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Author: kristen

Desserts/Baking / Food / Kristen Cooks

Blueberry Zucchini Bread and Muffins

If you are like me, this is the time of year when you are grateful for the bounty of summer squash and zucchini in your garden, but also wondering, “why did I plant so much?” and “what to do with all of this veg?”. Every year I make grilled squash, baked squash with cheese of some sort, thinly sliced squash ribbons for salads, and of course, some sort of zucchini bread in an attempt to ensure nothing goes to waste. This year, the bounty is as crazy as usual, so I tackled one of the recipes that uses a good amount of veg and turns out great results, zucchini bread. However, I added in blueberries this year, making an absolutely amazing blueberry zucchini bread! This bread was incredibly moist. AND there was enough batter to make a standard sized bread, as well as 6 bonus muffins!

I will cut to the chase and get to the recipe, because I am challenging myself to also construct a new recipe for potato/zucchini latkes! That one is coming at you in the near future!

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup white sugar

  • .5 cup dark brown sugar

  • 1 cup veggie oil

  • 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  • 4 small – medium eggs

  • 2 – 2 1/4 cups shredded zucchini (no need to wring out or drain)

  • 3 cups AP flour

  • 1 Tbsp fresh ground cinnamon (if possible). If store bought, up amount to 1 1/2 Tbsp

  • 1 healthy pinch of ground clove

  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 pint fresh blueberries

Instruction for Blueberry Zucchini Bread

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using vegetable oil and paper towels, grease a 6 muffin tin and a standard loaf pan generously
  • Beat the oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl
  • Fold in zucchini
  • Add in cinnamon, clove, baking powder and baking soda. Lightly whisk together
  • Add in sugar and whisk only until combined
  • Toss blueberries in a tablespoon of flour, just to coat and then fold into the batter gently
  • Pour into muffin tin, careful to not overfill. Stay about 1/4 inch below the top of each muffin mold
  • Pour remaining batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle with a little sugar (optional). Put the muffin pan on the bottom rack and loaf pan on middle to upper rack
  • Muffins should be ready in 45 mins. Begin checking at about 40 mins. Test by inserting a knife into center. When it comes out clean, muffins are ready to go!
  • Loaf should take about 15-20 mins more than muffins. Begin testing once the muffins are out of the oven and claim done once knife comes out clean
  • For both the muffins and loaf, let cool 15 mins in pan and then move out of pans to cooling rack.

Note: Cooling completely will allow for a nice, clean cut on the zucchini bread, but if you want to eat it hot, I say, go for it!! It may look a bit messy, but with a dollop of butter on top when still hot…YUM! Also, expect the muffins to be a bit more dense, but the bread to be extremely moist. If you are aiming to impress, serve or gift the bread to guests and keep the muffins for yourself, perfect for eating with your coffee!

Cooling Muffins
Muffin Stack
Muffin and Coffee for the win
Super moist bread!

If you like this recipe. try my strawberry muffin recipe! Both aim to impress and use in-season fruit!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Savory Turkey Tenderloin

There is nothing better than when you nail down a good turkey recipe. I love being able to add another poultry option into my diet, but turkey can be a hard nut to crack. It is incredibly easy to overcook, resulting in dry meat. It is also quite an undertaking to cook a whole turkey, particularly if you are not cooking for a crowd. This recipe for turkey tenderloin addresses all of that! With tenderloin being just a cut of the turkey, it cooks quickly and can be scaled up or down in terms of amount cooked to suit your family.

I simply LOVE this recipe! What really makes this savory turkey tenderloin recipe special is the marinade. Turkey, by nature, can be lacking in full flavor. The addition of a savory but slightly sweet marinade does the trick. So, let’s get to it!

For the marinade

  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup vegetable or grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 – 2 tsp cayenne pepper (go with your taste here)
  • 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (or runny honey, if you prefer)
  • 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
  • 1 stalk of fresh rosemary, sprigs removed from stalk

Mix all marinade ingredients in small bowl. Transfer to a selable bag when ready to marinate.

For the turkey tenderloin

  • 1.5 pounds of turkey tenderloin. This will typically be 2 tenderloin pieces, sold in one package. Aim to go with 2 loins that are roughly the same size for even cooking
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable or grapeseed oil for browning

Instruction

Insert the turkey tenderloin into the marinade bag. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 2-24 hours

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (use convection mode, if you have it)

Remove tenderloin from marinade and shake off any excess

Heat a cast iron, or heavy, oven safe skillet on med-high heat. Add oil and when shimmering and brown the top and bottom of the tenderloin

Place pan in oven and allow to roast until internal temp at thickest part of tenderloin is 160 degree F. This should be roughly 20-30 mins. Remove from oven and move to a cutting board to rest

Once rested, slice and enjoy!!

Serving the turkey tenderloin

Turkey goes with just about any vegetable. You can take a Thanksgiving day approach with mashed, cranberry sauce and stuffing, or something more simple. This week I served it with my oven roasted corn on the cob and some lemon parmesan roasted broccoli. Yum!

Corn on the cob is soaked in the husk for 1 hour and then roasted at 350 for 20 mins
Broccoli, garlic and lemons are roasted at 350 until tender. Add a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and roast 5 mins more

If you like this recipe, you might also like my recipe for juicy, herby split turkey breast!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Tasty Taco Salad

My husband and I are both taco lovers. Taco Tuesday is a regular weekly staple in our lives. He is a flour soft taco guy and I am a hard, corn tortilla kinda gal most of the time. This tasty taco salad is one version of a taco that we both agree on and enjoy each and every time it is ordered or made at home.

Like most recipes I like to cook, there is no set way that it has to be made. Ingredients can be substituted, flavors swapped, and type of protein updated. I have a recipe for Asian inspired veggie salad feast, that has many of the same elements of a taco salad, but with different flavors and selection of veggies. Small changes allow me to keep staple recipes simple, but add variety in both nutrition and flavor.

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Ingredients for Taco Salad

  • Seasoned Beef

  • 1 lb. ground beef – 80-85% lean (fear not, beef will be drained before adding spice)

  • 2 Heap Tbsp Taco seasoning (see recipe below)

  • 2 tsp. graeseed or vegetable oil

  • Veggies

  • 4-6 oz – crunchy greens, such as Lef Farms Crispy Green Lettuce, mixed with any lettuce variety.

  • 1 hot chili, such as jalapeno or serrano

  • 1/2 cucumber, seeded and sliced

  • 1/2 heirloom tomato chopped into bite size chuncks

  • 7 oz. canned corn, drained

  • 7 oz. canned black beans drained

  • 1 lime quartered for dressing individual plates

  • Cheddar, cotija or other cheese of your choice for sprinkling (1-1 1/2 ounce)

Taco Seasoning recipe

Note: this recipe will make enough seasoning for a number of uses.

  • 1 heap Tbsp. Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. sweet paprila
  • 1.5 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional – remove if you do not want the heat)
  • 1-2 tsp. dried oregano

Add all ingredients in a jar and shake to mix. Store in dry location until use.

Instruction

Heat large frying pan to medium-high heat. Add oil. When oil is shimmering, add in beef and begin breaking apart as it cooks. When beef is just browned and broken down, carefully drain any excessive oil in pan. You do not want your taco salad to be too greasy!

Add in the taco seasoning and combine. Cook until beef is just getting crispy. Put aside to cool a bit.

While the beef is cooking, wash and dry lettuce, slice and dice other veg, and arrange all vegetables on serving plate.

Add beef to middlle of plate and sprinkle some of the cheese over.

Put remaining cheese to the side for individual sprinkling.

Serving the Tasty Taco Salad

Serve family style, with cheese and lime wedges available for individual plates.

Servings: 4-6

Famliy style taco salad
Tasty taco salad served family style

If you like this recipe, take a look at my burger with baked french fries and all the fixins recipe!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Spatchcock Chicken grilled with Summer Fruit

I am on a grilled, roasted or just straight up stone fruit kick. These fruits (peaches, pluots, plums, nectarines, apricots and cherries) are up there in my book. I do prefer some of them cooked (cherries), while others are good just about any which way I can get them! This recipe for spatchcock chicken grilled with summer fruit really hit the spot in our house. Served with quinoa dressed in olive oil, lemon and simple salt and pepper, all aspects of a good meal are covered!

Note: if you also love cooked cherries, check out this recipe for cherry bourbon pork chops!

One of the best aspects of spatchcocking a chicken, is that it cooks quickly any which way you decide to cook it. Having been a beautiful day, I decided to use the gas grill this past week and the results were super!

