Tag-Archive for ◊ noodles ◊

18 Sep 2010 Meatball Beef Stroganoff
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Pasta, Red Meat  | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

Ex-husbands can be real %#$!!s. At least mine can.  After he let loose, and then hung up on me, I decided to go for a pedicure.  Unfortunately my nail salon is not known for having the most recent magazines with the biggest pictures, so I stopped on the way to treat myself to a glossy dose of gossip.  Wouldn’t you know I would walk by the cookbook section on the way to the magazines?  And there, on the discount table, jumping up and down was The Meatball Cookbook Bible, with a price LESS than that of most magazines.  What was I to do? I walked out with the 512 page cookbook.  (It was on sale for $4.99!)  My day was looking up!

The nail ladies seemed a bit befuddled by my reading material. I think they discussed it between themselves in Vietnamese.  You’d think I was the only person EVER to read a $4.99 Meatball Bible while getting a pedicure…

The Meatball Bible has turned out to be well worth the $4.99 investment.  I’ve made five recipes so far, and all five have been winners.  How often does that happen?   Now let’s get to the disclaimers. I am not talking gourmet cuisine here.  Each recipe is based on some sort of ground meat, noodles, and pantry staples.  The pantry staples, meat, spices and extras are well chosen and harmonious. These recipes work and the results are family-friendly, comfort food and there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? There’s a lot good with that, actually.  A lot of good.

Note….I am on leftovers now.  I have plenty of meatballs and noodles, but I am out of sauce.  Next time, I’ll make more sauce.  Upping the sauce by 50% would probably be perfect.

Meatball Beef Stroganoff

1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk (whole milk, preferred)
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, very finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/4 lbs ground beef (80% lean)

salt and pepper to taste
Pam, or some other sort of vegetable oil spray
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 – 1 lb sliced mushrooms (optional)
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef stock, heated in microwave to very hot

2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup sour cream (not non-fat)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

To serve:  1 lb. broad curly egg noodles, cooked according to package directions (or any other pasta)

Combine egg and milk in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  Add in breadcrumbs.  Mix well. Set aside to soak.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.  Sir in garlic and cook for another minute. Remove from heat.

Add half of the onion mixture, and the ground beef to the breadcrumb mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Blend meatball mixture together by tossing gently.  Do not compress mixture, toss.  Form meat mixture into approx. 2 inch meatballs.  Roll balls lightly between palms.  Place formed meatballs on a foil covered, rimmed baking sheet.  (If desired, meat mixture or meatballs can be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight–be sure to remove remaining onion mixture from the pan and refrigerate that, too.)

Preheat broiler.  Spray meatballs with vegetable oil (Pam, or something similar). Broil meatballs for approx 6 minutes.  Shake pan, or turn meatballs half way through the cooking time.  While meatballs are browning, finish the sauce.

Add 2 tablespoons butter to frying pan with onions.  Turn on heat to melt butter. If desired, add some sliced mushrooms to the onion mixture and saute for 3 minutes.    Sprinkle flour over onion-mushroom mixture.  Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 3 minutes.  Turn heat off.

Working quickly, add hot beef broth to mixture in frying pan in 3 additions:  add approx 3/4 cup stock, stir until sauce is smooth, then add another 3/4 cup and stir until smooth, then finish with remaining stock, stirring until smooth.

Turn heat back on under the frying pan.  Whisk in the tomato paste and mustard.  Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste sauce.  Add salt and pepper, if needed. Add hot meatballs to simmering sauce.  Continue to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.

Turn off heat, stir in sour cream and sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Heat sauce, but do not bring sauce back to boil, or the sour cream with curdle.

Serve sauce and meatballs over drained hot noodles. Makes four yummy, family friendly servings.

BTW  I haven’t tested this, but the book says that this dish can be made up one to two days ahead and then reheated in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, which makes this a great dish to make for the mom with a new baby (and a toddler or two), or the lady down the block with the right broken ankle (right ankle, can’t drive), doesn’t it?

Enjoy supper with your family tonight. There should be smiles all around.

