Spicy Thai Noodles

Oh my god, y'all. I made these noodles Friday for dinner, and then went out in Miami for a friend's birthday, and finished them when I got home (at 4am--yikes!) and they were a million times better cold than hot. I can't even describe how good they tasted when I got home (the flavors might've been accentuated by the wine & vodka I had while out, or because the pasta had time to soak up the sauce), but it was seriously so good. AND so easy! And, of course, I saw it on pinterest, LOL!

Spicy Thai Noodles
1/4 cup sesame oil (find it in the Asian section at your supermarket)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (but I think this can be omitted)
1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you can handle)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
linguine, angel hair pasta or spaghetti (I used about a half of a box)
Toppings/Mix-ins
sauteed spinach
sauteed mushrooms
sliced chicken or shrimp
thinly sliced cucumbers
sliced water chestnuts
shredded carrots
thinly sliced green onions
chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts

Start by cooking the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, simmer the sesame and vegetable oil with the red pepper flakes 2-3 minutes. Be careful it doesn't burn! I looked away for a minute and it almost got burnt. Strain out the red pepper flakes, and put the oil in a large bowl. Add in the soy sauce and honey, and whisk until mixed (I added a little extra soy sauce because it seemed a little oily). Toss in the pasta and any of your mix-ins. I did the sauteed spinach and mushrooms, because that was what I had on hand, but if you serve this cold, making it into a cold noodle salad would be delicious! Or, making it into a meal by adding some grilled chicken or shrimp. Seriously, the possibilities are endless because the sauce is just so good.

When I got home, the noodles were almost brown from all the sauce! Just so good. Try it, NOW!

A BIG hug and kisses to my good friend Diame for her birthday! We had an amazing time Friday night at Wynwood Kitchen & Bardot Lounge. Wynwood Kitchen is this amazing little tapas restaurant in the design district in Miami. I had the gazpacho which came with spicy croutons and it was amazing. Then we finished the night at Bardot; it's a dark, smokey lounge, with a great DJ, also in the design district. All in all, a great night for an amazing friend!

My Greatest Culinary Feat: Kraft Mac'n'Cheese in a Frying Pan

Many of you know that I moved to Tampa this past weekend. But the movers came a few days before I turned in my keys, so I had to live in an empty apartment with limited culinary tools at my disposal. Basically, all I kept was my favorite Le Creuset frying pan. So, Friday night I got a craving for Kraft Mac'n'Cheese. I really LOVE the stuff. Probably more than I should considering I can make mac'n'cheese from scratch in a jiff. So that night I attempted my greatest culinary feat to date--making the Kraft Mac'n'Cheese in a frying pan! (Luckily for me, I did randomly keep a colander, but if I hadn't, I would've found a way to strain the noodles!) Sorry for the quality of the photos, I took them with my iPhone!

So first, I boiled the water. Kind of hard in a huge frying pan with a burner that doesn't work so well. But I also kept behind my grill pan (don't ask why!) so I used that as a makeshift lid! I felt so crafty.

So then I drained the noodles in a colander, and put them back in the pan with the butter and milk. My little secret is that you really don't have to use all the butter they call for. I usually use a tablespoon or two. Then I don't feel so bad when I eat a HUGE portion/the entire box. And then, of course, comes the bright orange powder!

It looks so fluorescent compared to the pale noodles!

Time to mix mix mix!

And then, time to EAT EAT EAT!

So, my friends, the moral of the story is that you can indeed cook Kraft Mac'n'Cheese in a frying pan. Or maybe a more general moral of the story is to be resourceful. Try new things. Eat more mac'n'cheese. But only if it's made with neon orange powder.

Pesto

I love pesto. I am obsessed with it. I will eat it with a spoon. Luckily, it's super easy to make, and all you need is a food processor.

Pesto
3 large cloves garlic, peeled
20 fresh basil leaves
1 1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese (I find the best to use is Kraft from the pasta aisle)
2/3 cup pine nuts (look in the produce section for these and store in the freezer)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil

Start by putting the garlic, basil, cheese, pine nuts and salt in the food processor and mixing until a paste is formed.

Slowly drizzle oil in with processor running until mixed completely. Let sit at room temperature a few hours to let the flavors meld.

Enjoy with pasta, mix with mayo to make a pesto mayonnaise, or just eat with a spoon like me. :)

Mac'n'Cheese

Yesterday I had a craving for homemade mac'n'cheese. Now, don't get me wrong--I LOVE the Kraft mac'n'cheese from the box. But sometimes, whipping up some homemade mac'n'cheese really hits the spot. And it's super easy. Claire, I better hear that you made this for Eden!!

Mac'n'Cheese
3/4 box macaroni
2 1/4 cup milk/cream (use whatever you have, but the more cream you use, the richer it will be, I think I used about 3/4 cup cream, and the rest milk)
2 teaspoons flour
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper

For the cheeses, just use whatever you have on hand. The ingredients I listed were actually what I had on hand, and turned out to be a good combo, but if you want to mix it up, feel free. Just be careful with stronger cheeses (blue cheese, etc), because those will overpower your dish if you use too much. I think if I were going to use blue cheese, I would probably just use it in the topping, rather than in the mixture too.

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Boil the macaroni in salted water. Take out and drain when they are still firm to the bite.

In the mean time, whisk the milk/cream, flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the cheeses. Mix in the pasta after it's finished cooking. Pour mixture into large greased baking dish. You probably need a deep 9"x9" pan. I used, of course, a Le Creuset baking dish.

For the topping, mix the ingredients together. You should have a thick but crumbly mixture. Add more breadcrumbs if it isn't crumbly enough. Crumble over your pasta mixture.

Bake for 20-30 minutes at 400F, or until the top is browned and crispy and the liquid is bubbly. If your pan is very full, you may want to place the baking dish on a aluminum foil-lined half-sheet pan (with sides) just in case it spills over in the oven, you won't have a big milky mess at the bottom.

There's no picture with this one either because this was so good that Ryan and I gobbled this up before I could photograph it! This is also very good reheated in the microwave for breakfast the next morning! ;) Hope you enjoy!

Spaghetti & Meatballs

How many of you buy those frozen premade meatballs (chock full of chemicals and fillers--ick!!) at the grocery store? Or even the premade raw ones in the meat department? Making homemade meatballs is too simple to spend all that money on premade ones! You can make homemade meatballs using ingredients you already have at home. I'm going to tell you how I did it (so you can do it too!), in 30 minutes, tops.

There was a big spread in Bon Appetit magazine this month on meatballs, so I took their recipe for meatballs and adjusted it a little bit (since I didn't have bacon or red peppers on hand).

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef (I used 20% fat)
1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed (or finely minced if you don't have a garlic crusher)
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (you can find them in the breadcrumb section of Publix)
1 egg
1/4 cup grated onion (just use a cheese grater)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper (these are spicy, so tone this down if you are spice-sensitive)

Mix all ingredients together. Make sure you don't over-mix, because that will make your meatballs tough.

Using a tablespoon and wet hand, form into 1 1/2" meatballs.

Brown the meatballs in a frying pan, making sure all the sides are browned (Ryan did this part for me!).

For the sauce, I cheated and used canned sauce, Classico's Tomato & Basil. Whenever I use canned sauce, I always jazz it up a little, to give it more of a homemade taste. I chopped up the unused part of the onion from the meatballs, some garlic cloves, and sauteed both with some olive oil and crushed red pepper. (If you put crushed red pepper (or any herbs) in with the oil over heat, it'll infuse and you'll get more flavor from them--a tip if you ever want to make infused oils for gifts!) After the onions and garlic were softened, I added the jar of sauce. I also added some Italian seasoning (the only premade seasoning I use, but when I run out, I'll make some from scratch), salt, and pepper, then let the sauce simmer while the meatballs were browning. Doesn't it look good? I'm getting hungry just writing this post!

Once the meatballs are done browning, add them to the simmering sauce, and let cook for 10-15 minutes, so the inside of the meatballs get cooked through, and the flavors get to meld. We also added the pan-drippings (read as: fat) from the frying pan to the sauce, to add more flavor. Fat=Flavor!

Cook up your favorite pasta (while the sauce is simmering) and voila--homemade spaghetti & meatballs!