Easy Toddler Meals

We are always working to try new and interesting foods for Sadie, with a focus on what we can easily make, freezes and/or reheats well, and is a combination of tasty and nutritious. Fortunately Sadie is a pretty good eater, but she still shoots us down from time to time!

Black Bean Burgers

We love this black bean burger recipe from Weelicious because it's easy to throw together, the patties can be frozen individually and reheat wonderfully, you can sneak in any veggies you want, and Sadie just loves them! Our only twist is baking them in the over for 10 minutes on each side instead of pan frying them.

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese

I love cauliflower, and I happen to love macaroni and cheese. Sadie also happens to love macaroni and cheese but so far has not been a big fan of cauliflower. Easy solution? Cauliflower macaroni and cheese! We really like Michelle Obama's cauliflower mac and cheese - super simple to throw together. And if you can't buy fresh cauliflower, just steam a bag of frozen cauliflower and puree. So simple, tasty, and good for a few days worth of meals!

Pumpkin Waffles

We like making a special breakfast on the weekend, and a big hit this winter has been all different kinds of waffles! We recently happened upon this pumpkin waffle recipe from Food.com and we love it. Better yet, we make a big batch of waffles and freeze some to eat on days where we don't have time to make a fancy breakfast. Just pop a frozen waffle in the toaster for a few rounds of toasting (depending on your specific toaster) and you're all set with a yummy waffle without all of the work.

Pizza

We like to make up a few homemade pizzas on the weekend and then eat the leftovers at the beginning of the week. The best part with a toddler is that you can load it with veggies, which are completely disguised by melted cheese! Use any pizza dough recipe or pre-bought dough, some red pasta sauce from a jar, and any cheese and veggies you want! Sadie's most recent pizza featured broccoli and black olives and she absolutely adored it.

Egg Scrambles

Our most common go-to meal for Sadie is an egg scramble. We throw in whatever veggies we have on hand (usual steamed peas and broccoli) and Sadie just devours her veggie scramble. It's so easy to make and since we always have eggs on hand, it's a quick and easy way to get her some protein.

What meals are in regular rotation for your toddler?

Easy Pumpkin Dinner & Dessert!

It’s finally FALL! I absolutely love the chill in the air, the rustle of leaves, tall boots and warm sweaters. It’s also great to get to snuggle up at home and enjoy some fantastic fall flavors. Although, in the spirit of things I do have a secret to share.

I’ve never been a fan of pumpkin. Gasp! Pumpkin pie? Nope. A certain pumpkin spice latte from a very popular coffee shop? Not for me. I even grew up near the town where 85% of the world’s canned pumpkin is produced. They have a pumpkin festival complete with many of your pumpkin favorites, like pumpkin pancakes. Yep, you guessed it – I always hated it.

So when Steve and I came across a recipe for pumpkin macaroni and cheese, I agreed to give it a try because I knew how much Steve would love it. And… it’s amazing! Sweet and savory. Warm and comforting. This is the perfect fall comfort food. And to top it off, it’s super simple to make and tastes just as good as leftover as it does fresh out of the oven. Great for busy parents who, like us, cook on Sunday so that we’ll have easy dinners for the week.



Baked Pumpkin Mac and Cheese 
{source}
(Note: my adjustments are in bold)

Ingredients:
8 ounces of uncooked noodles (I used whole wheat rotini)
1 cup of canned pumpkin
1 cup of light cream (I mixed heavy cream and skim milk)
4 tablespoons of Neufchatel cream cheese
1 cup shredded part-skim sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (divided) (I used cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I didn’t have any handy so I omitted)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup of panko (Japanese bread crumbs) (I used whole wheat bread crumbs)
1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray

Instructions:
Cook pasta until al dente, about eight minutes in boiling water. Rinse and set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Meanwhile, heat cream and pumpkin in a sauce pan on medium heat, until thickened. Reduce heat to low and slowly whisk in cheese until completely melted. The sauce will be quite thick.

