Christmas came in full swing this year.
The following have been added to my collection:
A meat tenderizer (thanks, little bro)
A mini Cuisinart food chopper (I wanted one of these, but didn't tell anyone)
A second new stock pot, awesomely heavy stainless steel frying pan, cheese grater, silicone brush, and a REGULAR can opener. (I can't tell you how much I wanted a regular darn can opener!)
What do to now?
Chop something, anything, with the food chopper.
Throw away that crazy other can opener (oh wait, I found time to do that Christmas morning.)
Make a meal that requires two stock pots.
Figure out how to use stainless steel fry-ware.
Tonight we're having Roast Beef Sandwiches.
Sliced deli roast beef
Rolls
American (me) and Provolone Cheese (him), sliced
Brown gravy packet, prepared using 1 cup water
Cook brown gravy as directed, adding in sliced beef before simmering. The beef will cook a little. Lay cheese out on open roll. Spoon meat and your preferred amount of gravy. Enjoy. Easy and yum. Pair with some Clausen pickle spears, since they're on sale this week ;)
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Noodle Meaty, The Ole' Standby
When I was a teenager, something inspired me. It was one of mom's easy standby's. You know the one: ground meat plus red sauce plus pasta equals dinner.
It inspired me to do two things - Add some sliced American cheese and name it "Noodle Meaty!" Okay, so it sounds ridiculous but I was younger and it made us all laugh.
Back to the story. Place the cooked pasta (usually rigatoni or a spiral variety) on your plate. Place pieces of cheese on top and let the heat begin to melt it. Spoon meat sauce over top and the cheese melts. Yum!
Once in a while in high school, I helped at home by cooking dinner. This was an easy one so I learned how to make it without much problem. (Heat meat, open jar sauce, cook pasta...) So when I had my first friend "in college" I agreed to make a huge quantity and take Septa to visit. Dorm boys and fresh cooked food equals mucho grateful.
Here's today's take.
Cook 1 box Rigatoni, Rotini or similar pasta
Brown 1+ pound of ground turkey with plenty of Italian seasoning and garlic powder
Add in 1 large jar of your favorite sauce (this week, I used strained Rinaldi, since it was on sale and I don't like the little onion pieces.)
Place pasta on plate, shred mozzarella over top. Add meat sauce and enjoy with garlic bread, red wine or a tall glass of milk if that floats your boat.
It inspired me to do two things - Add some sliced American cheese and name it "Noodle Meaty!" Okay, so it sounds ridiculous but I was younger and it made us all laugh.
Back to the story. Place the cooked pasta (usually rigatoni or a spiral variety) on your plate. Place pieces of cheese on top and let the heat begin to melt it. Spoon meat sauce over top and the cheese melts. Yum!
Once in a while in high school, I helped at home by cooking dinner. This was an easy one so I learned how to make it without much problem. (Heat meat, open jar sauce, cook pasta...) So when I had my first friend "in college" I agreed to make a huge quantity and take Septa to visit. Dorm boys and fresh cooked food equals mucho grateful.
Here's today's take.
Cook 1 box Rigatoni, Rotini or similar pasta
Brown 1+ pound of ground turkey with plenty of Italian seasoning and garlic powder
Add in 1 large jar of your favorite sauce (this week, I used strained Rinaldi, since it was on sale and I don't like the little onion pieces.)
Place pasta on plate, shred mozzarella over top. Add meat sauce and enjoy with garlic bread, red wine or a tall glass of milk if that floats your boat.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Soup's On.....ion!
Ahh, French Onion Soup, the soup you get before meals at your favorite pub, restaurant or Friday's. Served hot with gooey, melty cheese and some unknown bread substance, it's an old standby.
Would you like to make this at home? I sure would and believe this recipe was originally from the back of some College Inn beef broth. I bought Progresso, since it was on sale, and they had a variation of the ole' recipe that I found interesting, and will mention later.
Ingredients:
3 medium onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 cans (roughly 13 oz. each) of beef broth
3/4 cup water
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 slices of french bread, Italian Bread or even croutons
Parmesan cheese, grated
4 slices Swiss cheese - or American, provolone or Mozerella
In pot, cook onions in butter until tender
Add broth, water, W. sauce, bringing to a boil
Reduce heat, cover, simmer 25 minutes
Spoon into oven or microwave safe bowls
Float bread on top of soup
Sprinkle with Parmesan
Top with cheese
Broil or microwave just until cheese is melted.
ENJOY!
The variation I saw on the back of the Progresso brand broth was "Italian Onion Soup" and contained a bit of differences Italian spices and used Italian bread and shredded Mozzerella over french bread and Swiss.
When I made it last, I used a french baguette (99 cents for a thin one, about 4 slices covered my bowl nicely) and slices mozzarella. It was hand-sliced and a little to thick, so I recommend store sliced or shredded if you must.
Of course if you use Swiss or Provolone, which most of you probably prefer, it will already be sliced.
It's getting colder outside - Soups on!
Would you like to make this at home? I sure would and believe this recipe was originally from the back of some College Inn beef broth. I bought Progresso, since it was on sale, and they had a variation of the ole' recipe that I found interesting, and will mention later.
Ingredients:
3 medium onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 cans (roughly 13 oz. each) of beef broth
3/4 cup water
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 slices of french bread, Italian Bread or even croutons
Parmesan cheese, grated
4 slices Swiss cheese - or American, provolone or Mozerella
In pot, cook onions in butter until tender
Add broth, water, W. sauce, bringing to a boil
Reduce heat, cover, simmer 25 minutes
Spoon into oven or microwave safe bowls
Float bread on top of soup
Sprinkle with Parmesan
Top with cheese
Broil or microwave just until cheese is melted.
ENJOY!
The variation I saw on the back of the Progresso brand broth was "Italian Onion Soup" and contained a bit of differences Italian spices and used Italian bread and shredded Mozzerella over french bread and Swiss.
When I made it last, I used a french baguette (99 cents for a thin one, about 4 slices covered my bowl nicely) and slices mozzarella. It was hand-sliced and a little to thick, so I recommend store sliced or shredded if you must.
Of course if you use Swiss or Provolone, which most of you probably prefer, it will already be sliced.
It's getting colder outside - Soups on!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Restaurant Worthy Vodka..... Rigatoni!
Upon checking out the "index" of meals I have in the back of my cookbook for grocery ideas, Vodka Rigatoni was decided upon. Turns out I have a killer recipe to make it from scratch.
Shit, I don't have vodka! There goes making it on Monday when I had free time.
But here I am on Tuesday. I took a lunch break to grab some vodka and couldn't decide - spend money on a decent vodka that I may drink? Or buy something cheap just to cook. I was inclined to buy better vodka but because I only ever drink vodka if its flavored (and I certainly cant cook with flavored) I decided on Nikoli. It was $8.00.
I'm here to say that since the recipe only called for 2/3 cup vodka and lots of quantity of everything else, it didn't matter one bit the vodka was cheap. Score!
It's a pretty involved recipe but surprisingly didn't take all that long.
Ingredients:
1 pound (I use 1 and 1/3) rigatoni, cooked
1 1/2 sticks butter
2/3 cup vodka
29 ounces tomato sauce (Hunt's plain sauce comes in this size can)
3 cups cream
1 cup grated Parmesan
In a large pot, melt butter until foam forms
Add vodka until liquor "browns" off. AKA - 2-3 minutes
Add sauce, bring *just* to a boil
Add cream, bring *just* to a boil
Add cheese
Add cooked pasta
Stir, let stand a few with heat on low if you'd like.
ENJOY!
(This time I added some plain grilled chicken bits. Yum)
Shit, I don't have vodka! There goes making it on Monday when I had free time.
But here I am on Tuesday. I took a lunch break to grab some vodka and couldn't decide - spend money on a decent vodka that I may drink? Or buy something cheap just to cook. I was inclined to buy better vodka but because I only ever drink vodka if its flavored (and I certainly cant cook with flavored) I decided on Nikoli. It was $8.00.
I'm here to say that since the recipe only called for 2/3 cup vodka and lots of quantity of everything else, it didn't matter one bit the vodka was cheap. Score!
It's a pretty involved recipe but surprisingly didn't take all that long.
Ingredients:
1 pound (I use 1 and 1/3) rigatoni, cooked
1 1/2 sticks butter
2/3 cup vodka
29 ounces tomato sauce (Hunt's plain sauce comes in this size can)
3 cups cream
1 cup grated Parmesan
In a large pot, melt butter until foam forms
Add vodka until liquor "browns" off. AKA - 2-3 minutes
Add sauce, bring *just* to a boil
Add cream, bring *just* to a boil
Add cheese
Add cooked pasta
Stir, let stand a few with heat on low if you'd like.
ENJOY!
(This time I added some plain grilled chicken bits. Yum)
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