Soup for the sick....errr...soul...

     A few days ago i made a lemon herb roasted chicken.  I hate to throw away the bones, so i refrigerated them until the kids were playing nicely together, napping at the same time, at daycare and the baby was napping.  I quickly threw the bones in the pot and then promptly forgot the rest of the recipe.  I quickly googled Ina Gartens chicken stock recipe.  I was missing a few items, but i used dried herbs and some tarragon.  I had a ton of parsley, so i threw in extra.
     Four hours later and the result was the most beautiful golden broth.  Not to mention the house smelled fantastic.  I think i'm going to use the broth in a won ton soup recipe i have. 

A little crafting update.

     As long as i can remember, my grandmother always made us our Christmas stockings.  Since she was not able to make one for Winnie i decided that i would love to follow in her footsteps. Of course i always assume i'm much more craftier then i actually am.  Luckily this pattern comes with helpful stitching instructions.  It was pretty easy to get the hang of.  Since Winnie is now about 8 months old i have more time to work on these projects, but also less time in some aspects. 

 

     Ahhh this baby gift.  Seems like i have a ton of trouble getting to it.  She'll probably receive this on her fifth birthday.  Poor kid.  It's the thought that counts, right?

(Photo progress updated Feb 2014)

Baby Shower

Last July (2012) my sister in law was given a lovely baby shower.  I was so happy when her mom asked me to bring a baby in a watermelon carriage.  

Now, i have never, ever, cut a watermelon into anything other then sloppy slices meant to be devoured instantaneously.  Naturally i was extremely doubtful i would be able to duplicate this adorable center piece.  

Luckily You Tube has crazy nonsense including step by step instructions on how to crave a baby in a watermelon carriage.   This is the video on how to carve the darn thing. 

 

It did not take long at all.  I suggest watching the video and making a list of all the stuff you will need a couple days before attempting this cutie.

Best Tortellini Soup Ever!

I'm always on the go.  I just do not have the time like i used to, where i would whip up shrimp bisque, or some other fancy concoction.  This soup is easy, delicious, healthy, simple and most importantly, FAST.

1-2 tsp olive oil
1 small white onion diced
2 carrots peeled and diced
3 stalk celery diced
2 box Campbells chicken broth soup (reduced salt)
1 box of whatever your favorite tortellini is.

Saute the onion, carrots and celery in the olive oil until the onion is translucent.  Dump in the two boxes of broth, and bring to a boil.  Throw in your pasta and cook until you deem the pasta to be cooked through.
Enjoy!

So easy and a delicious fast dinner!  I'll post a photo of the finished soup tonight.

Spagetti, but from two recipes with a little modification.

Both recipes from my favorite chef, Ina Garten, but both are from two different books, and i modified the meatballs a smidge.

The meatball recipe i took from her book "How easy is that?". It's listed under "Spicy Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti."



The sauce is from her "Barefoot Contessa Family Style," book, and the recipe is under, (you could probably have guessed this,) "Spaghetti and Meatballs."

So lets get to it! First you make the spicy meatballs.

Ingredients:
3 cups bread crumbs from round rustic bread, crusts removed, cut into 1” pieces (or you can do what i did, which was buy the bread crumbs from the store. If this is the case, use WAY less. I would say 1 cup of already fine ground bread crumbs. My reasoning being they fill the cup more densely.)
2/3 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
2 lb/900g ground turkey (I bought the extra lean ground beef instead. Next time i might just go for lean so its not as dry.)
8oz/226g Italian sausage, casings removed (I used hot Italian sausages, about 4 of them.)
4oz/114g thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped (i bought pancetta instead, and kept it aside to use in the actual spaghetti sauce.)
1 cup Asiago cheese, grated (I used regular parmesan cheese because my market did not have any Asiago and i was to lazy to go to another store.)
½ cup fresh Italian/flat leaf parsley, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed red chili pepper flakes
3 tbsp good olive oil, plus some for brushing the meatballs
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Line a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (foil is better for easy clean up and is what i used).

2. Place bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until the bread is in medium crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a small bowl and add the milk. Toss and set aside for 5 minutes. (OR poor 1 cup of the box/can breadcrumbs into a bowl, add the milk, stir, it gets kinda clumpy.)

3. In a large bowl, the turkey (or beef), sausage, prosciutto (or pancetta), bread mixture, Asiago (or parmesan), parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes and lightly combine with your hands. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and eggs, stir lightly with a fork to combine. (Or like me, remove rings and mush together with your hands.)

4. Lightly roll the mixture with your hands into 2” round meatballs and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Brush with olive oil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the tops are browned and the centers completely cooked. (I did not brush mine with the olive oil and they turned out lovely and crispy on the outside.) I cooked mine at 350-375 (since my oven is crapping out and i'm not getting a new one until we move...) for about 30-40 min.

They are delicious! You will seriously eat them right out of the oven. Yum! I doubt i'll ever pan fry my meatballs again.

Now into the sauce!
Remember the pancetta??? Now is the time to use it!

(Pancetta, 4oz)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a pan. (I used my deep sauce pan.) Add the pancetta, cook until well, it looks like half cooked bacon. Add in the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper. At this point i added in an extra half cup of red wine.

I let mine simmer for about 2 hours at a very low heat. Barely bubbling.

Cook your pasta, then add in your meatballs to your sauce to reheat them. (I added 4 meatballs per person into the sauce and i wrapped up the left over meatballs for the next day.)

I love De Cecco pasta so that is what we tend to cook around here. If you want some garlic bread, i usually take one clove, cut it, rub it over the bread, butter, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and stick it into a 375 oven till lightly browned. Delicious!

Cookies you will not want to give away.

I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. However, a lot of the recipes i have been using left me with nasty crunchy, hard, burnt edged cookies. I hate that! Such a waste of chocolate. We had Chef At Home playing on the tv the other day. I do enjoy watching him cook, everything looks like it would be tasty. He made these cookies and PROMISED me chewy results. *Rolls up sleeves*

Alright, so they were good fantastic. Chewy, lots of chocolate bits and buttery. Want the recipe? Ok, I'll share, but please drop some off when you make them.

Ingredients:
* 1 stick butter (about 1/2 a cup for those of you who hate to figure that out.)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon molasses (DO IT. It makes the recipe. Then you store the rest of the container in your cupboard. Not the fridge. Molasses helps to brown the cookie quicker so its not as dried out.)
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup oats
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon vanilla
* 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.

2. Cream the butter, sugar and molasses together in a stand mixer. Beat until well combined and ‘creamy’. If you don’t have a stand mixer beat vigorously by hand in a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile whisk the flour, oats, salt, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl.

3. Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and continue beating until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the flour mix, beating just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. You may try using ground oats if you prefer a smoother cookie texture.

4. Using a tablespoon scoop out a ball of the dough and drop onto a lightly greased cookie tray.
Flatten slightly. Repeat leaving lots of room in between the balls for the cookies to expand. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes. Cool for two minutes then remove from the tray and try to eat only one!

Beef Bourguignon

Om nom nom nom. That about sums up this recipe.

Remember those few chilly days we had awhile back? While neither do i. I do remember it was cool enough for me to feel like making a delicious stew. So i leafed through my Barefoot Contessa cookbook "Barefoot in Paris".


I would rate this recipe a pain if you hate cooking, and a JOY if you enjoy it. I like to set up my laptop in the kitchen with a favorite movie (or Pretty Little Liars, if you have been following the series...) usually my hubby is kind enough to take the baby, or i start this once Henry is down for the night. This recipe cannot be finished in the time it takes my dear little one to nap. So get comfy.

Ingredients:

* 1 tablespoon good olive oil
* 8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced (I used regular bacon.)
* 2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes (I used boeuf bourguignon cubes, they are just cleaned up nicer then stewing meat which is what i usually buy because its cheaper.)
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
* 2 yellow onions, sliced
* 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
* 1/2 cup Cognac ( I totally did not use this, i did not have any one hand.)
* 1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir (I used a Pinot Noir i already had, that was a homemade wine. Don't ever cook with a wine you would not drink by the glass while sober.)
* 1 can (2 cups) beef broth
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried) (I used more, like 1tsp or a bit more.)
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 pound frozen whole onions (I did not use these as i cannot find them. I just added extra chopped up onions.)
* 1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving:

* Country bread or Sour Dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, and onions (here i added maybe one small onion extra), 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. (I used half a cup of wine here instead.)

Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus (I just used what was left in the bottle,) enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork. (I left mine simmering on the stove top. Just watch that is does not burn, so i stirred it on commericals. I also threw in a bay leaf.)

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

To serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on 1 side with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a slice of bread and sprinkle with parsley.

So very, very delicious. I think i would eat it all the time. I am looking forward to fall, and to making it again. It is even better the second day reheated on the stove top.