Bow Tie Lasagna - Using The Things You Have On Hand

Mike said that what I made for dinner tonight was better than any lasagna I have ever made. And lasagna is one of my specialties. So he really liked tonight's dinner. I offer this to you because when I got in my van today it was dead. This stranded us at home. I was planning on doing grocery shopping because I wanted to make beef and mushroom stew in red wine over mashed potatoes and I was missing mushrooms. But I raided my pantry, freezer and fridge and came up with some basic ingredients for a lasagna type, baked pasta dish. I listed the estimated shelf life of each ingredient so you will see how it is totally reasonable to have these ingredients on hand for a day such as this when you are pressed for time, too sick to get to the store, have sick kids or your van won't start. I think you will love it. It was a big hit with all four of us.

1 pound jimmy dean hot breakfast sausage. (this had been in my freezer for four months. I defrosted it in my microwave)
1 jar prego tomato, onion and garlic spaghetti sauce (this lasts up to 2 years in your pantry)
1 large can San Marzano diced tomatoes. Do not substitute for Hunts or Contadina. San Marzano tomatoes please! (this lasts for up to 2 years in pantry)
1/2 stick unsalted or salted butter (This was in my freezer left over from a great sale at Thanksgiving time. I had no regular salted butter so I used frozen unsalted)
1 onion diced (Onions will last almost a month if kept in a dark, cool, dry place. You could also use ore ida frozen diced onions which will last for a year in your freezer. I just found these and they are a total time saver.)
1 jar of sliced mushrooms (lasts up to 2 years in pantry)
2 cans sliced black olives (lasts up to 2 years in pantry)
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese (surprisingly, this lasts a couple of months from the time you buy it. I have two containers. One I bought awhile ago expires on Febuary 24th and the one I just bought last week doesn't expire until April 13th. )
1/2 to 2/3 cup of heavy cream (heavy cream usually is good for about a month from the time you buy it. It never lasts that long in my fridge but it's good to know that you won't waste your money)
2 TB Dried herbs of your choice (I used basil, but Italian Seasoning or Oregano works better. You should replace your dried herbs every six months if they have been opened. But this basil I used is like two years old)
1 egg (eggs last at least a month in the fridge)
1 lb bowtie pasta (if kept in an air tight container this will last for like 5 years in your pantry)
1 lb grated mozzarella cheese (lasts about a month after purchase or freeze it for up to six months)

Brown sausage in a large skillet and crush it up as small as you can get it with spatula. Spoon meat out of the skillet and set aside. Throw away all the grease but don't rinse or wipe out the brown bits at bottom of pan. Add butter to skillet and chopped onion. Cook until onion is soft but not browned. Add mushrooms, olives and sausage back to skillet. Add spaghetti sauce and can of San Marzano diced tomatoes. Simmer gently while you prepare the rest of meal.

Bring a pot of heavily salted water up to a boil. Add some olive or vegetable oil to water. Thrown in bowtie pasta and cook until it is barely al dente. It should still have some bite to it because you are going to bake it and it will cook some more. In a bowl and with a fork, blend ricotta, cream, herbs and egg together until you have a smooth, creamy mixture.

In a deep 9x13 pan, spoon in 1 1/2 cups of sauce in the bottom. Spread 1/2 of bowtie pasta over the sauce. Top bowties with 1/2 of the ricotta cream and 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 cup of sauce over mozzarella cheese. Add remaining bowties, then rest of ricotta cream and rest of mozzarella. (layer like you would a lasagna) Top with remaining sauce. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before spooning onto plates.

This recipe works just as good with barely cooked lasagna noodles (you'll need 8 noodles) or uncooked "no boil" lasagna noodles. I think it would also work with penne, ziti or orichette. But bowtie is my family's favorite version so far.

Enjoy!

A Great Thursday Night Dinner - To Make On a Weekend When You Have Company

So tonight was a regular Thursday night. I called my Mom and Dad and asked if they wanted to swing by for dinner. "Yep" they said. I asked if they could pick up balsamic salad dressing, chopped walnuts and basil because those were the things I was missing. I had planned for the rest of the stuff. And boy oh boy, dinner was ahhhhhmazing. Appetizer of roasted mushroom caps with gooey melted brie cheese and garlic and herbs, mixed green salad, an amazing pasta dish of Chicken Carbonera which is just a totally decadent dish from Rome that has bacon, cheese, cream, basil, cheese and garlic that is rich and soooo good, and finally, freshly baked rosemary rolls that were no work but were sure something special. Here's the menu....

Stuffed Mushrooms with Brie and a Scallion Gremalata (from P Dub's blog):

Mushrooms (I used baby bellas but white buttons are fine and cheaper), Green Onion (2 bunches), 5 cloves of garlic, handful of flat leaf parsley, salt, 1/4 stick of butter, splash of white wine or sherry (optional).

