Cheesy Pasta (Crispy and Creamy) - C - Alphabet Challenge

 

While I like to think I’m a good cook, I have cooking disasters just like everyone else which happened this week. For my cheese dish I wanted to make pasta with cheese sauce that I haven’t before. There was a great recipe for brie pasta and since I love brie on cheeseboards I wanted to try it with pasta. It’s a creamy cheese but after I heated it in a baking dish it never melted enough to get incorporated into the pasta. So instead I used the homemade ricotta I made for the cheese toast I wanted to serve with it as the sauce. A lot of cooking is about being creative and pivoting when a dish isn’t working out as expected. 
 
Since cheese is such a versatile ingredient, I wanted to use it in more than one way. I decided to make some Parmesan crisps for texture with the creamy pasta. The crisps are a nice garnish and are incredibly easy to make. You could make extra and store them in an airtight container for a future snack or as a substitute to croutons on a salad. 
 
Ingredients: 
For the Pasta:
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 cups homemade ricotta, room temperature (link at bottom of the page, store bought is fine) 
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp. olive oil 
1 Tbsp. chives, minced
1 Tbsp. basil, minced 
1 lemon, zested 
 
For the Parmesan Crisp:
1 cup grated Parmesan
Fresh cracked black pepper 
 
Directions: 
Parmesan Crisps- 
 
1. Pre heat an oven to 425. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
 
2. Using a small circle cookie cutter or free hand, pile about 1 Tbsp. of Parmesan in your desired shape. You want the crisp to be about 1/4 inch thick. 
 
3. Top the Parmesan disc with a touch of black pepper. Bake in the oven until the disc is brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly. 
 
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the parchment.  Remove gently with an offset spatula. Set aside until ready to use. 
 
Pasta: 
1. Boil a large pot of salted water and cook pasta according to the package directions. 
 
2. While pasta cooks add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft for 1 minute.
 
3. Combine the ricotta, herbs, lemon zest, and salt and pepper in the pan with the garlic. Set aside until pasta is ready. 
 
4. Add cooked pasta to pan with sauce. Gently toss to combine. If the sauce gets too thick you can add a little pasta water. 
 
5. Use tongs to twirl the pasta and lay it onto the plate for a nice presentation. Top with Parmesan crisp and extra herbs. Serve and enjoy! 
 

Beef Bourguignon - B - Alphabet Challenge

It's week 2 of the alphabet challenge which means we're on the letter B. This letter dish came easy to me because I immediately thought of my favorite ingredient - BEEF! To me there's nothing like a great beef stew, prime rib, beef tartare, I could go on... 

Once I knew I wanted to make a beef dish it was finding one I've never made before. I've made braised beef dishes in the past but I wanted to try the ultimate braised beef - Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. Even though she is an icon and recipe creating master, it was hard to resist the urge to change the recipe. Some steps didn't make a ton of sense to my culinary brain such as putting the flour on the beef after it was already seared. I'd normally coat the beef first for more of a crust or I'd add the flour as a rue to thicken the sauce. I'm glad I gave it a try though since the dish came out amazing! 

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, cut into lardons
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch chunks
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large white onion, sliced
1 pinch coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 cups red wine, like a chianti or (INSERT WINE TYPES FROM COOKBOOK)
2 to 3 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 bay leaves
18 to 24 small pearl onions (I buy mine pre-peeled in the freezer section)
3 Tbsp. butter
1pound fresh white mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, sauté the bacon in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil for about 3-5 minutes, until it starts to lightly brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Dry the beef with a few paper towels for better browning. Season beef with salt and pepper. In batches, sear the beef on all sides in the Dutch oven. Remove from the pan and set aside with the bacon.

3. Back in the pot, add the sliced carrots and onions; sauté in fat until browned, about 3 minutes. If there's any excess fat, drain it now.

4. Add the bacon and beef back to the pot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. Toss. Sprinkle with flour and toss once more. Cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes until the flour is cooked through.

5. To the pot, add the wine and stock. The liquid should barely cover the meat and vegetables. Add the tomato paste, garlic and thyme. Bring to a light simmer on the stove, then cover and simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. (You could do this step in a 325 degree preheated oven which is the way Julia did it, I didn’t want to heat up my house since it’s June LOL).

6. In the last hour of cooking, bring 1 1Tbsp. butter and 2 tsp. olive oil to a medium heat in a sauté pan. Add the pearl onions and toss around in the fat until they've browned, 10 minutes. Then stir in 1/2 cup beef stock, a small pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the onions for about 40 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated, and the onions are tender.

7. Remove the onions and set aside. Wipe out the skillet. Add the remaining butter and oil and bring to a high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 3-5 minutes, shaking the pan to coat with the butter.

8. Place a colander over a large pot. Drain the beef stew through the colander and into the pot. Place the pot with the sauce over a medium heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, skimming any fat on top. Pour the beef and vegetables back into the Dutch oven. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the pot. Pour the sauce over the beef mix and simmer an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

Blue Hawaii Cocktail

My husband, Brian LOVES blue drinks. We wanted to try making a blue drink at home. While doing our research for ideas we came across the Blue Hawaii and the Blue Hawaiian. You would assume they are the same thing but surprisingly there is a difference! The Blue Hawaii uses sweet and sour mix while the Blue Hawaiian uses Creme de Coconut for a creamier drink. If you prefer blended drinks instead of on the rocks I would suggest the Blue Hawaiian. After taste testing them both Brian and I decided the Blue Hawaii on the rocks was the winner! 

This would be a great recipe to turn into a batch cocktail. Just combine all of the ingredients into a pitcher and stir to combine. When ready to serve you can just pour the cocktail over ice and garnish as you wish. 

Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

3/4 ounce vodka

3/4 ounce Malibu rum 

1/2 ounce blue curaçao

3 ounces pineapple juice

1 ounce sweet and sour mix 

Optional garnish:

Pineapple slice

Marichino cherries 

Cocktail umbrella 

Directions: 

1. Combine vodka, rum, curacao, pineapple juice, and sweet and sour mix in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well combined. 

2. Pour into a standard cocktail glass or festive glass. Garnish with pineapple, cherries, and a cocktail umbrella.

Apple Tart - A - Alphabet Challenge

Welcome to my new idea, the Alphabet Challenge. Over the next 26 weeks I plan to make a dish that starts with a letter of the alphabet. It can be any type of cuisine but it MUST start with the letter of the week. I hope you follow along with me until the end of the year!

To start us off I decided to make an apple tart for the letter A. This tart is made in the French style and was super easy to make. I've modified this recipe a bit from one of my favorite chefs Ina Garten. If you're in a hurry, you can skip making the pie crust from scratch and utilize frozen puff pastry or frozen pie crust. 

Ingredients:

*Pie Crust Recipe Below

For the apples:

4 Granny Smith apples 1/2 cup sugar 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced 1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam 2 tablespoons brandy Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into squares or rounds of your size choice. I suggest 4-6 inch pieces so each guest gets their own tart for a fancier feel. Place onto the parchment lined sheet pan and place in the fridge while you prepare the apples. 3. Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (feel free to have some fun here and make your own design with the apples). Sprinkle all tarts evenly with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter. This will caramelize the apples in the oven. 4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the brandy and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. I highly suggest serving this with a scope of ice cream. If you want to get really fancy, you could do a creme anglaise sauce. You can also be lazy and melt some premade vanilla ice cream which is also creme anglaise and drizzle over the top.

Pie Crust Recipe can be found using my Apple Pie Recipe.