{Maple Bacon - Chocolate & Orange - Salted Chocolate & Caramel}
Monday, May 19, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
I'll move to Portland, OR for this meal alone.
Yup. I actually did dream about that MaplePig. @OvenandShaker #foodporn pic.twitter.com/acDhCMwmas
— alice.RICHES.snow (@aliceRICHESsnow) May 2, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Chinese Fettuccine
A new favorite! I can't begin to tell you how good this pasta dish is. I found it on Pinterest and I've tweaked it to reflect some enhanced proportions and one vital missing ingredient. I dubbed this Chinese Fettuccine because the noodles I used for my first round were thick and reminded me of the "normal" italian style fettucine noodles [usually paired with alfredo sauce]. I have since tried this recipe with other brands and types of rice noodles and now I can't decide on whether or not I like it with straight cut or vermicelli rice noodles [Asian Angel Hair :)]...you'll want to have this dish more than once [in a week] so try it both ways and decide for yourself. These noodles are easiest to find by the brand A Taste of Thai but you probably have an Asian food market nearby that should carry various types of rice noodles.
The original recipe can be found here. Here's the best part about this recipe, it's incredibly fast and so easy you'll only need the time it takes to boil the noodles.
This recipe is a vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free, delicious wonder! It's that time of year again for our household to go vegetarian in observance of the Lenten season. This dish will appear several times during our meat-free weeks until Easter and I'm thrilled!
{Chinese Fettuccine}
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons soy sauce, gluten free
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed, we prefer to use a garlic press for this sauce.
1/2 of 1 package of rice noodles [1/2 pkg of straight cut noodles = the above amount of sauce - 1/3 pkg of vermicelli noodles double the sauce recipe above and adjust as needed below]
3 scallions, finely chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro, chopped
¼ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 lime, sliced and ready to squeeze
Equipment:
Sauce or stock pot to boil water, large enough to submerge noodles
Garlic press, if using
Fine grater
Chef's knife & cutting board
Large bowl
Whisk
Tongs
Directions:
Combine the first [7] ingredients in a large bowl and whisk gently then vigorously to combine. The mixture will come eventually together and become deep golden in color. Taste. Resist the urge to devour through a straw before you've made the noodles...
Read the back of your package of rice noodles and prepare according to the product directions. The directions should be something along the lines of boil water [with salt] and drop noodles in boiling water and cook anywhere from 4-7 minutes. **These noodles are extremely sticky once submerged so make sure you use your tongs to separate them, another way to avoid them sticking together is to salt your water and add the noodles slowly. Stir the noodles frequently to keep them from sticking together.
While your water is boiling and your noodles are cooking chop and set aside the scallions, cilantro and peanuts. Combine with sesame seeds and set aside.
Once your noodles are finished, drain and quickly add to the large bowl congaing the sauce. Use your tongs to mix the hot noodles with the sauce and make sure your noodles are drenched in goodness. Add the scallions, cilantro and peanuts [reserve some for serving] and mix again.
Serve on a plate or bowl and squeeze a generous amount of lime over each serving. Garish with the remaining chopped accoutrements and a lime wedge. Enjoy!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Barefoot Contessa's Vecchia Bettola
Well my friends, it's a wonder we don't eat this meal every week. I will admit to having plenty on hand in the freezer because it is our go-to for pasta night. We've made this a few different ways in several different stainless steel pans or Le Creuset dishes and I've had successful outcomes every time. Barefoot Contessa never disappoints!
[Everything you see I owe to spaghetti] - Sophia Loren
The key to any recipe lies with your ingredients. There is a reason why America's Test Kitchen spends so much time testing base ingredients to find the winners and the spit that out right now losers. Now, they don't have my preferred brand on their site but I'd follow Ina to the ends of the earth so I went with her choice brand of canned tomatoes #11, San Marzano tomatoes (if you have a moment peruse her good ingredients page, life changing).
The key to a good pasta dish is of course the pasta. We are snobby about a lot of ingredients but we have found a lot of brands make us plenty happy. I have not played with my pasta maker extensively but when we do, amazing (mostly because the "it will take you all day" stigma and I'd rather spend all day making dacquoise). We enjoy this pasta with any type of noodle that will hold on to the sauce. Ruffles. Rontini. Penne. Yum. A nice addition to this recipe is also using a tri-color pasta. The bottom line, this sauce would be wonderful with fresh ravioli, spaghetti and even tortellini. Just make it.
