Spaghetti Factory's Meat Sauce and Mizithra Cheese Sauce

I LOVE the Spaghetti Factory... I have lots of fun memories of going there with my sisters when I was younger and then again with my daughter on our 'girl's weekends' together. I have tried lots of things on the menu, but my favorite is to get the manager's special where you get 2 sauces side by side on your spaghetti. My fave are the 'Meat Sauce' and the 'Mizithra Cheese' sauce... You just HAVE to have them both because their both such rich delicious sauces, you'd get sick of them if all you had to eat was one or the other...this way with them both you can trade off. I was so excited when I ran across this recipe on the Internet... there were tons of copy cat recipes for the sauces, but this one looked the best and on the easier side to make than some. We weren't disappointed! I made it when my daughter came home and she thought it was even better than the Spaghetti Factory's. You have to make this, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. ....After all (to quote my daughter) " there is nothing like a good pasta!!!" (she said with Mizithra cheese all around the outside of her mouth) Love you Sarah!

Spaghetti Factory's Meat Sauce and Mizithra Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:

 *your favorite brand of  uncooked spaghetti noodles (or other long pasta) - I like  Barilla

For the Meat Sauce

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1-6oz can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
4 oz tomato sauce (the small cans in the stores are 8oz, so use half of one)
8 oz diced tomatoes (I used half of a 14.5oz can)
1-4 ounce can mild green chilies
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp rosemary
1 bay leaf
dash of garlic powder

For the Browned Butter and Mizithra
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
4 oz. mizithra cheese, grated--you can find Mizithra cheese in the gourmet cheese section of most stores
       (I found it in my local Ridley's grocery store YAY!)
salt to taste
minced parsley, to garnish (optional

Method

1. Make the meat sauce. Start by browning the beef and onion in a medium saucepan. Drain.
2. Add the diced tomatoes, green chilies, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, and spices.
3. Mix the tomato paste with the water until it looks like a thick sauce. Add it to the mixture.
4. Heat everything until it's boiling, then reduce the heat, cover the saucepan, and leave it to simmer for an hour. You'll want to check on it occasionally and stir.
5. While that's going, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Simmer until the butter is amber in color. Don't stir -- the milk solids will darken and fall to the bottom of the pan.
6. Grate the mizithra and mince the parsley.
7. When the butter has sufficiently darkened, strain it into a small bowl using a strainer and some cheesecloth (to make sure none of the solids get through).
8. Time it so that you will be ready to top warm pasta with the meat sauce when it's ready. Heat a large pot of water to boiling, adding salt and oil if you desire. Prepare your pasta according to the package's directions. Usually al dente spaghetti will take between 7-9 minutes. Drain the pasta and pour a cup of cold water over it to stop the cooking.
9. Transfer the pasta back to the same pot. Drizzle with a desired amount of browned butter (depending on how many servings you've got) and toss. If you're making meat sauce, it's up to you if you want to reserve some unbuttered pasta for that half (I do). Alternatively you could simply spoon butter over the portion you desire while it's on the plate and skip this tossing step entirely.

On a serving plate, heap with half buttered pasta and half unbuttered pasta. Ladle the meat sauce over the unbuttered half. Generously sprinkle (as you can see I was very generous)  the buttered half with grated mizithra and garnish with parsley

German Chocolate Brownies

I love chocolate.... and nuts.... and coconut. YUM. I was watching Trisha Yearwood on the food network last weekend, and she made German chocolate brownies... Why have I never thought of that? I always make German Chocolate Cake! But anyway, I used my favorite Saucepan brownie recipe and then iced it with Trisha's Coconut Pecan icing... just a note, this Frosting recipe makes a ton!! It's 4 cups of frosting, so either half the batch, or freeze half of it after it's cooled off, then thaw and ice another batch of brownies when you crave them again. (That's what I did and the frosting freezes well!) Also for those of you who like a mocha flavored brownie, add a packet or 2 of instant coffee to the butter and chocolate mixture while it's melting.  I love chocolate, nutty brownies! Enjoy!

German Chocolate Brownies 
Melt in saucepan:
1 stick of butter
2 - 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate

Remove from heat and add:
1 cup of sugar

Stir then add:
2 eggs, one at a time, stir after each

Then stir in:
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Then add:
3/4 cups flour
dash of salt

Next, stir in
1 cup chopped Pecans

Stir till well mixed. Bake in greased (or parchment lined) 8 x 8 pan at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes (or until desired doneness, I like mine slightly gooey)
Cool and ice with Coconut pecan icing.

Coconut Pecan Frosting:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups grated coconut

1 1/2 cups pecans (or you can use walnuts or almonds), finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine the evaporated milk, sugar and egg yolks in a saucepan. Stir with a wire whisk until the yolks are fully incorporated. Add the butter and melt, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the mixture thickens, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the coconut, nuts and vanilla extract and let cool. Yield: 4 cups.

Almost-Famous Stuffed Cheesy Bread

I love cheesy bread. When I saw this recipe in my Food Network Magazine I just had to give it a try. I tweaked it from the origianl recipe, switching the cheesy garlic mixture to the filling and topping with the plain mozzarella cheese. I LOVED it, also I thought it would be too salty with all the cheese and the garlic salt so I substituted garlic powder and only used half the amount. Also I didn't have granulated garlic so I substituted minced garlic and used 1/2 the amount the origanal recipe called for. It was amazing!! I used as a side to a chicken dinner salad and my hubby loved it. You can view the original recipe here as I posted my recipe with the changes I made. Enjoy!
Almost-Famous Stuffed Cheesy Bread
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine
Prep Time: 2 hr 6 min
Cook Time: 24 min
 Serves:
2 loaves (8 breadsticks each) Ingredients

For the dough:
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons Olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal

For the filling and topping:
1-1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded yellow cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 /2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Directions

To make the dough:
Whisk the sugar and 3/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees F) in mixer bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Olive oil.

Whisk the flour and salt together in another bowl. Add to the yeast mixture and mix  until you have a sticky dough (about 1 or 2 minutes).  Turn mixer to medium speed and mix adding a little more flour if necessary until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form into a ball. Brush a large bowl with vegetable oil; add the dough, turning to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

To make the filling and topping:
Toss 1/2 cup mozzarella, the cheddar, Parmesan, garlic powder, minced garlic and dried parsley in a bowl. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put an inverted baking sheet (or baking stone) in the oven; preheat for 10 minutes.
Line another inverted baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with the cornmeal. Cut the dough in half; transfer 1 piece to the parchment-lined baking sheet and stretch into an 8-inch square (keep the other piece of dough covered). Sprinkle 1 side of the square with 1/2 cheese garlic mixture, then fold the dough in half to enclose the cheese filling., pressing to seal. Slice the dough crosswise at 1-inch intervals, stopping just before the folded edge. Sprinkle with half of the remaining Mozzarella cheese. Move the dough to 1 side of the baking sheet . Repeat with the remaining dough, cheese-garlic mixture and  mozzarella on the other side of the baking sheet.
Slide the bread on the parchment onto the hot baking sheet  (or baking stone) in the oven. Bake until the dough is cooked through and the cheese is golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool slightly, then pull apart into bread sticks.
Serve as a side to a dinner salad or as an appetizer. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

I think anything in a corn tortilla is delicious... I LOVE tacos. After making my Barbecue Chicken the other day, I had quite a bit of leftover chicken that I needed to use up. So I thought,  'why not make a taco?' I love Buffalo Chicken wings and thought I would make something with that flavor and put in a taco shell... this was easy and YUMMO! It has the spiciness of Buffalo Chicken wings and the flavor of the Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing all rolled into one corn tortilla. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Tacos
3 to 4 cups diced cooked chicken (more or less depending on how many tacos you want to make)
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce (or you can use your favorite brand)

1 small package coleslaw mix
Ranch or Bleu Cheese dressing
grated cheese for garnishing (I used a grated Colby Jack)
Corn Tortillas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet over medium heat melt the butter. Once the butter is melted stir in the hot sauce and then add the cooked chicken; cook and sir until the chicken is heated through and evenly coated with the sauce. (If using 4 cups of chicken you may want to add another Tablespoon of butter and a couple of Tablespoons more hot sauce. You want the chicken to be well coated.)
While the chicken is warming up, place the coleslaw in a medium size bowl and add a couple of squirts of the dressing. Stir to evenly coat, add a little more dressing is necessary, you want the cabbage coated with dressing but not dripping. Set this aside until ready to eat.
Spray the corn tortillas on each side with Spray Pam, then lay on oven rack in a single layer. Bake for 1 minute, then flip over and bake for 1 minute more. Remove from oven and put in tortilla warmer or a towel lined casserole dish with a lid, until ready to eat. Don't cook any longer or they'll get too hard, and they will be hard to chew.
To assemble the tacos, take one warmed tortilla, place a heaping spoonful of the chicken down the center, next sprinkle on some grated cheese, then add a spoonful of the coleslaw, fold in half and Enjoy!!
Serve with steamed veggies, or Mexican rice and beans!

Barbecued Chicken

I'm always looking for a good chicken recipe. I saw this one on Trisha Yearwood's Food Network the other day and thought I'd give it a try. I followed it pretty close except I put thyme in the sauce.... Chicken goes well with Thyme so I thought it might give it more flavor. I soaked my chicken overnight like it says, but after it was done soaking, I rinsed it well to get the extra salt off. Then I gave it a light sprinkle of a chicken rub I had in the cupboard, remember go light if you use other seasoning as the soak in the salt water gives it good salty flavor already. I also thought I would smoke mine, since I made it on a Sunday, and it smoked while I was a church and couldn't watch it close. This was delicious chicken and really moist. Went well with sauteed veggies and smashed potatoes! Enjoy

Barbecued Chicken
Recipe adapted from Trisha Yearwood
Ingredients
Chicken:
2- 2 1/2-pound frying chickens, split
4 tablespoons salt

BBQ Sauce:
1 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup peanut oil (I didn't have so I used grape seed oil)
1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Frank's
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon thyme

