Lemon Pasta

Absolutely delicious, simple, lemony pasta.

Lemon Pasta

adapted from Love & Lemons

Ingredients:

8 oz spaghetti

1.5 oz grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup) + more for garnish*

4 Tbs butter

2 Tbs lemon zest + more for garnish*

1 Tbs lemon juice  (or more, to taste)

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper to taste

basil or parsley, minced to garnish*

*garnish is optional

Instructions:

1. Boil pasta until al dente, reserving 1 cup of pasta water

2. In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium-high heat, until foamy.

3. Turn heat to medium-low, and saute garlic and lemon zest, stirring frequently for 2 minutes until fragrant.

4. Add pasta and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Stir well until a sauce starts to form.

5. Add 1/2 of the Parmesan, and toss well until completely incorporated and sauce starts to thicken.

6. Add lemon juice and remaining Parmesan and toss until sauce is silky smooth. Add more pasta water as needed to get desired texture.

7. Salt and pepper the pasta to taste. Plate, garnish, and enjoy!

Spanish Rice for Instapot

This is a delicious, simple Spanish rice recipe that's one-post with the Instapot.

Spanish Rice for Instapot 

adapted from the almond eater

Ingredients:

1.5 cups rice (long preferred, but short works here)

2 cup broth (chicken or veg)

1.25 cups tomato sauce (any smooth tomato sauce will work)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs oil

1 tsp chili powder 

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt (more or less depending on how salty the broth you use is)

3 Tbs cilantro, chopped fine (optional)

Instructions:

1. Set Instapot to saute mode for 5 minutes (it will take a couple minutes to heat up) and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the oil, rice, and garlic. Saute until the timer clicks off, stirring frequently.

2. Add broth, tomato sauce, and dried spices to the pot. Stir together, place lid with the valve on seal, and cook on rice mode (disable keep warm).

3. Once rice mode has completed, and the seal has dropped - open lid, fluff rice, and let stand for 5 minutes.

4. Serve & enjoy!

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie

from Megan

makes 2 pies

Ingredients:

2 frozen crust (9inch) or homemade dough crust

4 eggs beaten

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp flour

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups pecans (halves or crushed)

Instructions:

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Then add vanilla extract to the eggs. Mix white sugar, brown sugar, and flour in a separate mixing bowl and thoroughly whisk through. 

3. Pour room temperature butter into dry ingredients and mix, then mix in the egg mixture. Add the pecans and corn syrup and mix again thoroughly. Once completely mixed, put the 2 pie crust on a cookie sheet and pour filling into each pie crust evenly.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet and repeat another 20 minutes. Pull out pies and let rest at room temperature.

Tim Walz's Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish

 

By now you're probably familiar with the Minnesotan delicacy: the Hotdish. It's a cream-based casserole topped with tater tots! This is one of Walz's award winning recipes that I am making for the Vice Presidential debate tonight.

Tim Walz's Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish

Slightly adapted from Tim Walz

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey

1 lb. fresh green beans, diced

1.5 cups (about 4 oz.) chopped baby bella mushrooms

1/2 cup green onion, chopped (most of one bunch)

1/4 cup diced onion

4 slices of bacon

2.5 cups whole milk

1/2 cup half & half

3 cups (12 oz.) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, divided

32 oz. package frozen tater tots

1 clove garlic, minced

1 egg

1/2 tsp. sage

1 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. butter

5 Tbs. flour

2 tsp. salt, divided

1 tsp. pepper, divided

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Set a large pot to boil filled 2/3rds with water.

2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.

3. In a medium bowl, combine turkey, garlic, sage, green onions, egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook in skillet until well done. Place in a 9"x13" baking dish.

4. Prepare an ice-water bath in a medium bowl. Blanch the green beans by cooking in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then plug in ice-water bath. Once cooled, drain and add to baking dish.

5. In the large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. Leave bacon grease behind in pan.  Chop bacon small, and add to the baking dish.

6. Reheat the large skillet with the bacon fat on medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté gently until well browned. Add to the baking dish.

7. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk flour into the butter. Cook for 2 minutes, then slowly whisk in milk and half & half. Cook for 2 more minutes, then add diced onion and remaining 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook for another minute, then stir in 2.5 cups of cheese, reserving 1/2 a cup for later. Whisk until cheese is completely melted and incorporated.

8. Pour cheese sauce over ingredients in the baking dish. Mix ingredients in baking dish together well.

9. Top dish with an even layer of tater tots and remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

10. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Boursin Cream Sauce

 

Delicious easy flavorful cream sauce. Serve with fish, chicken, pork chops, or whatever else you'd like!

Boursin Cream Sauce

adapted from Salt & Lavender

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 onion, finely diced

1 - 5.2 oz. (150 g.) Boursin Garlic & Fine Herb cheese

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 Tbs. parsley, finely chopped 

1 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

1. To a skillet, add butter and olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat until butter is melted.

2. Add onions, and cook until soft. 

3. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and the Boursin to the skillet. Stir until sauce is smooth.

4. Simmer for about 4-5 minutes, then stir in the chopped parsley. Cook for a few more minutes until desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Best Mashed Potatoes

 

The Best Mashed Potatoes 

slightly adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

5 lbs potatoes (I used yellow but you can use virtually any type or mix of types)

1 Tbs. salt (for boiling water)

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 Tbs. butter

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp. salt

4 oz. cream cheese

Optional garnishes:

chives or green onion, chopped fine

cracked black pepper

Instructions:

1. Scrub and dice potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Add 1 Tbs. salt.

2. Bring potatoes to a boil on high-heat. Once boiling, reduced to medium-high heat and cook until fork tender. Drain into colander in sink and set aside.

3. In a microwave safe bowl, combine garlic, butter, milk, and 1 tsp. salt. Microwave until butter is just melted. 

4. Pour strained potatoes back into the boiling pot. Add half of the butter mixture into the potatoes and mash until combined. Add last half of butter then mash again until combined. Add the cream cheese and mash again until well incorporated.

5. Serve immediately with optional garnishes.

Spinach Sausage Queso Dip

 

Spinach Sausage Queso Dip

from Q

Ingredients:

1-32 oz. block Queso Blanco Velveeta 

1-8 oz. block cream cheese

1-10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies (keep the liquid)

1 stick butter

1 lb. mild Italian sausage

1-10 oz. block frozen chopped spinach

1 onion, diced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tap. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. chili powder 

1/4 tsp. mustard powder (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

- tortilla chips (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a crockpot on high, add Velveeta, cream cheese, diced tomatoes (including liquids), and butter. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet on medium-high heat, cook onion, sausage, and frozen spinach together until cooked through. Season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, and mustard power (if using).

3. Add sausage mix to crockpot when fully cooked, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once fully melted, set on Keep Warm setting and serve!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars

I have been buying groceries from Hy-vee online and then just picking up. It's amazing, it's so much easier to get the sale items because someone else is shopping way before I'd be in the store to shop myself, and I *generally* get exactly what I ordered, no more. However, I got a couple bags of pretzels to make chocolate covered pretzels, and both bags were almost entirely broken. I had to use both bags to make one batch of chocolate covered pretzels. But then... what else to do with the basically 2 full bags of broken pretzels?! I found this recipe recipe in search of that answer. Easy, simple, 5-ingredient no-bake bars.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars

from Live Well Bake Often

makes 12 big bars (or more smaller)

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Pretzel Layer:

1.5 sticks (170 g.) butter, melted

1.5 cups (180 g.) powdered sugar

1 cup (250 g.) creamy peanut butter

2 cups (200 g.) crushed* pretzels

Chocolate layer:

1-12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (65 g.) creamy peanut butter

*Measure pretzel after crushing if measuring by volume. To crush pretzels, use a food processor and pulse until mostly ground but some small pieces remain.

Instructions:

1. Line a 9"x13"  baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment. Make sure to leave some overhang for easy removal, and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, powdered sugar, 1 cup peanut butter, and crushed pretzels and mix until fully combined. Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press it down into an even layer.

