Linguine Roman Style and Broccoli and Cheddar Buns--Buon Appetito!

1/03/10: Linguine Roman Style and Four-Leaf Clover Broccoli and Cheddar Buns

Meal details: For the main course I made a simple pasta dish that uses ricotta and cheese for the sauce. And I paired the pasta with a whole wheat bun that has broccoli puree added to the dough and sharp cheddar baked on top.

Defining moments: Making a vegetable puree was entirely new to me! I haven't used our blender a whole lot yet so anything done in that machine is a real eye opener to me. :)

Recipe sources: The pasta dish came from a new cookbook that just came out. It is called Ciao Italia, Five Ingredient Favorites and it is written by Mary Ann Esposito, the host of Ciao Italia. The broccoli buns came from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, another newly published book, written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.
Note to Rebekah: I did one recipe and had enough dough for 26 buns.

What I learned: I began to realize that even though a recipe (like the broccoli buns here), may sound tedious and require a good amount of steps, I shouldn't be intimidated. When I first looked at the bun recipe I thought they would take a long time to do, especially with all that dough dividing and shaping. But the authors of the book knew from the start that their recipes need to be quick for their readers, and so they made certain that their breads take on simple shapes. These buns are just made up of four small pieces of dough put together by pressing in the center. Really easy to put together and I have to say, they were adorable!
The pasta dish was very easy to do. So easy that I can remember exactly what to do next time, I usually need to go back to a recipe again and again. So I'm thinking that I will start feeling like one of those chefs that can whip up a dish without one glance at a recipe card. A dream come true!

Any modifications? Yes, I made one modification and that was to the pasta recipe. Instead of using pecorino cheese, I used parmesan. Why? Couldn't find the former in the grocery store.

How did it tasted? Both recipes were wonderful. The pasta's flavors were simple and very satisfying. And I love to know that not many dollars went into its creation. The buns were so very good! I was hoping to have the buns look like clovers more but the ridges weren't that pronounced when they came out of the oven. However! Because of the unique way you roll and shape these buns, you can easily tear off one "leaf" at a time when you're eating them. Easy eats!

How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would like to do these two recipes again.

Not My Best Showing

11/15/09: Pizza and Apple Pie from Scratch

Meal details: For the main course I made three different types of pizzas: Broccoli and Parmesan, BBQ Chicken, and Traditional. For dessert I made two apple pies, one with Gravenstein apples and the other using apples picked from a wild apple tree growing on our farm.

Defining moments: This would be my first time making apple pie! Can you believe that one?

Recipe sources: I came up with the pizza toppings but I used a recipe created by Cat Cora for the dough. Check it out here. I chose this recipe because I am part of the Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. (Learn more about this fun challenge by visiting this page.)
For the pie now. I made the pie crust using the following recipe that came from The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook, but I did shorten the instructions significantly.

DOUBLE PIE CRUST

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour -- sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup shortening (we use butter flavored Crisco)
7 tablespoons cold milk (about)

Sift together dry ingredients and with pastry blender, cut in shortening until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add enough milk until dough appears moist but not wet. Try not to use more than 7 tablespoons unless necessary to hold dough together. Turn dough out and knead for a few seconds to hold mixture together. Handle as little as possible. Roll out using your favorite technique.

I didn't follow a recipe for the apple pie filling, I just did what Annemarie usually does. Which is...

Apple Pie Filling:

2 tablespoons flour
8 cups of apple slices *
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Place bottom crust in pan and dust with the flour. Add the apple slices and sprinkle sugar on top, no need to mix. Dot apples with butter. That's all there is to it! No cooking whatsoever.

* I used Gravenstein and a wild apple for my pies this time. For those who are interested in making their own, I suggest using the following varieties: Northern Spy, Idared, Jonathan, and Empire.

What I learned: It was difficult for me to make six, 10" sized pizzas using Cat Cora's pizza dough recipe. There just was not enough dough to work with, and because of this I had to break out a box of pizza dough mix. So if you are going to do this recipe, expect four, 10" sized pizzas or six, 6" sized pizzas. The dough is lovely to work with by the way!
I learned something invaluable this week and that is to bake my apple pies for a longer time! I've only done one type of fruit pie before and that was peach. With a peach pie it is easy to tell when it is done because you just wait until the peach juice bubbles. But this is not so with apple pie. So I was having a hard time deciding when to grab my potholders and I ended up under baking. Oops! :( Next time I will bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and no less.

Any modifications? No, I followed the pizza dough recipe exactly.

How it tasted? The pizza dough was delicious and I liked how thin I rolled it out. Everyone liked the Broccoli and Parmesan pizza the most; the BBQ Chicken came in second.
The pies were just OK namely because of me under baking them. I was really disappointed by that! The wild apple didn't impart enough flavor; won't be using them again.

How about a 2nd time? I will be using the pizza dough recipe again but will double the recipe or just make one large one.

The Broccoli and Parmesan Pizza. I simply brushed the dough with olive oil, pre-baked it for two minutes, added the vegetables and cheese, then placed it back into the oven for 20 minutes at 375.



This is the BBQ Chicken version. I pre-baked the crust for two minutes, added the BBQ sauce, chicken, and mozzarella, then placed it back into the oven.



This is the Traditional Pizza. It is larger than the others and the dough was made using a boxed mix and some of Cat Cora's dough. The toppings are store bought pizza sauce, chicken, and a Monterey Jack/Colby cheese mix.





Mr. Apple Pie, I hope our next meeting shall be more pleasant.

First Batch

I will begin my journal with my first Sunday, November 30, 2008:

11/30/08: Had Chicken Argentina and Potato Parmesan.

• Sources: Former was from "Best Recipes From the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars" by Ceil Dyer and the latter was from "The Woman's Day Cookbook"

• Defining moments: First time working with completely defrosted chicken. I so much rather use partially frozen! And this would be my first time making homemade mashed potatoes, only used boxed version before.

• What I learned: Meat can take a lot longer than what the recipe says, I ended up being 30 min. late.

• How it tasted: Flavors were very bright for the Chicken Argentina because I used lime juice and olives. The potato dish was very good because I added a layer of Parmesan on top so it was nice and crispy when finished.

• How about a 2nd time? I am definite about Potato Parmesan but I don't think the chicken recipe will be repeated.