Ravioli (revisited.. successfully)

Okay, you guys. My attempt at ravioli last time was rather unsuccessful. I had made it before (a LONG time ago, like in 2007!!!) with fresh wonton wrappers so I decided to try again with the right ingredients.

Filling:

• Ground chicken
• Egg
• Breadcrumbs
• Minced garlic
• Minced shallots
• Minced green onions
• Soy sauce
• Oregano
• Pepper
• Olive oil

I like to use a mix of egg & water as glue to hold the pasta together.

Pretty simple procedure. Take one wrapper, put a ball of the filling mixture in the middle of said wrapper, brush the egg & water glue all around the meat & place another wrapper on top. Be sure everything is tight–no air bubbles! Oh, and before I put another wrapper on top, I placed some freshly shredded parmesan cheese on top of the meat.

Refrigerate or freeze. Cooking time varies! If the ravioli is refrigerated, cook for about 6 minutes. Key thing — the water should NOT be boiling!!!! You don’t want the ravioli to tear and have all that yummy filling escape, do you??!

I whipped up a quick sauce as well.

• 1 large can of diced tomatoes
• Chicken broth
• Salt & pepper
• Oregano
• Garlic
• Shallots
• Olive oil
• Brown sugar (to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes)
• Red pepper flakes

I let this simmer for a while; the longer, the better. I prefer a nice, thick sauce but this turned out a little watery.

$ breakdown:

• $4 ground chicken
• $2 big can of diced tomatoes

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Baby back ribs (revisited)

I decided to try my hand at making my own barbecue sauce. I came across this recipe that is particularly good on pork. It turns out mustard & pork go hand in hand! It’s incredibly easy, too!

Mustard-based bbq sauce recipe (the measurements are just an approximation.. I relied more on the look & taste of the mixture):

• 1 cup of mustard (just regular yellow mustard works)
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 2 tbsp of olive oil or butter (I used olive oil)
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsbp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper

Cook everything together under low heat for about 1/2 hour. The mustard keeps the sauce thick and tangy.

As per usual, I cooked the baby back ribs in a slow cooker w/ the bbq sauce. I saved about 1/4 of the mixture for dipping afterwards. I don’t know if I’d recommend this sauce as a marinade. It’s much better as a dipping or basting sauce. I feel like I should’ve made a dry rub instead and slow cooked the ribs in an oven. Oh well, it was still tasty!

For sides, I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes with my own gravy & green beans.

Mashed potatoes:

• Boiled potatoes, mashed
• Butter
• Salt & pepper
• Chicken broth
• Cream cheese
• Roasted garlic, mashed **
• Green onions

** Take an ENTIRE bulb of garlic and cut it in half so that you can see the middle of the cloves. Sprinkle with salt liberally and place exposed-clove side up in an 350 degree oven for about 1/2 hour (or until the garlic is soft enough to mash).

Gravy:

• Butter & flour roux
• Green onions
• Shallots
• Mushrooms
• Chicken broth
• Salt & pepper

Green beans are easy. Just sautee w/ olive oil or butter, cook up some sliced shallots & sprinkle w/ salt & pepper. I had leftover roasted garlic cloves so I added that to the pan as well.

$ breakdown:

• 2 slabs of pork baby back ribs – roughly $7 (thank you, Chinatown!!)
• Mustard $1
• Green beans $2
• Potatoes $2 (for a 5 lb bag!)
• Cream cheese $2

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