#sweetlysavory

[sweetlysavory]

It's about time I made the Baked Feta Pasta.

My question to my past self is: why didn’t I make this sooner?! I don’t usually do food trends, except this one on TikTok (from 2021) included everything I love: feta, tomatoes, and pasta. I made my own tweaks on it, and tried a new method for cooking pasta.

In honor of 1 year for Sweetly Savory's YT channel, which was a few weeks ago, I decided to do a food trend to celebrate! I settled on making the "Baked Feta Pasta" TikTok trend. I know that it was from last year, and it was really big – and then it kinda like fizzled off, but I'm here to bring it back! (or try to)

This was my version of the #TikTokBakedFetaPasta!

Method:

Start off by thinly slicing the onion, leaving it in long lanky pieces. I opted for onion instead of shallot in this recipe because of cost. What you get for a large shallot versus an onion is probably twice the price, and while we splurge with the feta, the onion swap isn’t too much of a deal breaker for me.

As for the block of feta I found that it was dang expensive. I usually get a pre-portioned container that’s only a few bucks, and I’ll most likely get it that way if I choose to make this recipe again.

I chose a lovely 8 inch by 8 inch glass baking dish for aesthetics, but you’ll see it makes it a little tough for mixing and bake times.

Finish adding all the seasonings, and it’s pretty enough to eat – not before baking in a pre-heated 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or 204 degrees Celsius, oven.

Bake time is going to vary from this video to what you cook, since everything was crammed in my baking dish….

Time for PASTA!

I learned of a new method to prepare pasta from Ethan Chlebowski, who’s incredibly in-depth video I highly recommend and I’ll link it below. The gist is to shorten cook time for the same al-dente result.

I won’t get into the specifics of it, as my results didn’t come out as expected. Here are a few take-aways from this first-time trial:

1. Don’t worry about weighing the pasta and water for exact ratios

I understand that cooking and baking do heavily rely on exacts and have experienced these results. But as a home-cook who doesn’t have the luxury of time (anymore), I tend to stick to tried and “true” methods. My prediction would be if you have enough water to cover the pasta, rather than weighing it out, you might get the same results. I say this because I follow the steps of using a shallow pan and checking the temperature for cook times. Which brings me to point number two:

2. Alternate pastas, gluten free or chickpea, cook differently

I cook chickpea pasta over regular pasta for the overall health benefits. Everything is fine in moderation, but I found for my diet, the best change I could make to still enjoy pasta was to swap in chickpeas. As you can see, the water gets far starchier than if it were prepared normally with the big pot of boiling water for 7 to 8 minutes. And for this application, I would at least try it the first time (or second time now) with regular pasta. With that being said:

3. Try this method a few times before disregarding it

Science wasn’t figured out in one day. Food science is the same way in my opinion. I’m learning new methods, like this one, all the time. I might tweak it by using the cast iron skillet, or just running the water over the pasta to cover instead of taking out the food scale. But I hope this part illustrates a new approach for you to try out cooking pasta.

Since the goal of the pasta was to cook it in about half the time, it’s going to be a while before the feta and tomatoes to be done. Originally this recipe was to bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Although this is a jam-packed dish, and I took it to check and stir, since it didn’t look like much was happening. Back in the oven it went for another 15 minutes.

I'm still asking myself: why didn’t I make this sooner?! Because this is *so* delicious! I don’t know why I waited. I am so mad at myself! But I’m happy now because I am definitely going to be making this again. I am going to be using a bit smaller block of cheese (or the crumbled kind), cause I realized that I had like 10 ounces or 14 when I only needed 8.

This pasta was different than the pasta that was used in the other video, and I had only tried out that method for the very first time. I’m definitely going to be testing this method a lot more.

I’m definitely going to be making this (again). *fancy dinner night*.

Make sure to subscribe to Sweetly Savory! Thank you and I will see you for the next food trend – a year too late with Sweetly Savory.

[sweetlysavory]

Hello YouTube!

It’s been a while, Tumblr, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been creating and learning new recipes - or skills. I’m teaching myself video production and launched a YouTube channel with the same name, Sweetly Savory! Check out my premier video in the link attached and like/share/subscribe to keep up. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvwI06zD5lY

[sweetlysavory]

Second Breakfast is real - and other brunch facts!

Over the last year, I’ve done a few breakfasty foods on Sweetly Savory… and even though I have the playlist “Brunch O’Clock” – I’ve neglected to cover what brunch is, where it originated from, and most importantly that Second Breakfast is *a thing*. Plus, I’ll share one of my easy go-to brunch dishes, shakshuka, that will be sure to impress.

Brunch, beautifully put by “Joy of Cooking: All About Breakfast and Brunch” authors Rombauer, Becker, and Becker, is a “charming social hour” which is the fusion of breakfast and lunch. This blending of two words was first used in late nineteenth century England, then spread to the United States in the 1930s.

With a traditional full English breakfast consisting of eggs, meat, baked beans, toast, and tomatoes, the American brunch most commonly features the Eggs Benedict.

Sources are conflicted on the dish’s origin. Delmonico’s in Lower Manhattan claim to have created it in 1860, later published as Eggs à la Benedick in 1894 by one of their former chefs, Charles Ranhofer. However, it could have been indirectly made by a New York Times food columnist’s uncle’s friend, by way of the Ranhofer recipe with “hard-cooked egg, and ham mixture” added to the hollandaise sauce. I’ll keep mine with the smooth hollandaise sauce, thank you very much.

I love Eggs Benedict as much as the next person, but one late breakfast dish I’ve really gotten into making recently is shakshuka – a Northwest African dish of poached eggs in a sauce of tomatoes spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Now before you say: “poached eggs – that’s why I get Eggs Benedict at a restaurant”, the preparation method is far from the pot of swirling boiled water.

Dice up ½ an onion, and sweat it down with some peppers, then garlic. Remember to only cook the garlic for about 30 seconds, it burns super quickly.

Toss in the spices now so the flavor can bloom, and aromatics are added to your cooking oil. This will infuse your whole meal.

Go ahead and add the canned tomatoes, and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring every so often. Make little wells in your sauce, and crack in 4 eggs.

Turn down the pan to low-ish, and cover with a lid, cooking the eggs until the white are set.

There are definitely “starters” or sauces that you could substitute if you’re short on time, or too hungover. I’ll link those below. Now, what is “Second Breakfast”? It is real, not just a meme of Pippin and Merry.

This meal in-between meals is popular in German, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, and Austria – to name just a few – and can be as simple as a cup of coffee and pastry. Or for farmers in rural areas, their first breakfast would be to get them going before taking care of the animals, followed by the second heartier breakfast after the morning chores are finished. These traditions most likely inspired Tolkien’s second breakfast mentioned in “The Fellowship of the Ring”, where Pippin is in shock that Aragorn has no idea Hobbit can have up to 6 meals a day including elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and *then* supper. If you think about the mid-day snack breaks of yogurt, or tea, and a bedtime snack – you are kind of eating like a Hobbit. Am I a Hobbit?

Sources/Inspiration:

“Second Breakfast”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_breakfast

“Brunch”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunch#cite_note-1

“Eggs Benedict”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggs_Benedict

“Joy of Cooking: All About Breakfast and Brunch”: https://books.google.com/books?id=yrTKLHbl4TkC&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false

“The Hobbit Trilogy Filming Locations”: https://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature/the-hobbit-trilogy-filming-locations/

“Shakshouka”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakshouka

“How to release more flavor from your spices.”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_eKEh52RVQ&t=92s

“Chunky Spicy Shakshuka”: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/recipes/chunky-spicy-shakshuka

Where to find Starters & Sauces:

Spicy Chunky Tomato & Pepper Pasta Sauce: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/spicy-chunky-tomato-and-pepper-pasta-sauce-065510

Shakshuka Starter Recipe: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/recipes/shakshuka

[sweetlysavory]

Not just another salad - this time it's three bean!

Here's a tried and true from the way-back times at the bagel shop - Three Bean Salad! I had lots of kidney beans to be used from the Cincinnati Chili episode, and chickpeas (because I'm the Chickpea Queen) - so insert a food pun here, and let's get started!

First off, the recipes I browsed to jog my memory of this salad after I bought the ingredients all called for canned green beans. I have nothing against canned vegetables, I just typically get frozen since my pantry shelves are filled with things like beans, tomatoes, and different vinegars. I’ve considered doing an episode on what I stock in my pantry – let me know your thoughts on those topics in the comments below!

