Fettuccine with Garlic Scallops

Mr. Kluges made us this for supper the day we had the giant radiator puddle, and it was really good. I'm just typing it the way the recipe is written, since I didn't make it myself, but I liked it and I'm not, in general, a fan of seafood. It comes from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook called Low Fat Bold Flavors.

1 lb. fresh or frozen scallops (We used frozen.)
6 dried tomato halves (not oil-packed) (We used oven-dried cherry tomatoes from our garden that were frozen with some oil. I think they say not oil-packed since it's a "low-fat" cookbook.)
1/3 c. boiling water
2 tsp. cooking oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 Tbl. lemon juice
2 tsp. cornstarch
4 green onions, sliced
2 Tbl. snipped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
3 c. hot cooked spinach and/or plain fettucine
lemon wedges (optional)

1. Thaw scallops, if frozen. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl combine dried tomatoes and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. Cut tomatoes into thin bite-size strips. Set aside.

2. Pour oil into a large nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add scallops and tomatoes; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until scallops are opaque.

3. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch. Add to skillet along with reserved tomato liquid, green onions, parsley, and lemon peel. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.

4. Serve the scallop mixture over hot pasta. If desired, garnish with lemon wedges. Makes 4 servings.


Total Fat: 4 g. Daily Value Fat: 6% Saturated Fat: 0g; Daily Value Saturated Fat: 0%
Per Serving: Calories: 263; Total Fat 4g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol 34 mg; Sodium 281 mg; Carbohydrate 36 g; Fiber 2g; Protein 21g
Exchanges: 2 Starch, 2 Lean Meat, 1 Vegetable

Easy Pasta Salad

This is my favorite pasta salad - so easy and versatile.

1 package Wacky Mac
Salad Dressing - I'm partial to Newman's Own
Whatever looks good in the produce department
Whatever else you want to put in it

Cook the Wacky Mac in a dutch oven (big enough to cook the whole package at once). While the noodles are cooking, chop whatever vegetables, pepperoni, etc. that you want to put in it. When the noodles are done, run cold water over them to completely cool them before adding everything else. Pour salad dressing over everything and toss. Chill for at least an hour or so before serving. Or not.

Especially good in this salad:
Red, orange, and yellow peppers
Black olives
Parmesan cheese
Fresh green beans
Pea pods
Jicama

This salad is awesome to just have in the fridge, keeps for days, but never lasts that long.

Crockpot - Spaghetti Corn

Spaghetti Corn
1 can whole corn (drain)
1 can cream corn
½ cup butter (1/4 cup is ok too)
½ cup Velveeta diced
salt and pepper
½ cup broken spaghetti (not cooked)
Put all in crock pot on low 3 hours or 350 degree or the oven for 1 hour.
I double and fits in crock pot. DO NOT double butter!!

This is what my hubby brings to potlucks at school. It is easy to make - everyone loves it - and it is done in his office during the morning. He just plugs it in when he gets to work. It does stick sometimes so use a crockpot that comes apart for easy cleaning.

Marinara Sauce & "Favors From The Home" Review

I got this recipe from a community ed cooking class* I took a few times quite long ago, adapted just a tad, mostly in timing. It's a delicious, versatile sauce for spaghetti, manicotti, lasagna, etc. Mr. Kluges loves it best over Italian sausages and garlic mashed potatoes. You can do it with canned or fresh tomatoes, but I'm not sure of the quantity if you do fresh, so just give it a try. I'll try to update it with an approximate quantity of fresh tomatoes next time I make it.

Note: This one is doubled from the original because it's no more work & you can freeze half of it for later. Or just eat a lot.

MARINARA SAUCE
Two 28 oz. cans Hunt's whole peeled tomatoes (or equivalent fresh tomatoes, peeled & seeded**) [9/5 - I made these starting with a bit more than 4 1/2 lbs. of fresh tomatoes. I wouldn't do less, but you could probably go between 5-6 lbs. pre-peeling/-seeding weight.]
6 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 - 1 c. diced red onion
6 large cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil OR 3 Tbl. Chef Jeff's frozen basil*** OR 3 Tbl. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
dash of crushed red pepper flakes to taste (opt.)

