Francis the Chef!
July 7, 2008 at 2:27 pm | In Pizza | 1 CommentTags: francis cooking, Pizza
My dear husband has gotten very good at cooking several foods:
1. Grilling burgers and steak on the outdoor grill
2. Sandwiches on the George Forman grill
3. Grilled Cheese and tomato soup (notice a pattern here? …grilling…)
4. Certain types of pasta
5. The best and the most wonderful thing my dearest husband makes …. PIZZA! From scratch… and he won’t tell me the recipe he uses. On very special occasions, when I have a test the next day or it’s a lazy weekend and he just feels like doing something nice for me, he’ll remind me that I’m not the only cook in the house by making me one of these:
Francis Pizza!
- Francis pizza & “Fred” the oven-mitt in the background
My Classic Penne
July 7, 2008 at 2:13 pm | In Pasta | Leave a CommentTags: Pasta, penne
Everyone has their favorite tried and true recipe for their favorite meal. Well, this is mine. Francis and I LOVE penne. It’s our favorite. I love the texture of it and the taste. This recipe, though I keep changing just a little, has been my “what to make when I don’t know WHAT to make” recipe for two years now and has never failed me. Plus, it takes only ten minutes to make, which is always a plus!
Inna’s Classic Penne
Ingredients
2Tbsp EVOO
2 garli cloves, minced
One package grape tomatoes
One 14.5 oz caan diced tomatoes
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup white cooking wine
spices (garlic powder, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes)
Handful of fresh basil
Shredded mozzarella (as much as you like)
Heat 2tbsp of EVOO for two minutes on med-high. When hot, add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook
until garlic is just starting to become a little brown and add tomatoes and spices. Push down on
the grape tomatoeswith the back of a wooden spoon so their juices come out. After 2 more min,
add white wine and vegetable broth. Let simmer while preparing the penne (boil water, add penne,
cook until desired texture). Once penne is done, drain and add to skillet with sauce. Add basil and
mozzarella.
Peach Pound Cake
July 7, 2008 at 1:45 pm | In Breakfast, Cakes | Leave a CommentTags: breakfast peaches, cake, poundcake
I have been a bad blogger. Not to say I haven’t been cooking and baking, but with a crazy semester of school, I just haven’t had the energy to write about my cooking…just eat it. In the next week or so, I’ll try to catch up on all the yummy recipes that I’ve made (and photographed) in the last few months.
To start, this is another recipe from Annie of Annie’s Eats . I took it to DSAC (the Dean’s Student Advisory Committee) at school where it was a big hit. It was really delicious and though I had hoped for left overs to eat for breakfast, it got gobbled up within ten minutes.
The recipe is directly followed, but re-posted here.
Peach Pound Cake
Peach Pound Cake
Ingredients
1 cup + 2 tbsp. butter
2 ½ cups sugar, divided
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
½ tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with 2 tbsp. of butter and dust with ¼ cup of sugar; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together remaining butter and sugar. Continue beating and add eggs one at a time. Once fully incorporated, gradually add 2 ¾ cups flour, baking powder, and salt to mixture, beating until fully incorporated.
Dredge peaches with remaining ¼ cup flour and fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Strawberry Jam Crumb Coffee Cake
March 9, 2008 at 3:43 pm | In Cakes | Leave a CommentI love The Nest. I love the Nest because the girls on it are so nice and helpful and share such wonderful recipes. One of the recipes that I was able to find was for the Strawberry Jam Crumb Coffee Cake…which has been my breakfast for the last 6 days…I know sad how long I can eat leftovers for, but seriously, that’s how good it is. I don’t think there’s anything else left to say about it except, TRY IT. It’s really delicious and not difficult to make…well, except opening the strawberry jam jar…that took several hours and hubs doing at it with a hammer, but that’s a whole other story…
For this post, I’m just going to send a link to Annie’s blog, since I didn’t change her recipe. It was really good as is, and I agree with her post about it using fresh strawberries next time around (when they’re in season).
