A Great Summer Pasta Salad!!!

What's in here you ask?  Lots of crazy stuff!  But yummy and cooling and a great summer dish that is completely satisfying, you really don't need anything else to go with it!

Start with some sautéed baby portabella mushrooms, they create a meaty texture, that also helps to fill you up!  Just sauté them down in some olive oil and butter until soft, add just a bit of salt and pepper, not too much since you will be seasoning almost each item in this dish.


Then onto some sweet vadalia onions, or any other sweet white onion.  You really want to caramelize these in some olive oil, it brings out the sweetness and helps in aiding and abetting the dressing!  Nothing in the world like caramelized onions!  Again a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors.



Some boiled edamame for a bit more meatier texture and great protein!




I cut up mini sweet peppers for crunch, but you can use anything you may have, like cucumber, or celery, or if you like a peppery kick you can add radishes too!

In the meantime, make sure you are boiling your pasta.  This is a personal recommendation from me to you, I use Orzo, it's small, rice sized and very easy to eat or you can you whatever is in your pantry, any pasta works.

While I somehow lost the picture for my dressing, it's very simple to make, just whisk together about a cup of olive oil, zest of one lemon and the juice of one lemon, about a tablespoon of a grainy dijon mustard, a bit of salt and pepper to taste and then add in your caramelized onions and there you have it a light, hearty and yummy salad dressing.  Mix it into your pasta and you've got an entire meal in one bowl!

If you really want to look like a cool gourmet chef, place this in a very pretty flat style bowl and top it off with a sprig or two of parsley, or basil.  You'll impress your family, friends and neighbors!  If you don't want to impress them, then just filler' up and eat eat eat!!!!

What To Cook....What To Cook!!!!

Headed to the freezer on Sunday to see what was in there....what did I have to cook?  My oven has been broken so I'm limited to stovetop meals!  That could be a dilemma with a family as large as mine!

Also, one of my biggest fears came true the other day, I put my hand in the sink to wash dishes and cut my hand open on a glass in the pile!!!  Maybe a couple of stitches should have been had, but I hate needles and stitches (coming from a woman that has had 8 kids) so butterfly band aid to the rescue!

Cooking the next day was difficult, I needed that hand!  So my entire meal was planned around a cut hand and no oven......

Now back to what's in the freezer??  I found some pork....a loin and some other cuts that I bought from Costco, didn't look very familiar to me, but edible, and that's all I wanted.  BINGO there were a couple of bags of small creamer potatoes and an eggplant...and wow, just WOW, there were some still edible summer squashes in there...again BINGO!  and BAM!!!  I had dinner....

So this is how it all happened....I browned my pork pieces in a hot pan with some olive oil and butter along with some sautéed onions, garlic, and bell peppers....got them pretty brown then set them aside to get them all ready for the stock pot full of wonderful liquids.  I started again with more olive oil and butter, then some more onions, garlic and bell peppers, added some lemon zest (with the amount of pork I had I used three large lemons, zested them and then juiced them)  I love the flavor that lemon adds to your food, it brightens it all up and adds some additional flavor that you truly don't expect.  Then I added a decent amount of white wine. I let all of that cook down then added back in my pork.  I did put a good bit of water in there to make sure I had enough liquid for the pork to get nice and tender.  This ends up making a great pork stock too.

Now onto the eggplant and squash, all I did for this was cut up my veggies into similar sizes...this is to ensure one does not cook faster than the other, then I sautéed them up in...YES you guessed it!  More olive oil, along with more garlic and more onions, added some salt and pepper to taste, and yes a bit more lemon...I don't know if you can tell, but I like lemon.  And there you go...not hard at all, and as yummy as it comes!

