Deep Fried...Something

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti

A few weeks ago, one of my friends posted an image on Facebook that said, among other things, that you could make spaghetti in a pressure cooker really easily.  I was intrigued, and earlier this week I decided to try it.  Unfortunately, I didn't think my cunning plan all the way through.  I put the spaghetti and a jar of marinara sauce in the pressure cooker, sealed it up, and cooked for about 8 minutes at pressure.  When I took the lid off, it was burned badly to the bottom and the spaghetti wasn't really fully cooked.  It needed more liquid to cook properly and not scorch on the bottom.  I decided to look around a bit at various recipes, and came up with this.  The result: much MUCH better.  Everything was fully and properly cooked, and both kids enjoyed it too.  I'll probably use a little less red wine and replace it with chicken broth next time (I've modified the recipe to reflect that, original had 2 cups of red wine), but this one is another keeper.  Spaghetti and sauce in one pot with no draining?  Doesn't get much easier than that.

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 1 pound spaghetti, uncooked, noodles broken in half
• 1½ teaspoon Italian spices
• 1½ teaspoon salt
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat pressure cooker over medium-high heat, and add oil.  Lightly brown hamburger, onion, and garlic, stirring occasionally to separate meat.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except Parmesan cheese.  Stir well to mix, and make sure pasta is tossed in liquid enough to separate.
3. Seal lid, bring to high pressure, and cook for 7 minutes.
4. Release pressure and serve with Parmesan cheese.

Notes:
I think we were all surprised how good this was.  Simple, cheap, and delicious?  I have no complaints. 

Pad Thai

Whenever we find a new Thai restaurant, the first thing Sarah orders is pad thai.  It's one of her favorite dishes, and it's a quick and easy barometer of whether the rest of the food on the menu will be good.  I've never tried to make it before, because I always assumed it was way too complicated.  After I made this curry a few weeks ago, I ended up with a big chunk of tamarind and no idea how to use it, so I started looking around for recipes that would use it.  Pad thai kept popping up, and when I found this site that walked me through every single step of the process, and saw how simple the sauce really was, I decided I had to give it a try.  Because there's no way I'm going to retype or copy/paste everything from the original, I highly recommend you go give that site a read, then come back and look at my recipe.  If nothing else, note that you will cook this in batches, not all at once.  Everything from how to make the sauce to how to prepare the meal to how to season a wok is covered there, and it's worth the read!

After I had the sauce mixed to about how I thought it should be, I asked Sarah to come taste it and she said it should be a little sweeter, so I upped the sugar amount a little bit from the original recipe.  Once it was done, she said this was her new favorite pad thai, so I think I did ok!

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• ½ cup strained tamarind pulp
• ½ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• dash white pepper
• 8 ounces dried thin rice noodles (also called rice sticks, Banh Pho, or Chantaboon)
• 1 pound extra-firm tofu
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4-8 eggs
• ½ cup ground peanuts
• 3 Tablespoons chopped garlic
• 4 handfuls shredded carrots
• Bean sprouts
• Vegetable oil
• 1 lime

Directions:

1. Mix tamarind, sugars, and fish sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add cayenne and white pepper.  Taste sauce and adjust to your personal liking.  Remember that you'll be serving this with lime, so it doesn't need to be TOO tart.  Once sauce is flavored to your taste, remove from heat and keep nearby.
2. Soak rice noodles in hot water until they are pliable but not soft (think spaghetti 2-3 minutes before it's done cooking).  Drain and set aside.
3. Cut tofu and chicken into small chunks.
4. Heat a large wok over high heat until very hot, to the point of smoky.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and add ¼ of the chicken.  Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is halfway cooked, about 1-2 minutes. 
5. Add ¼ of the tofu and garlic and 1-2 tablespoons of the sauce.  Cook, stirring frequently, until tofu starts to brown around the edges.  
6. Add 1-2 cups of noodles and about ¼ cup of sauce.  Stir regularly until noodles are fully cooked and soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
7. Push noodles to one side of wok and add 1-2 eggs.  Let set for 15-20 seconds, then toss everything together.
8. Add 1-2 tablespoons of chopped peanuts and a handful of shredded carrots.  Stir a few times, then remove from heat.
9. Move finished product to a plate/bowl and continue in batches until done cooking.  Serve with slice of lime.

