Ina Fridays: Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

It's Ina Friday again!  This month I was supposed to make a dessert.  My husband and I both love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I've only made ONE PBJ dessert before (some cookies about 10 years ago), so it was pretty quick to settle on Ina's recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.  You can find the recipe here.  My small changes were to cut back the salt from 1 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp because my butter was salted, and leave out the peanut topping because as much as we love peanut butter, neither of us is crazy about peanuts sprinkled on things.

It was such an easy recipe to throw together, and a perfect, all American, homey dessert for the 4th of July!  We loved how they turned out, it's hard to imagine the bars being much better than they are.  Unlike some other bars that need to sit over night before serving (thinking of Carmelitas), they held up together very well when cut about 4 hours after coming after the oven, and the flavors are perfect.  Can't wait to see how they taste tomorrow after the flavors have had a chance to blend and balance out!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

1/2 lb salted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 C sugar
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
18 oz jar smooth peanut butter
2 eggs
18 oz jar jam (I used seedless blackberry)
2/3 C salted, chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 pan.  Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy and light yellow, about 2 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

Add vanilla extract, peanut butter, and eggs to butter-sugar mixture and mix on low until well combined, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low just until completely combined (do not over mix).

Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Spoon jam over the top and spread evenly.  Drop remaining dough in small pieces over the jam.

Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.  Allow bars to cool completely (at least 4 hours) before attempting to cut them into squares.

Yield:  About 16 servings

Ina Fridays: Weeknight Bolognese

It's time for another Ina Friday!  Unfortunately I missed last month because I was sick and in no condition to cook, but it's a new month!  This time we were supposed to make a main dish.  I had about 5 main dish Ina recipes bookmarked as potentials, and after spending all day today thinking about her Weeknight Bolognese, I picked up the ingredients on the way home from work and whipped it up.

This recipe did not disappoint!  I did have to make a few small changes, the most important being that I only used 1/2 teaspoon salt instead of a tablespoon, and only 1/4 teaspoon black pepper instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons.  I think this was a VERY good call because with that amount of salt, we probably would have shriveled up and died.  Reducing the pepper was more an issue of personal taste, but I really think the given amount would have been excessive.  I also left out the olive oil simply because even lean ground beef has enough fat to cook fine, and used pre-shredded parmesan.  Normally for a recipe like this, I would have grated my own, but I had an open container in the fridge that I couldn't bear to throw away!  It definitely would have been better with freshly grated though, the pre-shredded kind detracted a bit from the dish because it made it a little chalky.  One last thing- I boiled a whole 1 pound box of shells even though the recipe called for 3/4 and thought my husband would just eat the leftover pasta with butter for lunch.  The recipe ended up making so much sauce, though, that I went ahead and mixed all of the pasta with it.  Even with the extra noodles, it was still wonderfully saucy.

Now, plenty of sauce aside, what did we think of this recipe?  Well, my husband LOVED it and rated it 10 out of 10!  I didn't like it nearly as much as he did, but it's still something I will make again and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  The sauce is very robust and hearty with great flavor from the wine and a bit of creaminess.  It does not taste like a sauce that was only simmered for 20 minutes!  Next time I may experiment with adding a bit more cream, mostly because there was a lot left over in the container and there's no way an extra 1/4 cup cream could make it worse.

Weeknight Bolognese

1 lb ground beef

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 1/4 C red wine, divided

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 C fresh basil, chopped roughly and packed lightly into measuring cup

1/4 C heavy cream

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 lb small pasta such as shells or orecchiette

1/2 C freshly grated parmesan, plus more for serving

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high and add ground beef.  Saute until cooked through.  Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano and saute another minute, until garlic starts to turn golden.  Add 1 cup of the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  Bring sauce to a boil, then cover with a splatter screen, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the 10 minutes are up, begin to cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water.  While the pasta cooks, stir basil, cream, and nutmeg into sauce and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is done. 

Drain pasta and place into a large serving bowl.  Pour sauce on top and add the parmesan.  Toss until pasta is coated and cheese is melted.  Serve in bowls topped with additional parmesan.

Yield: 5 generous servings

Ina Fridays: Bibb Salad with Basil Green Goddess Dressing

It's Ina Friday time again!  This is my third month participating, and the recipe I chose this month was a big hit at our house.  The recipe category this time was Appetizers/Drinks.  There are lots of tasty looking Ina Garten appetizer recipes, but this one for Bibb Salad with Basil Green Goddess Dressing immediately caught my eye.

For some reason the idea of green goddess dressing has always intrigued me.  I've only had it once before, on a large lunch salad at a restaurant.  Unfortunately, the combination of herbs they used was extremely off putting and strange tasting, to the point that I couldn't force myself to eat it!  Lucky for us, though, this recipe was pretty amazing and unlike any other dressing I've had.  The basil is incredible and the flavors all just work together perfectly, especially after spending a couple of hours in the refrigerator.  It reminds me a bit of a good caesar dressing, but the basil really sets it apart.  It was great on salad of course (I used bagged butter lettuce), but I think it would also be good in pasta salad, potato salad, or with fish, shrimp, or chicken.  I also had some as a snack with baby carrots and cucumber and it's great that way, too.

Quick Note:  This recipe makes a lot, about 3 cups!  I halved it (though wrote the full amount of ingredients below) and it turned out great.

Edit: I've found the green onion intensifies quite a bit after the dressing is in the refrigerator for a couple of days, so I usually cut back the green onion to 1/2 cup and bump up the basil to 1 1/2 cup.  This has become one of our favorite salad dressings.

Basil Green Goddess Dressing

1 C chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed

1 C chopped green onions, green and white parts

1 C mayo

4 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp chopped garlic

2 tsp anchovy paste

1 C sour cream

Place everything but sour cream in a blender, the bowl of a food processor, or in a bowl compatible with an immersion blender.  Blend until smooth.  Scrape down sides, then add sour cream, and blend until completely incorporated.  Taste the dressing and add more salt if necessary.  The dressing will look a bit thin, but should thicken nicely in the refrigerator.

Refrigerate dressing for a couple of hours before serving so the flavors can develop.  A few other blogs that have shared this recipe say the dressing stays good in the refrigerator for 3 weeks, but I'm skeptical and think 1 week sounds more likely!

To make the salad, just arrange washed, dried, and torn bibb or butter lettuce on plates, then top with tomato wedges and dressing.

Yield: About 3 cups

Ina Fridays: Brownie Pudding

This month's Ina Friday assignment was for a dessert, and with my husband's birthday coming up, I quickly decided to make him Brownie Pudding.  The guy loves brownies, chocolate, and batter, so it seemed like a perfect choice. 

I had to halve the recipe because I didn't have baking dishes that would have worked for the whole recipe (you need to make a water bath), used vanilla extract instead of the seeds from a vanilla bean, and did not have the optional framboise.

Regardless, the brownie pudding turned out really well!  It has a crunchy, sugary crust on top, then the inside is insanely chocolaty (there's more cocoa than flour in it!), soft and chewy near the edges, and delightfully gooey at the center.  I think I may have baked it a smidgen too long because the center was not actually runny, but it doesn't seem to have hurt things one bit.  My husband gave this 10 stars and had two large servings.  Most definitely a repeat, and better than any molten chocolate cake either of us have had at restaurants.

As a plus, this is super easy to make with pretty impressive and very yummy results!  And since you serve it warm (with ice cream, no less), unlike with a cake, brownies, cheesecake, or pie, you don't have to wait for it to cool before serving.

Brownie Pudding

1 stick butter

2 eggs, room temperature
1 C sugar
1/3 C cocoa powder, plus 1 Tbsp
1/4 C flour
seeds of half a vanilla bean (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
1/2 Tbsp framboise liquer, optional (I did not have this)
vanilla ice cream to serve it with

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a flat, 1 quart baking dish that fits comfortably inside of another baking dish (you're going to make a water bath).  In the bowl of a stand mixer, place eggs and sugar.  Attach paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and light yellow.

While the sugar and eggs mix,sift together the cocoa powder and flour.  Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the cocoa powder-flour mixture, vanilla, and Framboise.  Mix only until combined.  With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the cooled, melted butter.  Again, mix just until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.  Set baking dish inside the other baking dish and place it in the oven.  Fill the larger baking dish with enough hot tap water to fill it halfway up the side of the dish.  Bake until a toothpick inserted 1 1/2 inches from the side of the baking dish comes out mostly clean, about 45 minutes.  Do not over bake. 

Let the brownie pudding cool for 15 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

Yield: 4 servings (recipe says 3, but 4 or even 6 is more realistic)

 Here's a list of the other bloggers that participate in Ina Fridays!

•   Alyce @ More Time at the Table
•   Ansh @  Spice Roots 
•   Barbara @ Moveable Feasts  
•   Bhavna @ Just a Girl From AAmchi Mumbai..
•   Chaya @  Bizzy Bakes
•   Linda,  @ Tumbleweed Contessa
•   Mary @ The Egg Farm
•   Minnie @ The Lady 8 Home
•   Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
•   Patti @ Comfy Cuisine
•   Peggy@ Pantry Revisited
•   Rocky Mountain Woman @ Rocky Mountain Woman
•   Veronica @ My Catholic Kitchen

Ina Fridays: Mac & Cheese

*First of all, please forgive me if the spacing in this post and recent posts is crazy.  Blogger seems to be spazzing out and keeps changing my spacing in already published posts.  How I have it right now looks fine in Firefox and Internet Explorer on my computer, but I'm not sure how it looks on others*

I've joined a new cooking group!  This is a small group that prepares an Ina Garten recipe once a month.  There are guidelines for the type of recipe each month (such as main dish or appetizer), but other than that, we're free to pick whatever recipe we want.  I'm quite fond of Ina Garten's recipes and a couple of them I've been making for half my life (like Rosemary Roasted Carrots and Parker's Split Pea Soup), so am excited at the prospect of trying a new one of my choice each month.  The fact that I can choose which recipe to make is very nice since I can either choose something that fits my dietary requirements, or else pick something to make as a special treat. 

This month's assignment was a main dish recipe.  It only took about 3 minutes of digging through recipes on the Food Network website to find Ina Garten's recipe for macaroni and cheese.  What better first recipe to make for a mac and cheese devotee like myself?  I haven't cooked a pasta dish since September, so was pretty excited to make this! 

  
The recipe was quite easy to make, not any more complicated than other baked mac and cheeses.  I'd never used gruyere, tomatoes, or fresh bread crumbs in mac and cheese and was curious to try them out.  The only thing I changed about the recipe was to cut it in half so we wouldn't have tons of leftovers.  It ended up making a good amount anyway! 

The recipe came together very well and looked great, but I was a bit nervous when I tasted it before sticking it in the oven.  I have an extremely low tolerance for processed cheese/Velveeta, and to my surprise, the sauce had a processed cheese taste and texture.  It gave me the "Velveeta shudder", never good! 

Luckily, it was much better after the stint in the oven, and I ended up enjoying the mac and cheese pretty well.  I think my gruyere was to blame.  There were two varieties to pick from at the store, one was $10 a pound and the other $20.  I really didn't want to spend $10 on a little hunk of cheese, so picked the less expensive one, which was softer.  When I tasted it before grating it, it actually tasted like American cheese to me rather than gruyere!  Now I really want to make it again with the firmer, pricier gruyere in spite of the cost, because I'm sure it will taste better.

The verdict:  Cheese issues aside, this was a really nice mac and cheese, creamy with good flavor.  I didn't need to adjust the seasonings or amount of milk or cheese at all.  The sauce was pretty darn thick, but I wonder how it would be with the better gruyere.  I personally enjoyed the tomatoes on top and the fresh, buttered bread crumbs were really nice.  My husband picked off his tomatoes but thought the bread crumbs were fine, which is a first for him- he usually does not like bread crumbs on pasta.  He rated it 6 stars out of 10, but was raving over it as he ate and had two servings.  I think he'd actually give it a higher rating except that he's extremely devoted to my "signature" mac and cheese recipe (the one the blog was named after, and that he rates "9,000" stars) and was stubbornly opposed to me even making this one.

All in all, this is definitely a mac and cheese worth making if you want something a little different!  My one suggestion would be to buy good gruyere.

Ina Garten's Mac & Cheese

8 oz cavatappi or macaroni

4 T butter, divided

1/4 C flour

2 C milk

1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

8 oz gruyere (by weight), grated

4 oz cheddar (by weight), grated

1-2 small tomatoes, halved and sliced thinly

2-3 slices bread, crust removed and made into crumbs in the food processor

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 2 quart baking dish.  Boil pasta in lightly salted water until tender, and drain.  Make the sauce while the pasta cooks.  Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, then whisk in the flour until smooth.  Cook and whisk for another minute or so, then whisk in the milk in small additions of about 1/4 cup each, making sure sauce is completely smooth before you add more milk.  Cook sauce, whisking frequently, until thickened, then about a minute more.  Remove pan from heat (this is important so the cheese doesn't get gritty), and whisk in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then whisk in the cheese a handful at a time until smooth. 

Stir the sauce into the cooked pasta and spoon into the greased baking dish.  Top with the sliced tomatoes.  Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and mix it with the bread crumbs, then sprinkle it evenly over the pasta and tomatoes.  Bake until the crumbs are golden and the sauce is bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes.

Yield:  About 6 main dish servings (I halved the recipe which supposedly would make 3 servings, but those would be truly gigantic servings!)

Here's a list of the other bloggers that participate in Ina Fridays!

•   Alyce @ More Time at the Table
•   Ansh @  Spice Roots 
•   Barbara @ Moveable Feasts  
•   Bhavna @ Just a Girl From AAmchi Mumbai..
•   Chaya @  Bizzy Bakes
•   Linda,  @ Tumbleweed Contessa
•   Mary @ The Egg Farm
•   Minnie @ The Lady 8 Home
•   Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
•   Patti @ Comfy Cuisine
•   Peggy@ Pantry Revisited
•   Rocky Mountain Woman @ Rocky Mountain Woman
•   Veronica @ My Catholic Kitchen

Chaya at Bizzy Bakes sadly lost her daughter recently.  Chaya, my heart goes out to you and your family!