oh hi remember me?!

...maybe you don't. you know, since it's been...i don't know. a long time. months, eons, millenia. (i was pretty sure millenia was a word but its underlined in red....hmm)

it's been a busy time (sometimes), and sometimes i've been lazy. mostly, just lazy.

but i have been cooking! i'll break it up in a few posts so as not to overwhelm my 2 readers.

first up, zucchini noodle lasagna from Dashing Dish!

zucchini lasagna

anyway, you may remember me mentioning this dish in a previous post 

and i didn't have a picture then either. but it's super delicious, and well worth the effort! i would say it's not an easy dish, as the prep required is time consuming, but its so yummy that everyone should try it anyway.

when I re-attempted this dish, it was via Skype with my mom, we had a little cooking date and made it together :) It's not as good as being home with my family, but it's still nice to be able to see them and share meals together. 

you will need:

For the Noodles:

• 6 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips, should resemble thick lasagna type “noodles”

For the Meat Sauce:

• 1.25 lb lean ground turkey meat (you could also leave this out and make to make a vegetarian version!)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli (or 2 cups of another veggie of choice)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cauliflower (or 2 cups of another veggie of choice)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen chopped spinach (or 2 cups of another veggie of choice)
• 1 (25 ounce) jar of spaghetti sauce (I used one with 70 calories per 1/2 cup serving)
• 1 tbs garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, minced)
• Pinch of salt and pepper, or to taste
• *Optional seasoning: 2 tbs of Italian Seasoning

For the Cheese Layer:

• 1 (16 ounce) container light cottage cheese (or light ricotta cheese)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

to assemble:

1. For the noodle layer: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray, arrange zucchini slices and season with salt and pepper. Bake zucchini slices for 5 minutes on each side, then remove from oven. Set zucchini slices aside and lower oven temperature to 375 degrees.
2. For the meat sauce layer: In a large non-stick skillet, cook meat until it’s browned. To the skillet, add the veggies, seasonings, and the entire jar of spaghetti sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes, (or until veggies are de-thawed/begin to soften), stirring occasionally.
3. For the cheesy layer: Mix the cottage cheese and parmesan cheese together, ( this can be done right in the cottage cheese container!)
4. Put it all together: Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Begin by spreading 1/3 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan. Follow meat sauce with a layer of zucchini slices, followed by a layer of cottage cheese. Repeat the layers until casserole dish is full.
5. Finish it off: Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
6. Remove foil and bake or broil another 5-10 minutes until cheese is browned. Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing, and serve warm!

worth every minute of prep time! it freezes well (after being cooked), and since i made an entire 13x9 pan i froze about half the dish in individual containers for quick easy lunches. i love this dish because it's full of vegetables, has lots of cheesiness and rich flavor, and still has the feel of a traditional lasagna from the hearty meat sauce!

baking

so the last 4 days have been full of flour, sugar, mixing, and...starting over. a lot.

i must have used a whole bag of flour. had to!

 i made pizza dough this weekend, but forgot pictures. so i'll just give you the recipe.


From Food Network Magazine: (Italian issue)

you will need:

    1 1/3 cup warm (105 degrees) water
    1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry or instant yeast (I've tried both)
    1 TB sugar
    3 TB olive oil, plus more for brushing
    3 3/4 c flour, plus more for dusting
    1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Sprinkle sugar in bowl with the warm water, stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast packet on top, let rest 10 minutes, until foamy. Stir in olive oil.

Combine flour and salt, pour in yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon to make dough ball.

Dump ball onto a floured surface, and knead for a few minutes--until lumps are gone. Form 2 balls. Brush 2 large bowls with oil, add one ball of dough to each, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1-2 hours (until doubled in size). Roll out and bake at 500 with toppings, or wrap tightly in plastic and freeze in a ziplock. (this works extremely well! just take out to thaw in fridge before rolling out as usual)

brownie pudding

 saturday evening i was craving something chocolatey and delicious, so of course i whipped up Ina's brownie pudding. (she doesn't actually call it this in her book, but it's what i have dubbed it--maybe because i saw it online!)


I used hershey's special dark cocoa powder (for the first time ever) and let me tell you...i am never going back! it is incredible. but the 2 sticks of butter and heap of sugar probably help a little.


this pudding is served hot, but since i had leftovers, i tried it cold and i must report it is just as delicious this way--maybe even more so. I've never been a huge fan of hot desserts. especially things that are hot and topped with ice cream. i am a dessert purist; i don't like things mixing. i'd rather have a bowl of ice cream or brownie alone than a brownie hot fudge sundae. i don't get whats so great about it. but this dessert is the mecca of chocolatey baked goodness if that's your thing.

i posted this, and came back to fully explain this dessert. it is gooey and soft and batter like, but it also has a crispy, crunchy perfectly crisp thin crust in top that makes a truly glorious cracking sound when you first pierce it. you will eat about a quart of it. get out the sweatpants and go crazy people!

pound cake batter--yum!!

batter. i want to eat it like this

 next up, for a few birthdays at work, i whipped up a pound cake.

yum!

The recipe is from my beautiful fairy godmother, and I can tell you right now, if you are not lucky enough to have a fairy godmother, I feel sorry for you. she is the most magical and special person I will ever know. and has bestowed upon me the greatest pound cake recipe! :)

Grandma Taylor's Pound Cake



you will need:

    6 eggs at room temperature
    2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
    3 cups flour
    3 cups sugar
    1 cup sour cream ( i don't think it need to be room temp, but i take it out with the other ingredients)
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla (i usually use about this much, just taste to check)
    *1 1/2 tsp extract of choice (I love almond, but you could use lemon, etc)

*note: this is a very large amount, so i would start at 1/2 tsp and taste, adding more if necessary. you don't want it to overwhelm you. especially if you are the only person alive who loves almond extract (ahem, like me) and you will not be the only one consuming this cake.


 Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 12 cup tube pan.

Beat sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy. Add eggs individually, mixing after each. Add flour, salt, soda mixture and sour cream alternately until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and other extract, tasting to be sure of flavors. Pour into tube pan, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. be sure to check doneness at about 1 hour, you don't want to over bake! Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn onto plate. Can be sliced and stored in airtight container for a few days. If it lasts that long.

mini sausage and cheddar quiches

sunday i decided to try my hand at mini crustless quiche. i have been seeing lots of these around the food sites and thought it was a great idea for me--easy to eat, individual, easy to reheat! and the convenience of not needing crusts was perfect. i just took my favorite quiche recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (page 202 if you were wondering!) and subtracted the crust, and fiddled with the temperature/bake time. this part was not as successful as i would have hoped--they turned out fine, but not as brown and "done" as i would have liked (and as i have seen in others' photos). the normal recipe calls for a bake time of 50 minutes at 325, so i just shortened the time.

I think the real solution is the bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. The higher heat will give you that browned edge i so adore. besides that they were great and so fun! and i ate a few for breakfast one morning--it was perfect! like a mini omelet. just microwave for 45 seconds to a minute.

you will need:

    1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot roll sausage (any really, but the Hot has great flavor and is not spicy)
    1 1/2 c (6 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
    1/2 c chopped onion
    1/4 c chopped bell pepper
    1/2 tsp dried basil
    1/8 tsp garlic powder
    4 large eggs
    1 cup milk
    dash paprika


Brown sausage, drain, cool. combine sausage, cheese, onion, pepper, basil, garlic powder and paprika in a bowl and mix. Crack 4 eggs in a bowl, whisk, add milk, whisk. With an ice cream scoop or spoon, spoon about 1 TB of sausage mixture into each cup of a greased muffin tin. (just make sure they aren't overflowing with filling) Pour a splash of egg mixture in each filled cup, being sure not to overflow. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, check and bake a few minutes more if needed.



there you have it. i am exhausted just retelling it all to you. happy baking.

sloth

this applies not only to my pathetic lack of motivation to share with everyone the gripping and thrilling daily noshes i consume, but also to my limited exercise. a few dinners piled up and then the daunting idea of doing so many recipes discouraged me--knocked my resolve out like a light breeze to a stack of cards.

so i've decided to just post the pictures i've still be steadily taking! and hopefully get it together enough to throw some recipes your way soon!

