{WWDH} pasta with mushrooms

I am always ready to eat pasta. Anytime. Any meal. Any kind. So when it was my turn to pick the week’s recipe for Wednesdays with Donna Hay I went searching for a good simple pasta.

Donna’s pasta with mushrooms is a creamy simple sauce tossed with linguini (or fettuchini, or skinny spaghetti), Parm cheese, basil leaves and S&P. The sauce is made with ‘shrooms (duh), cream, veggie stock (which I didn’t have so I used beef broth), and a little lemon juice. I was afraid the juice would curdle the cream but it just came out smooth and creamy. (The recipe also called for diced red pepper but I am not a fan so I left it out.

Super simple.
Super tasty.

The recipe is on page 22 of Donna’s off the shelf: cooking from the pantry and I found it online HERE.

Check with Gaye
Kayte,
and Chaya to see how they liked this pasta.

 

{WWDH} Bacon Pie and Chicken Pasta Salad

Some times Life gets in the way. Such was true last week. A medical emergency took priority (GASP!!) so I didn’t get to the DH recipe which was Gaye’s pick.

Bacon and Egg Pie.

Bacon and eggs are the quintessential breakfast foods. Bacon is really hot (haha) right now, add cheese and pastry and you have a winner!!!! I loved this. The partially baked bacon is layered with cheese, mustard (I don’t like mustard and left it out), and eggs in puff pastry and baked till the eggs are set. What’s not to like????

You can check out

Gaye’s pie, and
Chaya’s who used Smoked Salmon instead of bacon. YUM!!

You can find the recipe on page 158 of Donna’s Modern Classics 1

This week the recipe was chosen by Kayte.

A nice Chicken Spaghetti Salad served warm. The pasta is tossed with cooked chicken breasts, mustard dressing, spinach leaves, salt and pepper. Super simple. And I would like to say super tasty, but I didn’t care for the mustard dressing. I did make it, and I did taste it, but I didn’t use it. Sorry, Kayte. Instead I used a Vidalia Onion Dressing. It was good. The recipe for the salad is definitely repeat. You can find it on page 57 of Modern Classics ! I love pasta salads in the summer!! Thanks, Kayte.

Check out

Gaye’s and
 

{SRC}In the Kitchen with Lisa

JUNE!! Seriously? SERIOUSLY!! Well at least there is a bright spot to the first of June.

Secret Recipe Club Reveal

The first Monday of the Month is always the reveal day for Group A. And there are always some delicious recipes to be had. Like the ones I found on Lisa’s blog – Cook Lisa Cook. Lisa says her blog is where she shares her favorite recipes. Well, many of them just became my favorites, too. I managed to narrow my choices down to 15 which I stored on Pinterest but then narrowing it down to just a couple I could handle in a few days was harder. In the end I ended up with THREE….okay four!!

I was going to make Lisa’s Hearty Sausage Cheese Quiche but found out I didn’t have any sausage. So I switched over to the Bacon and Swiss Cheese Quiche to find I didn’t have any biscuits. SHEESH!! So..I put the two together and ended up with

Hearty Bacon, Mushroom and Cheese Mini Quiche.

7 slices bacon, diced
1 cup fresh chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
10 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Perheat oven to 350. Fry bacon until crisp. Remove from skillet and add in the bell pepper, mushrooms and green onions. Sautee until tender. Spray 10 regular-sized muffin cups with cooking spray. Mix the bacon and veggie mixture with the eggs and cheese and fill the muffin cups until about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until filling is set and edges of biscuit cups are golden brown. Remove from the oven and into the top center of each Quiche Cup.

For dinner this week I made her

Potato Crusted Chicken Tenders
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup instant potato flakes
1 TBS. Italian seasoning
1 TBS. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
Peanut oil or cooking oil of your choice

Slice the chicken breasts into strips about pointer finger wide. In a shallow bowl mix together the potato flakes, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & pepper and set aside. Over a medium-high flame, heat a large heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet. When hot, add just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. One-by-one press the chicken strips into the potato flake mixture to coat completely and then carefully add to hot pan. Do not crowd the pan. Turn the chicken when the potato flakes get golden brown and remove from pan once the chicken strips are cooked through. Add oil as needed throughout the cooking process.

