Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Cook’

There’s A Whole Lot Of Cooking Going On…

Posted in Everyday Food, Ha-P 2 B in OG, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

gorgonzola

Gorgonzola (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back at the shore where I have a decent-sized kitchen albeit a minute stove (20″) and able to shop at my favorite grocery store, Wegman’s, I’ve been cooking up a storm these past couple of days. By the way did you hear on the news that Consumer Reports rated Wegman’s the best supermarket chain in the US AGAIN this year!  I couldn’t be happier because as my readers know, I LOVE Wegman’s.

Last night I made a dish that had my husband doubtful when he heard what it was…Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Gorgonzola Cheese.  His first reaction, “Cheese! You’re making a pasta sauce with cheese?” I assured him he wouldn’t die from it and I silently thanked him for not mentioning that the fact that the spaghetti was whole wheat (his concession to me).  Actually I’m not even sure he heard me when I said whole wheat because he was in shock over the Gorgonzola cheese – this from a man who slathers Blue Cheese dressing on his salads and sour cream on his baked potaoes.  Uh huh, you know the type!

Needless to say it was amazingly good and I hope to serve it sometime for guests because it was delicious.

Ingredients

8oz whole wheat spaghetti ( I used about 12 oz)

3 TBS butter ( I used 5 in the end)

1 medium onion thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 small or 1 large head of escarole chopped crosswise ( I used a cello bag of chopped escarole)

4 oz crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.

The directions that follow are for 8 oz of spaghetti and since I had increased that amount I increased the butter and escarole.

Heat 2 TBS butter in braising pan.  Add onions and garlic and cook till soft and lightly brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  Meantime cook pasta.  

Once onions are soft and pasta is almost done, add escarole and cook it till it wilts.  Add 1 TBS butter to pan. 

Drain spaghetti (reserve a cup of water) and add to braising pan with escarole mixture.  Mix well and then top with sprinkled Gorgonzola cheese.  I was afraid my sauce might be too dry so I added some of the pasta water to  keep the dish moist.

All I can say is that there were NO LEFTOVERS!

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Soup’s On! To Cure What Ails You in this EVERLASTING WINTER!

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

"Cover Coughs, Cover Sneezes" - NARA...

“Cover Coughs, Cover Sneezes” – NARA – 514081 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s almost April and where is that lamb that’s supposed to escort March and the cold weather out of here?  I’m surrounded by people who are sneezing, coughing, dripping and chilled.  Today I had to ask a co-worker to please not lean over my desk and breathe on me – she looked awful and had been home for two days sick and with a fever.  GREAT – just what I need.  I have never gotten over the cold/sinus infection I caught from one of my Mah Jongg players who coughed and sneezed all over the tiles and that was in February!  I walked to work today and by the time I got there, the wind had caused my eyes and nose to run, quite the sight walking in.  So what’s a person to do?  Two words – COMFORT FOOD.  This Tasty Tidbits Tuesday recipe comes from PureWow Recipes.

ULTIMATE CHICKEN SOUP

Makes 6 servings

Start to Finish 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients

1 TBS olive oil

1 sweet onion finely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped

3 celery stalks finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 TBS tomato paste

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 thyme sprigs

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

2 cups chopped cooked chicken meat

1 cup egg noodles

6 eggs, poached or fried, for garnish

Roughly chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot and celery, and sauté until tender, 7-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and serrano; continue to cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute more.

2. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add the chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Bring the soup to a simmer.  Simmer until a good flavor has developed, 15-20 minutes.

3. Stir in chicken and noodles.  Continue to simmer until chicken is heated through and the noodles are tender 6-8 minutes.

4. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper, and garnish the soup generously with parsley.  Leftover soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Saturday Night Supper – Mushroom Lasagna w/Radicchio and Rosemary

Posted in Everyday Food, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mushrooms near the composte

Mushrooms

Whenever we’re at the Shore I seem to cook much more than I do in NYC.  Perhaps it’s because I love to grocery shop here at my favorite market – Wegman’s!  Or maybe it’s because I have a real kitchen in my cottage and not the typical Manhattan work space.  Or maybe it’s not so easy to grocery shop in New York because I have to carry all my groceries home and/or have Peter tag along to carry a few bags or take my little red grocery cart and pile my bags in that.  But above all, one cannot deny how easy it is to eat out or order in any night of the week in The City.  BUT tonight we feasted on a savory Mushroom Lasagna and sautéed broccoli with garlic – A delicious vegetarian version of Italian food staple.

2 # mixed mushrooms – sliced uniformly (I used Shitake, Portobello, white, and Baby Bello)

1 onion medium dice

2 garlic cloves minced

2 TBS butter

1 TBS olive oil

1 heaping TBS of chopped rosemary

1 1/2 cups of whipping cream

2 cups of radicchio, cored and sliced

1 3/4 cups grated cheese

6 sheets of lasagna sheets (fresh lasagna noodles come in wide sheets)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Melt butter and add olive oil and chopped onions. Saute over med-low heat till onions are soft and translucent but not brown.  Add in minced garlic and rosemary and cook stirring a minute or two till garlic is fragrant.  

Add mushrooms and 3/4 tsp salt and some pepper.  Increase heat to medium and cook mushrooms till soft 10-15 minutes.  Add cream and bring to a simmer 2-3 minutes.  Adjust seasonings.  Don’t make sauce too thick or there won’t be enough liquid to cook noodles.  

In a 9 x 13 baking dish, put 1/2 cup of the mushroom mix on the bottom.  Top with 2 lasagna sheets, then 1 cup of mushroom mix, 1 cup of radicchio and 1/2 cup of grated cheese.  Repeat.  

Top 3rd layer of noodles with all remaining mixture and 3/4 cup cheese.  Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes – Cool 5 minutes.

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

An Ever So Sweet Sunday-Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bars

Posted in Everyday Food, tagged , , , , , , , on February 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Photo credit: Mommiecooks

Photo credit: Mommiecooks

I don’t usually post recipes on Sunday but lately I’ve been on a sweet tooth binge and this recipe just jumped off the page at me.  It is a modified version of Shortbread Candy Corn Kissed Brownies, posted by Jenny of Picky Palate.   I found it on Gojee and it comes from another blog, Mommiecooks. Just goes to show you how a good recipe travels kind of like bad news!

For the crust:

1 1/2 cup mulched pretzels

1 stick of melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

For the bars:

1 pkg of caramel kisses

1 stick of butter melted

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 cup of evaporated milk

1 egg

3/4 cup of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp milk

Start with the crust; Put a few handfuls of pretzels in your food processor mulch up till you have 1 1/2 cups worth.  

Dump into 9×9 baking pan and add in melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar.  Mix up and press into the pan.

Cook in oven at 350 degrees for about 8  minutes.  Remove and let cool.

Melt second stick of butter on low heat.  Once melted, remove from heat and add in brown sugar, vanilla, and evaporated milk.  Next add the egg, then the flour and baking soda. Mix all ingredients.

Lay the kisses in rows on top of the cooled crust.

Pour the batter over the kisses.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

While cooling, take any extra kisses and melt them in double boiler with tsp of milk.  Spread melted kisses over the top of your bars and put in refrigerator to set about 3-4 hours. 

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Soup of Borlotti (Pinto) Beans, Dried Porcini and Tubetti

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s Tasty Tidbits Tuesday and now that Monday’s snow has turned into gray slush around here, we’re getting ready for tomorrow’s snow storm.  And when and where’s there’s snow, there will be soup!  

English: "Painted Pony" dry bean (Ph...

 “Painted Pony” dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have made this soup many, many times and each time it has received amazing accolades, yes really!  It’s rich and hearty and absolutely a fantastic soup to make when the weather is blustery and cold and snowy.  It’s also vegetarian except when I make it because I’m partial to chicken broth.  But if you are vegan and/or vegetarian, you know what to do about the broth.

The recipe calls for Borlotti beans which are very much like our own pinto beans.  The woodsy  aroma and flavor of the dried porcini subtly flavors this soup.

2 ounces of dried porcini mushrooms (or other dried mushrooms)

1 cup of boiling water

3 TBS of olive oil

1 medium-size onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 cups pinto beans (1 can rinsed and drained)

1 cup chopped canned tomatoes with their juice

3 cups broth

Kosher salt

1/2 cup dry tubetti or other small tubular pasta such as ditallini

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the mushrooms in a heat-proof glass measuring cup with the boiling water; allow to stand 30 minutes.  Strain the mushrooms through a double thickness of paper towels, reserving the liquid, and coarsely chop.  You should have about 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms.

Heat the oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the onions.  Cook until the onion begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, beans-mashing some of them against the side of the pot – tomatoes, mushrooms with 1/4 cup of their soaking liquid, and the broth.  Turn the heat to high; bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low; simmer until the soup is thick, about 20 minutes.  Season with salt to taste.  Add the pasta; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until it is tender but still firm, al dente, about 10 minutes longer.  Serve with Parmesan.

Recipe from PASTA VERDE  cookbook

  

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Slow-Cooked Short Ribs Ragu – Saturday Night Supper

Posted in Everyday Food, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

a slow cooker Oval Crock Pot

A Slow Cooker Oval Crock Pot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Blessed are the meals made in crockpots for those are the days free to go and do and not worry about getting home to make dinner.

Today was a lovely sunny Saturday;  Just the kind of day to clean up the rest of the snow on the walkways, to throw peanuts out to the squirrels and of course with the bright sunshine, I was able to see some more of winter/old radiator  dust!  It was also warm enough for Peter to put the sensor light we bought a couple of weeks ago. The days are growing noticeably longer and so when we went shopping this afternoon to pick up this and exchange that, we stayed out quite late.  Then we stopped by to see our friends Joe and Michael and have a pre-dinner cocktail.  Soooo relaxing and WHY?

Because my supper was already mostly made!  This morning I prepared  a recipe that I had never tried before.  I knew this would be a good night to try it out.  It turned out to be not only amazingly rich, but also economical.  

2 TBS vegetable oil

3 lbs. boneless short ribs cut into 3″ pieces

coarse salt and pepper

1 medium yellow onion diced small ( I used a good size Mayan onion)

1 large carrot diced small (I chopped up quite a few small ones) (the kind that come in a bag already peeled)

1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes

2 sprigs of oregano or rosemary

Serve with pasta or soft polenta

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-hi.  Season short ribs with salt and pepper.  In batches, cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to ribs to slow-cooker.  Pour off all but 1 TBS of oil and add onion and carrot.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until vegetables are soft, about 3-4 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of juice from tomatoes, stirring and scraping bits up with wooden spoon.  Transfer veggies and liquid to crockpot and add tomatoes, breaking up.  Add sprigs.  Cover and cook on high till fork tender – 6 hours.  *I only had rosemary and removed them after about 2 1/2 hours).  Skim fat off. Remove meat and shred with 2 forks and return to pot.

 * I thought it didn’t look like enough sauce for 1 lb of pasta so I added about 1/2 to 1 cup of a tomato basil sauce and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of red wine and heated it through in the slow cooker.  My intention was always to serve this Ragu over large shells pasta although I think the recipe may have been meant to be a main meat dish, served with sides of polenta or pasta and a vegetable.  We ate it as a pasta dish with Italian bread and a salad.  It was one of the richest sauces I have ever tasted.  And economical too.  

The costs were: Short ribs – $10.44

 Tomatoes – $1.49

                                      Bag of peeled carrots $1.29

                                      Box of large shells $1.29

                                     Mayan onion $1.00

                                    Italian bread – $1.39

                                   Half bag of salad mix w/dressing – $2.50

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

White Bean and Portobello Mushroom Soup

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

Portobello Mushrooms

Portobello Mushrooms

It’s Tasty Tidbits Tuesday and as long as this weather stays so cold and I stay indoors, I’ll be making soups.  I have made this soup many times and it’s always a hit.  Flavorful and delicious.  This is one of quickest tastiest homemade soups I’ve ever made. 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 lb sliced portobello mushrooms

1 medium carrot chopped

4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

Kosher salt

1/2 cup of orzo

1 (16 oz) can cannelloni beans drained and rinsed

2 TBS chopped parsley

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Saute the onions, garlic and carrot in a large saucepan until onion are soft 4-5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, season with salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add broth and bring to a boil; then lower heat to medium low.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Add the orzo and cook 10 minutes.  Add the beans; cook until orzo is completely tender and beans are heated through, about 5 minutes longer.  Season with salt to taste. Add the parsley and  serve with Parmesan.

Recipe from PASTA VERDE  – more than 140 vegetarian recipes for soups, pasta sauces, salads and baked pastas

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Farro and Arugula Salad – Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , on January 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Farro

Farro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I found this recipe on a blog that I follow, Proud Italian Cook and I knew right away I wanted to make it.  I had all the ingredients in my kitchen except for one.  I made it for myself for dinner one night to test it out because I planned on serving it for a planned dinner party.  It was delicious and I served it this past weekend. This is so simple and so tasty, you should make it tonight.  It’s a good winter salad.

1 1/2 cups of cooked farro 

1 lb. baby arugula

handful of marcona almonds

1/2 cup, sliced cherry tomatoes

1/3 cups nicoise olives

1/2 cup good feta crumbled

FOR THE DRESSING

1 lemon

olive oil

1. Make the dressing by squeezing the juice of one lemon into a small bowl then whisking in olive oil and tasting until you get the right balance.

2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and then toss with the dressing adding salt and paper to taste.

*** The first time I made it I didn’t have farro in the house but I had some Ancient Grains and I used them.

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Somebody Got To Stay Up REAL LATE and Ring In The New Year!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2014| 2 Comments »

Cash Rang In The New Year!

Cash Rang In The New Year!

Our grandson, Cash spent part of the day and New Year’s Eve with us!  We all went to a private party held at our neighborhood coffee shop!  The owners close the diner, and set the tables with white tablecloths and put out favors and noisemakers.  The counters are covered with platters of smoked salmon, cheese, crackers and veggies.  And delicious hot and steaming sliders were passed around.  This is a neighborhood family affair and kids are welcome but of course since it Black Tie, Cash sported one of Papa Pete’s bow ties.

No hangover here from the Seven-Up or anything else that chocolate milk and pancakes won’t cure!

Chocolate Milk and Pancakes

Chocolate Milk and Pancakes

It’s about time for us to pull our act together and put on some clothes.  We have to go to the market to get the ingredients to make Lucky New Year’s Black-Eyed Peas Stew.  Not taking any chances here and will probably buy some Kale or Collards greens to entice money in the coming year.

 

Read Full Post »

DAY #3 – HELP! There’s A Tomato Bleeding All Over My Counter!!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Everyday Food, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I LOVE TOMATOES and if you’re a follower of this blog you know how often I extoll the virtues of Jersey tomatoes.  So no one should be surprised that eventually this countdown to Christmas blog would find a Foodie gift for tomato lovers.

Look at this wild and crazy cutting board!  Really now, a tomato bleeding all over the counter?  You know I just had to include this in Foodie Gift category.  There are serious Foodie gifts and delicious Foodie gifts and I guess you can put this one in the whimsical category.

Bloody Tomato

Bloody Tomato

Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come… But The Splash Chopping Board looks as though it’s bleeding off your countertop.
Designed to remain stable while you work, the durable surface will hold up to all of your cutting needs. And, the ‘drip’ is easily removable for cleaning and storage. Available at The Foodiggity Shop, $18.99.  **

**Excerpted from Foodiggity.com

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »