Cook-venture: Ravioli with Butter and Sage Sauce

Even though I went on a huge hiatus from blogging last year I was still taking pictures of food I made in the hopes I'd get the chance to eventually post it. Well, the time has come (or my free time is finally here) so here's a catch up post from a meal Errol and I made last summer (gasp!) for Errol's final visit before school started.

First we made some pasta (see my How-To from Florence!). Then mixed some ricotta cheese, thawed frozen spinach, salt and pepper to taste, and an egg to bind it all. 

Place about a tablespoon of the mixture into the middle, place another layer of pasta and crimp the edges with a fork. 

Oh hey, there's Errol! This was his first time making pasta because he did not take the cooking class with me in Florence. He was enjoying his first lesson :) 

Once the ravioli are finished, place them into boiling water. I would recommend a larger pot to boil and/or cook in batches. The nice thing about handmade pasta is that it just takes a few minutes for it to be cooked compared to dried! 

In the meantime, make the sauce! Melt a few tablespoons of butter and then place some whole sage leaves into the hot butter until they are slightly wilted. 

Once the ravioli are done, put on a plate, pour the butter sage sauce over them, and place fresh shavings of parmesan cheese and enjoy! 

Our first adventure making pasta after Italy was a success. The small kitchen makes for a challenge to rolling out the pasta so I actually rolled out one batch of dough into 4 rounds to accomodate my cutting board. I can't wait to have granite countertops and a larger kitchen!

Food-venture: Stromboli

So starts the week of making meals from whatever I have in the pantry and fridge to make my meals. I must admit I cheated I bit, and that I bought these ingredients during a prior week and didn't have the opportunity to make it. 

I was disappointed when I looked up information about stromboli that its origin is actually the United States, despite its Italian name and ingredients. Although, it was from Wikipedia so any other information would be welcomed. When I was in Italy last summer I actually learned that fettuccine alfredo is actually of United States origin as well (#mindblown). 

But anywho, this was a super easy dish with infinite variations. I decided to start with classic pepperoni and mozzarella cheese filling to start, then will try more later.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I started with pre-made pizza crust from a tube.

It's a pretty big deal that I opened this all by myself since I'm quite easily startled. Unfortunately, the tube didn't open by simply exposing the dotted line. I had to use the spoon against the crevice method. But it worked! 

Flatten out the crust. Tastes great, I just wish that I had thinned out the crust a bit more before using. But this did fit perfectly on my cutting board. 

First layer were pepperoni slices...

...then shredded mozzarella. These were pre-shredded which I know is a big no-no but it made making this that much faster! Next time I'll use more cheese.

Fold the bottom third up...

...then the top third downward. Seal the sides and the top. 

I melted 1 tablespoon of butter and brushed it over the top, then sprinkled Italian seasoning on top. 

Place on a baking sheet (my Silpat has been seeing a lot of action!) for 15-20 minutes until healthy brown. 

All done! 

Slice up and dip in marinara sauce. Yum!

It doesn't really get easier than this, and it will last for a few lunches. It's a cleaner version of pizza that takes up less surface area for transport. I'm a fan. 

Future variations: 

• Spinach, feta, and mozzarella
• Salami, pepperoni, cheese, capers
• Ham, pineapple, mozzarella
• Buffalo chicken, blue cheese

Bake-venture: Chocolate and Caramel Biscotti

I had the random inspiration to make biscotti this weekend. Baking is something that is unfamiliar to me - honestly sticking something in the oven and hoping it comes out right makes me nervous. At least on the stove, you can tend to it and give it attention and adjust as needed. I think the only way to get over this is to bake some things successfully.  I think I'm on my way! 

I used this recipe for my biscotti: http://jellytoastblog.com/2013/02/salted-caramel-chocolate-biscotti.html/

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 & 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

15 caramel candies, unwrapped and chopped small

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (I used my Silpat!)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugar, vanilla and eggs until white and creamy. 

In a separate bowl whisk together flours, baking soda and salt.