Now for the incredibly difficult mashed potato recipe ...I always use either small creamer potatoes or small yukon gold potatoes, and I always leave the skin on, it has some nutrients and a ton of good for you fiber, boil the daylights out of them, (giggle), ok not the daylights, but boil them in salted water until you can easily slide a fork into them, then drain them, but leave just a tiny bit of water in the bottom maybe about 1/2 inch, this helps make a smoother and creamier mashed potato.  Now I add sour cream, to taste, salt, pepper and tons of butter, let all of that melt together then hit it up with either a traditional potato masher or a mixer, whatever is your preference!  Now you've got amazing mashies that I promise no one will turn down.

Put this all together with a very simple butter lettuce salad with some walnuts and an equally simple olive oil and lemon dressing and you've got what appears to be the most gourmet dinner you've every cooked!!! And best of all it's very pretty on a plate!

Happy Dining!!!

  

Do NOT Fear Food: Beer Braised Pot Roast/Wilted Greens/and Carameliz...

Do NOT Fear Food: Beer Braised Pot Roast/Wilted Greens/and Carameliz...: Yummy Yummy Yummy!!! Beer braised pot roast..so very simple!  Brown your pot roast, any kind you would like, but I prefer one with som...

Beer Braised Pot Roast/Wilted Greens/and Caramelized Onions

Yummy Yummy Yummy!!!

Beer braised pot roast..so very simple!  Brown your pot roast, any kind you would like, but I prefer one with some marbling to it, and by that I mean FAT!  Makes for a better meat, and it falls apart in the beer.  After browning your roast, make sure you season it up a LOT...beef has a tendency to not pick up a lot of flavor.  Then all I do is roughly cut up an onion and throw it on in there with that meat and let them cook up together like an old married couple!  Long and slow!!!  Until it all falls apart...maybe 3-4 hours depending on the size of your roast!

Now comes my personal favorite, the caramelized onions....thank goodness for spell check or you would have had something more than caramelized onions!!  Just cut up some sweet onions very thin, and throw them in some butter and olive oil (or in Rachel's terms EVOO) and let those guys just cook and cook and cook until they are beautifully browned and ready to eat!  I usually add some parsley since I love the freshness of it all, but if you have an aversion to parsley then leave it out, all up to you!  Remember this is all about TRY it out and see what happens! 

Not a very good picture of my onions, but when all you have is steam coming up from that hot pan, then what can you expect???

My next step is so simple it's almost ridiculous....buy some greens, like spring greens, or kale, or baby spinach or just something all mixed up and through it on your plate...this is where the wilting comes in...the hot juices and the hot meat and the hot onions WILT those greens and waaa-laaa you've got something that sounds so gourmet your friends will envy you....WILTED GREENS!!!  Sounds impressive right?  It isn't  :)

There they are....hard right?

Now put it all together on a plate, and serve this up with a great wine, and you've got what most people think you slaved over for hours and hours...make sure to spray your face with some water, and heat it up over the steam so it looks like you've worked your buns off to do this for them....

I usually pair it up with some veggies...in this case, some steamed corn and edamame all dancing together in one big pot.

Isn't that pretty?  and OMG is it yummy....lip smackin' good!!!  Don't forget the sweat, you really don't want anyone to know that you were doing your nails all while this was cooking!

Have fun and remember DO NOT FEAR THE FOOD!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sweet Potatoes!!

So what to do with sweet potatoes?  There's so much you can do it's ridiculous!

But here's something I'm not sure if you've ever thought of....cook those yummy, orangey red, starchy roots of love in some butter...whiskey....brown sugar and cinnamon....for a very, very long time!

