Weekly Menu - Week of April 8, 2012

Another week, another menu to plan. I'm not feeling particularly witty this morning so I'll just jump right in.

Sunday - Easter dinner at my mom's house. Here's last year's post about our lunch, which reminded me that we had Asparagus with Tomato and Feta. I'd completely forgotten!

Monday - Grilled steak with Potato Bundles and grilled zucchini - This is a carryover from last week.

Tuesday - Hoagies

Wednesday - Billy's Favorite Pasta: Pine nuts, fresh spinach & garlic, cooked in a light Gorgonzola cheese cream sauce with marinated tomatoes on fussili pasta with grilled chicken, a pasta dish my friend Heather made for her husband based on a dish at a restaurant he loves. Sadly, she doesn't have a food blog.

Thursday - Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches, chips

Friday - OUT!

Recipe Swap - Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies

Want to see what other Fruit recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the Fruit Recipe Swap Roundup

Now that spring is here and we're starting to see more fruit in the supermarket I thought fruit would be a great theme for the recipe swap. I submitted a savory recipe (my favorite Thai Pineapple Rice) but many of the participants chose sweet recipes, like this one for Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies from my friend Jessica over at The Jey of Cooking.


Jey couldn't stop raving about these cookies when she sent me the link for the swap and when I read her blog post I got even more excited about making them. I loved the idea of the basil mixed with the lemon and blueberry. And muffin tops are my favorite part of the muffin so I knew these would be a hit. I had some basil leftover from my Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs, so I decided to make these immediately.


I let Baby Girl have half a cookie as she watched me take these photos and she absolutely loved them. She rarely has cookies (this kid does NOT handle sugar well), but I was impressed that she enjoyed all the complex flavors. These are certainly not your traditional cookies. I also brought about half the batch to church on Sunday since we had signed up to bring food for fellowship after the service. They were a big hit and someone even asked me for the recipe. Yay!


I'll definitely be making these again over the summer when my basil plant gets out of control. Jey's original recipe listed 3 large basil leaves but that alone only yielded 1 tablespoon when chopped, so I used the rest of the plant (about 1/4 cup total) and that was perfect.

Make these soon and you won't be sorry!

Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies
The Jey of Cooking

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 2 lemons, 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon reserved
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk*
1 cup blueberries
Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
Juice from about 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add sugar, lemon zest and basil to a small food processor and pulse to combine.

Beat the butter, in a stand mixer or a regular bowl using a hand mixer, until creamy. Add the sugar mixture and beat again until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, then turn the mixer down to low. Slowly add in the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating in batches beginning with 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour, the other half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in blueberries.

Using a cookie scoop or a leveled tablespoon, drop dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies.

Bake each sheet for 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cookie rack.

Whisk together confectioner’s sugar (about 1/2 cup), lemon juice and reserved lemon zest and basil until you reach your desired consistency and flavor. Drizzle on top of the cookies. Allow to cool completely and the glaze to harden before serving.

* To make you own buttermilk, put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to equal 1 cup. Stir and allow to sit for about 5 minutes, until the milk begins to curdle. Stir before using in a recipe. For this recipe I did 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and enough milk to make 1/3 of a cup.

Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp

I love shrimp and I love pasta, so as soon as I saw Josie post this recipe for Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp I knew I had to make it. I had it on the menu for a recent Friday but it got bumped because I'd had a hellish week and needed to get out of the house. I finally made it for Sunday dinner and boy, was it good.

The original recipe calls for cooking the shrimp in the pan but SP wanted to grill and I figured the added flavor would be great. Unfortunately the shrimp aren't on the grill long enough to get any of that delicious charcoal flavor, so it was an unnecessary step. I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers (plus I splurged and bought the real-deal mascarpone and it came in an 8-oz container). I should have taken my own advice and left out the red pepper flakes, but I was just blindly following the recipe and forgot to omit them, so this was spicy when all I wanted was creamy goodness. That didn't stop me from inhaling my portion.


I'm still trying to get Baby Girl to try shrimp. I know she'd love them but so far all I've gotten her to do is stick a piece in her mouth and then spit it out. We're working on it.

Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp
Pink Parsley

Kosher salt
8 oz dried linguine
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Lemon slices, for serving

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Add the linguine and cook until just al dente, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, pat the shrimp dry and toss with half the lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, melt the butter until the foaming subsides. Add the shallot, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring continuously, until the garlic is just turning brown, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook about 90 seconds on one side. Turn the shrimp, reduce the heat to medium, and add the white wine and half the lemon juice.

Bring to a boil and cook about 1 minute. Add the mascarpone, reserved pasta water, and linguine, and toss to coat. Cook an addtional 1-2 minutes, or until the pasta is well coated and the sauce has thickened. Mix in the remaining lemon zest and juice, and the chives. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary, and serve immediately with lemon slices.

Panera's Stove Top Mac and Cheese

I love mac and cheese. I'm trying to eat less of it these days because it isn't exactly healthy, but that doesn't mean I've stopped loving it's cheesy goodness. I have a favorite baked version, but I've yet to find a stove top recipe that tastes as good. Then I saw Tara rave about this recipe for Panera's Stove Top Mac and Cheese and I figured I'd give it a whirl.


Disclaimer - I've never had Panera's mac and cheese (I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten at Panera), but this was creamy, cheesy and delicious, with a nice tang from the Dijon. I might cut back on the mustard the next time simply because I felt it was bordering on overwhelming the other flavors. Otherwise this was fantastic and easy. I served it with pan-grilled ham steaks and roasted asparagus, which is unusual for me because generally I like to keep the mac and cheese the star of the show. This time I really wanted it to be a side dish.

Panera’s Stove Top Mac and Cheese
Smells Like Home

16 oz pipette pasta or other small pasta shapes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half
4 oz white American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces
8 oz extra sharp white Vermont cheddar, shredded
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (like Frank’s)

In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for 1 1/2 minutes whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.

Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more. Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce. Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta. Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve hot.

Weekly Menu - Week of April 1, 2012

And just like that, it's April. April is a big month in my family - just in the first few days my mom turns 60, my grandpa turns 90 and my stepmom celebrates her birthday. I love all the celebrating, especially when it involves sushi. Even though we had some warmer temps recently we're back to 50s and 60s now. That's fine by me because it allows me to make some recipes that are really better in the cooler weather.

Sunday - Lemon-Garlic Spaghetti with Mascarpone and Shrimp: I wasn't able to make this last week so I'm carrying it over.

Monday - BBQ Chicken Ranch Salads - Another carryover from last week.

Tuesday - Hoagies

Wednesday - Shells with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone - I wanted to revisit this one before the weather turns. This time I'm making sure to use shell pasta to hold all the sauce.

Thursday - Skillet Beef Stroganoff - I've got one more pound of ground beef in the freezer and SP loves this meal.

Friday - Grilled steak with Potato Bundles and grilled zucchini - We got a two-pack of steak last weekend and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Recipe Swap Roundup - SRC-Style Part 2

It seems my fellow recipe swappers really enjoy being able to pick any recipe they like from their assigned blog a la the Secret Recipe Club (known as SRC), so I've decided to make it a regular theme. Look for this style of swap every few months (I'm planning two themes, SRC, two themes, SRC, which works out to about every 6 weeks).

Melissa is always looking for meatless dishes for Lent and she really enjoyed this Salmon with Lemon Compound Butter:


Caitlin had corned beef leftover from St. Patrick's Day and was looking for an excuse to try poaching eggs, so she chose Corned Beef Hash with Poached Eggs for the swap:


Nicole enjoyed her simple and delicious English Muffin Bread, which tasted just like the English muffins she loves only in bread form:


The Cookaholic Wife wanted a meal she could make ahead and freeze, so she chose Chicken Cheese Enchiladas:


Kate's husband was in charge of picking her recipe for the swap and he chose White Cheddar Chicken Pasta:


Ammie needed to use up some strawberries, so she settled on these delicious Strawberry Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Compound Butter for breakfast:


Allison is a breakfast lover so these Maple Oatmeal Pancakes were a great addition to her repertoire:


Christina's family loved her Easy Mexi Chicken, especially the cheese sauce:


Eva loves to bake and her husband loves apple pie so it was an easy choice with Warm Apple Buttermilk Pie:


Dawn wanted a recipe that could be grilled because of the warm weather we've been heaving. She chose BBQ Cheddar Burgers with Caramelized Onions, which were perfect:


Lishie is always looking for new chicken recipes, so the Filipino-Grilled Chicken was a natural choice:


It had been awhile since Katie used her donut pan and since her daughter was home on spring break she thought Baked Chocolate Doughnuts would be a great choice:


Heather was in the mood for something sweet and these Oatmeal Apricot Cherry Bars caught her eye:


Kelsey was nervous about being assigned a baking blog since she doesn't have a good track record when it comes to baking, but this Two-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake couldn't have been easier:


Britney ended up making two recipes, one of which was Spicy Yogurt Marinated Chicken, which packed great flavor:


Coleen was initially hesitant about making Spanikopita, but discovered it was well worth the time and effort:


Jaida had some ground beef to use up so she found a recipe for BBQ Meatballs, which even included making her own ketchup from scratch:


Jey was enamored with the marinade for her Strawberry Balsamic Chicken with Grilled French Onion Packets, which also allowed her to take advantage of the gorgeous weather by using her grill:


Cathy made guilt-free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Snack Cake, which was delicious for breakfast:


Brianna's Soft Garlic Knots were a trip down memory lane:


Melissa is a sucker for peanut butter and chocolate so when she saw these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies she knew she had to make them:


Nicole made tasty Eggs Baked in a Bread Bowl:


Joelen made these Caramel Pecan Bun Muffins for her team at work:


Mary Ellen had a tough time choosing a recipe but finally settled on Balsamic Glazed Chicken, which she and her dad loved:


I'm a sucker for mint chocolate chip ice cream so I couldn't wait to make these Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies:


Ashley was also enjoying some warm weather when she picked Grilled Tandoori Chicken to go with a channa masala recipe she'd been wanting to try:


Carrie's daughter and husband love popcorn so she made Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn as a special treat for them:


Jill finally got around to trying the delicious Chicken Gyros (and homemade Naan) that have been floating around the blogosphere for awhile:


Melissa loved theShrimp & Mushroom Spaghetti she chose, even if her daughter picked out all the shrimp:


Lauren made these Crispy Chicken Wontons as a side for stir-fry and they were perfectly delicious:


Jenna's Roasted Jalapeno Mashed Potatoes were the best mashed potatoes she's ever had:


Kim is a Nutella lover so this Nutella Latte was a great choice and the best coffee drink she's ever had:

Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs

One of the only magazines I continue to subscribe to is Cook's Country. I love their recipes but the real reason is they don't make their content available on their website. That irks me quite a bit, but it's a good move on their part since it forces folks to buy their magazine. SP was looking through the most recent issue and came across this one for Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs. He's a big spaghetti and meatballs fan but he also thought it would be great because it's a one-pot meal. Score!


This couldn't have been easier to make. SP wished there had been more spaghetti and less meatballs, so I need to figure out how to make that work next time. I felt like the meatballs needed more seasoning than just the garlic, so I added salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. I had the meatballs rolled in about 10 minutes and put them in the fridge to stay cold until I was ready to cook. I think that was a good step because the meatballs held together perfectly while cooking, so I modified the recipe below.


Baby Girl absolutely loved this dish. She had thirds of the spaghetti (don't you love that toddlers call spaghetti "pasketti?") and we already know how much she loves meatballs and these were no exception. She was covered from head to toe in red sauce, which made for some adorable pictures.

I'll be making this often, especially in the fall and winter.

UPDATE April 2014 - I remade this using penne and it was even better than the spaghetti. Same process, just a different pasta shape.

Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs
Slightly Modified from Cook's Country

1 pound meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)
1/3 cup panko
1 large egg, lightly beaten
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
8 ounces spaghetti, broken in half
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Grated cheese for serving

Combine meat, panko, egg, half the garlic, Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper in a bowl and knead gently until combined. Form meat into 48 meatballs, about 1-inch around. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to firm up the meat.

Heat oil in a large, 12-inch non-stick skillet with high sides over medium heat until just smoking. Cook meatballs until well browned all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain fat from the skillet.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, water, pasta, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until pasta begins to soften, about 7 minutes.

Return meatballs to the skillet and simmer, covered, until meatballs are cooked through and pasta is al dente, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil. Serve with grated cheese.

Recipe Swap - Sriracha Beef Tacos

As I said in Friday's post, I decided to make one sweet and one savory recipe from Jaida's blog, Sweet Beginnings, for the SRC-style recipe swap. Friday brought you the sweet recipe, now here's the savory.


I decided to go with something from her Taco Tuesday posts and then narrowed it down further by looking for a ground beef taco recipe since I have a bunch of ground beef taking up space in my freezer. I was sold when I reached the first recipe in her Taco Tuesday series, Sriracha Beef Tacos. I loved the Ultimate Sriracha Burger that inspired the tacos and already had most of the ingredients on hand.


Jaida isn't a fan of blue cheese but we are, so I switched the dressing back from ranch to blue cheese. I used cheddar instead of pepper jack because I had some on hand and I decreased the amount of Sriracha because I can't handle as much spice as Jaida.

I think 2 tablespoons of chili powder was too much and, unfortunately, the ground beef was a tad gritty because of it. The flavor was still good but the texture was off-putting. I've decreased the amount in the recipe below. These were still beautiful tacos with great flavor, not to mention a nice change of pace from the usual ground beef taco.

Sriracha Beef Tacos
Slightly Modified from Sweet Beginnings

1 lb lean ground sirloin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Sriracha*, divided
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
8-10 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 cups shredded lettuce

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add garlic and shallot and cook for 1-2 minutes, until softened. Add sirloin, stir to combine, and cook until browned. Add water, chili powder, cumin and 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha to sirloin mixture. Stir, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

While taco mixture finishes cooking, combine blue cheese dressing and remaining 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha in a small bowl. Set aside.

Warm flour tortillas; Spoon taco mixture into tortillas and top with Sriracha sauce, cheese, lettuce and tomato.

*Sriracha is pretty spicy, so adjust the amount according to your tolerance level. If you don’t do well with spicy, you may want to test it 1 teaspoon at a time.