Add in 1/2 pumpkin pie spice, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Add pasta and stir it into the pumpkin-cheese sauce and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into the greased dish. Sprinkle panko, parmesan cheese and rest of the pumpkin pie spice to completely cover the top of the macaroni. Add in more cayenne if you want a spicy crust.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until bread crumbs have browned.

Now, because pasta typically comes in 13 ounce boxes and you will have leftover pumpkin and cream cheese,  you can modify the recipe to make a larger quantity of mac and cheese. Or you can take the extra pumpkin and cream cheese and make pumpkin bars! Are you with me?



Swirled Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars 
{source}

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature (if you made the mac and cheese, you’ll have a little less than 8 oz which is fine)

Instructions:
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.

Bake in a 350° oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.

Note: You can chill them airtight for up to 3 days.

Both of these recipes have made a pumpkin believer out of me! Enjoy!

Eating My Vegetables

Wow, I've left the blog terribly quiet these days! But don't forget, you can keep up on the nitty gritty details of raising Sadie over on Hellobee. All of the fun in's and out's of scheduling, sleep (or lack thereof!), feeding and everything in between.

And, obviously, Sadie is quite the happy baby!

Anyway, back to eating healthier. I wasn't a terribly unhealthy eater before getting pregnant, but I definitely didn't get my fair share of vegetables. And while on maternity leave Steve and I ate out a lot. Like, 18 times more than we normally did before baby. Living in a neighborhood where we're surrounded by Thai, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, Greek, German, Middle Eastern, Italian, Japanese, French and Indian restaurants plus some great local sandwich places, cafes and bars...well...temptation definitely got the better of us. Temptation and just run of the mill new baby exhaustion.

So, we ate. And ate. And ate. We ordered delivery. We carried out. Friends brought food when they'd visit. We ate out when we were brave enough to take Sadie with us. I've had so many fish tacos, orders of pad thai and yummy deli sandwiches that I've simply lost count. Oh, and even cheese steaks. Yes, we had cheese steaks delivered at one point.

Now that Steve and I have made a pact to cut back the eating out I've also been evaluating exactly how I eat. I've always been incredibly picky, which has led me to lean more on starches and fruits and less on healthier grains and vegetables. I need to be healthier for myself. But I also need to be healthier so that Sadie will dive right into her vegetables instead of pushing them aside.

I'm slowly learning that foods I've "hated" for years actually aren't that bad. In fact, they're quite delicious when they are prepared well. There are just so many veggies that I never knew how to cook or cook well. My hope is that if I can build of an arsenal of good veggie dishes that I enjoy, as Sadie gets older she will like them as well!

For those of you who are vegetable-challenged, I thought I would share a couple of recipes we've found that are delicious. And trust me, if I'll eat them I think anyone would eat them! Look for future "veggie recipe posts" as I learn to eat more vegetables!

Massaged Kale Salad
Source

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale (black kale is especially good), stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 mango, diced small (about 1 cup)
• Small handful toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), about 2 rounded tablespoons

Directions

In large serving bowl, add the kale, half of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a little kosher salt. Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the dressing.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the 1/4 cup of oil while whisking until a dressing forms, and you like how it tastes.

Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pepitas. Toss and serve.

Move Night Pasta
Source

Ingredients

• 3 tsp (15 mL) kosher salt
• 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 lb/1 kg), stems discarded, florets cut into small pieces
• 500-g box orecchiette pasta
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) minced garlic
• 1 tsp (5 mL) crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup (250 mL) freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Fill large pot three-quarters full with water. Add 2 tsp (10 mL) salt. Bring to boil over high heat. Add cauliflower. Cook until fork tender, 5 to 7 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove cauliflower to drain in colander.

Return water to boil. Add pasta. Cook as per package instructions until al dente, about 11 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup (250 mL) cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat oil over medium until it begins to shimmer but isn’t smoking. Add cauliflower. Cook, using wooden spoon or spatula to break florets into bite-size pieces roughly same size as the pasta, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

Return drained pasta to pot. Add cauliflower and garlic. Using tongs, toss. Add red pepper flakes, basil, remaining 1 tsp (5 mL) salt and black pepper. Toss. Add cheese; toss. If pasta doesn’t look moist enough, spoon in a little of the reserved pasta water; toss.

