Creamy Fettuccine with Leeks, Corn, and Spinach

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Are you ready for an easy and delicious main dish?  This is it!  I love summer meals because I tend to make lighter, fresh dishes and this one was a hit all around in my family. 

CREAMY FETTUCCINE WITH LEEKS, CORN, AND SPINACH

Serves 4-6

16 oz fettuccine

1 TB olive oil

2 leeks (white and light green parts) cut into thin half-moons

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or minced if you prefer)

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 C corn kernels (from 1-2 ears, or frozen)

1/2 C low sodium chicken broth

1 C heavy cream

3 C baby spinach

1/3 C grated romano or parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the leeks, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the spinach, corn and broth and simmer until the corn is tender and spinach is wilted, 2 to 3 minutes; stir in the cream.

Add the pasta, season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, and toss to combine.  Sprinkle with the cheese before serving. 

TIP ON LEEKS: Leeks tend to be pretty dirty and gritty if not washed properly.  After chopping your leeks, place them in a bowl filled with cold water and allow to soak for about 5 mintes, occassionally breaking them up and moving around a bit with your hands.  After 5 minutes take them out of the water by skimming them off the top.  Just place them on a towel to drain.  You don't want to drain them by pouring it all in a colander because the bottom of your bowl will have all the dirt in it.  Gets them nice and clean!

Buttermilk Biscuits

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I'M BACK!!!  Wow has it really been almost 4 months?  I'm so happy to finally be moved to Utah and moved into our new house.  Buying a house is even more stressful than I imagined!  I am in love with this home and especially my new kitchen.  The home was built in 1964 but the kitchen has been completely remodeled and it is a dream.  Hickory wood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, knotty wood walnut cabinets-FOR REAL!  Sounds like I'm talking about someone else's house.  Anyway, I'm out from under the mountains of boxes and paper and cooking up a storm.  

A few weeks ago Ben and I watched an episode of Bobby's Brunch on the Cooking Channel.  He made homemade buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy that left us drooling.  We used to make that all the time when we were newlyweds and I had totally forgotten about it.  How did I forget about that?!?!  The only thing different about the way I made them 11 years ago was that I always used canned biscuits.  Any kind of homemade bread product like rolls, pie crust, biscuits, etc has always been so intimidating to me.  In fact, I remember trying to make homemade biscuits back then and they were hard as a brick! 

I didn't use Bobby's recipe because I was missing an ingredient but remembered I had this one saved from a blog.  The blog is called http://www.foodpeoplewant.com/ and the writer got this recipe from the New York Times.  Let me tell you that I am a changed woman.  These were so super easy and fun to make!  I had such a feeling of accomplishment and they were delicious!  If I can make these, anyone can so try them soon.  Oh, and just a little tip on the buttermilk.  I know it's not an ingredient that is used often so I buy the biggest container at the store then freeze it in 1 cup portions.  It freezes well and you will always have it on hand.  Don't forget about my Buttermilk Pancakes recipe too!

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
http://www.foodpeoplewant.com/

Makes about 8 biscuits

Making your own baking powder by combining fresh cream of tartar and baking soda will produce biscuits with the most lift. Don’t be afraid of the hot oven temperature either as this will allow the heat to get on the biscuits quickly and sufficiently brown their tops. When forming the dough, mix in the buttermilk until the mixture just holds together. The last thing you want to do in this recipe is overwork the dough and ruin the biscuits flaky, buttery texture.
INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/2 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons packed lard or unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces (I used unsalted butter)
1 cups chilled cultured buttermilk, plus more as needed
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

METHOD:
Place a rack in the middle position of the oven and preheat to 500°.

Make your own baking powder by sifting together the cream of tartar and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the lard or butter and quickly work the pieces into the flour with a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers. The pieces should be coarsely blended and resemble large peas.

Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk. Quickly mix the ingredients until the mixture just begins to come together. Add 2-4 more teaspoons of buttermilk if the mixture seems dry.

Immediately turn the dough out onto to a generously floured surface and quickly knead the dough about ten times until a ball forms. Gently flatten the dough and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough out a thickness of 3/4 inch.

With a fork that has been dipped in flour, pierce the dough at half inch intervals before using a fluted, 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter to stamp out the biscuits. When you have run out of room to stamp out more biscuits, carefully reform the dough and press out as many as you can.

Arrange the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet (or spray pan with cooking spray) and bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and brush the tops with the melted butter.