Rigatoni Bolognese

Ready for a delicious, hearty, meaty pasta sauce made from scratch?  You've landed on the perfect entry!  I've made this sauce many times and love it every time.  It also freezes well, which helps if you don't have a big family to feed (this makes 4-6 servings).

This recipe comes from a cookbooklet I have called "Perfect Pasta" by Cuisine at Home.  I follow the recipe very closely--only slight variations have been made.

Link to my YouTube video of preparation: https://youtu.be/QUFdm-d-fLY

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage (I use links and cut off the casings)

1/2 c. yellow onion

1/2 c. celery

1/2 c. carrot

1 T. bottled minced garlic

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes (or whole, with juice/undrained)

1 c. dry red wine (I most often use Cabernet Sauvignon or Côtes du Rhône)

1 c. whole milk

1/4 c. tomato paste

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 lb. cooked rigatoni

Instructions:

1. Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Drain the fat and return meat to pan.

2. Mince the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in food processor.

3. Add minced mixture to browned meat and cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except cooked rigatoni).  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

5. Serve over rigatoni and enjoy!  (I garnished mine with grated Parmesan Reggiano.)

Malt Shoppe Chocolate Mousse Pie

The baking aisle at the grocery store is the one where I have to control myself the most; I have a tendency to buy items I think I am out of (without confirming first and/or needing), which sometimes results in a small stock up of ingredients I don't use terribly often, such as sweetened condensed milk.  I ended up with 3 cans and decided I needed to find some recipes to use them up before I'd forget I had them and they'd go bad or I'd buy more lol.  I stumbled across this recipe and, given my love of chocolate pie and malted milk balls, figured I needed to try it out:
http://www.eaglebrand.com/recipes/malt-shoppe-chocolate-mousse-pie-7121

It's pretty good; quite rich and sweet (of course).  However, the texture is slightly odd to me for a chocolate pie, so I think I will seek out a different recipe the next time I have such a craving.  It is simple to make, though, so if you are looking for an easy chocolate pie (with malted milk balls), this will do the trick well :)

Ingredients:

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. chocolate malted milk powder
3 T. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk (I used low fat, which may account for the texture being not quite what I expected)
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 8-oz. container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 5-oz. box chocolate-covered malted milk balls, crushed, divided

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.  Place unbaked pie crust in pie dish and pierce with fork all over.

2. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool completely.  (Mine suffered some shrinking; guess that's what I get for buying a crust instead of making one!)

3. Combine brown sugar, malted milk powder, cornstarch, and salt in medium saucepan.

4. Turn on heat to medium and whisk in condensed milk.  Cook, whisking constantly, for about 4 minutes or until begins to boil.

5. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and vanilla until melted and smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

6. Reserve 1/4 cup of malted milk balls for topping.  Stir remaining malted milk balls and a little over half of the whipped topping into the chocolate mixture.

7. Spoon the chocolate mixture into the crust.  Top with remaining whipped topping and then remaining malted milk balls.

8. Enjoy!

Extra Crispy Fried Chicken

Up until now, I had one recipe I relied on for fried chicken, as it is amazing and not too difficult (just messy).  As I poured through some of my old cooking magazines the other day, this recipe caught my attention and I decided I had to give it go when I had some time on my hands:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/extra-crispy-fried-chicken
Oh, am I ever glad I did!  It's really excellent--as much or more so than the other one.  However, it's far more time-consuming--you will need a few hours to fully prep correctly (not all active time--much is spent with the chicken in the oven and the fridge).  As usual, I modified slightly and think it worked out brilliantly!

Ingredients:

1/4 c. plus 2 T. kosher salt
1/4 c. coarse ground black pepper (or freshly ground)
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T. minced fresh rosemary, plus 4 sprigs
1 1/2 T. minced fresh thyme, plus 4 sprigs
1 1/2 T. minced fresh sage, plus 4 sprigs
5 minced bay leaves (preferably fresh--which is what I used), plus 5 whole leaves
1 1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic (or 3 fresh cloves minced)
1 whole head of fresh garlic, broken in to cloves and each peeled
4 lbs. chicken legs/drumsticks (this was 12 for me)
1 qt. buttermilk
1 T. Tabasco/hot sauce
1 tsp. sugar
canola oil for frying
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. rice flour
1/4 c. garlic powder
1/4 c. onion powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.

2. In a bowl, whisk 3 T. kosher salt, 2 T. black pepper, the olive oil, the minced fresh herbs, and the minced garlic.

3. Rub the mixture over all the chicken pieces and place them in a roasting pan.  Roast for 2 1/2 hours, then remove and let cool on wire rack for 30 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the buttermilk, hot sauce, and sugar.

5. Add chicken pieces to this mixture, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

6. In a Fry Daddy (or large heavy saucepan on stove; I used the Fry Daddy), pour in oil for frying until it is 2 inches deep.  Heat to 375°F, then add the remaining fresh herb sprigs and garlic cloves.

7. Fry herbs until garlic starts to turn golden brown, then remove and discard.  (The original recipe suggests to save these and use as garnish, but I doubt I would ever do such a thing, personally.)

8. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, rice flour, garlic powder, and onion powder.

