Spaghetti Carbonara

Here is a quick and easy dinner. It is kid friendly as well; what more could you ask for?

What you will need: 3 eggs, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 pound bacon, 1 pound spaghetti

 

Heat a skillet and cut bacon into the pan.  I like to use my kitchen shears to do this, but make sure you wash the shears when you're done.  While the bacon is cooking, get a pot of water boiling and cook the spaghetti. In a small bowl crack the 3 eggs and beat well with a fork.  Add the cheese and some pepper.  Add red pepper flakes for extra heat.  When the bacon is browned, drain off most of the grease.  Drain you pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water.  Place the pasta in the pan with the bacon and toss to combine.  I added some peas here. I think asparagus spears or broccoli would be tasty too.  Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the egg mixture.  Stir and add the pasta water a little at a time to avoid the pasta sticking together. 

 

Serve a green salad on the side and crusty bread.

 

 

A Birthday Party

Yesterday my husband had a birthday.  The birthday boy wanted barbecue from his favorite place in Des Moines, Smokey Ds. http://www.smokeydsbbq.com/ and salmon.  This was a very simple request; he picked up the bbq and I seasoned the salmon with my favorite rub.  Of course the birthday boy got a very special cake too. 

Salmon Rub

This rub is the only thing I use on salmon.  I absolutely love it.  You can grill the salmon or broil it for about ten minutes.  I usually make a double batch and keep it in an airtight container.  We grill salmon a lot in the summer so it's nice to have the rub on hand.

What you will need: 1 TB brown sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp allspice, salmon fillets.

Mix all ingredients together.  Experiment with the flavor a few times.  I like to add a little more sugar because it caramelizes on the fish.  I also add a bit more salt and coriander.  Simply spoon onto the salmon and rub into the fish using your fingers. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cake
I cheated a bit this time and used boxed cake mix.  I bought two boxes of chocolate cake mix and made them in 9 inch round pans.  So I ended up with four round cakes.

What you will need: 2 boxed cake mixes, 3 Tbsp butter, 1 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, a pinch of salt

Bake the cakes and let them cool.  In the meantime let the butter come to room temperature so it's soft.  Beat the butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar.  Add a pinch of salt and mix well.  Next you need to trim the cakes so they are level.  You can see by the picture I didn't do a great job at this. I'm still learning.  To put the cake together, place one cake on the plate or cake board and add a thin layer of the pb filling.  Then place another cake on top.  In the second layer cut a circle with the diameter of 4-5 inches out of the middle.  In the third layer, cut the same circle and then place on top of the second.  Fill the hole with the peanut butter filling and spread over the entire top of the third layer.  Place the fourth layer on top.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

What you will need: 2 sticks of unsalted butter, milk, powdered sugar, cocoa powder

Like many things I make, I don't really have a recipe.  With frosting I go by taste, but here is an idea of how I make it.  Make sure your butter is at room temperature.  Beat the butter and cocoa powder together, about 1/3 cup.  Add a splash of milk to this.  I eyeball the milk according to the texture of the frosting. If it's really stiff and pasty, I add more milk.  You don't want runny frosting.  Then add the powdered sugar, about 2 cups.  Add more milk it needed.  Beat the frosting to the consistency you like.  Add more cocoa for more chocolate flavor and more powdered sugar to increase the amount of frosting. 

Frost the cake.  Here's a video to help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf5KQolKryE  I don't have a turn table so I think it's hard to make the frosting smooth.  Then I put a little cocoa in the mesh colander and held it over the cake and tapped the side so a nice sprinkle of cocoa would cover the cake.  I cut Resess Cups and placed along the bottom for decoration.

An inside few of a slice.  The peanut butter filling was very rich!  Next time I use the filling, I think I'll skip the hole in the middle and just spread a thick layer between each cake layer.

Cakes Galore

I love making cakes.  Every year I make sure my boys have the cake of their dreams.  I also make birthday  cakes for most of my family members.  Here are a few from the past.

