Yellow Pepper and Onion Ragu

I was craving pasta the other night, and I knew I wanted something a little different. Well, inspiration hit (thank god!) and I managed to combine some ingredients into one of the most glorious pastas I've ever made. Not only does it taste really, really good but it looks pretty. And I like pretty.

What you'll need:

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 pound of turkey sausage/ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups (dried) whole wheat pasta
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

First thing, wash your bell pepper really well. Cut the top of the bell pepper off and de-seed it. You'll want to use a yellow bell pepper for this recipe as it lends a bit of sweetness, but not too much to the ragu. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips so that it will cook quickly.

I think this is called "julienne"

Take your onion and cut it in half. Depending on how much you like onion, you can use either the whole onion, or just half. You'll want to chop the onion into slices about a 1/3'' thick or so. Basically, not slivers, but not huge chunks either.  Set aside the bell peppers and onions.

Take your ground turkey or turkey sausage and put it in a large, heavy skillet with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. I used Itaian seasoned ground turkey for my recipe, but I would think any kind would work.

This package was actually a full pound, so I halved it. The rest is in the freezer for another night.

Brown the turkey in the skillet, stirring frequently. Don't worry about "browning" the pan. We'll deglaze that and the vegetables and ragu will just be even tastier.

**TIP** Remember to switch out your cooking utensils when working with raw meat. Once it's cooked, grab a new utensil.

Once the meat is browned and cooked through, remove it from the pan into a separate bowl. Pour another teaspoon of olive oil in the pan and toss in the onions and bell peppers. Stir them with the oil until nicely coated and let them cook down, until slightly browned.

Notice the browned pan. Make sure it doesn't get black!

 While the onions and peppers are cooking, go ahead and fill up a large pot with water. Salt the water and wait for it to boil. When it's ready, pour in the whole wheat pasta. (I used rotini for this dish, but you could also you penne, bowtie, shells, angel hair, etc.) When the vegetables are ready, add the cooked meat back in and pour in the red wine. Work at the bottom of the skillet to deglaze and reintroduce all the flavor stuck to the pan.)

a little steamy in here!

When you are done scraping the skillet, add the crushed tomatoes, dried basil, and red pepper flakes. Let the sauce cook together and reduce down while the pasta cooks.

Hell. Yes.

Serve heaping spoonfuls of this sauce over the pasta. Yes, heaping because it is so good. And pretty.

Super yummy, and pretty healthy overall too!

French Onion Soup

I've never really been a fan of French onion soup in my life. I remember a handful of times tasting a spoonful of my dad's when he would order it at a restaurant, and it was nothing special. It wasn't actually until about two years ago that I really developed a fondness for this dish, and it is based solely on this recipe.

I'm not kidding, y'all.

This is amazing. I need to give Daniel the credit for this recipe though. He found a great recipe to start with, doctored it a little bit, and what you get is nothing short of mouth-watering, savory deliciousness. Seriously, there's homemade apple cider in this! This is definitely a dinner that takes time (about 2 hours start to finish) but it's SO worth it.

What you'll need for the soup:

• 5 onions (I used yellow onions, but you can use any kind of sweet onion)
• butter
• salt
• red wine
• beef broth and chicken broth
• thyme, parsely, rosemary, and black pepper
• several large bowls, measuring cups, and a big stock pot
• swiss cheese
• bread

lots of onions y'all

Cut both ends off of the onions and peel the "paper" layer, and the layers immediately underneath until you get a colorless onion. I find it helpful to have a big container or bowl on hand to hold all of the onion wrappings. Make sure you're using a big enough knife to cut these onions. If you use too small of a knife it's just going to make this task harder. **TIP** If onions make you cry, put them in the fridge overnight. This will make the gases in the onion less spicy and will help you get through the task.

Once all the onions are peeled, you will need to slice the onions very, very thin. Don't worry about making them all perfect. This is a task that will get easier the more you do it.

My onions were about 1/8'' inch thick

I like to put all of the sliced onions aside in a container just for safe keeping and to keep my cooking area a little more tidy. After you slice the all the onions, set them aside to create the homemade cider.

Making homemade cider is pretty easy. You'll need some apple juice (I use Mott's 100% apple juice), lemon juice, orange juice, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. I know that sounds like a lot, but honestly, it's really easy. You'll need 10 ounces of apple juice, and just a splash or orange juice and lemon juice.

Apple juice with orange and lemon juice added

Combine all the juices into a medium sauce pot. Add 1/4 teaspoon of all the cider spices mentioned above except the cinnamon. Put one full teaspoon of cinnamon in. And that's it. Just let it simmer on the stove for about 10-15 minutes, and then turn the heat off.

this smells heavenly FYI

At this point you'll want to create the chicken and beef broth for the soup. We use a really thick condensed base that you add hot water to. You'll need 10 ounces of both broths for the soup.

 Add the parsley only to the chicken broth (about a teaspoon), and the thyme, rosemary and black pepper to the beef broth (again, about a teaspoon each). Let these sit and meld together while you return to the onions.

Heat a large stock pot and add 3 tablespoons of butter to it. Let the butter melt before you start adding the onions. Adding the onions is a layering process. I find it helpful to divide my large bowl of sliced onions into four (4) parts. For each layer, you'll want to add black pepper and salt. I don't really have a measurement for this unfortunately, so just add according to your own judgement. Repeat this process for each layer giving it a quick stir after each addition.

