looking for spice...in baked parmesan spaghetti

You know those depression commercials - where they ask you questions and you find yourself answering "yes" to everything? And then you're walking around convinced you're depressed and need medication. You're calling your friends and breaking plans because you're too sad to get off the couch. Well, do you enjoy comfort food? Do you like cheese? Do you love garlic and crushed tomatoes? If you've answered yes to any/all of these, you're not depressed - you just like to eat. Allow me to introduce to you my newest food baby; baked parmesan spaghetti.

It's hot, gooey, cheesy, saucey, yummy....and everything else that ends in a 'y'. It's the perfect comfort food to get you through the hump of your week. You'll be sitting at work dreaming about this meal days after. THAT'S how delicious it is.

I've always hated basil..I found it overpowering and unappealing. However, they say with age comes wisdom and I've been wise enough to let my taste buds go on an exploration of the herbs. My roommate, Brandon, decided to start a hydroponic garden. I know, what? For the longest time I really did think he was growing other "herbs" in his room, but no - he really is growing a non-mary-jane herb garden. He is one of the main reasons I've decided to take this journey into the food blogging world, and will also be my herb dealer during this adventure. He even went as far as buying me cooking lessons, but I have yet to go because I kind of suck at making plans lately. Which makes me wonder if I'd answer yes to all of those questions in the "are you depressed?" commercial....

I digress...

Baked Parmesan Spaghetti

3/4 Pound spaghetti (I chose thin spaghetti)
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Pound ground beef
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp pepper
10-12 fresh large basil leaves, chopped
3 Cups of your favorite pasta sauce (i used four cheese and marinara)
2 Cups shredded mozzarella
2 Cups freshly grated parmesan

While you boil water to cook your pasta, set the oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta until it is al dente, and don't worry if it's not thoroughly cooked, as it's going into the oven.

Under medium heat, allow olive oil to warm up in a skillet. Add onions and a pinch of salt and pepper, and allow to saute until soft. Add garlic and stir for a minute. Meanwhile, season beef with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Make sure to use a wooden spoon to break apart the beef and cook until brown on both sides.

Once the beef is browned, stir in one cup of pasta sauce and half of the chopped basil. 

Mix to combine, and then add the (drained) spaghetti to the mixture. Spray an oven safe dish with nonstick spray, and add half of the spaghetti mixture to the dish. Top with a cup of sauce and half of your parmesan/mozzarella cheese mix. Repeat the process, starting with another layer of the spaghetti mixture and then a cup of sauce and the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle the rest of the basil on top and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is perfectly golden brown. 

The dish, in my opinion (and since it's my blog, I'm going to tell you my opinion) the dish came out really, really well. Like...really, really really well. Like three helpings well. We have enough to last us at least another lunch and dinner. I wouldn't change anything about the dish, except perhaps add maybe one more teaspoon of salt. No one else seemed to think it was lacking salt, so maybe like me - you can just add more salt to taste once you've plated. Mmm...so yummy. 

What kind of an evening would it be without dessert? I decided to buy an ice cream maker and tried to make some toasted marshmallow coconut ice cream. I had to wait for the bowl to freeze, but made the ice cream mix so that I'd be prepared once the bowl finally froze. The bowl froze overnight, and I found myself churning ice cream at 8am this morning. Not only did I feel insanely stupid, but it also came out absolutely disgusting. The ice cream went in the trash, and the evil ice cream maker went right back in the box. Once I realized I'd never be the ice cream maker I've always dreamed of, I opted for cupcakes instead. I made theeee most amazing brown sugar cupcakes with brown sugar peanut butter icing. And you better bet your sweet ass I'll be posting that recipe shortly.

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit

looking for spice...in spicy peanut sesame noodles with chicken

A year after my roommates and I moved into our place, one of my roommates decided it was time to pack up and move out to live the suburban dream. After months of making fun of our little suburbanite, we quickly realized we'd need a replacement ASAP! After weeks of searching, we interviewed a quirky optometrist with a killer smile. And by interview I mean meet up at a diner in Jersey and ask all sorts of inappropriate questions. Yes, it's important that I know just how many chicks my new roommate will be bringing home per week, and if he can change a lightbulb. For the record, I've been blessed with two incredible roommates who have become my best friends, supporters, sous chefs, cleaner-uppers and co-parents to my amazing dog. Any way, Brandon (the killer smile kid) is a pescetarian. What's that mean, you ask? Well, he's vegetarian with the exception of fish. Not only is he pescetarian, but he's also lactose intolerant (lactarded, as he puts it.) This new cooking venture of mine took a turn for the interesting, when I realized I wanted ALL of my friends to try out my dishes and Brandon couldn't try most. I began researching to find interesting dishes that we could all enjoy. What'd I come up with? Spicy peanut sesame noodles........with chicken on the side (for the carnivores. and by carnivores I mean me.)

Now let me just say this dish should really be a staple recipe in everyones kitchen. People will love it! Unless you're allergic to peanuts, in which case...sorry, bro. 

