Quick & Easy Creamy Lemon-Garlic Ravioli

Has anyone else been struggling to find inspiration for 3 meals a day every day during this COVID-19 pandemic?  I've come to realize how often we ate out or even just picked up snacks out.  Now we are basically enjoying all meals inside.

I'm a PC Insiders member and I didn't even realize we had exclusive access to something called the Insiders Project until I received an email saying they were giving free access to everyone during the pandemic! 

Well of course I had to go on and browse what they have on there - and wow! Lots of variety and lots of great looking recipes.  So of course I had to try one of them out.

I've always loved a cream sauce on my pasta, even though my kids are not big fans.  And no matter what I do, I can never really replicate my mom's cream sauce, and any that I've found online are not what I would consider keepers.  Well tonight the pasta was enjoyed by all and my husband actually said "Wow! This is a keeper!" Now that's saying a lot because I'm pretty sure my kids inherited their dislike for cream sauces from him.  He started talking about all the different ways we could use this sauce in other dishes.

This amount was perfect for our family of 4, and it came together very quickly.  Once I popped the frozen ravioli in the boiling water, I got started on the sauce.  It has very little prep involved as well - grate the cheese, mince the garlic and zest the lemon.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, but I never measure and always use till I think it looks good. Of course, you could use any pasta you want, but for some reason I love ravioli in a cream sauce.

Ingredients:

400g bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup cream
zest of one lemon
sea salt to taste
1 tsp dried parsley
(1 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place frozen ravioli in a salted (large) pot of boiling water. Cook until the ravioli is al dente (approx. 8-10 minutes).  Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, and drain the ravioli.

2. While ravioli is cooking, melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Be careful not to brown or burn the garlic.  Stir in cream, lemon zest, dried parsley and salt.  Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add drained ravioli and 1/2 cup pasta water.  Increase heat to medium-high, then cook, stirring often until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta, approx. 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and gradually grate the Parmesan cheese over top, stirring occasionally.  Stir in lemon juice and season with black pepper.  Serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Asparagus & Mushroom Risotto

Rice was a staple in my husband's family growing up, but it's not something I could eat everyday.  Risotto is a great dish that brings together my Italian heritage with his Hispanic heritage.  Growing up there were two risotto dishes that were a staple in my house (made by either my mom or my nonna): mushroom risotto and a meat/tomato "red" risotto.  While I have never attempted to make the red one, mushroom risotto is something I make often enough.  I love playing around with different ingredients to add in a risotto.  Once you are familiar with the method, it is really easy to change up the ingredients.  This time around we happened to have a lot of asparagus sitting in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I added it into the risotto. 

If you've read any of my other risotto recipes, you'll recognize this one.  It is essentially the same with the asparagus added.  Unfortunately, my measurements may be a little off as I tend to eyeball risotto when I make it.  It doesn't hurt to have extra broth simmering away; you can always refrigerate it and use it for something else another time if there's leftovers.

This risotto was so creamy and delicious.  The asparagus is sliced up into tiny pieces so it's kind of hidden away from the kids, but it does give the dish a green hue.  I sometimes buy sliced mushrooms to save time, but I find they are often sliced into huge pieces.  So I give them a quick chop as well.  This will also hide the mushroom away if people in your house are not fans.  My recommendation when it comes to the oil and butter is to always add more if it is looking dry or sticking to the pot.

Make sure all your veggies are chopped and ready to go before you start cooking the rice because once you start, you are pretty at the pot until it is cooked.

Ingredients:
5-6 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth (stock)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp butter
1-1/2 cups arborio (risotto) rice
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 bunch asparagus (rough ends trimmed), thinly sliced with tops reserved
1 pkg (225g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
4-6 scallions, thinly sliced; reserve green tops
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup (or more) Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce and simmer over low heat.

2. Heat the oil and butter in a deep pan over medium-low heat.  Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until the rice is coated and translucent.  Add more butter or oil if necessary. [If you like, at this point you can add a splash or two of white wine for extra flavour.  The rice will soak it right up almost immediately.]

3.  Add more butter and oil if necessary before adding the celery, scallions and asparagus (not the tips).  Cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes before adding the garlic then cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the asparagus tips and oregano.  Season slightly with salt and pepper.

4.  Add the broth, one or two ladlefuls at a time.  Stir constantly to prevent sticking and burning.  Add more liquid, 1-2 ladlefuls  at a time, as the liquid absorbs.  Increase the heat to medium so the liquid bubbles, but lower it slightly (or add more broth) if the broth gets absorbed too quickly (almost immediately).  Continue adding broth and stirring until the rice is fully cooked and creamy.  The actual amount of liquid used will vary.  This whole process should take around 20 minutes.    Season with salt and pepper.

5. Remove from heat and stir in one tablespoon of butter and the Parmesan cheese.  Plate the risotto and top with more cheese if desired.

It will be very hot (but delicious).  I often spread the risotto in a thinner layer on the plate so it cools faster, and work my way inwards on the plate.

Enjoy and let me know how it turned out for you!

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Bake

My husband and I have just started week 4 of the Plant Paradox.  Overall we've had pretty good success; with my husband being much more successful than I have.  The first few days were extremely hard for me, but we are starting to get into a rhythm.
Thanksgiving was this weekend and we knew it would be hard to follow the plan during this weekend.
So I tried this chicken bake for one of our family visits, and we were able to stay compliant without going hungry.

Ingredients:
10 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1-1/2 tbsp dried basil
1-1/2 tbsp grated Parmesan (or a bit more if you like!)
1-1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
olive oil

1-1/2 cups brussel sprouts, cut in half (or quarters if large)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 lemon

avocado oil for frying


1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Mix the basil, Parmesan, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Add a few drops of olive oil to combine.
3. Trim excess fat around each chicken thigh.  Then gently lift the skin to create a small pocket.  Rub the herb mixture onto each thigh,

under the skin, being gentle now to rip the skin.  Generously sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with salt.
4. Heat a few teaspoons of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Depending on the size of your skillet, you may have to fry the chicken in batches.  Place the chicken skin-side down for five minutes.  Flip the chicken over and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
5.  Move the chicken to a large baking tray that has been greased, skin side up.  If you are frying in batches, start on the second batch. Otherwise move on the veggies.

Ready to go in the oven

6. When all the chicken has been fried, add all the vegetables to the frying pan and stir to coat in the oil and juices.  Fry for a few minutes until browned and softened.  Add to the pan with the chicken.
7.  Cut the lemon into thirds.  Take the two end pieces and cut into quarters, placing them around the chicken and brussel sprouts.  Take the middle piece and squeeze the juice over the chicken and brussel sprouts.
8.  Bake in the oven, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.  If it starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil.  When cooked, quickly flip the chicken to get the tops covered in the juices and flip back.  Cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving

.

The final product

Strawberry Cupcakes with Tri-Colour Vanilla Frosting

My eldest's birthday just passed and the theme was unicorns!  This has been a recent obsession in our house so I started looking for unicorn themed ideas for the party.

The unicorn toppers I purchased.

This cookbook is amazing and
never fails me!

I came across these cupcake toppers on Amazon and decided I would bake some cupcakes for the party.  I pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book and settled on Strawberry Cupcakes.  Every recipe I have ever tried from this cookbook has turned out amazing and I always get great compliments on them.  The tips and notes she provides in the recipes are always spot on; nothing has every failed.

I loved using this and can't wait
to make more cupcakes just to use this!

I also used her Vanilla Frosting which I divided into 3 bowls and coloured with food colouring.  I used this neat tool from Wilton that lets you pipe 3 differed coloured icing at the same time.  While I was a little wary of it because I've never really piped anything before and this tool had mixed reviews, I gave it a shot and it was really quite awesome.  It does get a little messy, but overall went pretty smoothly.  And they looked positively stunning.  They were a huge hit at the party!  The frosting recipe was not enough to frost all the cupcakes; I needed about 1-1/2 to 1-2/3.  Doubling the recipe will give you plenty to work with.

Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 34 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising) **
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white
1 cup milk
2 cups freshly chopped fresh strawberries (about 20)

Directions:
**If you don't have cake flour, measure out 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.  Remove 1 tbsp and replace it with 1 tbsp. cornstarch.  Give it a quick mix

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking powder and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add whole eggs and the white, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Reduce speed to l ow.  Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined.  Fold in chopped strawberries by hand.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto rack and let cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature in airtight containers.

Fluffy Vanila Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

Here you can see how awesome
it looks with the three colours
piped together!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium.  Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium.  This process should take about 5 minutes.  Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.  If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container.  Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

4. If tinting with food colouring, add a drop at a time and stir with a flexible spatula until well combined before adding more.

Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

I love tea, and matcha tea is one of my favourites.  What's really neat about matcha is that it is ground green tea leaves.  Instead of steeping the leaves as you would with pretty much any other tea, matcha powder is whisked into hot water.  The powder doesn't dissolve; instead it is suspended in the hot water.  This is why if you don't drink the tea right away, the powder will fall to the bottom of your mug and you will need to whisk it again.  Because you are actually ingesting the tea leaves when you drink matcha, you are reaping the health benefits of green tea (like high in antioxidants) in greater amounts.

