Merry Christmas from HERMAN

One of my all time favourite holiday traditions is the Christmas cards that come with newsie letters. Would I ever send one of these, NO WAY- but I absolutely love getting other peoples! One of my very clever friends decided to take it upon them to write a newsie letter from Herman's perspective. Those of you that know this person will for sure know who penned this little gem of a note, but everyone else might as well enjoy this hilarious holiday treat!- So without further adieu- Merry Merry Christmas from Herman! 

HO HO HO!

To my friends-family-and miscellaneous fans,

2011 has been a crazy year for a city pup like me! My mom always keeps me extra busy. I can’t believe I turned 2 people years in July (my mom had the best party ever for me with pupcakes!). I wanted to give you all a brief update on my happenings…


First, I want to go through all of my traveling throughout the year. In March, my mother took me to the Highlands with my kooky grandfather, my Uncle Winston and her best friend Laurie. It was so fun!
My mom didn’t think that I could hike all the way up the rocks, but I showed her (and Winston too!). My next trip was to Sea Island in May. I absolutely love going to the beach (except for all of the baths I have to get) & chasing other pups (regardless of their size). I was a little sad that we didn't get to stay in our own house, but our rental was almost just as great. My mom had about 10 of her friends over for a Junior Staff Reunion and I terrorized them so much. After those two adventures, I have been to my family’s homeland-- Athens, GA --many of times. I love visiting my grandmother’s house (and I always love to sleep in her bed with Uncle Bentley). I always eat lots of treats there and get to visit with my extended family. My young cousins are great and only are on my nerves some of the time.


As for my education, I am currently in the middle of 2nd grade. SPOT is the best school ever. We got a new headmaster, who is a little mean and demanding, but I guess she is alright. My report cards have all been good. I love showing my mom and Uncle Rex my high marks! Sawyer is my best friend at school and I really want to have him over for a sleepover soon. I keep telling my Mom that if Rex is able to have spend the night company, I am definitely old enough! I still wish that my Bullbeagle girlfriend Louie went to SPOT! My favourite subject is Agility. My school even entered me into a competition at Washington Square Park! I won 1st place out of almost a dozen other pups! My mom was so proud of me and was happy because it paid for a part of my tuition!


The biggest milestone of the year for me was moving into a new apartment. My mom and I lived in a studio on 7th Avenue and recently moved in with Uncle Rex, Carol T and Blakers on Waverly Place. I miss 7th Avenue because we had lots of dog neighbors and Uncle Rex always slept on the floor. I always had an eye on him and now he got his own room (no fair!). My new apartment is so much better though. We are so close to my favourite NYC park and I get to terrorize so many more people. There is also a huge hallway to play fetch & chase Rex. As for bad news, my heat & soul—BT (Bone Toy)—went missing. I wanted to file a missing person’s report, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She keeps telling me that Grandma found him, but is it really true? Guess you won’t find out until next year!


As for the future, I am really looking forward to going home for the Holidays (Christmakuh at my house) and to my Bar Mitzvah next month! You all will be invited!


Happy Holidays,


HERMAN MARIE ADAMS- 2011

Holiday Popcorn

I feel like this is one of those food/traditions that you love or hate. I am one of those people who loves the giant holiday tin of popcorn, filled to the brim with 3 delicious types of popcorn(we all know the cheddar and caramel disappear first....) Alas, no one sent a holiday popcorn tin to my apartment this year. So I decided instead of going out and buying myself one(sad?) I would just make some caramel popcorn. While the argument between caramel and cheddar is a tough battle, I am always a sucker for the salty/sweet combo, so caramel won out. 

I went to the grocery store thinking I would just get a box of bag popcorn and pop a bunch. Well when I realized that a huge jar of unpopped kernels was WAY cheaper, I decided it might be fun to go old school and pop it on the stove.....
I was quick to do some google research and came across this awesome set of directions. I followed these to a T and ended up with a giant bowl of perfectly popped popcorn. Now for the fun part- making the caramel topping!

Ingredients:
1 cup unpopped kernels
1 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweet condensed milk
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar

Directions:
-Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper
-Melt butter over medium heat, once butter is melted add the rest of the ingredients and combine. You need to stir constantly throughout this entire process!

