Lemon Garlic Pasta

I'm a glutton for carbs. Pasta and bread should be the base to all meals. Today, for the first time, we made Lemon Garlic Pasta using this recipe as a starting point. It doesn't look like much, but damn, it was good.

What we used:

1/4 olive oil, plus
half a head of garlic, roasted
crushed red pepper
lemon juice
spaghetti 

Look at how easy that is, and likely you have most of those ingredients.

To roast the garlic, I preheated the oven to 350, and peeled about half a head of garlic. Stuck it in an oven safe ramekin, and covered the cloves in olive oil (that was the plus) and covered the ramekin with tin foil. Roasted for about 40 minutes, making sure to shake it every 10 to 15 minutes so they didn't bake to the bottom of the dish.

When the garlic was approaching done, I started boiling the water for my pasta. We usually buy a five pound box of spaghetti, so I measured out 3.5 servings for the two of us.

By the time the water started boiling the garlic was done. Pulled it out to cool while I added the pasta to the water. The garlic was so soft that it turned into a garlic paste, an affect I wasn't expecting, but it turned out great.

1/4 cup oil and roasted garlic got heated up, on high, in a frying pan. Once it was heated up, about 4 minutes, I added the lemon juice and red pepper. I didn't bother dirtying measuring spoons for this, I just squirted, and Jonathan just shook, until it looked like enough. Heat that for another few minutes.

Once the pasta was done, and drained, turned down the heat on the frying pan and mixed the spaghetti right into the sauce.

I had bough a brick of Parmesan cheese to grate over the top, but I forgot about it. For a warm dish it tasted surprisingly crisp and refreshing.

Next time, if keeping it vegan/vegetarian friendly, I'd like to add asparagus to the dish, the added color and texture would help round it out, not to mention add some nutritional value. Otherwise, grilled chicken would be a great protein.

I grew up loving buttered noodles, but after this, I think I'll take a few extra steps to making something that is just as comforting but tastes better and leaves me feeling less greasy.

Beef and Broccoli

Last night, actually most of this coming week, we opted for recipes that aren't on the regular rotation for our dinner menu. One, because pasta is cheep, and two, chicken is on sale.

Now granted, beef and broccoli have little - but mostly nothing - to do with chicken, though you could probably swap one for the other fairly easily with this recipe, so the chicken is really for a few meals later int he week, we'll get to those... eventually.

Linked right here is the original recipe. The thing is, I didn't get around to reading it until after I purchased the ingredients and started cooking. I've got it attached to my Pinterest Board Food-Yum! and just below the picture is a quick break down of all the ingredients... somehow I managed to look right past all the low-sodium bits.

That's neither here nor there, it turned out pretty damn awesome, which is good because I really hated parting with $8 for the sesame oil. Doesn't feel so bad knowing it will be used again (the sesame seeds we forgot all about so, there's that.)

We used:

1.5 pounds chuck roast, about 1/4 inch slices and then cut those in half
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 small white onion quartered (the yellow ones just didn't look good)
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/3 cup brown sugar (light, I just double checked, it's what we had)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 tbsp corn starch

First, measure out the broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar and add them all to a mixing bowl.

Next, quarter your onion and mince the garlic. Put the onion in your slow cooker, and the minced garlic in the bowl.

Now it's time to cut the meat. The original recipe calls for it cut first, but doing it after cutting the vegetables, means one less wash for your cutting board - unless of course you don't mind cutting up produce on a board soaking in cow blood, then by all means. Add it to the slow cooker when you're done.

Whisk together everything in your bowl and pour it on top of your meat and onions.

Set the slow cooker to low and let it chill for 3.5 hours.

After you've washed your car, gotten the mail, folded some laundry, talked to your mom on the phone, or played Farmville for several hours, scoop out about a 1/4 cup of the broth and mix in your corn starch, add it back to the pot. I added the broccoli right on top, so it would keep it's bright color. (I also had it thawing in a colander for about thirty minutes.)

Once, that's all in the slow cooker, cover it up, and crank it up to high. 45 minutes and the broccoli is heated through and just starting to go tender.  

Last night we had it over pasta, but there were some leftovers I'll take for lunch and I plan to make some rice for that. I'd say this serves about six, we both went back for seconds, and there should be enough for two lunches.

The only thing I would do different, and Jonathan agrees, would be adding mushrooms. Though, I'll have to experiment with putting them in for the whole time, or adding them at the end like the broccoli.

Beanless Chili

Hello there wild cats. Just kidding.

There are things out there that I like in theory, but not in practice, chili happens to fall on that short list. I'm pretty sure I brought up my aversion to beans in a previous post, so I wont bore you with it here.

About a week ago I attempted to make Chipotle Steak Chili and to my surprise (considering the ingredients) it turned out really good.


So here ya go:

3 lbs of chuck steak
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium yellow onions
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (you will find this in the Mexican section)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cloves garlic
32 ounces of beef broth
3 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
1 (1 ½ inch) cinnamon stick
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Cut your steak into bite-size pieces of meat. Sprinkle with salt.



Remove a couple of chipotle peppers from the can and slice them in half. Use a fork and knife to pull the peppers apart. Remove the seeds and discard. Be careful when handling these peppers because they are hot. Finely chop peppers until you have enough for the recipe. Set aside.



In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add your onions and cook 2 minutes. Then add your meat, chipotle peppers, spices and cocoa powder. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add cornstarch, garlic, tomato paste and ½ cup beef broth and cook 1 more minute. Then add remaining broth, water and cinnamon stick.


Bring to a light boil for 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick after 30 minutes. You just want it to enhance the soup, not overwhelm it.


Now add the chopped red bell pepper. Place a lid on pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Serve over rice.


~

The first time I made this, I did a half batch. It was perfect for just myself and my partner in crime. We ditched the chipotle peppers for some jalapenos, and cut the amount of onions by half. We felt it needed a bit more kick to it, so we'll be experimenting with the full batch we are making tonight. Added a serrano pepper to the mix and a bit more chili powder. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

This may be the most time consuming meal I've ever made, and I've prepared a full on, four course, French meal with three other people in my kitchen. It's about 30-45 minutes to measure and cut everything, and another two hours plus to let everything simmer together and make magic. And you've got to be there to stir and add and subtract along the way. Not a complaint mind you, just an observation to keep in mind when planning to make this. If you want dinner hot and ready by 6pm, don't start cooking any later than 3pm.

This is more on the soupy side, so I add extra corn starch to thicken it up. About 30 minutes before it's done simmering I'll add some to the pot depending on how much of the broth has boiled off. This is also a good time to start the rice if you use the minute variety, and put some corn biscuits provided by the dough boy in the oven.

The above directions have been copy and pasted from the site I found the recipe on, did you notice that the recipe calls for diced tomatoes but doesn't tell you when they go in? Good, glad I'm not crazy. I've been adding them with the chopped bell pepper. Seems to work.

Doughnuts

I love a good Chinese buffet, hell, I love a bad Chinese buffet, but most of all I love the fried bits of dough rolled in sugar that passes as a doughnut.

Years and years ago, at my request, I got a Fry Daddy for Christmas. Oh, how I love that little black pot. So many delicious things have come out of its sizzling oil. Today it was doughnuts. I wish I had taken a moment longer to think about my "lunch" before wolfing down its sugary hotness, because then I would have a picture of how delectable this is. But alas, I was too quick to eat, and a photo will have to wait until I make these tasty little treats again.

This recipe is easy-peasy:

9 Rhodes dinner rolls
2 tbsp sugar
vegetable oil

1) Set out he dinner rolls to rise. Time will very on temperature of room. (And possibly altitude?) About 2-3 hours.
2) Once rolls are good to go plug in your Fry Daddy to heat up, or heat up vegetable oil, about an inch deep, in a sauce pan.
3) Divide each roll in half and shape how you like. Ball them up, flatten them out, roll them into a tube, whatever floats your boat.
4) Place in hot oil until they are golden brown. About a minute if the oil is hot enough, and you may have to flip to fry both sides - they like to float.
5) Once they are cooked pull them out and let them cool down enough to handle. Once cool, roll around in sugar.

