Pasta Salad With a Kick!

I should have taken a picture of this one too, because it came out really pretty. I really need to get better at taking pictures of my food before I eat it all...

12 oz. box of pasta
1 red bell pepper, minced
8 green onions, green parts only, finely chopped
most of a 7.5 oz. can of sliced olives
4 baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup olive oil*
1/4 cup red wine vinegar*
Chili pepper flakes
Thyme
Oregano
Sage
Salt and Pepper
Optional: Grated parmesan
I've never added sausage before, but I bet it would be a really great addition.
*The olive oil and vinegar will seem like a lot when you first pour it in, but the pasta will absorb a lot of it, so you'll need extra to keep the salad from drying out.

Cook pasta according to box instructions. Combine the pasta and all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Add just a couple shakes of chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Be very generous with your oregano, thyme, and sage. Let sit for about an hour then salt to taste. When serving, top with parmesan.

Beef Noodle Bake

This isn't the best picture, but hopefully it does the trick. Noodle bake was a dish that my step-grandmother used to make all the time and we grandkids went CRAZY for it. I don't know exactly what she put in hers, but from a quick google search it seems like this is a pretty popular recipe. All of a sudden I had a HUGE craving for this dish this weekend, so this is what I threw together with the ingredients I have. I have a feeling this is the kind of dish where any combination of ingredients thrown together in any amount will result in something amazing. I also think this is supposed to have cottage cheese, which I didn't have tonight, but I'm definitely going to try and add it to the recipe some time in the future.

1/2 box pasta, any kind
1 lb. ground meat (usually beef)
1 sweet onion
1 can petite diced tomatoes
7.5 oz. tomato sauce
garlic salt
pepper
1 cup Macaroni blend shredded cheese (or 3 cheese blend shredded cheese)
1 oz. ranch dressing
sour cream
1 or 2 green onions, chopped.
I also seasoned this with some smoked paprika and ancho chili powder, but I don't know if I used enough to really make a difference. I think it's the ranch dressing that really makes it.

Cook pasta according to instructions on the box. While the pasta is cooking, brown meat in a large pan, sprinkling very liberally with pepper and garlic salt. Drain pasta when done, rinse, and let sit.

Finely chop onion. Mix onion, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce into the pan with the beef. Cook until the onion is translucent and most of the liquid as evaporated.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together pasta and beef mixture. Add shredded cheese and ranch dressing.

Pour mixture into a 13x9 baking pan. Top with a thin layer of sour cream, and mix into the noodle mixture a little bit (as if you were mixing batters for a swirl cake). Top with green onions.

Toss in the oven and bake until bubbling a little bit, about 10 minutes.

Turkey pot pie

I didn't measure anything, this is just for my reference for next year.

1 box of puff pastry (it should have two sheets in it)
Leftover turkey, chopped
Six mushrooms
1 small onion
frozen peas
flour
fat from the turkey drippings
leftover turkey drippings
chicken broth
heavy whipping cream
salt
pepper


Preheat the oven to the temp recommended on the puff pastry box. For mine that was 450F. Finely chop onions. Saute with the mushrooms in a couple tablespoons of the dripping fat. Once the onion is translucent, take off the heat and mix in the turkey and peas.
In a sauce pot, make a roux using a tablespoon of turkey fat and a heaping tablespoon of flour. Heat and stir until pasty, then mix in at least a cup of turkey drippings. Add in chicken broth and whipping cream until the sauce reaches the right consistency for pot pie. Mix in with the turkey and vegetables.
Butter a pie pan and line with the first pastry sheet. Bake at 450F until the pastry starts to brown but isn't completely cooked. Fill with the turkey and vegetables, then top with the second sheet and do your best to seal the pie. Brush with egg or milk, then bake until the top of the pie turns golden brown. Let cool before serving.

My mom has perfected the pecan pie

3/4 cup white karo
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecan pieces or halves
4 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat together: eggs, sugar, karo, butter vanilla, and pecans. Pour into pre-made crust (we used store bought and it worked just fine). Bake at least 1 hour. Let sit two hours before slicing.

Turkey Brine and Recipe

To brine:

any size turkey

a container just big enough to hold the turkey

1 cup salt

1 container juice concentrate

Place the turkey, thawed or unthawed, in the container and fill with water until the turkey is just covered. Mix in the cup of salt and juice concentrate and let sit at least overnight.

To cook:

1 container rosemary

1/2 stick butter

1 small onion

1-2 stalks celery

Melt/soften butter. Pull off the rosemary "leaves" and mix into the butter, reserving the stems. Coat the turkey completely in the butter and rosemary. Sprinkle with pepper. Chop the onion and celery stalks in half, put them and the rosemary stalks into the cavity of the turkey. I foil the wings after about an hour of cooking, and then tent the whole turkey in foil about an hour before it's done cooking. Cook turkey according to this handy guide (this year my turkey reached 180 and was perfectly juicy):

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/seasonal/how-long-to-cook-a-turkey

Pull the turkey out and let sit to cool. Pull the drippings out of the pan; a turkey baster works just fine. 

Gravy:

1 tablespoon butter

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 cup turkey drippings

low sodium chicken broth (trust me, you'll need low sodium)

Let drippings cool and separate, then skim the fat off the top and discard.

In a small sauce pot, melt one tablespoon of butter and mix in one heaping tablespoon of flour. Cook until brown and like a thick paste. Pour in one cup of drippings, mixing and stirring constantly. Make sure all the roux is dissolved into the drippings and isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook about five minutes, or until thick (thicker than gravy consistency). Add chicken broth until desired gravy consistency is reached. It's important to cut the drippings down with the chicken broth because the drippings will be very salty from the brining process.

This recipe makes just enough gravy for 4 people. Double for a large group. You will have plenty of drippings to make lots of gravy.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

3 sweet potatoes

shredded monterey jack cheese

heavy whipping cream

butter

smoked paprika

salt

Peel sweet potatoes and chop thin. 1/4 inch max. Place potatoes in a pot of boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl; mix with 1/4th stick of butter and a couple shakes of salt and smoked paprika. Stir to coat completely.

Arrange sweet potatoes in a 9x9 pan and put in the oven at 350F. Bake for 30 minutes or until fork tender. While the potatoes are baking, lightly heat about a half a cup of heavy cream and melt in a couple handfuls of monterey jack and a couple more shakes of smoked paprika.

When the potatoes are done baking, pull them out and pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes, making sure the sauce gets in between all the slices. Put back in the oven and bake until bubbly.

Shrimp Fried Rice

4 cups cooked rice
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped (= a little over a cup)
1 bag frozen salad shrimp (= about a cup and a half)
3 eggs
4 green onions
1/4 cup soy sauce
white pepper
black pepper
sesame oil
butter
1 tablespoon mayonnaise


The rice should be cooked the day before, but I always forget. If you can, cook the rice before you're ready to cook the meal then let sit, stirring occasionally to get rid of the moisture.

Heat a large, deep pan. Add a tablespoon of butter and the carrots. While the carrots are cooking chop the onion.

Add the onion to the pan and stir into the carrots. While those are cooking, dump the shrimp into a colander and run under cold water to thaw. When the onion starts to turn translucent add the peas, corn, and a dash of sesame oil to the pan and stir.

Once the peas and corn are cooked (it takes just a couple minutes), add the shrimp to the pan. Cook until the shrimp starts to curl (again, just a couple of minutes).

Add the rice, soy sauce, mayo, a couple shakes of white pepper and a generous helping of black pepper. Stir constantly or the rice will burn to the bottom of the pan. Once the rice is heated through turn off the heat.

In a small pan, scramble the eggs and cut into tiny pieces. Stir into the rice. Taste test and add extra soy sauce and pepper as desired. Chop the green parts of the green onions and stir into the rice.