Preparing the chicken

What is a spatchcocked chicken? It is a chicken that is butterflied. The backbone is typically removed and then the chicken is laid flat with the inside of the chicken on your cutting board, allowing for the breast to be pressed. It results in a flat bird that will cook evenly and quickly. Martha Stweart has a great account of all of the details on her website that is super helpful. Check it out if this is a new technique for you.

If you are leery of cutting the backbone and ribs out of the chicken, it is much more common these days to find them already spatchcocked in your store. Or, ask your butcher to do the job for you. Bell and Evans has pre-cut and flattended versions selling in many stores.

Once your chicken is ready to go, dry the chicken completely and season very liberally on both sides with the seasoning of your choice. My chicken/pork rub below is tried and true, if you want to give it try!

Quick Chicken/Pork Rub Recipe

1 Tbsp. each of Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Sweet Paprika, Brown Sugar

1 Tsp, each of cinnamon, pepper (fresh ground preferably) and salt

This is enough for roughly a 4 lb. chicken. Double, triple or quadruple the recipe to keep some in the cabinet for other recipes. I use this both for pork and chicken, so it does not go to waste!

Ingredients for this complete dinner

A 3-4 pound chicken

Spice rub (roughly 3-5 full Tbsp)

2-3 stone fruits of your choice. You can halve them for grilling direct on the grill grate, or slice them and use a cast iron pan on the grill. See pics below.

Olive oil, salt and pepper, for coating the grill and the pan. As well for drizzlling/sprinkling over the chicken and fruits

Optional: 4 servings of cooked quinoa, wild rice, freekah or farro. Basically, any grain with a good amount of texture to offset the tender, juicy chicken and sweet, soft delicious fruits! Also, a lemon to be grilled to yummy sweetness and used to squeeze over the grains with some seasoning and EVOO.

Grilling instructions

Get grill heated to medium, with an area that is less hot, in case you need to move off the heat due to flare ups etc. Ensure you have oiled the grates. Oil and season the fruits and place into the cast iron pan and then onto the grill. If using halved fruits, place onto grill grates directly. Continue to check doneness. If knife goes through and there is great browning or grill marks, you are good to go.

Once fruit is on, place chicken breast side up and allow to cook for 30-45 mins, until inner temp is roughly 155 degrees F in thigh. 10-20 mins more cooking time.

Drizzle oil on breast side, use basting brush to rub all over breast, legs and wings. Turn over and allow breast to brown to a nice crispy finish! Inner temp in thigh should now be 160-165. Remove and set aside to cool for 20 mins.

Serve with one of the optional mentioned grains and ENJOY! Let me know how your chicken turns out.

If you have a few more stone fruits hanging out in your fruit bowl, give this stone fruit salad a try!

Breakfast / Kristen Cooks

Homemade scratch pancakes

Growing up, I was a challenging kid to feed. It took me until my twenties to decide that there was a lot of value in trying a variety of vegetables….or much else, for that matter. No sauces, no greens, picky about meats…all of it! My sisters and mom did what they could, and I can say that there were a lot of bowls of cereal and stacks of pancakes in my life! hahaha. However, I cannot remember if there was any homemade scratch pancakes or not! 😉

So, you would think that some of these childhood staples would be the last thing I would ever want to go to now, but pancakes, are still a, now and then, indulgence in my life. I have found that homemade scratch pancakes are even better than those out of the box and are not that much more of an effort. Most ingredients are in the cabinet and you can take them straight up, or add any fruit of your choice. As a matter of fact, no one should judge if one were to do pancakes for lunch or dinner every now and again!

I will warn that this recipes turned out about 16 or so pancakes, so throttle it up or down in size based on the group you are feeding. However, I now have about 8-10 of them wrapped in 2s in parchment paper, frozen in freezer bags and they freeze amazingly. They cook directly from frozen in the toaster when you want that extra treat with your coffee or tea!

Also, this recipe uses cake flour. I had purchased King Arthur cake flour to make my almond angel food cake. It has a lower amount of protein than all purpose flour, which amount to fluffier, lighter consistency. With this flour on hand, I was very curious what else I could do that would benefit from using it! This is how I arrived at homemaade scratch pancakes. If you do not have cake flour on hand, go ahead with the all purpose…very few pancakes are not edible, as far as I am concerned!

