Easy harvest salad....

Take 4 tomatoes, seeded and diced, 2 stripe-peeled cucumbers, diced, 1 cup chopped fresh broccoli, 1 small can drained Garbanzo Beans, chopped onion and green pepper if you like and 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese. Mix all in a large bowl with 1 cup italian dressing, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Quick, fresh and delicious.

What recipes would you like too see

Help me out a bit and give me some direction. What is it that you all would like to see here? I would love to have your input and suggestions. If you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share, email it too me. I will test it and put it on the blog. I might even put my own little twist on it if you don't mind.
My Email is Roccogandy@aol.com

Leave a comment below if you like, I love the feedback!

Spending a few days at Lake Powell and just had the best fajita's ever! Food just tastes better down here!

BLT is 'Beta' with Feta

I love a good BLT. Something about it just gets my mouth watering. Usually I put cheddar cheese (in it's sharpest variety) on my BLT but did not have any tonight. There is something that the Gandolph Family always has in the fridge. My kids even like it - good old Greek feta cheese. I use feta in sauces, on salads, sandwiches, crumbled on pasta...you name it. Captain Feta would be a new cereal if I were in charge.

Tonight I had some fresh tomatoes from my garden and collected whole wheat bread, romaine lettuce, mayo, salt and pepper. I putting these together and topped it off with hot bacon and a thick slab of feta. YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM! Seriously it was that good.

Years ago Carrie and I went to Greece and stopped by a small deli-type shop on Patmos. We had rented scooters that day and just had a blast cruising around the island. The shop we ended up in had barrels of olives and cases of feta cheese. I was in heaven. That is what this sandwich reminded me of. Sometimes it's not the meal that takes forever that is most rewarding or delicious. Sometimes it's as easy as this sandwich. Comfort food at it's finest!

Sunday Hot Breakfast....Rocco Style!

This morning I had a great idea that turned into an instant Gandolph family Sunday breakfast smash. I buy Boboli pizza crusts in the two pack whenever I go to Costco. Usually they make such a simple lunch or dinner, this morning they made magic.

Preheat oven to 425. This recipe is for TWO breakfast pizzas.
Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet and add 10 eggs. Scramble the eggs, add salt and pepper to taste; set aside.

Take 2 sausage patties (not links.) You can find these at Walmart in the frozen food section. I buy the maple flavor....you? They are precooked so I heat them for 1 minute in the microwave and then dice them into 1/2 inch pieces.

Cook up 6 slices of bacon, cool and dice.

Spray a cookie sheet with PAM. Place the Boboli crust cheese side up on the sheet. Spread 1/2 cup alfredo sauce (from a jar is OK) over crust. Sprinkle mozzarella or cheddar cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle the scrambled eggs on top of the cheese followed by the sausage and bacon.  (If you have some fresh spinach, that would be great to add.) Finish things off by adding a little more cheese to the top to hold everything together. Bake for 12 minutes and enjoy. Gandy

Beef Taco Pasta with Sour Cream Freezer Meal #5

This one was originally made with the kids in mind, but I can't lie, I love it as well. Think of it as a grown-up version of Mac & Cheese.

Cook 2 lbs elbow macaroni in salted water until done. (I like my pasta a tiny bit firm as the baking process will cook it a little longer.) After cooking rinse in cold water, drain and set aside.

In a skillet, cook 1 lb ground beef in 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 2 tsp granulated garlic, 2 tsp granulated onion, and 1 Tbsp ground cumin. If you like onions, dice up 1/2 cup and throw that in as well. When done, drain the fat and set meat aside.

For the Cheese sauce: 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup flour, 6 cups milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 cup grated cheddar cheese, 1/2 pint sour cream and 4 oz diced green chilies.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Blend in flour and gradually add milk, stirring constantly; add all seasonings. Cook until the sauce is thickened. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Add sour cream and green chiles.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, meat and cheese sauce. Spray the pan you will use and pour contents of bowl into the pan. Top with bread crumbs, cover and freeze. Make sure to thaw completely before baking. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes. Enjoy, Gandy

4 Cheese Baked Ziti... Freezer Meal #4

This is an all-time favorite of mine. Many times this is made too simply and the result is just ziti, sauce and cheese. I believe in layers of flavor and this meal should have many layers. We will start with a rich sauce worthy of the dish and top it off with real ricotta cheese and fresh mozzarella. This recipe reminds me of my second mom, Mrs. Kruger (or Mrs. K.) She always made the best ziti and I could eat the whole pan by myself. If ever there was a meal made just for Sunday with the Family...this is it. Enjoy.

