Grilled Chicken Parmesan with Smoked Mozzarella

For the record, Uncle T does not recognize a "grilling season".  The only thing that will keep me from the grill is a thunderstorm.  Aside from that, if I want to cook something on the grill or in the smoker it will happen.  However, once the weather turns nice in the Spring the frequency of my outdoor cooking does increase.  Hey, better to heat the outside than the inside.

I've done a smoked Chicken Parmesan before where I did fry the chicken then assembled the chicken, sauce, and cheese before putting it in the smoker.  That recipe can be found HERE.

I decided to do everything but the pasta on the grill this time.  It helps that I had marinara sauce leftover in the fridge.  The only cooking that was done inside was boiling the noodles.  The smoked mozzarella cheese was a block that I'd cold smoked this past Fall and has been vacuum sealed in the garage refrigerator since.  The dish was topped with chiffonade basil from my herb garden.

Grilled Chicken Parmesan

1 boneless skinless chicken breast per person
marinara sauce
shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
olive oil
fresh basil

Pound the chicken breasts until they are a uniform thickness.  Lay them on a tray and season with the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place the chicken on a med-hot grill and cook until an IT of 165F is reached.  Turn partway through so you have nice grill marks.  Remove the chicken from the grill and place in a rimmed pan.  Top with marinara sauce then cover with shredded smoked mozzarella cheese.  Place the pan in the grill and close the lid and leave until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted.

When the chicken is turned and almost done, get the water for your pasta boiling.  Cook according to package directions.  Yes, Uncle T uses dried pasta sometimes.  Once the pasta is cooked to your satisfaction drain it well.

Place portions of the pasta on the plates and top with a chicken breast.  Divide the marinara sauce that ran off the chicken between each plate by pouring it over the pasta.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Chiffonade some fresh basil and sprinkle over the chicken.  I added the grated Parmesan after the picture because I thought it looked better plus I had some mixed into my marinara sauce.

Grilled Chicken Parmesan over thin Spaghetti

This is a tasty and filling supper by itself though some fresh crusty bread would go wonderfully with it.  Though we normally drink Cabernet Sauvignon this was accompanied by a surprisingly nice Syrah we found at Wal-Mart of all places.  As usual, drink what you like rather than what "they" say you're supposed to drink with a dish.

While my marinara sauce was made using tomatoes canned out of last years garden by the good wife and good quality jar sauce will work.  Smoked mozzarella can be found at several stores like Trader Joe's and Wegman's plus others I found online.  I do my own because we like a bit more pronounced smoke flavor with ours.

I didn't time it but I think this was done in about 30 minutes including the time to pound out the chicken breasts.  So it's an excellent relatively quick meal for anytime.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Pasta with Butternut Squash Cream Sauce

I was pondering what to do with half of a butternut squash I had left and decided to use it with pasta.  After some consideration and an internet search this is what I came up with.

With this recipe, the flavor of the butternut squash and the cheese blend in a rich creamy bit of goodness.  The cheese you use it up to you though a hard cheese like Parmesan or Asiago will do best.  I used Asiago because it was the first one I saw in the cheese drawer of the refrigerator.

Butternut Squash Cream Sauce

3 cups cubed butternut squash
8 oz bacon, cut in 1/2 inch lardons
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 - 4 oz Asiago cheese, grated
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream
6 sage leaves, fresh
1 tsp thyme leave, fresh
salt
pepper
6 - 8 oz dry spaghetti

Cook the pasta according to package direction.  Slowly cook the bacon in a deep skillet until the fat has rendered and it's almost crispy.  Remove the bacon to a bowl.  Add the onion and garlic to the bacon grease and sauté 2 - 3 minutes.  Add the butternut squash and stir then cook 4 - 5 minutes.  Add 1 tsp each of salt and pepper.  Add the white wine, sage leaves, and thyme then stir.  Let the wine cook down then add the chicken broth.  Let it simmer until the chicken broth is reduced by half.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.  After it has cooled some, transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.  You may need to break it down into smaller batches.  Return to heat and bring to simmer.  Add the heavy cream and stir.  Stir in the grated cheese until melted and well incorporated into the sauce.  Stir in the reserved bacon.  Taste and add more salt if desired.  Once the pasta is finished cooking, add it to the sauce and mix well.  This will serve 3 - 4 people.

I was able to blend in one go since we have the Vitamix.  With the Vitamix running I was able to add the heavy cream followed by the Asiago in small chunks.  I used 4 oz of Asiago and 1/2 cup heavy cream initially.  After tasting, both the good wife and I liked it but I thought it could be a little better.  I added a heavy pinch of salt and another 1/4 cup heavy cream.  That slight change greatly boosted the flavor.

A rich tasty supper

I'd also made fresh bread from a No-knead recipe I've adapted to my own needs.  It is simple and you can make just about any crusty bread with this recipe.