9. Remove a chicken piece from the buttermilk mixture, let drip for a moment, then dredge in flour mixture.

10. Fry in batches (I fried 3 at a time) for 8 minutes each.  Let cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Thai-Curried Chicken Thighs

This is a dish I've made many times, with a few variations.  The first time, I actually used Cornish game hens (as it is written); while they do have a great flavor, I find them to be tedious to work with.  After that, I opted for using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which turned out to be a great decision--super tasty and cuts down on the work.  Another way to make it less work is to use the slow cooker instead; this is what I did this time around.  I forgot to pick up the Thai chile peppers this time, figured it might just make it less spicy.  While that was the effect, it took away from the dish too much, thus I recommend against this.  The dish is best with a spicy kick, plain and simple.

Here is the original:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/thai-curried-game-hens-231599

Ingredients:

3 T. olive oil, divided
1 1/2 T. Thai red curry paste
1 T. tomato paste
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 c. low salt chicken broth
2 cans straw mushrooms, drained
3 kaffir lime leaves (I use 3 big pinches of chopped bottled ones from Whole Foods)
2 T. fish sauce
1 T. (packed) brown sugar
6 cherry tomatoes (or, as I often use, 6 T. canned crushed tomatoes)
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 Thai red chile peppers, seeded and chopped
dried basil

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 T. of the olive oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the curry paste and tomato paste and stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

2. Add coconut milk, broth, mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and brown sugar.  Bring to a simmer.

3. Remove from heat and add cherry tomatoes and chiles.

4. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then brown in remaining 2 T. olive oil over med-high heat.

5. Turn crockpot on high.  Add chicken and pour sauce mixture over.

6. Cook on high for one hour, then change temperature to low and cook for additional 2 hours.  At the end, add dried basil to taste.

7. Enjoy with rice or your choice of side!

(Turtle) Fudge Chocolate Cookies

Warning: these are yet another highly addictive delicious cookie!  I've made these many times, with a couple of variations, and they always disappear rapidly.  And they are easy to make, too--no mixer needed, only a few ingredients...can you feel the danger level increasing? ;)

Link to my YouTube video of preparation: https://youtu.be/mGbjZ33Mlf0

The version I'm presenting here has one slight variation only: no pecans used this time.  I like the cookies either way, and was actually going to make them with pecans, but when I went to get them out of my fridge, discovered I had none!  Oops.  These are delicious either way, I assure you.  You can also make them with peanut butter filled Dove chocolates; however, those tend to melt a bit, so the cookies are more on the messy side.

Here is the original recipe: http://www.marthawhite.com/recipes/turtle-fudge-chocolate-chip-cookies-5511

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

5 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1/4 c. butter
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 (7.4 oz.) packages of Martha White Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix

optional: 2/3 c. chopped pecans
48 Dove Caramel filled chocolates, unwrapped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with release spray).

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute.  Remove and stir as much as possible, then microwave for 30 more seconds and stir again until butter and chocolate are completely melted and mixed (if needed, microwave one more time for 15-30 seconds, but be careful to not scorch the chocolate!).

3. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk.

4. Stir in the muffin mixes.

5. Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. (*if using pecans, dip bottom of balls in the chopped pecans before placing on baking sheet)

6. Bake for 7-9 minutes; cookies will look slightly crackled and dry.

7. Immediately press a caramel candy piece into the center of each cookie, then transfer to baking rack to cool completely.

8. Enjoy (with a glass of milk, if you like--soooo good)!

Crispy Orange Beef

Another tasty and quick recipe for dinner; this is on the sweet side, but not overly so.  When I make it again (which I absolutely will!), I plan to try adding just a little bit of red pepper flake to see if I can achieve an even better result (will post results when I do, of course).
Here is the original recipe, which I followed fairly closely:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crispy-orange-beef/

Ingredients:

1 lb. flank steak, cut in small strips across grain
1/3 c. white sugar
1/3 c. rice vinegar
2 T. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tsp. salt
1 T. soy sauce
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 tsp. orange zest (this was the zest of 1 orange for me)
2 T. fresh grated ginger
1 1/2 T. bottled minced garlic

2 c. oil for frying (I used canola)

Instructions:


1. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.  Spread meat out on paper towels and dry in fridge for 30 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, rice vinegar, orange juice concentrate, salt, and soy sauce.

3. Coat dried beef in the cornstarch (I just tossed them together on the paper towel).

4. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat.  Fry the beef in small batches until crispy and slightly browned and set aside.

5. Drain all the oil out except 1 T.  Add the orange zest, ginger, and garlic; cook briefly until fragrant (around 1 minute).

6. Add the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.  Stir and boil for around 4-5 minutes, or until syrupy and thickened.

7. Add beef, stir to coat and heat thoroughly.

8. Enjoy (I paired it with boiled Basmati rice--perfect!)

Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are such a tasty cookie, and since I already have a recipe for them that works well, I tend to not look at recipes for them much.  However, while cruising through the Crisco website a while back, I came across this recipe and was intrigued:
http://www.crisco.com/recipes/brown-sugar-snickerdoodles-5077
This was my first time to make them; it will not be the last, as these are super good!  The great thing about the brown sugar is that it seems to leave them softer and chewier.  MMM!

I followed the recipe very closely, though not to the letter.  Think this yielded 78 cookies, which is close to the 72 indicated on the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. butter flavored Crisco shortening
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

sugar & cinnamon blend (I never measure for this, so I have no idea on the amounts I used)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended.

3. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

4. Turn mixer on medium-low speed and add flour mixture gradually as it mixes, until well combined.

5. Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar-cinnamon blend to coat.

6. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake 6 to 7 minutes; centers will be slightly soft and cookies will be puffy and crackled on top.  After removing from oven, allow to cool on cookie sheet for at least 1 minute before removing to cooling rack.

8. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!