Sauce:
Brown 1 lb ground beef in a skillet. While cooking, add 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp granulated garlic, and a tsp each salt and pepper. Once cooked, drain liquid and set aside.

In a large skillet heat 1/8 cup olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter until butter is melted. Add 2 Tbsp minced garlic (packed in liquid) and slightly brown the garlic. Add 2  cans diced tomatoes with juice (do not drain) lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1/8 cup of Italian seasoning, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp granulated onion and granulated garlic; mix. Once this comes back to a boil, add 2 small cans of tomato sauce and 1 can tomato paste; mix well. Add meat mixture and bring back to a slow boil. Cook 5 minutes more. and the sauce is done; set aside.

Cook 2 lb ziti pasta in salted water until done. Drain; rince in cold water and drain again. Add sauce to the pasta and mix well. Set aside.

Empty one pint of ricotta cheese into a medium-sized bowl. Mix in 4 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/8 cup Italian seasoning and 2 tsp granulated garlic. Mix until smooth.

Take 1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Spray your freezer pan with cooking spray (like PAM) and place 1/2 of the pasta/sauce mix in the bottom; spread to each corner. Spoon 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top into 12 little scoops evenly distributed (do not spread.) Take half of the mozzarella slices and place between the ricotta scoops. Spread the remainder of the pasta mix on top and repeat the ricotta/mozzarella layers. Cover the whole thing with 2 cups shredded low moisture mozzarella. Cover and freeze.

Thaw completely before heating. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. The fresh mozzarella will melt through this dish and the low moisture Mozz will seal everything together, the Ricotta will demand you devour as much as you can handle.  Cheese, Cheese, and more Cheese! Thanks Mama K....Enjoy. Gandy

Want something fun the family will love, make some Italian soda to go with this meal. Quick easy and aweosme!

  Italian Soda

Fill a glass 1/3 with ice followed by 7-up (diet soda works well too). Add ½ ounce desired flavored syrup; top it off with ½ inch of half and half. Stir and enjoy. This works best with a straw and it's fun too. Your supermarket should have some flavored syrups on the coffee isle. Amaretto and Irish Cream work well. Good luck.

Freezer Meal #3 Ham Potato & Cheese

               This is a staple in our home and an awesome cold weather meal that screams, "Comfort Food." I always make extra potatoes to use the next day for breakfast home fries. Enjoy...gandy

Ham Potato & Cheese

10 medium-sized potatoes, cubed and boiled in salted water until tender

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

 1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 pound ham, cut into cubes

In a large mixing bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, mushroom soup, salt, pepper, 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar and all of the parmesan cheese. Mix well and then fold in cooked potatoes. Grease your freezer pan and spread mix evenly in pan. Top with the rest of the cheddar and sprinkle bread crumbs on top. This needs to be thawed and cooked at 325 for one hour.

 I like it with a little hot sauce, but it can stand on its own.

Happy Birthday Chaz....Congrats to Robbie and Christina

Would like to throw out a Happy Birthday yell for my son Chaz. He is 18 years old today!
Great kid, great sandwich maker, great son.

My nephew Robbie married his sweetheart Christina this afternoon, surrounded by family. Robbie is my biggest food supplier for Rocco's. With Christina and her daughter, I just gained 2 more nieces! It's all about family and I could not be happier. I wish them happiness and love. And good food of course!

                                                      

BBQ Beef Ribs and Rice...

I love BBQ. And making a freezer meal with BBQ beef was alot of fun. Remember that you want the meals to be all-inclusive, so throw in what you like in a meal. I started this one by taking 6 large boneless ribs, dousing them with BBQ sauce (I make my own, recipe on the bottom) and putting them in the oven at 325 degrees for about an hour. Remove from oven and let cool. Skim fat off the top and discard. Make sure to save the rest of the BBQ liquid.

Cook up some rice using chicken stock instead of water. The flavor is amazing.

Place enough frozen corn on the bottom of your freezer pan and reach to all four corners. Next, place about an inch and a half of rice over the corn; spread evenly. Cut the ribs into bite-sized slices and spread over the rice. Take the juice from the ribs and mix with 1 cup of BBQ sauce; pour this over the contents of the pan. Cover and freeze.

Thaw this all the way before cooking. If you take it out of the freezer in the morning before work, it should be ready by 5PM. Cook for an hour at 325. Enjoy, Gandy

Beef Rib BBQ Sauce...

2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/8 cup smoked paprika

2 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

Mix the ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cayenne and chili powder in a medium sized bowl; set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet; sauté the garlic for 1 minute. Add dry mixture and heat to a boil; remove from heat. (You want to melt the sugar but not kill the sauce.)

