Wednesday, April 27, 2016

One-Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake


Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
2-3 sweet onions
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce (omit if vegetarian)
1 cup red wine
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
salt + pepper, to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
3 cups low sodium chicken broth + 3/4 cups water
1 pound of your favorite short cut pasta (use gluten free if needed)
2 bay leaves
2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
pinch of cayenne pepper
6 ounces gruyere cheese, shredded
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (optional)

Instructions"

Heat a large high-sided dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the butter. Add the onions + brown sugar and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. At this point you want to slowly add the Worcestershire sauce and the wine, let them cook into the onions, add more and continue to cook. Do this until the the wine is gone or the onions are caramelized to your liking. Make sure the wine has evaporated.

Preheat the the broiler to high.

Toss the mushroom and garlic in with the caramelized onions, season with salt + pepper, cook another 3-4 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft.

Pour in the chicken broth + water and bring to a boil. Add your pasta, bay leaves and thyme, cook, stirring often until most of the liquid has been soaked up by the pasta and the pasta is al dente. If you feel your pasta needs more water to continue cooking, add around 1/2 cup.

Stir in the cream and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir in half the gruyere cheese and the gorgonzola cheese. Cook 2 minutes and then remove from the heat. Top with the remaining cheese and place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Serve warm, top with fresh thyme and parsley if desired.

Notes:
  • Nice flavor profiles
  • I skipped the broiling step, but put it in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
  • There's a slight kick, depending on how much cayenne you use. (I probably used a little more than a pinch.)
  • Serves ~6
  • Source

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Pull-apart Garlic Rolls

Not a great picture, but they were cute in person


Ingredients:
1 tube refrigerated biscuits
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Cut biscuits into fourths, and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, garlic powder, parsley, and mozzarella, and mix with your hands, coating all of the biscuit pieces. Place the pieces in a muffin tin, 3 pieces per tin (you’ll have 2 extra—just use them in whichever tin you want). Bake for 15 minutes. Best served fresh out of the oven!

Notes:
  • Easy, cute, and really tasty.
  • I used jumbo flaky buttermilk biscuits
  • I used dried parsley instead of fresh and it was fine
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Friday, April 1, 2016

Kolaches

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted (If you use unsalted butter or margarine, add an additional 1/4 teaspoon salt)
2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs

1 tsp orange or lemon zest(or a few drops of lemon extract)
4 cups All-Purpose Flour

PINEAPPLE FILLING 
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained*
1 cup sugar(This was quite sweet, you could probably easily get away with 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons cornstarch OR Instant ClearJel
2 tablespoons melted butter

*If you’re using cornstarch as the thickener, reserve 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice, in which you’ll dissolve the cornstarch.


STRAWBERRY FILLING
1.5 lbs. frozen strawberries
1 cup sugar(This was quite sweet, you could probably easily get away with 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons cornstarch OR Instant ClearJel
2 tablespoons melted butter

*If you’re using cornstarch as the thickener, reserve 3 tablespoons of the strawberry juice, in which you’ll dissolve the cornstarch.

STREUSEL TOPPING
2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar 

1/3 cup (about 5 2/3 tablespoons) melted butter
(This is more than enough streusel for a double batch of dough)

DOUGH: Warm the sour cream gently, and combine it with the sugar, salt, and butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer. Cool the mixture to lukewarm (if it isn’t already that temperature), and add the yeast (if you’re using active dry yeast, dissolve it in the water first), warm water, eggs, and flour. Mix and knead the dough, using your hands, or a mixer, until it’s soft and smooth. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough overnight. Note: This dough won’t rise much, so don’t worry about having to put it in a huge bowl.

Next day, remove the dough from the fridge, and divide it into about 24 pieces, each 1 3/4 ounces, about the size of a golf ball. Place the pieces on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between them. Flatten the balls till they’re about 1/2-inch thick, and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.

PINEAPPLE FILLING: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the drained pineapple to boiling. If you’re using Instant ClearJel(r), mix it with the sugar, and stir this mixture into the pineapple. Immediately remove the filling from the heat, and stir in the melted butter. Cool to lukewarm before using.

If you’re using cornstarch, mix it with the reserved pineapple juice. Stir the dissolved cornstarch and the sugar into the hot pineapple, and cook over medium heat, stirring, till the mixture thickens and becomes clear. Remove it from the heat, stir in the melted butter, and let it cool to lukewarm before using.


STRAWBERRY FILLING: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the strawberries to boiling, drain off excess juice(I removed ~1 cup). If you’re using Instant ClearJel(r), mix it with the sugar, and stir this mixture into the strawberries. Immediately remove the filling from the heat, and stir in the melted butter. Cool to lukewarm before using.

If you’re using cornstarch, mix it with the reserved strawberry juice or water. Stir the dissolved cornstarch and the sugar into the hot berries, and cook over medium heat, stirring, till the mixture thickens and becomes clear. Remove it from the heat, stir in the melted butter, and let it cool to lukewarm before using.

STREUSEL TOPPING: In a small bowl, mix together the flour and sugar, then add the butter, stirring till crumbs form.

ASSEMBLY: Using your fingers, make a wide, deep indentation in the center of each flattened dough ball. Don’t be afraid of being decisive here; you want to make a deep enough indentation that it doesn’t just disappear as the buns rise and bake. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling into each bun; crumble a little of the streusel on top. Cover the kolaches, and allow them to rise for about an hour; they won’t necessarily double in bulk.

Bake the kolaches in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, till they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.


Notes
*I didn't get a picture, but mine came out looking like your average grocery store danish, not very tall at all, but they have a lovely texture.
*I'm sure you could substitute just about any frozen berry for the strawberries without any complications.
*There are loads of other filling recipes online.
*I only got two out of the 4 pans of assembled kolaches baked before we had to leave for the vigil mass; the remaining pans were left out for ~4 hours and there was not a noticeable difference between the them and the ones that had risen for an hour.