Chicken Parm Burger April 22, 2011

These come from a recent issue of Cooking Light, although I can’t find it in the magazine at this moment so I can’t tell ya which one! These were very simple to make and had a LOT of flavor. The ciabatta rolls were the best part to me, soo much better than a plain old hamburger roll. These can easily be made whilst entertaining a 4 month old too, trust me, I did it last month! They go quick and finish off in the oven so no worries that you didn’t cook them through!

Chicken Parmesan Burger (light!)

2 (3-ounce) square ciabatta rolls
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2 pound ground chicken
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons lower-sodium marinara sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
8 basil leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut rolls in half. Place bread, cut side up, on a toaster oven (or regular) baking sheet.  Toast in toaster oven or regular oven  until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Rub each slice with cut side of garlic. Set aside.

Combine chicken, 1/3 cup marinara, rosemary, thyme, red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Divide into 2 portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook for 3 minutes. Turn patties, and place pan in oven. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Top each patty with 2 tablespoons cheese; bake 1 minute.
Layer bottom half of each roll with 2 basil leaves, 1 patty, 1 tablespoon marinara, 2 basil leaves, and roll top.

Eat and enjoy!

Fettuccine with Baby Spinach, Herbs and Ricotta April 20, 2011

This one comes from the April edition of Cooking Light magazine. It’s super easy to make and really delicious! Make sure you use fresh herbs though, its what really makes the dish seem so light and delicate! The recipe calls for you to use really thick ribbony pasta called Pappardelle, but I couldn’t find it anywhere, so fettuccine works just as well. If you really want the pappardelle you can try an Italian Specialty shop.

Fettuccine with Baby Spinach

8 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/3 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 tablespoons grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

Cook pasta with 1 tablespoon kosher salt according to package directions, omitting additional fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid.
Combine 1/2 cup reserved hot cooking liquid and ricotta cheese in a food processor or blender, and process until well blended.

Combine hot pasta, cheese mixture, spinach, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Add additional cooking liquid to moisten, if needed.

This recipe super rocks because it takes like 10 minutes to make, and there is barely any prep!

Ravioli with Peas and Prosciutto April 18, 2011

This recipe is from Food Network Magazine, and it is really simple and delicious! I added a few things to make it tastier, mainly a bit of white wine to add some zip to the sauce, which is very mild and light. Using light cream instead of heavy cream in the sauce also helps make it a bit lighter if you are on weight watchers for forever, like Mike likes to be!

Ravioli with Pea Prosciutto Sauce

ravioli, cooked according to package directions (save 1 c. pasta water before draining)

4 oz chopped prosciutto

2 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 c white wine

a few glugs of chicken broth

1/4 c. light cream or heavy cream

1 c. blanched frozen peas

some chopped parsley and fresh grated romano, to taste

Method:

Boil ravioli according to directions on package. With two minutes to go, add the frozen peas and cook til the pasta is done, reserve one cup of cooking liquid and drain the pasta and peas.

Cook prosciutto in a skillet with the olive oil until crisp. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook another minute or two. Deglaze pan with the wine and add the chicken broth after a minute or two of cooking the wine. Next ladle in the pasta water and cook until reduced on very low heat, about 4 minutes. Add the cream and simmer another 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens up. If it isn’t thick enough, add a touch more cream. Toss the sauce with the ravioli and peas, and top with the parsley and cheese.

You will want to eat this twice in one week, which is what Mike and I did!!

Ground Beef Not Pie! April 14, 2011

This is one of Mike’s favorite recipes, often requested for birthday and anniversary dinners! It’s key delicious factor comes from the “crust” of puff pastry topped with caraway seeds and kosher salt…SO good! It also of course is another Rachel Ray Recipe that I changed a tiny bit. Sometimes I feel like Rachel is all I ever cook, but that’s only true 65% of the time….okay…MAYBE 70%! But, I digress…back to business…

Ground Beef Not Pie

1 sheet puff pastry (9-inch square), thawed but cold
1 egg, beaten with a little water
Coarse salt (I use Kosher)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 baking potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I just use a bunch of whatever is on hand…usually baby yukon golds)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 pound smoked black-pepper bacon, chopped (Any kind of smokey bacon will do…get it REALLY thick)
2 pounds ground beef sirloin
2 large shallots, chopped (or a red onion of the shallots look crappy)
2 small cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
Pepper
2 tablespoons horseradish
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the pastry into a 12-inch square. Cut the pastry into four equal squares. Place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and brush with the egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt and the caraway seeds. Bake the squares until golden, about 12 minutes. Let cool.