 

Now this is the hardest part for me. For the next 15 minutes, you must resist the urge to stir. I mean it. The onions should be left uncovered over medium-high heat and they're going to sweat and reduce down. Don't worry about anything burning on the bottom. We'll deglaze it in a bit. After about 15 minutes, you can give the onions a stir, and then repeat the waiting process again for 10 minutes.

The onions should start to caramelize. You want them to be a deep caramel before adding any of the wet ingredients.

Watch your onions after they've sweated down for about 25 minutes. You want them to be a deep caramel color. It's okay at this point to give it a quick stir to help it along. When the onions are ready, add two (2) cups of red wine.

The wine doesn't have to be fancy. I used a bottle of Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon from Trader Joe's.

So. Good. 

After you add the wine, work on deglazing the bottom of the pot. You probably won't get all the stuff off of the bottom, but do your best. Let the wine cook with the onions until you can't smell the alcohol too much, about 7 minutes. Add the apple cider, beef broth and chicken broth to the onion mixture.

Daniel "may" have added a shot of brandy to the soup.

Let the flavors meld together while you get the oven and bread ready. Turn on your broiler. Slice your bread rather thin (about 1/4'' inch) and place them on a baking sheet.

When the broiler is ready in your oven, slide the bread in for a few minutes until it gets slightly toasted on one side. Remove from the oven. Grate about a cup of Swiss cheese (you can also use Jarlsberg or Gruyere) to put on top of the bread and soup. Use either large ramekins or oven-safe bowls for the soup. Fill the bowls with the French onions soup until is is about an 3/4'' from the top. Lay the bread on top of the soup toasted side down, and cover with cheese.

 

Place the bowls or ramekins on the baking sheet and put them under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and brown. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn! When it's to your satisfaction, carefully take our the baking sheet and let the soup cook for about 5 minute before serving. This can easily feed 4-6 people, so be prepared for leftovers if it's fewer than that (which is usually just fine by me).

And there you have it. The most wonderful, savory French onion soup you could possibly imagine.

Perfect. Enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with French Onions

One of my favorite dinners growing up was this casserole that my mom would make. I remember as a kid that I didn't really care too much for veggies, but now that I'm older I'm willing to eat them more appreciative of them.

But mostly it's the French onions. So good.

I've kept the recipe basically the same as my mom's, but with a few different techniques and spices.

Here's what you'll need:

• Spices: curry powder, black pepper, salt (sea salt or regular)
• two (2) medium chicken breasts
• vegetable oil
• rice
• two (2) cans of cream of broccoli soup and (1 1/2 cups) fresh/frozen broccoli or three (3) cups of homemade broccoli soup
• french onions

To start, cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. You want them to be bite-sized. Before placing the chicken in the skillet, season it with salt, pepper, and curry powder. Turn on the oven to 425 degrees F.

 After the chicken is cut and seasoned, begin heating up a non-stick, 10'' skillet. (I used a Calphalon nonstick skillet below.) Depending on what kind of stove or cook-top you have, this will take about three minutes. Before putting in the oil, let your hand hover over the middle of the skillet a few inches above the pan. You should be able to feel the heat radiating from the pan. Pour about 3 tablespoons of oil into the skillet.

Let the oil heat briefly before putting in the chicken. You want the oil to be slightly heated to that the chicken will brown lightly without overcooking, but you don't want it too hot. (Otherwise, when you put the chicken in the oil will splatter a bit and you risk getting "popped" by the oil.)

At this point you should start cooking the rice. Depending on what kind of rice, the cooking time will vary. You'll want about 2-3 cups of cooked rice for this. **FLAVOR TIP** Salt your rice while it is cooking for better flavor. You need about 1/2 tsp for the rice.

Cook the chicken until it is lightly browned. Remove from stove. Take the cream of broccoli soup and the broccoli and put them in a medium pot. Cook on medium and remove from heat when heated through. (I had some leftover homemade broccoli soup on hand, so I used that instead.)

When rice is cooked, you can begin the assembly process. Pour half the cooked rice into a casserole dish. Add half of the cooked chicken and half of the soup/broccoli mix. Mix together with a wooden spoon until blended.

Season this layer with salt, pepper, and curry powder to taste. I basically just sprinkle enough to cover the casserole. Then, pour about 1/3 of the can of French onions over the top of the first layer.

Repeat the layer process again, but do not mix the top layer. Instead, use the soup mixture to cover the top of the casserole. Cover the top layer with another 1/3 of the can of French onions. Put in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

If your oven cooks on the "hot" side, you may need to adjust the cooking time so you don't burn the top. This casserole serves four (4) comfortably, but can also serve up to six (6). Makes great leftovers too! I love this casserole, but mostly I love that my mom shared it with me. Enjoy!

The Beginning: First Course

Food. Cooking. Baking. Eating.

There's a lot to like in those four words. 

This has been an idea in my head for a few months now, so I finally decided it was time to try it out. I'm still playing around with "finding my voice" and how exactly this blog is going to work. Bear with me.

What I do know is that I love food. I love making food and trying new recipes and making it fun. I'm fortunate to have a fabulous partner in the kitchen. His love of food has inspired me to try new foods, recipes, and just enjoy the process of making food more. What I'm hoping to convey in this blog is the passion we both have for making great food. I want this to be a place where you can feel inspired to try something different, to make that leap from "having to cook" to "wanting to cook." I want you to leave this blog hungry.

Create! Experiment! Enjoy!