Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce & Meatballs

Oh how I love a good red sauce. I have my tried and true Bolognese recipe, which I have posted here and I also love Barefoot Contessa's Weeknight Bolognese recipe, which you can find here. But, I think I found a new favorite to ad to my collection.

I was watching Food Network and stumbled across a new show called, "The Best Thing I Ever Made". There is another Food Network show called, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" where renowned Chef's share the places they love to go and eat everything from the best pizza they ever ate, the best dessert they ever ate, the best fried chicken they ever ate and so on. The show is so entertaining and I am always salivating as the chefs describe the amazing culinary creations they have come across. Well, this new show, "The Best Thing I Ever Made", is a similar idea, however the renowned chefs talk about the best dishes they have ever made. I was watching an episode when Beau MacMillan discussed a dish prepared by the mother of one of his close childhood friends. The dish was, Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce & Meatballs and it is to die for. I love bacon and firmly believe that everything is better with bacon and this sauce is no different - it is sensational.

Please, try this if you love bacon, red sauce and meatballs. It is amazing and I was incredibly surprised at how simple it was to make. The only thing that makes this a bit time consuming is the amount of time the sauce needs to simmer. Other than that, this can dish can be put together in about 20-30 minutes.

One thing to note, the original recipe as it is on Food Network uses Bucatini pasta, which I couldn't find, so I switched mine to Spaghetti.

Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce & Meatballs
Ingredients
Bacon Sauce:
7 or 8 strips regular bacon
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Two 28-ounce cans chunky ground tomatoes, such as Pastene Chunky Kitchen Ready

Meatballs:
Oil, for greasing pan
2 pounds 80-percent lean ground beef
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (made from day old Italian bread)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced (not too fine)
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound bucatini pasta

Directions
For the bacon sauce: Cut the bacon into pieces. Using a big saute pan or skillet that has a cover, cook over medium heat until almost crispy. Don't drain the fat. Add the onions to the pan. When the onions are almost cooked and start to become translucent, add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, and then add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer on low for about an hour to an hour and a half.

For the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the beef, breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, garlic, eggs and some salt and pepper. Form into 1 to 1 1/2-inch meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Make sure to turn every few minutes to brown on all sides.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.

Serve the meatballs over the pasta with the bacon sauce on the side. Garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Enjoy!

Spinach Pesto

I LOVE pesto. I have to admit that sometimes I do have some guilt when eating it however due to all the oil that comes in the packaged variety in the stores. I know, it is olive oil, which is heart healthy - however it is packed with calories, which doesn't help my thighs.

I always purchase fresh, bagged spinach from Costco and came up with this Spinach Pesto recipe that is lighter on calories, but chock full of flavor and absolutely delicious!

Spinach Pesto

Ingredients
4 cups washed, torn baby spinach leaves
3 garlic cloves, halved
3 tablespoons pistachios
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
Place spinach leaves, garlic, pistachios olive oil & chicken broth in blender or food processor. Cover and puree until leaves begin to look crushed. Use a rubber spatula to help to combine pureed mixture. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/8 tsp. salt. Cover and process until spinach pesto mixture is smooth.

Enjoy over grilled meet and/or pasta. YUM!

Southwest Chicken with Cilantro Pesto Orzo

As much as I love to cook, when my husband isn't home, I basically don't make big dinners. My boys prefer simple meals like eggs & bacon, basic pasta dishes and things of that nature, so if my man isn't around I will take a pass and make things easy on myself.

Well, it had been about a week or so and due to conflicting schedules, weekend trips and basic summer craziness, I hadn't been cooking much and this particular evening I decided to make something new since my honey was back in town. I had some Emeril's Southwest rub that I had mixed up for a chili recipe and decided to rub that on some bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts that I had brined for a few hours earlier in the day. When looking for a side dish, I decided to use some yummy cilantro I had purchased earlier in the week for a cilantro pesto and I have to say, this is now one of my favorite meals. It blew my husband away and had him happy to back for some of my home cookin'. :)

Southwest Chicken with Cilantro Pesto Orzo
Southwest Chicken
2 lbs. bone-in, skin on chicken breasts (you could use chicken thighs here if you like also)
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. kosher salt
1/4 c. Emeril's Southwest Seasoning (recipe below)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. white wine
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
3 T. corn starch
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
Begin by brining chicken. Put chicken in a very large bowl with the the 1/4 c. salt & sugar and fill to the top with water. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and let it brine for anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours. The longer the chicken brines, the juicier the chicken will be once cooked.

After your chicken has brined, remove from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken liberally with Emeril's spice rub on both sides and set aside. Turn the oven onto 375 degrees and spray a large pan (I use an 8.5 x 11 inch Pyrex) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Pour oil into a large skillet on medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until a nice crust has developed. The inside of the chicken will not be cooked at this point, so place them in the greased pan and put them in the oven for 20-30 minutes until they have reached an internal temperature of 170 degrees. This may take longer than 30 minutes as it depends on the size of your chicken breasts.

After you have transferred the chicken to the oven, deglaze the pan with the white wine and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Once that has reduced, add the chicken stock and cook until reduced by about half. Mix the corn starch with 1 1/2 T. water and add to the sauce. Let thicken.

Once the chicken has come out of the oven, serve it with the sauce over the Cilantro Orzo. So, so GOOD!

Emeril's Southwest Seasoning
Ingredients
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yields 1/2 cup

Cilantro Pesto with Orzo
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package Orzo pasta
1 bunch fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
salt to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 lime, juiced

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and return water to a boil. Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain well.

In an electric food processor or blender, blend cilantro, garlic, vinegar, Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper, pistachios, salt and lime juice.

Add the olive oil, and blend the pesto. Add the chicken stock in 1 T. increments until the pesto has reached your desired consistency.

Pour pesto in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until pesto begins to simmer. Pour over cooked pasta and toss.

Orange Scented White Chocolate Toffee

It has been a while since I have posted. I have been cooking a ton, but just nothing I felt was blog worthy. You see, I have been trying to cook healthier and with that is food that is good, just not great. I am sorry, but chocolate chip cookies made with garbanzo beans are not the same as those made with butter. Perhaps some people prefer them made that way, but it just isn't for me.

Alas, I caved and made some delicious Orange Scented White Chocolate Toffee with almonds. There is only five ingredients and they are pure heaven. So long garbanzo bean cookies, I am back on the butter wagon.

Orange Scented White Chocolate Toffee with Almonds
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup coarsely crushed dry roasted, salted almonds - chopped
2 tsp. orange extract
1 12 oz. package of white chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium non-stick saucepan, combine the butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes an amber color, and the temperature has reached 290 degrees F. Stir occasionally.

While the toffee is cooking, cover a bread pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, add 1 1/2 T. of the almonds and all the orange extract to the mixture. Pour it into the bread pan and let cool.

Let the toffee cool for about 15 minutes and then break it apart into rough pieces. Now you might ask, "why not put the chocolate on first?" The problem with this is that the chocolate breaks apart into pieces and doesn't adhere to the toffee, which is why you should break the toffee apart and then dip into chocolate.

Put half of the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until melted. Make sure to stir them after each 30 seconds. Mine took 1 minute to melt in my microwave. Pour or dip the the toffee pieces into the chocolate and sprinkle with half of the remaining almonds. Put the toffee in the refrigerator to set for about and hour. After the first side has set, turn the toffee over and melt the other half of the chocolate chips as noted above. Do the same thing to the other side of the toffee and return to the refrigerator to set up for another hour.

I store my toffee in tupperware. It lasts well for about a week in the refrigerator and makes about 16 - 20 good size chunks.

Enjoy!

Crack Cookies...

There is a restaurant close to where I live called Pomegranate. The owner, Lisa Dupar, is a famed caterer in the greater Seattle area and is known for her ridiculously inventive and delicious food. The restaurant is one of those gems that is in an industrial office park, but is always packed due to the amazing cuisine.

When you walk in they have a cold case with a variety of sweets and I couldn't help but notice these delicious looking molasses cookies with creamy frosting sandwiched in between. I later found out that these molasses cookies were referred to as "crack cookies" due to their addictive nature. I get the nickname, I am obsessed and now, a junkie.

Ginger Molasses Cookies
adapted from Lisa Dupar's cookbook, Fried Chicken & Champagne

Cookie Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup hot water
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
2-1/4 cups pastry flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:
1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the cookies: In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, brown sugar, and sugar at medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the egg and whip at medium speed until smooth. Add the molasses, and continue to mix until smooth. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add to bowl along with the freshly grated ginger root. Scrape down the bowl and whip for 1 minute at medium speed. In a separate bowl, sift together the pastry flour, cinnamon, powdered ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-molasses mixture and mix well, scraping down the bowl several times with a rubber spatula. Scoop the cookies into 1-inch balls with a small ice cream scoop, and chill until ready to bake. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, cinnamon and sugar until well mixed. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and roll the balls in cinnamon sugar, place onto parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake until just barely done, about 7 to 8 minutes. They will be slightly cracked on top.

To make the filling: In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer with the whip attachment, whip cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.

When the cookies are cool, turn half of the cookies upside down. Place 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling, in a large dot, at the center of each cookie. Place the other half of the cookies on top, creating little sandwiches.

Makes 25 to 30 small sandwich cookies.

Cinnamon Brown Butter Pancakes

I love pancakes and so do my kids. I am always trying to put a twist on an original and decided to brown some butter to see how the flavors would come together. They came together famously.

I particularly like this recipe because all the ingredients used are items I always have on hand. I love buttermilk pancakes, but buttermilk isn't a normal purchase for me. These have everything most people would always have on hand and the browned butter & cinnamon add a delicious warmth to an already delicious pancake batter.

Cinnamon Brown Butter Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it turns a light golden brown. This should take about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the burner and let cool.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt together. After you have done this, sift it again. I know it seems like a pain, but this makes the pancakes super light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vanilla and browned butter together; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes; cook until the second side is golden brown.

Enjoy these with warm maple syrup and more butter slathered on top. Yum!

Blythe's Blueberry Muffins

I try to stay in shape and eat healthy. As you can probably tell from my blog, I do have a weakness for sugar, butter, chocolate and fat in general. So, I read magazines like Shape and Fitness to keep me inspired and balanced.

In last month's issue of Self Gwyneth Paltrow was on the cover and inside there was a recipe for her mom's Blueberry Muffins. All I can say was - YUM! They were loaded with fresh blueberries and weren't that unhealthy (in my opinion - I know, not much). I will include the calorie & fat information at the bottom.

I made no changes from the original recipe and after my family and I ate a bunch I froze the rest for a quick breakfast and for snacks.

Blythe's Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's Cookbook, "My Father's Daughter"
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions
Heat oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:
232 calories per muffin, 10 g fat (6 g saturated), 33 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein

Samocolate Chip Cookies

No, this is not a typo. These are really called Samocolate Chip Cookies. You see, I love Samoas and I love chocolate chip cookies - so why not combine the two? These are some ridiculously good cookies...

Samocolate Chip Cookies
Yields approximately 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (160 grams) bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (9 ounces) chopped semisweet chocolate
½ cup (2.5 ounces) finely chopped milk chocolate
2 cups toasted coconut (to toast coconut, place in the preheated 350 degree oven for 6 minutes until lightly browned)
1/2 pound CC Confectionary Madagascar Vanilla Bean Caramels or another variety of fine caramels


Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and position a rack in the center of the oven.

Cut your caramels into pieces that are approximately 1/2" x 1/2". You should get approximately 48 pieces. Roll each caramel ball in the toasted coconut. The will look like this:

Once completed, set aside the remaining toasted coconut, which will be added to the cookie batter later.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about five minutes. Stop the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle itself a couple of times. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract on medium speed until thoroughly combined, two to three minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add both chocolates and remaining toasted coconut to the flour mix and toss to combine. Turn the mixer to low speed (or continue to use a wooden spoon if mixing by hand) and slowly blend the flour-chocolate-coconut mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until the flour mixture is totally incorporated and the dough is completely mixed.

Using a 1 T. ice cream scoop, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. Place one caramel square in the center and top with another tablespoon of dough.

Bake until cookies are lightly golden brown on the edges and soft in the center, approximately 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days. The unbaked dough can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

English Toffee

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved Heath bars. Now that I am older, I still love Heath bars, but have developed a love for REALLY good chocolate. Callebaut, Valrhona and Green & Black are all some of my favorites. I decided to marry my love of toffee with some of that really good chocolate and I found heaven.

If you enjoy toffee and good chocolate, you must give this a try. Please note, I did not sprinkle the top of my toffee with nuts because my kids are not a fan of nuts and they can't tell that there were nuts in the toffee. If I was making this just for myself, I would have adorned the top with nuts, however I would have had no helping eating the toffee which would be detrimental to fitting into skinny jeans.

English Toffee
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan and foil

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

3 tablespoons water

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups toasted almonds, chopped finely

8 ounces of your favorite semisweet chocolate, melted

Directions

Butter a 12-by-18-inch baking pan. Cover two large cutting boards or cardboard pieces with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, corn syrup and 3 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 300 degrees.on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and 1 1/4 cups almonds, and pour out into prepared pan, spreading the mixture with the back of a spoon to fill the pan.

Before candy hardens, but when it is firm enough to handle, turn it out onto parchment-lined board. Allow to cool completely.

Wipe the surface of candy with a damp paper towel to remove excess butter, and allow to dry.

Using a small offset spatula, quickly spread melted chocolate over the candy. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set chocolate.

Break candy into 2-inch pieces. The candy may be stored in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 1 week; use parchment paper to separate layers.

Cilantro Lime Dressing & Marinade

Every year I host book club for an absolutely fabulous group of ladies. They are sweet, genuine and most of all fun. I love them and am so lucky to be part of this special group. At first book club was a series of appetizers, but it has progressed into a dinner party and I was up this month.

Last year I had a bit of a debacle. I hosted in February and to complement the blustery weather I made Ina Garten's Roasted Tomato Soup with Truffle Butter & White Cheddar Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Sounds easy enough - wrong. I toasted the sandwiches before the guests arrived and put them in a 200 degree oven to stay warm. Well...after a couple glasses of wine and by the time I got around to serving dinner, they were no longer sandwiches, but croutons. I was so embarrassed. These lovely ladies still told me dinner was amazing (see why I love them!) and although I was mortified, the wine eased the pain.

So, this year, I was not going to make the same mistake again. I opted for two entree salads - one Southwest inspired version with a Cilantro Lime Dressing and another Italian Chopped Salad with a Creamy Balsamic Dressing. Along with some bread, which was accompanied by a white truffle oil, thyme & cracked black pepper compound butter, some desserts and wine (of course) I figured this was a more fool proof plan.

I will blog about some of the other recipes later, but I wanted to share my recipe for the Southwest entree salad with cilantro-lime marinated prawns. The salad was easy enough - just lots of veggies and items you would find in a typical southwest salad. I didn't use a recipe, but rather chopped up a bunch of the following and threw it in a bowl. The salad included: romaine lettuce, fresh corn kernels, black beans, tomatoes, shredded pepper jack cheese, orange peppers, crumbled blue corn tortilla chips and fresh cilantro. What made the salad was the dressing and the prawns. I actually used half of the dressing to marinate the prawns, which was not only easy, but delicious and some of the rest to dress the salad. I did have extra dressing leftover, which you may or may not have depending on how much dressing you like on your salad. If you want to use the dressing to marinate the prawns (chicken would be dynamite also) just add the marinade to peeled & deveined prawns 30 minutes before roasting or barbecuing. I roasted the prawns on a roasting rack in my oven for 5-7 minutes at 375 degrees. They turned out moist & delicious. For chicken, I would marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour. Since there is citrus in the marinade, be careful not to marinade your protein for too long, otherwise it will begin to cook.

I have to admit that I was actually drinking this dressing, it is that good. I have never done that, but trust me, it is amazing.

Cilantro Lime Dressing/Marinade
adapted slightly from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped (or 1 medium

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. black pepper, or to taste

Directions

Place the jalapeno pepper, garlic clove, and ginger into a food processor or blender; pulse until the jalapeno and garlic are finely chopped. Pour in the lime juice, honey, balsamic vinegar, and salt, add the cilantro leaves; pulse a few times to blend. Turn the food processor or blender on, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated into the dressing. Season to taste with salt & pepper before serving.