Chicken Pasta Carbonara

(adapted from http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/05/pasta-carbonara/)

The first time we had carbonara was in San Jose, and I. Loved. It. We tried to duplicate the recipe, and had something that worked for awhile, but it morphed in time (or I did. Don't judge.) and then I found it overly rich. And then I found this recipe, and fell in love with it all over again. Still rich (it's the cream, ya know). But not overpoweringly so. Also, for certain young ones in our lives, we've learned to mix in the chicken and peas and whatnot in after all the sauce, and serve them before that finally mixing. And then they get peas (frozen, because that's the only way to eat it when you are four) and chicken (cut tiny) separately. Thusly increasing odds for consumption. No guarantees, of course. We need to be kept on our toes.

And P.S. we found a local butcher that has bacon to die for. The ends are pretty cheap, too, which works nicely for this meal.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces, weight Pasta, Any Variety
• 1 chicken breast, cut in strips
• 4 pieces Thick Cut Bacon (diced Small)
• 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Diced Small
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3 whole Eggs
• 3/4 cups Finely Grated Parmesan
• 3/4 cups Heavy Cream
• Salt & Plenty Of Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup Peas

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon until just barely crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Pour off all of the bacon grease, but don't clean the pan. Return the pan to the stove over medium-low heat and throw in the onions and garlic and chicken. Cook until golden brown. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix together eggs, Parmesan, cream, and salt and pepper until smooth.

When the pasta is done, reserve a cup or two of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and place it in a bowl. While the pasta is still really hot, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring the pasta the whole time. The sauce will become thick and should coat the pasta. Splash in a little hot pasta water if needed for consistency.

Halfway through After serving the children, add the peas, chicken, bacon, and sauteed onion/garlic. Finish adding the sauce, stirring until it's all combined.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 cup green enchilada sauce
• 1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cooked, boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup half-and-half

Directions:

1. Combine chicken broth and tortilla strips in a large pot. Cook over medium heat until strips soften and broth thickens somewhat.
2. Stir in enchilada sauces and cumin.
3. Stir chicken and half-and-half.
4. Serve with tortilla chips. Optional garnishes also include: diced tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, avocado, jalapeno, etc.

Hot Fudge Sauce

For many long years this has been considered a Top Secret family recipe passed down from my Grandmother. But since my Mum started sharing the secret several years back - I feel absolutely no guilt in posting it to a public forum now. Besides, an Ice Cream Roll wouldn't be complete without it!

In large sauce pan mix together:

4 Tbs. Cocoa

4 Tbs. Flour

2 cups Sugar

Add:

12 oz can evaporated milk 

1 cube Butter/Margarine

1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix well and bring to a boil. Boil 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. If sauce becomes too thick, add a bit more milk. The sauce stores well in the fridge for long periods of time, but odds are that it won't last that long.

Ice Cream Rolls

Ice Cream Rolls have been a long standing tradition in my family - and have made appearances at weddings, family reunions, caroling parties and birthdays starting long before I was born. And because they are delicious in addition to sentimental, I thought I would share - 'tis the season!

3 Eggs - room temperature, beat on high 4-8 minutes until very thick
3/4 cups Sugar - beat into eggs
1/3 cup Water - blend in on low speed
1 tsp. Vanilla - blend in

(Pre-mixed & well sifted)
1 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 cup Cocoa
Add slowly and gently to egg and sugar mix.

Spread batter gently into a foil lined and greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes and drop out onto dish towel coated with powdered sugar - roll up with the towel and allow to cool.
Unroll.
Using a knife, cut 1/2 inch slices of ice cream (pick your flavor) and cover the roll - this should take about 1/2 a carton of ice cream.
Re-roll, cover with foil, and freeze.
Slice roll, and serve with Hot Fudge Sauce and whipped cream.

Serves 12-15

Yam Gratin with Gruyere

I was wandering around the grocery store this afternoon looking for dinner ideas and got stuck in a mini traffic jam so I struck up a conversation with one of the sample people while waiting for the path to clear. I am not a huge fan of yams, so I wasn’t planning to try his food, but luckily I gave in – these are AMAZING!

2 cups Heavy Cream

1 tsp Salt

3 lbs Yams, peeled

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 9x9 baking dish with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet.

Stir together cream and salt. Thinly slice yams into the cream (use a mandolin if you have one) coating slices with the cream mixture as you go.

Layer 1/3 of the yams in the baking dish, sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat with another 1/3 and the remainder of the cheese. Top with the remaining yams and pour any leftover cream over the top.

