In Case You Didn't Believe Me When I Said

I wasn't a foodie, I've come baring more proof. I have a couple other things that I could post about, since I made them prior to tonight's dinner, but they'll just have to wait. I didn't want to put off telling you about our meal any longer than I'd have to. The other day, while perusing food blogs, like ya do, I wandered over to Ruth's blog, Once Upon A Feast. As I scrolled down the page I delighted in finding the collection of recipes from Presto Pasta Night #34. I didn't have to look for long before one particular item caught my eye. I immediately linked over to the Spaghetti Sandwich, submitted by Alisha of Cook.Craft.Enjoy. And so tonight, I did just that. I cooked spaghetti, I crafted it into a sandwich, and I enjoyed. While I didn't follow her actual recipe, it was the inspiration for our meal, so she deserves props. So, if you ever think- hmm this pasta sure is good, but shoving it between two slices of bread would make it that much better
- read on.

Spaghetti Sandwich
Recipe inspired by Cook.Craft.Enjoy.; Serves a lot












1 7 oz. package fideo pasta
1 pound ground beef, 93% lean
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 15 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
garlic powder
dried basil
dried oregano
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
french loaf- or whatever bread you especially like for garlic toast
butter

• Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add ground beef and brown until there is no pink left, making sure to break up into a good crumble. Drain the beef and set aside. Return pan to stove, add a little more olive oil and cook onion and garlic for several minutes, till beginning to soften. Add meat back to pan, with both cans of crushed tomatoes. Begin seasoning, adding as you feel necessary and tasting often. Once the taste is to your liking reduce heat to low.
  
• Boil salted water and cook fideo pasta for approximately 9 minutes. Drain and return to pan.
• Cut thick slices from french loaf- large enough to make a decent sized sandwich. Butter both sides of slices and press one side each with garlic powder and a sprinkling of oregano. Toast in a skillet over medium heat till each side is to your desired crispness.
• Meanwhile, combine your sauce and pasta. Once toasts are done, spoon spaghetti onto one slice and top with the second.

My notes: I don't know if anyone is going to bother trying this, ha. But if you do you should know that you will have a ton of spaghetti leftovers, so this itself would probably be the ideal leftovers meal, following a pleasant spaghetti dinner. As it is we will behaving spaghetti for lunch tomorrow, ha.

I'm No Foodie

I know that my tastes in food are pretty low league. I'd like to think that my palate is starting to grow and expand, but sometimes that just isn't the case. And Tuesday night's dinner just proves that. I'd had my eye on this Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole from Everyday Food. So I put it on the menu for this week and picked up all the ingredients that I needed on my shopping trip. I'd never done anything with artichoke hearts before, but I wasn't too worried about that. Until I opened the can that is. I just couldn't do it. They smelled atrocious to me, and I just couldn't get past it. I've had recipes before where I thought a particular ingredient was pretty yucky, but everything came together fine in the end. This time I just couldn't work my way through it and after a minute or two I started thinking about what I could substitute them with. And I found my answer in the freezer- peas. Nice, bright green peas. The color and shape offered a nice contrast to the red pepper strips. Normally I would type out the original recipe verbatim and then note my changes below, but seeing as I will pretty much stick to this version from here on out, I'm posting it with my alterations. It is also a half version of the Everyday Food recipe, as it was their "Freeze It" feature, making enough for a casserole for now and casserole for later.

Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Adapted from Everyday Food Recipe; Serves 4

2.5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dish
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 oz. wide egg noodles
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup 1% milk
2 6oz. cans tuna packed in olive oil, drained
1-1.5 cups frozen peas
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dish. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente, according to package instructions; drain, and return to pot.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add bell pepper; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milks, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.
• Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, peas, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

My notes: The reasoning behind the milk- The original recipe called for 5 cups of whole milk. Halving it left me needing 2.5 cups. We don't drink whole milk, we buy 1%. So instead of having a bunch of whole milk leftover, going bad in my fridge, I bought a pint of whole and made the difference up with our 1%. I figure it saved us some nominal amount of calories and fat too. I bet I probably could have substituted some white whole wheat flour too. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna

So, last week I was originally planning on making this Eggplant Ricotta Bake. When I started my prep work I realized that one of my eggplants wasn't good. Down an eggplant I wasn't quite sure what to do. Perusing my pantry I saw half a package of no-bake lasagna noodles and decided that I would use those as a substitute. It's not any stroke of genius, but I was quite proud of myself. I had to muster a lot of energy to get myself into the kitchen in the first place, and I tend to give up easily. In this case I didn't, and I'm glad because the results were pretty good.

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna
Based on Everyday Food recipe; Serves 4












1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise 3/4" thick
6 no-bake lasagna noodles
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons oregano
2 cups marinara or tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
olive oil

• Preheat oven to 450°. Arrange eggplant slices in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Brush lightly on both sides with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast until eggplant is tender and golden, turning halfway through, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, ½ cup Parmesan, oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoons pepper. Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil.
• Place thin layer of tomato sauce in bottom of dish. Place two lasagna noodles on top, spread with layer of ricotta mixture, and two slices of roasted eggplant. Layer sauce on top of eggplant and repeat layers, ending with last of ricotta mixture. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and 1/2 cup mozzarella across top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, removing foil for last 5. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
  

My notes: I actually used less Parmesan than in the recipe because, for the 3rd time that week, I had underestimated how much of an ingredient I had. Still tasted great, and I'm sure will be even better next time with the full amount.

101- Meatloaf

I've decided that I need to work on mastering some of the most basic recipes. The things that you expect every good cook and/or housewife would have in their repertoire, able to whip up at a moment's notice. When I started cooking I just started trying recipes, I didn't begin with an intent to learn these basics and go from there. So, while I make a bolognese sauce that my husband loves, I've never made a basic tomato sauce. I have yet to roast a chicken. These are just a few of the things that I think fall into that basic category. Hopefully this is just the first of my 101 posts.

For sometime now I'd been craving meatloaf. This isn't something that I ate a whole lot as a kid, but when we did have it I really enjoyed it. My husband had expressed disdain for the meal, so I never bothered to make it. However when, combined with my craving, the October issue of Everyday Food had a feature on the classic dish, I figured it was time I gave it a shot. The hubster agreed to give it a go. It turned out pretty good and we both gladly gobbled it up. I think next time I may try it in mini loaf pans, so that I can freeze some for later. And I realize meatloaf isn't the most attractive dish, but I hate not using pictures.

Classic Meatloaf
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 6












3 slices white sandwich bread
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 medium onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/2 cup ketchup
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place bread in food processor; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a small bowl; stir in milk. Set aside, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine beef, pork, onion, garlic, egg, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add bread-milk mixture, and mix very gently with a fork (do not overmix).
• Place meat mixture on prepared baking sheet, and form into a loaf about 9 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide.
• Bake, brushing twice with remaining 1/4 cup ketchup during baking, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes. Let meatloaf rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

My notes: I used store-bought bread crumbs because I hate my food processor, and we don't eat white bread so I wasn't interested in buying a loaf for 3 slices. Although that posed the problem of guessing how much to use. I used 1/3 cup and I probably could have used less. It turned out fine, but it was a very thick once the 10 minutes was up. Aside from that I really didn't change anything about this.

So, one basic recipe down, who knows how many to go!

That's Right, Ladies and Gents

It was bound to happen eventually, and last week I finally fell victim to that time-honored disaster- I burned dinner. It's a mystery to me because while I made a couple of small changes to the recipe it was nothing that should have resulted in the charred blackness that came about. Luckily, while I prepped the ingredients to serve 4 I only put two in the oven, so I was able to re-purpose the rest of the ingredients for my lunch the next day. Not a total waste. I avoided the kitchen a little bit for the next few days, which explains the lack of posts the past week. I did manage to successfully make dinner this week, so look for those posts soon.

Big Ballers

Last week when I got home Wednesday evening I just wasn't feeling the cooking vibe. But for once I made myself stick to the program and I got my butt in the kitchen after being lazy for about 30 minutes. Just long enough to enjoy a Designing Women re-run, ha. On the menu were Rosemary Meatballs and Penne with Broccoli. Unfortunately I assumed that one of the 5 packages of pasta in my pantry was surely filled with penne. You know what happens when you assume. You use bow-tie pasta instead, ha. And I was tempted to just toss together a general approximation of the meatballs, but I made myself follow the recipe. I'm quite glad I did too, cause these were really excellent.

Rosemary Meatballs
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












8 oz. ground beef chuck
8 oz. ground pork
1.5 cups panko
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups homemade or store-bought tomato sauce

• In a large bowl, combine beef, pork, panko, egg, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix just until combined (do not overmix.) Using a level 1/4 cup measure for each, form mixture into 12 meatballs.
• Heat oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium-high. Add meatballs; cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Tilt skillet away from you, and pour in tomato sauce. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high; reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve meatballs and sauce, garnished with more rosemary, if desired.

My notes: The only thing I did differently with the meatballs is I used all beef because I happened to have just over a pound in the freezer already. I also only cooked half of the meatballs for our dinner. While forming the meatballs I placed them on wax paper and after putting our dinner's worth in the skillet I put the meatballs still on the paper onto a baking sheet and flash froze them for 30 minutes. I then placed them in a freezer bag so we can enjoy them later. For the bow-tie & broccoli I just added some frozen broccoli for the last few minutes of cooking the pasta. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the water. Then toss the pasta and broccoli with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, and add reserved water as needed to create a light sauce. I topped it with a little more shredded parmesan.

Fast & Filling

Now that Dancing With The Stars has started I'm going to be looking for fast and easy Monday & Tuesday night meals. So last night I pulled out an old standby that we hadn't had in quite a while. This stew is hearty and filling without being heavy and without meat. It's also incredibly easy as the only thing I have to chop is an onion. I guess you could mince the garlic too, but I either use the jarred variety or my lovely garlic press. I think I've addressed my laziness already, so no need for excuses. Anyway, I'll be pulling this recipe out time and again as the cold winter months approach. I typically serve this with cornbread, but tortillas or tortilla chips would also be delicious.

Black Bean and Corn Stew
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 4.5 oz. can chopped green chiles
2 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
Salt
1 10 oz. package frozen corn

• In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.
• To the pan, add chiles, beans, tomatoes and their juice, 2 cups water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.
• In a blender or food processor, puree 2 cups of the stew. Return the puree to the pan, and add frozen corn; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

My notes: I typically get more than 4 servings out of this. Last night I ladled 2 cups worth into my bowl for dinner. I had 1 1/2 cups for lunch today and I have about 1 1/2 cups left for tomorrow. My husband helped himself last night, so not sure how much he had then, but he divvied up the leftovers so he probably has about the same 3 cups worth left. Depending on how hungry you are you could definitely exceed the 4 servings. In fact, if you served this alongside some quesadillas or flautas you could probably stretch it quite a ways.