FOOD FRIDAY - Simple Pasta Salads

from Kris B.

I trust that I am not alone in having those nights where you wander through the kitchen looking in the fridge, rummaging through the pantry, and checking the spice cabinet hoping that there are some ingredients that will work together and magically become dinner.  If I am alone in this, please keep that fact to yourself!  Often these meals that I have scrounged together in desperation become some of my favorites.  This Tortellini Salad is one such creation.

As I recall, I had the three cheese tortellini and that sounded good for dinner, but didn't have the necessary ingredients to make a traditional pasta sauce.  I had broccoli that needed to be eaten.  Actually, I always have broccoli that needs to be eaten because it is my favorite green vegetable.  I am happy to eat it in, on, or with just about anything.  Because I was trying to come up with a meal rather than just a side of pasta, I wanted some meat to add to the tortellini and broccoli.  I had a few pieces of bacon that also were on the "need to eat soon" list.  I always have some kind of cheese on hand.  This particular night, Parmesan was the cheese of choice.  Throw a little red onion and some grape tomatoes into the mix and the dinner potential was becoming real.  Still, however, I had no sauce.

The easy solution would have been to pour some bottled salad dressing over the whole shebang and call it done.  All I had was Asian Sesame.  As much as I like that on certain salads, it didn't sound good with this.  I decided that I would start with a more or less traditional macaroni salad dressing and go from there.  

When all was said and done, this turned out to be really good.  This is probably because this salad contains most of my favorite food things.  It's filling but not too heavy, flexible, and better for you than some things!

INGREDIENTS
1 19 oz bag frozen three cheese tortellini
1/2 lb bacon
1 head of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/4 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese

For the Dressing
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 mayonnaise
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the broccoli and dice the onion.  Grate the Parmesan cheese.

Cut the bacon into pieces and cook it.  Remove the cooked back to a paper towel to drain and cool.  While the bacon cooks, cook the pasta according to the package directions.  In its last minute of cooking, drop the chopped broccoli into the pasta water.  This will cook it just slightly.  Drain the pasta and broccoli and let cool in a large bowl.

While the pasta cools, in a medium bowl whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing.  I prefer the dressing to lightly coat rather than drench the other ingredients.  If you prefer a "wet" salad, you may want to double the dressing proportions. 

Once the pasta has cooled, add the bacon, onion, and Parmesan cheese to the pasta and broccoli.  Add the dressing and toss the salad until all of the ingredients are evenly coated.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  As is the case with almost anything that has a dressing or sauce, allowing the ingredients to mingle for several hours makes for better flavor.

This recipe is simple and quite forgiving.  Don't have broccoli and tomatoes?  Add another vegetable.  Squash is nice.  Prefer different spices?  By all means, go for it.  Don't like cheese tortellini?  Substitute your favorite pasta.  Have some leftover ham fro Easter?  Use that instead of bacon.  Make it your own.  Create Your Favorites Tortellini Salad!

Some days my cooking and my photography are guided by the same principles - both need to be quick and easy.  I quickly made this salad for our lunches today and needed to get the photo done quickly as I was leaving the house at noon and wouldn't be home again until almost 10 pm.  During my time away from the house, and more importantly my computer, I did have a little down time.  I decided that I would take today's photo with my phone and do any necessary editing on my iPad.

I shot the photo of the pasta on our outdoor kitchen cement counter with the resident camera on my iPhone.  The concrete added just a little bit of texture to the frame.  I then added the text and a frame using the Rhonna Designs app and I was done.  

Sometimes I feel like relying solely on my phone and its editing apps are cheating somehow.  Then there are the days where I know that it is the responsible way to use what little time I have.  When I got to the end of the day, I had a decent meal and an acceptable photo so I consider my day a success. Lol!


from Tracey G

I love using Food Fridays as a reason to experiment and try new recipes. Probably not the best thing, because if it doesn't turn out I'm stuck with it and can only report that it was awful, lol. But I've, for the most part, yet to have that happen. I've ran into some difficulties in the execution of the recipe, but it's always something I know that another run-through would iron out. This one was rather humorous as I was trying to get it together. I mean, come on, how hard can a macaroni salad be - really!? Well, it helps if on the day you're making it you have all the ingredients in the proper amounts that you need. I miscalculated my mayo supply, thinking I had much more than I actually did, and ended up having to make a half a batch of it. Then, trying to get the pickle juice into the bowl, I tipped the jar a bit too far and spilled some all over my recipe and island, lol. I was not having a good day! But I must say, all the trials and tribulations were totally worth it, I absolutely loved this recipe! And it's another one of those you can customize to your tastes, very easily I might add too.