What you'll need:

1 box of linguine 

1 large boneless chicken breast (carnivores)

1 Tbs. sesame oil

2 Tsp. chili oil

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup peanut or canola oil

3 Tbs. water

2 Tbs. minced garlic

3 scallions, chopped (about a cup) 

If you're using chicken in this dish, bring it to a boil in a large pot of water over high heat. When the water boils and the chicken is fully cooked, let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then remove from the water. In another pot, bring a box of linguine to a boil. Once it's thoroughly cooked, drain and rinse the pasta in cold water until cool. Throw the pasta back in the pot and add 1 Tsp. of sesame oil. 

In the meantime, add all of the ingredients except for the scallions in a mixing bowl. If the sauce is too thick, feel free to add more water to create a consistency that's perfect for you. 

As you can see in the above picture, once I mixed the ingredients together and gave it a taste, I realized it could use some more heat so I added another Tsp. of chili oil. Yes, this is what I see when I'm cooking (no, not the smiley face in my bowl. although how awesome is that!? not done on purpose!) Lucy, my kind of useless sous chef. 

Once you've tasted your sauce (don't worry if it tastes too salty, it'll balance out with the pasta) and found it to be absolute yummy perfection, go ahead and put it into your pot of pasta. 

Going back to the chicken, shred it and mix it into the pasta. 

Once you've done that, throw in the scallions and garlic.

Toss to combine and plate this baby, garnishing it with sesame seeds. Brandon ended up loving the dish and I've already packed some away for him to take to work tomorrow. We're cute, I know. I actually ended up doubling the recipe for the sauce, as I thought it was too dry at first. Once I added more sauce to the pasta, it came out to the perfect creamy consistency and was so, so good! 

Lucy won with this dish too, as I had leftover shredded chicken and not much to do with it. Now, as I look over at my sleepy dog and full-tummied roommate; I have to worry about the exceptionally evil looking pile of dishes in the sink waiting for me. 

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit

looking for spice...in red cabbage & apple slaw chicken burgers

When it comes to chicken, I don't know what else to say other than "shit's delicious." I love me some chicken, and probably eat it once a day. With the use of spices and herbs (and creativity and proper equipment) chicken dishes can be prepared a thousand different ways.

To close out this long, hot summer I decided to try out these chicken burgers because, well, who doesn't love a good burger? The hint of sweetness from the green apple and the crunchiness of the creamy red cabbage slaw gives this dish a really refreshing, crisp summer feel.The marriage of sweet and savory isn't something that I'm used to, as I don't really like sweetness in my main courses, however like I said earlier..shit's delicious. 

For the chicken burgers: (serves 4)

1lb. ground chicken

1/2 cup small diced granny smith apple

1/2 cup small diced red onion

1/4 cup small diced celery

3 Tbs. mayo

1 Tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tsp. minced garlic

1/2 Tsp. salt

1/4 Tsp. pepper

4 sesame hamburger buns

In a mixing bowl, add all aforementioned ingredients and gently mix with your hands. Yes, your hands..cooking means getting a little dirty. Well, cooking with ME means getting really dirty. Luckily, I've got an enthusiastic 55 pound pitbull named Lucy, who has better vacuuming skills than my (new) hot pink vacuum. 

Once you've mixed your ingredients, and your hands (and shirt) are covered in raw chicken, form 4 1/2-inch-thick patties

Grab a nonstick skillet, and allow 2 Tbs. of vegetable oil to heat up under medium heat. Once your skillet is nice and hot, carefully cook your chicken patties until golden brown and thoroughly cooked on both sides. To make sure your burgers are thoroughly cooked, you can either use an instantread thermometer making sure your burgers are at about 165F or you can use an instantread fork and knife, like me. The burgers should cook for about 9-12 minutes on each side, but shouldn't cook for too long, as the chicken is incredibly easy to dry out. 

In the mean time, pop the hamburger buns in the toaster and start on your red cabbage & apple slaw. 

For the creamy red cabbage & apple slaw

4 Tbs. mayo 

2 Tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tsp. fresh lime juice

1/2 cup small-diced granny smith apple

1-1/2 cup thinly sliced red cabbage 

1/8 Tsp. salt 

1/8 Tsp. pepper

Toss to combine these aaaamazing ingredients and you've got your slaw! Feel free to add more salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Initially, the recipe ordered for 3 Tbs. of mayo and 1 Tsp. of Dijon mustard, but upon tasting it; we decided to add in order to achieve perfect creaminess. Once you've removed the buns from the oven (ha ha), you're ready to plate your chicken burgers. Place your burgers on the bun, and then add a very generous portion of slaw on top. Take a bite and then repeat after me: "mmmm."

The first time I tried this recipe, I had a side dish of chickpea & spinach salad. That, however, was a bit of an unfortunate mess... which I'll blog about soon. Oh, I forgot to mention...what does one do with leftover lime wedges? That's right, tequila. Cheers!

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit