stuffed shells

i am by no means an expert at cooking italian cuisine.  however, i have cooked my mom's stuffed shells recipe for italians before, and they have told me how good they are.  i figure this is pretty high praise...especially considering how she originally got the recipe off a box of pasta.

i've adapted the recipe in recent years due to my own experimentation and due to the fact that mom has incorporated vegetables into her shells.  and since i happen to like how that works, i've blatantly stolen her methods.

 ingredients:
- box of large pasta shells
- container of ricotta cheese (i used a 15 oz container)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- parsley
- garlic powder
- basil/oregano
- salt/pepper
- jar of spaghetti sauce (i used almost a whole 24 oz jar)
- one zucchini (smallish)
- sausage (i used two links of pre-cooked italian-style chicken sausage)

note that this recipe won't make enough stuffing for a whole box of shells.  i tend to overstuff the shells, so i end up with 16-20.

preparation:
cook the shells according to the package instructions.  while the shells are cooking, mix the three cheeses, the eggs, herbs, and spices.  note: reserve a little mozzarella for the topping since it melts so nicely.  in the cooking pan, spoon a thin layer of sauce.  add chopped sausage and zucchini to the dish.  i sliced the zucchini into medallions and then sliced each medallion in thirds.  the sausage, i simply cut it into small chunks.

after the shells are cooked and drained (let them cool a little bit), spoon about 1 tbsp of cheese mixture into each one.  place the stuffed shells into the pan.  spoon more sauce over the pan of shells (enough to coat them all) and sprinkle with cheese.  as i said before, the recipe calls for mozzarella, but i had to make use of parmesan...the horrors!

cover and bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes (or until the sauce starts to bubble).

i only fit maybe 10 shells into my pan.  however, the lovely thing about this recipe is that you can freeze the shells for use later.  i stashed the remaining 7-8 shells on a pan in the freezer for a couple hours until they hardened.  that way, they're easy to transfer into freezer bags.

verdict:
i know this is a good recipe; it's pretty much tried and true.  there are a few things that didn't work quite so well this time, though.  i don't think i cooked everything quite long enough.  although the sauce was starting to bubble, the zucchini was a touch al dente.  this may be in part due to the pan i used; it isn't one that's cooked shells before, so i maybe needed a little extra time.  also, i didn't have any aluminum foil, so i had to tent the pan with parchment paper (with aluminum on one side).  necessity is the mother of invention!

baked pineapple

pineapple is pretty much awesome.  admittedly, it's not an apple, and it doesn't taste/smell like pine, but that's beside the point.  and baking a pineapple should make it twice as awesome.  especially if it's done to look like how (a surprisingly cheerful) gordon ramsay cooks it.  which is to say that it's baked in a salt crust.  for reference, the recipe is here.

unfortunately, i am not gordon ramsay.  which means that my experiment was pretty much a failure.  i'm not even bothering to photograph this disaster because, well, it kind of looked like a regular pinapple afterwards.  i ended up just butchering the pineapple in a traditional fashion for later consumption.

part of the problem may be that i used a non-miniature pineapple.  using a regular sized pineapple may have made it need to bake longer, which i didn't really do.  a secondary problem may have been my salt-crusting technique.  i don't think i made the salt mixture wet enough (not enough egg), so it didn't stick.  very frustrating.

maybe i'll try it again...but not anytime soon, i don't think.

shrimp creole

so jackie recently gave me an assortment of spices and a recipe for what is supposedly the most authentic gumbo ever.  said recipe came from diane at spice it to a tea (in brevard, nc).  upon closer examination, the recipe says it's for shrimp sauce piquante (aka shrimp creole), and wikipedia seems to imply that gumbo and shrimp creole are slightly different recipes.

regardless of semantics, it is in fact pretty darn good.

this particular recipe probably took me upwards of four hours to finish, and it makes about six servings.  i was quite impressed.

ingredients:
- 2/3 cup oil (i used grapeseed oil)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 3/4 cup sliced scallions
- 2/3 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablsepoons minced parsley
- one pound canned whole peeled tomatoes (i was duly informed that using the "san marzano" brand was imperative)
- eight ounce can tomato sauce
- approximately 1 pint of chopped okra
- 1 tablespoon minced chives
- 4 tablespoons dry red wine
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 whole allspice
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon mace
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups water
- 2 pounds shrimp

preparation:
instead of using water, i decided to use the shrimp shells to make stock.  the shrimp i got were headless and pre-deveined, so i just peeled them and add the shells to a pot of water.  i boiled them for about an hour or so with a little garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne.

