Low Brow Carbonara

I'm not fancy.  I enjoy awesome food with specialty ingredients, but if I want to cook fancy foods I have to drive 20 minutes to the nearest gourmet grocery store to buy "the good stuff".  I don't have the time for that.  The other day I was talking to a friend of mine (who also has 5 kids) about something new I could make for my family.  She and her sister both chimed in unison, "Carbonara!"  Apparently in their family they have a recipe that everyone is a huge fan of.  They told me some of the ingredients and kind of gave me the method, but I pretty much took their twist of adding sausage and coupled it with everything I've learned from the Food Network to come up with this gem.  Normally, this is made from pancetta (Italian bacon that is salt cured instead of smoked...not found at my local market) and fancy hard Italian cheeses.  I made this with what I already had in my fridge...hence my kind of ghetto version of a classic.

Ingredients
1 lb pasta (I used penne piccolini, but I think it's typically made with spaghetti)
4 slices bacon
4 oz Italian sausage (your favorite heat level)
1 cup heavy cream at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup parmesan (the cheap kind from the green can works like a charm...remember...low brow)
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen peas

Cook the pasta according to directions.  While the pasta is cooking, dice the bacon and put it in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook the bacon until it is crispy, and remove it with a slotted spoon.  Place it on a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.  Remove the sausage from the casing and cook it in the bacon grease, breaking it up as it cooks. Once the sausage is cooked, remove it from the pan and set it on the paper towel-lined plate with the bacon.  In a large bowl, combine the cream, eggs, cheese and spices and whisk until well combined.  Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.  Put the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in, and add all the ingredients to the pot (toss in the meat, then toss in the creamy egg mixture, then toss in the peas).  Pour in the reserved pasta water and toss it all together.  The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs and you'll be left with this luscious sauce that will coat the noodles.  Garnish with extra cheese.

Candied Almonds and Poppyseed Dressing (with a Spinach Salad)

I was on a committee for our church Christmas party this year.  Together, a group of women decided what to feed 250 people for the event.  We were on a budget and decided along with an inexpensive main dish, to go the inexpensive salad route, but we didn't want to do iceburg salad with a bottle of Ranch and a bottle of Italian.  We decided on a spinach salad.  After looking through some recipes online, I decided to kind of improvise the nuts and I found a recipe with really good reviews for dressing (keep in mind...cooking for 250...never made candied nuts nor homemade poppyseed dressing...).  During the party, no less than 20 people were requesting the recipe because it was the best spinach salad they'd ever eaten.

First, the nuts.  I heavily altered a recipe I found online, and I can't for the life of me find the link.  (When I find it I'll post it). 

Ingredients
2 cups almonds (sliced, slivered, chopped, what-have-you)
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup honey
2/3 cup sugar

Lay your almonds on a sheet pan in a single layer.  Place them in a cold oven, then turn the oven on to 350 degrees. While the almonds are cooking, melt the butter and honey in a sauce pan over medium-high heat until boiling.  Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat. When the almonds smell nutty (approx. 7-10 minutes), remove them from the oven and place them directly into the hot honey/butter mixture.  Stir until coated.  Pour in the sugar and stir until all the nuts are coated.  Spray the same sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the nuts from the sauce pan to the sheet pan.  Turn on your broiler and place the nuts back into the oven for 2-4 minutes (again, until they smell deliciously nutty).  Remove the pan and stir the nuts, then return the pan to the oven for another 1-2 minutes.  Cool completely on the sheet pan.  When it's cool, the nuts will be all stuck together.  Simply break up any large clumps with your hands. These nuts store very well in an airtight container for at least a week.

Next, the dressing.  I got the recipe in its entirety from allrecipes.com.  It is so easy to whip together, and costs practically nothing.  It's kind of tart, which makes it such a lovely complement to the sweetness of the dried cranberries and candied nuts. 

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp grated onion
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp poppyseeds

Pour all the ingredients, except the poppyseeds, into the blender.  Blend until your dressing is fully emulsified (until it goes from clear to opaque), about 30 seconds.  Add the poppyseeds and pulse once or twice.  Refrigerate until ready to use. The dressing may separate in the fridge.  Simply, shake it vigoriously before using it or place it back in the blender and pulse it a few times.

Assemble your salad immediately before serving (otherwise it goes all gross and wilty).  In a large bowl, add 4 cups spinach leaves with 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup candied almonds, and about 1/2 cup dressing.  Mix until the salad is well coated in dressing.  If it looks a little dry, add about a tablespoon more at a time until it is coated to your liking.

