Homemade Spinach Fettuccini

I bought a pasta maker!   Unfortunately, last night's dinner was not made with one.  It's still being shipped but I wanted to see what I could do by hand and compare it to the machine version.  It turned out awesome!  You have to have some time and patience, but it was worth it.  I made about half this dough and it was perfect for 2 servings.

I served this with some chicken Parmesan.  I like my chicken to be crispy so I heat the sauce separately from the fried chicken tenders.  I topped it with some fresh mozzarella, grated parm, and fresh basil.  My hubby was sick last night and stuffed up but even HE could taste the great flavor!

Homemade Spinach Fettuccini

- 6 oz fresh spinach
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 heaping tsp of salt (emphasis on the heaping)
- 2 1/2 cups flour

Steam fresh spinach over water for a few minutes until wilted.  Cool slightly and with your hands squeeze out the water.  Add into a food processor and chop.  Add 2 eggs and egg yolk, and salt.  Pulse on low until combined well.  Place in bowl and add flour.  Combine until dough comes together.  It should be very tough.  I tried kneading this with my hands first because I thought it might be too tough for my food processor but it did work!  I threw it in the KitchenAid for about 6 min.  The original directions say between 5 and 10 by hand.  I separated the dough into quarters and rolled it out as thin as I could and then sliced it into pasta sized strips.  Leave the strips out to dry for about 20-30 min.  Boil in salted water for about 10 min or until al dente.

Original recipe from: http://www.marthastewart.com/314301/fresh-spinach-pasta-dough

Banana Crunch Bread

I finally found this recipe that I had in an old Family Circle cookbook that I don't have anymore.  I love this one because the actual bread uses what I call the "shortbread method" or adding a stick of cold butter into the flour mixture to make crumbs.  In the end you get a "crumbly" type of bread which is delicious!  I toasted some almonds at 350 for about 10 min as I did not have any walnuts and they added a nice crunch!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (I usually under fill the 1 cup)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut in pieces
1 cup mashed ripe banana or a little more
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla

CRUNCH TOPPING
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. (I used a bundt cake today)
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in bananas, walnuts, ginger, eggs and vanilla until mixture is just moistened. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan.
Prepare Crunch Topping: Combine flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees oven for 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Remove bread and cool on wire rack completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.


Recipe adopted from www.food.com.

Salmon - sushi style at home!

Ever wonder how they make that salmon that's on your sushi roll?  Well... I've seen my mom and grandma make this treat for years.  It turns out, it is super simple!  And much more cost effective than buying a tiny package of smoked salmon at the store - or stocking up on salmon rolls.

I bought a fillet about the size of my hand -

Take off the skin of the fillet.
Mix 2 tbsp of salt with 1 tbsp of sugar and rub the entire fillet - both sides, everywhere!
Place in a bowl and cover, set aside on the counter for 2 hours.
You'll see liquid start to come out - that's a good sign.
Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours - with the liquid and everything.
Take out, cut off a piece and check for salt level.  If you like it, wash the remaining salt off, cut into pieces and place in a container with olive oil - so the fish is just covered, not swimming in olive oil.

Enjoy!

Russian Oliv'e (Potato Salad) & Kotleta (Turkey Burger)

I have been feeling homesick for some good Russian cooking.  Since flying to see my mom or grandma were not an option, I decided to make some comfort food myself.  The Russian potato salad is staple at all special occasions - birthdays, New Years, everything!  It's very simple but does take some time for chopping everything up.  The key is to chop everything as fine as possible - without turning the potatoes into mashed potatoes.  The trick to this is to wait until the vegetables are cooled from boiling and are at room temperature or even cold out of the fridge.  I usually don't have that much time but cold would work best for chopping.

Oliv'e (Russian Potato Salad)

5-6 small potatoes
3 eggs
2-3 long carrots
1/4 to 1/2 lb deli bologna (sliced thick)
1 can peas
2-3 dill pickles
1 apple
Mayo
Salt
Pepper

- Boil 5-6 small potatoes, 3 eggs, 2-3 long carrots.  Eggs will be done after about 10 minutes of boiling.  Take them out and place them in a bowl with ice cold water.  Carrots will be next in another 5-10 minutes, followed by the potatoes.  Check the readiness of the carrots and potatoes by putting a fork through them occasionally.

- Chop up bologna, pickles, apple along with the cooked veggies.  Be sure to cut in cubes as small as possible without making a mush.

- Add salt to taste.  Add 3-4 tablespoons of mayo.  Mix and check for flavor.  Veggie should be held together by the mayo.  If the salad looks dry, add another tablespoon of mayo.

Kotlety (Turkey Burgers)

1lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 onion
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt
pepper
garlic powder
flour

Sautee onion with a little bit of butter until soft.  Cool.  In a bowl mix ground turkey, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cooled onion.

Form into small patties, roll in flour and place on skillet to fly in some olive oil.  Turn once browned.  Cover and add a splash of water to cook on the inside.  Once clear liquid is coming out from the middle, they are done.

Simple but awesome!