11 Sep 2010 Zucchini Pasta
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Meatless, Pasta, Seasonal, Teaching Boys to Cook Series, Veggies  | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

I have debated back and forth about posting this recipe…  Pros: it uses up zucchini, which is very important this time of year.  The pasta recipe is good.  Simple, straightforward. Good.  Cons: It’s not GREAT; it’s good, but it’s lacking Emeril’s “Bam”!  I made this for the first time at my friend’s beach house this summer.  We all liked it, but we all thought it needed something else.  Garlic?  Shallots?  Lemon Peel?  Egg yolk?  Not sure…

When we returned from the beach my friend kept asking for the recipe and I kept thinking about making it again.  So it had to have something, right?  I sent my friend the recipe (I had no intention of posting it), and I made it again.  The results were the same.  The pasta was good, not great, but…

…for the last two nights I have had leftover homemade pizza, leftover beef rice bowl, and leftover ribs in the refrigerator, along with the leftover Zucchini Pasta.  Two nights in a row I’ve chosen leftover Zucchini Pasta over all my other choices.  So this dish has to have something, right?  Maybe it’s just comfort food.  End of the summer comfort food.  Yes, that must be it.

This recipe is from a Pasta Cookbook I received as a birthday present and took to the beach to read. (I read cookbooks like novels. Who’s with me on that?) The cookbook is called “Homestyle Pasta” by Bay Books (I don’t think that’s a person and I couldn’t find a link!!)  I’ve changed the recipe a bit, but only to reduce the amount of pasta.  The original recipe called for 1 lb. of pasta.  That’s too much pasta, and not enough zucchini and cheese.

Did I mention how easy this is to make?  While the pasta boils, stir up the zucchini…

Did I mention that my two year old grandson can’t stuff this into his mouth fast enough?

Zucchini Pasta

1/2 lb. fettuccine (the original recipe called for 1 lb of pasta)
1/4 cup salted butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lb. zucchini (about 3 medium), grated
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the fettuccine in boiling salted water per package directions. Drain pasta and keep warm.  Melt butter in a large frying pan, saute the garlic for one or two minutes.  Stir in grated zucchini and saute until zucchini is soft, about 3 minutes.  Stir in drained noodles and grated cheese. Toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Good. Fast. Easy. End of the summer comfort food.  And you now have three less zucchini.  HEY! You could attach this recipe to the zucchini you drop off on your neighbor’s porch after dark tonight!

Enjoy these last days of summer.  Enjoy your harvest 🙂

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!

29 Aug 2010 Fresh Tomato Lasagna
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Meatless, Pasta  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | One Comment
-:: Fresh Tomato Lasagna ::-

Every morning, every good, calm morning, I browse the food blogs.  Most mornings I print off a few recipes.  The recipes then sit around for a while and I revisit them from time to time.  Eventually, I do try some of the recipes.  Very few of the recipes I repost “as is”.  Some recipes show promise and I work with them for a bit (I have been working on a recipe for Orange Creamsicle Cookies for a few months now).  I probably post (or plan to post) about 50% of the recipes I test.

This morning I found this recipe.  This afternoon I printed it off, picked two pounds of tomatoes from my garden, and went to the store for some fresh mozzarella.  This evening I made the recipe (since our temperatures have finally dropped about 25 degrees in the last two days, I was OK with turning on the oven for 45 minutes).  This lasagna was creamy, cheesy and fresh tasting,  lighter than regular lasagna, but still rich.  Since there are so few ingredients in this lasagna that, if you decide to make it, be sure your tomatoes are the BEST and your olive oil is the best you can get.  Although this pan of lasagna looks very small,  it would certainly serve four people.

The original recipe can be found at SortaChef, One Hot Cat in a Woodfired Kitchen.  I changed the Béchamel Sauce to more closely resemble the flavor of one I have made many times before (adding nutmeg, allspice and Parmesan cheese).  I also added some chopped fresh basil (thanks to a suggestion from my friend, Jeanne) and oregano, and changed the method a bit.

