Nom Nom Pasta

This is the pasta. THE pasta. Once you've had this pasta, you will be ruined of Olive Garden. Oh, and the kicker? It's quick.

Aglio e Olio
It is italian for garlic and olive
My recipe is a tweaked version of traditional aglio e olio.

You're going to need:
--Pasta (I use whole wheat penne or angel hair)
--A good amount of olive oil
--A head of garlic
--Red pepper flakes
--Salt
--Tomatoes
--Parmesan cheese

1. Put a bowl of water to boil over medium-high heat and add salt.
2. Make sure the noodles are halfway through cooking, and THEN put a saucepan over low-medium heat.
3. Add a generous amount of olive oil; enough to cover the bottom.
4. Chop five cloves of garlic and add to olive oil.
5. Add a generous amount of red pepper flakes.
Make sure not to brown the garlic too quickly. If you do before the pasta is done, it will make the pasta taste burned, which you don't want.
6. Stir frequently to combine the mixture.
7. Once noodles are done boiling, drain.
8. The garlic will start to turn a slight color.
9. Chop up some tomatoes (I used two) and stir.
10. The tomatoes will acquire a light glaze of garlic, red pepper flakes, and olive oil.
11. Toss pasta while the oil mixture is still over heat.
12. Increase heat to medium.
13. Make sure all of it is combined.
14. Salt and pepper to desired taste. (I recommend not salting it to desired amount because the parmesan cheese will add more salt).
15. Serve with fresh basil leaves and shredded parmesan cheese.


This pasta is delicious and extremely flavorful. It's amazing served with the traditional Italian sides; salad and French bread.

I originally had this dish in Eugene with a friend of mine at an amazing, legit Italian restaurant. This wasn't any Olive Garden, which I cannot eat at anymore because the flavor does not exist and it's a waste of money to me. Besides the French bread and salad, which I love. Everything else, no.

I'm sure you could impress someone with your skills if you were to whip this up.

Need any feedback, have any tips, just want to leave a comment? Let me know!

-eLLe

I have mastered... CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

Some of my coworkers are either moving or quitting, so I took it upon myself to spontaneously throw a barbecue and Wii dance party that will probably last until the Wii hours of the morning. Haha, I didn't even mean to do that. Yusssss.

Side note, I was given a bread maker for Christmas, and YES, I actually use it. All the time. (Thanks Grandma!) There is no air freshener that can match the aroma of baking bread. Mmmmmm. I hope you can imagine this smell right now. And I have found the best recipe for hamburger/hot dog buns. This is one of the only recipes I have practically memorized. (Yes, I've said that recipes don't matter, but they actually do when it comes to a bread maker).


YUMMY BUNS!

Ingredients
1 c. water
1 egg
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. sugar
3 tsp. yeast

You're going to need a bread maker for this recipe, so if you don't have one, my apologies, but you're missing out on fantastic-ness.

1. Put liquid ingredients in the bread making bowl. This includes the water, egg, and olive oil.
2. Next, Put in dry ingredients which includes both flours, salt, and sugar.
3. Create a small dimple in the flour with your finger that's not deep enough to reach the liquid ingredients. Put yeast here.
4. Start on dough/pasta setting.
5. When the machine is done, take out and split dough into 8 mounds for hamburger buns, or 12 for hot dog buns.
6. Preheat oven to WARM.
7. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil PAM.
8. Place mounds on cookie sheet and cover with a towel.
9. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes; enough time for dough to double in size.
10. Take out of oven and heat oven to 400 degrees.
11. Place rolls back in oven for 10-12 minutes; enough time for rolls to brown.
12. Take out and ENJOY.

These buns are delicious. The wifey likes stealing them and using them for sandwiches. They're just good.


So, I've been on a mission to find a recipe for the GREATEST chocolate chip cookie. One that leaves a moist cookie, flavor in the dough enough to compliment the chocolate. Plus, I love cookies. Who doesn't?

First and foremost, I love The Food Network. And Alton Brown; yes the crazy scientist looking dude from Iron Chef. He's the one gave me the phenomenal recipe for pizza. Not him personally, but his show, "Good Eats." I have learned that, more egg yolks makes the cookie chewier. As does a higher brown sugar to white sugar ratio.

I only had a 1/2 cup of butter, so I had to adjust. Plus it made only like 9-12 cookies.

