Creamy Sausage & Mushroom Penne

I modified this from Giada's recipe I watched her do on my day off with the kids. I added meat of course. LOL. I'm sure it's delicious without the meat, but for my house it doesn't feel like dinner unless there's protein in it. You can take the meat out and it's completely a vegetarian dish since you use veggie stock. It's delicious and easy! Try it out!

Ingredients

* 1 pound penne pasta
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
* 2 shallots, minced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound assorted mushrooms, (such as cremini, shiitake and button), cleaned and sliced
* 1/2 cup white wine
* 1/2 cup vegetable stock
* 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until golden brown. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes until all the liquid evaporates. Add the stock and simmer until liquid is slightly reduced. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese. Stir until creamy. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water, and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss well to coat pasta, adding the reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Garnish with the chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Banana Pancakes

Yes, I like to make pancakes. I was watching Bobby Flay Throwdown and had to try a new technique: whipping up egg whites then folding to get a lighter, fluffier pancake. It worked so great I'm gonna do that for all my pancake recipes from now on!

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions
Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

Lemon Pineapple (Cake-Mix) Cake

This is the cake from The Cake Doctor's Inside Out Pineapple Cake but I did not bake mine in a tube pan or make the glaze. I combined this with the stable whipped cream frosting and used two 6-inch cake pans I borrowed from Jackie to make my first birthday cake. It turned out delicious!

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18.25 ounce) plain lemon cake mix
• 1 cup crushed pineapple packed in
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean or sunflower
• 4 large eggs

Preparation:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch tube pan with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, undrained crushed pineapple, sugar, oil and eggs in large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The pineapple should be well blended into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 48-50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert onto another rack so the cake is right side up. Allow it to cool completely 30 minutes more.

Yield: 16 servings

Recipe Source: The Cake Mix Doctor by Ann Byrn (Workman Publishing)

Pipable Whipped Cream Frosting

Steve doesn't like buttercream so I had to research a whipped cream frosting sturdy enough to decorate just to make it pretty. I am pretty happy with this recipe.

I made 3 batches of this: one for the crumb coat and 2 to frost the cake. I had a cup leftover.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Chill mixing bowl and beaters for at least 15 minutes before using. Place water in a small microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over water and allow to soften 5 minutes.
2. Dissolve gelatin by microwaving for 2 minutes, stirring after every 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes; gelatin must be liquid but not warm when added to cream.
3. Remove bowl and beaters from refrigerator and pour in cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat together just until beater marks begin to show distinctly.
4. Add gelatin mixture to cream, pouring in a steady stream while beating constantly. Beat until stiff peaks form. Use immediately.

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

Simple macaroni salad like the ones served at Hawaiian fast food places like L&L. Nothing fancy. Good side to all the flavorful Hawaiian dishes such as Moco Loco or BBQ chicken.

Serves 4 -6

Ingredients

• 3 cups large macaroni
• 2 potato, peeled, cooked and diced
  
• 1/4 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise (a must)
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook macaroni till tender.
2. Add grated carrots, mayonnaise, and milk till well coated. Salt & Pepper to taste. Use more mayonnaise if needed.
3. Chill in refrigerator.
4. When ready to serve, add more mayonnaise to keep salad from drying out.

Meaty Pineapple Curry Fried Rice

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

• 2 cans of light SPAM cut into hearty cubes
  
• 3 sticks lap chang sausages halved lengthwise, diced
  
• 1 shallot minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro roughly chopped
  
• 1 cup pineapple wedges into quarters lengthwise. Reserve 4 tablespoons of juice.
  
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 3 carrots diced
  
• 1/4 large red onion diced
  
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 4 large eggs lightly beaten with pinch of kosher salt
  
• 4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
• 5 cups cold cooked brown rice
• kosher salt
  
• 1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, as desired

Directions

• Using a wok, working in batches, pan fry SPAM until lightly crispy. Remove and set aside
• Pan fry lap chang until lightly crispy. Remove and set aside.
  
• Pour out excess oil.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok. Add carrots and onion and cook until carrots are tender. Remove and set aside.
  
• Add 2 tablespoons oil to wok. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry.
  
• Add 1 tablespoon of oil to wok and add shallot and garlic to wok and stir fry for a few seconds.
• Add SPAM, lap chang, carrots, onions, and peas to wok and stir fry for a few minutes.
  