I loved the texture the potato flakes gave the crust of the tenders. It was different from anyway I had ever made them. Lisa chose to use the potato flakes because Maisie, her ADORABLE daughter, has some allergy issues. So Lisa has to be very creative. Definitely a keeper.

With the tenders we had Lisa’s Bacon and Cheese Zucchini Fritters.

I have made zucchini fritters before but they have always been a little bland. Now I know what they were missing – Bacon AND Cheese!!!

3 cups grated zucchini
1 medium sweet onion, grated
3 large eggs
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bacon bits
localoffersIcon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
peanut oil or oil of your choice

Add the grated zucchini and grated onion to a cheesecloth lined sieve and squeeze & press out as much of the water as possible. In a large bowl add the squeezed out zucchini & onion, eggs, grated cheese, bacon bits, salt & pepper. Stir to combine well.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Using a large cookie scoop portion out the zucchini mixture into the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan. Press and spread the zucchini mixture just a little. Cook until the bottom side is golden and then carefully flip to cook the other side. Once both sides are golden remove to a paper towel lined cooling rack. Serve hot. Definitely on my summer rotation when the zucchini start coming in.

If you want to join in with the Secret Recipe Club just click on the link and follow the instructions and make new friends. Easy Peasy and GREAT COOKING!!!

And visit the other members by clicking on the link below.

I found out after the fact that this post never made it up. To Lisa and the other members of SRC I sincerely apologize.

 

{MKMW} Bienvenido a Argentina

This month My Kitchen My World traveled to Argentina.

And it was a delicious stay. Trying to find just the right recipe was not an easy task. There have been so many countries through history that have influenced the cuisine, like just about every other country in the world, that there was a lot to choose from But finding an historically traditional Argentine recipe (Did you know they have Gnocchi Thursdays?) was not so easy. Thankfully I had help from several sources. So….

For lunch the other day we had….

….Empanadas de Carne

for lunch. It seems every culture has some type of meat pie in their cuisine. The English call them Hand Pies and they were common fare for the working man. In India, Pakistan, and other countries of that area one will find Samosas. Kreatopitas in Greece, Pierogies in Poland, and Biff paj in Sweden, Chinese Pot Stickers/Dumplings (aka Gyoza in Japan). And in the South we have Meat Pies as well. The Spanish Empanada is very similar to the ones here in the deep south. That could very well be due to the Spanish influence in our early history. In Argentina there is a slight twist on the Spanish Empanada as you will see in the recipe.

Empanada de Carne
BEEF FILLING
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large white onion (about 12 ounces),finely chopped
1 pound ground chuck
1 bunch scallions, white and half the green part, thinly sliced, about 3/4 cup
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
1 tablespoon qji molido or sweet Spanish paprika {I used Spanish smoked Paprika}
3/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives
5 Large eggs, hard-cooked and chopped

To prepare the filling, heat the oil over medium heat in a large saute pan and add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is limp and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the ground beef with a wooden spoon and break up any lumps with the spoon. Cook the beef until it is no longer raw-looking, or until any accumulated water in the pan evaporates and the beef is sizzling, about 10 minutes. Scrape the beef mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients, one at a time. Taste the filling for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the filling until you are ready to form the empanadas. The filling will keep well for up to 3 days.

To form the empanada crusts, remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured surface. Flour the dough and roll it to a 20-inch square. Use a plate or a cardboard pattern as a guide to cut the dough into 5-inch disks

To fill the empanadas, place 2 tablespoons of the filling on the lower half of 1 disk of dough. {I did not include the dough recipe. I used my go-to pie crust recipe and it was perfect.} Use a brush or fingertip to moisten the edge of the dough with the sugar syrup. Fold the dough over to cover the filling and meet the other end of the crust. Press firmly with fingertips to seal the 2 layers of dough together. Starting at one
side of the edge, make a small fold about 1/4 inch deep from the outside of the empanada toward the center, or seal by pressing hard with the tines of a fork. Continue making little folds until you reach the other end of the semicircular side of the empanada. Repeat with the remaining crusts and filling.

The Empanadas are sealed with a sugar syrup.

SUGAR SYRUP FOR SEALING THE EMPANADAS
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar

To prepare the sugar syrup, bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring a couple of times to make sure the sugar has dissolved. Cool the Syrup store it in a covered jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

To fry the empanadas, heat the oil in a large Dutch oven to 375 degrees. Fry 3 or 4 empanadas at a time. As they are fried, drain them on one of the prepared pans. Repeat with the remaining empanadas, making sure that the oil does not start to foam and boil over.
Drain on paper towels.

These are best devoured eaten the day they are made.

I found this recipe in Nick Malgieri’s A Baker’s Tour (page 300) They are from Ana Rambaldi and are from her native Argentina. What makes these different, says Ana – “…is flavored with an Argentine type of crushed red pepper that not hot, called aji molido, or ground pepper, you can substitute sweet Spanish paprika, but the taste will not be exactly the same. In typical South American fashion, the meat filling here is sweetened with sugar. Most Americans would probably prefer less sugar or none at all-the choice is up to you.”

What also makes them different is the inclusion of the boiled eggs and Spanish olives. Deliciously different!

After that we needed a sweet.

How about Tarta de Coco y Dulce de Leche | Coconut and Dulce de Leche Tart which I found on Katie’s Site. Katie is from Philly, living outside of Buenos Aires and learning to cook the local dishes. This one is a simple tart with a layer of Dulce de Leche covered with a tasty coconut custard. One half of the recipe yielded 3 mini tarts. Perfect.

Come by and visit with us at My Kitchen My World. Next month we are visiting…….

 

{WWDH} Twofer – Risotto and Arancini

This week was my pick for Wednesdays with Donna Hay. Not only did I have one pick, I had two. My pick was the Arancini Balls on page 144 of Donna’s modern classics Book 1 but in order to make the balls you had to make the

Lemon and Parmesan Risotto first.

I have discovered that making risotto is actually quite easy. Arborio rice and lots and lots of liquid. Stir constantly. You end up with a tasty treat. In this case, Donna added Parmesan cheese and lemon zest to the mix. It was delicious. Now, take the risotto, let it cool enough to handle it and then wrap it around a small cube of cheese. Donna called for Mozzarella but I forgot to get it so I used sharp cheddar instead. It was a good sub.

Nothing better than melted cheese encased in a ball of Parm-y creamy rice and fried.

Couple of tips: make the balls small so they fry quickly. If they fry too long you end up with hard rice on the outside; make sure you use a cheese that melts easily or you will have just soft cheese inside.

These are definitely on the repeat list when I have left over risotto. And I think the little mozzarella balls would work perfectly with this.

Check with Gaye

Kayte

and Chaya for their Arancini balls.

You can find the recipes on page 140 and 144 in her book. I left links above for the online recipes I found. Buy the book. Cook with us and join Wednesdays with Donna Hay.

 

{WWDH} moussaka

Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies. I grow them every year and if I am lucky I actually harvest enough to cook with. Last year was a bust, this year, hopefuly, will be better. I have about 5 different kinds planted. Fingers crossed. And one of the reasons I am hoping I get a bountiful harvest is so I can make this again….

This was probably the easiest Moussaka I have ever made. Mostly because it did not include a Bechemel Sauce like others I have made. The meat sauce, which called for ground lamb {and I used beef because one doesn’t find ground lamb here}, was a tasty onion-y, cinnamon-y, garlic-y, tomato-y combination. I made about 1/3 of the recipe which fit nicely into a 7′ by 7′ casserole. I used one eggplant, 1/2 of the other ingredients, except the cheese – I used all of the Parm and Mozzerella Donna called for. It made a perfect 3 servings.