Makes 8 servings.

Artichoke Love

Recently, Serena over at Big Apple Nosh did this awesome tutorial on how to steam and eat an artichoke. I've always seen artichokes in the grocery store and wondered what exactly I'd do with them. Since I'm super picky about vegetables but artichokes happen to fall into the "yummy" category for me, I jumped at the chance to try out Serena's tutorial.

I picked up one fabulous, organic artichoke from Whole Foods for $3.49, after convincing Steve that I would actually eat it and not let it sit in the fridge wilting away.

Following Serena's step-by-step instructions, we created our own little stove top steamer and and steamed away!

I also learned through the process that it's really fun to take pictures of artichokes. They're so pretty!


See what I mean? Love it!


After devouring each and every leaf dipped in yummy, melted butter, we were left with the sad (but beautiful!) artichoke remains.


It was so much fun trying something new and learning the in's and out's of artichokes (literally!). What have you done with an artichoke lately?

Olive Tapenade Goodness

Last week at work we had a little wine reception at our office. When things finally settled down, I was able to sample some of the hors d'oeuvres provided by the caterer. Making its way around the room was a tray of crostini topped with creamy goat cheese and black olive tapenade.

Those that know me well know that to say that I'm a picky eater is an understatement (unless the food is "fancy" and expensive...then I'll eat anything put in front of me). I happen to hate olives. But when one is hungry at the end of a long day, one will sample almost anything outside of his or her comfort zone. After about 10 helpings of tapenade, I guess you could say I was smitten.

Since I couldn't get the tasty goodness off my mind, I found this Food Channel recipe and on Sunday tried my hand at tapenade. The results were too delicious for words.

First, I gathered my ingredients at Whole Foods. I already had a good quality olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, dried oregano and fresh thyme in my kitchen. So all I needed to purchase was as baguette (I grabbed a whole wheat one), capers, olives, goat cheese, and anchovy paste.


I threw everything into my food processor (minus the goat cheese and baguette!). I had wanted to make a black olive tapenade like I had sampled at the party. However, when I opened up my olives I saw that they were a dark green color. I'm olive illiterate so I have no clue if there's a huge taste difference with what I bought and what I meant to buy. Ah well. Moving on...


I blended everything up until it was nice and smooth. The recipe I was following didn't use a food processor and just chopped everything up by hand for a chunkier tapenade. I prefer the blended version.


I sliced up the baguette and toasted the slices on a skillet with some olive oil. After spreading some goat cheese on each one, I topped each with a spoonful of tapenade. Divine! My tapenade tastes exactly like what I sampled last week.


This recipe makes a good quantity: Steve and I have already worked our way through 3/4 of our baguette and still have a good amount of tapenade left. Since I have some plain (and deliciously homemade) angel hair pasta in the fridge, I plan on tossing it with some of the tapenade for dinner tonight.

Olives, you have officially won me over with your goodness.

Olive Tapenade
Recipe from The Food Channel

Ingredients

1 cup pitted black olives, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
Juice of 1/2 of lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme plus additional for garnish
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil plus additional for brushing on bread
2 packages goat cheese, softened
1 baguette cut diagonally in 1/2-inch slices

Directions

Combine olives, capers, anchovy paste, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, oregano and 1/4 cup olive oil. Either chop ingredients by hand and combine, or use your food processor for a smoother tapenade.

Brush one side of bread with olive oil. In large sauté pan, toast oiled side of bread over medium heat. Spread softened goat cheese on toast side of bread; top with olive mixture and sprinkle with thyme.

Roastin' a Chicken

I have a confession: I'm a bad blogger these days. I have so many things I've cooked/made/bought that I want to share, but things just don't make it on the blog. I'm vowing to myself that I will get better!

I was skimming through photos on my computer tonight and I came across a roasted chicken that I made last fall. Something so simple was ridiculously delicious - I just had to share.

For Christmas one year I bought Steve Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef - it's a great book featuring classic, delicious recipes that really focus on featuring great ingredients. His roasted chicken was exactly that: simple and delicious.

I started off with a 4 pound organic chicken from Whole Foods (people often scoff at Whole Foods prices, but you can shop there on a budget...this chicken was less than $10 and it was a couple of meals for the both of us).


The first step was to cut off the joint at the end of each wing. I've prepped a turkey before, but never a chicken, so this was new territory for me.


Turns out, the joint has a TOE on it. I'm not embarrassed to say that I jumped away from that creepy toe as fast as I could.


Since dinner must go on, so I had to go back to my chicken friend.


See the toes?! Creepy! And I have no clue what's up with the random feathers.


Once the wings were clipped and the toes completely out of site, it was time to stuff this bad boy with some rosemary.


I also seasoned it inside and out with salt and pepper.


The chicken then needed to be trussed. See how good it looks, like a happy little chicken package?

Don't worry if you don't know how to truss a chicken. I had no clue, so Steve grabbed my laptop and we found this super helpful video on YouTube.

Instead of just popping it in the oven right away, Colicchio has you brown it up on each side. I used our dutch oven which was the perfect size for our chicken.


The smell of our bird was just ahhh-mazing.


Once it was browned on each side, it was time to put our chicken into the oven. We also threw some carrots into the pot, but I think they didn't turn out very well (too dry? I can't remember).


We served up our roasted chicken with some make-shift bruschetta and homemade mashed potatoes. The chicken was incredibly juicy and the flavor of the rosemary was perfect. We made this dinner for less than $20 (including the sides), all organic and super delicious!

Christmas Dinner

Yes, I realize it is January 16 (Steve's birthday, by the way!) and I'm just now blogging about our Christmas dinner. If you'll remember, I blogged about our Christmas dessert on December 28, with the best of intentions to share our dinner soon after that post. Sigh. Time just goes by too fast! But I couldn't let any more time pass without sharing this fabulous food.

To decide what to make, we busted out our trusty Top Chef Cookbook. Since we're avid watchers of the show, it's been fun to thumb through this cookbook to read recipes of some of our favorite dishes from the show.

Since we've never worked with scallops before, we chose Dale Levitski's seared scallops with purslane and marinated grapes as a starter. We bought four big, fabulous scallops from Whole Foods and Steve seared them to perfection. We did have to substitute dandelion leaves for the purslane.

The grapes were marinated in EVOO, tarragon, rice wine vinegar and lemon zest...awesome.


For the entree, we landed on another of Dale's dishes - seared elk loin with cauliflower and fingerling potato mash, and pickled cauliflower. Turns out, Whole Foods doesn't sell elk, so we subbed in veal loin.

Dale makes great sauces, and Steve had fun with this one! It was originally a huckleberry-blackberry sauce, but since we couldn't find huckleberries we did blueberries and blackberries. I'm bummed this picture is out of focus, but you can still see the berry goodness.


I've always wanted a reason to buy star anise, and lucky for me we needed it for the sauce! Along with peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaves.


As the sauce cooked, it began to look and smell amazing.


The night before, Steve had put cauliflower florets with shallots, sherry vinegar, sugar and salt in a container so that it could pickle.

While making the sauce, he had made a cauliflower and potato mash that included goat cheese and dried cherries.

After searing the veal, he plated everything, topping the dish with toasted pecans. Everything turned out amazing, and it was the perfect winter dish - warm and comforting with great layers of flavor.


The Christmas festivities were a little bit too much for Charlie - he was passed out with his new toy while all of this cooking was happening!


Again, all I can say is "Mmmmmm." It was a perfect Christmas dinner for two!

You Must Whip It

Every once in awhile (meaning on the rarest of rarest occasions) I get it into my head that I need to cook dinner in order to be a good wife. And then after a lot of planning, prep and special ingredients I end up completely flustered, frazzled and, more often than not, burnt.

I got the "be a good wife" bug a couple of weeks ago after seeing this awesome recipe for shepherd's pie. It seemed simple enough, even for this girl. Plus, I've always wanted to make shepherd's pie and since it has "pie" in the name, it's kind of like baking...right?

So I started out with some organic lean ground lamb from Whole Foods. Organic meat is worth every single penny and then some. The recipe called for 2 pounds of meat, but our Whole Foods seemed to have a shortage of ground lamb that day so we ended up with around 1.5 pounds or a little more. Which was fine, I could just cut the ratio down on everything else.



So, I cooked up the lamb - in two batches - and drained the fat. Surprisingly fatty for being "lean." I was really proud of myself at this point. Meat that appeared to be fully cooked and I didn't splatter myself with grease during the process!


Next up I cooked the onion, carrots and some tomato paste. I was a smart cook and did all of my veggie prep before I had anything on the stove so that I could concentrate step by step. I was applauding myself for stellar organizational and planning skills as I cooked away.


I then added the meat, some water, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to the pot and let it simmer. As the peas were to be added at the very end, I planned to leave them in the freezer until the last minute. Until, of course, I read that they should be thawed. Doh! But I caught my mistake early enough and got a pot on the stove to boil. Mini-crisis averted.

With everything simmering, I got started on making my potatoes (which I had been boiling while cooking the meat). So I added in my milk and butter and then re-read my recipe. Hmm. It said to simmer the meat mixture about 10 minutes until it has thickened up, but I had easily surpassed that timeframe and it still looked like soup. Remember above when I said that I had less lamb so I'd cut back a little on everything else? Well, that explains the soup.

I added a little extra flour and used a big spoon to drain off some of the liquid and it finally started to look more normal. After my peas (that I had rushed to make!) had sat in a pot for half of forever (because there were no clean strainers left), I was finally able to add them into the mix.

After all of that, isn't it pretty?


Unfortunately, not all mistakes came out with a beautiful, happy ending. Remember, by the time I had caught onto my error of quantities, I had already started the potatoes. And by started, I mean, I had already added 1 cup of milk and 6 tablespoons of friggin' butter. I had prepped less potatoes (good!) but still put in the full amount of milk and butter (bad!). Go figure.

Since the potatoes were almost pure liquid (but delightfully rich) and I was running around in a state of panic cursing myself, Steve calmly suggested we whip them in the trusty KitchenAid. Come on, sing along with me...

Now whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
It’s not too late
To whip it
Whip it good

And, with that, the potatoes were somewhat saved. While they weren't thick enough to pipe on beautifully, they held their own and tasted divine.

Once I had regained my sanity (a bit), I got my containers ready. The recipe called for either 8 8-ounce ramekins or 2 9-inch pie plates. I had 4 ramekins that I wanted to use, so I pulled out a 1.5 quart casserole dish from Crate & Barrel that was the perfect size.

I filled everything up with the beautiful meat and veggie mixture...



And spooned the sort of okay potatoes on top and tried my best to make them look somewhat fancy. Hmph.

About 30 minutes later in a 425 degree oven, everything was brown up and ready to go.

I won't lie to you, the smell in our house was amazing.

We busted into the casserole dish that evening and simply devoured the contents. Then, after cooling we refrigerated the ramekins and reheated them in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes a couple of nights later for dinner. The pie was even better the second time around because the potatoes browned up even more.

And, thus, I will continue to stick with baking until I see another recipe that seems too simple for even me to mess up. Le sigh. I really would like to be good at this (or at least somewhat competent), but there's just something so intimidating about cooking, with all the pots, pans, hot oil and raw meat that goes into it. Baking is just so....zen.

Shepherd's Pie

Source

Ingredients
2 pounds freshly ground lamb
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces frozen peas, thawed
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large skillet over high heat. In two batches, cook lamb until no longer pink, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer lamb to a colander set in a bowl; let fat drain off and discard.

Add 1/4 cup water to the skillet, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium; add onion and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add flour; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

Add Worcestershire sauce, 2 cups water, and lamb. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in peas; cook 1 minute. Divide among eight 8-ounce ramekins or two 9-inch glass pie dishes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover potatoes with salted water by 1 inch; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.

In pan, bring milk and butter to a simmer; remove from heat. Return potatoes; mash. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread over pies; use a fork to make peaks. Bake on a baking sheet until tops are browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly; serve.

Nothing Says New Year's Like Quiche

Our wonderful friends Stacey and Brian are always gracious enough to host parties at their place, especially on New Year's! Steve and I are now only a few "El" stops away from them, which is even better.

Since I was looking forward to spending a good night with friends ringing in '10, I decided to make a quiche. I mean, what screams parrr-tay better than cheese and eggy goodness? I found a recipe for a cheese and onion quiche in one of my favorite cook books, Best-Ever Pastry Cookbook. I picked this book up in the Barnes & Noble bargain section for $5 and it has never failed me.

I started with the really basic crust, so simple to make, and put it in my 9-inch removable bottom tart pan. While it looks pretty, I should have spent more time pressing the sides of the dough against the pan. You'll see why very soon.


I sauteed the onions with a whole lot of butter. This is about as close to cooking as I get. Fortunately, I like using our new Calphalon pans, so I find it more exciting these days to pull one of them out. The onions were sauteed until they were soft, golden, and smelling delicious.


After blind-baking the crust, I spread the onions out on the bottom, then covered with the cheese. (The recipe called for a grated cheddar or Grueyere. All I had was parmesan, which I finely grated with my zester. It works) On top of the cheese I added the egg and milk mixture. It looked like the crust was going to overflow and spew dairy all over my stove at any minute, but everything managed to stay put, much to my surprise.


After baking when the quiche was finally "set" (I looked it up, the quiche should still jiggle in the center and a toothpick should come out clean), I let it cool before removing the pan.

Now you can see what happens when you don't press the dough firmly against the side of the pan. When I blind-baked the crust, some of the sides moved away from the pan resulting in a misshapen crust. But no worries, I just told everyone I'd made a "rustic" quiche.


Or, by simply cropping down a picture, one would never know my mistake. Ha!


From what I heard, the quiche was mighty delicious and was enjoyed by many! I, unfortunately, did not get to try any of it. The New Year's Eve fairy decided to give me a wonderful cold to finish up the holiday season. Boo! By the time it came to actually eat the quiche, I had completely lost my appetite. But I would totally make this recipe again - it was so easy, I had every single ingredient on hand, and it made the house smell delicious!

Happy, happy 2010 everyone!

Cheese & Onion Quiche
Source

For the filling:
2 T unsalted butter
1 large onion
3 Eggs
1 1/4 C light cream or milk (I used skim milk)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 1/2 oz hard cheese, such as Cheddar or Gruyere, grated (I used parmesan)
Salt and ground black pepper

For the pastry:
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, dized
4 T chilled water

To Make the Pastry
Sift the flour and salt into a small bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 3 T of the water and mix to a firm dough, adding more water if required. Knead until smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a clean, lightly floured work surface and line a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press the pastry FIRMLY into the sides and base of the tin and let it rise above the rim by about 1/2 inch to allow for a little shrinkage during cooking. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork.

Line the pastry case with foil and baking beans (I used brown rice) and chill again for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with a baking sheet placed in it. Stand the tart pan on the baking sheet and bake blind for 15 minutes.

Remove the foil and beans from the pastry case and return it to the oven for 5 more minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven along with the baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

To Make the Filling
Melt the butter in a large, heavy frying pan. Add the onion and saute for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft and golden. Beat the eggs and the cream or milk together in a bowl. Add the grated nutmeg and seasoning to taste.

Spoon the onion mixture into the cooked pastry case and evenly sprinkle over the cheese. Pour the egg and cream/milk mixture slowly over the filling. Bake the quiche for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling as just set. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then gently ease the quiche out of the tin and transfer to a serving place. Enjoy!

Fresh Ravioli in Sage & Black Pepper Butter Sauce

One of the items on our registry that I was dying for was the KitchenAid Paster Roller attachment. Now, mind you, this only rolls out the pasta - I could have gone wild and crazy and registered for the set that included the different pasta cutters as well. But that just seemed far too extravagant and I couldn't imagine that anyone would end up shelling out for the whole set just so I could make fresh fettucini.