3. In a medium microwaveable bowl, add chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals until fully melted. Pour over peanut butter pretzel layer and use a spatula to distribute into an even layer.

4. Cover pan tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour until chocolate layer has hardened. Then remove from the pan, and slice into bars. You can slice into 12 big bars, but they are pretty rich. I'd recommend making them smaller.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Browned Butter Miso sauce

 

Easy delicious 5-ingredient recipe. I recommend cutting the noodles smaller so more surface area for the sauce to coat.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Browned Butter Miso sauce

from dandumbrell

serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2-3 sweet potatoes (enough to get 500g of puree)

400g flour (more as needed)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick butter

2 Tbs. white miso

3/4 cup reserved pasta water

For serving:

- sliced green onions (optional)

- furikake (optional)

Instructions

1. Peel sweet potatoes. Chop into cubes and put into a large sauce pan (will reuse pan later to boil pasta). Cover with 1 inch of salted water, and boil potatoes until soft. Keep the water in the pan to reuse for pasta.

2. Scoop the sweet potatoes out of the water. Measure out 500 g of sweet potatoes and place into a medium bowl. Puree by mashing well with a fork or potato masher.

3. Add flour and salt to potatoes. Mix ingredients until combined then knead for 6-8 minutes until dough is smooth. If dough is too wet, add more flour 20 grams at a time.

4. In a large sauce pan, melt butter on medium-high heat until nutty and brown. Turn off heat, and whisk in miso paste until smooth.

5. Bring potato water to a low simmer, and make noodles by cutting off thin short strips of the dough into the water. Do until all dough is used. Bring water up to a boil (add more water if needed for noodles) and cook until noodles are floating (~5 minutes). Reserve 3/4 cup water for sauce.

6. Whisk reserved pasta water into butter sauce, the. strain noodles and add to pan. Serve, top with desired toppings (green onion is highly recommended) and enjoy!

Sweet Cornbread

This is a sweet cornbread recipe, but you can always play with the amount of sugar. Great with ham and beans, great as a breakfast with butter and maple syrup.

Sweet Cornbread 

from Bless this Mess

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

⅓ cup neutral oil or melted butter

1 large egg

1 cup milk

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.

2. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

3. Add butter, egg, and milk. Whisk to combine.

4. Pour batter into a buttered 9"x9" pan or cast iron.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Nuevo Latino Shrimp and Grits

My aunt sent me this recipe. and it's absolutely fire. 10/10 will make again. The hardest part is finding the tomatillos, which apparently do NOT come in cans! So I had to cheat a little bit and use a can of salsa verde and a cup of green hatch chilies.

Nuevo Latino Shrimp and Grits

Ingredients:

Shrimp:

3 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1/2 jalapeno, trimmed, sliced

1 Tbs chopped fresh oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tsp ground annatto seeds (or 2 packets of Sazón Goya)

1/2 Tsp kosher salt

1 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

chopped fresh cilantro for serving

Salsa verde:

1/2 lb. tomatillos (≈5) rinsed, quartered

1/2 bunch cilantro, stems trimmed off

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

2 medium cloves garlic

1/2 jalapeno, trimmed and sliced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

kosher salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Grits:

1/2 cup grits, white and stone ground

1 cup manchego, coarsely grated plus more for serving

1/4 cup heavy cream

4 Tbs unsalted butter, chunks

2 small poblanos (or 1 large one), roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped small

Instructions:

1. Marinate the shrimp: whisk oil, lemon juice, oregano, garlic, annatto seeds, jalapeno and salt. Cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours.

2. Make the salsa: put tomatillos, cilantro, onion, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice salt and 2 Tbs water into food processor. Pulse until combined. With machine running, slowly add the oil and blend until combined. If very thick, add up to another 2 Tbs water.

3. Make the grits: Bring 2.5 cups water with 1 Tsp salt to a boil in 3 qt. saucepan. Add grits in a thin stream and cook until the grits start to thicken a bit, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, adjusting the heat as necessary, and adding more water as needed 1/4 cup at a time, until grits are thick and tender, 40-50 minutes. Stir in the cheese, cream, butter and poblanos. Season to taste with salt, and keep warm.