Take stems out and throw away or save them to make cream of mushroom soup or spaghetti sauce another day. Wash the caps. Heat 1/2 the butter in a skillet. Toss the caps and salt lightly. Let them hang out and cook for about 4 minutes to start the whole cooking process. Place all the caps in a pie plate or baking dish. I made about 20 caps. Place one little square of brie cheese without the rind in the center of each cap. In the same skillet, add the rest of the butter and throw in the garlic, chopped green onion and chopped parsley. Salt lightly. Cook until tender being very careful not the burn the garlic. Don't let it caramelize, just sort of heat it through and let the flavors get to know each other. If you like, add a splash of white wine and let it evaporate. This will help get all the good bits of stuff up from the bottom of the pan and makes the whole thing taste amazing. Spoon it over the mushroom caps that you stuffed with the cheese. Bake at 350 until everything is bubbly and oozy and the mushrooms are tender. Serve on little plates with plenty of the topping and a little bit of liquid. If you want these to be a finger food, then don't top with the liquid and transfer them to a platter after you bake them. Such a fantastic appetizer for the holidays OR for Thursday night. This was my favorite part of the meal.

Mixed Green Salad:

Whatever sort of salad you like, make it. There are no rules to a tossed green salad. A non creamy dressing goes best with this meal because your pasta is very rich and creamy and decadent so keep the dressing on the light side. A balsamic vinaigrette is perfect but so would poppy seed, Italian, Red Wine Vinaigrette etc. The pasta does have peas in it, so technically, a green vegetable isn't necessary. If you leave out the salad, increase the amount of peas in the pasta.

Chicken Spaghetti Carbonera (From Giada on Food Network -This is amazing you guys really):

1 pound of spaghetti (don't use angel hair or thin spaghetti, the cheap old fashioned dried spaghetti noodles are best), 1 rotisserie chicken or 4 cups of shredded chicken meat, 4 slices of thick cut bacon or eight circles of pancetta, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic minced or put through garlic press, 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated (this is not the time to skimp on the quality - get the good stuff. I used my micro plane to grate it super fine), 1 cup frozen peas, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 8 egg yolks, 2 cups whipping cream, 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts (do not leave this out), 1 TB lemon zest, 1 TB additional Parmesan cheese grated, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1/4 cup fresh basil, salt to taste at the end.

In a very large skillet with sides, add the bacon and the garlic. Cook on medium low, very slowly, cooking the bacon until done but not overly crispy and being careful not the burn the garlic. Pick the meat off a rotisserie chicken until you get about 4 cups of meat. Add the chicken meat and the frozen peas to the cooked bacon in the skillet. Heat it through. In a large pot of salted water at a rolling boil, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Do not overcook the pasta because you will continue to cook it after it boils. In a large mixing bowl, place the egg yolks, cream, cup of cheese, parsley, basil and pepper. Whisk all together. When pasta is done, take out noodles with tongs and place in the skillet with the chicken, bacon and peas. Pour in the egg/cream mixture and heat it slowly while you are tossing the mixture together. The sauce will begin to thicken. Be careful not to boil or simmer or you will end up with scrambled eggs. Taste it for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. The bacon or pancetta will make it salty so it should not need a lot of salt but might need some. Once it starts to thicken, transfer it to a large, shallow pasta bowl. While the noodles were cooking, mix toasted walnuts, lemon zest and TB of Parmesan in a little bowl or Ziploc baggie. Top the hot pasta with the nut/lemon/cheese mixture. This gives it this amazing crunch and touch of acid which is really needed so don't leave this step out. If you don't like walnuts, you could use toasted pine nuts or pecans. Just be sure to toast them! This was Katie, Dad and Mom's favorite part of the meal.

Rosemary Rolls With Sea Salt:

Buy a package of frozen dinner rolls. I used Bridgeford but Rhodes or any other brand is fine. You just need the kind that have to thaw and then rise for three hours. Melt 1/4 stick of butter, cut about 1 or 2 TB of rosemary leaves with scissors and set aside. Crush sea salt until it has the texture and size of kosher salt. If you have a salt grinder, that's fine too.

In an iron skillet or an oven safe skillet about 8 or 10 inches in diameter place 6 rolls. Five around the outside and one in the middle. You can use a pie plate or a baking dish. Just make sure the rolls have plenty of room to rise but that when risen, they will be touching. Liberally butter the dish, place the frozen rolls in the skillet, brush with butter and place in a warm area of the kitchen that doesn't get drafty. Cover with a dish towel. (I heated my oven to 180 degrees, turned it off and placed my skillet inside with a dish towel over it.) Walk away for about 3 to 4 hours. They will rise a lot. Lightly brush the tops with butter being careful not to push to hard or they will fall. Sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. Let them rise for about another 30 to 40 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees until very golden brown on top. Brush again with butter and serve directly from the skillet on the table. I know these rolls take a bit of planning ahead due to the rising time, but there is no kneading or flour mess and the texture and end product is every bit as good as any homemade baked roll. The flavor is similar to foccacia bread or the bread at macaroni grill but is waaaayyyyy better. This was Jessica and Mike's favorite part of the meal.

