Sausage and ricotta stuffed shells with marinara
1 box large shell pasta
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 pound pork sausage, cooked and cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds pepper
one egg
A jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Cook your shell pasta according to package directions so that it comes out just al dente. Combine ricotta, mozzarella (1/2 cup), parmesan, salt, pepper, and egg. Mix in sausage. Fill each shell with about 2 tablespoons worth of filling. Top with your sauce, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese over. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbling and tasty.
File under: things to remember. Because I'll be doing this a lot, changing up the filling to suit what I have. Mmm...cheese.
Brownies: final recipe.
I'm not going to go on a tangent for five paragraphs about how much I love these, how much work I put into the recipe, and how important this and that is. The recipe is simple, as are the ingredients, and the photo, while not my best by any means, should speak for itself.
Brownies Adapted from Alton Brown's Fudgey Recipe
8 ounces good bittersweet chocolate (60-65% cocoa)
4 ounces unsalted butter
2.5 tablespoons cocoa
all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
scant cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt chocolate and butter (I did this in a small sauce pan over low heat on a simmer burner, but using a metal bowl over a pan of water or the microwave will work as well) and set aside to cool. Place the 2.5 tablespoons of cocoa in a one cup dry measure and add flour to overflowing, then level off. Pour out into a bowl and whisk in salt until all is incorporated. In a larger bowl mix together eggs and sugar. Add flour mixture, folding until incorporated. Add chocolate mixture, folding until incorporated. Bake at 325-350 (depending on your oven) until a toothpick comes out of the middle with a few crumbs attached, but is no longer wet. Should be a half hour to 40 minutes. Cool at least two hours before cutting. Makes 20 very small brownies or 16 slightly larger ones.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
One important baked good to have in your stable of recipes, especially if you have kids, is the basic chocolate chip cookie. It's simple, goes together in about 10 minutes if you're slow, bakes in 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, and no one I've met save people allergic to chocolate can resist at least one. The basic cookie dough into which you add the chocolate chips can be a blank slate; cherries and bittersweet chocolate, cranberries and white chocolate, and dried fruit and nuts can be substituted for the traditional semi-sweet chips and optional nuts. My favorite version uses good semi-sweet chips, a good amount of real vanilla extract, and Maldon salt for extra flavor oomph.
Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from Nestle's Tollhouse Recipe
4 ounces unsalted butter (it's important, so don't use salted)
2 ounces white sugar
2 ounces brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 ounces flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon good sea salt
6 ounces chocolate chips
Cream butter and sugars until well mixed. Beat in egg and the teaspoon of vanilla until mixed. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until mixed. Stir in chocolate chips gently. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes (convection will take shorter time, while conventional ovens will take longer) or until edges are colored.
Notes: These cookies seem to come out better when hand mixed. Use a wooden spoon to cream the softened butter (in the winter, I'd throw it in the microwave for a few seconds because it will make it easier to work with) and the sugars and switch to a spatula to do the rest. Unsalted butter really is necessary; if you use salted the cookies will come out way too salty. If all you have is salted, omit the salt. They won't be as good, but they won't be inedible. Also, use the best vanilla, chocolate chips, and butter you can find. Those are the three ingredients you taste prominently in the cookies and, thus, should be those you focus on when buying the ingredients. Ghirardelli chocolate works very well, and I prefer Nielsen-Massey vanilla to all other commercial varieties.