Whole Wheat Pasta with Fennel, Chicken Sausage, Tomato and Olives

Obviously, this pasta dish appealed to me because of the fennel. I will print just about any recipe that I come across that has fennel in the title.

I found this one on a blog called The Perfect Pantry, which happens to be written by a Rhode Islander, so of course I was immediately enamored.

The dish turned out ok. I liked that the tomato juice and the pasta water created a sauce, so it certainly was not dry. I didn't think the olives were necessary, and would probably replace them with a leafy green, such as swiss chard, escarole or spinach in the future. I also discovered that I am not a huge fan of chicken sausage. (Unless we are talking about this lovely specimen right here: Al Fresco wild blueberry breakfast sausage with maple syrup. OMG, I could eat the whole package in one sitting.) Since chicken doesn't have much inherent flavor, I feel like all you taste is the seasoning the manufacturer (in this instance, Harris Teeter) adds to the meat. I would much prefer pork or turkey sausage for the flavor.

The other problem I encountered with this dish was that I didn't cut the fennel thinly enough, so some of it did not cook as well other pieces. That usually does not present a problem the first night, but for some reason, I find that after it has been refrigerated and then reheated, the fennel that isn't cooked all the way through becomes hard as rock. (Ok, maybe not that hard, but definitely harder than anything you would like to find in your lunch-time pasta.)

So with a couple changes, I think this could be a great weeknight go-to meal!

Mujaddara with Spiced Yogurt

This is the kind of dish I have to make when MM is not around. "Lentils, rice and onions for dinner? That's it? Are you mad?"

No, I am not mad, this dish was delicious! I found the recipe on Food52 and was really excited to try it because I love lentils and caramelized onions (see here, here, here, and here).

I don't eat a lot of rice and am not well-versed in the best methods of cooking it (unless we are talking about risotto!), so was intrigued when the recipe said this particular method was "tried and true." Well, I followed the directions and when I took the pot out of the oven after 17 minutes, the rice was mushy and adhered to the bottom and sides of the pot. It definitely could have come out at 15 minutes. However, I found that not only do I love the way jasmine rice tastes, mushy texture notwithstanding, but I loved the crunch of the rice that I chiseled off the bottom of the pot! I literally stood there and started to think of a way to only get crunchy rice! So if you don't want crunchy and mushy rice (which, by the way, became not mushy after it sat for a little bit), I would recommend checking it at 15 minutes.

Another note about this recipe: the intro note and comments from readers say that it tastes better the second day after the flavors have had a chance to blend. Well, I thought it was good the first night, and didn't necessarily improve the second or third days. It just kind of tasted the same.

Sweet Potato and Bacon Pasta

This is the sad story of a lonely sweet potato that took up residence on my counter for about 2 1/2 months:

Prior to Thanksgiving, the Ft. Myer Commissary had the largest sweet potatoes I have ever seen. As big as a football. So naturally, I had to buy a bunch of them. One actually went into a Thanksgiving dish (my mom's famous maple brown sugar sweet potato slop - yes, I know it needs a better name), one went into a roasted vegetable dish, and eventually there was one sad hold-out chilling on the counter.

Before I knew it, it was the end of January and the lonely sweet potato still sat there. It watched onions, garlic, bananas, apples, fennel a plenty, and others come and go. And still it sat. I poked it every now and then to see if it was getting soft, but it never gave in to my assaults.

The other night I decided I finally had to do something with it and the partial package of bacon that had been chilling in my fridge for almost as long as the sweet potato had been chilling on the counter. What else do you (ok, maybe not you, dear reader; perhaps you are more creative than me) do with random ingredients, but throw them into a pasta dish!

Unlike my last attempt at a sweet potato pasta dish (see here), this one was lacking substantial flavor, but the texture didn't bother me much. You can't really see it in the picture, but the sweet potato broke down a bit and clung to the shells. So the sad ending to the story is that the perseverant sweet potato ended up in a so-so pasta dish. The end.

