One spicy meatball and sauce...

Meatballs in homemade Ragu

Now that's a spicy meatball.... With that said, tonight menu is about that precise meatball. Making meatball and sauce, is super easy, because you kill 2 birds and one sauce.

Homemade Ragu, a thick and chopped sauce used in Spaghetti, Ravoli, or any other kind of pasta. For tonight, I've used Farfalle (aka bow tie pasta)

Supplies for Ragu and Sauce:

2 lbs of ground beef, reserve a quarter cup for sauce
1 bell pepper, chopped (sauce only)
1 onion, chopped finely (save 1/4 for sauce)
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped and divided
1/2 cup of bread crumbs or dry crumbled bread (must be 1 day old hard)
1 1/2 teaspooon pepper
2 Tbsp salt
11/2 crushed red pepper
1/4-1/2 cup of water
1 cup of tomatoes, chopped
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes *smashed by hands*
3 basil leaves or 1 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup of parmesean cheese shredded (divided) *save for garnish*
2 eggs

1. Start with meatball, mix all dry ingredients first then add onion, cheese, eggs, and then water,  Shape onto 1 inch balls. On baking sheet 15-20 mins on 325F. The meatball will not dry out, because they're water, that's the secret to keep moist meatballs.

2. White that's getting done, in a saucepan, add butter, wait to melt, sauteed onions and bell peppers.  Then on medium heat, add the reserve ground beef, brown.

3.  Add tomatoes, chicken stock, and spices, let shimmer for 5-8 minutes on low. When you're ready to serve, add cheese, stir, and then turn off burner. (otherwise cheese will separate)

4. Check meatballs, you can either drop them into sauce or serve sauce on top. Add garnish.

5. Enjoy!

Some Broken Beef ribs...

Oven-Broiled Beef Ribs

Hi There everyone!
Tonight is some broken ribs, not mine, but our dinner's lol. To share this recipe I've reinvented and took part from my brother-in-law, you got to make the best ribs I know. Knowing that he may not read this post, has made me able to share this 'secret' spices. hehe.... Oh well I'll deal with that bridge when you get there.

So, to start this recipe, you would have to prep your food 1 day ahead of time, in either this marinade or a brime. A brime, is a mixture of kosher salt, spices, and water that tenderizes the meat for a time making it porous and able to obtain better flavor during cooking process.

Ingredient List:

For Brime:
1/2 cup of kosher
1 quart of water
Spices below (set some aside for cooking later)

1-2 TBSP of garlic powder
3 TBSP of brown sugar (reserved for boiling mixture, as well as brime)
1-2 TBSP of  Black Pepper
1-2 TBSP of Paprika. Cayenne, and Chilli Powder Mix
1 teaspoon of Steak Seasoning
1/2c-1cup of your favorite bbq
1 crushed finely bay leaf
white onion

For Boiling Mixture
1/2 cup of water mixed with brown sugar, let thicken and cool slightly

I like to make my ribs in the oven, when I don't want to go to the grill. I set it to 350 degrees in the oven.
I cook it for 1 1/2 hrs -2 hrs in the oven. You can also boil meat for 2 hours in salt, pepper, bay leaves, and onion.

1. Start the brime, if you wish, let sit over night (optional) or You can boil meat. Your choice, your style.
2. Prepare boiling mixture, brown sugar and water, until sugar has dissolved and thicken. Let cool slightly.
3. Pour and rub in mixture to ribs. Apply rest of spices.
4. Put in Oven and cook. Baste with BBQ sauce 15 minutes before time is up, then after taken out from oven.
5. Broil in oven for 1 minute, keep a careful eye, as the broiler function is super hot and can burn ribs.
6. Enjoy some saucy ribs.

Fettucine Alfredo with Chicken and Broccoli

Fettucine Alfredo with Chicken & Broccoli

    It was my mom's birthday, so I decided to make her a big family style meal of Fettucine Alfredo along with chicken and broccoli. Served with a simple Romaine Lettuce and Grape Tomatoes (don't forget croutons)

    I started making Alfredo sauce through trial and error process, using Philadelphia Cheese, or Sour Cream (works, but doesn't thicken that much,) evaporated milk (works and is half the calories of cream) and lastly pasta water ( great substitue for all of the above)  Finally, I found what makes an excellent sauce, that thickens and tastes like it came from a 5-star resturant. I hope you enjoy it too!

Supply List:
1 chicken Breast (cubed)
1-2 cups of steamed and cooled broccoli
1 package of fettucine
1/2 teaspoon of crushed pepper
1 clove of garlic or 1 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 cup of parmasean cheese
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour *all purpose*
Salt & pepper to taste
Shredded parmasean for garnish

1. Boil your pasta, according to package direction (10-11 "al dente") In a separate non stick pan, cook chicken breast and add broccoli after chicken has cooked. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan on medium heat, placed butter and wait for it to melt.

3. Add crushed red pepper and flour. Stir to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. When the flour has completely been mixed add cream to bring to a running boil. When sauce is boiling, turn off stove top and add cheese in sauce and stir lightly.

5. Salt and pepper to taste, take saucepan off of stove top and set to cool slightly. Too much heat with break cheese and cream texture, giving a goopy sauce-texture.

6. Add noodles.  Mix chicken breast and broccoli, either on top of sauce or on bottom.
*Chef Tip: To reheat the sauce the next time, add 1 1/2 tablespoon of heavy cream and heat*

Banana Pudding with Homemade Whipped Cream

This dessert is such an old-fashioned comfort food. Banana pudding has been my husband ultimate go-to dessert, when it's in the fridge. If there's was a steak and potatoes and banana pudding hanging in the balance, unfortunately the meat would not win. There's many recipes to making banana pudding, I can up with both a shortcut and the scratch recipe. I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as my family does.

Supply List:   Banana Pudding (old school)

For making pudding:

2 cups milk

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat milk until bubbles form at edges. In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into hot milk, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into serving dishes. Chill before serving.

Short cut:  2 packets of instant vanilla pudding


Banana Cream Pudding:

1 box of vanilla wafers
1/4 - 1/2 cup of creme of banana liqueur
Vanilla Pudding 3-4 cups
3 bananas (sliced into coins) no brown spots
2 teaspoons of lime juice
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of sugar

1.  Start by putting you're bananas in a small bowl, cover in lime and teaspoon of sugar. Give it a swirl and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. On a cookie sheet, add wafers and drench in banana liqueur.  Let marinate for 10-15 minutes. 

3.  In the blender, add heavy cream and 1/4 cup of sugar.  Put of setting "whip" for 30sec.- 1 min. Set aside, until banana cream is ready for topping.

To arrange,  start in deep bowl with a little bit of pudding , so wafers don't move around. Add a layer of vanilla pudding, then a layer of bananas.  Continue with layer until the very last layer. To finish off, Add whipped topping and enjoy!

Whether you try out the scratch version or the shortcut, the homemade topping is what makes the pudding the best. Try it out and enjoy!