*note: i also made this yummy low carb lasagna that uses zucchini slices in place of noodles and I KNOW it sounds weird and you're thinking, "whatever kristina, you are full of garbage. there's no way that tastes good, much less like yummy lasagna." and to YOU i say, NAY. it was great! it was lasagna-y, cheesy (go heavy on the cheese layer, i did not have enough) and the portions are enormous and you still have room left for ice cream/oreos/whatever junk you bought after work that you knew you shouldn't but did anyway because hey nutty bars are awesome.  (i also forgot to photograph it which is why i mentioned it at all)

all these recipes were great, so try em. love em. and do yourself a favor and only make sausage balls when you go to a party--or else you will be standing alone in your kitchen at 9 pm watching Funny Girl and "putting them into containers for later" a.k.a. "eating every other one (or every one) you touch, leaving you with 3" and once they (or it) is stowed away safely, turn on P90x and get busy because you just ate yourself a pound of ground sausage and a block o cheese my friend!

my little basil plant!*

cheesy burritos! recipe from dashingdish.com

  recipe here

homemade pizza rolls--recipe from dashingdish.com

 

 

 

 

 

  recipe here

sausage balls. delish; for our will and kate party

sauteed green beans, carrots, red bell pepper

 i would like to note the above veggies are divine and really have no recipe. but i feel obligated to tell you how to make them.

blanch some green beans and sliced carrots for a few minutes, and plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking. heat olive oil and pressed garlic in a pan, add sliced bell pepper (red is the prettiest color and its sweetness goes nicely, rather than the green variety) and cook for a few minutes to soften. add gr beans and carrots, saute for a few minutes, sprinkle with THIS IS THE CRITICAL STEP tony chacheres and enjoy yourself the best damn veggies out there.

*white pizza (homemade dough!) note basil

 this pizza dough recipe is from food network magazine. it was wonderful, and surprisingly easier to deal with after being frozen, and thawed in the fridge. the perfect crispy thin crust!! note rules on baking from the margherita pizza post. oh and yes, since you were wondering, i did grow that basil leaf ALL BY MYSELF!

royal wedding work party invite

 oh yes, we had a royal wedding party full of only British foods the day of the nuptials!

royal wedding work party invite

royal wedding work party invite

royal wedding work party

 note flags with will and kate

royal wedding work party

there were many strange things here: marmite (yeast extract? ew, it's as awful as it sounds. i tried it), Branston pickle sandwiches (gross, google it. foulll), cucumber sandwiches, but i hate cucumber. DIDJA KNOW THAT ONE?! i do..

let's just say the sausage balls were a hit. and the scones, the maker of which also MADE HER OWN BUTTER. way to make us all look bad, i say. she is super sweet so it was hard to be angry,

comfort food, harry potter, resolutions.

ina garten's chicken stew with biscuits.

last night my lovely neighbors came over to help me prepare a delicious feast. now, the more cynical of you may challenge: "um, kristina, one dish is not a feast." and to you i say, obviously you have not had Ina's (the Barefoot Contessa for non-Food Network viewers or those of you living in the mountains in caves) chicken stew with biscuits. Not only is it hearty, buttery and delicious, the damn thing weighs in at about...6 pounds. this is a guesstimation, but cannot be far off; i am rather fit and strong and i had trouble pulling it out of the oven and placing it on my stove.

it is not something you would want to make:

1. on a night when you only have 30 minutes to round up whatever is in your fridge for dinner
2. when it is over 75 degrees out
3. if you are on any sort of diet or have concerns about consuming a dish containing 3 sticks of butter
4. if your goal in life is to eat cardboard to stay thin rather than eat deliciously
5. if you have been ignoring your push-ups--you'll need some upper body gusto to drag this thing outta the oven

i would not say it is a complex recipe to execute, but i will say it is time consuming--prep would be about 30-40 minutes, cook time about 45--and you will use every dish, utensil, and gadget in your kitchen, therefore leaving you with a mountain of floury, stew-y, crusted things to wash afterwards. (this will be impossible without help because you will be in a food coma after consuming.)

serves 8-12

you will need:

• 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (or 1 whole pre-roasted chicken from your grocery store, with all the meat shredded)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade (for those of us without 3 freezers to store Ina's 6 quarts of stock, Kitchen Basics brand is best)
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes--i forgot these
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (i used half and half)
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes (forgot to blanch)
• 1 10-ounce package frozen peas (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (< ^ this is a lot of onions, folks. i now use green beans instead)
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

For the biscuits:

nocoupons

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

preheat your oven to 375.

if you are roasting chicken breasts, place on a large sheet pan, rub with the olive oil, generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. roast for 35-45 minutes, set aside to cool, and shred the meat. if you want to save time and got a whole pre-roasted bird (like i do) shred all the meat and set aside.

now, you want to get a medium sized pot to heat your chicken stock in. heat it on medium low heat and let it get warm, also here is where you would add bouillon cubes if you remember.

in a very big pot--seriously, get the biggest one you have (not a 12 quart stock pot, but a big ole pot) melt the 1 and a 1/2 sticks of butter. when it is melted, add the chopped onions and let soften. this will take about 10+ minutes. while they are cooking, blanche your carrots (and green beans if using) in boiling water (see how many pots you're using already?!).

add the flour to the butter onion mixture and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. you want this to get very thick, and you need to try not to salivate IN the pot. strap a cup to your chin--do what you gotta do. now pour in the chicken stock, and simmer for another minute or so, stirring to combine.

now stir in 2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper along with the heavy cream or half and half. add the chicken, carrots, green beans, peas and parsley and mix well. pour this super thick and heavy stew into a very large pan. the biggest size i had was 13" x 9" x 2", this will work but it will be filled to the brim. place your pan on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

while the stew is cooking, make your biscuits. and if you have extra hands, get them washing!! combine salt, sugar, flour and baking powder in the bowl for your mixer--Ina says use the paddle attachment--i say my mixer is like 25+ years old and i dont got one-a-those, so just use your normal beaters. add in the butter and mix until the butter is chopped up into bits the size of peas. add half and half and mix on low speed until combined. scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl with a rubber spatula, or if you have an old mixer, you will have to stop 3 times during this process to peel the dough out of the beaters because it will all get stuck and rise out the top like a dough volcano. once mixed, add parsley and beat a few more seconds.

flour your work surface and plop the dough down. here is where we separate the men from the boys (and no i don't care about saying men instead of women because who the heck does...its an expression, not a statement of women's inability to whatever...) if you own a rolling pin, roll out your dough to less than an inch thick. if like me all you own is your wits (most days) and your hands, press the dough out as evenly as you can. now, all you fancy folk can take out your shiny biscuit cutters (1 1/2") and cut out as many biscuits as you can--for us common folk, grab a cup with a nice thin edge and do the same.

you probably had to take the stew out of the oven at this point, so take the biscuits (that i know you remembered to egg wash**) and arrange them atop the stewy goodness. bake for 30 more minutes and digg in!
**ok--for those of you who did not egg wash because i didn't explain it--after you cut out the biscuits, crack your egg in a bowl and add 1 Tb water, whisk. brush (or use your fingers) to coat the tops of the biscuits with the egg mixture then place on top of stew and bake. it gives them that nice goldeny color!

if you're real smart, you'll have a great movie (harry potter and the deathly hallows part 1) in your dvd player, ready to play as you sit down and enjoy your delicious feast!



PS-- the "resolutions" part of this post is this--i really need to step up my photography game. honestly, i never remember to take the pictures of my meals until i've already eaten some (or all) of what on my plate, then i have to go back and get more and pretend like i didnt eat it all. i also do not have the luxury of cooking during day light hours more often than not, so the yellow-y light is a problem. and since i forget to snap shots until the last second, i dump some food on a plate and click without any real thought of where i'm putting my plate (like all the pretty grey countertop and carpet backdrops?!) and this results in just ugly photos. i will try to be better at making the food look good so you will actually want to make it instead of thinking....um...yeah i'm not cooking that.

who knew an electric stove could catch fire?!

Caramelized Chicken and Pappardelle with Spinach, Herbs and Ricotta

things are gettin' fancy round here now that momma's here to help! we discussed many meal options and for tonight decided on the two dishes above. i had never had pappardelle (wide egg noodles) but they were really good, and while the pasta has ricotta and parmesean its very light.

the chicken recipe comes from Tasty Kitchen via How Sweet Eats--it tasted delicious but i think i may have slightly overcooked the mushrooms and my sauce didn't really thicken--i had to sprinkle in some Wondra flour.

the pappardelle was from the april issue of cooking light--as a note you probably want to make the pasta first, then make the chicken if you are making them together.

chicken

you will need:  (this says it serves two, but....it doesnt)

• 4 whole Thinly Sliced, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• ⅓ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ¼ whole Onion, Chopped
• 2 cups Sliced Mushrooms
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• ⅓ cups White Wine

first sprinkle the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper on both sides, then lightly coat with flour. (this should be a thin layer, not a breading)
heat the olive oil in your skillet and cook chicken for a few minutes on each side, until brown.

place cooked chicken on a plate, add 1 TB butter to pan and cook onions for a minute or so. add the rest of the butter and saute mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until soft. pour wine in the pan and scrape (deglaze) the brown bits off the bottom, and add the chicken back into the sauce.

serve hot!


pappardelle

you will need: (serves 4, 1 3/4 c serving size!) obviously this is if you eat it by itself...

    8 oz uncooked pappardelle
    1 TB kosher salt
    1/3 c ricotta cheese
    3 cups baby spinach
    1/4 c chopped fresh chives (we used green onions because thats what i had)
    1/4 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
    1/4 c chopped fresh dill (we omitted this--i dont like dill)
    3 TB fresh grated parmesan cheese
    2 TB olive oil
    1/2 t fresh ground pepper

cook pasta with 1 TB salt, dont add oil if the package says to--the sauce won't stick. and never rinse pasta either, just in general. don't do it!

drain and reserve 1 c of the cooking liquid, combine 1/2 c hot liquid with ricotta in a blender until mixed. toss hot pasta with the ricotta mixture and the remaining ingredients, adding extra cooking liquid if it's too dry.



by the way, while heating the pot of pasta water, the burner underneath exploded into flames, several times. it was horrifying and mysterious.


now it's dessert time! yumyumyum.

recipes i want to try

today began with visions of caramelized mushrooms and herbed bread, and then i took a nice long look around my clean apartment and not so clean kitchen ( even though it was sparkling yesteray morning, funny how that happens) and decied my will was not strong enough to wade through the ocean of dishes sure to await me.

so, i just did some food fantasizing instead.

Caramelized Chicken and Mushrooms


The NY Times Chocolate chip cookies (via How Sweet Eats)

Naan Bread (you can make it! whoohoo!)

Red Lobster Biscuits (the only reason worth going, and literally the majority of my meal, with a size of mozzarella sticks and chicken fingers)

tonight's easy peasy no clean up meal is a delicious stuffed pepper pulled from my freezer, and some goldeny crisp tater tots.



the Stuffed Peppers are delicious and following in my momma's (and granny's) footsteps, I make a big batch and freeze them so I can whip them out when I don't feel like making a mess or putting any effort into making dinner.

this makes a heck of a lot of stuffing...like at least a pound, so you can just buy as many peppers as you want to have  on hand, and freeze the remaining stuffing to make new peppers later on.

you will need:

    1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef
    1 roll of Jimmy Dean hot ground sausage (it isn't actually spicy, has nice flavor)
    3 medium yellow onions, chopped
    2 large ribs celery, chopped
    1/2-3/4 green bell pepper, chopped (you can save the other half for stuffing!)
    2 or 3 eggs, beaten (i don't remember what i used, so start with 2 and add the other if it's too dry)
    1 bag Pepperridge Farm herbed stuffing mix
    1 bay leaf, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper (i'd start with 1/2-1 tsp each, taste as you go!)
    dash of Worcestershire sauce
    extra bell peppers for stuffing (however many you want)

take the extra peppers and slice in half, or remove the tops (depending on how you want to stuff them) and clean out the seeds and other junk.

simmer peppers in water for about 3 minutes--just to soften them some, you don't want them going limp before stuffing (because they will be cooked more later)  drain on paper towels and set aside.

brown the sausage and ground beef with seasonings in a large skillet, then add in onions, celery and peppers. cook for a few minutes, until tender, then drain out fat in a paper towel lined colander. (remove bay leaf)

beat the eggs and add to the dry stuffing mix; once combined stir into meat mixture.

at this point you can either freeze all the stuffing mixture for later use (in small portions so you can stuff a few peppers at a time) or stuff the peppers you simmered earlier, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer for several hours, then place all in a freezer ziplock bag.

once you are ready to enjoy these babies (make sure they're thawed), top with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs and a pat of butter, bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

the weird strawberry i found!