I discovered it in my newest Taste Of Home magazine as I was flipping through. I've been on the hunt for a new macaroni salad. I love the version with tuna and peas etc, but I was getting really bored with it, and just wanted something different. This is the first one that caught my eye, maybe because it reminded me of deviled egg ingredients to a certain extent or something. Not sure, but I am glad I gave it a try, it's wonderful in my opinion, and as I told Kris, I likely could have eaten the whole batch myself, lol.

Now, I have to be honest here, the original name is NOT "Grandma's Macaroni Salad", it's "Judy's Macaroni Salad". But, I don't know a Judy or even the Judy. And to be even more honest, I never knew any of my grandparents, my maternal grandmother passed away when I was 6 months and my other grandparents passed away well before I was born. So, I can't even say I knew WHAT my grandma's macaroni salad was like - but this is what I IMAGINE a grandma's macaroni salad would taste like. It seems like a nice vintage mac salad recipe that a grandma WOULD make, so that's my reasoning and I hope everyone and Judy will forgive me! I will include the link to the original recipe of course!  

It involves simple ingredients that I think are a great combination: Elbow macaroni, hardboiled eggs, cheddar cheese, sweet pickles, mayonnaise, sweet pickle juice, salt and pepper - extremely uncomplicated. That's probably why it works as well as it does.

So, here's the recipe:

Grandma's Macaroni Salad

courtesy of Taste Of Home as Judy's Macaroni Salad
Serves 12, 3/4 cup each

2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup sweet pickle juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

6 hard-cooked large eggs, chopped

6 sweet pickles, chopped

1) Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain macaroni; rinse with cold water and drain well.

2) In a small** bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sweet pickle juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, eggs and pickles. Add macaroni; toss gently to coat. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or until chilled.

** The original recipe as I've put here, calls for  a "small" bowl - but I used a medium sized bowl as due to the fact after you mix the ingredients in it, you then toss in the macaroni and I don't see how a small bowl would work very well for that and mixing the ingredients all together! :-) 

Food Friday - Spaghetti: Traditional and Gluten Free

from Kris B.

Spaghetti sauce seems to be one of those things for which most families have a favorite, or perhaps even a secret, recipe.  And if not a special recipe, for sure a preferred jarred brand.  I make my own sauce most of the time, but in a pinch, I will use a jar of prepared spaghetti sauce.  There are plenty of tasty ones out there.  When I do make sauce, I make extra and freeze it for those nights when time to prepare dinner eludes me.  There is really nothing secret, or even special, about “my” recipe.  It is one that has evolved over time, taking in to account my personal likes and dislikes and those of my family.  My major dislike when it comes to spaghetti sauce, or any other kind of food for that matter, is mushrooms.  I don’t know why, I just have never developed a fondness for them.  I am mature enough not to pick them out of food that is served to me by someone else, but when I am in charge, I don’t use them.

When Weber and I started dating, he announced very soon in the relationship that he did not like spaghetti.  (That along with not liking chocolate chip cookies was almost a deal breaker!! lol.)  How does someone grow up not liking spaghetti?  Even my ex-husband who did not like tomatoes liked spaghetti!  This dislike became a little more concerning as our first trip together was to Italy!  I figured he was going to be eating a lot of pizza and drinking a lot of wine for the ten days that were there.  Upon further discussion, his dislike was clarified.  He does not like SPAGHETTI, as in that particular form of pasta.  He does like other kinds of pasta with sauce.  The confusion came because any shape of pasta with sauce is commonly referred to by the generic term “spaghetti.”  As it turns out, he is much less picky regarding the actual sauce used, as long as you don’t put it on spaghetti noodles, than I am.  I am happy to report that he did not starve while we were in Italy. :-)

Weber is definitely in the minority by being more particular about the form of his pasta than the characteristics of the sauce that goes on it, as is discussed by Malcolm Gladwell in this TED lecture.