Crusty Bread

3 1/2 cups break flour
13 oz warm water, 110 - 115F
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt

Put the yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl and pour in the warm water.  Stir and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add the flour and stir until is makes a soft dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the oven with the light on.  Let rise for 90 minutes.  Sprinkle a little flour around the edge of the bowl then use your spoon to push the dough away from the edge of the bowl then roll the dough ball around the bowl.  Dump out on a floured surface and cut into 2 - 3 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a long rope and place on a parchment paper covered sheet tray.  Repeat for the rest of the dough.  Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes.  After the 2nd rise, make 3 diagonal cuts in the top of each loaf.  Put into 400F oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

This bread is great for soaking up the leftover butternut squash cream sauce.  These two are perfect together.  Give these a try and let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Shrimp in a White Wine Butter Sauce

I know I've done pasta posts but this is a bit different.  Some time back, I gave away my hand cranked pasta roller because we came across a good deal on the pasta roller attachment to the KitchenAid stand mixer.  This was the first time I've made pasta since buying that roller.  I must say, having two hands to work the pasta dough and being able to adjust the thickness knob on the fly make a huge difference.  As an extra, the grandbaby liked watching me run the dough through the roller.


I used my usual pasta recipe for the ravioli since I've found no need to try another.  To form the ravioli I used my Fantes Grandpa Dante's Ravioli Maker to make the ravioli.  I can recommend this ravioli maker without reservation. 

Ravioli filled and ready to cover

Besides the pasta, you'll need some roasted butternut squash.  In case you've never roasted butternut squash I'll include how I do it.  Cut the squash into 1/2 - 3/4 inch rounds.  Cut the rounds in half.  The skin can now be easily cut from the half round.  Cut the half round in half again cutting parallel to the initial cut.  Cut those pieces into cubes that are approximately the same size on all sides.  Put in a bowl until the whole squash is cubed.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss.  Add salt and pepper and toss.  Dump onto a baking sheet and spread out then place in a pre-heated 425F oven.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn the squash cubes.  Return pan of squash to the oven and cook another 10 minutes or until the desired degree of caramelization is achieved.  Remove from oven and  serve.

Boil in salted water

I used left over roasted butternut squash to make the ravioli.  I only had about a cup or so left over.  I warmed them up and mashed with a fork and called it good.  I used a slightly under filled #70 portion dipper to fill the ravioli.  I've since bought a #100 to be able to fill the ravioli without having to estimate the fill with the #70.

All sauced up and ready to serve

I rolled the pasta dough out to the #5 thickness with the KitchenAid pasta roller.  I didn't want to get too thin and risk the ravioli breaking.  Next time I think I'll go to #6 on the thickness to make the ravioli a bit lighter.  What seemed to work best was to roll out the two sheets for the top and bottom of the ravioli before starting to make it.  The first batch I rolled out the bottom sheet and put it on the form then rolled out the top.  Once the bottom sheet is on the ravioli form, use the mold to push down and form the pocket.  Put in the filling, making sure to not get it on the edges of the ravioli.  Place the top sheet of pasta over the form and press down.  Then roll over the form with a rolling pin to seal the ravioli and cut through the pasta.  Turn the form upside down over a lightly floured sheet pan and gently push the ravioli out of the form.  Add the ravioli to boiling water and cook about 5 minutes.

Plated up ready to eat

The shrimp and white wine butter sauce is fairly simple.  I used 36-41 size shrimp because that is what I had in the freezer.  Once thawed, I removed the tails and did a dry brine with a mix of salt and sugar for about 10 minutes.  Melt 4 Tbs of butter is a large skillet and add the shrimp.  Once the shrimp are half done, turn then add the white wine.  I eye balled it but used about 1/2 cup of white wine.  Once the wine has cooked down and the shrimp are done add another 2 - 3 Tbs of butter and add the ravioli.  Stir/toss the ravioli into the shrimp and the sauce and cook until the sauce thickens a bit.  The flour in the pasta water should help this.  If it doesn't thicken to your satisfaction you can use a little corn starch mixed in water to thicken the sauce.  Plate the ravioli with some shrimp and the white wine butter sauce and grate or shave some Parmesan cheese over the top.  Some crusty bread or a light salad is all you need to accompany this for a good meal.

A nicely filled ravioli

Give this a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Tomato Pasta Ravioli with Italian Sausage Meatballs

I've made tomato pasta before to use as noodles but this time I saved some leftover pasta to make ravioli on the second night.  Here is the recipe for tomato pasta

I made the ravioli using Fantes Grandpa Dante's Ravioli Maker that is available here on Amazon.   The pasta was rolled out to the 5 thickness on the KitchenAid pasta roller.  A #100 portion scoop is a good size to use to fill the ravioli.

The filling for the ravioli is one I came up with some time back when I ran short of another filling and had a couple of empty ravioli shells left.  This filling is a mix of Greek yogurt and grated Parmesan cheese.  I use a 50/50 mix for my filling.  My base recipe is 1/2 cup each which should fill two dozen ravioli at least.  To make more it's easy enough to make as little or as much as you need using this ratio.

The meatballs that went with this dish are made from hot Italian sausage made it Uncle T's kitchen.  If you don't want to make sausage you can use any Italian sausage you choose.  I prefer hot Italian sausage for this dish but I imagine a sweet Italian sausage would be good if that is your preference.  I make the meatballs by using my #100 portion scoop.  Melt a some butter in a large skillet and add the meatballs.  Cook them until they are browned on all sides.

A skillet full of ready to serve goodness

To make the white wine butter sauce add three or four more tablespoons of butter to the skillet with the meatballs and when melted and bubbling add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine.  It's always best to use a wine you enjoy drinking.  This time I used a sauvignon blanc.  By the time the wine has cooked down a bit the ravioli should be done and can be added to the skillet.  Don't bother draining the ravioli as you take it out of the pot.  The starches in the pasta water should help the sauce to thicken.  If it doesn't get as thick as you want mix a little corn starch and water then add it to the sauce and stir until it thickens.  Give the ravioli and the meatballs a good mix to get them well coated with the sauce and serve.

Plated up and ready to eat

Once you plate the ravioli and meatballs spoon a little sauce over them.  You can add a bit of grated Parmesan cheese over the top but it isn't really needed.

Give this this one a try and let me know what you think.  Remember, have fun in the kitchen.

Uncle T

Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

The weather turned pretty cold the other day and the good wife wanted soup to combat the chill.  That got me to thinking about what I had on hand to make soup with since I didn't feel like getting back out to go to the store.  I was able to make this with stuff already in the pantry since they are all staples for us.

Ground beef and onions

Now, I know cheese burger soup is a thing and has been around for quite some time.  The good wife has made it a few times from a recipe she found in a Taste of Home magazine.  While these are good, they all seem to rather thick and heavy.  I also question what kind of cheese burger has carrots and other vegetables like many of these recipes.  When you look online, many of the recipes describe the soup as luxurious, creamy, or rich so you know they'll be thick and heavy.  What I came up with is lighter feeling but still quite filling.


Bacon Cheese Burger Soup


1 lb ground beef
8 oz sliced bacon
1 medium white onion, diced
8 oz elbow macaroni
32-48 oz chicken broth
4 oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
3/4 cup milk
salt
pepper
garlic powder


Cut the bacon slices into 1/2 inch wide pieces and heat in a skillet until almost crispy.  Remove the bacon from the skillet and pour the bacon grease into your grease pot for future use.  Put the skillet back on the stove and add the ground beef.  Season the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder as you would a hamburger.  As the ground beef browns, break it up and add the onion.  Once the ground beef and onion are done remove from heat.  In a stock pot, melt the butter and add the flour and stir.  Once the butter and flour come together to make a light roux, add about 3/4 cup of chicken broth to hydrate the flour, stirring well to keep smooth.  Once the broth is absorbed, add the milk and stir to combine.  Add the Velveeta cubes to the béchamel sauce to start melting.  Once the Velveeta is mostly melted, start adding the Fontina and Cheddar and continue stirring until all the cheeses are melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth, at least enough to total 32 ounces and mix well.  Add the ground beef and onion mixture as well as the bacon and stir to mix well.  Cook the elbow macaroni and add the drained noodles to the stock pot and stir.  If you want the soup a bit thinner, add up to another 16 ounces of chicken broth.  Taste and add seasoning if desired.  Let the completed soup simmer for 30 minutes to help meld the flavors and stir occasionally.  Serves 4-6 people.  To further evoke the cheese burger theme, you could garnish the soup with chopped dill pickles.

A pot of cheesy goodness

I used the full 48 ounces of chicken broth.  If I'd had beef broth I may have tried it but I think the chicken broth is a better choice since it is rather mild flavored and lets the main ingredients shine.  For the seasoning of the ground beef, I used a personal ready made blend of the three seasonings that I call GPS.   I used to just call it grill seasoning until I saw the BBQ Pit Boys on YouTube and they have their own blend they call SPG.  I like putting them in alphabetical order.  I used the GPS generously on the ground beef while it was browning since it had the onion with it and didn't need to add anything at the end.

A good bowl of Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

As a note, I had lots of egg whites left from another recipe and had scrambled them for a treat for the dogs.  The good wife likes eggs in any form and was snatching bites out of the skillet.  Since the leftover soup wouldn't fit in one container we split the little remaining in the pot.  The good wife wanted scrambled egg whites put on top of hers.  She convinced me to do the same and I must say it was pretty tasty.  I'm not saying make eggs to add to the soup, but don't be afraid to garnish the soup with what you have on hand or what might suit your fancy.


Give this soup a try.  Like any soup, it gets better with age so enjoy the leftovers.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

A good bit of the fruit and vegetables that we eat comes from our garden and fruit trees.  At the peak of each season the good wife is kept busy canning the excess so we can eat it throughout the year until the next harvest season.  Tomatoes have been coming in strong for a bit now and we have 17 pints of homemade ketchup and 11 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes canned for making sauces or adding to stews.  Earlier in the season the good wife found a website, http://joybileefarm.com/making-tomato-powder-scratch/?utm_content=buffer67519&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer, suggested an alternate use for the tomato skins that get removed prior to processing and canning.  The use she found was drying and grinding to powder to use for seasoning, thickening, etc.  Making powder was in lieu of composting or feeding to the chickens according to the website.  We'd always composted them.  The process is simple, put the tomato skins in a dehydrator or on a rack in the oven at the lowest temperature setting and letting dry until they were brittle.  Once they are brittle put in them in a food processor, blender, or spice mill.  I used the dry blade container for the Vitamix.  The powder is concentrated tomato flavor.

Tomato skins laid out ready to dry

Tomato powder

To this point we have about two cups of tomato powder and I was brainstorming on a use.  I've been trying flavored pastas with mixed results so I decided to use the same technique I'd used for some mushroom Fettuccine.  Once I had decided on pasta I Googled to see if tomato pasta was a thing.  Unsurprisingly, it was.  They all used tomato paste and it only seemed to be there to color the pasta and add a bare hint of flavor.  I figured my way would yield good flavor and color.