Sweet Potato and Bacon Pasta
Serves 2-3

Extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, diced
2/3 of a massive sweet potato, peeled and cut into small dice
Leaves from a couple sprigs of fresh thyme
4 slices bacon (the dish could have used more bacon, but I only had 4 slices left, so I would recommend using more. Unless you are a communist.)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 box medium shells
1 cup chicken broth (I meant to grab the vegetable broth, but after I opened it, I realized it was chicken)
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for a couple minutes. Add the sweet potato and thyme to the skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, for a couple minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon according to your preferred method. Usually, I like to bake the bacon in the oven, but seeing as my oven takes 4 days to preheat, I decided to cook it in a sauté pan and make a huge bacon grease mess. When it is nice and crispy, let it drain on a paper towel-lined plate. When it has cooled, crumble into bite-sized pieces.

3. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water.

4. Back to the sweet potatoes. After a couple minutes, you will notice the pan looks really dry; add about a half cup of broth. After that has been absorbed, add the remaining half cup. Try a sweet potato to make sure it is tender and season with salt and pepper as necessary.

5. Add the pasta to the sweet potato mixture, stir to combine and add lots of cheese. Add some of the reserved pasta water if it is too dry. Top with the crumbled bacon.

Spinach Artichoke Dip with Spiced Pita Chips

This recipe is a keeper!

I had never made spinach artichoke dip from scratch, but not only was it easy, I think the results were better than some of the store-bought versions! (Although, Whole Foods makes an excellent example, should you ever be looking for pre-made spinach artichoke dip.)

The recipe is from Food & Wine's December 2009 issue. My version looks like it has more spinach in it than the picture on Food & Wine's website, but I followed the recipe to a tee (well, except for the hot sauce - ew!). Don't skip the spiced pita chips; they are fabulously tasty. One thing I managed to forget to do is to brush the olive oil mixture on both sides of the pita, but they still turned out ok.

Butter Roasted Cauliflower

I think that this recipe could make a non-cauliflower eater turn into a cauliflower believer! I found the recipe on Joy the Baker's blog. If you have some time to spare, I would recommend hanging out on her blog for awhile. Her pictures are gorgeous, she's funny and she has a really cute cat.

I followed her recipe (minus the red pepper flakes), but I don't know what kind of magic oven she has; I had to up the temp of mine to 415 and I had to roast the cauliflower for 40 minutes until it had browned in some places and was tender. The sharp acidity from the lemon juice and the parsley's crisp freshness at the end is really what makes this dish. I would decrease the amount of garlic next time; between that and the lemon juice, I had to eat a piece of bread just to absorb the acidity in my stomach.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are plenty of recipes for variations of the chocolate chip cookie out there. There are even plenty of different recipes for Nutella chocolate chips cookies (do a Google search, I dare you). I found this particular one on a blog named Pink of Perfection.

I have printed lots of Nutella recipes over the year, but I always felt like it was a waste of Nutella to bake with it. I prefer to eat it with graham crackers, toast or just on a spoon when no one is looking. Nutella was one of my favorite discoveries when I studied in Florence in college and I have been mildly obsessed ever since.

This recipe is pretty good. The cookies taste a little like shortbread to me. I did over cook them, which is part of the problem (they are more crunchy than soft and chewy), but at 10 minutes they were still raw. I would suggest checking them at 10 minutes, but do not bake them longer than 15 minutes.

I made a couple alterations to Pink of Perfection's recipe. I used scant 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup Nutella and a mixture of regular and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I think I actually like the mini chips better). Next time I would use less butter; the cookies are a little greasy. Some chopped hazelnuts might be nice too, to reinforce the hazelnut flavor of the Nutella.

Bananas Foster Bread

I really love banana bread and like to try different recipes as evidenced here and here. I found the latest on the cleverly named blog, Ezra Pound Cake. It is, oddly enough, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.

Well, nice work, Cooking Light! This bread is fantastic! I don't even think it needs the glaze on top. (And beware eating the glaze on its own - it tastes like a shot of rum!) The ground flaxseed is a great addition; I love the way it changes the texture of the bread so much that I think I will add it to all future banana breads.

My only change to the recipe is that I don't have allspice, so I used equal parts ground nutmeg and ground cloves. And I had to bake mine for an hour, which is what the original recipe calls for.

Espresso Brownies

Rich chocolaty goodness!

This is a serious brownie.  It is a stick in your teeth, almost achingly sweet brownie with incredible depth of flavor. What can I say except Giada is a genius.