-Once all ingredients are combined turn heat up slightly and bring ingredients to a boil.

-Boil for 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to lighten slightly. Then remove from heat and pour over cooled popcorn.

-Stir the popcorn until all kernels are coated. The pour onto baking sheet to cool! 

It was really hard to let it cool, and while it was yummy while it was warm, it was even better once it had a chance to set, so try to hold out! I also added a little extra sea salt to the top once I spread it out on the baking sheet! This stuff was SO good! It was also really easy to make! It would be a great holiday treat for friends and family or any easy sweet to set out at a holiday gathering! 

Hope everyone is getting into the holiday spirit! Herman will make a holiday appearance on the blog later this week in order to send out his holiday greetings! 

SquirmieHermie and Thanksgiving

So first off- on a not totally food related note- Herman has joined twitter. You can find him at SquirmieHermie- and he will be posting blog updates as well as all sorts of kooky things! I mean who wouldn't want to hear what this little guy has to say? 

On a more food related note my room-mates and I did a little pre-thanksgiving feast in our apartment. It was so good! We had turkey and gravy, sweet potato casserole(with crunchy and marshmallow topping), green bean casserole, mac and cheese, corn bread, and chocolate bourbon pecan pie. WOAH- It was a lot of food and it was all SO good!
I do not have all of the recipes as I did not do all of the cooking. I did contribute the following: green bean casserole, the recipe I used can be seen  HERE and I made the pecan pie(I make this pie every year for thanksgiving!)- that recipe can be seen HERE. I also made the sweet potato casserole and followed the recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking. Sweet Potato casserole is probably my favourite dish of the thanksgiving spread and I think this recipe is hands down the VERY best. This cook book is really great and this recipe alone makes it worth purchasing! The combo of Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock is pretty much a dream team, so if you don't have this cookbook put it on your Christmas list!

We went all out and even cleared out living room out enough to unfold the dining table so we could all fit. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for- and my weepy room-mate managed to only cry twice! It was a fun night and a great way to kick of the thanksgiving week! Now onto Christmas!!

Game-day Chilli and Cookies

This past weekend was a big football weekend in our apartment. We are a house divided with 2 UGA and 2 Auburn fans.(Good news though, the Bulldawgs dominated!!) We all have been going about 100 miles a minutes since the beginning of fall so we decided we would  hunker down and watch the game from the comfort of our living room. Since we were going to have friends coming and going I wanted to make something that could just sit on the stove all day and people could eat at their leisure- eureka, CHILLI! The weather here has been crazy and it does not feel like winter has gotten here at all, but luckily this past Saturday was cool and grey so chilli felt like the perfect comfort food. 
This chilli recipe is relatively simple and this is one of those foods where it is best to taste as you go. This way you can adjust the flavours to your preference. I do not like things to be super spicy so I went with a pretty classic chilli flavour profile and let people spice it up as they see fit. This was my first attempt at making chilli and I have to say it was a huge success. I made a giant helping, and there was barely enough left over for 1 lunch the next day! Everyone fixed theirs up a little differently and it was greatly enjoyed by all- a super easy way to feed a big group! Next time I will for sure make some corn bread to go along with it! 

Ingredients:
3 pounds ground chuck
1 can dark kidney beans
1 large white onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 green pepper chopped
1 large can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
black and cayenne pepper(to taste)
salt(add intermittently throughout cooking)
generous amount of chilli powder(I used almost half of my small bottle)


Directions:
-Sauté onion, garlic, and green pepper in olive oil until soft(lightly the coat the bottom of the sauté pan in olive oil)
-Add ground beef and cook until browned
-Drain grease from sauté pan and add contents of pan to large pot and place on stove
-Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste(also refill tomato paste can with water and add to the mix) and finally add all of the spices- then stir stir stir!!!
-Continue to taste and adjust throughout the cooking process
-Cook over low heat for at least 2 hours over low(simmering) heat
-Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and fritos or oyster crackers!

Here are some prep and cooking pics!