Tomato pasta freshly kneaded and ready to rest

What kind of pasta to make generated some discussion at work during a break.  The choices came down to cheese and shrimp stuffed ravioli or fettuccine.  I settled on fettuccine because it would be less labor intensive and I was wanting to use some asparagus that I had in the refrigerator.  I only had about 8 ounces of mushrooms on hand so I didn't have as many as I'd have liked.

Tomato Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus

Pasta:
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs tomato powder
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs water

1 lb 31-35 count shrimp
1 lb asparagus
1 medium onion
1/2 - 1 lb mushrooms
1 cup white wine
1 stick butter
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

For the pasta:  Combine the flour, the tomato powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center and add the eggs, water, and olive oil.  Mix everything together until well combined and turn out on a floured surface.  Knead the pasta until it is smooth and elastic.  Wrap in plastic and let it sit for 20 minutes.  Divide into 4 pieces and roll to desired thickness and cut to the size you want.  After the pasta is cut place in well salted boiling water and cook until almost done.

Tomato pasta ready to run through the cutter

While the pasta dough is resting, cut the asparagus into bite size pieces, thinly slice the onion, and slice the mushrooms.  In 2 Tbs of  butter sautee the asparagus and onion, season to taste, and then place in a bowl.  Sautee the mushrooms in 2 Tbs of butter until they are done and put in the bowl with the asparagus and onion.  Place the shrimp in the skillet with the rest of the butter and put the pasta into the boiling water.  Cook the shrimp until almost done then add the rest of the ingredients back to the skillet.  Pour in the wine and stir to combine well.  Transfer the almost done pasta to the skillet.  Stir to combine the pasta and other ingredients.  The butter, wine, and pasta water will combine and make a sauce to coat everything.  Plate and serve.  This will serve 4 as an entree.

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

If you don't have tomato powder, I believe tomato paste could be used for the same effect.  I would add a 6 oz can along with the wet ingredients and add additional flour to achieve the desired consistency.  I also think you could thinly slice Roma tomatoes and dry them until brittle and grind them into your own tomato powder.  I may have to break out the dehydrator to see how that works.

A tasty supper of Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

The final product had a distinct tomato flavor that went well with the shrimp, asparagus, and wine sauce.  The color is nice as well.

Give this pasta a try along with whatever you think will go well with it or use this whole recipe.  Either way, let me know what you think of the tomato pasta.

Uncle T

Mushroom Fettuccine with Miso Beef and Asparagus

Several years ago while we were stationed in Texas we would drive up to Wimberley for their Market Days.  The Wimberley Market Days was the 1st Saturday of the month and was a combination farmer's market, flea market, and arts and crafts show.  It took several hours to get through the whole thing even if you just took a quick glance at each booth.

One of the regular vendors would demo their pasta.  They had dry pastas of several flavors that they had developed.  Our favorites were the mushroom and the hot pepper.  I've not found any quite like them since we moved to Virginia.

I've tried different flavored pastas with mixed success.  My worst attempt was making black bean pasta.  The flavor was good but the texture was sadly lacking.  I've been researching alternative pastas and think I have a handle on some of the fixes.  I decided to test some of the changes on making the mushrooom pasta.

Most grocery stores have some small packages of dried mushrooms.  We went to Grand Mart, our favorite international market, and bought a large package of dried shitake mushrooms.  We also picked up a jar of miso at the same time.  I'd been thinking of the miso for soup but thought it would be an excellent seasoning.  I actually got Korean fermented soybean paste which is called Doenjang.  As I understand it, doenjang is a bit stronger flavored than miso.  I'm still calling it miso beef because more people are familiar with miso than the name doenjang.

Doenjang, fermented soybean paste

Mushroom Fettucinni

1/2 cup powdered mushrooms
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Put a handful of dried mushrooms in a food processor/Vitamix and reduce to powder.  Put 1/2 cup of the mushroom powder in a bowl.  Add the flour and salt and stir to combine.  Add the eggs, egg yolk, and olive oil and stir.  Once most of the ingredients are combined, turn out on a smooth surface and knead until smooth.  Wrap in plastic and let sit for 20 - 30 minutes.  Cut the pasta into 4 pieces and run through the pasta maker to flatten and thin.  Cut into desired lengths then run through the fettuccine cutter.  Spread on a tray with a bit of flour and repeat with the rest of the dough.  Add the fettuccine to heavily salted boiling water and cook until almost done.  This will just be a few minutes.  Add to the miso beef and asparagus and combine thoroughly.  The fettuccine will finish cooking during this mixing.

These are the dried Shitake mushrooms I used

Miso Beef and Asparagus

1 lb beef, I used strip steaks
1 lb asparagus
1/2 cup miso paste
2 Tbs olive oil

Cut beef into thin strips and put in a bowl.  Add the miso paste and mix thoroughly.  Let this stand for at least an hour.  Trim the asparagus then cut into thirds.  Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the asparagus and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Once the asparagus has cooked for 1 - 2 minutes add the beef to the skillet.  Cook until the meat is almost done.  This should be timed to be around the same time the fettuccine is done.  The pasta water that transfers with the fettuccine will combine with the miso paste to make a nice sauce to coat the noodles.  Serve and enjoy.  This will make 4 good size servings.

