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Archive for the ‘Tasty Tidbits Tuesday’ Category

Pasta with Vodka Sauce & Chicken-The Macaroni Marathon Marches On

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , on February 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Pasta with Vodka Sauce & Chicken

Pasta with Vodka Sauce & Chicken

Not every meal can be made with fresh ingredients, although probably our European counterparts might argue otherwise, especially the French.  But then again, this from a country where even ordinary people have 4 weeks vacation and probably don’t work till 6 or 7:00pm every night.  So since we Americans like to work so much, we have to compensate by making up the time somewhere else, like preparing the evening meal.  Of course here in NYC where people routinely work late, they just don’t bother to cook;  You can hardly find a kitchen in The City that doesn’t have a drawer, box or folder full of take-out menus!  Anyway, this recipe is for those times when getting dinner on the table quickly is a necessity.   Paired with some pan-steamed broccoli, this makes a lovely weeknight meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb penne rigate (or any lined pasta) cooked per pkg directions

1 24 oz jar of Vodka Sauce

1 TBS olive oil

1 pkg (2 breasts) of garlic marinated chicken breasts**

1 TBS basting oil*

1 TBS butter

4 tsp shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

* Basting oil (Wegman’s) can be made by adding garlic powder, thyme and parsley to canola oil

** Wegman’s sells the chicken breasts already marinated, you can do so the night before in some  olive oil, garlic, lemon juice.  Forget the fennel unless you have some.

DIRECTIONS:

Simmer sauce on low in small saucepan.

Heat olive oil in large pan on MEDIUM-HIGH, until oil fairly smokes;  add chicken. Turn over when chicken changes color one-quarter of way up and seared side has turned paper-bag brown, 3-4 minutes.  Reduce heat to MEDIUM; cook chicken 10-12 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165°.

Add basting oil and butter to pan; swirl.  Baste chicken with spoon, 1-3 minutes. Transfer to clean platter. 

Toss pasta with warm sauce. Divide evenly on 6 plates, top with sliced chicken. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.  I used a platter (family style).

Recipe from Wegman’s Menu magazine

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Whole Wheat Pasta with Vegetables and Lemon The Macaroni Marathon Continues

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Martha Stewart Living 2005

Martha Stewart Living 2005

This is a versatile dish that is seasonless;  It is as good cold as a pasta salad as it is warm for a weeknight supper.  This is a great vegetarian pasta with some added health benefit from the whole wheat pasta.  I have to admit, I just can’t rave about whole wheat pasta, I don’t like it.  Maybe I have to force myself to eat it consistently and perhaps then I will appreciate its flavor.  Flavor? Hah, I don’t think it has much but then again I am a big fan of Barilla pasta.  So either follow the recipe to the letter or do I as often do, which is mix the whole wheat shells with regular shells – hey it only makes the dish more interesting!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

10 oz asparagus trimmed and cut into 2 1/2″ pieces

1 lb. whole wheat shell-shaped pasta

2 TBS plus 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot finely chopped

1/3 cup white wine

Finely grated  zest of 1 lemon, plus 3TBS fresh lemon juice (1 lemon total)

2 1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 cups baby arugula (about 1 oz)

2 oz yellow grape tomatoes or other cherry-type tomatoes, halved (1 cup)

2 TBS freshly grated ricotta salata

2 TBS chopped fresh chives

Freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook edamame and asparagus in boiling water until just tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

Bring large pot of water to boil, add pasta, cook until al dente.  Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.

Heat 2 tsp oil in large skillet or braising pan over med heat.  Add shallots, cook stirring occasionally until translucent, about 4 minutes..  Add wine, bring mixture to a boil.  Cook until liquid is reduced by half.  Add lemon juice, edamame, asparagus, pasta and 1 cup reserved liquid.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt.  Toss well.  Add arugula and tomatoes, toss.  Top with ricotta salata and chives.  Drizzle with remaining 2 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with lemon zest and 1 1/2 tsp salt.  Season with pepper.

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living 2005

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Pappardelle with Butternut Squash & Blue Cheese-The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2015| 2 Comments »

You know it’s winter in our home when the chief cook (me) turns to all forms of comfort food. We have hearty soups and stews and when we have pasta it’s often with vegetables that are plentiful in the grocery store.  I’m talking root vegetables, onions, carrots, pumpkin and beans.  And usually these vegetables leave a smaller carbon footprint!

Nigella Lawson's Pappardelle with Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese

Nigella Lawson’s Pappardelle with Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

1 large butternut squash (2 3/4lb – 3 1/4lb or 1 3/4 lb of ready-cubed  (6 cups)

1 large onion finely chopped

2 TBS olive oil

3/4 tsp. smoked paprika

1 TBS unsalted butter

3 TBS Marsala

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup pine nuts

1 lb of pappardelle or rigatoni

6 fresh sage leaves

5 oz of soft blue cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the butternut squash into 1″ cubes.  Cook onion in olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan that can accomodate the pasta later – I would use my braising pan.  When the onion turns golden, add the paprika.

