Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Category: Dinners

• 

  Pesto Cream Sauce

  Posted at 11:22 am by StephMo

  Apr 24th

  Last night I had intended on just making pasta with pesto for dinner, but then had a craving for something a little more creamy. I decided to add a little cream sauce spin to my homemade pesto and it was absolutely delicious! If you are like me and love cream sauce, you will love this creamy pesto. The addition of the cream is subtle and not as heavy as an alfredo sauce, but satisfies that craving for creaminess you may be having.

  First I will give you the recipe for my pesto, then further down the blog you will see how to make it into a cream sauce.

  Here are the ingredients for my regular pesto:

  4 oz. of fresh basil

  1/2 cup olive oil

  1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

  2 tsp. minced garlic

  Pepper to taste

  Add basil, cheese, garlic, and pepper to a food processor.

  

  Turn on the processor and add the olive oil slowly.

  

  Let it run until the basil is finely chopped and all the ingredients are combined.

  

  Oh that smell, wow!

  Since nothing goes better with basil than tomatoes, I decided to cut up some grape tomatoes to add to the pasta and pesto.

  

  This is where I would usually stop and be so happy with this meal. I love fresh pesto on pasta.

  But I didn’t stop, and this is where things started getting crazy and I decided to bust out the heavy cream.

  Heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 2 tbsp. of butter in a saucepan until the butter is melted and the cream is starting to boil while being careful not to let the cream burn. Whisk in a 1/2 cup of grated cheese and simmer for a few minutes until it starts to thicken slightly.

  

  Whisk the pesto into the cream sauce mixture and cook for a few minutes.

  

  Doesn’t that look pretty?

  Pour the sauce over your pasta of choice, add the tomatoes, stir, and serve.

  

  If your family is anything like mine, you will be listening to happy eating sounds and praises through the entire dinner. Yum!
  Posted in Dinners, Recipes, Sauces | Tagged alfredo sauce, basil recipes, cream sauce, food blog, food blogger, nut free pesto, nut free pesto recipe, pasta with pesto, pasta with pesto cream sauce, pesto, pesto cream sauce, pesto cream sauce recipe, pesto recipe, pesto recipe no nuts
• 

  Homemade Flour Tortillas

  Posted at 4:44 pm by StephMo

  Apr 9th

  Now that running to the store for every little thing isn’t an option, I have been making my own tortillas instead of buying them. These are easy to make and you will look very impressive on your next Taco Tuesday. This recipe makes eight good size tortillas, but you can double the recipe if you would like more than that.

  I could say that I intended to make them the shape that they are in, but I will admit I was going for a circle. They tasted just as good regardless of whatever shape that actually is lol.

  You only need four ingredients to make your own tortillas and they are:

  2 cups of flour

  1/2 tsp. salt

  3/4 cup water

  3 tbsp. olive oil

  Combine flour and salt in a medium size mixing bowl. Add the water and oil and mix well.

  

  Put the dough on a floured cutting board and knead for a minute or so.

  

  Cut your dough into eight even portions.

  

  Roll each portion into a very thin circle. Yes, circle. That is the goal anyway. Actually, the one shown below is kind of a circle.

  You will need to keep flouring the board and rolling pin because they tend to get sticky.

  

  Heat your skillet a little higher than medium heat. Make sure your skillet is hot before putting in the tortilla. Cook for only about 1 minute or so, the tortilla should bubble as seen.

  

  What shape is that actually? It’s not even close to a circle lol. I think i need to practice my rolling skills.

  Flip the tortilla and cook the other side.

  

  Keep them warm until serving and fill them with fish, chicken, pork, or whatever. You’ll love them!

  

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged flour tortilla, flour tortilla recipe, food blog, food blogger, taco recipe, taco tuesday, tacos, tortilla, tortilla recipe
• 

  Homemade Pizza

  Posted at 5:10 pm by StephMo

  Apr 1st

  In my opinion pizza is one of the best comfort foods, I absolutely love it and could eat it all the time. The first thing I made when I finally got around to getting a new food processor was pizza dough! I have been craving homemade pizza like crazy, and I decided to go all out and make many different kinds. If you have never made dough, it was super easy to make.