This recipe is in her cookbook, Giada's Family Dinners, which I purchased on Gilt (see here for my obsession with Gilt; my obsession with Giada is evident in just about any post on this blog and needs no explanation).

I had to alter Giada's recipe slightly because all I had in the pantry was a 17.6 ounce box of brownie mix (dark fudge with chocolate chunks). (I wonder if companies even make 19.8 ounce boxes of mix anymore - that seems so pre-recession!) (Another side note, I think it is interesting that Giada recommends Duncan Hines - are the different brands really that different? Maybe she is invested in the company. I happened to have Duncan Hines on hand, but that is probably only because I had a coupon.) I followed the box's instructions to use 1 egg, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vegetable oil. I used just less than 2 tablespoons of the espresso powder. I also didn't add chocolate chips because my mix already had chocolate chunks, but in hindsight, it would have benefited from some chips.

I did find the "glaze" - it is really a frosting - to be too sweet, so would use less powdered sugar next time.

Rigatoni al Forno

One of the simpler pleasures in life is cutting into a fresh from the oven pan of baked pasta. My favorite is full of cheese, which is at once gooey in the middle and crunchy on top. The pasta itself must be tender in the middle, but the pieces sticking out on top have got to be crunchy! I like rigatoni better than ziti or penne because it is larger and more cheese can get stuck inside of it!

My recipe below is only slightly adapted from this Mark Bittman recipe from the NY Times.

Rigatoni al Forno
Serves 6 hungry people

Extra virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes with liquid (I transferred the tomatoes to a bowl and mashed them slightly with a potato masher to break them up. You could also do this with your hands.)
(I found that I would have liked more sauce in this dish, so next time I will also add a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce.)
Couple springs fresh oregano, leaves chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound part skim block mozzarella, diced
3/4 - 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt it. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook, undisturbed, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Stir, cook another 2 minutes undisturbed, then add onion and garlic. Lower heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft. Add tomatoes, sauce and oregano and bring to a boil. Simmer while cooking pasta, stirring and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream just before you drain the pasta.

3. Cook pasta until just tender; it should still be too hard to eat. Drain it (but do not shake the colander; allow some water to cling to the pasta) and toss it with the sauce and half of the mozzarella. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray and transfer pasta mixture to it. Top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake until top is browned and cheese bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread

If the decision to make a dish was a mathematical equation where the ease of executing the recipe was directly proportional to the absolute deliciousness of the completed dish, this recipe for Irish soda bread would be the example given in every classroom as a perfect decision.

Honestly, this recipe, which is one of the Barefoot Contessa's (aka Ina Garten), could not have been easier to make and could not have been more delicious. The crust was wonderfully crunchy and the interior moist, tender and subtly scented from the orange zest. (I chose to leave the currants out of the bread - seemed weird to have fruit in it.) And, the bread only gets better with a generous slather of Irish butter. (Jam doesn't hurt either.)

So if you are craving fresh from the oven bread and can't be bothered messing around with yeast, make this soda bread immediately!

Comforting, Creamy, Throw-it-all-in Pasta

So I wasn't going to blog about this dish because it is not pretty (hence the lack of a picture), and it isn't anything special, but as I am eating the leftovers for lunch, thoroughly enjoying them and realizing that the flavors have actually gotten better after a night in the fridge, I just had to share.

This pasta is similar to my What's Left in the Fridge Frittata. I got home from work later than I would have liked, I was starving and craving something comforting, and the fridge was full of a bunch of random half-used items. The resulting dish was better than many things I have made from cookbooks! It could have used a green vegetable - I think broccoli would have worked - but all I had were peas and a hard as a rock block of edamame in the freezer and I didn't think they would work as well.

Throw It All In Pasta
Serves 2

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (could omit if using a non-stick pan)
4 slices bacon, diced
3/4 red onion, sliced (digression: I love onions. I know there are some people who have very strong aversions to onions, but I don't know what I would do without them!)
1/2 of 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce with Italian herbs (I like Contadina)
Leaves from a couple sprigs of thyme
Leaves from a large sprig of oregano, chopped
4oz Mascarpone cheese (1/2 of an 8oz container)
About 1/3 of a box of pasta (I used cavatappi, because that was the only open box in the pantry)

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and saute until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towel lined plate.
2. Lower heat to medium and add onions to bacon drippings. Saute until caramelized.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.
4. When onions are cooked enough for your liking, add sauce, thyme and oregano. Lower heat to low or medium low. Stir until combined and sauce is heated through. Add mascarpone and stir until heated through.
5. Add drained pasta to sauce and toss to coat. Add bacon at the end.