• Add rice and soy sauce.
  
• When rice is heated through add pineapple wedges and reserved juices.
  
• Add curry powder and mix well.
• Add salt to taste.
  
• Add cilantro and quickly stir fry for a few more minutes.
• Serve immediately.
  

Orange Barbeque Salmon Taco with Red Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle White Sauce

We found this highly-rated Bobby Flay recipe on FoodTV.com and adjusted it to make our lives easier. Bobby Flay has this intimidating long list of ingredients to make his own BBQ sauce...we simply used premade BBQ sauce and added the flavor components not usually found in BBQ sauce. We're not sure if it tastes like Chef Flay's, but it was still delicious. The grill fish made this a pretty light meal. We also used both salmon & tilapia and I think we all liked the tilapia more.

Here is the adjusted recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 (10-ounce) salmon fillets (or tilapia fillets)
  
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Orange BBQ Sauce, recipe follows
• 8 (6-inch flour) tortillas, cut to size
• Chipotle White Sauce, recipe follows
• Red Cabbage Slaw, recipe follows
• Cilantro leaves

Directions

Heat grill to high.

Brush salmon with oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill the salmon skin-side down for 3 to 4 minutes or until charred and a crust has formed. Brush with some of the BBQ sauce, flip over and continue grilling for 2 to 3 minutes for medium doneness. Remove from the grill and brush with more of the sauce. Let rest 5 minutes and flake with a fork

Grill tortillas for 20 seconds per side. Divide the salmon among the tortillas, top with the red cabbage slaw and smoked chile sauce and cilantro leaves; fold and eat.

Orange BBQ Sauce:

• Prepared BBQ sauce like Sweet Baby Ray Ray
• Splash of fresh orange juice
• Pinch of sugar
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle White Sauce:

• 1 cup prepared mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons chipotle puree
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Red Cabbage Slaw:

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (We omitted this)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 head red cabbage, finely shredded

Combine all ingredients, except cabbage and onions, in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place cabbage in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and let sit 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

Sloppy Chicken Mini Sammies

I got the recipe from Rachael Ray. Don't let the picture turn you off, these are delicious! Quick and easy, and a great recipe to make changes to and experiment with! I replaced the mustard with sweet and spicy honey mustard, added another half tablespoon of brown sugar and used sriracha for hot sauce, of course.


Ingredients

• 12 bake-off dinner rolls, any brand
• 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, divided
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds ground chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium to large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Seasoning blend by McCormick)
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, eyeball it
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 rounded tablespoonfuls spicy brown mustard
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

Heat the oven as directed on package of bake-off rolls. Arrange the rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet and sprinkle the rolls with about 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/3 palmfull. Bake rolls until golden and soft and remove.

While rolls cook, heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil then melt butter into the oil and add chicken. Crumble and brown meat 3 to 4 minutes then add in the garlic and onions. Add 1 tablespoon smoked paprika and 2 tablespoons of grill seasoning to the chicken. Continue to cook over medium-high heat.

Mix hot sauce, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, brown sugar, mustard in a small bowl then stir into the meat and reduce heat to low. Stir in about 1/2 cup of water to keep the mix loose as it simmers. Simmer gently 10 minutes. Split rolls and scoop chicken into them and serve.

Chicken Marinade

I thought it was time I start using marinades so I found this one on Allrecipes.com that sounds good. I didn't measure and it turned out great. I also omitted the liquid smoke because we didn't have any.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used a little dark soy for color)
  
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring (Didn't have any)
  
• 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (Didn't have any)
  
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper (Used white pepper instead)
  
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, liquid smoke, mustard, pepper, and garlic powder. Place chicken in the bowl, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and allow chicken to marinate a maximum of 4 hours in the refrigerator. (I marinade for 30 mins)
   
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Oil grill grate. Discard marinade, and place chicken on grate. Cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear.

Meatball Bagel Pizza

Just to show that not everything posted on this blog needs to be fancy (nor does everything coming from our kitchen for the matter), I posted lunch: meatball bagel pizza. I looked in our fridge, saw a couple of things we had could be a delicious meal, and voila!

Ingredients:

• one bagel
• mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Costco frozen meatballs, heated and sliced in half
• marinara
• dried oregano (optional)
• dried basil (optional)
• garlic powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut bagel in half.
2. Spread sauce, then arrange meatballs, more sauce, spices, cheese.
3. Put in oven until cheese is melted and golden.
   