  Here are the ingredients you need:

  1 tbsp. active dry yeast

  1 tsp. sugar

  1 cup of warm water

  3 cups flour

  1 tsp. salt

  Olive Oil

  Dissolve the sugar and yeast in a small bowl with the warm water for about 5 minutes.

  Add the flour and salt to your food processor and pulse a few times to mix together.

  

  Once your yeast and sugar have dissolved, turn on the food processor and add a little bit of the liquid at a time through the top until it is mixed, then continue with a little more, etc.

  Once the dough is formed and is no longer sticking to the sides, mix for another minute or so.

  

  Coat a large mixing bowl with olive oil and add the dough to the bowl.

  

  Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel for an hour and a half and then once it has risen it looks like this.

  

  You are now ready to make pizza! Flour a cutting board and rolling pin and roll out the dough into pizzas. Spray your pans before topping with the dough.

  For the pizzas I made I topped the dough with a little tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, my toppings, a little more mozzarella, a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning and pepper, then a drizzle of olive oil. Delicious!

  Bake at 450 degrees until the bottom turns slightly brown.

  The pizza shown in the blog header is topped with homemade turkey meatballs.

  

  This pizza has slices of fresh tomato, ricotta (mixed with parmesan, garlic powder, pepper, and parsley), and homemade turkey meatballs on half.

  

  This pizza is half cheese, and half mushroom and onion.

  Yum, yum, yum!

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged food blog, food blogger, food processor pizza dough, homemade pizza, homemade pizza dough, homemade pizza dough recipe, pizza, pizza dough, pizza dough recipe, stephanies slice of life
• 

  Simple Homemade Pasta

  Posted at 10:40 am by StephMo

  Mar 15th

  Making pasta is simple, but making it by hand without a pasta maker is quite a workout. Wow. This was my first time making pasta, and even though I just purchased a pasta maker and can’t wait to try it, I wanted to try it the old fashioned way first. All I can say is those little Italian grandmothers must be strong enough to lift a car!

  To make pasta all you need are four ingredients; flour, eggs, salt, and water.

  Mix 2 cups of flour with a tsp. of salt in a bowl, or on a board, and make a little well in the center. Add two eggs into the well.

  

  Start mixing the eggs into the flour with a fork by stirring only in the center and gradually taking more flour from the sides into the center.

  

  Add small amounts of water until it becomes a manageable dough. Use your hands while it is in the bowl to do this.

  Then put the dough onto a board and start kneading.

  

  Knead the dough for quite some time until it really starts to look and feel like the right consistency. I think I kneaded for about 10 minutes.

  

  Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

  Now if your arms aren’t already tired from kneading, they are going to get tired now. I cut the dough into three parts because I was rolling on a cutting board and only had so much room.

  Roll the pasta out as thin as you can get it. If your dough is springing back when you roll it, it needs to rest more. As you can see, I wasn’t able to get it all that thin. I did my best.

  

  I decided to gently roll the flattened dough, and cut it with a knife into thin strips. I know it isn’t perfect, but not bad for my first try!

  

  I then let the pasta dry on cooling racks for about an hour until I was ready to cook it.

  

  And that was it! Homemade pasta! I added some of my homemade pesto and it was delicious!

  Here is the link to my pesto recipe:

  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/03/05/homemade-pesto/

  

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged food blog, food blogger, homemade pasta, nut free pesto, pasta, pasta from scratch, pasta making, pasta recipe, pesto, pesto recipe
• 

  Spinach and Cheese Arancini

  Posted at 5:57 pm by StephMo

  Mar 13th

  Every now and again when I am in the North End of Boston I will treat myself to an arancini. If you are not familiar with arancini, it is an Italian stuffed rice ball coated in bread crumbs and fried. It is always served with a little bit of red sauce. The most common types of arancini are spinach and cheese, and hamburger and peas. My favorite kind is spinach and cheese, so of course that is the kind I make.

  I am not going to lie, these are very time consuming and take hours from start to finish. They are completely worth it and these taste like you ordered them in a restaurant. I use my own homemade sauce with them, and you can find my sauce recipe by following this link:

  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2019/12/30/feeling-saucy/

  

  Yes, my sauce tastes as good as it looks!

