Macaroni Grill's Carmella's Chicken Rigatoni

Taken from Lauren's Kitchen

Butter
8oz baby bella mushrooms
1/2 sweet onion caramelized
8 oz grilled chicken breasts (chunked)
salt and pepper
2t dried basil
4oz of Marsala wine
10 oz heavy cream
12oz rigatoni (cooked)
2oz shredded Parmesan

Melt butter in pan. Saute mushrooms, chicken, basil, caramelized onions salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add Marsala wine and cook for 1 minute.

Add heavy cream and bring to a boil for 2 minutes.

Dump cooked rigatoni in pan (if you have room in your pan. If not dump mixture over bowl of cooked rigatoni and mix.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Banana Bread Waffles

Taken from The Novice Chef

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. warm milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1½ tsp. yeast
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of ground clove
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 whole bananas)
2 tbsp. sour cream

In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, warm milk and vanilla extract. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, yeast, salt and spices. Whisk together to blend. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and whisk just until smooth. Whisk in the eggs until incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours. When you are ready to make the waffles, remove the batter from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. It should be about doubled in size and there should be small bubbles on the surface.

Add the mashed bananas and sour cream or yogurt to the batter. Whisk lightly to incorporate into the batter. Cook in a preheated waffle maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Serve as desired with maple syrup and banana slices.

Bubbe's Brisket

Taken from Not Your Bubbe's Kitchen

The ingredients:

2 cups yellow onion (about 2 medium large onions), sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large carrots, chopped

2 large celery stalks, chopped

1 bay leaf

2.5 lbs of beef brisket

1 tbsp kosher salt

cracked black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup of water

4 cups of pale dry ginger ale - it's about 1 liter.

1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar1/2 cup Ketchup

1/2 cup- brown sugar & hickory BBQ sauce

a touch of honey (maybe 1 tbsp-- yes, eye ball it)

4 Yukon gold potatoes, quartered

Slice the onions, mince the garlic. In the meanwhile, set your crockpot to high).

In your dutch oven or crock pot insert (make sure it's one that can be used on the stove top!), heat 1 tbsp of the oil.

Add the sliced onions and minced garlic until onions are translucent in color; and softer to touch.

Remove onions and garlic for the time being to a small bowl.

Add other tbsp of oil to crock pot. Season brisket with half the salt and some pepper. Place this

side down in the crock pot. Season the other side with remaining salt and more pepper. Let each side of the brisket cook on high for about 3 minutes- until the brisket is more brown and has a bit of a crust on it.

Next, add the onions/garlic back to the crock pot.

Place the crock pot insert into the crock pot. Add 1/4 cup water, 4 cups or so of ginger ale, the carrots, the celery, the ketchup, the brown sugar, the bbq sauce, the honey, and the bay leaf.

Cook this on high for 6- 8 hours. When it is done, place it in the fridge over night.

Wake up the next morning, and place it in your crock pot again. Add the quartered potatoes. Cook on high for 4 more hours.

In a small bowl, take 1 -2 tbsp of cornstarch and add some water- enough to dissolve the cornstarch. Add this mixture to the crock pot.

Now, set the crock pot to low for another 4 hours.