Pasta with Salmon

I made this for lunch with leftover salmon from the night before, though it can easily be made with fresh salmon or tuna, or as a quick meal with canned tuna. It is easy to make, tasty, and quite filling. Also I think it'd be good with fresh veggies like tomatoes or chives.

This made 3 large lunch servings.

Ingredients:

Fish: leftover/fresh salmon or tuna, about 1-2 servings

almost a full pound box of cappellini

1 T salt

1 T butter

3 T olive oil

*salt, pepper, & parsley to taste

If you are using fresh fish: cook the fish however you like. I baked the salmon in the oven with olive oil, thyme, rosemary, pepper, then seasoned with a little salt and lemon after.

If you are using leftover fish, preheat a skillet--preferably cast iron--and melt the butter on M heat. While this is heating boil a large pot of water for the pasta. When the pan is ready, add the fish and heat it quickly, chopping it up with a spatula as you go. Flip it over a few times and it'll be done. Add more seasonings if you like, but if the fish tasted good the the day before it'll still taste good today.

Add salt to the water and boil the pasta (cappellini only takes 1-2 mins). Strain, saving a few T of water. Combine pasta, fish, and reserved water in a bowl with the 3 T of olive oil and toss together. Serve immediately and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley if desired.

Waffles

Sometimes waffles don't look perfect...

Nothing says "breakfast" like fluffy waffles, drizzled in maple syrup and fresh butter, and served with sweet and savory toppings like yogurt, fresh fruit, and chocolate chips.

Since everyone in my family is home for Thanksgiving, this is also a great choice for feeding lots of people. Our waffle iron makes 4 squares at a time, and the recipe makes about 4 servings, which can be easily doubled.

**This recipe can also be used to make pancakes**

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour (1 c regular, 1/2 c whole wheat)
1 t salt
1 3/4 t baking powder
3 T sugar
3 T oil
1-2 eggs (more eggs=fluffier, less=crisper)
1- 1 1/4 c milk

Preheat waffle iron and spray with nonstick cooking spray if needed. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and make a well. In the center of the well add the rest of the ingredients. Using a whisk, first combine the ingredients in the center of the bowl, then quickly mix them into the dry ingredients until they form a thick batter. Usually if I'm only using 1 egg then I'll add the full 1 1/4 c milk.

Once the waffle iron is preheated spoon enough batter into each section and cook until golden brown. Ours takes about 3-4 minutes. If you like, you can add blueberries, sliced banana, cinnamon, or chocolate chips to the batter when it is cooking.

Remove from the waffle iron and serve immediately with toppings of your choice.

...sometimes they do.

Penne all'Arrabbiata

This translates to "Angry Pasta" and is a fitting title since penne all'arrabbiata is a spicy dish. It uses small dried Italian peperoncini peppers which can be purchased at an Italian market. Other hot peppers can be substituted if you can't find these.

Ingredients:
4 T olive oil
peperoncini peppers (amount depends on desired hotness. 1=mild, 2=medium, 3 or more=hot)
1 clove garlic
tomato sauce--I will post my homemade recipe soon!

Garlic and hot peppers cooking in olive oil

First, bring a pot of water to boil, toss in some salt, and begin cooking 1 lb of penne. While this is going, peel & finely chop the garlic. Take the peperoncini peppers and chop them up into small pieces, making sure to chop up the seeds also--this releases the heat and makes the dish nice and spicy! If you don't like spicy food, leave the peppers whole.

Toss everything into a small pot with the olive oil and heat on M/L just until the olive oil begins to sizzle and the garlic is browning. Turn it off and remove from heat.

When the pasta is boiled, strain it and add tomato sauce to the pot with hot peppers. Mix this around, then add the pasta and stir until evenly coated over the hot burner.

Serve with plenty of parmesan, Mmm!

Green Risotto

My mom tasted this dish before I did, and her immediate response was: "This tastes like it's from a restaurant!" After my first bite I agreed. The rice was creamy and flavorful; even I couldn't believe there was no chicken stock in it (and I was the one who made it!)

The recipe comes from a comprehensive Italian cookbook called The Silver Spoon. I haven't explored too many recipes in this book, but the few I've tried have always been winners. I felt like making something new for dinner, and took a quick look through the vegetable bin in our fridge. I pulled out red bell peppers, mushrooms, leeks, spinach, zucchini, carrots, & celery with plans for making a risotto primavera. After a quick look through the Silver Spoon, and it's dozens of risotto options, I settled on this recipe for green risotto. It used a handful of the vegetables I had selected, and allowed for a few easy substitutions with other ingredients.

This recipe serves 4 (large servings, in my opinion).

Ingredients:

3 T butter

3 T olive oil

2 c arborio (or other risotto) rice

~4 c vegetable stock (or chicken stock)

boiled water

1 2/3 c fresh spinach, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped

1 small leek, thinly sliced (only the white part) OR 1 small onion, chopped

*1 clove garlic, minced

salt, to taste

grated parmesan cheese

**optional: parmesan rind, for flavor

*looking back at the recipe, I realize I forgot to add this. It was fine without garlic, and I probably won't add it next time.

About halfway done cooking

First in a medium pot, heat 2 T butter & the olive oil on M heat. Add the spinach, carrot, celery, leek/onion and cook 5 mins, stirring when necessary.

Reduce heat to L, season with salt, and cover for an additional 10 mins. While this is cooking, bring the stock to a boil in a small pot. Boil extra water on the side.

Throw the rice in & a few cups of the heated stock. Add the parmesan rind, stir, and simmer 18-20 minutes until the rice is done. Keep adding stock & stirring so the rice does not stick & it thickens as it cooks.

When the rice is done, take out the parmesan rind, add in the last 1 T of butter, and grate about 1/3 c fresh parmesan cheese into the pot. Stir until everything is mixed together. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese when you serve & enjoy!

Birthday Dinner Surprise!

Yesterday was my birthday & I was out of town for the weekend. I came home in the evening and my mom surprised me with a wonderful meal including some of my favorite foods. I'm making an exception & sharing the recipes on here even though I didn't make them myself because they were just too good!

First, we had a butternut squash bisque with salad. The recipe was originally introduced to me by my roommate Carolyn & we made it a few times together in college. My family grows butternut squash in our garden & we save seeds each year for next year's crop.

The second course consisted of rice cakes with asparagus. Rice cakes are something my nonna used to make & they are deceptively delicious for how simple they are to make! I cannot express how much I love rice cakes, and this was the most perfect birthday surprise.

The best food, of course, was dessert. I smelled it as soon as I came in through the door & was immediately overjoyed by the tower of cinnamon buns before me. Another guilty pleasure--one I don't often indulge in.

The recipe for butternut squash bisque is linked above, and I follow it almost exactly as it's listed. I only make 2 changes to the recipe: I omit the cream (it's very tasty without it) and I roast the squash first. To do this, preheat the oven to 375 F and cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds & place each half in a glass baking dish cut side down. Fill with 1-2 inches of water (enough so it won't evaporate while it's baking) and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  It's done when the squash is soft, usually when the skin is browning.

Follow the rest of the directions for making the soup, & puree in a blender. Season with nutmeg, salt, & pepper while you are blending, & sprinkle more spices on when you serve.

Butternut Squash Bisque

A quick video I made while eating the soup

To make rice cakes you simply cook some risotto, add cheese, egg, nutmeg, cover in breadcrumbs, & bake until browned.

Ingredients:

1 c arborio rice (or similar)

vegetable/chicken stock, warmed (about 2 c) plus more boiled water if you need it

1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more cut into chunks

nutmeg

1 egg

salt & pepper, to taste

1 T olive oil

1/2 c breadcrumbs

Preheat olive oil in a pan, add rice & some stock. Add more as the rice absorbs it. Cook about 20 mins, until done but still has a bite (al dente). Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the pot & stir. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

When the rice is cooled, add the egg & sprinkle nutmeg (about 1 pinch). Pour breadcrumbs in a wide, shallow bowl & gather 1/2 handful of rice in one hand. Flatten the rice, place 1 chunk of cheese in the middle, cover with more rice, form a ball, & roll in the breadcrumbs until covered. Place on a baking dish. Repeat until all of the rice is used up. Bake 30 minutes, until browned.

Rice Cakes

Finally the recipe for cinnamon buns is one we have never made before. This is a healthy version of cinnamon buns, as my mom omitted the icing drizzle off the top, but I'll include the recipe here so you can make it if you choose. This recipe comes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 T yeast

4 1/2 c flour (my mom used whole wheat pastry flour)

1 c lukewarm milk

3/4 c sugar

1 t salt

1 T cinnamon

2 eggs

2 T butter

milk, to brush

*optional 1/2 c raisins

*optional cinnamon sugar mix--use if not making the icing

Ingredients for the icing:

3/4 c confectioners sugar

4 t warm water

1 t vanilla

First, start the yeast in 1/4 c warm water & let stand 5 minutes, until bubbling. Add milk & 3 c flour & mix. Let rise until light.

Add sugar, salt, cinnamon, eggs, butter, & 3/4 c flour & blend. Turn out onto a floured board & knead in the remaining 3/4 c flour until the dough can be easily handled. Knead in the raisins. Here, my mom let the dough rise again before shaping, though the recipe says to continue on & shape them.

Pull off pieces of the dough (about the size of M lemons), and roll until they're ~ 8'' long. Wind each one into a coil & arrange on a buttered 9'' cake pan. Cover & let rise until doubled. Brush tops with milk & sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if not making icing.

Preheat the oven to 375 F & bake 25 minutes, until browned. While the rolls are baking, whisk together the icing ingredients in a small bowl. Spread a thin layer over the buns as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cinnamon Rolls

Banana Honey Tea Loaf

This variation of banana bread is much denser & offers a new array of flavors. I noticed the taste of the walnuts & cinnamon more than the banana. I think a nice addition to this recipe would be 1 chopped apple to complement the nuts & spice.

I found this in Bread Winner's by Mel London & it makes 1 large loaf.

Ingredients:
1/3 c mild-flavored honey
1/2 c light oil
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla
2 eggs, beaten (at room temperature)
1/2 c wheat germ (I substituted 2 T flax for this)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 1/2 c flour (1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 regular)

Preheat oven to 325 F & grease loaf pan.

In a large bowl mix together the honey & oil. Then stir in the bananas, vanilla, & eggs. Sift the dry ingredients into another bowl, then add to the first mixture & stir until just combined. Add the walnuts & gently stir.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan & bake 1 hr, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit 5 mins in pan, then flip onto a wire rack until completely cool.

The recipe says to wrap snugly & refrigerate overnight before slicing but I couldn't resist trying a piece. I had some while it was still cooling and it was very good. Definitely something I will make again!