Homemade Pasta for Everyone!!!....

.....And by "for everyone" I really just mean everyday (i.e., homemade pasta everyday!).  I recently got back my pasta maker and love making homemade pasta!  It is extremely satisfying and I love pasta.  I think I found a new hobby!  I am still trying to find a recipe I really like, so I will post that when I figure it out.  So far I have played around with different amounts of flour and egg, white and semolina flour, and tomato paste as a flavouring.  Soon will come stuffed pastas.

First was spatzle with an olive oil chili sauce (with rapini and summer sausage).  This was not made with my pasta maker, but rather with my spatzle maker.

Second was tagliatelle with a tomato clam sauce.

Third was linguine with a pesto sauce.

Fourth was a tomato-flavoured tagliatelle alla carbonara.

Stove Top Rice Pudding

I found a new recipe today for rice pudding and threw out my old one (actually, I recycled it).  This one is so much better - much creamier and richer tasting.  It is made on the stove top instead of baked, which is one of the reasons I think it is so good.  It is adapted from allrecipes.com, and it says it is Erica G.'s Mom's recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked white/brown rice 2.5 cups milk 1/3 cup white sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten 2/3 cup golden raisins 1.5 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

	In a saucepan, combine cooked rice, 2 cups milk, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

Avocados Filled with Shrimp

I love avocados, so I obviously really liked this recipe.  It is adapted from a cookbook called "Eva's Kitchen" - Eva, as in Eva Longoria.  I haven't made too many recipes from it, but hope to soon.  It's a great book with beautiful pictures and some unique recipes.  This dish is really more of an appetizer, not a main course, which is how I tried to serve it. 

1 pound shrimp (use smaller ones than the ones I used), cooked and chilled
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lime, juiced
Seasoning (e.g., salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder)
4 ripe avocados

In large bowl, mix shrimp, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, lime juice, and seasoning.  Cut avocados in half and remove pits.  Fill each half with filling.

Fish en papillote

I like my fish very moist and therefore prefer cooking techniques such as poaching or steaming.  Cooking en papillote is a great method as well.  I like it because it looks and feels fancy, but is extremely easy.  Bonus:  It is a good way to dazzle guests. 

1) Place fish on parchment paper (any kind of fish works well)
2) Thinly slice vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, carrots, green onion, shallots and place on top of fish (although I have seen them placed under the fish, which may actually work better for even cooking of the fish)
4) Dress with herbs and seasoning (e.g., dill, salt, pepper)
5) Add 3 tbsp liquid (e.g., white wine, chicken stock)
6) Bake for about 15 min (until fish is done)
7) Impress guests by opening papillote in front of them and by calling it a papillote

Buttermilk Pancakes

This is a great recipe from allrecipes.com, adapted to make 4 large pancakes (instead of 12) - which is why the measurements are a bit funny.  We've tried a few different recipes and this one is definitely my favourite.  It is the best with the fresh buttermilk that comes from making the butter (see earlier post), but is still good with a buttermilk substitute (1 tbsp white vinegar in 1 cup of milk, let stand for 5 min).

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons milk 1 eggs 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons butter, melted

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.
2.	Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together. Do not over-stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Homemade Yogurt - It is so EASY!!!!

Homemade yogurt is so delicious!  I am tired right now but I am making another batch because I do not want to not have any for breakfast tomorrow morning!  (Double negative correction - I want to have some for breakfast tomorrow morning).  This particular recipe is adapted from this amazing book called "The Homemade Pantry" by Alana Chernila, which is my new favourite book.  However, all of the homemade yogurt recipes I have seen look pretty much the same.  You don't need a yogurt maker, but I bought one from Amazon because I did not trust leaving yogurt out all night in just a cooler bag to keep it warm.  I also really liked the little glass jars the yogurt maker came with.

4.5 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup plain unsweetened full-fat yogurt

Put a bit of water into the bottom of the pan so that the pot does not scorch.  Add milk and cook on medium heat until milk reaches 180 degrees F.  Remove pot from heat and let milk cool to 110 degrees F.  Place yogurt into a large measuring cup and add 1 cup of the warm milk from the pot.  Whisk until smooth.  Add yogurt mixture into pot and whisk until a bit foamy.  Transfer mixture into yogurt containers and then follow instructions on your yogurt maker.  Mine says to put the yogurt jars uncovered into the yogurt maker for 8 hours, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before eating. 

Note:  If you do not have a yogurt maker, you can fill a large and small jar with the mixture and cover with lids.  Wrap jars in a towel to keep warm and place in an insulated cooler.

My favourite topping so far is maple syrup!  I have also tried strawberry jam and a homemade strawberry sauce (that was made for buttermilk pancakes).  Those were pretty good as well, but not as good as the maple syrup!  Be sure to keep one jar of yogurt (1/2 cup) plain for your next batch of yogurt.  You can only use your homemade yogurt as a yogurt starter a few times before you will have to buy store bought yogurt again.

Making Butter from Scratch!

This is the coolest thing I have made to date!  It felt more like a science experiment than cooking, and was super easy.  Make this just once for the mastery and sense of accomplishment, if for nothing else.  It is also very delicious, and as an added bonus, you get quite a lot of buttermilk as well. 

Ingredients
500mL whipping cream
Large pinch of salt (optional)

Directions
Whip cream in a Kitchenaid stand mixer until the butter and buttermilk separate (about 10 min on medium to high speed).  You will want to cover the stand with a towel because when the butter and buttermilk "splits," it gets messy!  During this process, you will first get whipped cream - keep going until it gets chunky - then keep going until it looks like butter!  Pour off buttermilk and save for making pancakes (use it soon - it will spoil in a few days).

Important:  Place butter in a bowl and knead into a ball.  Under cold running water, keep kneading the butter until the water runs clear (meaning that the buttermilk is gone).  This will prevent the butter from spoiling right away.  Please do not skip this step unless you plan to eat all the butter in one day (please don't do that!).

Note:  If you do not have a Kitchenaid stand mixer you can use a food processor instead!

Can't wait for buttermilk pancakes tomorrow morning.  :)

Easy Vegetarian Lasagna with Squash!

This particular lasagna that I made was not the prettiest - I think because the filling was a bit runny.  However, it is an extremely quick and easy way to make a delicious vegetarian lasagna with squash in it, which makes it a bit different.  This is my own recipe - I thought of it all by myself!!!

Ingredients
1 package fresh lasagna noodles (or 12 dry lasagna noodles, but be sure to cook them first)
Frozen spinach, cooked and drained well (use paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible!)
Frozen pureed squash, cooked
1 tub ricotta cheese
Lots of mozzarella cheese, grated (I barely had any - hence the lack of much of a cheese topping!)
Tomato sauce

Directions
Combine cooked spinach, squash, and ricotta cheese in a large bowl.  Season with nutmeg and black pepper.  Layer in a large pan - start with tomato sauce, then noodles, filling, repeat a few times; end with mozzarella cheese on top!  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

This one doesn't really need too much of an explanation. 

1) Break off woody ends of asparagus & wash.
2) Wrap with 1 slice of bacon.
3) Bake until asparagus has the preferred amount of crunch!

Serve at a fancy function or everyday dinner.