Ree's Springy Shells

In celebration of spring, I decided to finally make Ree's Springy Shells, and they were to die for.  I knew I was going to be visiting one of my local farmer's markets, and all of the green ingredients are in season right now, so I'd be able to find it all.  I'm not going to post the recipe here, because you can find it at the link above.

But I will tell you, that they are amazing.  And make sure to use lots of salt and pepper, otherwise they can be pretty bland.  My family enjoyed it, but they were hoping for some meat, so we had smoked pork chops with them.  The recipe makes a ton, so if you don't want to eat it for 10 days straight, you may want to halve or even quarter the recipe.

But definitely make it, you will not regret it.  Also, if you do try it and find it a little bland, I think adding some red sauce to the mixture would be delicious.  Maybe add 2 layers of red sauce into the mixture.  I'll let you know if I end up trying it!

Bacon Mushroom Pasta

Pioneer Woman read my mind when she posted this recipe on Monday.  I had a variation of the ingredients in my refrigerator and pantry, and decided to cook this up.  All inspired by Ree, but with the portions scaled down, and some differences in ingredients because I didn't feel like going to the store.  It was delicious paired with a steak, but next time, I'll make it a meal!

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices bacon, diced into small pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10oz) package mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. thin spaghetti

Cook pasta according to directions on package.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add bacon pieces until browned.  Remove and set aside on a paper towel.
Without cleaning the pan, add the garlic and mushrooms and stir over medium high heat for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown. 
Pour in the chicken broth and stir, scraping any bits off the bottom of the skillet.  Cook on medium high for several minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half.
Reduce the heat and pour in the half and half.  Stir and let thicken for a few minutes.
Add parsely and stir, cooking for one more minute. 
Finally, add Parmesan and stir, letting the cheese melt into the sauce, and turn off the heat.
Drain the pasta and toss with half of the mushroom sauce, using tongs.
Top each serving with the rest of the sauce and some Parmesan cheese.


My review:  This was delicious and easy, and many of my favorite flavors all together.  Make it now.  It would be great with chicken added to the sauce as well.  Very good!

Pioneer Woman's Sesame Noodles

So I've been saving this recipe up in my file for a long time, and decided to finally make it this week.  This is another recipe from the amazing Pioneer Woman, and if you would like her step by step instructions, you can find those here.  Her measurements are a bit loose, so I'm including the ones that I used.

12 ounces thin noodles (angel hair, spaghetti, asian style)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp pure sesame oil
1/2 tsp hot chile oil (this can be substituted by vegetable oil, with a pinch of cayenne pepper)
4 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp hot water
3-4 green onions, sliced thin

Cook noodles as directed on package.
Whisk all other ingredients except green onions together in a bowl.
Taste and adjust if needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.


My review:  I actually have to be honest and say that this wasn't my favorite.  It was good, but the flavors were a little too strong for me.  Try it!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmigiana

What really MADE this dish was the sauce.  Way worth the effort.  This dish was amazing delicious.  If you would like step by step pictures, step over to Pioneer Woman's site, where she gives the play by play of amazingness.

4  Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat
½ cups All-purpose Flour
Salt And Pepper (to Taste)
½ cup Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
¾ cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)  ( I used Rosé)
3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Sugar
¼ cups Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pound Thin Linguine


Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.
At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.
Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.
Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.
Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.
Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.


My review:  The sauce was to die for.  So was the chicken.  Mmm and I found some wheat linguine that was out of this world bursting with flavor.  (Have you tried wheat pasta??  I think it has more flavor.  I've been converted).  Make this, immediately.

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

This is another recipe from PW's recently released cookbook.  BUY IT NOW!  Again, I have halved the recipe, because I am not cooking for dozens of hungry cowboys and cowgirls, and I'm going to give those measurements here.  If you've got a big crowd, double it.  If you suck at math and can't double it, buy her cookbook and she'll do the work for you!  :-)

1.5 pounds cube steak
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup milk for the gravy
1 1/2 cups flour
1/6 cup flour for the gravy
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp season salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