Birthday Cake

 Happy Birthday Nicole!

Now this is what cake should taste like. Perfectly moist cake, the right amount of crumb, delicate vanilla flavor and rich, buttery, but not too sweet, vanilla frosting. MM even said that this cake is better than supermarket birthday cake. This may not seem like much to normal people, but in MM's world, that is the ultimate compliment. (When he was in college he used to buy birthday cakes for himself when it was not his birthday, nor any of his friends' birthdays, to eat as a snack. It is a minor miracle his arteries haven't given up already.)

The recipe is from a great restaurant in Old Town Alexandria called Restaurant Eve.

New Year's Eve Lunch

MM's sister and brother-in-law (and 2 of Patton's canine cousins) came over for lunch on New Year's Eve. Erin, my sister-in-law, is a vegetarian, and DC was having unseasonably warm weather (50 degrees!), so I was more than happy to make a meatless menu that would taste fresh and wouldn't weigh us down.

Our menu follows:

Arugula Salad with Clementines and Caramelized Fennel

I found this salad in the January 2010 issue of Bon Appetit. The recipe (which I halved) calls for oranges, but I had a box of clementines in the fridge, so I figured they would work just as well (if not better). I used 4 clementines. I would absolutely make this again and I think everyone would agree it was excellent!

Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese

This is one of Giada's recipes, from her cookbook, Giada's Kitchen. The vegetable bolognese came together quickly and was super flavorful. The mushrooms gave it a hearty, meaty goodness and the small amount of mascarpone was just enough to make the sauce slightly creamy. We had tons of leftovers, so MM and I will be eating this today too!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

My mom has been telling me to try this cake for years. She got the recipe from my grandmother and makes it all the time. I had extra cans of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk from Thanksgiving, so I decided it was high time I tried this recipe.

And... it was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was the best dessert I have ever had, but it was enjoyable. It is like a pumpkin pie on the bottom and crunchy cake on the top.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

2 cups pumpkin puree (I used a 15 oz can, which is just less than 2 cups, but it works fine)
12 oz. can evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I don't have pumpkin pie spice, so I used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp. cloves)
1 tsp. salt
1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans (my mom swears that 2 cups is better, but I am not a huge fan of nuts)
1 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13x9 inch baking dish.

Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, spices and salt. Mix well and spread into dish.

Sprinkle cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture and pat down. Sprinkle pecans over top and drizzle melted butter all over the top.

Bake for 1 hour or when a cake tester comes out clean (no longer than 1 hour 20 minutes - mine took 1 hour, 10 minutes).

Risotto Rosso

I have been saying for awhile that I want to try to make a risotto with red wine, and I happened to find vialone nano in Rhode Island over Christmas, and I was dying to try it. Luckily I had printed this recipe from food52 a couple months ago and it turned out to be the most delicious recipe.

The mushrooms, pancetta, red wine and beef broth gave this dish a rich, earthy depth of flavor. It was truly like nothing I have ever tasted. (Or maybe like nothing I have ever created in my kitchen.)

It just barely made two dinner portions and one leftover lunch portion, so I will definitely double it the next time I make it. (I love having risotto leftover for lunch.) Also, I had about 1 1/2 cups broth left over, which never happens with arborio rice; I am usually scrambling to find more broth to finish cooking the rice. 

Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post is picture-less, but this recipe is so good that I just couldn't keep it to myself.

For anyone who likes oatmeal chocolate chip cookies - this recipe from food52 may be your new favorite. I know it's mine! The balance of spice, salt, chocolate and oats is just perfect.

Chocolate Chunk & Vanilla Bean Cookies

Look closely and you can see the vanilla bean specks!

I have been excited to try this recipe for awhile - I just love the flavor from vanilla beans and there is certainly nothing wrong with semisweet chocolate chunks!!

