Our Bella Cucina » Pioneer Woman

Pioneer Woman’s Potato Skins

sarah — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:00:09 +0000

These make great appetizers, but for the purpose of preparing this post, we actually had them for dinner alone. I know, hardly nutritionally sound, but damn they were good!

INGREDIENTS
8 slices thick cut bacon
6-8 russet potatoes
Oil (recipe says canola but I used olive)
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
4 green onions, sliced

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Scrub your potatoes as clean as you can get them.

Brush or rub the potatoes liberally with oil and bake them for 45-60 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, fry your bacon, allow it to cool, then cut it into small pieces. This is also a good time to ban your children and spouse from the kitchen or you might find your bacon mysteriously disappearing. Just saying.

Once the potatoes are cooked, slice them in half lengthwise and remove the flesh, leaving a small amount of potato in the skin to provide support and prevent the skin of splitting.

Brush both sides of the skin with oil and sprinkle some salt over both sides. Place the skins upside down on your baking tray and return them to the oven. Bake for 7 minutes then turn them over and bake for 7 minutes more or until the skins are crispy.

Sprinkle some cheese and bacon in the skins and return them to the oven just till the cheese is melted.

Serve topped with a tablespoon of sour cream and sliced green onions.

Man, these photos are making me hungry. The perils of writing a food blog!

♥

P-Dub Wednesday – Chicken With Mushrooms and Artichokes

sarah — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:00:56 +0000

I am normally not a fan of artichokes but I haven’t tried them in a few years so I decided to put on my big girl panties and give it a whirl.

The things I do for you people!

INGREDIENTS
8 chicken legs or thighs
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup white wine (or more to taste)
2 cups chicken broth
1 14.5oz can artichoke hearts, drained , rinsed, and patted dry
1 cup heavy cream
Freshly chopped chives to taste
Freshly grated parmesan
16oz pasta, cooked and drained

DIRECTIONS
Salt and pepper the chicken pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (or dutch oven) over medium-high heat then add the chicken pieces and brown for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from skillet.

Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan with the garlic, then stir it around and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the wine and cook for a minute while it evaporates.

Pour in the chicken broth—you should have enough for it to be very liquidy.

Stir to deglaze the pan, then add the chicken back to the pan.

Add the artichoke hearts.

Put the lid on the skillet and continue cooking over medium-low heat (or in a 375 degree oven) for 30 minutes, checking to make sure the chicken broth doesn’t completely evaporate. (Add more as needed). This is also the time you want to get your pasta water on to heat up so your pasta is cooked in time.

Remove the lid and reduce the heat to low. Remove the chicken from the pan and pour in the cream then stir to distribute it.

Add the chives, then add chicken back to pan. Put the lid on the pan again and cook for an additional 10 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Stir and check the seasonings, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Pour everything over the cooked pasta and top with more chives and parmesan.

Honestly? I wasn’t a fan. I was right on the artichoke front, so I didn’t eat those. I also found that the sauce was not thick enough to coat the pasta, so the pasta felt a bit dry and the sauce was just really liquidy. I have no idea if maybe I did something wrong in the cooking process, but this meal just didn’t work for me. If anyone else has made it I would be really interested in hearing what your experience with it was – especially if you like artichokes.

Oh well, I can’t win them all!

♥

PW Wednesday – Sloppy Joes!

sarah — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:00:31 +0000

Would you believe that before I made this recipe I had never had a Sloppy Joe in my life? I remember reading about them in books I read when I was younger, like The Babysitters Club, and wondering what they were. My teenage girl mind came to the conclusion that anything with the word “sloppy” in the title couldn’t be good.

Boy was I wrong!

These were really delicious and definitely something we will be making again. I normally halve PW recipes because she usually makes enough to feed a small army, but this time I made the whole thing and we had leftovers for lunch the next day. I would also imagine that any leftovers could be frozen for future use with no problems.

INGREDIENTS
2 Tablespoons Butter
2-½ pounds Ground Beef
½ whole Large Onion, Diced
1 whole Large Green Bell Pepper, Diced
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1-½ cup Ketchup
1 cup Water
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)
1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)
Worcestershire Sauce To Taste
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (optional)
Tabasco Sauce (optional; To Taste)
Salt To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Kaiser Rolls
Butter

DIRECTIONS
Add the butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat.

Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard.

Add the onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until the vegetables begin to get soft.

Add the ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water.

Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

Spread the rolls with butter and brown on a griddle or skillet. I could not find Kaiser rolls at my supermarket so we used hamburger buns instead and even though they were toasted, they were still too soft to hold the mixture properly. My suggestion would be to find a roll with more of a crusty exterior for added support.

Spoon the meat mixture over the rolls and top it with a slice of cheese if that floats your boat.

Speaking of P-Dub, guess who I met last month? Yep, the woman herself – minus the calf nuts, thank goodness! Btw, don’t click that link if you’re squeamish.