Rachel Ray the LIAR'S Italian Flag Chicken.

First Rachel Ray, you are a liar. However your Italian Flag Chicken that you made on your talk show yesterday was mighty tasty. I made it tonight. Rachel did not lie about the yumminess and I made it way healthier than she did. But she lied like a dog about the prep time it took to make this dish. She prepped it, then told me that it only took 10 MINUTES to do. But it did not. It took FOREVER. It involved pounding the chicken in between plastic wrap with a skillet. It involved butterflying chicken, drizzling, making a stuffing and then cooking. So chef BEWARE...if you make this chicken, prepare for a little work. It's still a 30 minute meal, if you don't make the side dishes. I made two appetizers, roasted potatoes, corn and haricot vert (little green beans). So I was tired by the time it was all said and done. But the end result is pretty and good and healthy.

4 chicken breasts butterflied and then pounded into a big cutlet
1 pkg of chopped spinach with the water squeezed out
1 pkg boursin cheese
Parmesan cheese
4 tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper

Pound out your chicken. Mix boursin/spinach together and stuff it into the pocket of your chicken. It won't run out so don't be stingy. Drizzle with olive oil, season liberally with salt and pepper and top with sliced tomatoes. Bake at like 415 for 20-25 minutes. I stuck foil on the grill and got my grill screamin hot and roasted the chicken out there because it was like 95 today. I did a foil packet of little potatoes and corn all outside. It was great. Make sure your chicken is done all the way through. The grill took me longer to cook the chicken. About 30 minutes. This would be beautiful if you sliced it into medallions and served it over pasta with an herb butter sauce. The chicken was a tiny bit dry but with the cheese and spinach it really helps it out. Enjoy!

Trader Joe's

I never shop at Trader Joe's. First, until we moved to California, we didn't have them close by. Second, the carts are too small to hold both girls and they don't have those massive "car carts" that you can push through the megamarts like a big hummer. They have those tiny red carts that do not hold two kids and groceries. But my Dad met me at TJ last night so he pushed the girls around and I shopped. Here are some amazing things that I found.

• In their fresh case by the hummus and cold salsa is a little gem called "Rosemary and Apricot Chicken Salad". All you have to do is scoop this up between two pieces of multi grain bread and you have the most fabulous chicken salad sandwich I ever had except for the kind I make from scratch which I only do for bridal/baby showers or on the days I host afternoon tea for the ladies in the neighborhood which if you know me happens ALL THE TIME. Ha ha ha har HAR HAR.
• Dark chocolate Pretzel Thins - this was the motivation for the trip to TJ in the first place. Ali and Jeff introduced me to these little treats this past weekend. I am not even a dark chocolate fan. But trust me. Even Mike was like "OH MY GOSH" and he's skinny and doesn't even care about food.
• 8-grain snacks. I have been looking for these exact snacks since I visited Amber last fall and she introduced me to a version of them made by another company. These are made under the TJ brand and I ate the whole bag last night which given how much fiber, whole grain and lack of calories they have, I didn't even feel guilty.
• Milk Chocolate covered raisins - these make raisinettes look like welfare candy.
• Peanut Satay Sauce - this is in a jar on the shelf and all you have to do is marinate some chicken in plain yogurt and grill it and serve this on the side with some steamed rice. It's the best peanut sauce I have ever had.
• Artichoke Ravioli - fresh pasta case
• TJ Vodka Pasta Sauce - I make a really good vodka sauce but this might be better. And it's on the shelf not refrigerated so you can stock up. I think this would be great with any pasta. I served it over the artichoke ravioli with chicken apple sausage. The girls ate the whole bowl.

STAY AWAY FROM:

• carne asada burritos in the fridge case. They taste like a dog died inside the burrito.

Burger Nirvana

I have a confession to make. I am a lover of cheeseburgers. They are my downfall food. They are the food that I must MUST stay away from at all costs. They are the food I turn to in stress. One time I vowed to be a vegetarian and I had made it meat free for three months and then I went to Target and spent over $400 and I got a quarter pounder with cheese on the way home where I would have to tell Mike how much money I spent. I was double shamed because of the money spent and the need for the cheeseburger crutch.

HOWEVER. If you are even remotely a fan of cheeseburgers and you can control yourself and your butt is smaller than mine, you are allowed to continue to read.

