Parmesan Penne Bake

Okay for a quick and easy dinner solution the other night I came up with a "mac and cheese" for a refined pallet.


Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Penne Pasta (4 servings)
Italian blend shredded cheese (Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, Mozzarella)
Italian blend spices (LOVE my pizza and pasta spices grinder!)
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Olive Oil
Bread Crumbs (Italian if available)

Utensils:
Saucepan
Glass baking dish 8x8 or 9" round

-Preheat oven to 325.
-In sauce pan add one tsp of minced garlic, 1Tbsp of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, simmer on medium heat for 3 minutes.
-Add appropriate amount of water as per penne boiling directions.  Boil noodles and strain once done.
- In oven safe glass dish add noodles, 2 Tbsp of Italian seasonings and 1 cup of blended cheeses, mix well into noodles.  Add another thin layer of cheese to the top of the dish and dust the top with bread crumbs.  Lighlty shake olive oil over top of the dish leave uncovered and place in oven.
-Leave in oven for 20-25 minutes uncovered and switch to the broiler for last 3 minutes of cooking.  Be sure to watch your dish and make sure not to over broil.  I like mine to have a crispy top, hence the broiler but this is an optional step.




Serve as is or add a side of your favorite marinara sauce (mmmm...home made sauce :)) for a true Italian pasta dish.

Enjoy!

You ain't never had my Cornbread

Yes, It's true and obvious, Dave Matthews Band is the source for much of my inspiration. Having said that, of course I attempt to make Cornbread...while jamming out to Dave singing about Cornbread. This cornbread is a little sweet and a little spicy just like me :) Enjoy

-Preheat oven to 400

Ingredients:
1 box corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 red hot chili
5 slices jalapeno
Dash cumin

Utensils:
Mixing bowl
Fork
Spatula
Cutting board
Sharp small knife
2 mini loaf pans or one muffin tin

Mix corn muffin mix, egg, milk, cumin and sugar till a thick and slightly lumpy consistency.
Cut one long slice down the red chili pepper, open it and scrape out all seeds. Continue to make one long slice down the other side of the pepper and then chop the pepper into fine pieces (DO NOT GET YOUR HANDS NEAR YOUR MOUTH!! Ouch!)
Chop jalapeno slices into small slivers, the same size as your chili pepper slices.
Add both peppers while stirring mix.

Pour into two well greased mini loaf pans and bake at 400 16-20 minutes, or until top of loafs are golden brown.

Enjoy with a bowl of butternut squash soup or as a side with some bbq chicken and greens!

New Blog!

Hello to the three readers out there I think I'll have to this blog! :-) I am beginning this blog in response to requests for my recipes and because I love to cook and this gives me one more reason to show off my skills. I do not pretend to have any background in the culinary arts, however I spent 4+ years working the dining side of a country club where I learned quite a few tricks. Furthermore, as a kid I always found my grandmother's cooking interesting. I would watch her with subdued fascination and dream of having my own kitchen as a "grown-up." So now, I try my hand at something I've been longing to do since childhood, develop my own recipes and give them to others to try.

To the right you will find a list of ingredients that I will *ALWAYS* have in my cabinets. I do not let myself get low on any of these ingredients and I find they are the band-aids to my attempts at cooking. If you wish to follow along with my cooking, I highly suggest stocking up on these ingredients. I prefer organic spices, but there is nothing wrong with grabbing these from your local Aldi or Kroger, spices are spices and no matter the packaging, all contain the same ingredients.

Secondary to the list of ingredients I also tend to have frozen chicken breasts, cream cheese, milk, white fish, spaghetti, penne, elbow macaroni and an assortment of canned vegetables on hand. Thus no matter the situation or diner I may be having I can cater to my guests diets.

So now that you have read a bit about me and my kitchen, please feel free to continue and cook with me! If you have any comments, I'd greatly appreciate them and hopefully make a follower out of you!

Ciao xoxo
Ashley