Yes I really did just post that on the same page as food.

I waited for 4 hours in a food court by the book store having a completely pleasant meal alone with a book (that in itself was worth the trip!), then another hour in line before I got her to sign my copy of her cookbook, exchanged small talk where I may or may not have been a blathering idiot, took a photo with her (which I will not be showing you because my face looks as red as a tomato and I look like I have 3 chins), then went on my way. She was completely lovely and friendly just as you think she would be – despite the fact that she had been signing books for 5 hours and still had a couple of hours to go.

Yes, I’ve turned into a fangirl and my husband thinks that may be grounds for divorce.

♥

Pioneer Woman Wednesday – Chicken Strips

sarah — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:00:07 +0000

These were oh so yummy! I’ve been trying for years to find a recipe that gave chicken a real chunky crispy coating and have been sorely disappointed every time….until now.

INGREDIENTS
8-10 chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut into strips
Buttermilk
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2-3 teaspoons Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or spices of your choosing)
Vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Start by rinsing and drying your chicken tenders. Next submerge them in buttermilk for 15 to 20 minutes.

In another bowl combine about 1 ½ cups of flour and 2-3 teaspoons of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or other seasonings if you prefer). Mix this together well.

Next, add about ¼ to ½ cup of buttermilk into the flour mixture, stirring lightly with a fork as you add it.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over a medium heat.

Get out a plate and sit it next to the chicken and the flour mixture – have everything within reach to make this process as smooth as possible.

Remove a few of the buttermilk-soaked strips and place them in the flour mixture, turning them over to coat them thoroughly. Place them on a plate.

Continue coating the chicken strips until they are all ready to cook.

Throw a few small pieces of the coating into the pan to see if the oil is hot enough. If it starts bubbling immediately and browning the small pieces then it is ready.

My oil obviously wasn’t hot enough yet.

I found that it took a reeeeeally long time to get the oil heated at a medium temperature. I think next time I will heat it on a high heat and then turn it down to a medium heat when it reaches the correct temperature. When the oil is sufficiently heated, begin cooking the strips a few at a time.

My oil was hot enough to be bubbling but I realized later it was not hot enough.

Cook them for about a minute and a half or so on each side. When golden and crispy, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve with the sides of your choice. We had it with salad and the delicious cornbread I posted last week.

These really were good. The only problem I had was heating the oil – it took over half an hour to heat it at a medium temperature and then when I thought it was hot enough from my test pieces, I put the strips in and it started to cook but I realized later that it wasn’t quite hot enough yet because it ended up not quite crunchy enough. It was crunchy and slightly chewy which is really my own fault. I also cooked them for a lot longer than the 1.5 minutes that PW advised, but that’s likely due to the oil heat problem.

Overall though, A++ would cook again.

♥

PW Wednesday – Perfect Pancakes

sarah — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:57 +0000

Sometimes you just want breakfast at dinner. Then again, sometimes you also forget to defrost the meat until it’s time to cook.

I’ll let you decide which situation I was in!

If you’re a crepe and thin pancake type of person, then these are not for you. If you like thick fluffy pancakes that actually taste like cake, then walk (read? cook?) this way.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups cake flour (PW had an extra 2 tablespoons of cake flour added but I removed them with no problems)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tub vanilla yoghurt (6oz)
2 whole large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla (reduced from 3 in the original recipe to compensate for the vanilla yoghurt)
4 tablespoons butter

Note: The original recipe had 2 cups of milk and no yoghurt. I made that substitution because I thought it might be interesting!

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, add your flour. Sifting it is not necessary, but I like to do it because I find it results in a smoother texture when mixing.

Add the salt.

Add the sugar.

Followed by the baking powder.

Give it a quick stir to combine.

In a separate medium size bowl, add the eggs.

Add the vanilla.

Add the yoghurt.

Followed by the milk.

Give things a stir until combined.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring very gently until just combined. Don’t worry if there are some small lumps, it doesn’t matter.

The batter is quite thick, but that is ok. Trust me. If you don’t want to trust me and want the batter thinner then go ahead and add some milk. I take no responsibility for the end results though!

Melt the butter and add it to the batter, stirring gently to combine.

The actual cooking of the pancakes is where Pioneer Woman and I part company. Her directions say to cook on a greased skillet, but pancakes are one of the few culinary times when I prefer a non-stick pan. A dry non-stick pan. That’s right, no butter, no cooking spray, dry. I find that it allows you to cook longer at a lower temperature, giving the pancakes time to rise properly without getting burned from any kind of grease.

So put your teflon coated pan over a medium-low temperature and ladle in a 1/4 cup of the batter at a time.

Allow them to cook slowly. They will puff up a fair bit and start to bubble.