Freezer Mael Number One...Turkey Dinner

This is not one of the meals we made yesterday, but I made it today and it is very good. Make sure you are using a disposable aluminum pan w/ lid for each of your freezer meals. [This way you are not having your good household pans sit in the freezer.] Sams Club has aluminum pans with the lids that fit them in the restaurant smallwares section. They are very affordable. Also, you can find pans at your local dollar store, but you may have to cover them with a good foil.

Recipe: Take a bag of frozen corn and layer it on the bottom of a greased pan. Make a box of your favorite stuffing mix and spread it on top of the corn. Take 4 large boneless skinless turkey breasts. Fillet them in half so they are thinner. Cook them in a frying pan with about 1.4 cup of  olive oil and 2 cups of chicken stock. Brown each side for about 5 minutes, then cover and cook on low heat until done (about 15 minutes). Remove the meat, set aside, and save the leftover juice for gravy:

Add 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup flour to the leftover juice. (In the flour section of your grocery store is a flour called "Wondra." It by far makes the best gravy.) Whisk well while heating. Add one package of turkey gravy mix and more water if needed.

Slice the cooled turkey into strips, layer it on top of the stuffing and pour the gravy all over the top of the turkey. Cover and freeze. When you wish to serve this, take it out of the freezer the day before and thaw. Cook thawed meal at 325 for 50 minutes to an hour. This is a simple idea that will be a quick meal whenever you need one. Enjoy. Gandy

Great Gobbler

Thanksgiving is right around the corner so I decided to experiment with a Turkey Panini that will make those leftovers even better. Try this sammy and you will want to skip right past Halloween! Enjoy.

I think that panini is the only way to go here, but grilling the bread will also work.

Take two slices of bread (I like Wheat on this one); spread mayo on one side, cranberry sauce on the other. (Use whole cranberry sauce, not jellied.) Put fresh spinach leaves on top of the cranberry. To the turkey, add some cream cheese and provolone and then heat this mix. Put the heated mixture onto the bread.

Grill, and you are set to cheer for your favorite football team. Gandy

Freezer Meals with Brian

Spent the afternoon cooking some freezer meals with my Nephew Brian. It took us about 2 hours but we did it. Here is what we made...

1. Balsamic Tomato Baked Ziti with Beef, Fresh Mozzarella and Ricotta.
2. Beef Taco Macaroni with Green Chiles and Sour Cream.
3. Chicken Teriyaki with Pineapple
4. Chicken, Cheese and Rice (a family favorite)
5.Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo with Fresh Spinach and Homemade Sauce.
6. Ham Potato Cheese

All are easily frozen, thawed and re-heated. We made 2 trays (4 total) of each (of the above 6) entree for both of us. This was a total of 24 [13x9x3in] trays. This is tons of food for those cold winter evenings.
And the price?.....About $125 for each of us. This equates to about $10.42 for each tray. That is awesome. I will post the recipes one at a time each day for the next 6 day's.

Welcome to Rocco's Recipe Exchange

This is something I've always wanted to do - talk food and share idea's with other would-be chef's around the world. I have loved cooking since I was a teenager. Thinking food and creating with food comes naturally to me. There was a scene in the movie City Slickers where two brothers who owned a Ben and Jerry's type ice cream company would match the perfect ice cream with whatever food someone suggested. That is me. Give me some basic ingredients and a little spice and I can create anything.

I would like to share thoughts, recipes or just about any idea's you have to make food taste better. So, let me know family tricks you might have or shortcuts we all could love.

I would love any feedback you have for me. Rocco

My newest contributor...

Would like to welcome my big sister Sharon (Sinclair) to the Blog. If you notice Typo's and horrendous verbiage, there are two reasons...
1. I am a foodie! I create, I experiment, I combine things you would never dream of. Sometimes they actually taste great!.
AND...
2. Sharon has not yet read the error-ridden post!

Sharon will proofread and correct any mistakes she finds. That is why Family is so important. They make me look better than I am! The first thing she wanted to change was the "Sexy Bald Guy" line in the logo. Silly Sharon, that was no TYPO!
Thanks Sis...Love you!

My Original Plan

  Sharon's New Plan

The best "No Meat" sandwich you will ever have

You all know that I am a serious carnvivore. I love meat. I love the traditional sandwich meats like Turkey, Chicken, Roast Beef, Ham and Salami (In all of it's glorious forms.) But, I also like the extreme meats as well - Cappicola, Soppresetta, Italian Sausage, Proscuitto, Pastrami, Corned beef and even Mortadella.

Lately at work in the kitchen I have been a grilling freak. I started out grilling everything Pastrami, and then when my buddy Tyler got back from Philadelphia (Take away the hated Phillies and I love that place) I cooked authentic Philly Steaks until my Cholesterol hit an all time high. Now I have been experimenting with meatless sammys that are flat out incredible.

Get that griddle or frying pan hot and make yourself a lunch you will not soon forget. Try this one and let me know what you all think:

Ingredients...Fresh sliced Mushrooms, Onions, Peppers, Roasted Red Peppers, Sliced Black Olives, Sliced Banana Peppers (or Pepperoncini), Crumbled Feta Cheese, Olive oil, and two of your favorite sliced cheeses. I prefer Pepperjack and Provolone. You could use Swiss, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Irish Dubliner (Costco...YUM!) Havarti, Muenster...whatever you prefer.

1.   Put 2 Tbsp olive oil in the middle of your hot skillet. Add the onions and peppers and sauté until the onions turn clear.
2.   Add the rest of the veggies and stir continuously as you cook.
3.   Add Feta cheese once everything else is close to done. Feta will melt after a while and that is a good thing. Once feta starts to melt, form the mix into the shape of the bread you plan to put it on then add your sliced cheese to the top of this mix. Once Cheese starts to melt you are done.
4.   Toast or Grill whatever Bread you choose. I like a sliced Wheat, but a Hero, Kaiser, Rye, Pumpernickle, or even white or sour dough will do just fine.  Add Mayo, lettuce, tomato and mustard if you like; place the veggies and cheese in between.
5.   Ah come on you know the rest...Make it into a sandwich. If you own a Panini Grill, and I recommend you go get one, Panini grill that bad boy. (a George Foreman grill is perfect as well)

I promise you will not miss the meat one bit. Enjoy...Gandy

Callie Gandolfo's Commercial

                   Callie has her acting debut in a Gandolfo's ad.

Gandolfo's Dagwood Commercial

     Check out the little kid in the red shirt....Chaz before he was 6'3"

Checking my ability to text in a blog entry from my phone.

Quick lunch idea....

You see those roasted chickens in the store all the time. For some reason the warehouse stores like Sam's Club and Costco seem to have bigger plumpier Chickens. Grab one each time you go shopping so you always have one in your fridge. I pull the meat off whenever I need to and make all sorts of quick meals.

A flour tortilla with chicken, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and sour cream hits the spot!
Some wheat bread with chicken, cheese, bacon, tomato, mayo, salt and pepper is just awesome.
If you have taco shells laying around, chicken, cheese, some mexican rice, salsa and tomato is instant joy.

Whenever I make pasta, I always cook extra noodles. Throw some olive oil and butter in a skillet, add garlic, diced tomatoes, a touch of cream, salt & pepper, cheese and some chicken. Toss the pasta in.....Wow.

A roasted chicken is about halfway to a full satisfied belly! Enjoy....gandy

Get ready to use those Tomatoes!

I will be posting some awesome recipes for all those tomatoes coming out of my garden. Fresh salsa, marinara and even balsamic tomato bruschetta. In the meantime, a simple tomato & cucumber sammy on the bread of your choice with a dab of mayo, salt & pepper should suffice. That is like candy to me. Add a thick slice of sharp cheddar and well.......call me over for lunch.  Gandy

Cooking with the Boy's

I had my daughter Callie, my son Chaz and my almost son Tyler in the kitchen with me today after church for a Sunday feast. Nothing like some Bowtie (Farfale) pasta with sausage, feta, spinach and fresh garden tomato. I added a touch of sherry and marsala and the best Reggiano parmesean I could find.

The flavor was fresh and delicious! Like my Pops always told us....it tasted like.....MORE!
Carrie told me not to get my white shirt dirty. Once we started with the aprons....well, you get the idea!

Ingredients: 1 lb bowtie pasta, 8 caprese (small) tomatoes quartered, 5 Italian sausage links (I actually used an Asiago spinach sausage today), 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 stick butter, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, salt, pepper, 2 cups fresh spinach chopped rough, 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese, 1/2 cup fresh parmesean cheese grated, 1/4 cup marsala wine, 1/8 cup sherry wine.

Cook bowties in salted water until tender.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter until melted; add garlic and cook for a minute. Throw in tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir. Cover and heat for 5 minutes; shake the skillet each minute to make sure nothing is sticking. Add sausages (sliced) and both wines. Let simmer without lid for about 10 minutes on LOW heat, stirring constantly. Take a second and smell this mixture....wow.  When finished, add spinach, feta and parmesean. Mix together and serve over bowties.

The plate of food pictured above is actually what I ate today. It looked and tasted incredible.

It's quick, easy and something the family will want again and again. Enjoy...Gandy