And just like that you have homemade doughnuts. I plugged in half the batch (9 doughnuts) to MyFitnessPal and got this for nutrition info - though, I wouldn't accept this as truly accurate information, just an approximation - Calories: 614 Carbs: 99 Fat: 21 Protein: 9 Sodium: 585 Sugar:22

These would also be good with: honey (I'm a fan of orange honey), nutella, peanut butter. frosting... whatever you can think of.

Genius Whole Roasted Cauliflower

This recipe has become a favorite. It's great all on its lonesome or makes a savory side dish. I served it for Thanksgiving with Jonathan's parents last year, but it would also be great as a side with grilled steak or pork chops.

Here is the link for the original recipe, for I didn't have a hand in creating this:

https://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/genius-whole-roasted-cauliflower-125800655.html






2 1/2 cups dry white wine 1/3 cup olive oil plus more for serving 1/4 cup kosher salt 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon sugar 1 bay leaf 1 head of cauliflower, stem trimmed and leaves removed
 
1. Heat oven to 475° F. Bring wine, oil, salt, lemon juice, butter, red pepper flakes, sugar, bay leaf, and 8 cups water to a boil in a large pot.
2. Carefully lower in cauliflower, reduce heat, and simmer, turning occasionally, until a knife easily inserts into center, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Using 2 slotted spoons or a mesh strainer or spider, transfer cauliflower to a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan, draining well.
4. Roast, rotating pan halfway through, until brown all over, 30 to 40 minutes.
5. Transfer cauliflower to a plate. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with whipped goat cheese (recipe below).

Jonathan and I aren't wine drinkers, so this was the hardest part of the recipe, parting with $10 for a cheap, but not too cheap, bottle of wine, in which a third of it goes to waste because we don't drink it. After realizing how delicious this dish was, and that neither one of us would mind it on a regular rotation, we opted for a boxed wine. We are currently using Big House: Chardonnay. Cuts down on the cost, and the all the wine is used instead of having part of a bottle go to waste.

Sometimes the kitchen just isn't as prepared as you want it to be. Like lemon juice, it worked out well because I had just purchased some fresh squeezed orange juice and it made a fine substitute.

We've taken to adding asparagus to the recipe. We happened to have bought too much for dinner the day before, and the cauliflower was on the small side, so we lined the bottom of our roasting pan with what was left. Ladled some of the broth over the asparagus an nestled the cauliflower on top.

I like to use less of the crushed red pepper, about a 1/2 a tablespoon, otherwise it can be a bit over powering.

Whipped Goat Cheese

4 ounces fresh goat cheese 3 ounces cream cheese 3 ounces feta 1/3 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for serving Coarse sea salt (for serving)
 
1. Blend goat cheese, cream cheese, feta, cream, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor until smooth; season with sea salt.
2. Transfer whipped goat cheese to a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Note: Whipped goat cheese can be made one day ahead.
3. Cover and chill in the refrigerator.

The feta tends to come in 4oz packages, so we use the whole thing. This makes a great spread on fresh-from-the-oven bread or even on a toasted bagel.  We also skip the salt entirely.

Introduction

I'm no Rachel Ray or Julia Child, but I do love to cook. Several people have gone on record (figuratively) to say that I'm a picky eater, but it's really not that true. Yes, there are things that I don't like and wont bother to try; beans for instance, their mushy/mealy texture need to stay far away from my pallet. But, I do like trying things, sometimes it works, sometimes it's good to know what should not be on the menu ever again.

I've taken to Pintrest and AllRecipes.com to find new dishes to try based on whatever I or my partner might be in the mood for. Yet, sometimes the hoops required to find those recipes again and again can be tedious. Pintrest, for instance, shows you the yummie picture but sometimes it can be as much as four other links to actually get at the information needed to make the food. Plus, the occasion where you've found something that looks fantastic but the link no longer exists when you come back to it - so, annoying. 

Then, there are the tweaks. Sure, I can write stuff down, but physical cookbooks are limited to their space, and I manage to loose every set of notes I take.  Often meals get tweaked because of likes, dislikes, or simply having to improvise because you've already been to the store two too many times that day.

The biggest reason for the blog is because I like sharing. I may not be able to share every prepared meal with others, but I can share how to do it.