Sorry you can’t see the bubbles well here – I don’t have a macro lens for my camera.

Flip them over to cook the other side, periodically pressing on the top to feel for firmness.

When both sides are golden brown, get them out of the pan and serve with your favourite pancake toppings!

What you do after that is your own business. Putting some on a fork and pretending it’s a Lego laser shooter is completely optional.

♥

P-Dub Wednesday – Pot Roast!

sarah — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:00:24 +0000

I have never actually cooked pot roast before. I’ve made roast beef once or twice and I’ve done casserole roasted pork, but never pot roast. In fact, I’m not sure I even recall having it in my childhood either. This recipe looked so delicious though that I just had to give it a try!

INGREDIENTS
2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole (4-5 lbs) Chuck Roast (mine was 3lbs)
2 whole Onions, peeled and halved
6-8 whole Carrots, sliced in 2″ segments
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)
2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

The rosemary is missing because I hadn’t cut it out of the garden before taking this picture.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Dry your roast with some paper towels (important or it won’t brown as well) then generously salt and pepper it.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups).

Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as the 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in the oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For other size roasts, plan on about an hour per pound.

When cooked, you should be able to use 2 forks to tear the meat apart, though feel free to use a knife to carve it if you prefer. Mashed potatoes go well as side for this dish accompanied by some of the yummy carrots and onion from the pot. Use some of the juices over top as a gravy.

Now, I have to be honest here. This recipe didn’t quite live up to my expectations and I felt it lacked depth in its flavour. That could be because my cut of beef was not very well marbled, which is very likely. Another culprit could be that I used the beef broth rather than red wine. I also felt like it could have done with more substantial gravy than just the juices from the pot.

Overall this recipe really has potential and I will definitely try it again sometime with some tweaking!

♥

Apple Dumplings

sarah — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:00:41 +0000

I had planned on posting a soup recipe today but earlier in the week, when trying to tweak the recipe, it met with disaster and just isn’t fit for Cucinian consumption just yet. To make up for it, I’m going to torture you with another dessert so you’re getting a double dose of P-Dub goodness this week, and you know what that means…time to put your cardiologist on speed dial and stock up on butter!

I made this dessert a few weeks ago and it was beyond delicious. It was quite a large portion though and we felt it was too sweet (yes, there is such a thing!) so I have tweaked it to suit our needs. It doesn’t do well as leftovers, so eat it hot and fresh!

INGREDIENTS
1 Granny Smith apple
1 can (8 Oz.) of crescent rolls
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
6 fl oz (1/2 can) Mountain Dew
Cinnamon to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Peel and core the apple then cut it into eighths.

Roll out the crescent roll dough.

Separate each perforated triangle in the dough and roll an apple slice in each one.

Place each dumpling roll, seam side down, in a medium size baking dish.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat.

Add the sugar.

Followed by the vanilla.

Stir gently to combine then turn off the heat. You don’t need to melt the sugar, just make sure everything is mixed.

Pour the mixture over the dumplings.

Pour the Mountain Dew in the corners of the dish and in the spaces between the dumplings.

Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Serve immediately making sure to spoon some of the sauce over top and add a dollop or two of ice cream.

On second thoughts, skip the cardiologist. Have insulin on standby instead.

♥

PW Wednesday – Roasted Potato Wedges

sarah — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:00:02 +0000

I made this yesterday for my boys for lunch and it was a huge hit! I only seasoned them simply since I was feeding a 2 and 4 year old but they were so delicious and I’d love to try them again sometime with garlic and other herbs on them!

INGREDIENTS
Potatoes (number and variety of your choosing; russets work well)
1/4 – 1/3 cup of olive oil
Salt To Taste

Optional Ingredients:
Fresh Herbs, to taste
Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons (to 3 Tablespoons) Balsamic Vinegar
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika

Basically throw in there whatever you think might taste good on potato wedges!

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Wash potatoes.

Cut each potato in half length ways then cut each half into quarters length ways so each potato yields 8 wedges and put them on a baking sheet.

Toss with oil, salt, and whatever else you’d like: garlic, balsamic, spices, etc. I just drizzled them over but next time I think I would put them in a Ziploc bag or something to make sure all of them got a good, even coating of seasoning.

I used olive oil, kosher salt, and balsamic vinegar.

Pop them in the oven and roast them for 15 minutes. Then take them out, shake them around a bit to loosen them and turn them over before returning them to the oven for another 15 minutes. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn – like mine did a little!

Serve immediately.

♥

The Pioneer Woman’s Italian Drip Beef

sarah — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:00:42 +0000

Looks like its time for another PW Wednesday!

