Cheesy Fettuccine

This recipe was cribbed from Hungry Girl.

I wasn't ready to eat tofu shirataki, so I used regular veggie pasta and upped a few of the ingredients. Here's the recipe with my new best friend- Laughing Cow spreadable cheese!

Serves 2
1/2 box veggie fettuccine
3 wedges Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Spreadable Swiss
2 T fat-free sour cream
3 splashes skim milk
1 T shredded REAL Parmesan cheese
S and P
Red pepper flake

Boil pasta to al dente. Drain and mix over low heat with remaining ingredients. Serve. All done in 10 minutes. Delicious.

RT wants me to add grilled chicken next time. I want broccoli. Go figure.

Barbecue Baked Potatoes

I am obsessed with Shyler's barbecue baked potatoes in Evansville, IN. I have not found a comparable barbecue restaurant in Indy, so I am resigned to making them at home. The baked potato is easy. Microwave them, you silly Oven Bakers. It takes 15 minutes. Don't be dumb.

The chicken comes from my crock pot. I buy beautiful, responsibly farmed chicken breasts from Whole Foods and throw 'em in the c-pot with water, a carrot, a piece of celery, 1/2 an onion, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and water for about 6 hours on low. When I pull them out, I shred them and freeze them- one breast per container.

When it is time for potatoes, I thaw a breast and throw together something like Betty's Zesty BBQ sauce recipe on page 485.

1 shallot- finely chopped
2 cloves garlic- finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup (organic)
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire
1 T packed brown sugar
1/2 t ground mustard
eta: Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Saute shallots and garlic in a little olive oil. Add all other ingredients (and thawed pulled chicken.) Bring to a simmer over medium and reduce heat. Simmer on low for 10 minutes or so.
Add to baked potatoes with butter and cheese.

Green onions, bacon, or sour cream would also be great on top. No trip to Evansville necessary.

Mac 'n' Cheese

As a dedicated Blue Box girl, I have never attempted homemade macaroni and cheese. Betty inspired me to give it a whirl. Overall, it was good and wholesome, but next time, I will use AP flour for the roux because it was really grain-y and sadly brown. Here's what I did (and how I will change it next time.) See page 398.

2 cups penne pasta (whole grain, please!)
1/8 c real butter
1/8 c mega-nutritious margarine stuff
1/4 flour (AP, please)
Some salt
Some pepper
1/4 t ground mustard
1/4 t Worcestershire sauce (please pronounce War-shester)
2 c Skim milk
1 1/2 c 2% milk cheddar cheese (next time- MORE CHEESE!)
Some Parm
Some Paprika

Heat oven to 350. Cook mac... You know what to do. Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, s, p, mustard, and worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly (this took FOREVER!). Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly (again- torture!). Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Add drained mac and cheese sauce into a 9x9 casserole, sprinkle parm and Paprika on top and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

RT thought I should add chicken. He always requests meat in my dishes. I was thinking BACON!

If you have suggestions for homemade mac and cheese, I'd love to hear them!

Italian Dressing/Pasta Salad

We hung out with Emily and her BF on Sunday evening when they got back from the silly race. Emily provided barbecue and I thought I'd make pasta salad. My usual includes half a bottle of Kroger Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing and pepperoni. I thought I'd change it up with real food.
I had some beautiful zucchini and asparagus from Whole Foods that I roasted (lightly coated with olive oil, salt, and pepper) for 25 minutes in the oven on 350. I used whole wheat pasta.
The Betty has an Italian dressing recipe on page 431. As usual, she was very wimpy with the spices and I am used to ZESTY dressing from Krog, so I bumped up most things.

1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 T finely chopped shallots
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1+ t dried basil
1 t sugar
1+ t ground mustard
1/2 t salt
1+ t dried oregano
Some pepper
Some red pepper flakes

Shake all ingredients in a tightly covered container. Done.

I thought it smelled a little tart, too vinegar-y, but I went for it anyway. It mellowed in the fridge over night and tasted great on Sunday night. I added a handful of shredded mozzarella right before we headed out.
RT didn't eat any- he really does not enjoy most cold foods. Too bad he missed out. We all went back for seconds. Maybe he'll eat some tonight heated up in the microwave.

Bad Hummus.

So, I wanted to bring a nice homemade dish to a cookout on Saturday. I settled on hummus because the two Annies in my life have each served me delicious hummus lately. I consulted the venerable Betty and she suggested that I drain a can of chickpeas and reserve the liquid. I should put the liquid in a food processor with some garlic, lemon juice, and sesame seeds. I used peanut butter instead because I seem to recall that Annie B. said she used that in hers. After that blends for a while, I was to add the chickpeas and blend it more.
It was a disgusting mess- runny and inedible. I am blaming The Betty because it can't possibly be my fault, can it?
I wound up taking store-bought chips and salsa to the cookout. Nobody touched it. They were too busy relishing my brother-in-law's layered taco dip. I failed miserably, but vow to try again... maybe with an Alton Brown recipe instead.

PIZZA CRUST! and calzones

All caps were a must because I was crowing so loudly about my first bread-making experience. Ever.

Betty has it on 282. Here's what I did.

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 T sugar (still working through my non-organic)
1 t salt
1 package of quick active dry yeast (new ingredient to me!)
Some garlic powder
Some Italian seasoning
3 T Canola oil
1 c very warm water (120-130... I checked mine with a meat thermometer)

Mix 1 cup of the flour with sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the oil and the warm water. Beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes and add more flour until the dough comes together. This was REALLY STRANGE. I had no idea what I was doing and the dough climbed all the way up the beaters in a big glob. Not sure how to combat this.
Knead the dough on a floured surface (my beautiful new countertop!) for 5-8 minutes until smooth and springy- you will be able to tell when this happens. This was surprisingly easy. All those ceramics classes finally paid off!
I put it back in the bowl and covered it loosely with plastic wrap. Over the course of 30 minutes, my little baby grew. RT made fun of it (me), but the joke was on him.

I cut it into 6 equal pieces, rolled it out with a rolling pin (my new toy) and filled most of them with marinara and RT's favorite turkey pepperonis and cheese. The others got cheddar and shaved turkey. I sealed them with a fork, did an egg wash and baked them for about 25 minutes.

My first bite was a little iffy, but I got used to the texture of the whole wheat dough after that. I think I will sub half of the WW flour with white flour next time. No need to be a stickler.

New Directions

Not the show choir from Glee.

I noticed a theme in my posts. I never did it just like Bets... so new title: Amanda VS. The Betty. Stay tuned.