Pumpkin Pancakes

We had a can of pumpkin I had extra after making Paula Deen's pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving last year so I decided to make pumpkin pancakes for Anh 2 Mike and the kids. It was good. The vinegar sounds weird but what it does is curdles the milk and makes mock buttermilk. Try it. It's easy. I usually mix the dry ingredients the night before to speed it up in the morning.

Servings: 6 | Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1 cup pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Lemon Pepper Chicken Fettucine Alfredo

I made this one up! Using store-bought alfredo sauce made this a pretty quick dinner option. I did kick it up by adding zest of one lemon to bring out the lemon in the chicken and the Trader Joe's lemon pepper pappardelle pasta.

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• salt
• pepper
• juice of one lemon
• olive oil
• paprika
• garlic powder
• 1 pkg of Trader Joe's pappardelle pasta
• 1 jar of Trader Joe's alfredo sauce
• zest of the same lemon above
• parsley, for garnish

Preparation:

1. Zest lemon and set aside. Chop up parsley and set aside.
2. Put olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and the chicken breasts in a gallon freezer bag. Mix it around and let marinade in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put some oil in an oven-safe pan on the stovetop at medium-high heat. Get chicken from the fridge. Make sure the pan is hot then put the chicken on. Brown both sides of the chicken (approximately 2-3 minutes on each side).
4. Put the pan in the oven for 25 minutes or when the internal temperature of the chicken is 180 degrees (juices will run clear when pierced) and take out and let rest.
5. Boil water and cook pasta to package instructions.
   
6. Drain al dente pasta and using the same pot you boiled the pasta with, heat up alfredo sauce. Add lemon zest to sauce.
   
7. Toss pasta in the sauce pan.
8. Slice chicken and serve with a slice of lemon.
9. Definitely eat with freshly squeezed lemon juice. It cuts through the richness of the alfredo.

Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta

Boeuf Bourguignon avec Nouilles Aux Oeufs

Inspired by the movie, Julie & Julia

Made this using chuck and serve on top of egg noodles.
Original recipe created by Julia Child | Serves 3

Kitchen Supplies:

• 5 quart dutch oven
  
• Slotted spoon

Boeuf Bourguignon:

• 6 ounces bacon (use plain salt-cured)
  
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 1/4 pound lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes (I used chuck)
  
• 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
  
• 1 brown onion, cut into eighths
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti (can also use a Shiraz or Syrah
  
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Crumbled bay leaf
• Blanched bacon rind
• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter (recipe below)
  
• Parsley sprigs
• Cooked egg noodles
  

Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Add oil to dutch oven and sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Raise the heat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Set the beef aside with the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Remove the vegetables to a side dish and pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef, bacon, and vegetables to the dutch oven and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set the dutch oven uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove dutch oven from the oven and put it on the stove top. Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock into the dutch oven so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers
very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef, bacon, and vegetables to it. Distribute the cooked mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in on a platter on top of egg noodles and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.



Recipe for Sauteed Mushrooms

Kitchen Supplies:

• 10-in skillet
  

Sauteed Mushrooms:

• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Place skillet over high heat with butter and oil. As soon as you see the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute, the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes, the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.

Rosemary Gorgonzola Mac n Cheese

Ingredients
Milk
Cream
Roux (Flour + Butter into a cream)
Cooked Pasta (of your choice)
Rosemary
Gorgonzola
Shredded White Cheddar
Parmesean Cheese
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Panko Bread Crumbs

Directions

1. Bring milk and cream to a simmer in a pot with two rosemary sprigs.
2. Once simmered, remove rosemary.
3. Now bring the milk mixture to a boil and add roux to the milk until desired thickness is acheived.
4. Add all cheeses
5. Season sauce with salt and pepper
6. Add cooked pasta
7. Put pasta + cheese mixture into a baking dish
8. Combine olive oil and Panko bread crumbs and paprika into an even mixture.
9. Top the dish with bread crumb mixture
10. Broil until golden and delicious
11. Put on stretchy pants
12. Eat Eat Eat!


Note: Any combination of cheeses can be used for this recipe, and additions such as bacon, mushrooms or cumin is appreciated and encouraged.