Mish Mash My Spaghetti Made a Splash!

Long about a Saturday Night…a couple of glub, glubs relaxin’ drinking some beer, thinkin’ ‘bout food. Well I looked in my cupboard and put my face in the fridge, I scratched my head and I grabbed all the leftover stuff and then I made a Mish Mash of my Spaghetti splash and well, I had a blast!

 

Ok, that opening statement is probably lame and geeky, but it’s been in my head for about a few weeks now and just had to start this post with it. It actually explains why I seem so giddy right now. Not only do I have a mash of a recipe for you, but I am also informing those who actually do follow me, that I finally, after 2 years ( I won’t say long, as time has gone by very quickly for me, even if I wasn’t productive) have a JOB! Yes, I finally have a job with a very prominent organization.

 

I don’t know if I can legally state the company name, but what I can tell you is that they are a Fortune 500 Company, they are currently listed as one of the best companies to work for in 2010, they are also listed as one of the best companies to start a career in (this is especially noted for those upcoming youngungs).

 

The company I am working for is one of the most respected tax & accounting firms out there. The fact that I can now put their name on my resume will open tons of doors. No matter, because the division/folks I work with after just a week, are most incredible and I am truly excited to learn more from them.

 

Back to the Mash…I started this blog to keep me busy while I was out of work. However I found that I truly enjoy posting my cooking/baking efforts for all those who are interested in these antics of mine. So, I do promise that I will continue to update this blog with every effort. Though the postings may not be as consistent as they have been; so, for those who do follow, please keep checking in. I really do appreciate your loyalty.

 

Today is a new day, as I am officially going to coin the phrase “Mish Mash Eats” AKA “MME” or the Eats can be substituted for Pasta which would be “MMP”. So unlike “EVOO” or other crazy culinary coined phrases, from some well know celebrity chefs/cooks, are in some ways just bogus to us regular folk who are just trying to make a meal out of nothing. MME, MMP or MM(any other major addition),is much easier because the acronym includes anything and everything you might have in your kitchen that is edible.

 

MME is just that, a Mish Mash of Eats left over in your pantry, fridge or freezer to create a satisfactory meal concoction. You just have to be open on how you utilize the ingredients. MME does not mean throw all that you have in a pot and hope it will be tasty or even edible. MME does have to have some compromise to the taste buds and work well with the all the other ingredients.

 

Now the MME I have for you is of singular left over stuff and not “leftovers” from a previously prepared meal. My leftovers in this instance are the bottom of the jar kind, with a half a box of Pasta, which would now make this meal an MMP.

 

I occasionally come up with odd MME’s that eventually are really tasty, but I will admit that all my MME’s are very fattening and without frying, probably have the same fat and calories as if you ate a burger with cheese. But in my case, I only have enough for one serving anyway and no leftovers to temp me even more. So those watching the waistline, should not be offended or disgusted, but rather take the “technique/method/idea” and make a healthier MME (or MMS –Mish Mash Salad) to make you feel better.

 

 

 

So here are my ingredients for my MME/MMP – these are all approximate measurements…use your eye on what you have left. If you have less of what is listed, use it anyway. This is all about using the bottom of the jar, not about exact measurements.

 

Mish Mash Pasta 

• Any Pasta – About 1-2 servings Left in the box
• Ricotta – about 1/8th Cup
• Capers – about 1 tbls
• Sour cream – about 2-3 tbls
• Salsa – about ½ jar
• Basil – about 4-5 Leaves-Chopped
• Parm Cheese – I always purchase whole Parm Cheese to grate on Demand…If you buy the “jar” or pre-grated crap, use the little you have left.
• Gorganzola – I had this on hand from another recipe…I used only a portion of what I had, as it is a strong cheese, but what it does if used properly with an MME gives a bit more flavor, like adding S&P to taste. When mixed with other milder cheeses, it will enhance those flavors.
• Half and Half – about 1-2 tbls.
• Garlic – I always have this on hand and never try to run out…so for me, 5-6 large cloves minced work. Eyeball it depending on how much pasta you are actually cooking. 5-6 cloves of Garlic for ½ lb of pasta is good for me!
• Oil…I Only use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for 99% of my cooking. But if you only have corn/canola or other oil, that will still work. Just keep in mind that some oils are stronger than others. A sesame or flavored Oil may be too much, but what would I know…it’s your taste buds. 

So now to prepare this MME: This time I am going rogue on my previous instruction template and explain more about the method/technique. Look, in some ways there is no right or wrong way to put an MME together. But there are times where you still have to be somewhat methodical about it.

 

In this MME/MMP case, it’s really about how the above ingredients fit into what you eventually want, which ultimately becomes and “Alfredo” or “White Sauce”. There lies the actual technique. If you know how to make a “white sauce”, then you can figure out how to incorporate all of the ingredients above. If you don’t know how to make a “white sauce”, it’s pretty easy.

 

Many of those who think they can’t cook or even are afraid, already have applied master cooking techniques without even realizing it. For instance, has anyone ever made homemade Mac & Cheese? The base of the Cheese mixture is what is called a “white sauce”. The real “white sauce” is essentially and even mixture of Butter (maybe even oil), Flour and milk. Butter, Flour and Milk can be substituted for any other “like” ingredient.

 

So, how do you make a “white sauce” (which is an actual culinary requirement) and then make it your own variation with all the bottom of the jar ingredients or even follow a proper “white sauce” recipe?

 

Here’s my hacked method for quick and easy white sauce:

1. Take a sauce pan over medium heat
2. Add butter and/or Oil until melted/hot.
3. Add Garlic (in this recipe) and sautee for just a few moments. You don’t want the garlic to burn.
4. Add Flour and whisk immediately
5. Add Dairy: Half and Half & Sour Cream – Heat until sauce thickens. (note: this may thicken quickly if it’s a small serving)
6. Add Cheese to melt

--The above is your Quick and Easy White/Cheese Sauce--

1. Add Salsa or Tomato Sauce
2. Heat until slightly thickened again. It won’t get as thick as earlier.
3. Transfer your cooked pasta to sauce pan and mix.
4. Add Ricotta, Capers and Herbs to Pasta and mix again.
5. Don’t forget to S&P to taste! 

There you have it…MMP-Mish Mash Pasta!

The wait is over!

For those who have been anticipating and waiting a long, long time for me to make my cheesecake again, the wait is over!  My run for Olympic Gold will never happen, but my run to make the best cheesecake ever has been completed.

I spent most of the week, mentally preparing for this long awaited treat, because honestly, it has been more than several years since I baked my last cake. Why so long? Well, I had put my career first and gave up cooking and baking for at least 7 years or more. There was just no time for me to spend in the kitchen and I subjected myself to microwave meals, take out and dining out.

So when my friend Sweetpeasurry (K) blogged about my new blog site and mentioned my cheesecake a few weeks back, the door had been opened for the challenge and I happily accepted.

I must say, it was like riding a bicycle, you never forget. I pulled out my dusty spring form pan from the back of the cupboard and I was good to go.

So, here is my recipe-Modified-as I will not divulge my secret ingredient, but this one is just as tasty as mine. One secret I will give away is that my recipe uses less sugar than other classic recipes. I do make other flavorful cheesecakes, which eventually down the road I will make the more complicated ones for all to see and try out.

Classic Cheesecake

By Have a Seat

Special Equipment: 8" Round Spring Form Pan; Electric Beaters or a Stand Mixer; Parchment Paper; Heavy Duty Tin Foil; Rubber Spatula; Roasting Pan*Roasting pan must be large enough to hold the Spring form pan and must be 2 1/2" deep.

 
Ingredients:

• 24 oz. Cream Cheese 
• 3/4 c Sugar + 2 Tbls* (2 Tbls is for Crust) 
• 1 Teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract 
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice 
• 1 c Sour Cream 
• 4 Tbls Butter* (1 Tbls if no Crust )
• 1 ¾ - 2 c of Shortbread Cookies-Crust 
• Fruit Topping (any kind you like) 
• 6 small amaretto cookies 

Equipment Preparation:

Prepare the 8" Spring form pan by taking a sheet of Parchment paper and placing it on top of the Spring form plate (disc.) Take the "form" and fit it around the "plate" and tighten. There will be some overlapping parchment paper if done correctly. Turn the pan upside down and cut the paper so that there is about an inch of paper fanning out of the bottom of the spring form pan. Carefully, butter the paper and the inside rim making sure the butter covers every inch of the pan. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Take the roasting pan and fill with warm water to 1". Place tin foil over water. Do not secure tin foil around edges. This is what is called the "water bath." Since water can only reach 220 Degrees, it creates even cooking temperature for the inside of the cake, while the oven temperature cooks the outside of the cake. The "water bath" technique, also works well with other recipes, such as; soufflés, custards and even regular cake mix.

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.

