Buttons and Bowties

My poor, neglected little blog!  I haven't forgotten about it, I just haven't really been cooking a lot of new things.  Or at least not new things that I think are worth sharing because they're either way too easy or kind of embarrassing.  We've been eating a lot of the following: Avocado toast (avocado slightly mashed on a piece of toast, with salt, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes optional).  Salad.  Baked potatoes with assorted toppings such as chili.  Steamed rice with sauteed turkey Spam, scrambled eggs, and a sprinkle of soy sauce (this would be one of the embarrassing ones, but it's good!).  None of those require recipes.

The recipe I'm sharing today is pretty brainless, too, but my poor blog was getting so lonely that I decided to post it, anyway.  It's perfect for hot days and also really yummy!  Oh and kudos to my husband for thinking of the cute name, he thought the sliced olives looked like buttons.

Buttons and Bowties (aka Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad)

1 lb bowtie pasta
2 small cans sliced black olives, drained
8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
1 large cucumber, diced large
1/4 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 C ranch dressing (can use my recipe or the kind in a jar, if you get a jar, get the good stuff from the refrigerated section!)
salt to taste

Boil the pasta in lightly salted water, be sure not to overcook it.  Drain and rinse with cold water until cool.  I usually let it sit in super cold water for a minute, drain it, then do it again a couple of times and it works well to chill the pasta.  Drain thoroughly, and add all other ingredients ONLY if it will be served immediately.  If you won't be serving it right away, I suggest leaving the tomatoes, cucumber, and bacon out and only add them when you're about to eat it because the ranch will do weird things to the veggies if left too long and the bacon will get soggy.

Yield: About 10 side portions or 6 main dishes

Slow Cooker Split Pea and Barley Soup

Okay, I realize that July is the wrong time of year to be sharing a soup recipe.  But the latter half of June was SO HOT here in Interior Alaska (as in, mid 90s- fun when you don't have air conditioning) and so far July has been so very mild by comparison, with temperatures in the 60s-70s.

I like soup in general, but split pea is among my favorites and always has been.  Peas are my favorite veggie, maybe that's why.  It's also a major comfort food for me, maybe because my mom made it just for me for holidays when I was vegan as a teenager.  Usually I make mine the same way- split peas, broth of some variety (can be chicken or veggie), onion, garlic, carrots, potato, rosemary, and bay leaf.  I don't use a specific amount of anything, just start tossing things into the crock pot and it always turns out perfectly.

This time though I wanted to try split pea and barley soup.  We were in Washington visiting family last month and I tried this soup at the California Pizza Kitchen and loved it.  Found a copycat recipe last night, fiddled with it a bit, and was able to toss all the ingredients together in 10 minutes this morning before leaving for work.  Came home 5 hours later to the best lunch you could hope for!  To my delight, it needed no further tweaking at all.  Just split pea and barley perfection.  The lemon seemed like a rather odd ingredient, but brightens the flavors just a bit and was very nice.  Can't say for sure whether it tastes just like the restaurant version, but I loved it.

The original recipe is here, I streamlined the recipe so it could go in the crock pot and also adjusted it according to my tastes and what I had.  Feel free to add diced carrots, the only reason I didn't do this was because I wanted it to be different from my regular recipe and I didn't want to mess with chopping things up this morning.  Since I use frozen diced onion (can't stand cutting them up myself!) and jarred minced garlic, I didn't have to chop or peel anything!

Split Pea and Barley Soup

8 C veggie or chicken broth

3 C water

1 lb dried split peas

1 C barley

about 1 1/2 C diced onion (I used half of a 12 oz bag of frozen diced onions)

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 t black pepper

1 1/2 t dried summer savory

1 T sugar

salt to taste (I used a full tablespoon)

2 T lemon juice

Stir everything together in a 6 quart slow cooker.  Cook on low until peas and barley are tender, which took 5 hours in my slow cooker.

Yield: about 10 servings

Sour Cream Fruit Dip

Usually we have fruit plain, but sometimes it's nice to make it a bit more special with a sweet dip!  My mom has been making this one for as long as I can remember.  It's super easy and definitely my favorite.  A bit tart, brown sugar sweet, and the cinnamon pleases my cinnamon loving soul.  Over the years I've had it with basically every kind of fruit you can imagine and it always tastes good!

