Baked Ziti

Ah, baked ziti. My sister makes delicious baked ziti. I probably should've stuck with her method but I tried to make it little less cheesy and I added a few other things. Let me show you what I did and I let you know where I wish I'd done something different. Please let me know if you have another version of baked ziti that you love!

First I cooked 3/4 lb. of pasta. (I undercook the pasta so it doesn't become total mush when it's baked.) Next I sliced and cooked 2 links of Italian sausage. (I know my sister takes the sausage out of the casing and cooks it like ground meat.)

I then added 1/2 a green pepper, diced, and 1 small onion, diced. I let these saute with the sausage and then I added 1 clove of garlic, chopped.

Then I added 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1/4C red wine, 1t dried basil, and 1T dried oregano. I stirred, covered, and let this cook for a few minutes.

I turned off the heat and added 15 oz. of ricotta cheese and 4-6 oz. of cubed mozzarella. (The ricotta separates and looks pretty gross using this method. So I think either more tomato sauce next time to make it saucier or an egg and some parmesan to make it more like lasagna.)

I then mixed in the cooked pasta. I baked this covered in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. I then topped this with about 4 oz. of sliced mozzarella and baked this uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. It was quite yummy but, as I said, room for improvement!

A Sinful Breakfast!

First, I just have to post these pictures of a sinful breakfast. I'll follow with a post with a recipe. But check out these potatoes frying in bacon grease. Yum!

Then look at these beautiful cinnamon rolls. My husband is the culprit in both these tasty sinful treats.

For the cinnamon rolls he uses a basic dinner roll recipe, rolls it out, spreads a cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter mixture over the dough, rolls it up, and slices it into rolls. Then he places them in a buttered dish, covers them and lets them rise near the warm oven. And then he bakes them at 450 for 10-15 minutes.

Yumminess!

7-layer dip

If you love snack food and appetizers as much as me you may be dreaming of Super Bowl Sunday not because of the game but because of the food. I love football food! And by this I mean wings, nachos, chips and dip, veggies and dip, anything and dip, and of course, 7-layer dip!

There are many version of 7-layer dip out there. As far as I can tell most of them fall into one of two camps: hot or cold. My sister makes a delicious version that is an entirely hot dip that mixes beans, corn, cheeses, salsa and I am sure a few other things. My husband, on the other hand, loves a cold 7-layer dip. And somehow, I fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes. I think this is mostly because I can't quite understand eating cold refried beans and melted cheese is delicious!

My method of 7-layer dip begins with a can of refried beans spread over the bottom of a casserole dish. I top that with pickled jalapenos and shredded cheese. I stick this in the oven (usually at 350) until the beans are hot and the cheese is melted (usually 15-20 minutes).

Then I top the hot ingredients with the cold ingredients. I don't believe that 7-layer dip has to stick with only 7 layers and so I add on whatever sounds good.

For example, I next spread some sour cream on top of the beans and cheese. And then a layer of sliced black olives is always yummy.

And then chopped or mushed avocado is great if they are some good ripe ones to be found.

Next, I like to layer on the salsa. And finally, I top this off with chopped green onions.

Dip in a chip and enjoy the football!

Seasoned Oyster Crackers

I have strong memories attached to seasoned oyster crackers!

A friend of mine from high school's mom used to make these. She even made them years later when I would come to visit. Simple and tasty, these oyster crackers will be a football snack today as we watch the championship games.

This post is also an exercise in experimentation because the batch I made today just didn't turn out right. See the bottom picture, they are the wrong color! Too dark meaning overcooked, which I think is thanks to too long in too hot an oven.

Start with 1/4C vegetable oil in a large enough liquid measure to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Add 1/2 a package of ranch dressing mix, 1/2t garlic powder, and 1T dried dill. Mix well. (This can easily be doubled to spread over a full package of crackers, 14-16 ounces.)

Spread 1/2 a package (about 7-8 oz.) of oyster crackers on a cookie sheet. Dump the mixture over the crackers and mix until they are evenly coated.

I then baked the crackers at 350 for 25 minutes and I stirred them halfway through. This was too hot and too long, I think. Next time I would try a 300 degree oven for about the same amount of time, but checking at the halfway point for doneness too!

Cranberry bread

I've been wanting to make cranberry bread since before the holidays. I found a cranberry orange bread recipe that looked delicious and then I couldn't find it again so when I stumbled across this recipe this morning I decided today was the day for some baking! This recipe looked perfect since I had some buttermilk in the fridge already and I am a sucker for anything with honey in it!

Preheat the oven to 350 and then prepare 2 loaf pans (8x4x3) by buttering and flouring them.

