Chicken Club Sandwich

This is a yummy sandwich that was easy to put together. I simply grilled some chicken breasts in olive oil, that had been seasoned with salt and pepper. Just keep it simple because you want the toppings to stand out. Place the chicken breast on some potato buns. Top the chicken with some crispy bacon, avocado slices, and honey mustard. Easy! And so yummy! I loved the avocado in this. It added a touch of freshness and creaminess to the sandwich. And the sweetness of the honey mustard played well with the avocado, tying everything together. I made my own honey mustard. Just mixed about 1/2 c mustard, 1/4 c mayo, 1 tbsp whole grain mustard, 2-3 tbsp honey, and some salt and pepper. Just play around with the measurements to your taste bud's liking.

Bacon and Leek-Filled Ravioli

My typical weekday: get up, get ready, commute an hour to work, work an 8-hour day, commute home, exercise, prepare dinner, watch a couple of shows, and then bedtime so I can be refreshed for another busy day. I feel like I have no free time! I could easily not work out and order fast food, but you gotta make time for the little things that matter. Plus, I wouldn't be 50 lbs lighter and able to enjoy all the delicious food that surrounds us if I didn't sacrifice some of my time. But unfortunately, that also means that I have neglected my food blog for a bit, and for that I am sorry!

I made these bacon and leek-filled ravioli with some of the fresh pasta dough posted way back. Instead of cutting the pasta dough into fettuccine noodles, just cut it into squares with a knife or into circles with a round cookie cutter. Then put a little bit of filling into the center, take another square/round pasta sheet and pinch the ends together tightly. I just used my fingers to pinch the ends together, which worked just fine. I even experimented with using a fork to seal the ends which just made it look prettier.

For this dish, I used the dark green ends of the leek that you would normally throw away. I wanted to see if we could cook with it. Why not? There's actually still flavor left in those little ends. This ravioli was surprisingly not as heavy as it sounded either. The ricotta cheese lightened up the dish a bit. There was so much flavor, it was delicious.

Bacon and Leek-Filled Ravioli

Ingredients
8-10 slices of bacon
1 c leeks, sliced
1 1/2 c ricotta cheese
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
2 c heavy cream
2 c pecorino cheese
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Save half of the bacon dripping. In the same pan, add the leeks. Cook until tender, about 5 mins. Crumble the bacon and add it to a small bowl along with the cooked leeks, ricotta cheese, and half the pecorino. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. This is the filling for your ravioli.

In the same pan you cooked your bacon and leeks in, add the rest of the bacon dripping saved earlier and the butter, cooking over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for about a min so the raw flour cooks out. Then slowly whisk in the cream. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add in the rest of the pecorino (add more if you wish!). Cook for a few more mins so the sauce can thicken up. Salt and pepper to taste as needed.

Toss the bacon and leek-filled ravioli prepared earlier into the cream. Top with parsley and more pecorino. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Cupcakes with Brown Buttercream Frosting

There's this local bakery near us called Gimme Some Suga that makes these delicious browned butter cupcakes. Ever since I tried them last summer, browned butter has been on my to-do list. I came across a browned butter cupcake recipe on Foodbuzz and had to give it a try, hoping they'd taste just like the one in the bakery. It wasn't as heavenly, but they were still good. These cupcakes were so light and fluffy. You can taste the nutty browned butter aroma in the cupcake for sure, but not so much in the frosting (which was pretty sweet by the way). Either I didn't brown the butter enough for the frosting (since it called for twice as much) or maybe my substitution of milk masked the browned butter? Either way these cupcakes were still really good.

Browned Butter Cake Ingredients

1 cup browned Butter, cooled

2 & 1/2 cups Sugar

5 – Eggs, separated

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 cup Buttermilk

3 cups sifted Cake Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

pinch of Salt

Browned Butter Directions:
To make 1 cup of browned butter: Slice the unsalted butter stick into 1 tbsp sized slices. Heat a thick-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced butter (sliced so that the butter melts more evenly) whisking frequently. Continue to cook the butter. Once melted the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. (About 7 mins total cooking time.) Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface to help stop the butter from cooking further and perhaps burning.

Cake Directions:
Allow ingredients to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat cooled brown butter with sugar for 3 minutes.

