Lentil Cottage Pie

Lentils have become a staple around here.  They are so versatile and tasty. They've gone and done it again here. I didn't miss the meat one bit!  We should really have more vegetarian meals.  We rarely eat red meat at home as it is but we do eat a fair amount of chicken.

Lentil Cottage Pie


2 pounds red potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp butter/canola oil spread (I used Land O' Lakes)
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 450g can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup dry red wine
2/3 cup red lentils, dry
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 375°F


Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender.


Melt 1 tablespoon of the spread in a large, deep skillet.  Cook the onion and garlic, stirring, until the onion softens.  Add the next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the peas and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 5 more minutes.

Mash the potatoes with the remaining tablespoon of spread.  Spoon the lentil mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish.  Spread the potato mash on top.  Bake uncovered, for 25 minutes.  Let the pie stand for 10 minutes before serving.


Serves 4

This is a good, hearty meal. Not fancy in the slightest but good nonetheless.  If you are into calories and what not, each serving has 320 calories, 7.2 grams of fat and 11.3 grams of fiber.  That's 6 Weight Watchers points.  Not too shabby.  I made the full recipe and froze half, I should really freeze meals more often.

Ricotta and Basil Ravioli

OK, I was on a pasta roll before but it's even worse (or better I guess) now that I got a pasta attachment set for the mixer!!!! It has the pasta roller, spaghetti cutter and fettuccine cutter.  LOVE it. LOOOOOOVE it.  LUUURVEE it.  It's SOOOOO quick and easy to roll the pasta now.  Really, I'm in love.  Is it wrong to love a hunk of metal and some gears?

The weekend before last we went to Whole Foods for a few things.  We try to avoid that place cause you can easily spend your child's inheritance there but we do go every now and then.  I picked up a tub of fresh ricotta hoping to make some ravioli with it.  I also picked up a basil plant, the hydroponics type that is not meant to be kept alive.  A couple of days later I made these ravioli and froze them for a quick meal some other time.  Tonight was that time.  The filling was so nice and rich.  You could definitely taste the basil but it wasn't overpowering.  I used tomato sauce as a complement rather than to drown to the ravioli in it and it was great, it did not mask the flavor of the ricotta filling. Again, Matt gobbled it right up.  I guess he's really starting to like pasta!

Ricotta and Basil Ravioli


For the dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 large eggs, beaten


In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour and eggs for about 1 minute.  Scrape the dough off the beater and change to the dough hook.  Knead for about 3 minutes.  The dough will look dry and pebbly.  Bring the dough together with your hands and knead, by hand, until it has come together fully.  You may need to add a small amount of water but not much.  Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the filling:
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup minced fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste.


Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until well integrated.  Can be covered and refrigerated overnight.


Assemble the ravioli following these instructions if working by hand.  You can also follow these instructions or your preferred method.


Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add a small amount of olive oil.  Cook the ravioli in batches until they float. This may take as little as a minute or as much as 4 if frozen.  It really depends on a lot of factors so watch the pot.  Serve with your preferred sauce.


Serves 4

There are a ton of resources on the internet about rolling and filling ravioli and they do a much better job at describing it that I can in this post so check them out.  I think I will at some point do a demo but until then, I'm outsourcing my dirty work ;)

The dough will look really, really dry but trust me, it works!  Ask me how I know.  OK, I'll tell you! I actually made two batches of this dough.  The first one I made just as I posted here.  I seriously thought I had messed up because it looked so dry in the mixer bowl.  I did put it together into a ball quite easily and it was really easy to work with later on.  For the second batch I decided to add more water while kneading and it was easier to knead but not so easy to work with later on while rolling and forming the ravioli.  As little water as possible is the way to go.

I'm so in love with this pasta business.  Fresh pasta is just so much better than the dry commercial stuff and homemade pasta is MUCH better than fresh pasta at the supermarket.  It is true that it is time consuming, but it's not hard.  If you can devote an afternoon to making a few batches you can freeze it and be set for a while..again ask me how I know.  I have so many more combinations in my head, flavored pasta, colored pasta, shapes, etc and I can't wait to try them all.  Cliche alert......Oh, the pastabilities!

During the photo shoot a little somebody saw some food on the table and grabbed the fork.  I guess he figured it was on HIS table so it was his.  LOL.  It was the cutest thing ever, so cute in fact that I will inflict the cuteness upon you.  I love this little guy even more than I love the pasta making junk.  Check out my other blog for more pictures!

