Ziti

I don't particularly care for pasta dishes - I know, sacrilege - but I do know how to cook some of them really well. I picked up a ziti recipe from Stephanie O'Dea at A Year of Slow Cooking who does hers in a crockpot. I've tried it and it's amazing, but my boyfriend likes the crispiness of baked cheese so I usually go for the oven to cook it. Also, it might be just a smidgen quicker.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs. cheese of your choice (mozzarella, Parmesan, etc.)
• 1 box of pasta (penne, rigatoni, ziti, etc.)
• 1 jar of pre-made red spaghetti sauce (unless you want to make your own from scratch)
• 1 can of tomato paste (6oz)
• 1/2 lbs. of ground beef
• medium onion, chopped 
• 1-3 cloves of chopped garlic (to taste)
• spices (salt, pepper, paprika, oregano)
• (optional) mushrooms

You will need a large pot and 9x13 baking pan. Preheat the oven to 425F

Start cooking pasta according to instructions prior to starting the sauce. Shred all of the cheese and have handy for later.

In a large pot (unless you have a giant frying pan), brown the beef while making sure it doesn't clump together. Add spices, garlic, and onion, and cook until everything is browned. Add sauce and the paste, mix until uniform and set aside, simmering. It's not necessary to cool the sauce.

Coat the pan with a non-stick spray (lining it with aluminum foil might help as well). Layer the ingredients as follows: a third of the pasta, a third of the sauce, a third of the cheese, repeat. Sprinkle the top cheese layer with a little paprika for extra spiciness. Bake for approx. 45 minutes, or until the top is a delicious golden brown. 

You can serve it as a side to chicken Parmesan or by itself.

Enjoy!

Quiche

This is one of those amazingly easy recipes that you can toss together and feel good about; it will turn out delicious no matter what. Quiche is a French breakfast equivalent of 'empty your fridge' with eggs kind of dish, so while I chose to use these ingredients they don't have to be copied 100%

Ingredients:

• deep pie shell
• 4-5 large eggs
• 1/2 pint of half and half (anything with less fat content won't taste as delicious)
• 2oz. goat cheese
• 2oz. Gruyere or smoked Gouda
• 2-4 white mushrooms, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) ground rosemary

Note: Cheeses can be changed out as long as one soft and one hard cheese is used. Also, the amount of cheese can be increased to your liking.

Preheat oven to 400F. You might need a cookie sheet to set the pie shell on so it doesn't overflow into the oven proper.

Roughly mix half and half with the eggs, add all spices, and set aside. In the pie shell set out the sliced up mushrooms, crumbled goat cheese and shredded Gruyere. Pour the mixture over it, stick the whole thing in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes. 

Quiche should be ready when the top is a lovely golden brown color. You may try sticking a toothpick in there as a test of readiness, though the cheese will most likely keep it gooey.

Enjoy!

Szarlotka (Polish apple cake)

The traditional Polish apple cake was one of the first cakes I have ever learned how to make. My grandma was downright ecstatic when I displayed interest in learning how to cook and bake. That being said, this is a relatively labor intensive cake. It will take you a couple of hours to put together, that's for sure.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
• 4 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2.5 cups of sugar (3.5 cups if you like super sweet things)
• approx. 1lbs of flour
• 3 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of sour cream (if necessary)
• 6 large Granny Smith apples
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

You will need a 9x13 baking pan, a variety of mixing bowls, a pot, and cooking spray. 

Preparing the dough: Combine all the flour, 2 tsp of baking powder, salt, and a cup of sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and 4 egg yolks, and knead the dough with your hands until it becomes uniform (I'm sure this could be done in a mixer, but I do not possess one). If the dough comes out too dry, add some sour cream until the dough no longer crumbles. Wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for an hour.

Preparing the apple layer: Peel the apples and grate them; you can either do it by hand or run the apples through a juicer and put everything back together. The choice is yours. Put the grated apples into a pot, add a cup of sugar, and simmer until the apples have completely softened. Optionally, you can add a tbsp of cinnamon to apples. Set aside and let it cool completely.

