Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy

I actually made this some time ago. This is much richer than a tomato pasta sauce and it is delicious.  It made a ton but it freezes well so you can enjoy it several times without all of the prep work!  I sliced the meat so it was more chunky but you can shred the meat if you like to swirl your spaghetti!

Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy
Deep South Dish Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3 to 5 pound beef chuck or rump roast
2-3 tablespoons of canola oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 (28 ounce) cans of whole tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup of beef broth (or red wine)
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of salt
8 turns of the pepper grinder
1/2 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama, or your
   favorite Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley
1 large bay leaf
Grated nutmeg
Cooked spaghetti noodles
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Set roast aside to come to room temperature.

Pour enough canola oil into the bottom of a heavy, stainless stockpot and heat to medium high. Add onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened, but not brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Using a pair of kitchen shears, coarsely cut up both cans of the whole tomatoes right in the can; add to pot. Add the tomato sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, parsley, and bay leaf. Pass a whole nutmeg over a microplane 3 or 4 times and stir in the beef broth and Worcestershire; bring up to a boil. Cut the roast in half, add it to the pot, cover, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 2 to 3 hours or until beef is tender. Don't allow the meat to boil! Keep it at a very low simmer.

Remove the beef from the pot, slice into 1/2 inch slices (if you are making Daube Glace, reserve some of these whole slices) and then shred pieces with a fork, add the shredded beef back to the tomato gravy. Let it continue to low simmer, covered, another 15 minutes, or just hold the pot on very low until you are ready to serve. You can also leave it as whole slices if you prefer, returning the slices to the gravy to simmer a bit, and then serving the slices on top of the spaghetti noodles, with a bit of sauce spooned over the top.

Boil the spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain well. Return noodles to pot and add a couple of scoops of the tomato gravy, stirring to coat all of the noodles. Turn the noodles out onto a large platter and pour sauce over the top, or plate noodles individually and add a couple of hearty scoops of the meat and sauce.


Enjoy!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken

I love Baylee's posts! She has done a great job and I hope she will add future posts! PLEASE ENCOURAGE HER!!!  She is also on me to take more pictures as I cook.  I get into cooking and completely forget about the camera. Also I can be accident prone, like last night, I dropped the camera into a bowl of chicken and noodles!! Baylee helped make the noodles so she did take lots of pictures. That recipe will be coming soon!

To honor Baylee, I am doing today's post on one of Baylee's favorite macaroni and cheese dishes.  She is all the time asking if I posted it yet.   Here you go Baylee!!!

First off we love macaroni and cheese and as the kids got older, I was able to start to add in onion, bacon, different types of cheeses, or even vegetables, but I have always been in search of super creamy with super taste.  I cannot tell you how often I made mac and cheese and it was bland, looked curded, or was dry! I came across a recipe in a magazine that was for Smoky, Creamy Mac and Cheese. It had bacon, cheddar cheese, Philadelphia Chive & Onion Cream Cheese, and Velveeta in it so I thought how can it not be creamy with all of these cheeses.  I did have to adapt the recipe since I did not have all of the ingredients and I was looking for a dish that I could use as a main entree. I replaced the bacon with chicken breast and I was incredibly pleased with the outcome.  It was super creamy and cheesy along with being addictive!!  I think we all had seconds. This original recipe was the side dish winner in a Philadelphia Cheese recipe contest.  Just based on the creamy cheesiness of the dish, I can see why it won!! 

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken
2 cups of uncooked pasta  ( I used fusilli as it holds the cheese better)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 oz Velveeta, cut into cubes
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 cup of chicken, cooked and cut up (I used a large breast and season it well with chicken seasoning)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup Panko crumbs
2 tsp butter, melted

Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large saucepan melt butter and stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk and bring to boil. Cook and stir for 1 -2 minutes as sauce thickens. Stir in the cream cheese, Velveeta and cheddar cheese.  Make sure the heat from stove is turned down to ensure that cheese melts well into the sauce. Add in the chicken and transfer to a greased 8 inch square baking dish. Combine the Panko crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle over top.  Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Pasta Gnocchi with Sausage & Tomato

Baylee here againn!

Tonight for dinner, we made gnocchi, but this time we used frozen gnocchi instead of making our own. (Last time we tried making our own out of potatoes but it tasted awful) The frozen gnocchi is much much better. We just used the store brand. Nothing special.

(NOTE: Instead of pecorino cheese, we just used Parmesan cheese)

Pasta Gnocchi with Sausage and Tomato

PreparationTime: 15 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 20 Minutes
Serves 4-6

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) pasta gnocchi
2 tablespoons olive oil
400 g (14 oz) thin Italian sausages
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic gloves, finely chopped
800 g (1 lb 2 oz) tinned chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar
35 g (1 1/2 oz) basil, torn
45 g (1 1/2 oz/1/2 cup) grated pecorino cheese

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well and return to the pan to keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large frying pan. Add the sausages and cook, turning, for 5 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through. Drain on paper towels, then slice when they have cooled enough to touch. Keep warm.

3. Wipe clean the frying pan and heat the remaining oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the tomato, sugar and 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) water and season with ground black pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12 minutes or until thickened and reduced a little.

4. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir through the sausage, then the basil and half of the cheese. Serve with the extra cheese.

______________________________________________________________

This recipe is from 30 Minutes Meals: A Common Sense Guide.

I kinda like this book. It really does tell you everything. And the pictures in the book are actually accurate.

Before every chapter there are informative pictures. Like before the pasta chapter, there are pictures of all the different types of pasta and their names. Before the chicken chapter, it tells you how to store chicken , what to look for when buying... anyways basically everything you ever need to know about rice, noodles, pasta, chicken, seafood, lamb, pork, and beef.

HAVE FUN MAKING YOUR GNOCCHI!! :)

Chianti-Braised Short Ribs

I saw the picture of these Short Ribs in the Rachael Ray magazine and knew I had to make them. Now, if you saw the picture in the magazine, you will know that my ribs do not look like hers! I am not sure what they did to that photo but the picture on the Rachael Ray website does not look like the magazine photo either! Maybe it is lighting!!

I had never eaten Short Ribs before so it was going to be an adventure of the taste buds. They were delicious! After they were done cooking, I saw all of the yummy vegetables in the crock pot and could not just strain them and discard, I kept them part of the dish and served over mashed potatoes! The ribs were rich but my oh my so tender and yummy! This is a keeper!



Chianti-Braised Short Ribs
Rachael Ray Magazine

8 beef short ribs on the bone (4-5 pounds)
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups Chianti wine ( can use a nice Merlot too)
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tsp tomato paste


1. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. working in batches, add ribs and cook, turning often, until browned, 7 - 10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

2. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Add onion and garlic, cook until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the wine and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

3. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and cook on low heat until tender, about 6 hours.

4. Transfer ribs to a platter and cover to keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a large measuring cup and skim as much fat as possible from surface.

5. Transfer liquid to a saucepan and bring to a boil until reduced to about 1 cup. Whisk in tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Serve over ribs.


Enjoy!

Smoked Chicken

For weeks my husband talked about getting a smoker. It all started when he would go across the street and watch our neighbor smoke ribs, turkey and brisket. For weeks he asked questions and did online smoker research on techniques. Just after Thanksgiving, the smokers went on sale so he made his purchase. Soon after he worked a whole morning testing out how fast the water evaporates and what happens to the chips. By one o'clock, he was ready to add a chicken to the smoker. He decided to go with something inexpensive for his first attempt at smoking. Well 4 hours later, we had a juicy bird that tasted fabulous!


First he placed a 5 lb chicken in brine made of 2 quarts of water, 1/4 cup kosher salt, and 1/4 cup sugar for 10 hours. He pat it dry and rubbed it with a mixture of 2 tsp each of Sage, Thyme, Southwest Seasoning, and Herbs De Provence. He did add a little salt and pepper to the rub. He used Pecan and Applewood chips in the smoker with a temperature of 225. He place the bird about 3/4 of the way up in the smoker away from the heat. He smoked it for about 4 hours until the internal temperature was 160 degrees. We let it rest for about 30 minutes before we cut it.


We will definitely make lots of chicken in the smoker. Our daughter suggested making just the legs since they tasted like the turkey legs at the fair! It is a good idea and we will definitely be trying that idea!

Enjoy!

Spinach Cheese Casserole

Everyone usually has one or two traditional food dishes that they have every Christmas. One of ours is Spinach Cheese Casserole. This dish has actually become a MUST have dish for every occassion at the request of my children!! This dish ranks up there with cheesy potatoes and Ida's Greenbean Casserole! I am sure the sky would fall if I did not make it for Christmas.

This recipe goes back about 19 years. My German babysitter always talked about making spinach pie, homemade soups, and German cookies. My sister-in-law gave me a cookbook that her kid's school put together for a fundraiser and the Spinach Pie in the cookbook looked good. I was hesitant since spinach has never thrilled me, but I saw how much cheese was in this recipe and thought, how could this taste bad? It tasted pretty good but I tweaked the original recipe a bit. Over the years, I have found that I have to double the recipe, because one pie plate was not enough! By the way, my babysitter said, This is not pie!". I kind of agreed with her and stopped calling it pie many years ago! Sorry, Carla Beatty from Lines School in Canada, we still love your dish though!!

Spinach Cheese Casserole
CRUST
2 cups seasoned croutons, crushed
1/4 cup melted butter

FILLING
6 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, cut in 1 inch cubes
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp sour cream
1 clove garlic, crushed

Press croutons and melted butter into a 9 inch pie plate. Combine 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with spinach, cottage cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, eggs, onion, sour cream and garlic. Spoon into prepared crust. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35 minutes until lightly brown on top.