I apparently am in the minority in that I do not want extra chunky spaghetti sauce!  I don’t care for “chunks” of tomato in my sauce.  I favor the ore traditional definition of sauce, “a thick liquid that is eaten with or served on food to add flavor to it.”  Liquids do not have chunks! That said, I do make a meat sauce most of the time, so I guess technically it has chunks of meat, but that is different than chunks of tomatoes!  lol.

There is nothing sacred about the recipe that I am about to share.  It is simply where I am today in the evolution of my personal taste in spaghetti sauce.  I have gotten to this place by trying different recipes, picking and choosing from them what I like and don’t like, adjusting for my own tastes and those of my family, and here I am.  Feel free to use it as a point of departure for doing the same for yourself.

INGREDIENTS

32 oz. tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste (Italian flavored adds a nice touch, but is not necessary)

3 cups water

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp red chili flakes (optional)

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 lb. Italian sausage (either purchased ground or with casings removed)

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large green bell pepper, finely diced

Place the tomato sauce, paste, water, spices and sugar in a large pot.  Simmer on medium low for about an hour stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering, in a skillet brown the ground beef and sausage.  When it is almost done, stir in the onions, peppers, and garlic.  Continue to cook until the meat is completely done and the onion is translucent.  Drain and set the meat mixture aside.

After the tomato and spices have cooked for an hour, add the meat mixture to the pot and allow to simmer uncovered, still on medium low, for another hour and thirty minutes.  

Serve over your preferred form of pasta and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

I know that some of you are probably questioning the 1/4 cup of sugar in this recipe.  I have tried it without the sugar as well as with less.  In my opinion, the sugar is absolutely necessary to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.  This recipe makes approximately 8 one cup servings.  That means that there is 1/2 TBS of sugar in each serving, adding 70 calories.

Tracey and I were asked by several of you to show how we go about taking our food shots. Today’s process was a little different for me, but I am willing to tell it like it was.

First of all, if you read my post from earlier in the week, you saw the photo of my extremely dark kitchen, and that photo was taken in the middle of a sunny afternoon!.  The day that I shot the photos for today’s recipe, it was overcast and gray outside, making it even darker inside.  Fortunately, I have decent outdoor space in which to shoot so I took these shots outside on my back patio.  Hauling everything outside definitely is not the most convenient way to work, but you have to go where the light is. 

Usually I have an idea of how I want to arrange a shot.  My vision usually comes from how I set our table at home.  With the spaghetti shot, however, I did not have a clear image of what I wanted.  My inclination was to keep the photo true to my story here and illustrate the fact that my other half does not like spaghetti.  This was my first set-up.

I then decided to try another perspective based on how I would serve the actual meal.  I found myself in a quandary between a bowl and a plate.  My husband’s shells I would serve to him in a bowl and “real” spaghetti could be served either in a shallow bowl or on a plate.  The choice here is certainly more significant photographically than it is dining-wise. lol!  If you put the pasta in a bowl, the best angle for shooting is going to be from above.  If it is served on a plate, then there are more possible perspectives from which to shoot.

Here is the bowl shot.

Here is the plate shot.

To me, the two feel quite different from one another.  The bowl image feels much more casual, more like how meals are most days at my house.  The plate shot seems a little more formal to me for some reason, except for the brick wall in the background.  lol.

Which of the three images do you prefer, and why?  I am curious.


from Tracey G.

When Kris and I talked about doing spaghetti sauce, I had to admit I have no particular recipe. My homemade version evolved from ideas given to me by Rachel Ray and Kathleen Daelemans (another favorite Food Network chef). Rachel and Kathleen helped me out of a rut as far as sauce and realizing it only had to take as long to make as it takes to boil the water then cook the noodles. Couple cans of petite diced tomatoes, can or two of tomato sauce, some tomato paste (if you have it and want it) fresh garlic, some chopped onion, oregano or basil (or both!), some kind of alcohol (wine or vodka) if desired (it affects the flavor of tomatoes in some kind of really good way and the alcohol cooks out as the sauce simmers) and olive oil. Plus there's other additions like balsamic vinegar and red pepper flake that do wonderful things to the sauce...