Cake Preparation:

For bottom Crust (Optional):

Take shortbread cookies and crush into a sandy texture. A food processor will help with this. If you do not have a food processor, place cooking in a plastic Ziploc bag and crush cookies with your hands or use a rolling pin. Again, the crumbs should have a consistency of sand. Place crumbs in small to medium bowl, add 2Tbls of sugar and the 3 Tbls of melted Butter, then mix. Get your Spring form pan from the fridge and add shortbread mixture and evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Take the back of a measuring cup and pack the mixture in the pan so that surface is smooth. Place pan back in the refrigerator for about an hour.

For Cake:

In a large bowl place cream cheese and beat until soft. Once the cheese has softened, add sugar and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Continue to mix and add one egg at a time. Do not add all 3 eggs at once. Again, continue to mix while adding the sour cream and lemon juice (I also like to add Lemon zest). Scrape the bowl with the rubber spatula and continue to mix until all ingredients are well incorporated or until the batter is smooth and looks like it’s almost doubled in volume. I fiddle with the speed settings during the initial mixing process and after my last spatula check let it mix untouched on med high for about 5 minutes. This allows for an airy consistency vs. a dense one.

Remove the spring form pan from the refrigerator and pour the cheesecake batter in the pan. Carefully, place the pan on top of the tin foil in the roasting pan. Lightly secure the tin foil around the roasting pan, leaving a small gap open, allowing the steam to escape.

Carefully, transfer cake to oven. Let cook about 1 hour or until middle of cake jiggles firmly. Allow cake to cool in oven, with the door slightly open to allow the heat to escape (about an hour or 2). Take cake & roasting pan out of oven and let cool for another 2 hours (Do not disassemble cake and roasting pan). Once cake has cooled, remove from roasting pan and refrigerate cake overnight, still in the spring form pan.

Remove cake from the fridge, and then remove the spring form carefully. Add your favorite fruit topping…Crush Amaretto cookies sprinkle on top and enjoy heaven!

Joking the Joker?

Ever been stupid enough to fall for the loose salt cap and more salt than you bargained for ends up all over your food? Well, salt didn't exactly happen in my most recent case, but what makes it worse is that not only was I the sucker of this cruel act, I was the perpetrator as well and that's what makes this doubly stupid.

I had recently realized after a full day of cooking confections, I hadn't eaten a thing for myself and suddenly found myself hungry for a quick late night meal before I retired for the evening. My usual idea of quick eats is a bowl of pasta with a quick parm cheese/alfredo sauce or just olive oil, garlic and herbs.

So I got my pasta cooking, start grating some parm cheese, peel a few cloves of garlic and in this case I had no fresh herbs so I decided I would use some dry Italian herb mix I had in my pantry.

When it came time to make my quick alfredo, I do what I always do...Add some milk in a sauce pan, use my beloved microplane and grate in the garlic, add freshly grated parm cheese, add salt and pepper to taste and my herbs. However this time when I went to add my herbs, I opened the jar, without realizing I had removed the "sprinkle" cap from previous use, and with 2 rapid shakes my sauce was drowning with dry herbs. So you can imagine my reaction...nothing but un flavorful comments spewed from my mouth.

So, I scooped out as much herbs as I could to try and save the sauce. What resulted from a classic joke and cooking blunder was a pretty tasty meal. The joke was still on me, as there were still more herbs that over powered everything, but I see it as, a lesson learned...NEVER PERMANENTLY REMOVE those Sprinkle caps from your jars of Herbs and Spices.

Cucumber Cravings

I was watching the food network-Iron Chef (repeat) with Bobby Flay and Morimoto the other day. Flay created some dish, can’t remember the main ingredient, but he did something with Cucumber that got me thinking...

Flay’s soux chef had cut the cucumber into a noodle style and mixed it with sherry vinaigrette. Sounded so yummy, so I came up with my own version.

 

Cucumber Noodle Salad

Approx 2 Servings

Special Equipment: Mandoline with a thin Julienne blade.

• 1 Large Cucumber
• Half Pint Cherry Tomatoes quartered
• Few Sprigs of Tarragon roughly chopped
• About 10 Leaves of Mint roughly chopped
• 1/4 lbs or less of Feta Cheese
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2-3 Tbls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• S&P to Taste

Preparation Instructions:

• Use your Mandoline with a the Julienne blade to cut the cucumber into long noodles.
• Add Cucumber to a bowl with chopped herbs and tomatoes, mix gently with your hands.
• Place mixture on plate or in a Bowl. Sprinkle Feta Cheese over salad mixture, then add S & P. For each serving, drizzle extra virgin olive oil and squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over the salad.