Preparing the whipped layer: Put 4 egg whites into a sturdy bowl and whip them into foam with hand mixer until you have soft peaks. Add 1 tsp of baking powder, 1 tbsp of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar while stirring carefully with a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Assembling the cake: Grate 3/4 of the frozen dough onto the baking pan and stick the rest back into the freezer. Bake that for about 25 minutes, or until the top is just barely baked (it will start showing golden edges). Take out the pan. Pour the apple layer onto the cake layer and smooth out. Pour out the whipped layer onto the apples and also smooth out evenly. Grab the remaining frozen dough and grate it on top of the whipped egg whites. Try to cover as evenly as possible, even if the grated dough will try to splatter everywhere. Put the pan back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. Let it cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Cookie dough cheesecake bars

It's insane how easy is this dessert, but so delicious! I've made it multiple times and it's always been a hit. The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 12oz cookie dough of choice
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 egg

Note: You will need an 8x8in pan and wax paper for easier pan clean up. Also, you can use gluten-free dough if that is your dietary requirement.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

1. Line the pan with the paper and spread out the cookie dough, evenly.
2. Blend the cream cheese in a food processor for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add sugar and blend more.
4. Add the egg and the extract, and continue mixing.
5. Once it's all uniform, pour on top of the cookie "crust" and bake for about 25-30 minutes.
6. When done, drizzle with a sauce of choice (caramel or chocolate seem to be popular) and leave in the fridge overnight. Cut into 16 pieces.

Enjoy!

Apple cider caramel

In October a friend from work brought in these amazing caramel candies she had made herself. I was extremely impressed and delighted at the flavor, so I decided I would replicate it. At first I used apples that were given to me by that friend, but they were meant for direct consumption and I found them to be a little too sweet for my caramel. Then I purchased some Granny Smith apples, juiced them, and ramped up my caramel game. Beware, this recipe is a little time-consuming.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of apple cider (or fresh juice from approx. 5 Granny Smith apples)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of heavy cream

You will need a 8x8in pan and parchment paper.

Note: Line the pan with parchment paper while the juice is reducing. Once you add sugar and butter you will have minutes to be ready to pour.You don't want to be stuck with a pot-full of hardened caramel.

1. Boil the juice in a medium pot on medium-high until it reduces to a thick syrup (molasses-like). It should take about 30 minutes to do so. Turn down the heat to simmer.
2. Add sugar, butter & cream, then simmer until the temperature reaches 165F (If you don't have a candy thermometer, I suggest pouring some cold water into a bowl and occasionally drop a little of caramel in there. If it turns solid(ish), the caramel is ready).
3. Pour the caramel into the pan and set it aside for approx. 2 hours. I suggest setting a timer.
4. Cut into pieces and store in the fridge so it doesn't melt. As an extra step, I wrap mine in cut up pieces of parchment paper. It looks fancy!

Enjoy!

Racuchy

Racuchy are essentially Polish pancakes. They are extremely straight-forward and will most definitely delight for an autumn breakfast. I suggest a complement of nice glass of milk and maybe some powdered sugar to top the pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 2 large apples; peeled, cored and sliced into relatively small pieces
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• 16oz of milk
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (optional)
• frying oil of your choice.

1. In  a large bowl mix all of the ingredients and make sure the batter is uniform. Flour pockets are unpleasant when eating pancakes.
2. Add apples and stir.
3. Heat up the frying pan and fry up all the batter. You can make the pancakes any size you want, though they're best if they're almost palm-sized.

Chocolate Delight

Even though the ingredient list is very short, this is a labor intensive recipe. It will turn out just fine as long as you're patient and follow the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 9 eggs
• 400g of dark chocolate (it's roughly 0.85lbs) - 72% is best
• 250g of powdered sugar (about 7oz)
• a pinch of salt
• 200g of unsalted butter (2 sticks)

You will also need wax paper and a square pan (8x8in). Preheat your oven to 350F.

1. Stick the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl and set over steaming water in a pot (make sure water doesn't get inside). Mix until it's uniform and set aside to chill completely.
2. Separate egg whites and yolks. 
3. Put yolks in a large bowl, add sugar and mix until uniform.
4. Whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks.
5. Gradually stir in the chocolate sauce into yolk and sugar mixture. Afterwards, fold in the whipped egg whites. The mixture should be really fluffy now.
6. Line the pan on all sides with the wax paper. Pour in the mixture and bake it for approx. 35 min. If the middle still looks runny, bake it for about 10 more minutes.
7. Once it's done, let it cool. IT WILL COLLAPSE! 
8. Cut it into pieces and serve with whipped cream, and/or fresh fruit, or preserves.

Enjoy!