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Lemon Ricotta … biscuits? Muffins?

November 10, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Little clouds of happiness?

I really have no idea what these are, to be honest. Giada De Laurentiis calls them biscuits, but I don’t know if I buy it. Just because she bats her big eyes at me doesn’t make me trust her!

Also, I have a very sad cat next to me. Our new cat, Paul, was neutered today and he is the saddest sad face of them all. I’m pretty sure he’s a little bit dead inside. He’s young, though – he’ll get over it.

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Now that I’ve exploited my cat for my own personal gain, back to the cooking. [Please, don't ask what I think I'm gaining; I have absolutely no idea.]

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I’ve never actually made any of Giada’s recipes. And yes, I am on first name basis with her, thank you for asking. Give me a break – you try typing that last name over and over again. Then maybe I’ll stop italicizing words. Ahem. I had bookmarked the link to this recipe in my ill-sorted “recipes” bookmark folder forever ago and found it again when I was vainly trying to organize everything into sub-folders. I decided to give it a go, since I had some leftover ricotta cheese from when I made stuffed shells the other day.

IMG_8818The recipe was very easy to follow. The batter was pretty dough-like and sticky, and I was worried I did something wrong. Then again, who knows – maybe I did! But I persevered and put clumps of dough into my muffin pans and hoped for the best while they were baking.

When they came out of the oven, they definitely did not resemble the image from original recipe. They actually ended up looking more biscuit like, which made sense to me given the consistency of the batter. They ended up having a texture pretty similar to pound cake crossed with a biscuit; dense but somehow flaky and light.

These were really good. The husband and I have been snacking on them for the last few days, and they hold up really well. Someone suggested putting butter on them, which I can definitely see as a possibility for one of these fresh out of the oven or even toasted. All melted butter with the little pops of lemon and the creamy ricotta… mmm. Maybe for breakfast!

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Bacon makes everything better.

August 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

I’ve been looking for something different to make, and I stumbled across this recipe on the Food Network website. I figured I could slide it by the husband since it had bacon in it, and the dressing intrigued me. I was a bit concerned because there weren’t that many reviews, but the few that are on there are favorable.

So I came home from work tonight [TONIGHT! You are getting same day posting here, people!] with a mission to make this dish, along with some chicken breast that would of course be cooked in the leftover bacon drippings. As if you had to ask! I’m actually somewhat insulted that would even come into question.

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The first step is to cook the bacon, and I used six thick slices; the recipe only calls for four, but I knew that the husband would eat at least one slice while waiting for everything to be ready and I may have been tempted to as well [I resisted, though!]. Then once the bacon was nice and crisp, I reserved 2 tablespoons of the fat for the dressing, and let the rest stay in the pan for the chicken breast. The breasts were pounded [hee] somewhat thin, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, and then just cooked in the pan until they had a nice sear on them and were fully cooked.

For the salad, I sliced a McIntosh apple and then put it in a big bowl along with a 10 oz bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves from the grocery store. Then I diced the bacon and added that in there as well. The prep on this was really easy, and honestly, even without the dressing the salad looked pretty tasty.

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With the reserved bacon fat, I added 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That came to a boil, and then everything was pretty much ready. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat everything evenly.

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See? It looks great. The taste, however, was not quite as good. It was decent – I think the husband enjoyed it more than I did. I felt like there was too much mustard; next time I think I’d do half the amount of mustard and maybe some white wine, or something else? It needed more flavor, which I know sounds weird considering the ingredients. Part of me thinks maybe some garlic [because what isn't better with garlic?] or something to brighten the flavor. I don’t know! I’ll have to mess around with it next time.

Filed Under: meat, vegetables Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sometimes we cook healthy things.

May 19, 2009 by 2 Comments

I’m a newlywed, and I’m not gonna lie, I know I’m one of the luckier ones.  Why, you ask?  Is it because my husband is so handsome, generous, and loving?  No!  (Well, yes, but this post isn’t about him, it’s about me.)  It’s because I have that thing that all newlywed women want: a mother-in-law that actually likes them, and vice versa.  Not only that, but she thinks I’m a good cook.  In fact, she even tells other people I’m a good cook!  It’s pretty awesome, hearing that from a woman who cooked for a family of four for over twenty years, a feat that makes me shudder to even consider.

At the last two family dinners, I’ve made a variation on this Provencal Vegetable Gratin recipe from the Food Network.  It’s a perfect side dish for just about any meal, as the flavors are bright and fresh and won’t detract from anything else you serve. Also? It looks pretty and like I spent way more time on it than I really did.

My version of the recipe goes something like this:

1 onion, thinly sliced
4 medium to large zucchini, cut into rounds of hopefully the same size
7 to 8 plum tomatoes, ditto on size
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 teaspoons fresh thyme (you can, and I have, substituted dried thyme with equal success)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
extra-virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375, and coat a 7 x 11 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a saute pan, add the garlic, onions, and salt. Let the onions cook for 5 – 6 minutes, until golden. Once the onions are cooked, spread them out in the bottom of your baking dish.

Toss your zucchini and tomatoes slices with some olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Arrange those in the baking dish in neat rows, on top of the onions, like so:

Toss that into the oven for about 30 minutes. Take it out at that point, and sprinkle the rest of your parmesan cheese on top of it. Bake another 10 – 15 minutes and your finished product will be this:

It really is a delicious and versatile dish. Don’t like thyme? Try basil or rosemary. Want to mix in the onions in with the tomatoes and zucchini? Go ahead! Well, maybe don’t – it won’t look as pretty. But any other changes are probably cool!

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