The Nanny (cooking) Diaries: stuffed 'shrooms

For the past week, I have been living with a 12 year old picky eater (nannying while her parents take her big sister to college in New York.) To be fair, this particular 12 year old has reason to be picky... a deathly allergy (no kidding, deathly) to ALL nuts, egg whites, bananas, and avocados. Every time I feed her, i'm slightly terrified that I'm accidentally going to do her in with a rogue peanut or sneaky almond. Despite her picky-ness (chicken, ketchup, sourdough bread and munster cheese was basically her diet before I came along) I did get her to try (and like!) mushrooms by making her these delicious stuffed 'shrooms. Super easy, super quick, can't mess them up!

Stuffed 'Shrooms a la Avery

8 large white mushrooms, washed and dried
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tablespoons parsley
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded parm. cheese
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop up the stems, and mix with all other ingredients. Mix in 2 tablespoons olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper.

Place empty mushroom caps onto baking dish. Fill mushroom caps to the max! push the stuffing down there to make sure they are full to the brim.

 Drizzle with olive oil before popping them into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove and enjoy!!!

The finished product... these were devoured 5 second later

Frosting for Breakfast: Homemade Pop Tarts

After months of avoiding actually starting to train for my marathon, I finally gave in and went with our neighbor Pearl to her Saturday morning running group. Turns out, 15 miles is much easier with a group of people who are equally as miserable! After the run, everyone in the group made something to fill the serious calorie deficit we had created. I brought these little guys, home made pop tarts. They were a HIT, and they are a great excuse to eat frosting in the morning!

1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and diced
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons water
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla almond extract
1 package prepared pie crust

preheat oven to 400.

-Heat cherries, sugar, corn starch, water and extract in medium saucepan, stirring occasionally until filling has thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
-Roll out prepared pie crust and cut into even rectangles. I made mine about 2 inches x 1 inch, but you can make them as small or as large as you would like. Lightly score dough with a butter knife. Pair up the rectangles and make sure you have an even number.
-Spoon about a tablespoon of cooled cherry mixture onto one of the rectangles. Cover with another crust rectangle, and push edges together with a fork all the way around. Repeat with remaining rectangles.
-Transfer to a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn brown. Let cool.

Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring (optional, but it makes them pretty)

-mix all ingredients together. Add more or less milk to reach desired consistency. Frost cooled pop tarts, and feel free to get crazy with some sprinkles!

Homemade ground turkey ravioli with lemon infused olive oil

Yes, we realize it has been a while since our last post...sorry!  I am going to blame it on an increase in the number of nights popcorn and pinot grigio are our dinner of choice.  Which I am going to subsequently blame on all of the fabulous reality TV Bravo currently has on (shout out to Andy Cohn, we love you...retweet us!!)  But last night we decided to put down the bottle, that's a lie, we still drank two bottles of wine, but I did prepare something that most would consider a socially acceptable meal: Ravioli stuffed with ground turkey and a lemon infused olive oil sauce

This homemade pasta recipe my dad and I learned in a cooking class we took before I moved.  It has also become a staple in the Dieter kitchen.  A few things you need in order to create this masterpiece, a kitchen aid mixer and the pasta attachment. Aside from those tools it's super easy!

Fresh Pasta Recipe:
2 Cups Flour (any variety you want)
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon water (add a teaspoon at a time)

Mix flour and eggs together then slowly add water until the dough just barely holds together. It should be the consistency of a pie crust. Starting with largest setting (smallest number, 1) on your pasta attachment, feed half of the dough through. You will probably have to do it a few times until it all holds together. Feed through again on setting number 3 and so on until your pasta is the thickness you desire.

Ravioli Stuffing:
1 Pound Ground Turkey (browned in frying pan with garlic and onion)
1/4 Cup Fresh Parmesan Cheese (grated)
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
Seasoning (I used an Italian blend, some garlic salt, pepper and rosemary from our herb garden)

To fill the ravioli I use this nifty little ravioli tray.  Lay the fresh pasta dough on the tray then fill with turkey filling, fold a layer of dough over and roll flat. Once you've filled all your ravioli just boil the little guys for 2-3 minutes!

Lemon Infused Olive Oil:
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Lemon (cut in slices)
Rosemary and Parsley (again, from our herb garden!)

Heat olive oil, lemon and herbs over low heat while you prepare the rest of this dish. Drizzle overtop for a delicious and light sauce!

Once you have the basics down (making the pasta) you can fill the ravioli with pretty much anything, cook it various ways and top it with tons of sauce options. ENJOY!!

Grilled Fish and Veggies a la Harry Potter for a Mexican Friend

Alec Lopez loves Harry Potter, don't let him tell you otherwise.

We know this because the whole time I cooked him dinner (the past 2 hours) he has been sitting on the couch, eyes glued to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone." Every once and a while, a "yum. smells like chicken" would be muttered (fish... chicken... what's the difference, really) but other than that, the kid was straight-up enchanted with the world of Hogwarts. Really, this obsession is coming on at a perfect time, because movie 8 comes out in a few short weeks and it would be embarrassing if he showed up at the midnight premiere not knowing his Potter facts. 

The menu tonight (ingredients courtesy of Harry Potter's #1 fan himself) was:

Citrus and beer grilled halibut

Corn, ham and tomato mixed veggies

homemade pita bread and tzatziki (see previous post for recipe)

fudge brownies with fresh whipped cream

I took pictures of the cooking process, only to realize after that I didn't have a memory card in my camera... it's been one of those days. 

The recipe for the fish and veggies can be found Here (I substituted halibut for flounder, only difference was increase grilling time to about 20 minutes.)

The brownie recipe can be found here (for fresh whipped cream, just take 1 small container whiping cream, beat with 1/2 cup powder sugar and two table spoons vanilla until desired consistency. serve with warm brownies for some serious deliciousness.)

Olive Garden Inspired Soup, Salad and Bread sticks

Last night's activity...

This is why we couldn't go to Olive Garden today. Actually, to be accurate, this along with our friend/neighbor Pearl's bottle of Kettle One is why we couldn't go to Olive Garden. Or to our friend Heather's cookout (sorry Heather!) This is why we watched reality TV for 7 hours today, and saw about 347 Olive Garden commercials, giving us a ridiculous craving for some soup, salad and bread sticks action (those annoying commercials are shockingly effective.) However, neither one of us were in any state to put on socially acceptable outfits, comb our hair, or even drive a car, forcing us to make some home-made Olive Garden yums. We opted for the "Soup, Salad and Bread sticks" option.

The Menu:
Spinach salad with olive vinigerate and homemade cheesy croutons (no real recipe here, just throw spinach into a bowl, throw some butter-covered bread into the oven and top with shredded cheese)
Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
Italian Meatball Wedding Soup

First up..
Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
1.5 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh dill
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons butter

preheat oven to 425. Mix all dry ingredients in large metal bowl. Add milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1/2 cup shredded cheese and mix until incorporated. Dough should be a kind-of-sticky ball (you can always add more flour if it's too sticky)

Roll out dough into rectangle, about 1 foot long and 1/2 foot tall.

Take remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and place on cookie sheet. Throw in the oven for about 2 minutes or until melted. Remove pan and sprinkle butter with salt or garlic salt.

 Take rolled out dough rectangle and place on butter-covered cookie sheet. Carefully cut rectangle of dough into strips, but don't pull them apart. (the butter will creep in between the cuts and make them crispy)

Bake bread sticks at 425 for ten minutes. Take them out of the oven, flip them over and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Put them back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes, or until slightly brown on both sides.


great to dip in...
Italian Meatball Wedding Soup 

Meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey, beef, chicken, or any other animal that lives on a farm
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheese (parm or cheddar work best)
1 tablespoon fresh dill
1 teaspoon dried parsley
pinch of salt and peppa

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients in bowl. Roll into around 1-inch balls, throw on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until brown on edges. Roll them around after about 15 minutes for even baking.

Obviously we had to somehow incorporate cheese into these little guys... SO YUMMY

Soup:
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup small pasta
5 cups fresh baby spinach (stems removed)

Place chopped carrots, celery and onion with olive oil in large soup pot and sautee for about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft.

Add broth and white wine, bring to boil (should take about 15 minutes.) Add pasta and cooked meatballs and cook for 5 minutes (I choose letter pasta because we like to spell inappropriate words while eating)

Tah-Dah! Almost as good as O.G's

 Add spinach and cook for about 3 minutes or until wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper)