Heart Shaped Ravioli with a Simply Delicious Sauce

I made this for Evan and I’s 2nd Anniversary in December! It’s a great special occasion dinner recipe and is sure to please! Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 30 min

Makes: 12 Ravioli

Ingredients:

Meat or cheese mixture of your choice, meat should be pre-cooked. I used bison.

Dough:

• 1.5 C. All purpose Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 TBS Olive Oil

Sauce:

• 2 Cups Chopped tomatoes with juice.
• 1 TBS Olive oil
• 1 TBS Garlic, minced
• 2 TBS Fresh Basil, chopped
• 2 TBS Shallots, minced
• Mushrooms, 1/2 Cup, sliced

Directions:

Dough

In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add eggs 1 at a time and continue to mix. Drizzle in oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Cut the ball of dough in half, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at its widest setting. Guide the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. *Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue until the machine is at its narrowest setting. The dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick.

Dust the counter and dough with flour, lay out the long sheet of pasta. Use a heart cookie cutter (small) to cut the hearts.

Place a tsp of your meat/cheese mixture of choice on one heart and seal with another heart on top. Seal edges with fork or pastry sealer. Use

Boil in large pot of salted water for about 7 min. Strain.

Sauce:

• In a large braiser or skillet, heat oil, add shallots and garlic, cook for 1 min until fragrant.
• Add tomatoes and mushrooms, simmer for 20 min.
• Garnish with basil

Enjoy!

The Best Fried Chicken in the WORLD right from your kitchen!

We don’t eat fried chicken a whole lot but every once in awhile Evan or I will get a hankering for some good ole fried chicken. Usually when this happens we hit up our “go to” place = Max’s Wine Dive.  It’s always an expensive trip (the wine always gets us damn it…) and it’s quite far from us now that we live out in the boonies. This time we gave it a go at home. It was awesome!

Prep: 24 hrs (if you can wait that long)

Cook Time: 15-17 min per batch

Serves: 4 with sides

Ingredients:

• 4 Thighs and 4 drums (separated) with the skin on.
• 2 Cups Buttermilk
• 1 Jalapeno
• 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper
• 2 Cups all purpose flour
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• Peanut oil for frying
• More salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Blend jalapeno, buttermilk, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.
2. In a large glass mixing bowl: add marinade and chicken and cover with plastic wrap, let sit overnight.
3. Heat peanut oil up in fryer to 325 degrees F.
4. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper to flour.
5. Take chicken out of marinade and let sit for about 20 min on a baking sheet just to warm them up a bit so the fryer oil doesn’t drop drastically. Pat dry, dredge in flour, then egg wash, then flour again.
6. Fry pieces in several batches, how many will depend on your fryer’s size. Fry for 15-17 min.
7. Place on wire rack and keep warm in oven if you are doing several batches.

Serve with cayenne honey and a side of collard greens and a starch I did mashed sweet potatoes. Mmmm!

Sous Vide Herbed Lamb Loins

If you haven’t noticed…I’m absolutely loving my Sous Vide Supreme. The lamb loins were on sale at my local grocer so I bought 3 instead of 2. Normally one is enough for me (they are about 5 oz each with the bone). The sous vide ensures that these little lamb loins will be cooked to a perfect 134 degrees.

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 2-4 hrs
Serves: 2

Ingredients.

• 2-3 lamb loins
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
• .5 TBS fresh thyme, remove from stem
• .5 tsp sea salt
• .5 tsp pepper
• Butter

Instructions

1. Heat sous vide to 134 F.
2. Chop garlic and herbs and blend together with salt and pepper.
3. Coat loins with herb and garlic mixture on both sides.
4. Cut 3 slices if butter and place on top of loin
5. Vacuum seal loins separately in bags
6. Submerge in water bath for a minimum of 2 hrs and max of 4 hrs.
7. Once done seat on hot oiled grill for 1 min on each side.

A “Lighter” Version of Crawfish Étouffée That Will Keep Your Waistline Happy :)

Using a stick of butter or even a half a stick of butter just doesn’t sound very appealing to me especially after the holidays. So I made one of my favorites with a quarter of the fat and it turned out awesome!  You will notice I served this in a “bread boat”, this is how Evan likes it. You can do it plain, in a boat, or on top of rice-your choice!

Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 4-6 People

Ingredients:

• 1lb Crawfish meat (shelled and deveined)
• 1 C. Celery, chopped
• 1 C. Red and Green Bell Pepper Mixture, chopped
• 1 C. Sweet Onion, chopped
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Bay leave
• 1/2 C. Chicken Stock, no sodium
• 2 TBS Butter
• 1 TBS Coconut Oil
• 1 TBS Favorite cajun seasoning
• 1/2 TBS. Jalapeno (fresh), minced
• 1 tsp. Black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1.5 TBS Flour dissolved in water

Instructions:

• Heat butter and coconut oil on medium, once hot add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add the Holy Trinity: Bells, Onions, and Celery! Saute for 12-15 min
• Add Crawfish, seasoning, bay leave, and chicken stock and simmer for 10 min.
• Add flour to thicken sauce and season to taste with salt or more cajun seasoning.
• Serve over white rice or in a bread boat.

Enjoy!

Pizzettes with Fried Brussel Sprout Leaves Tossed with Crispy Bacon and Golden Raisins

Mini pizzettes for everyone! These are cute and delicious little pizzas that are sure to please any party guests. I have been on a pizza kick for my just about my whole life… I LOVE pizza! Ever since I learned to make my own dough- we no longer eat “delivery” pizza because it’s ALWAYS a disappointment for many reasons, it’s $$ for what it is, it makes you feel like crap, and it’s just simply not. that. good. We still enjoy going to local pizza places like Salvations and Rounders but that requires driving all the way into town which is not close.

Next time you need an appetizer plan for guest, try these babies out! You will not regret it!

Prep: 1hr

Cook Time: 10-15 min

Serves: 8 tapas sized pizzas

Crust/Dough

• 1 (1/4 ounce) Package active dry yeast
• 1 C. Warm water
• 1 TBS. Sea salt
• 2 tsp Olive oil
• 2 1/2-3 1/2 cups Bread flour
• 2 TBS Lemon thyme, fresh
• 1 TBS Chopped rosemary, fresh

Pizza Toppings

• Olive oil
• Fresh whole milk mozzarella slices, small ones (1-2 per pizza)
• Crispy cooked bacon
• Parmesan shavings
• Salt/pepper
• Golden raisins

Meyer Lemon and Sage Dressing

• 1 C. Sour cream
• 4 Sage leaves, chopped rough
• 1/8 C. Milk
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic, granulated
• 1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
• 1 TBS Meyer lemon juice
• Blend above ingredients with a stick blender or regular blender. Place into ziplock bag and reserve in fridge.

Brussel Sprouts

• 2.5 C. Whole brussel sprouts,
• 2 C. Peanut oil
• Cut bottoms off sprouts and begin to peel the leaves apart, this may take a while, get a helper… place sprouts in a salad spinner or strainer to get water off the leaves.
• Heat fryer to 350 F
• Fry sprouts for 30 seconds, do in batches until done. Season lightly with salt add rasins to the batch after frying and toss.
• Don’t fry in advance do these while pizzas are cooking so they remain crispy

Instructions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl.
2. Add sea salt, olive oil, herbs, and 2 1/2 cup flour.
3. Attach bowl and dough hook, turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute.
4. Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to dough hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 5 minutes. If making 2 pies split dough into 2 balls.
5. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
6. Cover, let rise in warmest place in house away from draft until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
7. Punch dough down each ball.
8. Divide into 8 balls and roll out 8 little pies.
   * I like to par bake crust for 5-8 min to make it CRISPYYYYYY
9. Once par baked top with olive oil, mozzarella, and a dash of salt and pepper. Bake for about 10 min until cheese is melted.
10. Top with fried sprouts, bacon, parm shavings, and dressing!

Enjoy and Cheers!

20 hr Sous Vide Pork Belly with Five Spice Rub on a Bed of Collards and Mashed Potatoes

This pork belly will melt in your mouth… not in your hand.  I am LOVING my new cooking device, the Sous Vide Supreme, it’s the coolest thing ever!

I made this pork belly for NYE and it was a hit! It’s super simple (if you have a Sous Vide device).

Prep: 15 min

Cook Time: 20-25 hrs

Serves: 8 Tapas sized portions

Ingredients:

• 1.5lbs whole pork belly sliced into 8 same sized portions
• 1 TBS Five Spice Powder
• 1/2 TBS Fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp. Ground fennel
• Pam/butter for greasing skillet (not that you REALLY need it, but just for good measure incase your pan is too hot).

Instructions:

1. Heat Sous Vide device to 160 F
2. Mix herbs and seasonings together in a small bowl
3. Coat pork belly portions in rub throughly
4. Vacuum seal each portion separately
5. Immerse in Sous Vide that’s heated to 160F for 20-25 hrs
6. Take out and either sear the belly fat side down on a hot skillet to get a nice browned top or reserve in fridge until ready to fire and serve.
7. Serve on top a mound of collards or greens and mashed potatoes.