Braised Oxtail

   Every now and again I come across a food or ingredient that I never thought of buying before and that I would not have specifically set to buy but I buy it anyway.  Just for kicks, just for the heck of it.  I was at BJs (the wholesale club) a few days ago when I spotted some oxtail in the meat section.  I immediately thought about the fiery oxtail stew my mom makes aptly named "Rabo Encendido" (flaming tail or something along those lines).  It is called that because it is hot, black pepper hot (Cubans don't really use hot chiles).  I don't know how to make it but I do know it's delicious.  On a whim, I picked up the oxtail and took it home.  For 3 days I tried to decide how to cook it.  I looked for a recipe for "Rabo Encendido" in the few Cuban cookbooks I have but I couldn't find any.  I finally settled for a simple braised oxtail recipe from a Williams Sonoma book which, sadly, contains a mistake. 

   Of course, I adapted it because that's just how I roll.  This was the perfect day to braise, it was rainy and yucky outside so I didn't feel I was missing out on anything by staying home and slow cooking the oxtail.  It smelled delicious while it was cooking and now the whole house smells of food.  I have to admit that as much as I like food and cooking I hate the smell that it creates after the fact.  This is why I hate open plan kitchens almost as much as I hate washing dishes.  In theory, open plan kitchens are great because you are not cooped up  and alienated from the family or the guests while cooking....but only in theory.  In reality, they stink up the house and goodness forbid you should fry fish.  Not to mention that kitchens that are actually used more than to boil water for ramen noodles or nuke some TV dinners are not usually perfectly tidy (unless you are super anal about that sort of stuff).  I use my kitchen, clearly, so it is not usually in a state I am perfectly happy to let the UPS man see when he knocks on the door.  Yes, my kitchen can be seen from the front door.  So, when I build a house, it will have a closed kitchen.  It will be French Country style and have a big farm sink.  It wil also have a 60 inch La Cornue dual fuel range and an excellent ventilation system. For entertaining and family gathering purposes, it will have a long farm table.  A girl can dream.

Braised Oxtail


2 tbsp all purpose flour
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 lbs oxtail cut into individual joints
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 slices thick cut smoked bacon, chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup red wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp dry oregano


   On a plate, mix the flour 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  In a large Dutch oven heat up the oil over medium-high heat.  Roll the oxtail in the seasoned flour, shake off the excess and cook in the oil, turning occasionally, until all the sides are browned.  Remove from the pot and set aside.


   Add the onions to the pot and saute, stirring constantly, until they begin to soften and brown, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and bacon and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.  Stir in the tomato paste and sugar and stir to combine, cook for about 1 minute.  Add the wine and deglaze the pan, stirring and scrapping the bottom with a wooden spoon.  Bring the wine to a boil, stir in the broth and bring to a boil.


   Return the oxtail and any accumulated juices to the Dutch oven.  Add the carrots, celery and oregano, stir.  Cover and cook over very low heat stirring and turning occasionally until the meat is very tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Uncover and use a ladle to skim the fat from the sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.


   If you prefer to make it in a slow cooker, after you have brought the broth to a boil on the stove, place the oxtail and the sauce along with the carrots, celery and oregano in the slow cooker.  Cook for 3 1/2 hours on high or 7 hours on low.  Skim the fat the same way as for the stove top.  Season with salt and pepper.


Serves 3

   Most of the cooking time is actually not active so you can do other things around the house whole the meat braises away.  I served it with garlic mashed potatoes and it worked beautifully.  This dish was a great success and definitely worth the cooking time.  Fast is not always better! 

   By the way, the carrots are from my very own container garden!

Coconut Key Lime Mini Cupcakes

I made some cute little cupcakes for a picnic I went to yesterday.  They were bite-size Coconut Key Lime cupcakes and they were really good, especially if you like the tartness of key limes.  I might make this in regular size at some point.

Advancing With The Times

I took the plunge!  This blog now has it's own Facebook page!!! Find it here: Thyme For Food on Facebook.  Go like it, pretty please with a cherry on top!!!!!  I'm shameless.

Food and Garden Festival

We spent our late morning and afternoon at the Fairchild Tropical Garden's Food and Garden Festival today.  We went mostly because the local farm that runs the CSA, Bee Heaven Farm, would be there but also because we are very interested in local food and sustainability.  It was actually far busier than we expected it to be but we had a good time and did some shopping.

The best part was a panel made up of local food bloggers (I was contacted about it but wasn't selected).  The panelists were Tinkering With Dinner, Edgy Veggie, Mango and Lime, MiamiDish and The Occasional Omnivore.  It was very entertaining plus I won a cookbook!  I guess I was a talker, I mean, obnoxious enough that they thought they better give me a book to shut me up.  The book is called Eating Well in Season, The Farmer's Market Cookbook.  I can't wait to go through it and mark the recipes that sound good.  The festival was good overall and we are thinking about going back tomorrow.  Ingrid Hoffman will be there, she's a bit annoying but hey, I'm up for it.

Here are some pictures.

Conch Fritters

What's your number?

The last time I counted my cookbooks, probably a couple of years ago, I had somewhere around 200-210.  Today I discovered a website called LibraryThing which lets you catalog your books.  I painstakingly entered every cookbook I own into my personal database and finished a little while ago.  The magic number is 308 315.  WOW.  That's a lot.  I still haven't entered the small, pamphlet like books because I consider them more like magazines but I will input them at some point.  This should bring the number up to 350 or so.  That's scary.  Like, I could run a private cookbook library scary.

Now you can have a peak into my cooking library through the new widget on the side bar!  You can see every cookbook I own, just click on the LibraryThing widget.  I wonder what my cookbooks say about me.

What's your number?

Bella Napoli, How I Miss You!

We go through life often taking things for granted.  People and come into our lives and go and only then do we realize how important they were.  The same goes for places, especially places we live in.  We spent our time there saying how much we dislike this or that about it but rarely see the positive.  Then we leave for good and we realize what a big impact that place had in our lives.  Years down the road you still find yourself yearning to go back, even if just for a little while.  For me this place is Naples, Italy (and London to a lesser extent).

I can't say that I wasted my 3 years there but I definitely did not appreciate them to the fullest or enjoyed them to the fullest.  There was so much left undone that it made my departure bittersweet.  While I lived there it never occurred to me that one day I'd miss it.  As a matter of fact, I was certain that wouldn't.  Little did I know that the dump that is the Campania are, literally, had grown on me and would be with me always.  This is sappy, I know, but it really is how I feel.

I remember the food the most (DUH!) and it was good.  Boy, was it good!  I had never had food that fresh in my life. I remember the very first time I went to a restaurant there I ordered scampi and the waiter brought me the plate the scampi was so fresh it was looking at me....cooked  but intact.  It does not get any fresher.  This freaked me out but once I got past the ick factor it was SOOO good.  One of my favorite dishes from Campania is saute di vongole (sauteed clams).  It is served as an antipasto and it's out of this world.  They make it very simply, the clams are just steamed in wine, olive oil and garlic then served with bread on the side to soak up the delicious juice.  Seriously one of the best things I have eaten my life.  So simple yet so incredibly delicious.  I remember sitting in the outdoor area of a particular Aversa restaurant (can't remember the name) on several occasions enjoying the vongole before my pasta came.  I miss those days and I wish I could turn back time, I'd take more advantage of it.

I'm not telling you all this just for the sake of reminiscing, although reminiscing was what prompted me to make this in the first place.  Today I made fettuccine alle vongole and of course I used a traditional Neapolitan recipe.  It was so good; not quite like that of Naples but good nonetheless.  This is the same saute de vongole served in Naples except that pasta is used to soak up the clam juices instead of bread. I'm so glad I made it, every bite was a like a trip back Naples and I liked it.

Fettuccine alle Vongole


1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
a pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 pound clams (I used littleneck)
4 oz dried fettuccine


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.


In a lidded pot over medium low heat combine the oil, wine, garlic and hot pepper flakes.  Cook until the garlic just begins to color.  Add the clams, cover the pan and shake a few times.  Increase the heat to medium high and cook, shaking the pan a few times, until the clams open, 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove the clams and set aside.


Cook the pasta until very al dente.  Drain it and turn into the pot with the clam juices.  Toss and cook over medium heat until the pasta is done to taste.  It will absorb all of the the clam juices.  Pour the pasta onto a plate and top with the clams.  Eat immediately.


Serves 1

I made just one serving because Matt does not like clams.  A pound of clams seems like a lot but most of the weight is the shell.  My pound of clams had 10 clams.....I needed 20 more...but I LOVE clams.

This quick and simple dish was a trip down memory lane.  I miss Naples, chaos and all.

Ravioli!