First peel and cut your sweet potatoes into large chunks, then melt 1 - 2 sticks of butter, depending on how many you are planning to cook, in the above picture there are 4 large sweet potatoes so I used 2 sticks of butter....once the butter is completely melted I added about a cup of whiskey, leave that bottle out cause you are going to need more along the way!  Once the whiskey is cooked down a bit, maybe 3 - 5 minutes, then you add your brown sugar and cinnamon....how much?  I don't know!  Enough to make it look like a sweet thick syrup....maybe 2 - 3 cups of brown sugar, and several tablespoons of cinnamon, depending on your own taste.  Then toss those sweet chunks in there and let them go!  I use a large cast iron skillet, always adds to the yumminess, make sure that while they are cooking you continue to toss them around a bit to keep them from sticking to the pan.  You may need to add some whiskey, and maybe even some butter along the way, just use your hidden common cooking sense, there's no REAL way to cook these!  I made it up myself along the way....so you can do this too!  Once they are nice and soft, you should be able to stick a fork right through them with no resistance at all, then they are done!  Take them out, set them aside, and make sure you pour whatever brown sugar sauce you can get from the pan on top of them....serve them up either by themselves, or with some pork or chicken or steak...whatever is your pleasure!  My mouth is watering just writing this blog post!!!  Go and enjoy, and remember DO NOT FEAR THE FOOD!!!!

Do NOT Fear Food: Muffuletta Pasta With all the Fixins'!!!

Do NOT Fear Food: Muffuletta Pasta With all the Fixins'!!!: So you like pasta??  So do I!!  It's an easy ingredient that you can add just about anything to....seafood, meat, veggies, I guess you...

Muffuletta Pasta With all the Fixins'!!!

So you like pasta??  So do I!!  It's an easy ingredient that you can add just about anything to....seafood, meat, veggies, I guess you could add chocolate if you wanted too!  It's all good as long as it tastes good!  Remember if it looks like you can eat it, and it smells like you can eat it, then go ahead and EAT IT!

But for this dish here's the start to a very quick and tasty dish!  First ya gotta heat da earl....or for NON New Orleanians, you must first heat the olive oil:

Then sauté' some green onions and some classic creole blend of onions, garlic, parsley, celery...I have to admit, in order to save some time, this time, I purchased it already cut up and ready to go!  With all of the big boys I have to feed, sometimes a time saver is the best way, in fact I had a few short cuts this time around:

Next come the meats!  Some ham, a bit of prosciutto, some salami (any kind you would like or can find) some pancetta, you can add chicken, or pork....whatever you may have in the freezer or fridge. But for the flavor, make sure you add some Italian meats to this dish, or you just won't get the Muffuletta vibe:

Next comes....well one of my personal favorite additives!  DA wine, it helps to pick up all of the pieces of meat and seasonings that are stuck to the bottom of the pan, and of course it adds amazing flavor, cook it down a bit before adding one of the most important ingredients THE OLIVE SALAD:

There is no special timing to this dish, this one's about as easy as making a hamburger, sauté till clear, sauté till brown, add the wine (cook down for a bit) then add the olives!

Now comes the last additive....da pasta!!!!  Just boil up some of your favorite kind, I don't think spaghetti works, at least it doesn't work for me, but if it's your only choice at the time, then go for it!  I usually use ziti...it's dense and holds all of the flavors.

Top it off with some parmesan cheese and some fresh basil and you have a  dish no one will toss out...only toss in (their mouth)!!!

 TA DA!!!!!  

Do NOT Fear Food: Shrimp and Pasta With a Kick!!!

Do NOT Fear Food: Shrimp and Pasta With a Kick!!!: Is it essential that you get all of the ingredients correct???  Sometimes, but not always!  If you find that you pulled everything out tha...

Shrimp and Pasta With a Kick!!!

Is it essential that you get all of the ingredients correct???  Sometimes, but not always!  If you find that you pulled everything out that you need to "make" a certain dish, and you realized you don't have heavy cream, like I just did with this dish, then you improvise!!!  So here you go!!!

Everyone love a picture book.....and here's mine:

To start...make a shrimp head stock....and peel your shrimp to the tail....DO NOT DEVEIN!!!  I repeat...DO NOT DEVINE!!!....when you handle fresh seafood too much it becomes gummy!  YUCK!!  Who wants gummy shrimp??!!  And what's a little shrimp poo???  Like my momma always said, "Eat that stuff, it's good for ya!"  (Half the time I never knew what that "stuff" was anyway)

NEXT you want to sauté some FLAVOR!  In New Orleans we love to add the right amount of gawlick!  or Garlic for the rest of the readers.....what is the right amount you may ask?  The right amount is when you can't talk to the rest of the world for 3 days afterward, so go add some garlic and some onions, and some green onions!  How much?  Whatever you're comfortable with!

