rigatoni pie

this recipe came via my mother-in-law, via noble pig, via martha stewart. such a simple recipe with quite a wow factor. i really enjoyed making it - except standing the first dozen or so noodles up was a bit of a challenge.

• 1 pound rigatoni, salt for water
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp white sugar
• salt to taste
• 1 cup fresh parmesan, grated
• enough mozzarella to cover, grated
  

brown the ground beef, add carrots, celery, onion and thyme. saute for a few minutes, add crushed garlic, continue to cook for another minute or two. add tomatoes and season to taste. let simmer on stove for as long as possible, i always leave it for at least an hour.

while the sauce is simmering, cook the rigatoni until just under el dante - you want it a little firmer than usual so the pasta holds up for the next few steps - the noodles will be finished off in the oven anyway. once you drain the pasta, return it to the pot and toss with the parm.

these noodles were probably overcooked by a minute or so - getting them just right is probably the hardest part of the recipe.

using a buttered, spring form pan, stand the noodles up - it really doesn't take that long. then scoop your sauce over the rigatoni, pushing the sauce down into the pasta. the back of a wooden spoon is just fine for this.

love it!

bake in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes, add the grated mozzarella to the top, and bake until golden - another 15 minutes or so. let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

the big moment - will it stand it's own? how about those oven mitts, eh?

it worked perfectly.

i apologize for the less than stellar presentation but i made the mistake of calling my guests to the table before i remembered that it should to rest for 10 minutes. so by the time i was willing to cut it, no one was willing to wait for me to plate it properly. oh well. it was awesome, anyway.

*the measurements for the seasonings are just a guess. if you don't want to eye ball it, those ratios should be just fine. and next time i'll probably add about half a cup of pasta water to the sauce right before i scoop it onto the rigatoni. i cooked my sauce to it's regular thickness, but found that after everything got baked together in the oven, the pasta left my sauce a little dry.

thai pork skewers

update: i just made these again on the weekend, possibly the most amazing skewers or pork anything i've ever had. so good i couldn't believe it.

here's something that i completely made up last week and it turned out so delicious! after i had made the marinade, i couldn't stop smelling it - it was that fresh and aromatic! i wanted to replace my boring recipe for pork tender loin, and this is what i came up with:


thai pork skewers

• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (or add 1/4 cup crushed peanuts to smooth pb, that's what i did and i think the fresh peanuts really made a difference)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup, and lime would work, too)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1/2 tsp of grated ginger
• 2 tsp coriander
• dash of cayenne pepper or crushed chili flakes
• 1 pork tenderloin, cubed
• a couple of bell peppers to skewer
• pineapple, cubed
• mushrooms, whole
• anything else you want on your skewers

combine pb, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, green onions, ginger, coriander, pepper. mix well and then thoroughly coat pork. let marinate in fridge for at least an hour - longer is better. reserve enough marinade for basting while bbqing. assemble skewers, then bbq.

since i've only made this the one time, i would add a little more spice for heat next time. i didn't know how far the chilis would go when marinating for several hours and i don't like things too spicy, or actually spicy at all.

sorry for no after picture, my house was CRAZY and i just said screw it, let's just eat already! and even though i've read it a million times, and even passed it on to you, soaking my wooden skewers for an hour in water before bbqing doesn't keep them from burning. what's up with that?? do i just need to suck it up and invest in metal ones?

this is another big meal that i was very proud of. the first time i made this chicken a few months ago mike almost died he said it was that good - and the recipe came about because the ingredients i wanted to find -flavoured havarti, prosciutto - i couldn't in our small town, so i came up with other things. i think it's much better this way anyway!

the thing with this stuffed chicken is that it's really not that hard, and is totally an impressive meal. i find the trick to it is to get the chicken pounded out, clean up that mess, then lay everything out in front of you in stations. it makes stuffing, wrapping and coating go super fast and quite easy once your elbow deep in raw chicken.

stuffed chicken (or the awesome chicken if you're mike)

• four chicken breasts, pounded flat
• herb and garlic cream cheese
• a handful of spinach
• a handful of mushrooms, sliced thin
• shaved deli ham (or prosciutto if you can get your hands on it, but i can't)
• home made shake 'n bake (recipe to follow)

pound chicken breasts flat between parchment paper with a meat mallet or rolling pin. prepare baking dish by sprinkling home made shake 'n bake on bottom. spoon cream cheese in centre of chicken, add spinach and mushroom. roll up and secure with toothpicks. place ham on top, set in baking dish and top with shake 'n bake. bake 350 for 40 min. this may vary depending on the thickness of you chicken.

i got this next recipe out of a canadian living a while ago. it was originally a home made chicken fingers recipe, but it's so awesome i use it for everything - it goes especially well with a white fish. i make tons of this at a time and keep it in the freezer and pull it out for whenever.

home made shake 'n bake (i really need a better name for it)

• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, as small as possible, like food processor small
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp oregano (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp paprika (or more to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste

combine altogether... and that's it!

i came up with this next dish about half hour before supper. for some reason i always struggle with a side for this chicken, so i thought i was just go herby and cheesy to compliment the flavours in the chicken and keep it as simple as possible.

butter herb pasta (a chemical and processed-free version of a side kick. and a lot cheaper, too!)

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (but we like things garlicky)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp of freshly grated parmesan

combine everything in a sauce pan (i recommend not really cooking the garlic much), simmer on low for a few minutes so the flavours marry. then toss with hot pasta. this amount of sauce covered enough pasta for a side for 4 people. mike thinks i could serve this as a main dish as well.

i always serve a salad, always.

that's just steamed asparagus with a store bought cheese sauce, i didn't have the energy to make up my own at the time.

chicken fajitas

when i first started making these a couple of years ago we couldn't stop eating them. like once a week - we were so addicted. i love it because it's so easy ... it's something i can even prepare in the morning and take ten minutes (plus bbqing) and finish off at supper time. and i always keep wraps handy in my freezer. this recipe makes about 5 large fajitas.

sauce

• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp cold water
• 1/2 cup white sugar (i don't think i ever put that much in)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• *and then i'll add a dash of whatever i have in the fridge in the way of asian cooking sauces - oyster, store bought teriyaki, whatever - but this is completely optional.

combine everything on low heat and bring to a simmer. stir frequently until sauce thickens.


fajita filling

• 2 sweet peppers, sliced
• 1 small onion, cut in rings
• 2 chicken breasts, bbq'd and basted with homemade teryaki sauce
• 1 large tomato, diced
• cheese grated, to taste.

bbq chicken breasts (or bake) then cut into strips. saute with peppers, onions and sauce until peppers are cooked, but still firm. dish onto fresh fajitas and top with tomatoes and cheese.

you can make a surplus of the sauce and keep it in the fridge in a recycled bbq sauce container and use for anything and everything. it's what i use for my stir fry if i don't feel like making my oyster/black bean sauce combo. and it's a big time money saver because store bought stir fry sauce is very expensive.

i cut up a wrap to make a toddler sized one for
the boy. he loves his personalized fajita!

stew and dumplings

this is my grandma's dumpling recipe i got a few years ago. one night while having supper at her house mike exclaimed, "you must make these dumplings!" i don't think they are spectacular or anything - i'm mean, they're just dumplings - but it's a good recipe with ingredients i always have on hand. and that's how i make my stew as well, i throw in whatever is in the fridge.

dumplings

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 2/3 cup milk

sift together dry ingredients (you don't have to sift, but i do, and they always turn out better.) mix wet ingredients. add dry to wet. spoon into servings on top of already cooked stew, bake altogether in oven at 350 for 18 min.

at this point, they weren't quite sticky enough so i added a touch more of milk.

baking is the important part - the stew doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot and the dumplings get cooked thoroughly.

i don't have a recipe for the stew, because well, i don't have one. this is one of the few meals i cheat with and use a boughten spice mix - i'm almost ashamed to admit that! but i do have a few tips; always add parsnips, they keep forever in the fridge and add a wonderful sweetness to the stew you just can't get out of anything else. and towards the end of cooking (before the dumplings) i thicken it up with the classic 2 tbsp of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water combo - sometimes even doubling that.

simple roasted chicken

i've been abnormally busy this week and haven't updated either blog because of it. i've been lucky enough to convince both my babies to nap at the same time, so instead of blogging in the last two days, i've napped when they have. not to mention the 12 hour day that matthew and i had in the city on wednesday. i think i'm still recovering from that. but here is my roasted chicken and it couldn't get any easier! i love doing this and i was inspired early this week because it was so crappy out i thought i should make chicken noodle soup - gotta make the bird first though!

