Rosie Makes Stuffed Pasta Shells.

 

 I'm on a comfort food roll right now.  Today I'm making stuffed pasta shells.  They're creamy and cheesy, filled with cream cheese and fresh spinach, and coated in a hearty tomato sauce, with more cheese, bubbling and golden on top. 

My basic filling is cream cheese and spinach.  Had I planned this, I would have thrown in some ricotta cheese as well, but I didn't have any.  If you have ricotta, use it in addition to the cream cheese.  If you decide to use ricotta, I would let it sit in a cheesecloth-lined sieve for about 20 minutes, pressing the excess liquid out.  

Cook pasta shells according to package directions.  I used 16 or so shells in a 9 x 11-inch pan.  Drain and let cool.

 

For my filling:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

2-3 heaping yepsens fresh spinach, steamed a bit and moisture wrung out

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese 

1/2 cup or so grated Parmesan cheese 

kosher salt, to taste

 

No, I don't really measure stuff, except if I'm baking a cake or cookies, where it's all chemistry and you need to be exact.

 

So, for stuffing shells, eyeball it.  If you'd like to add some chopped onion to the mix, go ahead. If you want to throw in a few tablespoons of chopped parsley, do so.

 

And a yepsen, in case you're not familiar with the term, is a unit of measurement, equivalent to two hands held together.  You really can't overdo the spinach, so don't worry about it. It reduces quite a bit when you cook it.  To prepare the spinach for the filling, stem it first, then steam it until it just wilts.  Drain in a colander, let it cool a bit, then wring as much moisture out as you can by hand. 

 

Combine softened cream cheese, drained ricotta, if you're using it, steamed spinach, mozzarella, and salt to taste.  Then I decided to add in the Parmesan cheese.  Mix all until well-blended.

 

For the tomato sauce: 

Again, I'm not measuring.  I'm eyeballing and basically using what's in my fridge that needs to be used.  You can get an idea of amounts by checking out the pics.  

 

Hamburger meat (not quite a pound), browned and seasoned with salt and pepper and oregano

Handful or so of mushrooms, sliced 

Chopped onion

Chopped red and orange peppers (or any color)

1 15-oz. can tomato sauce

minced garlic (2-3 cloves) 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1-2 TB oregano

 

 In a medium skillet, brown hamburger meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Before it's totally browned, throw in the sliced mushrooms and cook a few minutes, then add in the onion and pepper and cook another few minutes, stirring occasionally.  Pour in the tomato sauce, add some water to the can, slosh it around, and pour into the mix.  Add in the minced garlic.   Add salt and oregano to taste.

Cook over low heat, stirring every now and then, for 30 minutes or longer, and let the flavors develop. 

  

To assemble:

Cover the bottom of a 9 x 11 baking dish with a layer of the tomato sauce. 

Stuff shells with cream cheese and spinach mixture until filling is all used up, placing shells in single layer on top of sauce.  Spoon more sauce over top of shells then cover with grated mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  The more cheese, the merrier.

 

Bake at 350° 30-40 minutes, until cheeses are bubbly and golden brown.

 

 

Now for the step-by-steps: 

Brown the hamburger meat.  Along with sliced mushrooms.

 

Add in the onions and peppers.

Tomato sauce in.

 

 

 Simmer away over low heat.

If you want to add in some minced garlic, I won't stop you. 

 

 

Pasta shells are cooked. 

 Filling is ready.  

Sauce is in bottom of baking dish.

Stuff the shells with filling.

Place shells on top of layer of sauce.

Spoon sauce liberally over top of stuffed shells.

Top with slices of mozzarella.

Grate parmesan over the whole shebang. 

And while I'm thinking about it, I think I'll make some garlic parsley toasts to go with it.

Bake until beautiful.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Enjoy.

Easy Like Saturday Afternoon.

 

 It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m looking in my fridge trying to pull something together for lunch and, by golly, it’s working.  Helped that I stopped and bought a couple tuna steaks this morning.

