not going to lie. Chef Bretto began saying to me, "Why does Rachel Ray use EVOO and you use vegetable oil?"  or "Why does Giada use fresh garlic and you use powder? Jealousy owned me. My son thought other women were better in the kitchen than his own mamma. So I went to the store and bought some fresh herbs, EVOO, garlic cloves, etc and started cooking with them.
What a difference. Not only in the quality of my cooking, but even in my enjoyment, as the scents would invigorate me. Brett began joining me in my cooking adventures and he is a natural in the kitchen. I started calling him Chef Bretto, as he needed a good Italiano name! ;)

As time went on, Chef Bretto became a huge fan of Alton Brown. Sure he still loves Rachel Ray and Giada De Laurentiis, but Alton is hands down his favorite. He loves how Alton goes into history, teaches cooking techniques, and solves mysteries. 

When Chef Bretto found out Alton is going on tour, he asked me if we could go see him. Knowing that our budget is too tight (because we all have to make a lot of sacrifices in this family when I chose to give up my career for the time being to educate/care for my son, Levi, with autism), I told him to creatively think of a way to meet Alton. 

So while making homemade chocolate hazelnut spread the other day, he decided to "find a way to get Alton's attention" and he's hoping that others will help him make it come true by posting or linking to this photo and tagging Alton in it. His dream is to train under Alton someday and I hope for his sake it comes true. Chef Bretto is truly an awesome son and a chivalrous young man! At 12 years old, he is a better man than most grown men. :)

Buongiorno miei amata amici!


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Chef Bretto Replicating Ina Garten's Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

Buongiorno Miei Amata Amici!

I have learned that my children do not comprehend that ANYBODY can have a cooking blog. Thus, my 9 year old son, Chef Bretto, concludes I am a famous chef, because we write regarding our kitchen adventures.Who knew there were so many gluttons willing to listen to my off-key opera while cooking?

Currently, Chef Bretto and I have a goal to teach him a new kitchen skill or technique every few days. So I either search for a recipe or create my own to incorporate food we have available while giving Chef Bretto an opportunity to learn something unfamiliar.

Chef Bretto preparing lemon zest.

Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, has a highly rated recipe for Linguine with Shrimp Scampi. Chef Bretto and I had determined to make this dish. While we have lemons on hand quite often, I had never taught Brett how to grate lemon zest or juice a lemon for cooking/baking before. Disclosure, I still cringe every time he picks up a kitchen knife or grates food.

Nonetheless, I set forth to teach him this competence while concealing my fears, as he has a heart for creating meals. Watching him grate the lemon zest and finding delight in its scent made the experience less painful for me. :)

Next came chopping up the fresh parsley. He loves picking the herbs from our garden and savors the aromas. I am fascinated how Chef Bretto discovers that chopping the herbs releases more of their scent. He bathes his senses with stimulation by this pleasure.

It seems in our home, no time is spent in the kitchen without at least one mess or minor disaster. I am a messy cook! I dread cleaning up after myself.

Enter Daddy!  Steve comes waltzing into the kitchen to see what we are designing, usually this means he wants to start sampling the food. He often volunteers as a taste tester. Steve notices the butter melting in the olive oil and withdraws a butter knife from the drawer and gently pushes the butter around the pan. Setting the knife down he leaves the kitchen, unaware that Chef Bretto has observed this "new technique" of cooking. When I return to the kitchen, I hear this DREADFUL scraping noise. Yes, Chef Bretto has MASTERED the new technique of stirring the butter and olive oil in my calphalon non-stick skillet with a METAL KNIFE!!!

Chef Bretto preparing Shrimp Scampi with Linguine Recipe by Ina Garten

In shock of watching my pan be destroyed, I screamed out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I see the look of hurt on his face and I realize he thought he was quite adroit at this cool method. Aye, aye, aye! I humbly apologize for my outburst and taking the knife from his hand, I hand him a wooden spoon/spatula and check to see if our meal is safe to consume or spiced with non-stick coating flecks.

Chef Bretto and I sample the complete Scampi and both of us come away stunned the citrus has overpowered our garlic. Disappointed, we seek a way to salvage our meal. We have found that fresh garlic does not go over well with our family. It must be sauteed first to soften its sting.

Chef Bretto sampling his masterpiece.

In desperation we add a little cream and quite a bit of Parmesan Reggiano. It lessens the citrus, but the garlic appears lost. It's too late to cut up more garlic and saute it. This is not the Shrimp Scampi we know and love. When Scampi is ready, it must be served or the shrimp will be overcooked and the linguine will be cold. Reluctantly, we agree that our family will hopefully find they can like a strong lemon taste in their dinner.

The family did eat dinner, but nobody cared for the lemon conquering the garlic. Our family is of the idea that lemon is more for desserts and drinks, than main dishes. However, I am confident that if I were a professional chef, I would have known how to soften this blow. Do you have any suggestions on how to recover from too much lemon in a dish? Do you have a favorite Shrimp Scampi recipe?

Sausage Potato Boats Recipe by Chef Bretto AKA  Salsiccia di patate Barche

• 8 potatoes
• Olive oil
• Sea Salt (fine or coarse)

• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 Tablespoons of minced/finely chopped onions
• 2 Tablespoons of minced/finely chopped garlic
• A shake of Red Peppers (I use red chili powder when keeping it family friendly or use red pepper flakes to spice it up)
• 1 lb of Italian Sausage (I use Johnsonville's Sweet Italian Sausage Links which add basil for the sweetness or mild for family friendly, hot for spicing it up)
• Splash of dry white wine (enough for deglazing)

• 1 Cup of Heavy or Whipping Cream  (Italians do not really use Sour Cream, though they often use Heavy Cream and Balsamic Vinegar in the same recipe which is much the same as Sour Cream. You can substitute 1 cup of sour cream for the cup of heavy cream and tablespoon of vinegar)
• 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons of Chives (Fresh or Freeze dried)

• 1 cup of Milk
• ½ Cup of Butter
• Fresh or Dried Parsley, chopped
• Fresh or Dried Basil, chopped
• Couple of dashes of white pepper
• 1 or more cups of Parmesan and Romano cheese blend

• 8 Tablespoons of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Melted Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a baking pan (such as a jellyroll pan 11X17 pan with a lip) with a sheet of baking paper or foil.
3. Scrub the skins of the potatoes clean and then pat dry. Oil the outside of each with olive oil and then rub some sea salt on them and place on the pan. Put in the oven and cook for 1 hour. The oil and salt make for a DELICIOUS skin on the outside of the potato.
4. About ½ hour before the finish cooking, put 2 T of olive oil and the bay leaf in a skillet. When the oil is heated, add onions, garlic, and red pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. (Always make sure the oil is heated before adding or it will make your onions greasy, but never so hot that it is starting to smoke.)
5. Add the Italian Sausage to the skillet and mix it in with the onion and garlic mixture. Cook until Italian Sausage is no longer pink or lightly browned.
6. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine. (I pull my pan off the burner when adding the wine to ensure we don’t start a fire, then put it back on the heat and stir.)
7. Check to see if your potatoes are finished when baked for one hour by piercing with a knife to see if they are tender. Sit them aside to cool for about 10 minutes before proceeding. 
8. Take 1 cup of heavy cream and place it in the large mixing bowl. Add one tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar to it. Remember, if you don’t want to take this step, you can just use sour cream in place of the heavy cream and vinegar. After about 5-10 minutes, stir in the chives and sit aside.
9. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice lengthwise in half. Scoop out the softened potato out of the center of each and place into a large mixing bowl with the cream mixture in it, but be sure to leave a thin lining of potato on the skins (if you remove too much potato…the skins will tear or collapse). Leave the potato boats on the baking pan.
10. Mash the potatoes (we use a hand masher to leave them a little chunky). Add the butter and milk.  Stir in the parsley, basil, white pepper, and cheese.
11. Pour the contents of the skillet into the potato mixture and finish combining.  
12. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins. Use it all, it is okay to mound it up on top.
13. Sprinkle the tops of the potato boats with the breadcrumbs and then drizzle butter over the breadcrumbs.
14. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 more minutes at 350 degrees.
15. Serve hot with a side of salad or a green vegetable.