Fettuccine Alfredo

I was so excited the other day when a friend of mine lent me her copy of Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook.  Perusing the cookbook was like watching a marathon on the Food Network, and I wanted to begin cooking after reading the first recipe.  I decided to use Giada's Fettuccine Alfredo recipe and surprise my mother with dinner.  The recipe results in cooked pasta with a creamy and citrus-y sauce that was actually very good.  I added the broccoli and chicken because of my own preference, but I'm sure you may add your own vegetables and meat of choice.  The following recipe is a combination of Giada's recipe with my personal additions:

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• salt (to taste)
• 9 ounces fresh fettuccine (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ground pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, whisk together 1 cup of the cream and the lemon juice.  Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally just until the butter melts.  Stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg.  Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the fettuccine (or other dried pasta) and salt and cook until tender but still firm to the touch (stir occasionally).  Drain and add the pasta, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the cream sauce in the skillet.  Toss over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.  Season with more salt and pepper to taste.  Keep the flame on simmering.
3. To make the broccoli, boil 3 cups of water in a small pot.  Wash 2 cups of sliced broccoli florets, and added the broccoli and a teaspoon of salt to the boiled water.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, and drain.  Add the broccoli to the skillet.  Using leftover chicken or slices of meat from your local market's rotisserie chicken, slice the chicken into thin strips of meat to be added to the pot.   
4. Toss all the ingredients in the pot together while simmering for one minute.  Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My favorite kind of cookies would have to be your basic chocolate chip cookies.  I borrowed Martha Stewart's recipe for "Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies," and the results were sensational. 

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips (about 12 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together (sifted) flour and baking soda in a bowl.  Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and sugars until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Reduce speed to low.  Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well-blended, about 1 minute.  Mix in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips. 
2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges turn golden but centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes.  Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.  Cookies can be stores between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

The only changes I made to this recipe included the type of flour (I used bread flour) and the baking time (about 15-17 minutes).  It's important to use your butter and eggs at room temperature because it ensures soft, consistent cookies.  Also, after 10 minutes of baking, keep an eye on your cookies with the oven light.  Every oven heats differently, and the size of your cookies will change the baking time.  The original recipe is supposed to make about three dozen cookies, but after completing the process, I only had 18 cookies...clearly my "heaping tablespoons of dough" were larger than Martha intended!  Still delicious, though. :)

Eggplant Panini

A coworker of mine loves gardening, and I am lucky enough to reap the benefits of her green thumb!  She recently shared homegrown eggplants with us a few weeks ago, and I couldn't wait to try a recipe including eggplant.  With the advice of my mother, I put together a recipe for a great eggplant panini.  I paired the sandwich with a side salad consisting of a spring mix of lettuce, green peppers, strawberries, and freshly grated Parmesan.  Delicious!

Eggplant Panini

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• whole-grain wheat bread
• American Cheese Slices (or Pepperjack cheese slices)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 1 tablespoon Mayonnaise
• Canola oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. To prepare the eggplant, I roughly peeled the eggplant length-wise so that there is some skin was still present.  I found this image (right) on Google, and it portrays how I peeled the eggplant.  Next, I cut the two ends off and washed it under cold water.  
2. Next, place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with 2-3 pinches of salt and pepper all around the plant.  Allow the eggplant to dry for at least 20 minutes.  (Some people suggest an hour for drying.)  
3. After the eggplant has dried for the most part, I sliced it in 1/4 slices.  
4. I pan-fried both sides of the eggplant slices in 2-3 tablespoons of Canola oil.  Once the eggplant slices are cooked on one side, flip them and add American or Pepperjack cheese (cut to fit the size of the individual eggplant slices).  The cheese should melt over the slices until it is cooked.  Place the cooked slices with melted cheese on a separate plate.  
5. Next, take one slice of whole-grain wheat bread and place on the oiled pan.  While the bread is frying on the pan, spread the mayonnaise and Dijon mustard on top of the bread.  Add a slice of American or Pepperjack cheese on top of the condiments.  Then, add the eggplant slices and add a pinch of salt and pepper.  
6. Finally, place the other slice of bread on top of the sandwich, and use a spatula to flip the sandwich over.  Use a panini press or heavy cover to squish the sandwich down while still on the pan.  Cook for 3-4 more minutes before plating and serving.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are a baking staple-- they include simple ingredients, and they're a sure-fire crowd-pleaser.  There are many sugar cookies recipes out there, but sometimes you just have to look to a knowledgeable other-- also known as Martha Stewart.  From Martha Stewart's Cookies book, I followed her recipe for "Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies" for most of the way.  I even follow her directions to rotate the cookies halfway (and it's a rule that I follow now with all my baking).  Deliciously simple cookies that are sure to please whomever devours these cookies.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1.75 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest*
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• sandy sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  
2. Put sugars and zest* in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium speed 30 seconds.  Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Mix in eggs one at a time, and then the lemon juice.  Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. 
3. Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.  Flatten cookies slightly; sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Lightly bruch with a wet pastry brush; spring with more sanding sugar.
4. Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.  Transfer cookies to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.  Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.  

*I do not brush the cookies with a wet pastry brush when sprinkling the sugar; I roll the dough into little balls (with my hands) and then lightly press them into the sugar.  Then, I put the dough onto the baking sheet...still works well. :)

See also: my Simple Vanilla Icing for sugar cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam

Another successful Giada recipe resulted in delicious cookies made with peanut butter and topped with blackberry jam.  I was skeptical about using blackberry jam, but it was the perfect accent to these cookies.  Their taste is unbelievable straight from the oven, and they're very moist with a slight chewiness.  These are the best cookies I have ever made. 

Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam

Giada's original recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick low-fat unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 beaten egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup blackberry jam
• extra granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar together in another bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until blended.  Gradually add the flour mixture until incorporated. 
4. Form the dough into 1/4 cup-size balls and place on the cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart.  Using a round 1/4 teaspoon measure (or the end of a wooden spoon), make a hole in the center of each ball of dough, about 1/2 inch deep.  Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam into each hole.  Sprinkled the tops with 1/2 teaspoon sugar prior to baking. 
5. Bake for 11 to 14 minutes until dough has spread and the surface of the cookies are crackled.  Cool for 5 minutes; then, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.