Potato Pave - P - Alphabet Challenge

The choice for P my alphabet challenge was simple - POTATOES! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love eating potatoes! You can do so many different things with them (and I already have) but I've never made this pave dish. It's almost like potato au gratin but cooked, cooled, and then sliced and crisped back up. It's a little time consuming to make but once it's cooked you can store it in the fridge for up to a few days for a easy, fancy side dish. 

Ingredients:
4 large russett potatoes
1 cup heavy cream
4 garlic cloves
3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Butter and olive oil for frying

Directions:

1. Add the heavy cream, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to a pot over low heat. Allow the flavors to meld, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat and remove garlic and herbs from mixture. 

2. Peel and thinly slice potatoes. I recommend a mandolin for this so the slices are consistent. You want the slices to be about 1/4 inch thick. 

3. Preheat oven to 320. Butter a baking pan and line with parchment paper. You'll want a little parchment overhang so you can use that as a handle to remove all the potatoes at the end. 

4. Add a single layer of sliced potatoes to the bottom of the parchment lined pan. You want there to be a little overlap but mostly an even layer of potatoes. Add 1-2 Tbsp of the cream mixture until the potatoes are evenly covered. Continue layering potatoes and cream until you reach 3/4 height of the pan. 

5. Cover layered potatoes with a sheet of parchment. Top with another pan or heavy item that can safely be placed in the oven. You want to compress the potatoes while cooking so all of the layers stay together. Bake for about 1.5-2 hours. Every 30 minutes check if the potatoes are tender by sticking a knife in the middle. 

6. Once potatoes are cooked allow to cool at room temp for 30 minutes. Then place potatoes (with pan on top still there for compression) in the fridge. Let sit at least overnight or up to 7 days. 

7. When ready to serve add 1 Tbsp. butter and 3 Tbsp. olive oil to a saute pan over medium high heat. Carefully remove the potatoes from the baking pan in one large piece using the parchment. Slice into 1/2 inch thick sticks. This will expose all of the layers of potato. Once the butter and oil mixture is hot, crisp the potatoes on the large side with the layers of potato. It'll be about 3-4 minutes per side. Once it's golden brown on both sides, transfer to a paper towel to drain off any excess oil. Serve warm with your favorite steak and enjoy! 

Baked Egg Bites - Meal Planning Breakfast

My husband Brian asked me to start doing some meal prep for him so he can have easy breakfast and lunches through out the week. The goal is for it to be easy to reheat and healthy. My first attempt at this are these baked egg bites. They're super simple to make and even easier to reheat. The best part is that the egg bites can be filled with any items you would put into an omelet so feel free to change it up or customize this dish to your tastes. 

Ingredients: 

(This is for a single egg bite so multiple as needed)
1 egg 
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
up to 1 Tbsp of toppings (I did chopped bell pepper, bacon, and cheese)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. 

2. In a large measuring cup add your eggs and whisk with a fork until well scrambled. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Evenly pour the egg mix into each cupcake liner. You want it to come up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the liner. 

4. Add toppings to each egg cup and then top with a sprinkle of cheese. (If you're making these for a family with different flavor desires, you can mix and match your toppings as you like.)

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the eggs are just set. I start checking on them at about 10 minutes and look every 3 minutes after. You can give the pan a small jiggle to see if the eggs are cooked through. 

You can eat as is right from the oven. If you're doing meal prep - allow to cool on the counter for about 30 minutes until eggs are room temp. Place them in a ziplock bag or air tight container. 

To reheat: microwave on high for 15 seconds. If it's not hot enough microwave an extra 15 seconds. Try to not microwave it too much as it may explode in the microwave. 

Onion Tart - O - Alphabet Challenge

For O   

            For O this week I wanted to feature the humble onion. It's such a cheap and diverse ingredient it was hard to come up with a single dish. I've seen the upside down tart on social media and thought this would be the perfect time to try it. 

I tried regular and red onion for this dish. The red onion was a bit sweeter. You could also use a bunch of thinly sliced cippolini onions as well for a more decorative tart. These are best served warm, right out of the oven. If you make them in advance, plan to reheat them in the oven for 2-3 minutes to warm them up.  

Ingredients:
 
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 red onion, thinly sliced about ¼ inch thick
Balsamic glaze
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
1 5 oz containter Boursin Cheese (garlic and fine herbs)
Egg wash: 1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon of water
 
Directions:
 
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry so that it’s a couple inches larger on each side. Cut the pastry into 6 even rectangles. Top each pastry with 1-2 Tbsp of boursin cheese. Set aside.

3. On the parchment paper, drizzle ½ tsp olive oil and ½ tsp balsamic glaze in a rectangle a little smaller than the puff pastry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.

4. Place onion slices on top of the oil mixture. Place a rectangle of the puff pastry cheese side down on top of the onion and gently press the edges to kind of seal it to the parchment paper. Use a fork to crimp the edges if desired for presentation. Repeat with the rest of the pastry.