Ingredients

  • 2 2/3 cups cake flour
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
  • 6 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Butter (to cook with and to top finished cakes)

Instruction

  1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl, using a whisk to fully combine
  2. In a large bowl, mix eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla
  3. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients, whisking to combine. Do not overwork. Simply whisk until smooth. The batter will be a bit on the thin side. If you prefer thicker cakes, add just a bit more flour and combine
  4. Heat a large skillet or griddle. Be sure you have medium to high heat that will quickly cook the first side to golden brown before turning to brown the 2nd side. Keep a stick of butter at the ready and add in a pat and allow to melt out before pouring each batch of batter. Add 1 pancake to start and test to ensure your heat is high enough, but not burning the pancakes. When tester is perfect, Rock n Roll!!
  5. Continue to add only as much butter as needed to coat the pan and provide the yummy browning. I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup and filled it about 3/4 to arrive at the perfect size pancake
First 2 pancakes. Not perfect, but darn yummy! They only got better, in terms of even browning from there…

Pancakes can be doled out as you go, or lightly cover with foil and sit in a 250 degree oven until all are ready to go.

Adding the extras!

What does not go with a pancake? If you prefer to add ingredients into the batter, all the usuals are on the table. Strawberry, apple, berries of all kind, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips. So many options. But, for this recipe, where the work was put in to make them from scratch, I went straight up NH Maple Syrup and a tab of butter on each cake. Simple and delicious!

If you like this recipe, try my recipe for almond angel cake. It is a perfect slice of heaven to have with a cup of coffee or tea!

Food / Kristen Cooks / Snacks/Apps

Stone Fruit Salad

There is nothing better during the summer than the in-season fruits. I am a sucker for stone fruits. Peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots…I love them all. Typically, I love these fruits because they can be grilled and add that pop of sweetness that goes amazing with pork or chicken. Heck, I will pair them with just about anything. However, this stone fruit salad is not grilled, making it a fast and easy dish for any outing or BBQ you attend!

The truth of the matter is that you could grill the fruits for this dish, I simply did not have the time on the day that I made it. I would definitely caution that in order to grill, the fruit will need to be a little bit les on the ripe side in order to be able to layer it on the plate.

Quick and easy ingredients!

  • 1-2 ripe, but solid nectarines as well as white or yellow peaches (really, any stone fruit with enough size to cut and arrange will do)
  • 1 ball of fresh mozzarella (8 ounce)
  • 1 bunch of fresh basil
  • Flaky sea salt and freshly grouond black pepper

Slicing and arranging

Slice the peaches and nectarines into half moon shape, once you have removed the stone from the fruit. By the way, if you have not researched how to remove the stone from a stone fruit (guessing most have not!), I found this super helpful video that makes this task as simple as it could be!

Slice the mozzarella into similarly sized slices

Once all is sliced. arrange on round plate, layering in the mozz and fruit, in a pattern appealing to your eye! Dot washed basil over the salad as well. Hit it with the flaky sea salt and pepper. Voila! Stone fruit salad!

Optional flourishes – 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic glaze, pomegranate molasses. Note: if you are preparing ahead of time, do not add the liquid options until serving and ensure you can refrigerate once served. A spray of lemon will also help with any browning if not consuming right away!

If you like this recipe. you may also like my suggestion for serving an amazing fruit plate. Let them eat fruit!

Desserts/Baking / Food / Kristen Cooks

Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse

Cooking is something I have loved to do for ages. Kicking around in the kitchen all day on a Sunday, prepping, organizing and getting something good on the table as well as ready for the week is my happy time. However, baking and making sweets is a new phenom for me. Now, my cabinet has all sorts of chocolate baking bars, a number of types of sugar, espresso powder and numerous extracts. I find myself picking up graham cracker crusts, puff pastry, and apparently, a can of black cherries that I grabbed off the sales rack when shopping. So, each week I am trying to find or create recipes to use up some of these lay-around goods. This is how I landed on this recipe for Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse.

This is yet another recipe that I need to credit Jamie Oliver for. It is a simple 5 Ingredient recipe, so no fear, sweat and tears necessary!

Separated eggs, sugar, heavy cream, chocolaet and canned cherries

Ingredients

  • 7 ounce dark chocolate. The recipe calls for 70% cacao. I had various bars and chips on hand that were 100%, 60% and 78%, so I simply calculated the ratio of each needed to amount to the 70%
  • 1 15oz can of dark or black cherries. For my next go at this recipe, I look forward to using fresh strawberries and perhaps macerating them a bit before adding to the dessert
  • 3/4 cup + 5 Tbsp of heavy cream
  • 4 eggs, separated. Be sure to not get any of the whites into the yolks and vice-versa. If you get yolk into the whites, it can typically be removed using half of a shell
  • 2 tsp very fine sugar. If you have a small food processor, you can pulse standard white sugar until powdery and fine
  • Pinch of sea salt

Instruction

Simmer cherries and their juice in small saucepan on medium heat just until thickening. Remove and set aside

Setup a double boiler (sauce pan of simmering water with a bowl placed atop, without touching the water) and place chocolate into bowl. Continue to stir with silicone spatula while it melts. Once fully melted, remove bowl from simmering pan and set aside to cool

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and egg yolks. Whisk to combine

In a medium-large bowl, add the sea salt to the egg whites and whisk until very stiff peaks have formed. Note to use a clean whisk and bowl

Once the chocolate is fully cooled, add to the cream mixture and fold in with silicone spatula

Very gently fold the chocolate/cream mixture into the stiff egg whites. Do not go rough here, as it will become very dense. This takes a little patience. Some smooth background music is never a bad thing when baking/cooking. Wink!

This recipe is indicated to be 6 servings, but this all depends on the size of your serving glass. I used a typical highball glass, so the desserts were quite generous at 3 servings. If you have a smaller container to use, I do recommend going closer to the 6 servings!

If you make this, send me a pic and/or let me know how it goes! Also, a layer of fresh whipped cream would be super before adding the fruit. YUM!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like my recipe for chewy, chunky brownies!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Slow Cooker Petite Sirloin Steak

Some months back, there was a raging sale on Petite Sirloin Steak at one of my local stores. Admittedly, this is not a cut of beef that I typically purchase, but I will give most things a go. So I went for it! I actually froze it when I got home and it sat for quite a while. While digging around to decide what might tickle my fancy for meals during the week, there it was. Just waiting for its’ day in the spotlight. Just one night to defrost and I was off and running!

What to do with this cut?

My first step in figuring out what to do with this cut was to do what we all would do…go to the internet! I found a site called, “Beef, It’s what’s for dinner” that gave some good info about what type of cut the Petite Sirloin is and best cooking methods. The issue was that I had not anticipated needing to marinate for hours, and the Petite Sirloin is the type of cut that really needs it. Athough the article indicated grilling or broiling was the best method for this little bugger of a cut, I began thinking about alternatives. Instant pot? Air Fryer? Slow Cooker? After a bit of research, I stumbled on a blog called, “No Spoon Necessary”. Low and behold, there was a slow cooker recipe fit for just about any steak. The recipe can be found here.

The ingredients in the recipe were relatively simple, so I only made changes where I did not have an ingredient, or wanted to bend the flavor a bit to my taste. And given this is a slow cooker recipe, the only real work was the slicing and dicing and reducing the gravy once the steaks were done. Amazing!

Ingredients

  • 2.5 lbs. petite sirloin steaks (roughly 4 steaks)
  • 1 white or yellow onion, finely chopped. Note: the original recipe calls for sliced onions. I used chopped to have a bit of a chunky onion sauce to serve with. Do your thing with this one.
  • 2 cups low sodium beef broth
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp dried Thyme
  • 1 Tbsp dried Rosemary
  • 2 large garlic cloves, pressed through garlic press, or very finely minced
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 large Rosemary sprigs
  • Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
  • Parsley to finish

Instruction

Line bottom of the slow cooker with the onions. Season steaks with salt and pepper and place steaks on top of onion, spreading them out side by side. Pour in the broth and Worcestershire. Mix all other ingredients, other than butter, parsley and rosemary sprigs, in a small bowl. Distribute evenly over the steaks. Add butter pats and rosemary sprigs on top and close that cooker up!

My slow cooker tends to cook really fast. I cooked for 5 hours on low. However, check your steaks for doneness at 4.5-5 hours and adjust accordingly. Once done, using a slotted spatula, scoop out and plate the steaks. Cover to keep warm. You will be left with a lot of broth in the slow cooker that can be made into an amazing onion gravy. If there is any obvious fat on the top of the broth, scoop off while still in the slow cooker. Then transfer to a wide frying pan.

