Spaghetti alla Vodka with Sausage

I know, I know…the name of this dish is supposed to be “penne alla vodka.” What can I say? I’m nontraditional.

P.S. Guys, no reason there has to be sausage in this dish. Substitute chicken or shrimp, or just leave it out for a totally veggie dish.

Spaghetti alla Vodka with Sausage

1 pound spaghetti (whole wheat for me, please)
1 pound sausage
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2/3 cup vodka
1/3 cup cream
1 teaspoon dried basil
Lots of freshly cracked black pepper
Some salt, if you like that sort of thing*

*I have a confession. I barely add salt to anything. Any time I do, my husband goes “Ohhhh, this is sooooo saltyyyyyy.” That means every time I have people over for dinner, I have to reassure them at the beginning of the meal that it’s OK to salt their food liberally. I won’t be offended.

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pink is mostly gone, add the onions and saute until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, let it get a bit fragrant, and then pour in the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Turn heat up to high, bringing the mixture to a boil. Add the vodka. Let it go for a while so the sauce thickens. Turn the heat down, and add the cream, basil, and black pepper. Taste and season with salt, if needed.

Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Toss with the sauce and serve immediately.

Braised Greens with Mushrooms

Some vegetables scare me. Nearly all varieties of greens, minus spinach, fall into that category. But my goal is always to try new things, particularly vegetables, so tonight was the night to work on Swiss chard. And, guys, guess what? It was super good and super easy — absolutely nothing to be afraid of at all.

Braised Greens with Mushrooms
Serves 2

1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and stems removed
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Lots of olive oil. I don’t have a measurement for you on this.
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Wash the chard and pull the leaves off the stems, which tend to be woody. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

Heat more olive oil in a  large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute. Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, and then add the chard. It will look like a lot at first, but trust me, it really cooks down. Add olive oil if you think it needs it. OK, geez, if you actually want to be healthy, you can use chicken broth instead. Drizzle on the olive oil and use tongs to toss to coat to the leaves. Continue to cook until the chard is tender, approximately 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

You know, I bet this would be really good with a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on it, too. Do it. Let me know how it goes.

Shrimp & Scallop Bayou Pasta

This isn’t my recipe. I wish it was, but this beauty comes from the kitchen of Emeril Lagasse at the Food Network. The only substitution I made was shrimp and scallops as the protein instead of chicken. I made it for my friend, Liz, who lives in California and was in Maryland visiting her parents for Thanksgiving. It was rich, but so delicious.

Bayou Pasta
1 pound linguine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into one-inch pieces (As stated, I use 8 ounces scallops and 8 ounces large shrimp)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon habanero pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
1/2 cup chopped green onion tops
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Cook the linguine according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

While it’s cooking, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter and olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Once it has melted, season the chicken (or seafood) with paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Add it to the pan and cook until the chicken is browns on both sides, about two minutes (or until the shrimp is pink and the scallops are slightly opaque). Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions and habanero pepper to the pan and saute for about four to five minutes, or until the onions are softened and lightly caramelized. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, which should only take about 30 seconds. Add the cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and chicken (if using) to the pan and bring to a boil. If you’re using seafood, leave it out for now — you don’t want to overcook it.

Cook until the cream is reduced by half, and then add the tomatoes, linguine, and reserved cooking water to the pan and cook, tossing to incorporate for about three to five minutes. Remove pan from heat, and add the green onions, Parmesan, and parsley and toss to blend. If using seafood, place it on top of the pasta. Serve immediately.

 

Scared of Cooking? Start Here.

I am two types of nerd: a food nerd, and an Internet nerd.

These two types frequently join forces as I spend a lot of my time on the Internet reading about food. I am convinced that’s what made me the foodie I am today.

I am not a chef. I have never taken a cooking class.

Salads. I can do this. Most of the time. 

Sometimes, I’d barely call myself a cook. For all the praise my friends give me about my food, I make so many failures that I never share with anyone (other than my husband, because he’s stuck with it). Just today I tried making mini apple pies for an upcoming cocktail party, and I exclaimed out loud not once, but twice, “There is NO way I am serving these at the party.”

Everything I’ve learn about food has come from cookbooks, food magazines, my parents, and, oh yes, the Internet.

And in my reading about food on the Internet, I’ve learned there are a lot of people, old and young, rich and poor, educated and noneducated, that don’t know how to cook. Not just that, they’re scared of cooking.

Baked tilapia, roasted broccoli, whole-wheat cous cous, and roasted tomatoes — a pretty typical dinner for us.

And that makes me sad. Not because it indicates any sort of lacking on their part, but when I look back on my life, I think about how much of it is wrapped up in food memories.

I think back to when I was little and my mom and dad made cut-out sugar cookies with my sister and me, a tradition that I waxed nostalgic over today when I made my own sugar cookies.

