Skillet Ziti - From America's Test Kitchen to Mine

A few weeks ago, I caught this current episode on America's Test Kitchen, and so I bookmarked the recipe.  Fast forward to last week, when I had come home from work and my sister-in-law was cooling off from the Missouri heat visiting us in California.  My husband wasn't going to be home for dinner, and the two of us preferred to stay home.  Bingo!  I have lots of fresh basil and zucchini in our backyard.  I had just purchased a refrigerator staple of fresh mozzarella.  I tend to hoard pasta, and while I didn't have ziti pasta, I had a bag of rigatoni. Close enough!

I try to keep at least one can, each, of tomato products in my pantry.  Fortunately, I had crushed tomato. The rest of the ingredients are six cloves of garlic, red pepper flakes, water, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. 

I decided to add one zucchini (from our garden) to this recipe, for a little extra crunch and to "healthify" it a little more. 

America's Test Kitchen used the kind of grated mozzarella that comes wrapped in plastic.  I rarely buy that, preferring fresh mozzarella.  Either way works fine, I am sure.

I simply sliced the mozzarella thin (like 1/2")

The sauce is very easy to make, by sauteing the garlic and red pepper flakes in some olive oil.  Then you add a can of crushed tomatoes.

Next, you add water, salt and the pasta and cover it.  The pasta is cooked until it's tender-- about 15 to 18 minutes. Preheat the oven to 475F.

While the pasta was cooking, I quickly sauteed the zucchini in a little olive oil and lightly seasoned them with salt & pepper. Then, when the pasta was tender, I added the zucchini. One pan cooking-- how easy is that?!

Last, stir in the heavy cream, Parmesan and fresh basil...

Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over ziti. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes. NOTE: Because I used fresh mozzarella, the cheese melted but it didn't brown. 

Total prep and cooking time took about 30 minutes. While the pasta cooked, I had time to clean my mess, and that is such a help on a work night.

VERDICT:  The sauce was delicious.  I liked the garlic flavor, which was definitely present but not overpowering.  The red pepper flakes were very subtle, and it added a little bit of heat.  The heavy cream turned the sauce a light pink color, and toned down the tomato flavor. I liked it.  Of course, I had to add more fresh basil.   My only criticism, is that I thought the sauce was a little runny for my liking. I'm not sure what the fix would be.  I'd be hesitant to reduce the water, as the pasta has to cook in the sauce and it does absorb a lot of the liquid.  I'm glad I added the zucchini, as it added some texture.  The next time I make this, I might consider adding cooked Italian sausage (maybe even turkey sausage) and/or mushrooms. 

Overall, it's a simple pasta dish that rates "very easy".  

A printable recipe card can be found at the end of this post.

Cheers!

Best Pancakes. I'm serious. With or without Olallieberries?

I have made this pancake recipe three times, in the last month. I feel it is my duty to share this recipe with all of you. You will thank me.  I spotted this recipe on "Coleen's Recipe's" in early June.  Coleen named them "Best Pancakes", and that's a tall claim!  Truthfully, I don't eat traditional pancakes very often, but my husband loves them.  I'm more of a "Swedish Pancake" lover, but I have to say that Coleen was being very accurate.  The first time I made this recipe, I added olallieberries to the batter. These pancakes are also delicious just plain.  Coleen's claim turned out be very accurate.

Olallieberries are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. 

This recipe hasn't made a lot of pancakes, as every time I've made them, it's has yielded about 8-9 pancakes. That's fine with us, as I don't want leftover pancakes-- but recently I doubled the recipe and it yielded about 15 pancakes.   The dry ingredients are unbleached white flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  The wet ingredients are beaten eggs and melted butter and pure vanilla.

The soured milk helps to activate the baking soda.  This creates fluffy pancakes. Trust me. Just read the recipe directions carefully-- the key to this recipe is to make "soured milk" by combining vinegar with milk.

Add the soured milk to the eggs and vanilla, then add all of the wet ingredients to the dry and gently mix. A few lumps are okay, but don't overmix!  Be sure to allow the mixed batter to sit for about 10 minutes, until you see bubbles.

 The pancakes puff up, very nicely. 

You can't see the berries, but they are inside these pancakes.  Plain is fine, too. But, for the love of Pete, use only pure maple syrup! WARNING: These hotcakes soak up the syrup fast!

Are these fluffy enough for you? They are for us!

VERDICT:  Nope, not a trace of any vinegar flavor. Fluffy. Tender. Flavorful. The syrup was quickly soaked up. The plates were licked clean.   You don't need a box mix.   I still like the "Fluffy Pancake" recipe that I posted, last April, but that recipe involves folding in fluffy egg whites.  This recipe has become my "go to" pancake recipe.  Sure, you need to wait about 20 minutes for the batter to do it's "magic", but it's so worth it.  According to my pancake loving son, these are the best pancakes I have ever made!

