Recipe of the Week 2011 #16: Alton Brown's Baked Meatballs

I decided to try my hand at a new kind of meatballs tonight. While this recipe relied on my old standards, lamb and beef, it also included pork, spinach, parmesan cheese, and a much lower ratio of eggs and breadcrumbs to meat. Overall, they were pretty tasty, but next time I make these, I'm probably going to use less spinach (roughly half the amount the recipe calls for), not add any salt (the parmesan cheese made them plenty salty),* and more eggs/breadcrumbs in the mix (so they stay glued together better).

* Yet another dietary idiosyncrasy: I taste salt pretty strongly, and don't put much in my food as a result. One of the reasons I dislike corporate restaurant food: all the salt they add to keep it indefinitely freezer and shelf-stable makes it taste like a lightly-flavored salt lick.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #15: Dad's Special Rice

Dad gave me the recipe for his special rice ages ago, but I've only recently gotten around to making it. I served it with some cheese, onion, and pepper quesadillas (that were supposed to have acorn squash in them as well, but I screwed up the roasting to a degree so embarrassing I'll not discuss it further). Matt was a fan, of course, but he pretty much likes everything.

Special rice is pretty simple to make; all you need to do is add a cube or two of chicken bouillon to the water, cook the rice as directed, and then add wilted spinach, a can of black beans (rinsed first, of course), a small can of pineapple chunks (drained), and some finely chopped cilantro. It tastes really good, and goes well with a number of dishes. I'll almost certainly make it again. I love anything with spinach in it.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #14: Traditional Madeleines

I decided to try a more traditional madeleines recipe last night. I generally prefer mine to have honey in them, but figured making the regular kind would be a worthwhile endeavor. I got the recipe from here.

They taste pretty good (I like the honey kind better), but the humps were enormous. I guess that's from refrigerating the dough which also, incidentally, made the batter difficult to scoop into the molds. I kind of want to make these again, but put the batter into the pan at room temperature and see how they turn out.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #13: Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Yeah, yeah. Another post about baking cookies (next week's will be, too. I'm trying out a new madeleines recipe that doesn't involve me trying to scoop honey into and out of a 1/3 measuring cup). Cookies are a big thing around here; Matt and his friends are always asking for them. I usually make my old standby, chocolate chip with toffee bits, but I sometimes like to mix it up a little. Since I love salty sweets (my current chocolate obsession is the Sea Salt Lindt bars), this recipe from Smitten Kitchen was quite appealing. The cookies turned out great, but I am pretty sure next time I will increase their crispiness by making them smaller. I did use more salt than called for, though.

Also, I still have hair. It's in a ponytail in this picture because I went to the gym today. Self-Defeat in Motion, they name is Lauren.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #12: Pimiento-Style Mac&Cheese

Yet another Bon Appetit baked pasta recipe from the March 2011 issue. The cover promised that it's the BEST MAC AND CHEESE EVAR, and while I liked it quite a bit, there are a few things I'd do differently next time:

1. Not blend the Peppadew peppers. I like my flavored macaroni with a little more texture.
2. Use a full-sized box of pasta, and increase the sauce slightly by adding 30% more cheese and maybe some milk. 
3. Skip the breadcrumbs. I know some people think they're critical on mac and cheese, but I'm not a fan. Mine always seem to get overly hard and crusty.

In better news, you can see the new spice rack Matt made me in the background.I am very enthused about finally having some counter space, even though it didn't earn Matt any points from my dad. Apparently, any sixth-grader can put in a wall spice rack (except for me when I was that age. I would have nailed my fingers together). Fortunately for Matt's Boyfriend Score, he successfully wired and programmed a digital thermostat last night. 

I am hereby finally caught up with my recipe of the week endeavor! Sadly, I'm about eight book reviews behind. Remember how I was going to read nothing but Vanity Fair until I got caught up? I had a seizure in the New Books section of the library and checked out five more. 

Recipe of the Week 2011 #11: Snickerdoodles!

I have always liked snickerdoodles, but had never bothered to attempt them until today. I think they turned out really well!

Recipe of the Week 2011 #10: Matt's Mom's Casserole Thing

I occasionally do the unthinkable.

I listen to pop radio.

