dee-lish dinner

Tortellini with spinach, tomatos, pine nuts, and white beans. Recipe:

• Cook 15 oz package of tortellini according to directions. Drain, toss with 1 tbs garlic-flavored olive oil to keep from sticking, set aside.
• Heat 1 tbs garlic-infused oil and 1 tbs regular olive oil in pot over medium heat. Add 3 minced shallots, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper. Cook until shallot is browning.
• Add 1 cup vegetable broth, simmer for a few minutes. Add 2 tbs thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes, simmer a minute more. Add baby spinach leaves (as much as desired, I used about three big handfuls). Cook until leaves are wilted but still green. Stir in 1 15-oz cannellini beans, heat for minute.
• Slowly add pasta to pot, mixing together. Mix in 1.4 cup toasted pine nuts and grated parmesean as desire.
  
• Serve with bread and additional parmesean at table.
• original
  

Probably one of the most involved recipes I've made so far, but not difficult. It was very very good, and I will definitely make again. The original recipe I found called for more shallots, more garlic, more beans, and watercress instead of spinach. I like my changes--the dish was certainly flavorful enough, the tortellini stayed the focus with only one can of beans, and the spinach was very tasty and nutritious. You could taste tons of different flavors, and there was a variety of textures too. Great meal.

Next, dessert....

brunch with mike!

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin pancakes pancakes pancakes. recipe:

• Whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp salt in bowl.
• Beat 3 eggs and 1/3 cup honey in separate bowl. Whisk in 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup pumpkin purée, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
  
• Stir egg mixture into flour mixture.
• Coat nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat. Ladle 2/3 cup batter onto skillet for each pancake. Cook for few minutes, flip, and cook until pancakes are browned on both sides.
  
• Serve warm with Honey-Raspberry Syrup.

raspberry syrup (or, berry mush, as mike calls it):

• Place 3 cups frozen raspberries and 1/2 cup water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 5 minutes, or until berries are soft. Mash in pan until smooth.
  
• Strain berry mixture through sieve into separate saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup of honey, and return mixture to a boil. Remove from heat, add some of berry mixture back into sauce.
  

Mike and I ate them with whipped cream too, which I liked more than the berry-honey sauce. Good for a brunch. Although, very heavy. Recipe could def serve 3-5 people.

original

other meal

Also on vacation, I made a pasta dish with asparagus, mint, and feta.

It was bad. Sad day.

Here's the original recipe (I'm not even going to bother).

And here's a photo.

indiannnnnnn

On vacation, made this meal with Mike. It was awesome.

Paneer Matter recipe:

• Purée 1 large onion and 1 clove garlic in food processor.
• Cook 10 oz package of frozen peas according to package and set aside.
  
• Heat 1 1/2 tbs of veg oil in skillet at medium heat. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, and 1 bay leaf. Heat for 1-2 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic mix and saute for 5-7 minutes, or until browned.
• Add 15 oz tomato sauce, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp paprika. Simmer 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Add up to 1/2 cup water to thin, and simmer a few minutes more.
  
• Stir in peas, 3 tbs sour cream. and 1/2 tsp sugar. Cook for a few minutes more.
• Add cubes paneer cheese and cook just long enough to warm.
• Serve with naan and/or basmati rice.
• original
  

So good. Yummmmmmm. Important points. 1) If paneer is unavailable, cubed mozzarella works. It melts very easily, though, so you don't need to cook it long at all. 2) Something I noticed with my second try of this recipe... simmer the tomato/spice mixture for quite awhile. The longer you simmer, the better the spices taste in the final product.

Happy New Year!

Last night, we all went out to a dinner/gala event for New Year's Eve. Dinner wasn't served until 9, so I made an appetizer for everyone last night before we left home. Tomato and goat cheese galette!

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Cut 2 medium tomatoes int thin slices.
  
• In skillet, heat olive oil at medium heat. Saute 1 medium sweet onion for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat.
• Lay 1 sheet frozen puff pastry sheet on baking sheet. Distribute onion and oil evenly on top, leaving 1-inch border all around.
  
• Lay goat cheese on top of onion, sprinkle with 1 tsp fresh thyme.
• Lay tomato slices on top of cheese, overlapping slightly and covering all of cheese. Place about 6 whole, fresh basil leaves on top of tomato.
  