i prepared the vegetables (it takes a surprisingly long time...maybe 30 minutes or more) and added them all to a bowl before even starting on the roux.  i should also note that i didn't specifically measure the vegetables.  if there was a little more or less, i wasn't too fussed.

for the roux, i heated the oil in a large pot and gradually added the flour, stirring constantly.  the roux should be cooked over low (to medium-low) heat until it turns a medium brown (the color of peanut butter).  this takes a significant amount of patience and constant stirring, and i ended up spending about 30 minutes getting it to look right.

remove the pot from the heat and add the vegetables (sans okra) and parsley.  mix well with the roux and return to low heat.  cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables begin to brown (approximately 15-20 minutes).

mix in the canned tomatoes and sauce, add the chives, wine, seasonings, and lemon juice, and stir thoroughly.  raise the heat and bring to a low boil for maybe 15 minutes.  add the water/shrimp stock, stir, and simmer for 45 minutes.  add the shrimp and okra and simmer for 20 minutes.  remove from heat and allow to stand (covered )for about 10 minutes before serving.

verdict:
served over white rice, this was a good dish for a cold, blustery afternoon.  i was expecting a little more kick, but it wasn't excessively spicy.  the tomato seems to tone things down a little, but a light burn does hit the palate after the first couple bites.  i would cook this again, though i might be tempted to throw in even more vegetables and maybe some sausage.  maybe that's not an authentic way of adapting the recipe, but it seems like it would be a most enjoyable adaptation.

a few comments, though:

• if you let someone else help measure out the spices and whatnot, it helps if said assistant can read the measuring spoons.  mine isn't sure if she used two teaspoons (or two 1/2 tablespoons) of salt!
• despite the recipe's direction to crush the bay leaves, this i would rather leave them whole (and then fish them out before serving) in the future...because crushed bay leaves seem to get stuck in teeth.
• more shrimp may be preferable.  after the fourth serving, the number of shrimp seemed to taper off.
• this is a rather time-consuming (but worthwhile) dish; apparently it is a good idea to double the size of the sauce recipe and then freeze it for future use (thaw it and drop in fresh shrimp at that point in time).  it would certainly help the problem of "what am i going to do with all these extra chives and parsley?"

pumpkin banana bread

referencing again my pumpkin experimentation, i decided to attempt a pumpkin bread with cream cheese.  things morphed when i realized i didn't have as muh pumpkin puree left as i thought.  so i tossed in a soft banana that happened to be laying around.

this attempt was based on the banana bread recipe, with some minor revisions.  the flour/sugar/etc proportions are the same, but i obviously used pumpkin puree.  i had maybe 2-3 cups of puree, which didn't seem like enough...so i mushed up a small banana, as well.  in addition, i added some ground cloves, some cinnamon, and some nutmeg because i figured it'd be a good idea.

due to poor planning and inadequate research, my attempt at incorporating cream cheese backfired.  clearly, just putting chunks of cream cheese in the bread batter does not work; it doesn't bake particularly well, it isn't particularly appetizing, and it makes the bread fall apart.  so i ended up breaking the bread open and spooning the cream cheese out.  in hindsight, the internet says that mixing the cream cheese with sugar, egg, and vanilla extract, and spooning a thin layer into the banana bread would be the way to go.  duly noted, internet...duly noted.

aside from wasting cream cheese, the bread itself is marvelous.  will have to try again!

pumpkin pancakes

once i made pumpkin puree, the next step is to do something with it.  i decided to experiment with pancakes.  for dinner, no less!

this recipe, which was cobbled together from about three pumpkin pancake recipes i found online, took maybe 30 minutes or so to prepare and cook, and it makes about three brian-sized portions.

i will also say that the ordinary syrup i had in my pantry was apparently "too old," so i was presented with a container of maple syrup on the condition that i threw the previous syrup away.  needless to say, that was done...

ingredients:
- 3/4 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- cinnamon, nutmeg, clove
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- dried cranberries

preparation:
mix the dry ingredients (and cranberries) together in one bowl.  mix the wet ingredients together in a second bowl, and then slowly incorporate them into the dry ingredients.

bring a pan up to just over medium heat (this is the tricky part; previous stoves required a medium-high heat for pancakes, but my current one didn't like that).  add some oil or butter to the pan, and spoon in a dollop of batter (between 1/4 and 1/3 cup per pancake).  i started with canola oil but switched to butter on jackie's recommendation.  she thinks i should use coconut oil in the future (which is probably not a bad idea; i've used it before with good results).

as with all pancakes, cook until the edges bubble and then flip.  remove and eat.

pictures and discussion:
this was a mixed result.  i started out with unimpressive results that are documented below.

initial, not-pretty pancakes:

i started out using my cast iron pan.  i've successfully cooked very pretty pancakes on cast iron before, so i know it's possible.  however, i'm fairly certain that i got the pan too hot, which made for some cajun-style pancakes.  however, despite their appearance, they still tasted good.  they didn't even have the crunchy texture usually associated with burnt food.

subsequent, prettier results:

i swapped to a regular non-stick pan (and butter) to get these results.

overall verdict:
although tasty, i admit that these pancakes are not very traditional.  they were kind of dense and not particularly fluffy.  additionally, the pumpkin inside seemed to be a little moist (not uncooked, but definitely not pancakey).  still, they were very autumnal; pumpkin and cranberry does seem to play together nicely, and the maple syrup is an excellent topping.

i think the issues were the result of several factors:  first, i may have used too much oatmeal.  i started with about 1/2 cup, but i added a little more to thicken the batter.  the oats probably made for a little extra-dense cake.  also, i may have used too much pumpkin.  none of the recipes i referenced used quite so much, but i thought, "hey, more is better, right?"  a little less pumpkin would have still given the flavor without the unnecessary moisture.  finally, getting the temperature right from the get-go is probably an important factor.

maybe next time i'll just break down and get bisquick and add pumpkin?

pumpkin puree

with the risk of being trite, i wanted to play with some pumpkin.  i've never really cooked with it before, and i wanted to see how difficult it was to work with.  the store happened to have some of said pumpkins on sale (how serendipitous and alliterative!), so why not?

in this case, i found alton brown's good eats episode on pumpkin pie to be very useful.  the recipe is here, and the video (very useful) is here.

ingredients:
- baking pumpkin (roughly 3ish pounds, maybe?)
- salt

preparation:
break the stem off the pumpkin and split it in half (top to bottom).  scoop out the seeds and guts (and save for roasting later).  sprinkle the inside of the pumpkin with salt; per mr. brown, it helps absorb some of the water content.  place pumpkin halves on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and bake at 400°F for about 30-45 minutes.  you can tell it's done when the skin is soft enough to poke easily with a fork or knife.

remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 30-60 minutes.  very important not to burn your fingers!

theoretically, you have to scoop the pumpkin out of the skin and into a food processor.  however, in my case, i just lifted the skin off the pumpkin, and then i had to spoon it from the pan into the processor.  so it works.  puree the roasted pumpkin until smooth and refrigerate/freeze.

Cuban-Inspired House Rubbed Pulled Pork

Guest Entree Entry

2 tbsp Lime Riesling grapeseed oil (Oil & Vinegar, Greenville)

1 oz House Rub* (Spice it to a Tea, Brevard)

1 tbsp salt

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, ½ coarsely chopped ½ quartered

1 lime, juiced and strained

1 orange, juiced and strained

4 lbs boneless pork (roast/loin/shoulder)
 

Place the chopped onions in a Crock Pot. Mix the oil, rub, salt, garlic, and fruit juices in a medium bowl.  Cut off as much fat as you can from the pork.  It will only make it harder to pull the pork later if you leave the fat on.  Make slits in the pork and dip in the wet seasoning; coating thoroughly.  Place in the Crock Pot on top of the onions, pour remaining liquid over the pork and top with quartered onions.  Cook on low for 6 hours; flipping it once 1/2 way through.  Pull apart with 2 forks.  Put back into the Crock Pot to allow the juice to coat the pulled pork.

 

Verdict:  Melts in your mouth!  It was very tasty, full of many different flavors; all the spices coupled with the citrus fruits.  Absolutely delicious!  Plenty to freeze for a later date too.  I am very glad I had made it over to Brevard yesterday or else I wouldn't have had the House Rub to add to this dish; compliments of Diane! You have to go see her shop in Brevard, NC - Spice it to a Tea!  Well worth the trip over there, always! 

 

*Ground tea, brown sugar, Ceylon, curry powder, cumin, Szechuan pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, star anise, cloves, fennel seed, ginger, mace, sea salt