I drink out of season wine.

I wear clothes that don't match (okay, I actually do this a lot).

Yesterday, I made dinner from a recipe I got from Matt's mother.

I generally have a strict policy with regards to recipes from my significant others' parents, and it goes something like this:

NO.

I have my reasons. First, no matter how exactly you follow the directions, it's never going to taste the same, or as good. The not-the-same factor multiplies exponentially with the parent in question's tendency to "just throw some things together" in unquantifiable amounts or to use the low-fat version of things (I refuse on principle, and it usually doesn't even occur to me that that's what was used originally until after my recreation has been pronounced "richer or something"), particularly if the recipe involves a lot of dairy products. This inevitably leads to fear of culinary inadequacy or resentment (especially of the low-fat icky dairy version "tastes better").

My second and third reasons are that I am a fairly picky eater, despite my culinary adventurousness, and therefore will not make a number of recipes on principle. I tend to be sort of self-conscious about this, so it's a lot easier on me to say no to making mom's recipes than it is for me to admit that I refuse to eat meatloaf, peas, or carrots. Then there's the matter of food I find repugnant for other reasons. Case in point: the hamburger soup my most recent ex suggested I make, which featured undrained ground beef, canned tomatoes in water, a few pasta shells, and a whole block of Velveeta. "You can add ketchup to make it thicker." I'm pretty sure that counts as an abomination to god and man, and I don't even believe in god.

Much like there's no nice way to ask someone if they're high, there's no way to inform a dude that his mother's cooking skills are obviously lacking without landing yourself in some kind of trouble, either immediately (he gets mad because you think fake cheeze steeped in beef grease and tomato water is the most revolting soup base ever) or on down the line (when he decides to apprise his mother of your opinions concerning her cooking abilities). Unwise.

Anyway. I made a recipe from Matt's mom. It had noodles, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, morningstar patties, onions, and breadcrumbs. He said he liked it. I said that I hated cream of mushroom soup. And that was that.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #9: Lasagna with Turkey Sausage Bolognese

Lasagna is one of my favorite foods. It's hard to go wrong with cheese-layered pasta with a nice red sauce. I've made several over the years using various ingredient and cheese combinations, but I've never achieved lasagna nirvana-- until yesterday. The March 2011 Bon Appetit has an entire section on baked pastas, which I'm a total sucker for, and I've been working my way through them. I made a parsnip tortellini thingamawhatter last week that turned out okay (but not as good as I'd hoped). This recipe, however, made up for all the tortellini dish lacked. I liked it so much, I'm re-posting it (with the few alterations I made).

 Lasagna with Turkey Sausage Bolognese


Ingredients


Olive oil
1/2 cup dry, white wine
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes in heavy puree
2 cups diced onions
minced garlic to taste
1 cup chopped fresh basil, OR four tablespoons dry basil, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, OR 1 tablespoon dry oregano
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 pound turkey sausages, spicy Italian style
2 large eggs
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
4 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, divided

Directions

1. Place noodles in a large bowl. Cover with hot water. Soak for 20-30 minutes, or until floppy. Drain.
2. Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onions and fennel until soft.
3. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage and garlic. Saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking it up into small pieces.
4. Add wine. Boil 1-3 minutes, or until alcohol has evaporated off.
5. Add tomatoes, half of the basil, and oregano. Bring sauce to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Allow the sauce to simmer until it thickens to desired consistency.
6. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, three cups of mozzarella, one cup of parmesan, two eggs, and the rest of the basil. Divide into three portions.
7. Assemble lasagna: in a 9x13" casserole dish, spread 1.5 cups of sauce on the bottom. Place four noodles on top of sauce. Carefully spoon one portion of ricotta mix onto noodles. Spread 1.5 cups sauce on top of the cheese mixture. Place four noodles on top of sauce. Repeat italicized instructions twice. Pour any remaining sauce on top of the last layer of noodles, then cover with leftover mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
8. Bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #8: Tortellini Gratinata with Mushrooms and Parsnip "Bechamel"

I got this recipe from the March 2011 Bon Appetit. I didn't recall having ever eaten parsnips, so I was pretty excited to try this recipe. I didn't modify anything, but I'm pretty sure that if I make it again, I'll mix the faux-bechamel sauce into the pasta before baking it. The recipe said to spoon in on top, but it didn't migrate its way downward the way I would have preferred. It still tasted pretty good, though!