• Fold pastry up and over edges of tomato, crimping dough every inch or two, shaping pastry into cirlce.
• Bake until crust is golden, about 18 minutes. Cool, cut, serve.
• original
  

Good stuff. The favorite thing I've made of a few fam members. Will make again, for a party or something.

Geoff's Goodbye meal

Geoff leaves tomorrow. (He comes back on Thursday, but he leaves tomorrow!) Tonight, I made a recipe I found on vegetarian times again. Farfalle with creamy tomato-goat-cheese sauce. Recipe (with updated/adjusted ingredients):

• Toast about 3 tbs pine nuts until golden in skillet at medium heat. Set aside.
• Boil 15-oz farfalle pasta according to package. Drain, add a little oil or butter to prevent clumping and set aside.
• Cook one bag of frozen petite peas in microwave (or according to package) and then set aside.
• Heat skillet at medium heat with 2 tbs olive oil, 3 cloves minced garlic, and 1 tsp basil.
• Once garlic begins to brown: add 10-oz can of creamy tomato soup, 1 tbs white wine, and 1/4 cup half-and-half. Bring to simmer at medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for about 3 minutes.
• Add 4-oz package of mild goat cheese to skillet and simmer until entirely melted and mixed. Season with salt as desired.
• Mix in pine nuts and pasta slowly. Add peas as desired. Serve!
• original
  

Mmm, mmm, good. Campbell's Soup In Hand was the only creamy tomato soup I could find--hence the "10 oz can" of soup. I only ended up using 3/4 of our pea package, the sauce could have used more goat cheese (original recipe listed 3 oz, so I write 4 oz), and the meal could have used more pine nuts (original called for 2 tbs). We served it with baked baguette and the crunchy was a good complement to the meal. Really good, REALLY easy to make--definitely will make again. :)

Bye Geoff! I can't wait till you're back and I can cook for you more. And Claudia! Woooooo

Some more meat for Geoff...

Tonight I made a stir-fry noodle dish with veggies, and I ended up adding some shrimp to it to make the rest of the fam happy. And, to be honest, I like shrimp. So I guess I added it for that reason too. :) Recipe:

• Cut and prepare all vegetables (feel free to add and subtract veggies as you so desire): one small yellow/sweet onion (cut into about 1/2 inch pieces), 1 stalk of broccoli (cut into small florets, keep leaves, and discard most of main stalk), 1 large carrot (cut into matchsticks), 1 half (or whole) yellow or red pepper (I used yellow; cut into about 1/2 inch pieces), 1 head of bok choy (cut into about 1-inch pieces; baby bok choy preferable, if a larger head, you probably won't use all of it), and 1 medium tomato (cut into relatively large pieces).
• Prepare 8-0z box of udon noodles according to package, drain, add about 1 tbs soy sauce, set aside.
• Heat skillet at medium/medium-low heat with olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic (or 2 tsp garlic powder), 1 tsp fresh minced ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger), and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Add onion and saute until slightly browning.
• Add hardest vegetables, then softer vegetables, and saute until tender. (For me, I added all of the vegetables at the same time and covered the skillet occasionally to steam and help tenderize.) Add soy, ginger, garlic, and/or cinnamon as desired.
  
• While vegetables cook, heat another skillet at medium heat with 2 tbs soy sauce and about 30 peeled shrimp. Saute shrimp while vegetables saute as desired.
• When initial vegetable are fairly tender, add bok choy pieces and saute (covering occasionally) until leaves are wilted.
• Remove skillets from heat. Add tomato wedges to vegetable mix. Then, combine vegetables, shrimp, and noodles. Add soy sauce as desired, and serve.
• original
  

Mmmmmm.... Very good and flavorful. Cinnamon and fresh ginger really stood out. It was popular with all of the family, and I'll be making it again. Perhaps playing around with other veggies (asparagus? water chestnuts? red pepper? pineapple?). One thing: this meal, with the big eaters in my family, just satisfied the four of us. So, if you have a hungry family, you might want to look for a bigger package of udon, add more vegetables or protein, or serve with an appropriate side dish or appetizer--I know we'll need to do something next time we make this for the whole family.