With the mixer on low, slowing add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

Fold in caramels and 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. 

Divide dough in half and form into two 12 inch logs on prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly so logs are about 3/4 inch high. 

Bake for 35 minutes, and take a peak because you've never see biscotti pre-sliced before!

Remove and allow to cool for 10 min. I picked off the caramel leakage on the sides and ate them. No shame in that.

With a sharp knife, slice each log. I used a serrated bread knife, just be careful not to damage the loaf too much. 

Lay biscotti down on the cut sides. 

Bake again for 10 minutes. Flip the biscotti over and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until biscotti are nicely dried. 

Voila! I believe they turned out really well. Ideally I would have melted chocolate, drizzled it over the biscotti, and sprinkled with sea salt to make them salted caramel biscotti. I tried twice to melt semisweet chocolate chips and both batches seized up, so I gave up. Another adventure for another time. I don't have much of sweet tooth, and these are not too sweet (but still sweet enough for everyone!). 

As a side note, I'm in love with my Silpat! Nothing stuck to it - even the caramel that seeped out of the biscotti loaves. 

Bakeventure a success! It lifted my confidence a bit, until next time...

Soup and Snow

My kitchen and pantry are in a really good place now. Meaning I have all of the kitchen tools I need to make most things, and my pantry is appropriately stocked so that I only need to buy a few fresh ingredients for each meal. 

One of the things I purchased on a whim this weekend (which was bad of me because I'm trying to plan every meal here!) were wonton wraps. Reading through one of my cookbooks I had gyoza on my mind, and lean ground beef in the freezer. So I figured, why not? 

In other news, today was a very special day because it SNOWED in Chapel Hill! There have been a couple of other snows in the past year but they have generally been lame, and in the middle of the night. Today's snow started at 6PM and were huge, fluffy, winter-wonderland-y flakes. Granted, the ground was too warm for it to stick - but still made for a great photo op (too bad I didn't take any pictures...). 

But in honor of the snow and cold snap (tonight's low is in the teens!), I decided to make wonton soup. So I started to defrost the ground beef in the microwave (I really hate doing that, but the last minute decision forced me to!). 

In the meantime, I worked on my mise en place. I've been trying to get into the habit of gathering and preparing all of my ingredients before actually starting to cook so everything works as a well-oiled machine. I must say it truly makes a difference! 

Pictured are 1 small yellow onion (diced finely), 5 green onions (finely chopped), 1 tablespoon ginger (minced), 3 large garlic cloves (minced). 

The ground beef was defrosted, so in went the yellow onion, green onion, and garlic. I used my hand to incorporate it all evenly. In a separate bowl, I mixed together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the ginger. Then I added that into the ground beef. At this point I was able to use a wooden spoon to mix it all together. Smells delicious now - too bad it's raw! 

Now it's time to assemble! I would recommend doing it with someone over a glass of wine and a nice chat, or in front of the TV if you're like me and home alone. This process takes some time! 

These were the wonton wraps I used. I'm not sure different brands matter; this just happens to be what Harris Teeter had. 

The wrappers have a floured side and a non-floured side. Place the wonton flour side down, on a lightly floured surface (the amount I had was too much, but didn't seem to matter). Place a small bit of meat into the middle of the of the wrapper. You'll have to play around with it to see how much you can fit in there. 

Use your finger dipped in water to wet the bottom two edges of the wrapper. I'd recommend a small bowl of warm water to be right next to you instead of running over to the sink to wet your finger every time. Then fold in half and seal the sides. The wrappers feel delicate but an surprisingly handle a firm press to seal the edges. 

Use water again to wet the side corner.

Put the ends together and press together (again, they can handle a firm squish!)

Place finished wontons on a separate plate, and repeat. 

Keep repeating until you can't make anymore wontons because your TV show is now over. I made 24 wontons, and still have some meat leftover but will try to make something else with it. 