Just last week, The Pioneer Woman posted two recipes for Drip Beef. As soon as I saw them, I knew it would be perfect to serve on Superbowl Sunday. You see, I made a big huge goof up a few months ago. I got a presale notice for the Disney Live show in our town and bought the tickets right away. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the date of the show was Superbowl Sunday. Two weeks ago we realized the show started 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Yikes! Thank goodness for DVR! Anyway, I thought this recipe would be perfect, I could leave it cooking all day and dinner would be quick as soon as we walked in the door.

Here we go!

For the first part of the recipe, you’ll need a chuck roast, beef broth, italian seasoning, salt, water and a jar of pepperoncinis.

Ree made hers in a pot in the oven. Since we were going to be leaving the house for a few hours I opted for the crockpot instead. Don’t laugh at my ancient crockpot. I love it! I tried to replace it once, but the new one just wasn’t the same!

Put the chuck roast in the pot.

Pour in the beef broth.

Add 15 or so pepperocini’s and about half the juice of a 16oz jar.

Next, dump in 3 or 4 tbsp italian seasoning. I decided to use 3. If your seasoning already has salt in it, there is no need to add more salt unless you like salt! Mine didn’t have any so I added just a smidge, but I am not a salt person. Next add in the water, give it a stir and cover. If you are throwing it in the oven, it should be 275 degrees for 5 or 6 hours.

Fast Forward about 8 hours

I planned to take more photos as I assembled the sandwiches. Unfortunetly, by the time we got home from the show we were tired and hungry. Our house was crazy so I forgot all about my camera till it was too late. Sorry about that!

Once the meat is nice and tender, use two forks to pull it apart. Work it till its totally shredded, no big chunks. Next grab some deli rolls. Slice them, smear some butter on both sides and toast them under the broiler. Pile some meat on the bottom slice of bread, top with a slice or two of cheese (I chose provolone). Pop it back under the broiler to melt. Yum yum! Serve it with a little bowl of the left over juice, to dunk it in.

We thought this recipe was delicious! I was nervous about all the pepperocinis, since Ree mentioned they had some kick to them. I am the biggest whimp when it comes to heat of the spicy variety, but I decided to at least give it a try. I am glad I did, I loved it. The pepperocinis gave it just the right spice but no actual heat. My husband as requested that I use this recipe the next time I make a roast too. He really loved the flavor of the meat. I highly recommend you try it for yourself!

Here is the pioneer woman’s recipe, as well as a second more basic version if you don’t want to attempt the pepperocinis.

Italian Drip Beef

Ingredients

1 whole Beef Chuck Roast, 2.5 To 4 Pounds
1 can Beef Broth
3 Tablespoons (heaping) Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ cups Water
½ jars (16 Oz) Pepperoncini Peppers, With Juice
Buttered, Toasted Deli Rolls

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Stir lightly to combine seasoning with the liquid.

Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven* for 5 to 6 hours, or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart.

Remove from oven. With two forks, completely shred all meat, leaving no large chunks behind. Serve immediately, or keep warm over a simmer on the stove.

May make the day before, then store in the refrigerator. Remove the hardened fat from the top before reheating.

Serve on buttered, toasted rolls. Top with cheese and melt under the broiler if desired. Serve with juices from the pot.

~Valerie

PW’s Pound Cake

sarah — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:00:31 +0000

Yep, it’s P-Dub Wednesday again! Sorry we missed last week but things got kinda busy and not a whole lot of cooking was done!

Who doesn’t love pound cake? Seriously, you don’t? Ok, I don’t want you reading our blog anymore. Just kidding! This cake is really yummy. Crispy on the outside with a dense, moist inside that has a hint of lemon.

Is your mouth watering yet?

INGREDIENTS
3 sticks of butter
3 cups of sugar
5 whole eggs
1 teaspoon butter extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract
3 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup Sprite, 7-UP, or some other lemon-lime soda
Cooking spray

The cast of characters…

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter.

Measure out your sugar and add 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each addition.

Add the butter extract.

The the lemon extract and mix well.

Measure your flour, then add it 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Don’t do what I did and add too much too fast or your kitchen will look like a flour bomb has hit it!

Add the lemon-lime soda of your choice, then mix together until combined.

Yes the previous flour bomb really did happen. Survey the devastation!

Grab your cooking spray and spray your bundt pan really well.

Pour the batter into your well greased bundt pan.

So, the recipe says to bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, but I found that mine took 1 hour and 30 minutes. Now that I’m going through all these photos I realise that I actually added too much Sprite, so that probably contributed to my extra long baking time. My advice is to cook it for an hour, then start checking it every 5 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is no longer jiggly.

Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan until the cake drops out. You may want to let it sit inverted for a bit to let it cool down some and make it easier to release.

Now we all hold our breath and pray that the cake is not stuck in the pan!

Well, it got a little stuck and I lost a bit of the top layer, but I got it out!

No I absolutely did not scrape those moist stuck bits out of the pan with my finger and eat them. What kind of a cook do you take me for?

Don’t answer that.

Enjoy!

♥