So, all that said, it brought me to a panic when we discussed "a spaghetti sauce recipe" - I don't have one! I couldn't even begin to formulate mine because it's ever changing, I don't really think I do the same thing twice, it all depends on what I'm in the mood for, lol. There are basic things I do - sauté some garlic and onion (if I'm using onion) in some olive oil, add the tomatoes, sauce and any seasonings you're using then taste for corrections or additions. The end. Ah, but wait - there's one thing, Jeremy doesn't like chunks of tomatoes in his sauce. I have sort of adapted to that by using either no diced tomatoes or I'll use less because I DO like them in my sauce, and I'll try to compromise the best I can! 

 I had bought some gluten-free pasta I've wanted to try and review - so for this post, I decided to use a jarred sauce. For the jarred sauce, I branched out and tried a "new" variety for us, Mario Batali's Tomato Basil, absolutely NO preservatives whatsoever, and nothing but real fresh ingredients. Nothing chemical at all. Just tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, carrot and if I remember correctly, sea salt. That's it. I shouldn't say "just" tomatoes though, this particular version uses San Marzano tomatoes in particular - the yummiest there is in my humble opinion, lol. And this sauce was one I was really happy with - would definitely buy it again, it's exactly what I'm looking for in my marinara sauce!

Anyway, on to the pasta... As I said, I had a box of Barilla Gluten Free spaghetti I was planning to use at some point to try and review for a post. This particular Food Friday seemed perfect for it. Now, in my story, I'm the Weber - I don't really care for traditional spaghetti noodles, but Jeremy and Harry do. I will tolerate thin spaghetti or the spaghetti rigati (with ridges). But I prefer penne or linguine or fettuccine, for the most part any shaped or different kind of pasta, lol. Harry used to love penne and would only eat that, but that's changed and now only wants spaghetti, go figure. I make sure once again we compromise so I can have the pasta I like one time and the next they get their preference!

 I was very curious as to how the gluten-free would act, after all it was made with corn flour and rice flour. Would it be like regular pasta made with wheat products in flavor? In cooking? What kind of texture would it have? I only tested and tasted this version by Barilla, and I must say I was super pleased. It was really good, the texture was just right - nothing different, just like the regular version. The cook time wasn't anything unusual, approximately 10 minutes. I did taste it plain, with no sauce or anything (I don't salt pasta water, got into that habit awhile ago, if I'm going to add salt to a dish, I'll put it where I can taste it and it not get lost in the background) and my impression was a slightly - and I mean VERY slight flavor of a yellow corn tortilla. It was so slight that after I added some olive oil to prevent sticking, I didn't taste it anymore. I should also say here that I don't normally add olive oil to my pasta after cooking - I don't want my sauce of choice to slide off! But, since I had to make sure this "kept" until Jeremy got home for dinner, so it was made about an hour and half before he'd get some so I could  get photos of it, I broke my rule and added a splash of olive oil. Which, as a side note, it even handled that well!!

Once it was sauced, there was no telling the difference that it was gluten-free as far I was concerned. I believe I told Jeremy, but not Harry and neither complained at all. Harry ate his up with not even one sideways glance - that I take as a positive!

So, all in all, at the end of this little experiment I would definitely have no reservations on using this brand of gluten-free pasta whatsoever. It was easy to cook, and easy to eat because it was yummy. The only thing I didn't care for was the fact it's not a traditional 16 ounce package, but only 12 ounces - if you want leftovers this might not provide what you're looking for. And I think next time I'd buy 2 boxes - a husband who's 6'4" and a growing son require a bit more portion-wise!! Other than that, it was hit!!!

Food Friday - Pumpkin Time!

from Kris B.

Last week's "bad guy," the pumpkin puree, is this week's star of the show.  Despite my admitted coffee addiction, I who am not one of those who spends nine months of the year waiting for Starbuck's to begin making pumpkin spice lattes, but I do spend a good part of the year waiting for fall so that I can make pumpkin bread.  There really is no reason that pumpkin bread can't be, as Cookie Monster says, "an anytime food," but I have always thought of it as a fall food, a fall food that I absolutely love.  In fact, I prefer pumpkin bread to pumpkin pie always.

This recipe is one that was passed downto me from my mother.  Perhaps I still associate pumpkin bread with fall because that is when my mom always made it.  When I was in college, she always sent me a loaf in my midterm care package.  I have no idea where my mom originally found the recipe.  She gave it to me on a handwritten recipe card with no reference as to where she had gotten it.  In all these years, I have never even tried another pumpkin bread recipe.  To my taste, this one is perfection.  And honestly, I have never tasted any pumpkin bread that beats this one.  I'm sure there are some tweaks that could be made perhaps to make it a bit healthier, but I don't think I am going to worry about that.  Some things deserve to stay the same; for me, this recipe is one of them.

INGREDIENTS
1 2/3 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup water
1 Cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Sift flour into a large bowl.

(Sifters are another of those kitchen gadgets that are kind of fun to photograph.)

Mix in the remainder of the dry ingredients - sugar, salt,  baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

I failed to include the sugar in the photos of the ingredients.  Maybe this is my subconscious self telling me that if it is not included in the pictures then the calories from the sugar don't count.  Okay, I know.  Wishful thinking.  You can't blame a girl for trying!

In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients, oil, water, pumpkin and eggs.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients stirring until they are mixed well.  Add the vanilla.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan or pan(s) of choice. This recipe works well in mini loaf pans or muffin tins also.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove it from the pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.

As I was taking this week's photos, I kind of felt like a wedding photographer for food couples...

There is the couple that you know will never make it much beyond the honeymoon, if they even get that far...

I am lazy when it comes to washing dishes so it is always my goal to use as few vessels as possible when I cook.  Since this recipe uses 1/2 cup each of water and oil, it is "efficient" to measure them both into the same measuring cup.

And there is the couple that you know is made for each other.

What is it about eggs that makes them so darn photogenic?  Or is it just me that sees them that way?

Thanks for reading!

I have to say, this recipe has challenged me from the start - it's not that it's hard, it just seems like nothing went smoothly and it wasn't the recipe's fault, lol. I made it when I was in the midst of a horrible cold (and it's still lingering, though it's backed off a bit), and that just seemed make this become a week long project instead of a day, lol. I think I did each of the steps on a separate day for each! So, I want to say that although it's been the bane of my existence, it's NOT a difficult recipe at all, just don't do it when you're in a time crunch or dealing with an illness! LOL

So, I'm moving right on to the process of making these things - and let me tell you - they are yummy! Tasted like something I'd get in a restaurant, I was so surprised it was something I made! LOL I did end up with lots of filling leftover, no idea why, probably didn't get enough out of the dough as I should have, but oh well. I had plans on turning it into a soup, but never got the chance, the cold won that round, lol.

This was even a challenge for me in the photography department, because that cold had muddled my brain so much, it was a mess trying to get things in organized and not forgotten and so forth. So, since I did mess up so much in forgetting this or that, the ingredients for the most part became collages, lol. And the collages became a real necessity as I ended up with something like 23 photos total, which was a monumental task getting processed and ready for the post! I can say I'll be glad when this one is done and under my belt, I've had enough!! Ha ha ha! :-D Well, Kris and I did promise to keep it real, and well, this is as real as it gets, lol. 

So, let's start with the dough ingredients, and there are only 3 involved - eggs (there are 5 eggs in the dough, but I had a hard time wrangling 5 for the photo, so 3 won), olive oil and flour. 

Put 2 1/2 cups of flour in a large bowl (I used my mixer bowl because I used my dough hook and the Kitchenaid to make the dough), make a well and add the eggs and olive oil. Mix until it forms a ball, then turn out onto a floured board and knead for about 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (again, I did my dough in my mixer so I didn't do the on-the-board-kneading)

Now, you let that sit and rest 30 minutes or so while you prepare the filling mixture.

The filling consists of fresh pumpkin, butter, shallot, fresh sage and whipping cream. Thyme is also used - but I forgot to get a shot of it because I didn't use it, as Harry doesn't really like the flavor, I do, but it was just as good without it, so you can include it or not in my opinion. 

