My Favorite Spaghetti

I don’t know if this is even worthy enough to post on my blog, but I’m going to do it anyway just to show you how I make spaghetti for my family.

It is super simple…a store-bought marinara sauce, a package a spaghetti pasta, a half-pound of extra lean ground beef, and of course grated parmesan cheese to top it off.

I’ve never made a homemade spaghetti sauce, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know. Until then, this works for us!

Brown meat over medium heat until no longer pink.

Pour jar of Newman’s Own Marinara Sauce over browned meat.

While sauce is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

Serve and enjoy!

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1/2 lb Extra lean ground beef
Package of spaghetti pasta (allocate two servings worth)
1/2 jar of Newman’s Own Marinara Sauce
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions
1. Brown meat in skillet over medium heat until no longer pink.
2. Pour marinara sauce over meat and simmer for about 15 minutes
3. While meat sauce is simmering, boil water and add pasta. Cook as directed on package.
4. Serve pasta on plates and top with meat sauce.
5. Sprinkle with desired parmesan cheese.

Serves 2

Panko Crusted Sea Bass

I think this is the best meal I’ve ever cooked! My husband does not like fish, so since I was on my own for dinner tonight, I decided to make panko crusted sea bass for myself. My mom found this recipe in the Dallas Morning Newspaper and it has become a special treat for us.

You can also make this dish with cod, salmon, tilapia, sole, or halibut but sea bass is absolutely the best. The flavors of this dish are amazing with the mayonnaise and seasoning, and the sea bass’s natural oils create a nice buttery flavor. Serve with brown rice and vegetables, and you’ve got a complete meal. My dad always says there is no need to go to Trulucks when you can make this at home.

Spread a layer of mayonnaise and creole seasoning on top side of the fillet.
Press panko crumbs on top. Refrigerate until ready to saute.

Melt butter and olive oil in oven-proof skillet

Place fish panko-side down in skillet and brown for 2 minutes on medium heat. Turn over fish and brown for another 2-3 minutes.

Place skillet in 375 degree oven for 6-7 minutes to finish cooking the fish.

To make bean ragout, heat scallions in olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add edamame and tomatoes and cook one more minute. Add drained beans, chicken broth, and parsley, if using. Transfer to serving bowl.

Serve sea bass on the ragout.

Panko Crusted Sea Bass
Ingredients
2 (7-ounce) sea bass fillets
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
1 cup panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 scallions, sliced (green and white part)
1 cup shelled edamame (thawed, if frozen)
1/2 cup diced fire roasted tomatoes, including juices (can substitute pico de gallo)
1 (15-ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained
3 tbsp chicken broth
minced parsley (optional: I omitted)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Coat fillets with mayonnaise and season generously with Creole seasoning. Coat one side with panko crumbs and refrigerate until ready to sauté.
3. Place a large saute’ pan or skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. When hot, add the scallions and saute’ for about a minute. Add edamame and tomatoes and cook about a minute or until hot. Add the drained beans, chicken broth, and parsley (optional). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer ragout to a serving bowl or plates. Cover to keep warm.
4. Rinse the saute’ pan and place over medium-high heat, and add butter and oil. When hot, place fillets, panko-side down, in the pan and saute for about 2 minutes over medium heat or until panko coating is lightly browned. Turn carefully and saute another 2-3 minutes..
6. Place saute’ pan in the oven for 6-7 minutes to finish cooking the fillets. (If using thin fillets, such as sole or tilapia, you can complete cooking in the saute pan for a total time of about 6 minutes).
7. Reheat the bean ragout in the microwave on High (100 percent power) for 1 minute. Serve the sea bass on the ragout.

Yield: 2 servings
Dallas Morning News

Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I call these “Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies” because everytime I visit my aunt, she makes them for me.

These along with the Neiman Marcus cookies are my favorite chocolate chip cookies in the world! Unlike the Neimans cookies, these have ground oatmeal in them, some nuts, and a milk chocolate candy bar.

The original recipe makes 112 cookies, but I fourthed the recipe and made about 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy! You won’t be disappointed! 🙂

chocoatmealcookies — Cream together the butter with sugars.

Jolene's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies — Grind the oats in food processor into a fine powder. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips and nuts to the wet mixture

Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup oatmeal, grind in a food processor until fine powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 oz chocolate chips
2 oz hershey bar, chopped into chunks
3/4 cup chopped nuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer
Add egg and vanilla
Mix together flour, ground oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
Add dry ingredients to wet mixture
Stir in chocolate chips, chopped hershey bar, and chopped nuts
Make golf ball sized cookies spaced 2 inches apart on parchment-lined or silpat cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Country French Omelette

I love breakfast, especially breakfast for dinner. Tonight I made a Country French Omelette from Barefoot Contessa. It is extremely easy, and extremely good. You can put your favorite omelette toppings in it to make this your own. You may want to use sausage instead of bacon, but I know my husband sure wouldn’t eat it then. (There is a story behind this…. I accidently gave him food poisoning with expired Owens sausage. He still won’t eat it to this day! Ooops! Sorry!)

