Ravioli

Ravioli

Allen asked me to make ravioli earlier this week so I got the ingredients I needed to make a quick and hearty dinner. This seriously took less than thirty minutes with jarred sauce and frozen ravioli filled with ricotta and pecorino Romano cheese. These shortcuts helped save time without cutting back on flavor. I bought organic ground turkey but you may substitute with ground chicken, ground sausage, ground pork, ground beef, or use a combo of ground meats. You can omit meat completely and make it vegetarian. Your preference. You can use your favorite spices, but I seasoned the ground turkey with 2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend (link below), which is a company we love for many years and use their spices all the time. I added Italian seasoning to the pasta sauce (I used Prego Fresh Mushroom) and one bay leaf from Allen's parents backyard. See ingredients and directions below.

Ravioli

Ingredients
1 bag (25 oz.) Cheese Ravioli (Frozen)

1 jar (24 oz.) Pasta Sauce

1 lb. Organic Ground Turkey

1/2 Medium Spanish Onion, chopped

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 Bay Leaf

2 tablespoons 2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend (or your favorite spice blend)

2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend

2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon Tomato Paste

1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon Coarse Salt

Bunch of Parsley, chopped

Yummy ravioli

Directions
Heat skillet to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Season both sides of the ground turkey with 1 teaspoon of coarse salt and 2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend (or your favorite spice blend) and add to skillet.

Add the onions.

While cooking, heat a large pot filled with water on medium-high heat and boil.

Add 1 tablespoon of salt.

Cook the ground turkey until browned and use a spatula to break up the meat until it is in small pieces.

Ravioli done!

Add the pasta sauce, tomato sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and Italian seasoning and mix together.

Turn heat to low and simmer while you cook the ravioli.

Add the ravioli to the large pot once the water is boiling.

Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

Cook the ravioli according to package directions. My ravioli took 8 minutes to cook.

Adding more shredded Parmesan cheese

Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

Drain and return to pot.

Turn off ground turkey pasta sauce ragu.

Add it to the large pot with the ravioli.

Add reserved pasta water and mix together with a spatula.

Add grated parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and combine.

Add parsley and combine.

Sprinkle a little extra parmesan just before serving.

Serve with Italian bread or a salad if desired.

To order 2 Gringo's Chupacabra Special Blend or other products, visit:
https://2gringoschupacabra.com/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Football Cookies

Football Cookies

My sister-in-law asked me to make custom football theme cookies for a wedding she made the wedding cake, and desserts. I made footballs using my favorite go to chocolate sugar cookie recipe. To make the helmets and jerseys, I use my vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe with vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, and vanilla sugar so the vanilla is prominent but not overwhelming. The vanilla speckles are very pretty as well. For the royal icing recipe, see the links above. I used Chefmaster liqua-gel food color in royal blue, buckeye brown and super red.

The key to working with royal icing when you are layering colors over each other is to let the first layer dry overnight.

Football cookies drying

Football jersey cookies drying

Football helmet cookies drying

When making these recipes it is important to use softened, room temperature unsalted butter and do not overmix.

Sugar and softened butter ready to mix

This is the vanilla bean dough ready. Once the dough clumps around the attachment it is ready. Do not overmix the dough.

Vanilla bean dough is ready

This is the vanilla bean and chocolate dough ready to chill. I chilled them overnight since I made them a day ahead of baking.

Vanilla bean dough - see the speckles

Chocolate dough

I use Sweet SugarBelle icing bottles for this project. I highly recommend them. I made border and flood icing. Instructions are available at the links above.

Sweet Sugarbelle icing bottles

These are some of the cookies. They are cool and ready for icing.

Time to decorate the cookies

Helmet cookies about to get iced

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Potato Salad

Potato Salad

I am a big fan of creamy potato salad and this weekend I made some. Potato salad goes great with chicken wings, chicken thighs, pork chops, ribs, steak, burgers, hot dogs, etc... It is the perfect accompaniment to round out your BBQ and enjoy this last weekend before cooler weather starts to kick in.

Potato salad

Creamy potato salad

Yummy potato salad

Allen made two kinds of chicken wings to go with this potato salad. To really let the flavors develop, you need to chill this potato salad overnight or for at least 5-6 hours. This potato salad is very creamy, eggy, tangy, and perfect to share with your family and guests. This year, I added celery seed and sprinkled fresh dill over the potato salad, and this is by far the best potato salad I ever made. See recipe and directions below.

Eggs

Shallot cut in 4 and ready to dice

Diced shallot

Ingredients
1 5-pound bag of Russet Potatoes

2 cups Mayonnaise (adjust according to your preference)

6 Eggs

1 medium Shallot, finely diced

1/2 cup Relish

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Coarse Salt + 1 teaspoon

1 teaspoon Celery Seed

A small bunch of Fresh dill, taken off stem

Ingredients

Diced potatoes

Ready to mix in shallot and eggs

Mixed in

Directions
Wash the potatoes in warm water.

Place potatoes in a large pot with water on medium heat and season with 1 tablespoon of coarse salt.

Cover and cook until potatoes are tender but not too soft; about 20-30 minutes.

After 20 minutes, test some of the potatoes with a fork and adjust extra time as needed.

Place eggs in a saucepan filled with water. Boil eggs for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let them sit in the water for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and place in a bowl with cold water for 5 minutes.

Peel the eggs and slice each one into 4 quarters and with a fork or potato masher break them up; set aside.

When the potatoes have cooked drain them into a colander, and cool to room temperature for about 15 minutes.

1 of the 2 cups of Mayo and 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Mayo and Dijon mixed in

Adding in relish and then the vinegar, celery seed, and fresh dill (see pic above)

Peel each potato and dice into pieces and place in a large bowl.

Add shallot and eggs to bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Add the mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard and mix together.

Add the relish, apple cider vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of salt and combine.

Taste and adjust salt if necessary.

Sprinkle fresh dill over the potato salad.

Cover and chill in fridge for several hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys