I’ve Moved!!!

I’m working to set up a 301, which will redirect you to the new site automatically, but for now just continue on to the following link:

ragamuffinrecipes.com

Thank you!!

Maura

spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, basil, and thyme

I’m definitely not blazing any trails here with a pasta-tomato-basil dish, but this one is worth posting. Here’s why:

I don’t know about you, but I tend to  add cheese to/”cheese-hance” nearly everything I eat. Yes, cheese makes several things immensely better, but I overdo it sometimes (“you know what this salad needs? a big-ass block of feta”).   Also, nothing is cuter than making the “keep going” gesture to a waitress who has just blanketed my parmesan-encrusted fish  with a formidable mound of grated cheese as my boyfriend looks on amazed/horrified.

So while I was making this, I had the full tub of romano out-ready to flip that bitch directly over the pot. But at the first pre-cheesehance taste, it was perfect. No cheese needed!  The pasta is fantastic in its pure, unpolluted simplicity. It’s very fresh but has substance, so you’re satisfied- a “meet me in the middle” when you’re torn between eating a garden salad or fried mac & cheese balls.

Ingredients:

1 lb spaghetti
2-3 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves (remove from sprigs)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Boil pasta in a large pot for however long the directions on the box dictate. Drain.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir for a 5 minutes on low heat. Serve. Sprinkle a little parm over it if you want. I did it anyway just out of habit.

apple ginger bourbon

 

This is perfect after a long, arduous day of frolicking at the farmers market, cooing at the toddlers in their little sweaters and boots, and stuffing your face with maple candy and caramel apples.  Take a load off, friend.

Ingredients:

3 oz. bourbon
6 oz. apple cider
6 oz. ginger beer

Serves 2

Directions:

Pour over ice in the above order.  Stir and serve.

Source: tampopo press

There are diet ginger beers available if, like me,  you prefer your drink sweet-but-not-too sweet.

 

This reminds me of long drives in the fall:

Homer at Millsite Lake last weekend::

Hot Damn, Hot Turkey! Sandwich

“Can I share with you my worldview? All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.”

-Tina Fey/Liz Lemon

People tend to neglect the healing power of a hot sandwich and solitude.  With that in mind, adding jalapeño peppers and sweet pickles to an otherwise unimpressive turkey sandwich, followed by salty kettle chips for a monstrous crunch, that will reverberate off the walls of your cubicle/workspace, seems like an ideal way to eat in peace… sweet, delicious peace.

Ingredients:

2 slices of 10-grain bread
4-5 slices of deli turkey
1 slice provolone cheese
2 tsp honey mustard, best quality (see exhibit A, B, and C)
2 tsp mayo
3-4 pickled jalapeño slices, finely diced
6 slices of sweet bread and butter pickles
a handful of regular kettle-cooked potato chips

Directions:

At Home:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spread honey mustard and mayo on the top slice of bread and the diced jalapeños on the bottom slice.  Add turkey and cheese. Wrap in tin foil and throw in the oven for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven, take off the bottom slice and add pickles and kettle chips. Eat immediately.

At Work:
Make sandwich with all ingredients except for pickles and kettle chips (pack separately) that morning.  Microwave sandwich for 30 seconds, add pickles and chips. Eat immediately.

I’ve made this sandwich both ways and it is equally amazing.  Love the sweet and spicy.  Hot Damn!

Pumpkin Bars

This right here is my favorite dessert of all time.   So good, that I asked my mom to make them for my 2nd grade class for my birthday in May, unaware that pumpkin products are generally restricted for another time of year- even more odd that I’d suggest a vegetable based dessert as the #1 choice out of EVERY treat in my sugar-addled kid brain.

These bars are adapted from the cookbook Applehood Motherpie and they are the most deliciously moist, fantastic cake bars with cream cheese frosting you will ever have. ever.

Bars:

1 (15 oz.) can of pureed pumpkin
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Frosting:

4 oz. (half of the package) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin in a medium bowl.  Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda and beat until smooth and thoroughly blended.

