Blimey Buffalo

Being that I'm a lover of all things buffalo, I found this recipe over the summer and absolutely loved it. I would seriously recommend serving it fresh out of the oven so that the cheese sauce isn't completely absorbed by the pasta and is still a gooey cheesy buffalo-ey mess. You might also want to double up on the cheese sauce so you don't have this absorbing problem However, if you have leftovers they're still just as good, I like to garnish it with left over hot sauce. 


Buffalo Chicken Pasta
1 pound pasta (I use whatever is in the cabinet, macaroni worked pretty well)
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and either cut into cubes or shredded (I like shredded)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup milk
4 ounces grated monterey jack cheese, more for topping
1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese, more for topping
1/3 buffalo wing sauce
Panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped green onions for topping (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cook pasta as instructions say on package

For cheese sauce, I am using the original measurements but I would recommend doubling it for a saucier dish.
While you're waiting on the pasta to cook, melt your butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When butter begins to bubble, add flour and mix to create a roux (or the base for your sauce) and cook for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. DO NOT let it get much darker, if it does, start over or your sauce will be all grainy and weird. At this point add the milk and turn the heat down to low while you mix, thickening the milk. Next, add the grated cheeses and stir until they've melted and sauce is smooth. Finally stir in buffalo sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray 9x13 baking dish with PAM. Add pasta and chicken to baking dish and pour sauce on top, then mix everything together until well combined. Sprinkle Panko crumbs on top then grated cheeses. I like to make a layer on top for a crunchy crust, so be generous. Bake for 25 minutes and top with green onions and hot sauce when serving. Enjoy!

Nuts for Nutella

In this next installment of the Nutella-holics series I bring you with great joy the Nutella filled cookie. That's right. Its a chocolate overload that you won't be able to stop munching on. Especially when they're fresh out of the oven. Which is how half my batch disappeared within half an hour of making them. There really isn't much more that I can say aside from GO MAKE THESE ASAP. Enjoy!

Chocolate Nutella Filled Cookies
1 cup butter (room temp, will be much easier to cream with sugar this way)
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1½ cups large semi-sweet chocolate chips
Nutella for filling (have a backup jar, I used way more than expected)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First off, according to the original recipe, you're supposed to use a mixer to cream everything together but with a lot of fast whisking and enlisting help from my taste testers' mixing arms I managed to do just fine without one and yield the same results. 

So, first cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs slowly and once those are incorporated and fluffy, slowly (and I mean slowly) mix in the cocoa powder. If you whip it around too fast you'll be fortunate enough to get a burst of cocoa powder to the face, which I did.

Next mix in the flour, salt and baking powder and once its blended add the chocolate chips. At this point it's going to be hard to mix by hand so put some muscle into it, don't be lazy or not all your cookies will have chocolate chips in them. 

Now, here comes the delicious Nutella part. There are two ways to put the cookies together and I found the original version to be much easier. One way is to take about 2 tablespoons in your hand and flatten it out then put a small dollop of Nutella in the center, then take the edges and fold them up and pinch them together to create a little capsule and place on a prepared baking sheet. This way worked best for me, and just to avoid getting the dough stuck to my hands I rubbed some flour into my hands every once in a while.

The other way is to take about 1 tablespoon of the dough and flatten it, then put the Nutella on top and place another piece of dough on top and pinch the sides together. I found this to be kind of messy when the Nutella would ooze out the sides, but your choice. 

Once you've got all your Nutella filled cookies set out (giving them about at least an inch or two between each other to spread out, stick them in the oven for about 13-16 minutes, though no more than that or else they wont be gooey inside. 

I would highly recommend that you serve them warm with a class of cold milk as my scavengers did for a late night snack. 

Finger Lickin' Good

Spanish Homage

I have reached over 1,000 views!!!! What better way to celebrate than give you one of my all time classics, Tortilla Española or Spanish Tortilla. 


Although not an exact replica of what Spaniards might be used to, I've altered it over the years to suit my kitchen availability and turned it into more of a casserole although preferably I would use a spring form pan and slice it like a pie. 
This dish is primarily egg and potato based with some seasoning and as I like it, chorizo, or spicy sausage. I've been making this recipe since my mom first tried it out when I was in high school and I was addicted. Then I began experimenting with it and rarely ever had it fail on me. 
What I love about this recipe is that its very easy to personalize for the crowd you are serving, depending on their likes, and works great as either a side dish, breakfast dish, or even your main dish. It might not be the most healthy thing I've ever put up here but oh my is it tasty and it wins over any crowd.

Tortilla Española- Spanish Tortilla
Depending on your cookware makes 8-12 servings
*Can be made with sweet or normal potatoes


3-4 large normal or sweet potatoes 
4-6 eggs (depending on how eggy you like it may be more, I've used up to 7 or 8)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 cloves garlic, diced
1 Chorizo Sartra Picante (spicy Spanish sausage, spicy Italian works just as well, but its not as dry)
herbs and seasonings of choice (rosemary, parsley, basil, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper) I use lots!


Slice potatoes into bite sized cubes, about equally sized so they all cook evenly; slice sausage into small pieces. In a medium bowl, mix the grated cheese, eggs, garlic, and seasoning. Beat well. 
Using no cooking oil, cook the sausage in a large pan (the oil from the sausage will be left in the pan to cook the potatoes). Set sausage aside in separate bowl, keeping the oil in the pan! Add the potatoes to the pan and saute until they are just under cooked (they'll finish cooking in the oven)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
While the oven heats up, make a little crater in the potato pan and add the sausage. Then pour the egg mixture on top and slowly mix making sure to incorporate everything together. Be careful however to let egg cook on the bottom of the pan, otherwise it wont make a coat the potato and sausage. 
Pour mixture into a sprayed springpan or casserole dish and pat down evenly. Put in oven for about 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. Serve warm. Enjoy!