This recipe is from the Coconut & Lime blog and the cookies are delicious. The recipe says it will make 2 dozen, but I only got maybe 18. It turns out that's a good thing, because they are only good on the 1st and 2nd days. By the 3rd day they taste a little stale. My only complaint is that the cookies don't have a strong vanilla flavor. I was really hoping for a stronger flavor from the bean.

Special

Our dear dog, named for a manly man, is certainly not a manly dog. We had about 2 inches of snow earlier this week and after walking a block or two, Patton started to whine and alternate holding up one of his paws as he walked. He finally just sat down and cried. MM had to pick up all 55 pounds of him and carry him home.

Patton's feet were cold. So now he is the laughing stock of the neighborhood with his booties.

Really, mom?

Cranberry Bread

mmmmm cranberries

I bought a couple bags of fresh cranberries before Thanksgiving with the intention of making cranberry orange relish, but I never got around to it. I thought I was going to end up freezing them, but then this glorious bread happened! I printed this recipe awhile ago and just (re)discovered it in my recipe book. Boy am I glad I did. If you like tart cranberries mixed with doughy (in a good way) bread and crunchy sugary crust, try this recipe!

I got the recipe from the Arugula Files blog, but it is a Martha Stewart recipe. (I heart you, Martha!)

Sky in the Pie

Today's post brought to you by the color orange...

I am terribly delinquent in posting this Thanksgiving pie, but hopefully you won't hold it against me or this delicious pie!

I love this pie.  It gets it name because under the pumpkin is a luscious cream cheese mixture, so it looks like the sky is in the pie. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of a slice so you could see the layers, so you will just have to use your imagination!

This pie also happens to be another family recipe (see here for my great-grandmother's coffee cake), and as far as I am concerned, no Thanksgiving is complete without it.

I made my own pie crust for the first time this year and I would call it a mild success. It was delicious, but I had serious issues rolling it into a large enough circle, which is why the pie in the picture just barely has a crust. I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe as explained on Smitten Kitchen (although I used all butter, no shortening).

Sky in the Pie
(for a 9 inch pie crust)

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
9 inch unbaked pie crust

1 1/4 cups canned pure pumpkin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash salt
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl, mixing until well blended. Add egg; mix well. Spread on the bottom of the pastry crust.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; mix well. Carefully pour over cream cheese mixture.

3. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes or until done (mine usually take 1 hour 15 minutes). Cool. Brush with maple syrup if desired (I don't know if I have ever had it with the syrup!)

Note: for a 10 inch pie, keep cream cheese mixture the same, but increase pumpkin to 2 1/4 cups, increase sugar to 3/4 cup and add one more egg to pumpkin mixture. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

What's Left in the Fridge Frittata

Every now and then, I end up with bits of this and that in the fridge and I hear my mom's voice in my head: "Don't throw that away! You can find something to do with it." This week they went into a frittata.

Frittatas hold a special place in my household as it was the first dish I cooked for Marshal Mike when we were dating. I haven't made one for a long time, but decided the ingredients I had on hand would be perfectly suited for it. Unfortunately MM is off playing Army so he didn't get to enjoy the fridge frittata. Below is a recipe for this particular frittata, but think of it as a general guideline and feel free to use any ingredients you'd like!

What's Left in the Fridge Frittata
Serves 3

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk (I had evaporated milk leftover from making a pie for Thanksgiving, so I used that)
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a combination of Parmigiano-Reggiano and rosemary asiago)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful or two baby arugula leaves

1. Position an oven rack in the top 1/3 of the oven; preheat the broiler. (I forgot you are supposed to use the broiler and heated the oven to 400 degrees. The top of my frittata did not get golden, which is why you see the bottom of my frittata in the picture above!)

2. Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in an oven safe 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until the onions caramelize and the pepper softens.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper.

4. When the onions and pepper are just done, add the handful or two of arugula to the pan and stir to wilt slightly. Lower the heat to medium low or low. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and gently stir (I forgot to stir, that's why you can see all of my vegetables in the above picture).

5. When the edges are set, transfer to the oven and cook until puffy and golden (obviously this will take less time if under the broiler than in a 400 degree oven).

6. Let the frittata cool for a couple of minutes (remember the handle of the skillet will be very hot!) Loosen the edges of the frittata with a rubber scraper. Use a plate to invert the frittata and either invert again onto another plate, or keep the bottom as the top, whichever is prettier! Cut into wedges.