Great Goulash

I made this dish for Ashley's family and they loved it. What an honor it was to have them praise my food in such a way! I was a brand new stay-at-home Mommy at the time and wasn't really big into cooking. To this day, ever so often Ashley calls or emails me wanting this recipe. Maybe her family's interest in my cooking is what sparked my interest in cooking? Although, I must give credit where credit is due. I used to make goulash the way our family does, which is absolutely delicious, but Joe, never leaving well enough alone, concocted this recipe. I have merely given it life.

1 lb hamburger meat
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 can Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes, drained
Italian seasoning
Garlic salt
Pepper
1 box Penne Rigate pasta
1 package sliced provolone
1 8 oz package shredded mozzarella cheese
*Be creative with the cheese. Sometimes I use sliced mozzarella and shredded Italian blend cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to directions on box.

Brown meat with onion. While cooking, season meat with garlic salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to your liking. (I have no idea how much I add!)
Once meat is browned, drain off any fat, reduce heat to low and add the tomatoes to the meat. Stir until tomatoes are heated and remove from heat.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to pan. Add meat mixture to pasta and mix.

Spread one half into a glass casserole dish and top with sliced cheese. Layer the other half on top, spread, and sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese.

Place in oven just until cheese is melted, any longer and the noodles may get crunchy! Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

I like to serve this dish with a side salad and ciabatta bread. Bon Appetit!

Serves about 8, but we LOVE the leftovers!

Asian Pasta

This is my husband's new favorite dish. He ate all of his and went looking for more. I got this recipe from Cookie Magazine, but put a Courtney twist on it.

1 13.5-ounce box of multi-grain spaghetti
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how much heat you like)
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles and return them to the pot.

Heat the sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, shallot, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic and shallot are just golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the soy sauce. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss until the noodles are evenly coated.

Set the same sauté pan back on the stove and increase the heat to medium high. Crack the eggs into the pan, making sure not to break the yolks. Season them with salt and pepper, if desired. Fry the eggs until the whites are completely cooked but the yolks are still a little runny.

Serve the noodles with an egg on top—the yolk will coat the noodles and add extra richness to the sauce. Add any veggies you have on hand. I added shredded carrots and we had edamame on the side. We also topped it off with Joe's yummy jalapeno! I think raw broccoli would taste awesome in it and even some shredded beef! This is definitely a dish I could get creative with.

Left Over Fajita Pizza Supreme

1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
1 cup salsa (I used Joe T. Garcia's "Hot")
1/2 cup diced onion (I used half yellow, half purple)
1/4 cup julienned green bell pepper
1/2 lb fajita meat (I used left over beef fajita meat)
Dash of cumin
Dash of chili powder
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 avocado, diced
Handful of crumbled Cotija cheese (a Mexican crumble cheese)
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (as always, I used 2% milk cheese)
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper
I also used Joe's left over homemade Mexican rice, reheated
*TIP: To successfully reheat rice so that it's not crunchy, place it in a plastic microwave safe container, add a decent amount of water, put the lid back on tight and microwave long enough for it to steam and the lid to pop up a bit.
________________________________________________________________
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread dough onto greased 10x15 (or so) cooking sheet.
Cook dough for approx 8-10 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.
________________________________________________________________
In the meantime, saute onion, cumin, pepper, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic in olive oil until vegetables are tender, add meat and stir until meat is heated through (since I used left over already cooked meat).
________________________________________________________________
Once crust is lightly browned, spread salsa evenly over the top, add 1 cup cheese. Add meat and veggie mixture and top with rest of shredded cheese. Cook 10-15 minutes until crust is brown and cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven, turn oven temp to "warm", spread rice on top of pizza, sprinkle Cotija crumble cheese on top and place back in oven. Once Cotija is melty, remove and let sit at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with fresh avocado on top. Makes 12 slices. Muy Bueno!

Pico de Gallo

1/2 tsp salt
1 minced clove of garlic
2 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsps finely chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsps fresh lime juice

Mix it all in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour before serving.

I cannot make enough of it. Joe eats it as fast as I can make it!