Wesley's 4th Birthday

Wesley's 5th Birthday: A priate's treasure chest.  This was very fun to make.

Connor's 2nd Birthday

Wesley's 6th Birthday

Aunt Leah's 30th Birthday.  She is a shoe lover!  This was my first time experiementing with gumpaste; the shoe is made out of sugar!

Cailyn's 3rd Birthday

Addy's 4th Birthday.

Connor's Baptism Cake

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Muffins

What you will need:
2 cup flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 tsp Baking powder
4 Tbsp milk
1/2 margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray or line the muffins tins with liners. Cream margarine and sugars until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs. In a small bowl mix the pumpkin and milk.  Add half the pumpkin mixture to the eggs, sugar, and butter.  Mix well; add one cup of flour, 2 tsp of baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Mix well; add the rest of the pumpkin mixture.  Mix well; add the remaining one cup of flour and 2 tsp of baking powder.  Mix well then pour the batter into muffin tins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

What you will need:
One block of cream cheese, 5 Tbsp butter (unsalted), 1 Tbsp sour cream, vanilla 1-2tsp, powdered sugar

Let the butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature until soft. Beat them together with the sour cream and vanilla.  Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix well.  Keep adding powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency you like.  I think I did 2 1/2 cups today.

I piped the frosting onto the muffins by putting the frosting in a Ziploc bag and cutting the corner of the bag.  This makes it real easy to squirt the frosting on in a spiral.  You can of course, use a knife to frost them.  I also sprinkled them with nutmeg to make them look pretty!

This is how Iowa does comfort food!

I'm an Iowan girl and Hot Beef Sandwich just screams "farm girl".  I didn't grow up on a farm, but my parents did and farmers like their meat and potatoes.

What you will need:  3-4lb chuck or arm roast, dry onion soup mix, water, red wine (optional), salt and pepper, flour, potatoes

Place the roast in a roaster or crock pot.  I'm using the crock pot.  Season it with salt and pepper.  Add 3 cups of water and 1/2 cup red wine and soup mix.  Cook on low for 7-9 hours. If you do this in the oven, try 300 degrees for 2-3 hours. When the time is up, take the roast out and set aside.  Pour the juice in a small pan.  Stir some flour, about 4 tbsp with a little water.  Keep adding water until you get a nice paste, like glue.  Bring the liquid to a boil and gradually whisk in the 'glue'.  Simmer until thick.  You may want to add a beef bouillon cube for flavor.  I didn't add one tonight, just a little extra salt.

Cook up some mashed potatoes while the gravy is simmering.  Boil potato chunks in water.  Cook until soft.  Drain and toss them in a mixing bowl.  Add sour cream, butter, milk, salt and pepper.  Mash with a masher or fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.

On your plate place a piece of bread, top with shredded beef and gravy.  You can put the potatoes on the side or right on top of the beef before adding the gravy.  Of course, add some corn to the top!

This is how Iowa does comfort food!

An Italian Meal

My mother in law makes this fabulous artisan bread. I've been meaning to try it for quite awhile now.  On Friday I decided I'd get it started.  I was also in the mood to test a Bolognese sauce so I thought why not go all out and make a big family meal.

On Saturday I spent all day in the kitchen preparing Bolognese sauce, bread, and raspberry-lemon shortbread.

Bolognese Sauce

I used The America's Test Kitchen recipe as a base, but made some changes.  I also doubled my recipe to feed eight people
What you will need: 1 tbsp butter or olive oil, two carrots (diced), 2 celery stalks (diced), 1 onion (diced), salt, 1 lb ground pork, 1 lb ground beef, 3 cups whole milk, 2 cups white wine, 1/2 cup red wine, 2-28 oz cans diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaf

Heat the butter or oil and cook vegetables until soft.  Add the pork and beef and cook until no pink shows.  Drain off grease. Add the milk and simmer until it evaporates and only clear fat remains, about 25 minutes.  Add the white wine and simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid is almost evaporated. 
Place the tomatoes in the food processor and pulse until they are cut into small pieces; don't puree them.  You can also cut them on the cutting board, however you do need the juice so you may want to drain it in the pot before cutting the tomatoes.  Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot along with the Italian seasoning and bay leaf. I did not measure the spices. I always add to taste.  Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for 2 hours.  After about an hour add the red wine, stir, taste, and add any extra seasoning.  I let my sauce simmer for 4 hours.  Serve over spaghetti.

