Cooking Diaries of a Mom

Okay, so I haven’t tried this yet… but it is playing off of the Lamb burgers with Gorgonzola… You can substitute any ground meat for the beef. If your grocery store doesn’t already grind up all kinds of meat, ask them to. If you use pork, turkey or chicken though, make sure you cook them longer.

I wanted to use everything that was left in my refrigerator tonight… so, I came up with this:

Chicken covered Pancetta

chicken breast, fly cut for faster cooking
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
pancetta slices
asparagus
black olives
tomatoes, cut and salted

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil, and brown the chicken on all sides over medium heat. Place the pancetta on top of the chicken. Toss in the asparagus overd it. Throw in the olives for last few minutes. Serve with a side of tomatoes.

The girls and I wanted to make brownies today. Thank goodness I looked to make sure I had eggs before starting because we were out. I always keep a spare No Pudge Brownies mix on hand for such instances. These are fat free brownies that you make with low fat plain or vanilla yogurt. Since my vanilla yogurt looked a bit old, I used a 6 oz container of strawberry yogurt instead.

Brownie Delight
courtesy of Me

1 package of No Pudge Brownie mix
1 cup of strawberry yogurt
chocolate chips
6 graham crackers (I used cinnamon since that is what I had on hand)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
marshmallows

Mix brownie mix and yogurt, add chocolate chips and set aside. Crush graham crackers, mix with butter. Press graham cracker into bottom of sprayed 8X8 pan and bake at 350* for 15 mins. Pour brownie batter on top and bake for 32 minutes. Pour marshmallows on top and BROIL for 2 minutes or until puffy and browned.

Super yummy. We could barely taste a hint of strawberry and the cinnamon crust made the whole dessert, delightful.

I really want to try this recipe in it’s completion. However, as usual, I did not have goat cheese, bacon OR green tomatoes… so, we ate Grilled Brie and Roma Tomatoes for dinner last night which were wonderful. The kids had a Brie and American cheese blend in their sandwiches.

Grilled Brie and Goat Cheese with Bacon and Green Tomato
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay, 2008

16 slices center-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 slices Pullman bread, sliced 1-inch thick
8 to 12 ounces really good quality brie
2 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Watercress
8 ounces soft goat cheese, cut into 8 slices (recommended: Boucheron goat cheese)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the bacon in a large skillet or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Break each piece into fourths and set aside.
Heat a cast iron griddle or cast iron pan over medium heat.
Spread butter on 1 side of each slice of bread. Layer 4 of the slices of the bread with 3 to 4 slices of brie, 2 tomato slices, watercress, 2 slices goat cheese, and 4 slices of broken up bacon and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the remaining bread slices on top, butter side up and cook on the griddle until golden brown on both sides and the brie has melted.

Basically, as usual, I do not have most of these ingredients. I did follow the recipe for making the burgers, I just didn’t have the ingredients for the mixed salad. I also used whole wheat potato rolls for the mini burgers since I was not putting them on a bed of lettuce. Finally I added a bit of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese to the patty mixture. So they look more like this: I did take some before and after pictures which I can upload later… for now, the recipe…

Lamb Mini Burgers on Mixed Salad with Fennel
courtesy Rachel Ray

1 bulb fennel trimmed or fronds and tops and quartered lengthwise
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 large navel orange, zested
1/4 red onion, finely chopped, plus 1/4 sliced
Salt and pepper
1 heart romaine lettuce, chopped
1 head radicchio, chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and sectioned or sliced into disks
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat. Toss the quartered fennel in 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put fennel on grill and grill on all sides, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from grill and cool. Once cooled, thinly slice and reserve.Combine lamb, rosemary, orange zest, finely chopped red onion, salt and pepper. Make 12 balls and flatten them into 3 inch meat patties. Grill 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Combine lettuces in a shallow bowl with sliced onion. Add sliced cooled fennel to salad. Scatter the oranges and parsley around the salad. Dress with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, to your taste. Top portions of salad with 3 mini lamb patties and serve.

So, I haven’t made this yet, but I am tonight. I am going to use lime tortilla chips b/c I unfortunately don’t have the pita bread. This was one of those go to foodnetwork.com or foodieview.com and type in ingredients things… I just knew their had to be a dip with Avocado’s and cream cheese… my avocado’s are about to turn ugly. Enjoy!

Avocado Goat Cheese Dip with Whole-Wheat Pita Chips Recipe courtesy Libbie Summers

1 package whole-wheat pita chips (cut into 6 triangles each) 3 ripe avocados, peeled pitted and cut into chunks 2 cloves minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more, if needed 3 tablespoons lime juice 4 ounces cream cheese 4 ounces goat cheesePreheat oven to 350 degrees F.Spread pita triangles on a sheet tray. Bake in the oven until crisp and slightly toasted. Chips will need to be rotated twice while baking. In a bowl combine avocados, garlic, cumin and salt. Use an electric hand mixer to mix ingredients together. Add lime juice, cream cheese and goat cheese pulsing until smooth and blended well. Add a bit more salt, if necessary.

With the warm weather I’ve been grilling quite a bit. Nothing I’ve conquered up has been worthy of writing about. I did sweet Turkey sausage and corn on the barbie, Tilipia for fish tacos and that’s about it. For the fish, I just spray a sheet of tin foil with PAM, lay the fish on it and then on the grill, med-low, 3 minutes per side. I salt and pepper the fish first. Then add to warm tortilla’s with all your favorite taco toppings - I love guacamole and peach salsa! So, on to the pasta…

To note before I type the recipe out, I did not add the mushrooms TO the sauce, we had them on the side b/c the children are picky about what is IN their pasta sauce! I also did not have enough Gorgonzola cheese, so I mixed it with a bit of Goat cheese, which also melts nicely. I also cut the recipe in half for my small family and we still had left overs.

On to the recipe! As most of my recipes… courtesy of Giada.

2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk (I used 2%) at room temp
5 oz Gorgonzola cheese, cubed
salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb mushrooms (I used Cremini…. you can also use Shitake)
1 lb farfalle pasta
Optional: peas or spinach

Melt the butter over medium heat, when it starts to sizzle, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add all the milk and whisk until smooth. Bring sauce to a simmer, simmer 2 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Add the Gorgonzola and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in peas. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Farfalle and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain. Transfer pasta to large bowl and add the Gorgonzola sauce and mushroom mixture. Toss to coat.

Ingredients:

Orecchiette Noodle
Zucchini
Butternut Squash, pureed
Fontina cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese, shredded
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tbsp butter or margarine, sliced
Kosher salt, pepper, olive oil
milk
1 jar of Marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 450*. Cut the Butternut Squash in half, wrap each side with plastic wrap and microwave for 8 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes. Slice the zucchini, salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta until just before AL dente (this is b/c the pasta will cook further in the oven). Drain the pasta. Puree the Butternut Squash with 3 tbs of milk. Add butternut squash to Marinara sauce. Reserve half for a later date pasta. Mix half the sauce mix to the pasta and add cooked Zucchini. Add mozzarella cheese and half of the Fontina cheese. Mix well. Pour into baking pan and top with Parmesan cheese and the rest of the Fontina cheese. Top with slices of butter or margarine. Cook for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.

My kids gobbled this down. It is like glorified Mac-n-Cheese. They complained a bit about the zucchini slices, but I pretty much pureed them by cutting the pasta a bunch. The 6 year old even said she liked this more than Mac-n-Cheese!

I was trying to follow another recipe, but again, I didn’t have several of the ingredients. So, I just followed techniques of how to cook things and advice on how long to cook such a type of pasta. The original recipe had red and yellow pepper slices and it did not involve adding pureed butternut squash. That is something I learned from another cook book!

Days seem to be getting away from me. Without further ado, I give you:

Pancetta-Wrapped Pork Roast
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

8 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) tied boneless pork loin roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups dry white wine

Blend the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil in a small food processor, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the garlic is minced.

Sprinkle the pork roast generously with salt and pepper. Arrange the pancetta slices on a work surface, overlapping slightly and forming a rectangle. Spread half of the garlic mixture over 1 side of the pork and between the 2 loins that meet in the center of the tied pork roast. Place the pork, garlic mixture side down, in the center of the pancetta rectangle. Spread the remaining garlic mixture over the remaining pork. Wrap the pancetta slices around the pork. Place the pork in a roasting pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour 1/2 cup of broth and 1/2 cup of wine into the roasting pan. Add more broth and wine to the pan juices every 20 minutes. Roast the pork until a meat thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees F for medium-rare, about 1 hour. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Tent with aluminum foil and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour the pan drippings into a glass measuring cup and spoon off any fat that rises to the top.

Using a large sharp carving knife, cut the pork into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve with the pan juice.

I actually did not have wine or chicken broth, so I added apple juice and water as two substitutes. I also did not have thyme or enough garlic, so their wasn’t as much paste, but it still was enough to spread over the bacon that I substituted for Pancetta. For some reason, my pork roast came in one piece, so I didn’t have to tie it. I wove the bacon slices so that they stayed together and then spread the garlic mixture over them. Then I took the pork and rolled it over the bacon, pinching the ends of the bacon together so that they didn’t fall off while cooking.

We started out in the oven in the broil pan, but after an hour, my kitchen was so cloudy and my eyes were burning, that we lit up the grill. We moved the broil pan straight out on the grill and kept the grill on high so it would be the right temperature… and let it continue to cook for 30 more minutes. The bacon was a bit crisp, but the overall flavor was delicious. I served it with a side of mashed little red potatoes.

If I were to make this again, I would suggest tenting the pork from the beginning to ward off smoke. Isn’t that how we cook Turkey? I might even try the rotisserie on the grill. Let me know if you try this recipe!

A few nights ago we had burgers. I used ground Turkey, instead of beef. They turned out really well. I mixed in some sea salt and pepper in the turkey and then formed half a patty, laid a slice of fresh mozzerella on top and then topped with another half of a patty. I stuck them on the grill over medium high heat for about 7-8 minutes per side and then 4 minutes per side. I pushed down on them each time I flipped to make sure the turkey was cooking ALL THE WAY since it is a poultry and not a beef, which you can eat practically raw!

They turned out very tasty. We topped them with ketchup, mustard and tomato slices and served with a side of green beans.

The original recipe is below:

Stuffed Mozzarella and Chili Paste Hamburgers
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello

2 pounds ground chuck
Sea salt, preferably gray sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh Mozzarella
Chili Paste, chili flakes or anything hot
1 loaf good crusty bread, cut into 4 sections

Preheat the grill. In a bowl, mix the meat. Form 4 (3-ounce) patties by using a scoop. Push them down and make little indentations in the middle to hold the flavors. Place a chunk of mozzarella and drizzle some chili paste or chili flakes on top of the mozzarella. Add a good twist of black pepper. Take another 3-ounce scoop of meat, make it flat in your hand and place right on top of the other half.

Take your fingers and just seal the 2 patties up and refrigerate until you are ready to grill.

Meanwhile: Split the pieces of bread, and pull out some of the soft center to make a hole for the burger. Place the bread face down on the grill to toast.

Place the burger in the bread, and top with your favorite condiments.