In a large skillet you sauté the pumpkin and the shallot in the butter, until tender. Add the sage, thyme, salt and pepper (also not photographed, lol, forgot to get shots of the salt and pepper!) 

 Next, you move the pumpkin mixture to the food processor, and puree until smooth. Return it to the pan and add the whipping cream and bay leaf. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer uncovered until thickened. Another real moment I should have photographed - I stepped away from the stove for a minute or two to get some things for Harry and pretty soon I smelled burning pumpkin, lol. The whole bottom was black - but was totally savable as that was the only thing hurt - it made just a burnt layer on the bottom of the pan and the rest of the pumpkin mixture was fine! I was going to cry if I had to throw it away and start fresh, lol, after all the trouble I'd been having getting this one done! LOL

Back to the dough now... divide it into four portions - roll out one portion to 1/16-in. thickness. Keep the remaining dough portions covered until ready to use. After you've rolled it out, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling about 1-in. apart over half of the rolled out pasta sheet. Brush around filling with beaten egg, fold sheet over and press down to seal. 

Cut into squares with a pastry wheel.  I didn't have a pastry wheel, so I still cut into squares, but used the tines of a fork to seal, and it added a little decoration, lol. Repeat with rest of dough and filling.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top. Drain and keep them warm while you prepare the cream sauce. 

The sauce consists just of whipping cream, butter and sage. You bring the whipping cream to a boil and cook uncovered until reduced to about half. Add the butter and sage stir to combine,  and then spoon over ravioli to serve!

Pumpkin Ravioli

courtesy of: Taste of Home 

Dough:

2 1/2 to 3 c flour

5 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

Filling:

1 small pie pumpkin (about 2 1/4 lbs), peeled and cut into 1-in. cubes

4 tsp chopped shallot

1/3 c butter cubed

2 tsp minced fresh sage

3/4 tsp minced fresh thyme

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2/3 c heavy whipping cream

1 small bay leaf

1 egg, lightly beaten

Sauce:

1 c heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp butter

2 tsp minced fresh sage

1) Place 2 1/2 cups flour into a large bowl; make a well in the center. Beat the eggs and olive oil together; pour into the well. Stir together, forming a ball. Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté pumpkin and shallot in butter until tender. Add the  sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Transfer to a food processor, process until blended. Return to the pan; stir in cream and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf.

3) Divide pasta dough into four portions; roll out one portion to 1/16-in. thickness. Keep remaining dough portions covered until ready to use. Working quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1-in. apart over half of the pasta sheet. Brush around filling with egg. Fold sheet over and press down to seal. Cut into squares with pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

4) Bring a large pan of salted water to boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top and are tender. Drain and keep warm.

5) In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil; cook, uncovered, until reduced by half. Stir in butter and sage. Spoon over ravioli. Serve.  

Food Friday - Chicken Out

In addition to this week’s recipe, I offer you a few observations on life courtesy of  my experiences with this week’s recipe.

1. Ever thinking that you will be ahead of the game is wasted thinking.  

It seems that no matter how much I plan and schedule and prepare and believe that I have things under control, I don’t.  This week was an object lesson in that.

During the school year, I try to cook ahead, sometimes it is whole meals and sometimes just ingredients so that I can throw together a quick meal when I get home.  On Sunday, I roasted two chickens.  Some of the meat I used immediately to make a chicken chili for a friend, some was for this week’s recipe, and the rest was going in the freezer.  Wednesday, I got the chicken out to make and photograph this week’s Chicken and Shells.  Just as I was starting, the contractor working on our landscaping wanted me to come outside and decide which way I wanted the gate to swing.  I left the ingredients on the counter only to return three minutes later to find the baggie of chicken no longer on the counter, but on the dog bed under my desk where there also sat a very full black lab.  That not only put an immediate stop to this week’s recipe preparation, it also meant that we had nothing for dinner that night, and my husband had no lunch the next day.  This is where planning ahead gets you.  I thought that I was being so clever by scheduling such that I would get the work done for the blog, and dinner, and the next day’s lunch all done at once and I was completely thrown off by an arthritic black lab who has trouble getting up and down stairs, but managed to get up on his hind legs to steal the meat of a whole chicken!  We had Taco Cabana for dinner that night.

