Pesto and Pea Pasta with Salmon

Brian cooked the Salmon in a saute pan. He rubbed a bunch of herbs and spices on it before he cooked it in olive oil.

The pasta is:

Whole wheat penne

Frozen peas

Pesto (Classico)

fat free half 'n' half.

Tuna Pasta Salad

I love Costco, but sometimes I have no business there. What does a household of 2 need with 8 boxes of whole grain pasta? Or 8 cans of tuna? It always seems like a brilliant idea while I am there. Once again in my search for frugality, I looked at these masses of Costco goods and decided I had to put them togeher. On top of that, I planted some Lemon Balm seeds, and they are going NUTS! on the balcony, so I had to do something with that too.

This may gross many of you out, and I know tuna is a very sensitive subject with some people. Uttering the words "Tuna Wiggle" (what my mom called her tuna noodle casserole) always gave my friend Michele shivers. But, if you like tuna salads, you may very well like this.

I'll have to make it again to properly type out the recipe, but I mixed together cooked whole grain rotini, a can of tuna, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped lemon balm, chopped onion, chopped red bell pepper. It was our lunch that day.

Brian sent me an email after lunch stating that "Tuna was great!" so I guess I did alright. I'll perfect the recipe (I still have 7.5 boxes of pasta and 7 cans of tuna left), but if this intrigues you, go ahead and mix and taste until you get it where you like it. That's what I did, although I did it in the morning and can unequivocally say that this is terrible for breakfast, so maybe try the night before you take it to lunch?

Gnocchi alla Romana

Most people by now are familiar with gnocchi, Italian dumplings. Here, we are most familiar with boiled potato gnocchi, however, Gnocchi alla Romana is baked semolina and cheese dumplings. I have made gnocchi so many times successfully, that I thought when Brian and I first started dating that it was something I could really wow him with. I read a different recipe than this one, and I thought I'd try a different technique, and it didn't work. I was so embarrassed! I ended up making spaghetti! How lame! I did have a caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, so it kind of made up for it.

This recipe is the best. So cheesy goodness.

Gnocchi alla Romana

2 cups milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups semolina flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons heavy cream (sometimes I use half and half)
2 eggs (original recipe says 1 egg and 2 yolks)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bring milk and butter to a boil in a large sauce pan. Add semolina and all-purpose flour. Stir over low heat until absorbed, and continue to stir until mixture is rolling off the sides of the pan (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat, add the cream, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and stir until smooth. Season to taste (salt, pepper, nutmeg, etc). On a sheet of wax paper, spread to 1/2 inch thick. Cool for 30 minutes, then cut into rounds with a round cookie cutter. Put in baking dish (overlap like scallops if you don't have room to lay each piece out individually), drizzle with melted butter and grate more Parmigiano-Reggiano over top. Bake 20-45 minutes, until golden brown.

This time I served it with a tomato basil salad (basically, you just toss together chopped tomatoes and fresh basil, add dash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) and sauteed spinach. I found a recipe in an Italian cook book, but I just improvised it... I sauteed chopped onion and garlic in olive oil, added pine nuts, and then spinach, nutmeg, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and raisins.

Spinach and Ravioli Soup

I've always been pretty happy with canned soups. You can doctor them up a bit, and they're good. I've always thought making soup was a time-consuming process, so I just never tried. A co-worker of mine said she makes soup all the time, and she had some tortellini and kale soup that looked awesome. She told me what she did, and I googled some more recipes, and I ended making this one up.

Ravioli Soup

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery (leaves included), chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 TBSP Olive Oil + More
1 can diced tomatoes with basil
4-6 cups broth (I used vegetable)
1 can cannelli beans
1 package fresh ravioli (I used Bertoli 4 Cheese Whole Wheat Ravioli)
2 tsps dried oregano
4 cups fresh spinach
pinch grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan or asiago

In a large sauce pan, saute garlic, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and onion in 2 TBSP olive oil until soften. Add broth, tomatoes, ravioli, cannelli beans, oregano, and cook about 5 minutes. Add Spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until ravioli and beans are cooked all the way though. Serve with grated cheese.

It's a lot of stuff, but it was really good, and so adaptable. You could just use plain pasta, any other kind of bean. It took less than 30 minutes, with only one pan to clean. With a nice crusty bread and a glass of red wine, it was an awesome winter meal. Brian liked it and actually had the leftovers for lunch the next day! Yay, Soup!

