I needed Heather to come over and keep me on task last night, and so while I drove around and did banking and various other errands, I called her and wept and begged. I needed someone to talk to while I finished the loose ends of my purging project.
I bribed her with food and drink.
I didn't have a plan when I called her, so I had to think fast. I had a lot of criteria for this meal. It had to be something I could make fairly quickly, and with minimal mess. I also wanted to make something that would satisfy my urges for chick food and food that TBI will not eat. I had to get it in while the getting was good. And, I wanted it to be an adequate bribe for Heather.
Here's what I came up with, and it worked out almost perfectly.
1) Winter salad of butter lettuce mix (from a bag) with candied walnuts, pomegranite seeds, a few crumbles of leftover gorgonzola, red onion, and balsalmic viniagrette.
2) Crusty french baguette. My favvvorite bought artisan bread.
3) Mushroom risotto. Arborio brand makes a great "one step" one - totally a cheat but good and always comes out just right. For when you don't have time to stand and stir your risotto all night.
4) Pork Tenderloin with gorgonzola cream sauce. Ahhhhh.
And don't forget the wine.
The beauty is: I get to have it all over again tonight. I wanna go home now.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Now, About That Sunday Gravy
I have a million uses for Sunday Gravy.
Here's one I tried (read: made up) last Sunday.
I remembered while shopping in bulk at WalMart a few weeks ago that I used to really like that wagon wheel (some call it fancier names, but it will always be wagon wheel to me) pasta. I also seemed to recall, back in my early cooking days, making a spicy tomato cream sauce that I used over those wagon wheels. Nothing too fancy, but it was one of my favorite things to make and I thought because I used half and half it was gourmet.
Anyway, last Sunday I decided to use my wagon wheels, which turned out to be "mini" wagon wheels. I was crushed, thinking it would be horrible, but it turned out that after cooking them they seemed just the right size.
Here it is, as I designed it this time.
1 recipe of Sunday gravy. Portion off about four or five cups of it to freeze for later. Pour the rest into a skillet with some already browned and drained Italian sausage. NOTE: *I couldn't find any good hot Italian sausage in the WalMarts, so I fancied it up myself, adding some fennel seeds and crushed red pepper while TBI browned it. Turned out fabulous.
Add about a cup of half and half to your SG/Sausage mixture in the LARGE skillet or pot you're using, and let it simmer for awhile to meld the flavors. Do not scorch the milk. Toss in a little more cayenne pepper and fennel seed.
Make a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of your deep casserole dish (I mean it, use something deeper than a normal 9x13 pan for this - it makes a lot!) and then dump half of the pasta in. Layer on some shredded cheese; I had a mozzarella/provolone mix that I thought was perfect for this, and maybe toss in a little parmesian for good measure, pour on half the sauce, and repeat. On the very top, pour in another few tablespoons of half and half, and then make a layer of provolone slices all over the top.
Bake at 325 for 40 minutes or so, just to make sure you have warmed through and you get some nice browning on the cheese. Serve with Lazy Bitch caesar salad from the bag, and some gooey garlic bread. And then go for a ten mile run.
*I think this was really easy, and a nice replacement for lasagna, which is a little more time consuming, and is always better the next day because it needs to set up. This comes out fine, straight from the oven!
Ingredient List:
1 Box Barilla Mini Wagon Wheels
2/3 recipe of Sunday Gravy
2 1/2 c half and half
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, divided
4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pkg italian sausage (about 1.5 lbs.)
2 c. mozzarella/provolone mix shredded cheese
8 slices provolone
Here's one I tried (read: made up) last Sunday.
I remembered while shopping in bulk at WalMart a few weeks ago that I used to really like that wagon wheel (some call it fancier names, but it will always be wagon wheel to me) pasta. I also seemed to recall, back in my early cooking days, making a spicy tomato cream sauce that I used over those wagon wheels. Nothing too fancy, but it was one of my favorite things to make and I thought because I used half and half it was gourmet.
Anyway, last Sunday I decided to use my wagon wheels, which turned out to be "mini" wagon wheels. I was crushed, thinking it would be horrible, but it turned out that after cooking them they seemed just the right size.
Here it is, as I designed it this time.
1 recipe of Sunday gravy. Portion off about four or five cups of it to freeze for later. Pour the rest into a skillet with some already browned and drained Italian sausage. NOTE: *I couldn't find any good hot Italian sausage in the WalMarts, so I fancied it up myself, adding some fennel seeds and crushed red pepper while TBI browned it. Turned out fabulous.
Add about a cup of half and half to your SG/Sausage mixture in the LARGE skillet or pot you're using, and let it simmer for awhile to meld the flavors. Do not scorch the milk. Toss in a little more cayenne pepper and fennel seed.
Make a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of your deep casserole dish (I mean it, use something deeper than a normal 9x13 pan for this - it makes a lot!) and then dump half of the pasta in. Layer on some shredded cheese; I had a mozzarella/provolone mix that I thought was perfect for this, and maybe toss in a little parmesian for good measure, pour on half the sauce, and repeat. On the very top, pour in another few tablespoons of half and half, and then make a layer of provolone slices all over the top.
Bake at 325 for 40 minutes or so, just to make sure you have warmed through and you get some nice browning on the cheese. Serve with Lazy Bitch caesar salad from the bag, and some gooey garlic bread. And then go for a ten mile run.
*I think this was really easy, and a nice replacement for lasagna, which is a little more time consuming, and is always better the next day because it needs to set up. This comes out fine, straight from the oven!
Ingredient List:
1 Box Barilla Mini Wagon Wheels
2/3 recipe of Sunday Gravy
2 1/2 c half and half
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, divided
4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pkg italian sausage (about 1.5 lbs.)
2 c. mozzarella/provolone mix shredded cheese
8 slices provolone
Vegetable Beef Soup. Make You Some.
TBI and I like to have large amounts of food around the house, because there are lots of days we don't feel like cooking, or even getting out a knife or saucepan. Sometimes, Kraft Mac and Cheese is too much work.
Right now there is a large casserole of pasta with sausage and tomato cream sauce (more on that later) in the garage fridge, but as TBI had eaten on that for a week, I decided it was time to add another dish to the menu.
I bought stew meat, which I totally consider cheating, and it is still totally acceptable, and had TBI put it in the crock pot in the morning, on WARM. Not low, not hot, WARM. Two packages of stew meat, a cup of beef broth from the box, pour in some balsamic vinegar and some worchestershire and a healthy sprinkling of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, and voila. Five hours later you have succulent, delicious meat for your soup. If TBI hasn't eaten it all, one morsel at at time, before you get home from work to assemble the soup.
Now: make the soup. Start by having TBI peel six or seven smallish red potatoes (I think they hold up better in a soup and don't get as mealy. You could also use a Yukon Gold to the same advantage) and three or four carrots. Chop up some celery, and don't be afraid to use the leafy tops; they're gonna bring a lot of flavor to the pot.
Pour an entire box of beef broth into the pot, and add three cups of water to make more volume. Cut up your potatoes fairly small, you don't want bigger-than-bite-size hunks in your soup, and add them in, with the celery, and the carrots that you have cut into hunks on the bias.
Add a can of diced tomatoes, undrained. Last night I used a can that already had "italian seasonings" in it; whatever you have will be fine. Then toss in whatever veggies you like. I had a can of whole green beans, half a bag of frozen corn, and half a bag of peas.
Now to add the meat. I skimmed the fat off the top of the liquid in the crock pot with a ladel, and then poured the whole thing in. You want that cooked broth and salty goodness going in your soup. You want a little of the fat going in too, if you are into flavor.
Toss a couple of bay leaves (I did three, I think they do something special for the broth, and more is always better, right?), salt to taste, but be careful because the meat is salty as is the broth, and pepper. I put in a healthy amount of basil, and a dash of sage for that earthy, peasant taste.
Put the lid on it, and simmer at medium heat until you fear it will start to boil or pop over, and then remove the lid. You can eat it as soon as the potatoes and carrots are done (about an hour) but the longer this stuff simmers on low heat, the more delicious it will be.
I purchased a loooooong and beautiful crusty loaf of bread, which I warmed right on the oven rack, and it was perfect with the soup. I was looking forward to making croutons out of it later but the kitties decided they were into artisan bread and stuck their fangs in it all over while we weren't looking. Maybe you will have better luck with your bread than I did.
Right now there is a large casserole of pasta with sausage and tomato cream sauce (more on that later) in the garage fridge, but as TBI had eaten on that for a week, I decided it was time to add another dish to the menu.
I bought stew meat, which I totally consider cheating, and it is still totally acceptable, and had TBI put it in the crock pot in the morning, on WARM. Not low, not hot, WARM. Two packages of stew meat, a cup of beef broth from the box, pour in some balsamic vinegar and some worchestershire and a healthy sprinkling of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, and voila. Five hours later you have succulent, delicious meat for your soup. If TBI hasn't eaten it all, one morsel at at time, before you get home from work to assemble the soup.
Now: make the soup. Start by having TBI peel six or seven smallish red potatoes (I think they hold up better in a soup and don't get as mealy. You could also use a Yukon Gold to the same advantage) and three or four carrots. Chop up some celery, and don't be afraid to use the leafy tops; they're gonna bring a lot of flavor to the pot.
Pour an entire box of beef broth into the pot, and add three cups of water to make more volume. Cut up your potatoes fairly small, you don't want bigger-than-bite-size hunks in your soup, and add them in, with the celery, and the carrots that you have cut into hunks on the bias.
Add a can of diced tomatoes, undrained. Last night I used a can that already had "italian seasonings" in it; whatever you have will be fine. Then toss in whatever veggies you like. I had a can of whole green beans, half a bag of frozen corn, and half a bag of peas.
Now to add the meat. I skimmed the fat off the top of the liquid in the crock pot with a ladel, and then poured the whole thing in. You want that cooked broth and salty goodness going in your soup. You want a little of the fat going in too, if you are into flavor.
Toss a couple of bay leaves (I did three, I think they do something special for the broth, and more is always better, right?), salt to taste, but be careful because the meat is salty as is the broth, and pepper. I put in a healthy amount of basil, and a dash of sage for that earthy, peasant taste.
Put the lid on it, and simmer at medium heat until you fear it will start to boil or pop over, and then remove the lid. You can eat it as soon as the potatoes and carrots are done (about an hour) but the longer this stuff simmers on low heat, the more delicious it will be.
I purchased a loooooong and beautiful crusty loaf of bread, which I warmed right on the oven rack, and it was perfect with the soup. I was looking forward to making croutons out of it later but the kitties decided they were into artisan bread and stuck their fangs in it all over while we weren't looking. Maybe you will have better luck with your bread than I did.
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