magic in the kitchen with meghan

i've been in alabama the past few days (hillary had to come home for a wedding, and plus it was father's day) and vicki and i have done a good bit of cooking. we made A LOT of tasty stuff, and a few things were too good not to share.

my first favorite new dish we made was asparagus casserole. we saw the neelys make this on their show one day and cooked it the following day! i loved it and it lead me to a new discovery - panko bread crumbs!! i'll be using these from now on instead of regular bread crumbs or crackers. these bread crumbs are so good because they are extra crunchy, and to me that means extra delicious! the neelys mixed them with some melted butter and paprika, which gave them a really good color and a touch of flavor.

another favorite was blueberry bread pudding that we found in this cooking magazine. for some reason i've always thought bread pudding would be such a fuss to make, but it was really very simple, and if i may say so myself, it looked very impressive. it's not exactly what you would call healthy, but it's so sweet and filling that a little bit goes a long way and i can't imagine eating very much of it in one sitting. the next time i make it i plan to add some lemon zest and juice to the pudding and use less of the white chocolate in the pudding.

pudding:
3 eggs
4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups fresh (recommended) or frozen blueberries
1 pkg. (10 to 12 oz.) white baking chips
1 loaf (1 lb.) french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

sauce:
1 package (10 to 12 oz.) white baking chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream

in a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla. stir in blueberries and baking chips. stir in bread cubes; let stand for 15 minutes or until bread is softened. (ours sat for a couple of hours)
transfer to a greased 13X9 baking dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. let stand 5 minutes before serving.
for sauce, place baking chips in a small bowl. in a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil pour over baking chips; whisk until smooth. serve in side dish.

since we were in a cooking mood, the vickster and i thought it would be a good idea to make a couple of things that hillary, tori and i could freeze and take back to nashville with us. we're leaving tomorrow and i just got around to cooking our take-home dinners! i've got one in the oven right now that i'm sure will be great, but the one i just finished making is so very scrum-didley-umptious!!! it's called baked mostaccioli and the recipe came from this cookbook. i made a couple of substitions in this one. we used whole wheat penne and ground beef instead of the first two ingredients the recipe called for. i also omitted the onion and added a can of cream of mushroom soup. this dish became a favorite when A. i didn't miss the garlic i wanted to add to it B. i didn't miss the extra cheese i wanted to add and C. i didn't have to salt it on my plate.

8 oz. uncooked mostaccioli
1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (i used italian)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/3 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups (16 oz) fat-free cottage cheese
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 cups (6 oz)shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

cook the mostaccioli according to package directions. (i undercooked mine since it goes in the oven for a while) meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook turkey and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain if necessary.
stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water (i used pasta water), oregano, salt and pepper. bring to a boil. reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
drain pasta. in a small bowl combine cottage cheese and marjoram; set aside. (i did this in the container the cottage cheese came in)
spread 1/2 cup meat sauce into an 11X7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. layer with half of the pasta, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. top with cottage cheese mixture. layer with remaining pasta, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

since i really feel like i'm on a cooking show right now, i'm going to share a few tips/facts about what goes on my kitchen:

1. whenever browning ground meat i almost always put some worcestershire sauce on it, mainly because i like the way it tastes, it gives the meat some flavor, and i like saying the word "worcestershire". my old roomie megan taught me how to say it and everytime i use it i hear her telling me "imagine an old black man saying 'what's-dis-here-sauce?' and you'll be able to say it."
2. i put cream of mushroom soup in my spaghetti sauce so the tomato sauce won't taste so much like...well, tomatoes. that's a trick i got from my aunt becky, who makes fantabulous spaghetti.
3. the best way to serve casseroles is with an old fashioned ice cream scoop - the kind with the bar that scrapes across the scoop to get all of the food out. this makes it easy to portion it out, doesn't make a mess traveling across the table to plates and keeps the casserole looking presentable (for when you're trying to impress company).
4. if you like spicy food then you need to try mccormick chipotle chili pepper powder on anything.

that's all for now! i'm off to clean up the kitchen, the downfall of my love for cooking.

-meghan