Food goodness

Is the texture of this pasta perfect? No it is not. Is this a perfectly balanced dish? Again, no. But do you have a hot home-cooked dinner at the end of a long day without having to do anything, and will your child actually eat it? Yup.  Ingredients: 16 oz dried pasta (bigger shape like fusilli or penne preferable) 2 24oz jars of sauce (or equivalent with crushed tomatoes and water) Frozen meatballs, some amount (I used 12 beyond meatballs)  2 handfuls mozzarella cheese (ricotta/marscapone/grated parm optional, and probably you could get away without the mozz) Directions: Pour half a jar of sauce into the slow cooker Add half the pasta and half the meatballs. Add the other half jar of sauce   Add half the cheese. Repeat til it’s all gone. If the pasta on the top doesn’t have liquid covering it, add some water until all the pasta is covered.  Cook on low for six hours. Serve with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes & oregano so people can add more seasoning to taste....

Green condiment of delight. Like hari chutney or Afghani chatney or most any herb pesto, chimichurri makes many foods taste like a very special treat. It's great on a steak (traditional in South American cuisine) and I like it on fish, potatoes, sandwiches, mixed into hummus, etc. I make a batch, use a portion of it right away and freeze the rest into cubes and add it to various soups and stews or even guac. Say it: "chimichurri." Nice. Now go make it. 1 bunch cilantro (about a C) - mostly just the leaves but you'll blend it, so don't be too perfect about it 1 bunch parsley (about a C) - ditto 1 clove garlic, minced 2 T olive oil 1-2 chiles/jalepenos (seeds removed) 1 t salt 2 T lime juice a little water to get the blender going Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Pulse to blend everything into a smooth, gorgeous, Elphaba-green sauce.

Adapted from Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Eastern Food p. 254. So, in case it's not obvious, I've switched from an almost entirely vegetarian (except for bacon) diet to one that is high protein.  And I don't mean just eating lots of eggs and Greek Yogurt--I mean meat and lots of it.  Even red meat.  And lamb, which I don't eat a lot of but this recipe sounded so good that I had to try it out.  You can use beef just as easily if that's your preference.  Don't use bone-in meat for this, just cube it and trim it of any excess fat.  Also, I think it's good to have lots of veg with your meat so I added lots more than the recipe called for.  In fact, everything but the onion is an add-on.  And I think it turned out perfectly because the lamb is really rich and the veg just soaks up all that delicious juice. 2 lbs shoulder of lamb (or beef), cubed with excess fat removed 3 T vegetable oil 1 t ground ginger 1 t ground cumin 1/2 t allspic...

Adapted from the Neelys I made a batch of this to use next weekend when I will be making pulled pork for 24 people at a family reunion. I wanted to make a double batch but didn't have enough ingredients on hand at home tonight. If I make another batch later in the week, I might try reducing the apple cider vinegar just a bit to see if I like it better that way. It's definitely good this way, but it is vinegar-y. I cut back on the sugar from the original recipe, as recommended in many of the comments, so that may have contributed to the strong vinegar tang, too. I may continue to play around with this recipe, but it's a good starting place. You could also throw this in the crockpot for a few hours instead of simmering on your stovetop. Ingredients 2 cups ketchup 1 cup water 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 5 tablespoons light brown sugar 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon dehydrated onion 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard 1 tablespoon lemon...

Originally here , but I made a fair number of changes. I think the key was only boiling the pasta until it was half-done, and then finishing it in the sauce (which originally looked pretty watery). Yum. * about 3/4 lb chicken (or other) sausage, casings discarded * 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled * crushed red pepper flakes to taste * 1 can diced tomatoes & about two dozen halved grape tomatoes (or a 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes) * ¼ tsp granulated sugar * 1 glass red wine (or more) * freshly ground black pepper * freshly squeezed lemon juice * chicken stock for cooking the broccoli rabe (optional) * 1 lb dry orecchiette * 2 bunches broccoli rabe, bottom stalks trimmed and discarded, outer leaves removed, and remaining rabe cut into 3 inch lengths * 2 handfuls freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese plus more for serving Heat a large pan over high heat. Add a bit of olive oil and crumble in the sausage meat. Reduce the heat to medium a...

Ernie loves short ribs. This is a good way to make them, if you're not interested in braising them in a bottle of red wine with lots of bacon. That way is good, too. Adapted from Pioneer Woman 8 whole Beef Short Ribs 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil Salt And Pepper, to taste 1 Tablespoon Sugar 4 cloves Garlic, Crushed 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced 1 cup Red Wine 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes 1 can (14 Ounce) petite tomatoes in sauce 1 teaspoon Salt ¼ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes Dried basil (how much? I dunno, I eyeballed it) Pasta Grated Parmesan Cheese Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high to high heat. Sprinkle short ribs with salt and pepper. Brown short ribs in oil, about 1 1/2 or 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Pour off excess oil (be careful!) Throw garlic and onions into pot. Stir to cook for a minute or two, then add tomatoes, wine, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and basil. Stir to combine. With tongs, set sho...

From Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday I've also used this recipe with a whole chicken instead of pork. I'd love a tip about how to keep track of all the tiny little bones of a chicken in a slow cooker. Serves 6 1 1/2 pounds red skin or Yukon Gold potatoes, each cut into 6 wedges 1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cubed (I used 1 1/2” cubes) 2 oz (about 8) dried guajillo chilies (stemmed, seeded, and torn so they lie flat) 1 – 15oz can diced tomatoes (preferably fire roasted) 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved 2 tsp dried oregano 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce salt 1/2 C (loosely packed) chopped cilantro for garnish 1/2 C diced white onion 1. Set the potatoes over bottom of slow cooker and top with pork. 2. Heat med. (8-inch) skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, toast the chilies – about 10 seconds per side. Any smoke means they are burning. Put in blender. 3. Add tomatoes w/ juice, garlic, oregano, Worcestershire, a generous 1 1/2 tsp. Salt, and 1 1/2 C water. Blend u...

I picked up a Cooking Light magazine a couple of weeks ago that was filled with recipes and none of the articles. I've been sort of planning my way through it, and this was the first recipe we tried. 2 cups uncooked egg noodles Cooking spray 1 pound top sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots 1 (8-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. While noodles cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; cover. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushr...

This is not low-fat, or healthy eating by any stretch of the imagination. But by cooking it at home, and being careful about what you use, you can at least lighten it up. This is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. Ernie made it for dinner the night I got into the car accident, and it was super tasty. 3 tablespoons fat-free milk 2 large egg whites 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 4 (4-ounce) sirloin cubed steaks 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, low-salt beef broth Combine 3 tablespoons milk and egg whites in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Combine 1/3 cup flour and next 4 ingredients (1/3 cup flour through pepper) in a shallow dish. Working with 1 steak at a time, dip in egg mixture; dredge in flour mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining steaks, egg mixture, and flour mixture. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high he...

Alissa found this delightful site , which features Weight Watchers points for all of its delicious-sounding recipes. This is the first one I tried, with some fairly substantial modifications, and it was really great... even the non-WW-ing among us would like it, I believe. Original recipe here. Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 cups • Calories: 253 • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts 1.25 lb homemade turkey sausage meat [safe bet to say I will never ever ever make my own sausage meat; I used Wegman's roasted garlic chicken sausage] 2 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 bunch kale - rinsed, leaves removed from the ribs & rough chopped [I used 1.5 bunches, plus carrots and celery] 1 cup Cannellini or Northern beans - drained and rinsed 4 cups fat free chicken stock [I used veg] 2 cups water 1 small pinch dried red pepper flakes (optional) salt and freshly ground pepper to taste [I also think cheese to sprinkle on the top is non-optional for this recipe] Heat oil over medi...

From an issue of RelishMag that my mom brought over one day. Just resurfaced in the annual clean out the inbox ritual. Boy, did we like this. Ingredients Pork 2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 12 (2-inch thick) slices (medallions) 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Apples 2 tablespoons butter 3 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled and thickly sliced 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about ½ cup) 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt Sauce ( commenters said to double it...uh, OK !) 1/2 cup apple cider 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper To prepare pork, place medallions in between sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or a heavy skillet, flatten each piece to an even thickness of about 1/4 inch. Remove plastic wrap and season both sides of medallions with salt and pepper. Heat a 12-inch sauté pan ...

Adapted from: Annie's Eats I'll be honest - I didn't measure anything. I just opened a zip-lock bag, poured in all of the ingredients, zipped it up and let it marinate all day while I was at work. I cooked the pork chops in a skillet on the stovetop, but the original recipe calls for grilling them. At any rate, the marinate is really good and Todd told me 3 times that we have to remember this marinade because it was so good. 2/3 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1/3 cup brown sugar 3 cloves chopped garlic dash of ground ginger (use fresh ginger if you have it) pork chops Mix all ingredients together in a plastic bag. Add pork chops. Marinate in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. Remove pork chops from marinade and cook with your preferred cooking method. If you want to, you can pour the marinade into a saucepan and boil it for a few minutes and then use this to baste the pork chops as they cook, or reduce to a sauce for the chops. Or not, if you don't w...

Ok, this isn't really a recipe, because it kind of depends on how many peppers you have. But here's a description about what to do: Ground meat (beef, sausage, turkey, soy crumbles) - about 1 lb. butter - about 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour - about 2 Tbsp milk - about 2 cups dash of cayenne cheddar cheese - about a cup, shredded diced tomatoes, drained of liquid, optional peppers - banana, sweet Aruba, bell, etc. Amount depends on size. I used 3 med-sized sweet Arubas Crescent roll dough - 1 to 2 cans, depending on how many peppers you want to make Brown the meat. Drain. Make a cheese sauce - melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in all-purpose flour. Stir for a few minutes to cook out the flour taste. Add about 2 cups of milk. Whisk until thickened. Add a dash of cayenne pepper and shredded cheese; stir until well combined. You could add some diced, drained tomatoes here, too. Stir cheese sauce into meat. Cut the tops off the peppers. Scoop out the seeds and membranes. Stuff ...

This is part of my ongoing plan to repurpose leftovers into a different meal, so as not to throw anything away. Better on the food budget, better on the environment (or so I tell myself) to not be throwing food away. And a good lesson to the kids on being resourceful, and not wasteful. Anyway. We had a roasted leg of lamb on Sunday for our belated Easter dinner. Not my first pick, but my Gran insists. And I had all this leftover lamb. I wasn't in the mood for lamb stew or lamb shepherd's pie, so I went looking. We had this with some hummus, tzatziki, pita (store-bought), and a tomato/cucumber salad. This recipe doesn't use measurements, because I didn't use them. But if you like, the original recipe does use measurements. Some leftover lamb . I cut up all the lamb off the bones and threw it in the food processor. I pulsed the lamb, to get it to a ground meat consistency. And then I added one egg (to bind it) and some ground coriander until it smelled good. And a lit...

I had one of these Quebecois specialties when I was in Ottawa more than a year ago. (Yes, I know Ottawa is in Ontario.) I also had this dish at an Irish bar. So I'm not sure how authentic it was anyway. All I know is that it was delicious, and I hadn't been able to put my hands on a recipe...until the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Cooking Light . Thanks, CL! This isn't a super-fast dish -- there's a lot of chopping and it takes a while for everything to be ready. I don't think this is a good candidate for a weeknight dinner. However, I think you could probably prep the meat pie filling one day, refrigerate it for a day, then top it off with crust and bake it. Spiced meat pie dating back to the Middle Ages is a holiday tradition in Québec. The dish is often made in a pie plate with top and bottom crusts. Our version calls to bake individual pies in ramekins with just a top crust—a simple way to shave both fat and calories from each serving. If you don't have ramek...

I adapted (barely) this recipe from one I found on Serious Eats . Super easy. 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into chunks 4 raw sausages (I used a chicken, artichoke, garlic sausage) 1 box white mushrooms, stems removed and halved Olive oil as needed Salt and pepper to taste fresh rosemary, chopped Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash and scrub the potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks. Transfer to a roasting pan or dish that holds all the ingredients snugly. Douse the potatoes quite generously with olive oil and toss with salt, pepper and rosemary. Roast, undisturbed, for about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and stir up the potatoes gently. Distribute the mushrooms into the pan and toss them to coat with the oil, then nestle the sausages near the center. Drizzle the sausages with a bit of oil and return to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the sausages and potato chunks. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve alone or perhaps with a little mustard.

Adapted from: Closet Cooking and All Recipes This was SO good. The two of us ate two bowls apiece. The "recipe" is kind of loose because I just used what I had and tweaked it as I went along, but this is the basic idea. I started with a ham bone that was frozen after Christmas last year - one of those spiral-cut honey-baked hams. So, the ham I used started with a lot of good flavor. I put the frozen ham bone in the pot and then after it simmered for awhile, I pulled off the bits of ham that were still on the bone. I had intended to add a cubed ham steak that I bought for the soup, but I ended up pulling enough ham off the bone that I didn't need to add any more. Add as much water as you want, depending on how thin you want the broth, and depending on how salty the broth ends up after you simmer the ham bone. 1 ham bone, fresh or frozen 4 cups chicken stock 2-4 cups of water, to taste 3 bay leaves 1 cup carrots, diced 1 cup onions, diced 1 cup celery, diced 3 cups o...

Okay, this is something I never would have decided to make on my own, but I'm trying one new recipe from each of my cookbooks, and this is the one that caught my eye -- because I thought Ernie would love it. The original recipe called for oxtails, but I mistakenly bought grass-fed beef shanks instead, so that's what I used. The recipe has a lot of ingredients and steps, but they are well worth it. The meat was really tender and flavorful, and although I thought I wouldn't be much of a fan -- I loved it. I'd definitely make this if I was having company over for dinner, and serve it with polenta and some sort of roasted veggie. We had it with green beans and pasta with butter/parm cheese, and that was fine, too. Adapted from Molto Italiano , by The Man Mario Batali 5 pounds grass-fed beef shanks 3 Tbsp. tomato paste 2 Tbsp. olive oil 4 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (you could substitute bacon here, but it wouldn't be quite as good) 1 large onion, finely dic...

From: Serious Eats I made this cherry sauce today, which we will use later in the week with pork chops for dinner. I get home pretty late many days, so it's just easier to prep as much as I can on Sunday, and then Todd can throw things together and reheat or assemble as needed during the week. Plus, I love coming home to dinner already made. :) I'm sure you could use this with whatever your regular pork chop method is. We usually just cook them in a skillet on the stove top. I'll put the whole recipe here, but I was mainly posting it for the cherry sauce. I tried it straight out of the pan, and it was delicious. Not as sweet as many store-bought sauces and other recipes I have tried. The red wine gives it a great flavor, and I love the honey. Yum! I should have made a double-batch, I think. ** This serves 2 ** 1 cup cherries, pitted 3 tablespoons water 1/4 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 3 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped 1/2 te...

From a cookbook my friend Tara in Vancouver sent me called "The Best of the Best and more" 1 lb. ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped (I minced mine, because then Gaby doesn't notice it) 1/2 c. milk 1 egg, beaten 8 crushed soda crackers (I used about 1/4 c. plain bread crumbs) salt and pepper to taste 1/4 c. ketchup 1/4 c. water 1 tsp. dry mustard 1/2 c. brown sugar Combine ground beef, onion, milk, egg, crackers (or bread crumbs), salt and pepper and mix well. Place in a large loaf pan and make a groove down the center of the loaf. In a bowl, combine ketchup, water, mustard, and brown sugar. Pour over meat and bake at 350 for 1 hour; drain.