1. Rough chop tomatoes in a blender or food processor and set aside. (If doing with fresh, peel and seed them first. **)

2. Place a large pan or stock pot or Dutch oven over high heat; add olive oil, onion and garlic; reduce heat to medium high and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until mixture becomes pale golden in color (not brown).

3. Add tomatoes, oregano, red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper to the onion mixture. (Also basil if using dried.)

4. Bring sauce to boil; reduce to simmer for 30-45 minutes for better flavor.

5. Add (fresh) basil and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached; remove from heat (and eat, or set aside to cool to use in lasagna, or to freeze).



* Oh, look - the internet is a wonderful thing! It was "Flavors From the Home" with Chef Jeff, and looking at his website, I see that it looks like he's still doing classes around the TC area, maybe starting in September. They were FUN classes where you actually get to cook and eat the menu, and take the recipes home. All the ones I took started off relaxed, but the pace picked up as you went and I think every one finished late. But the food made it all worthwhile! Note: Even though you'll get to eat, it wasn't until the end of the class, so don't go hungry or you'll be starving before the end. Also, Chef Jeff is a hoot. Looking at the menus, I took Oriental Favorites I - Menu #1, Southern Italian Family Style I - Menu #2, Gourmet with a French Accent I - Menu #3, Southern Italian Family Style II - Menu #5, Traditional Southern Italian - Menu #7, Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! II - Menu #13, and Traditional French II - Menu #14. They were all wonderful fun and delicious to boot. I highly recommend them, but I think they filled up fast, so if you're interested, check out which ones are nearby and call the appropriate contact on the registration page.

**An easy way to peel and seed fresh tomatoes is to bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Cut an X in the skin at the bottom of the tomato, then drop it in the boiling water for like 20-30 seconds. Take it out, and you should be able to peel it easily, starting at the X. To seed them easily, cut them in half along the equator, NOT from bottom to top. Then you can just take a half in your hand and squeeze out most of the seeds with ease.

*** Chef Jeff recommended taking large quantities of fresh basil, washing & roughly chopping it, mixing it with a good amount of olive oil, then making long tubes/rolls/fat-thumb-thick-snakes of it in plastic wrap and freezing it. You can whack off a hunk of it and get great fresh flavor, even if it looks browner than it would when actually fresh.

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots

This is another recipe from the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002 cookbook, which we use all the time. I'd say it takes just under an hour to make what with the peeling and cutting the squash and roasting it and all; they say 40 minutes, which you could probably do once you've done the recipe a few times. It's a very tasty vegetarian main dish. This makes 3-4 servings, but it would be very easy to double or even triple (if you used two pans to roast the vegetables).

3 c. cubed (1-inch), peeled butternut squash [1/2 of a medium-large squash or 3/4 of a medium-small one] **
1 T. dark brown sugar [or regular brown sugar]
1 1/2 Tbl. olive oil, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 1/2 lb.)
1 Tbl. chopped fresh OR 1 tsp. dried rubbed sage
4 oz. uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine
1/4 c. (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 475 F.

2. Combine squash, sugar, 2 1/2 tsp. oil, salt, pepper, and shallots in a jelly roll pan; toss well. Bake at 457F for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage.

3. While squash mixture bakes, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Place cooked pasta in a bowl. Add 2 tsp. olive oil; toss well. Serve squash mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

** Quick Tip: Use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel the butternut squash. It's easier to handle and less time consuming than using a knife. [I always peel the whole squash with a peeler, then cut it up, remove the seeds, and then cube it. It works really well, and that's now how I always prepare squash for soup or roasting to mash it.]

Doc Holiday's Passion

I love the name of this recipe almost as much as I find it delicious. I got it from my mom, but don't know where she got it or the origin of the name. It's a bit time-consuming, but if you double it, you can freeze half and you'll thank yourself later when you pull it out of the freezer! Serve with egg noodles.

2 lbs. boneless beef round steak, 1" thick
salt & pepper
1/4 c. flour
approx. 4 Tbl. butter
12 oz - 1 lb. mushrooms
10 oz. beef broth (canned or made from bouillon)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 shallot, minced
1 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. brandy

chopped fresh parsley
egg noodles


Cut round steak into 1/4" strips 2-3" long. Roll in flour and salt and pepper. Working in 2 or 3 batches, melt some butter in a large pan over fairly high heat, then brown the beef in it quickly. Set the beef aside and keep warm.

To the pan, add mushrooms and saute in pan juices, plus butter and/or olive oil as desired. (I always have to add butter and/or oil.)

Add beef broth, garlic, shallot, cream and brandy. When that mixture is heated through, return the meat to the pan and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Pasta Sauce

This one's easy!

Take 2 large (15 oz.) cans of tomato sauce and heat in a large saucepan. Add whatever excites you - spinach, herbs from your garden (or your spice rack), garlic, onion, vegetables, meat.

Some herbs that are nice with this:
Thyme
Rosemary (my fave!)
Basil
Oregano
Sage

Or you can experiment with smaller batches and try:
Cayenne
Ginger
Mustard Seed

Allow the sauce to simmer at least half an hour - the longer the better. I then pack it in my Ball Freezer containers (available at the grocery store by the canning stuff) and freeze them. Thaw one or two prior to dinner. One is perfect for two people, two is just right for 4.

And no more wasted sauce because you didn't eat the whole jar.

Homemade Egg Noodles

Once again, here's a recipe I got from my mom, but I've adapted it a little bit here and there. Fall is just such a "soup" time for me, so I thought I'd share this one. Diplowhat, maybe these will work for you since you can't find your thick, frozen egg noodles out there. Mr. Kluges loves these noodles in homemade chicken noodle soup.

Note: These need to be made at least a day ahead of time to allow for drying time, but can easily be made weeks ahead and kept in the freezer until needed. 1 batch of noodles is usually enough for 2 batches of soup. This are not a recipe to do if you're in a hurry because the rolling out takes a fair amount of time, as does laying out the noodles to dry.

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
3 egg yolks
1 egg
1/2 - 1/4 c. water

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then make a well in the center. Add the 3 yolks and 1 egg to the center and mix - first with spoon, then with hands to thoroughly mix in the egg. It will end up kind of crumbly.

Gradually add the water 1 Tbl. at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (Once you've made it a few times, you can do a little more at once at the beginning, but too much water will wreck it beyond repair, so be careful.) Add only enough water to form dough into a rough ball.

Turn dough onto a well-floured (or well-floured, cloth-covered) board or table. Knead about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover, let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 2-3 parts and roll out one part at a time until it's paper thin, keeping remaining dough covered. To make it easier to cut into strips, gently fold the rolled-out dough sheet over into thirds. Cut the dough the short way into narrow strips (1/4" or LESS). Shake out the strips and place on a towel or wire rack or floured cutting board to dry. Repeat with remaining dough. Mom says to let them dry about 2 hours; I say 4 hours to overnight.

When dry, break strips into smaller pieces if desired. Store in a baggie in the freezer until needed. No need to thaw before using.

To use: Add to boiling or nearly boiling soup and cook to desired doneness. This past week I made soup in the slow cooker and added them to that about an hour before it was supposed to be done and that worked fine. Mom's recipe says you can cook them in 3 quarts boiling salted water 12-15 minutes, then drain thoroughly if you don't want to cook them in soup, but I've never tried that. If you do, let us know how it goes in the comments, ok?

Note: These noodles swell up a LOT when cooked, so cut them thinner than you think you should at the beginning and they'll probably be nice and thick once cooked. If you have leftover soup, don't be surprised if the noodles soak up even more of the broth and it gets a little more casserole-y and the noodles get even bigger.

Baked Ziti

This is a recipe that has made the rounds on a message board I am a member of. It's gotten rave reviews over the years, but tonight was the first time that I'd ever tried it. I am happy to report that the rumors are true, it's super yummy. Three kinds of cheese, plus sour cream, what's not to love?! Definitely comfort food, but it's perfect for making ahead and freezing. My notes in brackets.

Ingredients:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped [I added 2 cloves of garlic]
1 pound lean ground beef
2 26 ounce jars spaghetti sauce [I only used one jar of sauce since I didn't read carefully, it came out fine]
6 ounce provolone cheese sliced
1 ½ cup sour cream [reduced fat works just as well]
6 ounce mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Procedure:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain. 2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: Half of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, half of the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted. Serves 6-8 regular people, 4-6 hungry people.