Pasta with Asparagus and other vegetables

1 onion
1 lb asparagus
1 red bell pepper
1/2-3/4 lb mushrooms
garlic-- several cloves
6 oz prosciutto
2 T- 1/4 cup fresh basil
1-1 1/2 lb chicken breast

1 lb dry pasta, such as farfalle

4 T butter
about 4 T olive oil
salt to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
pecorino cheese, or parmesan


Cut the onion in thin half-moon slices.  Set it aside in its own bowl.
Wash and break the end off the asparagus.  Cut them into bite-sized pieces.  Put the tips in their own bowl and set them aside.  Put the stalks into a big bowl.
Cut the bell pepper and mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl with the asparagus stalks.
Slice the garlic thinly and add to the vegetables.
Cut the prosciutto into small bits or strips and add them to the vegetables.
Mince the basil, and set it aside separately.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, and set aside separately.

When ready to cook, boil water for the pasta, and cook it.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the butter and olive oil.
Saute the chicken until just done, then remove from the pan.
Saute the onion for a couple of minutes before adding the large bowl of vegetables.  When those are about half done, add the asparagus tips.
When the vegetables are almost cooked enough, put the chicken back in, and add the basil, salt, red pepper flakes, and cheese.

Toss everything with the cooked and drained pasta.
Serve with more cheese.

Dutch Butter Cake

I have made this recipe twice now.

The first time, I browned the butter, added a little vanilla, and baked it in an 8" square pan for 30 minutes.  It came out like shortbread--sort of crisp and crumbly.

The second time, I just melted the butter, added 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla, almond extract, and baking powder, and 1 tablespoon of milk.  I baked it in a 9" pie pan (lined with foil) for 20 minutes.  It cake out more moist and slightly chewy.

Both ways were good.

Scalloped Cauliflower and Ham

1 head of cauliflower, sliced fairly thinly
1/2 of a big sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 lb ham, cubed

1/4 c butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c flour
2 c cream
1 T dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Grease a 3 quart casserole dish.

Heat the oven to 350 F.

Put half of the cauliflower evenly in the bottom.
Spread half of the onion on top.
Next, add the ham, then the rest of the cauliflower and onion.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, over medium heat.
Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds to a minute.
Stir in the flour, and continue to stir until it is thick and bubbly.
Stir in the cream.  Add the parsley, salt, and pepper.  Stir it frequently until it thickens.

Pour the sauce over the casserole.  Add more cream so some runs down through the casserole.

Bake at least 45 minutes to an hour.  (Could be done in 45 minutes if you saute the onions before adding them, maybe.)

Homemade "Hostess" Cupcakes

I used this recipe as a help/inspiration.

Cupcakes:
1 batch of Cocoa Fudge Cake from the Betty Crocker cookbook, baked as cupcakes (made 2 dozen)

Filling:
1/2 c butter, softened
1 t vanilla
1 (13 oz) jar Kraft marshmallow creme

Cream the butter.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the marshmallow creme, and continue to beat until fully incorporated.
Transfer to a medium to large piping bag.

Ganache:
5 oz bittersweet chocolate (bars are better than chips)
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 t vanilla

Chop the chocolate roughly.  Put it in a food processor and process until fine particles.
Meanwhile, heat the cream to boiling, either in a small pan on the stove, or in the microwave.
Slowly pour the cream through the feed tube, with the food processor going.  Add the vanilla, and continue to process until smooth.  (You may need to stop the machine, scrape the sides, and continue.)
Transfer to a small bowl or liquid measuring cup.

Icing:
1/4 c butter, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
1-3 t cream or milk

Cream butter.  Fully incorporate the powdered sugar.  Mix in the vanilla, and add cream or milk to make a piping consistency.
Transfer to a small piping bag with a small round tip (I used a Wilton #3 tip).

Assembly:

Core the cupcakes with a cupcake corer, and apple corer, or a paring knife.  If possible, save a slice from the top of the core to use as  "plug".

Cupcake corer--very handy!

Fill the cupcakes with the marshmallow filling, and top the filling with a "plug" of cupcake "crust".

Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the ganache, or use a spoon to spread it over the tops.

Chill the cupcakes in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so, to let the ganache firm up.

Pipe the icing curlicues on top, and serve!

Leek Soup with Meatballs

Meatballs:
20 oz ground turkey
1 egg
1 t dry sage
1 t poultry seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced finely
olive oil to fry

Soup:
Olive oil
3 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
1 celery root, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 lb mushrooms (white ones might make the soup a nicer color than crimini), cleaned and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dry sage
1 c smoked turkey stock
4 c water
about 4 T "better than bouillon" (or enough bouillon cubes for 4 c water)
black pepper
1/2 c-1 c cream (optional)

Mix the meatball ingredients.  Make small meatballs, and fry them in olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven.  Set them aside.
Add a little more olive oil if needed.  Saute the vegetables.  Add the stock and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer a couple of hours.
Blend with an immersion blender.  Add the cream and meatballs.

Baked Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

This turned out really well.  Both my husband and I enjoyed it a lot.

olive oil--about 2 T
1 onion, sliced in 1/2 circles (I used a good sized sweet onion)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt, pepper, dry thyme

olive oil--about 2 T
3/4-1 lb mushrooms (I had white button mushrooms this time, but I usually have crimini)
salt, pepper, dry thyme

olive oil--about 2-3 T
4 large pork chops
salt and pepper

1/2 c "cooking" marsala wine
1/4 c all purpose flour
1 c milk (I used 2%)
1/2 c heavy cream (could have used less)
salt, pepper, dry thyme

Warm some olive oil in a large skillet (I used my 12" AllClad) over medium heat.  Add the onion, and break up the rings, and try to coat all the pieces with oil, stirring occasionally after that.  You may need to reduce the heat to low so it doesn't burn.  Add the garlic when you're done mincing it.  Continue to cook until the onions are very soft, and much smaller volume than they started.  You could even caramelize them if you have more patience than I do.  Add salt and pepper to taste when they are almost done, and about 1/4 t thyme.  In the mean time, clean and slice the mushrooms.

Set the onion aside in a mixing bowl, trying to leave as much olive oil in the pan as you can.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Add another 2 T or so of olive oil to the pan, and warm it over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and browned, and have released liquid and cooked it off.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and about 1/4 t thyme once they are browning.

Add the mushrooms to the mixing bowl with the onion.

Pour olive oil into the skillet, and brown the pork chops.  I seasoned each side with salt and pepper as I was browning them.  I had to do the 4 chops in 3 batches, because two of them were so big.  Put the chops into a casserole dish.

Put the casserole with the pork chops in the oven, and set a timer for an hour (45 minutes is probably plenty).

De-glaze the skillet with the marsala, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom and sides of the pan.  Be smarter than I was, and mix the flour and milk before adding them to the pan, so you don't have lumps, and cook, stirring pretty constantly, until it is nice and thick.  Add the onion and mushrooms.  I recommend tasting the sauce to see how much more salt, pepper, and thyme it needs.  The sauce seemed excessively thick at this point, and I added 1/2 c heavy cream.  It probably didn't need it, but it was ok.

Pull the pork chops out of the oven, and pour the sauce over them.  If any are stacked, move them around so the sauce gets between.  Return to the oven until the timer goes off.  Check the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer, but mine was well over the minimum (I got 170-180).

Lots of protein soup

2-3 T olive oil
1 onion
1 kielbasa (12-16 oz, I think)
3 celery stocks
3 carrots
several cloves of garlic
1 chicken breast
1 c quinoa
1 (15 oz) can of white beans
rosemary
marjoram
8-10 c chicken broth
parsley