1 c. butter
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream 1 c. butter and 1/2 c. sugar and 1 c. brown sugar.
3. Mix in 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, and 2 tbsp. milk and 2 tsp. vanilla.
4. Gradually add 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 3 c. flour.
5. Mix in chocolate chips. (I know everyone likes a different amount of chocolate chips, so mix until you think looks good).
6. Scoop into mounds ON WAXED PAPER on a cookie sheet. (I personally love massive cookies... Like the size of your face).
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes. (I cooked for 12 minutes, but that can change depending on your elevation or taste for chewy or crunchy cookies).
8. Let sit on cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then ENJOY.

Another random ADD input. I cut up ten pounds of potatoes for french fries I will be baking. I saw on the Food Network that if you let them soak in water overnight, it will make them less starchy. I'll let your know how they turn out. But, I will be tossing them with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Pretty simple stuff.

Oh! That'd be the bread maker beeping at me.

Until next time!
eLLe.

Biscuits 'n' Gravy

Growing up in a highly agricultural area, my parents tend to give me some of the butchered pig they buy at the local Livestock Show. So, I tend to have a plethora of pork sausage. Same goes for the wife; she grew up in a very small area as well. Gotta get rid of it somehow! It may not be the healthiest, but biscuits and gravy are delicious.

My pops showed me how to make this when my curiosity was sparked in high school. If you've read my previous blogs, my dad doesn't tend to use measurements. He just judges it by looking. I also made some tweaks to his "recipe".

Ingredients
Sausage (I used pork sausage because it's what I had. Use turkey sausage for a more healthy alternative).
Chopped garlic
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Milk

1. Brown some pork sausage in a fairly large saucepan to leave room for the gravy.
2. Add chopped garlic for more flavor. Brown together.
3. Salt and pepper. Add in rosemary for another extra kick.
(With any kind of sausage, it gets greasy. This is how the flour is able to stick to the meat).
4. Add in flour until the grease is soaked into the flour, coating the sausage. Make sure that it's well coated, or else you won't have thick gravy.
5. Add in a good amount of milk (so that it more than submerges the meat).
**The higher fat content in the milk, the more thick it's going to be. I use almond milk because I'm lactose-intolerant, and it still works.
6. Let simmer over low-medium heat, and let thicken.
7. Pour over biscuits and enjoy.


Sometimes when we had biscuits and gravy on Sunday mornings, my pops didn't have anything to make biscuits with. So, you gotta improvise. I used croissants this time. Ripped up pieces of toasted bread works as well. If you've got Bisquick laying around, that's always a quick way to whip up some speedy form of a starch.

When I was a camp counselor a couple years ago, I made this over a fire for my campers. The added smokeyness was a delicious kick. So, for all you campers for the Fourth out there, you CAN make biscuits and gravy when you're in the wilderness! I mixed Bisquick and put it in aluminum foil balls. Turned out really good except for the occasional burned biscuit. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to cooking over a fire. While working at that Camp, I had to learn pretty quickly, and because I had cooking experience before, it worked out. You can ask any of my past coworkers... I had people fighting over who would accompany me on a cookout.

That reminds me of a fruit cobbler I made in a Dutch Oven.

For those of you who don't know, a Dutch Oven is an SOB to carry. It's made of cast iron, so it's heavy as hell. In order to cook something in a Dutch Oven, you have to create a fire but put the Dutch Oven over the coals for it to cook slowly. It's kinda like a very old school crockpot... Except you use fire. According to the roommate, there are people in Montana who have clubs and groups dedicated to using Dutch Ovens; it's an art.

You can make this cobbler in an over or a Dutch Oven. Doesn't matter.

You need:
Bisquick
Sugar
Canned fruit (I used canned peaches and fresh raspberries. This worked because of the juices from the canned peaches counterbalancing the fresh fruit).

1. Spray down the container with PAM that will be holding the cobbler.
2. Dump in the canned fruit.
3. In a separate container, mix Bisquick, water, and sugar. When I was in the woods making this, I eyeballed it and taste tested the batter to see if it needed more sugar/water/Bisquick. You do the same!
4. Spoon the Bisquick mixture over the fruit and flatten.
5. Put in oven at 350 degrees and watch for the cobbler to brown. I don't have a set measurement or time, just make sure to pay attention. If you're making it in a Dutch Oven, put over coals and let cook.
6. When the Bisquick mixture has cooked through, let cool and serve!

Questions? Comments? Post me a comment. :)