Add egg yolks one at a time and vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes.

Sift dry ingredients and add to butter/egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Mix just till combined.

In another bowl and clean beaters, beat egg whites till stiff and add in an increment of 3 to cake batter, being sure to fold in thoroughly but gently.

Bake for 18 or so minutes for cupcakes and 20-25 minutes for 9 inch round cake pans.

Makes 3 dozen cupcakes or 3, 9 inch round cake pans.

Browned Buttercream Frosting

2 cups browned Butter, cooled and solidified

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup whole milk, plus another 1/3 cup

2 lb. Powdered Sugar, sifted

Directions

In a medium bowl, add butter and whip till light and creamy, about 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and 1/3 cup milk and blend.

Slowly add powdered sugar while mixing.

At this point you may need to add more liquid. I added another 1/3 cup to achieve a spreadable and fluffy consistency. Whip for several minutes.

Adapted from Apron of Grace and Simply Recipes

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Lemon-Pepper Fettuccine Alfredo

Has any else noticed that Kroger is popping up everywhere? There was one down the road near us to the left. Now there's an even bigger one on the right. But I'm not complaining because this new, closer Kroger isn't only bigger, but they have a Murray's cheese shop! You know I love cheese. While browsing their cheese selection, I came across Sartoi's Signature Bellavitano cheese. It's a well-aged parmesan, with the nuttiness of sharp cheddar, soaked in merlot. Sounded interesting and smelt great. I thought I would try it in this lemon-pepper fettuccine alfredo. Feel free to use whatever parmesan cheese you can get though.

If you've never tried a lemon-pepper fettuccine, you should. It's creamy and peppery. Adds a touch more flavor to a regular fettuccine alfredo.

Lemon-Pepper Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 pint cream

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 egg

1/2 c Sartoi's Signature Bellavitano cheese, shredded

1/4 c Formaggio Trio Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, shredded

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 lb Fresh Fettuccine, cooked

In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and shallot and cook till translucent. In a small bowl, mix the cream, lemon juice and egg together. Then slowly stir the liquid mixture into the skillet. Let it come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir in both cheeses, a little at a time to make sure it's incorporated. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 mins so it can thicken up. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked fettuccine noodles and parsley and toss to coat. You can cook on low for a couple more mins to thicken up the sauce more, or you can add some of the pasta water to loosen up, completely optional. to your liking Serve with more cheese on top.

Easy Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients
1 c bisquick mix
1 c buttermilk
4 eggs
1 c shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
6 c frozen hash brown

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl whisk the bisquick mix and buttermilk together. Then whisk in the eggs. Next the cheese, salt and pepper. Then add the cream cheese and hash brown. Mix well. Pour into a buttered 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the top with more cheese. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 mins. Then uncover and bake another 10 mins or until cheese is golden brown.

This morning, I just threw together a bunch of leftover ingredients we had. The end result was a very simple, easy, and tasty breakfast dish!

Homemade Fettuccine with a Truffle-Dill Sauce

Remember that lamb sandwich Matt loved so much? Well I used the left over truffle cheese and dill to make this dish tossing it with my homemade fettuccine noodles. Yes, I know this blog post is long over-due. For that I am sorry. But I will make it up to you with a pasta dish that seems really fancy, but was actually inexpensive to make.

At first glance, you'd think it was a fettuccine alfredo. But when you bite into it, you are surprised at how much flavor this dish has. The earthy truffle and fresh dill really comes out in this creamy, rich pasta dish. I am loving this truffle cheese, and loving Sam's Club more for carrying it.

Homemade Fettuccine with a Truffle-Dill Sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 pint cream

1 1/2 c truffle cheese, shredded

1 tbsp dill, chopped

salt and pepper

1/2 lb fettuccine, cooked

In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Then add in the flour, cooking for about a min to cook out the raw flour taste. Slowly whisk in the cream. Let it come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Whisk in the truffle cheese, a little at a time so it can incorporate. Add the dill, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 5 mins so the sauce can thicken up. Toss in the cooked fettuccine noodles and serve warm.