Notes:
This recipe makes ~4 servings.  I used one egg per serving when I made it, I'll almost certainly use two next time.  I also didn't include bean sprouts because Sarah isn't a big fan, but since you're making each serving individually, I could have (and should have!) added some in for mine.  Some of the other things mentioned on the original page to add in: shrimp, garlic chives, pickled turnip, and dried shrimp.  They didn't mention carrots, but I asked Sarah what she wanted in her pad thai and she mentioned them, and I can't argue with her on this one because they were delicious.

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

After my last healthy mac and cheese recipe left me a little disappointed, I decided I had to try again.  I went looking for another recipe and found this one through Tastespotting.  I made a few changes of my own, some to make it healthier and some just because I wanted a different kind of cheese.  The result was possibly the best mac and cheese I've ever made, and it's pretty healthy too!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash, split in half and seeded
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1½  cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup low-fat or skim milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup Colby jack cheese, shredded
• ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• ½ cup Asiago cheese, shredded
• ½ cup bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Bake squash on a sheet of parchment for about one hour, until soft.  Scoop out squash flesh and set aside. 
3. Decrease oven temperature to 375°F.  Grease a large casserole dish or several small bowls (at least 6 dessert bowls). 
4. Boil water and cook pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a large pot place stock, milk, squash and spices on a medium simmer.  Cook for about 5 minutes. 
6. Using an immersion blender (or use your cuisinart), blend until pretty smooth, with a few lumps of squash intact if you like.
7. Place all cheeses, except a little Asiago (save in a bowl for topping) in a large mixing bowl.  Stir to combine. 
8. Pour the stock/squash mixture into this bowl and stir.  Cheese will melt and become gooey and delicious smelling. 
9. When pasta is done, throw back into the large pot and pour in cheese/squash mixture.  Mix well, then pour into small bowls or one large casserole pan. 
10. Sprinkle on breadcrumbs and remainder of Asiago cheese.  Cover in tin foil and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and cook 10-15 minutes more, until the top layer looks crusty.  Broil for the final 1-2 minutes.

Notes:
I really don't have much to add.  Using Greek yogurt instead of ricotta made it healthier without sacrificing any flavor at all.  I used fiber-enriched macaroni noodles, but I'm sure it would be good with whole wheat pasta as well.

Baked Lemon Pasta

When I first saw this recipe, my reaction was, "OMG I MUST MAKE THIS RIGHT NOW!!!"  I sent it to Sarah, who agreed that it looked good but wondered if I could maybe add some vegetables in to make it a wee bit healthier.  I picked a few random things I wanted to throw in there, then threw in a few more when I thought to myself, "What veggies are good with lemon?"  The resulting dish was fantastic.

Baked Lemon Pasta
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Ingredients:

• 1 pound thin spaghetti
• 6 ounces Portabello mushrooms, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• Carrots and broccoli, chopped
• ¼ cup water
  
• 4 Tablespoons salted butter
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole lemon, juiced and zested
• 2 cups low-fat sour cream
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or more to taste
• Plenty of grated Parmesan cheese
• Herbs to taste
• Extra lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
3. In a skillet or saucepan, saute mushrooms with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until no more water comes from mushrooms, about 8 minutes.  Add leeks, carrots and broccoli and cook for 2-3 more minutes.  Add water, cover, and cook for 3 minutes, or until broccoli and carrots are fully cooked.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a skillet, melt butter with remaining olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.
5. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Mix in vegetables.  Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven-safe dish.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
7. When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then herbs. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.
8. Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Notes:
I used part of a bag of carrots and broccoli designed for stir fry use from the produce section of the grocery store, so I don't have a precise amount in the ingredients.  I also only had unsalted butter, so I used around 1 teaspoon of salt instead of ½ teaspoon. I put the dish in the refrigerator once I put it in the oven-safe dish and did the baking step later in the day, and I probably should have increased the baking time more than I did (I did 19 minutes for the first step), but it still tasted good. :)  And finally, the original recipe called for chopped flat-leaf parsley on top, but I'm not a huge fan of parsley so I used boquet garni from penzeys.com instead.