Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Oh So Tender BBQ Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
6 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. chili powder

Mix ingredients pour over your chicken and cook at 300 degrees for 2 hours.
We like to serve it over rice. :)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Spaghetti Pie

I made this last night for dinner. Fast and easy. Seth loved it so much he asked for it for dinner again tomorrow night! :)

4 ounces dried spaghetti
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces ground beef (I used closer to a pound)
1/2c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped green pepper (I omitted this)
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp fennel seeds crushed
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano crushed
1 c low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 c shredded mozzarella (I used a little cheddar too for color)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Return to warm saucepan stir in butter until melted. Stir in egg and Parmesan cheese; set aside.

Meanwhile in a medium skillet cook ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, garlic and fennel seeds until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and oregano. Heat through.

Coat a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Press spaghetti mixture onto bottom and up sides of pie plate, forming a crust. Spread cottage cheese on the top and up the sides of pasta crust. Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the top.

Bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. To serve, cut into wedges.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Gingerbread Waffles

Okay girls this is what I made for dinner tonight (balanced I know!) and they were SO GOOD! If you liked the pumpkin pancakes you'll surely like these. They did make a HUGE batch, so beware. We'll have them for breakfast for the next two mornings too.

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus some to butter the iron
Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table

Preheat waffles iron.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Do not overstir the waffle batter. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook 4 waffles, 4 sections each. Serve with toppings of choice.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Not-Sagna Pasta Toss

This is what we had for dinner last night. (Another Rachael Ray recipe) It was SO GOOD! I suggest cutting the amount of pasta in half unless you want tons of leftovers, but I would make the sauce the same way. (I like lots of sauce.) I omitted the onion and allspice because I didn't have them and substituted dried basil in the recipe for fresh on top and beef stock for the red wine. That said it was still really good and fast to make!

Ingredients
1 pound curly short cut pasta (recommended: campanelle by Barilla, fusilli or cavatappi
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 pound ground sirloin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it in your palm
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
1 teaspoon, several drops, Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine (or stock)
1/2 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls, plus some to pass at table

Directions
Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.
Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.

Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper. Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.