Bake uncovered on the center rack for 30 min.  Remove from oven, and using a fork or spatula carefully press against the top layer to allow liquid to flow over the “crust.” Place dish back in the oven and let it continue to cook for another 30 min. Remove the pan again and repeat, allowing liquid to flow over the top. Return pan to oven and bake for another 40-45 minutes, until the yams are tender.

Let cool for about 15 minutes, and then prepare to be wowed.

4-Star Pumpkin Bread

I made this yesterday and it was....delicious. I highly recommend.

3-1/2 C flour
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger
3 C sugar
1 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
15 oz pumpkin
2/3 C water
1-1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and grease 2 loaf pans.

Sift together the dry ingredients (flour through ginger) in a medium bowl. In a large bowl or standing mixer, combine the sugar and oil. Add the eggs to the sugar/oil mixture, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the bumpkin and stir until smooth. Add to the sugars mixture approximately 1/3 of the flour mixture and a little of the water, stirring until smooth. Keep adding the flour and water, stirring after the additions, until all ingredients have been added.

Pour into loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hr 15 min, or until the top is nicely cracked and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Naan Pizza

I have been wanting to share this recipe/idea for almost a year now, but have been really lazy. At long last, here it is!  I had never tried naan until moving out to NY, but it was, no joke, love at first bite - what amazingly tasty bread! Then while shopping at our local (and beloved) Wegmans, I saw a recipe idea, using naan as a pizza crust, and simply topping it with your favorite things. So while any toppings can be used, here is my favorite variation:

Preheat oven to 400

Use 1 piece naan per person

Chop several fresh basil leaves

Drain and chop roasted tomatoes in olive oil (sundried tomatoes are also good)

Slice as much fresh mozzarella as makes you happy

Place ingredients on bread, I put the basil on the bottom so the leaves don't burn, and the cheese on top so that it melts into everything, but so long as everything is there, no worries. 

Bake pizza for 10-15 minutes, or till cheese is melted and edges are brown. I cook it on the rack, with a pan on the rack below to catch dripping cheese, but if you prefer a softer crust you can place it in the pan before cooking, and shorten your time in the oven. 

Slice it up, sit back and enjoy the yum :)

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This was an awesome idea Christy! Right now I'm still dealing with a new baby and all the lack of time and sleep that goes with that so I've taken a bit of a cooking hiatus. In fact I signed up for the E-Mealz menu service Auburn posted on her blog (hopefully you got credit for my referral Auburn since I linked through the banner you put up) so I can't really post any of those recipes but I do have an amazing 100% whole wheat bread recipe to share. Even with the new baby I still manage to find to bake some almost every week because it's just that good and I can't bring myself to go back to store bought bread after being spoiled for so long on homemade. It's actually really easy to make and while it does take a fair amount of time from start to finish most of that time is rise time where all you need to do is let it sit while you do something else. Very little actual effort is required.

100% Honey Whole Wheat Bread
3/4 C Hot water
2 C Milk
1/4 C Olive oil
1/3 C Honey
1 T Salt
4 t Yeast
1/2 C Vital wheat gluten
4-8 C Whole wheat flour

1.  Preheat oven to lowest setting and then turn oven off. Meanwhile combine all ingredients (start with 4 C flour) into a stand mixer with a dough hook or bread machine (I do not recommend attempting to knead the dough by hand). 
2. Use the lowest setting on your mixer to knead the dough. Slowly add more flour 1 C at a time until the dough forms a ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the mixer. Allow the mixer to knead the dough for 10 minutes. 
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then a clean dish cloth and place in the warm oven to rise until double original size, usually a little over an hour (You can skip this step if you like but the dough will be slightly less soft).
4. Punch the dough down and divide into 2 equal portions. Shape each piece into a cylinder or rectangular shape approximately the size of the pan. Try to make sure the tops of your loaves are relatively smooth and even. Spray 2 bread pans with cooking spray and place the loaves in the pan.
5. Return the dough to the warm oven and cover the pans with a clean towel until the bread has risen to 1- 1 1/2 inches above the top of the pans (The original recipe says to let it raise at least 2 inches above the pan but I've never gotten my loaves that big. Maybe because I usually only need 6 C of flour or less).
6. Carefully remove the towel and turn the oven on to 375. After 15 min reduce heat to 350 and cook for an additional 18-20 minutes. Allow bread to sit a few minutes in the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.