Long Time No Share; Pasta and Smore's Pie

Hello all. I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything. I have tried a few new things but I am only going to post two until I find the recipe again for the other and make it again and take pictures. So first things first. Pasta. I do not have a pasta machine so I did everything by hand. It turned out okay although the sizes were different and the noodles were a little thick but they were very tasty and even without sauce. I did have to play with the recipe some but the recipe I mainly used is from allrecipes.com and was posted by Pat. The recipe posted below has my variations in it.

Basic Pasta Recipe

4 Eggs
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water or oil.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. 
3. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hr
4. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width. 
5. Set strips on pasta rack or on a towel over a broom handle between two chairs and allow the pasta to dry a bit. If wanted once completely dry the pasta may be frozen or stored in a container. 
6. If cooking cook it until it is to the tenderness of your liking. Whether it is 4 or 5 minutes for al dente or longer for more done.

Smore's Pie

2 Cups Cold Milk
1 Package Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 Graham Cracker Crust
7oz. Marshmallow Fluff

Mix instant pudding according to package then set in refridgerator to set. After about 5-10 minutes take out the pudding and pour into the crust. Cover and set in the freezer if desired to allow the pudding to set further. If not, stick the fluff in the microwave 10 seconds at a time to make the fluff softer. Spread it on the top of the pudding. Set your oven to broil and place the pie on the top most rack. Watch it carefully so that it does not catch fire. Once a nice golden brown color has appeared take out. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs if  desired. Enjoy.

This Smore's pie is to DIE for. The top has that delicious toasted marshmallow flavor and everything tastes so good together. It is so easy too. I had found a similar recipe in a magazine I received but not having some of the ingredients I improvised and made it my own, as well as taking some pointers from other recipes (such as the broiling...never broiled a thing in my life But it was very yummy.

 I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I have. Enjoy and let me know what YOU think! Thanks and remember to keep cooking!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Hello again. Here is another recipe I will be posting. My mother has made this for as long as I can remember and it is something I look forward to ever summer. I made this pie early because I found some strawberries for cheap and I wanted to take something in for Valentine's Day to my one job. Even though I didn't get to make it until a few days after they still got some of this delicious desert.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

3oz Strawberry dry Jello mix
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 1/2 Cups water
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Quart Strawberries
1 Pie crust (Graham Cracker or regular)

Slice the strawberries and place into the pie crust. 
Mix corn starch and sugar in a medium saucepan, then mix in the water and heat on medium heat, stirring constantly until the corn starch, sugar, and water mixture are clear. Once the mixture is clear take it off of the heat and dump in the dry jello mix and stir until smooth. Pour the mixutre over the strawberries and put the pie into the refrigerator until chilled thoroughly and the jello is solid.

This last time I made it I only used half a quart or 1 lb of strawberries and it worked great. I used a 9 oz. graham cracker crust also. You can make your own crust but to save time I just bought one. My favorite part of the pie is the jello mixture combined with the pie crust. Though the whole thing is phenomenal. Just a little taste of summer in the winter. Please try this and let me know what YOU think. Thanks and remember to keep cooking! :)

Hello & Garlic Basil Toasted Beef Sandwiches

Hello All! Welcome to my blog! I am Meg Klees. I love to cook and more recently I have thought that it would be neat to start a blog where I try new recipes and talk about them or put my own recipes on. Sometimes with video sometimes just pictures. Comment, share recipes and try the recipes i put on here all would be greatly appreciated.

Okay so here is the first recipe I will post. This is a recipe my fiance, his father and I tried last night. We printed the recipe at our local Tops Grocery Store and tried it out. The recipe I am pasting in here is from The Beef Checkoff which is the same place that Tops had gotten it from so it is the same recipe.

Garlic-Basil Toasted Beef Sandwiches

Total recipe time: 1-1/2 to 2 hours  
Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds beef eye round or bottom round steaks, cut 3/4 to 1-inch thick
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup water
4 crusty rolls (4 inches long), split
Sliced tomatoes (optional)

 Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise

1/2 cup reduced-fat or regular mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Instructions

1. Combine 2 tablespoons garlic and pepper; press evenly onto beef steaks. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Place steaks in skillet; brown evenly. Season with salt, as desired.
2. Add water to skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover tightly and simmer 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours or until beef is fork-tender.
3. Meanwhile combine mayonnaise ingredients in small bowl. Spread cut sides of rolls with mayonnaise mixture. Place on baking pan so surface of rolls is 3 to 4 inches from heat. Broil 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place sliced tomatoes on bottom half of rolls, if desired.
4. Carve steaks into thin slices. Divide steak slices evenly over roll bottoms; top with some of the cooking liquid. Close sandwiches. Serve with remaining cooking liquid for dipping, as desired.

Okay so I pressed my own garlic and fearing that I would not have enough I cut the amount of garlic used to rub on the Beef. A good thing too, it had plenty of garlic in this.We also did not use a bottom round or eye round cut we used a chuck steak we had in the freezer and that worked very well. After getting the steak in the pan and browned and the water added I was able to sit and take a short break before making the mayonnaise. The cook time is long but it is well worth it. When I made the mayonnaise I realized that this was the first time I had ever used basil in my cooking. How fragrant it is! The mayonnaise is delicious the garlic and basil combine in such a way that the mayonnaise is packed with flavor. When It called for the mayonnaise to be heated with the bread I was a little skeptical because most of the time you do not want mayonnaise to be heated but this made it taste even better. I was the only person who ate the garlic mayonnaise because my fiance and his father are a little picky. Boy what they were missing out on. The flavors of the steak and the mayonnaise and garlic and basil all together made this sandwich to die for. Though the garlic is not agreeing with me today, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

We had enough left over for me to bring the ingredients for lunch. I did not have a toasted roll or warm mayonnaise but it was still as delicious as it was last night. Here is a picture of my sandwich from today. I forgot to take one last night.

Well that is all for today. Hope you enjoyed this and I hope you decide to try this recipe. Til next time.