I actually made pasta.

And I cooked my first Pioneer Woman recipe.  Actually it could count as two recipes.  The pasta and the sauce.  But still - both were a success.  I did learn a few things.  First, I want a pasta roller.  Second, next time I'm going to mix it with the dough hook on my mixer instead of by hand.

Homemade Pasta from The Pioneer Woman

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 eggs

According to the recipe, you need 2 eggs to 1 cup of flour.  That will also feed 2 people, so 4 eggs will (in theory) feed 4 people.  Although, that's what we did and we really had about 5 servings.

Either in a bowl or on the counter make a well with the flour.  Crack the eggs into the well and start mixing, gently.

Eventually you'll get dough.  But you have to work at it.  A lot.  Knead, and mix, and roll, and twist again and again until you have a nice ball a dough.  According to PW, it should be smooth and not tacky.  That is kind of hard to describe, but it made sense once we got there.

Break the dough into smaller, more manageable pieces, and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.  I used a pizza cutter and sliced fettuccine sized noodles for dinner.

To cook the pasta, boil in salted water for 2-3 minutes. 

Pasta alla Vodka from The Pioneer Woman

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1 whole medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 3/4 cup vodka
• 1 14oz can tomato puree
• 1 cup heavy cream (I actually used cream, not half & half so I'm not sure if this would still be as good)
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil & butter.  Add the vodka, stir and cook 2-3 minutes.  Pour in the tomato puree and stir.  Reduce the heat to low and add the cream, stir and simmer.  Add the red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.

Drain the pasta, keeping about 1 cup of the water in case you need to thin the sauce out.  Toss the pasta in with the sauce and Parmesan, coating the pasta in sauce. 

Christmas Dinner

Which, for us, is really Thanksgiving: Part 2.

I found a turkey recipe years ago in a Southern Living cookbook that works.  The turkey always usually comes out perfect and has a really good flavor.  This year I was feeling ambitious.  I've failed at dressing and mac & cheese before, but I planned on trying again.  Eventually I'll get it right...right?

Cornbread Dressing from Southern Living

• 2 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 recipe Andrew's Cornbread (see below)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 T fresh sage, chopped
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Melt 2 T butter with oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms, celery, and bell pepper, and saute 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Stir in mushroom mixture, half-and-half, and next 6 ingredients. Add chicken broth, and gently stir until moistened. Spoon into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Bake, covered, at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.

Andrew's Cornbread

• 1 t vegetable oil
• 2 cups self-rising yellow cornmeal
• 2 T sugar
• 1 T self-rising flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 T mayonnaise

Brush a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil, and heat in a 425° oven 5 minutes. Stir together cornmeal and next 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in buttermilk, eggs, and mayonnaise, stirring just until blended. Pour batter into hot skillet. Bake at 425° for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and cornbread pulls away from sides of skillet. Remove to a wire rack, and cool 5 minutes.

My notes: I wasn't fond of the cornbread.  The small amount of oil I used was still too much and it caused the crust to do something strange.  Plus, it didn't crumble well...it ended up chunky and...just weird.  I loved the flavor, though, so I think next time I'll use my own cornbread recipe (the one on the bag of cornmeal with a little brown sugar added).

Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni from Cooking Light

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 2/3 cups skim milk
• 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 ounces light processed cheese (Velveeta) 
• 6 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 T butter or stick margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 375°. Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8-10 minutes), stirring constantly. Add cheeses and cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni and salt. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl; stir until well-blended. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

• fresh green beans, trimmed
• bacon
• brown sugar
• butter

The amount of beans needed will depend on how many people you plan to feed.  For 5 adults, I did about 1lb.  Cook green beans - either steam or boil - just until done. Remove from heat and drop into ice water to stop the cooking process.  Wrap 8-10 beans with one piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick.  Melt about 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 stick of butter (depending on how many you're cooking).  We tossed these on the grill to cook the bacon, but that might not have been the best idea since I looked outside to see flames.  I ended up putting them in a dish and finishing them in the oven after I brushed the butter & brown sugar on them.  A better idea would actually be to brush them with the butter mixture first and cook them in the oven at about 400 for 20 minutes, or until the bacon is done.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I've made a butternut squash soup before that is pretty good, but this one was much easier!  And it had a different taste to it. 

Curried Butternut Squash Soup from Weight Watchers

• 3lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
• 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
• 29 oz chicken broth
• 1 1/2 t curry powder
• salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Place squash, onion & broth in a large dish and bake for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. 

In a small skillet, toast the curry powder over medium heat until fragrant, about 15 minutes.  Add the curry powder, salt & pepper to the veggies and puree.  I used an immersion blender to puree the vegetables, but you can also use a food processor or a blender.

We served this over light 4 cheese ravioli (Cooper was a fan!) with a salad.  You can also add a little sour cream and green onion.

WW Points: 3 (without ravioli) for 3/4 cup soup and 2 t fat free sour cream

Red Beans & Rice

Since we've spent almost 16 hours combined in the car in about a week, I used the time to purge my magazines.  I had a large stack to flip through, so I tore out recipes that looked good and put them all in a binder once we got home.  If I get around to cooking the recipe and it flops, I'll toss it.  If not, then I guess it's a keeper.

The first recipe I tried ended up being a keeper.  I'd post the Weight Watchers points value, but they changed their whole system.  I'm not sure if I like it...but I will have to give it a try.  I mean, I paid for 3 months when I started.  :-)

Slower Cooker Red Beans & Rice adapted from Southern Living

• 1 lb dried red beans
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3/4 lb smoked turkey sausage, sliced thin
• 1 sweet onion
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 celery ribs
• 1 T creole seasoning
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes

Chop the peppers, onion & celery.  Add all ingredients to a slow cooker with 7 cups of water.  Cook on high for 7 hours, or until the beans are tender.  Serve over cooked rice.

Updated 3/2/11 - I did the WW PointsPlus calcuation for this and if you get 8 servings (should be easy - it made quite a bit) then you're looking at 6 PP for the red beans plus whatever rice you add.  1 cup cooked brown rice is 5 PP, but 1/2 a cup (3 PP) is more than enough for a serving.

I guess it is not like riding a bike.

I can't tell you the last time I baked something that wasn't an entree.  I remember baking cookies before Cooper arrived.  Since then...I'm not even sure I've made anything that sort of resembles dessert.  I've had good intentions - I wanted to bake kolaches as a joke for a friend.  I would have baked a cake for my coworkers birthday, but he requested Baskin Robbins.  And who am I to argue over Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream?

So I really can't remember baking anything since last Christmas.  I felt like Tuesday night was amateur hour in my kitchen.  I planned on baking two Pumpkin Rolls.  And that's where it all went south.  I didn't have enough sugar.  Ok, no big deal...I'll make one Pumpkin Roll and a batch of Pumpkin Pie Bites.  Except I didn't have pie crust.  Because I'm not a pie person.  They usually flop...so why bother?  Never fear, I had a box of phyllo dough in the freezer from, well, a while ago.  Only you're supposed to thaw it out for 5 freaking hours in the fridge!  I took a risk and popped it in the microwave on defrost, rolled them out, had Jason cut out little circles (it tooks some elbow grease) and baked away.

But that's not everything.  Major fail 2: running out of powdered sugar.  WTF!  I clearly remember having about 15 bags of powdered sugar in my pantry at one time because I kept forgetting I had it and bought more.  Apparently that was a long time ago.  Jason was nice enough to run to the store so I could make the Pumpkin Roll filling.

Major Fail 3: it turned out more like donut glaze.  I am still not 100% sure what happened.  First, let me back up.  The cake baked funky and I had to slice off a few inches.  Jason was happy to "test" them out though.  I kept telling myself "I can make this work" but I just couldn't figure out the filling!  I think it is probably because I used fat free cream cheese, but still.  Of course, if I'd had my head on I would have realized that I just needed to keep adding powdered sugar to thicken it up.  Instead I to started pouring the filling on the cake and that crap went everywhere.  I had glaze all over the counter.  I tried rolling the cake and more glaze went on the counter.  In the end I just wrapped it up quickly and put it in the fridge.  I'm going to pour the rest of the glaze on top and serve it that way.  It tastes good...but it just wasn't that pretty.

I think I need to practice baking more often.  Especially considering I'm doing Cooper's birthday cake next week.  This could get ugly.

Pumpkin Pie Bites adapted from Bakarella

• 1 box phyllo dough
• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll out about 6 sheets of phyllo dough and cut circles with a cookie cutter, about 4".  Press the dough into a greased mini-muffin pan.  Combine all of the remaining ingredients.  Pour about 1 T in each cup and bake 12-15 minutes.

Pumpkin Pasta

A few weeks ago I flipped through a magazine at my mom's house.  I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Pasta and it sounded pretty good.  To me.  Jason made this gagging noise when I told him about it.  But, being the good boy he is, he agreed to try it...and order pizza if needed.

Last week I picked up the stuff at the grocery store and...it was approved.  We adjusted the recipe a little bit, but next time I make it I'd really like to try sticking with the way it was written.  I doubled the amount of sausage and added more pasta, so it wasn't quite as pumpkiny.  And the second night I added in more seasoning - mostly pepper and a little oregano.

Pumpkin Pasta

• 8oz Italian Sausage (I used 16oz sweet Italian turkey sausage)
• 1 can pumpkin
• 5 sage leaves, chopped
• 8 oz rotini pasta (I used whole wheat)

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Saute the sausage until brown in a little oil.  Add in the chopped sage leaves, saute for another minute.  Stir in 1 cup of pasta water and the pumpkin.  Drain the pasta and toss everything together.  As mentioned, I added in some salt & pepper, plus a little oregano, for some added flavor.  It has a creamy texture - almost like penne a la vodka without the tomatoes.

WW PointsPlus: 8 PP per serving, 4 servings

French Onion Soup...or so I thought

My favorite soup soup is French Onion from Panera Bread.  I could probably eat this every day for lunch.  But Panera Bread is expensive, people.  $10 for half a sandwich and a cup of oh-so-yummy soup on a daily basis just won't fly around my house.  And unfortunately we don't have a Panera Bread close to work so I can't justify that as my less than once weekly lunch out.

The temps here finally dropped (we ran the heater this weekend!) and I figured it was a perfect time to try the soup.  Especially since we're climbing back into the mid-80's later this week.  Ugh.  To stick with my diet, I searched and found a recipe on Weight Watchers.

French Onion Soup adapted from WeightWatchers.com

• 1 T butter
• 3 vidalia onions, cut in half and sliced thin (I used sweet yellow)
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 t dried thyme
• 1/4 t black pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese (2 T per serving)

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add the onions, sauteing about 20 minutes.  Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer 20-30 minutes.  If you have oven safe soup bowls, you can scoop the soup into a bowl with a serving of your favorite baguette and the cheese, melting it under the broiler for a few minutes.  The recipe above makes 4 servings at 3 points each, however add points for the bread.

Now here is where I'm unsure.  I wasn't a fan of the recipe.  I was bland.  Like really bland.  I added more spices.  And more pepper.  And still...eh.  I just didn't like it.  Jason did, but I wanted it to taste exactly like the soup from Panera.  And it didn't.  So tonight I'm going for round two.  We consumed most of the broth (what wasn't soaked up by onions) and I have a ton of onions left.  I'm going to toss them back into the cast iron skillet and saute them until they are really brown and caramelized.  Then I'm going to add in beef broth and not vegetable broth.  And...we'll see.  Wish me luck.