Directions
For the chicken:
Put the chicken halves in a very large bowl or deep pot and cover with water. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the salt in the water, cover and refrigerate the chickens for 6 hours or overnight.
For the BBQ sauce:
In a saucepan, mix together the vinegar, remaining tablespoon salt, peanut oil, hot sauce, black pepper, 1/4 cup water, cayenne and thyme. Bring this mixture to a boil, stir well and remove from the heat.
Drain the chicken and rinse, pat dry and place the halves on the grill, skin side up. Baste with the sauce and cook for 30 minutes. Turn the chickens skin side down and baste the top with sauce. Continue to grill the chickens for an additional 30 minutes, turning and basting the chicken every 10 minutes. Check for doneness by twisting a drumstick; it should move easily.

Variation: I smoked my chicken by heating my traeger smoker on high for 5 minutes to establish a fire. Then I turned the heat down to smoke and put my chickens on and closed the lid, I let them smoke for 1-1/2 hours. Then I turned the heat up to 300 and finished cooking for another hour to an hour to an hour and half until the juices ran clear and it registered about 170 on a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat; basting with the sauce every 20 minutes, and turning the chicken every half an hour.
Serve with steamed veggies and enjoy! Delish!

Cook's Note: If you cannot find small chickens, use larger ones (3 to 3 1/2 pounds) and quarter them.

Death by Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

If you love chocolate you will LOVE these cookies! These are a really deep chocolaty cookie that will satisfy any chocolate craving you may have. I also love the fact that there are peanut butter chips in these, I love peanut butter and chocolate together. I found the original recipe here but I tweaked it a bit, I needed the extra Tablespoon of flour for my dough. I didn't chill it either, there is soooo much melted chocolate in this recipe, it gets really stiff very fast and is hard to scoop so I didn't think I needed to chill it. Also I doubled the peanut butter chips and used a whole package rather than just one cup. I like my cookies to have LOTS of chips. They were really awesome...especially still warm from the oven with a glass of milk! YUMMO!

Death by Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients:
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour (if your batter is really gooey add 1 more Tablespoon of flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used 1 8-oz box of Bakers Semi-sweet chocolate)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup semi-sweet  chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips would be good too)
1 package peanut butter chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium size bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Melt the 8 ounces of chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir. Continue to melt in 15 second increments until fully melted and smooth. Set aside.
With an electric or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Beat in the sugars, scraping down the sides every 10 seconds or so. The mixture will be granular.
Next add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients on slow speed. Fold in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Do not over mix.
Scoop about 2 Tbsp of dough and roll into a ball (or I like to use my small cookie dough scooper, it looks like a small ice cream scoop, that way I don't have to roll into balls and get gooey hands). Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies have just begun to set with the centers still appearing very soft. They will firm up as they cool.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
I suggest eating a couple of cookies while still warm with a glass of milk!! SOOOOOOOO good!

Patty Melts

As you know, my favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is be lazy and watch the food network. The Pioneer Woman made Patty Melts and they looked soooo good I just had to give them a try. I may be behind the times, but I've never had a Patty melt before. I've seen them on restaurant menus, but have never tried them. I have been missing out Big time! I made these Saturday night for dinner and they were delicious!! I pretty much followed the recipe as the Pioneer woman did it, but I used different bread since my hubby doesn't like rye bread. You could use any kind of bread that you like, and any kind of cheese that you like. The onions make the Patty melt I think, but we did have ketchup and mustard on the side for dipping. I think they would be fun to make for St. "Patties" day too, since that is coming up. I made mine with 'Smashed Potatoes" on the side as it was a nice twist on a grilled cheese or a hamburger and french-fries.
Patty Melts
adapted from  Ree Drummond, The Pioneer woman
4-5 servings.
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter plus more for spreading on the bread
1 large onion, halved and sliced (I used a Vidalia onion)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
5 dashes Worcestershire sauce (or more)
Salt and pepper
8 slices, thin sliced Rye bread (or Sourdough, English toasting, wheat, or any kind of bread you like)
8 slices Swiss cheese (Pepper jack would be good too or Provolone)

Directions:
In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Throw in the sliced onions and cook slowly until the onions are golden brown and soft, 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, Worcestershire and some salt and pepper. Form into 4  or 5 patties.(I like to shape mine the same shape as my bread so I had rectangle patties)
In a  separate skillet over medium heat, cook the patties on both sides until totally done in the middle, about 8 to 10 minutes (4 or 5 mintues per side).
Heat a clean griddle to medium heat (Or use another large skillet) To assemble and cook the patty melts, butter one side of bread, then place butter side down on the pre-heated griddle, then add a slice of cheese, hamburger patty, a spoonful of the cooked onions, another slice of cheese and another slice of bread. Butter the top of this last slice of bread. When it's golden brown on the bottom carefully flip the sandwich over, and let cook on this side until it's golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove from griddle, slice in half and serve immediately!
If desired serve with Ketchup or mustard for dipping.... the onions really add to the flavor too.