Make sure to only cook your frozen green beans for about 7-9 minutes. You don’t want these over cooked and soft. Once done, drain and cool. They don't have to be completely dry

In your favorite mixing bowl, add together the rinsed beans, onions, and celery (remembering that towel to help with the cutting board!). If some of the slices are bigger than others – I cut them in half for uniformity.

These green beans are a tad long, and to make this salad less messy, I’ll just give them a rough chop down the middle. You might find some are already that size, just plop them on in!

I find mixing together a dressing in a measuring cup to be easiest – it’s one stop for measuring and … you guessed it! Mixing! Finish getting the dressing together so the spicy mustard can be added. Dry mustard can be used, and I have ground it up in the past, but ain’t nobody got time for that today.

And to make sure I was even headed in the right direction, I doled out a couple of tablespoons and tested this combo of oil and apple cider vinegar with mustard to make sure I wasn’t going to make a nasty dressing. Spoiler: it comes out quite delicious! In the end, I seriously recommend testing a dressing or sauce before committing to making a whole thing. You can add ingredients, but you cannot take away.

The final result came out delicious - the combination of honey and mustard really is a winner. I prefer that this recipe doesn't have granulated sugar, and that's probably what makes other versions of this salad a bit on the sweeter side and more cost effective for restaurants. Although, the tablespoon of honey feels sweeter at 64 calories. But if we have a tendency to add less, then the overall calories are decreased. According to the Division of Agriculture, Research & Extension: the same tablespoon of sugar has only 45 calories, but you're more likely to add that full tablespoon (and some if what you're making isn't sweet enough). Please use this information as food for thought, and read more on this topic in the embedded link.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Check out Sweetly Savory on YouTube for *fantastic* editing and live action versions of these recipes!

[sweetlysavory]

Buffalo Chickpea Sandwich with Roasted Broccoli

Did you forget to take something out for dinner tonight? Don't fret! Chickpeas to the rescue - Buffalo Chickpeas!! Toss 'em in the pan, and a little bit of buffalo sauce (or any other sauce you prefer like BBQ or teriyaki), with a dash of garlic powder -- you got yourself a quick sandwich or salad topper! Check it out in the link below and make sure to like, share, and subscribe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j4hA31T974

[sweetlysavory]

Cuban steak. It's what's for dinner. #sweetlysavory

[sweetlysavory]

Homemade VS. Store Bought | Salad Dressings

For the month of March, I gave myself the task of making some foods that you can easily buy at the store but make them at home! This week I decided to dive into salad dressing. I do have a salad dressing that I make on the regular, and the second dressing was inspired by the Chickpea Salad that I made a couple months ago. I have been *obsessed* with the flavor of mustard and maple syrup together with a little bit of dill and I decided to make that into a salad dressing!

The great thing about dressing is that it doesn't only have to be on salads - I put it on

HOMEMADE SPICY MUSTARD VINEGRETTE

4 tbsp spicy mustard

2 tbsp maple syrup

¼ cup white vinegar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp dill

1 tsp Montreal Seasoning, or to taste

HOMEMADE ITALIAN VINEGRETTE

1 packet Good Season Italian Salad Dressing

¼ cup vinegar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp water

Sweetly Savory YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9rtUhB_Jnjou5-qv1OxYqg

Sweetly Savory Facebook page – www.facebook.com/sweetlysavory

Sweetly Savory Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/sweetly__savory/

[sweetlysavory]

Trail Mix + Granola = Happiness!

Granola is a snack you can easily pick up at the store, but everything is already in your pantry! The month of March, I'm challenging myself to make somethings at home that can be easily bought at the store. I’m gonna start off with granola and revamp my recipe!

Make sure to check me out on YouTube by searching "Sweetly Savory" or this link:

TRAIL MIX GRANOLA:

2 cups old fashioned oats

6 tbsp brown sugar

¼ cup shredded coconut

¼ tsp cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg

1 cup trail mix, blitzed in food processor

4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

¼ tsp vanilla

1 tbsp maple syrup

Sweetly Savory Facebook page – www.facebook.com/sweetlysavory

Sweetly Savory Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/sweetly__savory/

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Taco Salad Thursday #homemade #sweetlysavory

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Mango Chutney Barbecue Chicken #sweetlysavory

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Always thankful for what's on my plate. #thankful #sweetlysavory

[sweetlysavory]

Homemade pumpkin spice muffins 🍁🍂💛#sweetlysavory #pumpkinspice