First, whisk together 1C all-purpose flour, 1C whole wheat flour, 1C cornmeal, 1/2C sugar, 1 1/2t salt, and 1 1/2t baking soda in bowl 1.

Next, melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in the microwave and leave it to cool slightly while you mix the rest of the wet ingredients.

In bowl 2 begin with 1/2C honey, which is hard to measure so I suggest spraying a 1/2C measure or a 1T measure with oil so that the honey will slide right out into the bowl. Next add 1 1/4C buttermilk, 1t vanilla extract, and 2 large eggs. Whisk these ingredients together as best you can since honey, cold milk and warm butter don't combine very well!

Add bowl 2 (wet ingredients) to bowl 1 (dry ingredients). Finally, fold in 1C chopped walnuts and 1 1/2-2C fresh cranberries.

Divide the dough evenly between the two prepared loaf pans and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. I had a slice with a cup of tea this afternoon and it was delicious!

Spare ribs, roasted root veggies, gravy, and kale chips!

I haven't had the chance to detail many of my husband's cooking adventures on this blog. He does a lot of the cooking in our house, particularly in the winter. But I don't usually know much of what has happened during the creation process and so I hesitate to post about the food without much of a recipe to include. But tonight he suggested that we blog about the meal! So here goes...

Have I told you about our winter CSA share and the pork share? We have signed up for a 1/4 hog over the course of 12 weeks this winter. We've gotten pork chops, ribs, sausages, deli ham, bacon, and some amazing pates! This week we got spare ribs.

First, the fat was trimmed (and fried up it was a sinful treat!) and the ribs were rubbed: Penzey's jerk seasoning (~2T), coriander (2-3t), cumin (1t), oregano (1/2t), black pepper (2-3t), and salt (1t). The ribs sat in this rub for a few hours and then they cooked covered in about 1/2-3/4C of apple cider at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and then 270 degrees for 15 minutes. They need to be basted every 1/2 hour while cooking. They can be finished immediately or after everything else cooks at 425 for 5-7 minutes uncovered to brown them nicely.

Along with this my husband roasted root veggies. He chopped carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and onions and sprayed them with oil. They were sprinkled with hot curry powder, oregano, salt and pepper. They cooked at 425 for 20-30 minutes.

And then there was the mushroom gravy! Saute diced red onions in the grease rendered from the fat trimmed off the spare ribs. Then saute the sliced mushrooms for a few minutes. Add 1/4C red wine and reduce for 5 minutes. Add 2T flour and mix until well blended. Add 2C water, reduce until thickened while stirring constantly.

And kale chips to boot! Trim the thickest parts of the stem off the kale and cut it into fairly uniform pieces. Spray or toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook at 425 for 10-12 minutes until crispy but not burnt.

What a delicious dinner!

Butternut squash cheesy pasta

Happy New Year! We have a new puppy in our house and boy oh boy does he not like me typing away on my laptop. He isn't a big fan of cooking either unless tasty treats hit the floor for him. Basically he isn't a fan of anything, be it a computer or a saucepan, that distracts our attention from him. However, he is willing to war with brussel sprout stalks while we cook!

Somehow we managed to cook some food yesterday to celebrate New Year's Eve at home. One of the dishes we made was a butternut squash pasta dish. I first made this dish with friends in Texas and we based it on a recipe in a macaroni and cheese cookbook. We had it as a side dish with a pork tenderloin that time around. And this time it was served with chicken tenders, potato wedges, and an assortment of dips.

First I put water on to boil and I began cooking the pasta when I started cooking the squash. I used about 3/4 lb. of fusilli.

Next I peeled, deseeded, and chopped 1 small butternut squash. I also chopped 2 cloves of garlic (the recipe calls for several cloves to be sauteed and several to be added raw at the end but I left out the raw garlic) and about 8 leaves of fresh sage.

On medium heat, I sauteed the squash in 1T butter until it was nearly cooked (about 10 minutes). I then added the garlic and sage and cooked this for 2-3 more minutes. I turned off the heat and added chopped prosciutto (1-2 ounces). I let this mixture stand while the pasta finished cooking.

When the pasta was cooked, I drained it and reserved about 1/4C of the cooking liquid to mix back in with the other ingredients. Here comes the cheese! And no less than three kinds! The recipe calls for creme fraiche, fontina, and parmesan. I used about 3 ounces of grated asiago, 1/4C parmesan, and 2T ricotta cheeses. I mixed these cheeses in with the pasta and cooking liquid and then added the squash mixture. Voila! Squash macaroni and cheese!