Since this makes such a large portion we tend to serve the pasta in a bowl and add the sauce to our individual servings but when we use this dish while entertaining we mix it all together. We also found that it does best the next day if the pasta and sauce are separate. This sauce also does extremely well in the freezer. Let cool completely and store in the freezer for up to 3 months...we've never been able to wait any longer than 2 months before we have it again so I'm just assuming here.
{Vecchia Bettola "Vodka Sauce"}
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 med. - lg. onion [Spanish if you can find it or sweet], coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper [optional] - this makes this sauce spicy so leave it out if you wish
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 cup of vodka - Contessa uses 1 cup but I wasn't a fan with the powerful punch of flavor
2 (28oz) cans peeled plum tomatoes - best brand: San Marzano, red, white and green can. See the link above to Barefoot Contessa's good ingredients page for an example.
Coarse salt
Black pepper
3/4 - 1lb of the pasta of your choice
2 Tbsp of fresh oregano finely chopped + 2 Tbsp for serving
1 cup of heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese + some shaved pieces for serving. We are huge fans of Pecorino! Just about any will do.
Equipment:
Le Crueset or lg. saute pan [with a tight fitting lid or a decent amount of aluminum foil, I have been successful with both]Blender [I found an emersion blender does not work well in this application]
Various wooden spoons and a spatula
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.
Drain your tomatoes through a sieve or colander and set aside.
Swirl olive oil around your pan 2-3 times (about ⅛ cup or less) and heat over medium heat. Add your chopped onion and garlic, simmer for 5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add your red pepper flakes (if using) and dried oregano and cook for another minute. Add the vodka to the pan, scrap up any brown bits and cook until the liquid in the mixture is reduced by about half.
Now! You better be wearing an apron for this next part!
Crush the tomatoes into the pan using your hands [best tools in the kitchen]. Add 2 tsp. of salt and a dash of pepper. Stir to combine and cover the pan with your lid or aluminum foil, make sure you have a tight seal and bake in the oven for 1 ½ hours.
While the sauce is cooking prep you pasta according to the package directions. We prefer al dente in this house but cook the pasta to your liking. Drain and reserve a small amount of pasta water, set aside pasta and water.
Remove the sauce from the oven and you can let it cool or get started right away with blending your mixture. Just remember to leave the top of your blender propped slightly open to allow for the heat to escape during the mixing process. Failure to do so will end with a hot mess. I have an extra insert in my top that I hold partially out of the hole to allow the steam to escape, this way I can work immediately after the mixture comes out of the oven.
Blend the mixture in batches, using your spatula to get all of the tomato goodness out of your pan.
Return your blended mixture back to the pan and begin to reheat and medium-low. Add 2 Tbsp. of the fresh oregano and swirl the ¾ - 1 cup of heavy cream to the pan. Mix together well and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer covered for another 10 minutes.
Toss the pasta in the reserved pasta water if it has started to dry out if not, skip this step. Add the pasta to your pan and toss evenly with the sauce. Stir in your ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Try to hold yourself back.
Serve with the remaining fresh oregano and shaved Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.
Drain your tomatoes through a sieve or colander and set aside.
Swirl olive oil around your pan 2-3 times (about ⅛ cup or less) and heat over medium heat. Add your chopped onion and garlic, simmer for 5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add your red pepper flakes (if using) and dried oregano and cook for another minute. Add the vodka to the pan, scrap up any brown bits and cook until the liquid in the mixture is reduced by about half.
Now! You better be wearing an apron for this next part!
Crush the tomatoes into the pan using your hands [best tools in the kitchen]. Add 2 tsp. of salt and a dash of pepper. Stir to combine and cover the pan with your lid or aluminum foil, make sure you have a tight seal and bake in the oven for 1 ½ hours.
While the sauce is cooking prep you pasta according to the package directions. We prefer al dente in this house but cook the pasta to your liking. Drain and reserve a small amount of pasta water, set aside pasta and water.
Remove the sauce from the oven and you can let it cool or get started right away with blending your mixture. Just remember to leave the top of your blender propped slightly open to allow for the heat to escape during the mixing process. Failure to do so will end with a hot mess. I have an extra insert in my top that I hold partially out of the hole to allow the steam to escape, this way I can work immediately after the mixture comes out of the oven.
Blend the mixture in batches, using your spatula to get all of the tomato goodness out of your pan.
Return your blended mixture back to the pan and begin to reheat and medium-low. Add 2 Tbsp. of the fresh oregano and swirl the ¾ - 1 cup of heavy cream to the pan. Mix together well and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer covered for another 10 minutes.
