Fettuccine Alfredo

This is a truly delicious and incredibly easy recipe that I got out of the William's Sonoma Pasta cookbook.  I love fettuccine alfredo, but I'm super picky about my alfredo sauce.  I'd say 95% of the alfredo sauces I've had in restaurants, have been too bland or just not good.  This one, however, is divine.  I make it for my family probably once a month.  It's a household favorite!


The key to this recipe, is the level of freshness of the ingredients you use.  The fresher, the better.  At the bottom, you will see a picture of a box from the cookbook.  Take it seriously.  I do, and I am convinced it's the key to alfredo greatness. 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

1 lb fresh fettuccine

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over high heat, bring the cream and butter to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1 minute.  Add 6 tablespoons of the grated Parmesan and whisk over low heat until smooth, about 1 minute longer.  Remove from the heat and season with salt.  (Be judicious with the salt.  The Parmesan is itself salty, and too much added salt will throw this creamy, sweet sauce out of balance.)

Generously salt the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente, 1-3 minutes, depending on the freshness of the pasta.  Drain pasta well.

Put pasta in a warmed, large, shallow bowl.  Pour on the sauce and sprinkle with 6 more tablespoons of the cheese.  Toss well.  Serve immediately.  Pass the remaining cheese at the table.

Makes 4 main course or 6 first course servings.

Study this picture (you can on the photo click for full size):

-Bon Appétit

Peach Cobbler.

Oh, baking. I love it. My family loves it. And boy does it make the house smell scrumptious.

We bought some organic peaches at Whole Foods the other day and I thought to myself, I've never made peach cobbler before! Googled a recipe, tweaked it a bit and voila! Here ya have it. It came out pretty amazing. I've never made homemade crust before. I'm kind of proud. :)

Ingredients
2 cups organic pastry flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water

3 pounds fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions
1.In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cold water. Sprinkle over flour mixture, and work with hands to form dough into a ball. Chill 30 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish, covering bottom and halfway up sides. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

3.In a large saucepan, mix the peaches and orange juice. Add 1/2 cup butter, and cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cornstarch; mix into peach mixture. Remove from heat, and pour into baked crust.

4.Roll remaining dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into half-inch-wide strips. Weave strips over peaches. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

5.Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top crust is golden brown.

Please, enjoy! A nice gallop of vanilla ice cream makes this recipe to die for. ;)

I couldn't get a picture after it came out of the oven because everyone attacked it. Hehe.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is an old classic of mine.. As soon as I see those Rhubarb at the market, I want to make this pie. It is actually my own recipe that I have perfected over the year and I am now at the stage that I feel comfortable sharing it.

You need:

Crust:

Two egg yolks (dont throw away the whites)

2 cups flour

10 tbsp Butter (softened)

0.65 cup sugar (sorry, this is just the perfect amount)

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp milk

Filling:

4 stalks of Rhubarb

half a standard size pack of strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all the crust ingredients except milk by hand, you will have to press into the dough to get it all mixed. When you feel like it is mixed good, add the milk little by little to create a coherent and just sticky dough. Roll into a ball and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While you are waiting for the dough, cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and quarter the strawberries. Stick the rhubarb and a couple of strawberries in a pot with the sugar and start to simmer, if you need a little help getting the "jam" going add a tsp of water. Stir, add strawberries little by little you are looking for a consistency that is thick the strawberries will start to turn to mush. If you like it chunky grab some of the strawberries and rhubarb pieces out of the mix while you leave the rest to simmer. Leave to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 400. Roll out dough save 1/3 for the top and place in pie dish, whip the egg whites until you get peaks and spread over the dough. Place in the oven for 7 minutes. When you get it out the egg whites will be light brownish in places. Add the filling and your latticed top.

Bake for further 20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly and serve with Vanilla ice cream, sour cream or whipped cream.

Velbekomme..

Easy Bread Pudding.

Easy bread pudding recipes don’t get much easier than this. You can make this tasty treat in considerably less than an hour, and the ingredients are cheap and easy to find. None of the shopping at three place to get one thing! I topped it with slices of red apples, walnuts and drizzled some honey on top. It was A.J's first dessert. Safe to say he LOVED it!


Ingredients
12 slices whole-wheat bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups fat-free milk
4 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp margarine, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup of chopped apple
Walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside. Mix the milk, egg whites, sugar, margarine, vanilla and cinnamon in large bowl. Add bread and raisins. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake 35 minutes or until well browned. Cool the pudding on wire rack. Add the walnuts about 5 minutes before taking the pudding out of the oven.

Traditional Italian Meat Sauce

This is by far, my most favorite meat sauce recipe in existence. I won't even order spaghetti in restaurants because nothing compares to how good this sauce is. I have no clue where the recipe came from, it's been handed down from my great-grandmother, who was a full blooded Italian immigrant. So it has to be good, right? HA! This is also the same sauce I use to make a delicious lasagna. Next time I make lasagna, I will post that recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

2 mild italian sausages (remove casing)

3/4 cup white onion, chopped

1 garlic clove

1 tsp. parsley

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 small cans of tomato paste

8 oz. can of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cups of water

1lb. pasta of your choice (I prefer mostaccioli, it's easier to eat, especially for little ones).

Preparation

1. Ground beef with oil and sausage (remove the casing, I pull it out of the casing by hand in small gobs about the size of a grape). When almost brown, add onions.

2. When everything is brown, drain grease. Return to stove, add parsley, garlic, italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomato paste, tomato sauce and 2 cups of water. Stir well. Simmer on low for 90 minutes.

3. Cook noodles according to package and desired tenderness. Drain well. Pour sauce over noodles. Serve hot!

Bon Appétit
~Katie