Mini Frittatas

Do your kids love breakfast for dinner?  My kids LOVE breakfast for dinner.  Something else about my kids...they also love anything that is made in individual serving sizes (they call it "kid-sized").  Tonight was a breakfast for dinner night. 

There is no "best thing" about these mini frittatas.  The only complaint I got about them was "What?  They're gone?  I only got two!"  When she took her first bite, my 9-year-old said, "These are on your blog, right?"  No.  No they're not, but they will be in a few hours. 

This process couldn't be much easier.  You cut up various toppings, put them into muffin tins, pour uncooked scrambled eggs on top, and bake them.  So easy, so delicous, and a total crowd pleaser.  Feel free to switch up the toppings based on your personal taste.  Just be sure to put a good amount of toppings in there.  You don't want to end up with an under-topped frittata.

Mini Frittatas

Ingredients
12 eggs
4 tbsp milk - any fat content
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly cracked pepper
2/3 cup diced ham
1 cup shredded cheddar
3 tbsp chopped green onion
dash of hot sauce (I like sriracha - it tastes so good on everything!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.  Prepare toppings and set them aside.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper until very well combined and a little frothy.  Set aside.  Put toppings into the muffin cups (a good heaping tablespoonful is what you're looking for - loosely packed).  Pour egg mixture into the muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full (it turns out to be about 1/4 cup).  Bake on the middle rack for 18-22 minutes, or until the eggs are no longer jiggly in the middle.  They will be puffed up and golden and will be like little egg clouds when you bite into them! 

Yield 12 mini frittatas (6 servings).  These freeze and reheat well.  Just pop a couple in the microwave for 35-45 seconds.

Amazing Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving is rearing its deliciously ugly head next week and I'm heading with the hubs and toddler to Las Vegas to have a weekend with my family.    My mom is that housewife who makes it look effortless to be perfect.  She's and insanely good cook and keeps an immaculate house.  As a wife and mom, I am consistently in awe of how she did it and kept her sanity.  Well, the past year or so I've gotten pretty good at this whole cooking and baking thing.  When I visit my family next week I'm going to flex my domestic muscles and make a few Thanksgiving favorites - rolls included.

(don't pretend that picture didn't make you drool a little)

I have a recipe for rolls similar to these, and they're really good but they make enough for an army.  Even with my brood we don't even eat 1/3 of them when I make them, which is more often than it should be.  I got my Thanksgiving copy of "Taste of Home" today and while thumbing through, I found a recipe that is very similar to the one I use, only scaled more than halfway down (high five!). 

These rolls were amazing (clearly, by the name!); delicate and soft, dense but kind of fluffy (if that makes sense). The flavor is fantastic, the texture is perfect.  My husband, who isn't even a "bread person", ate 3 of them with dinner tonight.  I think I've finally found my official "go-to" roll for family functions.  Look out, Peg (my mom)! 

Amazing Dinner Rolls
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

4 1/2 - 5 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 tbsp butter
2 eggs
1-2 tbsp cool butter (to rub on top of rolls when they come out of the oven)

Heat milk and butter in a saucepan until the mixture is comfortably warm to the touch (120-130 degrees).  Set aside.  In the large bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt.  Add the milk mixture to the bowl.  Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.  Add 2 eggs and mix on high speed for 2 minutes.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft, slightly sticky dough (the dough will pull away from the bowl but will stick to your finger). 

Knead with the hook for another 4-5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Place in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise in a cozy place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and punch it down.  Divide the dough into 24 equal (or equal-ish), and shape into balls and divide between two greased 13x9 inch pans.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

This little monster couldn't wait for them to be done.  He stood at the oven door the whole time until I finally took them out.

When you remove the rolls from the oven, immediately rub butter (holding the butter in a paper towel) on top of all the rolls.

Yield 2 dozen

Flaky Apple Pie

I'm not much of a pie person.  Growing up the only pie we had was my mom's banana cream pie (I'll post that one around Thanksgiving - it's pretty much insane), and it was only on Thanksgiving.  Clearly my mom isn't much of a pie person either.  Most of my friends are pie enthusiasts.  One of them is even the "Pie Expert".  I'm a subscribing member to Pie of the Month Club, but I've still never gotten into it (one time I was staying at the pie expert's house in Indiana and she asked if I liked pie.  I told her, "I like meat pies..."  A word to the wise?  Never say that to the pie expert).

Well, I married into a pie family.  My in-laws love pie, my husband loves pie, and my kids love pie. 

Since it's produce season I've been frequenting little farms and farm stands where I live.  Every time I've come home with peaches or apples the past month or two, Casey has jokingly asked if it was because I was making him a pie.  So a few days ago I decided to take the bull by the horns.  I did some research and found a crust in this book.  I figured that surely, if he's teaching me to cook EVERYTHING, there would be a stellar recipe for crust.  I did some more research and found a killer filling.  Since the caramelly sauce for the filling is poured in after the pie is already topped, it is baked with this sugary layer of goo which makes the crust delicately crisp and slightly sweet.  I had to refrain from breaking the entire top crust off the pie, putting it on a plate and taking a fork to it. 

Flaky Apple Pie
Crust by Mark Bittman, Filling adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

Crust
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt (if you use salted butter, omit the salt)
2 tsp sugar
16 tbsp (2 sticks) cold butter (the recipe calls for unsalted, but I always use salted)
6 tbsp cold water

Filling
8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (the recipe called for Granny Smith, but I used Golden Delicious and Gala- fresh from the farm)
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup butter (again, the recipe calls for unsalted)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water

To make the crust, put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor, fitted with the dough blade attachment and pulse once or twice.  Chop the cold butter and add it to the bowl.  Blend until the mixture looks like cornmeal (about 10-15 seconds).  Pour that into a large bowl and add the water.  Mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon (adding a tiny bit of water at a time if your dough isn't coming together) gradually gathering the mixture into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (you can freeze it for 10 minutes if you are in a hurry). 

While your crust is chilling, peel, core and slice your apples.  Place them in a large bowl and sprinkle with corn starch.  Mix the apples so that the corn starch is no longer visible.  Set aside.  Melt 1/2 cup butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add 3 tbsp flour to form a loose paste.  Add your sugars and water and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove crust from the refigerator, split into 2 parts (refrigerating the top crust until you are ready to roll it out) and roll on a lightly floured surface, starting in the middle and working your way to the sides until you have a disc of dough about 1-1 1/2 inches larger than your pie plate.  Roll your crust onto the rolling pin and place it in your pie plate.  Fill the crust with apples, slightly mounding them.  Cover with either a lattice crust or a crust that has been vented liberally (I used several mini shape cutters for mine).  Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the top, so that it does not run off. (*See note, below). Be sure to lightly coat your top crust.  (Also, be sure to do this while the liquid is hot.  Otherwise it will firm up and will not reheat to the same runny consistency). 

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes until apples are soft.  Let the pie cool completely before slicing.

*If you're doing a full two crust pie, pour the sauce in (reserving a little extra for the top crust) before you top it.  If you're doing a lattice top pie or one with lots of holes (like the one pictured), top the pie before pouring the sauce.

"Dead-On" Funeral Potatoes

I was trying to think of the most polite way to describe what funeral potatoes are, but there kind of isn't one.  Here's the deal.  This dish is a homemade take this hilarious but all too accurate recipe, which is something always served at the family dinner after a Mormon funeral.  Ask any Mormon in North America.  They all know funeral potatoes and they all love them.  Promise.

Casey loves funeral potatoes (as do I).  Once every few months I'll try out a new recipe for these because although I've always ALWAYS loved them, before I met Casey I had only made them once or twice.  I tried the semi-homemade version about 10 times before I just decided to make them from scratch and when Casey took a bite he looked at me and said, "These are dead on!"

"Dead On" Funeral Potatoes
Recipe by me

6 cups cooked shredded potatoes -

Sauce –

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

¼ cup dried minced onion

2 chicken bouillon cubes, crushed

1 cup water

2 cups milk – whatever you have on hand

3 cups shredded medium/sharp cheddar cheese

Topping

2 ½ cups panko bread crumbs (or lightly crushed corn flakes if you want a more authentic funeral potato)

4 tbsp melted butter

¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

In a soup pot, melt butter and add flour.  Cook, whisking constantly over medium heat, for 3-5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, bouillon, minced onion, water, and milk.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese, one handful at a time, until melted and gooey and delicious.  Stir in potatoes, one cup at a time, making sure to coat the potatoes well.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking sheet.  Mix all three topping ingredients.  Spread evenly over the top of your potatoes.  Bake them at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until golden and brown and bubbly and awesome.

