Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce via risataspotola.com!

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to risataspotola.com?  That's laughingspatula.com in Italian!  Now you know what I did with my morning :)

Is there anything you can't find on the Internet?

This sauce was so rich and flavorful.  With only a few ingredients and your trusty slow cooker you can make a big old batch of some of the most tasty Bolognese I have ever had.  Use an immersion blender to create a very smooth sauce, or leave as is if you prefer a chunkier sauce.  Eat half then freeze half for another time. 

I added nutritional information for this, but it will vary greatly depending on the fat content of your beef.  I used 15%.  I think any less and you will miss out on the real beef flavor that it develops while slow cooking.  I buy my ground beef at a local butcher shop.  Ground chuck, really flavorful compared to mega mart beef.  I know, I know, not everybody has the time to go find a butcher...but if you can, you won't be disappointed...and I do love supporting the small business man/woman/person...it's so hard to be butcher PC anymore!

Servings - about 20

Serving size - 1/2 cup

Calories: 146

Fat: 8.7

Carbs: 6.8

Fiber: .4

Protein: 6.7

WW Points+: 4

Ingredients

4 oz pancetta, chopped (or center cut bacon)
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 large white onion, minced
2 celery stalks (about 3/4 cup), minced
2 carrots (about 3/4 cup), minced
2 lb 95% lean ground beef
1/2 cup beef broth
2 - 28 oz cans good crushed tomatoes 
salt and fresh pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup half & half cream

Directions

On medium heat, saute  pancetta until lightly brown and all fat has been rendered.

 Add onion, celery and carrots.  Saute for about 5 minutes or until tender.

Add ground beef and saute until cooked.  Drain all but one tablespoon of fat.

Add meat and vegetable mixture to slow cooker.  Add tomatoes and beef broth.  Stir well. Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.

Add cream and parsley.

Serve over your favorite pasta!  Mangia!

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Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake - Lightened Up!

Still trying to use the plethora of lemons I have! Thought thowing one in a cake would be good idea.
 This lightened up version of a dense pound cake is based on a recipe I have been making for years from Cooking Light Magazine in 2005.  The low fat cream cheese and yogurt are a great substitute for all the butter that is usually associated with pound cake, and the lemon gives it a light flavor.  This can also be cooked in a loaf type pan for a different look.

Servings: 16

Fat: 6.9

Calories: 288

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 5 g

Carbs: 52.2

WW Points+: 8

Ingredients
Cake

2 cups sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup 1/3 less fat cream cheese (4 oz or half a block)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 oz) carton low fat lemon yogurt

Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°.
Beat first sugar, butter and cream cheese at  medium speed  until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, lemon zest and blueberries in a small bowl, and toss well.

Into the wet mixture, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix briefly then add yogurt and vanilla.  Fold in blueberry mixture gently-or you will have purple cake!   

Pour cake batter into a 10 inch tube pan coated well with cooking spray.

 Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; drizzle over warm cake. Cut with a serrated knife.

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Lemon Chicken with Artichokes

I think the mark of a true 'home chef', is making a great meal out of stuff you already have in your cupboard.  Not wanting to go to the store...again,  (I swear the checkers at Safeway all know me by name!)    I did a quick inventory of the pantry,  went on-line and typed in chicken, lemon and artichokes.  Let me tell you that there is no shortage of lemon chicken recipes. Another hour or two spent surfing for the perfect recipe...I sure do that a lot lately.

I took the best features of 2 or 3 recipes and came up with this one pot wonder!  It comes together quickly and is perfect for a weeknight meal and very healthy too.  There is no doubt I will be making this again. 

Servings: 4

Calories: 260

Fat: 5.4

Carbs: 22.2

Fiber: 2.7

Protein: 26.3

WW Points+: 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast, thighs or a combination of both

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained

Directions

Combine the broth, zest, lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast with the salt, and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and almost cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side.
Add the broth mixture and cook until the mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Add the artichokes and cook until chicken is cooked through and artichokes are warm, about 8 minutes.

Serve with Angel Hair pasta or rice.  Asparagus would work very nice with this as well.

       

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Outrageous Chocolate Cookies!

These are the hubby's favorite cookies ever!  Fist pumping chocolaty goodness and of course, easy to prepare. These can be a bit sticky to get off the pan, if you have parchment paper or a silicone baking liner hanging around, use them!  If not, make sure you give a good solid spray of non stick.
Do not bake until crispy, they are meant to be soft and chewy.  A few handfuls of chopped pecans would be nice too.

Ingredients

8 ounce  semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

4 tablespoon butter

2/3 cup  all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup (packed) light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

1 package  (12-ounce) semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets.Bake rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely

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Pita Bread - Syrian Style

My Mom and Dad were awesome cooks when I was growing up...we even had a small restaurant for a few years.  My Dad liked to cook things that took a lot of time... recipes that almost had an element of science to it.  Bread fit the bill perfectly.   My Dad, being the kinda guy that thinks too much...even went so far as to have a steel plate cut to fit our oven so he could bake up the perfect 'Syrian Bread'...that's what we called it "Syrian Bread'.  The term pocket bread or pita bread had not been coined yet.  In fact the only other place (other than my Dad's kitchen), that you could get the stuff was at a little middle eastern store in the bottom of the Pike Place Market. 

Recently while visiting my mom she gave me Dad's hand written recipe for Syrian Bread.   It was almost painful to see it, painful but wonderful...remembering my Dad through his recipe and his handwriting and then baking from it...it is stuff like this that makes me love food.  It isn't the eating (although I do plenty of that), it is the memories, the family traditions and the serving to those you love that make me a real, true, bonified Foodie.  I know my Dad is smiling right now and that is a mighty happy thought!

Being a bit of a bread maker myself, I didn't have a hard time following his recipe but I think I have made it a bit easier to follow.  I kept true to his ingredients though...wouldn't change that for nothin pops!

Ingredients

2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups lukewarm water (110-115 degrees)

2 packages dry yeast

a pinch of sugar

8 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Combine 1/4 cup warm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl.  Let sit for about 10 minutes or until it doubles in size.

In large bowl or in a Kitchen Aid using the dough hook (which is what I used), combine flour and salt.  Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.  Gently mix ingredients. Add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough reaches a soft consistency.  Continue to knead for 5 minutes.  Lightly oil large bowl and add dough.  Let rise about 45 minutes or until it is double in size.

Punch down dough and divide into 8 equal pieces (12 if you want a smaller bread).  Shape into rounds and let rest 30 minutes.

Put baking stone in oven and preheat to 500 degrees.  If you don't have a baking stone you can use a cookie sheet but be sure it's a sturdy one...500 degrees is mighty hot!

Roll each round out to desired size (8" for large and 6" for small) and let rest another 30 minutes.

Carefully, place two dough rounds on hot baking stone and bake for approximately 6-8 minutes or until puffed, lightly brown and steaming.

Repeat process until all bread is baked.

Cut open and stuff with your favorite sandwich ingredients or just smear with butter hot out of the oven! 

Will stay fresh for 3 days or so and frozen for 30 days if sealed in ziploc freezer bags.

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Salmon Cakes with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette

These are so tasty and so easy to prepare.   Make the patties ahead of time (up to a day in advance) and then saute them up...and guess what? ...you are  a salmon patty cookin' rock star!  Woot!  Woot!

I have heard rumors of taste bud impaired cooks using canned salmon for these, but I refuse to believe it.  It's just bad cooks talkin' smack.  Who would use canned salmon in Seattle?  Fresh is the way to go...Costco my friends...Costco.

I based this on a recipe from Ina Garten (she is such a favorite chef of mine!)  Everything she does is so fresh and simple.

The Tarragon Vinaigrette is my own recipe, and worth keeping because it goes so well with just about everything...try it on fish taco's, very yummy.

Don't let the ingredient list and directions scare you away from this recipe...basically, all you are doing is sauteing veggies and tossing with cooked salmon.  If you have left over salmon you are already half way there!


Ingredients

For Salmon Cakes

1/2 pound fresh salmon

Good olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup small-diced red onion

1 1/2 cups small-diced celery 

1  cup small-diced red bell pepper 

1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons crab boil seasoning (I used Old Bay)

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup good mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

For Tarragon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon chopped or 2 teaspoons dried

2 heaping tablespoons good mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the salmon on a sheet pan, skin side down. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until just cooked.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes and refrigerate until cold.
Meanwhile, place 2 tablespoons of the butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onion, celery, red and yellow bell peppers, parsley,  hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, crab boil seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large saute pan over medium-low heat and cook until the vegetables are soft, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Flake the chilled salmon into a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, mayonnaise, mustard, and eggs. Add the vegetable mixture and mix well. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Shape into about 8 to 10 cakes.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. In batches, add the salmon cakes and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until browned. Drain on paper towels; keep them warm in a preheated 250 degree F oven and serve hot

Tarragon Vinaigrette

Mix all ingredients well and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving

Spoon vinaigrette over warm salmon cakes and serve.

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Sweet Sexy Dinner Rolls - One Rise!

I posted this recipe several months ago and I  knew I liked the recipe, but something about it was so average.  I wasn't jumping on the bed yelling "I love me some buns!" and really, that's what you should be doing when you find good bread.  You guys do that don't you?  I mean jump on the bed and stuff when you have good food? Oh jeeze, I'm a food weirdo...whatever.
Anyway, I made them again tonight and my hubby is upstairs remaking the bed.  Perfection...the buns I mean, the bread...can you stutter when you blog? 
Bottom line:...(still laughing).  Try this recipe...you might mess up the bed a bit with your foodie dance...but it is so worth it!
p.s. these are one rise rolls, from start too finish in just over an hour if your proof in a warm oven...another reason to whip up a big old sexy batch of buns!


Ingredients

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 package yeast (.25 oz)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup softened butter
3 3/4 cup white flour
1/3 cup melted butter to brush on the top

I use a Kitchen Aid with the bread hook feature for this recipe...but you can use a bowl and your hands and get the same result!

Mix the milk and water in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 1 minute or until the liquid reaches 110 degrees (just a bit warmer than body temperature...just dip a finger in and check :)   add sugar and mix to dissolve.

Add yeast to warm liquids. Let sit about 10 minutes or so until the mixture becomes a bit frothy.

Add salt, egg and softened butter and mix until combined. 
Add flour, 1 cup at a time until well blended. 
On medium speed, knead dough for 5 minutes until smooth.

Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray. Cut and shape dough into desired shapes.

Cover with a clean cloth and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until double in size. (I heat my oven to 300 degrees for 5 minutes then turn off...makes a  nice warm spot for the bread to rise).

Preheat oven to 400

Brush with melted butter and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with additional butter and sprinkle with salt if desired.

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