cheese danish

I believe this is an Ina Garten recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
2 Tbsp ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
The zest of 2 lemons
1 box frozen puff pastry, defrosted
Egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Blend the cream cheese and sugar together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!
Unfold one sheet of pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 X 10 inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters. Place a heaping Tbsp of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the 2nd sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled danish for 15 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

chicken pot pie

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 + 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 cups cooked and cut-up chicken
1 (10 oz) package of frozen peas & carrots
Thin Butter Crust

Directions:
Heat the butter over low heat until melted. Blend in the flour, onion, s & p. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in the broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and frozen vegetables, remove from heat and reserve.
Roll out 2/3 of the pastry dough to fit the bottom of whatever shape pan you are using (I like to use a pie plate). Pour the chicken filling into a pastry lined pan and roll out the remainder of the pastry dough and place over the filling. Roll the edges under. Cut slits in the center to allow the steam to escape. Bake, uncovered, at 425 F for 30-35 minutes.

beef stew

2 lb beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt & pepper
3 Tbsp butter
4 carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 small onions, diced
2 Tbsp flour
2 14.5 oz cans of beef or chicken broth (or do homemade)
2 cups red wine
1 cup crushed tomatoes
3 sprigs rosemary
2 medium russet or yukon potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 handfuls frozen peas

Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a large pot over medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to brown, add 1/2 the beef and raise the heat to high. Cook, turning the beef on all sides to brown evenly, about 5-6 minutes. Scoop the beef into a bowl and brown the rest of the beef using the rest of the butter. Scoop out the rest of the beef, then add the carrots and onions and raise the heat to medium high. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the flour. Pour in the broth, wine, tomatoes, and rosemary. Slide the beef back in and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer. Partially cover and cook for 50 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cover completely and cook for 45 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 5 minutes.

caramelized onion quiche

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2.5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cup provolone cheese, divided
1 9 inch pie crust (I make the whole recipe and freeze half)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, and saute until golden and very soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Whisk the heavy cream, milk, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir the onions and 1 cup of the cheese into the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust. Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top of the quiche. Set the quiche pan on a baking sheet and bake until a knife blade inserted into the middle of the quiche comes out clean (about 40-45 minutes). Cover the edges of the crust with foil if it gets too brown. Remove the quiche from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

apple pie

Recipe taken from here.

The recipe for the thin butter crust is linked within the apple pie recipe and is awesome. It's surprisingly simple to make (I usually use a box mix recipe for pie crusts because I assume pastry crust is too difficult and that I need a working food processor, which we don't have), and super flaky & tasty.

pasta al forno con pomodori e mozzarella

From Jamie Oliver Jamie's Italy

Serves 4

salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
3 14-oz cans plum tomatoes
large handful of basil leaves
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (optional)
14 oz dried orecchiette
4 big handfuls of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
3 5-oz balls of mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 F. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in an appropriately sized pan. Add the onion and garlic and slowly fry for about 10 minutes on a medium to low heat until softened but without any color. Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic with a small glass of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. Blend to make a loose sauce. Tear the basil leaves into the sauce and season with salt, pepper, and the red wine vinegar.

Add the orecchiette to the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions, then drain and toss with half of the tomato sauce and a handful of the Parmigiano. Layer a little pasta into a baking pan, followed by some tomato sauce, a handful of Parmigiano, and a sliced up mozzarella ball, then repeat these layers until all of the ingredients are used up, ending with a good layer of cheese on the top. Pop the dish into the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden, crisp, and bubbling.