In a large saucepan, add the potatoes and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, salt the water and cook until tender, 7 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 1 minute; drain.

In a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain off half the fat, add the beef to the skillet and cook, breaking up the meat, until browned, 5 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Make a well in the center, add the butter to melt, then whisk in the flour. Whisk in the beef broth until thickened, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the horseradish, cream and parsley; cook until thickened, 1 minute. Turn off the heat; fold in the potatoes and peas. To serve, fill bowls with the meat and potatoes mixture and top with the crust. Enjoy!

Pork Ragu April 13, 2011

Since you know I love that Rachel Ray, here’s one from her newest show…I forget, its something like “A Week in a Day”…where she thinks people should cook everything on Sunday and eat it all week. Well, I certainly don’t have 8 hours to devote to cooking on a Sunday, but I do like the idea of stretching foods to meet more than one meal. This pork ragu is awesome, and uses leftover pork for her Pork Tacos, which I did make, but didn’t photograph because I guess I was too busy eating them? Who knows! Either way, definitely make these two one week, they are both decently easy, and super delicious!

Pork Ragu

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 ribs celery from the heart with leafy tops, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine, or medium bodied red
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 pound to 1 pound cooked shredded pork shoulder
Pinch ground cloves
2/3 cup milk
1 pound pappardelle pasta, cooked to al dente or 1 cup quick cooking polenta, cooked to package directions (I can never find this pasta: I used fettuccine!)
A handful finely chopped parsley leaves
Shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, for topping or for more tang use grated Pecorino Romano

Method:

Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, then add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Stir in the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook the vegetables until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute, then add the wine and cook for another minute. Stir in the stock and bring sauce to a simmer. Add the pork and season with a pinch of ground cloves. When the sauce returns to a simmer add the milk and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce mellow while you bring the water to boil for the pasta or polenta. Sauce may be made ahead and reheated over medium-low heat. Add a splash of stock or water to thin the sauce, if necessary. Serve the sauce tossed with pasta ribbons or atop creamy bowls of polenta and garnish with lots of cheese and parsley.

Peas and Carrot Soup April 9, 2011

This recipe came from a recent Rachel Ray magazine…Mike picked it out and I must admit, I was skeptical! BUT…not only is it very simple to make, but it is amazingly delicious! Who knew!? We liked it so much I’ve made it like three times since! It tastes a bit like pot pie filling but without the meat. It could easily be made vegetarian by swapping out the chicken stock for vegetable stock. The dumplings give it enough body to make it a meal.

 

Peas and Carrot Soup

2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
3 tablespoons butter
3 carrots—peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 rib celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 fresh bay leaf
2 rounded tablespoons flour
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock (I used Chicken)
1 rounded tablespoon dijon mustard
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon, dill or parsley
One 8-ounce box biscuit mix (about 2 cups), such as Jiffy Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, batter prepared according to package directions (I used low fat biscquick)

Method:

Heat a couple of tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Add the butter to melt, then add the carrots, celery and onion; season with salt, pepper and the bay leaf. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots soften, 7 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on the vegetables and stir for a minute, then whisk in the chicken (or vegetable) stock until thickened. Stir in the mustard and peas. For a thinner soup, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups water with the stock.

Add the chopped fresh herbs to the biscuit batter and combine. When the soup is bubbling, form the batter into small dumplings using 2 spoons, then drop onto the surface of the soup. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and cook the dumplings, gently stirring, until just firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the soup and dumplings to shallow bowls; discard the bay leaf.

Italian Beef Sandwiches in the crockpot! March 31, 2011

I’m back! Sort of….baby is now almost FIVE months old if you can believe it! We’ve been getting back in to the swing of cooking for awhile, but I kept forgetting to photograph it til recently. I’ve been utilizing the crock pot even more now as it really is helpful with a little one at home. She’s at her best in the mornings, so she plays in her bouncy chair while I assemble dinner in the crock, and it cooks and smells awesome all day and is ready when we are tired and hungry! perfect!