5. Brush the tops of the pastry with the egg wash. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and a deep golden color on top. ENJOY!

Nutella Frosted Cupcakes - N - Alphabet Challenge

For the letter N I had a few ideas but the one that I kept coming back to was Nutella. I like this chocolate and hazelnut spread. It's great on a piece of toasted brioche or even just eating it with a spoon straight from the container. I wanted the ultimate chocolate experience so I made it into frosting for chocolate cupcakes. 

When I make cupcakes or cakes I like to use store bought mix like Pillsbury or Betty Crocker. It saves a lot of time and almost always comes out perfectly done. I do like to add a few ingredients to the cake mix to make it more flavorful. For chocolate cake mix I'll add 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. salt. You could also add 1 tsp of espresso powder if you like chocolate. This steps aren't necessary but I find it adds a little extra flavor to the finished cupcakes. 

One note for the frosting recipe below - you can adjust the texture of the frosting to make it to your liking. After combining all the ingredients you can fix the texture if needed. To make it more stiff you can add 1 Tbsp of powdered sugar at a time until it thickens. To make it more liquid you can add 1 tsp heavy cream at a time until it's the right consistency. 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, (2 sticks) room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup Nutella spread
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
 
Directions:
1. Bake your cupcakes according to the box directions. While the cupcakes cool from the oven, make the frosting.

2. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes until smooth.

3. Add the powdered sugar, Nutella, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt to the bowl with the butter. Mix on low speed so the powdered sugar doesn’t go everywhere. Once combined turn up the speed to medium and whip the mixture until it is slightly lighter in color and the frosting is nice and fluffy. 

4. Using a piping bag with a baking tip or an offset spatula spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. You can decorate with sprinkles or candy if desired.

Manicotti with Meatballs and Marinara - M - Alphabet Challenge

For the letter M I went with some of my favorites – manicotti, meatballs, and marinara! I had a lot of time over the labor day weekend so I made every element from scratch. If you’re in a hurry or not a food nerd like me, you can use store bought manicotti shells and marinara. If you don’t want to make meatballs you can brown some ground beef in a pan and once cooled, at it directly to the ricotta mixture. You could also omit the meatballs entirely and make this a vegetarian dish.

Since there are a few steps to the homemade pasta for the manicotti you can check out my marinara and meatball recipe here - https://kleinanddine.blogspot.com/2014/08/spaghetti-and-meatballs-from-scratch.html

After a Sur La Table cooking class to learn more about pasta I've changed my pasta recipe. I highly recommend watching a youtube video about making homemade pasta dough as it's usually easier to see how someone makes something. 
 
Ingredients:
Pasta:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp salt
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp olive oil
 
Manicotti Filling:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. chopped herbs (chives and basil recommended)
 
1 cup grated parmesan, for garnish.
 
Pasta Directions:

1. Make a mound of flour on a clean surface like a wooden cutting board. Make a large well in the center.

2. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, salt, and olive oil. Add the egg mixture to the well in the flour. Gently combine flour and eggs together stirring from the middle toward the outside until a dough forms.

3. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until a fingerprint pushed into dough bounces back. Once the dough is complete, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up to 6 hours.

Manicotti Filling Directions:
1. Add the ricotta, mozzarella, salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and herbs to a small bowl until mixture is evenly combined. Set aside until ready to fill manicotti.

 
Filling and Cooking the Manicotti
1. When ready to roll pasta place a large pot of salted water over high heat until it comes to a boil. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll pasta using a kitchen aid mixer pasta rolling attachment. Start at the largest setting (1 on the dial) and run the pasta through. Continue to roll pasta, moving the dial to higher numbers each pass until you get the thickness of 5 on the dial. If pasta starts to stick or get tacky, sprinkle it with a pinch of flour. Allow pasta sheets to rest for 5 minutes.

3. Cut the pasta sheets about 6 inches by 6 inches in size. Boil pasta sheets a few at a time for 4 minutes. Remove the pasta sheets with a spider strainer and allow to cool down a bit so you can roll them into manicotti shapes.

4. Add a layer of marinara sauce to the bottom of the pan you plan to bake the manicotti in. I suggest a 9x13 glass pan or nice baking dish that you can use for presentation. You want the sauce to completely cover the bottom of the pan but not be too much.

5. Place a sheet of pasta on a cutting board. Pipe in a 1 inch tube of the ricotta filling on one end of the pasta sheet. Add small meatballs (if using) on top of the cheese mix. Add another 1 inch tube of ricotta filling to cover the meatballs. Roll the cheese mix up in the pasta sheet starting at one end and rolling until you’ve created a tube of pasta around the cheese. Place the completed manicotti in the pan with marinara sauce on one end. Continue this step until the baking pan is full of manicotti.

6. Top the manicotti with a few spoonful’s of marinara sauce until all of the pasta is covered. Top with grated parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until the cheese on top is slightly browned. Serve warm!