Toss the pasta in the reserved pasta water if it has started to dry out if not, skip this step. Add the pasta to your pan and toss evenly with the sauce. Stir in your ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Try to hold yourself back.
Serve with the remaining fresh oregano and shaved Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Chinese Fettuccine, coming soon!
Chinese Fettuccine. #foodporn So good it hurts. Will be blogged about shortly! pic.twitter.com/JCmoIKjEVp
— alice.RICHES.snow (@aliceRICHESsnow) February 27, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Holy Red Velvet. #cupcake #foodporn pic.twitter.com/OVQCCOkefo
— alice.RICHES.snow (@aliceRICHESsnow) February 16, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Roasted Root Vegetables & Goat Cheese Tart with Balsamic Syrup
This one is an oldie but a goodie! It takes a little while to roast the vegetables but the key to this recipe is to keep your veggies al dente so don't let them get soggy. Ew. Soggy is never a word you want someone to use when describing any of your meals.
1 Tbs each of fresh, thyme and rosemary
Olive oil
¾ cup crumbled goat cheese
Balsamic syrup - Recipe below, you can also purchase pre-made syrup at most specialty stores.
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine [Cabernet or Merlot]
½ cup white sugar
This is a great dish for a starter but also wonderful for a meal. My mouth is watering just thinking about this tart. It's creamy and packed with flavor. For this recipe, you need to account for the prep time to reduce the balsamic vinegar and wine and baking the pie crust. Feel free to play around with the types of root vegetables you use for this tart. Sweet potatoes and butternut squash are great additions or substitutions.
If you plan to use this recipe as a starter/appetizer, consider using pre-made puff pastry cups as this would be a nightmare to have people try to eat while walking around your house (terribly close to your light colored furniture) balancing a glass of wine and a plate. Eek! I have also used mini-tart pans that work great as individual servings. You can serve this tart warm out of the oven or allow the tart to reach room temperature. If you've reached the end of the recipe and all of your ingredients are cool, pop the entire thing back in the oven, low heat until you're happy with the temperature of your dish.
[I often feel better making a dish that highlights the understated veggie. It counterbalances all the recipes I have with butter and cream] - Alice Snow :)
If you plan to use this recipe as a starter/appetizer, consider using pre-made puff pastry cups as this would be a nightmare to have people try to eat while walking around your house (terribly close to your light colored furniture) balancing a glass of wine and a plate. Eek! I have also used mini-tart pans that work great as individual servings. You can serve this tart warm out of the oven or allow the tart to reach room temperature. If you've reached the end of the recipe and all of your ingredients are cool, pop the entire thing back in the oven, low heat until you're happy with the temperature of your dish.
{Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Tart}
Ingredients:
1 recipe for pie crust, full baked OR 1 prepared pie crust such a pepperidge farms, fully baked
3-4 large carrots, chopped
3 parsnips, chopped
1 med. beet OR 1 small can of sliced beets, pickled
Salt (pepper optional)1 Tbs each of fresh, thyme and rosemary
Olive oil
¾ cup crumbled goat cheese
Balsamic syrup - Recipe below, you can also purchase pre-made syrup at most specialty stores.
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine [Cabernet or Merlot]
½ cup white sugar
Equipment:
Sauce pan for syrup
10" Fluted tart/quiche pan with removable bottom (example seen here)
Pie weights or a enough dried beans to fill your tart pan use with aluminum foil
Rolling pin for crust
Pastry blender or Food processor for the crust
Jelly roll for roasting the vegetables
Sharp knife to cut raw vegetables, I use my Santoku knife for this work
Cutting board & washable mat or paper towels to catch beet juice.
*Tip: wet your paper towel before placing under your cutting board and it will keep it from slipping
Directions:
Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 425deg.
Follow the directions to prepare your pie crust. Once ready, roll over your tart pan, press gently to mold to the fluted edges. Fill with pie weights and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Your crust should look dry and slightly lighter in color. Place crust back in oven and back for another 10-12 minutes. You are looking for a deep golden brown on your crust. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. The pie may take up to 1 hour to cool completely.
**If you are using a pre made pastry cup or packaged pie crust, follow the directions on the package and skip to making the balsamic syrup.