Note: My sauce was still a bit 'soupy' after simmering for four hours. Next time I made add a thickening agent or a little tomato paste.

Raspberry-Lemon Shortbread

What you will need: 1 lb frozen raspberries (thawed and drained), 14 tbsp butter, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1 3/4 cup flour, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup lemon juice, confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 400.  Cut the butter into cubes and make sure it is chilled.  Place the butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cup flour in the food processor and pulse until it is combines.  It will look like coarse crumbs.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan (ungreased) or cake pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  After removing the shortbread from the oven reduce the heat to 325 degrees.  In a bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick.  Add the lemon juice and 1/4 cup flour.  Spread the raspberries over the shortbread and pour the lemon cream on top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the lemon cream is set.  Cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Dutch Oven Bread
This is the best bread in the world and it's so easy to make.  I can't believe I waited this long to make it.  In fact, I think I'll mix up another batch tonight and bake it tomorrow morning.

What you will need: 1/4 tsp dry yeast, 1 5/8 cup warm water, 3 cups flour, 1 3/4 salt

Dissolve the yeast in water in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 8-18 hours at room temperature. 
Lightly sprinkle the counter top with flour and place dough on it. Sprinkle more flour on the dough and fold it over onto itself 2 or 3 times (do not knead).  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes.  Using a little flour, shape it into a ball. Generously dust a smooth dishtowel with cornmeal.  Place the dough, seam down, on the towel and dust the top with more cornmeal.  Cover with another towel and let rise for 2-3 hours.
20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Put a heavy 6-8qt Dutch oven with the lid in the oven as it heats.  When the dough is ready, remove the pot and life the lid.  Lift the dough by the towel and turn it carefully into the pot-it should tumble into the pot.  Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for 12-15 minutes more.  Once it's done, take out of the pot and cool for one hour.

Experiment with adding rosemary and other herbs.  Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata with sauteed veggies

I'm  a big fan of Ruby Tuesday's Chicken Piccata.  I love that they put capers in the dish, it really adds a spark of flavor.  In the past year I've enjoyed making restaurant quality food at home.  My husband and I believe that we can make almost anything that is made in a restaurant and it always taste just as good or even better.  It is always less expensive, which is an added bonus.  The only downfall of making your own restaurant meals is that you have to clean up afterwards.

One of my favorite chefs is Ina Garten, also known as the Barefoot Contessa. She is down to earth and boast using fresh and 'good' ingredients.  When I decided to make chicken piccata I wanted to test her recipe first, even though it doesn't call for capers.  I've added the link to the recipe below to save time on typing.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-piccata-recipe/index.html

I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't have fresh lemons on hand.  I did have (I'm embarrassed to say) the little plastic lemon that is filled with lemon juice.  The recipe was good; a nice light meal and I served it with sauteed veggies.

What you will need:  your choice of veggies, olive oil, salt and pepper

Prepare your veggies before heating the oil.  I used carrots (julienned), asparagus, red onion (sliced), red pepper (sliced).  I like to use veggies that give a nice mix of color in the pan.  Once I have everything cut the way I want it, I heat my olive oil and the carrots go in first. They are dense so it takes them longer to cook.  Once they start to feel tender I add the rest of the veggies and saute adding salt and pepper to taste.  I like my vegetables to have a little crisp to them so I keep a watchful eye.  I hate it when they are over cooked and get mushy.