Carl's Jr has a new burger. It's called the Kentucky Bourbon Cheeseburger. They have it in single, double and the big ol six dollar burger varieties. Just get a single. The ratio of meat/cheese/toppings is better with just a single. Any more would be too much of a good thing. It comes with pepperjack cheese. I am not a fan of the pepperjack. I believe cheeseburgers should always come with American cheese unless you are eating a mushroom/swiss burger. So I cancelled the pepperjack and switched to American. Once I tasted the burger and all the flavors together, I started to rethink my switch of cheeses. I actually think the pepperjack might have been really good. However, I will not be eating another of these burgers because once I start it can get ugly really fast. So I have to force myself to go on a burger fast which means NO burgers under any circumstances. But you can have one. And this one is seriously good. As in better than Red Robin good, better than TGI Fridays good, better than Chili's good but not better than In and Out good because come on.

That is all.

White Trash Transformed

This is going to give you 2 nights of meals along with leftovers from night #2.

You know those cooking shows where the contestants are given a basket of random white trash ingredients and they have to make something wonderful out of them? Well, since we are sort of on a budget these days and since I've just been buying stuff for my pantry for the past year with no rhyme or reason, I've been trying to pretend I was on one of those shows and make dinner based on random ingredients in my house. This week, I came up with a total winner of an idea for super dooper cheap.

Night #1 - Chicken and Rice

Rotisserie Chicken from Costco or grocery store (stick in your fridge til' you are ready)
1 packet of McCormick chicken gravy mix (the kind you mix with water)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
Milk (about 1 1/2 cups or 2 cups)
2 carrots
2 ribs of celery and some of the curly celery leaves
1/2 onion
2 TB butter
4 cups of cooked white rice

Make a mirepoix. Mirepoix (pronounced mirahpwah) is a fancy french word for a mixture of finely diced onion, celery and carrots sauteed in butter. And when I say finely dice, I mean FINE. When veggies are soft, add your soup, milk and mix with the gravy packet whisked into the mixture. Quarter the cold chicken and lay it in a 9x13 pan. Lay the rice in between the chicken. Once the sauce is hot and bubbly, spoon the sauce all over the chicken and the rice, cover with foil and bake at 325 until the whole thing is hot and bubbly and starting to brown at the edges. (I started baking my chicken ahead of time so the pan and chicken was warm when I added my hot rice and hot sauce so I only had to bake the whole thing for like 20 minutes) Serve in bowls with some black pepper.

Night #2 - Cream of Chicken and Rice and Potato "Stoup"

Ingredients
Leftovers from night #1
2 potatoes peeled and chopped into the size of pieces you would want in a chowder
2 carrots sliced into bite sized pieces
2 ribs celery sliced into bite sized pieces
1/2 onion coarsely chopped
3 small boxes of Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock or good quality chicken stock
1 TB butter
Milk (amount depends on consistency desired in soup, I would plan on at least a cup)

Make another mirepoix just with bigger pieces. When butter is starting to brown, add the onions, celery and carrots. Add the potatoes and the stock. De bone and take skin off of all the leftover chicken. Add to pot. Simmer until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Add rest of the pan of leftovers which include the cream sauce and rice. Add milk until you have the right consistency of the soup you want. Remember, the rice will absorb a lot of the liquid so keep adding milk and maybe even a splash of cream until you have a chowder like consistency. Add plenty of salt and pepper to taste. I made mine the consistency of what Rachel Ray would call a "stoup" which is a 1/2 soup 1/2 stew. It was thick and hearty and yummy. I guess it was a chicken and rice chowder? Maybe it was a cream of chicken, rice and vegetable soup. (Optional, add frozen corn and this would make an excellent chicken corn chowder)

Notes: you don't really notice the rice all that much. It ends up being more like a thickening agent instead of using flour. My parents came over and my Dad thought the stoup was excellent and so did both the girls. I think I liked night #2 over night #1 but Mike liked night #1 better.

The BEST Breadsticks Ever -danger warning

If you make these bread sticks you'll be glad and sorry at the same time. They are evil in their yumminess and in the butter factor. They are easy too which makes them even more dangerous.

I got this recipe from my sister in law Amber who got it from her rad neighbor Kara. I had these once and I'm still talking about them, they are that good.

1 TB yeast dissolved in 1 1/2 cups warm water
2 TB sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cube butter
Garlic Salt to taste
Parmesan Cheese to taste

Combine sugar and warm water, then add yeast. If it bubbles, you are good to go. Knead dough for 3 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes. Melt 1 cube butter in cookie sheet. Roll out dough, cut into sticks. Roll each one in butter on cookie sheet. Once finished, sprinkle with garlic salt, Parmesan cheese. Let rise 10-12 minutes. Bake 400 degrees, for 10-15 minutes.