Fresh Tomato Lasagna

  • 2 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes (don’t use tomatoes purchased at the supermarket)
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, preferably buffalo, sliced thinly or shredded
  • 4 Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles
  • 3-5 cups water at 150º (use half hot tap water and half boiling water)
  • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil (more or less to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (more or less to taste)
  • approx. ¾ teaspoon salt

For the Béchamel Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup milk (I used 1%, but whole milk is traditionally used)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon finely ground pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • dash of allspice
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375º.

Pour 3-5 cups very hot water (about 150 degrees) into a loaf pan or casserole dish and slip the no-boil noodles in one at a time. Let noodles soak for 15 minutes.

Make the Béchamel sauce. Heat milk in the microwave for one minute. Melt butter in a quart-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is barely melted whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat. Whisk in one-third of the milk and incorporate thoroughly before adding the next third.  Be sure the sauce is smooth before you add more milk. Once you have successfully added all the milk and the sauce is hot and smooth, add in the salt, pepper, nutmeg and allspice. Whisk in the egg.  Turn the heat back onto medium and cook the sauce for 2 minutes. Stir in the grated Parmesan. When the cheese has been incorporated, remove sauce from heat, cover tightly with a lid and set aside until ready to use.

Slice 8 ounces of Buffalo mozzarella (or another fresh mozzarella) into ¼ inch pieces. Slice the tops and bottoms off of the tomatoes and discard or reserve for another use. Cut the rest of each tomato into ¼ inch rounds (or just chop coarsely). Coarsely chop the basil and oregano.

In glass loaf pan build the lasagna in this order:

  • A layer of uncooked tomato slices, pack as many in there as you can.  Drizzle with your finest olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 t. salt, 1 t. basil and 1/2 t. oregano.
  • 1 lasagna noodle
  • ¼ of the mozzarella
  • ¼ of béchamel sauce spread evenly to all edges of the pan
  • Continue the sequence with remaining noodles and filling, finishing with a layer of tomato slices drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, basil and oregano.

Bake at 375º for 40-45 minutes, until béchamel has puffed up and the edges are bubbling.

Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Thanks for dropping by my kitchen today!

08 Jul 2010 Pasta with Shrimp and Cilantro-Lime Pesto
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Pasta, Seafood, Teaching Boys to Cook Series  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

ANOTHER pasta recipe from the my teaching 19-years olds to cook series. I think we’ve pretty well established that pasta can be an easy, quick, flexible and satisfying meal. My son pulled this together tonight in less than twenty minutes (hot date, no time to dilly-dally around…). This recipe came from the R.S.V.P. section of the July 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I had to change the recipe a bit though, because there was way too much pasta for the amount of sauce and shrimp. On another note, I’m not sure where a 19 year old is supposed to find 3 tablespoons of tequila…, ohdearrrr, I need to read through recipes a bit more diligently before handing them over to 19 year old boys. Now he’s made this, tasted it, and impressed himself…, he wants to make it for all his friends (you will, too!).

Pasta with Shrimp and Cilantro-Lime Pesto

1 bunch cilantro (about 1 1/2 cups of leaves), stems removed
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chopped, seeded jalapeno pepper
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 lb. pasta (any kind…that’s usually 1/2 or 3/4 of a box)
1 lb. peeled, raw shrimp (medium to large), deveined
additional 1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons tequila
1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbled Cotija (Mexican-style) cheese or feta

Boil the water for the pasta. After the water comes to a boil add in 1 T. Kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt) and stir. Add pasta to boiling, salted water and cook according to package directions. Drain. While the water is heating and the pasta is cooking…cut the stems off the cilantro and discard. Place the cilantro leaves in blender. Add in green onions, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice and salt, and chop for a few pulses. With machine running, gradually pour in 1/2 cup olive oil and puree. (Can be used immediately or covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp. Cook one one side for about a minute and a half, turn over, and cook on second side for an additional minute and a half. DO NOT OVERCOOK shrimp, or it will be rubbery. Remove pan from heat. Pour tequila over shrimp. Return to heat and saute for 30 seconds over high heat. Add in pesto, stir to coat. Add in cooked and drained pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Divide pesto pasta and shrimp between four plates. Top each plate with 1 or 2 tablespoons crumbled Cotija or Feta cheese. Serve.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today,

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