4. Cook the shrimp: Heat just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp and cook, flipping once until just pink throughout, 4-5 minutes total. Remove immediately and keep warm. 

5. Serve: If grits have thickened, add a little warm water to loosen them. Divide the grits among shallow bowls, and top with 2-3 Tbs of salsa verde and shrimp. Garnish with cilantro and more grated cheese and serve.

Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)

I've used essentially this formula for years, if not decades at this point. I'm still not a great pastry cook, but I've made many a good fruit pie and quiche using this basic crust recipe. I've always made it as an all-butter crust, but you can do half lard if you so choose.

Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)
based on Simply Recipes
makes single crust

Instructions:
1.25 cups (160 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar (1.5 tsp. if for a sweet recipe)
1 stick butter (112g.) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3-4 Tbsp. ice water

Option:
- replace half of butter with lard

Ingredients:
1. In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to combine.
2. Add the butter, half at a time and pulse until mixture is coarse and mealy.
3. Add 2 Tbsp. of ice water to mixture and pulse until just combined. Slowly add more ice water tsp. at a time, pulsing a few times after each addition until mixture just holds when pinched between two fingers.
4. Turn crumbly mixture out onto counter, and fraisage: press the heel of your hand down on the crumbly mixture 4-6 times, to make crust flakier.
5.  Form dough into a flat disk. Cover with plastic wrap.

Later use:
- Freeze for up to a month.

Immediate use:
1. Refrigerate dough disk for an hour or more.
2. Take out of fridge and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Between 2 sheets of wax paper, roll dough out into desired size and shape to about 1/8 inch thickness. Gently massaging together any cracks that form in the dough.
3. Line pie or tart pan with dough, trimming excess. Line inside of crust with aluminum foil.
4. Freeze for at least 15 minutes before use. This will help prevent crust shrinkage.
5. Preheat oven to 425 F. Do NOT defrost crust before blind-baking.
6. Take crust out of the freezer. Poke holes across the bottom of the crust with a fork. Then foil line crust and fill with dried beans, rice, sugar, or pie weights.
7. Place crust in oven, turn temperature to 400 F, and bake for 10-15 minutes until raw dough look is gone
8. Take crust out, remove pie weights and foil. Decrease heat to 350 F and bake for another 10-15 minutes until starting to brown if baking crust again or 15-20 minutes until fully golden brown if making a no-bake pie.

Quiche forumla

First post!

After many years of blogging on finderseaters.blogspot.com, I find myself wanting to start anew. I started FindersEaters while I was a student at college, during my decade of vegetarianism. After having a lot more cooking experience, and life experience in general, I'm ready to get back to serious blogging. The reason I blog is to have recipes and a document of what I have made, to be able to refer back to and reproduce/improve on in the future. Also, I blog to be able to share what I've found and done with friends.

I've picked up quite a few skills and hobbies that I wish to blog about as well. I will continue to tinker with and improve old recipes from FindersEaters, in addition to finding and create new recipes, but I aim make this a much more thoroughly tested and polished living instructional blog than what I've done previously.

To start off, I'm going to give the equation for my quiche recipe. Quiche is something I've been making for a very long time, and fairly consistently. It's easy and cheap to make, you can make it over the weekend and it lasts well as a quick warm breakfast throughout the week. I may post specific quiche recipes over time, but this the generic quiche formula I use. As you will see, it's extremely forgiving and, like stir fry, you can pretty much use whatever you happen to have on hand! Great way to use up left-over meat, vegetables, cheese, or milk.

Note: I make my quiches in a traditional French tart pan, ~10.5" like this. Normal pie-pans are generally smaller, and you will need to adjust your recipe sizes accordingly. 

