I'm back... with my super-easy Chipotle Pasta Sauce!

It's been over a month since I cooked or posted anything.  Several things have happened:

1. I discovered that I'm allergic to my sourdough starter, or something in it.  The cooked products are fine, but when I have it out to "wake up" and start to use it, my eyes get red, itchy, swollen, watery, etc.  I look (and feel) a mess.  So for now, the sourdough experiment is done.
2. We got a PUPPY!  We got a pug and named him Hercules Mulligan (Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction. When you knock me down I get the f*ck back up again!*)  We're calling him Mulligan.

* This is a line from Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway show Hamilton.  My husband and I are a bit obsessed with it and knew that we wanted to name the pup after one of the characters.  Hercules Mulligan (played incredibly by Oak Onaodowan) was a patriot spy during the American Revolution, and a great friend of Hamilton.

Now on to my recipe for the evening.  This is something I've made up after having a nice spicy pasta one night and knowing I could do something better (and cheaper) at home!

This is more like a set of instructions, since this is a total cheat recipe.  I don't MAKE anything.  I dump things into pots and serve it up as something magical.  It's amazing and there is no shame.  We're all busy and need a quick go-to recipe once in awhile.  The beauty of recipes like this is that you can adjust it to your own tastes.

Jenn's Guidelines for Chipotle Pasta Sauce

 Ingredients

• 2 24oz jars of marinara sauce
• Cheat #1: I use store-bought.  You can make your own, if you want.  I don't.  I get 2 different jars to vary the flavors a bit.
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• I buy a can of them and buzz them up in my food processor.  Then I freeze the paste in snack-size zip-top bags.  This way I have what I need.
• I use a good amount (you can see in the picture below).  Probably 2 Tbsp?  My husband and I like things spicy, so this is...
• 8 oz of cream cheese
• Cheat #2: I use the jalepeño, to add to the overall flavor and creaminess with one ingredient.
• Cream/milk products help diffuse the heat, so if heat is a problem, don't leave this out!
• 1 lb dry pasta
• Cheat #3: Yes, I use boxed pasta.  Let's be real: this is meant to be a quick meal.  If I had time to make my own pasta, I'd probably have time to make my own sauce from scratch.
• I used mini penne because it's what we had and it's handy.  Use what you like, but I recommend penne or rigatoni, etc.
• Extra-virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• Splash of milk or cream, optional
• Grated parmesan to top

Instructions

1. Mise en Place (of course!)
   
2. Follow the directions on the pasta package to prepare.  Don't forget to salt your water!
3. While the pasta is boiling, dump the rest of the ingredients into another pot and stir until heated through and the cream cheese is melted.
• Yes, really.  That's the whole thing. :)
  
4. Add a splash of milk or cream toward the end if you'd like to have a more pink sauce.
   
5. Add herbs or spices or meats to your taste.  I don't.  I choose jarred sauces that are different but complementary and don't stress about the rest.
6. Plate up some pasta and top with sauce and grated parmesan.
7. Enjoy!

It really is that easy.  We have more than enough for dinner tomorrow and a few lunches for me.  It's quick but different enough to not feel like jarred sauce.

It's good to be back, practicing in my kitchen!  Let me know if you try this and what changes you try!  I'd love to be inspired by you!!

Roasted Salsa Verde

This is my very own salsa verde recipe.  I've been making it like this for years - and it's always a hit.

Salsa's are a great place to start playing around with ingredients and substitutions to get it the way you like it.  For me, I've always preferred smoother, more "liquid-y", restaurant-style salsas.  I've never been a big fan of the chunky ones.  And I really, really dislike fresh tomatoes (I can't explain it, but I finally figured this out).  So green salsas (salsa verde) have become my favorite.

I'll share more as we go through this.  Let's get started on:

Jenn's Roasted Salsa Verde

Ingredients

• 1 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• These are in the produce area.  In my grocery, they are with the baskets of loose spicy peppers
• 1-2 spicy peppers
• You can adjust the heat by adjusting the number, size, or variety of peppers.  Use the peppers that you like; this is going to be your salsa when you make it!
• If you use red (fresno or mature jalapeños) instead of green peppers (serrano or jalapeño), the color of the resulting salsa will change.
• I use serrano because my husband and I like the heat.  You can use whatever pepper you like (not bell peppers, though).
• Another trick to adjusting the heat is the ribs and seeds.  This is where the heat of a pepper lives, so if you like the flavor of a certain pepper but want (or need) to tone it down a bit, slice it in half lengthwise and cut out the ribs and seeds.
• 1/2 onion
• I like the flavor and look of a red onion in this.  If you prefer another onion, try it!
• 5-6 sprigs of cilantro
• Cut off the woody ends of the stems, but use the majority of the stems!  A lot of recipes will tell you to use the leaves only, but the stems are edible when blitzed like this!  Obviously, for garnish, stick with the leaves.  But this salsa is a great place to use the stems, too.  Less waste - YAY!
• Also, if you are someone who has the genes that equate cilantro with soap, leave it out!  Try parsley or celery leaves.  I haven't tried them yet, but they are popular substitutions (along with basil, but I fear basil will make your salsa taste more like bruschetta).
• up to 1 Tbsp white sugar
• This is the secret ingredient!  Just like salt is added to sweet dishes to balance the flavor, so we use a bit of sugar here to balance the tartness and acidity of the tomatillos.
• Adjust the amount of sugar
• Salt to taste.
• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• The zest is where the oils are.  This is where the true punch of lime flavor is, so make sure to zest your limes first.  And avoid the white pith; it's bitter and could ruin your dish.

Instructions

1. Mise en place!  You should know this by now...

   

   If you look closely, I have a new toy in the background!

   
   
2. Roast the tomatillos, peppers, and onion.
• Put a rack a few inches from the top of your oven and turn the oven on to broil.
• Line a baking sheet with plenty of foil.
• I do 2 overlapping pieces the short direction and 1 over it all the long way.  The tomatillos and peppers will burst in the over, and the goo is so sticky.  It's a mess to clean up.
• Prepare the tomatillos.
• I started to explain this here, but wanted to spend a little extra time on this part, so head over to my page about Tomatillos.
• Put peppers, tomatillos, and onion on the baking sheet and put it on the top rack.
  
• Broil for 5-10 minutes until black and the green is changing from bright lime green to a mild olive green.
• Don't worry if you hear popping sounds.  The flesh of the tomatillos and peppers will sometimes pop as they cook.
• Pull the tray out.  Use tongs or a spatula to flip the tomatillos and peppers so the non-charred side is up.  Return to the oven to broil for another 5-10 minutes.
• Once the second side is charred, pull the tray out and let the ingredients cool for a few minutes.  Turn the oven off.
  
3. Make the salsa.
• This is easy!  Dump everything into a blender or your new food processor (*squeeeee*) and pulse until well blended.
  
• I wanted to make some spicier than the rest, so I blitzed it up in 2 separate batches, starting with the milder one.
• The only difference was the number of peppers.  One batch had 2 (green bowl), one had 4 (orange bowl).
  
4. Cool.
• Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour to cool.
5. Package.
• I like to put mine into 1/2 pint mason jars.  They're a good size for sharing and look cute.
• Usually, I only make one spice level, so this time I had to hunt around for a way to mark which jar was which.  I made do with what I could find...

This is one of my favorite things I've made in my practice kitchen!

One spicy and one milder for my work, my husband's work, and home!

I am a sucker for Cheese Bread!

So if you know me in real life, you know I looooooooooooooooove cheese.  Mac-n-cheese. Grilled cheese. Cheese in my grits.  Cheese on my pasta (forget the marinara, just put cheese on mine). Cheese.

Cheddar. Bleu. Parmesean. Havarti with dill. Pepper Jack. Port Wine cheese spread. Cream cheese. Mascarpone. *dreamy sigh*  You get the picture, yes?

I'll try any cheese at least once. :)

So I'm working on perfecting a gooey, soft, fluffy, cheese-y cheddar yeast bread.  I've been studying various recipes to find things that I like and have created the below recipe.  Yep.  This one is MINE.  (Although, I'm sure there are similar ones elsewhere... there are only so many adjustments you can make to a bread recipe.)

You'll notice I've added a lot of text in italics.  This is how my brain works...I'm talking to myself (and now you) as we go through the steps.

Jenn's Cheese Lover's Bread

Ingredients
1 packet Dry Active Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3+ Cups All-purpose (AP) flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup milk
3 Cups grated cheddar cheese

Note about the cheese: I always use sharp or extra sharp cheddar.  This is a cheese bread and I want to TASTE the sharpness.  Larger grates is best.  Again, you want to SEE and FEEL and TASTE the bits of cheese.  This is not a time to use finely grated.  In my not-so-humble opinion.

Instructions
Don't be daunted.  There are lots of steps, but they aren't hard... it's just how things go with yeast breads, usually.

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer (it's easier if you have one, but if you don't, a big mixing bowl will do), combine 1 Cup of flour (the rest gets added later), yeast, sugar, and salt.
   You'll notice that the salt is in with the yeast here.  This is generally a no-no when you're blooming yeast, but since we are mixing with flour, too, it's ok.  It won't kill it.  But for other yeast recipes, if it calls for blooming the yeast in water first - it should be water (or milk) and yeast and sugar only.  The sugar feeds the yeast as it wakes up.  Salt stops that from happening correctly when blooming.  Which we're not doing... so we don't have to worry.
2. Heat the water and milk to approximately 120° F and add to the dry mix.
   This is super important.  Get a thermometer and USE it when working with yeast.  I've spent too much time being disappointed because I either killed the yeast with water that was too hot, or didn't wake it up with water that was too cold.  Trust me.  Measure the temperature!
   
3. Beat for 3 minutes.
   It will be sticky and not look like a bread dough at all.  That's because we're not done adding flour!
4. Combine 2 cups cheese with 1/2 cup of flour and add it to the mixer bowl.  Beat for another 2 minutes.
   Whenever you're adding something "wet-ish" to a bread or muffin batter, coat it in flour first.  It helps keep the 'something' suspended in the batter or dough and should prevent it from sinking to the bottom.  Like blueberries in a muffin, or chocolate chips in a cake, or cheese in a bread.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Slowly add in the remaining flour (1.5-2 cups) in small amounts, letting it be incorporated completely before adding more.
   This is where you have to really pay attention.  I cannot tell you if you're going to use 2 3/4 Cups or 4 Cups.  It depends on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen or in your city.  It depends on your flour or the method you used to measure it out.  Just go slowly here and stop adding when it looks like a good dough.  It's always better to stop too soon, because you can ALWAYS knead in more flour, but once the dough is dry, it is a complicated process to rescue it.

   

   +1/2 cup flour (2 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +1/2 cup flour (2.5 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +1/2 cup flour (3 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +a smidge more flour... looks good to me!

6. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer (or using elbow grease if you don't), knead the dough for 5 minutes.  It should be smooth and elastic-y.
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead in the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
8. Form your dough into a nice, smooth ball and put it in a clean, greased bowl.  Cover with a tea towel and place somewhere warm (but not hot) to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
   If it's cold where you are, turn your oven on the lowest setting and set the bowl on top of the stove. Just don't go crazy with the heat - you don't want to start cooking the dough yet!
   
9. Once risen to double the original size, punch it down and divide the dough.  This recipe should make one 9x5 loaf or 1 large braided loaf or 2 smaller braided loaves.  Once in the pan or formed into braids, cover again and let rise for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Again, it should double in size.
   This is where you get to decide what you want it to look like!  If you want to try the braiding, divide the dough into 3 or 6 equal portions, roll into similar size ropes (12" or 18" long), and then braid 3 strands together.  If you're using loaf pans, plop the dough neatly into a greased 9x5 pan.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Optional: Brush the top of the bread with an egg wash (1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water).
    This will add a transparent, shine to the top of your bread.
11. Bake.  For braids, 350° for 20-25 minutes.  For loaf in a pan, 375° for 25-30 minutes (cover with foil after about 15 minutes to prevent over-browning).
12. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
    
    
    
    

We cut into the one I topped with cheese (the other loaf is going to work tomorrow)...

It's light and soft and cheesy!  I'm in heaven.  And I'm betting it'll be even better toasted!