Cheese Ravioli with Tomato and Artichoke Sauce

So...it has been a while since I have posted BUT that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking! I've got some great recipes I have tried and I'm super excited to share them.  I will say that I was pretty proud of myself with this one (Don't worry...I'm not getting a big head). I was proud of myself because when the sauce was ready and I tried it I knew it was missing something AKA it didn't taste very good.  I was disappointed initially, but I thought there has to be something to add that could save dinner! I added a few things AND......it was DELICIOUS! This recipe was super fast to make as well. Some nights I don't get home from work until after 6:30 and I was able to whip this up in 20 minutes. My hubby was quite surprised when I announced that dinner was ready!

Cheese Ravioli with Tomato and Artichoke Sauce

2 (9 ounce) packages fresh cheese ravioli 
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can peeled, seeded tomatoes chopped
1 (6.5) ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts 
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese to top


1. Cook ravioli according to package directions. (I used provolone and mushroom ravioli..very good!)
2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a large nonstick skillet, heat one tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add tomatoes, artichokes (chopped), green onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are warmed through. Remove from heat.
3. Drain pasta well. Transfer pasta to a large bowl, and toss with 1 teaspoon oil. Add half of the sauce to the ravioli; toss gently, but thoroughly to mix. Transfer ravioli to a large serving platter. Pour remaining vegetable sauce over ravioli. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Mistakes: Did not toss pasta in oil (skipped over that part when I was reading). Had to do it after some of the sauce was added :)

Things I learned/Tips:
- Instead of buying garlic and crushing it we just keep a jar of the already minced and chopped garlic. Works great and is a lot quicker (Thanks Nathan and Julie)
- With recipes like this I could have added some more fresh veggies...mushrooms, onion, green pepper, etc
- Trying to work on my presentation...the pictures don't look too appetizing!

-Brittany

Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

Can I just say how much I love banana pudding! One of my favorite desserts I have decided...especially after trying this recipe. Tim and I decided to give up dessert for lent this year so I knew I wanted to make something really good before Ash Wednesday (took me awhile to post this). We are not Catholic but I like the idea of sacrificing something you enjoy for God. I will make a note though for the sake of our little blog...if I do happen to make a dessert for whatever reason I can try 1-2 bites. I mean I can't recommend something if I don't know what it tastes like! Anyways, on to the Banana Pudding! It is all made from scratch so put away that instant vanilla pudding you got out because if I made it from scratch, ANYONE can make it from scratch!!! I will most certainly be making this again.

Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

1 cup sugar
2 heaping tablespoons all purpose flour
3 egg yolks (beaten) (save the whites for the meringue)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bananas, sliced
1 box vanilla wafers


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup of sugar, 2 heaping tablespoons flour and mix together.
2. Then add 3 beaten egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix together until well blended.
3. Pour contents into a saucepan, add 1/2 stick butter and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat until it has thickened to a pudding consistency. Stir often being careful not to scorch the pudding. Remove from heat.
4.  In a square (or circle) baking dish, cover the bottom and sides with vanilla wafers. Place sliced bananas on top of wafers and around sides of the dish (see picture below). Pour in pudding and add more wafers and bananas to the top.
5. Top pudding with the meringue (directions to follow) and place in 375 degree preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until meringue browns

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar


1. Beat the egg whites at high speed until they form soft peaks.
2. At high speed, gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Spread the meringue over the pudding, sealing it at the sides of the dish, and bake as instructed above.

(what the pan lined with vanilla wafers and bananas looks like)

Things I learned:
1. You really have to watch the pudding closely to make sure it doesn't burn on the stove
2. Meringue is made of egg whites and sugar...who knew??
3. To make the "peaks" of the meringue I used a spatula and just dipped it in the meringue a little and lifted it up until the peak was formed.

-Brittany

Texas Sheet Cake

It has been a week of celebrating as we have had 3 birthdays of family and friends this week. Therefore, I have had several opportunities to perfect a family recipe for Texas Sheet Cake. Texas Sheet Cake has become a tradition in the Talbert household. Every time we go to visit Brad's aunt and uncle, his sweet sweet aunt makes us this yummy cake. For those of you who are not Texans, this is a super moist and always pleasing cake. Again it is really easy and also my all time favorite cake.

