Lasagna Rolls

The other day I got a notification that the Tasting Table was live on Facebook from Don Angie Restaurant, in New York, making the famous lasagna for two!  It looked amazing and I realized I had similar ingredients in the house. The restaurant used a Bechemel sauce instead of the ricotta.

It was a simple dish to put together. The boiled Lasagna noodles are dried and ricotta is spread over them. Next sauce goes on top of the ricotta, I left the meat to the side and just used the tomatoes. Then a sprinkling of shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan goes over the sauce. A little sauce is added to the bottom of a baking dish. The noodles are rolled up and placed in the baking dish, standing up. More sauce is added to the top of the lasagna. The meat from the sauce is placed around the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top, cover the dish with foil, and place in a 350˚ preheated oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Delicious!!!

And of course we needed Italian Bread.

Vacation Day Baking

Today was a perfect vacation day. I baked 2 loaves of French Bread, a loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, and Ice Tray Cookies. And I made pasta for tonight's dinner.

One of my favorite bread recipes. 

Always a perfect crust and texture.

Recipe from Noshtalgia.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread. 

Recipe from Mark Bittman. 

Fresh Pasta. I love the recipe.

Recipe from Tide and Thyme.

Dinner was the homemade pasta along
with my favorite summer sauce recipe.

And last but certainly not least -

It Snows I Bake

Not sure why. Not sure when this started. All I know is if it snows I find it necessary to bake bread. Last night Chris mentioned we would be getting a lot of snow today. Yes, I live under a rock. I was clueless!

But the first thing that popped into my head was a bread recipe I had seen that required the Biga to be started the night before.

If had paid attention I would not have been in the grocery store doing my normal weekly shopping with the "Gotta get milk and bread" shoppers. After securing my milk, I came home to bake bread.

I continued the recipe I had started last night, Panmarino, aka Italian Rosemary Bread. The just kneading the dough was nice. The aroma from the Rosemary was heavenly.
Here is the link for the Panmarino, aka Italian Rosemary Bread recipe.

The other bread, oh yes I made 2 batches of bread today, was Walnut, Olive, Rosemary Bread. You see I had all that fresh rosemary from the Christmas appetizer wreath left over. No waste! This recipe was a little different. There was mention of olive oil in the ingredients but no mention of where to add it except for greasing the pans. I ended up adding the oil to the dough along with more water and flour... quite the guessing game. But after all that the dough rose beautifully and the aroma was fantastic.

Both breads baked up nicely. I will report on the tastes later in the week.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

In my Facebook feed, I saw a post from Mark Bittman. Rosemary Olive Oil Bread: give it a shot!
I had to make it.

I started the dough last night and magically it snowed today. Yeah not sure if you remember but when it snows I feel I have to make bread. This dough was perfect. The texture and the aroma were over the moon good. And the finished product ...

Let's just say this bread will be in a regular rotation in our kitchen. Can't wait for toast tomorrow for breakfast!!!

Radiatori with Chicken Sausage and Arugula and Spinach

I made this recipe for the first time back in 2013. I should make this more often. It is delicious. I had to force myself to stop eating. It was a "just one more spoonful" type of dinner. Easy? Yes. Fast? Yes. And the sauce was perfect. I was glad I made bread this morning. More on that later.

Radiatori with Chicken Sausage and Arugula and Spinach

Ingredients
1 pound radiatori
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Al Fresco Chicken Sausage with Red and Green Peppers
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 lb baby spinach, coarsely chopped and washed
1/2 lb arugula, coarsely chopped and washed
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/4 cup grated pecorino, plus more for serving

Method -
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook over moderately high heat,  until browned, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate.

Add the crushed red pepper and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the spinach and arugula with any water clinging to the leaves and season with salt. Cover and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until the greens are tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes longer.

Add the pasta to the skillet along with the sausage, chicken stock and pecorino and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid is slightly reduced and creamy, about 3 minutes. Serve right away, passing extra cheese at the table.

Today I worked from home and this morning I realized I did not have Italian bread for tonight's dinner. I did not want run to the store at lunchtime as I was planning on working through lunch. So I made bread. Not the Jim Lahey No Knead Bread. This recipe takes a lot less time! I made 3 loaves of bread which I started at 7AM and had in the oven by 12PM. The recipe can be found on Noshtalgia.

No Knead French Bread

Ingredients-
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. soft shortening
4 c. sifted all purpose flour

Method-
Measure flour into bowl, add water, then yeast. Let yeast dissolve thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let set 10 minutes. Knead the dough 5 times letting it rest for 10 minutes each time. Turn dough out on floured board and divide in half. Let rest for 10 minutes, then roll each ball into a loaf. Make several diagonal slashes across each loaf. Let rise double. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Snow Day!

It's snowing. Winter Storm Anna. When it snows I bake bread. I started both of the breads I made yesterday. We all have our ways to prepare for a snow storm.

The Jim Lahey No Knead Bread was started yesterday morning. Click here for the recipe if you have not tried the No Knead Bread yet.

 

The Chocolate Babka recipe was started last night. I cut the recipe was cut in half. I did not want 2 large loaves of bread. This week I picked up to small loaf pans, thinking I could make 2 smaller loaves. It worked out nicely. The bread is really good. I did over bake it a bit but it retained the flaky quality. And the chocolate filling, well forgetaboutit! The recipe is from Food & Wine. Click here for the recipe. I had time today to check out the new Bon Appetit, the Bread Issue, and they have a Chocolate Babka recipe. I will have to try that one next.

Then there was dinner. I make a Crock Pot Chili. "Wow!' Yes that was a quote from Chris during dinner. It was the perfect dinner for a snowy day. I found this recipe on Gimme Some Oven blog, I love the name of this blog!

Slow Cooker Chili from Gimme Some Oven -

Ingredients-
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 medium red or yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, chopped (*add more for extra smokyness and heat)
2 (15 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (**see below for substitution ideas)
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 cup beer or beef broth
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
(Optional toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips or strips, thinly-sliced green onions, sour
cream, salsa, etc.)

Method-
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, onion and garlic and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until the beef is completely browned, crumbling the beef with a spoon as it cooks. Drain about half of the excess fat. Then transfer the beef into the bottom of a slow cooker.

Add the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper or seasonings if need be.

Serve warm, with desired toppings.

And I made Homemade Cheez-Its from Food 52 to go with the Chili. You can not eat just one. At first I thought I put in too much salt but heck no! Perfect amount. Next time I will try adding some cayenne pepper.

Homemade Cheez-Its from Food 52-

Ingredients-
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 1/2 ounces (about 3 1/2 cups) finely grated sharp cheddar
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Method-
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and cheese and pulse until very well combined. Add 2 tablespoons water and pulse until the dough is just wet enough to hold together when squeezed. Add up to 2 tablespoons more water if necessary.

Divide the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap. Press each half of dough into a flat square, wrap well, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Working with one square at a time, roll the dough out to a scant 1/8-inch thick. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut the dough into 3/4 inch-wide strips. Then cut the dough in the other direction to make 3/4-inch squares. Use the flat end of a wooden skewer to poke a hole in the center of each square. Freeze the dough until firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Brush half a sheet with the egg white and sprinkle with salt. Use an offset spatula to gently break the egg washed dough apart and place the squares on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until puffed and set and browned on the bottom, about 14 to 16 minutes. (Make sure to cook them well so that the finished crackers are crisp. Completely frozen dough may take a few extra minutes to bake.) Transfer the parchment with the bake crackers onto a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining frozen crackers. Store the cooled crackers in an airtight container. 

Roasted Flat Iron Steak with Olive Oil-Herb Rub and Much More!

 

We had this last week but I had made it with a Flank Steak. It was good but the Flat Iron Steak was much better. 

The original recipe is from Cooking Light. All I did was omit the garlic, surprise,  and changed the type of steak.

Ingredients-
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 1/2-pound) flat iron steak, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

Method-
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over steak. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak to pan; cook 1 minute on each side or until browned. Add wine and broth; cook 1 minute. Spread herb mixture over steak; place pan in oven. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with pan sauce.

The side dish was amazing! A Bon Appetit recipe, Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash. I have a few Butternut Squash cluttering the counter from my sister's garden, so I had to find a recipe or two. This one will be my go-to side dish this fall. We both liked it and I have enough leftovers for a couple of lunches!

My version of Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash.

Ingredients-
Herb oil-
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Hash-
2 large golden beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard, trimmed and chopped
1 2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 pound garnet yams or other yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
herb oil

Method-
Herb oil-
Whisk all ingredients in small bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature and re-whisk before using.

Hash-
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Add Swiss Chard and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain well. Set aside. Scrub beets; place in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour half of herb oil over beets; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap each beet in foil and roast beets until tender when pierced with small sharp knife, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let beets stand until cool enough to handle. Peel beets; cut into 1/2-inch pieces and reserve. DO AHEAD Swiss Chard and beets can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill.

Combine squash, potatoes, and yams in large bowl. Add remaining herb oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread vegetable mixture evenly on large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until vegetables are tender when pierced with knife and lightly browned around edges, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 50 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Stir beets and beet greens into roasted vegetables; dot with butter cubes and continue to roast just until beets are heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture to large bowl and serve.

And wait there is more...

Roasted Apple and Pecan Bread. Tomorrow's breakfast. More about it in tomorrow's post.

Brioche, French Bread, Soup, Sauce and Dinner

Where to start? As I have stated previously I plan on making a lot of bread this year. The year starting with the cooler weather setting in. I have a cookbook which I have had forever, A Basket of Homemade Breads. I decided on the Brioche. The recipe makes 16 rolls. Seeing as it is just the two of us I cut the recipe in half. The dough has a fantastic texture. See the bottom of this post for the recipe.

Today I made the first large pot of my Mom's Meat Sauce. I needed some bread to go with the sauce. I remembered a recipe I found last year, No Knead French Bread. The big advantage of this recipe is that it does not take 18 hours for the dough to rise. I LOVE this recipe! Click Here to view  the recipe and visit the blog Noshtalgia.

Next we have the Chicken Soup. I used my sister Lenore's recipe. It simmered for over 3 hours and the cats were beside themselves when I was removing the meat from the carcass! Click Here for the recipe.

Seeing I had the soup simmering on the stove it seemed like the perfect time to make our first pot of meat sauce. I sauteed chopped onions and browned the sausages and ground meat. I added the crushed tomatoes and let that simmer. My sister recently reminded me that our Mom use to add chicken legs to her sauce. I opted for adding boneless chicken thighs. I let that simmer for about 3 hours, seasoning it with salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley. After it cooled it went into the fridge so tomorrow I will remove any fat from the top of the pot.

And now what did we have for dinner?

I decided on making my Mom's Chicken Cutlets when I was mixing the Brioche dough this morning. I ended up with 2 egg whites and a yolk (I only used an egg white for the glaze on the Brioche). Mom's recipe for Chicken Cutlets requires the egg whites to be beaten separately before adding the yolks so it seemed like a perfect way use up the eggs. The meat was so moist and the breading was the perfect color. Click Here for the recipe.

We have a new olive oil store in town, The Shoreline Vine. What an amazing place. You can taste every oil and vinegar... which made for an interesting lunch. I picked up these 2 small bottles and it seemed perfect for our side dish.

 

I think I may have picked the last of the green beans today. And we had a couple of small tomatoes. Those along with some tomatoes I from my brother-in-law, Ralph, were mixed together for one last tomato and green bean salad. Actually I think this may have been our only tomato and green bean salad of the summer! I steamed the beans and seasoned them along with the tomatoes with the vinegar and olive oil pictured above and salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley. Excellent.

And of course there was also my favorite - Roasted Potatoes!

Brioche, from A Basket of Homemade Breads. This recipe as shown here will result in 16 rolls.

