Entertaining Life Daily

New Year Resolutions. I like to refer to these resolutions as goals. I learned that from my friend Mo. I like it. Goals versus resolutions. I personally haven't really vocalized any this year. I made some last year. Here is a recap:

Enjoy friends & family to the fullest. I think I did pretty good on this one. I made my annual trip to Boston to see my dear friends in Massachusetts, had a delightful time with my Indy friends, and missed others like the O's incredibly. It is hard to live people to the fullest when miles separate you. Good thing the phone and interweb were invented. Just sayin'. To all my friends - I love you. To my family - I love you lots too. I'm looking forward to enjoying 2012 with you. But that isn't a resolution - it is an expectation of mine.
Start a new blog. City Nom Noms was born. Check and complete.
Continue living a healthy lifestyle. Well, does 50% count? I did for sometime, but I fell off the wagon. Hard I might add. I tried to get back on a few times, but alas. But here I am, trying again. But this isn't a resolution - because I have a goal in mind. Team captain Ryan knows the goal - it is called the Mudathon. Bring on the mud.

So, no resolutions? Well, I guess not. And for those who decided to eat less carbs, this may not be the post for you. But for those who decided to reuse and recycle, keep on reading. I know I have a friends (hello AK!) that don't like to throw things away. And this is a quick and easy way to create something out of soon to be compost.

Hubs had made some bread for dinner. He's an amazing baker. Just sayin'. Anyway, we had an extra roll and were planning on having salad so I thought, "mmm..croutons." As mentioned, if you have resolved to forgo carbs, stop reading. But croutons are oh so delicious.

All I did was cube up the bread and toss with a little olive oil and some garlic seasoning. Simple. In a single layer on a baking sheet, toss it into the oven at 375 degrees until lightly browned. Flip and repeat. I personally like when croutons still have a little soft texture to them, not crunchy all the way through. This is perfect for a wedge salad, or any other salad you may be having that evening. Use in a day or two though, or they'll go stale.

Don't have a salad and are worried about a loaf of bread going bad? Then make breadcrumbs! Same process, but dry the bread cubes out completely. Then, whip out that food processor and process away. Homemade breadcrumbs are great, because you can season anyway you would like. Throw in some dried herbs, like oregano and basil. Maybe lemon pepper or something else. The bread is your oyster. Have fun with it. Use right away or store until needed.

It is day 3 - how are your resolutions going?

The ice/sleet/snow storm that Indy experienced this week lead me to have two days away from work and happily in the kitchen. I had been meaning to make some lobster ravioli ever since we purchased the lobster from Festival Foods in Wisconsin, but just hadn't. A snowy, icy day? Perfect time to make some ravioli for dinner!

I began by making the filling. I boiled the lobster tail in some water and seasoning, a pretty basic mix. While that cooked, I prepped the other ingredients by chopping a shallot and some mushrooms I had on hand. I sauteed both of these with some garlic in butter until soft. I seasoned it up with some red pepper flakes, pepper and smidge of salt. I then added the lobster to get all the flavors to really marry together. I set this aside, let it cool, and added some Mascarpone cheese, chives and parsley for good measure. I set it aside and started to work on my pasta.

For the pasta dough, I mixed flour, eggs, olive oil and bit of salt together in my mixer with the dough hook attachment. I ended up adding a little water to get the texture that I wanted and let it sit for a bit before rolling it out.

I love our pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid. We use it way more than I ever thought we would. I took this pasta class at Williams Sonoma a while back and from that moment, I had to have the pasta maker. A great investment for our household, but that is because we like to make our pasta rather than buying it. So after 20 minutes, I got to work with the dough by cutting it into four sections. I hand pressed it a little and began feeding it through the roller. If you have a roller, begin on the first setting and run it through a few items to get the elastic feeling in the dough. Between passes, fold in the ends of the dough to make a tri-fold each time to get it mixed well. Then, move on to setting 2 with one pass, setting 3, 4 and then 5 to achieve the length you desire.

Once I had all the pasta rolled, I set them all by each other and dropped a hefty tablespoon of filling onto the sheets, leaving 1 to 1 1/2 inches between fillings. Then, brush the edges around the filling with an egg wash mixture - this helps adhere the other dough that will be put on top. When you drape the dough on top, really form the pockets of filling and ensure there isn't much air in the pockets. Then, use a knife or pastry cutter to cut them out. It sounds like a lot of steps, but in reality, it is just entertaining to do!

These boiled in salted water for a few minutes. They cook up pretty quickly - when they float, they are ready for the brown butter and sage sauce that your hubby has made for the noodles. The tasty sauce was simply brown butter on the stove with additions of balsamic vinegar, pepper, sage and other seasonings. Do whatever you want in the sauce, it is where you can be creative!

It was a delicious dish and a great way to spend about one hour of my afternoon. And the leftovers the next day were great! The noodles soaked up the butter and were just as delicious.

Did you recently have a snow day, and if so, cook anything delicious?

Entertaining Life Daily

Entertaining all aspects of life, one day at a time.

When Life Gives You Bread...

Lobster Ravioli