Mushroom Fettuccine with Miso Steak and Asparagus

This is a mighty tasty meal that reheats well if you have leftovers.  This would also work well with pork or chicken.  Give these out of the ordinary ingredients a try.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Shrimp Alfredo with Cottage Cheese

There is a dairy that still delivers that we were introduced to shortly after we moved to this area.  A representative had a booth set up at a farmer's market in one of the local cities.  Of course she had samples and was signing people up for delivery.  I tried the whole milk and the chocolate milk and was blown away.  The whole milk was the best tasting milk and closest to raw milk I've come across.  As a result, we have a standing order consisting of whole milk, 2% milk, 1% and 4% cottage cheese, and eggs that get delivered each week.  If you live in an area where Oberweis delivers you are lucky and should look into getting your milk through them.


I used to take the 4% cottage cheese to work and eat it throughout the week.  Due to a couple of office moves I'm not eating near as much as I used to.  Since I had forgotten to cancel the 4% cottage cheese from the order for a few weeks we ended up with way too much 4% cottage cheese on hand.  One evening the good wife declared that I need to eat more cottage cheese or find a way to cook with it.


I looked online for cooking with cottage cheese and found some bread recipes that I'm wanting to try.  I had thought about using it for a pasta sauce and had it planned out when I decided to Google cottage cheese pasta sauce.  I found plenty of recipes for making an Alfredo type sauce using cottage cheese but they all called for low fat cottage cheese and either 1% or 2% milk.  You know Uncle T doesn't play that way.  In the end, I went with the plan I already had and it turned out great if I do say so myself.


Shrimp Alfredo


1 - 1.5 lb peeled deveined shrimp, large 31-35
1 recipe fresh pasta or 1 lb dried fettuccini
1 cup whole milk
16 oz 4% cottage cheese
3 Tbs butter
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbs olive oil
salt
pepper
nutmeg
garlic powder


Sauce


Melt butter in a pot and add the garlic.  Cook until the edges of the garlic turn golden.  Add the milk and bring to a simmer.  Add the cottage cheese and stir to mix well.  Bring to a simmer and add the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.  To help speed the melting of the cheese use an immersion blender to break up the cottage cheese.  Season with a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of pepper, and a pinch of salt and stir.  Once the cheeses are melted keep the sauce on low heat until everything else is ready.


Fettuccini


If making fresh pasta, cut the noodles and cook in heavily salted water.  Prepare dried fettuccini according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Time the pasta to be almost done at the same time the shrimp are almost done.


Shrimp


Remove the tails from the shrimp and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder before you start the sauce.  Once the sauce is done, heat a large skillet and add the olive oil.  Once the olive oil is hot add the shrimp.  When the shrimp are half done, turn them over to finish cooking.


Once the shrimp have been turned over remove the fettuccini from the pot and add to the skillet.  Don't worry about any extra pasta water that gets in the skillet.  Pour in half the sauce and stir to combine.  Keep adding sauce a little at a time until all the pasta and shrimp have a light coat of sauce.  I had about 1/3 of the sauce left.  Once all the components are mixed it is time to eat.  Serve and enjoy.  Makes 4 servings.

Shrimp Alfredo made with Cottage Cheese

I had sauce left over because we don't like to have the shrimp and pasta swimming in pool of sauce.  If you like lots of sauce then add it all.  My left over sauce will be used in a potato soup so be on the look out for that in the future.


I used my immersion blender to help things along but it is not necessary.  The cottage cheese and parmesan cheese will melt while you stir but will take longer.  If you want to speed things up and don't have an immersion blender carefully pour the sauce into a regular blender to reduce the size of the curds then return the sauce to the pot.


Do be sure to use good parmesan cheese for this.  If you use pre-grated cheese make sure it is a good quality parmesan.  If it is sitting out on the store shelves don't get it, look in the dairy cooler.  Of course grating a wedge of parmesan would yield the best sauce.  I use a good quality grated parmesan that I find in the dairy cooler.


This is a rich creamy sauce that is still lighter than a traditionally made Alfredo sauce made with heavy cream.  If you want to try it with low fat milk and 1% cottage cheese go ahead but I'll not guarantee the results.


Give this a try and let me know what you think.  I do believe you'll enjoy it.


Uncle T

Farfalle (Bow-tie Pasta) with Shrimp and Asparagus

Since it is spring and the season for asparagus I try to use it in as many meals as possible while the prices are low.  We like asparagus with  pasta anyway so it was a natural choice.  Something else I'm going to try with asparagus is lacto fermenting so look for that in the not too distant future.  Once using the asparagus in a pasta dish was settled on, I had to decide what I would add to it and which pasta to use.  Then the idea of farfalle and shrimp popped in my head and I was off and running.   My inspiration came from an item offered for sale to the military for use in Dining Facilities.  That item is a boil in the bag farfalle with shrimp in a butter sauce.


I did a Google search and only found one recipe for farfalle with shrimp and asparagus and it used a tomato based sauce.  I wanted the flavors of the shrimp and asparagus to shine rather than being reduced or overwhelmed by tomato flavor.  A butter sauce seemed to be the answer.


Making fresh farfalle was an interesting experience to say the least.  I'll probably do it again though I don't know that I'll make it fresh every time.  Like all fresh pasta, it is a bit time consuming and probably should have  taken more time.  I say that because the sizes of the farfalle were inconsistent.  To fix that I would need to use a ruler, though that wouldn't add too much time.  Then, once they are all cut you have to go through and pinch them all in the middle to form the proper shape.  That part went well even though some did open up a bit in the water.  I ended up using half of the pasta dough to make the farfalle and the rest was cut into spaghetti to cook and use later.  The half recipe made enough farfalle that the final dish made two suppers for the good wife and me.  After we finished our meal the first night, I put the picture on and caption on Facebook and my mother asked what farfalle was so I added the common US name in the title of this post.


Farfalle with Shrimp and Asparagus


4 servings dried farfalle or equivalent fresh pasta
1 lb asparagus
1 lb 21 - 25 size shrimp, peeled with the tails off
6 Tbs butter, I used salted
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper


Remove the tough lower part of the asparagus stalks and cut the remaining part into bite size lengths, about 1.5 inches.  Melt 4 Tbs butter in large skillet and add the asparagus and garlic when the butter starts to foam.  When the asparagus is partially cooked, about 3 minutes, add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  The pasta should be almost done about the time the shrimp are almost cooked through.  With the fresh pasta I added the pasta to the boiling water immediately after adding the shrimp to the skillet.  When the shrimp are almost done, remove the farfalle from the boiling water and add to the skillet; don't worry if it is not completely drained.  Add the remaining 2 Tbs butter to the skillet and stir to combine.  Let it sit on medium heat until the last butter is melted then stir to distribute evenly.  The butter should combine with the pasta water that came with the farfalle to make a light buttery sauce.  Serve with some grated parmesan cheese and hot crusty bread and enjoy.

Shrimp and Asparagus ready for the Farfalle

If using dried pasta this meal comes together quickly so it makes for a good mid-week meal.  If you buy peeled deveined shrimp, by the time the water for the pasta has come to a boil you can have the prep work done.  Of course, the prep work only consists of pinching off the shrimp tail and cutting up the asparagus.  Get a good loaf of bread from bakery on the way home and you are good to go. 

My plate of goodness

If you want to be a bit healthier you can substitute some good olive oil for the butter at the end.  You know I didn't do it that way.  I think some good extra virgin olive oil would add a nice green note that would compliment the asparagus.


Give this a try some evening and I think you'll be pleased with the result.  Remember, cooking shouldn't be a chore so experiment and have fun in the kitchen.  Let me know what you think of this dish.


Uncle T

Lasagna with Brussels Sprout and Endive Salad

Way back in the time when I was dating my good wife, I decided to cook for her.  I like to say that my cooking sealed the deal to win her over.  On that occasion, I fixed lasagna, garlic bread, and a lemon ice box pie.   The lasagna recipe I used was one I'd gotten from my mother, I don't know where she got it.  It has evolved over the years as I tend to cook it according to how I want it to taste.


Last week was the good wife's birthday and she requested the lasagna for her birthday supper.  She also wanted fresh hot bread and a salad.  In the end, I also ended up making cupcakes to go with the meal since cupcakes are easier to share with friends and neighbors.  The cupcakes will be a separate post.


Before I get into the recipes, I'll give a word of warning.  We are not Italian and if you want to take exception to the recipe just know, I'm not going to change it.  If you  think it should be a certain way, start your own blog.  That was brought on by reading too many complaining comments on other blogs. 


For the salad, I had to come up with something different because the good wife wanted something other than the usual mixed greens with additions.  I got to looking in my garden at what was left from the fall planting that could be used for a salad.  What I had was Brussels sprouts, endive, and kale.  I went with the Brussels sprouts and endive which I'm sure you figured out from the title.  Since the Brussels sprouts are raw, this is a good way for people to try them since many that don't like  them are put off by the smell of them cooking.  Since they are thinly sliced, they'd never know they were Brussels sprouts unless you tell them.  I dressed it with a lemon vinaigrette.  I also don't use the standard proportions for a vinaigrette.

Brussels Sprout and Endive Salad

Brussels Sprout and Endive Salad


14 Brussels sprouts
1 small head of endive
6 - 8 slices of bacon, cooked
1/3 cup almonds


Thinly slice the Brussels sprouts and place in a large bowl.  Cut the endive leaves from the ribs and slice to the same width as the Brussels sprouts and add to the bowl.  You want to end up with equal amounts of the Brussels sprouts and the endive.  Chop or crumble the bacon according to how done you cooked it and add to the bowl.  Run the almonds through the chopper until they are small chunks and add to the bowl.  Toss the contents to mix well.  Just before serving add the lemon vinaigrette.  Serves 4.


Lemon Vinaigrette


1 lemon
olive oil
1 pinch kosher salt
1 - 1.5 tsp mustard, which ever you have on hand


Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a small jar.  Pour in olive oil until you have twice as much olive oil as lemon juice.  Add a healthy pinch of kosher salt and the mustard.  Put the cap on the jar and shake to combine.  Pour over salad and toss until you get the salad coated without it dripping off.


Lasagna


1 lb hot Italian sausage
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/3 bottle of Merlot or red wine of your choice
6 - 8 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced small
2+ tsp salt
2+ tsp pepper
3+ Tbs Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
12 oz cottage cheese
2 eggs
fresh pasta sheets or dried lasagna noodles
shredded mozzarella cheese


I package my hot Italian sausage as bulk but if you have linked sausage remove the casing.  Brown the sausage in a pot making sure to break it up into small pieces.  Remove the sausage from the pot.  Add the garlic and onion to the sausage grease and sautee until the onion is translucent then add the tomatoes and tomato paste.  Stir to combine.  Add  the 2 tsp salt and pepper and the 3 Tbs Italian seasoning and stir.  Taste and adjust if desired.  Stir in the wine and bay leaves and return the sausage to the pot.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.  The longer you let it simmer the better it gets. 


In a small bowl, combine the cottage cheese and the eggs.


Make the fresh pasta sheets or prepared lasagna noodles according to package directions.


Spoon a little of the meat sauce onto the bottom of the pan.  Lay down a layer of pasta sheets/lasagna noodles being sure to over lap well.  Spoon half of cottage cheese and egg mixture onto pasta and spread evenly.  Top this with a good layer of the shredded mozzarella cheese.  Pour in half the meat sauce.  Repeat the layering process.  Bake for 45 minutes in a 375F oven until bubbly.  I used a glass pan this time so it took a bit longer.  Let it sit for 10 minutes then cut and serve.

Lasagna hot from the oven

The bread was made using the same recipe I've adapted from a technique/recipe from Artisan Bread with Steve.  Most of his recipes vary a bit depending on the type loaf but I found one that I can tweak a bit to serve for several different uses.

Hot crusty bread

The good wife enjoyed her birthday supper and the boy declared the salad the 2nd best he'd ever had.  The best he said came from a restaurant and was as much about the presentation as the actual salad.  The flavor from Brussels sprouts and endive only a few hours from the garden was out of this world.  I'm making a variant of this salad using kale and store bought Brussels sprouts for Easter dinner to see what difference we can taste.  We also determined that it had been close to 5 years since I've made lasagna.  I'll have to make sure to keep it further up in the rotation.

Time to dig in

I hope you give one or both of these a try.  I think you'll like them both.  If  you try them, let me know what  you think.  Remember, have fun in the kitchen.


Uncle T

What to do with Arugula

What the heck is arugula?  That was my reaction the first time I heard it mentioned.  Arugula was something  I'd never heard of until I was grown.  Of course, as a food inspector I learned about all sorts of vegetables and leafy greens that were unheard of in my small town Southern upbringing.  Even though I knew what it was, we'd never had it unless it was in a salad mix at a restaurant.


Arugula is a green that has been popular in France and Italy for a long time.  It has a peppery or mustard like flavor that adds a spicy kick when used in a salad.  It is also a good low calorie source of several vitamins, vitamin K in particular.  Most of the recipes I've found for arugula have been for salads but there are a few for cooking them.  I found one for a white bean and arugula soup that I'm anxious to try.


We had our first hard cold snap of the winter earlier this week.  I went out to cover the more susceptible of the Fall garden plants and ran short of coverings.  Three hills of arugula and two of kohlrabi couldn't be covered so they got harvested.  We have lots of arugula because when we found the sets at a nursery they were rather small and spindly so I got 2 of the 4 packs.  Well, with the wet warm Fall we've had they exploded.  Now that I had 3 hills worth of arugula in the refrigerator, what was I going to do with them?  After all, the good wife and I can't eat that much salad.


I decided to use part of them in a pasta dish to take advantage of their sharp peppery flavor.  I also wanted the arugula to just be wilted rather than cooked to maintain some texture and more of the nutrients and flavor.  To that end I decided on fettuccini and arugula with mushrooms and pancetta.


Now, if you've looked around here much, you know I cure my own pancetta and make most of my own pasta.  While I encourage you to try your hand at them both, if you get good quality products from the store they'll work just as well.  Of the 4 primary ingredients, I grew or made 3 of them.  Alas, I still haven't taken to growing my own mushrooms.


Fettuccini with Arugula


1 lb fettuccine
4 oz thick cut pancetta, diced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 cups arugula, cut/torn to bite size pieces
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs butter
salt
pepper


Fry pancetta in a skillet.  Remove the pancetta and add the mushrooms to the skillet with the pancetta grease.  Cook until lightly browned and add the garlic.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat.  Cook fettuccini in a pot of boiling well salted water.  Once the fettuccini is nearly done, add the pancetta back to the skillet and bring up the heat.  When fettuccini is almost al dente, pull it from the water and place in the skillet with the pancetta and mushrooms.  Turn to combine the components.  Melt the butter in the skillet and add a couple of ladles of the pasta water, about 1 cup.  Stir the skillet contents until the butter and pasta water form a sauce that covers everything.  Add the arugula to the skillet and turn the contents with tongs to evenly distribute the arugula and wilt the leaves.  Remove from heat and serve.




Fettuccini with Arugula

We topped the dish with a bit of grated parmesan cheese.  I didn't make any, but this would be good with some hot crusty bread with butter or olive oil


The only real new thing I did with this dish is add the arugula.  Part of the reason I made this is so we could more accurately judge the affect of the arugula.  We were quite pleased with it.  The good wife did say she would have liked a bit more arugula in hers.  Next time I'll use 5 - 6 cups of arugula and just add it to the pasta in batches.


If you've not tried arugula or have only had it in salads, give this dish a try.  It's simple and quick and an easy way to feed 4 people.  Give this a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Pressure Cooker Sausage and Kale Soup

Have I mentioned that I really like my electric pressure cooker?  While there are some things that a long slow cook is to be preferred, some meals are just as good when using this quick method.  Dried beans come to mind as something that is just as good when pressure cooked.  Soups turn out very well also.  To that end, I've been thinking about soups to try in the pressure cooker.