Beat the egg and 3/4 cup milk together in a small bowl.
Mix the flour, season salt, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper together, in a large bowl or a pie plate works really well too!
Season each piece of meat with salt and pepper, then dip into the egg milk mixture on both sides, flipping to coat.  Then place the meat on the plate of seasoned flour and turn to coat.  Place the meat back into the milk mixture, then back into the flour.  (This creates the deliciously thick amazing crust!)  (and yes, it's messy!)
Repeat with each piece of meat, laying the finished ones on a plate until you're finished.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Fry 3 pieces of meat at a time, cooking each side until golden brown, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side, maybe longer.
Remove to a paper towel lined dish and repeat until all meat is cooked.  (at this point, I put the meat on an oven safe dish, and had my oven on the "keep warm" setting, and let the meat in there to stay warm)
After the meat is fried, pour off the grease into a heatproof bowl.  Without cleaning the pan, return it to medium low heat on the stove, and add 1/8 cup grease back to the pan.  Allow the grease to heat up.
Sprinkle the 1/6 cup flour evenly over the grease.  Using a whisk, mix them together, creating a golden brown paste.  If it seems too oily, add a bit more flour.  After a couple minutes, the paste will be golden brown.  At this point, you will pour in 1 cup cold milk, whisking constantly.  Whisk to combine, then let the gravy come to a slow boil.  It will thicken gradually, but if it seems too thick at first, add some more milk. Season generously with season salt and pepper.
Place your meat on the plate, and smother with some delicious gravy!  Great with a side of mashed potatoes!


My review:  OMG.  I hadn't had this in years, not since one day at Denny's.  The crispy breading on the steak, and the gravy are amazing.  The flavor was just awesome, and it was a really good "comfort food' dish.  This was the first recipe in the PW cookbook that I just KNEW I had to try, partially because I had some cube steak in my freezer that needed to be used.

Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf

Did I mention how much I love The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook??  I want to buy it for everyone on my Christmas list, except that most of those people don't like to cook, and it would be wasted, and that would make me sad.  So, tonight I ventured into making her meatloaf, adjusting it to serve four, which I will share those measurements here...

1/2 cup milk
3 bread slices
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp Lawry's season salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup parsley
2 eggs, beaten
6 thin bacon slices

Tomato Gravy:
3/4 cups ketchup
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Hot Sauce, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak in for several minutes.
Then, combine the ground beef, milk soaked bread, Parmesan cheese, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl.  Pour in the beaten eggs.
With clean hands, mix the ingredients until combined.
Form into a loaf on a broiler pan.
Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking underneath.
To make the tomato gravy, pour the ketchup in a small mixing bowl, and add the brown sugar, dry mustard, and Tabasco.  Stir until combined.
Pour one third of the tomato gravy over the meatloaf.  Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another third of the gravy over top.  Bake another 15 minutes.
Serve the remaining tomato gravy as a dipping sauce.

My review:  This had such a delicious, savory flavor.  John's first reaction was "it's wrapped in bacon, awesome!".  We both loved it.  Very, very good.

Pioneer Woman's Simple, Fried Pork Chops

From Pioneer Woman's recipe, found here.

7-8 bone in pork chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp season salt
cayenne pepper, to taste (a couple shakes will do it)
1 tsp black pepper
Canola Oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan (or vegetable oil, that's what I used...)
2 tbsp butter

Rinse the pork chops, then salt and pepper both sides.
Combine all the dry ingredients, then dredge your pork chops through the flour mixture.  Set aside on a plate.
Heat oil on medium high heat, and add butter.  Once the butter  is melted, add your pork chops.
Don't try to put too many in the pan, cook them 3-4 at a time.
Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side.  (it will depend how thick your pork chops are... when they have bones, it's better to get the thinner ones...)  Poke them to make sure no pink juice creeps out.
Dig in!

My review:  Usually, when eating pork chops, I prefer shake and bake, but these pork chops had an amazing flavor to them because of all the seasoning, and they got incredibly crispy and delicious.  The butter addition also made them get a really pretty shade of brown.  I'll take this over shake and bake any day!  It's a lot quicker and you don't have to heat up your oven, too!

The Cookbook to end all cookbooks...

I got this in the mail yesterday.

After drooling over it for a couple hours last night, due to the deliciousness of the food and Ree's gorgeous photography, it's very safe to say that you will be seeing lots and lots of PW recipes here very soon.  It is one of the first cookbooks I've ever gotten that I want to cook from start to finish.  

Support Pioneer Woman, buy this cookbook.  It's got recipes that aren't up on her website, along with gorgeous pictures, and stories, and step by step photos of the recipes.  You seriously can't go wrong.  Buy it for yourself, buy it for a friend.  And get cooking!

Cowboy Kisses (Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies)

Pioneer Woman has seriously NEVER steered me wrong. This recipe is absolutely no exception.

