Pasta California

Inspired by our vacation in Napa Valley, California - my family asked me to make a dinner to celebrate. (Bear in mind this was intended for a collection of five picky palates.) I am happy to say I came up with a real sunshine-inspired crowd pleaser! Granted...I ended up with a triple serving of veggies in mine after my younger brothers modified their plates. ;)

Pasta California - feeds 5-6

Ingredients:
- 1 lb Rigatoni, or other short pasta with space to catch the sauce
- 2 cups chopped Chicken
- 2 cups chopped Broccoli
- 1 cup chopped Red Bell Pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped Onion (yellow)
- 1/2 chopped/sliced Mushrooms
- 2-3 cloves diced Garlic
- 1 jar Classico Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo


Boil the pasta until al dente. 
Meanwhile - in a saucepan over med-hi heat, put 2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil, and add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic right away.* Let these simmer until the onions are golden translucent and very soft, stirring and adding a few tablespoons of water periodically.
Next, add your chopped chicken and saute until almost cooked through. 
Add the broccoli and cook until the chicken is done and broccoli is the consistency you prefer. 
Add the bell pepper last so it maintains its crunch, which adds nice depth of texture to the dish.
Fold in with the drained rigatoni and jar of sauce. Let sit for at least 5 minutes on low heat, stirring regularly, to allow the flavors to blend.


Serve with warm bread, herbed olive oil for dipping, and a salad! We chose caprese salad in lieu of lettuce - sliced red tomatoes, topped with sliced fresh buffalo mozzarella, and sprinkled with basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil. 


Happy Eating!




*Note - Olive oil is my very favorite and I use it for everything. However - it is important to remember that it does not tolerate high heat very well. So if you are using virgin or extra virgin to saute foods on high heat, you must heat the pan first, then add the oil and foods together. This way, the oil isn't allowed to burn in the pan. Olive oil should never be allowed to smoke in the pan by itself.

Gratitude, & some Southern cookin'

An often overlooked, though very necessary, step to achieving happiness is bringing your attention to everything you've go to be happy about!

I use the Gratitude Journal app from happytapper now as it is an easy reminder. Nothing beats paper...but I try not to fight progress.  :)

It is in the spirit of gratitude that I write about my most recent culinary adventure. I had two wonderful people over my house the other night and wanted to give them more than boxed pasta and a jar of sauce. Wracking my brains in the bulk beans aisle, I had a moment of enlightenment and decided to treat them to some good old fashioned Italian-American Southern home cooking.

The menu:

Cornbread (the rustic kind. no sugar. no corn chunks.)

1 ½ c yellow cornmeal 

1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 scant tsp sea salt
1 egg lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk (or soured regular milk, or just regular milk. any %.)
2 tbsp olive oil (or bacon drippings)

* Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
* Put the oil in a cast iron skillet and place it in the oven while it preheats.
* Mix together dry ingredients. Whisk egg and buttermilk together. Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

* Take cast iron skillet out of oven. Pour the hot oil into batter and mix.
* Pour batter into cast iron skillet, bake in oven for 20 minutes - or until cornbread is brown on top and pulling away from the sides of the skillet. 

*Serve warm, with real butter.

Beans n' Greens

This is both a traditional Italian, and Southern, dish. Any bean with any green works really - experiment! The foundation is always the same:

* In a heavy bottomed pot or skillet, warm a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and cook 1 chopped onion and a few smashed and chopped garlic cloves until translucent and fragrant. 

* Add fresh or frozen greens, toss with the oil, and cook until crisp-tender and bright green.

* Add can or two of beans - only add the juices from one can (try to get NO Salt Added)

* Simmer gently until all the flavors combine- 5-10 minutes.

I used chopped leftover Easter ham in with the oil, onion and garlic, with kidney beans and a whole pot full of fresh kale.

Mac n' Cheese

A classic - prepared classically. Boiled macaroni noodles, into a casserole dish with about a cup of shredded cheddar and fresh parmesan-reggiano, with ½ cup buttermilk and a little powdered milk to help make the roux come together. Basil, oregano, black pepper, & a pinch of sea salt. Panko breadcrumbs on the top. Baked with the cornbread when the bread had about 10 minutes left.

(Trick: heat butter in a pan, add a spoon of flour and mix it together. Then slowly whisk in your milk. This should make a sort of gravy. Add your shredded cheeses to this and it'll all melt together into a cream sauce, rather than milk+cheese bits!)

All together - a success. Many thanks to my company and my cast iron skillets!

Love,

E

Shrimp and Sea Scallop Orecchiette

After the walk back from the library through the chilling rain, I was crying out for something warming and reminiscent of sunshine. Shrimp always reminds me of hanging with my dad on the Outer Banks - heading up to Carawan's for fresh seafood to compliment veggies from his garden. Unless of course we caught mullet that day...but I'll save the fresh fish tacos recipe for when I'm down there making them with him!

So today it's shrimps with scallops, tossed with orecciette (oh-raykh-ee-eht-ay) and zucchini in a tomato parmesean sauce. Yum.

1. Cook the orecchiette as you would any dry pasta - in a pot with plenty of well-salted water at a rolling boil, until al dente (done, but still firm and holding its texture). 
2. Once done, drain the water, add tomato based sauce of your choosing (I had a Cabernet marinara on hand), along with peeled and de-veined shrimp and scallops (raw) and slices of zucchini or other green vegetable. 
3. Cover and cook on medium until the shrimp are that pretty sunset color and opaque throughout. 
4. Turn off the heat, Add freshly grated parmesean and basil (dry or fresh) to taste, and let the flavors blend and the dish cool for five minutes.
5. Serve with a hearty bread and olive oil - and, as always, enjoy with friends if possible.

 

Bon Appétit!

With Love,
Elizabeth