Cauliflower Pasta

One of our family FAVORITES.

1 large Cauliflower
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 T. Olive Oil
2 T. Butter
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1lb Rigatoni (or whichever pasta you prefer)

Wash the cauliflower. Break off all of the leaves and large portion of the stem. Break the cauliflower florets into individual pieces. Boil the cauliflower, in salted water, until you can easily put a fork through it. (I use a pressure cooker). Meanwhile, add the olive oil and butter to a large pan. On medium-high heat add the yellow onion, garlic and red pepper. Add salt. When the cauliflower is ready add it to the onion mixture and cook for 5-7 minutes mashing all of the cauliflower. Mix cauliflower mixture with pasta and serve.

*If you have any additional questions about the recipe just let me know.

Fettuccine Bolognese

One of my favorite crock pot recipes. It takes about 30 minutes to fix before you put it in the slow cooker, but it makes A LOT that can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months!

2 T. Olive Oil
2 oz (60 g) Pancetta, chopped
2 small Yellow Onions, finely chopped
2 Carrots, finely chopped
1 stalk Celery, finely chopped
3 lb Ground Beef
2 cups, Beef broth
1 1/2 cups, Dry red wine (I just use cooking wine from the condiment section).
1 can (28 oz/875 g) Crushed plum (Roma) tomatoes
1/2 cup Milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb Fettuccine or Linguini, whichever your prefer
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Saute the ingredients. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add teh pancetta and saute until it begins to render its fat, about 1 minute. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden sppon, until it is no longer red, about 7 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker. Add the broth and wine to the pan and raise the heat to high. Bring to a boil and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on teh pan bottom. Pour the liquid into the slow cooker along with the tomateos and sitr to combine.

2. Cook the sauce. Cover and cook the sauce on the high-heat setting for 4 hours or the low-heat setting for 8 hours. Add the milk, stirring to combine. Cover and continue cooking for 20 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablesppons salt and the pasta. Cook, stiring occasionally to prevent sticking, until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain, return the pasta to teh pot, and toss gently with 2 cups of the sauce. Serve, passing the Paremsan at the table.

Storage Tip: Let the remaining Bolognese sauce cool to room temperature. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Oprah's Complete 7 Days of Meals for $150

Oprah's show yesterday was about inexpensive home cooking. One of the chefs put a 7 day meal plan (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) with a grocery list that she says would be under $150. The meals sound pretty good and pretty normal.
Here's the website:
http://www.oprah.com/menu/food/menus/20090227-tows-cat-cora-menu

Okra alla Pomodori

This is a really great side dish to any meal. Sometimes I'll just have it for lunch.

2 T. Olive Oil (You can use less if you want).
1 onion, yellow or sweet, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 16oz package of frozen okra, whole or chopped (You could also use fresh).
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt

Saute olive oil, onion and garlic. Add Okra. Cook on medium or low (depending on your stove) for 15-20 minutes or until the okra is soft. Add tomatoes and cook until warm. Season with salt to taste.

Todd's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has a chocolate chip cookie recipe, and everyone's is almost the same. I mean, in all honesty, there are only so many things you can mix together to turn out a chocolate chip cookie. I used to make this recipe quite often on Sunday afternoons when I was growing up, and I learned that while the ingredients don't change much, the way they are mixed changes things. So, here's the recipe:

1 stick butter, softened (I usually microwave it to about 50% melted)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 egg

At this point, I mix that up really well. You could use your Kitchen-aid or Bosch if you need to, but I prefer the old wooden spoon. You want to mix this really well. It will start to become lighter and fluffier as you keep mixing. Usually, after a minute or two of rapid mixing, you can notice the the stuff sticking to the sides of the bowl is a darker brown than the stuff you are mixing, which should be a light tan color.

Then add the following:

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp maple extract (optional)

I mix this up some more. I really like the flavor that just a little bit of maple extract adds - not enough to overpower. I mix this all in, and then add:

1/2 bag chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet, because the cookies are pretty sweet to begin with)

Mix them around well so that the chips are evenly distributed, and then add:

1 3/4 cup flour

When you add the flour, add 1/2 cup, then mix it in, then another 1/2 cup, mix it in, and so on. I stop adding flour when the dough starts to stick in a ball more than it sticks on the sides of the bowl. I'm usually pretty close to 1 3/4 cup, but sometimes a little less. If you do too much, you end up with bigger, cakier cookies.

Don't stir too much after you add the flour. Basically, you just want all the flour to be mixed in, but not overmixed.

Now is a great time to refridgerate the dough overnight. When the butter has a chance to cool, it makes the cookies cook even better. But, I usually can't wait that long, and the mortality rate of cookie dough in our fridge is surprisingly high, so I usually cook it up right away.

Spoon it out on ungreased cookie sheets in 1-1.5" balls, and then cook at 375 for 11 minutes. Another tip is to seal all of the cookies in a ziplock bag or an airtight container overnight with a half piece of bread. The next morning, you will have the softest cookies ever. Enjoy!

Raised Yeast Waffles

I tried this recipe tonight and LOVED it! I love waffles for dinner and these are particuarly good because they are really light and crispy. It's a totally different type of waffle then what you get from a mix.

INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (that's 2 1/2 tsp)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups warm milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in the milk, eggs and butter. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; stir into yeast mixture just until combine. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown.

Sweet Meatballs

I love this recipe because it is so easy, all the ingredients are really normal (and usually around the house), and it tastes great!

Just a couple of hints:
#1 Use the leanest meat possible (the meatballs are just better that way).
#2 I usually double the amounts for the sauce. That way there is plenty of the sweet juice to pour over rice (or whatever you put with your meatballs). The sauce really is the best part of this recipe!

Meatballs:
1 to 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 c. rolled oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
dash pepper
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Form into 12 meatballs, each about 2" in diameter. Place in casserole dish, cover with sauce (below). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Sauce:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 c. barbeque sauce
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat and pour over meatballs.