Quiche

Ingredients:
crust:
1 cup flour
1 stick butter, cold or frozen
pinch of salt
2-6 Tbs. ice water

fillings:

2 cup cooked vegetables, seasoned
1.5 cups meat, cooked & fat drained (or more vegetables, or cheese, or omit)
seasoning of choice

custard:
6 eggs
1 cup milk of choice, half & half, or cream
salt & pepper
seasoning of choice

toppings (optional):
2 cup cheese, shreded, crumbled, or sliced
tomato slices, salted

cherry tomatoes, halved with cut aide up

asparagus, arranged like a wagon spoke

green onions, green parts arranged like a wagon spoke

variations:

1-3 tsp mustard, brushed on the bottom of the blind-baked crust (the French way!)

dollops of sour cream in 6 even places, placed before custard pour

Instructions:
crust:
1. In a food processor*, add flour and salt and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter chunks to processor, and pulse until mixture crumbly in texture.
2. Add cold water, tablespoon at a time, pulsing only a couple of times between additions until dough looks like it is JUST starting to come together.
3. Dump out dough onto lightly floured surface, and use your hands to just combine dough into a ball. Flatten into a smooth disk, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest in fridge for 30-60 minutes**.
4. After dough has rested in the refrigerator, pre-heat oven to 350F. Unwrap dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a circle. Line your tart pan with the dough, gently pressing into crevices. Trim excess dough, or fold back down over into edge.
5. With a fork, poke holes all over the bottom of the crust***. Blind-bake the crust in the over for 10-15 minutes, until just starting to turn golden-brown in places.
6. Let crust cool before using.

custard:
1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and seasoning of choice. Whisk together until well combined. Set aside.
2. If using cheese that you want incorporated throughout, whisk into custard mix.

quiche assembly:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. In your cooled, blind-baked crust: lightly brush mustard on the base of your crust, just enough to cover.
3. Place meat into crust, spreading out evenly.
4. Layer vegetables over meat, spreading out evenly.
5. If using filling cheese that is crumbly, chunky or sour cream; dollop across quiche now.
6. Pour custard over quiche.
7. Sprinkle shredded or sliced cheese
8. Place slices of tomato across surface of the quiche. As much or little as you want. Sprinkle tomato slices with salt.
9. Bake quiche for 35-50 minutes, until cheese on top is golden-brown and center of quiche does not jiggle.

* If you do not have a food processor, you can do this process by hand using a pastry cutter or a fork. You can also use a pre-prepared crust.

** You can skip this step, but I don't recommend it. Your crust will be much less flaky, and will shrink in the pre-baking.
** You can freeze your dough at this point. When you want to use it, let defrost in the refrigerator overnight, or on the counter for 30 mins to an hour, until pliable. Don't let it get to room temperature, you still want it cold when you roll it out.

*** Alternatively, you can line your crust with parchment paper and use pie weights (or dried-beans). I find the hole method easier and faster, personally.

Suggestions and Variations:
vegetarian: instead of meat, use vegetarian meat substitutes like vegetarian breakfast sausage cooked and diced up, or vegetarian crumbles. You can also just add more vegetables in place of the meat and this will still be a filling nutritious entrée.

sour cream: instead of using cheese in the filling, you can dollop in sour cream after layering the vegetables. This creates delicious baked-cheese clusters across your quiche.

ricotta: instead of using cheese in the filling, you can dollop ricotta after layering in the vegetables.

spinach: if using spinach as one of or your only vegetable, I recommend whisking in the cooked spinach with your custard. Otherwise, the spinach forms an impenetrable layer across your quiche and the custard has difficulty making it down to the meat/bottom crust layers.

asparagus: instead of placing a layer of sliced tomatoes on top, place full lengths of blanched, lightly-sautéed, or grilled asparagus with the heads pointing to the center of the quiche like a wagon wheel.

potato crust: you can make a potato crust using layered potatoes, lightly tossed in olive oil and salt.

crust-less: you can go crust-less and make this a frittata. Instead of using a quiche pan, you can just leave your meat/vegetables in the pan where you cooked them, pour in the custard and cheese and mix everything together before baking.

bacon + broccoli + cheddar

sausage + spinach + ricotta

shredded chicken + red bell pepper + onion + asparagus instead of tomato on top