• 1 frying chicken, i always keep it to five pounds or less because that's plenty for a big meal (for us) and lots of meat for the soup
• 2 tbsp of butter
• salt and pepper
• water for the roasting pan

slather the butter all over the bird (make sure all the innards are removed and legs tied together). sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. always keep water in the roasting pan. it will evaporate as it cooks, so be prepared to add more as you go. but don't keep too much water because when you need the juice to make gravy it will be too diluted. and i do bast it periodically.

i don't know what i did differently than the other twenty times i've done a bird, but this was the best tasting chicken mike and i have ever had.

and here's my secret - i don't know if it's much of a secret - but bake the bird at 425 for half an hour, then turn the oven down to 350 for the remainder, usually about 1 1/4 for a 5 lbs bird (so almost 2 hours in total oven time). internal tempurature should be 176 f. make sure you let the bird rest outside of the oven for at least 10 minutes before tearing into the sucker.

carbonara with scallops

this was my first time making this specific version of carbonara, or bacon and eggs pasta. i make carbonara all the time, but have never added the scallops. when i went to the freezer for the bacon and saw the scallops, i thought it was a natural combination. it was pretty good, but i think i'll omit them next time because i love the original dish so much! but something scallopy (i just made that word up) would be an awesome appetizer for a meal like this.

i've explained this dish to people before and the reaction is usually negative, and i thought the same when my mother-in-law introduced this dish to me several years ago. but it's a must try and when paired with a fresh, light salad, it's not that bad. it's one of our favourite indulgences.

• 1/2 lbs of bacon
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp fresh cracked pepper (at least)
  
• pinch of salt
• a handful or two of scallops, totally optional
• enough pasta for 4
  

i think i picked the most chipped plate in my cupboard for this picture

in a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper and parm. saute bacon (a little under cooked is better than crispy, trust me on this, it's the only way and i even like really crispy bacon) then cut into bit sized pieces (i just use my kitchen scissors). reserve a few tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan. saute scallops with bacon (if using).

cook pasta, drain, return to pot. add egg mixture to pasta, then add hot bacon and bacon grease to pasta. toss until the egg is cooked, sometime you might need to keep the pot on a low burner, sometimes not, it depends how well the bacon cooks the egg. serve immediately.

*a few notes on this recipe. after years of experience, i insist you use fresh pasta for this dish. i buy mine in the city when it goes on sale. you can get 350 grams of fresh linguine for $1. you can't beat that price, so i always stock up, i'll buy literally a dozen or more and freeze them. put the pasta right into the boiling water frozen, it might add a minute or 2 to the cooking time. if you don't have fresh stuff, short pasta like penne, is the next best thing.

also, my husband and i are pigs. that 350 grams feeds us and our 2 year old. but for a meal with a nice salad and small appetizer, you could get away with feeding 4 with this recipe.

homemade burgers and a veggie pack on the bbq

these veggies are my 'holy shit it's after 5 and i have no idea what i'm doing for supper! dish. they take about 20 minutes on the bbq and you can use whatever you have. since i always, always, always have these veggies, it's always the same for us. we love it so much, we'll eat it sometimes as often as once a week.

i know pretty much everyone does a variation of this dish, but i like to think i've perfected it.

• four small potatoes, sliced thin
• a handful of baby carrots, quartered the long way
  
• a handful of green or yellow beans, or both
• a few rings of white onion
• 2 tbsp of clubhouse vegetable spice
• 1 tsp of seasoning salt
• 2 tbsp of butter

take 2 large sections of tin foil and fold them together so they make one larger sheet. spray with cooking spray. lay out potato slices, sprinkle evenly with vegetable spice. add carrots, and beans. top with onions then sprinkle the onions with seasoning salt. top with butter. fold up and put on top rack of bbq.

what's great about the veggie pack is that they are delicious even when they are slightly undercooked as well as a little crispy. and you can make this even when the beans aren't in season, now that i keep a bag of them frozen in the freezer i'm adding them to so many more dishes. and to make this dish absolutely amazing, add fresh dill. that's a tip from my favourite friend to cook with, lou-anne. (hi lou!)

homemade hamburgers

a few years ago when we had to budget our grocery bill fairly tightly, i started making my own burgers and have never looked back. store bought patties are quite expensive and never as good as homemade ones. mike always harrasses me about not writing down my recipes. he's right, i should. but i just get going in the kitchen and i never even measure let alone write stuff down, so all the measurements here are an educated guess. my burgers taste a little different every time, but pretty much the same since it's a fairly basic recipe.

• 1 pound of lean hamburger
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp montreal steak spice
• 3/4 cup bbq sauce

mix well then form into patties.

i usually mix these up after a trip to the city when i load up on hamburger for the freezer. i'll make a couple dozen then freeze them myself. so when i only feel like doing the minimal amount of work for supper, the meal can still be homemade and fairly inexpensive.

pulled goose meat on a bun with a tossed spinach salad

what's great about this dish is it's very inexpensive to make, and most of us rural people have access to someone who hunts in the fall. thanks to my brother, there's always goose in my freezer. the only problem with goose specifically, is that it can be pretty tough and not a lot of people get very excited about the flavour, like my mom, for one.

but what's different about this recipe is that the slow cooker really tenderizes and the other ingredients really take over in flavour. and because the bulk of the work is done by the slow cooker, it's great for working moms, or anyone with a busy house. i won't eat goose any other way now.

pulled goose meat on a bun

• 1 goose; breasts, legs, wings - it all works
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• minced garlic to taste
• 2 cups stock - any will do, i used my beef broth that i keep in the freezer
• 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
• a few shakes of liquid smoke (totally optional)
• 1 cup of your favourite bbq sauce

in a pan, add the butter and onion and saute until about half done (to your taste) add garlic and goose pieces. brown the meat, should take about 5 min, each side. put everything in the pan into a slow cooker, set on high. add stock, worchestershire, and liquid smoke. leave in slow cooker for 6 - 8 hours.

i thought i pulled out goose breasts from the freezer, but it turned out to be wings and thighs. it didn't make a differnce.

once everything is cooked, pull meat off the bone using a couple of forks, and shred. toss back in pan with about 1/2 a cup of the stock/onion/garlic mixture. let simmer on stove for about 5 minutes to reduce the liquid, add the bbq sauce and cook for another couple of minutes. serve on open, fresh buns. mike likes his toasted, but i don't.

i added the bbq sauce a little early (the liquid hadn't quite reduced enough) but it made no difference and i just gave it an extra 2 minutes in the pan.

serve with salad and it's an easy, inexpensive meal. and it freezes really well!

dinner with the grandparents

i put together a rather large meal, and i'll be posting the courses one by one. we love having people over and i love cooking for those people, so i went all out when we had my grandparents over for dinner friday night.

cheddar chive biscuits, shrimp kabobs, maple glazed salmon, mushroom-green bean risotto, fudge brownies and fruit salad for dessert.

with this being such a big meal to make from scratch i had to start a day early to get some things out of the way. there's only so much i can accomplish in a day with two babies under two.

the salmon i always start a day ahead - you have to give it 24 hours or else it won't be as good as it should.

maple glazed salmon marinade:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup - if i'm out i always use regular syrup, it's still good.
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• grated ginger to taste. i always put in a table spoon or more, we love ginger. ginger is an ingredient i use a lot because it's something we can get in a small town and it keeps so well in the freezer you don't feel bad about paying a little more for it. and i find grating it frozen is easier and once it's grated it thaws instantly.
• fresh cracked pepper
  

marinate salmon then prior to baking coat top of salmon with freshly cracked pepper. bake at 400 for 15-20 min, depending on the thickness of the salmon. it's done when it flakes with a fork, it can over cook easily.

*first time i had this our friend alysia had us over for dinner. that was about 6 (??) years ago. thanks alysia, this is still a favourite - the ginger is a great addition to your already awesome recipe.

shrimp kabobs

before the bbq

there really is no recipe for these. i just stuck together what i had handy then basted them on the bbq with sweet thai chili sauce that i bought at costco in the city - but you could use any sauce that has a little sweet and spicy flavour. because we were having company i bought cherry tomatoes. normally i would never dream of this purchase, as a small container are usually around $4 (in these parts, anyway). i skewered:

• pineapple
• mushrooms
• cherry tomatoes
• red pepper
• red onion
• raw, peeled shrimp

pre-soak skewers (if using wooden ones) in water for about 20 minutes before assembly so they don't burn on the bbq. they only needed to be bbq'd for about ten minutes, maybe a little more. bast towards the end. i served these in lieu of a salad.

mushroom - green bean risotto

i tackled my first risotto several years ago when my husband and i lived with his parents the summer that we were married. my in-laws love, love, love food and i would browse her cookbooks for hours. now that we live in the middle of nowhere and what most cooks would consider basic ingredients aren't available, i had to use orzo instead of arborio rice. it turned out wonderfully, and my husband said that this risotto specifically was one of the best things he's ever had. the extra effort that risotto takes is always worth it.

this is about half way through adding the stock

• 4 cups stock (i used my beef stock from scratch i had in the freezer, but any kind will do)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, or to taste*
• 1/2 pound of orzo (about a quarter of a regular sized package or 2 cups arborio rice.)
• s & p to taste
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley
• 2 tbsp butter
  
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

heat stock. in separate pan heat olive oil and butter, add onions and fry until onions are translucent. add minced garlic and rice/orzo and fry until orzo is toasted or rice is slightly translucent. add stock one ladle full at a time and keep stirring. turn heat down a bit and keep added stock and keep stirring. i find that towards the end, you can add the last two cups all at once. stir until absorbed. add s & p, remove from heat and add butter and parm. cover and let stand for a few minutes.

*we love garlic in our house, and when i'm cooking i put a clove in for each serving, plus one or two more for the pot