Mac 'n' Cheese

This past weekend, Brian wanted to grill some fish. We went to the store and decided on salmon, but we (make that I) wanted to do something different with it. After pacing the store for a while, I said that I had BBQ salmon at restaurants, but I've never tried it. Brian was up for it, so that's what we did. For sides, I threw out Mac 'n' cheese. Brian laughed at first, and then it was settled. BBQ Salmon and Mac 'n' Cheese.

I always claim to make the best Mac 'n' cheese (doesn't everyone?) although I don't make it very often. I was watching TV many years ago and flipped to the Isaac Mizrahi show. He was eating Mac 'n' Cheese and said, "It's the Muenster that makes it!" So I combed the internet looking for the recipe. Now, it's not too hard to find (google got better, or at least maybe my librarian skills got better). One click and here it is: http://www.recipezaar.com/72211.

I don't follow the recipe. I know - that's a shocker! I don't heat the milk and heavy cream together, in fact this time i didn't even use heavy cream this time, which gave it a drier texture than creamy, but it was still tasty. I also use shells instead macaroni, because I like how they clump together and hold the cheese better. I add a couple dashes of worchester sauce. I don't reserve cheese for the topping - I grate more! And I add grated Parmeseano-Reggiano to it which gives a little more crunch and browns up a little better. (oh yeah, I made about 1/3 of the recipe this time too.



Brian seems to like it! I know I do!

Spinach Couscous Salad

While the photo shows that this salad is a big mess, it is really a great mix of textures. This salad has a lot of versatility - you can add almost anything you want. You can use any different type of cheese or no cheese at all. You can add any veggies or herb you want. This just happens to be the mix I made tonight. I grill the peppers and onions over the stove on a chili roaster that fits over one of my burners. It was a Christmas present, and when I opened it I seriously thought, "What the heck? When am I ever going to use this?" Truth is I use it at least 3 or 4 times a week. No joke. I don't use it just for chilies (actually, I have never used it for a chili), I grill onions, bell peppers, garlic, onions, eggplant, etc. I highly recommend if you have to buy a present for someone you don't know what to get, and you know they like kitchen stuff, buy them a chili roaster. Oh yeah, back to the salad... Here's the recipe:

Spinach Couscous Salad

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup couscous
garlic granules to taste
dried herbs (oregano, thyme, etc) to taste
salt and pepper to taste
red chili flakes to taste
5 mini bell peppers, tops removed
2 slices onion
1 tomato, chopped
3 TBSP chopped olives
about 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
about 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
2 cups spinach, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese

Add water to a medium sized, microwaveable bowl. Microwave until boiling. Add couscous, garlic granules, dried herbs, salt and pepper, and chili flakes. Stir to mix. Set aside.

Grill peppers and onion. Allow to cool enough to touch and then chop.

Fluff couscous, add chopped, grilled peppers and onions, tomato, olives, spinach, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and feta cheese. Toss to mix completely.

2 Fasian Salads

Fasian = Faux Asian

Here are 2 yaki toppings for an Asian-flavored salad to make it more substantial. Either can also be eaten on their own. The first, the Ramen Fritter, is probably a WT creation, although it does slightly remind me a bit of the okonomiyaki I had in Osaka (without the octopus, bbq sauce, mustard and mayo). The second, the tamagoyaki, is a bit more authentic. I bought a tamagoyaki pan at KoMart (for 6 bucks!). My first attempts to make it had not been successful, it does take time to learn how to make it properly. I did better after watching a few videos on YouTube with people making it.

Ramen Fritter
1 package ramen noodles
2 eggs, beaten
4 green onions, white and green chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 TBSP soy sauce
dash coriander
vegetable oil

Cook ramen to package instructions. Drain off broth - do not rinse. Add eggs, onions, garlic, soy sauce, and coriander.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Drop 1/4 of mixture as a glob onto the frying pan and flatten out. Cook until sets and turns golden brown (about 3-4 minutes). Flip and cook other side the same. Repeat until you're out of mixture.

I used this recipe to make the Tamagoyaki. I chose this one to make because most recipes I found are require dashi, which I didn't have handy.



I overcooked a couple layers, and I didn't use a sushi rolling mat, but the taste was pretty good, especially drizzled with a little extra soy sauce.

"YUMMO!"

So I’ve been told a million times that I look like Rachael Ray (I don't really think so, and hopefully they mean pre-alcoholic bloat and smoker rasp). Brian even told me I looked her the night we met. If ever start talking with my mouth full, slap me. As much as she can be annoying, she has some good points that I have always agreed with, but I’ve got some of my own too. Here’s some of my basic principles of cooking:

1. EVOO - Okay, I know everyone wants to smack Rachael Ray when she says this, but it is so true. It makes all the difference in the world to use real Extra Virgin Olive Oil. And pick a high quality one too. I like Whole Foods 360 brand. It tastes great, and is a great value, and with how quickly Brian and I go through olive oil, by God, we need the value.

2. Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese - But seriously, She’s right about the EVOO, and she’s right about the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. You can buy the stuff in the green can for popcorn (love that!), and you can buy the slightly fancier grocery store shredded concoction in the plastic deli tub (which I do buy to sprinkle on top of soup out of a can or a frozen dinner). However, if you want your homemade pasta to have umph! Or to raise the bar on your salad, you have to use Parm-Reg. The real stuff. It is expensive, but worth it.

3. Good butter - Like a good man, good butter is hard to find. Good thing I found both! Like my men, I like my butter European Style (Brian may look like an All-American rebel without a cause, but he was partially educated in Europe, and can talk European painting better than a professor, and he knows his French wine regions as well as a sommelier). I love Plugra European Style butter. It may be straight from the Heartland, but it tastes as good as those butters on the breakfast buffets of European hotels in which I always whined, “Why doesn’t American butter taste this good?” Well it does - at least Plugra does. Good butter makes all the difference in baking. If your butter is bland and has absorbed your fridge smells, whatever you made is going to be bland and taste faintly of leftovers. Once again, it is expensive, but so worth it! Horizon, Central Market, Archer Farms, and Challenge also make good butters, but none hold a candle to Plugra. It doesn't even separate when you melt it.

4. Sea Salt - I can’t stand that Morton Salt girl anymore*. Iodized salt is salt with an added iodine - a chemical. The result is salt that tastes chemically, which results in food that tastes chemically. I never noticed before, but once I started using sea salt, I just can’t use the other stuff anymore. Unlike Rachel Ray, I don’t throw it over my shoulder. I don’t find it very lucky to have to re-sweep the floor because I purposely threw salt on it. (*I have to say in pinch when I couldn't get across the Trinity to get to Central Market, I picked up some Morton Salt Sea Salt at Tom Thumb. I don't hate her so much anymore).


Other rules I generally follow:

* Don’t substitute low fat or nonfat crap for the real stuff in recipes, unless it says you can. The only exception I have found with this is milk, and sometimes I am still wary. If you want to eat low fat, find recipes that were developed specifically to be low fat.

*Do a taste/sniff test. Taste and/or smell all ingredients before you use them in a recipe. If anything is off, the whole recipe will be off. It really will be. Sometimes butter absorbs fridge smells, but sometimes garlic or onions are a little off too. Sometimes spices go bad. A little sniff sniff before you cook can save you some real tears after.

This one of my favorite Rachael Ray recipes: Cheesy Orzo. It's a great basic recipe that lends itself to your own creative whims.

Here's Rachael's recipe:

Cheesy Orzo
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 turns of the pan

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cans (14 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth or stock

2 cups orzo pasta (enriched rice may be substituted) 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat a 8 inch pot with a tight fitting cover over moderate heat. Add oil, onion and garlic and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in orzo and return broth to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until liquid is absorbed and pasta tender. Remove lid and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. You favorite fresh herbs may also be stirred into the orzo or rice to strengthen the flavor even more.
Recipe SummaryDifficulty: Easy Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Yield: 4 servings
User Rating:
Episode#: TM1B58Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

I usually add a handful each of chopped fresh basil and parsley at the end of the baking. Pictured below, I added those herbs, and also a handful of sun-dried tomatoes.

That's one big plate of food! The orzo is served with baked Dover Sole with peppers and olives, and a spinach salad. Don't worry, I'm not going to say the "Y" word again, but this is awesome:

The Friday Experiment

My mom's BD is coming up, so my sister and I decided that we would cook dinner at my place. She gave us the following criteria: No spicy Italian, no garlic. She suggested my Veggie Tacos. Then, she changed her mind and faxed me a recipe that she wanted me to make. I wanted to try it out first before I made it for her birthday dinner, so here it goes!

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Crushed Black Pepper and Pecorino Cheese)

Salt for the pasta water
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, or more to taste
1 pound spaghetti
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano, or more to taste

Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil.

Grind the peppercorns very coarsely, preferable crushing them in a mortar with a pestle or in a spice grinder.

Warm up a big bowl for mixing and serving the pasta - use some of the pasta water to heat the bowl, if you like.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Quickly lift it from the pot with tongs, let it drain for an instant, then drop it into the warm bowl.

Immediately scatter a cup of the grated cheese and most of the ground pepper on the pasta, and toss in quickly. As you mix, sprinkle over spoonfuls of hot water from the cooking pot to moisten and amalgamate the pasta and condiments - add more pepper or cheese to taste.

[originally appeared in ''Lidia's Italy" by Lidia Bastianich.]

It sounded like more of a side-dish pasta, so I decided I would make this to go along with it:

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillets

6 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
3. Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

Any time I google a recipe, inevitably several foodie blogs will be amongst the search results. I'm not sure why, but I decided to google the pasta recipe to see if anyone else had tried to make it. Sure enough, I found this incredibly informative posting: Bad Home Cooking: Mistakes were made: Spaghetti cacio e pepe (with cheese globs). I had the exact same results! All the cheese basically stuck to my tongs, and I had to pull it off. I even warmed the bowl. I even watched Lidia herself make it on the Today Show! Now, it wasn't bad, it was pretty good, but it wasn't any different than when I was in high school and I'd cook up some pasta for lunch and throw some butter, cheese, and pepper on top. Nothing special at all. Definitely not good enough for a birthday dinner.

Now, I included the recipe for the salmon that I used as an inspiration, but I didn't follow the recipe. I did cover the pan with foil, and I did make it in a sauce pan, and I did use all the ingredients, but I just dumped them in and didn't follow the the recipe. I also used olive oil to saute the garlic instead of artificial cooking spray. Oh, and I used Red wine instead of white. And I used Ground Mustard instead of Dijon. And I used dried oregano instead of fresh. Wow, I think I made something completely different!

It was pretty good. The flavor was a little more delicate than I thought it would be - it would have been nice with a little more punch.

When I bought the salmon at Central Market, the Fishmonger asked me if I wanted the head or the tail. I paused for a moment and looked at the whole side of the fish and said "Head." He said, "I that that part better too." I had to fess up - I said, "Honestly, I don't know the difference, you're the first person to give me the option." He said the head side was flakier, and the tail was a more solid piece. He ended up giving me the pound of fish I asked for from the head side, and he through in a little piece of the tail for me to try. I have had tail meat before: my mom used to buy a that whole piece and sometimes I would be the one to get the tail. I just couldn't remember the different except that it is a thinner slice. I suppose I could taste the difference - the tail is slightly gamier, but it is but it is barely discernible. The texture is definitely different and it stays together better. I can't say I prefer one side of the other. But unless I'm grilling it, I will probably continue to buy the Head side unless I'm grilling it.

So, needless to say, we'll be having tacos for her BD.

Pumpkin Bowtie Pasta

Back in October, I made pumpkin waffles over one of the weekends, and I only used a couple TBSPs of it. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I thought I’d try to make a pasta dish out of the rest. Inspired by an acorn squash pasta sauce that I’ve made a few times before, I thought I’d try similar ingredients with the pasta. It got a “thumbs up” from Brian. So, last Friday, I tried it again.

Pumpkin Bowtie Pasta

3 C Bowtie Pasta, cooked
2 TBSP butter
1 small onion, chopped (about 2/3 Cup)
1 can pumpkin puree
Couple dashes nutmeg
Red pepper flakes, to taste(optional)
1/2 C Parmesano-Reggiano
1/2 C Heavy Cream or Half and Half
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
salt/pepper to taste
chopped pistachios (optional)

In a saucepan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add 1 small chopped onion (about 2/3 Cup). Sauté until starting to brown.
Stir in 1 can pumpkin puree. Mix in chopped fresh sage, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste (about 2 - 3 TBSP loosely packed sage, and ¼ to ½ tsp. Nutmeg).
Stir in about ½ cup grated Parmesano-Reggiano cheese and ½ Cup Half and Half or Heavy
Cream. Stir until cheese melts.
Toss with about 3 cups cooked bowtie pasta until sauce completely coats pasta.
Serve in pasta bowl with extra grated parmesan and crushed pistachios on top.