While your crust is cooking, make the balsamic syrup:
Alice's Balsamic Syrup:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine [Cabernet or Merlot]
½ cup white sugar
Combine all [3] ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until liquid has reduced to ¾ of a cup. Liquid will thicken as it cools. Set-aside until ready to serve. **This syrup can be made 2-3 days in advance. Keep in a tight fitting jar and refrigerate.
Next, chop your chosen vegetables unto ½" cubes, toss with some olive oil, salt and chopped herbs. Make sure your oven is still registered at 425deg. Spread the vegetables onto your jelly roll pan so they are evenly distributed. Bake for 20 minutes, stir the vegetables then bake for another 10-15 minutes until the veggies are tender and light browned. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
**Beets will take longer to cook so you either want to cut them into smaller pieces or separate this vegetable on another, smaller pan, and cook at the same time for about 10 minutes longer than the parsnips or carrots. If you are going to use pickled beets, simply drain the canned vegetable, chop and mix with warm vegetables out of the oven.
It's time to assemble your tart(s)! Sprinkle half of your goat cheese in the bottom of your tart, spread the warm vegetables over the goat cheese. Sprinkle the remaining goat cheese over the vegetables and drizzle with your balsamic vinegar.
Serve on cake stand or large decorative plate. Enjoy!
Follow the directions to prepare your pie crust. Once ready, roll over your tart pan, press gently to mold to the fluted edges. Fill with pie weights and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Your crust should look dry and slightly lighter in color. Place crust back in oven and back for another 10-12 minutes. You are looking for a deep golden brown on your crust. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. The pie may take up to 1 hour to cool completely.
**If you are using a pre made pastry cup or packaged pie crust, follow the directions on the package and skip to making the balsamic syrup.
While your crust is cooking, make the balsamic syrup:
Alice's Balsamic Syrup:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine [Cabernet or Merlot]
½ cup white sugar
Combine all [3] ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until liquid has reduced to ¾ of a cup. Liquid will thicken as it cools. Set-aside until ready to serve. **This syrup can be made 2-3 days in advance. Keep in a tight fitting jar and refrigerate.
Next, chop your chosen vegetables unto ½" cubes, toss with some olive oil, salt and chopped herbs. Make sure your oven is still registered at 425deg. Spread the vegetables onto your jelly roll pan so they are evenly distributed. Bake for 20 minutes, stir the vegetables then bake for another 10-15 minutes until the veggies are tender and light browned. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
**Beets will take longer to cook so you either want to cut them into smaller pieces or separate this vegetable on another, smaller pan, and cook at the same time for about 10 minutes longer than the parsnips or carrots. If you are going to use pickled beets, simply drain the canned vegetable, chop and mix with warm vegetables out of the oven.
It's time to assemble your tart(s)! Sprinkle half of your goat cheese in the bottom of your tart, spread the warm vegetables over the goat cheese. Sprinkle the remaining goat cheese over the vegetables and drizzle with your balsamic vinegar.
Serve on cake stand or large decorative plate. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Cupcake liners in Mason Jars!
— alice.RICHES.snow (@aliceRICHESsnow) January 23, 2014
Nicely tucked away in my kitchen island drawer. I plan to add labels to the top of the containers and I'll be set!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Crack Potatoes...I sense a pattern here...
Well...between Pinterest and my large (embarrassingly large) collection of cookbooks I should be blogging everyday but for various reasons clearly I am not. So, here's my attempt to make it happen more than every 6 months. I have so many recipes in the wings that I thought it best to start with some of the winners.
So says my Dad and I have to agree! We make crack potatoes for breakfast when we are having people visit for the weekend and we often [always] keep the ingredients on hand. Always. The original recipe can be found here and Pinned here. These hash brown potatoes were introduced to me and my co-workers by a fellow co-worker Lisa. We are still not sure if we hate her or love her for introducing us to the mountain of cheesy-carbs...either way, the first introduction was a huge hit. I immediately re-pinned her pin, stopped at the grocery store on the way home and made them for Saturday morning breakfast. Enter very happy, sweet husband.
I can't believe I've never snapped a photo of these scrumptious potatoes so this will be a somewhat dry [but cheesy] post. All you need is the recipe and a few suggestions along the way.
Thaw your potatoes completely before starting this recipe. I have found that because potatoes hold a lot of moisture it took several days for the hash browns to defrost. I ended up microwaving the potatoes a few times, stirring the potatoes around each time, before I added the butter. Think about it, if you have even semi-cold potatoes, once you pour the very delicate [and delicious] butter over them the butter will begin to congeal. You don't want this.