You can change the recipe around by altering the sour cream.  You could try light sour cream, greek yogurt, a mixture of whipped cream and sour cream, or a mixture of sour cream and cream cheese if you want it thicker.  Also, the amount of brown sugar you use is completely up to you.  I tend to go kind of heavy on the sugar but you don't have to!  I'll bet a few drops of vanilla extract would be really nice, too!  Point is, you can't go wrong with this dip recipe and feel free to make it your own.

Sorry about the lack of a picture!  I meant to take one but it was all gone by the time I got around to it!  Will try to remember next time.

Sour Cream Fruit Dip

1 C sour cream
1/2 C brown sugar (you may want to start with 1/4 C and add more if you think it needs it)
1/2 t cinnamon

Stir everything together in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for an hour or so before using if possible so the brown sugar can dissolve.  Serve with any kind of fruit!

Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup

This is one of our favorite soups and the one I've been making the longest.  I first had it when I lived in Austria, my host brother made it and it was so good!  My husband was skeptical the first time I made it for him (about 6 years ago when we were dating), but he's become extremely fond of it as well.  Usually I make him chicken noodle soup if he's sick, but he said next time he has a cold, he wants this one!  It's also just perfect for a cold day, and sad to say it but halfway through April we still have a thick blanket of snow on the ground.  The original version has caraway and I'm not a big fan of it usually, but it is perfect in this soup.  It's also pretty perfect without the caraway so you can't go wrong either way! 

 

In the past I always made it on the stove, but it occurred to me that it should be just fine in the slow cooker, and I was right!  It's hardly difficult to make on the stove, but you have to stir it a lot as the potatoes cook so it doesn't burn, and the slow cooker makes that unnecessary.  If you do want to make it on the stove, just simmer everything but the sour cream in a big pot for about 2 hours, stirring every few minutes, especially towards the end.  You might need to add a bit more water or broth if some cooks off.  When it's finished, you may or may not need to use a potato masher (the stirring action tends to break down the potatoes).  Remove the soup from the stove and add the sour cream like the recipe says, then serve.

Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup

 

1 large leek, quartered and sliced (white and beginning of green part only)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced

8 C chicken broth

1/4 t black pepper

salt to taste, I ended up using a full tablespoon

optional: 1/4 t caraway seeds

2 C sour cream

Mix together everything but sour cream in a 6 quart slow cooker.  Cook on low about 8 hours or until potatoes are very tender and breaking apart.  Mash slightly with potato masher so only some chunks remain.  Stir in sour cream until completely incorporated, being careful not to allow the soup to boil.  Remove from heat and serve.  Soup reheats very well in the microwave, too!

Yield: about 10 servings

Dreamy Baked Ziti

I've tried several recipes for Baked Ziti in the past and none have been remarkable.  Not bad by any means- how can pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese be bad?- but forgettable.  Until tonight!  Last week I came upon this recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe (it's originally from Cook's Illustrated Magazine) and I just knew we would love it.  Turns out I was absolutely right!  It's nice and creamy (but not too creamy) and the herbed tomato sauce goes with it perfectly.  The melted, golden cheese on top is the crowning glory.  If you are like us and love the pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese combo, definitely give this recipe a try!  And just as nice is the fact that this recipe is pretty quick and easy to get going, only about half an hour of prep time before it slides into the oven.  My search for a fantastic Baked Ziti recipe is definitely over and I can't wait to make this for my in-laws when they visit next!

Quick note: I've both tweaked and simplified this recipe a bit.  Basically, I commit the cardinal sin among parmesan cheese and just use a container of shaved parmesan.  Also, instead of cooking the cream with the cornstarch to thicken it, I just stir both ingredients in with the cottage cheese mixture and it ends up thickening perfectly in the oven.  Saves time and dishes!  Oh and if you're leery of the cottage cheese, don't be- it's very good in this dish and apparently Cook's Illustrated baked a version with ricotta but discovered that the ricotta dried it out.

Dreamy Baked Ziti

1 lb ziti or rigatoni
2 T olive oil
5 cloves minced garlic
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
15 oz tomato sauce
1 t dried oregano
1 T dried basil
1/2 t black pepper
1 t sugar
1 t salt (or to taste)
1 lb cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 C cream
6 oz oz grated or shaved parmesan, divided
8 oz cubed mozzarella cheese, divided
1 t cornstarch
1 t salt
1 t dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 pan and a piece of aluminum foil.  Cook pasta in salted water until almost tender.  It will continue cooking in the oven.  While pasta cooks, heat olive oil over medium and saute garlic until golden.  Stir in tomatoes, oregano, basil, pepper, and sugar, reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes.  Add salt to taste.  While pasta and sauce cooks, stir together all other ingredients except for half of the parmesan and half of the mozzarella cubes.  When pasta has finished cooking, drain and then stir in cottage cheese mixture and about 1 cup of the tomato sauce.  Spread pasta mixture in baking dish and top with remaining tomato sauce, spread to cover.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cubes and parmesan and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake 30 minutes, remove foil, and bake 30 minutes longer or until nicely golden and bubbly.


Yield: About 10 servings

Shrimp Egg Foo Young

SHE LIVES!  Sorry about the long hiatus.  I started a new job in January and have been pretty busy with that so haven't been cooking a lot of new recipes.  Several times I did refer to the blog though for recipes I've already made so I could make them again!  Hopefully I am out of my cooking slump though.  Last night I spent a solid couple hours looking at new recipes and am all excited to try them out.

To kick things off, here is a recipe I made for dinner last night.  Egg foo young.  A couple of weeks ago my in-laws took us to a nice Chinese restaurant to celebrate our birthdays (which are a week apart) and I ordered a combination plate that had egg foo young on it.  Had never had it before, but it sure was good, so I decided to try it at home!  The recipe I made is loosely based on this one from AllRecipes.  Had to tweak it a bit based on availability of ingredients and so it would suit our tastes better, but it turned out REALLY well and I will definitely make it again.

Oh and I served this with brown rice.  I'd never actually cooked brown rice, but found out you could bake it so decided to give it a try!  Worked PERFECTLY and it turns out we both really like brown rice, so I plan to make it frequently now.  I just followed Alton Brown's recipe, which you can find here.  My only suggestion is to cut back on the salt a tad if you're going to serve it with something salty like Chinese food, and the butter is probably unnecessary.  Also I haven't tried it yet, but apparently you can double the recipe and bake it in a 9 by 13 pan if you want a whole lot of brown rice!

Quick note:  I cooked the Egg Foo Young as one big omelet in the pan to save time, but you could cook it in smaller amounts like pancakes so they're round.

Shrimp Egg Foo Young

about a tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
1/2 lb shredded cabbage (I used the shredded cabbage and carrots in a bag for coleslaw)
1 clove garlic, minced
5 eggs
1 C frozen cooked baby shrimp, thawed
1/3 C thinly sliced green onion
1/4 t salt
1 T soy sauce
2 t sesame oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 T sugar
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 T white vinegar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 T cold water

Heat about a teaspoon of oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shredded cabbage and garlic and cook just until it starts to wilt.  Set aside to cool.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs, then add in remaining Egg Foo Young ingredients.  Add cabbage mixture once it has cooled.  Stir well to combine.  Heat remaining 2 t oil in skillet over medium (don't want it too hot), then pour in mixture.  Let it cook until it's nicely set on the bottom and sides, about 4 minutes, then cut the round into quarters with a spatula and carefully flip each quarter over.  Cook until lightly browned on the other side and completely set, about 2 more minutes.  Remove Egg Foo Young to a plate and keep warm in an oven set to 200 while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, rinse out the skillet or use a saucepan.  Add all ingredients except cornstarch and cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir together cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth.  Once liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat a little, then whisk in cornstarch mixture and cook until thickened and clear, which should only take a minute or so.  Serve over Egg Foo Young and rice.

Yield: 4 dinner sized servings

Tuesday's with Dorie: Pizza Dough

Okay, okay, so I really only made half of this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, which is supposed to be Pizza with Onion Confit (can find the recipe here at The Boy Can Bake).  I didn't make the onion confit, which sounded very interesting, because my husband was horrified by the idea of topping a pizza with so many onions, and I envisioned my house reeking of onions for the next 3 months.  So I decided to make a different kind of pizza, though the dough recipe was followed straight from the book.  Sorry, Dorie and Julia!

The verdict: Pretty good!  Easy to make, easy to work with, tender, soft.  Definitely not a chewy crust (which may or may not be good, depending on your own tastes!), not heavy or dense, and not too breadlike, which is good.  Not especially remarkable though, and no better than my regular pizza dough recipe but takes longer to make since first you make a sponge, let it rise an hour and a half, then make the dough, and let that rise for an hour and a half.  Don't think I'll be making this one again, but we ate it happily and the other half of the dough will be enjoyed later, too.

I made my dough into a good ol' pepperoni and olive pizza, which is our default.  Used my pizza sauce recipe and baked it on my cast iron pizza pan.