Sorry, I haven’t posted anything for awhile. I’ve been busy and my mom and I went to Minneapolis to go shopping this last weekend. Isn’t this apron set cute? I found it at Crate and Barrel. Love that store! It was an early birthday gift from my Mom. So is that grey and white shirt from Banana Republic as well. God bless the Albertville outlit mall by Minneapolis! On our little shopping trip, we also went to a store called Le Gourmet Chef. That store is really reasonable and I got a bunt cake pan for 9.99 and some other things.

This is the first time, I’ve posted a picture of myself on this blog. What better way to do it, than to post a picture of me cooking and in my new apron? Blue and Green are my favorite color combo by the way. If I was getting married in the summer those colors would be it, but since we are getting married in the fall I chose different ones.

Tonight, I was excited to cook in my new apron set. I made lasagna but it turned out more like soup and I can’t figure out why. Maybe it’s the sauce that I used, or too much cheese? There is a new magazine called Real Simple from Taste of Home that I like. In there a lady had wrote how she drained her cottage cheese in a strainer and mixed in some parsley and garlic powder in the cheese. That really made the cottage cheese taste good, and I thought that would have been good on some Hi-Ho crackers as an appetizer. The lasagna still tasted good even though it was soupy.

Ingredients

1 box (8 ounces) cannelloni or manicotti pasta (about 12 shells)
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 pound lump crabmeat
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 3/4 cup Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, crab, salt, and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Fill the cannelloni with the crab mixture and place in a buttered baking dish. Top the filled cannelloni with the Bechamel Sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, warmed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes (do not allow the sauce to boil). Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool and then cover and refrigerate.)

Yield: about 4 cups

————————————————————–

I splurged a lot on food this week. One of the grocery stores had King Crab on sale, a pound for 6.99! I couldn’t pass that deal up. I’m almost tempted to go back there again and get some more of it. Crab is so good! I like the sweet flavor of it and I RARELY get to eat that. It was fun trying to get into the Crab legs. They were spiky. To cook crab legs all I did was boil them in water for 5 to 7 minutes in a large pot. I had bought all the ingredients to make this recipe above and man was it ever worth the price. How can ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and crab be bad?

It took almost an hour and 30 minutes to make because I had to boil the crab legs, break them open (which took the longest). Boil the manicotti. Stuff the manicotti with the cheese and crab mixture and then make the Bechamel Sauce. I’ve never made Bechamel Sauce before but it was fairly easy. Next time to save some time I might just use a marinara sauce instead and cook the crab meat ahead a time. It was well worth the effort though.

Today was a very boring day until around 4:30 when I started to cook my dinner. I had 25 shrimp to peel and take the little vein out of. I don’t mind peeling the shrimp but taking the vein out of it is kind of hard. I was watching Bobby Flay one day and he said the easiest way to do that is to take the shrimp vein out under running water. I remembered that like half ways through the process and it was really easy after doing it under the water. Those shrimp get really slimy.

I made “Penne with Shrimp and Herbed Cream Sauce” tonight for supper. The sauce for this shrimp turned out runny, but it was still amazing. I let it simmer like the recipe calls for but it never said how long it takes for the sauce to thicken once you add the parmesan cheese. I do not like wine so I added chicken broth instead. I read somewhere online that you can substitute chicken broth whenever wine is used in a recipe. Maybe I used to much chicken broth? I just used a cup of it in place of the wine but I really don’t know. I really liked the sauce though. It almost kind of reminded me of the new Manicotti Farmaggio dish with Shrimp at the Olive Garden. OMG that is so amazing. If you haven’t tried this yet, you have to go to the Olive Garden now! I am not giving up on her yet, there is still one more dish of hers that I want to try which I will next week. One of the grocery stores here has a really good deal on King Crab. I will be making her dish for Crab and Ricotta Cannelloni.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We are in a blizzard storm warning right now. My mom was supposed to host Christmas day at her place on Friday. My family all called her and canceled. Friday we are supposed to get wind gusts up to 16 to 34 miles per hour. Yikes! I would rather have all my family safe rather than sorry. I was going to make some gingerbread cupcakes for a treat that day. I am thinking of making them still just for something to do tonight. I am craving some cake right now.

note: no picture was taken because I didn’t not believe this to be a picture worthy dish.

Ingredients

1 pound penne pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup clam juice
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until the shrimp turn pink and is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp and set aside.

Add the tomatoes, 1/4 cup basil, 1/4 cup parsley, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine, clam juice, and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the cooked shrimp, the cooked pasta, and the remaining herbs. Toss together until all ingredients are coated. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve immediately.

Ingredients

1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes

—————————————————-

I’ve been craving some pasta lately, and I think this hit the spot. I saw Giada make this on her show on Monday. She was cooking for kids and I thought this looked really yummy. Giada drives me mad when she says “Just like that” or the word “and” on her show. One time I counted when I was watching her and I think she said the word and like over 20 times. I’m sorry, but that is way too much I think.

My favorite part of this pasta had to be the cheese, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese on the top of the pasta. It got really crisp and golden and I loved the crunch. I was reading the reviews for this dish on food network’s website and it had 627 when I last looked at it. Some people said they used Italian sausage to make this and I think that would be very good as well. I always like to try the recipe the way it is written first and if I think it needs something else I will try it again with whatever I want in it. Even the boyfriend thought it was really good!

It is kind of hard to talk about food to make people want to try it. I remember on the Next Food Network Star the judges told the contestants to not use the word beautiful to describe food. They didn’t say it was over used if I remember correctly, but it was a test to see how well they could describe the food they were showing. Eever since then I’ve noticed all of the different chefs saying that word A LOT. Especially Anne Burrell, the host of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.

I think the only way too describe these shells are ooey-gooey-cheesy red saucy goodness in my mouth! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. If your trying to figure out what these pictures are of, one is of a picture when all the shells were stuffed with out the red sauce. Another picture is a close up of a shell in the sauce. It didn’t turn out as great, but the picture makes me want to drool.

Ingredients

1 pound jumbo shell pasta (40 shells)
Cooking spray
1 (12-ounce) carton 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1 (15-ounce) carton ricotta cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3 cups of Marinara sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Coat 2 (13 x 9-inch) baking dishes with cooking spray; set aside.

Place cottage cheese and ricotta cheese in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine cottage cheese mixture, Asiago, and next 6 ingredients (Asiago through spinach).

Spoon or pipe 1 tablespoon cheese mixture into each shell. Arrange half of stuffed shells, seam sides up, in one prepared dish. Pour 3 cups Smoky Marinara over stuffed shells. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat procedure with remaining stuffed shells, Smoky Marinara, and mozzarella in remaining prepared dish.

Cover with foil. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

To freeze unbaked casserole: Prepare through Step 5. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked casserole: Preheat oven to 375º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover frozen casserole with reserved foil; bake at 375º for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the shells are thoroughly heated.

In Minneapolis, my brother took my mom and I to a Restaurant called Cosetta’s. It was so busy when we went there and it is mostly known for the pizza. I decided to go for pasta instead, and had a baked ziti dish that is pretty close to the recipe I found here. It’s even great for left overs, and I hardly  ever like leftovers. Oh yah, and this recipe is also from the Biggest Looser cook book.

Olive oil spray
1 (14 1/2-ounce) box fiber-enriched ziti or penne rigate (I used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
1 (15-ounce) container fat-free ricotta cheese
2 large egg whites
8 ounces (4 cups) finely shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder Continue reading →