 

Compost Cookies:
I decided we would need something sweet to go with the salty/spicy chilli so I decided to try to recreate one of the best cookies I have had recently. Last week a co-worker brought back cookies from momofuku milk bar. I grabbed a compost cookie out of the box, and oh my goodness it was awesome. I am a huge fan of the sweet and salty combo, and this cookie had it all!

Ingredients:(dough recipe borrowed from this site)
2 C plus 2 T flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
12 T butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 t vanilla extract

Extras:
Chocolate chips
butterscotch chips
pretzels

Ruffles potato chips

(you can add just about anything, so customize it to your taste!)

Directions:

-Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in mediumbowl; set aside.

-Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients;mix until just combined. Stir in all the extra ingredients(chocolate chips, pretzels etc.)

-Take 1/4 C dough and form into a ball.  Break ball in half and place dough on cookie sheet with broken edge facing up. Bake until cookies are set around outer edges start to harden yet centres are still soft and puffy, 10-13 minutes.  Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

This cookie dough recipe is awesome! I was really happy with how the cookies turned out, but next time I will probably be even more liberal with the add ins- great way to get rid of all the mostly empty bags of snacks in the pantry! ENJOY!

Home

It's all in the name when it comes to this restaurant. I am going to keep this short and sweet because you can only constructively elaborate so much and this place was simply great. This tiny west village gem is a HOME run!! The small tables, and elegant back garden(equipped with heaters) is a cosy and elegant environment for enjoying plates of food that made me feel like I was back in GA for Sunday night family dinner. 

(pork chop with brussles and onion rings)

(skillet mac and cheese on the right and braised short rib with spinach mash potato on the right!)

                                     

(Skate with sweet potato and celery root mash and some crispy sweet potato chips)

The pork chop came highly recommended and was out of this world. The brussels sprouts it was paired with were delectable and the portion was enough to make a least a meal or two our of the leftovers! Any restaurant that is going for a comfort feel would be lost without a skilled of mac-and-cheese and this creamy dish did not disappoint. Everything on the menu looked good, and tasted even better! I look forward to visiting this spot regularly, as even for the west village it is very reasonably priced! So while nothing will ever completely compare to Mom's home cooking, this is a close and satisfying second! 

Home

20 Cornelia St

New York NY 10014

212-243-9579

Lazy Sunday Spaghetti

Halloween weekend is always a crazy one in NYC and this year was no disappointment. We had guests in from out of town and a few more parties than we could possibly attend. So once Sunday afternoon rolled around we were all tired and craving some comfort food. 
Since we were already weary from the weekend I decided to make the lazy version of baked spaghetti. There are only a few steps and it is oh so good! After a quick trip to the store we were ready to get cooking! I also like making this as you can do it all ahead of time and then it has to cook for quite a while so its allows for a good movie break after all of the prep work! 
I bought a good mixture of pre-made pasta sauces. I used about 3 1/2 jars. I like to mix the traditional (Prego is always good) with the more exciting (Mario Batali's roasted garlic and onion). I combined all of the sauces in a large pot and put in on the stove on low. I added garlic salt, oregano, pepper, red pepper flakes, and some balsamic vinegar. I let this all stew for about an hour and a half before it goes into the casserole dish.

Once the sauce is on I prep and cook the meat that I want to add to the sauce. Since we were going for comfort with this meal we decided to just go with some ground beef(but you could substitute just about any type of meat). I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. I also put a hearty scoop of minced garlic and some diced sweet onion on the stove in some olive oil to cook down. Once the onions were soft I added the ground beef and cooked it through.

Once the meat was cooked I added all of the contents of the sautee pan to the tomato sauce. The  sautee pan will have some liquid in it, but this will add great flavour to the sauce and will not thin it out. 
So once the meat is in the sauce I like to let it all cook for about an hour just so the flavour can fully develop. 
I also make a quick ricotta cheese mixture. A container of whole milk ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream and about a half bag of shredded mozzarella. I also ad some pepper and thoroughly combine all ingredients.

So once the sauce is ready I boil the noodles for about 6 minutes, you want them to be truly al-dente as they will continue to cook in the oven. I put a thin layer of sauce(about two ladles) and about 1/3 of the cheese in the bottom of the casserole dish. You can dollop the cheese and it will spread as it bakes. Finally I add the noodles and put the majority if cheese on top of them, and then top with sauce. 

I covered the whole dish with foil and cooked it on 325 for about an hour. Once the edges begin to bubble I pulled the casserole out and removed the foil. Last night I used the rest of the mozzarella cheese I had as a topper on the casserole. I put it back in the oven for about 15 minutes. This was the finished product. 

This was such a yummy dinner and allowed for a lot of left overs! We decided to go super simple and made a quick caesar salad and garlic cheese toasts. Everyone went back for seconds and we will be enjoying the spaghetti for at least one more night this week! 

So even after a long weekend when everyone is tired- it only takes a little bit of effort to get something "home-made" on the table! It was the perfect meal to get us ready for the coming week! This can also be made a head of time and put in the fridge until you are ready to cook it! Over all a definite fan favourite in our apartment!

Jazzing up Trader Joes

Trader Joe's does a good business on me and my room-mates. We all go ever other week or so to get staples and freezer meals for those night when you don't really have the time or motivation to cook. Between the 4 of us we have tried almost every dinner they offer. Items like mac and cheese or frozen pizza are always a good bet for a satisfying meal- but TJ's offers a much wider variety of frozen entrées for the more adventurous eater. While there have been some epic fails( succotash) there have also been some really yummy things. 
What I quickly realized about TJ food is it generally comes with a pretty good base flavour, but can lean towards the slightly bland side. A lot of these frozen dinner can be jazzed up into a really yummy meal pretty easily using things you almost always have around any ways. 

This is one of my best TJ finds to date. Simple roasted butternut squash risotto. It is warm and earthy which is what I am starting to crave at dinner as the temperatures in NYC drop! The first time I had it, I thought it was so-so, but quickly realized I knew what it was missing. Just a few simple additions catapulted this dinner from OK to awesome!

I follow the cooking directions on the bag. Another plus of this meal is it takes about 10 minutes to make! While the stock is thawing and mixing with the water I added a little salt and a generous amount of pepper. Once the rice and squash go in I added two small chucks of brie cheese. I also added a little more pepper as the ingredients were all mixing together! Once the risotto is ready I put it in a bowl and added a little grated parmigiana and a few drops a balsamic vinegar! The vinegar totaly makes the dish, it adds a whole different flavour profile and makes the sweetness of fall squash really come through! Over all I found this to be a huge success and it made me realize I could easily do this to a lot of TJ food. While nothing will ever compare to home-made, a few extra ingredients seem to go a long way!

Sorry this picture is so bad- the yellow bowl was not my best choice! This is the final product and honestly not only did this taste awesome, it looks pretty good too! It would be so good with some roasted brussels sprouts. So next time you are at the grocery store thinking that a frozen dinner looks OK remember you can fix it up and make it fantastic! 

Barbuto

Ever since Jonathan Waxman was referred to as the Yoda of cooking on Top Chef Masters I have been dying to try his restaurant. I have walked by it countless times. Nestled on a quiet corner of west 12th street, the big garage doors that(weather permitting) are always open- making the place seemed laid back and inviting. The room is open and the kitchen can be seen from almost every angle. You can watch the chefs masterfully working around the kitchen which brings a more personal feeling to the dining experience. The atmosphere is cosy and comforting- which as it turns out is a perfect reflection of the food that comes to the table. 

Our table decided to craft our own version of a tasting menu and order a plethora of items and share. We started out with the fall salad which was fantastic. It had pistachios, figs, pear and a sweet balsamic honey dressing. The crunchy pistachios and the sweet fruit were fantastic with the bibb and frisee lettuce mixture.

We also tired the bruschetta which was topped with a goat cheese and squash mixture. It was drizzled with balsamic and adorned with a piece lardo. I would never think to put squash and goat cheese together but the combination is out of this world. The goat cheese cuts the sweetness of fall squash and makes the texture more hearty. Served on a rustic piece of Italian bread, it was a perfect bite!

Since Barbuto prides itself on being a beacon of Italian cuisine we had to try the bolognese. It was fantastic. So warm and hearty it made you want to curl up by the fire. The noodles were cooked to perfection and it felt like something you should only be able to get from an ancient Italian grandmother. This dish made the giant wood burning oven and the homeyness of the restaurant make sense. It seemed to embody the idea that you don't have to be fancy to be fantastic. 

We also had the pork shank. It was paired with caramelized apple and fennel and was fall off the bone tender. Again it was not a fancy looking dish but the flavour was so comforting. We also had a side of brussels sprouts with our main course. These were hands down the best brussels sprouts I have ever had. They were roasted with hazelnuts which accentuated the crispy aspect that roasting provides. They seemed like they must have been cooking and developing the perfect flavour an texture for hours Again, a seemingly simple dish, but it was executed with such perfection you cannot help but marvel at the masterful level of food coming out of the open kitchen. 

This meal left me wanting more, and as soon as I can come up with a good reason to go out for a nice meal, this will be my destination. Our server was also nice enough to clue us into the fact that they serve lunch! I can now totally understand why Mr. Waxman is so highly respected by his peers. This place was simply phenomenal! 

Barbuto

775 Washington St

New York NY 10014

212-924-9700

Annisa

Last Friday night my Mom took me and 2 of my room-mates to Annisa. This restaurant has been on the top of my places to try list for a while! I LOVED Anita Lo when she was on top chef masters and her performance on the show ensured me this would be a fantastic dining experience. 
Annisa is a small and unassuming space nestled on a quiet stretch of barrow street in the west village. It has a cosy and sleek bar in the front of the space and an intimate dining room of only 18 tables. From the moment we walked in the door we were greeted, served and catered too by one of the most skilled and pleasant staff I have ever encountered in a restaurant. Each person we spoke to was knowledgeable, personable and genuinely interesting. Besides some large vases of magnolia and a few other small decorative details the space is super simple. The feel is comfortable and made sophisticated by the food adorning each table, which is really what you want to see in this kind restaurant. We were not there to look at the art after all!

After getting settled with a great bottle of champagne recommended by the bar tender we decided to opt for the 5 course tasting menu. I have had tasting menu's at several of NYC's most wonderful restaurants and I have to say this might have been the best one yet. Each course was interesting, artistic and delectable. 
The first course was  duo of hot and cold tuna. While I preferred the cold to the hot, both bites were satisfying and played off each other really nicely. The next course was a soup dumpling with seared foie gras and jicama. This was such a cool dish, and the flavours were phenomenal. I am always partial to foie gras, but the consistency of the dumpling and the broth were so comforting.

The fish course was a Olive oil poached halibut with blistered shishito peppers, almonds with lobster and coral sauces. The fish was cooked to perfection. The sauces were divine, super smooth and had a little bit of heat which was a perfect accompaniment to the mild fish. 
The beef course was also out of this world. Grilled wagyu beef with escargots, garlic chives and alba mushrooms. This course was super rich and hearty. The beef was the prefect medium rare, and it sat on top of a garlic soaked crouton which was fantastic. 
The dessert course is always one of my favourites. The way they served the dessert course was a first for me. They brought each person at the table a different dessert so we could taste lots of things, which was fantastic. They also brought a basket of cinnamon sugar beignets that were filled with butterscotch sauce. They were out of this world good! Each of the desserts was fantastic, and its hard to choose but I think they thing that impressed me the most was the poppyseed bread and butter pudding with meyer lemon curd. I could have eaten an entire casserole dish full of it! I think I may have to try to recreate this at home, though I am sure it will not be quite as good!
Over all Annisa exceeded my already extremely elevated expectations! The food, atmosphere and service left nothing to be desired. It was a truly elegant and enjoyable experience. Anita Lo was even in the restaurant and came out into the dining room several time to greet diners and observbe the service which I thnk is amazing. Next time you are looking for a culinary splurge this is this place to go!