2.  Spread mixture evenly onto an ungreased pan. And based on the size, you can bake accordingly:

• 10 x 15 x 1 inch pan- bake for 20-25 minutes
• 9 x 13 x 2 inch or 10 x 13 x 2 inch pan- bake for 25-30 minutes

3.  For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in vanilla.  Slowly add confectioners sugar a little at a time, beating until mixture is smooth. Spread evenly on top of the cooled bars. Cut into squares.

Best BLT ever.

The BLT has always been the go-to sandwich when I have no idea what I want for lunch (or dinner..or breakfast).  It’s simple, fresh, and allows you to have a sizeable portion of fried pork fat deliciousness without feeling sluggish for the rest of the day.

Serves 2

Ingredients (sectioned by preparation):

5-6 strips of raw thick-cut bacon

1 beefsteak tomato, cut lengthwise (the direction where they look like tomato wheels)

2 cups lettuce (1 cup romaine, 1 cup arugula)
1 tsp of olive oil
lemon juice

4 slices of your favorite bread, toasted
1 tbsp mayonaise
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Line aluminum pan with 2-3 sheets of tin foil. Place bacon on foil and cook for  30 minutes or until bacon is brown or appears crispy on the sides.  Take out of pan and place on plate with a sheet of paper towel or napkin.

2. While bacon is in the oven, toss the lettuce with olive oil and a spritz of lemon juice and set aside.  Toast bread and spread mayonaise. Follow with a dash of salt and pepper.

3. After bacon has sufficiently cooled, assemble sandwich and laugh maniacally at how delicious it is.  Then throw away aluminum foil (yay no mess!!)

Bacon slam poetry with Nick Offerman:

Sweet Tomatoes, Cucumber & Goat Cheese with Balsamic Glaze

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Directions:

Slice cucumber and sweet heirloom tomatoes into 1/4 inch rounds. Spread desired amount of goat cheese on cucumber rounds and line them up. Place tomatoes between each cucumber. Drizzle balsamic glaze and olive oil, sprinkle fresh pepper, serve.

The Glaze:

You can usually buy balsamic glaze at a grocery store, but if not, here is a great recipe (source):

Combine 1 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

You might notice that the pictures are missing olive oil. I realized halfway through eating this that it was missing something.  So I added 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and it made the dish complete- as well as 100 times better.

soup muffins

Creamy soup baked inside of a warm biscuit-muffin thing. It’s the food equivalent to a warm hug from an old friend while you’re both wearing oversized sweaters.  They’re easy, cheap, and best of all: when baked, they natually assume the ideal soup-to-bread ratio.

Ingredients:
-3 cans condensed soup of choice (MVPs: broccoli cheddar, creamy tomato, chicken and broccoli, cream of mushroom)
-Bisquick
-Low-fat or skim milk
-Butter or cooking spray
-seasonings (shredded cheddar, bacon, chopped veggies…whateva you want)

Directions:

I’m going to follow the lead of the recipe source and do this step-by-step with photos. It’s much easier that way. Okay here we go:

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Grease large muffin tins (read: jumbo size) with butter or cooking spray.  Mix 2 cups Bisquick with 2/3 cup of milk. Break into 6 pieces and knead into cups.

Spoon soup into dough cups

Now mix 1 cup Bisquick with 2/3 cup water and pour over soup.

Bake for 25 minutes or until they get brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and eat

The last dance for white pants

 

Labor Day weekend is upon us. Time to give summer a proper farewell with this little diddy..

Peach Collins (serves 2):

4 oz.  peach vodka
4 oz. club soda
2 oz lemonade
1/2 ripe peach sliced
mint leaves for garnish
crushed ice

Pour 2 oz of vodka into each glass. Divide peach slices and lightly muddle the peaches until the drink is slightly cloudy.  I used this muddler from anthropologie. Add a ice, soda, lemonade and stir. Top with mint and serve

Summer favorite:

original recipe here

Happy Birthday Mom

A very happy birthday to my beautiful, smart, funny mom.   Here are some of her recipes that I posted over the last year:

Crab Dip (and dark n stormies)

Pesto Pasta with tomatoes, feta, and pine nuts

Ramen Slaw

Sautéed Zucchini and Summer Squash

and many more to come!

I wish I could ambush her with puppies today, but watching this lucky dude is a pretty close second:

Photo above: My mom at a John Legend concert this past summer