Bucatini with Mushroom Medley

I've made this recipe too many times to count--it's just so very delicious...well, if you love mushrooms, anyway :)  When I made it this time, I made 1 1/2 times the recipe, thus my photos reflect the larger version.  If you cannot find bucatini pasta, linguine would be a good substitute.
Original recipe is on this website (I listed original quantities below):
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bucatini-with-mushrooms
My instructions are just slightly different from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. dried porcini mushrooms (1/2 ounce)
2/3 c. boiling water
1/4 c. reserved strained soaking water

8 oz. uncooked bucatini pasta
1/4 c. reserved cooking water (from when the pasta is drained)
3 1/4 tsp. salt, divided
1 T. canola oil
1/4 c. minced shallots
8 oz. exotic mushroom blend, coarsely chopped (if cannot be found, baby bellas and/or shiitakes are great substitute)
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
2 T. dry sherry
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated, divided
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage (I use around the same amount, only dried)
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp. black truffle oil** (yes, this is a pricey ingredient, but well worth it!  You can omit, but it will not be quite the same dish)

Directions:

1. Combine the dried porcini and the 2/3 c. boiling water in a bowl.  Cover and let soak at least 20 minutes:

At the end of the 20 minutes, strain mushrooms and reserve the liquid that strains out.

2. Cook pasta with 1 T. salt in boiling water, with time according to package directions for 'al dente'.  Drain in a colander over a bowl so that you can catch some of the cooking water to use in a later step.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shallots, mushroom blend, and garlic.  Sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Add strained porcini mushrooms, sherry, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Cook 1 minute or until liquid has nearly evaporated:

5. Reduce the heat to medium.  Stir in the cooked pasta, 1/4 c. reserved pasta cooking water, 1/4 c. reserved porcini soaking water, half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano, heavy cream, sage, pepper, and the truffle oil:

6. Serve in pasta bowl, top with additional cheese from the remaining half of it and enjoy!

Lamb Chops with Red Wine Sauce

This is the recipe I was talking about in the last entry, where I posted the side dish I made to accompany this.  I don't know where I got this recipe from; I've made it a few times now and loved it every single time:

Ingredients:
4 lamb loin chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T. olive oil, divided
2 small shallots, peeled, minced
1 T. tomato paste
3/4 c. port wine or favorite red wine (I used a Valpolicella this time, but I have used Cabernet Sauvignon in the past)
1/2 c. fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
1 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. unsalted butter

Instructions:
1. Pat the lamb chops dry and season with salt and pepper. In a skillet large enough to hold all 4 chops, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chops and cook until nicely browned on each side, about 3-4 minutes for each side for medium-rare:

2. Remove the chops from the skillet and place on platter. Tent with foil to keep them warm:

3. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive over medium heat and add the shallots. Cook about 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until beginning to brown, about 1 minute.

5. Stir in the wine, broth and thyme. Simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes:

6. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook about 2 minutes:

7. Remove from the heat, strain if desired (I do not), and whisk in the butter and any accumulated lamb chop juices on the platter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the chops drizzled with desired amount of pan sauce:

Seasoned Yukon Gold Potato Wedges

A few days ago, I decided that I'd to make a dish I've done before but it has been at least a year since I last made it.  This dish will be posted in the next entry.  For now, I'm going to post the side dish first, which I came across just looking for an easy recipe for oven roasted potatoes that would use yukon gold ones (as that is what I had and wanted to use up).  This recipe is very similar in the spice combination that is used in another of my favorites, Parmesan diced potatoes (to be posted eventually!).  This was a hit--will be making more in the future, as it's so simple!

Original recipe is from this website:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/seasoned-yukon-gold-wedges
I used 1 1/2 times the amount of potatoes and doubled everything else, thus this could be halved for lesser servings.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 lb. yukon gold potatoes, cut into wedges
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. panko (or dry bread crumbs)
1 T. paprika
1/2 T. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with oil:

3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl:

4. Sprinkle the combined ingredients over the potatoes, then toss to coat:

5. Spray a large baking sheet (15x10x1 or larger) with cooking spray.  Arrange potatoes in a single layer on the pan (or as close as you can get, as I did below):

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until tender).  Enjoy:

Snickerdoodles

This recipe was one that my late father created; according to my mom, he took a bunch of recipes for snickerdoodles and combined them to arrive at this one :)

Ingredients:
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. butter flavored Crisco
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 medium eggs (if you have large, just add all but a little bit of the white of each one)

sugar and cinnamon blend for dusting/coating

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Place Crisco and sugar in bowl for electric mixer and cream together:

4. Add eggs and mix on medium until well-combined:

5. With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients mixture as mixer continues running:

6. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl (sorry, do not know exact or even estimate amounts--I just know it looks like light colored sand when they are properly mixed).
7. Form small balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat all over:

8. Place balls on cookie sheet (I used non-stick):

9. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.  Cool on sheet for around a 1-2 minutes after removing from oven, then transfer to cooling rack:

10. Enjoy!

Devil's Food Triple Chip Cookies

Not sure of the origin, but most cooks who bake with cake mixes know how easy it is to make cookies from them.  I love doing this and typically make just the mix cookie, frost it with my homemade frosting, and then make it into a whoopie pie/sandwich style cookie.  This time I wanted something a little different and decided to throw some chocolate chips in with it...oh, such a great decision:

These have the added bonus of being easy to make and addictive...be sure to have milk on hand to have with them ;)

Ingredients:
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
approximately (I did not measure these):
1/3 c. white/vanilla chips
1/3 c. milk chocolate chips
1/3 c. dark chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Stir together cake mix, oil, and eggs in a bowl until well combined, like this (batter will be greasy to touch):

3. Stir in all the morsels:

4. Form small balls by hand and place on ungreased cookie sheet (I used non-stick):

5. Bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes.  Cookies will be a little puffy when done.
6. Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes before moving to cooling rack:

7. Get some milk and enjoy together!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Last week I was browsing recipes once again and came across this one.  Decided I'd make it as soon as I had the opportunity and strawberries were on sale.  Yesterday, I spotted some strawberries in one of the weekly grocery store ads and the craving to try this recipe overwhelmed me--I simply had to make it!

I followed this recipe very closely, apart from the name brand products and the fact that they show strawberries on the cake in the picture, but not listed in recipe's ingredients: http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cakes/Duncan%20Hines%C2%AE/strawberry-pound-cake/

Ingredients:
1 box strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury, simply because I could not find the Duncan Hines version at the stores I visited this shopping trip)
1 package (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels/chips
3/4 c. vanilla frosting (I'm not sure which brand I used for this; I'd normally make my own frosting, but I didn't want to do extra cleanup this time :))
(optional) 3 fresh strawberries, sliced

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan. (I used a tube pan this time, but I think I'll go with a Bundt next time; it was not easy to flour it and the cake stuck a little).

2. Blend cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, and oil with electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes:

3. Stir in chocolate chips:

4. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.  Cake is done when toothpick or fork inserted in middle comes out clean. (Sorry, forgot to snap a photo for this part!)

5. Cool cake on a wire rack for at least 25 minutes.  Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before next step.

6. Microwave (on high) the 3/4 c. frosting for around 15 seconds.  Remove from microwave, stir, and then drizzle over top of cake:

(I spread it out over the top as well so that the entire top was covered)

7. Add sliced strawberries to top:

8. Cut a slice and enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcakes With Cocoa (from scratch)

Whew--got pretty busy there for a few weeks and wasn't able to post!  I still managed to cook occasionally, so now it's time to start catching up and posting regularly again :D

With spring upon us, it's time for strawberries, of course!  Decided to try a recipe from the "Easy Everyday Cooking" card collection that I've had for...yeah, let's not count how many years lol.  Anyway, it's a pretty easy and tasty; I plan to make it again at least a few times while strawberries are at peak.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 light cream or half-and-half (I used the latter)

Sliced fresh strawberries

Whipped cream/topping

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, and salt in a bowl:

3. Gradually add cream, mixing with a wooden spoon until mixture clings together:

4. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 1 minute.  Pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle:

5. Cut pastry dough into 6 rounds using a 3 inch biscuit cutter.  Arrange dough rounds on a greased baking sheet:

6. Bake for about 15 minutes.  Place on a wire rack to cool:

7. Split the shortcakes in half:

8. Top one half with strawberries (I put sugar on mine first to make them syrupy, but that's just a preference):

9. Top the strawberries with some whipped cream/topping (I used heavy cream to make whipped cream this time):

10. Place other half of shortcake on top of whipped cream:

11.  I decided to top mine with a dusting of powdered sugar as well:

Enjoy!