Pasta for Dummies - Rose Sauce

Remember when I had you put two jars of sauce in a pot and heat them up? Remember that? Yeah, well we're going to do that again.

Behold! Super easy rose sauce! It is called rose sauce because we mix a red sauce with white sauce, which in color wheel land would equal a pink sauce...but in real life it's actually rather orange.


We'll start with our two jars of sauce!

Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I didn't use the entire jars. However, the proportions would be right I think. I didn't use equal parts of each sauce, but I used equal parts of the jars. As in, I used 2/3 of the jar of alfredo sauce, and 2/3 of the jar of spaghetti sauce, so using the entire jar of each would work out as well. Alfredo sauce tends to come in slightly smaller jars than spaghetti sauces so I think in most cases these proportions would be right. Although you could just mix the two until you get the color you want.

You're aiming for this color, I guess.


If you're really cool you can wear a tomato themed apron while you do this.


Now for chicken slices! (I had the chicken breasts marinating in Italian salad dressing)


Multitasking! I'm cooking a whole wheat shell pasta for this experiment.


I plated it on a blue plate because orange and blue are complementary colors and I like to prove to my mother that I am using my art degree.


I think it came out pretty yummy. I don't think it's as great as the alfredo/pesto mix, but it's still pretty good. At least it gives you something different to do. I actually think I might mix the rest of the sauce together and make a lasagna with it.

Click here to see more!

Flank Steak, etc.

You want this.


Trust me.

Flank Steak Marinade:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

I put mine in a big ziploc bag and it sat in the fridge overnight AND all the next day. I mean business.

Steak needs sidekicks, so I decided on corn on the cob and spinach. But before you start thinking I've gone healthy, keep reading.


Corn by itself is just corn, so let's make it better!

Start with some herbs...say, thyme, parsley, basil, and tarragon (or whatever you like/have), a 1/2 tsp of each.


And add them to some butter!


This equals herb butter! Yippee!


Now we can have corn with herb butter! I will continue to narrate in all exclamations!


Wrap up the corn so the herb butter doesn't escape!


Now let's cook it! Med-High heat, for 15 - 20 minutes!


Here's our meat that's been marinating for a long time!


You must have a paper towel dipped in oil, so you can oil the grill grate and prevent sticking!


Side one, you're up! (well, down actually...for about 5 minutes)


Side two, time for you! (for another 5 minutes)


Here I've got my meat tented (it must rest!), and my corn cobs cooked!


OMG GREEN STUFF AGGGHHH!!!! (it's about to get steamed in herb butter :D)


Hello beautiful!


*sigh*


That's nice and colorful!


Ha, whaddya know, I didn't eat all the green stuff


Click here to see more!

Better BBQ Sauce

Okay, so this is a small little "recipe" but I felt it was worth posting, because after I put it together one day (after having made it plenty of times before) a cooking show came on that made almost the exact same sauce.

It's really a concoction my dad came up with, basically just a way to doctor store-bought bbq sauce to make it better.

There's no specific amounts (in my version at least) I just go for what looks good, and smells good, and makes a good consistency.

Here's our ingredients:

worcestershire
bbq sauce (I used Kraft, the cooking show used Bulls-eye)
mustard
butter/margarine
brown sugar (the show used molasses)
garlic powder

I mixed mine up in a plastic container with a lid, since I was bringing it to a bbq later. I started with butter and worcestershire, and added brown sugar. I microwave that for a little bit to help the sugar melt and mix better (you can also wait to microwave it at the end). Then I just add in what seems like appropriate amounts of the other ingredients, and mix it all up.


The smell is sweet and smokey and just better than what you started with. We mainly use this when we grill sausage, and since that doesn't take long to cook, there isn't a big problem with the sugar burning. In the case of basting chicken, you may want to use less sugar, or wait to baste the meat only on the last flip or two.



Click here to see more!

Ropa Vieja - Cuban Beef Stew

I got the original recipe from Epicurious but I altered some of the cooking times based on another recipe. I liked the idea of simmering things longer to get more flavor.



You'll start with braising the beef, which you can do the day before you plan to eat it all.

For braising beef:
3 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf (I just have dried pieces in a jar)
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly (okay I used 6)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (I just used my pepper grinder)

I couldn't find skirt or flank steak at the store, so I settled on some other thinly cut steak.