  Ingredients for Arancini:

  1 1/2 cups arborio rice

  1 cup white wine

  Pinch of salt

  4 cups chicken broth

  2 cups chopped fresh spinach

  1 cup grated parmesan cheese

  2 tbsp. butter

  Pepper

  2 eggs beaten

  1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

  1 cup flour

  Mozzarella cheese

  Canola or vegetable oil

  One thing that makes these arancini so delicious is you cook the rice like risotto, so you need to keep adding, and stirring, etc. The creaminess of the rice is well worth the extra effort.

  Cook white wine, salt, and rice over medium heat for 5-10 minutes while stirring often.

  Once you get the rice started, heat the chicken broth in a pan on low/medium heat and keep it heated until you need to use it.

  

  After the 5-10 minutes, add 2 cups of the heated chicken broth and stir into the rice. Cook for 10 minutes.

  Then add the remaining 2 cups of broth, stir into the rice and cook for another 10 minutes while stirring often. Turn off the heat.

  Add the 2 cups of chopped spinach, grated cheese, butter, and pepper to taste. Stir well.

  

  Spread the rice mixture on to a parchment lined cookie sheet and refrigerate until the rice is cool. This while take some time.

  

  Once the rice is cool, cut it into squares. Put either a cube of mozzarella, or a little shredded mozzarella in the center of each square and use your hands to form the rice into a ball around the cheese.

  

  Use three separate bowls for the flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs.

  Roll the rice ball into the flour, then in the eggs, then in the bread crumbs.

  Drop the balls into a pan of oil that is heated to 350 degrees. Use a slotted spoon to keep moving them around in the oil and remove to a paper towel lined plate once they are brown.

  Serve warm with red sauce. Mangia!

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes
• 

  New England Fish and Corn Chowder

  Posted at 4:46 pm by StephMo

  Feb 18th

  New England chowder or “chowdah” as we New Englanders affectionately like to call it, is a soup with a base of broth and cream which is not to be confused with Manhattan Chowder which is tomato based. I remember ordering chowder in New York once many years ago and was very disappointed when I was given what looked like tomato soup and not something creamy as I was expecting.

  My favorite types of chowders are corn chowder and fish chowder, so why not just combine them into one chowder. Once I asked a waitress in a Maine diner what was in their corn chowder and was told very matter of factly, “There’s cawn in the cawn chowdah”. I asked no further questions lol.

  Most chowders are very fattening, and with this chowder I tried my best to make it as low fat as I could without sacrificing the creamy chowder taste. You can make it even less fattening by either using all milk, altering the amounts of milk and cream, or using a low fat milk which is what I use. If you want it creamier, use all cream and forget about the milk.

  For this haddock chowdah you will need:

  2 pounds haddock or cod

  2-3 slices of bacon

  3 potatoes

  2 cups frozen corn

  1 stalk of celery

  Yellow onion

  1 tsp. minced garlic

  2 tsp. dried thyme

  2 bay leaves

  32 oz. seafood stock

  1 1/2 cups milk

  1 1/2 cups heavy cream

  1 tbsp. butter

  As I was trying to make this a little lower fat, I decided not to have the bacon fat in the chowder so I cooked the bacon first in a separate pan and drained it on a paper towel. Every little bit helps right?

  

  Peel and cube the potatoes, chop about 1/4 cup of onion, chop the celery, mince the garlic, and crumble the cooked bacon.

  

  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large sauce pan, then add all of the vegetables, spices, and the crumbled bacon. Cook on low/medium heat for a few minutes while stirring frequently.

  

  Add seafood stock to vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 5-7 minutes.

  Cut the fish into large chunks and add to the pot and simmer covered for another 5-7 minutes.

  

  Break up the fish into bite size pieces with a spoon while it is in the pot.

  Add the butter, milk, cream, salt and pepper, and simmer covered for another 5-7 minutes.

  Turn off the heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

  Now you too are a chowdah lovah!!

