Hi Everyone! Welcome to my cooking blog. Take a recipe, and leave a comment! I love feedback about changes YOU have made to what I post!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Ritz Cracker Cookies

I was introduced to these cookies this summer by a friends father. They are delicious and so easy to make!


Ritz Crackers
Peanut Butter
Chocolate flavored Almond Bark


Take a cookie sheet and cover it with wax paper.
Lay out one tube of ritz crackers
Spread peanut butter on the ritz cracker. Just a dollop will do.
Put another ritz cracker on top, to create a sandwich.


Melt 3 bricks of the chocolate almond bark in a small sauce pan on low heat.

*using almond bark is easier than regular chocolate which would need a double boiler to prevent burning!*

Taking 1-2 at a time cover the cookies with the almond bark. Return to the wax paper covered cookie sheet.

*You don't need to but I typically refridgerate the cookies after they are covered so the chocolate will set.

Once you have finished, sample the cookies or share with friends1 But, Always kiss the cook!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Ravioli.

Well, the recipie I used for the ravioli was a big hit with my dad and that is always a good sign! I thought I would pass it along so all of you could enjoy it too!


Pasta

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
basil, marjoram, or sage. I used basil. Crushed of course.
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cooking/olive oil (I used olive oil)


1. In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups of flour, (spice if you want), and salt.Make a well in the center of the flour mix.

2. In a small bowl, combine eggs, water and oil. Add egg mix to flour mix.
stir to combine. *I used my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment to combine.

3. When the dough is combined spread flour on a clean counter top. Knead the dough until it is smooth (between 8-10 minutes) Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.

4. Divide the dough in to 4 equal parts, roll each part in to a 12 inch square. ~1/16 of an inch thick. Let that stand for 20 minutes.

5. Once the dough has had a chance to rest cut it to the shape you desired.

To make the ravioli shapes, I took a biscuit cutter to make the circles. I rolled the circles out a little more since I also used a ravioli/potsticker press to form a tight seal once I added the filling.

Filling-

I used Kraft brand Italian Style 5 shredded cheese blend. Plus ricotta cheese to bind it all together. I put in a little more than 1/2 of the bag of cheese, and just enough ricotta together.

To fill the ravioli, I used roughly a table spoon of the filling per ravioli.


*This ravioli recipie makes enough ravioli to fill a 9x13 inch pan full. After the ravioli were in the bottom of the pan, I covered them in a red spaghetti sauce and covered the sauce with the remaining shredded cheese.

I had my dad bake the ravioli at 350 for 20-25 minutes. The cheese should be melted and the sauce should be warm and bubbling.

Enjoy and remember to always kiss the cook!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Manicotti

I made this for dinner tonight and it was a HUGE success.

1 (8oz) package of manicotti noodles
1 lb italian sausage browned
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce

1 (15oz) container of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg

1. Cook noodles according to the directions on the package
2. In a large skillet brown the sausage and pour off the fat
3. Add onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is tender
4. Add spaghetti sauce. Keep warm
5. Combine ricotta, mozzerella (1 cup), provolone cheese and egg. Mix well.
6. Stuff the pasta. I took a large zip lock bag and cut off the corner to easily fill the pasta.
7. Spread 1/2 the sauce over the bottom of the pan.
8. Arrange the pasta in the pan. Cover with the rest of the sauce.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Add extra mozerella cheese and bake 5 minutes longer.

I served this with texas toast garlic bread.

Enjoy and remember to kiss the cook!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Name Change.

As many of you can see, I changed the name of my blog, it was known as "From my Table to your Tummy" and is now known as "Always Kiss the Cook."
Why the name change you might ask? Well, one of my favorite parts of the meal, besides the eating of course, is when my husband gives me a kiss and says "THAT was delicious."

So, I suggest if you like the meal, make sure to Always Kiss the Cook!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Bread Bowl Lasagna

I had this fabulous dish at Za! Minnesotan in Forest Lake. I adored it and even took home my leftovers so I could pull this apart and figure out how to make it at home! It was easier than I thought!

For the bread bowl.

loaves of white bread. figure about 1/3 to 1/2 of a loaf per person I used 1/3 of a bowl and it worked perfect (1/2 will make a large bowl). I took the bread dough out of the freeze and let it thaw for around 4 hours. After that I seperated the loaves in to 3 sections and formed them in to balls. I let them rise in a warm place for about an hour covered with both a piece of saran wrap sprayed with cooking spray and a dish towel. Before I baked the bread bowls I squished them just a little so they wouldn't rise as much.

I baked the bread bowls so they were done on the inside but not browned. I let them cool and scooped out the insides forming the bowl. I let them bake a few more minutes to firm them up but still not brown them.

The Insides

Italian sausage/ground beef, red spaghetti sauce

*Brown the meat and add it to the red sauce

Cottage cheese, one slightly beaten egg, motzerella cheese extra for garnishing
*mix all together, reserving some motz for topping the bowls later.

Noodles- Plan 1-2 per bowl depending on the size of your bowls.


Putting Them Together

Once the bread bowls were done firming, you can put them together!

I started with a little meat mixture on the bottom. Then I layered one noodles. I took one big one and cut it in half, but I used both halves side by side as one layer. Then I layered the cheese mixture and added noodles. Reapeating until the bowls were full. Then I topped with the extra motz cheese.

To bake them, I set the oven to 375. I tented the pan with tin foil, so the bread would warm up and not quite brown yet. I baked them for around 20 minutes or until everything, was melting and starting to warm up.

After about 20 minutes I took off the tin foil tent and let the cheese and the bowls brown.

I wanted to take a picture of them but they were simply to delicious to stop eating.

Happy Eating and as always Kiss your cook!