This recipe is straight out of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. We were going to have tacos tonight, but I forgot to pull the beef out of the freezer last night. I figured bacon probably thaws faster and if it is a little frozen you just leave it in the microwave longer. Trying to cook semi-frozen ground beef is disgusting, and since I sort of think cooking ground beef is disgusting anyway I decided to go a different direction. Steve claims this is the best pasta I have ever made. It will definitely be made again sometime. Disclaimer: Steve LOVES bacon.
Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon cut into 1-inch pieces (I actually diced them)
6 ounces of fettuccine or linguine
1 egg, beaten
1 cup half and half, light cream, or milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley (I just used some dry parsley)
1. Cook bacon until crisp, drain. (I just microwaved it.)
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine egg, half-and-half, and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until egg mixture just coats a metal spoon (about 6 minutes); do not boil. Immediately pour sauce over pasta; stir gently to coat. (I didn't know what "just coats a metal spoon" meant, so I just cooked it until I was sure the egg was cooked.)
4. Add cooked bacon. Parmesan cheese, and parsley; stir gently to combine. Serve immediately.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
This recipe is from The Essential Mormon Cookbook. I haven't changed it a bit. In my opinion it has the best mix of pumpkin bread spices I have ever had. I like a lot of chocolate chips, so I never measure those. I just poor them in until it looks like "enough" so I may use more than the 3/4 cup it calls for. The recipe is written for pumpkin bread, but it also works well for muffins. I like using it for muffins because you don't have to cook muffins as long as you have to cook bread.
Ingredients:
1/2 cups butter
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 can pumpkin (Now that I'm typing this up I realize that I lied. I do change the recipe. I feel guilty throwing out 1/4 can of pumpkin, and I have no other uses for pumpkin. I usually just use the whole amount and it works just fine, plus more pumpkin equals healthier, right. :))
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Procedure:
Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix; set aside. In another bowl sift dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to creamy mixture. Beat until blended. Add chocolate chips. Grease one loaf pan or four mini loaves. Pour batter into pans. For one loaf, bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. For mini loaves, bake at 35o degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Makes one loaf or four mini loaves, or 12 regular muffins or 6 big muffins.
Ingredients:
1/2 cups butter
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 can pumpkin (Now that I'm typing this up I realize that I lied. I do change the recipe. I feel guilty throwing out 1/4 can of pumpkin, and I have no other uses for pumpkin. I usually just use the whole amount and it works just fine, plus more pumpkin equals healthier, right. :))
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Procedure:
Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix; set aside. In another bowl sift dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to creamy mixture. Beat until blended. Add chocolate chips. Grease one loaf pan or four mini loaves. Pour batter into pans. For one loaf, bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. For mini loaves, bake at 35o degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Makes one loaf or four mini loaves, or 12 regular muffins or 6 big muffins.
Roasted Potatoes
I am sure that all of you out there have roasted potatoes before, but I hadn't. I found a recipe for roasted potatoes on someone's blog. Theirs was complicated. Mine is not.
Ingredients:
4-5 red new potatoes cut in fourths (or eighths if they are kind of big)
olive oil to coat
1/4-1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix
Procedure:
Put the potatoes in a gallon bag and add enough oil to coat the potatoes, shake the bag. Then add 1/4-1/2 of a packed of ranch dressing mix and shake the bag again. Pour contents of bag on cookie sheet, and cook at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. About every 5 minutes you are going to want to move the potatoes around shake the pan, turn them over, stuff like that. I didn't do that, and some of mine burned to the pan.
These potatoes were delicious! They finished before the pork chops, and Steve and I ate them all before the pork chops were done. Yes, we are savages that occasionally eat "fork and knife" food on the couch with our hands. :)
Ingredients:
4-5 red new potatoes cut in fourths (or eighths if they are kind of big)
olive oil to coat
1/4-1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix
Procedure:
Put the potatoes in a gallon bag and add enough oil to coat the potatoes, shake the bag. Then add 1/4-1/2 of a packed of ranch dressing mix and shake the bag again. Pour contents of bag on cookie sheet, and cook at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. About every 5 minutes you are going to want to move the potatoes around shake the pan, turn them over, stuff like that. I didn't do that, and some of mine burned to the pan.
These potatoes were delicious! They finished before the pork chops, and Steve and I ate them all before the pork chops were done. Yes, we are savages that occasionally eat "fork and knife" food on the couch with our hands. :)
Apple Butter Pork Chops
I found this recipe on this really cute blog called Our Best Bites (http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/01/apple-butter-pork-chops.html). Honestly I prefer pork chops cooked on the stove-top with water for moisture. Yep, regular old water. I just brown them on both sides add water and cover with the lid. As the water cooks off it forms a sauce from the salt and fat in the pork chop. It is delicious; however, Steve doesn't really like pork chops that way, so I thought I would try something new. I wasn't disappointed in the end result. The pork chops were very moist. It just isn't a recipe I will add to our favorites.
Sweet & Savory Apple Butter Pork Chops Adapted from Our Best Bites
4 boneless pork chops (about 1 lb. I just got a sirloin roast, partially froze it, and cut 4 chops about ½”-3/4” thick)
1 c. high-quality apple cider
¼ c. apple butter
1 tablespoon water
1 ½ tablespoons Creole or coarsely ground mustard
1 tsp. pressed garlic
1 caramelized onion
Brown pork chops in a hot pan. (If you look at the original recipe you will notice that I cut out a bunch of steps including oiling the pan. Pork chops don't really need any oil to get a good brown.) While the pork chops are browning, combine the apple cider, apple butter, water, garlic, and mustard. When the pork chops are done browning, add the cider mixture to the pan and cook for about 30 minutes until the pork chops are done. If you run out of liquid in the pan add more apple juice. (I didn't have to add more apple juice, but I only cooked two pork chops.) The sauce will thicken considerably. Put caramelized onions on top when plating.
Sweet & Savory Apple Butter Pork Chops Adapted from Our Best Bites
4 boneless pork chops (about 1 lb. I just got a sirloin roast, partially froze it, and cut 4 chops about ½”-3/4” thick)
1 c. high-quality apple cider
¼ c. apple butter
1 tablespoon water
1 ½ tablespoons Creole or coarsely ground mustard
1 tsp. pressed garlic
1 caramelized onion
Brown pork chops in a hot pan. (If you look at the original recipe you will notice that I cut out a bunch of steps including oiling the pan. Pork chops don't really need any oil to get a good brown.) While the pork chops are browning, combine the apple cider, apple butter, water, garlic, and mustard. When the pork chops are done browning, add the cider mixture to the pan and cook for about 30 minutes until the pork chops are done. If you run out of liquid in the pan add more apple juice. (I didn't have to add more apple juice, but I only cooked two pork chops.) The sauce will thicken considerably. Put caramelized onions on top when plating.
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