Crunchy, light pillows of ricotta cheese filling dipped in a delicious Marinara Sauce. How does that sound to you? When my Co-Worker, Kelly, described this delicious appetizer her eyes were rolling in the back of her head. "It's the buttermilk that gives that nice tang", she said. Kelly is my kind of woman. She's a foodie, just like me. Sometimes, the two of us describe what we're craving, or what we made and it's a language that nobody else we work with can fully understand. We foodies are a strange breed, aren't we? Am I the only one whose pulse rate goes up, when I describe flavors and the other person understands? This is the language of food love. Kelly speaks it. I get it. So, I had to make these. I bought a package of fresh cheese ravioli. I made my own marinara sauce, which doesn't take that long. Sometimes I stock Trader Joe's Tuscan Marinara Sauce for a quick meal. I'll still love you if you don't make your own-- but try it sometime! It's not that hard! What else? I have basil growing in the backyard. Buttermilk is a staple in my fridge. I was psyched. Plus, Craig and I were having a vegetarian as a dinner guest. I decided to GOOGLE "Fried Ravioli" and there was Giada's recipe. Giada uses buttermilk, but I had to make a couple of changes. I'm like that, at times. I swim against the current. So, here we go:
Instead of using Italian breadcrumbs, I decided to try using Panko Crumbs. Kelly has never used them. Welcome to the world of golden crunch, folks. I love panko crumbs, and I stock up on them whenever they are at Trader Joe's. They're actually easy to find in the international section of your grocery store.
I seasoned the Panko crumbs with my own blend of Italian seasoning. It's so much cheaper to make my own, since I already have dried herbs on hand. If you don't have panko crumbs, use regular breadcrumbs. Again, I make my own breadcrumbs with a food processor. It's a great way to use stale bread.
This is 1% Buttermilk. I figure I can cut a fat gram or two, since I'm will be deep frying in oil! Ha! Speaking of oil, Giada uses olive oil. Well, that's a bit pricey for me. I use peanut oil, which I buy in bulk. You can use vegetable oil, too. Start heating the oil until it reaches 325 degrees. Use a thermometer. Keep an eye on it, and if you have kids-- keep them at a safe distance.
Soak the ravioli in the buttermilk, for less than a minute. I figured four per person...
Dip.
Repeat.
I refrigerated these until my guest was ready to arrive. Then, I got the oil heated and preheated the oven to WARM. Prepare a plate with some paper towels...
I love this tool for deep frying, or even fishing out cooked pasta. Have some Parmesan cheese waiting...
Very carefully, slip the ravioli into the oil...
Cook them in batches so that they don't crowd. Turn them over when they are golden on one side-- about 3-4 minutes.
Almost there...
Carefully remove and set on a paper towel. Keep them warm in the oven.
These suckers blew up like a blowfish! No worries...
They smell incredibly good....
Now grate some fresh Parmesan all over!
Taste test. I'm diving in. Crunch.
VERDICT: Crunchy. Surprisingly, very lite and not greasy or heavy. Cheesy. The marinara sauce brings it home. Our guest really liked them. So did I. Kelly, you're a very smart woman. Muwaaaaah!
While I make my own Marinara sauce and seasoning mix, I don't make my own Ravioli. That is still on my recipe bucket list. One more thing-- I was surprised at how little oil this recipe really used. I filter my oil and our it back into a bottle. It can be reused a few more times. I'm posting a printable recipe at the bottom of this post, plus how I make my own Italian seasoning and Marinara sauce. I have no Italian DNA in me, that I know of. It doesn't matter. I love Italian food!
"Learn how to make pickles" has been on my recipe Bucket List for a long time. It's somewhere between "Learn how to make sourdough bread" and "Learn if there is such a thing as non-fat Puff Pastry". Me thinks I'll never find the answer to the last thing on my list, but one can only hope. While shopping at my local farm stand, I asked "Sarah" if I still had more time for their organic fresh-picked strawberries. I have learned how to make my own jam, and I want to be sure my cupboards are stocked with Olallieberry Jam, Strawberry Jam, Apricot-Pineapple jam and-- my personal favorite-- Raspberry Jam. Sarah didn't hear me say "strawberries" so she blurted out that if I wanted pickling cucumbers that I'd better get them now!
So the moment had arrived. It was time to kick the bucket... the list, that is! So, I grabbed some cucumbers, hoping that I had enough. When I arrived home, I went to my most trusted source of recipe sources...Food Blogs! There are a lot of ways to make Bread & Butter Pickles, but I wanted something easy. Smitten Kitten provided the perfect recipe for me! So, here are the six ingredients I needed, most of which I had on hand. Well, one onion could count for seven, but I count that as a vegetable.
These are a pound of picking cucumbers...
I have a cute little crinkle cutter, so I decided to put it to good use. These are about 1/4" thickness. You could use a mandoline, or a sharp knife. I used a mandoline to slice the onion very thin...
Well, now my math is off! You need salt, so that makes eight ingredients! I used kosher salt. I've heard of picking salt, but I didn't want to invest in too many ingredients, in case my first attempt at pickle making was a flop.
Give this all a nice "mix" and...
...cover with ice and relax for two hours.
Now, drain the the cucumbers and, then, put them in a pot. Grab a smaller pot and turn the stove to medium-high heat...
...and add the coriander seeds, mustard seeds, tumeric, and celery seed. Bring to a boil, and pour over the cucumbers. Bring the pickles and juice back, just to a boil, and remove from heat.
NOTE: When I first tasted the pickles, I thought that I misunderstood, and should have rinsed the salt. They were salty! I later realized there was no need to panic. These didn't taste like what I had hoped until a few hours later.
I decided to boil some water, and do the water bath method for canning. I could hear the lids "ping" as the cooling of the jars sealed the pickles. I left one jar, unopened, because I made "Sliders" and I thought the pickles would be a perfect test drive with these:
VERDICT: So, how were the pickles? Craig loved them. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of dill pickles. If pickles are mistakenly put on my burgers, I confess that I will quickly remove the offending condiment. But these pickles are very different. My son, who has inherited my dislike of dill pickles refused to try one. I gave him those "Mama Guilty-Puppy Eyes". He ate one. Then another. These are sweet, but not overly sweet. Many recipes I saw use a lot more sugar. Increase or decrease, according to your taste. Just keep two things in mind-- the saltiness mellowed by the next day. The sweetness increased by the next day. There's a nice bonus to eating these pickles-- I love it when I bite into a coriander seed. Mmmmm!
This weekend, I hope that Sarah still has some cucumbers for me. I'm making more. If you're on my Christmas list, please pretend you didn't see this post. It might be in your gift basket.
The printable recipe is at the bottom of this post. So, what's on your Recipe Bucket List?
According to anthropologists, about 2.3 million years ago, humans began "dining with dogs," or at least scavenging the same carcasses. Because meat has more calories and fat, our brains, which are high energy users, responded well to it. While our brains enlarged, our guts shrank, allowing us to spend more time on higher brain activities like making better tools.
This doesn't mean that vegetarians are dumber. It does, however, mean that they may have less energy than meat-eaters. Fortunately, there are many brain-healthy foods for all types of eaters ranging from carnivores to vegans. Some of the best brain-healthy foods include omega-3 fatty acid-rich foods such as salmon, walnuts, and flaxseed; antioxidant-packed foods such as berries and crucifers; and whole grains such as barley and oats.
So if you're looking to eat your way to a smarter you, then consider getting yourself a copy of the newly released cookbook, Thinkfood: Recipes for Brain Fitness. Posit Science (a leader in brain training software) joined forces with 50 bloggers, including me, to create this cookbook, featuring 50 unique, delicious, brain-healthy recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts. You can also sign up for their free email Recipe of the Week campaign; each Wednesday you'll receive a brain-healthy recipe, meet the blogger who created it, and get tips about brain-fitness foods.
Brain-healthy recipe: Quick Italian Tuna and Olive Pasta; photo by Posit Science
My family has been eating Quick Italian Tuna and Olive Pasta for as long as I can remember, not because tuna is high in brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids, which it is, but because it's simple, delicious, and Italian. Tuna is also rich in both B-vitamins which help improve your energy and memory and tryptophan which helps you sleep.
Since my parents will be reading this post, I have a feeling my mom will be making Quick Italian Tuna and Olive Pasta a lot more often. Mensa better get ready for the Russo's.
Here are other brain-healthy recipes from Food Blogga you might enjoy:
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