You can make these a day or two ahead without the topping (to avoid it getting soggy) if you keep it well-covered.  Then before your event, take them out of the fridge and add your topping about 30 minutes before baking.

You *can* use frozen shredded hash browns; however, I've tried them both with fresh potatoes I boiled and shredded myself and frozen shredded hash browns.  Even following the exact same sauce recipe, the frozen potatoes yielded an inferior result.  It's not a huge amount of work to just boil and shred your own.  To do this, pierce 8 medium russet potatoes (about 6 large, about 10-12 small).  Place them in a pot and cover them with water.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-high and continue to boil until fork tender (approx 15-20 minutes).  Drain.  Once the potatoes are still hot but cool enough to handle, rub the skins off the potatoes with your hands.  Then either shred your potatoes with a cheese grater or the cheese grater attachment of a food processor.

Easy, Delicious Bread

A few months ago I went to the baby shower of one of my cousins (actually the daughter of my dad's cousin).  There were snacks and salads and a cutting board with delicious homemade breads.  I had to ask my aunt (actually the mother of the new mom, who is in no way my aunt), "Who made the bread?"  She told me it was her daughter-in-law.  Of course I texted her and asked for the recipe.  She gave me the base recipe and then a couple of variations to go on.  There are a couple of "funky" ingredients (I consider it a "funky" ingredient if I a: don't have it in my pantry or b: have to go to a specialty store to get it), but once you have them in your pantry they'll become staples (and they last forever).  This bread is hard to screw up, easy to manipulate into different flavor combinations, and is ready to eat in about an hour - baking time included.

Recipe from Tiffany Ritchie-Petty, who got it from a "Pantry Secrets" class she took

5 cups bread flour (*See note, below)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast (the kind that needs no proofing prior to use.  I use SAF brand)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 quarter-sized blobs liquid lecithin - do not measure, just eyeball it (**See note, below)
2 cups hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer, with the dough hook attachment.  Add lecithin.  Slowly add water while mixer is on low.  Knead with the dough hook on medium speed for 3-5 minutes.  Spray your hands and the counter top with nonstick spray and split into 2 loaves (if you're making a flavored variation of this bread, now would be the time for addins.  See variations, below).  Knead for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Form into loaves in a greased 9x5x3 inch pan or simply form into a ball and set on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 20-25 minutes.  About 10 minutes into the rising time, preheat your oven.  Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 min (my oven is closer to 25 minutes...I've had doughy bread by taking it out too soon). 

*I never keep bread flour on hand  because it's expensive and takes up too much space.  In order to make my own bread flour, I simply add one tablespoon of vital wheat gluten to each cup of all-purpose flour in my bread recipes.  Store unused wheat gluten in an airtight container in the freezer and it lasts forever.  I can usually find it at the regular grocery store.

**Liquid lecithin is a preservative that helps keep your bread soft for days (if you look at the bread in your cupboard right now, chances are one of the ingredients is liquid lecithin).  Four months ago I bought a 16 oz bottle for $6.99 and I still have a significant amount left.  I make a variation of this bread at least once a week, so this is an ingredient that costs very little per use.

Some variations I've used that work well with this bread are:

-cinnamon swirl - combine 1/4 cup brown sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon.  When the dough is on the counter either knead the sugar mixture directly into the dough, or form the dough into a square and spread it on cinnamon roll-style then roll the dough into a loaf.  Lightly coat the dough with a couple teaspoons of honey and a light dusting of cinnamon-sugar before rising.

-cinnamon apple - peel and shred one medium apple (it should yield about 1/2 cup).  Place apple shreds in some paper towel and squeeze out most of the liquid.  Repeat the same steps as the cinnamon swirl bread, adding the shredded apple. Also add about 1/2 tsp salt to your cinnamon sugar just to add a little depth with the apples.

-spinach/feta- chop and saute 2 cups of spinach over medium heat until spinach is nicely wilted.  Place spinach in some paper towel and squeeze out most of the liquid.  Add to the dough, along with 1/3 cup feta cheese crumbles and knead until incorporated (small chunks of cheese and spinach add a good texture to the bread). 

-parmesan/herb - combine 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (I've used both freshly shredded and the cheap stuff in a green can and both are delicious), 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp ground dried garlic, and freshly ground black pepper (to your liking).

Any of these variations are delicious with a little bit of softened butter rubbed on top of the dough and just a light sprinkling of whatever seasonings you're adding to the inside.  Play around with it.  You will not be disappointed.