Ingredients -
4 cups (1 lb) all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cake (1/2 oz) fresh yeast
2-3 tbsp warm water
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1- 1 1/2 sticks ( 1/2 - 2/3 cup) melted butter, cooled
2 tbsp sugar
beaten egg for glaze

Method -
1.  Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Make two wells in it.
2.  Cream the yeast with the water and pour it into one well. Into the other well pour the beaten eggs, yolks, melted butter and sugar.
3.  Beat together with your hands to form a fairly soft dough.
4.  Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 1 hour.
5.  Brush 16 cupcake cups with melted butter.
6.  Punch down the dough by kneading and cut into two. One piece being 2/3 of the dough. (See photo from cookbook below for clearer description!)
7.  Shape into 16 large and 16 small balls. Place a large ball in the bottom of each cupcake cup. Punch a hole in the center of the large ball and place the small ball in it. (See photo from cookbook below for clearer description!)
8.  Prove, covered with a dry cloth, until doubled in size.
9.  Brush gently with beaten egg, you don't want to knock off the small ball of dough. Bake in a very hot oven (450ºF) for 10 minutes.

My copy of this book has been used a lot as this photo will show!

Steak Pizzaiola and An Interesting Foccaccia

Yeah we are making bread. I love this time of year because I love making bread. The whole flour and yeast thing has always amazed me. The possibilities are endless. Let us raise our glass to toast a new season of bread baking.

 

I decided to start slow. I found a recipe for a Rosemary Foccaccia. Simple enough. Loved it! Ended up with enough for another 2 meals, those portions went into the freezer. Yes we are also entering Freezer Food season.

Let's talk about dinner.  Steak Pizzaiola. The two pieces of meat cost $6.73. The sauce was made using a can of tomatoes which cost $1.99.  And the wine was even under $10. I pan seared the steaks and added a marinara that I whipped up. Into a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes. They were cooked perfectly for us. We like our meat medium to medium well done.

This was a restaurant quality meal. For sides we had Aborio Rice and sauteed Zucchini. Timing of the meal was 45 minutes from starting the sauce to plating.

On a side note - does anyone else have this problem... you are trying to read the daily papers and a cat just has to parked himself on what you are trying to read?



So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Grilled Chicken and Roasted Pepper Panini

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?

Challenge #1: Ready, Set, Blog!

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?

No Post  : (

Sausage with Ratatouille Sauce Subs

Ratatouille Sauce! Yes you read it correctly. I was at the Food and Wine site the other day and found the recipe, Linguine and Ratatouille Sauce. In the description of the recipe it is mentioned that the sauce would go nicely "on a hero with sausages." Bingo. Sunday night dinner! Wow it was good. Messy but good.

Oh I did a little baking today...

  Pain a l'Ancienne

and for breakfast Lemon Cranberry Muffins.

Panko-Coated Chicken Schnitzel & Acorn Squash Farro Risotto

I have been wanting to make the Acorn Squash Farro Risotto for some time now.
Today I happened to have all the ingredients in the house. Of course I thought that it would not be enough to have just that for dinner. So I also made the Chicken Schnitzel.
The Acorn Squash Farro Risotto was more time intensive, about and hour, so the Chicken Schnitzel was a perfect recipe. It took only 15 minutes. And I used one half of a chicken breast so the amount was just enough.
Now back to the Acorn Squash Farro Risotto. I cut the recipe in half... except for the farro. Making only one squash, the recipe calls for two, I should have used half the amount of farro. We ended up sharing one of the acorn squash halves, they are very filling.  We loved the nutty flavor of the farro. And I have enough for a couple of lunches... unless we have it tomorrow night!

And it snowed today! First snow storm since October. When it snows I have to bake bread. I do not know why but I just do. I tried a new recipe today. English Muffin Toasting Bread. I found this on the King Arthur Flour site. Mine did not rise as much as the bread in the photo on the King Arthur site but I loved the taste. It tastes like an English Muffin!

On a different note... Are there any knitters or crocheters out there. Well I found this very cool site. Biscuits and Jam. There is a Stripe Generator! You pick out your colors and the number of rows you want and it shows you what your striped pattern will look like. Very cool.