Someone found the Silpat...

Beef and Polenta Pie

I tore this out of Rachael Ray's magazine, and when I later saw it on someone else's blog (I cannot for the life of me remember whose...), I figured that was some divine intervention, telling me I must make this.

So I did.

I guess if I were grading this dinner as I would my students' essays, I'd give it a C+. It was average. Nothing terrible, but nothing fabulous.


Would I make it again? Ehh. I don't know. I'd have to really be in the mood for it.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• One 6-ounce package portobello mushroom caps, cut into cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef
• Salt and pepper
• One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup instant polenta
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus more for sprinkling
• One 10-ounce package frozen green beans, thawed and drained

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Whisk in the polenta until thickened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the cream, cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth; pour into a large casserole dish.

3. Stir the green beans into the beef mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture over the polenta and top with more parmesan.

Marinara Sauce

Although I usually love anything from Giada, I was not a fan of her Quick Marinara. Therefore, I was a bit reluctant to try her "basic" version from her Everyday Italian book.

I needn't have worried. I know the picture below is blurry and icky, but this sauce was really, really good! Definitely a keeper.

(I threw all the veggies into my chopper for a smoother consistency.)

For some reason, the recipe is doubled in the book, and I doubled that, so I ultimately ended up with 4 times the quantity posted below. Oh well - I'm sure it won't take long before it's gone!


Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 dried bay leaves

In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste.

(The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

Meatballs

I've been on the hunt for some freezer-friendly foods in another effort to cut back how much time I spend cooking during the week without really cutting back how much I cook. Make sense? :)

I remember that I bought this book, Don't Panic--Dinner's in the Freezer, when I was pregnant with Ryan to try to have food ready for when he was born. While it's not the greatest book ever, it has some good stuff in it.

I was making some marinara sauce, so I figured meatballs would be a great addition to my freezer stash. I doubled this recipe (I used half turkey and half beef) and made about 4 dozen meatballs, give or take. They certainly weren't my grandmother's, but they weren't bad.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ground meat
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 T parsley flakes
• 1 t salt
• 1/8 t pepper
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients and mix together gently. Shape into balls and place on baking sheet; bake for 30 minutes at 350.

To freeze - place on a jelly roll pan before baking and flash freeze. After frozen, remove from pan and store in freezer-safe ziplocs.

Awesome Autumn Stew

I bookmarked this recipe for an Awesome Autumn Stew in Rachael Ray's newer cookbook - Yum-O! We had plans to go pumpkin picking with my brother, and what better meal for post-pumpkin-ing than an autumn stew?

I decided to just throw everything into the crockpot rather than cook it Rachael's way - much easier and lazier. And I also followed her suggestion and used chicken thighs rather than pork.


The taste was pretty good, although it was just a tad to sweet... even for me. Maybe it was all those craisins... I don't know. I would probably change a few things. Also, there was a LOT of liquid! I'd definitely reduce the amounts of broth and cider next time.

Altogether, though, not too shabby for a meal that cost me about 5 minutes of my life to assemble.

Ingredients:

• 1 package pork tenderloins (2 pieces), trim them up and remove the shiny silver skin and connective tissue or ask the butcher to do this for you
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 large onion, chopped into 1-inch dice
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced on an angle 1/2-inch thick
• 5-6 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, sliced 1/2-inch thick on an angle
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• 5-6 sprigs thyme
• 4 McIntosh apples, quartered, core cut away, then cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
• 2 cups cloudy apple cider
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 loaf crusty whole grain bread

Cube the pork tenderloin into 1 1/2-inch pieces – big bites. Place the cubed tenderloins onto a sheet tray. Season the meat liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss with the paprika and flour until well coated.

Meanwhile, pre-heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot with the EVOO over medium-high to high heat. Once the oil ripples and begins to very lightly smoke, add the pork to the pot and sear it until it is well browned on all sides, 7-8 minutes (lots of brown bits should be left in the bottom of the pot). Remove the meat to a platter and reserve.

Add the onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf and thyme to the pot and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook the vegetables until they begin to become tender, 6-8 minutes. Add in the apples, allspice and cranberries and allow to sauté until the vegetables are quite tender but the apples still have some legs, 3-4 more minutes.

Pour in the cider and scrape up the brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add in the chicken stock and toss the pork back into the hot tub. Bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to simmer for 8-10 minutes or until slightly thickened, cranberries have plumped and apples are tender. Pull out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs from the pot and discard them.

Line the bottom of dinner bowls with a few chunks of bread. Ladle the stew on top of the bread and enjoy!

Sweet "Citrus" Chicken

My awesome friend Jen emailed me this Sweet Citrus Chicken recipe not too long ago, and I think I love her even more now. Was that even possible?

I loved how easy this was to just throw together - unbelievable. And SO GOOD!! I actually forgot to buy orange juice and was way too lazy to go out and buy it... I used apple juice instead. Delish!

This would also work awesome with turkey for a mid-year mini-Thanksgiving feast... throw some craisins in there too, and POOF! Fantastic!

Thanks for the recommendation, Jen!

Ingredients:

• 1-2/3 cups hot water
• 1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
• 6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Add hot water to stuffing mix; stir just until moistened. Set aside.

PLACE chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish. Mix juice, sugar and butter until well blended; pour over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170ºF).

Hilarious! (but not cooking related)

I don't even remember where I first saw this picture, but it absolutely cracks me up every.single.time. Hope it brings you some giggles!

Follow me?

If you are reading this in Google Reader, please click the link at the top of your screen so you are on the actual blog.

Go ahead. I'll give you a sec.

Okay, you there? You're on the blog itself? You see the morbid black background and the picture of me on your right grinning like a moron?

Awesome.

Okay, scroll down a bit. Over on the left, see the little box that says "Followers"?

You really should click on the link that says "Follow This Blog."

I'll be honest - I have no idea what it means to "follow" a blog.

But I assure you - it will make me feel pretty damn special if you did so. ;)

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

I've had Giada's Italian Baked Chicken and Pasta bookmarked for months now and finally am getting around to making it. I thought it'd be good, but didn't expect it to be awesome; it's really just a simple dish.

It was, however, far better than I expected. My son, who currently will not eat anything that isn't a Cheerio, ate a ton of this! That alone makes this dinner a winner, no?


Next time, I must double it. It made just enough for the three of us; there aren't any leftovers. More is better!

Confession: I was totally channeling my inner child while at the store; I went for the little alphabets rather than pastina. I felt so... childlike? while eating them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
• 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Stuffed Pizza Pie

One of the things I love best about Picky Palate (and several other blogs) is that the dishes are "tested" by other little boys. So when I see a successful recipe, I am more confident when I give them to Ryan.


This Stuffed Pizza Pie was no exception. Ryan ate almost an entire slice by himself! Later, he kept coming up to me when I was trying to actually eat dinner myself, begging for more.

I'd like to pretend that the fact that I let him "dunk" into some Ranch Dressing had nothing to do with it...

But this was absolutely delicious, and the fact that it was so simple is just a bonus. I'd love to play around with this and make different variations. The possibilities are endless...!

Ingredients:

• 16 oz whole wheat or white pizza dough
• 1 Cup ricotta cheese
• ¼ Cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (dried or fresh)
• 2 Cups fresh broccoli florets, steamed until fork tender, about 3 minutes in boiling water
• Pinch of salt
• ½ Cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 ½ Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Spread and press one piece of dough into the bottom and sides of a 9-9 ½ inch round baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta and parmesan cheese until well combined. Spread into pressed pizza dough.


2. Place olive oil into a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute spinach until wilted down, about 3 minutes. Place evenly over ricotta cheese layer, and sprinkle garlic on top. Place steamed broccoli florets over spinach and season with a pinch or two of kosher salt. Layer roasted red peppers, then mozzarella cheese over top. Press out remaining piece of dough and place over filling, tucking edges inside of pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cooked through.

3. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan or cutting into wedges.