Originally, this recipe calls for corn flakes and almost every time we have made this I have included them. Until one day when I made this as a traveling chef I forgot the corn flakes so a cheese topping it was. Honestly, I didn't miss the corn flakes but I encourage you to make it both ways and decide for yourself. It does add a nice bit of texture with the buttery, crunchy corn flakes but we didn't like them included if we were planning on having leftovers. Leftovers for this dish are not always available due to their "crack-ness" but if you happen to have leftovers they do quite nicely warmed in your toaster oven or directly in a non-stick frying pan.
Also, this recipe doubles nicely but prepare separately then mix together in a large lasagna or other deep dish baking dish. Unless you have an industrial size bowl the mess is unbelievable!
¼ - ½ cup of butter, melted
[I've never met a potato I didn't like]
I can't believe I've never snapped a photo of these scrumptious potatoes so this will be a somewhat dry [but cheesy] post. All you need is the recipe and a few suggestions along the way.
Thaw your potatoes completely before starting this recipe. I have found that because potatoes hold a lot of moisture it took several days for the hash browns to defrost. I ended up microwaving the potatoes a few times, stirring the potatoes around each time, before I added the butter. Think about it, if you have even semi-cold potatoes, once you pour the very delicate [and delicious] butter over them the butter will begin to congeal. You don't want this.
Originally, this recipe calls for corn flakes and almost every time we have made this I have included them. Until one day when I made this as a traveling chef I forgot the corn flakes so a cheese topping it was. Honestly, I didn't miss the corn flakes but I encourage you to make it both ways and decide for yourself. It does add a nice bit of texture with the buttery, crunchy corn flakes but we didn't like them included if we were planning on having leftovers. Leftovers for this dish are not always available due to their "crack-ness" but if you happen to have leftovers they do quite nicely warmed in your toaster oven or directly in a non-stick frying pan.
Also, this recipe doubles nicely but prepare separately then mix together in a large lasagna or other deep dish baking dish. Unless you have an industrial size bowl the mess is unbelievable!
{Crack Potatoes}
Ingredients:
1 2lb. bag of hash browns, thawed and at room temperature
1 2lb. bag of hash browns, thawed and at room temperature
salt + pepper - I never measure this...perhaps a ¼ - ½ teaspoon of each, do what you do!
1 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
1 sm. - med. onion chopped
1 can of cream of potato soup (10 ¾ oz)
1 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
1 sm. - med. onion chopped
1 can of cream of potato soup (10 ¾ oz)
1 pint of sour cream (I have used both regular and lite)
2 cups of shredded yellow cheddar cheese + 1-2 cup for the topping
Non-stick cooking spray
Equipment:
Large microwave safe bowl
9x13 casserole dish
Large microwave safe bowl
9x13 casserole dish
Optional:
2 cups of corn flakes¼ - ½ cup of butter, melted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray a 9×13″ baking dish; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine thawed hash browns with the cup of the melted butter, pepper, salt, cheddar cheese and chopped onion, blending well.
Fold in the soup and sour cream and be sure to mix evenly. Spread potatoes evenly into a prepared 9×13″ baking dish. Top with the 1-2 cups of shredded cheese or:
Optional: Mix 1/4 cup melted butter and corn flakes together and sprinkle over top of casserole.
Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes. If you use a glass casserole dish you'll see the mixture bubble and brown nicely along the sides and on the top for all other aluminum pans. Let sit 10 - 15 minutes, serve hot with a side of bacon and a fried egg or two.
Good luck getting rid of your next house guests. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray a 9×13″ baking dish; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine thawed hash browns with the cup of the melted butter, pepper, salt, cheddar cheese and chopped onion, blending well.
Fold in the soup and sour cream and be sure to mix evenly. Spread potatoes evenly into a prepared 9×13″ baking dish. Top with the 1-2 cups of shredded cheese or:
Optional: Mix 1/4 cup melted butter and corn flakes together and sprinkle over top of casserole.
Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes. If you use a glass casserole dish you'll see the mixture bubble and brown nicely along the sides and on the top for all other aluminum pans. Let sit 10 - 15 minutes, serve hot with a side of bacon and a fried egg or two.
Good luck getting rid of your next house guests. Enjoy!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Death by chocolate...so worth it.
Work kicked my butt this week. That's about all the reason I need to make these. #Cupcakes #TGIF pic.twitter.com/DE8jEgWIK5
— alice.RICHES.snow (@aliceRICHESsnow) January 17, 2014
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