Fettuccine Alfredo

This is not your typical Fettuccine Alfredo. I must confess that unlike every other red blooded human being on earth, I have never liked the typical Fettuccine that is served in restaurants. I always thought it was just a big pile of cream, butter and cheese that never really popped in my mouth. Anyone who knows me knows that my quest for “pop” is relentless and unforgiving. If I am going to ingest calories that will take away from the allotted amount of calories I allow myself on a daily basis, they sure as hell better be great calories. So with that, my modification includes taking the typical Fettuccine recipe and adding in cream cheese and sour cream. I know, totally weird but the taste is totally pop-worthy.

Warning: I ran out of Fettuccine noodles so I used the shells. Sorry but my life is crazy and sometimes I have to use substitutes…just use your imagination on this one.

Recipe:

1 pound fettuccine noodles or 1 pound shells
1 stick salted butter
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups grated parmesan
1/4 pecorino romano
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

Cook noodles according to package directions in salted water.

Melt butter, cream, cream cheese and sour cream in large pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add cooked pasta to cream mixture and stir to combine. Add in all of the shredded cheese and stir until melted and combined.

Serve immediately.

Mac n' Cheese with Pancetta, Sweet Ham and Parmesan Crisps

I was about to go on and on about how I couldn’t stop eating this when it came out of the oven. Now, a day later, I am going to have to talk about how amazing the flavor is after sitting in the fridge for 24 hours.

I took the dish out of the fridge this evening and warmed a little bowl of it up. This is a family blog so I am going to put a warning on this next part and tell you that this gets a little racy. I tasted the mound of warm noodles drenched in cheese with bits of salty and sweet ham and a slight buttery crunch from the panko and groaned with absolute, unbridled ecstasy. Too much information? Too bad. I know what love is and this dish is it. I highly recommend making this immediately and eating it with unadulterated and reckless abandon. Bon Appetit! AJ

Recipe:
4 cups dried macaroni
1/4 cup (1/2 stick salted butter)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half & half
3 heaping teaspoons dry mustard
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated (I use parmigiano reggiano)
1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese grated
3 tablespoons pancetta diced
1 cup ham with a sweet crust, cubed small
1 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
parmesan crisps (recipe/method follows)

Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.

Cook the macaroni in salted water to very al dente. It should be a little too firm to eat right away.

Beat the egg and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, add the chopped pancetta and stir for 2 minutes. Add in the chopped ham and cook for 3 more minutes. Set aside.

In a large pot, melt the butter and then add in the flour all at once whisking vigorously over medium heat for a few minutes or until smooth. Pour in milk, half & half, mustard, nutmeg and a big pinch of salt and pepper (few twists of the pepper mill). Continue to whisk for about five minutes over medium high heat until mixture is thick. Turn heat to low and take about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture and whisk it in with the egg until smooth. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk mixture and whisk until smooth. Work quickly to avoid ending up with scrambled eggs.

Taste the sauce and add in salt and pepper if needed. Pour in cooked and drained macaroni, cooked pancetta and ham and stir to combine. Add in all of the cheeses and stir to combine. Again taste for salt and pepper and season if necessary. Pour entire mixture into a buttered baking dish, top with extra sharp cheddar shredded and the panko bread crumbs spread evenly over the entire dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Parmesan Crisps – Recipe and Method

1 cup parmesan cheese finely shredded

Pre-heat broiler.

On a baking sheet with parchment paper, mound 1/2 cup of the cheese on the paper in a circle about the size of the bottom of the measuring cup and repeat with the other 1/2 cup on a separate spot on the paper. Put the baking sheet with the cheese under the broiler and watch closely until all of the cheese is melted, slightly bubbly and turning brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. With a thin spatula, gently lift one cracker at a time off the parchment and bend into a slight cylinder until it holds that shape on it’s own. Insert the crackers on the edge of the Mac n’ Cheese prior to serving.

Nutella for Breakfast?

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/a-healthy-chocolate-breakfast-for-kids/

I recently read this (see link) and I have to ask the question, are there really parents out there who would serve this for breakfast? I love Nutella and I believe it is excellent for a million different recipes but serving it for breakfast to kids in a nation that already has an obesity epidemic is appalling and totally irresponsible. Harsh assessment? Maybe. I just think somewhere along the line we became lazy with nutrition and we can do better.

So, just go for it and chuck the salt soaked lunchables, the fruit roll-ups, potato chips, fritos, gummy anything, granola bars, wonder bread and anything else that has a main ingredient of corn syrup, salt, white flour or partially hydrogenated anything. In the long run when your kids are healthy, diabetes free and above all, not getting made fun of for being fat, they will appreciate that you went the extra mile to make healthy food and to teach them what proper nutrition is and tastes like.

Cheers to the work of child-rearing - not a job for sissies! AJ

Popcorn - The Real Stuff

Okay people, we need to have a talk. What is with the microwave popcorn? I feel like that guy in the Dr. Seuss book "Green Eggs and Ham". I cannot, will not eat microwave popcorn over here or over there or in a boat or on a train.

