CHUCK n (riga)Toni in Vodka Sauce

Vodka Sauce
2 TBS EV Olive Oil
1 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped carrot
1/2 Cup chopped celery
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Cup vodka
1 - 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes (plain or with basil)
1 - 29 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 Cups beef broth
1 TBS chopped fresh basil
1 Cup heavy cream

In a large pot heat the extra virgin olive oil. Sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until tender, about 8 minutes (do not let burn). Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for one minute more. Carefully pour in the vodka (especially if cooking over an open flame!) and cook so it reduces by about half for 5 minutes. Add the canned crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and beef broth and let simmer for 45 to 50 minutes. After it has simmered, add the basil and let cook for a minute before adding the heavy cream. Bring the temp up to a simmering bubble before serving with your favorite pasta.
Makes about 8-9 cups of sauce.

Drunken Chuck n Toni in Vodka Sauce
1/2 recipe of Vodka Sauce
2 TBS EV Olive oil
2 - 3 pound chuck roast, sliced thinly
S & P
1 16 ounce box Rigatoni pasta, cooked and drained
Add the extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet. Heat to medium and brown the sliced chuck until no longer pink, season with the salt and pepper. Add the cooked beef and cooked pasta to the vodka sauce.

Drunken Chuck

Drunken Chuck n Toni

Macaroni and Cheese

One recipe Basic White Sauce
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 C shredded Fontina cheese
1 C shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 C shredded Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions, drain and return to the cooking pot.
To the basic white sauce in a saucepan, add the shredded cheeses and stir until completely melted and combined.  Pour over the cooked macaroni and stir.

Beefy Chili Mac

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 C onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Cups elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) chili ready diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) chili beans in sauce
1 C beef stock or broth
2 TBS chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 C shredded cheddar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a pot of water to a boil with 1 teaspoon of salt, add the macaroni and cook uncovered for 9 minutes. Drain, return to pot and set aside. Cook the ground beef with the onion and garlic, the remaining teaspoon of salt and the pepper until no longer pink. To the pot of cooked and drained macaroni, add the tomatoes, chili beans, beef stock or broth, and seasonings, mix together.  Add the cooked beef to the macaroni pot. Stir to combine all. Pour into the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly in the dish. Top with the shredded cheddar. Put into the heated oven and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Spaghetti
2 chicken breasts, bone in
1 pound spaghetti, broken into thirds
4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
2 C milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced bell peppers (any color)
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
S&P (salt and pepper) to taste
Preheat oven to 375°F. Drizzle EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) over the chicken breast and spread evenly to coat the entire pieces. Sprinkle with S&P. Place on a baking sheet or dish and roast in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until chicken is done and juices run clear. SAVE the drippings! Reduce the oven temp to 350°F. When the chicken is done let cool until easy to handle, remove the meat from the bones and cut or tear into bite size pieces, WAIT...don't discard the bones! Fill your pasta pot with water to cook the noodles, boil water over high heat and throw those bones in to create a bit of stock, add some salt to the water. Once the water has boiled remove the bones and carefully place your broken spaghetti noodles in the water, continue to cook until al dente, or as directed on the package. When the noodles are done, before you drain the water, take out one cup of the water and reserve. Now you can drain your spaghetti. Remember the drippings from the pan you roasted the chicken in? Pour that into a sauté pan and add your onion, celery and bell peppers. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. 
To make the white sauce: In a medium saucepan add the butter and melt, stir in the flour and cook for one minute. Pour in the milk and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Or you can use 2 cans cream of soup (either chicken, mushroom, or celery).
Now you can start assembling your casserole. In a large mixing bowl, combine the white sauce or cream of soups, chicken, sautéed vegetables, shredded cheddar, cayenne pepper, seasoned salt and s&p. Fold together until combined, add in the spaghetti and if needed the one cup of reserved stock water. Spray your casserole dish (9x13 baking pan works) with a no-stick cooking spray such as PAM. Pour the spaghetti mixture into the dish spreading evenly. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until gold and bubbly!

Fran's Goulash

If I haven't mentioned before...I don't follow recipes very well. :)
I do to a certain extent...but more often than not I like to pump up the volume a bit.
And here is a good tip to follow when creating a dish that you really don't know what to call it and you are basically using whatever is in the frig/freezer/and/or pantry...start with a trinity. What's a trinity you ask? Well I don't know for sure if that is what this is called but that is what I have called it for ... well forever. Or since I've been cooking. Start with a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO as RR would say) maybe 2 tablespoons, or use a couple-ish tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan. Chop anywhere from one half to a whole onion and two or three stalks of celery. Dice one half of a bell pepper....any color they are ALL fabulous! Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of pepper (S&P). Cook these lovelies over medium heat until they are tender. Now it's up to you on whether or not to add these to the mix, but I throw in a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper, and depending on what dish I am preparing such as Italian I would add oregano, basil, thyme and parsley, and for Mexican I use oregano and just a pinch of thyme, cumin is great too but use the thyme and cumin sparingly especially if using dried. Cook this for about 3 more minutes and if you are adding meat, throw that in so your meat absorbs this delicious flavor of herbs. If you want a creamy sauce to your meat mixture, add in any type of stock, if using chicken use chicken, or beef stock when cooking beef. If you don't have either, Lipton's onion soup mix is really good too. Now, if you have diced tomatoes in the pantry toss a can of those in, or tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes work great. Oh I was talking creamy sauce too wasn't I? Sorry I got a bit off track...but as far as measuring, I really don't, I just pour stock in until I cover the meat, stir in my tomatoes and then I pour in some heavy cream...yes! the creaminess begins! And use your judgment on the cream, if I were to guess I think it is at least a half a cup measured. But taste it, and add more cream if you want. And don't forget to season it again, a little more S&P.

Goulash:
2 TBS olive oil or butter
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I used red)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 or less of dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
Your favorite pasta, cooked (I used mezzi-rigatoni by Barilla, 1/2 box)
1 can (15 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes, or an 8 oz can of tomato sauce.
1 to 2 cups of beef stock
1/2 cup of heavy cream
In a saucepan sauté the onion, celery and bell pepper until tender. Sprinkle salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano and thyme over all. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. Meanwhile cook your pasta so it is ready to combine. When the meat is cooked, add the can of tomatoes or sauce, add stock and cook for about 3 minutes over medium heat until heated through, then add the heavy cream and stir to combine.
Drain your pasta and add it back to your stockpot it was cooked in (I use my dutch oven) and pour the meat mixture over the pasta. Stir until all of the pasta is coated. If at this time it looks too dry, add more stock and if needed a little more cream. Continue to heat through. This will probably feed four to six hungry people. I had plenty of leftovers since only two of us ate tonight.

 

Pasta absorbs your sauce quickly so with your leftovers, add more stock to moisten as needed. Enjoy!

Lazy Night Skillet Beef and Pasta

Lazy Night Skillet Beef and Pasta

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 cups cooked beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, any color
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 basil leaves, chopped or 1 tsp. dried basil
1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes, rough chopped, with the juice
1 cup beef stock
1/2 lb. Orecchiette pasta, cooked and drained

Add the olive oil to your skillet heat over medium high setting. Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until almost tender, add the garlic and basil and cook another minute or so. Add the beef and cook until heated through, another 10 minutes. Pour in the beef stock, chop up your canned tomatoes and add along with the tomato juice from the can into the skillet. Stir to combine and add the pasta. This will be a little saucy, just let it cook a little while longer and some of the juice will be absorbed into the pasta. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to desired seasoning and enjoy!