Enjoy!

Saute potatoes in skillet over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.

Chop scallions and cooked bacon.

Pour egg mixture into hot skillet and sprinkle scallions, potatoes, and bacon on top. Place skillet in oven and bake for 6-8 minutes.

Cut into slices and serve immediately.

Country French Omelette
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
3 slices thick bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup unpeeled, yukon gold potatoes, diced
salt and pepper
5 eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp green onions
cheese, optional

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Heat olive oil, add bacon, and cook until browned, not crisp. Remove from pan. (I cooked the bacon in the microwave instead…I think it is less greasy that way)
3. Cook potatoes over medium heat, 8-10 minutes, until tender and brown. Remove from pan.
4. Beat eggs, milk and 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a bowl.
5. Pour fat out of pan. Add butter – melt it on low. Pour in egg mixture. Sprinkle bacon, potatoes, green onions, and cheese on top.
6. Place in oven for 5-8 minutes. Do not overcook, or eggs will be rubbery.

Serves 2-3

French Breakfast Puffs

These French Puffs really satisfied my sugar craving for today. They taste like a snickerdoodle cookie in the form of a muffin. I made them to go with a country french omelette for dinner. Watch out…these are really sweet! After cooling completely, the puffs can be frozen in plastic bags and reheated later. This recipe is from one of my favorite cooks, Pioneer Woman.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Cream the shortening, sugar, and eggs.

Add the milk and dry ingredients and mix to combine

Pour in greased muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until golden

Dip in butter, then cinnamon, sugar mixture to coat

French Breakfast Puffs
Puffs
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Coating
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening.
4. Add the eggs and mix again.
5. Alternate adding one-third of the flour mixture and one-third of the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
6. Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Remove muffins from the pan and set aside.
8. To make the coating, melt the butter in a bowl. In a separate container, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
9. Dip the warm muffins in the butter, coating thoroughly, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Don’t be afraid to really coat them up.

Enjoy!

Yields 12 muffins

Emeril Lagasse’s Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo

This was the first dinner I ever made my husband (when we were dating) and he absolutely loved it! Actually the first words out of his mouth were, “This is a lot better than I thought it would be!” For those of you who don’t know, my husband is not big on seafood, so he didn’t want to tell me that when I was about to cook our first dinner. What is crazy is that he loves sushi, and he likes cold shrimp cocktail. He will only eat salmon from Houston’s (a restaurant in Dallas), and he only likes crab legs from some exclusive restaurant in Atanta. My husband says he hates seafood, but it sounds to me like he kind of likes it!

For this recipe, I sometimes use the curly, corkscrew pasta from Williams-Sonoma instead of linguine because it holds the sauce really well and it is fun to eat. I love this dish; its spicy, simple, and fast to make. Plus I would consider it quite healthy!

Cook the onions in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.

Add the crushed red pepper flakes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.

Now add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes.

Finally add the drained pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir all ingredients together and cook another 3-4 minutes.

Garnish with Parmesan cheese (unfortunately we were out…) and serve immediately.

Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo
Ingredients
1 pound linguine
1 cup diced onion
6 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp minced garlic
2-3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 lbs. shrimp
1 cup cooking water (from drained pasta)
1 tsp salt; divided in pasta water and in the sauce (I omitted because I do not like a lot of salt)
fresh parsley
parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Cook pasta in salted water for 5 minutes and drain. SAVE 1 cup of cooking water!
2. On medium high heat, cook 1 cup diced onion with 6 tablespoons olive oil for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add 3 tablespoons minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add 2-3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.
5. Add 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and 2 tbsp tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Add 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Add drained pasta and 1 cup of cooking water and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

Serves 4-6

Minted Mixed Fruit Salad

This is the most colorful fruit salad I have ever eaten. It looks gorgeous, especially served in a glass bowl. It is very easy to make and is a favorite among our family members. It calls for ingredients I never would have thought to use…mint and ginger ale! You’ve got to try this one; its healthy too! By the way, my mom has made this twice…first for her and her husband, and the second time for our Easter lunch. This comes from Southern Living’s newest cookbook, “Farmers Market Cookbook”.

First you need a quart of strawberries, fresh pineapple, kiwis, pineapple juice, and ginger ale (Central Market didn’t have it, so we had to buy some Jamaican brand).

