Sausage Rigatoni!

Steph and Jack were away for the week-end so Elle and I got to play in the kitchen!  She first made brownies (barely visible on the counter in the pic) and then we made our favorite dish that Steph makes - Sausage Rigatoni.  We even found the particular Classico sauce that we could no longer find during the Covid years!  The recipe is below.

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

1 lb. of rigatoni pasta

1 lb. Italian sausage

2 cloves of minced garlic 

1 jar (24 ounces) Classica Marina with Plum Tomatoes & Olive Oil (pic above)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

1 pkg. (8 ounce) of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (cubed)

Several fresh basil leaves (torn or chopped to garnish)

Start heating the large pot of water to boil the pasta.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet.  Drain any excess grease (usually there isn't much so draining isn't needed)  Add minced garlic and place on low.  Add the sauce and continue to cook on low.

When the pasta water is boiling, add the pasta and begin cooking per directions.  Usually 11-12 minutes.   Add the cubed cream cheese to your sauce and stir regularly until it has melted and blended.  Turn heat up if necessary.

Drain the pasta when cooked to liking and add to pasta sauce.  Stir until blended and ready to serve.

Add parmesan cheese and basil to liking.

Chicken with Coconut Rice and Chili Lime Sauce

Steph whipped up the excellent recipe pull from a Food & Wine magazine.  We followed the recipe to a T including quarter a young chicken.

The sauce below ended up making the dish.  It was great on everything but especially the jasmine rice.

You could the chicken indirectly so it take longer.  I have a 3 burner grill so turned the two outer burners on and cooked in the middle.  The ideal cooking temp is 400-450 degrees.  The key is getting the chicken to over 165 degrees which took right at 40-45 minutes.

Done and ready!

The final plated dish!  It was excellent!

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

Steph made this and it was incredible....

What You Need
1 lb. rigatoni pasta, uncooked
1 lb. Italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (24 oz.) CLASSICO Marinara with Plum Tomatoes & Olive Oil Pasta Sauce
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Make It
Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
Meanwhile, remove casings from sausage if necessary; crumble sausage into large skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Cook on medium heat until evenly browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook and stir 30 sec. Add pasta sauce and cream cheese; mix well. Cook on low heat 3 to 5 min. or until cream cheese is completely melted and sauce is well blended, stirring frequently.
Drain pasta. Add to pasta sauce mixture; mix lightly. Top with basil and Parmesan.

Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

These chewy molasses cookies with all of the right spices are perfect for the winter season. They are reminiscent of ginger snaps, but soft and chewy with the hint of vanilla and molasses. Don't cut back on the amount of sugar called for in the recipe, and don't overcook them or they will come out hard and crunchy. This recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated The Best Recipe cookbook.

Preparation time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulphered molasses

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice together in a bowl and set aside.
2. Use an electric mixer and beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Add egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Place remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with 2 Tbsp of dough each time, roll dough into 1 3/4 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, about 11 to 13 minutes [I only leave them in for 10 minutes, and without convection... that will mess up the cooking time]. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks .

Note: Do not overcook. The centers of the cookies should be somewhat soft and spongy when you take them out of the oven, otherwise they will end up hard and dry.

Optional Glaze
When cookies have cooled, lay out over a sheet of wax paper. Sift 1 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) and then whisk with 2 Tbsp of milk until smooth. Dip spoon into glaze and dribble over cookies.

Yield: Makes 18 large cookies.

A Simple and Zesty Chicken Rub

We went to a bbq over Memorial Day week-end and the grilled chicken was extra good as a result of this spunky yet simple spice rub.   Here's how it's done.

1 tablespoon of garlic salt
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of freshly ground pepper

Mix and rub!

Chicago Style Pizza

I love Chicago Style Pizza. Today I became inspired to try and make one at home. I researched recipes on the web. One of the most helpful things I found for general technique was Mark Malnati ( of Lou Malnati's fame) describing the process of making a Chicago pie.



For the pan I decided to use our fancy springform pan which is a whopping 3 inches deep. Lou Malnati's pie is great, but it's not thick enough for my liking. I prefer Giordano's which is the thickest in Chicago. I went up nearly the entire depth of the pan with the crust.




Next comes the cheese. Shredded mozzarella might work fine, but the authentic Chicago pies use sliced mozzarella and plenty of it. The act of putting the cheese on the bottom makes your crisp crust taste more like cheesy bread on the edges.



Next comes the toppings. I used green pepper and onion. Then comes the sauce which is packed with diced tomatoes.






I topped the whole thing with a liberal sprinkling of parmesan cheese. I cooked it for 30 minutes at 415.



Finished!






The pizza turned out great! The crust really reminded me of what you get in Chicago. I score this as a major success for my first effort!

A Great Frosting

I went to buy us all cupcakes the other day and the cupcake place had just closed. Not to be deterred, I figured I'd make us some cupcakes.   I had a box cake mix but not frosting so...

I went to allrecipes.com and started modifying...

Ingredients
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon natural salt
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. Melt chocolate and the butter together. Let cool and blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar until the frosting is of spreading consistency, beat well.

One of the keys is the salt... resist the temptation to use regular salt.  The larger crystals are one of the keys.  

Bluebarb Pie

We got a shipment of fruit and vegetables today that included three sticks of rhubarb.   Not enough for a pie but Steph stumbled upon a Bluebarb Pie recipe on Allrecipes.com and since we had a fresh quarter of blueberries we were in the game!

Steph and Jack whipped up the pie this afternoon and we'll have it for dessert tonight!

Asparagus Festival Kicks Off

Asparagus season is peaking and the asparagus festival kicks off today in Stockton, California!


Here's my favorite way to cook asparagus. Wash it and cut about an inch off of the ends. Put it in aluminum foil and brush it with a ligh amount of olive oil (just a little oil can easily coat all the spears). Sprinkle with coarse sea salt to taste. Then fully enclose the asparagus in aluminum. When ready to cook place on a pre-heat grill (350 degrees plus) and cook for about 5 or 6 minutes per side.




Asparagus is one of nature's most perfect foods. A member of the lily family, it's a nutrient-dense food high in folic acid - and a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin. It also has no fat, no cholesterol and is low in sodium. Under ideal conditions, an asparagus spear can grow 10 inches in a 24-hour period.

Corn Syrup Free Pecan Pie!

After watching Food, Inc. and learning that subsidized corn is a big contributor to our nation's food problems I decided to make a corn free pecan pie. I secured what turned out to be an excellent recipe at allrecipes.com

Here's the finished product:



The pie didn't last long...after two days it had been devoured.












Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:1 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, stir in melted butter.
then stir in the sugar and flour and mix well. Add milk, vanilla and continue mixing. Finally hand mix in the nuts.
3. Pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell. Optionally you may add additional pecan halves on the top to make the pie prettier. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 more minutes.

Great Sugar Cookie Recipe...for Christmas Cookies

I bought a three pack of Christmas cookie cutters last year at Wal-Mart and on the box was a recipe called "Traditional Sugar Cookies" It didn't seem that traditional to Steph or I but we whipped up a batch to decorate with Jack having fairly low expectations. The cookies turned out to be really good and easy to make so we plan to keep making them. The cookies are lighter and moister than many I've had.



Here's the recipe:

2 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Butter (cow-style)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Sour Cream (clearly this is the secret ingredient)

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg. Cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the sour cream and then the dry ingredients. Chill for 1 to 2 hours. Roll out the dough 'til it is ~1/2" thick on a sugar and floured smooth surface. Cut with cookie cutter and place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for ~8-10 minutes.

Left over Pumpkin Pie Filling? Here's an Idea...

I bought a big can of pumpkin pie filling last year but only ended up baking one pie. With the extra filling I added some flour to thicken it up and threw it on a skillet to make a pumpkin pancake of sorts.



It wasn't half bad and several of us nibbled on it for a bit before throwing the rest to the dogs - I didn't cook it quite long enough so it was a little doughy in the center.

The Perfect Blueberry Pie

I'm on a quest to produce the perfect blueberry pie. I made a pie earlier this year that was too sweet (the flour to sugar ratio was too low) and that didn't cook enough - most of the blueberries didn't burst and congeal in the pie. I may have put too much butter in as well.

Round two was just pulled from the oven. Here's a snap:


Here are the ingredients and directions:

Ingredients
4.5 cups of blueberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 ounce of butter
2 pie crusts

Pre-heat oven to 450.

Wash and dry the blueberries picking out any funny colored berries and ensuring all berry stems are removed. Set aside.

In a fairly large bowl mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir. Then add the blueberries to the mixture and continue to stir until berries covered.

Pull the pie crusts from the freezer and put one crust in the oven for ~1 minute or two until it begins to soften (not cook!!!) Then pull it out.

Pour the berry mixture into the still frozen crust (saving about a tablespoon of poweder in the bowl) and squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top of the unbaked pie. Now slice the butter into small buttons and dot the blueberries to ensure good coverage upon melting.

Flip the slightly warmed pie crust over the top (may want to loosen first) and pull it out so it is centered over the pie. Don't worry if it isn't perfect. Doubling over adds character. Slice 5 slits in the top crust and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture over the top.

Put alumnimum foil around the crust edges (usually takes about three strips) and place pie in oven. After 12 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and continue cooking for 40 more minutes. Then remove the foil strips - if it looks like you can cook the pie for 5 more minutes do so.

Tasting report to follow.

Update on the 2010 edition. Again the above produced a "perfect pie". I actually forgot the butter this time and it was still very good. Took the 2009 advice and did a better job sealing the two crusts in the middle. You can't really beat this recipe. Here's the picture of the pie - which by the way features Oregon berries. CA berries peaked a few weeks back.

Barbeque Ribs Underway - Dad's Recipe

It's another good day for some barbeque ribs so I'm using Dad's recipe which is a fail-safe method for a good rack of ribs.



Ribs have been dry rubbed and put into the oven at 250 degrees where they'll cook slowly for ~5 hours. In the pan is a ramekin filled with worcestershire sauce, honey, chile sauce, garlic salt and a little teriyaki sauce. The theory is the steam off this sauce will infuse the ribs a bit.

Here's a 1/2 way picture (they've been in about 3 hours). I pulled the ribs out and spooned a little of the compote over the top of the ribs. Next I sprinkled a little brown sugar over the ribs - it melted almost immediately. Afterwards, I put covered them back up with foil and put them back in the oven. The house is smelling good!



And the final product. They spent the last hour or so on the grill so Steph could use the oven. When I put them on the grill the racks broke in half and 2 clean bones actually fell off! Low heat - maintained that ~250 degree temperature - I actually turned the grill off for the last 15 minutes and let the ribs rest a bit.



They ate well!

Good Brownies

Prepare a package of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie mix as directed, adding the following ingredients to the batter:

One and one-half cups pecan pieces
One and one-half teaspoons ground chipotle chile
One teaspoon bourbon whiskey

Bake as usual. Cool and serve.

The "Elvis Sandwich"

Having heard of the famous 'Elvis Sandwich' for many years, I decided to try it. Research on the web reveals that many versions exist. The basic model is peanut butter and ripe banana on white bread, grilled in cow butter. Honey is sometimes added, and usually bacon too. I tested three versions: pb and banana, pb and bacon, and pb, banana, bacon and honey. The pb, bacon, and banana was tops with me. The honey didn't seem to be that good in the combination. Pb with just banana was also good.
Enjoy!

Waffle Cookie Revisited

You should read my previous post entitled 'Waffle Cookie Success'. Using the receipe and waffle iron described there, I tested different cooking times. Too long, the cookie is overly crunchy or even burned. Too short, it can be gummy and very tough to get out of the iron in one piece. I had the best results using 2 minutes 45 seconds with 21 grams (3/4 ounce) of dough. This is a rounded teaspoonful. After this time, open the iron, turn it over, and shake the cookies (4 of them in quarters of the little Belgian iron) onto the counter. Let them cool for a few minutes before you try to handle them. This makes a good cookie, crunchier than the normal chip cookie because of the waffle indentations.

Waffle Cookie Success

After some false starts, I had waffle cookie success.

The Batter

From an old Joy of Cooking, with modifications.

Whisk together:

1 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat until fluffy and well-blended

1 stick unsalted cow butter from a cow

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

Add and beat until well blended:

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla (no cheap stuff)

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended.

Stir in:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup pecan pieces

To bake (this is tricky. Undercook falls to bits, overcook burns.):

I used a new little round Black and Decker Belgian waffle iron. 20 bucks on

sale at Kohls. Brush with cooking oil, and heat the iron. Put a big heaping teaspoonful into each quarter of the iron. Press closed, and bake for four and a half minutes. This will vary for different irons. Open the iron, turn it over, and dump the cookies onto a plate. Don't try to dig them out with a fork. They will be very soft, so let them cool a little before handling.

When cool, they have full chocolate cookie flavor plus a nice waffle crunch that

Mom's cookies never had.

Waffle Iron Cookie: Fail!!!

I started out with Nestlé Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the waffle iron on a medium temperature setting.

I placed fairly flat average sized portions of cookie dough into the iron after giving it a spritz of cooking spray to make sure the treats wouldn't stick. I let the cookies cook for exactly 90 seconds.

They looked good, but simply wouldn't come out of the iron in solid pieces. They began to burn on the bottom. Fail!!!

It's possible you could use a cooler iron and let them cook a little less time and then pull the plug and allow the cookies to cool in the iron and harden a bit so you could pull them out easier. It may be that the store-bought cookie dough was the reason for the failure. In the end, it doesn't matter. This will be my first and last waffle cookie experiment.

Wafffle Iron Cookies

The following out of Fine Cooking Magazine. Waffle iron cookies. Erin is a doubter. I want to try it. Maybe Dad or Robert will give it a shot as well and report back to the blog.



"We don't have a waffle iron. It's one of those small appliances that's only good for one thing, and we don't eat that one thing often enough to warrant owning one.
But if we could use it to make cookies? Maybe we'd reconsider.
We saw this tip at Fine Cooking and were immediately intrigued. Crispy, chewy, thick oatmeal chocolate chip cookies baked in 90 seconds, just like a waffle." -The Kitchen Blog citing Fine Cooking Magazine referencing a cookbook called Dessert Express