Broccoli Carbonara

Ingredients:

Coarse salt

Ground black pepper

7 slices of bacon

1 crown of broccoli, cut into small pieces

2 cloves of garlic, squeezed and sauteed in butter or bacon fat

1 box of short pasta (16 oz.)

2 large eggs

1/4 cup grated parmesan, +more to taste

chopped parsley for serving, optional

1) Place bacon slices onto baking pan. Place in cold oven and turn oven to 400 degrees F. It will take about 15-20 minutes for the bacon to get crispy. Once it is crispy, place on paper towels.

2) While bacon is cooking, blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes or so, until desired tenderness. Drain in a sieve.

3) In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together eggs, parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper.

4) Boil pasta. While boiling, use 1/4 cup of pasta water to temper the eggs: pour it in slowly while whisking constantly.

5) Drain pasta and immediately add to the large bowl containing the egg mixture. Add broccoli and crumbled bacon. Stir to combine. Add any additional salt, pepper, or parmesan.

Naanish

I'll start by lamenting the fact that I do not have a tandoor oven. Thus, my naans were lacking that special something. In the summer, I am going to try grilling them.

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast (I used quick rise which cut down on blooming and resting times)

1.5 teaspoons sugar

3/4 cup warm water

2 cups (plus more if needed) bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ghee

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

stick of butter for brushing (you will NOT use the whole stick. It is just easier to grab onto)

1. In the stand mixer bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water and bloom yeast. If you are using quick rise, this should only take a few minutes.

2. Add salt, flour, yogurt, and ghee to the bowl and mix until combined. Add flour by the spoonful until the dough completely pulls away from the bowl while the dough hook is working on it. Kneed on "2" for 10 minutes.

3. Form the dough into a ball (may need to dust your hands with flour) and coat it with oil. Return to the bowl, cover, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour.

4. Once the dough has doubled in size, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divid dough into 12 pieces and roll out into circles. Place the circles on a cookie sheet or pizza stone.

5. Bake for about 8 minutes. If the tops are not done, turn the naan over and bake for one minute more.

6. Remove from the oven and rub each naan with the stick of butter.

Same-day Quick Pizza Crust

These things are usually terrible, but we really enjoyed this crust. I haven't tried recipes that call for an overnight fridge stint or high gluten flour yet, and I'm sure those will be better. However, for sudden cravings or emergency dinner plans sans takeout, this is the best crust I've made.

2 1/2 - 3 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/4 tsp fast rising yeast, (or one envelope)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In my stand mixer bowl, I combined 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. I whisked the ingredients together.

2. I gradually added water and oil, mixing it with a spoon until well combined. Then, as per directions, I mixed on medium speed for 2 minutes.

3. At this point, you are supposed to add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides. It took a little over 2 cups for me, but that depends on the flour you use. Also, after initially blending in additional flour with my spoon, I changed to the dough hook and used the mixer to add flour.

4. Use the mixer to knead the dough for 8 minutes.

5. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.

6. Divide dough into two pieces for two 12 inch pizzas. Do not use a bigger pan, because the crust will be too thin (I like chewy thick crust) and will cook too fast for the toppings. Stretch the dough onto the pans. I first covered mine with corn meal, which helped getting the pizzas off in the end.

7. Prick the crusts with a fork and let rise again in a warm place for 15 minutes.

8. Brush crusts with oil (I used regular cooking oil) and prebake in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes.

9. Put on the toppings and bake at 400 degrees for about ten minutes. The top of the pizza on the top rack cooked too fast while the bottom did not, so I covered the browning crusts with foil and returned the pizza for another 6 minutes. It came out perfect.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/almost-like-papa-johns-pizza-dough-177072#ixzz1j9kbLzG

Sloppy Joes more Super than Rachel Ray's

Here is my improvement upon the slightly bland Rachel Ray recipe. It is a great way to stretch ground beef.

Ingredients:

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil for the pan (or butter)

1 1/4 pounds of ground beef

3 cloves of squeezed garlic

1 tbs brown sugar (or to taste)

2 tsp - 1 tbs steak seasoning (Montreal Steak Seasoning)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

splash of red wine

toasted and buttered rolls/buns

Heat and oil/butter a large skillet over medium high heat. Add meat to the pan. Once the meat is broken up, add crushed garlic, brown sugar, and steak seasoning. When the meat has browned, add the onion, green bell pepper, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on reduced heat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste. Reduce to simmer and cook for another 5 minutes (or longer).

Easy Lemon Chicken with Optional Artichoke

Ingredients:

1 can artichoke hearts (makes the dish more yummy, but it will still be yummy without)

3/4 cup grated parmesan or asiago cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

zest from 1 lemon

black pepper

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

butter for searing

Chop and drain the artichokes, if using. Mix with grated cheese, mayo, lemon zest, and black pepper.

In the butter, sear the chicken breasts on each side until brown. Place them in a baking dish and cover them with the mayo mixture. Bake until chicken is done (about 25-40 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts.

Spagetti Squash of Deliciousness

Ingredients:

2 fresh, whole, heads of garlic

2 spaghetti squash

olive oil

italian seasoning

Place the garlic heads on some aluminum foil and pour a little olive oil on them. Wrap them up and roast them until soft (25-40 min).

While the garlic is roasting: cut the spaghetti squashes down the middle, scrape out the seeds, and roast them on baking sheets in the oven. 375 for about an hour.

Squeeze the garlic out of the skin. Mix with olive oil to make a paste/spread. Spread it on the squash, and sprinkle with italian seasoning.

Marvel at how something so healthy could substitute a filling pasta dish.

Quick, Cheap, Easy, Kid-Pleasing Stroganoff

Um, what the title says.

Ingredients:

~ 1.5 lbs ground beef

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

tbsp of onion powder

tbsp of garlic powder

1 box of pasta (I used bow-tie. Use egg noodles for more authenticity)

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

splash of rice vinegar

While pasta is boiling: in a bowl, mix beef and seasonings. Brown the beef. Drain the pasta. Add the beef and two cans of mushroom soup. Heat until hot. At the end of cooking, add a splash of rice vinegar. DONE.