One more thing…this photo isn’t the best and doesn’t do the cake justice. I didn’t think to take a picture of the cake until there was ONE piece of it left, so this is the absolute last piece of it, after hubby and I picked away at the cake…next time I’ll definitely get a better picture and maybe replace this one.
Strawberry Jam Coffee Cake
Source: Annie
Stuffed Shells
March 9, 2008 at 10:28 am | In Pasta | Leave a CommentSo my wonderful hubby has been asking me for stuffed shells for a very long time now, and now that I had spring break this week, I was finally able to make them for him. However, I made him a little surprise with the shells. Here’s how the conversations went.
Hubs: Honey….why are my shells green inside? Me: It’s close to St. Patrick’s Day? Hubs: No really, why are they green? Me: Because I’m a Spartan?So I really didn’t want to tell him, but these shells, not only were they yummy, but I made them a bit healthy too by adding spinach to the inside. They ended up not taking as much time as I thought they would either, so I think this might become one of our regulars.
Stuffed Shells with Spinach + 5 Cheeses
Sources: Combo of back of Meijer box, Renea , Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen
and of course a little bit of me
Ingredients: 1/2 box Jumbo shells 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 4 oz cream cheese 1/4 cup romano cheese 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp basil 1/2 tsp oregano 3 garlic cloves + more garlic powder if you like 1/2 cup baby spinach 4 cups pasta sauceAdd the pasta shells to a boiling pot of water and cook for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cover the bottom of the baking dish with some pasta sauce.
Mix all 5 of the cheeses, eggs, seasonings, and a bit of salt and pepper in a food processor and process until smooth. Then add the spinach to the food processor along with a little bit of the pasta sauce.
Drain the pasta and fill each shell with 1 1/2 tsp of the mixture. Then place each shell in the baking dish. Top the shells with more mozzarella or parmesan cheese and then with more sauce.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Hello WordPress!
March 8, 2008 at 7:49 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentAfter hearing all the wonderful comments about WordPress, I finally decided to jump on the WP Bandwagon. It took three hours and a big fight between me and WP, but I’m finally here! Hopefully this will be the beginning of a beautiful *food-filled* friendship!
The Little Monster that Stole my Bread
March 8, 2008 at 4:21 pm | In Bread | Leave a CommentI love bread. It doesn’t matter what kind of bread it is, I will eat it. However, I do have my favorites, and my absolute favorite bread is the cheese focaccia bread from Panera Bread. However, the only complaint Hubs has about it, is that there isn’t enough cheese in it. Well, last year, I got “The Home Baker Cookbook” for my birthday, and in it is a recipe for Focaccia with Mozzarella & Rosemary where you knead the mozzarella into the dough, so you get a yummier, cheesier bread. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the dough is very easy to work with.
Apparently, my niece Emma (who is 11 months old and is the cutest little girl I have ever seen) is quite fond of this bread too… I was at my parents house last weekend eating a piece of bread, and this little monster (*cute* monster) , who just learned to walk, ran up to me, stole the bread right out of my hand as I was about to eat it, and ran away! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture of the bread as a whole but I thought a picture of Emma showing off the bread could be good enough.
Mozarella Cheese Focaccia
Source: The Home Baker Cookbook
Ingredients: 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for oiling
Generous 2 1/2 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
5 oz (or more if you like) mozarella cheese, grated
Topping: 2 tbsp olive oil
fresh rosemary sprigs (I substituted basil and oregano here!)
sea salt (I did not use this)Lightly oil a 10-inch round shallow cake pan. Sift the flour and salt together into a warmed bowl and stir in the yeast and sugar. Make a well in the center with your hand and add the water and oil to the well. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Put dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for one hour, or until doubled in size. Turn out the dough again and knead lightly. Flatten the dough and sprinkle over the mozzarella cheese and gently knead in. Shape into a ball, flatten slightly and roll out into a 10-inch circle. Transfer to the prepared pan, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and let prove in a warm place for 20 min.
Make deep indentations all over the surface of the dough with your fingers. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let prove in a warm place for an additional 15 min. Preheat oven to 400 degrees during this time.
To make the topping, drizzle the oil all over the surface of the dough. Then sprinkle with the additional spices. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 min, until golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool slightly. Serve warm.
O-R-E-O Truffles
January 20, 2008 at 5:15 pm | In Candy | Leave a CommentI’ve been reading all these recipe raves about Oreo truffles and decided I had to try them for myself. The recipe is from Kraft Foods, which means it is super easy and quick, but incredibly delicious. I took them to school and to my mentor group meeting and got SO many complements on them…I even got offered $5 for the recipe (of course I didn’t take it!). The only thing I would do different next time is work on my decorating skills for them.
Oreo Truffles
Ingredients:
1 pkg 8 oz. Cream Cheese
30 oreos
2 pkg. 8 oz each Bakers Semisweet Chocolate, melted
For the decorations I used:
-melted white chocolate chips
-coconut shavings (I really don’t know the correct term for this)
-sprinkles
-powdered sugar
Mix 30 Oreos (crushed) and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Freeze for 30 minutes. Dip the balls in melted chocolate and place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Decorate (all but powdered sugar…I did these after they were refrigerated at the very end). Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
…Because I’m Russian…
January 20, 2008 at 5:00 pm | In Pasta | Leave a CommentIt’s a pretty basic sterotype that Russians enjoy Vodka. Well, based on this, I could assume that being Russian, I would enjoy Vodka Penne. This is actually one of my favorite ways to make pasta, and Francis loves it. It’s really easy to make as well and doesn’t take more than 15 min.
Penne with Vodka Sauce 
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vodka
1 cup vegetable stock (I use the vegetable bullion cubes and a little bit, maybe 1/3 cup water)
1 can crushed tomatoes (32 ounces)
Coarse salt and pepper
16 ounces penne
1/2 cup heavy cream
Basil leaves
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning
Parmesan cheese
Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter and garlic. Sautee for a couple minutes. Add vodka to the pan and reduce by half, this will take 2 or 3 minutes. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes and spices (oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, pretty much, anything you want). Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water.
Stir heavy cream into sauce along with Parmesan cheese. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves.
Recipe adapted from Foodtv.com
A Fish With a Nose like a Swoooord
January 15, 2008 at 4:38 pm | In Fish | Leave a CommentThere’s a restaurant that Francis always takes me to on special occasions called Mitchell’s Fish Market, and I always get the Blackened Swordfish. I’ve never made it myself before, but I was very intrigued when Meijer (our local grocery store) started selling it for $5/lb. Though I knew I couldn’t replicate the Fish Market’s Swordfish, I found a recipe on the Food Network website that seemed pretty good and modified it a bit. As for the potatoes, I’ve been making these for years and I don’t think they’ve ever come out bad. I always put cheese on 1/2 of the potatoes (Francis’s half) and leave mine cheese-less.
Grilled Marinated Swordfish & Herb Roasted Potatoes
FOR THE SWORDFISH:
Ingredients:
1 lb swordfish (2 steaks)
1 lime (juiced)
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. ginger, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
just a cap-full of soy sauce
In a bowl, mix together lime juice, ginger and garlic. Add olive oil and salt and pepper. Put swordfish steaks in baking pan and pour the marinade over it so that it coats entire steaks. Marinate in refrigerator for approx 45 min. Remove fish from pan and grill on a grill-pan about 4-5 min per side. While grilling, pour about a cap-full of soy sauce on the swordfish…it gives it a pretty color and good flavor.
FOR THE POTATOES:
Ingredients:
About 5-6 Red potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Oregano
Basil
Garlic Powder
Minced Garlic
Crushed Red Pepper
Mozzarella cheese
Cut up potatoes and in a bowl, toss them with Extra Virgin Olive oil and spices. Throw in a glass baking dish and cook at 400 degrees for 30 min. Turn them and cook for 15 more min. At this point, you can put mozzarella cheese on top of the potatoes and cook for 15 more min so the cheese melts.
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