Sweet Tea

Sweet Tea

11 Lipton regular tea bags

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 gallon good water

Add tea bags to 4c boiling water off the heat, stir and brew for 10 min. Then dissolve sugar into hot tea concentrate before    adding back into the remainder of the gallon of water. Stir if in rubbermaid pitcher, shake if using the water jug.

Pasta Alfredo with Blackened Chicken

Pasta Alfredo with Blackened Chicken

(Creamy-without-the-cream and fortified with broccoli and tomatoes, this classic restaurant-indulgence dish just became your weeknight backup, it's so easy!)

Put salted pasta water on to boil, readying

1 lb mezze penne, or your preferred pasta

Heat a grill pan or iron skillet on med high, and ventilate cooking area.

Filet 2 chicken breasts into cutlets (time saving, spicier) and season each side with some of the blackening spice mixture:

2 tsp Old Bay or seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp mixed dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne

Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil before searing about 2 min. each side, cooking to 165f..

4 large cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper (for the taste of it)

1/3 cup italian-blend shredded cheese

2/3 cup grated or shredded parmesan

Add garlic to melting butter in a large non-stick skillet, and with your silicone-covered whisk (don't tear up your skillet), whisk in the flour, and cook this garlicky roux until golden over medium heat. Whisk in milk gradually, eliminating lumps as you go. (Put pasta on to boil) Season sauce and let thicken while stirring frequently. When sauce is gravy-like, remove from heat and add cheese, stirring to melt. Finally, mix into sauce:

3 Tbsp diced sun-dried tomatoes (start with packaged julienned sun-dried tomatoes for ease)

Stir into boiling pasta at t-minus 2 min:

1 head of fresh broccoli, trimmed

Drain pasta and broccoli well before combining with sauce. Slice chicken breasts against the grain just before serving.

Bacon and Shrimp Egg Rolls with Duck Sauce

Bacon-Shrimp Egg Rolls & Duck Sauce

(I serve these with a side of General Tso's chicken.)

20 egg roll wrappers

20 large raw shrimp, thawed, cleaned, and butterflied lengthwise for length

4 slices bacon, cut into bits

1/4 cup julienned carrot

(2 bags) finely sliced cabbage

6 green onions, sliced (of course no tops)

2 medium cloves garlic, same amount of fresh ginger, garlic-pressed (or minced)

2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1 Tbsp mirin (more if rice vinegar isn't seasoned)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp+ sriracha

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

This happens fast, so get it all ready first.

Fry bacon bits in large non-reactive skillet that has a lid for it. Remove cooked bacon bits from pan, reserving grease. Toss in carrots, then mound of cabbage, aromatics on top, then pour on seasonings, top with lid, and cut the heat. Stir 2 min after adding cabbage, and take off heat in no more than 4 min, with cabbage just translucent in the thin parts.

Roll 'em up: lay wrap in a diamond shape, lay a shrimp horizontally, corner to corner. Use tongs to squeeze a bit of the liquid from the filling as you fill the roll with about 3 Tbsp of cabbage, arranged same as shrimp. Now fold the two short corners over the filling, and rolling one long corner over the filling, tucking just a bit to seal as you fold the filling over onto the remaining long corner, like a burrito. Moisten the last corner with a bit of sauce or water and set aside on a wire rack or parchment paper, 1 in apart. Work quickly, and while you roll up the last few, heat 4 cups of oil in a 4qt pan to 350f. Fry them quickly to a golden brown, allowing the oil to come back to 350 between batches of 4 or 5. Watch and actively turn them gently with tongs to make sure they don't fry on one side only. Oil temp too low= overcooked shrimp. Drain on wire racks, and eat right away (or should I say, "Don't burn yourself!"), serve with sauce.

Duck Saaauce

(It seems like a lot when you make it, but not a lot when you eat it)

Whir in a little food processor:

1 c apricot-pineapple preserves

1/4 tsp sriracha

4 tsp seasoned rice vinegar, OR

1 Tbsp rice vinegar+1 tsp sweet mirin

Easy-Being-Green Lasagne

Green Lasagne

(Simplified and veggie-fied, this noodle stack succeeds at "water management."  Requires side of garlic bread.)

24 oz shredded italian cheese blend

20 oz. garlic alfredo sauce

24 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 box frozen broccoli florets, thaw and squeeze dry

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thaw and squeeze dry

1 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4 in, salted, towel-dried

Salt + pepper, dash of nutmeg

3+ cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 pkg oven-cook Lasagne noodles

Turn oven on to 375. Oil lasagne pan.

Divide ricotta in half, adding an egg to each half, and seasoning both with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, Add broccoli florets to one half, and chopped spinach to the other.

