Author: laurenrhill

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs

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Scrambled Eggs

We make a lot of eggs at our home and the key to scrambled eggs is low and slow. Eggs are delicate and should be treated that way when cooking with them. The quality of egg makes a huge difference as well. I prefer a vibrant orange yolk from pasture-raised hens. My family raises beautiful hens, and nothing beats a fresh egg from a well-cared for bird.

Scrambled Eggs

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


5 Eggs
3T Butter
2t Green onion, chopped
2t Cream
Sea salt, to taste
Fresh ground black pepper
(Optional: Cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters; substitute sea salt for truffle salt)

Directions

In a nonstick saucepan add whole eggs. At this point do not scramble or season eggs. Add butter in small cubes to saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Using a spatula begin mixing eggs and scraping down the bottom and sides of the saucepan. Remove from heat and continue to stir cooking the eggs off heat for 20 seconds, then on heat for 90 seconds until eggs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and fold in green onions, cream, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Appetizer

Ceviche

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Ceviche

Ceviche

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


½lb Halibut
½lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 Limes, juiced
1 Red pepper, chopped
1C Fresh mango, chopped
½C Red onion, chopped
½C Cilantro, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Serrano pepper, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 Avocado, diced

Directions


Cut the fish into approximately ½” cubes. Cut shrimp into quarters. Place both the fish and shrimp into a glass bowl and pour lime juice over the top so that the fish and shrimp are completely covered. Place in refrigerator until they turn opaque, gently stirring occasionally, approximately 30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl combine red pepper, mango, red onion, cilantro, garlic and serrano pepper.

Strain almost all the lime juice from the fish and shrimp, reserving about 1 tablespoon of lime juice. Add the fish, shrimp and tablespoon of lime juice to the mixing bowl. Season with salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Add the chopped avocado right before serving. Serve with a side of warm tortilla chips.

Dinner

Filet Mignon

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Filet Mignon

Filet Mignon is one of my favorite cuts of meat. It is lean, tender and will cut like butter if cooked properly.

Make sure you are buying quality meat. A perfect filet should be about 2 inches thick. Season your steaks generously with salt and coarse fresh ground pepper. I highly recommend using a cast iron skillet to evenly cook steaks and to easily move from stovetop to oven. Lastly, always let your steaks rest.

The following is a guide for how long to cook 2″ thick filets in the oven:

Rare | 120°F – 125°F | 4 minutes
Medium Rare | 125°F – 130°F | 5-6 minutes
Medium | 130°F – 140°F | 7 minutes
Medium Well | 140°F – 155°F | 8-9 minutes

Filet Mignon

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


2 Tenderloin beef filets
4T Butter
1T Garlic, minced
1T Shallot, minced
Truffle Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1T Grapeseed oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 415°. Remove filets from fridge 1 hour prior to cooking, to bring them to room temperature.

Melt butter over low heat with minced garlic and shallots. Do not brown and remove as soon as butter has melted. Set aside.

Season all sides of the filets generously with truffle salt and fresh ground pepper.

Set an oven safe cast iron skillet over high heat. Allow skillet to get scorching hot, add grapeseed oil and place the filets face down and sear undisturbed for 2 minutes. Flip the filets and sear for an additional 2 minutes. Turn off heat and pour melted butter, garlic and shallots over the filets.

Transfer your skillet directly to the oven. For rare, bake 4 minutes. Medium rare, 5-6 minutes. Medium, 7 minutes. Remove filets from the skillet and let rest for 5-7 minutes before serving.

Dessert

Tiramisu

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Tiramisu

Tiramisu

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


6 Egg yolks
½C Granulated sugar
3C Heavy Cream
2T Confectioner’s sugar
2t Vanilla extract
½C Kahlua
24oz Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
9oz Ladyfingers
2T Unsweetened cocoa
1oz Semisweet chocolate, grated

Directions

Set a double boiler on the stovetop. Add about 1 inch of water to the lower section and turn the heat on medium. Add egg yolks and sugar to the top of the double boiler. Vigorously whisk the mixture for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth, thick and lighter in color. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whip heavy cream until peaks are just about to form. Add confectioner sugar, vanilla and half of the Kahlua and continuing mixing until stiff peaks form.

Add mascarpone cheese to the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Mix until well incorporated and mixture becomes smooth.

Carefully, fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture with a spatula. Continue to fold until the mixture is well combined.

Mix remaining Kahlua with the espresso. Working in small batches, dunk the Ladyfingers into the espresso mixture. Remove them immediately, do not let them soak. Arrange the Ladyfingers in a single layer, in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.

Spread half of the macroscope cream over the Ladyfingers in the dish and sprinkle with coco and grated chocolate. Then repeat with a second layer of Ladyfingers and a second layer of mascarpone cream Top with cocoa and grated chocolate. Place the tiramisu in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours prior to serving.

Appetizer

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

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Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

I LOVE these stuffed mushrooms. They are the perfect appetizer to start off a beautiful meal. Or you can substitute the Baby Bella’s for Portobello mushrooms and make it a meal.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


7oz Spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
1t Olive oil
16oz Baby Bella mushrooms
½C Onion, finely chopped
4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
5oz Mascarpone cheese
½C Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°

In a sauté pan over medium heat add olive oil and sausage. As the sausage cooks start breaking it up into small pieces. Cook until the sausage is slightly browned and cooked through. Remove the sausage from the pan. Leave as much oil in the pan as possible. On a cutting board finely chop the cooked sausage.

Meanwhile, gently clean mushrooms with a dry paper towel and remove the stems. Finely chop the stems.

In the same pan used to cook the sausage, add the onion, garlic and chopped mushroom stems. Season with salt and pepper and sauté over medium-low heat. Cook until onions are soft and translucent. Turn heat off.

Add the sausage back into the pan and add mascarpone and Romano. Mix until well incorporated.

Place sausage mixture into a pipping bag and pipe mixture into the cavity of each mushroom top. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle with a little freshly grated Pecorino Romano. Bake for 30 minutes.

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie

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Pumpkin Pie

The most delicious pumpkin pie! Homemade pie crust with a light and fluffy pumpkin filling made with brown sugar, vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spices.

The best pies always begin with a good homemade pie crust. Pie crust recipe here.

Pumpkin Pie

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


1 Pastry for single crust pie
30oz Pumpkin purée
6 Eggs, lightly beaten
1c Heavy cream
1c Golden brown sugar
1t Vanilla extract
1t Allspice
1t Cinnamon
1t Ground ginger
1t Salt

Directions

Preheat oven 375°

Line an 9-inch pie dish with the rolled-out pastry and trim it even with the pie dish and save any extra trimmings.

In a large mixing bowl combine the pumpkin purée with remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour into the prepared pastry and bake for 60 – 75 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Dough

Pie Crust

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Pie Crust

The perfect buttery and flaky pie crust!

Pie Crust

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


2c Flour
1t Salt
1c Butter
1/3c Whole milk
1T White vinegar

Directions


In a large mixing bowl combine flour and salt. Cut butter into flour until pea sized pieces form, do not over mix. Add the vinegar to the milk and pour into flour mixture. Mix until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Dinner

Meatballs

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Meatballs

These tender meatballs are easy to make and are great for the whole family.

Couple of notes. The fattier the meat you use, the more tender your meatballs will be. Use your hands for mixing but be sure not to over mix. You can omit cooking the meatballs in the marinara sauce, just make them smaller and cook them all the way through in the skillet with olive oil.

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Meatballs

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


½lb Ground pork
½lb Ground beef
½lb Ground veal
1C Pecorino Romano, freshly grated
1 Egg
½C Italian parsley, finely chopped
½C Bread crumb
4 Garlic cloves
¼C Onion, chopped
¼C Milk
3T Olive oil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
4C Marinara sauce

Directions


In a large bowl place pork, beef, veal, Pecorino Romano, egg, parsley and bread crumb. In a food processor finely chop garlic, onion and milk together. Add chopped onion and 1T of olive oil to the meat and season with salt and pepper. Using your hands mix until all ingredients are well combined but be careful not to over mix. Form the meatballs into 2” balls.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2T olive oil. Working in batches, sear meatballs on all sides. Remove from pan and place meatballs in a large saucepan with marinara sauce and simmer over low heat for one hour.

Pasta

Lasagna

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Lasagna

The only lasagna recipe you will ever need. This seven layer lasagna is the perfect balance of richness and creaminess. It is my go-to dish for entertaining. You can make it a couple days ahead and it is sure to be a crowd pleaser. I owe this recipe to my momma, she taught me well with this one! It is a labor of love but everything good in life takes time and patience.

Bolognese sauce recipe.

Béchamel sauce recipe.

Lasagna

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


1 quantity Bolognese sauce
1 quantity Béchamel sauce
1 ½lb Fresh lasagna
2T Butter
2C Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

Directions

Prepare the Bolognese sauce. Prepare the béchamel sauce and combine with the Bolognese until they are evenly mixed.

Fill a pot with water, salt and a drizzle with olive oil. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook lasagna sheets 3-4 at a time for about 1 to 2 minutes each. Remove with a slotted spoon and lay sheets out separately on a dry towel.

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a large baking dish coat the interior with 1T of butter to stop the lasagna from sticking. Line with a single layer of cooked lasagna sheets. Cover with a layer of the Bolognese and béchamel sauce. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano, then add another layer of lasagna. Repeat until there are at least 6 layers. Spread a thin layer of the Bolognese and béchamel sauce on top, sprinkle with cheese and dot with remaining butter.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

Sauces

Béchamel Sauce

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Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel is a classic French sauce used in many dishes. Everything from soufflés to scalloped potatoes to mac and cheese to lasagna. It is quick and easy to prepare.

Béchamel Sauce

  • Servings: 2 Cups
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients


2 ½C Milk
4T Butter
½C Flour
Salt to taste

Directions

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is almost boiling.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add flour stirring quickly with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 1 minute.

Add half the hot milk, stirring constantly. Stir until the sauce starts to thicken and you have a smooth consistency. Add the rest of the milk and continue to stir until all lumps are gone. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. Season with salt.