You can find Donna’s recipe on page 110of modern classics: Book 1.

Check out the Moussaka from

Kayte, it was her pick for the week.
GayeChaya
 

{SRC} Sprinkle Me with Recipes

So here we are, the first of a new month. May!! Already!! May Flowers! Spring weather. And most importantly – Secret Recipe Club!

This month I met Meghan of Cupcakes with Sprinkles. I know I gained at least 10 pounds just LOOKING at all the goodies on her site.

I love all things sweet. I once had an aunt tell me that you might be dead before dessert so you should always eat dessert before dinner. That is something I love! It doesn’t matter how full I get I always have room for dessert.

This had to be month we gave up sweets. I mean really – gave. up. sweets. So while I drooled over all the sweet treats – which WILL be revisited at a later date – had had find some non-sweet recipes. **SIGH** But I persevered and narrowed it down to 6 (one of which is kinda sweet)and then down to THREE!!

Breakfast: Sunday is about the only day we eat a BIG breakfast. Eggs with bacon and grits, pancakes, or…..

WAFFLES

Some with Blueberries.
Some with Pecans. All good!!

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Milk
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until blended and smooth. Coat waffle plates with non-stick cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for 1 square of waffles. Let bake for about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

***********************

Lunch: I needed something quick to go with some left over 5 Spice Chicken for Lunch, Meghan’s Very Quick Fried Rice.

3 cups cooked White Rice
3 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
1 cup cooked Peas and Carrots
1 small Onion, minced
2 teaspoons Garlic, minced
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup Soy Sauce

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the peas and carrots mix, onion and garlic. Cook until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture to the side of the pan, then pour the eggs on the other side of pan and cook until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and mix together well. Stir until heated through. I added some Five Spice to the rice as well. I thought it brought out the flavor of the sesame.

***********************

Dinner: We had a cool evening the other night. It was a perfect night for stew.

Not just any stew, a stew made in the slow cooker. I usually fix mine using my pressure cooker or dutch oven so using the slow cooker was different for me. Long and slow gives you enhanced flavor for the potatoes, carrots, and meat.Mine was also a little different because I used 1/2 beef and 1/2 venison.

1 lb chuck steak and 1 lb venison steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 medium Yellow Onions, finely chopped
1-6oz can Tomato Paste
2 cups Beef Broth
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Bay Leaves
3 1/2 cups Carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups Red Potatoes, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
2 Tablespoons Minute Tapioca

1. After the meat has been cut into chunks, pat it dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat until the oil is hot. Cook half of the beef until it is well browned on each side, about 4 minutes. Don’t cook it all the way through – just get it brown on all sides. Toss the meat in the slow cooker and follow the same process with the second half of the meat. Remove the meat to the slow cooker, trying to keep as much oil in the pan as possible.

2. Return the skillet to medium heat and add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are translucent and golden, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the broth, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon thyme and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour it into the slow cooker over the meat.

3. In a large bowl, toss the carrots, potatoes, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. On the counter, lay out a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and place the tossed vegetables on one side of the foil. Fold the foil over the vegetables and crimp the edges really well to form a little foil packet that will fit in the top of your slow cooker. >{I put 1/2 of the veggies in the stew and 1/2 in the foil packet to see if there would be a different taste. There wasn’t.}Stir the tapioca into the slow cooker. Place the foil packet of vegetables on top of the stew, cover the slow cooker, and cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 10-11 hours.

4. When the stew is finished cooking, carefully remove the foil packet from the top of the stew. Discard the bay leaves from the stew. Carefully open the foil packet (be careful of steam that will escape as you open it!). Return the vegetables and any juices to the slow cooker and gently mix them into the stew. Serve.