Mexican Pizza Pockets

Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet, thawed and rolled out
1/2 lb hamburger meat (I never use any more than 96/4 % fat)
taco seasoning
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 oz cream cheese (I use reduced fat)
1/4 cup white corn
1/4 cup diced yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook onions with meat and season with taco seasoning per taco seasoning instructions.
3. Mix in cream cheese and corn and stir until cream cheese is melted.
4. Cut puff pastry into 3-4 inch rectangles, ovals will work too.
5. Place 1-2 tablespoons of meat mixture in middle of each rectangle, but over to one side.
6. Brush edges of pastry with butter and fold empty side over to cover the meat mixture. Seal edges together with fork. (like ravioli) Repeat until all is used. If you have any of the meat mixture left, feed it to your hungry 18-month old daughter. =)
7. Place on greased cookie sheet and and brush tops with remaining butter.
8. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Dip in sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or a mixture of any of the three and serve with a side of rice. Muy delicioso!

Beef Wellington w/ Bearnaise Sauce

Joe has been on me for a while now to learn how to make Beef Wellington, so what better of a time than Father's Day! I found this recipe on simplyrecipes.com, here is the exact link:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beef_wellington/

Beef Wellington Recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb beef tenderloin fillet
Salt and pepper
Canola, grapeseed, or olive oil
1 lb mushrooms
4 thin slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or prosciutto (I used prosciutto)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard (we used Coleman's Original English Mustard)
7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
2 egg yolks, beaten
**I also used a about a tbsp of diced onion and a tbsp of minced garlic

To make:
1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (hint: do not move the fillet until it has had a chance to brown). Remove the fillet from the pan and let cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard.
3 Chop the mushrooms put them into a food processor and purée. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Scrape the mushroom purée into the pan and let cook down (this is where I also added a tbsp diced onion and a tbsp minced garlic), allowing the mushrooms to release their moisture (and for the onion to cook). When the moisture released by the mushrooms has boiled away, set aside the mushrooms to cool.
4 Roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay out the slices of ham on the plastic wrap so that they overlap. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham. Place the beef fillet in the middle, roll the mushroom and ham over the fillet, using the plastic wrap so that you do this tightly. Wrap up the beef fillet into a tight barrel shape, twisting the ends of the plastic wrap to secure. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry sheet to a size that will wrap around the beef fillet. Unwrap the fillet from the plastic wrap and place in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Fold the pastry around the fillet, cutting off any excess at the ends (pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all the way, try to limit the overlap). Place on a small plate, seam side down, and brush beaten egg yolks all over the top. Chill for 5-10 minutes.
6 Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking pan. Brush the exposed surface again with beaten eggs. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife, not going all the way through the pastry. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely golden when done. (To ensure that your roast is medium rare, test with an instant read meat thermometer. Pull out at 125-130°F for medium rare.) Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice in 1-inch thick slices.
Serves 4.

*********************************************************************************
I also made a very simple Bearnaise Sauce to go with the Beef Wellington. I will say that the sauce tasted a little funny by itself, but atop the meat it was out of this world! I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com. Here is it's exact link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bearnaise-Sauce-I/Detail.aspx

Bearnaise Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
4 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS:
In a microwave safe dish combine vinegar, shallots and tarragon. Microwave on high until boiling. Allow to cool.
Stir in egg yolks and butter. Microwave until thickened, about 1 minute.

***********************************************************************************
I served the Beef Wellington with Bearnaise Sauce on the side with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. Let me just say that Joe looked at me during the meal and asked "Where's my wife? This is a five star meal! I couldn't have pulled this off!" What a great compliment! Honestly, I couldn't believe I pulled it off either. I was so nervous to cook it!

Pre-Father's Day French Toast

3 slices of bread

2 eggs

cinnamon

powdered sugar

1/4 banana, sliced

2 strawberries, cleaned

whipped cream

syrup

salt and pepper

1. Beat eggs and mix in a pinch of each: cinnamon, powdered sugar, salt and pepper.

2. Dip each piece of bread into egg mixture, coating both sides well, and place in heated skillet (medium heat). Cook until browned on both sides.

3. Cut each slice in half, arrange prettily on a plate, drizzle with syrup, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon, decorate with whipped cream, bananas and strawberries (I also added a few sprigs of parsley for decoration purposes only).

4. Serve to the most important fathers in your life (except I didn't get to serve it to my Dad, but I will soon if he wants some!).

This is what I served Joe and Wayne yesterday morning, today's breakfast is yet to come. They're still sleeping! I wish my Dad could have been here to enjoy this delicious French Toast, but as I said before, I'll make it for him any time if he's interested!

Hana got to enjoy some, too!

Happy Father's Day!