Bring heat to medium and sift in 1-2 Tbsp. of flour. Go gradually, so you know how much you need. The gravy will thicken pretty quickly, so just be patient. Use a whisk to get all lumps out. Continue to whisk until it is at what you consider gravy thickness. If you have a gravy boat that separates the fat, use it. If not, simply check the gravy as it sets for fat settling on top and remove.

Plate and serve gravy as your family likes it! Either family style on the plated steak, or in the gravy boat, for each to serve themselves! Serve with my vegetable tray bake recipe! YUM!

Notes

This recipe will not deliver a steak with char or caramelized exterior. It will delivery a deliciously tender steak that is amazing with gravy, similar to how you would cook a pot roast. But change and new experiences are everything, so give it a go!

The veggie tray bake shown with the slow cooker petite sirloin is a play on my originally posted recipe. This time I used potato, radish, broccoli, carrot, garlic and shallot. Winner every time!!

If you like this recipe, give my pork with sweet plantains and veg or my slow cooker pork carnitas recipe a try!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Weeknight Dinner – Pork and Porcini Pasta

There is nothing I love better than finding a recipe that surprises me with its’ simplicity and bomb flavor! This pork and porcini pasta does exactly that.

If you have read any of my other posts, you may know that I grew up an incredibly picky eater. I could stomach about 3 vegetables, one being potatoes! One of the things on my absolute no-go list was mushrooms. That lasted well into my thirties, even after I had realized that I actually had an affinity for veggies of all sorts (once I actually began tasting them!). It took a lot of travel and eating with varied groups of people to get me out of my no zone and into my go zone when it comes to food. And I am thankful for that! Otherwise, I would not be sitting here writing about this amazing pork and porcini pasta!

The origin of the recipe

If you have read other recipes of mine, you might also know that I am a Jamie Oliver fan. His 5 Ingredient cookbook changed my world, at least in my kitchen! Check out this preview of the book on Google. This book has so many easy weeknight or lunch recipes that my book binding is completely broken from use. This is one I will tape, rubber band or perform some sort of ridiculous glueing procedure to ensure it stays kicking around! Some of the recipes have been committed to memory, or are flexible enough that I know the gist of the ingredients and wing it from there. Truly enjoyable cooking! Anyhow, this oprk porcini recipe is very close to one in “5 Ingredients”, with only tweaks to the ingredient amounts.

Pork and porcini pasta
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Pork and porcini pasta

Recipe by kristenCourse: Dinner/Lunch, Food, Kristen CooksCuisine: PastaDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ground pork with porcini mushrooms and rotini pasta

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground pork

  • 1 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms (or any mix of dried mushrooms of your liking)

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 12 oz dried pasta (I used rotini here, but penne, large shells, rigatoni or other types where the mushroom and pork can get lost in the pasta works great!)

  • 1 3/4 oz parmesan cheese (finely grated)

  • Ingredients that Jamie Oliver does not consider part of the 5 core ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
    1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

  • Salt and Pepper

Directions

  • Boil about 2 cups of water. Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Ensure they are fully covered.
  • Cook the pasta per the box instructions, but remove 1-2 mins short of the cooking time. Pasta should be al dente, as it will cook further when combined with other ingredients. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the starchy water. Set aside
  • Heat oil in large frying pan. Add pork and continue to break up as it browns. If there is excessive oil, drain carefully before moving to next step. Keep an eye on your pasta…do not overcook! Wink!
  • Drain the porcinis, reserving all of the water left behind. Add the mushrooms and onion to the pan with the pork. Fry until all is golden
  • Add the red wine vinegar and the porcini water. Note that the last bit will have gritty bits, so add slowly and stop when the grit is visible, so as not to add. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer about 8-10 mins.
  • Add the drained pasta to the frying pan, as well as 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Add in most of the parmesan, reserving a small bit to add over top once served. Toss to combine
  • If sauce is too thick, add remaining 1/2 cup of pasta water and stir until you have the consistency you want
  • Add salt and pepper, as well as more oil over top to taste. Curly or flat leaf parsley is also an option to garnish. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, take a peek at my recipe for Asian Inspired Veggie Salad Feast, which was also a Jamie Oliver inspired dish!