ALWAYS sauté in Butter and Olive Oil!  Why?  because the combo is amazing...more flavor than you can possibly ask for!!!

Once you've sautéed the gawlick and onions, oops oh yeah, someone will ask HOW LONG???  my answer is "as long as you'd like", but in reality just let them all get nice and soft and sort of see through! 

NOW comes the good ingredients!!!  THE WINE!!!  Yes, about a cup of white wine!  My suggestion is ALWAYS taste some of the ingredients....and the wine is a must!  So along with the bottle for pouring, you need a wine glass for.....hum.....TASTING!!!

Personally that's my favorite part of the cooking experience!!!  TASTING 

Now add your NOT DEVEINED fresh shrimp!!!  Don't use frozen if you can help it!  I will tell you that once you add frozen shrimp, you may need more wine, more gawlick, MORE of everything in order to get a good flavor!!!

 and some LEMON!!! and the zest!  Lemon makes everything....and I mean EVERYTHING taste better!!!

Is there really an order to all of this???  NO!!!  you do want to do the special things first, IE the sautéing, the wine, the shrimp, the salt, the pepper, OH yeah!  I forgot about the salt and pepper, just add that to taste!  

Next I add some of the seasoned shrimp stock!  BE careful....be vewwy vewwy caaarefull....as Bugs would say!...if you season that shrimp stock well, you may not need nearly the amount of pepper you're used too, I always add Crab Boil to my shrimp stock...so yes that is HOT!!!

I'll bet you don't know what that last picture is...HUH???  That's what I call spiders, its the base of the shrimp head!  Just stick your finger into the head and pull down, and now you have probably one of the tastiest parts of the shrimp!!!  They have a crunch, but they also have all of the fat of the shrimp in there, I always add that to any shrimp dish I do!  If your squeamish about something called a spider, then just throw it away!  If NOT then go for it!  They are yummy!!!

OK let's see what's next???  You can see I write like I cook!!!  NO FEAR!!!

This is my improvised version of heavy cream!!!  Some milk and some flour!!!  Would a great chef do this?  I have no idea, but I did, and I think in the end it tasted like a great chef made it....I just added about a cup of milk (mine was 2%, use what you have, or get some real heavy cream) and then I added about 2 tablespoons of finely sifted flour, just so that I don't have clumps of flour in there!  YUCK!  then stir it around and it sort of becomes this heavy whipping cream texture!

Now comes the KICK....top it off with some Louisiana Hot Sauce and some Parmesan Cheese and your guests will not believe you cooked it!!!  Throw it all in some pasta, or rice, or quinoa, or whatever is your choice and you will have one of the best dishes you have ever cooked....DO NOT FEAR the food!!!  Just do it!!!

TA DA!!!!

NEVER FORGET the wine in the end.....had to post that twice just to make sure you remember!!!

ENJOY!!!!

I'm Making a Shrimp Head Stock???

What the heck is a shrimp head stock???  Is that your question?  Well, it's just some raw shrimp heads, placed in water, raised to a boil with some crab boil added to it!   It's very very simple, and it's very very good!!!  It adds lots of flavor to a seafood style dish, and it also adds lots of pretty color!

Why would you want color?  To make it desirable to eat!  Dishes with pretty color are eaten more readily than dishes without!  Reds, yellows, greens, equal yummy!!!

Yes, here I am starting a new food blog!!!  I'll have pictures...and semi recipes....and solid recipes....and ideas on how to get kids to eat veggies that you never thought they would eat....beets!...kale!....okra!.....and the list goes on!!!

Come on by from time to time! There will be lots of interesting ideas and lots of pictures for those of you/me that like the picture stories, those are the ones that give us all ideas!

See ya soon!!! and please DON'T FEAR FOOD!!!!