Stir butter and squash into the onion mixture.  Add Marsala and water.  Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat.  Simmer about 10 minutes or until the squash is tender but holds its shape.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boiling, add a hefty pinch of salt.  Cook according to package directions.  Toast the pine nuts in a hot dry frying pan on the stove top until dark gold.  Pour them into a bowl or onto a plate to cool. 

Lightly season season squash mixture to taste with salt ( the blue cheese will add additonal saltiness).  Remove from heat.

Finely chop the sage; Sprinkle over the squash, reserving some for serving.

Reserve 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water; drain pasta and add to the squash mixture.  Gently stir to combine.  If sauce is too dry or mixture won’t come together, add some of the reserved pasta water;  the starch encourages the sauce to emulsify and cling to the pasta.  Stir in most of the pine nut and the  blue cheese.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Sprinkle  with the remaining sage, pine nuts and cheese.

Recipe from  Kitchen by Nigella Lawson,  featured Better Homes And Gardens, October 2010

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Linguine with Tapenade, Tomatoes & Arugula – The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Today’s entry in the Macaroni Marathon is a tasty pasta dish just perfect for the winter.  With fresh local vegetables out of reach and certainly we’re not buying any of those pink tennis balls that are being passed off as tomatoes, right?  Well of course not;  First of all you can make the best tomato sauce from canned tomatoes.  There are lots of sauces that can be made using the seasonal vegetables of winter and we’ll get to them too, but today I’m using those sweet cherry or grape tomatoes – I never eat any other kind in the winter because well really, they’re not really tomatoes.

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:    

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 lb linguine

1 TBS olive oil plus more for serving

3/4 lb cherry tomatoes halved                                         

1/4 cup plus 2TBS tapenade

2 cups baby arugula

2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 oz feta cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook linguine according to package instructions.  Drain pasta.  In pot, heat oil over medium.  Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.

Return pasta to pot, stir in tapenade and cook until heated through.  Add arugula and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.

Divide among four bowls, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parsley and feta.

Serves 4

Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

Recipe from Everyday Food

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Tuscan Beans with Basil Pesto & Mushrooms

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , on December 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Tuscan Beans with Basil Pesto & Mushrooms

Tuscan Beans with Basil Pesto & Mushrooms

Oh what a dinner we had last night! YES, I’m bragging because I made two dishes and they went together nicely and were delicious!  I made the Tuscan bean dish which I think was meant to be a side dish but was so hearty,  it could easily be a Sunday night supper with a baguette.  The other dish was Butternut Squash Farrotto, which is essentially a risotto and I will post that another day.

TUSCAN BEANS with BASIL PESTO & MUSHROOMS

INGREDIENTS:

2 TBS olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 pkg (10 oz) of whole Baby Bella mushroooms, stemmed and quartered

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup Vegetable broth ( I used chicken broth)

2 cans of Wegman’s Tuscan Cannellini Beans (they’re large)

1 jar of Basil Pesto sauce (7 oz)

1 pkg (6 oz) baby spinach

Salt and Pepper

2 TBS grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in large nonstick pan on MED, add onions.  Cook, stirring 3-4 minutes until golden.

Add mushrooms and garlic.  Cook, stirring about 5 min. until mushrooms soften.  Add wine, cook, stirring 8-10 min. until liquid reduced by half.

Add broth and beans, bring to a simmer. Add pesto and spinach.  Cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until spinach wilts.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Recipe from Wegman’s Menu Magazine, Fall 2014 issue

*  The dish was soupier than I thought it would be so I served it in bowls along side the risotto.

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Tired of Turkey? Lasagna with Collard Greens

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , on December 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

When I read the title of this recipe, I said to myself, “Really?”.  I read through the ingredients and directions and realized this would be a great meal in between finishing up the leftovers from Thanksgiving.  Well you know there’s only so many ways you can eat turkey day after day!  So I made it on Saturday and we felt so healthy eating lasagna made with greens!  And it was really tasty too!

photo by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

photo by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb collard greens, preferably large leaves, stemmed and washed, leaves intact.

Salt to taste

Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the pan

2 cups marinara sauce (yes I used a jarred sauce)

1/2 lb no boil lasagna noodles

1/2 # ricotta

4 oz freshly grated Parmensan

DIRECTIONS:

Steam the collard greens for 5 minutes above an inch of boiling water, or blanch in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oven 350º. Oil a 2 or 3 quart baking dish with olive oil.  Spread a small amount of tomato sauce over the bottom and top with a layer of lasagna noodles.  Top the noodles with a thin layer of ricotta.  Lay collard green leaves over the ricotta in a single layer.  Top the leaves with a layer of tomato sauce, followed by a thin layer of Parmesan.

Set aside enough tomato sauce and Parmesan to top the lasagna and repeat the layers until all of the ingredients are used up.  Spread the tomato sauce you set aside over the top, and sprinkle on the Parmesan.  Make sure the noodles are covered, and cover the baking dish tightly with foil.