A couple of weeks ago I bought a ravioli press because I really wanted to make my own.  Since I actually got Matt to admit that homemade pasta was actually good, I decided to go ahead and try making some ravioli yesterday.  I took inspiration from another food blogger, La Tartine Gourmande, and made some changes to her recipe.  I didn't use her pasta dough recipe.

I have to say that I really enjoyed making ravioli.  I love the little press although the ravioli it makes are larger than I expected.  Over all, it's an enjoyable process, especially when done in absolute quiet.  Very relaxing!

Squash Ravioli with Orange Sauce

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 1/2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt


In the bowl of a food processor mix the flour and salt and pulse a few times.  In a measuring cup, whisk the egg, water and olive oil.  While pulsing the food processor pour the egg mixture in a continuous stream and keep pulsing until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  You may need to add water in very small amounts, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough reaches the right consistency.  If you are going to use a pasta machine to roll the dough you may stop at this point.  Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  If you are going to roll by hand, you need to to knead the dough on a floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes.


For the filling:
9oz cooked winter squash puree ( I DO NOT recommend canned puree)
1 oz grated Parmesan
3 tbsp hazelnut  flour (ground hazelnut)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp fresh sage leaves


For the sauce:
juice of two large oranges
2 oz butter
a pinch of ground mace
salt and pepper to taste.
1 tsp potato starch


grated Parmesan


Mix all the filling ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Process until everything is well combined and the sage is chopped.

Roll the pasta dough into thin sheets.  Place approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling in each raviolo and seal well.  (See this for directions on how to fill and seal ravioli).

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  In the mean time, bring the orange juice and mace to a boil in a skillet.  Add the butter a few pieces at a time until melted.  Add the potato starch and cook until slightly thickened.  If you don't have potato starch you can use another thickening agent like cornstarch, just make sure you add it in such a way that it will not become lumpy or too thick.


When the water is at a rolling boil, add the ravioli, a few a time and cook until done.  They will float when done and it should take less than one minute with fresh ravioli.


Serve the ravioli with the sauce and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.


Serves 2.

I'm not gonna lie, it's time consuming but it's not difficult.  It's also delicious and totally worth the time, ask Matt, he ate most of it.  I'm already thinking about what filling I'm going to make next! 

Great, Fresh Lunch

A little while ago I had one of the most satisfying Weight Watcher friendly meals I've had in a long time.  I don't know if it was because it was so tasty or because I made it from absolute scratch but it was sooo good.  Before you ask, yes, I made it from scratch...I even made the pasta.

I spent all of last night making pasta and so far all the effort seems worth it.  I made two types, one herb pasta and one chili pepper pasta.  I used chili pepper pasta for today's lunch.  It was SO good!  It wasn't necessarily hot but it definitely added to the flavor and I could feel a bit of spice in the back of my throat.  It was delicious.  I am a bit hesitant about posting the recipe away because I'm currently pondering adding homemade pasta (dried) to my Etsy store and this will be one of them.

This recipe does not belong to me, it's is literally a Weight Watchers recipe.  I did a few modifications though, I used 8 oz of my fresh pasta instead of the 5 oz of dried pasta they called for and used a bit more bacon only to round it up to 3 slices.  I also cooked the bacon before adding it to the pasta and used chicken instead of vegetable broth.  I guess this is then, technically, a new recipe LOL.

Fresh Pasta Alfredo


8 oz fresh chili pepper fettuccine (or regular fettuccine)
3 slices Canadian bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp chicken broth
1/2 cup fat free evaporated milk
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
3/4 oz grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper to taste
chives, chopped


Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the bacon in a small skillet until it is starting to brown.


Spray a medium skillet with nonstick spray, set it over medium heat.  When hot, add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring occassionally, until the onion is soft.  In the mean time, mix the water and cornstarch.  Once the onions are soft, add the broth and milk. Bring to a boil and add the cornstarch mixture.  Cook until thickened, about 4 or 5 minutes.


While the sauce cooks, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until done.  Fresh pasta will need very little cooking time.  As little as 30 seconds for angel hair.  Fettucine will need about 1 minute to a 1 minute and a half.


Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the drained pasta and the Parmesan cheese.  Cook for an additional minute or until the cheese melts.  Serve sprinkled with the bacon and chives.


Serves 2

So yummy.  I'm already thinking about what I'm going to make using the rest of the pasta!  Even my husband who does not "like" pasta devoured it.  He told me "if this is what homemade pasta tastes like then you might convert me!"  He has so much to learn!