I think about my mom asking me every year what I wanted for my birthday today. It was usually spaghetti, but I remember a turkey and wild rice salad that I just adored for a couple of years.

I remember making chocolate chip cookies.

I remember clumsily cooking for my college boyfriend at Penn State. Fettucine Alfredo, beer-cheese soup, and hamburgers … and a lot of late-night Steak-ums.

I think about making the first meal for my now-husband, barbecue-rubbed split chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and Ceaser salad. And even though he hates chicken on the bone, something I know now, he told me he loved it.

In not-so-great food memories, I remember the first time he wouldn’t eat something I made, a Gazpacho pasta salad. Silly boy.

The table set for dinner … a rarity in our household. 

The point is that food is such an integral part of my life, and spending time in the kitchen creates such joy that I want everyone to know that joy (as long as they want to, of course).

I can only guess that these people are so scared of cooking because they’re afraid they’ll mess it up; that they’ll ruin an expensive ingredient, burn the meat, or sicken someone with food poisoning. While I’ve never sent anyone to the ER, I’ve definitely ruined meals, burned things, and been utterly disappointed by a recipe I had so much hope for.

This is pumpkin beer bread. And it’s burnt.

But when a recipe turns out right and my guests, my husband, or even me alone praise myself for it…well, there’s nothing to say other than it’s worth those ruined pricey ingredients or burnt rice.

There’s a line in the movie “Julie and Julia” that really speaks to me. “I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say ‘nothing’ I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort.”

It’s true that cooking is both a science and an art. A comfort that the chemical reactions that happen will happen, yet the creativity to add a pinch of this and a pinch of that and, you never know…it could turn out to be the next masterpiece.

Pot roast. So comforting, so fragrant, so easy.

This blog posting was supposed to be a list of ways to conquer your fear of cooking, but I’ve spent too much time with a glass of pinot noir in my hand at my desk at home, listening to the sounds to Adele, and waxing poetic about my adoration of food. Typical me.

It’s something I thought about while I braised Swiss chard for the first time tonight and thought, “If I can do this, anyone can.”  So come back soon, and I’ll have that list for you.

My first turkey, roasted just days ago. 21 pounds, and I was terrified … but I did it. And no one got sick (and that’s the important part.)

Leftover Turkey (or Chicken) Soup

There are two ways to make this soup: The long way or the quick way. Neither are hard, one is just, well, longer. However, I really do recommend the longer way — which includes homemade turkey stock and fresh noodles — if you can swing it.

Note that you can replace the word “turkey” with “chicken” in this entire recipe, making it good for the whole year and not just the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The long way begins by making your own turkey stock. I promise, this is not hard. Once you’ve picked off all the meat from the bones of the bird, throw it in a slow-cooker along with enough water to cover the bones. Let it cook on low for 12 to 18 hours (the timing is really flexible). THAT IS IT. Once it’s done, strain the liquid into a bowl and discard the bones. Voila — turkey stock, and how much work did you actually do?

However, if you decide not to take this route, you can use boxed chicken stock, water, chicken boullion cubes…basically whatever you would normally use in soups.

For me, this recipe was even easier because it basically used everything I had in my fridge that was leftover from prepping for Thanksgiving. Celery — already chopped. Onions — ditto. White wine — the bottle was already open from the Chardonnay gravy. Fresh parsley and sage — already minced. It made this recipe a snap.

The second lengthy caveat to this recipe includes homemade noodles. If you’re not up for that, you can use packaged egg noodles in place of it.

Hello, lover.

Leftover Turkey Soup

6 cups turkey stock (or boxed chicken stock)
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional, use a little chicken stock in place of it)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups chopped leftover turkey
Noodles (about 1.5 cups if you’re using store-bought)

Heat the olive oil or melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add the onion and let it saute for a minute or two. Then add the celery, and do the same. Let both of the veggie soften a bit, and then add the garlic. Pour in the white wine and use a spatula to scrape up the bits from the bottle.

Add the turkey stock, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add the turkey. Taste the broth and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Return to a boil and add the noodles. Cook for about 5-6 minutes for fresh noodles or according to package directions. Sprinkle in the fresh parsley and sage. Do not do what I did and add fresh rosemary — nothing like little pine needles in your soup. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Two-Ingredient Homemade Noodles

It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which means I have done a ton of cooking in the past few days. It wasn’t just the turkey dinner — which I started cooking at 6 a.m. because I’m a loony person — but also a dinner the night before for a friend who came to visit, as well as using up leftovers the day after. My husband hasn’t been feeling well, so I took the opportunity to turn our leftover turkey into turkey soup. Did you know that scientists say chicken soup is actually good for the common cold? Because the only difference is that I used turkey instead of chicken, I figured it would have the same effect.

But I’m getting ahead of myself because this post is about the noodles in the soup, not the soup itself (that will come later, I promise!)