  

  Stamping silverware is another one of my many talents 😜

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes, Soup | Tagged chowder, chowder recipe, corn chowder, corn chowder recipe, fish chowder, fish chowder recipe, food blog, food blogger, new england fish chowder
• 

  Oven Fried Chicken and Waffles

  Posted at 4:22 pm by StephMo

  Feb 17th

  Chicken and waffles are another Southern dish that I have been craving lately. Not only had I never even tried them, but I had never even heard of chicken and waffles being served together until a few years ago. Despite its increase in popularity in restaurants, it just seemed like such a strange combination to me. I mean syrup on chicken? Really? My family has ordered it at restaurants and loved it, so I thought why not give it a try.

  Actual fried chicken is not something I ever cook because I am not a big fan of meat on the bone, and if using boneless chicken I just prefer to have it “oven fried”. It helps with eliminating a large amount of the fat and calories to bake the chicken as opposed to frying it.

  My chicken turned out moist inside with a really tasty crunchy outside. It was delicious! Here is how I make oven fried chicken.

  Ingredients:

  2 lbs. bonesless chicken breast

  2 cups of buttermilk (I use milk and lemon juice)

  1 tbsp. lemon juice

  1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

  1 tbsp. parmesan cheese

  1 tsp. dried parsley

  1/2 tsp. paprika

  1/2 tsp. garlic powder

  salt and pepper

  2 eggs

  water

  1 cup flour

  My chicken was a little thick so I decided to pound down some of the pieces. I didn’t want them as thin as I would for cutlets, but just all the same thickness. To do this I cleaned and cut the chicken, then pounded them with a wooden mallet in between some plastic wrap.

  

  

  I made two cups of buttermilk and let the chicken marinate in it for about 30 minutes. Longer is better if you have the time.

  To make buttermilk I just add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the two cups of milk and let it sit for a few minutes. I know there are other ways but that is the way I learned growing up.

  You will need three bowls. In one bowl combine breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

  

  In another bowl put the flour, and in the third bowl combine the beaten eggs with an almost equal amount of water.

  

  Dip each piece of chicken in flour, then in egg, then coat with breadcrumb mixture and place on a greased baking sheet.

  

  Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

  Top the fresh waffles with the chicken, add a little syrup, and enjoy!

  

  If you would like to see how I made my waffles, here is the link to my waffle blog:

  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/02/17/homemade-waffles/

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged chicken and waffles, dinner recipes, food blog, food blogger, waffles
• 

  Classic Potato Latkes

  Posted at 10:05 am by StephMo

  Feb 11th

  Potato latkes are considered a traditional Jewish food served on Hanukkah, and even though I am not Jewish, they are something that I grew up having. One of the perks of your mother and grandmother growing up in the old West End of Boston which was a melting pot of nationalities. My grandmother’s best friend was Jewish and I would bet that is where this recipe originated.

  You may not be familiar with potato latkes, as many people are not. They look something like a potato pancake, and are often referred to as a pancake, but to me they are quite different. The difference between a potato pancake and a latke are that pancakes are basically when you take your left over mashed potatoes and fry them in a pan, which I also grew up having. Latkes look like a pancake but are crispy and made with shredded potato. They are not something I make often, but they are delicious!

  They are a little time consuming because you have to grate the potatoes, but they are very easy to make. They are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and make a great side dish!

  Ingredients:

  6 russet potatoes

  Yellow onion

  1 egg lightly beaten

  1 tsp. salt

  3 tbsp. flour

  1/2 tsp. baking powder

  Vegetable oil

  Heat 1/4″ of oil in a frying pan on medium heat until it is hot enough for a drop of water to sizzle.

  Peel potatoes, and use a grater to grate them. They will be very wet so I put them in a colander to drain the liquid before combining with the other ingredients.

  

  While you are draining the potatoes, grate some onion. I don’t use that much because I have to sneak it in there so my son doesn’t notice. Maybe about 1/4 cup?

  Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.

  

  Drop by tablespoonfuls in to the oil and flatten with a spatula.

  

  Cook until brown, flip and cook the other side.

  

  Drain on a plate lined with papertowels.

  Serve warm plain, or with the traditional side of sour cream and applesauce. Yum!

  

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged food blog, food blogger, hanukkah recipes, jewish food, latke recipe, latkes, potato latke recipe, potato latkes, potato pancake recipe, potato pancakes
• 

  Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

  Posted at 12:58 pm by StephMo

  Feb 2nd

  What better recipe to follow up my biscuit recipe, than a biscuits and gravy recipe! For some reason when it is just my children and I home for dinner we almost always have breakfast for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner, don’t you? For some reason it just tastes better. That could be because I hardly ever make anything other than cereal or bagels for breakfast, at least during the week, and a big home cooked breakfast is such a nice treat.

