Buffalo Chicken Stromboli

Super Bowl Sunday is almost here! I'm sure you're all busy planning your menus, so I thought I'd share this awesome Buffalo chicken stromboli recipe. You start by simmering chicken in Buffalo sauce, then you mix it with cheese, fold it inside some puff pastry, and bake the whole thing. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser, and it's really easy to make.

I made two versions, one with cheddar cheese and one with cheddar cheese and blue cheese. And then I whipped up a blue cheese dip on the side, which was a great partner for the stromboli as well as Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps and celery sticks.

Buffalo Chicken Stromboli (adapted from Cook's Country and allrecipes.com)
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Makes 2 stromboli, serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds), trimmed and cut in 1-inch strips
1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Sauce, plus more to taste
3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
1 (17.3-ounce) package puff pastry, thawed
Blue Cheese Dip, optional (recipe below)
Celery sticks, optional

Preparation

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken and 1/2 cup hot sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until chicken is cooked. (I would err on the side of under- or just-cooked as the chicken will continue to cook in the oven too.)

Shred chicken and toss with sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain chicken and divide between two medium bowls. Stir blue cheese and 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese into one bowl of chicken.

Stir remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese into other bowl of chicken. Stir in additional hot sauce if desired (I know some of you are braver than I am).

Unfold one pastry sheet on lightly floured countertop. Roll pastry into 10- by 14-inch rectangle.

With short side facing you, spoon one bowl of chicken mixture down center of puff pastry. Fold the long sides to the center over the chicken mixture, and press to seal. Tuck and seal ends. Then place stromboli seam side down on one side of large baking sheet.

Repeat with remaining sheet of pastry and remaining chicken mixture and place stromboli seam side down on same baking sheet.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until puff pastry is golden brown, turning halfway through.

Let cool 5 minutes. Cut each stromboli into 1- to 2-inch thick slices.

Serve with Blue Cheese Dip and celery sticks, if desired.

Blue Cheese Dip (adapted from Saveur)

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
2 scallions, trimmed and sliced thin

Preparation

In medium bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sour cream, and heavy cream. Using rubber spatula, fold in blue cheese and two-thirds of the scallions. Transfer to serving dish and top with remaining scallions.

What are you making for the Super Bowl? Let's go, Pats!

Pizza Social At Stone Hearth Pizza Co.

Last Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending a pizza social along with some other local bloggers at Stone Hearth Pizza Co. While Stone Hearth also has locations in Belmont, Cambridge (where I've been several times), and Needham, we were all gathering at the newest location in Allston.

The Allston location is housed in a refurbished Citgo gas station. It's a pretty cool space, with large, windowed garage doors at the front and decorative strands of white lights.

I ran into Bianca on the bus on the way over, so we walked in together to find a long table set up for our group. The table was decked out with dishes of fresh heirloom eggs, pint glasses adorned with the Clown Shoes logo, and pamphlets with information about our hosts.

The social was hosted by Stone Hearth, Pete & Gerry's, and Clown Shoes. Stone Hearth was founded on the principles of SOL: sustainable, organic, and local. You can read more about the measures Stone Hearth takes to create a sustainable space at each of their restaurants over on their website. Stone Hearth uses organic and local ingredients and has even taken that one step farther to buying, cooking, and serving "clean food," which according to them is "foods whose origins we know, trust, and that is being produced in ways that preserve the earth and our increasingly scarce resources." 

It's no surprise then that Stone Hearth would be highlighting and sharing with us companies like Pete & Gerry's, known for their organic, local eggs and commitment to sustainable farming, and Clown Shoes, a Boston-based beer company.

Once most of the group had arrived, Sean, a brand manager at Clown Shoes, poured our first beer of the evening: Clementine. This Belgian-style white ale was very light bodied and crisp with lots of bright citrus notes.

As we sampled this white ale, we also nibbled on some of Stone Hearth's tasty appetizers. The Parmesan flatbread is one of my favorites. It's simply pizza dough oven-fired with garlic-infused oil and topped with some Parmesan and seasonings. It has that perfect chewy texture you'd expect and it goes perfectly with the melanzana, a roasted eggplant spread.

The meatball poppers in spicy tomato sauce were another appetizer I remembered from previous visits. They're made from locally raised beef and stuffed with mozzarella and spices. You can actually get the poppers in the spicy tomato sauce, regular tomato sauce, or a creamy roasted onion and herb sauce. It's worth trying all of them.

The cheddar-covered olives were new to me and definitely a more unusual appetizer. They're green olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, covered in cheddar cheese dough, and baked until they're nice and crisp.

Once we'd had our fill of appetizers, all the salads arrived. Stone Hearth has an amazing selection of salads, and they range from a basic Caesar to an arugula and portobello salad. The spinach salad with avocado is definitely my favorite.

Stone Hearth Caesar: romaine and radicchio mix with house made croutons and grated Parmesan

Shaved celeriac, pears, and romaine

Spinach & Avocado: Fresh spinach served with sliced avocado and shaved red onion

We moved on to the next beer, and the jokes ensued as soon as everyone heard the name: Tramp Stamp. Clown Shoes definitely likes to have a little fun with its beer. Tramp Stamp is described as a bodacious Belgian IPA, with soft but complex malts and sweet orange peel.

We enjoyed the IPA while playing a competitive game of beer, egg, and pizza trivia, and then we feasted on the variety of pizzas Stone Hearth had to offer.

Bacon & Blue: Garlic oil, julienned zucchini/squash blend, mozzarella/provolone blend, smoked bacon, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes, and finished with fresh basil

Prosciutto & Pineapple: Signature tomato sauce, mozzarella/provolone blend, and scallions

Farm Fresh: Garlic oil, cherry tomatoes, charred red/yellow peppers, Yukon Gold potatoes, artichoke hearts, green olives, fresh mozzarella, and topped with a salad of arugula, red onion and prosciutto

The Bean: Garlic oil, white bean spread, fresh mozzarella, sautéed red onion topped with a spinach, red onion, and pesto salad

The Divine Goddess: Healthful version of a white pizza. Garlic oil, topped with a mixture of fresh spinach, broccoli, local ricotta cheese and finished with our cheese blend and a pinch of Parmesan

A new pizza made with kale, sausage, and King Richard leeks

While I have enjoyed any Stone Hearth pizza I've ever tried, for me, nothing beats the Bacon and Blue.

As we were filling up on pizza, Sean poured us each a glass of the Brown Angel, a double brown ale with obvious notes of chocolate and coffee.

Our final beer came with the dessert course and is called Supa Hero. This India pale ale is going to be ever-changing, using the finest hops available at brew time.

As for dessert, we were able to sample some Custard for a Cause. This egg custard is made with Pete & Gerry's heirloom eggs and will be available year-round with different toppings, depending on what's in season locally. We had the wintry version with a maple and walnut topping. I was a little worried because I'm not much of a custard fan, but this custard is more like a firm vanilla pudding than a flan in texture, and I really liked it.

We also got to try some purple sweet potato gelato made by fellow blogger Dan from The Food in My Beard. This was the most uniquely flavored gelato I've ever tried, and it definitely tasted just like sweet potatoes.

A huge thank you to everyone at Stone Hearth, Ken from Pete & Gerry's, and Sean from Clown Shoes for making this such an incredible evening, teaching us more about their great companies, and treating us to such delicious food and beer.

This dinner was complimentary, but my opinions are my own. I've had Stone Hearth pizza several times before, and it's always a great experience.

Have you been to Stone Hearth before? Or do you have a local pizza restaurant that's committed to sustainable, local, organic, and community?

Easy Brussels Sprout And Bacon Orzo

This easy brussels sprout and bacon orzo is one of those dishes that doesn't require too many ingredients, takes less than a half-hour to make, and instantly hits the spot. I wanted something comforting but not too heavy, so I thought the combination of orzo, brussels sprouts, bacon, and Parmesan would be perfect. As I tasted the finished dish, I noticed it needed just a little zing, so I stirred in some citrus champagne vinegar. You could just as easily add a squeeze of lemon and a little white wine vinegar.

Easy Brussels Sprout And Bacon Orzo
Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 cup orzo
2 slices bacon
10 brussels sprouts, trimmed and shredded (using slicing blade of food processor)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon citrus champagne vinegar

Preparation

Cook orzo according to package directions in salted water.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plate. When cool, crumble and set aside.

Cook brussels sprouts in skillet in bacon grease along with 1 tablespoon olive oil, until softened and golden brown. Reduce heat to low, and stir in thyme.

Once orzo is ready, drain it and stir it into brussels sprouts along with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Then stir in Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Off heat, stir in vinegar. Transfer brussels sprout mixture to dish, top with crumbled bacon, and dig in!

Are you on the brussels sprout bandwagon?

Lentils With Broiled Eggplant

As you know, I'm striving to cook with lentils more often this year -- and my obsession with Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty is making it very easy. The book has a section called pulses, which contains a number of interesting lentil recipes, but I actually found this recipe in the eggplant chapter.

After I made the broiled vegetable soup (a recipe I also found in Plenty), I became quite comfortable with throwing eggplant under the broiler and loved how the innards became so soft and creamy using this method. When I saw this colorful lentil dish, topped with broiled eggplant, I knew it would hit the spot.

The combination of tender lentils, sweet tomatoes, bright herbs, Cabernet vinegar, smoky eggplant, and cool, tangy Greek yogurt is mouthwatering. The number of textures and flavors weaved throughout this dish make it interesting and exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can't wait to make it again.

If you think lentils are boring, this is your gateway recipe. 

Lentils With Broiled Eggplant (adapted from Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi)
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Ingredients

2 medium eggplants
2 tablespoons Cabernet vinegar
Salt and pepper
4 small carrots, peeled
2 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
3 thyme sprigs
1/2 white onion
1 cup small dark lentils (such as Puy), rinsed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (I used Muir Glen Reserve Harvest Sunset Diced Tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon roughly chopped parsley
1 tablespoon roughly chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon roughly chopped dill
Greek yogurt, for serving

Preparation

Pierce eggplants in a few places with a small, sharp knife, place on a foil-lined sheet pan, and cook directly under the broiler for about 1 hour, turning with tongs about every 15 minutes, until eggplants are deflated and their skin is charred.

Remove eggplants from oven, and adjust oven temperature to 275 degrees.

Cut a slit down center of each eggplant, and scoop flesh out into a colander. Let drain for 15 minutes, then transfer flesh to a bowl and season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of the vinegar.

While eggplant drains, cut one carrot and half of a celery stalk into large pieces, and place them in a medium saucepan. Add bay leaf, thyme, onion, and lentils to saucepan.

Cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Drain in a sieve. Discard carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and onion.

Transfer lentils to a mixing bowl, and stir in remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of oil, and plenty of salt and pepper.

While lentils are simmering, dice remaining carrots and celery. Mix with tomatoes, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, brown sugar, and some salt in an 8- by 8-inch (or other similar-size) baking dish.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until carrots are tender but still firm. (I ended up pumping the oven up to 350 after 15 minutes to ensure the carrots would get tender in the last 5 minutes.)

Stir the lentils into the carrot mixture.

Then stir in the parsley, cilantro, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon lentils into serving dishes, and top with broiled eggplant.

Garnish each dish with a dollop of Greek yogurt, and serve.

What are your favorite lentil recipes?