You can cut everything up coarsely, it's going to get discarded later.


Seasonings!


In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until beef is tender.


Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes.


Transfer meat to a platter. Strain braising liquid through a colander, into a bowl. Discard the solids. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, using two forks, pull apart your meat into little pieces. All of this can be done a day ahead (which is what I did). Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.

Now for the rest of the stew ingredients...

*2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
*1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-ounce can of whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced (okay, probably 6 again)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
*2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
*2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips

*I am not a fan of eating bell peppers or onions, but I do understand their necessity as ingredients in preparing food. I used only 1 (instead of 2) of the green, red, and yellow bellpeppers. And in all cases of "cut into 1/4-inch strips" I actually ran them through my mini food chopper until they were super tiny, so I could avoid ever having to bite into a chunk. You obviously may chop the pieces as big or as small as you please.

SUPER TINY "MARY APPROVED" PIECES


Day 2:
Heat a pot with the oil, and add your green bell peppers, garlic, and onion and saute until softened (about 5 minutes or so).


Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, and simmer for about 8 - 10 minutes. (again, I ran my tomatoes through my mini-chopper).


Now add your meat, 2 cups braising liquid, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, covered, for about an hour.


Add the red and yellow bell peppers, and simmer another 30 minutes. (If you want your stew to be soupier, you can add more braising liquid).

Serve over yellow saffron rice.


Click here to see more!

Potato, Cheese, and Ale Soup

The original recipe comes from Bitchin Camaro, brought to my attention by Crepes of Wrath.



1 tbsp. olive oil (I used bacon grease muhahahaha)
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 5)
2 large Idaho potato, diced (I left the skin on…fiber!)
1 cup chicken stock
1 12. oz Ale-style beer (I used Sam Adams Summer Ale)
3/4 cup shredded cheese, plus 1/2 cup for garnish (I used cheddar and jack)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
optional garnishes:
bacon (and to use the grease)
pretzels
sour cream

The original recipe is meant to serve 2...Since I wanted more than 2 servings, I added another potato. But I guess my potatoes were extra large, because it made a huge amount. I used a little extra of each other ingredient to accommodate, but still needed to add more liquid (to keep it creamy) so I added milk as well.

Yay, making soup!


Set a large pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil/bacon grease. Saute the onions for 5 – 7 minutes, or until soft, then add the garlic and saute for another couple of minutes.

Add the potatoes and brown them a bit.


After 8 to 10 minutes, add the stock and beer and reduce the heat to medium. Let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are tender.


Use an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor to puree the soup until smooth. (Because my extra potato made so much, I had to do this in two batches). Return to the pot and reduce the heat to low.


Stir in the cheese, salt, paprika and vinegar until well-combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.


Ladle into bowls and garnish with your choice...my choice was bacon, sour cream, and more cheese.


Click here to see more!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I had a craving chocolate chip cookies, but not all the ingredients. I had also used several pans at dinner, which I didn't feel like cleaning. So instead of chocolate chip cookies, I opted for chocolate chip muffins.

Choosing muffins really only solved my limited pan problem...it didn't change my "missing ingredients" problem. But I didn't let that stop me.

I found this recipe online, from McCormick:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Some of the ingredients


I didn't have baking powder, but I figured it would be fine with just the baking soda. I also didn't have any milk, because I don't drink milk, and therefore do not stock it. But I did have a packet of condensed milk! I understand that is not meant to be a replacement for regular milk, but I really didn't care, so I used it anyway. And why is everyone so into "semi-sweet" morsels? Why would you want semi-sweet anything? I used milk chocolate morsels because I'm an "all-in" kinda girl. We don't half-ass chocolate in this house.

Other than that I pretty much followed the same directions as the original recipe.

Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease or line 12 muffins cups (or 2 mini muffin pans).

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.


In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in melted butter, milk, and vanilla.


Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.


Here come the morsels!


Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.




Bake for 12-15 minutes (20-22 minutes for regular sized muffins), or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.




Enjoy! Preferably warm.


I don't think the lack of baking powder or use of condensed milk made the recipe any better or worse. I would probably use regular milk if I had it.

Click here to see more!