Spaghetti Bolognese August 31, 2008

My Mom made pretty much everything from scratch.  We didn’t eat much that was pre-packaged, boxed or canned.  The one exception to that was sauce.  We always had jarred spaghetti sauce.  It’s not bad, and we’ve found some that we really like, but there is nothing like good homemade tomato sauce.  I’ve tried a few recipes and never been thrilled with them.  What I really need is a recipe from a nice little Italian Grandma.  Unfortunately I don’t know any, and anyone who is Italian that I ask says that the recipe isn’t written down and nobody can reproduce it.  Grrrrr. 

 

Last night, I think I had a dream about tomato sauce. (Is that sad?)  I’m not sure if it was a dream or if I woke up in the night thinking about it randomly, but sometime in the night I had thoughts of tomato sauce in my head.  When I woke up this morning, I was determined to find a good recipe and make it for dinner tonight.  Last week, along with our oh-so-cute-aprons, my friends Erin and Amanda gave me The Newlywed Cookbook by Robin Miller.  Robin Miller is a cook on the Food Network and has some pretty good recipes.  This cookbook is chock full of stuff that looks really good.  The recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese sounded kind of like what I was looking for.  Here it is:

 

Spaghetti Bolognese

 

2 t olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground beef

1 t dried basil

1 t dried oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes (I added a lot more)

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 c beef broth

2 T tomato paste

1 lb cooked spaghetti (or whatever kind of pasta you want!)

2 T grated parm

 

Heat oil in large saucepan (I used a Dutch oven) over medium heat.  Add onions, carrots and garlic, saute 2 minutes.  Add beef and saute until browned and cooked through, breaking up the meat as it cooks.  Add basil, oregano, salt and red pepper flakes and stir to coat.  Add tomatoes, beef broth, and tomato paste and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer 20 minutes (and up to 1 hour). 

 

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Pour sauce over pasta and top with parm.

 

Ok, so here are the things I did differently.  I let it simmer in my Dutch Over for several hours.  I added:

 

1/2 c red wine

an extra tablespoon of tomato paste

1 T + 1 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

some black pepper

1 bay leaf

 

This is pretty good.  It’s not some Italian Grandma’s, but it is good and I will make it again unless little Granny shows up on my doorstep with the magic recipe!

 

** Update:  When I wrote this blog, we hadn’t actually had dinner yet, I had just tasted it out of the pot.  I don’t think I gave this recipe enough credit.  It was really, really good.  This will most definitely be my new sauce recipe.  Not to say if Granny shows up I won’t give hers a chance, but this was much better than I thought it was going to be.  Try it!

A Busy/Slow Week August 31, 2008

…Meaning, the week has been busy so the cooking’s been slow.  We had a wedding appointment on Wednesday night, so had a repeat in the crock pot, Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce.  It was still good!  Thursday we were lazy and had grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Every now and then that just tastes so delicious.

 

Friday night we went to a Durham Bulls game.  Unlike my sister, I am definitely not a huge baseball fan.  I do, however, love the atmosphere of a ball park, and I love going to see the Durham Bulls.  I had no idea what was going on most of the game, but I had a good time with my sister, her boyfriend Mark, Ross and my friend Elizabeth.  And by far, my favorite part of going to the ball park is the food.  There is absolutely nothing like it.  I don’t know if the same food would taste as good if eaten elsewhere; it may be in part the atmosphere that makes it taste so good.  Either way, a cold beer, a big cheeseburger and a cup of fries was just sinful on a hot summer evening.  I was in my glory.

 

After the game we headed to Mellow Mushroom.  I don’t know what my deal is with atmosphere and food, but this is another place that has the best food and the most delicious margaritas, but only in the summer when eaten outside.  The pizza and the drinks are just not as good if you aren’t outside.  Really.  However, as soon as the weather starts to warm up each year, my sister and I make a mad dash for Mellow Mushroom.  We enjoyed a late night drink and pizza last night, along with some hot pretzels made out of their pizza dough.  Aaaahhhhh.  So good. 