(I need to figure out more creative ways to photograph my casserole dish.)

(Oh, and I also got busted for melting the spoon mentioned here. I didn't toss it fast enough.)

Recipe of the Week 2011 #7: Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

I'm a few weeks behind on the recipe-attempting front, thanks to a combination of vacations, volunteer training, and a certain amount of failure of the imagination. Now that my vacations and training are over and I have a docket full of recipes I'd like to attempt, I'm ready to resume my challenge.

A few nights ago, I prepared this adaptation of the classic Rice Krispie treats recipe. The treats came out really well, but next time, I intend on:

1. Making a single batch, or inviting friends over. I made a double batch because I didn't want the cereal to go stale but, in retrospect, it was a little excessive, filling a 9" x 13" casserole dish up to the top. It also made the stirring and mixing a lot more difficult.
2. Using a wooden spoon. I melted one of Matt's plastic spoons (he won't notice, but still...).
3. Letting the butter get a little bit browner. I was so paranoid about burning it that I added the marshmallows a little too soon.
4. Adding more sea salt. I like my salty-sweet treats to be a little crunchier for that.

All in all, though, I'm definitely making this one again!

Recipe of the Week 2011 #5 and #6: Katy's Spaghetti Sauce and Stuffed Shells

I'm combining the most recent two weeks of my self-imposed 2011 recipe challenge for this entry. I'm not slacking off on the cooking (I swear! I cook all the time!) so much as I'm slacking off on the blogging.

Back in December, one of my co-workers gave me a recipe for a simple but tasty tomato sauce. I was quite eager to try it; racks and racks of over-sweetened, specialty flavored sauces at the grocery store have left me with a certain amount of sauce fatigue resulting from tastebud overload. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy complex flavors, but I don't think that eighteen varieties of red sauce are necessary, especially since most of them taste really unbalanced.

Katy's recipe is quite simple:

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 small onion (or larger, if you like your sauce onion-y)
• 3-6 cloves garlic (to taste, I like my sauces extra garlicky)
• 2 14 oz cans PLAIN tomato sauce (use the unsweetened kind if possible)
• 1 28-32 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 bunch Italian parsley, OR oregano, OR basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Froth butter in saucepan over medium heat until almost brown.
2. Add onions and sweat until they're about 2 minutes away from being done.
3. Add garlic, reduce heat to low (burned garlic is the worst taste ever!) and cook 2-3 minutes
4. Add tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, then raise heat to medium until sauce is hot.
5. Add salt, pepper, and herb(s) of choice to taste.
6. Reduce heat back to low/medium-low, and allow the sauce to simmer for several hours

It's basically idiot-proof. The next time I make it, I plan on leaving it in the crock pot while it simmers so I can leave the house without having to worry about it burning down. 

I wound up making two batches of the sauce. The first, I served with my favorite meatballs:

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground lamb (Harris Teeter has it)
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 2 cups bread crumbs, plus 1/4 cup extra
• 2-3 eggs
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. 
2. Grease a large casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. Put the extra 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs into a small bowl.
4. In large bowl, combine meat and eggs with your hands (or use a food processor if you're squeamish). You'll want one egg per pound of meat. I like to use more than that because I prefer the texture to be more eggy.
5. Add 2 cups of breadcrumbs to the meat and egg mixture. Make sure that they're evenly distributed.
6. Pinch off small amounts of meatball mix and roll them into a golf ball-sized ball. 
7. Dust the meatballs with breadcrumbs by rolling them in the small bowl.
8. Bake the meatballs for about 30-40 minutes. 

Tips:

• How thick you make the meatballs will determine how long they need to cook. Smaller ones will cook faster than big ones (duh). There shouldn't be any pink in the middle when they're done.
• Using pre-seasoned breadcrumbs will give a nice flavor with no effort on your part.
• They freeze very nicely, but don't freeze them in sauce. They taste funny if you do that.