Sausage and Kale Soup ready to serve

I was searching soups recipes and came across a list of soups that had pasta and one of them was sausage and kale.  The picture looked good so I started looking at sausage and kale soup recipes.  Seems most of them call for potatoes rather than pasta but I wanted to include pasta.  That was as much for the pasta as it was the chance to cook pasta in the pressure cooker.  Another change from other recipes was the use of dried beans instead of opening a can or two.  I also noticed that most recipes called for sweet Italian sausage and the rest for some sort of smoked sausage.  I used some of my home made hot Italian sausage.


The soup was cooked in two sessions with the two sessions totaling only 25 minutes.  Making the meat balls was the longest bit of prep work for this meal.  I used my small portion scoop, a #70 scoop,  to make the meat balls a consistent size.  After the meat balls were made they were lightly browned using the sear function on the pressure cooker.  Nothing like only having one pot to clean up after supper.


 Sausage and Kale Soup (Changes listed after the instructions)


1 lb hot Italian sausage
8 oz Rigatoni
1.5 cups dried great northern beans
4 - 6 cups chopped Kale, stems removed
2 quarts chicken broth
2 Tbs Italian seasoning
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt


Make meat balls out of the sausage, approximately 1/2 oz each.  Lightly brown in the pressure cooker.  Pour in the chicken broth, dried beans, and pasta.  Add the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and stir to mix.  Put the lid on, making sure the valve is set to pressure cook, and set timer for 15 minutes.  After timer goes off, release the steam.  Add the kale to the cooker and stir to fully incorporate.  Put lid back on and pressure cook for another 10 minutes.  When done, manually release steam again and serve.

A bowl full of goodness

Changes I'll make next time I make this include upping the amount of chicken broth to 3 quarts, waiting to put in the pasta, and just letting the hot soup wilt the kale rather than pressure cooking it.  It needs more chicken broth because I underestimated how much would be soaked up by the beans and pasta as they cooked.  I would do the meat, broth, and beans for 15 minutes, then add the pasta for the final 10 minutes.


Doing the dried beans this way yielded beans that were fully cooked but were still firm.  For something like this you don't want them cooked to mush like you would if you were just cooking a pot of white beans to eat with sausage and cornbread.


If you have the time to make it, some fresh hot crusty bread would go good with this soup.  It is not necessary though.

Red Wine Pasta

It seems this is a pretty big thing.  My good wife and son were talking about it this past weekend because his beloved had liked a recipe.  I had missed that somehow and got them to tell me about it.  After that it was up to Google and I found lots of recipes.  I also got our son to send me the link to the recipe his beloved had found.  In the end, I combined bits of other recipes and added my own twist to come up with a great supper.


Most of the recipes I found involve nothing more than the pasta, typically spaghetti, along with red wine, shallots, and garlic.  They also tended to be intended for side dishes.  I came across a couple that added nuts and/or Feta cheese or goat cheese.  I found one where they added pancetta to the mix.  The one with pancetta said it could be eaten by itself or used as a side dish.


If I was going to have the big pot for the pasta and the big skillet on the stove I didn't want to have to make something else to go along with the pasta.  So what does Uncle T do, he adds more stuff.  For my version you include pancetta, mushrooms, and asparagus.

A skillet full of goodness

A couple of things to note, you can use either a box of pasta or a recipe of fresh pasta for this.  I used fresh fettuccini using the recipe in this post, Pasta Recipe.  The second thing, use a wine you'd like to drink.  After all, you'll have some left over and there is no need to let it go to waste.  Most of the recipes I found called for a Zinfandel or a Cabernet Sauvignon.  I used an Australian Merlot.


So without further ado, here it is.


Red Wine Pasta


1 lb spaghetti or fettuccini, boxed or fresh
4 oz thick cut pancetta, diced
1 shallot, minced
4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 lb asparagus, cut in bite size pieces
1 bottle red wine
2 Tbs butter
olive oil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning


Heat skillet over medium/medium high heat and add diced pancetta.  Cook until slightly crispy and remove from skillet.   Put the shallot and garlic in the skillet with the grease rendered from the pancetta.  Cook until the shallot is translucent then add the asparagus.  Stir the asparagus and cook until slightly under done and remove from skillet.  If there is not enough of the pancetta grease left add a bit of olive oil and dump in the mushrooms.  Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste.  Cook the mushrooms till they are lightly brown on the bottom then turn and brown the other side.  Add the pancetta and asparagus with the shallot and garlic back to the skillet.  Pour in 1/3 of the bottle of wine.  Bring to a simmer.  Time cooking your pasta so it is almost done at the same time you add the wine to the skillet.  When the wine is at a simmer, remove the pasta from the pot and put into the skillet.  Once all the pasta is in the skillet start turning it to get it all in the wine.  Add the butter to help thicken the sauce.  Once the wine has been cooked into the pasta and the pasta is al dente it is done.  Plate and top with cheese.  Eat and enjoy.

Red Wine Pasta plated up and ready for cheese

This would go well with some good Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.  I didn't have any of those on hand so I used a blend that contains Parmesan, Asiago,

Red Wine Pasta with cheese

This dish or a variant of it will definitely become part of the rotation.  It is too quick and tasty for it to not be.  If you can't find thick pancetta you could dice some slab bacon and come close to the same effect.  If you are in the mood for pasta with a twist give this a try.  If you do, let me know what you think.


Uncle T