Cheesy Sausage and Tortellini Toss

There was a used book sale at our local library branch and I bought two cookbooks! The first one is Cooking for Today: Better Homes and Gardens PASTA which seems to have lots of yummy but simple pasta recipes. This first one we tried was quick and simple because it calls for pre-cooked sausage. The original recipe suggested just dumping the sausage and broccoli in with the tortellini as it finishes cooking, but I chose to sauté the sausage first to get it browned, just because i feel like that give it more flavor (not really sure if it does). I also am not a big fan of swiss cheese, which the original recipe called for, so I used an italian cheeses blend. This came out pretty well, though I would suggest cutting the sausage and broccoli pieces so that they're about the same size as the tortellini. Also, a little salt and pepper goes a long way.

Cheesy Sausage and Tortellini Toss
from Cooking for Today: Better Homes and Gardens PASTA with mods.
Serves 2
8/10

1 1/2 - 2 cups dried tortellini
2 cups broccoli florets (i used frozen)
6 oz. fully cooked smoked Polish sausage, thinly bias-sliced
1/2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS flour
1 teaspoon caraway seed (I didn't have this so I used nutmeg)
1/2 cup milk (add more if the sauce is too thick)
1/2 cup shredded swiss or italian cheeses
1/2 TBS brown mustard

1) In a large pot cook tortellini in salted water, according to package directions, about 10 minutes. Add broccoli (and sausage, if you choose) and return to boiling, about 3 min, or until pasta is tender but slightly firm and broccoli is crisp-tender. Drain, keep warm.
2) Meanwhile, if you are sautéing the sausage instead of boiling, do so in a medium non-stick skillet over med-heat with just a drizzle of olive oil. Cook until sausage is slightly browned. Add to tortellini.
3) In same pan, melt butter. Gradually add flour while stirring until thick and blended. Add caraway or nutmeg and stir. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add cheese and mustard, stirring until cheese melts.
4) Pour sauce over tortellini mixture and toss to coat.

Cream Cheese Chicken Roll-Ups

This is an old favorite of ours, but I've always run into the problem of not being able too cook the chicken all the way through, because the rolled up chicken makes it hard to cook the center. I was also afraid of using toothpicks because they might burn in the oven...and hence never cooked these stove top because they would come un-rolled. But I faced my fear! I used those toothpicks. By soaking them in water, I believe I prevented any major charring and the roll-ups stayed perfectly, well, rolled up.

Cooking them in the fry-pan first made ALL the difference. It helped to partially cook the chicken AND get the cornflake crumbs a nice, crispy golden brown. I also spread the cream cheese out over the whole chicken breast, rather than just rolling the chicken around one big lump of cream cheese, which I think may have helped with the cooking processes. You can by these super thin-cut breasts at your local grocery store (I used Perdue), but if you can't find them, pound out two regular chicken breasts to about a 1/4 inch thickness (or thinner if you can!) or slice the chicken thinly, length wise. The thinner the chicken, the more evenly it will cook. If you have some roll-ups that are smaller than others, take those out at the 10 minute mark, and leave the big boys to bake for a few minutes more.

This is a super easy recipe to size down for one, or size up for four. It does take a little while because of the breading, but is well worth the trouble.

Cream Cheese Chicken Roll-Ups
Serves 2
9/10

4 thinly sliced boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (can be bought pre-cut from store)
3-4 oz. cream cheese
1 TBS italian seasonings
2 tsp. garlic salt (to taste)
1 cup cornflake crumbs or breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
2 TBS butter
toothpicks

1) Preheat oven to 350ºF. Soak 4 toothpicks in water for about 10 min. (this is to prevent them from burning).
2) Mix together cream cheese, seasonings, and garlic salt until blended (this is easier if the cream cheese is at room temperature).
3) Spread cream cheese thickly on each slice of chicken. Fold over sides and roll up tightly, securing the end with one of the soaked toothpicks.
4) Dip chicken roll-ups in eggwash then coat in crumbs.
5) Heat butter in a pan or skillet over med. heat until frothy. Add chicken roll-ups. Cook 2-3 min. or until bottom is golden brown. Rotate and cook 2-3 more minutes. Continue until the entire outside of the roll-up is a golden brown and the chicken has begun to cook through.
6) Transfer chicken to a baking dish (or, if your pan can go in the oven, simply put it straight in). Cook for 10-12 minutes more, depending on thickness of the roll up. Transfer to plates and remove toothpicks.

**For a neat little finishing sauce, after removing chicken from skillet, add some white wine to deglaze the pan. Add about 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup milk, salt, pepper, and 1 TBS of flour. Whisk together and cook over med. heat until thickened. If it comes out lumpy (this happened to me, because I forgot to use a whisk with the flour) pour through a mesh strainer. Drizzle over finished chicken roll-ups.

Penne with Chicken and Ham Sauce

I haven't used this cookbook in ages because, while it has some great recipes, alot of them seem kind of labor intensive or require tricky ingredients. But this recipe seemed pretty simple. The only hold up was finding "crème fraîche." Time for a quick cooking lesson, with some help from wikipedia:

"Crème fraîche [IPA: krɛm frɛʃ] (French for "fresh cream") is a heavy cream slightly soured with bacterial culture, but not as sour or as thick as sour cream. Originally a French product, today it is available throughout Europe (and in speciality stores in the States, such as Trader Joes where I eventually found it, pictured above).

"Crème fraîche is made by inoculating unpasteurized heavy cream with Lactobacillus cultures, letting the bacteria grow until the cream is both soured and thick and then pasteurizing it to stop the process.Thus, it cannot be made at home with pasteurized cream—the lack of bacteria in the cream will cause it to spoil instead of sour. If unpasteurized heavy cream is not available, a substitute for crème fraîche can be produced by adding 1–2 tablespoon of cultured buttermilk to two cups of pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized) heavy cream and letting the mixture stand at room temperature for 8 - 24 hours until thick. (time which I totally did not have and didn't want to even begin to attempt)

"In general, crème fraîche and sour cream can be used interchangeably in most recipes, but crème fraîche has two advantages over sour cream: it can be whipped, and it will not curdle if boiled. (since this recipe calls for you to bring the sauce to a boil AND I had never made it before AND the idea of curdled anything really grosses me out, I decided to just hunt down some crème fraîche myself)"

So, this dish, crème fraîche and all, was actually pretty easy and delicious. I used smoked gouda because I like it and it was cheaper, and it added a really great flavor to the dish (though I'm sure regular gouda would be delicious as well). The sauce is kind of strong, so make sure you have enough pasta to spread it out. I prepared the chicken myself before putting the whole thing together, but you can use pre-cooked chicken easily. I used canadian bacon again (personal preference) and added some peas at the end. This got a big thumbs up from the boy. We had it with thick slices of Garlic Basil Parmesan Bread from the farmers market.

Penne with Chicken and Ham Sauce
from Best-Ever Chicken ed. by Linda Fraser, with mods.
Serves 2-3
9/10

1 cup cooked chicken OR 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast--cubed small, garlic salt, and 1 TBS oil

2 cups penne
1 TBS butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bay leaf (I used some dried chopped bay leaf)
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup crème fraîche
1/3 cup cooked ham or canadian bacon
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
3/4 cup grated (smoked) Gouda cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried mint (original recipe: 1/2 TBS fresh mint)
salt & pepper to taste

1) Cook pasta according to package directions (if you start the water boiling just as you begin cooking it should all be ready together).
2) If cooking chicken, heat oil in skillet and, when hot, add chicken and garlic salt and sauté. Add canadian bacon once the chicken loses it's raw color. Cook until browned, drain, and set aside.
3) Heat butter in skillet and fry onion until softened.
4) Add the garlic, bay leaf, and wine and bring to boil. Boil rapidly until reduced by half. Remove bay leaf, then stir in crème fraîche and bring back to boil.
5) Add chicken, ham, and cheese and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated through. Add peas towards the end and mix.
6) Add the mint and seasoning. Drain pasta and toss in large serving bowl with sauce.

Kung Pao Chicken

Sorry for the delay my friends, we were out of town for a wedding for a while and what with the boy traveling a couple days every week and me starting a new job I haven't been cooking as much as I would like. But here is a new favorite which I made week or so ago that I've just been dying to share with you.

As you know, I have been experimenting in the world of Asian cuisine and have had fairly good success. I made dumplings again, and they were just as good the second time, if just as labor intensive. My latest attempt was Kung Pao Chicken, which I must say, came out very well. I cut the chicken into very small pieces, with the idea that you should try to keep all your ingredients the same size when cooking, and I really liked how that made the dish. I halved the recipe except when it came to the sauce, which was good because there was just enough... could have even done with a little more. I also added vegetables to this--red bell peppers, onion, and carrots. Serve with rice!

As usual, it called for using a wok, which I don't own, so I used a fry pan which seemed to work fine though I might slowly be killing it, alas. This recipe didn't sound like it would come out tasting like it does in chinese restaurants, but it did! Kind of. It was really good, I must say. Definitely a keeper.

Kung Pao Chicken
copied from http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/kung_pao_chicken.htm with mods.
Serves 2
9/10

Marinade:
1/2 lb. boned, skinned chicken breasts - cubed very small
1 Tbls. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbls. cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 Tbls. cold water

Sauce:
2 Tbls. soy sauce
1 Tbls. dry sherry
1 Tbls. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sesame oil

2 Tbls. vegetable oil - divided
1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
2-4 dried red chili peppers - chopped (I used one smallish New Mexican dried chili pepper... all I could find)
1 slice peeled, fresh ginger - chopped
1 clove garlic - sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced or a handful of baby carrots, halved

1) Combine chicken, 1 Tbls. soy sauce, and cornstarch/water mixture; allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

2) Combine 2 Tbls. soy sauce, sherry, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and sesame oil; set aside.

3) In a hot wok, stir-fry the peanuts in 1 Tbls. vegetable oil until golden brown, remove peanuts from wok, and set aside. BE CAREFUL they brown up really fast and burnt peanuts are really gross.

4) Fill wok with vegetable oil for frying and heat to 350 degrees. Carefully slide the chicken into the wok, piece by piece, and fry for 1 minute.

5) Remove chicken from oil and drain on a brown paper bag (I found a sturdy paper towel doubled up works too). Remove oil from wok.

6) In hot wok, stir-fry the red peppers in 1 Tbls. vegetable oil until they turn dark. Add bell peppers and onions and cook until they begin to get tender. Add carrots, ginger, garlic, and chicken to the wok and fry, stirring constantly. Stir the prepared sauce and add to the wok. Stir and cook wok contents until the sauce is thickened. Stir in peanuts and serve.

Greek-Style Pasta with Meat

I've made this several times and it's always a success and I always forget how easy it is! I always buy more ground beef than I need just for burgers or meat sauce, so this is a cool way to use up some of that extra chuck you have in the back of your freezer. The feta cheese is a must and the herbs might sound strange, but are perfect in this dish. I'm going to copy it straight from the cookbook, though I usually halve the recipe for the two of us. Also, I just use pre-ground beef, but I'm sure lamb would be delicious. And I just use diced tomatoes since crushed tomatoes only come in a huge can in my local grocery stores.



Greek-Style Pasta with Meat
from Prevention's Ultimate Quick & Healthy Cookbook
Serves 4
9/10

6 oz. lean, trimmed boneless leg of lamb or beef top round cut into chunks (or grounds ahead)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried mint
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Large pinch of ground cinnamon (essential!!)
1 can (16 oz.) crushed tomatoes in purée or diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) no-salt-added tomato sauce
10 oz. orzo pasta
1 oz feta cheese (or as much as you like!)

1) Bring large covered pot of water to boil over high heat
2) Process lamb or beef in food processor until just ground (obviously skip this if you're starting with ground meat)
3) Warm oil in a large, heavy skillet over med.-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauté for 3-5 minutes or until onions are tender and lightly browned. . Crumble in ground meat and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Add a table spoon of water if the pan gets too dry. Stir in seasonings. Cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.
4) Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 min or until flavors are blended.
5) While sauce simmers, add pasta to boiling water, return to boil, cook for 6-8 minutes or according to package directions until al dente. Drain and transfer to serving bowl.
6) Spoon meat sauce over pasta and sprinkle with feta.

Tacos

So my attempts at taco meat in the past have been mediocre at best. Tonight I discovered why... I was making things too complicated! Go simple! This came out AMAZING. The boy said it was even better than his mother's and he's not a big fan of tacos! The amounts for the seasonings are estimated because I don't remember exactly. Definitely use salt and pepper, and as much chili powder/red pepper as you like for heat.

Quick, easy, and hardly dirtied any dishes.

Tacos
inspired by "Mexican Taco Salad" from Preventions Ultimate Quick & Healthy Cookbooks
Serves 2
9.5/10

4-6 flour tortillas or hard taco shells
8 oz. ground beef
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 TBS beef broth
1/4 cup tomato, diced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 TBS ketchup
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2- 1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

shredded cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
chopped tomatoes
sour cream
salsa

1) In medium skillet, heat oil over med. heat until hot. Crumble in beef, add broth and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until meat is no loner pink. Add tomatoes, onions, and jalapeño and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add ketchup and seasonings to taste and sauté for another 2 minutes or until flavors are mingled.
2) Heat tortillas a/o taco shells according to package directions**. Fill with meat, cheese, and veggies as desired.

**Wait, are those homemade tortillas in that photo? Why yes they are!

Tequila Turkey Fettucini

So during the school year I became an avid watcher of "The Next Food Network Star." For the final episode, Guy Fieri, one of the final contestants (and eventual winner) cooked up his "Tequila Turkey Fettucini" which made us all drool just watching him make it. We decided to try it for ourselves and it became a quick favorite.

We made a few changes: we use chicken instead of turkey, and usually pre-cook it ourselves rather than buying it pre-cooked (though I'm sure leftovers would work perfectly). We leave out the cilantro (personal preference). We've also used other kinds of pasta, such as gemelli, which I think the boy actually liked better. This past time was the first time I made it myself and I discovered a couple things in trying to actually double a recipe rather than halve it. Add salt and up the lemon juice. The sauce came out a little bland until we added salt and squeezed our lime garnishes over top (essential... made it so good).

So here it is, copy and pasted from the website, with a couple of my comments. Enjoy!

Tequila Turkey Fettucini
from Guy Fieri of "The Next Food Network Star," Tequila Turkey Fettucini
Serves 1
8/10

1-ounce olive oil
1/4 red onion, cut into strips
1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 ounces turkey breast, cooked, sliced (also can use chicken)
1-ounce tequila
4 ounces heavy cream
1/2-ounce fresh lemon juice (I would double this)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
9 ounces fettuccini pasta, cooked (any kind of pasta will do)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (essential!)
2 lime wedges, for garnish (essential!)
2 sprigs cilantro, for garnish
2 tablespoons diced Roma tomato, for garnish (very yummy addition)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1) In saute pan with high heat, add olive oil, onions, jalapeno and saute until translucent. Add garlic and continue to saute for 2 minutes. Add turkey, lightly mix ingredients, careful not to break turkey up to much.
2) Deglaze pan with tequila, pouring around the edge of the saute pan. Add cream, lemon juice and cilantro. Toss together, then add pasta, and toss ingredients while adding Parmesan cheese.
3) Nest pasta on plate, pour sauce over pasta. Lay sprigs of cilantro over top, sprinkle tomatoes on top, and crack pepper around the rim of the plate.