Recipes!!!

since moving out for college i've been getting more into cooking, so here are some of my favorite recipes :-) if there's a recipe you wanna see, let me know! i'm trying to get better at improv cooking, so it would be good practice to try and come up with a recipe from scratch.

Mushroom-Parmesean Ravioli

this was one of those recipes that became my dinner for like two months straight last semester. its super quick to put together (like 30 mins?) and its extremely tasty i LOVE this shit.

Ingredients:

• ravioli (any kind is fine, but the trader joe's ones are my favorite. if you don't have a trader joe's nearby, any frozen storebought will do. I recommend ones with spinach in the filling. also don't buy publix ravioli it's so fucking bad.)
• handful of mushrooms (shiitake, white button, wine cap, etc any will do)
• some kind of nut (i prefer walnuts or pecans)
• grated parmesean
• butter
• cayenne
• parsley (basil would probably also taste good)
• black pepper
• salt
• a little spring onion or shallot
• optional but recommended: if you can get your hands on it, the trader joe's mushroom umami seasoning is so good and it works rlly good for this recipe
• GARLIC!!!!

Steps:

1. BEFORE you do anything. take like a handful of the nuts you got, chop them then toast them in your pot that you're gonna boil the ravioli in. they're done when they smell nice. this saves you from having to wash another pan after you're done.
2. cook whatever ravioli you got according to the steps on the packidge, then strain and rinse with cold water.
3. while the ravioli is cooking, cube your mushrooms, dice your garlic, and slice your onion.
4. after the ravioli is done, wipe down your pot and put it back on the stove. add about a tablespoon or two of butter and brown it slightly (melt it and let it simmer until it turns light brown and smells nutty, should take ~2 mins)
5. toss in mushrooms, shallot (if using spring onion, reserve that for now), and garlic to sautee. add in pepper, cayenne, salt, parsley, and whatever other seasonings you want to taste.
6. when the mushrooms are done sauteeing, add the nuts and ravioli to the pot and toss to coat. if things start sticking, add more butter. once ravioli is warmed through, put into a bowl and top with spring onion (if using) and LOTS of parmesean. enjoy!!

CHICKEN POT PIE

this is my mom's recipe and it is so so so fucking good it will knock
your tits clean off. she was born and raised in the south and so was
i so you can trust this is authentic southeastern U.S. chicken pot
pie. this shit will feed you for like a week if you're the only one
eating it.

Ingredients:

• 1 (one) rotisserie chicken, torn to shreds (we will be making so much pot pie)
• 2-3 medium-size carrots
• 1-2 large potatoes
• 1/2-1 onion (white, red, or shallot. if you have a shallot i reccommend using it to suppliment white onion)
• mushrooms (i recommend shiitake)
• peas (frozen)
• corn (canned or frozen)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (or more. follow your heart)
• cayenne, onion powder, black pepper, and salt
• parsley and thyme
• butter
• a teeny bit of heavy cream or whole milk (or regular milk + a little extra butter)
• 1 can of cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup
• chicken broth (buillion cubes are cheapest so use that)
• pie dough
• 1 egg
• 1 big cast iron skillet OR 5-6 disposable 2 cup foil baking tins, for individual servings that you can freeze and reheat

Steps:

1. tear your rotisserie chicken to bite-sized shreds
2. cut your carrots into chips, slice your mushrooms, onion, and celery, peel + cube your potatoes, dice your garlic.
3. ok here is the trick that makes this thing so slappin right here: boil your carrots and potatoes in the chicken broth. once they are both soft (check with a fork) drain off the chicken broth and SAVE IT. put the carrots and potatoes in a dish to the side.
4. after that, get out a big pot, a dutch oven or the big cast iron skillet if you're using that (i prefer dutch oven bc it makes me feel like a wizard making potion) and melt some butter in it.
5. toss in mushrooms and onions to sautee. once those are close to done, toss in your garlic.
6. add in your chicken, peas, corn, carrots, and potatoes
7. add in the can of cream of celery/mushroom, some chicken broth (start with about 1/2-3/4 cup and then add to taste), and a little bit of heavy cream. the goal with the heavy cream is to get the filling to thicken, so if it's still too soupy after cooking it down a little bit, add in some more heavy cream.
8. add in your seasonings (cayenne, onion powder, black pepper, salt, parsley, thyme, and anything else you want in it)
9. now is the time to taste test. things that are good to tweak at this step are the amount of chicken broth, butter, and different seasonings. after that just let it cook down to the right thickness and your filling is done!
10. if you're using a skillet, leave the filling in there to cool a little bit and just put the pie crust on top. if you used a pot or dutch open, transfer to your pie tin or to your disposable tins, then put pie crust on top. (its ok if you wanna have pie crust on bottom too, just get one of those readymade tins with the crust already in it to save time)
11. seal edges with a fork and cut some ventilation holes with a paring knife. i did some hearts last time and my mom thought that was very cool :-)
12. make an egg wash (egg yolk + water) and brush the top, and (IF YOU HAVE IT) add some flake salt to the top of the egg wash. this shit is expensive and unnecessary so don't go out of your way for it but it's so good if you already have it. if you're doing the disposable tins skip this step and just go ahead and wrap them in plastic wrap and tin foil then chuck those bad boys in the fridge.
13. THEN chuck that thing in the oven as per the baking instructions on the pie crust. if there aren't any just do like 375F for 30 mins and keep an eye on it. if you froze the disposable tins and are ready to eat one now, put the frozen tin in the oven at 400F for 40 minutes. it will be nuclear hot and your cat WILL want it so be sure to be careful with it.
14. enjoy and give yourself a pat on the back bc that's a big recipe. finished pot pie that has already been cooked can also be frozen and reheated similarly and it will taste basically just as good as fresh.