2. The whole is usually greater than the sum of the parts.

We usually photograph all of the ingredients and the preparation of our recipes here.  I did that with this recipe, but the photos weren’t…well, they just weren’t pretty.  Technically they were OK, but that’s it.  Gorgonzola cheese is not pretty.  Flour and cream are not pretty.  And the there’s the whole meat thing.  

I can’t bring myself to photograph meat, especially raw meat.  I do eat meat, but not very often and I have to admit that I don’t cook it very well.  When we eat meat at home, most often it is prepared on the grill, and not by me.  Going back to the chicken mentioned earlier, my husband does all of the cutting and de-boning.  I just can’t do it.  Yeah, I am a walking contradiction!

3. Multitasking…

I can’t do it!  If I could, I probably would have done something differently and protected the chicken from the supposed arthritic dog.  Also, my inability to multitask clouds my opinion about the ease of preparation of this recipe.  It probably is not terribly time consuming, but when you stop and attempt to photograph each step along the way, it seems more cumbersome to prepare than it probably actually is.  In my defense, I have yet to burn anything because I have been more concerned with photographs than cooking, so maybe there is hope that I may one day become an efficient multi-tasker.

4. I have found my photographic calling - garlic portraiture!

As I said, most of the ingredients used today were not visually appealing to me.  The garlic was the exception…and the garlic keeper.  The garlic keeper is one of the relatively few things that I kept from dad’s home.  It sat on the counter.  Always.  And it always contained garlic that my dad had grown in his garden.  That’s why I kept it.  Now it sits on my counter, with garlic…that I buy at the grocery store.  Some day, I will grow my own garlic as my dad did.

Pasta shells are kind of pretty too.

When you attempt to share a new recipe every week, you realize how repetitive your eating patterns are!  I always thought that I cooked a variety of things, but as Tracey and I put our heads together mapping out the recipes for the coming weeks, we realize that we are now sharing new found recipes rather than personal favorites.  Such is the case with my contribution this week.  Chicken and Shells is in the current issue of Cuisine at Home magazine.  I love this magazine!  It is now the only cooking magazine for which I still have a subscription.

And (finally) the recipe…

Chicken and Shells

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound medium pasta shells

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper

5 TBS olive oil, divided

2 TBS all-purpose flour

2 TBS minced fresh garlic

1 1.2 Cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 Cups heavy cream

10 oz. Gorgonzola, crumbled

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 Cup fresh bread crumbs

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp minced lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain and transfer it to a large bowl.

Saute the chicken in 2 TBS of olive oil over medium heat until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees, *about 6 mines on each side.  (*It took about eight minutes on each side for mine to be cooked through.)  remove from the pan, let cool, and then shred.

Using medium heat, add another TBS of olive oil to the pan used to cook the chicken.  Which in the flour and garlic.  Cook for one minute.  Gradually whisk in the garlic and the cream, then add the Gorgonzola and the rosemary sprigs.  Do not strip the the rosemary leaves.  Add the entire sprig to infuse the sauce with the herb flavor.  Return the chicken to the sauce.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until thick, about ten minutes.

Remove the rosemary sprigs.

Combine the sauce with the pasta.  Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, lemon zest, and remaining 2 TBS of olive oil.  Sprinkle this mixture over the pasta.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did not use the parsley or the lemon zest in the topping.  I forgot to buy the parsley and decided that the lemon zest wasn’t necessary without it.  Other than that, I made the recipe exactly as it was in the magazine.

And we are having it for dinner tonight.



By Tracey G

Thinking on Kris's post, I have to say that every time I've tried, as well, to be ahead of the game, it seems to be a fail in one way or another. It's either on a small scale, or a rather epic fail as in the smart black lab who did not waste an opportunity for some yummy cooked chicken when it arose, lol.

 I had this week's recipe that I'm sharing, all done and prepared on Wednesday, but it never fails that something prevents me from stringing more than 2 minutes together to get the shots processed, and then put together with words in a manner that makes sense, lol before Friday afternoon or like today, Friday evening. I guess this is the life of having a 6 yr old in your home, lol. That's where my minutes go, most of the time happily, some of the time not so happily, lol. I am hoping that when school starts this year, I will do better than last year in time management.

 It was all new to me last year, I had no idea what to expect, and I will admit I felt lost 90% of the time without Harry around. I feel like I wandered aimlessly through my days. (same feeling after my mom passed away and I was no longer driving her to dialysis 3 days a week, and being her caregiver with her living with me - was a culture shock when I lost her) By the time I started getting the hang of being home, alone, during the day, it was June and school was out. LOL I had just started to get a taste of how I could structure my day and boom, all wiped away with summer vacation, lol. But this year - I am hoping that I can hit the school year running and balance trying to be as involved in his school and class stuff as possible along with my self-imposed work from home projects that I adore, namely this blog, my photography and being a part of the Capture Your 365 Creative Team and CY365 community in general! But, we'll see.... I think Kris and I have learned, or at least have been reminded over and over that planning ahead has not always equaled actually being ahead! :-)

Now, as far as this week's food offering, I don't think I have run across any recipe, ever, that has surprised me as much as this one. I never expected such flavor from such simple ingredients as are found in this recipe, in this combination. And it's almost criminal how uncomplicated and effortless this dish is, lol, but yet, tastes like you put hours into it! It's gone through some changes, and that sounds funny when I think about it, but it had a few other things as toppings along with the cheese, but I found that if I boiled it down to the basics, it was yummier and easier as less ingredients were needed to get it done.

And here we are - the ingredients. Yep. Just 3. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, prepared pesto and provolone cheese. Usually I use shredded, but this was all I could get my hands on and it worked just fine of course, lol. :-) 

Preheat your oven to 400°F. While it's preheating, time to put this together. Start by placing the chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking pan. The recipe calls for 4 breasts, but sometimes I only use 3 so I downsize my pan a bit. This go around I had 5 pieces of chicken.

Once the chicken is arranged in the pan, spoon the pesto over the chicken breasts. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup. I ended up using the whole 8 oz jar this time because I wasn't thinking and contaminated it all with raw chicken by using the same spoon to scoop it out of the bowl and to spread it around on the chicken, lol. Normally I just measure out what's needed and proceed from there, but in the sake of saving a step, I dumped the whole thing into the bowl (for the photos first) and scooped - fully intending on using that 2nd spoon I'd gotten for the spreading, lol, not one for both... Oh well, the pesto is the best part and it was just as yummy with all of it as only a 1/2 cup, lol. 

Once you get the pesto evenly spread on the chicken, it's time to bake it. Usually takes about 35-45 minutes for the chicken breasts to be cooked thoroughly, but I always get out my meat thermometer and check at the end of 35-40 minutes or so to see where I'm at with doneness. 

After you've baked your chicken and it's the correct temperature for proper doneness (which according to foodsafey.gov is 165°F and can be found here:foodsafety.gov Safe Minimum Cooking Temperatures), it's time to put on the cheese! Now, here's where I normally use the shredded provolone, but as you can see the deli-style slices worked just fine. Pop them back into the oven for 1-2 min or until the cheese is melted.

Once the cheese is melted and as browned as you'd like, pull it out and let it rest for about 5 minutes  (I've let it sit for 10 minutes before and had no ill consequences, lol) before serving. 

I served this batch with a garlic-buttered noodle that had some green beans mixed in, it was a bit of overload on green, lol, but it's one of the few vegetables Harry will eat these days, so I work them in a lot, lol. It is one of my favorite ways to do a quick side dish though, while the noodles are cooking I toss in a handful or two of frozen cut green beans, so that when the noodles are done, so are the beans and they're already tossed together that way - and then you can season any way you like :-) 

Pesto Baked Chicken

serves 4

Preheat oven to 400°F

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 6 oz each

1/2 c prepared pesto

1 c (4 oz) shredded provolone cheese

Place chicken breasts in an ungreased 9x13-inch baking dish, spoon pesto over chicken.

Bake, uncovered, at 400°F for about 35-45 minutes or internal temperature in the thickest part of the chicken breast reaches 165°F. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 1-2 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.