 I love my Saturday afternoons.  It’s the weekend, my work is done, and it’s time to reward myself, so I want to fix an enjoyable meal.  I want a meal that’s EASY, simple, fairly quick, straightforward, down to earth, and just plain delicious.  And I have one –marinated and seared tuna with a reduced and butter-enriched sauce, served with a fragrant rice infused with orange flavor.  For accompaniments, I have stir-fried vegetables and fried, egg roll strips with sesame seeds. 

Here’s my game plan:  First, I’ll put together a marinade for the tuna. While the tuna is soaking up flavors, I’ll put the rest of the meal together.  I’ll get my rice started and I’ll fry up my egg roll strips.  Then I’ll sear the tuna, remove it from the pan, and let it rest for a few minutes while I cook down the marinade.  Lastly, I’ll do a quick stir fry of vegetables to plate with the tuna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the marinade:

2 TB Tamari sauce

2 TB mirin

2 TB sherry vinegar

1 TB hoisin sauce

2 TB brown sugar

2 Mandarin oranges, zested and juiced

Combine all ingredients, stirring until sugar is mostly dissolved.

Place tuna fillets in marinade, turning to coat.

 

 Cook the basmati.  Instead of cooking the rice in plain water, I used a combination of orange juice and  water (2:1 OJ to water) with a bit of orange zest to give the rice somewhat of a boost.  Add salt and cook according to directions. Plop in a chunk of unsalted butter.  Turn off heat and cover.

Next, get started on the eggroll wrapper strips.  I had made some really good egg rolls the other day, so I have egg roll wrappers in the fridge that don’t keep all that well once opened and needed to be used.  I cut the wrappers into thin stripes - say about 1/2 inch wide and fried them in oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  When golden brown, transfer to rack to drain and sprinkle on kosher salt and sesame seeds while still slick with oil.  Keep warm.

Cook the tuna:  

Heat a cast iron skillet with a film of peanut oil to 425°.  (I use peanut oil because it has a higher smoke point than other oils.) When it gets to temperature, drop in a chunk of unsalted butter here.  When the butter stops fizzling and sizzling, gently place in the tuna steak.  Time it.  2 minutes on first side; turn over, and one minute on the flip side.  Remove fillet to plate and let rest for a couple minutes.  Lower heat and add the marinade to the skillet and, stirring, let in bubble down and reduce a bit.  Pour over the tuna fillet.

Cook the vegetables:  Add a film of sesame oil in a medium skillet and swirl around to coat. Medium heat.  Add in chopped red bell pepper and chopped onion.  Cook for about 1 minute.  Drop in a  yepsen* or two of spinach leaves.  Add in some lemon zest.  Turn heat off and cover.  Just leave the spinach alone to sweat a bit.  You don't want limp leaves.  You want relaxed.

*yepsen. A yepsen, if you don’t know it by now, is a quite useful unit of measurement, dating back to the 1300s.  It’s the amount that can be held by two hands cupped together.  

And plate:  

Mound the rice.  Next, add the spinach, red peppers, and onion.  Then plate the tuna fillet and spoon on the sauce. Top with the fried strips.

 

And it’s perfect.

Tuna is marinating. 

Cut the egg roll wrappers into strips.

And fry.

Drain on rack and sprinkle with kosher salt and sesame seeds.

 

For the tuna:

Cast iron skillet. 

Peanut oil.

425°

Add a pat of butter.

 

Carefully place in steak. 

2 minutes first side.  1 minute flip side.

Remove tuna steak, pour marinade in pan, and cook, stirring, until reduced a bit.

 Enrich the marinade by swirling in a pat or two of unsalted butter.

 

Add a pat of butter, and whisk until fully incorporated.  

Pour sauce over tuna.

 

 Let tuna sit for a few minutes.

 

Lastly, stir-fry.                                                        

Gently sauté the onion and pepper.

 

Drop in the spinach.

Add a little zest, remove from heat, cover, and let wilt.

Remember, you want relaxed spinach, not limp.

 

-

Enjoy.

Rosie Makes Pig Soup.

 

    It's cold, so I'm in the mood for soup.  Found about a third of a pork tenderloin in the freezer, so we're going with Pig Soup today.