All-in-all, I love the roller. It's SO easy to use and great for making lasagna noodles, ravioli, and even just long pasta sheets that you hand cut yourself into noodles.

Awhile back I decided to be a good wife and make dinner for my husband. I rarely cook, unless you define "cooking" as microwaving, as Steve is far more gifted in the kitchen. But, I decided I could easily tackle this ravioli recipe I randomly found online.

Since I was home alone, there are no pictures of me using my pasta roller. You'll just have to imagine how magical and wonderful this experience was. Within a matter of minutes, I had four sheets of pasta!

I was making a basil and two-cheese filling ravioli, so I layed everything out...


And using just a round cutter, turned each into a cute little noodle-y package (note: my dough could have been rolled a little thinner).


I feared that as I dropped each into the boiling water, they'd explode into a gooey, globby mass of ricotta. Instead, they cooked up perfectly.


I made up the sage and black pepper butter sauce while the cooked ravioli was covered to stay warm. Making the sauce was by far the most stressful part of the whole process. Anything that includes a hot pan and oil terrifies me (but notice our new FANTASTIC Calphalon pans?!).


And, voila! A little shredded parm on top and we were in business. Steve came home right as I plated everything up. I like to think he enjoyed coming home to a dinner cooked up by yours truly, although I'm pretty sure he'd tell me is was fantastic no matter what. He's nice like that.

Basil & Two-Cheese Ravioloni in Sage & Black Pepper Butter Recipe
Source

For the fresh pasta dough:
2 and ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter and trays
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs

For the basil and two-cheese filling:
2 cups fresh whole-milk Ricotta (I used part skim)
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 1 small lemon
24 large, perfect basil leaves, stems completely removed

For the egg wash:
1 large egg, beaten to blend with 3 tablespoons water

For the sage and black pepper sauce:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 sage leaves, cut into fine strips
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To cook the ravioli and serve:
2 tablespoons salt
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

How to Make

Make the dough:
Mix the flour and salt on a counter and shape into a mound. Make a well in the center and add the eggs to the well. Using your fingertips, work the flour into the eggs, then gather into a dough and knead by hand; add a little water if the dough is too dry or a little flour if it is too moist. Knead for 10 minutes, or until smooth, then shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and let rest 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling:
Combine all the ingredients except the basil in a large bowl. Set aside.

Assemble the ravioli:
Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 sheet at a time and keeping the others covered, roll each piece out into a very thin sheet using a pasta machine; the sheets should be nearly transparent after rolling (the thinnest setting on the pasta machine is suitable for this). Be sure to lightly dust the sheets of pasta with flour every time you roll them through the pasta machine or they may stick or tear.

Brush 2 of the lasagna sheets lightly with the egg wash. Arrange the basil leaves on the brushed lasagna sheets, pretty side down (be sure to COMPLETELY remove the stem from the basil leaves or the sharp stem end might pierce the delicate ravioli dough) about 4 inches apart, and top with equal amounts of the Ricotta filing (about 1 tablespoon each). Top with the remaining 2 lasagna sheets. Cut into 4-inch circles using a round cookie cutter. Press the edges of each ravioli to seal well. Spread the ravioli out on a lightly floured tray in a single layer and cover with a clean, dry towel.

Make the sauce:
Melt the butter in a small pan and add the sage leaves, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, or just long enough to infuse the sage aroma into the butter and lightly crisp the sage leaves.

Cook the ravioli:
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Drop in half of the ravioli and the 2 tablespoons of salt and cook until al dente, about 3 minutes. Remove to a heated platter with a slotted spoon, placing the ravioli with the basil leaf facing up. Repeat with the remaining ravioli.

Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the reserved pasta cooking water to the butter sauce and swirl once or twice to combine. Pour the sauce over the ravioli, sprinkle with the Parmigiano, dust with additional pepper, and serve immediately.