On this cake, I used walnuts on half with those in mind that don't like nuts (timmy!)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water or fresh brewed coffee (i highly recommend using coffee)
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon to taste (optional)

Chocolate Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons buttermilk
2 1/4 sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans or chopped walnuts (i used walnuts which I toasted to bring out the flavor)

To make the cake:
Grease a 15x10, jelly roll pan, or a 13x9 inch baking pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt (put in the cinnamon here if you would like to use it); set aside. In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup water (again use coffee for a richer chocolate flavor). Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With an electric hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the greased pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes for the 15x10 or 35 minutes for he 13x9, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Pour warm chocolate frosting over the warm cake, spreading evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly before cutting. Makes 24 delicious servings!
To make the frosting:
In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter, 3 tablespoons and unsweetened cocoa powder, and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Bring to a boil. remove from heat; add 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. If desired, stir in 1/2 cup coarsely toasted chopped nuts.

-Laura

Orange Roughy in a Mushroom Sauce

For our first Valentine's Day as a married couple we decided to stay at home and cook together. It turned out to be really fun despite the size of our kitchen. Believe it or not I have never made fish before so I decided to give it a try. We attempted to find Halibut to make but it was nowhere to be found so we found this great recipe for Orange Roughy. It was easy and delicious! There are some changes I have made when posting this recipe because there was WAY too much pepper. I don't really know if I am "chef" enough to change a recipe but I feel pretty confident about this one. One thing we did find out AFTER we purchased the fish is that Orange Roughy is close to being on the endangered species list. SO with that said maybe wait to make this one until the Orange Roughy has made a come back...unless you feel okay with eating an almost endangered species!

Orange Roughy in a Mushroom Sauce
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 1/4 cups finely chopped onions

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

salt to taste

12 ounces plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

3/4 pounds orange roughy fillets (2 large fillets)

3 tablespoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs

paprika to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Coat with cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat, cook and stir the mushrooms and onions about 4 minutes. Season with lemon peper, Italian seasoning, and salt. Remove from heat, and allow to cool about 10 minutes (you could also put in the refridgerator for 5-10 minutes to help cool). Blend well in the yogurt and parmesan cheese.

3. Arrange each orange roughy fillet in the prepared baking pan over about 3-4 tablespoons of the musroom mixture. Top the fillets with the remaining mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

4. Bake 30 minutes or until the fish is easily flaked with a fork. Season with paprika and serve.

We grilled some asparagus to go along with our fish.

-Brittany

Cowboy Stew

Thanks Brit for keeping me accountable for our weekly recipes. Since I missed a week here or there, I am trying to catch up which in returns mean more simple recipes! This recipe even though it only takes about 15 minutes to make and is super easy is also very filling and satisfying. It's warm, perfect for winter days. And since there is able to be a huge cold front this is the perfect choice. I must credit Susan (the most amazing cook ever!), my bible study teacher, as she is the one to create this recipe.

Cowboy Stew

2 lbs ground beef

1 onion chopped

48 oz ranch style beans

2 cans minestrone soup (Progressive is a good choice)

1 can rotel tomatoes (you choose how spicy or not spicy you want your stew to be)

Brown meat with onions. Once browned add other ingredients. Serve hot. The End...that's all you do...seriously...it's worth trying!

This recipe is so easy I don't really have any helpful tips.

-Laura

Chocolate Chip Tiramisu Cheesecake

For my hubby's birthday I told him to pick out a cake..any cake he wanted me to make. He saw this as an opportunity to broaden my cooking horizons and requested a Tiramisu Cheesecake. I have always been very intimidated by the idea of making cheesecake. I mean The Cheescake Factory has set a pretty high standard and I'm good with letting them do all the cheesecake baking! So...I fought the urge to call in an order and found a recipe. I will say some of the ingredients can be hard to find. Luckily we have a Central Market in Fort Worth that had everything I needed! I woke up early Saturday morning to start my little cheesecake adventure. First thing I had to do was use our food processesor...which I had to dust off since I have NEVER used it before. Don't worry that I spent 30 minutes reading the manuel and watching the "How To" DVD just to figure out how to put the darn blade on! Anyways, it turns out that cheesecake really isn't too difficult to make...especially if you know how to use your food processor. It didn't neccesarily taste like tiramisu however was very good. It has a hint of espresso in the crust which makes it a little tiramisuish. All that to say if you love chocolate, cheesecake, and coffee you will LOVE this dessert. Thank you Rachael Ray for this one and Happy Birthday Tim!