 

Tonight, we headed to the Carolina game with Ed and Emily and their family.  In the 6 years that I have lived in NC, I have never been to a college sporting event.  I was excited.  We made it through the first quarter, and a tiny bit of the second when they had to evacuate us due to storms coming in.  So, it was a short experience.  We came home and made stir fry with chicken tenders, a bunch of veggies, some teriyaki sauce and water chestunuts.  I had some sesame oil in the pantry, so we used that to sautee it all in.  Before cooking the meat, we coated it in sesame seeds and some garlic powder.  We served it over rice with shrimp sauce and chow mein noodles.  It took about 20 minutes to make, and while it was by no means gourmet, it was pretty tasty. 

 

Hopefully we’ll have some time to cook some new and exciting meals in the days ahead!  I hope everyone is having a great long weekend!

Turkey Stroganoff August 27, 2008

I have been making this meal since college and I love it.  It was perfect for the rainy, dreary day that we had here today.  It’s quick, easy and can be made to be pretty healthy.  I always serve it over egg noodles, but you can also serve it over rice.  It comes from the wonderful cookbook that my sister made for me.  The recipe I am writing below is actually 1/2 of the original recipe, so it could be easily doubled. 

 

Turkey Stroganoff

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 c chopped onion

2-3 cloves garlic

1 T olive oil

1 T flour

salt and pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4 oz can mushrooms, drained

1 c (8 oz) sour cream (I always use light)

12 oz egg noodles, cooked

 

Heat oil in pan over medium high heat.  Add onions and garlic, cook until onions are translucent.  Add ground turkey and cook until browned.  Drain meat if necessary.  Add flour, salt and pepper, stir.  Add cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms.  Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, add sour cream.  Mix well.  Serve over egg noodles.

It’s Official. August 25, 2008

OK, so we’re not officially married yet, and not officially a bride and/or groom yet, but having aprons make us look a little more official!

Buttermilk Coffee Cake August 22, 2008

As much as I love to cook, I am a horrible hostess.  I think I have the feeling that everyone should just be at home in my house, so when you’re here, if you’re thirsty… grab a drink.  If you’re hungry… let me know, we’ve got plenty of food.  I don’t always remember to offer stuff, unless I am having a dinner party or something.  Even in that case, I usually get caught up in preparing the food and totally forget to offer anyone a drink.  Luckily, I have an honest sister who has made me very aware of this, so I’ve gotten a little better.  This weekend, I have another chance to prove myself.

 

My Mom arrived in town last night from Rochester, NY.  She’s here to help out with some wedding stuff, her last visit before the big event.  We got in pretty  late last night, and had to visit for awhile, so she is still sound asleep.  We, of course, had to rise quite early – before Luna awakened my Mom in the same manner we are used to.  In an effort to kill some time between 5:30 AM and whenever Mom wakes up, I thought I would see if I had enough ingredients to make muffins of some sort.

 

I couldn’t find a recipe that called for only ingredients that I had on hand, but I did find a coffee cake recipe.  While I haven’t tasted it yet, it is making the house smell delicious.  This one is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I can’t wait to try it warm out of the oven in about 8 more minutes!

 

Buttermilk Coffee Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 t salt

2/3 c butter or margarine

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg

2 beaten eggs

1 1/3 c buttermilk

1/2 c chopped nuts (I left these out)

 

** If you do not have buttermilk you can make sour milk by combining a cup  and 1/3 of milk along with a tablespoon plus one teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice.  Let sit in a glass measuring cup for about 5 minutes before using.

Grease bottom of 9×13 pan, including sides.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and salt.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside 1/2 cup.  Stir baking powder, baking soda, cinna mon, and nutmeg into remaining crumb mixture.

 

In another bowl, combine eggs and buttermilk.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Combine reserved crumb mixture and nuts; sprinkle over batter.

 

Bake at 350 for 35-40 min (I set the timer for 30 and it was done), or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

Kabobs August 21, 2008

Sometimes I’ll go to the store and buy a few things, then come home and look them up online to see what kinds of recipes I can make with them.  This week, I went to the store and saw some Butterball Turkey Smoked Sausage for a very reasonable price.  I’ve never had this and wasn’t sure what it would taste like, but for $2, I figured I’d pick it up and see what we could do with it. 

 

When I got home, I really didn’t know how to start searching since I wasn’t sure just what kind of flavors I wanted to mix with this.  I decided to go to the Butterball website and see if they had any suggestions. 

 

What I found was the recipe for Turkey Smoked Sausage and Vegetable Kabobs.  I really liked the idea of putting sweet potatoes along with some other sweet veggies on the kabobs along with the smoked sausage.  It sounded a little different and very tasty.  The apricot and mustard glaze gave it a perfect finish.  It was a quick and easy meal to toss on the grill, and we both really enjoyed it.  Ross said he could have used more of the glaze while grilling, so maybe we’ll add a little extra next time.  This meal was healthy, too!  Ross said he never would have known it was turkey sausage if he hadn’t seen the package.

A Repeat and a Random Favorite August 20, 2008

I had a meeting tonight at CCCC to get ready for fall classes.  I can’t believe the summer has come to an end and it is time to start teaching again.  I have 2 classes this semester and am looking forward to fewer papers to grade than the past few semesters!  I wasn’t going to get home until late, so we planned something quick and easy.  Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper Cayenne Sauce is a recipe we made for the first time a few months ago and we really enjoyed it.  It is very easy to make, and toss a few chicken breasts on top and you’ve got a complete meal.  It is ready super fast, too.  It took less than 30 minutes altogether.  Take that Rachael Ray.

 

Here’s the link to the original blog I wrote about it. 

 

For something new, this is a recipe I have been craving.  As soon as I get a bundt pan, this is going to be the first thing I bake in it.  My Mom used to make this cake all of the time.  I remember so many evenings smelling it baking in the oven and feeling my excitement rise.  Nine times out of ten, I would be crushed to find out that it wasn’t for us, it was to be taken to work or a PTA luncheon or something like that.  That was the worst. 

 

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake is the perfect combination of so many things.  The sour cream makes it dense and moist, the chocolate chips add the chocolate that is necessary in any wonderful dessert, and the cinnamon and sugar add just the right amount of sweetness.  It is different than any other common cakes, but simple to make and always a crowd pleaser.  The BEST part, by far, is the cinnamon-sugar-chocolate chip chunks that form on top.  Whether it was being made for us or for someone other than our family, Kara and I would get in trouble for sneaking into the kitchen at night and picking off the chunks on top, when the chips were still just a teeny bit melty from the oven.  It’s just a little piece of heaven.  If you bake this cake, you must treat yourself to picking off a chunk.  It might not look as pretty afterwards, but it is so worth it.

 

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake

1 stick butter

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

2 c flour

8 oz sour cream

 

Filling:

1 package chocolate chips

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c cinnamon

1/2 c nuts (I personally do not care for nuts in my baked goods, so I would never add these, but the real recipe does call for them).

 

Mix all batter ingredients together.  Fill greased bundt pan with 1/2 of the batter.  Spread with 3/4 of filling, then rest of batter.  Top with remaining filling.  Press gently with a spoon.  Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350.

 

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh.  So good.

Weekend Food Makes Me Happy August 17, 2008

In addition to our delicious food out at restaurants yesterday, we’ve had some pretty tasty stuff here at home this weekend. 

 

On Thursday, I didn’t get home until after midnight.  Ross is the best ever, because when I walked in the door and opened the fridge to see what I could have for my late dinner, there was a whole meal sitting in the front of the fridge waiting for me.  Along with a piece of lasagna, there was a beautiful salad.   It was a cold steak salad, with mixed greens, green onion, crumbled cheese, cherry tomatoes, fresh crumbled bacon and sliced grilled steak.  He had sprinkled Emeril’s Essence (or BAM as we call it) on both sides of the Porterhouse steak and grilled it for about 6 minutes on each side, brushing it with a little bit of melted butter at the end of grilling.  I topped it with croutons and blue cheese dressing, and although I was exhausted, I sat there in the dark kitchen thinking it was the best salad I’d ever had.  And I am very lucky to have the best guy ever to have made it for me.

 

Today for lunch, we finished off the salad.  Ross made his homemade salsa this afternoon for a snack, which was a treat because we haven’t had it in awhile.  Tonight for dinner we had Chicken Fricassee.  I thought I knew what this was, but apparently I didn’t because when I read the recipe it was nothing like I thought it was.  It sounded better.  It was very easy to put together.  The flavor was great, and although most reviews said it was too spicy, I didn’t think so at all.  It was just right.  I halved the recipe and we still had a whole lot left over.  I decided to make it in the Dutch oven and the meat came out fabulously tender.  We served it over rice.  We’ll definitely have it again!

Delicious Local Food August 16, 2008

Yesterday was a crazy day at work.  There were several people out sick and not enough people to cover.  This meant that Emily and I covered in a classroom this morning.  You could see the twinkle in the two and three year old’s eyes, just wondering what they could get away with while 2 different people were in their classroom.  Luckily we were able to laugh about it a lot, but we were definitely ready to take a lunch break after 1:00.  We couldn’t decide where to go, but finally decided on Myra’s Kitchen.  I hadn’t been there yet and have been dying to go.  I have heard so much about it through everyone’s blog!

 

Well, it was great.  I love the atmosphere inside and the staff couldn’t have been friendlier.  The food was absolutely delicious, and there were so many  things to choose from.  I can’t wait to go back to try something else.  The menu of side dishes alone goes on forever!

 

For dinner last night, Ross and I decided to do something low key.  We didn’t really feel like going anywhere, but I didn’t want to just stay home because I knew I’d fall asleep by 8 pm if I did.  We decided to go out to eat at one of our most special places, La Dolce Vita.  This is the restaurant that Ross and I met at on a blind date just over two years ago.  It is always good food, and always brings back fun memories.  They’ve added several new items to their menu, including The Dirty Bird, my choice for the night.  It was wonderful and I am sure I will order it again on another visit in the near future.

 

I had just complained to Emily a few days ago that while I love to cook, I was sad that life had been so hectic that we hadn’t been able to go out to eat in weeks.  I guess I made up for some lost time yesterday!   With the great local dining that we have in our small town, it was well worth the wait.

 

Enjoy your weekend, and try one of those restaurants if you have the opportunity!

Corn Dip August 14, 2008

We had another luncheon at work today!  We were sending off two of our summer volunteers who will  be heading back to school in the coming weeks.  I was out last night, so had to make something that I could throw together quickly this morning.

 

Corn Dip is a recipe I found a few years back when my friends and I used to get together for Desperate Housewives every Sunday evening.  We always had a great time, rotating who would host and each of us bringing some sort of an appetizer.  Of course I loved it most for the opportunity to get together with friends and wind down after a weekend to get ready for the work week.  It was also a great opportunity to build up a repertoire of appetizer recipes as I had to find something new each week to bring.

 

Unfortunately our lives have changed since then and it is no longer so easy for us all to get together.  I miss our Sunday night gatherings, and I miss the girls.  Our time together is no longer as frequent but the time we do share is just as fun.

 

Here’s the recipe.  It is one of my favorites and was quite a hit at work today.

 

Corn Dip

1 c mayonnaise

2 c sour cream

juice from 1/2 lime

1 tsp cumin

pinch of salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 c cilantro, chopped

1 bunch of green onion, chopped

3 – 11 oz cans Mexi-corn, drained

16 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (I usually only use 8-12 oz of cheese and it is more than enough)

 

Mix together all ingredients and serve cold with tortilla chips.