Annisa
13 Barrow St
212-741-6699

I'm Still Here

So I know the blog has been neglected the last couple of weeks! Between a big room-mate BDAY, a house warming party, and the encroaching arrival of my mother I have been BUSY(that's just all the stuff on top of the normal work, life and dog activities).
I have not given up on the blog- not at all! I have some great recipes from the house warming party to post. Also since the mom will be in town, that means trips to lots of nice restaurants, which means reviews! So just a quick glimpse, to keep y'all coming back! A sneak peak list of things to come: recipes for Caesar salad bites, ham and cheese challah rolls(NYC grocery stores do not have biscuits), fluffernutters- and restaurant reviews for Stanton Social, Annisa, Barbuto, and Minetta Tavern.
So bare with me, the next couple weeks will get much more exciting around here. Now just for the fun of it- a gratuitous picture of Herman. He generally loves when I am cooking for the blog as some of it inevitably ends up on the floor, and thus in Herman's mouth. He does not however like being put on the menu- as seen below from his sad face when my room-mate put in a strainer. Still so cute though! See y'all back here soon for a more food related post!!

Recipe Thursday!(Lemon Pound Cake)

I am not generally a huge fan of pound cake, but this recipe comes from my Grandmother, Gran Doris- who makes a couple of the best dished I have ever had(Broccoli Casserole). This pound cake is pretty traditional but the secret ingredient(jello) somehow makes it one of the most flavorful and moist(hate that word, but there is really no substitute in this situation) pound cakes I have ever had!

Lemon Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix(I used Duncan Hines)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package Lemon Jello Powder

1 fresh Lemon

For Icing:
2 tbsp lemon juice(I used the kind from a bottle for this part b/c we had it in the fridge)
1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350*F. 
-In a large bowl, beat together yellow cake mix, eggs, cooking oil, water, lemon extract, vanilla extract, squeezed juice from one lemon and lemon jello powder for about 4 minutes.(I used my hand mixer)
-Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray(I used PAM for baking and it worked great!). Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until top turns golden brown like the picture above.  

-Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan onto serving plate. 
-To make the glaze: mix together powdered sugar with lemon juice. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake.(I made a double recipe of the glaze b/c everyone always wants extra!)

The flavor and consistency of this cake is superb! We have been eating it for a few days now, and I must say it has been a breakfast favorite! Would be a great thing to make for a weekend when you have company as its the kind of thing you can have a piece of any time of day! 

Zucchini Pizza

So this past week I jumped on the Pinterest train. It has turned out to be a fantastic place to get cooking inspiration! All of the pretty food pictures make me want to try every recipe I re-pin! So from here on out I plan to post one Pinterest recipe every week! The inaugural flight of the Pinterest recipe endeavour is a recipe for zucchini pizza, YUM! This is a great recipe for several reasons: it is super easy, tasted fantastic, and is a slightly healthier way to enjoy everyone's fav late night snack, PIZZA!

Zucchini Pizza

Ingredients:

2-3 large zucchini

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups cheese of choice(I used mozzarella)

1 1/2 cups pizza sauce of choice(I used Mario Batali's brand!)

Toppings of choice! Here is a chance to get creative! I used turkey pepperoni and lemon artichoke pesto!(pictured below)

Directions:

- Cut zucchini long way into 3/4 inch thick slices and brush each side with olive oil and dust with salt and pepper

-Heat grill to medium heat and preheat oven to 350

-Once the grill is ready place the zucchini slices on the grill and let cook for 7-8 minutes or until they have obvious grill marks and are starting to soften.(I used the George Foreman grill as my NYC apt does not allow for outdoor cooking and it worked great!)

-Remove zucchini from grill and place on baking sheet(I lined mine with foil for easy clean up!)- now its time for toppings! I put the pesto on first, then the sauce, cheese and pepperoni!

-Place baking sheet in oven and cook for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly!

               

Here are the side by side pictures after the zucchini came off the grill and after it came out of the oven! From start to finish this entire recipe probably only took about 25 minutes to prepare, which is great when you get a late start making dinner!

All of the room mates tried it, and it was met with rave reviews! This is a recipe I will for sure make again, and its nice that you can change it up so easily  by throwing some new toppings into the mix! Just a warning this is not a hand held meal like pizza, you will need a plate, knife and fork!