  So, last night we decided on one of our absolute favorites, biscuits and gravy. Pumpkin or regular pancakes are usually our choice when we have breakfast for dinner, but we decided to treat ourselves to something healthier, not! But it’s ok to treat yourself every once and awhile.

  I had never even heard about biscuits and gravy until a few years ago, and it has been a family favorite ever since. Biscuits, of course, but never with sausage gravy.

  The first step is to get yourself some biscuits. If you haven’t already seen my biscuit blog, the link is at the bottom of this blog. Once you’ve made your biscuits, then it is time to make the gravy.

  Ingredients:

  1 lb. breakfast sausage

  1/3 cup flour

  4 cups of milk

  1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

  1/2 tsp. pepper

  Brown sausage in a frying pan until it is no longer pink. Personally I like to use the tubes, I think you would call them tubes, of either Jones or Jimmy Dean sausage. They have a seasoning in them that really adds to the flavor of the meal.

  

  Add flour to the sausage in small increments and mix well until it is really incorporated into the sausage. Cook for a minute or so.

  Add milk and stir well.

  

  Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until it thickens. Stir and scrape the pan frequently.

  

  

  Once it thickens add seasoned salt and pepper, stir well and cook for a few more minutes on low heat.

  Serve over biscuits! As promised, here is the link for my homemade biscuit recipe.

  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/02/01/butter-my-biscuits-easy-biscuit-recipe/

  

  Posted in brunch, Dinners, Recipes | Tagged biscuits, biscuits and gravy, biscuits and sausage gravy, biscuits recipe, easy biscuit recipe, food blogger, homemade biscuits
• 

  Easy Mexican Taco Pasta

  Posted at 10:01 am by StephMo

  Jan 29th

  Taco Tuesday had a little bit of a twist yesterday in my house. It was actually a coincidence, I didn’t even realize I was making a taco type meal on a Tuesday. But go me! I probably shouldn’t have admitted it wasn’t planned so it would look like I have my act together much more than I really do. If you love tacos and pasta, then you will love this recipe. It is the best of both worlds. Oh, and did I mention it is incredibly easy?

  I have been making this pasta dish fairly often for years. Last night I used whole grain pasta as you can probably tell from the photo. Personally, I think it tastes better with regular pasta, but the other flavors are so great that it was excellent with whole grain as well. If you are looking to cut calories, this is a perfect recipe. You can use ground turkey, low fat sour cream, and reduced fat cheese (I wouldn’t use fat free because it won’t melt properly).

  My children even love this recipe despite the fact that there are always little piles left on each of their plates. One plate has a pile of beans and olives, and the other plate has a pile of beans, olives, and scallions. I used to get annoyed, but now I just giggle to myself at the effort that goes in to picking around everything.

  Ingredients:

  1 lb. ground turkey or beef

  Taco seasoning packet (I prefer McCormick)

  1/2 cup (or more) shredded Mexican cheese

  1/2 cup sour cream

  1 cup chopped tomatoes

  1/2 cup chopped scallions

  Small can of sliced black olives

  1/2 cup black beans

  1 lb. pasta

  Cook pasta as directed on package. While pasta is cooking, cook the meat in a pan until done. I use ground turkey instead of beef, but you can use either. Drain any excess grease. Add taco seasoning mix and water as directed on package. Cook on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes.

  

  When pasta is cooked return it to the pan after draining. Add taco meat, shredded cheese, and sour cream. Stir well.

  Stir in remaining ingredients. The black olives are mixed with the beans in the photo in case you were wondering. I really recommend using scallions and not substituting another type of onion, it makes a big difference with the taste.

  

  That’s it! Now just serve and enjoy. So easy and delicious! It tastes great with a little added hot sauce on top too, we prefer Cholula or Red Devil.

  

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged dinner recipe, easy dinner ideas, easy dinner recipe, easy pasta recipe, food blog, food blogger, my slice of life, pasta, pasta recipe, taco pasta recipe, taco recipe

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