Chocolate Chip Tiramisu Cheesecake

Adapted from Rachel Ray

One 7-ounce package crisp Italian-Stye ladyfingers, coarsley chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup marscapone cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room termperature
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon cooking oil (any kind)
Boiling water

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Using a food processor, grind the ladyfingers into fine crumbs. Add a hand full of chocolate chips and grind into the ladyfingers. Add the melted butter and instant espresso and pulse until well blended. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press to form a crust halfway up the side of the pan. Bake until set, 8 to 10 minutes; let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar at high speed until smooth. Beat in the mascarpone, vanilla and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips.
4. Set the springform pan in a roasting pan. Pour the mascarpone-chocolate chip mixture into the baked crust, then place the roasting pan in the oven. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the top is golden and the center is set but still jiggly, about 1 hour. Let cool in the roasting pan for 15 minutes then transfer to rack to cool completely (don't remove from springform pan). Refrigerate for 6 hours or up to 2 days. Remove the cheesecake from the springform pan. In a small microwave safe bowl melt the remaining chocolate chips plus one teaspoon oil, stirring until smooth. Transfer the chocolate into a resealable plastic bag. Snip the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.

Things I learned:
- placing the cheescake in boiling water while baking prevents it from cracking. My oven of course is so small a roasting pan won't fit in it so I just put a casserole dish in the rack under the cheesecake with boiling water which seemed to work
- instant espresso and instant coffee are not the same thing
- if you can't find ladyfingers at the grocery store, try a bakery
- if you mix cream cheese on too low of speed is the cream cheese gets stuck in the metal whisks
- Cheesecake really isn't too hard to make!

-Brittany

Homemade Lasagna

So after watching the documentary, Food Incorporated, I have decided to attempt to make as much of our food from SCRATCH if possible. If you want to know why, you will have to rent the movie because, honestly, I could have a blog just about eating natural and organic! So with that said I thought I would try to make homemade lasagna (I love the Stouffer's brand, but really who knows what all they put in it) Allow yourself about 2 hours to make this dish unless you have a husband that will assist you in the kitchen which then it cuts the work down to an 1 1/2 hours. *this recipe is adapted from the Junior League of Houston cookbook Peacemeals. Awesome cookbook, I highly recommend it.

Lasagna

1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (I used the dried ground up kind, trust me use the real stuff)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, sliced (not really sure what that meant but i just sliced it into thin slices and it turned out fine)
28 ounces canned Italian whole peeled tomatoes (Because I like to follow the rules of the book, I didn't drain the tomatoes since they didn't mention it, but the next time I make this I definitely will as the lasagna was a little too juicy)
6 ounces canned tomato paste
3/4 cup water
4 to 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (again use the real stuff)
2 tablespoons sugar (Next time I will use just a little bit less sugar as it was fairly sweet)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1-1 1/2 pound meat (we used turkey)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

What I wish I had known: using non or low-fat cheese will drastically reduce the flavor.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, egg, and oregano in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Heat the olive oil in a medium heavy saucepan over medium-low heat and saute the onions and garlic for 8 to 10 minutes. Mix in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water and basil. Blend the ingredients with a potato masher or hand blender until chunky. Mix in the sugar; season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.Rise the lasagna noodles with cold water and drain again. Lightly oil a 9x13 inch baking pan. To assemble the lasagna, spoon 1 cup of the pasta sauce over the bottom of the pan. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce. Top the noodles with 1 cup of the sauce, followed by half of the meat, 1/2 cup of the feta and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Layer 3 more noodles, followed by 1 cup of the sauce, the remaining meat, all of the reserved ricotta mixture, 1/3 cup of the feta and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Layer the remaining noodles, sauce, feta, and mozzarella. Cover the lasagna loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking. Allow the lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

-Laura