I feel strongly about this because regular popcorn cooked on a stove in vegetable oil served with a lot of salt and a Tab was a staple with my parents and by extension us kids when I was growing up. There was no microwave popcorn and my parents made that stuff on the stove so much that I was able to make it myself and did so many times, hot grease and all, in grade school standing on a step stool. P.S. This is also the cool thing about the 80's, not only could a child in grade school cook on the stove with hot grease and no one blinked but you could also ride your bike around without a helmet, seat-belts were in the car just for show, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper ruled the world, sparkly bangle bracelets and jelly bracelets were gnarly and Garbage Pal Kids cards were actually considered high value trading material on the school playground. Oh, how I miss those unapologetic days of Reaganite unadulterated excess. I'm not being political here, I just loved the 80's...no more, no less.

Anyway, so here is how you make real popcorn and a few ways to bring it over the top.

Recipe:

1/4 cup or enough to coat the bottom of the pan vegetable, corn or safflower oil
regular popping corn found on the bottom shelf in the grocery store collecting dust
kosher salt to taste
1 tablespoon Kerry Gold Butter

Coat the bottom of a large pan with a lid like the one pictured above with the oil and add three corn kernels. Cover immediately with lid. Wait until oil is hot and listen for all three kernels to pop. Once the kernels have popped, pour in enough corn to form one generous layer on the bottom of the pan. Cover immediately and shake the pan a few times to coat the corn with the oil. Wait a few minutes and listen for the popping to slow down. Peak inside and if the popped corn is halfway up the pan, take it off the heat, cover and wait for the popping to stop. Add in the butter and salt to taste.

Optional: add in 2/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated cheese and toss lightly. I would highly recommend using the high quality cheese as it is one of only a few ingredients and you will really be able to taste it.

Additional Topping Ideas:
- cinnamon, sugar, salt butter
- walnuts, chocolate chips, salt, butter
- thyme, rosemary, salt , butter

Chocolate Chip Oatie Cookies

I have a confession, I am not a great Mom. I use the TV as a babysitter way more than I should, I don't constantly talk to my son describing everything we pass by as all the studies say you should, I forget to bring family photos and stuffed animals to daycare when the teachers ask me to and I have lost it a few more times than I care to admit. I must be incredibly lucky because somehow, despite my many shortcomings, my kid always has a sunny disposition and continues to laugh at bunnies hopping, tickles, sloppy kisses and bubbles in the bath.

So, do I try to compensate for what I lack with these cookies? You bet. Whenever I bring these out to the little man, he says, "Wow Mommy, these are delicious!" This makes my day and I have no reservations about peddling these to hear my boy tell me that he loves me even though I am a work in progress. So, to all of the Mom's out there who are just doing the best they can, trying to keep all of the balls in the air, take a step back, marvel at the little miracles you created and make these cookies as a treat to yourself and your kids, you both deserve it. XO – AJ

Recipe:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup or 2 sticks butter softened (I use Kerry Gold Pure Irish Butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use Madagascar Vanilla)
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Combine four, baking soda, salt and oatmeal in a bowl, stir with a fork and set aside. Combine butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed or until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly. Add in flour mixture with mixer on lowest speed until just combined - do not over beat! Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips. Drop tablespoon sized balls onto baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until cookies have a very light caramel color to them. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for 15 minutes. Remove cookies to newspapers, paper towels or wire racks to cool.

Note:
• Sometimes I like to press the center of the cookie down a bit and sprinkler a few grains of sea salt before baking.

Cranberry, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad with Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette

I am addicted to this salad. This has been my lunch staple going on three weeks now and is showing no signs of over staying its welcome on my palate. This is a major development for a girl who avoided salad like the plague until her mid-20's and even more so for someone with a short attention span who eats nothing twice in the same week. At some point I discovered that I could make my own dressing at half the cost and double the taste which was a welcome discovery to someone who hates the artificial, chemical taste of the store bought stuff. As a disclaimer, I am not a total store bought dressing snob. Paul Newman's ranch dressing was what got me out of bed in the morning when I was pregnant with my son. The creamy consistency combined with that slightly sour buttermilk taste intermingling with a wedge of chilled iceberg was what made me go through a bottle a day with 70 pounds packed on over the course of 9 months as evidence of my addiction. Since then I have made several attempts at my own Ranch and my efforts have all resulted in flops that were never as tasty out as any of the store bought stuff. Go figure!

Recipe:

*Salad First:
2 cups spring green salad mix or any combination of hearty salad greens
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries
2 tablespoons plain goat cheese crumbled

Pile the salad leaves on a plate or in a large bowl. Top the greens with the walnuts, cranberries and cheese. Top with the dressing, mix and enjoy.

*This recipe serves one. Go ahead and double or triple the ingredients if you are having a party.

**Dressing Last:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximately 1 orange)
1/2 cup whole cranberry sauce (from a can or homemade)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger (peeled and finely minced)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon raspberry jelly or plain sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper to taste

Whisk the juice and cranberry sauce together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Add in the ginger, olive oil, vinegar, jelly, salt and pepper to taste and mix. Pour on the salad mix and serve.

**This dressing is enough for three to four salads. I make it at the beginning of the week and it lasts for five days of salad lunches at the office.

Enjoy! Xoxo – AJ

Banana Bread Bombs

So I am not posting this recipe, or I should say two recipes as there were two breads, because they need work. I did, however, post the photos and I know they look completely innocent but upon tasting, I was completely disappointed. I was attempting to make one with a crumbly brown sugar topping and the other with peanut butter and marshmallow that I was going to affectionately call Elvis bread. So the Crumbly and Elvis recipes are not going to be making their appearance but rest assured, I am working on them and will post the new and improved version when I am ready.

Xoxo – AJ