Magazine/Cookbook Monday: Orzo Alfredo with Bacon and Peas

Happy Monday! This is going to be a quick post as I am writing from my hotel room and have to be up VERY soon to catch my flight. I got the basis of this alfredo recipe from an old Food & Wine magazine I found at my doctor's office (don't worry I asked before tearing it out!) I neglected, however, to write down the issue month or year. The original recipe is for Fettuccine Alfredo with Asparagus. I didn't have any fettuccine noodles or asparagus so I subbed orzo for the fettuccine and threw in some peas and bacon to transform it into a complete meal. The sauce turned out perfect; rich, creamy and cheesy. It may seem strange to combine orzo with a fettuccine sauce, but I LOVED how it turned out. Orzo is a hearty pasta and can hold its own with this sauce, which is pretty thick as far as alfredo sauces go. The peas and bacon added great texture. I will definitely be making this dish again, I bet it would be equally satisfying with chicken, or a different combination of seasonal veggies. Hope you all enjoy it and have a great week!

Orzo Alfredo with Bacon and Peas

Sauce recipe: Food & Wine Magazine

Ingredients

3 main dish servings

(Note, in the picture, I photographed nutmeg and garlic which I ended up leaving out)

1/2 pound orzo

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/4 cup peas

2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

5 slices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Cook orzo according to directions on box.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, mix cream, peas, butter, Parmesan, and bacon. Heat over medium low heat, whisking constantly until Parmesan and butter have melted.

Combine with orzo, season with salt and pepper and serve topped with additional Parmesan cheese.

Happy whisking,

Magazine/Cookbook Monday: Sweet and Salty Ritz Cracker Treats

Happy Monday! This easy recipe should help you get rid of any lingering Monday blues. They are a great combo of sweet and salty, and are ready in a flash. The peanut butter gives a nice kick of protein to keep you going, and jam counts as fruit, right? Plus, cover anything with chocolate and you have an immediate mood boost regardless of what day of the week it is!

Chocolaty PB&J Ritz Cracker Treats

Recipe from The Deen Bros. Take It Easy

Ingredients

20 Ritz Crackers

2-3 tablespoons your favorite jam (I chose apricot and raspberry)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 12oz package milk or dark chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange the crackers on the baking sheet.

Spread about 1/4 teaspoon of jam on top of each cracker.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the jam (I had to use my fingers so get ready to get a bit sticky).

Place the chocolate chips in a shallow microwave-safe dish. Microwave, stirring every thirty seconds, until completely smooth (about one and a half minutes for my microwave).

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the hot melted chocolate over each cracker. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the chocolate over the entire cracker. Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.

I scattered some sprinkles on half of mine so I could tell which were raspberry and which were apricot ☺

These are amazing, by the way, definitely satisfied my after work candy bar craving! Enjoy!

Magazine/Cookbook Monday: The BEST Oatmeal Cookies I EVER ate!

This morning I got to go to a holiday baking class offered by Williams-Sonoma. I went over to my parents house and convinced them to come along with me, so off we trooped to stand in line in eager anticipation of yummy recipes and great tips. We were not disappointed!

The women who were demonstrating the techniques were wonderful and knew their stuff. They eloquently explained to me the difference between three different types of whisks and they also were experts on which type of cooking sprays to use with which type of pans. Turns out you shouldn't use PAM or nonstick sprays on nonstick pans. Good thing I always use parchment. My pans, in case you haven't noticed in my posts, are all second hand and have definitely seen better days. My dad, being the amazingly generous person he is, bought me a BRAND NEW set of bakewear. And not just any bakeware, Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Bakeware Essentials Set.

These pans are AWESOME! I absolutely love them and am so happy to be able to retire my old, overworked pans. Needless to say, this class put me in the baking mood, and on a rainy day like today, oatmeal cookies sounded scrumptious, AND I was VERY eager to try out my new cookie sheets! The oatmeal cookies I made are officially the most amazing oatmeal cookies I have ever eaten! Plumping the raisins in hot water before adding them into the dough makes them succulently juicy. The plump raisins then meld perfectly with the cinnamon and brown sugar and give the cookies a perfect ULTRA chewy texture that is further accented by the hearty oats and crisp coconut. These extra thick cookies are moist and fruity and GIANT! They remind me of those huge oatmeal cookies they sell at Starbucks, but these are way better because they are homemade. I am now cuddled up on my couch with Lola (my adorable dog), perfectly content, blogging with my big cup of tea and humongous cookie. Can you think of any better way to spend a rainy Sunday? I can't!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Adapted from No Nonsense Cooking Guide: Cookies For Holidays and Every Day by Irena Chalmers

Ingredients

1 Cup Raisins

12 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup dried coconut (not shown in picture, I added it in on a whim)

Put the raisins in a bowl, cover them with hot water and set them aside to soak for about 15 minutes, until they are nice and plump. Drain the raisins and pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or butter/grease if you'd rather). Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Fold 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients and half the beaten eggs into the creamed butter.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and eggs, folding only until the flour is incorporated (I realize this seems tedious but it makes the cookies light and chewy).

Fold in the raisins, oats and nuts. Drop the batter onto the baking sheets about two inches apart(I did about 2 heaping tablespoons batter per cookie).

Lightly press down on the cookies (makes for more even cooking). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.

Cool on wire racks.

Make sure you have a cold glass of milk for dunking!

See? Gigantic!!!

Ahh..... comfort food at its finest...

Have a BEAUTIFUL Monday!

Magazine/Cookbook Monday: Creamy Hot Chocolate Muffins

Ok this may just be the funnest muffin idea I have come across in awhile! Its a muffin, in a mug! You could use pretty much any muffin batter, but i particularly like the Marbled Chocolate Muffin recipe from 1 Mix, 100 Muffins for this. It tastes like creamy hot chocolate in muffin form. I have also used the muffin in a mug idea with banana nut muffins to great results. The good thing about muffin batter is that you can stick it in a plastic Ziploc bag and store it in your fridge for up to four days. I like to keep the batter in my fridge and before I hop in the shower in the morning. I fill a mug with batter, pop it in the oven, and by the time I have dressed, done my makeup and found my keys, my muffin is hot and ready to go. Grab a spoon, run out the door, enjoy your home baked, completely portable, mug full of muffin!

Marbled Chocolate Muffins aka Creamy Hot Chocolate Muffins

Adapted from 1 Mix 100 Muffins by Susanna Tee (this is a GREAT cookbook for you muffin lovers!)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Heaping 1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

6 tablespoons melted, cooled butter OR sunflower oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease mug(s). Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Sift in sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat together two eggs (I use a fork). Beat in milk, butter or oil, and vanilla extract.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients stirring until just moistened. Beware of overstirring!

Divide batter into two bowls. Add unsweetened cocoa to one of the bowls of batter and stir in. Fill mug by alternating spoonfuls of chocolate dough and white dough.

Fill to 3/4 of the way full. These rise, alot! I like my muffins to be super tall so I fill mine fuller than recommended ☺. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until tops are light, light brown and spring back when touched.

Grab a spoon and enjoy your heaping mug full of creamy, dreamy, hot chocolate muffin!

I made a few regular muffins too...

So pretty!

Magazine/Cookbook Monday: Chocolate Covered Banana Biscotti

Have you ever noticed that basically every coffee shop offers biscotti for sale, but almost no one ever buys them? They always seem to be shoved to the side in a generic plastic wrapper, out shone by the lovely baked scones, cookies and muffins. When I ran across this recipe for banana biscotti in my Cookie Dough Fun cookbook, I decided it was high time I give biscotti a try. I had never seen biscotti made with fresh fruit before. I thought that maybe the banana would give the biscotti a bit more flavor and a bit more softness (I know biscotti is supposed to be hard but I don't want one that cracks my teeth!). The recipe was fairly easy to make, the only part that gave me some trouble was shaping the dough into loaves. I had to add A LOT of flour to get them not to stick. The resulting cookies have a light banana flavor that is complemented by a chocolate coating. They remind me of banana bread but crunchy. I dunked them in a mug of hot cocoa and thoroughly enjoyed munching away on my hard crunchy cookie, actually cookies.... it's hard to eat just one!

Chocolate Covered Banana Biscotti

Recipe from Cookie Dough Fun published by Favorite Brand Name Recipes (its a booklet I got at a used book store...)

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups white or milk chocolate chips, melted (I ended up using milk chocolate chips, but you will notice the ingredients pic is of white chocolate chips... i was feeling indecisive ;)

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, set aside. Beat together margarine and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, bananas and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour mixture until combined.

Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, form each half into 12x3 inch logs. Don't worry too much if yours isn't perfect, that's the beauty of homemade! Place the logs on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. The recipe says you can put them on the same one, three inches apart. Mine wouldn't fit so I used 2 baking sheets.

Bake at 325 for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch and LIGHTLY brown.

Cool logs on wire rack 15 minutes.

Cut logs diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Place slices flat, in a single layer, on baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes more. Turn slices over; bake another ten minutes or until lightly browned on top and bottom of biscotti. Remove to wire rack; cool completely. Biscotti will harden as they cool.

Spread melted chocolate on one side of each biscotti. Place on baking sheets, chocolate side up, and chill 10 minutes or until chocolate is set.

Store in air-tight container in cool area. These keep for up to a week!

Happy dunking!