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

Old-Fashioned Cooked Vanilla Frosting-- for my self-made Birthday Cake

Today is my birthday. (Thank you, in advance, for your best wishes.)  I'm taking the day off, to spend the anniversary of my arrival into this world.

Honolulu, Hawaii.  Age? Not sure, but about six months old. Why do I look so cranky?

 My birthday card/gift from my brother, Fred.  I love it!

I'm happy to say that how I feel on the inside, doesn't match my true age. My birthday coincides with the that great leap for mankind-- our first landing on the moon. I was fourteen years old.  Yes, you can do the math and that's my age. 

Question: Is is strange for me to bake my own birthday cake?

There are very few good bakeries where I live.  The ones I do like are expensive.  I do not like cakes that come from those warehouse businesses (and I won't name names).  Suffice it to say that I don't care for frosting that is made with shortening.   Canned frosting is the devil.  I won't buy it, and I can taste it blindfolded with a clothing pin on my nose.  Chemicals, I tell you. Gross.   My preferred cake frosting is a Swiss Meringue, and I've finally mastered how to make it-- it's surprisingly easy.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a recipe for Old-Fashioned Cooked Vanilla frosting.  I was intrigued about a frosting that uses a roux of milk and flour.  Very interesting!   I started to fixate on my favorite chocolate cake recipe.  I'm not a big fan of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting-- but chocolate cake with white frosting?  Yes!! We had a barbeque, this weekend, as an early birthday celebration.  I decided to bake my favorite moist chocolate cake (recipe card will be at the end of this post.)

First you make a "roux" of flour and milk (I doubled the recipe, since I planned to frost a cake, instead of cupcakes.)  I've mentioned this in a few previous posts, but I only use King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour.  Sure, the flour costs a few quarters more, but it's the best quality flour I've ever used. You want to cook the milk/flour mixture on medium heat, until starts to thicken; then cook for 1-2 minutes more.  You don't have to do this, but I decided to run the roux through a fine mesh sieve because I didn't want to risk having lumps.  It's a bit labor intensive, but the roux looked nice and smooth.  Next, you want to use unsalted (softened) butter and granulated sugar... not confectioners, which is used for a more traditional buttercream.  Allow the roux to cool to room temperature, but don't refrigerate it!

You'll want to stir the roux every so often.  The consistency is thick and creamy. Perfect!

Whip the butter and granulated sugar until it's fluffy.  Add the roux a couple of tablespoons at a time...

...this is where the "magic" begins.  The butter/sugar mixture begins to morph into a very creamy texture (about 6-8 minutes)..

Amazing! This is beginning to resemble whipped cream.

This icing even tastes like whipped cream!  I added a little vanilla and then gave a final taste.  

VERDICT:  Delicious!  Creamy! Sweet, but not nearly as sweet as a classic buttercream-- and I like this!

I detect a bit of sugar grains.  Hmmmmm....

Time to frost...

This frosting is quite nice to work with...

Since there was leftover frosting, I decided to do a little piping. I was curious about how well this frosting would work in a pastry bag.  I decided to chill the frosting for about 15 minutes, since it was a bit soft.

Not bad!  I wanted roses on my cake, but I failed that part of my Wilton cake decorating class. My roses kinda looked like cabbages.  I gave up. Someday, I'll attempt to learn how to make them again.   (The "blob" of frosting, in the center,  was to support the real roses.)

I decided to go "monochromatic" and cut a few of our white roses.  Real roses would do just fine!

Happy Birthday to me!

Who wants a slice? 

I love the contrasts of the dark chocolate and vanilla.  I can hardly wait to serve the rest of my guests, so that I can have a taste.

FINAL VERDICT:   If I do say so myself, this is one of the best cakes I've ever made!  The chocolate cake is incredibly moist. It should be, since I've used both buttermilk and canola oil in the batter. The coffee that I've added intensifies the chocolate flavor-- though the cake doesn't taste at all like coffee.  The frosting is silky and creamy and fluffy... and so good!  My guests ooh and ahh over this cake, and several ask for seconds. Best of all, the sugar "graininess" that I initially detected, was unnoticeable as I ate the cake.  

As a side note, once the remaining cake was refrigerated, the frosting hardens.  I enjoyed the texture of the frosting just as much this way, as I did at room temperature when it was soft.  

Now, I'm on the search for the Ultimate Moist White Cake!  I promised some friends that I'd bake cupcakes for them, and I plan to use this very same frosting recipe.  