I made a nice tarragon cream sauce to garnish on the side of the plate. It went nicely with the pork and the fennel notes.

Enjoy and Cheers!

Delectable Shrimp and Grits… Oh and ZestyBeanDog is Still Alive :)

Well helloooooooo everyone! After many comments from friends and family I have decided to let everyone know that ZestyBeanDog is still ALIVE! After going through some big changes (career wise) I’m happy to say that finally… I think have my head glued back on straight!  A little over a month ago I quit a marketing job of 3 years to pursue my passion: teaching yoga and working with my Green Feet Fitness business fulltime. Also let’s not forget all the other full time jobs I have like: keeping a pretty clean house, being my husbands personal chef, doing laundry, paying bills, being a dog entertainer, and much much more.  It was a long over due decision and I’m glad it’s finally here! Sometimes life gets in the way of hobbies but here’s to new beginnings!  It will be so nice to get back to reading your lovely blogs as they are always such an inspiration to me. Thanks and MUCH LOVE!

This is a zesty spin on shrimp and grits, I hope you enjoy!

Prep Time: 30 min

Serves: 4

Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients: 

• 1 C. Corn Grits (Bob’s Red Mill Brand is nice).
• 24 Large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 5 Slices of uncooked bacon
• 1 TBS Rendered duck fat
• 1/2 C. Fontina cheese
• 1/4 C. Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 Stick of butter
• 1/4 C. Heavy cream
• 1/4 C. Milk
• Scallions and Green Onion
• Kosher Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay

Instructions: 

1. Cook 1 Cup of corn grits as directed on package.
2. Add cheese, cream, milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm.
3. Cook up bacon in large skillet on medium high. Keep grease heated and add TBS of duck fat to grease. Keep heat to medium high. Reserve bacon on a paper towel, once cooled break into pieces.
4. Add shrimp to heated greased skillet and sprinkle Old Bay on top of shrimp as well as a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 1.5 min on each side, until done. Don’t over cook.
5. Place a mound of grits on a plate top with shrimp, then bacon crumbles, then scallions and green onions. Sprinkle with some parmesan (if you are feeling saucy)  and garnish with a Meyer lemon wedge.  Great with brussel sprouts!

Cheers enjoy!

Cajun-ified Scotch Eggs (Made with Duck Eggs)

Probably just made up a word here… cajun-ified  I’m sure Evan could give you a whole list of words I’ve made up over the years – Must be from my Mom.

Anyhow, these eggs are prepared like your traditional Scotch Eggs but  are so much better! The idea came from thinking about what to prepare for a birthday dinner party for my good friend Hannah.  The Fawn House was open for business (the name I give my kitchen when I’m creating fun new foods). The theme was Cajun Fusion since she’s Cajun! Knowing that  she loves duck eggs and sausage, I decided to marry the two and create a Cajun-ified Scotch Egg! These eggs are accompanied by a tasty remoulade to your dip the eggs in.  Evan was my Fry Daddy, as he tends to be I prep he fries!

Duck eggs can be found at your local farmer’s market or Asian market. They can be found on occasion at Central Market, but I’d call first… You also can do these with regular eggs if you cannot find duck eggs. Duck eggs have a richer yolk and are quite tasty!

Prep: 30 min

Cook Time: Approx 20 min (includes egg boiling).

Makes: 5 Eggs

Ingredients:

• 5 Duck eggs, hardboiled (don’t boil them all the way to completion, take them out about 2-3 min early, the will cook the remainder in the fryer).
• 1/2 lb Ground pork sausage or andouille, raw (If you’re doing ground pork, I’ll tell you what to season it with below).
• 1 C. Panko bread crumbs
• Peanut Oil
• 1 beaten egg, can be duck or regular.

Seasoning for ground pork, if not using Andouille

• 1/2 tsp Salt, kosher
• 1 tsp Cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp Thyme, dried
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 tsp Onion powder

Instructions

1. Hard boil duck eggs and place in ice bath to stop cooking. Set aside. Remember take out 2-3 min early.
2. Mix spices in to meat if preparing your own sausage. Roll sausage into 5 even sized balls.
3. Heat fryer to 350 degrees F.
4. Wrap duck eggs in sausage like you see below.
5. Dip wrapped egg in beaten egg then panko bread crumb and set aside. Continue until done with all 5.
6. Place duck eggs in heated fryer oil and fry until golden brown, about 5-7 min.
7. Place on paper towel.

