22 Nov 2011
by Emilyin Dose of Veggies, Pasta, Quick and Delicious
There is a hilarious photo on the interwebs that just make me giggle and, after last Tuesday night, it definitely hits closer to home.
Although my situation had nothing to do with baking and creating what looks like a very difficult Cookie Monster cupcake, this recipe was actually much easier which makes it even more pitiful in my case. I chose this Pumpkin Agnolotti from Bon Appetit because it sounded insanely good and was quick to boot. I was super tired after the kitchen, but got right to work on these when I got home. Reason number 4,023 I married David – the two of us can sit and talk for hours and hours. So you can guess what happened, right? I made the pumpkin raviolis and then placed in the colander after boiling to sit while I made the sauce. Yep, we start chit chatting and I come back 30 minutes later to a pile of coagulated pumpkin won tons. Ha! I made the decadent butter and creme fraiche sauce anyway and plopped my now pile of pumpkin/wonton goodness in the sauce. It all fell apart, but I was so tired, I said “screw you agnolotti” as I threw my fist in the air as a very weak sign of defiance and then helplessly plopped the finished pumpkin/wonton mass in our bowls. But you know what? It was still freaking delicious and we ate with sloppy abandon. Heck, I’ll take that 30 minutes of talking to David over perfectly pretty pumpkin ravioli any day. And for your viewing pleasure (I’m sure you are giggling too right along with me), here is the photographic evidence.
Oooohh pretty Pumpkin Agnolotti from Bon Appetit
Not-so-perfect Pumpkin Agnolotti
09 Mar 2011
by Emilyin Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian
My friend “The Boo” gave me the Neiman Marcus Cookbook (2003) as a Christmas present a few years ago and to this day I still love thumbing through it. After hours of working on the house – total remodel mode lambs – we were starving and I wanted pasta BAD. I had all of the ingredients for a basic marinara and was *gasp* going to to wing it on my own; shocking I know. However, I turned to the Neiman Marcus book and voila! a lovely and unique recipe for Farfalle Provencal.
Farfalle Provencal
Make the marinara sauce and while that cooks away prep for your pasta cooking; easy peasy! A few things I changed to the marinara, one I added a Parmesan rind to add a little bit more depth of flavor and not.waste.a.thing. Two, instead of water I used chicken broth for once again a smidge more flavor and I had some I needed to use up anyway. Jiminy Cricket this was good! The depth of flavor with the savory tomato, salty bite of olives and capers and fresh herbacious basil was delicious. Go ahead, get your farfalle on!
Neiman Marcus Marinara Sauce – Neiman Marcus Cookbook, 2003
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 6 cupd canned diced tomatoes (with juice)
- 3 cups canned whole plum tomatoes (with juice)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1/4 cup chiffonade fresh basil
Yields about 2 quarts
To prepare the sauce, pour the olive oil into a large saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 4 or 5 minutes, stirring often, until garlic begins to brown. Add the diced and whole tomatoes, tomato paste, 3 cups of cold water, the pepper, salt, sugar, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir the basil into the sauce.
Farfalle Provencal – Neiman Marcus Cookbook, 2003
- 1 quart Marinara Sauce
- 1 pound dried farfalle pasta (bow tie pasta)
- 1/4 cup chiffonade fresh basil
- 1 cup pitted Nicoise or Kalamata olives, julienned
- 1/4 cup drained capers, rinsed
- 1/4 cup butter, diced
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Prepare the marinara sauce and set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the pasta. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat and add farfalle. Turn down the heat to medium-hihg and simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, unitl the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta in a large colander and shake the colander briefly under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain the pasta well and set aside.
Warm the reserved marinara sauce over medium heat, adding the basil as described in the sauce recipe. Add the olives, capers, and cooked pasta, and simmer for about 2 minutes, until the pasta is heated through. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Transfer to warm pasta bowls and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
15 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Asian, Dose of Veggies, Italian, Pasta, Spicy, Turkey (Gobble!) Tags: Everyday Food, Huy Fong
Ah Sriracha sauce, what a fiery little condiment you are. I don’t know how you came to be so popular these days, but I’m certainly happy you did. I’ve enjoyed you mixed in with mayonnaise to make a spicy dip, on Bahn Mi sandwiches and as an added kick in some of my favorite Asian soups. But in meatballs and marinara sauce? Me thinks not. For those of you who enjoy Sriarcha you know this packs a spicy punch that hits your palette and fades away so you are not writhing in pain. Everyday Food has a whole section dedicated to Sriracha in their January/February 2011 issue including recipes such as meatballs and marinara, potstickers and chicken wings. According to the magazine: The sweet and spicy blend of red chiles, garlic, sugar, salt and vinegar is named after the seaside town of Sriracha (SIR-rotch-ah) in Thailand…The California-based company Huy Fong Foods makes most of the Sriracha sauce sold in the U.S. It’s rooster logo earned it the nickname “rooster sauce.”