In addition to meatballs, I also made stuffed shells. I followed this recipe, but I used half the amount of spinach the recipe called for and left out the meat (a vegetarian friend was having dinner with us that day) and onions (there were already onions in the sauce). They turned out really well! If I make this recipe using meat, though, I'll need to use more ricotta cheese. I'll also probably use seasoned pork or lamb instead of veal, which is sort of a pain to acquire around here.

The next installment of this series will feature me breaking one of my primary rules of relationships: I'll be preparing a recipe that Matt's mom gave me. More on that then.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #4: Oven Home Fries, Tofu, and Fancy Ramen

As regular readers have probably noticed, I have a multitude of food addictions. One of the worst is my persistent cravings for spicy ramen noodles, which I have a devil of a time finding here in Asheville. We don't have a lot by way of international grocery stores, unfortunately. I did manage to find a tiny Asian grocery that carries my favorite brand of noodles: shin ramyun. 

They're quite hot by themselves, so I always cook other stuff to add in. I usually go for eggs, tofu, and potatoes, but I do sometimes add veggies if they're in season and I have them on hand. Since most veggies aren't in season right now, I'm making the scaled-down version. 

I used this recipe for the home fries (minus the onion and pepper) and this one for the tofu. Both are super-easy and take practically no time at all. I scramble the eggs, usually one per package of ramen. I sometimes add in an extra one, though. I LOVE eggs.

Braver souls can add in Sambal or Sriracha, but I wouldn't recommend it without trying the included seasonings first. I have a pretty high tolerance for spicy food, and if I don't add enough water, shin ramyun's too spicy for me. 

Lastly, in keeping with the "Why do I bother making complicated things when this is your favorite thing to eat?" theme in the kitchen here, this is one of Matt's favorite foods. 

Recipe of the Week 2011 #3: Baked Macaroni

This week's installment of Shiny New Recipes is coming in a day late because someone in this house drank all the milk on Friday and I lacked 1) sufficient quantities to make a decent bechamel sauce and 2) the will to go buy more after a particularly exhausting day at work.

I modified this recipe. I used regular sharp cheddar instead of white, and left out the nutmeg. I added extra cayenne pepper, black pepper, and paprika. I also used packaged breadcrumbs instead of making my own (yep. I'm lazy.) and added a few cups each of broccoli and cauliflower so that I could delude myself into thinking I have remotely healthy eating habits.  It turned out very nicely.

Tomorrow, it's Matt's turn to make dinner. He has promised me Diet Cheerwine and frozen pizza. It's a good thing I eat an orange every day; otherwise I'd be concerned about my imminent risk of dying of scurvy.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #2: Double Lemon Bars

It's been a rough week (lingering sickness, errand-filled days off, epic piles of laundry, work, and Hello Kitty blankets, oh my!), so I'm cheating with my recipe challenge by making something I've already made before: lemon bars. This time, however, I'm using the Smitten Kitchen recipe instead of the one from my Bon Appetit Cookbook. The two are fairly similar except the SK version calls for granulated sugar in the crust (instead of powdered) and uses more eggs, juice, and flour in the filling.

The end result is tasty (of course, I love all sour things), but I think I'll stick to my old faithful recipe on this one. The extra flour made the filling more creamy, as opposed to the gel-y consistency I get from my usual recipe. I also prefer the other crust; it's a little bit crunchier and less sweet. I'll still call this one a success, even though I doubt I'll use it again.

I saved extra zest so I can make madeleines tomorrow.

Recipe of the Week 2011 #1: Enchilada Lasagna

Now that my head cold is mostly taken care of, I can cook again without worrying about making Matt and his entourage ill. I decided to hold the inaugural New Recipe Challenge tonight.

I used this recipe and substituted MorningStar Grillers for the chicken*, used bagged Mexican blend cheese instead of queso fresco (because real queso is impossible to find here), and dumped an entire can of chiles in adobo sauce into the sauce mixture instead of just the chiles so it would be spicier. I strained the chiles out before I added the sauce to the casserole dish.

Overall, it turned out really well! The sauce was spicy without being overwhelming, and the whole dish came together very nicely. I'll definitely make this again.

*I hate chicken. I can't eat it without becoming incredibly ill afterwards, and it also tastes really bad to me. Blecccch.