Jalapenos, 2-3 inches in size
Cream Cheese, softened
Bacon, sliced into thirds
Toothpicks for assembly

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
The best part of this recipe is you can make as many as you want. There's no specific amount. So make as many or as few as you like.
Using gloves (unless you have a deathwish for your cuticles and any small nicks on your hands), cut each jalapeno in half. Clear out the seeds and white membranes on the inside.
Smear cream cheese into each jalapeno half.
Wrap the jalapeno with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
P-Dub mentions at this point that you can freeze them here. Which is a FANTASTIC idea. But they looked too good, so I didn't get to that point.
Bake on a pan with a rack (or if you suck like me and don't have one, a cookie sheet wrapped with tin foil worked.) Cook these little beasts for 20-25 minutes.
For the last two minutes, if they don't look brown enough, throw on the broiler and let the bacon sizzle.
You can eat them hot or at room temperature.
They didn't last past burn-your-mouth hot, but then that's us... you could be different.

My review: These were fantastic. I want to eat them as appetizers, meals, and dessert. Yummy! They weren't as spicy as I thought they might be, they were just perfect. And I can't wait to make (and eat!) them again.

Teri's Hot and Sweet Drumsticks

So, I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and I bookmarked it, planning to make it eventually. Then, Pioneer Woman decided to go ahead and make them, and tease me more. So last night, I caved. And thank goodness I did. Teri, you're a goddess.

*You can make these without the skin on the chicken, if that's what you prefer!)


1 cup Apricot Preserves
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 tsp Tabasco
3 lbs. Drumsticks (about 10-12) (which were on sale $1/lb, which was a sign from the Giant gods that this recipe was meant to be made!!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a small saucepan and cook on low heat, until it's all melted together and delicious.
Arrange your drumsticks in a baking dish. *i used a 13x9 glass baking dish, which was PERFECT*
Pour the sauce over the drumsticks and turn to coat.
Bake, uncovered for 45 minutes, spooning sauce over the drumsticks a few times during baking. It actually took about an hour to cook mine, and for the last two minutes, I put the oven on broil to caramelize the sauce on the legs... oh wow was it good.

My review: Abso freaking lutely one of my favorite recipes of all time. I seriously can't wait to make this AGAIN. Yum.

Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta

When I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman's site, I just KNEW that I was meant to make it. So I saved it until the very right time, and went in for the kill. and I was NOT disappointed. I altered the ingredients here to make a smaller portion, halving the recipe. This made about enough for 4 people, using as a side dish.

1 (7 oz.) package thin spaghetti
1/4 stick of butter (2 tablespoons)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped (if desired)
Juice of about 1 1/2 more lemons

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook your spaghetti al dente and set aside, in the dish you plan to bake in (I used an 8x8 pan, but I think it looks ultra cute in a bowl!)
In a skillet, heat the butter and olive oil on low heat. Once butter is melted, throw in your garlic. Then, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon into the pan and turn off the heat.
Add the sour cream and stir until combined. Add the lemon zest and salt. Taste and make sure it's salty enough.
Pour the mixture over your pasta, and stir together.
Bake, covered, for 15 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Squeeze MORE lemon over the top, top with parmesan cheese, as much as you like, and then the parsley. Give another squeeze of lemon juice to top it all off. At this point, I stuck it all back in the oven to get the Parmesan a little melty and yummy.

Ree says to serve with a loaf of french bread, and a green salad, which is how I would like to eat it. But if you've got a meat eating man, grill him up a chicken breast to go with it and have yourself your salad!


My review: Evereything I thought it would be and more! This was absolutely delicious. Ree suggests that (if you want), you could put it in the fridge after adding the sauce and have it as a cold pasta salad, and I may try that as my next venture. YUM! You'll enjoy this, honest!

Pioneer Woman's Baked Fudge

P-Dub really outdid herself this time. I bought ramekins last weekend, in hopes to soon make creme brulée. But I was having people for dinner last night and remembered this post. And not to ruin your anticipation of my review, but holy cow.

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 heaping tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Beat the eggs until they are light in color.
Then beat in the sugar just until combined.
Now add cocoa, flour, butter, and vanilla. Mix gently until well combined.
Pour the batter into four large ramekins or an 8-inch square baking dish. Set the ramekins or pan into a larger pan halfway full with water.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until upper crust is crispy and the rest is firm but not set.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

My review: Wow. This is so darn delicious, I have made it twice in a 24 hour period. My guests raved. I like making it in the ramekins, it makes it more personal and cute. And I had cute new ramekins that were begging to be used. Begging. P-Dub, you have never failed me. And I wasn't skeptical. But this was the easiest and most delicious dessert I have ever made from scratch, and it is going to take everything I have not to make it every day. Yum. Make this. Now. (And go to her site. and comment a lot. and make all of her recipes. Seriously.)