Fresh Pasta

I watched an episode on Food Network last night.  The chef was making homemade pasta, Linguini alla Carbonara.  I've made homemade pasta once or twice before quite awhile back.  I thought  I'd give it a try again, even though I don't have a pasta machine.  I made it today for lunch.  Homemade pasta takes your dry pasta dishes from dive to you need to make a reservation to get into this restaurant!  Really, I am not kidding it makes all the difference in your pasta dishes.  The one I made was so good even doing it the old fashioned way, rolling out the dough with my muscles!  Next time you do pasta night, please try making fresh pasta.  And, let me know how it turns out.

Homemade Pasta

1 C cake flour
1/2 C all purpose flour
1/8 C evoo
dash of salt
2 egg yolks
water

Put above into a food processor (or right on your kitchen couter if you dare.  if you dare, put the flour down first and then make a well in the center then pour the rest of the goods).  Once it all comes together, slowly pour in the water.  There is no measurement, because it depends on the type of flour you use (you can use all all purpose flour the dough will just be more dense.  The cake flour makes it nice & light & fluffy).  You want the dough to form into a ball, and when you push it in with a finger it says together.  I think today I started with a 1/2 water but did not use it all.

Wrap up the dough into a ball into plastic wrap & put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

If you have a pasta machine, you already know what to do to finish the dough.  I don't, so I floured a board and my fingers.  I pulled out the rolling pin and just kept rolling to my desired thickness.  Then I cut the dough into strips.  I made fettuccine noodles.  Keep in mind the dough does expand while cooking, so next time I will cut my strips not so wide.

Start your pot of water, get it boiling.  Add some salt.  This will season your pasta.  Some people add vegetable oil or evoo.  I normally don't, but heck today I was kinda sassy so I put in a little evoo.

Cooking fresh pasta takes a lot less time to cook than the dry.  Mine took 4 minutes.  Really watch it until you get the hang of it.  Take a piece out and test, the only way you'll know.  Then drain as usual.

Linguine Alla Carbonara

2 T evoo
2 T white wine
1/2 heavy cream
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic
4 strips bacon/4 oz. bacon or pancetta  chopped
1 egg seperated
1 C parmesan cheese

Put evoo into pan and heat over med low.  Cook the bacon, about 7 minutes.  Add the garlic, & stir about 5 seconds.  Don't burn the garlic.

Add the white wine, cream, and pepper.  Stir and cook until it becomes thick. About 3-5 minutes.

Once the pasta is just about done (drain about a minute before it is done), strain and put into the sauce.  Take the sauce pan off the heat. Stir in 1/2 C of parmesean.  Stir sauce and noodles being careful not the break the noodles.  Fresh noodles are more fragile than dry.

Keep the pan off the heat.  Stir one egg white into the pasta/sauce.  Then stir the egg yolk.  Mix all until well combined.  Garnish with remaining cheese.

Falling on ice =

Can you guess?  Yes, I broke my arm.  My right elbow to be exact.  I'm right handed.  It's been 3 weeks now and it has been tough if I can be honest.  Think about it, I can't dry my hair, straighten it, I have to brush my teeth with my left hand, & not to mention extremely little cooking for 3 weeks.  I say the sleeping has been the most difficult, but actually I think it is tied with my lack of cooking.  I know a lot of you would rather go out to eat than even begin to think about what's for dinner tonight.  But, for me my excitement level is highly elevated when I am deciding on my nightly meal!  I have way too many food blogs bookmarked, cook books, printed recipes (don't get my family started on my recipe box), & my own creations.  I'm thinking I should go to Culinary School or maybe be a personal chef...oh wait I already do that in my own house! 

My broken arm is my reason for no posts for the last few weeks.  Hopefully I'll be on the mend soon so I can hold up my camera to take pictures of my creations.  My line now when people ask about my arm is, it is still broke but attached.  It will get better just not soon enough for me to get back in the kitchen!

What? Fried Burgers?

Fried burgers?  No way!  I am a die hard grill woman.  A burger is grilled on a charcoal grill.  Gas grills are for sissies lazy people!  There is no other way.  I grill as many nights of the week as I can.  And, yes, even in the winter.  I saw some burgers on a show the other day and thought oh my goodness they look delicious, BUT they were fried.  Yeah, fried as in on a pan.  The other loud, loud gasp I had watching that show is that the cook 'smashed' the burgers.  A burger is never, ever to be smashed.  All the goodness is smashed out when you do that.  So, I said to myself.  Self, keep an open mind & try these.  I watched the show, and they did not give me the recipe.  How dare them?  I wrote down what they said they used for ingredients and what I thought they didn't say.  I went free style and guessed on all measurements.  Oh my goodness (or OMG for all you youngsters), these were the best burgers I have ever made!  Every one in my family said the same exact statement.  It was as if all the planets were aligned, because it really is a rare occasion when everyone is in complete 100% agreement.
I would love to have my own burger restaurant one day, so when  my ship comes in and my joint is open this will be on the menu.  So, my apologizes I can not give you my recipe.  It is top secret.  I will tell you that I made a basil pesto mayo w/a few special ingredients that was the star of the burger.  And, the burgers were fried with onions seasoned with about 9 spices, delicious!

Mini Bread Pans

I have wanted a mini bread pan for a long time.  I just didn't want to spend about $20.00 for 4 of them.  I found one today for $1.99.  How could I pass that up?  I bought it, went directly home & my daughter whipped up some banana bread dough for me.  It really isn't anything different than a normal sized bread pan, other than the mini size.  It just looks so darn cute!  Doesn't it?  I can't remember my recipe right now so I'll try to get that to you later.  I've tried quite a few & always go back to this one.  This is the regular in our household.

Summer Veggies

I just came across some pictures of some of our tomatoes from this past summer.  Thank goodness I did a lot of canning.  I miss my gardening, but not the weeding.  Can't wait to dig in the dirt again.

$14.95 meal

I want my own little diner.  You know the one where everything is home made & down right delicious food.  When you think of say...bacon wrapped chicken my little diner is the place you think of first.  We have a fake menu going on at our house, what I'd serve at my diner, & how much each item would be.  This tonight at my kitchen diner was $14.95.

I made three new recipes tonight. Spinach and blue cheese, bacon wrapped stuffed chicken, honey & balsamic green beans, & smashed potatoes. I used my own potatoes and green beans, nothing like it!  It was one of those nights where everyone was 'starving', so I couldn't get a good picture of the food. Never mind the horrible lighting and display, the troops were demanding food!  I should have cut the chicken open & showed you all the gooey cheesy goodness inside of the chicken. Why have I not stuffed my own chicken ever before? I really don't understand, really it is a simple process.

I usually start with a recipe and then make it my own. At the request of a few of you I will add the recipes below.  A word to the wise.  I love to cook therefore I may throw in seasoning, evoo, this & that at my own discretion & that is why there may not be the measurements for some of the ingredients on the recipes.  For example, below for the chicken I have no idea how much spinach I used just take a handful and mix it all together & see if it's enough...really try it, it won't be difficult.

Oh & smile when you are making these dishes because you know anything is over the top good with bacon.  One more thing, let me know if you made any of my recipes and what you did different....I wanna know!  Send me some of your recipes you'd like me to try.  I'll make 'em, take pics of them & post them.

Bacon wrapped, spinach and cheese stuff chicken

4 chicken breasts (bonless, skinless)

blue cheese (I also did a couple with feta cheese)
spinach
arugula
bacon
pepper

Take a paring knife and cut down the middle of the fat side of the chicken about 1/2 way.  Put your finger in the cut to loosen it up.  You will be cutting right in the middle of the breast, don't cut all the way through.

Take some spinach & arugula & mix it together.  Then throw some cheese in the mix & mix it all together.

Put the green/cheese mixture into the cut of the chicken.  Use your finger & really stuff it down in there.

Pepper the chicken.

Wrap bacon around the chicken, like a spiral.

Put in a baking dish at 425 for about 30 minutes.

Honey and Balsamic Green Beans

16 oz green beans
2 garlic cloves
evoo
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Heat the evoo in a pan over medium heat.  Put in the beans & garlic.  Cover & cook for about 10 minutes. Stir when you feel like it.

Put in the onion powder, honey, balsamic vinegar, & salt & pepper to taste.

Cook for about 3-5 minutes longer.

Smashed potatoes
(my kids can take or leave potatoes depending on how they are cooked.  I've never made this recipe before tonight & they all loved them)


4 medium potatoes
1/4 chicken broth
3 T evoo
4 scallions (green & whites)
salt & pepper

Cook potatoes in boiling water about 15-20 minutes.  Drain. Put back in same pot.

Add evoo, broth, scallions, & salt & pepper to taste.

Smash with the back of a fork.  These will be a bit chunky, not like your Mamma's mashed potatoes.

Eat!

Comfort Food, French Onion Soup

I made some French Onion Soup the other day.  I forgot to take a picture.  For some odd reason, I had some leftovers.  I heated it up today & remembered to take a picture.  Who is with me lovin' this soup?  How can you not love it?  Really, it has lovely cooked onions, toasted bread, & lots and lots of gruyere cheese melted all over the bread and oozing down the sides.  Wipe off your chin and go make some soup!

S'More Cookies! Try 'em, you'll like 'em!

See I told you I would post some sweet entries as well some healthy ones!  I'm still on a S'Mores theme in my mind as I am helping plan a women's retreat at my church.  Can you guess the theme is S'Mores?  I may bring these cookies for a snack.  These really are kidilicious!  I'm not a big sweet person, & geez with the chocolate chips, hershey bars, & marshmallows these are enough for you to unbutton your pants!

Here is some eye candy for you.

Not Your Traditional S'More

This blog isn't all about what's grown in the ground.  Doesn't everyone like some sort of sweet?  The other day I was making home made marshmallows.  They didn't turn out, hence no photo of them!  I had some (gasp) store bought marshmallows so decided to use those to make a new (new to me) kind of s'more.  We are having a s'more event at our church in a few weeks and I get to help make the food portion of it, perfect job for me if I do say so myself!
Aren't these the cutest things you've seen in awhile?  Come on, admit it you like 'em.  Next time I do this I have a lot of other decorating ideas for these plump, white, sugary goodness.

Perfect Potato

The potato is a perfect food, along with the egg.  Seriously, what can't you do with a potato?  Grill, bake, fry, broil, boil, & then you know the rest...mash, slice, make a soup, throw some butter, sour cream, bacon (oh, that is another perfect food), scallions.  You get the idea.  It is even superior when you can go down to your basement in the off gardening season and grab some beauties, clean them up and cook away!  I love my garden potatoes, but I don't think we grew enough for the winter.  I told my husband tonight we need to grow some more next summer.
Here are some accordion potatoes I threw together tonight, made with my thyme, parsley, & chives.

Aged Pizza Dough

I made some pizzas the other night, one cheese and one steak & potato (I'm in the midwest and we are in meat & potato country).  Really, who doesn't like steak & potatoes?  Isn't that the perfect marriage?  Ok, all you vegetarians no need to comment.  I made my own homemade crust, because well it's just better.  Trust me.  It's aged pizza dough.  It was really, really good.  Try it.  Now I have to work on my circles.

Ooey Gooey Sandwich

Here is what I made for supper (or dinner for the rest of you) tonight.  It has a delicious sauce that I made all homemade; mayo & pesto mixed together.  Then is is layered with more deliciousness; lettuce, bacon, tomatoes (from the garden of course), cucumbers (not from the garden, bummer), basil, eggs, & lots of cheese.  It was very good, except dare I say...it was too gooey.  I should have counted how many napkins we all used!  I'll make it again & alter my ooey gooey sauce.

Double Batch This!

We went to this apple orchard last Sunday.  It is a fairly young orchard so we couldn't pick our own apples.  The owners were more than helpful and knowledgeable about their apples.  I didn't get their names, but the man took us on a hay ride around the place.  I will be curious to see this place again when the trees are more mature.

We bought some Haralson apples.  The whole idea is to eat them whole, and bake crisp and pies.  When we got home I made some crisp, a single batch.  What a horrible idea!  Between the 5 of us that was gone in one sitting.  So, today I made a double batch.  Half of it was gone, and I am thinking that was only because the kids have church activities so not too much was eaten before they left.  There is some left for tomorrow.  My husband was pleading with me tonight to save at least one little part of it for him.

Maybe I should go to the fridge and have a bite or 7.  What do you think?  Everyone is sleeping here, they'd never know!

A word to the wise, make a double batch triple batch of apple crisp.  Trust me everyone will be much happier.

Summer Herbs

This past summer I had 3 gardens, one in our backyard, and two at our community garden.  My gardens put out a great crop.  We grew; tomatoes, peppers, chilies, carrots, lettuce, corn, beans, peas, pumpkins, gourds, onions, cucumbers, potatoes, broccoli, melon, squash, and our son grew one massive sun flower!

I am also a huge herb gardener.  This summer I grew; basil (I had an over load of that!), parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary (that didn't grow), dill, cilantro (thanks to one of my garden buddies!), and tarragon.  For some reason this year I was a master basil grower!  I had tons of it and gave lots away and also dried it.  I can honestly say that I have dried basil for two years!

The kids grew all of our tomatoes by seed last winter, and also a lot of the peppers.

Now we are going to reevaluate our gardens and do some planning for next spring!

Here is a couple pictures of one load of basil.

Happy winter garden planning!

Chicken My Way

I made this chicken the other night.  My own breading, which had to be delicious as all 5 members of my family ate it!  I made an evoo based sauce that included my home grown basil and parsley & then topped it off with my backyard tomatoes.   Delicious!

Food For Thought

In the past 5 years I have made changes in the way our family thinks about food, what we eat, & where it comes from.  This actually started with my husband.  He thought he was over weight, so he starting eating 'better', going to the gym, & subscribing to Men's Health.  That's where our families healthier lifestyle came to be.  He was borderline annoying with his frequent flyer miles to the gym, 'healthier' recipes, & feeling and looking better than I was.  He was winning this one!  We are a tad competitive so I had do some something, anything to win this one.  Fast forward about 5ish years, we are both on the same page....we both won that race!  We realized our new 'healthier' lifestyle, which included what we put into our mouths, how we cooked it, where it came from, & frequent reading of the ingredient labels we would be ahead of the game.

This past summer I had 3 gardens & grew loads of fresh food.  I did a lot of canning and freezing.  We are in the process of raising our own chickens, but that most likely will not happen until this spring.  A local farmer has offered for us to purchase beef from him, so we are trying to make that work.  FYI..we have purchased beef from a farmer in the past & let me tell you it is about 783 times better (taste, nutrition, flavor, & local!) than anything you can buy at a grocery store.  Note, not that you shouldn't buy from a grocery store but for me fresh, local beef is a no brainer.    Now to find a pork farmer.  Can you say bacon?  Seriously, bacon is one of the perfect foods.  Sliced, chunked, salty, crunchy, fry it, bake it, or grill it.  It's perfect on potatoes, chicken, top of green beans, Sunday   any day brunch, eggs...all right I think you get the idea.

Sorry Service Food, I still love you & somehow frequent your store almost daily,  I've grown accustomed to growing and loving my own food.

My mouth is dreaming of some bacon.   Must go to the fridge.

Just A City Girl

I've always lived in the city so I'm known as a City Slicker.  As I've grown older (also known as wiser) I have longed to live in the country where I can roam free, build a tree house for our kids (ummm, I mean my husband will do that job),  smell the fresh air, look at the stars at night with out any power lines or city lights blocking my view, have a huge glorious garden, & raise some animals.  I believe I am ready for the move, my husband on the other hand thinks I'm a City Slicker for good.  He says my daily trips to the store, having neighbors close by, and all the conveniences of city life are too good for me to give up.  I am working on him though & think I will win this one!