I had never used tapioca as a thickener. I have always made a roux for thickening. The tapioca was a nice surprise. I liked the flavor the tomato paste added (also never used) but not so much for the soy sauce. Definitely a repeat – when the weather is cold/cool again.

Thanks, Meghan, for three keepers. I still have three recipes left over. And when I start using sugar again there will definitely be some Sprinkle treats coming out of the kitchen.

Visit the other members of The Secret Recipe Club by using the blog hop below.

 

{WWDH} lemon chicken pasta

This week’s Donna Hay dish is a nice little pasta dish that is easy and quick to make.

If you have some spaghetti (I used some homemade egg noodles), chicken, capers, and olive oil you are almost there. Now add some lemon juice, zest, and garlic and you have all the makings of this tasty dish. (It also calls for red chillies, but I left those out!!)

I liked it, but B wasn’t a fan. Made a good lunch since it was quick (and I had some cooked breasts.) The only problem, and it is probably because of the pasta I used, I found the dish to be a little dry. Next time I will add a little pasta water.

This was Gaye’s pick his week so amble on over and check out her pasta. And while you are wandering the internet check on Chaya’s and Kayte’s as well

The recipe is on page 22 of Donna’s Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry. It is also on Donna’s website, with tons of other delicious recipes.

 

{MKMW} Liechtenstein – Käsknöpfle

Translated it means cheese dumplings. Dumplings! Cheese! How can you possibly go wrong with that? It is very much like our Mac/Cheese but with a VERY different pasta. In Leichtenstein it is one of really very few actual Leichtensteiner dishes. {I found only two initially and then ran across several more thanks to Celt Net}

Liechtenstein is a small principality bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. It is the smallest German speaking country in the world. For most of its 2000 year history it has been under the control of one country or another and its cuisine reflects that. But according to some of the web sites I visited THIS recipe is considered the national dish.

These dumplings can be made by simply dropping little pieces of batter into the boiling water or by using a special cutter They are very similar to German spaetzle.

300g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 eggs
1 tbsp water
1 large onion, chopped
150g mixed grated cheese {I used Gruyere and cheddar}

Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix them into a dough. Leave for 10-20 minutes. Then pass the dough through a colander or dough cutter into boiling, salted water. Leave the small pieces of dough in the boiling water for a couple of minutes, then place them in a bowl, add grated cheese, and mix together. Fry onion rings in butter until they are golden, then place these on top of the dish and serve.

I made 1/3 of the recipe and that was plenty for two healthy servings.

This was very easy to prepare and very tasty. And since these little free form noodles are so easy to make it will be served often.

Pop on over to and see what other dishes arrived from Leichtenstein. And if you want to join in just make a dish and leave a comment on the MKMW website.

 

{WWDH} asparagus tarts

Ok. I confess, this week’s REAL Donna Hay pick is supposed to be smoky roasted Gazpacho. I have tried gazpacho a couple of times. I have tried to like it a couple of times. Nope! Doesn’t work for me. Sorry, Chaya. It was Chaya’s pick this week. But I could not just do nothing, so I went back and did an extra that Kayte and Gaye did earlier.

Asparagus Tarts

These are extrememly easy to make and deliciously easy to eat. Simply place some trimmed asparagus on some puff pastry squares, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake. YEP!! THAT easy. I make asparagus like this all the time, but not in the crust. And I didn’t actually use puff pastry. I used some Croissant dough I had left from another recipe. Croissant dough is very similar to puff pastry to I decided it would be just right.

I only made four. I am glad it is still asparagus season so I can make some more!!!

You can find the recipe on page 174 of Donna’s classics BOOK 1
And if you want to see everyone elses Gazpacho visit:
Gaye
Kayte
Chaya

The recipe is on page 30 of Donna’s classics BOOK 1. I also found it HERE! But you really need to buy her cookbook for MORE wonderful recipes. And then you could cook along with us!!