Make this dish!

This is super fast and easy, plus it is damn tasty.

The base of this recipe is taken from the Joy of Cooking, which you should really consider buying if you don’t already own a copy.


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1 lb of fettuccine noodles
1 stick of salted or unsalted butter, room temperature (It depends on how much you want to control the amount of salt in the dish. I personally use salted butter, and think it works well.)
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese*
1 cup of heavy cream
1 – 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast, cut into medium sized chunks
10 oz of cremini or baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

Start boiling your big pot of salted water for the pasta. Meanwhile heat a pan and sauté the mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil until the water has been cooked out of them. Set aside. In the same pan add a touch of butter and some more olive oil and sauté the chicken. Meanwhile cook the noodles, following the instructions on the package. It usually takes me around 13 minutes to cook the noodles, and that is plenty of time to cook the chicken through. When the chicken is done, drain out any excess fat from the pan and add the mushrooms back in. Drain the noodles, and place the pot back on low heat. Throw in the stick of butter and let it melt. Put the noodles back in and add the cream. Stir to coat, and then start adding the parmesan cheese a little at a time. Once the noodles are nice and coated, add the chicken and mushrooms and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Seriously, try this dish. It is indulgent but SO much better than most of the Fettuccine Alfredo you get in restaurants. Of course it is rich, but not overly so. You can also easily adapt this in many ways. You can just go plain, more mushrooms, seafood, etcetera. Essentially whatever strikes your mood that day. It is also easily doubled, just in case you need to feed a crowd.

* PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not use crappy parmesan cheese for this dish. I’m looking at you Kraft stuff that doesn’t come refrigerated. You will notice the difference in the final product. It will not be as creamy, and the flavor will somewhat resemble kindergarten paste. If your supermarket offers BelGioioso parmesan cheese, go with that. If you live in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle carries this at most stores. And it is available either in a wedge form or pre-grated.


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It is my Thanksgiving, and I’ll keep my Stove Top if I want to!

I was having a discussion with my crazy cafeteria cook mother last night about who is doing what for Thanksgiving. I offered to make the stuffing ahead of time and bring it over, especially because it is pretty easy. Two packages of Stove Top, a few add ins, and done. Having this as one of the key items on my Thanksgiving table may not fit in with my overall cooking style. I do generally prefer as homemade as I can get. I have even drifted away from using jarred pasta sauces even in weeknight meals such as baked ziti. BUT there is something very pleasing about keeping that dish as is. No tweaks, nothing fancy, and it is perfect.


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I have consumed homemade stuffing, and it was fine. Nothing was wrong with it, but it just didn’t have that THING I was looking for. I have zero interest in finding a new recipe, especially because most read like this to me:

3 cups Challa bread – homemade by an old Jewish grandmother – cut into chunks and sun dried under cheese cloth on a perfect 60 degree day
2 organic eggs (from your own hens is best)
1 onion, 1 stalk of celery, 2 carrots (again, home grown, or purchased from an organic farmer that only uses imported water buffalo shat as fertilizer)
½ cup cherries (picked yourself and dried yourself)
½ pound pork sausage (from freshly slaughtered pigs, please)
½ teaspoon thyme, and ½ teaspoon sage – soaked in ¼ cup warmed holy water blessed by the Pope

And people do all this for something that is going to be shoved up a birds ass and then baked for 4 hours? Yeah, I’ll pass.

What classic and not at all fancy family recipe is in the “do not mess with” zone for you?

Meat soaked in gravy? YES PLEASE!

Yesterday I was on the lookout for “an excellent” recipe for pot roast. One Google search later, I stumbled upon the extremely simple sort of recipe I was looking for.

Original Recipe

Of course, me being me, I had to tweak it some.

3 lbs chuck roast – silver skin/thick fat on the outside trimmed, but no additional fabrication necessary
2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup (use the Healthy Request variety of sodium intake is an issue for you)
1 package dry onion soup mix (1 ounce)
1 Knorr beef bouillon cube - This is optional, I like a little more beef flavor. You can add half of it, or none at all.
1 ½ cups of water
1 medium onion sliced thin
1 stalk of celery finely diced
4 carrots cut into ¾ to 1 inch chunks
8-10 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp corn starch
salt
pepper
flour

Lightly salt and pepper the meat, then dust with flour. Brown the meat on both sides in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil.

Combine the water, condensed soup, onion soup mix, and bouillon cube. You will have about 4 cups of liquid at this point.

Place half of the vegetables and thyme in the bottom of a crock pot. Add the meat and then top with the remaining vegetables and herbs. Pour the sauce on, and let this sucker cook for at least 4 hours on high, and 8-10 on low heat.

When the meat is done, pull it out of the pot and chunk/shred it up. Or don’t, serve it in slices. Do whatever you want with it. Although I do suggest putting the cut up meat back in the gravy, because it makes it even better.

While the meat is out of the pot add the teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved with a little bit of cold water. This will help tighten the sauce up a little bit.

Serve with potatoes or noodles. I personally can’t get enough potatoes, so that is my default option.


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That isn't my rig, but it sure is pretty!

Whipped ‘Taters!

Today, I will share with you one of my favorite side dishes … WHIPPED (not mashed) POTATOES! And yes, it should be in all caps, because quite frankly who doesn’t like whipped/mashed/smashed potatoes?



5 pounds of white or Yukon Gold potatoes - not Russet, or “restaurant” or baking potatoes (more on this below)
1 stick of salted butter
1 cup of heavy cream – light or half and half are acceptable, but try to stay away from milk
½ tsp of baking powder
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and dice the potatoes, place in a pot, and cover with COLD water. Do not salt the water. Cook the potatoes until soft (more than fork tender). Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Over low to medium low heat cook the potatoes until the water has mostly cooked off. Almost all sizzling ceases when this happens.

Meanwhile, heat the cream in the microwave. When it is close to boiling throw the stick of butter in, and melt that as well.

When the potatoes are ready, add the baking powder and then use your hand mixer to combine. Then add the butter and cream mixture. Don’t pour it in all at once, just in case the potatoes don’t need all the liquid. Whip to combine. Once everything is nice and smooth, and salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy this with any of the many dishes that cry out for a whipped potato accompaniment!

I know this is not a very health conscious side dish. You can make your potatoes with milk, a touch of butter, and some chicken stock, but the end product will not be as good.

I demand the white or Yukon gold potatoes for this dish because those varieties have a lower starch content. This makes for a much creamier finished product. Obviously you can use Russet potatoes, and I do from time to time, but it is not going to be the same. If you are making a really nice meal, spend the extra two dollars for a special treat.