Place in the oven an bake 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and uncover.  Check to be sure the noodles are soft and the mixture is bubbly.  Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes if desired, to brown the top.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

* Advance preparation:  You can assemble this up to two days ahead and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Recipe by Martha Rose Shulman, New York Times Cooking

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Roasted Pear & Pomengranate Salad

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , on November 26, 2014| 1 Comment »

Roasted Pear and Pomengranate Salad

Roasted Pear and Pomengranate Salad

Growing up in an Italian family we always had salad, served at the end of the meal.  But I never remember having it on Thanksgiving.  As an adult creating my own Thanksgiving meals, I often thought about having salad with our turkey day dinner but in those days my culinary horizons were limited and I only knew about greens, tomatoes and Italian salad dressing AND that doesn’t go well with turkey.

Ahhhh but that was then and this is now and it’s the sky’s the limit!  This year will be different.  I’m including a salad and sharing the recipe with you.

4 red pears, peeled, cored, each half quartered lengthwise

2 TBS olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 pkg of baby arugula (5 oz each)

5 oz pomengranate seeds

1 cup cashew blend ( cashews, almonds and pecans)

2 oz crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup lemon vinaigrette

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss pears gently with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer on foil lined baking sheet.

Bake 35-40 minutes till golden brown, and carmelized on the bottom.  Remove from oven, cool completely.

Combine salad greens, pomengranate seets, goat cheese.  Toss with 1/4 cup salad dressing.  Mound on a serving platter or individual plates. Toss pears with remaining salad dressing and arrange on salad.

Recipe from Wegman’s Menu magazine

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Tuna Served Lobster Roll Style – A Grace Gotham Gourmet Delight

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

My friend and gourmet cook (and food photographer), Grace Gotham, has lately been posting yummy photos of her culinary creations.  She cooks healthy, light and delicious dishes and has given me permission to post her tuna salad roll.  Seriously her photos practically make you want to lick the computer screen!! I know that sounds gross but you’ll see for yourself!

Here’s is Grace’s quick and easy recipe:

Tuna served lobster roll style! Tuna salad made with @fage 2% Greek yogurt, fresh dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, finely chopped celery and onion, diced kosher dill pickles, and a smidge of Sir Kensington mayonnaise. @gothamgreens Bloomin Brooklyn iceberg lettuce adds fresh crunch. All on a classic Martin’s potato roll. ‪#‎gracegothamgourmet‬ ‪#‎tasseltotable‬

Tuna Served Lobster Roll Style

Tuna Served Lobster Roll Style

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Speedy Fish Chowder – Warming Up From The Inside Out

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , on November 12, 2014| 2 Comments »

Today was exactly the kind of day, this hearty soup would be an excellent choice.  Yesterday it was 61 degrees in New York City and this morning it was gray and foggy.  By noon the sun was full out  shining brightly and the temperature zoomed up to the mid-60’s BUT by the time I walked home around 6pm, the temperature was dipping into the 40’s  – And that’s why you’ll want to make this Fish Chowder!

Speedy and Smokey Fish Chowder

Speedy and Smokey Fish Chowder

This is one of those recipes that calls for you to use your own judgement as to how much of each item to use.  We start with just a bit less than a pound of fish and then you’re on your own but don’t worry, I think the familiarity of the ingredients will dictate the amount to use.  It’s a matter of personal preference and taste.

Dice some bacon if you’re a meat eater, or melt some butter if you are not (or both if you are reckless), and sauté some onions, carrots and diced potatoes in the fat and meat until the onions have gone translucent. Hit the mixture with some salt and pepper and a flash of smoked paprika if you have it. Some of the ears of tiny chowder-corn that are in some farmers’ markets would be a fine addition, so too would be a cup of frozen corn.

Do you have any fish stock? No? White wine? Surely you have water. Add enough that the potatoes are almost swimming, then a bay leaf, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the chowder to bubble along until the liquid has reduced by a third and the potatoes are tender. Add a splash or two of milk or cream and allow it to heat and thicken slightly.

Now cut the fillets into chunks and stir them in gently. Five minutes later: chowder. Serve with crusty bread.

I found this recipe in the NY Times Cooking Newsletter

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Pumpkin Spice Cocktail – Sunday Afternoon Football Game

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s definitely Autumn now, the leaves are changing, the temperature has dropped, we turned back the clocks so it gets dark really early AND many of the guys are spending Sunday afternoons watching football on TV.  So getting into the spirit of the holidays, I found this Pumpkin Spice Cocktail that would be perfect for an afternoon of game watching with friends.

Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale

Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale

Pumpkin Spice Cocktail

Ingredients

BLUE MOON  Harvest Pumpkin Ale

FIREBALL Cinnamon Whiskey

Sparkling cider

Orange slices for garnish

Directions

Slowly pour half a bottle of pumpkin beer into your glass and wait till foam subsides

Top the beer with about a 1/4 cup of sparkling cider, leaving just enough room to add  a splash or two of the cinnamon  whiskey.

Garnish with a slice of orange and enjoy.        

Tastes like heaven, hot as hell

Tastes like heaven, hot as hell

Cheers!

Recipe by Rachel Sylvester – The Nest blog

Sparkling Cider

Sparkling Cider

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