It was a tough choice, but I decided to make the Sriracha Marinara and Meatballs dish. The only thing I had to substitute was very lean ground beef for pork, otherwise I followed this exactly and it was killer. Killer because it tasted good and because it was SPICY. I think as a young child growing up in Texas I gravitated towards anything spicy and now my tolerance level is starting to fade rapidly. There might have been some perspiration, mouthbreathing and sinus clearing during and after eating this but I still loved it, and yes it faded away as quickly as it came. What a unique take on pasta and marinara sauce! We really loved the flavor of the meatballs and how they held their shape beautifully. I think broiling in the oven really helped. I can’t find the recipe online so here you go. If you like spice you will LOVE this!
Sriracha Marinara and Meatballs, Everyday Food, January/February 2011
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground white-meat turkey
- 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 2 large egg whites
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- Nonstick cooking spray
For the sauce:
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced small
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup Sriracha sauce
- 1 pound spaghetti or other long pasta
- ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped, for serving
- Heat broiler, with rack in top position. Place pork, turkey, spinach, breadcrumbs, egg whites, oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. With your hands, mix to combine; roll into forty 1-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Broil until golden brown, 10 minutes, rotating halfway through.
- In a large heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add tomatoes and Sriracha and bring to a simmer. Add meatballs and simmer 10 minutes.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta, add to pot with sauce and meatball, and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
12 Jan 2011
by Emilyin Cheesy Cheese, Eggs, Pasta Tags: Cooking Light
Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with Soft Egg (Photo by John Autry)
This was an odd dish when I first saw it. “Where’s the sauce?” I said out loud as I was adding it to my menu plan. “Where’s the sauce?” David asked while I was making it. I’ll tell you where the sauce is. It’s in the super inventive breadcrumbs and soft gooey egg! Nom, nom, nom *buries head into bowl of pasta and barely comes up for air*. This seemed like a pretty simple dish to make but I don’t know if it was because I was tired (NO SUN DUE TO ARTIC CHILL) or that you’ve got three seperate things going on, the boiled egg, the pasta and making the breadcrumbs. Yeah, that’s not that hard, I was tired.
This was delicious and it was my first time making a soft-boiled egg. Hard boiled, sure. Soft boiled? Where the heck as this been my whole life? It’s just like a poached egg but with the exterior of a hard-boiled. News flash to me since David mentioned he’s been making these for quite some time. We loved all of the flavors together and don’t omit the goat cheese, it was a perfect addition to the dish. I would highly, highly recommend finishing this off with your favorite olive oil. We thought without this addition, even with the egg and breadcrumbs, that it could have turned out to be a little dry. Nice little pasta for a weeknight meal. Just don’t make it when you’re a tired panda and you will be just fine.
09 Dec 2010
by Emilyin Bacon is always awesome, Cheesy Cheese, Chicken, Everything is better fried, Pasta, Southern Tags: Cooking Light, Grape-Nuts, Kashi, Nick on Wine!, Pioneer Woman, Whole Foods Market
Looking over my blog I realized, gosh darnit, we eat pretty well around these parts. Lamb the other night, Moroccan dates another. I was feeling a little too fancy for my own pants and decided to take it back a notch. Nothing can make me feel like a kid again than crunchy chicken fingers with a dipping sauce and creamy mac and cheese. I grew up in a house with a home cooked meal every night (thanks Mom!) with fun food items like these to look forward to when I came home from school. Something about this simple combo just made me giggle like a little Emily again.
I chose these Pan-Fried Chicken Fingers with Spicy Dipping Sauce and the Chicken, Bacon and Ranch Mac and Cheese both from Cooking Light plus some adult grape juice aka a nice bottle of a 2008 Cols Du Vents Corbieres to go along with. Trust me it just sounds fancy, it was on sale for $9.00 at Whole Foods Market!
I also like Cooking Light’s comparison of regular chicken fingers versus their creation:
OLD WAY
703 calories per serving
1,000 milligrams sodium
10.7 grams saturated fat
Deep-fried in lard
Drowning in sauce
Greasy, heavy coating
OUR WAY
414 calories per serving
495 milligrams sodium
1.5 grams saturated fat
Pan-seared in canola oil
Just enough spicy mayo sauce
Light, crispy, crunchy
Pan-Fried Chicken Finger with Spicy Dipping Sauce (Photo by John Autry)
Dude, the sodium and saturated fat difference alone should be enough to convince you to give these a try. I couldn’t find the recommended Kashi brand cereal at our HEB so I winged it and grabbed Grape-Nuts Flakes cereal. YUM! This cereal made a delicious sweet crust for the chicken. I pan-fried two minutes per side as instructed but had to chunk the whole batch into the oven for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees to finish them off as they were still pink inside. After that though? Awesome chicken fingers with a crispy, crunchy crust and not greasy just like they say plus the chicken was still juicy. I heart this sauce. It was so simple but y’all it is a spicy little fireball so watch out and lower the amount of Sriracha if you are not a heat seeker. Of course I loved it’s spicy kick.
The mac and cheese. Nom, nom, nom. I omitted the chicken from the recipe because well that’s too much poultry for one night. Also, I decided to use turkey bacon and used three slices instead of regular bacon and only using one slice. I can’t help it, I love bacon or bacon flavor in anything! Otherwise I followed this to the letter and it turned out perfectly. I especially loved the ranch flavor of this dish. With the onion and garlic powder and fresh dill, it just zinged and zanged but without all of the calories of a true ranch dressing.
After dinner, bellies full but not too much, we sat down and watched Zombieland. This was David’s first time seeing the film and my second. My goodness I love this movie. I think every single line of Woody Harrelson’s is an excellent one-liner. My favorite…? Here you go. We have leftovers for lunch today and I’m thinking about making a chicken tender salad with the Pioneer Woman’s – don’t you just heart her?! – homemade ranch dressing with the remaining mac and cheese on the side.
Update! Leftover chicken fingers on top of mixed greens with above mentioned ranch dressing and mac and cheese – SUPER LUNCH!
16 Nov 2010
by Emilyin Bacon is always awesome, Beefy McBeefy, Cheesy Cheese, Global Flavor, Includes Alcohol, Italian, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Pasta Tags: Bon Appetit
So poodles, I tried one of my all-time favorites last night again, the Spaghetti and Meatballs All’Amerticiana (you should hear me say this out loud, it sounds like I’m having a seizure) from Bon Appetit . Now, I followed this recipe exactly as instructed again except we made the meatballs (as the recipe says you can do) the night before.
That’s it.
Spaghetti and Meatbals All'Amertriciana (Photo by Craig Cutler)
However our delicious meatballs as I cooked them fell apart and became a ground beef mixture with bacon paste…bacon paste, yes I’m still in awe thank you very much.
While this was good, it wasn’t as good as I recalled. I mean don’t get me wrong, it has delicious layers of flavor and the sauce rocked. I also noticed the marjoram this time around which gave it nice little floral notes if I do say so myself but it just wasn’t the same.
I’m getting all Sherlock Holmes about this because I can’t figure out why this failed this time. Could it be because I made them the night before? One would think that would hold them up even better due to the fridge/tightening up time. Could it be that I’m still practicing on the gas range and messed it up that way…most likely poppets. Either way it was delicious but in a less meatballish kind of way.
Oh well, onward and upward lambs, tonight it’s braised chicken with dates…fingers crossed!
05 Jun 2009
by Emilyin Cheesy Cheese, Pasta Tags: Pasta
So I’m winding down my “5 meals, 1 bag” week and one of the last recipes on the
Everyday Food recipe rotation was the
Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula. It was simple to put together and had pretty good flavor but it was kind of just OK to me. I’m not a big fan of all mushy textures and with cooked pasta, goat cheese and white beans all in one, the red onion and arugula just didn’t provide enough crunch for me. What I did like was the simple dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard and the goat cheese melted to coat the cooked pasta quite nicely. Maybe some fresh pine nuts or crispy
pancetta (which I realize this is the week’s vegetarian dish but hey) might have helped?
Last up is Grilled Steaks with Tomatoes and Scallions, let’s see how it goes!