Fresh pasta dough

I did it, I did it! I have finally conquered the homemade, fresh pasta-making! Now my pasta dough is beautiful and velvety! :)

The first time I made pasta dough, I used my favorite Food Network chef's recipe - Mr. Alton Brown. Alton has NEVER failed me. His chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe is our go-to recipe. And he helped us conjure up our first turkey for our families this Christmas, which was so juicy. But his pasta dough recipe was a fail. More than once fail. I kept giving it a shot thinking it was me being new to pasta making. Or maybe it was because I was using a hand-cranked pasta machine. After several attempts, the dough was just still too sticky, and hard to roll/cut. I even used more flour to combat the wetness. But I think the problem with the recipe was that he had you refrigerating the pasta dough before rolling/cutting. I think all that moisture from sitting in the fridge just ruined the dough.

Then one day I was watching Food Network and saw Anne Burrell make fresh pasta for a wild boar ragu. She didn't rest her dough in the fridge. Aha number one! I memorized it so I could give it a shot: 4 cups flour, 4 eggs, 1 egg yolk, olive oil, and salt. When I tried it though, the dough wouldn't come together. I was about to give up until Matt said, why not add more eggs? Why not waste a couple more eggs as opposed to tossing out 4 cups and 5 eggs worth of pasta dough, right? So I added 2 more eggs, another tsp of water, and a couple drizzle of olive oil. And it started to form together! Not gonna lie, I was doing a happy dance. After letting it rest on the counter for an hour, I went for the true test, the rolling part. And it was tough to roll (I think because there was so much of it), but it rolled. And cut out into nice fettuccine noodles too! So 4 cups of flour, 6 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 2 tsp water,1/4 cup of olive oil, and some salt later, I had enough pasta dough for 2 separate meals, lasting a week each. It made a lot of pasta.

So last week, I tried it again. This time, shrinking the ratios down for just one dish. It turned out perfect. The dough came together nicely with no problems, rolled out easily, and was so velvety. Below is my recipe for fresh pasta dough, the final one I'll be using for all my pasta-making now:

Fresh Pasta Dough

2 cups flour, plus more for dusting

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp water

1 tsp salt

Put the flour on a large work surface and create a wide well in the middle. This well is where you'll add your wet ingredients.

Add the rest of the ingredients into the well. Using a fork, carefully beat the liquid mixture together. Begin to incorporate the flour into the liquid mixture, a little at a time. Be careful not to break the sides of the well or you'll have a huge liquid mess! When enough flour has incorporated into the mixture, use your hands to get everything well combined. Then start kneading your gathered dough. Knead for a good 10 mins. Kneading is really important to get the dough smooth and velvety. When you finish kneading, wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Let it rest on the counter for at least an hour.

Beautiful pasta dough

This is how it should not look (fragments of what the dough looked like when I tried Anne's recipe and the dough wouldn't come together).

To roll the dough:

Cut off half the dough, reserve the other half and keep it wrapped.
Shape the dough into an oval shape, and flatten it to about 6 inches long (that way it can fit through the pasta machine). Dust with flour.
On the widest setting (my machine's widest setting is 7), roll the dough through.
Fold the dough into thirds, turn the dough 90 degrees, and then roll it through the machine again.
Fold the dough into thirds, turn the dough 90 degrees, and then roll it through one last time on setting 7.
Turn the machine to the next lowest setting, 6, and roll the dough through. Repeat, adjusting to the next lowest setting each time, until you reach the desired thinness for your pasta. (I like thinness setting 3.)
(Tip: To make rolling easier, dust pasta dough with flour each time you roll.)
Dust the rolled pasta sheet with flour and set aside. Then work on rolling the other half of the dough reserved earlier.
When you have all your finished pasta sheets, cut into your desired pasta noodles. Then dust with flour.

Cook pasta noodles in salted, boiling water for a few mins. Fresh pasta doesn't take long to cook.

It might seem like a lot of work, but you end up with pasta that is so different from store-bought noodles. Fresh pasta is lighter, not as dense. And it's called fresh for a reason.

Check back for 3 pasta dishes I made with my fresh pasta dough!
**Homemade Fettuccine with a Truffle-Dill Sauce
**Lemon-Pepper Fettuccine Alfredo
**Bacon and Leek Filled Ravioli