Bacon Beef and Mushroom Ragu wth Macaroni

This is a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal.  I can see this becoming a staple for the cold weather months.
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4lb. lean bacon or pancetta, chopped
1/4lb. cremini mushrooms
2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp. tomato paste
2 C. veal of beef stock
1lb. long Italian style ridged macaroni (ziti rigate)
2 tbsp. butter
Freshly grated  Grana Padano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil

In a deep skillet, or large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the bacon and cook until the fat melts, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf.  Cook until the mushrooms brown, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up into small pieces with a spoon, until brown, 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper.

Partially cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, 5 to 6 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the stock, then reduce the ehat to low and let the ragu simmer while the pasta cooks.

Salt the water and cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain, reserving 1/2 C. of the pasta cooking water.  Add the pasta and the cooking water back to the hot pot.  Toss with half the ragu and the butter; season.  Serve the pasta in shallow bowls topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.

Grilled Chicken and Pasta Salad

This looked good, and easy.  I plan to add it my list of make ahead lunches.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
steak seasoning to taste
8oz. rotini pasta
8oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 red onion, chopped
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes, chopped

Preheat the grill for high heat.  Season both sides of chicken breasts with steak seasoning.

Lightly oil the grill grate.  Grill chicken 6 to 8 minutes per side or until juices run clear.  Remove from heat, cool, and cut into strips.

Meanwhile, place the rotini in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water.  Cook 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente.   Drain, and rinse with cold water to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the cheese, onion, lettuce, and tomatoes.  Toss with the cooled chicken and pasta to serve.

Chicken Parm Pizza

I make homemade pizza pretty regularly.  If you've been following along, you've seen my attempts.  All I did for this pizza is chop up 2 1/2 chicken parmesan meatballs and added them to a regular pizza---Yummy!

Gourmet White Pizza

This was another runner up to the White Pizza Challenge...all of these recipes were found on allrecipes.com

2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 1 cup Alfredo sauce 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat 1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust 1 medium tomato, sliced 1 (4 ounce) package feta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.	In a small bowl, mix together the butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese and Alfredo sauce. Arrange the chicken on top of the pizza crust. Pour the Alfredo sauce mixture evenly over the chicken. Top with tomato and feta cheese.
3.	Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the crust is lightly browned and toppings are toasted. Cut into wedges to serve.

Black and White Pizza

This was a runner up to what was made for the white pizza challenge.

1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce 1/2 clove garlic, minced 1 (6 ounce) package frozen ready to eat chicken breast strips, thawed 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained 1 (6 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapeno peppers 1 teaspoon dried parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2.	Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, and cook just until fragrant. Add chicken strips, and cook until heated through.
3.	Spread Alfredo sauce over the pizza crust, and sprinkle on some of the shredded cheese. Arrange chicken strips and garlic over the cheese, and put on as many black beans as you like. Place jalapeno slices on top, then cover with remaining cheese. Garnish with a sprinkle of dried parsley flakes.
4.	Place pizza directly on the oven rack. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crust is crispy and cheese is melted.

White Pizza

This is what I started with when coming up with my challenge white pizza.

1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced or minced 1 (14 ounce) package prepared pizza crust (11 inch)

1/2 cup Prego® Alfredo Sauce Flavored with Bacon 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed, drained and chopped 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves 1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. 2. Heat the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning and the garlic and cook and stir for 1 minute. 3. Place the pizza crust onto a baking sheet. Spread the sauce on the crust to within 1/2-inch of the edge. Layer with the chicken mixture, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and peppers. Sprinkle with the remaining Italian seasoning. 4. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheeses are melted. Sprinkle with the basil, if desired.

I'll take that challenge

So, Thursday night, Chris gives me a food challenge.  He challenged me to make a white pizza for Friday night's dinner.  We didn't have everything we needed in house so I said, let's try this for Saturday after a trip to the grocery store.  I pulled a couple of recipes for white pizza but came up with what we ate tonight on my own.  I will post the other recipes after I finish this.

The recipe I started with called for a prepared pizza crust.  I am lucky enough to have Caputo's Italian market close to home,   They sell pizza dough which can be frozen.  I keep a stash at all times.  The dough ball makes two pizzas.  I roll the dough out and put it on a pizza pan and just before I toss the dough into a 450 degree oven, I  drizzle a little olive oil on top and rub it into the dough.

I've had white pizza and you can put lots of different things on white pizza.  Here is what I did.

I took a few slices of Chris' homemade (cured and smoked) bacon and cooked them up.  Then I added the bacon to a jar of Alfredo sauce.  If I had more time, I would have made my own Alfredo sauce but in this instance, Classico brand worked.  I also caramelized a Spanish onion, sliced thin and pulled into rings in 1/4 C. butter until browned and wilted.

I had some boneless skinless chicken breasts that had been cooked with Greek seasonings and I chopped them.

Last night, I roasted some red peppers.  I placed two large peppers on a cookie sheet in an oven preheated to 500 degrees for 40 minutes; turning twice during roasting.  When I removed them from the oven,  I placed them in a bowl and I covered the bowl with plastic wrap.  Once the peppers were cool, I removed the skin and seeds and put them in a covered container with a bit of olive oil and refrigerated them until I chopped a couple for the pizza.

Let's see; Alfredo sauce with homemade bacon, chicken, roasted red peppers...top this with shaved Asiago cheese and mozzarella; I didn't have fresh but I had regular shredded mozzarella and used that.  Penzeys makes a Pizza Seasoning that I use often when making pizza.

I always par-bake the crust a bit before adding toppings.  It keeps the crust from being mushy.  Once topped, I bake the pizza at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.  I added a little fresh basil sliced into ribbons when the pizza came out of the oven.   It was amazing.

Homey Chicken Noodle Soup

So, fall has come early to the Chicagoland area...it was 52 degrees yesterday.  Oh, yeah and rainy too.. fun times.  I honestly thing the ONLY good thing about cooler weather is soup!!!  This is going to be on my table very soon!  I found in the October/November 2014 issue of Simple and Delicious.  Stay tuned for photos.

1/4 C. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
3/4 C. coarsely chopped fresh mushrooms
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 C. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 32oz. cartons reduced sodium chicken broth
1 12oz. pkg. frozen homestyle egg noodles
4 C. chopped kale
2 C. shedded cooked chicken

In a Dutch oven, heat butter over medium heat.  Add onion, celery, carrots, and mushrooms; cook and stir 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

Stir in flour, basil, and salt until blended; gradually stir in broth.  Bring to a boil.; add egg noodles.  Reduce heat, simmer, covered, 5 minutes.  Stir in kale and chicken; cook, covered, 6-8 minutes longer or until kale and noodles are tender.

Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup

I found this in the Sept/Oct 2014 issue of Taste of Home.  As much as I hate to admit it, summer is drawing to a close.  As much as I am not fond of winter, I do love fall and I do LOVE soup.  This will be part of my fall repertoire!

2lbs sweet potatoes
2lbs carrots
1 1/2 lbs parsnips
2 large onions, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 C. canola oil
3 32oz. cartons chicken broth
1 C. fat free evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Minced fresh parsley and sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and cut sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips into 1 1/2 inch pieces; place in a bowl.  Add onions, canola oil and garlic cloves and toss to coat.  Divide between to greased 15x10x1 inch baking pans.  Roast 40-50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Transfer vegetables to a Dutch oven.  Add broth, milk, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, simmer uncovered, 10-15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Puree soup using an immersion blender.  Return to pan and heat through.  Sprinkle with minced herbs.

I added a turnip, used regular evaporated milk and added 2 pinches of cayenne pepper for a little zing!

Per serving: 240 calories, 6g. fat, 6mg. cholesterol, 1251mg. sodium, 43g. carbs, 7g. fiber, 6g. protein

Harvest Chipotle Chili

I found this in Midwest Living Magazine and this is going to be on a menu in my house soon.  All good things must come to an end as we say goodbye to another summer season...this chili looks fantastic..for tailgating or for dinner after a soccer game played by my nephew on Sundays this fall!

3 medium orange sweet peppers, halved and seeded
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 large onion, chopped
1lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 15oz. can reduced sodium pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 14oz. can hominy or 1 15oz. can butter beans, rinsed and drained
1 14oz. can chunky chili style tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 12oz. beer
1 14oz. can reduced sodium chicken broth
2 medium Granny Smith apples
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 C. coarsely chopped dry roasted cashews

In a food processor, finely chop sweet peppers, chipotle peppers, and garlic by pulsing them.  Set aside.  In a 8 quart Dutch oven, cook ground pork and onion over medium high heat until meat is brown and onion is tender, breaking up meat as it cooks.  Drain off fat.  Add pepper-garlic mixture, cook and stir for 5 minutes.  Stir in the sweet potato, pinto beans, drained hominy, undrained tomatoes, beer, chicken broth, apples and salt.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until sweet potato is tender.  Top each serving with cashews.

Zucchini Chips

I tried these today.  I had two zucchinis and wanted to try something different.  I sliced them thin with a mandoline, tossed them with olive oil, sprinkled them with sea salt, lemon pepper, Parmesan cheese and paprika.  I baked them on a sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray at 450 for 15-20 minutes or until browned.  Cool them on a baking rack lined with parchment.

I need to work on this to crisp up the chips before they are burnt beyond recognition!  They're tasty though.

Grilled Pork Roast

Happy Sunday dinner all.  I am winging today's recipe.  I had a recipe here on the blog that I was going to try for the very first time and I somehow, through my incredible tech savvy, lost it.

1/4 C chopped fresh rosemary
2 3lb. pork roasts
several springs chopped fresh thyme
Zest and juice of two lemons
8 (yes, 8) garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

This is going to be a situation where if this tastes half as good as it smells, it's going to be a good meal!!

The roasts are going on the grill...I am hoping to have the heat at about 350-400 degrees and will cook the roasts on indirect heat to about 150 degrees and then cover them and let them rest and cook the rest of the way.