Simply cut up the fruit and mix it with the juices and sugar and you are finished! Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Minted Mixed Fruit
Ingredients
1 qt. strawberries, halved (about 3 cups)
3 cups fresh pineapple chunks
4 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar (Mom used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup ginger ale
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions
1. Place fruit in a shallow serving bowl.
2. Whisk together sugar, juice, and ginger ale until sugar is dissolved.
3. Gently stir in mint, and pour over fruit.
4. Cover and chill 2 hours before serving

Serves 8-10

Happy Easter…Time for Carrot Cake!

Well, I didn’t get to cook a lot this weekend since my husband and I were out of town, but my mom made up the slack for me. We had an elaborate Easter lunch with family and friends and it was amazing! Filet Mignon, baked potatoes, bread, fruit salad with kiwi, pineapples, and strawberries, homemade macaroni and cheese, and last but not least…CARROT CAKE!

Mom made the carrot cake in a 9×13 inch pan this time, which is actually easier than layering the cake, and it tastes just as good. The flavors of cinnamon and spices were perfect and the cream cheese frosting was to die for. The cake recipe was from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking From My Home to Yours” cookbook, and the icing is my mom’s own recipe.

I definitely recommend you try this. I am not a big cake person because I think cakes (white and yellow cakes) are bland, so I have to have lots of icing. This cake on the other hand is moist, and flavorful, however that’s not to say I didn’t eat my fair share in icing. When my husband says, “That cake was unbelievable”, you’ve got to believe him. Enjoy!

Carrot Cake
Ingredients for the Cake
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots; we grated them in a food processor fitted with a shredding blade)
1 cup coarsley chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup moist, plump raisins (we omitted because the males in our family don’t like dried fruit)
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola or safflower oil
4 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9×13 inch cake pan, flour the insides and tap out the excess. (Can make into three 9×2 inch round cake pans instead).
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins (if using).
3. In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother.
4. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix in the chunky ingredients.
5. Pour batter in baking pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool until room temperature and then add the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
1 stick butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese,
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped finely

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Add sugar and vanilla and blend, then mix in the nuts.
3. Spread on cooled carrot cake.

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

I love quesadillas, but I like to make them at home rather than order them from a restaurant. In my opinion, restaurants put too much cheese, and not enough chicken and bell peppers in their quesadillas. So… here is my all-time favorite way to make chicken fajita quesadillas. I love the red and green bell peppers because they are loaded in vitamins A and C.

Start with an onion and red and green bell peppers and chop them into thick slices.

Saute onions and peppers in 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat until tender and starting to brown.

Assemble a flour tortilla with hot sauce, chicken, onions, peppers, and cheese.

Fold in half and smear each side of the tortilla with a thin layer of butter. Heat in skillet until golden brown on both sides.

Cut into wedges and enjoy! Top with sour cream, quacamole, or my favorite…more hot sauce!

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas
Ingredients
Flour tortillas
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Onion
Hot sauce (I like the hottest version)
Cheese (Monterey and Jack)

Directions
1. Chop onion and bell peppers into thick slices.
2. Heat skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
3. Add chopped onions and peppers. Cook until tender, and starting to brown. Remove from skillet.
4. Assemble a tortilla with hot sauce, chicken, onions, peppers, and cheese. Fold tortilla in half and add a thin layer of butter on each side.
5. In the same skillet over medium heat, cook quesadilla on each side, or until cheese is melted and tortilla is golden brown; about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and cut into wedges. Top with sour cream, quacamole, or hot sauce.

Serves 6

Chicken Tetrazzini

This is one of my husband’s absolute favorites now, especially since the sauce tastes like alfredo. It was actually one of my favorite dishes growing up, and I remember dishing myself out not only seconds, but thirds everytime I ate this. It is super easy to make and even the pickiest of eaters should like it. I like to add mushrooms and peas to make it a little healthier.

Boil the spaghetti.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by melting the butter and adding salt, pepper, flour, chicken broth and heavy cream.

Bring sauce to a boil and cook 1 minute longer.

After the sauce thickens, stir in the cooked chicken, mushrooms, and peas.

Add the spaghetti.

Pour into an ungreased baking pan and bake for 30 minutes, uncovered at 350 degrees F.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 package (of a 12 oz package) spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 cups chicken, cooked, cubed and drained
1 can (3oz) mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup frozen peas (I didn’t measure, so you put in the amount you desire)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in a large pan. Add flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until smooth and bubbly.
Remove from heat. Stir in broth, and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 more minute.
Stir in spaghetti, chicken, mushrooms, and peas.
Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until bubbly. Place under broiler for a few minutes to brown.