Matcha will give your ice cream a nice green colour!  There are different grades of matcha powder.  For ice cream you can use a culinary grade, which will not be as expensive as a ceremonial grade for example.

I use an ice cream bowl attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer.  It needs to be placed in the freezer for at least 15 hours prior to using it.  The ice cream mixture itself also needs to be chilled prior to using it; at least 4-8 hours.  And then once it has been churned, the ice cream needs to be placed in the freezer again for another 4-8 hours to firm up.  So the whole process is very slow, but it is so worth it!


Ingredients:
3 tbsp matcha green tea powder, or more to taste
1 cup milk (I used 2%, but whole milk provides a richer flavour)
2 cups heaving whipping cream
3/4 cup - 1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions: 

1. Sift matcha powder into 1/2 cup milk and whisk until the powder and milk is combined.  Gradually whisk remaining milk into matcha-milk mixture.

The cooked matcha mixture
cooling to room temperature.

2. Heat whipping cream and matcha-milk mixture in a pot over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally until heated through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar and eggs together.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture into egg mixture to temper the eggs; whisk thoroughly.  Add another 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture and repeat.

4. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking constantly.  Cook, while occasionally whisking, over medium-low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours, or overnight.

The churned ice cream mixture ready to firm up in the freezer.

6. Prior to pouring the cooled matcha mixture into an ice cream maker, give it a quick stir.  Then pour it into the ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The ice cream has a soft texture
even after being left in the freezer
for 24 hours.  It tastes yummy!

Chicken Curry with Homemade Naan

I watched an episode of Bake with Anna Olson the other day, where she made naan bread.  She is one of my most favourite pastry chefs and every recipe I've ever tried of hers always turns out amazing.  The recipe looked easy enough and I really wanted to make it, so I went on a search for an easy curry recipe.  I've never made a curry before, so that part was a little daunting.  Everything turned out great.
I made the dough earlier in the afternoon so it had time to rise.  As it got closer to dinnertime, I set the rice to cook in our rice cooker and started on the prep for the curry.  As the curry was left to cook for the last 15-20 minutes, I cooked the naan and everything came together perfectly.

Naan 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup yogurt
2-1/4 tsp yeast
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Add the first three ingredients to a large bowl in order.  Next add the flour, reserving 1/4 to 1/2 cup to use when you knead the dough.  Add the salt on top of the flour so it does not come in contact with the yeast.  Lastly add the vegetable oil.
2. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until blended.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface to knead, using the reserved flour, until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.  This should take 3-5 minutes in total.
4. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rise for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the naan on a floured work surface.  It will deflate as you start handling it.
6. Cut it into 6-8 pieces; no pre-shaping necessary.  Flatten each piece with a rolling pin to about 8-9" across and 1/4" thick.
7. Put in pan, one at a time, on high heat with no butter or oil.  It will take about 90 seconds on each side; the dough will start to bubble and blister.
8.  Baste with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt to serve.
9.  Roll out the next piece while it cooks, and repeat until all the pieces are done.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
6 scallions
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
400g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
100ml Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

cooked rice to serve over

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the scallions, leaving a handful of the green parts for garnish.  Peel and chop the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, curry powder, ginger, and cook for 3-4  minutes.  If the pan gets dry, add some water to ensure the spices don't burn.
3. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.  Make sure all the chicken is coated and is starting to brown.
4. Add 1 cup (250 ml) of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through with no sign of pink juices in the middle of the pieces. 5. At this point you can prepare the rice (my rice cooker takes a while so I actually start it before I star the curry) and/or cook the naan.
5. When the everything is ready and the chicken is cooked, take the curry off the heat.  Stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. Serve the curry over rice with a drizzle of yogurt and the naan bread.

Lemon-Ricotta Biscuits

I seemed to have a lot of ricotta and lemons lying around and I've always loved the combination of the two.  And muffins are a big hit in our house and pretty quick to whip up, so I went on a search for something to bring all these together.

I found this recipe for Giada DeLaurentiis that she bakes in a muffin tin but has the texture of a biscuit. I made some tweaks to fit the ingredients I had and it was delicious. 

Keep in mind that the batter is much thicker than one for muffins and it won't rise as much as a muffin while it bakes, so you can fill the tin up almost to the top. 

These taste heavenly warm, with some butter or jam. 

Ingredients: 
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
zest from two lemons
1 cup ricotta (if you don't have quite enough, you can use some plain yogurt in place)
1 large egg
freshly squeezed lemon juice from one lemon
splash of vanilla

Directions:
1. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the ricotta.  Next beat in the egg, lemon juice and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).
5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of sugar.
6. Bake until the muffins become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes.
7. Cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature.