For Jene...

My good friend, Jene, has been bugging me to post some delish food for her to look at for months. I know I completely suck and haven't posted in forever. I got a new job and between that and a rough semester, I've just been too busy lately.

This was something I just decided one day that I would try out. Ryan freaking loved it, talks about it all the time. Tells people about it the day after I make it. Comes in and dips bread (and his fingers) in the food processor to taste it. There is no source for this recipe, I kind of just found out what was in most pestos and tried some things until it was perfect.

So, without further adieu, I give you Pasta with Pesto Sauce:

Basil, about 1 1/2 cups fresh
Toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup
Garlic, 4-5 cloves
Salt & Pepper
Process
Add 1/2 cup parm cheese
Process
Add extra virgin olive oil while processing until it reaches a consistency that you like.


Sometimes, if I'm feeling spicy, I'll add some red pepper flake. Pour over a pasta with lots of cracks and folds for the pesto to hide in. I usually serve it with bruschetta.

My first crack at baking bread

It was a lengthy experience, but not really all that difficult. I was really excited when I realized that the recipe made two loaves because I was intending to give the loaf to my friend as a part of her birthday gift, so bonus, a loaf for us too!

Alix helped me out by taking a few action shots. I don't have the recipe right here with me, so I'll just have to post it later. It was a garlic cheese bread. Hopefully these pictures will suffice for now.

Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

This was one of those recipes that you look at and can't quite wrap your head around the flavor combinations. But it totally works. It was so good.



I'm gonna have to look for the recipe, because I can't find it. I think it was from Cooking Light.



Basically you dip the fish in crushed macadamia nuts and sear it on one side, then bake it at 350 for 30 min. I think it was marinated in something too. Then top it with a salsa of pineapple, lime juice, and cilantro. It was amazing.

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

These were so good, I wished I had doubled the amount of shrimp. Again with the phone photos, sorry.
This is a Cooking Light recipe. I can't get the web site to load, so I can't link to it for you. This is from my memory.

Tomatillo Salsa:









1/2 lb. of tomatillos (I used canned)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 jalapeno (I used a whole)
1 clove garlic
Green onions (I used a shallot)
Salt & Pepper
1 banana pepper (not in the recipe, but I had a ripe one on my plant and wanted to use it.)

Toss all of that into a food processor and pulse until the consistency of your liking. You are supposed to grill the tomatillos first, then rough chop them and only process the other ingredients and toss, but b/c mine were canned, that wasn't an option. I just processesed the whole thing and it was great.

Shrimp:
I used 20 shrimp, can't remember what the recipe called for, but next time I will use a lot more.
Put them on skewers and grill for two min on each side.

Hot Sauce:
1 tblsp. hot sauce (I used Franks)
1 tblsp. chili powder
1/2 tblsp. cumin
1/2 tblsp. salt
2 tblsp. EVOO (I added this, it seemed like it needed more liquid and I felt that more hot sauce would become overwhelming. Coat the cooked shrimp in the hot sauce.


Layer the following:
Tortilla (I used 6-inch.)
Shredded slaw (I bought the bag of shredded broccoli/cauliflower/carrots/cabbage)
A little quessadilla cheese
Shrimp
Tomatillo salsa

Three-Garlic Risotto and Caprese Sandwiches

Fantastic. I really enjoyed both of these dishes. Sorry for the crummy camera phone pic, but that's all I had.















Three-Garlic Risotto
I found the original recipe here, it's a great cooking blog.

5 cloves raw garlic, chopped
8 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion or 1 small shallot, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken broth, warmed
1 cup arborio rice (I used orzo pasta)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
A few pinches of dry or fresh parsley
Optional: 1 tsp white truffle oil (I omitted this)

For the roasted garlic. I wrap the entire head in foil and stick it in the oven at 300 for about 15 min. The cloves will be falling apart and you can just squeeze out the garlic.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium/medium-low heat; add 1/2 of the raw garlic. Toast the garlic being careful not to burn it. Remove it from the oil.

Add the rest of the raw garlic and the onions to the oil. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the butter and rice; stir for 1 minute.
Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Add the chicken broth 1 ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more. This takes a while, be sure to continue stirring or it will stick. Ryan tagged in a few times so I could work on the sandwiches.
Before the final ladle of broth, add the roasted garlic.
Add the cheese then parsley.
Top with the toasted garlic.

Caprese Sandwiches
(This is for my friend Jene)
I saw this on an episode of 30-Minute Meals, but I'm recreating it from memory.

4 flour tortillas
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 fresh mozzarella balls, sliced
4 strips of bacon (I only put bacon in two of them)
Fresh basil to your liking
Salt & Pepper
Balsamic

Blister the tortill a frying pan, cover one half with all other ingredients.
Fold over, and flip to golden brown on both sides.

Next time I make these, I won't put the balsamic in the tortilla. It made them too juicy and the two tortillas that sat on the plate while we ate the others got a little soggy in spots. I would probably make a balsamic sauce instead.

Pizza!!

That's a headline everyone likes, no? Well, it's been quite some time since my last post and I have many photos of fabulous meals that have gone un-blogged. I'm working on it, promise.

For now, enjoy some pizza:

Quick and easy pizza, thrown together with things in your fridge.






Crust: Pillsbury Cressent roll dough.
Unroll and pinch all the seems together.
Bake at 375 until crust is lightly golden.

Jalapeno Sauce:
2 chopped jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic
3 tblsp olive oil
Salt & pepper

Combine in food processor until smooth-ish
Spread the sauce on the pre-cooked crust, top with cheese and veggies of your choice. I would have added feta if I had some.
Bake for another 5-7 min. or until cheese is melted.


And another. Blurry pic, but you get the idea--this one has meat.

Same crust on this one.

Sauce:
2-3 Laughing Cow light goat cheese spreads. I used onion. Spread that all over the crust.


Top with cheese, meat, and veggies of your choice.
Bake for another 5-7 min. or until cheese is melted.

Quick and Easy Dinner

I'm calling it: Why would you ever NOT make homemade macaroni
Adapted from Cooking Light


8 oz. pasta
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 cups cheese, 1 3/4 cheddar, 1/4 mozzarella (that's what I had)
Salt & Pepper
Red pepper flake to your liking (I used a lot)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk


Cook the pasta.
Cut the tomatoes in half and bake at 375 for about 10 min.
When pasta is cooked and drained, stir in cheese, egg, salt & pepper, red pepper flake, and milk.
Mix in the tomatoes

















Giada's Lentil Salad
1 cup lentils cooked according to package
Sliced cucumber
Sliced grape tomatoes
Sliced grapes (And I'm so mad b/c I forgot these until I started typing this blog!!!)
Chopped bell pepper

Dressing:
Giada'swas lemon juice, EVOO, and white vinegar
Mine was this:
lemon Juice
EVOO
Garlic Expressions

Toss and top with dressing.