This recipe is an easy one, and I made it even better by making the italian rolls into garlic bread! Try it out!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon onion salt

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 bay leaf

1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style

salad dressing mix

1 (5 pound) rump roast

Method:

Combine water with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.

Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat.

Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork.

 

serve shredded, on a crusty Italian bread roll! To make it even better, make the rolls into garlic bread!

butter both sides of the roll, add some italian seasonings and garlic salt and toast til toasty! So good and so easy!

Be back in 6-8 weeks! November 27, 2010

Hi Guys! Well, I’ve been quiet for a bit now and I’ll most likely continue with the trend for now.

On November 18th, 2010 at 7:40 pm my beautiful daughter, Katherine Elizabeth was born! Babies are awesome, but they tend to take up all of your time, meaning there is zero time for cooking and zero time for blogging (although currently last night was a miracle and I got like 4 hours of sleep and she is now napping whilst I drink coffee….which means probably later there will be fussing for hours, but we’ll see!) so this blog will have to go on hold for a bit. I promise as soon as life begins to calm down and Kate starts to form a routine, I’ll be back with lots of food and recipes for you! Have a fantastic holiday season, maybe I can at least bake some cookies at some point…we’ll see!

So there she is, my little turkey!! Better go finish this coffee, who knows how much more time I have?!

Buttermilk Cranberry Scones November 17, 2010

I don’t have much experience making scones, aside from the really delicious ones courtesy of Nurse Liz, but those are easy as they take cream and not incorporating bits of butter. BUT! I was in the mood and I’d had this recipe bookmarked in my internet browser for like a zillion years so I figured, why not give it a try? I have to say, it was really simple to do and the results were delicious! I only changed the recipe slightly in that I added orange zest instead of lemon zest since that’s what I had at home, but things like that are relatively interchangeable anyway. Citrus always makes things better in my opinion!  Give them a try! They come out light yet kind of flaky and not too sweet, just the way scones ought to be in my opinon!

Buttermilk Cranberry Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped fine  I added a bit more as I like a lot of stuff in my scones)
finely grated zest from one small lemon (about 2 teaspoons) (you can use zest from an orange too!)
heavy cream (optional, for brushing tops of scones)

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt.  Add butter chunks and toss lightly with flour; place bowl in fridge.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest; place bowl in fridge.  Measure out and chop the cranberries; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment or lightly spray with cooking spray; set aside. Lightly dust a counter top with flour.  Pour a little bit of heavy cream in a bowl and have a pastry brush handy.

Remove bowls of flour and buttermilk from fridge.  Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cranberries and stir to combine.   Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until the mixture clumps together.

Dump mixture out onto floured counter top and, with floured hands, gather into a ball and knead once or twice to combine everything.  Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into 8 slices, like a pie, or cut with biscuit or cookie cutters into whatever shape you prefer.  Put scones on lined baking sheet and brush lightly with heavy cream (optional).

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to cooling rack. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!!

Black Forest Reubens November 11, 2010

Another one from my Rachel Ray Express Lane Cookbook, this was quick to make and really quite tasty. Mike and I love regular reubens and this one was really good with the ham and mustardy twist! Also, it actually does only take a few minutes to make, which is rare for any meal!

I should have photographed the inside of this sandwich so you could see all the ooey gooey layers, but uh, I was hungry and scarfed it down instead! So whatever, on to the recipe!

Black Forest Reubens

slices of pumpernickel bread (enough for however many you are feeding)

4 tablespoons butter, softened

3 rounded tablespoons dill pickle relish

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 rounded tablespoon capers, chopped

4 rounded tablespoons spicey brown mustard

slices of swiss cheese (enough so that there is 2 per sandwich)

1/2 pound of deli corned beef (or more if more sandwiches!)

1/2 pound of deli black forest ham (same as above)

1 jar of cooked red cabbage or sauerkraut (we used sauerkraut cuz we had it home)

pickles and chips for sides

Method:

Spread one side of each slice of bread with the butter. In a small bowl, combine the relish, shallot, capers and mustard. Build the sandwiches with buttered sides facing OUT:

slather liberal amounts of mustard mixture on bottom slices of bread, top with a slice of swiss, a few slices of corned beef, a few slices of ham, a small mound of cabbage or kraut, another slice of cheese and top with other slice of bread.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toast the reubens for 5 minutes on each side or until the cheese melts and bread is toasty. Cut in half and serve with pickles and chips. YUM!