Pasta and Red Pepper Tuna Sauce with Anchovies, Garlic, and Basil

Pasta so good I took a picture!  From Cook's Illustrated Italian Classics.  The sauce comes together very quickly; start the pasta water first.

Serves 4-6.

6 Tbsp olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 Tbsp)

1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes

2 anchovy fillets, minced (no really - go for it!)

1 cup (about 7 oz.) jarred roasted red peppers, cut into 1/2" pieces (these weren't too expensive at the grocery store, but if you anticipate using a quantity, they were a better price at Costco)

1/2 c dry white wine

2 (6 oz.) cans solid white tuna in water, drained well and chunks broken up with fingers (We prefer tuna in olive oil, so that's what I used - better texture and flavor, IMO)

Salt

1 lb. pasta

1 Tbsp lemon juice (I subbed vinegar)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or fresh parsley

Ground black pepper

1. Bring pasta water to a rolling boil.
2. Heat 3 Tbsp oil, 1 Tbsp garlic, and the red pepper flakes in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and sizzling but not browned (1-2 minutes).  Add the anchovies and roasted red peppers and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly dry (about 30 seconds).  Add the wine and bring to a simmer; simmer until the aroma bears no trace of alcohol (about 1 minute).  Add the tuna and 2 tsp. of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the tuna is heated through (about 1 minute).
3. Cook pasta to al dente.  Drain, reserving 1/4 c. cooking water.  Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the tuna mixture, remaining oil and garlic, lemon juice, basil, and reserved pasta water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Also excellent as leftovers.

General Tso's Chicken

This was fantastic!  There are a few specialty ingredients, but they were all pretty cheap (and enough to make many, many batches of this).  I wasn't sure how the cornstarch battering was going to work out, but it was so easy and perfect.  Adapted slightly from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook.

Serves 4.

Marinade:
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (I used regular white wine)
2 large egg whites

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tsp white sesame seeds (optional)

Sauce:
1/4 c chicken stock or water
1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp white rice vinegar (I used regular)
1 tsp hoisin sauce (from the asian aisle)
1 tsp chili sauce (I used sriracha)
1 tsp sesame oil (I used canola)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 cups cornstarch
salt and pepper
3 cups oil for frying (I doubt I used this much)
8 dried whole red chilies, or 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used the flakes; omit for the spice-sensitive)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Scallions or green onions, for garnish

1. Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, wine, and egg whites.  Add the chicken and stir gently to coat.  Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. (If using sesame seeds) In a small pan, toast the sesame seeds for about 1 minute, until they become lightly brown and aromatic.  Transfer to a dish and set aside.
3. Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, oil, sugar, and cornstarch.  Stir until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.  Set aside.
4. Toss the 1 1/2 cups cornstarch with salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each) in a large bowl or deep plate.  Coat the marinated chicken in the cornstarch mixture and shake off any excess before frying (Note: You should have the oil heated before coating the chicken, or the cornstarch coating gets pasty.  I don't know if this affects the finished product, but it doesn't seem ideal).
5. Heat the frying oil in a wok or heavy-bottomed pot until it registers 350 on an instant-read thermometer.  Working in 2 or 3 batches, add the first batch of chicken cubes and deep-fry until lightly golden on the outside and cooked through, 3-4 minutes.  Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  Repeat with the rest of the chicken.  (Optional: To get the chicken extra crispy, allow the chicken to drain and cool for 5 minutes, then put the chicken back in the wok to fry for about another 30 seconds, until golden brown.)
6. Transfer the oil to a heat-proof container.  Leave a light coating of oil in the pan, and heat over medium-high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact.  Add the chilies and garlic and stir just until fragrant, about 20 seconds.  Pour in the sauce mixture and heat briefly to thicken.
7. Return the chicken to the wok and stir well to coat with sauce (I didn't think there would be enough sauce, but keep stirring, and it will cover.).  Transfer the chicken to a serving dish.  Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions and serve.

Pumpkin Ravioli

Pasta

• 2 c flour
• 3 eggs (or 2 eggs and 2 yolks, if rollling by hand)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 T olive oil

Filling

• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 1 c grated Parmesan (grated on a Microplane)
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼–½ c bread crumbs
• salt to taste

Sauce

• 4 T butter
• 1 small shallot, finely minced
• 2 tsp. fresh sage

Place flour on countertop, create a large well in the middle. Add the other ingredients to the well and beat with a fork, slowly incorporating flour. Knead until smooth and well-combined, and shape into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest on counter, 15 minutes if rolling by machine, and 1–4 hours if rolling by hand.

For filling, combine pumpkin, cheese, egg, and nutmeg. Add bread crumbs a couple tablespoons at a time, until mixture is thick enough to stand in coherent spoonfuls.

To shape pasta, divide into six pieces and roll out, on an unfloured surface, one at a time to approximately 6"x18", and see-through, about 1/32" thick. (If rolling by hand, alternate rolling and stretching for best results.) Place four or five scant tablespoons along one side of the sheet, a couple of inches apart, and trace around each with a fingertip dipped in water. Fold the sheet in half, cut in between the scoops of filling, and press edges around each to seal.

To make sauce, melt butter over medium heat in a shallow pan or skillet, until it just begins to brown (it's easiest to see this in a light colored pan. Add shallot and cook until softened (butter will continue to brown). Remove from heat, add sage and set aside while pasta cooks.

Cook pasta four or six at a time in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Toss with sauce and serve immediately with plenty of extra Parmesan. 

Notes: I ended up with 24 ravioli, with about 1/3 of the filling left over. I think if I were using a pasta machine, I would have been able to get the pasta rolled thinner, and probably used all the filling on 36 ravioli. 

To freeze, place uncooked ravioli on a baking rack for half an hour or so, until surface is slightly dry. Freeze with parchment or wax paper between layers.

Everyone loved these, including Linus. It was a great Friday dinner.

Steak Fajitas

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb of flank steak, skirt steak
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced 
• 2-3 bell peppers of various colors, stemmed, seeded, de-ribbed, sliced lengthwise into strips
• Salt

Marinade:

• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Mix all marinade ingredients. Coat the steak with the marinade and let it sit at room temperature for an hour, or longer in the fridge. Before you cook the meat, wipe off most of the marinade and sprinkle the steak with salt.

Set a large cast iron pan over high heat and let this heat up for 1-2 minutes. Add the tablespoon of oil to the pan and let this heat up for 1 minute. Add the steak, frying on each side for 3 minutes, or to desired doneness. 3 minutes per side will yield approximately medium rare doneness for an average cut of flank steak. Skirt steak will need less time. If the pan starts to smoke too much, reduce the heat to medium-high. You want the steak browned, not burned. Remove from pan and let sit, tented with foil, for 5 minutes.

Cook the vegetables while the meat is resting. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary, then add the onions and bell peppers. Let these sear for 1 minute before stirring, then stir every 90 seconds or so as the veggies sear. Cook for 5-6 minutes total.

NOTES:

• Source
• It also called for 1/2 a fresh jalapeno, which I didn't have, so I gave the meat a few shakes of tabasco sauce.
• Instead of marinading the meat, I pre-sliced it and just cooked it in the marinade ingredients.  I wouldn't hesitate to do it that way again, although I'm sure the recommended way is good too.
• I served them in this tremendous product.  Very nice, indeed!

Apologies for the lack of a photo, but basically they just looked like fajitas.  :)

Monkey Bread

We made this.  It was good.  Possibly only good warm though. 

But really good when warm.

Lemon Pepper Pasta

Holy cow, is this delicious!  I made it last night with the cucumber chicken recipe from the church cookbook, but it would be fantastic just buttered and on it's own, or I'm dreaming of some kind of light, lemony cream sauce.  (And the recipe on the package suggests serving it with shrimp!)  Next time I go to Trader Joe's, I'm going to pick up several packages.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

I followed this link from Jen's 7 Quick Takes last week and we all found it to be as delicious as they did.

2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
 garlic powder to taste
 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
 1 cube beef bouillon
 1/4 cup hot water
 1 tablespoon cornstarch
 1/2 cup chopped onion
 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
 2 tablespoons soy sauce
 1 teaspoon white sugar

• Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
• Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
• Cover, and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours.

NOTES:

• The original recipe called for a beef bouillon cube, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and a teaspoon of salt.  That's a ridiculous amount of sodium so I cut out the salt and only used 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  We thought it was good (and it would be easy to add more soy sauce at the end of the process if you didn't agree).
• I used venison instead of beef and that worked well too.  This would be a good place to use a cheaper cut of meat, just be sure to cut it across the grain.
• It was pretty fantastic to have dinner done when I got home today. :)  (Why don't I do more crock pot meals?)