recipes

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

There's a local cupcake shoppe here that sells chocolate cupcakes, topped with chocolate frosting and crumbled applewood bacon.

Someday I'll try one, but I haven't made it there yet.

I have heard of the chocolate covered bacon and such, but haven't tried it yet. I assume it'd be tasty in much the same way chocolate covered potato chips or pretzels are tasty - the whole sweet/salt thing.

If you try one of those cupcakes, you gotta tell me how it is.

[gretchen]

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by gretchen

LMFAO!!!

Annie, my daughter and I have both sat here and cracked up at your recipe. That was great! We'll NOT be going to hell, becuase we love bacon... to hell with the arteries.

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by sara1998

Annie, my daughter and I have both sat here and cracked up at your recipe. That was great! We'll NOT be going to hell, becuase we love bacon... to hell with the arteries.

Haha, glad you liked it! But seriously, try making the sauce. It's super tasty. It's one of my signature dishes, people are constantly after me to make it for them.

[BTFLCHLD]

thanks for the recipes...keep 'em coming.

KC...I love dates

Z...yes please share your "Vodka Sauce of Hope and Wonder"

These are yummy...

Chiles Rellenos Puffs

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (3 oz)
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (3 oz)
1 (9 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained

Heat oven to 400°F
Spray 24 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray.
In 3-quart saucepan, heat water and butter over high heat to a full rolling boil.
Remove from heat.
Stir in flour, cornmeal and salt (cumin and cayenne if using) until mixture forms a dough and all lumps have disappeared.
Gradually stir in beaten eggs until well blended.
Stir in both cheeses and the chiles.
Spoon dough evenly into muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
Bake 25 to 29 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool 2 minutes; remove from muffin cups. Serve warm.

[gretchen]

Corn with Bacon and Mushrooms

2 slices bacon
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 cups sliced mixed mushrooms, such as oyster, shiitake, and/or baby bella
4 ears corn kernels cut from cob
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directions
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and chop.

Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they begin to release their juices, about 3 minutes more. Add corn kernels and water and cook until the corn is tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in chopped bacon and season with salt and pepper.

[Zombie]

^^^^^

Mmmm, chiles rellenos. When my oven gets fixed, I am going to try those.

And now, sauce!

Annie's Supah Awesome Vodka Sauce of Hope and Wonder

WARNING: Vodka sauce is not exactly healthy. I only make this every once in a while because it is so good, I want to drink it straight without even bothering with noodles, and that is WAY too many calories. With that in mind, however, you can substitute some things to make it less calorie-heavy, but it will affect the taste a bit (in my opinion).

That said, penne alla vodka is quick and easy, and perfect when you have company for dinner, because it looks and tastes restaurant-quality. People will think you are fancy-dancy. Just don't tell them you got the recipe from Zombie, because they might think you said "a zombie," and be concerned for their health.

You will need -

2 tablespoons butter - Margarine will work, just not the tub kind, because that melts goofy. You can also use olive oil. Keep some extra nearby, in case you need more while you're cooking stuffs.

1/2 pound or so of pancetta, chopped - If you can't find pancetta at your regular grocery store, try somewhere like Whole Foods, Schnucks, or Trader Joe's. Or if you're extremely lucky and have an Italian deli nearby, go there. The pancetta is what makes the sauce, so it's worth it to try to track it down. If you can't find pancetta, look for a good thick capicola you can chop up. Prosciutto will work, but it is difficult to chop up. And if all else fails, you can sub in regular bacon.

1/2 cup vodka - Does NOT have to be fancy vodka. Cheap vodka works fine.

Big can of plain tomato sauce - I don't have any of this size in the pantry at the moment, but off the top of my head, I want to say they are usually about 28 oz. Crushed tomatoes will also work, but as I've mentioned before, chunks of tomato are not my thing. In fact, if any are on my plate, I take that as a sure sign the terrorists are winning. So you can use crushed tomatoes if you want, you damn liberal, but just be aware that you're letting the terrorists win. Okay? Okay.

