Creamy Pesto Shrimp Pasta

Creamy Pesto Shrimp Pasta - made September 17, 2021, modified from Salt & Lavender

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup pesto

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon lemon juice + zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi or pasta (I used mini raviolis - boil them first if not using gnocchi)

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a deep skillet over medium heat, whisk together pesto, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, chicken broth and cream until combined.
2. When the sauce starts to gently bubble, stir in gnocchi or pasta. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Stir and add shrimp. Cover for one minute. Uncover and stir until shrimp is cooked through.
3. Just before serving, stir in parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir until cheese is melted. Serve warm.

I've had a craving for gnocchi recently and saw a recipe for pesto gnocchi from Salt & Lavender that I wanted to try. But alas, Trader Joe's was out of gnocchi and I couldn't find it at Winco or Target either. So I substituted these mini raviolis from TJ's, figuring they would be "close enough".

Er, I was wrong. First, I didn't boil them well enough and the little raviolis apparently aren't that tasty when they're hard little bits of processed pasta.

Second, after I fished out the shrimp and added more liquid to the pasta to cook them to better texture, the pasta drank up the liquid like there was a drought going on (there is). So the dish turned out a little dry. Ah yes, this is more typical of how my cooking efforts usually turn out. Sigh. The flavor was good though, thanks to the fresh pesto I made from my basil plants. And next time I will learn a little pasta goes a long way, make more sauce no matter what the recipe says, and boil the pasta properly first. At least I have the Sausage and Tortellini Soup and the Cheeseburger Macaroni Soup to fall back on. 

Crockpot Macaroni Cheeseburger Soup

Crockpot Macaroni Cheeseburger Soup - made September 17. 2021, modified from The Kitchen Magpie 

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 small white onion, diced

1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups strong chicken stock

1 teaspoon basil

1 cup uncooked macaroni 

3/4 cup whole milk

8 ounces cheddar cheese (the original recipe called for Velveeta)

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef, stirring until mostly browned. Add chopped onion and fry, stirring, until translucent and soft. Add garlic and stir fry another minute.
2. Transfer mixture to crockpot. Pour chicken stock over beef mixture and add carrots and basil. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. 30 minutes before serving, add in macaroni. Cook until soft. Whisk in milk and cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is melted throughout the soup completely. Serve warm.

I was so emboldened by the success of the Sausage Tortellini Soup that I continued with the cooking that day, figuring I would stock up meals for the coming weeks.

I haven't used my crockpot in ages, maybe not since I got my instant pot. But this recipe called for a crockpot so I dusted off mine. The one I have is a mini one, probably the size most people use to boil potpourri or spices. Me, I cook with it. I did have to make a half recipe of this though as a full recipe wouldn't have fit into my little crockpot.

I know, I know, most people buy a large crockpot to let some huge amount of food cook all day to feed a crowd. Nope, not me. I march to the beat of my own mini cooking efforts.

Fortunately, this one turned out quite well too. It's like a homemade soup version of Hamburger Helper cheeseburger macaroni. But less salty and more tasty. I omitted the carrots called for in the original recipe as I didn't have any and I didn't use Velveeta for the same reason. I did have a good amount of shredded cheddar cheese that's been in my freezer for what was getting to be a dodgy amount of time (probably from my last cooking efforts donkey's ages ago) so I used that. The end result probably wasn't as creamy as Velveeta would've been but my taste buds for savory food aren't that discriminating so this worked just fine.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

Sausage Tortellini Soup - made September 17, 2021 from The Cozy Cook

1 pound ground sausage, hot or mild

1 small yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 pinch cayenne, optional

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup heavy cream

5 cups chicken broth

2 cups kale (I used spinach)

2 cups refrigerated tortellini (10 ounces) 

salt to taste

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1. Remove the casings from the sausage if you purchased links. In a large pot, add a dash of olive oil then cook and crumble the sausage and diced onions over medium high heat until the onions are softened and the sausage is cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Drain grease. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes to remove the raw flour taste.
3. Add 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1 pinch cayenne, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Add the chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Add the heavy cream. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer.
5. Add the kale and tortellini and simmer for 3-5 minutes. If your tortellini needs more cooking time, add tortellini first then add the kale during the last 5 minutes. Salt and pepper soup to taste. Serve warm.

I interrupt all the sugar swimming in my system to post a few "real food" recipes. I had a rare day when I "didn't feel like baking". Yes, pigs must've been flying amidst the icicles in hell that day.

Regardless, I had a craving for soup. Technically it wasn't fall yet when I made this recipe. Heck, it wasn't even that cold, although we had started to experience that time of year when the temperature ranged a good 40 degrees between the high and the low temps of the day.

Cooking, for me, is a production. Unlike when I bake where I have a pantryful of ingredients and can bake most things half-asleep, with cooking, I have to plot and plan ahead. Writing down the ingredients I needed (which was almost all of them), making my grocery store runs to Trader Joe's and Costco with a dash to Target, then clearing my schedule for the day to cook. Good thing I'm not working these days so now I have the time for the production known as my cooking efforts in the kitchen.

So I felt inordinately pleased when this recipe turned out. As in, it tasted like I could actually cook. The directions are simple and easy to follow and, did I mention, this was not only edible but also tasty? 

The only substitution I made was to use spinach instead of kale. I don't like kale. I can eat spinach when it's cooked down enough and mingled with enough ingredients that I can't taste it too much and there isn't a lot of it. 

It also helps that you/I can buy fresh tortellini already made (thank you, Trader Joe's) but even the broth was tasty. It reminded me of the zuppa toscana soup from Olive Garden although this was made with tortellini rather than potatoes. 

This is good comfort weather soup. I now have a whole batch of it, portioned out in individual servings in my freezer, for the coming days. I'm looking forward to colder weather. And more soup.

Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate Pound Cake - made September 6, 2021 from The Southern Lady Cooks

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally spray and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until well combined and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition until just combined. Add vanilla extract and buttermilk, mixing on low speed until just combined.
3. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt chocolate chips, stirring until completely melted and smooth. Add to butter mixture and beat until combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter-chocolate mixture in two additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the thickest part comes out with a few moist crumbs.
6. Make the glaze: Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave or in the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, stirring together until completely melted and combine. Drizzle over warm (not hot) cake.  

Back to cakes with this recipe. By now, you can safely assume when you see a cookie or brownie post, I sent those baked goods in military care packages for Soldiers Angels and/or donated them to the food distribution for the local homeless population.

When you see a cake recipe, especially one that's glazed like this one, you can also safely assume this went to the local food distribution for the unhoused populace. Cake, even unglazed ones that are vacuum sealed, don't survive the 2-3 weeks of mailing time going to deployed military service members so I don't send those. They would likely dry out more easily than cookies and brownies. So cakes stay for local giveaway.

As pound cakes go, this has a slightly less dense texture than most pound cakes when it's warm. The flavor was nice and chocolaty, helped in part by the glaze. I only ate the taste test piece warm so I'm not quite sure of the texture at room temperature but assume it was firm and dense like most pound cakes.

As always, the quality of the cake will largely depend on the quality of your ingredients, especially the chocolate chips. I used the Kirkland brand from Costco and it tasted just fine. But you might get a deeper, richer flavor with a higher end brand like Valrhona or Schwarffenberger. I went the Costco Kirkland route because it was specifically labeled as fair trade chocolate and that counted with me as much as the taste does.

Cinnamon Stamped Cookies (recipe 8)

Cinnamon Stamped Cookies (recipe 8) - made dough September 6, 2021 from Cooking is My Sport

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing until just combined. Mix in the vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt. Add to butter mixture in 3 additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. 
3. Scrape dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, pat into a thick disc and wrap completely. Chill in refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll out dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Dip your cookie stamps into powdered sugar or granulated sugar then tap to remove excess. Press firmly into the dough. Use a slightly larger round cookie cutter to cut out the shape, then transfer to baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Freeze cut out cookie dough for 10-20 minutes.
6. Bake cookies until just golden brown at the edges, 9-12 minutes. Let rest on baking sheets for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

So far this is one of the best stamped cookie dough recipes I've tried. 8th time's the charm? As you can tell from the pictures, the unbaked dough molded easily in the mooncake molds I stamped them with and the baked versions kept the impressions reasonably well.

Which is fitting as this recipe and its accompanying pictures are what caught my eye on pinterest 7 stamped cookie recipes ago. I only got around to trying it out now. If I had known how well the dough would work out, I would've tried this recipe sooner.

I still haven't quite mastered the knack of how much cookie dough to put into each mooncake mold as some of them come out quite thick (too much dough) and others came out the right thickness but a little cut off at the corners (not enough dough). Ah well, just don't look too closely.

As for the flavor, this was good and I like cinnamon but I think I would prefer a straight butter flavor for shortbread. I'm going to have to try this recipe again and omit the cinnamon to see if the texture would remain the same (I assume it would) and the butter flavor would come through more cleanly.

Crumbl Copycat: Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies by Lifestyle of a Foodie

Crumbl Copycat: Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies - made August 22, 2021 from Lifestyle of a Foodie

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cold

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Add shortening and beat until combined and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract, mixing briefly after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add in two additions to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight. 
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough discs. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are set and middles are just barely past the raw stage. Remove from oven and let cool for several minutes on the baking sheets then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Smaller version with semisweet chocolate chips

I'm still trying out copycat recipes for Crumbl cookies. Because that's how obsessions work.

Similar to my Levain Bakery copycat recipe forays, the copycats make great cookies but they're not quite like the real thing. But that's okay because who am I to turn up my nose at a great cookie recipe, whether they're like the real thing or not?

If I've learned anything from trying out so many copycat recipes, so many things affect the final product that it isn't just about having the right ingredients in the right proportions. It's also how you make it and how your oven bakes them. My oven doesn't bake the cookies evenly throughout. No matter the recipe, my cookies always have browned edges. Which isn't a bad thing but the Crumbl cookie of my memory has a more even texture throughout, not a particular browning of the edges.

Taste test cookie with milk chocolate chips

So I will default to, "good cookie, not quite like Crumbl's but that's okay". Plus, let's be honest, it's been several months now since I've had the authentic Crumbl milk chocolate chip cookie so my taste bud memory isn't quite so fresh. I'm just going to have to have another authentic Crumbl again before I can make a real assessment of any copycats.