Carmelized Onion and Blue Cheese Burgers

This is a little cheap, I know, but I'm just going to include the link here to these burgers:
Pioneer Woman's Favorite Burger. But please be assured they are worth the effort to make, even if I didn't take the time to document them in pictures, or write out the recipe.

The recipe has a great trick for caramelizing red onions, as well as spicing up some mayo and meat.  I went with 1/2 lb burgers, instead of the admittedly daunting 1 lber like the recipe says, but basically stayed true to the recipe the rest of the way.  The bite of the blue cheese with the sweet of the onions is pretty phenomenal.

Mushroom Lasagna with Garlic Béchamel Sauce

I'm struggling with what to say about this lasagna.  You should just make it.  I made it for two families that just had babies, and for a dinner party.  It's fancy comfort food, and a pretty inexpensive dish.  Sooo flavorful as well, which was surprising because the ingredients are so simple and basic.

Serves 6 to 8

Salt
Olive oil
3/4 pound no boil lasagna noodles
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, or to taste (less is okay)
1 1/2 pounds cremini or portobello mushrooms ( I prefer cremini, but I'm new to mushrooms)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

1.  Béchamel: Simmer the milk and garlic in a saucepan, and set aside. Melt 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons or 1 stick) butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for one minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Pour in the hot milk, a little at a time at first and stirring until combined. Once you’ve added half of it, you can add the second half all at once, along with 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring or whisking frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until thick. Set aside, reserving one cup for top and bottom of dish.

2. Prepare mushrooms: Slice mushrooms 1/4-inch thick. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium in large sauté pan. Cook half the mushrooms with a couple pinches of salt for about 5 minutes, or until they are tender and release some of their juices, tossing to make sure they cook evenly. Repeat with additional oil and butter, and remaining mushrooms.  Mix into Béchamel sauce.

3. Assemble lasagna: Spread some of the reserved sauce in the bottom of an 8 x 12 or 9 x 13 baking dish.  Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more mushroom sauce (about 1/4 of what remains), and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Repeat two more times then top with a final layer of noodles, your remaining reserved sauce and last 1/4 cup of parmesan.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Beef and Broccoli

Emerging from the hazy fourth trimester.  We have been eating, I just haven't had the motivation to blog.  Hopefully this short post (and more coffee in my life) will get things back in motion.  Enjoy!  This was a great way to satiate some good red meat cravings.  Serves 4-6.

Chinese Beef Broccoli (adapted from Pioneer Woman)
  
1 lb tender chuck, top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in (3-mm)-thick strips
11/2 lbs broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

BEEF MARINADE:
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

STIR-FRY SAUCE:
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (can substitute rice wine vinegar or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 In a bowl or ziplock bag, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade. Add the beef and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.


2 In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the Stir-fry Sauce.

3 In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3-4 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

4 Rinse and dry the pan and set over high heat.  When hot, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.

5 Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.

Serve with rice or asian noodles.

Chicken Carbonara

Mary made this a few weeks ago and I've craved it ever since.  I'll admit I've been afraid of this dish because of the possible end result of "scrambled eggs and pasta" that I know people have had to eat (if you're reading this, you know who you are).  But that wasn't a problem at all, and if you want some good comfort food pasta, this is definitely for you.  The recipe is based off of Giada's, but I changed a few things and that is what you see before you... (I will warn you it's a bit labor intensive.  Giada's recipe says the total cook time is 22 minutes, but that would be in the lovely world of having a sous chef.  The prep work probably takes that amount of time, and then you have to cook it.  And if you're like me, just add another 15 minutes to that because I'm just slow.)  Serves 6.

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 slices bacon (I think I'll add more next time) or 4 oz pancetta chopped
4 cloves minced garlic (Or more-- you know you want to)
2 1/2 cups whipping cream (admittedly, this much cream kind of freaked me out, so I just did 2 cups cream and 1/2 c milk)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (didn't have this so I did 2 tbsp of dried)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 pound spaghetti
3 chicken breasts, browned and cooked through, and coarsely chopped  or 1 roasted chicken coarsely shredded
1 cup cooked peas
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I used pecans, and this was such a nice touch)
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan (the pan needs to be large enough to fit all of your pasta, so make sure it's BIG) over medium heat. Add the bacon and garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cheese, yolks, and herbs.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Add the chicken and peas to the pan with the bacon and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the sauce coats the spaghetti thickly.  Giada says this takes 4 minutes, but it took me about 10, though I was very afraid of cooking it too quickly.  Just watch it and make sure you do not boil the sauce because that will scramble the eggs-- yuck. Season the pasta, to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the bacon will likely add all the salt you need).

Sprinkle with the nuts and lemon, and serve.

"Stout" Sausages

A quick one, improvised by some leftover stout and the acquisition of a hefty farmer's market onion (I wanted to play with its taste rather than lose it in a larger meal):

1 lb. Italian Sausage
2 peppers [sliced] (either green, red, or yellow--I like at least one green to balance the meal's color)
1 onion [sliced]
6 garlic cloves [roughly chopped]
3/4 c. stout (or experiment with another beer--Yuengling has worked well in other manifestations)
3 dashes of red pepper flakes

1. Heat oven to 400º.
1. In cast-iron heat sausages on medium-high heat, 10 mins. Remove.
2. Add garlic. When flavor released, add peppers & onion, sprinkle with salt to taste and red pep. flakes, 8 mins.
3. Add sausages & beer. When boils, put in oven, 25 mins.
4. Serve on rolls, plain or with Dijon mustard.

Sausage and Pepper Rigatoni

*This recipe is from Jenny M--many thanks!

I have to admit, this was a little scary at first.  My husband saw it in passing on the local tv show called the 'Valley Dish'.  He said "MMMM, I wish we were having that for supper!"  So I decided to be adventurous and look up the recipe a few days later.  To my ultimate delight, he loved it and it wasn't that hard!  A few side notes:  I didn't know what fennel was, looked for it at Fry's and couldn't find it, so I never used it.  We didn't know the difference :).  Second, I used all dried herbs (cut amounts in half).  I just didn't have the fresh ones on hand and it was still delicious!

Ingredients...

12 oz ground Italian sausage (not spicy)

1 red bell pepper

1 small onion

3rd of a bulb of fennel

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

6 cloves fresh garlic

3/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 cup your favorite tomato sauce

1 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley

1 Tbsp fresh basil

1/2 grated Romano cheese

21 oz cooked rigatoni pasta

1.  Slice onions, fennel, and peppers.  Mince the garlic and chop all the herbs.

2.  In a large saute pan, heat the oil until it's at the smoking point (between 365-400 degrees Fahrenheit), add sausage meat.  Make sure it's spread out so meat covers the full surface of the pan.

3.  Add oregano, thyme, garlic, and vegetables.  Brown all slightly.  Add wine and chicken stock and reduce by half.

4.  Add tomato sauce and bring to a quick boil.

5.  Heat pasta and toss with the sauce mix.  Then mix in basil, parsley and Romano cheese. 

Enjoy!

Chicken with tomatoes, apricots and chickpeas

I found this in Sunset magazine a while ago, made it once, loved it, and then filed it away with a bunch of other recipes I plan to someday arrage in a more orderly fashion than tossed in my desk drawer.  In other words, it was long neglected and forgotten.  I happily found it today and highly recommend it.  It's fast and easy, and the only chopping you really have to do is 3 garlic cloves (or if you're me, more than 3 because I don't recall ever using the paltry amount of garlic a recipe calls for, except when Julie and I made 100 Garlic Chicken... mmm).  I'm not a fan of dried fruit, but once cooked they definitely perk up and lose that awful dried texture that has haunted me since childhood.  And the apricots add a nice balance to the spice of the dish.

Serves 4

4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves
kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/3 c chopped dried apricots
1 tbsp sugar
3 minced garlic cloves
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c chopped parsley (I just did a couple tablespoons of the dried stuff)

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat, then add cumin, coriander, and cayenne; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add chicken and cook until golden brown, turning once, about 6 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Stir in tomatoes, apricots, sugar, and garlic.  Return chicken to pan and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Stir in chickpeas, and parsley and cook until heated through.  Serve with rice or cous cous.

Basil Pesto

For my first foray into this amazing blog, I decided to post one of our staples. I don't have pictures, but since we have this often, I will take some next time. I know that y'all have probably made pesto before, and it seems very simple compared to some of these recipes, but Trevor and I love it so much I had to post!


4 cups basil, slightly packed--we use fresh from our garden
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese (shredded or shaved works)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts--toasting the pine nuts is optional, but it makes the flavor much richer
1 small clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

In food processor, combine 2 cups basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add olive oil until you reach the consistency you're looking for. Add the rest of the ingredients, and again, olive oil until the pesto reaches the right consistency. I never measure the olive oil; to me it depends on the ingredients how much olive oil we use.

If you are going to mix the pesto on top of pasta, I recommend saving about 3 tablespoons of your pasta water to mix in with the pesto. It gives the whole dish a creamier taste.

Pesto will stay in freezer or refrigerator. If you are going to store the pesto, consider putting olive oil on top to keep the flavor. Then, when you go to use the pesto, remove the extra olive oil from the top.

Skillet Lasagna

This is super tasty, especially the sauce. I'd like to know how to double it without having to put it in two separate skillets, but in the meantime it's just the right amount for our small family. It's a lighter take on lasagna from The Food Network (love those guys) that doesn't take all day. And the delicious sauce is so easy, I plan to make it for other pasta dishes. It takes me about 30 minutes to do the prep work, and then about 20 active cooking time. Serves 4

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, diced (I just use canned diced tomatoes)
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and/or parsley, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup ricotta cheese (part skim works fine)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
6 sheets no-bake lasagna noodles
1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 zucchini, peeled into ribbons
3 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/3 pound mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Heat the 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic; cook until golden, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, 1 tablespoon herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; cook until saucy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree (I either skip this step or use an immersion blender and both works fine). Return 1 cup of the sauce to the skillet and reduce the heat to low; reserve the remaining sauce.

Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, egg, parmesan, the remaining 3 tablespoons herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Place 2 lasagna noodles over the sauce in the skillet. Layer half of the carrot and zucchini on top; drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with half of the spinach, half of the ricotta mixture, a few pieces of mozzarella and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved tomato sauce. Repeat the layers, ending with noodles. Top with the remaining sauce and mozzarella. Cover and simmer until the lasagna is cooked and the cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes.

Let rest for a few minutes before slicing. Garnish with more parmesan and fresh herbs.