This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 13x9 baking dish for 1 hour. Casserole will be bubbly when it comes out of oven and will setup after 5 to 10 minutes.

Print Recipe

Enjoy!

This recipe has been linked to

Mommy's Kitchen Potluck Sunday

Simple Macaroni and Cheese

If you struggle with making homemade mac n cheese, this is a simple way to make good old basic mac n cheese.



Simple Macaroni & Cheese
2 (7 1/4 ounce) boxes Kraft macaroni and cheese (Make sure to buy creamy variety)
1 cup milk (plus a little more)
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick of butter
salt and pepper
2 (8-12 ounce) packages cheddar cheese, grated


Boil macaroni until tender, then drain water completely. Put macaroni in a large bowl. While it is still hot, stir in the 2 Kraft cheese packages from the boxes, stick of butter, eggs and 1 cup of milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Macaroni mixture should be creamy and milky. If needed you can add a little more milk. I make sure my macaroni is covered in milk but not floating. This mixes with the eggs and makes a cheesy custard.

Pour half of the mixture into a large baking pan (I use my lasagna pan) and cover with 1 package of shredded cheddar. Pour remaining macaroni mixture into the pan and cover with remaining cheese.

If you like a crumble top, melt one stick of butter and crush a whole sleeve of Ritz or Saltines into the butter and top the casserole during the last 15 or 20 minutes of baking.

Cook on 375° for about 45 minutes, until cheese is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Pasta Stuffed Chicken

I am trying to get back into cooking and baking. Over the past several months, I have not had much time or desire and then when I would cook something, it would be a flop. I am not sure if it was due to lack of patience or if a person can just get rusty at what they are doing. I am hoping I am on a good path and starting to get my groove back! I found this recipe in a magazine. I ripped out the page and there is no identification anywhere on the front or back of the page to say what magazine it was. I guess it will not really matter because I adapted the recipe a little.

This is a little like Chicken Parmesan but instead of the chicken resting on a bed a spaghetti, the pasta is on the inside of the chicken. It was really good and I am sure I will make it again. It was not difficult to make.....remember I am going through a phase right now, and I was able to make it turn out!!!

Chicken Stuffed with Pasta

1/2 cup small shell pasta, like Ditalini

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup italian breadcrumbs

4 boneless chicken breasts

3 cups marinara sauce ( I used Classico tomato basil sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to their directions. While the pasta is cooking, combine the cheeses and half of the parsley in a bowl. Drain pasta and add the hot pasta to the cheeses; season with a little salt.

Prepare a 2 quart casserole dish with about 2 cups of marinara sauce spread in the dish. It will be about an inch thick in the dish. The chicken will bake on top of the sauce.

In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. In a separate bowl or plate, place the breadcrumbs. Pound out the chicken breasts until they are about 1 inch thick. Place a spoonful of the cheesy, pasta mixture in the middle and roll. I used toothpicks to hold the chicken together because we will browning in a skillet before placing in the oven to thoroughly cook.

Heat up a skillet with a little oil over a medium heat. Dip the stuffed chicken breasts in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Place in the skillet and brown all sides. You are just doing this to get the chicken brown, not to cook all the way through. Place the browned chicken in the marinara sauce and place any of the left over pasta in the middle between the chicken. Bake for 30 minutes or until the meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees. During the last 5 minutes of cooking add some mozzarella and parsley to the top of the chicken.

While the chicken is baking, heat up the rest of the marinara sauce to be served with the chicken for those who like extra sauce.

Print recipe

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I love looking for new recipes in blogs, magazines, websites, and cookbooks. I usually work in 2 or 3 new recipes a week. Some bomb and some are really good so they get added to my recipe binder. It is pretty rare that I follow a recipe exactly as it is written. I usually have to tweak it to my family's taste preference. My family is not a fan of the Cream of Chicken condensed soup so when I came across the recipe below, I knew I would have to make a change. The original recipe is from Sisters' Cafe. I made a couple of changes but this was really good. This one made it to my binder and it will be made again.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake
Adapted from Sisters' Cafe

2 Packages Stove Top Stuffing mix
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 lb sliced deli ham, cut into 1 inch squares
1 cup Jarlesburg cheese, shredded (Swiss can be used)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

Prepare stuffing mixes according to directions on box. Meanwhile in a bowl, combine soup and milk. Put chicken in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Layer with ham, 2 cups of the cheese, soup mixture and stuffing. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer.

Print Recipe

Enjoy!

Yummy Pasta

Oh my goodness. I had this again at lunch today and it was soooo good. My sister-in-law saw this on the Giada's Everyday Italian show on FoodTV and she made it while I was at her house last week. It really does taste like a dish you would get at a restaurant.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
Giada De Laurentiis - Everyday Italian

2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cremini mushrooms, halved
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
1 pound penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grated fontina cheese
1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

Link to original recipe

Enjoy!