Girls’ Night Out/In – Page 3

Girls Night In- Part 1: Kids

So hubby is out tonight and it is just us girls. They were playing and all of a sudden wanted dinner. Really? It is only 4:00 and you just ate at 2:00. I had planned on hot dogs and baked beans anyway, so I decided that it was fine if they were hungry. I looked in the cabinet for a starch. Tons of pastas, 1 boxed mac and cheese, and potatoes on the counter. Hmmmm…. Look in the fridge. A whole container of shredded cheddar. Eureka! I’m making a homemade cheese sauce for quick homemade mac and cheese. The girls wanted no part of having a bun, so I introduced them to beanie weenies.

Beanie Weenies are easy. All you have to do is cut up your favorite hot dog (I used Applegate brand) and mixed them with baked beans. I always keep a can of baked beans in my cabinet. It is a great pantry staple.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

I took 1/2 a container of bowtie pasta (use what you have) and cooked it al dente.

This sauce starts with a classic bechamel sauce

Bechamel Sauce (I got from Mario Batali)
Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Directions
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Put your velvety bechamel sauce back on medium heat. Stir in 1 pound of shredded cheese- I 3/4 sharp cheddar and 1/4 parmesan. Use what you like or have in the fridge. Whisk well.

I added a few spoonfuls to my pasta. Add a few tablespoons of pasta water if needed to thin out the sauce.

Home run dinner.

Lobster, Salmon, and Shrimp in Sage Garlic Butter

Date Night, Girls' Night Out/In, One pot meal, Seafood

Mommy is on her own tonight for dinner. Daddy is sick. My girls took an impromptu sleepover with the grandparents.

Seafood in garlic sage butter. Ya’ll, this was an epic meal. 1 lobster tail. 10 shrimp. 1 salmon filet. Cooked in sage garlic butter. 1 stick of butter. 3 cloves of garlic. EPIC!

Start with a cold pan. Put your salmon skin side down with a stick of butter, a handful of whole sage, and 3 cloves of garlic. The salmon skin will crisp up better this way. A little trick I learned from Curtis Stone. Unfortunately, it was via TV and not in person. Swoon…

Anywho, Cook until butter is all melted. Mix the sage and garlic around well. Lift up the salmon to get all that buttery goodness under the skin. Add in the lobster, shell side up. Cook for a good 5 minutes. Turn the salmon. The skin should be perfectly crispy. If not, cook a minute or so longer. Turn the lobster and add in the shrimp. Cook for another 4 minutes, turning the shrimp every 30 seconds or so. You can serve with a veggie and/or starch, but I went straight seafood. Oh, and a nice glass of white wine pairs well with this. I went for a light crisp pinot grigio. So good. So full.

The Tale of Two Tacos

Girls' Night Out/In, Mexican

We finally ate those damn tacos! They were delicious!
Here is the link to making your own taco seasoning.
https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/07/23/homemade-taco-seasoning-mix/

Last night I had planned on making patty melts, but there was just too much food in the fridge that we needed to eat up and it was just us girls for dinner (Daddy had a hockey game). For the girls- well, they wanted french toast sticks and Annie Spaghetti O’s. Random, but ok. I made myself a nice big taco salad with the leftover taco meat. We still have a box of taco shells in the pantry, but I think they will sit there for awhile until the taco craving strikes again or I find something else creative to do with them. Any ideas?

Stove Top Lasagna and Bruschetta

Date Night, Girls' Night Out/In, One pot meal, Pasta, Pizzas, Flatbreads, Toasts

Last weekend, I was watching The Kitchen, a show that comes on the Food Network. It is kinda like The Chew, but only comes on Saturdays. Sunny Anderson is one of the TV chef personalities, and she was making this stove top lasagna. It looked so easy and delicious, I thought I would make it the next time lasagna was on the menu. I made this kind of from what I remember, so it is not exactly the same as hers. Here is the link to her original recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/sunnys-pan-sagna-one-pan-plan-lasagna.html
Here is how I made it…

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning and fresh herbs- next time I will add more
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground beef
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 container of mushrooms
1 to 2 cups beef stock
8 par-cooked lasagna sheets, broken into shards- I also added the end of a box of penne.
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
You need a large pan with a lid that is also oven safe. I used a circular dutch oven. Add the olive oil on medium-high heat. When the oil begins to swirl around in the pan a bit, add onions, mushrooms, Italian seasoning, a little salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the beef to the pan. Cook while breaking up with a wooden spoon until cooked through and browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add the stock to cover the contents by almost an inch. Bring the pan to a boil then add the broken lasagna sheets. Make sure you cover the pasta with the liquid. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the lasagna noodles are al dente, about 8-10 minutes. I uncovered it and stirred it around every few minutes to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

Once it is done, stir in the Parmesan cheese. The spread the mozzarella all over the top. Turn the oven on low broil. Put the pot in the oven and keep the door a jar a bit. Keep an eye on it and take it out when the cheese is melty and brown. YUM!

Of course I didn’t forget about the Bruchetta! Make this before you put your lasagna in the oven for a nice appetizer to munch on while you sip some wine and wait for dinner to be ready. Lots of different ways to make this- what kind of bread are you going to use; are you going to toast it first or toast the ingredients on it; what kind of toppings are you going to add etc.

I made mine pretty in a pretty basic way- Cut open some bread, minced some garlic and put it on the bread first, then add slices of a tomato, mozzarella, and top with some thinly sliced basil leaves. Put in the oven on low broil until cheese is melted. Perfect with a glass of Malbec!

Steak with Onion and Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce, Creamy Spaghetti Pesto, and Roasted Asparagus

Beef, Date Night, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Girls' Night Out/In, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Skip the steak house and cook your family a nice steak dinner at home! My whole family LOVES steak, so when we see them on sale at the store, we always buy them. This time Publix had Porterhouse steaks on sale, so we just had to get them! I have blogged a few times on making steaks, but here are the directions I use for making mine. Of course, it depends on the cut and size of your steak, so if the steak is thinner you want to go less time, etc. I always cook them in my cast iron pan or cast iron grill pan. We like ours med. rare, so if you like it cooked more, obviously add time. You could also finish it off in an oven on 350 for a little extra cooking time.

Steak

The main star was the Porterhouse. For the perfect med.rare you need to follow these instructions. Get your cast iron pan to screaming hot smokiness. Then salt and pepper your steak on both sides. Cook until the first side is nice and crusty, about 6 minutes. Then turn and cook about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and tent in aluminum foil for at least 10 minutes. YUM!

Onion and Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 onion chopped (or shallot)
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1 container or package of crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper

Directions
Cook onions and garlic in butter/oil on med. high heat for 5 minutes. Add your mushrooms and cook for 10 more minutes. Reduce heat to low heat and add your cream. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until it reduces to about half. Stir in blue cheese and melt. Serve with steak (or pork)

Roasted Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Snap the tough ends off of the asparagus. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat the asparagus completely. Spread the asparagus in a single layer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast the asparagus for 25 minutes, until tender but still crisp. One of my favorite vegetables!

Creamy Spaghetti Pesto

Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cups greens- I used a mix of parsley and basil
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook your pasta in boiling salted water. Stir Occasionally.
When Al dente, drain, but keep about 2 cups of pasta water.

While your pasta is cooking, pulse your pine nuts and garlic in the food processor until smooth. Add your greens, oil, and Parmesan Cheese. Process until smooth. Season with your salt and pepper.

Add your pesto to your pasta. Stream in your heavy cream a little at a time. Add any starch pasta water as needed. Mix well. Enjoy!

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