"Irish" Veggie Pasta

Since have been trying to eat a bit more healthy in 2011, I am challenging myself to use more vegetables and less fat in my cooking.

We love pasta, but coming up with a way to include this in our menu is challenging. Then I rememebered a pasta dish we had when I was in Ireland, and decided to try to recreate it. I couldn't recall everything that was in it, but two unusual items stayed in my memory: green beans and chick peas (garbanzo beans). The sauce was tomato based and slightly spicy, but it was the odd combination of vegetables that made it memorable.

Using up some extra vegetables in the refrigerator, I created this ! Ray made a really beautiful thin linguine which was the perfect match to this sauce.

Irish Veggie Pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
2 cups beet greens (or any green) chopped
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 quart chopped tomatoes (we used home canned)
1 can chick peas (about 1 1/2 cups), drained
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound fresh pasta, linguine or angel hair work best
1/2 cup fresh basil, cut in thin strips
Freshly grated parmesan

Start pasta water to boil and salt liberally. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and saute garlic and onions until tender. Add red pepper and continue to saute until tender. Add beet greens, and green beans, and stir until all are tender. Add tomatoes, chick peas and spices and stir until heated through. Turn to simmer. Add pasta to boiling water and cook 2-3 minutes until al dente. Add pasta to the sauce pan, toss to combine and top with fresh basil and parmesan.

Healthy Food for 2011

We are going to try to eat healthier in 2011. Since we already eat pretty well, the challenge will be in portion control, and lightening up the use of butter, cream and other high fat item.

I read about a smoked tuna stuffed portabello appetizer, and thought I could make it. I gave Ray a hand-held smoker for Christmas, so we tried it out here. After doing so, we realized it would be better to smoke the dish after cooking, so here is the recipe. It tasted fine without smoke also, since I know not everyone has access to a hand-held smoker !

Smoked Tuna Stuffed Portabellas with Red Pepper Sauce

1 large can white albacore tuna in water
2 portabello caps
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup calorie free mayonnaise
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup shaved parmesan

Sauce:
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
1/3 cup calorie free mayo
1/4 tsp dill
Dash or two of Tabasco

Clean portabellos and rub lightly with olive oil and salt. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pack tightly inside the mushroom caps. Bake in a 400* oven for about 1/2 hour.

While baking, add sauce ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.

When mushrooms are done, place under a large bowl and add applewood smoke. Let sit for 2-3 minutes until smoke dissapates. Spread sauce onto place and place smoked mushroom on top.

Baked Eggs with Cream Cheese

So I wanted to make an unusual egg dish for breakfast on New Years Day. I used to love a dish at LePeep in Denver that had scrambled eggs, with cream cheese and dill. So here is a very simple version, and it was YUMMY ! You can even add some smoked salmon, if you like !

Baked Eggs with Cream Cheese

2 tablespoons onion, diced fine
2 tablespoons butter
3 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons water
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dill weed
shaved parmesan

Preheat oven to 350.Saute Onions in butter, and divide into two separate ramekins and spread butter around to coat. Heat the cream cheese in the microwave about 30 seconds, until soft. Let cool a few minutes, and add eggs, salt, pepper and dill weed. Whisk together until combined and pour into ramekins. Top with shaved parmesan, and bake approximately 15 minutes until puffed up and no longer jiggly in the middle.

Enjoy !

Feast of Several Fishes

Since this was our second Christmas together, we decided to try again to honor Ray's Italian heritage. Tradition on Christmas Eve is the Feast of Seven Fishes, a seven course meal of, well, seafood and fish. Since we were pretty sure we couldn't eat a 7 course meal, we trimmed it down to a four course meal, and even then had to hold over two courses to the next day !

I made homemade catsup...yes, I did ! We are trying to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diets, and I found a recipe for this. It only takes a minute to make, and has a really unusual flavor. I used my homemade catsup to make homemade cocktail sauce for some shrimp for the first course.

My family tradition was always oyster stew, so that was the second course. The recipe is quite simple:

Oyster Stew
3/4 pound fresh, shucked oysters, in liquid
2 ribs celery, diced fine
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Dash or two of Tabasco sauce (as much as you like)

Saute celery and onions in butter just until slightly soft. Stir in flour until well combined. Add liquid from oysters, milk and seasonings. Continue to stir until slightly thickened. Add oysters and cook just until the edges of the oysters start to curl. Serve with oyster crackers.

Admittedly, we ate too many shrimp and too much oyster stew, but it tasted so good ! We held over the remaining courses to the next night. Swordfish en papillot and lobster mashed potatoes !

Mexican Venison Meatloaf

When I make meatloaf, I never use a recipe. I generally try to use up leftover veggies and sauces in the refrigerator, and hope it turns out well. It always does, miraculously.

We had half a jar of leftover salsa, a red pepper and half an onion that needed to be used up. So, it became meatloaf. Here it is:

Mexican Venison Meatloaf

2 lbs ground venison (any ground meat will work)
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup salsa, divided

Mix all of the ingredients, but reserve 1/2 cup salsa. Put in a loaf pan and our remaining salsa over the top. Bake at 400* for 1.5 hours.

And, the best, easiest potato side dish ever...just dice two large potatoes, place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the top, and generously season with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Bake along with the meatloaf, for about 30 minutes. YUM !

Artisan Vinegars and Venison Fajitas

This summer, in an effort to use up some of the herbs from the garden, I started making homemade vinegars. They are nice to use for gifts, and make some different salad dressings and marinades. I started with a blueberry basil vinegar, which makes an excellent blueberry vinaigrette. Next was a fennel, thyme and peppercorn vinegar, to use up some extra fennel.

I wanted something to marinade meat for fajitas. I made a cilantro, garlic and jalapeno vinegar for this purpose. Since I am always looking for new ways to cook all of the venison we have, I decided to marinate venison steak with a mixture of my cilantro vinegar, some canola oil, grill seasoning and cumin. I let it marinate for 24 hours, so the flavors would infuse the meat. Because of the vinegar in the marinade, it also starts to "cook" the outside of the steaks.

From there, fajitas are simple. I sauteed onion and red peppers. I removed the meat from the marinade and pan seared it for approximately 4 minutes per side, so they were medium rare. Served with some steamed tortillas, homemade salsa (canned this summer), cheese and sour cream, they were as good as anything I have eaten in a restaurant. Ray must have agreed, he had four ! And we had the leftovers for lunch, during a break from the cookie baking extravaganza.

And, I have beautiful, handcrafted vinegars to send as Christmas gifts.

Turkey Spinach Wild Rice Leftover Soup.

As we planned our Thanksgiving menu, I was determined not to have the traditional green bean hotdish. So, I came up with a recipe for a spinach and mushroom gratin, that was a bit less than successful. The flavor was nice, but it had a lot of liquid, so was a bit slimy.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I turned it into a soup ! The gratin was originally fresh spinach and mushrooms, sauteed in garlic, then layered with sliced roma tomatos and parmesan cheese, and topped with buttered bread crumbs. I dumped the whole thing in a pot, added some extra chicken stock, diced up leftover turkey and wild rice. I let it cook for a bit, then thickened it with a roux and added a bit of half and half just before serving.

I seem to have a knack for making a mistake, and then turning it into something really unique. The problem with these dishes is that they are difficult to replicate. But, it is all a lesson on re-imagining everyday foods.