The key to making good homemade noodles is getting the dough as thin as possible. If it’s still slightly thick, the dough will puff up in the boiling water (or stock) and make a chewy, thick strip of dough.

Start by cracking two eggs into a well in the center of 1 cup of flour.

I prefer to let Millie the Mixer do most of the work for me — she’s a sweetie like that — but if you don’t have, just start mixing it all together with your hands. It will eventually come together to form a dough.

You might need to add a little extra flour. I did. Let it keep going on the dough hook (or in your hands) until it’s formed a clump that’s no longer tacky or sticky at all. I let Millie mix for a good 5-10 minutes. Once it’s to the right stage, turn the dough out onto a flour surface, knead it a smidge with your hands, and form it into a ball.

Let it rest for about 20 minutes, and then roll it out with a rolling pin. Do your best to get it as thin as possible.

Even this is a little thick. Next time I’ll probably work to get it even thinner. This is why a pasta roller comes in handy, but I don’t have one. And gosh darn it, I am capable of rolling dough!

Let it dry out a little bit, and then use a pizza cutter to cut it into strips. (or squares or circles, or whatever floats your boat.)

At this point, they’re done. You can toss it into a pot of boiling water for 5-6 minutes and then top it with fresh tomato sauce. In my case, it went into leftover turkey soup.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

I try really hard to make elegant, sophisticated dishes. This is not one of them.

However, it is easy, delicious, and has wide appeal. I made it for an Oktoberfest party, but it would be perfect for a football-watching gathering or any type of party.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Pizza crust dough (homemade or storebought — I used the kind of dough in a tube that you roll out)
1 package mini pepperonis
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza or tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
Dried basil
Olive oil
Roll out the dough. Using a pizza cutter, slice it into squares about 2 square inches.  In the middle of each square, place two to three mini pepperonis, a sprinkle of mozzeralla cheese, and a dollop of tomato sauce. Wrap up each square, pinching it tight to close the roll securely.

Place each bundle in a pie pan. The unbaked rolls will not fill up the pan, so just space them evenly. They will rise and expand during baking and fill the whole pan.  Brush oil on top of the rolls and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and basil.

Bake at 350 degrees until the tops of the rolls are browned. Serve with additional pizza sauce.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I have a friend who goes crazy over these roasted garlic mashed potatoes, so it’s a requirement that they be on my Thanksgiving table when she’s here.

I have this Roasted Garlic Express, which was sent to me last year as a sample. For most, it’s a needless gadget, but it does make roasting garlic easy and quick. Therefore, I do a lot more roasted garlic stuff because I don’t have to put the garlic in the over for an hour before it’s ready.

If you don’t have a roaster, though, just cut off the very top of a head of garlic, remove the papery skin, wrap it up in foil with a couple tablespoons of oil and roast it in a 400-degree oven for 30-35 minutes it’s tender. There’s a good tutorial here.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (These are my favorites for mashing)
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, chopped
1 head roasted garlic (or two. Or three. How much do you like garlic?)
Dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

Wash and chop the potatoes into small, even cubes. Boil them in water until fork-tender. Return them to the pot and let them remain on the stove over the hot burner. This evaporates moisture from the potatoes, aiding in the fluffiness factor.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Mash them by your preferred method — I use the KitchenAid mixture. Heat up the cup of milk and soften two tablespoons of butter. While mashing, slowly add the milk and butter, whipping to combine thoroughly. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper.

Spoon the potatoes into a casserole dish. Top with the additional two tablespoons of butter, sliced into thin pats. Sprinkle dried rosemary on top. Put the dish into a preheated oven and bake just until the butter has melted and the edges are slightly browned.

French Apple Cobbler

A simple, rustic, and delicious alternative to traditional apple pie, best served with French vanilla ice cream.

French Apple Cobbler

For the filling
5 cups tart apples, peeled and sliced
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, cut into thin pats

For the batter
½ cup flour, sifted
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter, softened
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, water, flour, and vanilla in a medium bowl, mixing thoroughly. Spoon the filling into a pie plate and dot with pats of butter.

Mix together the batter ingredients in a medium bowl. Drop the batter by the spoonful over the filling and spread it evenly. While it won’t cover all of the filling before it’s baked, the batter will spread during baking.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the crust is browned and the apples are tender.

 

White Bean and Sausage Penne

This hearty casserole is friendly to both the taste buds and the waistline.

Ingredients:
1 pound whole-wheat penne
1 pound sausage
1 package baby spinach
28 ounces crushes tomatoes
6 ounces tomato paste
1 cup white beans, cooked
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups Italian-style shredded cheese

 

Boil the pasta according to package directions and drain well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

While the pasta is boiling, brown the sausage in a skillet. Combine the pasta and sausage with the rest of the ingredients, except the cheese, in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if necessary.

 

Spoon the mixture into a large casserole dish and top with the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and browned.