I am linking this recipe to A Latte' with Otta-A's July's Iron Chef Challenge.  This July's challenge is "Flour", sponsored by King Arthur Flour. Heaven only knows how many of their products are in my pantry-- I love their baking ingredients.

Cherry & Apricot Crostata with a Ricotta Filling

Hello, again. It's been almost a week since I've had a chance to post this recipe.  This is the second dessert recipe in a row.  I don't have any dinner recipes ideas to share, because we are grilling just about every meal, and at that it's simple (but tasty) fare-- grilled chicken, salmon, veggies and burgers.

This recipe was a smashing success, I tell you!  Whole Foods had organic Bing cherries on sale for $2.99 a pound, and I stocked up.  Originally, I wanted to bake a cherry pie.  Then, I stumbled across two different recipes-- one was for a cherry-apricot tart.  I had never thought of combining these two summer fruits, but I knew instantly that these would pair well together.  Then, I stumbled on a recipe for a crostata at "Cowgirl Chef".  I liked the crust recipe and I especially liked the idea of a ricotta filling.  Crostatas (or Gallettes) are what I consider to be "free form" pies.  They're rustic. They're fast and easy.  You can use a store bought crust, but I prefer to make my own.  I'm always game to try new pie crust recipes, and this one used all butter and a touch of sugar.

The key to great pie crusts is to use very cold butter and don't over work the dough.  As a note, I am a full convert to buying only unbleached flour-- to be specific, I buy King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour.  Once the dough chilled for about an hour, I rolled it out to about 9-inches wide.  The uneven edges are fine, as I'll be folding the edges over.  I have a tutorial on how to make my fool-proof pie crust here.

I adapted the ricotta filling a bit.  I decided to add orange zest, and to omit using cinnamon. I simply whisked in two eggs and vanilla, and set it in the refrigerator ( you could easily do this the day before).  Next, I peeled and pitted 3 apricots and sliced them. I pitted roughly 20 Bing cherries.

I added about 1/4 tsp of almond extract and the juice of 1/2 small lemon. I sweetened the fruit with 3 Tablespoons of sugar and about 1 teaspoon of Clearjel (you can buy this at either King Arthur Flour or on Amazon).  If you don't have Clearjel, then you use always use cornstarch.  Set that aside.  On a whim, I decided to add a very thin layer of jam.  I do this, sometimes, to make sure that I don't end up with soggy crusts.  I didn't have apricot jam, but  I had  a lovely jar of Peach & Armagnac jam that the lovely folks at East India Company sent to me.  It's wonderful jam, and I'm sad that most of it has been eaten and thoroughy enjoyed.

I decided to change how I assembled the crostata from the original recipe, by reversing the steps.  I carefully spread the ricotta filling, on top of the jam-- leaving a 3" border.  Then, I piled the fruit on top of the ricotta filling.

I carefully folded the edge of the pastry over, and then brushed on an egg wash...

...then added King Arthur Flour sparkling white sugar, for the lovely crunch I like so much.

With the oven preheated to 350F I baked this for about 45 minutes.  Halfway through, I checked on my crostata and I was so sad... my lovely folded edges had melted into one flat pizza looking crust. I realized, too late, there was not enough flour in the dough (original recipe only called for one cup).  I should have gone with my gut instinct, as I felt that the dough felt very soft as initially I rolled it out.

Aesthetically, I was disappointed.  However, the crostata smelled wonderful, and I still had high hopes that the flavor would be a winner.

This is what the crust really should have looked like (this is a plum gallette that I make in the Fall.)

I let this crostata cool to room temperature-- just very slightly warm. I sprinkled my slice with a little bit of powdered sugar...

VERDICT:  The crust is quite lovely, really.  It was tender and buttery.   Next time, I'll add about 1/2 cup extra flour (already noted on the printable recipe card).   The ricotta filling was perfect-- I'm so glad I went with the orange zest.  It was a perfect compliment to the fruit. Oh, the fruit... the almond extract was very subtle.  Cherries and almond are a great flavor combo.  Cherries and apricots are lovely!  The crostata was sweet, but not super sweet. I absolutely loved everything about this recipe.   Would I make the same crust again? You bet.  Again, just adding more flour until the dough comes together a bit more would be the solution.

The ricotta filling is something I will make with any kind of fruit, year-round.  This almost reminds me of the Ina Garten Cheese Danish recipe that I've made in the past-- and which is also one of my most viewed recipes.   A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

I am linking this recipe to A Latte' with Ott-A's Iron Chef Challenge, sponsored by King Arthur Flour.

Enjoy!