Mise en place are:

garlic oil

alfredo sauce

oven-ready noodles

sliced+salted zucchini

broccoli+ricotta

spinach+ricotta

shredded cheese

After layering, bake 45 minutes, then let rest for 10 min. before cutting.

First layer: Lay out zucchini circles in a flat layer, brush with minced garlic + olive oil.

Second layer: Oven-ready noodles, can break to fit

Third layer: Spinach-ricotta mixture

Fourth layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Fifth layer: Oven-ready noodles

Sixth layer: Broccoli-ricotta mixture

Seventh layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Eighth layer: Oven-ready noodles

Ninth layer: Garlic alfredo sauce, poured evenly (thin with dairy if it won't pour)

Tenth layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Classic Lasagne

Classic Lasagne

(This is your mother's lasagna.)

4 pkg (32 oz) shredded italian cheese

2 jars, or 4 c homemade, marinara sauce

1/2 lb ground beef

1 pkg Lasagne noodles (20 noodles, or get another brand) 

24 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg

Salt + pepper

3+ cloves of garlic, minced

dried or fresh italian herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary)

Preheat oven to 375f. Boil water for noodles. Brown ground beef, seasoning with salt+pepper, minced garlic, and herbs at the end. Add one jar of marinara to browned beef. Boil noodles until flexible but not yet al dente, drain; keep from sticking. Meanwhile, stir egg into ricotta cheese and season. Grease 4" deep half-pan, or deep dish 9x13 pan.

Mise en place are:

meat sauce

plain sauce

half-cooked noodles

ricotta mix

shredded cheese

After layering, bake 60 min. Out of oven, let rest 10 more minutes before cutting.

First layer: 1/2 cup plain sauce

Second layer: 4 noodles

Third layer: 1/2 of ricotta mixture

Fourth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Fifth layer: 4 noodles

Sixth layer: 1/2 of meat sauce

Seventh layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Eighth layer: 4 noodles

Ninth layer: remaining ricotta mix

Tenth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Eleventh layer: 4 noodles

Twelfth layer: remaining meat sauce

Thirteenth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Fourteenth layer: last 4 noodles

Fifteenth layer: 1 1/2 cup plain sauce

Sixteenth layer: 1 cup shredded cheese

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

(A 'shortcake' is not a short cake- it is a shortbread made sweet. "Short" refers to shortening, an ingredient sponge cakes shouldn't have. Strawberries on sponge or pound cake is a different dessert, which you are welcome to, but here's how to make the real thing)

Slice up:

2 quarts of strawberries

Stir to cover with:

1 c sugar

Let this sauce sit in the fridge

Preheat oven to 425f.

In the cuisinart, spin:

1 1/2 c. soft wheat flour1/3 c sugar2 1/2 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp salt

Cube into flour mixture quickly to keep cold, then process to a sandy texture with butter lumps no bigger than rice grains:

6 Tbsp butter

Pulse just 1-3 times after adding:

1/2 cup buttermilk

Dump wet+sandy mixture out on generously floured board, and bring together while kneading to a very soft dough, only 5-6 gentle turns after dough has come together. Shape dough as desired, using a light hand. Square and slice into squares or triangles, or cut rounds out with biscuit cutter, dipping in flour between. Place finished shortcakes on slightly greased pan 2 inches apart, and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden on top. Cool or don't. Once you plate the shortcake and drizzle with 1/4 c strawberries-and-juice sauce, and top with (I won't look how much):

Whipped cream

And eat it right away! Like snow in spring, this ephemeral dessert melts quickly.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

(from scratch, but it's pretty easy)

Pie Crust, pressed into 4 little pie plates, and circles cut out for the tops.

Thaw in water and then drain:

1 c frozen peas

Slice:

2 stalks of celery - 2/3 c

Dice:

3 medium potatoes - 2 c potatoes 

1/2 c matchstick carrots (cook reg. carrots with potatoes) 

1/2 onion - 3/4 c onion 

2 chicken breasts

In 4-qt saucepot, combine:

2 c water 

2 tsp chicken better than bullion

Throw in the chicken and potatoes, boil on medium while making gravy

In large skillet, make white roux with:

2 Tbsp butter, melted 

2 1/2 Tbsp flour

When flour is cooked, thin cream sauce gradually with

2 c milk

And season while thickening with:

1 tsp salt 

3/4 tsp black pepper 

1 Tbsp golden sherry 

Fresh herbs at the end 

Or 1/2 tsp each thyme, sage, rosemary

When sauce is *quite* thick almost paste, pour into cooked chicken/potato pot, add celery, carrots, onion, and peas. Pour gravy in pie shells carefully not overfilling. Crimp top pastry circles to bottom with fork or fluting.  Bake at 350 for 50 min. and cool for 10 before serving.