Bring some chicken stock to a boil. I've got 6 cups here, but would have liked some more. I like a high soup to wonton ratio. Put the wontons into the boiling broth and cover your pot for 5-7 minutes to cook. I was surprised this was all the time they needed, but it worked! 

Once finished, ladle some into your bowl, garnish with green onions, and enjoy! 

Then take a lame selfie because you're excited about it.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of this dish. Honestly, I'm proud of any Asian dish I happen to make successfully. I'm not sure why Asian food intimidates me the most, but my theory is that I've grown to love my parents' cooking and can't seem to duplicate it. So essentially, I have lots to live up to. 

Things I'd like to try for next time: 

• Use low sodium chicken broth
• Use ground pork or turkey instead of beef
• Add some Sriracha to the broth for a bit of a kick
• Garnish with cilantro (I really love cilantro...)

I have a feeling this will be the first of many wonton things I try. Searching through Pinterest, I saw there are infinite things you can do with these wrappers! 

And just because I'm proud of my pantry stock: the only thing I had to buy for this meal was the wonton wrappers!

Curses of Cooking for One

We're 3 weeks into the new year, and this long weekend seems like a good chance to evaluate progress on my new year's resolutions.

I had a couple of vague resolutions relating to food:

1. Try creating a new dish of food every week
2. Eat less preservatives

In general, the idea is simply to cook more at home, bring lunch to school, and eat out less often. Now, when I say "eat out" I generally mean the unhealthy stuff - I still want to explore new dishes at nice restaurants! And actually, I feel like one of the "curses" of learning how to cook more meals is that I generally don't want to eat at places with meals I feel like I could make myself. 

One of the steps I tried to start out with was to make a weekly meal plan. Figuring out what to make has fed my addictions to Food Network and Pinterest. Last week was rather successful; here's what I made: 

• Bread pudding - I had half a French baguette that was reaching its last breath, so I tried making my first bread pudding ever. It turned out pretty well (although I have nothing to compare it to!). That brings me to another curse of cooking more: there's no one to eat these dishes along with me! 
• Orange Chicken - This turned out very yummy too. But if I were to do it again, I wouldn't bread it. The breading ended up coming off and just lingered in the sauce. 
• Shrimp and Mango Salsa Two Ways - This was something I made without a recipe. I've made tons of pico de gallo, so the mango salsa was just another variation. Along with the shrimp and fixin's, I was able to make a few meals two different ways! 
• Noodles with Peanut Butter Sauce - No pictures unfortunately, but this was a delicious recipe that came from "In The Small Kitchen" by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine. I bought this cookbook when Errol and I moved in together - and had a small kitchen! 

Overall, I've had a successful few weeks of not letting professional responsibilities get in the way of responsibilities to myself. 

Cook-venture: Shrimp and Mango Salsa (Two Ways)

I had a mango that was ready to be eaten, and a craving for some red onion and cilantro (weird, I know) so I decided to combine the three to make a salsa! Combine that with the easiest protein to make: shrimp! I always have a bag of raw frozen shrimp and use as needed. It thaws quickly in warm water, and cooks even faster. Shrimp absorbs any flavor you want it to and is the perfect bite size. I know it probably doesn't sound great to keep frozen shrimp, but until I can afford to buy it fresh on the regular, this is how it goes!

Making these in two different ways reminded me of when Errol and I went to Cancun and essentially lived on tortilla chips and corn tortillas added with some sort of seasoned meat and pico de gallo or guacamole (and can't forget plenty of margaritas). That was the life...

Tip: To cut mango into pieces, cut a grid (be careful not to cut all the way through the skin) and spoon out the pieces. After taking these out, still chopped them up a bit for the salsa, but you could also just eat it this way alone.

Salsa: Combine pieces of salsa, small dices of red onion, and chopped cilantro to taste (I like more red onion than most people). Add some dashes of lime and let flavors marinate at least 1 hour. I waited overnight, but not by choice - already had something else made to eat. 

Crema: Mix plain Greek yogurt, taco seasoning, and a few dashes of lime juice. I used 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, and 2 teaspoonsful of taco seasoning. I love substituting Greek yogurt for sour cream - it works perfectly! 

Shrimp: At salt, pepper, taco seasoning, and lime juice to shrimp in a bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes. Melt a pat of butter or olive oil onto a skillet at medium-high heat. Once hot enough, put about 4-6 shrimp (per serving) into the skill. Once the tails of the shrimp are pink (1-2 minutes), turn over until shrimp is all pink. 

Way #1 - Taco: Assemble the taco like you would prefer to eat one (nice instructions, eh?). I put shrimp first, then salsa, then Greek yogurt, and cheese. I will admit to microwaving for 15 seconds to melt the cheese (probably a huge cooking faux pas!) 

Way #2 - Tostada: Put a flour tortilla into a toaster oven and toast until firm but not burned. Put a layer of the Greek yogurt onto the bottom to make a base for the other ingredients to stick to. Spread shrimp evenly across the tortilla. Top with mango salsa! 

Things I learned for next time:

• Use smaller tortillas. I think what I got were one size too big. 
• Try corn tortillas (these are flour). 
• Use a firmer mango for a bit more of a sour kick and texture.
• Make a slaw, or just use shredded cabbage to fill out the taco (again, for texture)

Cook-venture: Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies

I've had a lot of foodventures lately, and I think that's because I'm determined to be happy and enjoy my final semester in Chapel Hill. I'll only be moving to Durham next year (~20 minutes away), but it won't be the same. My friends will be all across North Carolina. What better way to bring people together than with food?

Anyways, I first had these cookies when a friend made them and they are my first "via Pinterest" creation - and it's SO EASY!

Preheat the oven to 350 F. All you need is this box of cake mix (I believe any cake mix will do... but they they wouldn't be strawberry cookies):

1/2 cup of butter (2 sticks), 1 block of cream cheese (I used Neufchâtel), and an egg - all room temperature so they mix together easier. 

Go ahead and spend a few hundred bucks on a standmixer just for this recipe. Beat together the butter and cream cheese. Once that's done, add the egg.

Slowly add in the cake mix as the beater is on low. This dough is VERY sticky. Stick it in the fridge for ~30 minutes to help. 

Now I get to feature my new toy - my Silpat! It's a lovely nonstick silicone mat. And it's made in France. 

Scoop out the dough, using about half the size of the clumps I've made (my cookies were way too big!). Put in the oven until the dough has set (don't want it to be overbaked). I would say about 10-15 minutes, but it may be different with smaller cookies.

I don't have a final picture, but just imagine they looked like this: 

This picture is also from the website I got the recipe from: http://cookiesandcups.com/strawberry-gooey-butter-cookies/

Foodventure: Buttermilk Biscuits

For the last Sunday morning before school started, I thought I'd make a nice breakfast - especially since Errol was in town too. So decided to try out the new biscuit cutter that my mom gave me for Christmas and make my first biscuits from scratch. 

I used the recipe from The New Best Recipe Cookbook that Errol got me a few years ago. 

First you blend together the dry ingredients:

A whole stick of COLD butter, cut into cubes. I even put it in the freezer for a few minutes after I cut it, just to make sure. You want the butter to be cold because when it bakes, those pieces of butter will melt and make yummy air pockets and flakiness.

Add in the buttermilk (I've read you can make your own if you don't have any on hand). 

Now process it until just combined, about 8 pulses. 

Pour it out onto a floured surface and bring it together into a ball. Do it without working the dough very much at all, just push it together. 

Roll it out to the desired thickness. Mine was definitely too thin as you can see; I thought they would rise a bit more, but it could also be because my baking soda is about a year old. 

Put it on a baking pan. You can see on the bottom right corner that that's what I made with the final scraps. No wasting here! Although next time I'll probably work the cracks out, since it came apart once baked. 

And that's all she wrote! We put a variety of things onto the biscuits, including:

• More butter 
• Honey 
• Strawberry preserves
• Apricot preserves