Serve with your favorite remoulade dipping sauce! These are filling and delicious 1 egg is plenty for an appetizer portion you could even get away with halving them. I completely forgot to get a pic of them split open! Next time I cook these, I will update this post with one. Enjoy!

Vegan Italian Sausage – You won’t believe it’s not meat!

I recently did a 40 Day Yoga Challenge where I wasn’t eating any meat other than seafood. During that time Evan and I went to a party at our good friends Liz and Kyle’s house for some Paella! She made vegan Spanish chorizo for some of the other non meat eaters and I instead of using real meat (thanks Liz)! It was awesome, texture and all, that’s right… I said it… texture and all- and even better it wasn’t made from tofu! I made her version during my 40 Day Challenge in my own Paella at home with great results. So I decided to make an Italian version for fun a couple of nights ago. It turned out fantastic, even Evan was a big fan!

This Italian sausage goes great in pasta dishes or in a salad like you will see below. I’ll also include the nutrition facts  It contains 16 grams of PROTEIN!, pretty good for a vegan “meat”

I made this simple salad today for lunch: Baby Kale, Spinach, Red Onion, Cucumbers, Grape Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and of course my Italian Vegan Sausage. With a Greek Yogurt, Lemon, Sage, Sirracha Dressing. It hit the spot!

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Serves: Approximately 9 : 2 oz servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. Pinto beans, rinsed. You can use canned beans- I used canned organic beans…
• 1 C. Organic vegetable broth
• 1 TBS. Olive oil
• 2 TBS. Light soy sauce
• 2 tsp. Lemon zest
• 2 Cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 1/4 C. Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/4 C. Nutritional yeast
• 1 TBS Basil, chopped very fine
• 1 TBS Oregano
• 1 TBS Marjoram
• 1/2 TBS Onion powder
• 2 tsp. Red pepper flake
• 1/2 TBS Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Set up steaming apparatus. (Large pot, little bit of water, steam tray, and lid.)
2. Lay out 3 sheet of foil to wrap sausage in. A sushi roller will help for this later.
3. Mash beans well in medium bowl.
4. Add all ingredients IN ORDER to bowl.
5. Once all ingredients are added, knead “dough” with hands until all ingredients are incorporated.
6. Divide dough into 3 balls, roll each ball out into a link shape and place each one on a separate sheet of foil. This is where the sushi roller comes in handy… Roll the foil around the link and use the sushi roller to roll and compact your link making it nice and firm. Twist off ends of foil and repeat with the rest.
7. Place sausages in steaming apparatus and steam for 40 min on low/medium.
8. Unroll- careful they will be hot and let cool. Then you can slice and cook up on the stove to get some crispiness if desired. DO NOT USE HIGH HEAT, they will burn.

Serve as you wish! On a salad, pasta, sandwich, wrap, the possibilites are endless.

Paella Made with Vegan Spanish Chorizo!

I’m Baaaaack! Evan’s 10 Course Dinner Birthday Surprise – The Fawn House

I’m done studying! My brain feels like mush but I’m finally finally done… From Sanskrit to anatomy to chakras… I know it all…well most of it anyways. It’s been 10 months of yoga yoga and more yoga and I will graduate (fingers crossed) next Tuesday! I have not however been slacking in the kitchen, in fact I have been going crazy in the kitchen.

I decided to make Evan a VERY special birthday surprise by creating my own restaurant at home (called The Fawn House, hence all the new fawn roaming in our yard) and cooking a 10 course meal! It was so awesome and I’ve never cooked so many awesome things all at once in my life EVER. I invited 3 of our closest friends and got to work on planning the menu a week in advance. I was so incredibly excited it wasn’t even funny! The few days before I mapped out my course of action and started collecting my goods. Last Friday I made it all come to a reality. I based the menu off “The odd parts/bits” of animals and used as much local and farm fresh ingredients as possible.  Here’s how it went down!

Each course was paired with a special libation. The food was wonderful and it definitely was a night to remember.  I can’t believe I pulled it off… I want give a big thanks to Liz for making the awesome dessert portion! It was amazing!

Well it’s good to be back on the blog-o-sphere!

For some final- VERY exciting news… Yesterday I received an email from the casting director of Chopped encouraging me to apply for the Amateur Special in Austin! I was recommended by the Food Experiments! I’m in the process of applying as we speak! Wish me luck everyone! Stay tuned for more on that.

I missed all of your blogs like crazy so I have a ton of catching up to do! Cheers to you all!