 Rosie's Pig Soup 

2-3 cups worth cubed pork tenderloin, dusted with flour

1 - 2 TB each peanut oil and butter  

1 onion, chopped

1 32-oz. carton beef broth

1 10-oz can chopped tomatoes with chilies

1 14-.5 oz can diced tomatoes 

1 tsp thyme

1 TB oregano

1/2 tsp kosher salt

beurre manié, to thicken soup *See Rosie Note below

 1 cup cooked black beans

1 cup cooked white rice 

1 can baby corn ears 

chopped cilantro 

*Rosie Note - Beurre manié is French for "kneaded butter."  It's simply equal amounts softened butter and flour, worked by hand to form a paste.  Start with 2 TB butter and 2 TB flour.  Work it to incorporat the flour into the butter, then pull small bits of the paste and drop it into your low simmering soup, stirring to allow the butter to melt and evenly distribute the flour, thickening the soup. 

Cut the pork tenderloin into bite-sized cubes of meat.   

Give it a light dusting of flour.

In a medium pot, heat about a tablespoon of oil to about 425°.  Drop in a tablespoon of butter.  When the butter finishes sputtering, drop in the pork cubes, one at a time, not crowding the pot. Give it about 2 minutes on the first side, then turn the cubes and give a minute more on the flip side.  Remove from pot.  Work the next batch in, browning the cubes and setting aside.

 

 Add the chopped onion to the pot and cook about a minute, stirring.  Add in about 2 cups of the beef broth, scraping the goodie bits up from the bottom of the pan.  That's where the flavor is.

 

Add in a can of chopped tomatoes with chilies.  I had hot chilies, which I like, but you might want to try the mild if you prefer less heat.  Add the meat back to the pot.  Sprinkle in the seasonings, cover, and barely simmer over low heat for about an hour.

 

At this point, I taste-tested and realized those chilies were hotter than I thought.  So I added in the rest of the carton of beef broth and the can of plain diced tomatoes, no chilies. Bring back to a boil, reduce to low simmer.

 

 Now, if you want to thicken up your soup, try using the beurre manié. Stir in a bit of the paste and let the flour cook and the soup thicken up.  Whisk in more until you get the consistency you like.

 

The soup is perfectly fine and good to go right now, but I started looking around in my fridge to see what needed to be used up and I found a container of  white rice and a container of black beans that were "leftover" from some nachos I'd made the day before.  If you've been reading along, you know that I don't do "leftovers."  Rosie does "Moreovers."  

 

To wit:  

Now, I don’t like the term “leftovers” and I don’t refer to my second- or third- or fourth-time around meals as “leftovers.”  I knew  I needed another word that was more definitive and positive.  First, I thought of the word re-do's. But that implies it wasn't done right the first time around when it certainly was.  Then I considered do-overs. But, of course, that, too, has a negative connotation.   I've put a lot of thought into this trying to come up with just the right word which describes the process of what I do in the life chain of the produce and viande I prepare and serve and consume.   And my word is moreovers.  Think about it:  You've already produced and served a wonderful, satisfying, convivial repast.  So, what's next?   MORE is next.  When you say "Moreover," you're likely going to top what you previously said or did, put an exclamation point there, and/or put it in bold or italics. So, I don’t have leftovers.

I have MOREOVERS!

 

Added both the rice and the beans to the soup.  

And then I thought, "Wait!  Wait!  Let's throw in a can of baby corn too!"  So I did.  You could use a can of corn kernels, but I like the big corn flavor every now and then, not the corn in every spoonful. 

 

  Now, for the step-by-steps:

 

Cut pork into cubes.

Dust with flour.

 Sear the cubes.

 

Do batches at a time.  Do not crowd the pan.

Sauté the onions.

  

 

 

 Pour in the beef broth, scraping up from the bottom.

You want the goodie bits.  Flavor! 

 

    

Add in the tomatoes.

Pork goes in.

Rice and beans in

 

And the corn.

 

Serve with your favorite cornbread.

Cilantro, or parsley if you're not in the cilantro camp. 

Enjoy.