It was about time

for me to get a cold, so I have one...uggg.

This whole week has been a bit of a blur of congested ugginess. I've been so slack and I apologize!

This past weekend I did some serious cooking. It had been a while and I needed it. Maybe I'll feel more like it this weekend too.

I heart Pinterest. I hope you are on it because it's fantastic. If you are, find me!! I'm asb0521.

So I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's definately added to the plus pile. We're making Vegetable Tian!

Here's what you need:

1 yellow onion, sliced or chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 potatoes of your choice

1-2 zuchinni

1 yellow squash

3 tomatoes

1/2 cup grated cheese of choice

2 tbsp EVOO

Thyme

S&P to taste

Preheat to 375

Saute your onions with your EVOO until they are translucent then toss in your garlic and cook together for about 2 minutes.

So in your casserole dish put a layer of your onions. I choose a smaller dish and I should have put a bit less onions.

Slice all your veggies so that they are all about the same size.

Layer them all pretty like around the dish. I love love love the way this looks!

I did about 3 sprigs of Thyme, It's up to you really!

Drizzle about a tbsp or so of EVOO then top with your thyme and S&P to taste, then cover and cook for 35 minutes.

I added a few bread crumbs, optional little crunch. Sprinkle on the cheese, I picked Mozz.

Leave uncovered and put back in the oven for about 25 minutes.

It looks so great that the hubs couldn't keep his fingers off it!

I served Pot Stickers with it from over at The Traveling Spoon.

It was fantastic! All the flavors melted all together so great. The potatoes were my favorite!

The hubs loved this and it warms up really great. The thing I like most about this recipe is that you can really taste all the deliciousness that the veggies have to offer. Just going with a light seasoning makes all the flavors just do their thing.

This is so easy that it's silly but it tastes so great!

Outside the box

The hubs loves pop tarts. He doesn't care what flavor, he loves them all. I've never been able to eat them, the pop tarts and I don't get along.

He likes to take them in his cute little spider man very manly lunchbox for breakfast. I found some a while back on pinterest and ask him did he want me to try to make them, he resisted!

A week or so ago he came up with the idea all on his on remembered and asked if I'd try the homemade pop tarts. They were so good that I'm perturbed with him for resisting.

He decided he wanted the filling to be sweet potato so I just made a Sweet Potato Souffle to use for the filling. Just make it just like the recipe.

Now, let's make the dough. This dough is outrageous. It is so good and without a doubt the easiest dough that I've ever worked with. It's super pliable and does exactly what you tell it to.

Here's what you need:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into pea(ish) size

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

Preheat to 350

Ok, normally I use the mixer for dough. That was until I got a processor. The food processor makes dough so much easier. Anywho, the flour

Sugar and salt. Get those combined well and then add your

butter. Mix well. The butter should make it look like a wee bit lumpy.

Beat the eggs and milk together just until mixed and then add to the flour mixture.

Then let the mixer or food processor do the work for you until you have a dough as beautiful as this

I'm telling you it's like working with something as easy as play-doh.

Take a little baseball(ish) size ball and roll it until it's flat. Not like rolled out like you would pastry, just enough to get it through the roller!

*Quick, very quick pasta roller tut*

Pass the dough through on level 1.

Fold it over itself

and pass back through on level 1. Do this several times until it goes through easily. The dough completely changes consistency. You'll be able to tell when it's ready to go up to level 2

Repeat the process of folding over and passing back through the machine on level 2. For this level 2 is as high as I went, then back to the cutting board.

I just did a tiny bit of rolling with the rolling pin to make it a bit wider.

Figure out the size you want and cut out your squares. Put a layer of your filling down leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch empty around all four edges.

Lay a dough blanket

Cut the extra and press down the edges.

Using a fork go around the edges to seal it all in nice and tidy.

Bake for 15 minutes.

  

The glaze that I used (and am still working on) is a Marshmellow Creme Glaze. It's delicious. This is my first experience with Marshmellow Creme.

1/3 cup sugar + 3 tbsp of water in the microwave for about a minute (until it boils). Add in 2 tbsp of Marshmellow Creme and stir until it's all melty and delightful.

Add your glaze *and sprinkles if you see fit*

If you are eating these right away add your glaze and have at it.

If however you are going to be taking these in your spidey lunchbox we have another method.

You can put the glaze on before you bake them and it will bake into the poptart and be a little more travel friendly, or, if you are my hubs...you break out the kitchen torch!

*Sorry, I was in charge of this picture!*

It puts a lovely carmelization on the glaze and makes it less sticky than just leaving it.

Either way you get this

I really cannot explain to you how great this is. The dough is outstanding. Just a little sweet, it is substantial enough to be a one-hander. It has just a little crunch. The sweet potato was a great idea and I'm currently in love with marshmellow creme.

It's not too sweet, it stands on it's on and it blows those boxed pop tarts out of the water.

My plan is to make these and freeze the one's that he won't eat this week and take them out as needed!



Ultimate Leftover Recipe

So the main reason that I make meatballs is so that I can make the Meatball Sub Casserole that comes the next day. I don't usually make the meatballs for this recipe, here's my logic:
I am NOT a fan of leftovers or warming anything up. SO whatever I can do to make the leftovers more fun I am all for it. Since I love this casserole I save that for the leftovers so that I know I'll eat them.
Takes a long way to get there, but it works in my brain!

Here's what you need:

Your leftover meatballs from here

1/3 cup chopped scallions (optional)

1 loaf Italian bread , cut into 1 inch slices

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup mayo

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup shredded cheese (of your choice

1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

*if you are feeling extra saucy (tehehe) then you can make your own*

Preheat to 350

Start with a GOOD loaf of bread. You'll be glad you did. I am a fan of the French Loaf that is in the Bakery at Wal-Mart. It's a tasty, tasty magical thing full of yeasty goodness.

Cube up your delicious bread and line a casserole dish. If you were being super on top of things then you could make two smaller ones and one goes straight to the freezer!

In a bowl goes your mayo, cream cheese and spices. Mix well!

Make sure that your cream cheese is softened. If not the next step will be miserable for you!

Spread the cream cheese mixture over your bread cubes. It should go on rather easily. Sprinkle some of your cheese. I happened to have some Romano, tasty!

Add your meatballs and then

Pour your sauce over the meatballs and add your shredded cheese. I went a little nuts with the cheese but I do love cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. If the meatballs are hot, 30 is fine. If they are leftover meatballs then you might want to go more like 45 minutes.

Serve with Roasted Parmesan Green Beans for a fantastic dinner!

You'll be so happy about this recipe after one taste. You could make it ahead and bake at the last minute and it freezes great!

I guess it's the mayo, cream cheese concoction that makes it so great! It's such a great cold weather comfort food. It's one of my tired and true recipes to make the hubby say, "Wife, you are a GREAT cook!"

Shameless Plug

So! Normally I don't plug the other blog here, I like this to be only about food. BUT, I am going to shamelessly get in a plug for the "other" blog I do.
I was asked to review a book for HarperCollins publishing that I would love for you to check out!

Why don't we try this?

The hubs likes to find recipes on Saturday mornings before we go out to meander and run errands. Then I think about this new recipe all day!

This weekend was no exception so I bring to you our little version of Bucatini All'Amatriciana with Spicy Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs. I love love love Giada but I very rarely try her recipes, I'm not sure why that is.

Here's what you'll need for our version:

Sauce:

2 tbsp evoo

1 small onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

crushed red pepper flakes (depending on your tongue, less than an 1/8 tsp)

2 cans diced tomatoes

1/2 grated Romano

1/4 cup parsley

cup mushrooms, chopped

s&p to taste

Meatballs:

1 shallot, grated

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3  cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp dried basil

1 egg

2 tbsp ketchup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 lbs ground meat, whatever you choose

2 ounces of cubed smoked gouda

Preheat to 400

Let's do the meatballs first.

Grate your shallot and you can go ahead and do the garlic too. The only reason that I didn't is that I forgot!

Chop and add the parsley

Here we have the garlic, egg, spices, ketchup, cheese and bread. Mix it all up into a delicious concoction!

Now, roll them out however you see fit. I rolled them all out. then washed the hands (of course)

and cubed up the gouda.

*Side note, Smoked Gouda is one of my favorite cheeses. It has substance so it can hold up to alot of recipes and it has that delightful smoked flavor. This was the hubs first encounter with smoked gouda and he liked it IN the recipe, but for just a cheese to eat he says that he's not that much of a fan.*

Then made an indent (like above) in each meatball and add the cube of cheese. Base your cube size on how big your meatball is. It's a preference. Then you just sort of re-shape the meatball around the cheese, like so:

We wanted to put these on the grill but it didn't really work out for us, so into the oven they went

For about 15 minutes or so. I might have done 17 on this batch because they were a little bigger than I usually roll out.

NOW, for the sauce:

Get your garlic and

onions chopped and going in the pan with some evoo.

*Side note, see that Dark Chocolate bar in the background? There is always, always one sitting right there by the cutting board. It's the hubs super secret powers. He picks at it as his after work snack.*

Get some lovely and tasty carmelization going on here.

Add in all your lovelies, the tomatoes, mushrooms, parsley and simmer for a bit. Then in the last 15ish minutes add in the Romano cheese. This will thicken it up quite a bit.

You can add in the meatballs and let them simmer for a while. I didn't do that because I had BIG BIG leftover plans for them. Serve over the pasta of your choice!

This was really great. It was spicy enough to be interesting but not so much that I had to stop eating it. The meatballs were rather delicious and the smoked gouda added something special. The Romano in the sauce was just right. I think next time I might work some basil into the sauce somehow. I just think that having tomato without basil is silly.
There are plenty of meatballs here to freeze them or use them in a leftover, or both.

This, I believe will be added to my pile of fall backs.