Pint of heavy whipping cream - Some people use half-n-half to cut down on the calories, but I don't think it tastes as good when you do that, and you will need to add something like cornstarch to make it thicken up in the sauce like real cream will do. You will likely not use the entire pint, but get a pint to be safe. If you have leftover cream after making the vodka sauce, check out the end of this recipe - I'll put instructions for an alfredo from scratch you can use it for. I'm so helpful.

Fresh garlic to taste, minced

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste - This is optional if you don't like spicy stuff, but it does enhance the sauce as a whole, so try to put even a tiny bit in, if you can.

Small onion, diced - Red is nommy, but yellow & white works, too.

Pasta - Penne is usually used for alla vodka sauces like this one, but you can use anything that makes a good vehicle for delivering the noms, like tagliatelle or even regular old spaghetti noodles.

Fresh Pecorino Romano cheese, grated or shaved - If you've never had Pecorino, now's the perfect time to try it! This is a tasty sheep's milk cheese and it will be your new best friend. Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano works, too, but make sure it's fresh and not the shakey cheese in a can kind, because no.

Salt to taste - Pecorino is a salty cheese and pancetta is a salty meat, so be careful you don't salt yourself stupid, like that one time you inhaled an entire pizza from Pizza Hut and ended up deciding that there shouldn't be such a stigma attached to drinking out of the toilet, because - look at all that water! In one spot! And it's probably cold, too! How convenient!

(Yeah, I just made a potty joke in the middle of a recipe for fancy-dancy alla vodka sauce.
)

Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish - optional


LET'S MAKE SOME MAGIC, KITCHEN NINJA:

While you're making your sauce, cook pasta according to package directions.

Get a pan big enough for your sauce stuffs. Melt your butter in it over medium heat, and don't let it burn. Browned butter is nice, but burnt butter is awful. Toss onions and garlic in with the butter, cook until onions are translucent. Don't let the garlic burn, either, okay?

Now huck your pancetta and your vodka in there. Let it simmer til the vodka and any other liquid is mostly cooked away. Add your tomato sauce and crushed red pepper, and then stir, stir, stir.

Let all of that simmer for a while - the longer it simmers, the better the flavors will be. Right before you're ready to eat, add the cream. You want to add enough to turn the sauce a nice rose/pink color. Mix well, and let it heat back up as necessary. Do NOT let it boil.

Serve over pasta, and top with the Pecorino and parsley. Salad goes well with this, but I would avoid a Caesar, because the sauce is so rich. You may also want some bread for strategic sopping-up-sauce purposes, like this one:

Fettunta (That's a Funny Word and It Means "Greased Slice" Which is Even Funnier, But This is the Best Garlic Bread Ever)

1 loaf of good fresh bread - Now is not the time for Wonder Bread. Sheesh! Grow up.

A couple of whole garlic cloves, halved

Extra virgin olive oil

Coarse salt, like sea salt

Slice bread up into inch thick slices, and then grill those suckers on each side til toasty. While bread is still hot, rub one side of each slice all over, real well, with the cut half of a garlic clove, then lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Leftover Cream Alfredo

Alfredo sauce is super easy to make and much better than buying the jarred junk. If you have some leftover cream from your vodka sauce, use it to make an Alfredo sauce!

You'll need butter, fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano (or asiago, or romano, or all of the above, but MUST be fresh, no exceptions), your cream, garlic to taste, salt & pepper to taste, chopped fresh parsley (optional). The amounts you need will vary on the amount of cream you have, so use your best judgment here.

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat, add garlic and saute for a few. Then slowly pour in your cream. Heat thoroughly, but do NOT let it boil. EVER. NEVER EVER. It will curdle and be nasty. Once heated back up, start slowly whisking your cheese into it a little at a time, stirring constantly. The more you stir, the smoother the sauce will be - parmigiano is a rather grainy cheese and doesn't like to melt nicely, so you have to force it to with the stirring. Unless you don't mind the sauce not being completely smooth, of course. Add pepper and salt to taste, and toss with hot pasta. Garnish with the parsley (sometimes I just add the parsley in when I add the cream, also).

Ta da!