So Jeremy and I were talking about how Mike needs to take his French Toast recipe and turn it into a Boston Cream Pie French Toast. Jeremy linked to a recipe that looked damn good on this blog. I looked over the site and found a recipe that would work with some stuff I had in my house and made this.
http://cakebatterandbowl.com/creamy-lemon-summer-squash-pasta.html
Though I did make some modifications and I'm posting my recipe here.
1 lbs whole wheat penne pasta
2 large yellow squashes, chopped
2 large zucchinis, chopped
1 package stir fry chicken
1 red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
Juice and zest of 2 limes
6 oz greek yogurt
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt
pepper
olive oil
Cook the penne pasta like you know what you are doing.
Saute the squash and zucchini in olive oil and put aside until later.
In the same pan, saute the onions and in the last minute, add the garlic. Put these aside with the squash.
Cook up the chicken with a little more olive oil until brown.
About this time the pasta should be done. Drain it, and in the pot it was cooked in, add the chicken stock, yogurt, lime and basil. The original recipe said to add the cheese which I did and it just ended up get all clumpy and sticking to the spoon rather then getting creamy. I recommend adding the cheese at the very end to get good coverage. Instead you'll need to get the sauce creamy another way. You could make a roux and add that, or add the squash and zucchini and get some of the starch from them to help cream up the sauce.
Either way, mix the veggies and chicken and pasta all back together. Mix it up real good, and sprinkle on the cup of parmesan while stirring. I idea is to get the parmesean to stick on each piece of food rather then sticking to itself in one, maybe delicious, clump.
I added some more parmesan to my bowl to serve but it wouldn't have been necessary if the parmesan was creamy to start with.
I really enjoyed this pasta dish. I've had dishes similar with the veggies and cheese and creamy bits. But the addition of the lemon juice, or lime juice in my case, and the yogurt is really nice. It helped to bring out the saltiness of it all.
This is one of my favorite comfort foods. It's a recipe that my mom made often that I have modified a little. I think my mom's original recipe only had the macaroni and cheese, with a side of lil smokies and applesauce. I mix in the sausages, and added the veggies. I didn't for the picture, but I usually cover the top with applesauce. I know people think that is strange, but the sweet tang of applesauce goes great with the salty tang of cheese and sausage.
1 lbs macaroni
1 package beef cocktail sausages
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 small bag frozen peas
1 lbs medium to sharp cheddar, shredded
1 1/2 cup milk
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
salt
pepper
Applesauce (not pictured)
Start a large pot of water boiling and add a good amount of salt to help cook and season the pasta.
In another pot (or microwave safe dish) start to make a roux. Melt the butter, add the flour, cook for a minute or so for the flour to 'brown'. Add the milk and keep heating and stirring often until it makes a thick sauce. Add salt and pepper and slowly add the cheese while mixing until you have a good thick cheesy sauce.
Meanwhile, heat the little sausages in the microwave on medium high power for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until plump.
When the salt water is boiling add the pasta and cook. About a minute before the macaroni is done, add the broccoli and peas and let it come to a boil. Drain the water. Return the pasta to the pot, mix in the cheese sauce, and sausages. Mix it up real good.
Serve with a few spoonfuls of applesauce on top. Eat. Get fat.
I wasn't planning on posting this dinner when I first started cooking it, but when it was almost done, it looked to good, and once eaten, tasted too good not to post. I had a bunch of vegetables from the farmers market that I needed to use and figured that a salad was the best use of those veggies. This is what I came up with.
Romain lettuce, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
Carrot, chopped into disks.
Fire roasted corn
Fire roasted green bell pepper, sliced
2 chicken tenders
1 chipotle pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Cesar salad dressing
Parrano cheese, grated
Lemon juice
I found some of the cheapest per pound chicken was the frozen chicken tenders. While I would prefer fresh chicken, I can't really afford it and these aren't too bad. After defrosting these, I chopped up a single chipotle pepper and rubbed it onto the chicken with some salt and black pepper. I cooked these on a cask iron skillet that I had, though grilling them would have been preferred.
I recently am a big fan of roasting fresh corn over my gas range. I first rub some butter onto the husked corn, then slowly rotate the corn over the flame making sure there is just a tiny bit of black all over. While doing these the butter melts, starts to dip and ignites making the corn flame broiled, all the while some kernels are popping and cracking. I roasted a green bell pepper as well. I used a fork as a spit and to turn it.
All of these was tossed together and covered with some cesar salad dressing and some amazing freshly grated Parrano cheese, and lemon juice. I ended up making and eating two plates.
This was my contribution to the Breakfast Party.
I used this recipe here but made a few adjustments. I used pear instead of apple, and where the recipe calls for rolling the strudel up before baking, I kept it flat and then cut it down to size once it was done cooking.
For the Filling:
¼ cup butter
2 lbs pear, peeled and diced
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup raisins
¼ tsp cinnamon
12 oz Havarti cheese with dill or caraway seeds, cut into ½ inch cubes
Dash pepper
2 Tbsp butter
2 leeks, cleaned well and sliced in rounds
2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, cleaned well and chopped
¼ cup butter
2 lbs pear, peeled and diced
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup raisins
¼ tsp cinnamon
12 oz Havarti cheese with dill or caraway seeds, cut into ½ inch cubes
Dash pepper
2 Tbsp butter
2 leeks, cleaned well and sliced in rounds
2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, cleaned well and chopped
For the Pastry:
½ pound phyllo dough
½ cup melted butter (for painting phyllo dough)
Large mixing bowl
Large sauté pan
Pastry brush - medium size
9 x 13” glass pan, greased (a greased baking sheet can be substituted)
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Sauté pears in ¼ cup butter, add sugar, raisins, cinnamon and stir until well blended.
Increase heat and stir until juices evaporate then, transfer to bowl.
Sauté leeks, shallots and garlic, add parsley, stir well.
Add mixture to bowl with pear mixture and then, add cubes of cheese.
Combine well.
Wrap in phyllo by layering a piece of phyllo pastry on baking sheet or in a 9 x 13” pan, use a medium size pastry brush to paint melted butter over phyllo sheet and repeat until you have layered 10 or so sheets.
Add filling to center of pastry and wrap as a package, finish by painting butter on top and sides.
Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool to set on baking rack cutting into squares to serve.
I found that using phyllo dough is a bit tricky. It is important that it has at least 24 hours to thaw before working with it otherwise it will stick together and tear to tiny bits.
Also the cooking time is fairly precise. If you pull it out too soon, it will stay soggy from all the butter, but if you let it go too long, the phyllo dough will get brown and be too dry and taste burnt.
So that is what I made. It was good.
Just a quiky here. And it is almost THEME related. I'll call it queso picante.
1 lb (16 oz) Velveeta or similar cheese
1 can Ro-Tel tomato and jalapeno.
Mix together and heat in microwave until is is yummy. I know this isn't gourmet or really authentic, but it is a post.
Another burger for ya. In the meat section you will find Romano and Gouda cheeses mixed into the meat itself. A healthy portion of cheese that is. The burger itself was flame broiled over charcoal which we finally got going after some vigorous fanning action. While the burger was on the grill I dashed on some Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.
That meat was topped with a crushed raspberry and blueberry mixture and lettuce.
On first burger (this one was the second) I mixed the berries right into the meat. This however made the meat too wet. I was afraid that when I placed it on the grill it would just drip through the grate. But with some careful flipping, I kept it in tact. The taste of the berries didn't really come through, and that is why I made the second one.
Or, Boiga-splosion, as I prefer it. So you might have heard that a few of us got together and cooked some stuffed burgers. Well it's all a lie and, though I may have lost the civil case, you can't prove a word of it. But, if we had done it, this is how it would have happened. (above is an artists rendering of what one of these hypothetical burgers may have looked like.)
Mine would have been stuffed with smoked gouda, slapped with basil and garlic salt, pan-fried in olive oil for 4 minutes on both sides, splashed while still in the pan with white cooking wine and cooked an additional 2 minutes on each side. It might have been served on a toasted bun, topped with caramelized mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and finished with a fig and red onion tapenade and green leaf lettuce.
Don't ring the bell. Remember, this never actually happened.
