Chicken with a Kick

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will say this was awesome and is my new favorite marinade!
I have
been terribly distracted, and hope to get back to the blog…however the other night we had our CSA chicken and I decided to marinate the old gal. This had a kick to it, but if you are not a lover of spice use less sriracha.

Marinade:

½ c. Ponzu sauce
½ c. rice wine vinegar
1/8 c (depending on like of spice I probably did between 1/8 c. -¼c) Sriracha sauce

Mix together in bag, throw chicken in and marinate for 2 hours.

Pesto Deconstructed

I will say that the measurements in this are approximate. I didn’t measure. I will also say this is one of my favorite dishes of late. Plus it is fast and easy. Score!


½ lb penne
¼ c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic grated
¼ toasted pine nuts
½ c. grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
1/3 c. ribboned or torn basil

Start pasta.

Grate the garlic in a skillet (I use my handy dandy micro-plane, you want it to be a paste for maximum garlic goodness, if you don’t have a micro-plane use more garlic). Put oil in skillet and warm. Meanwhile grate parmesan and add some salt and pepper to the cheese and set aside. One garlic and oil are warm (about a minute to two on medium low) add pine nuts and stir, warm for another minute and turn off.

Once pasta is done, drain, give a little rinse with cold water (but not too much you want the pasta to stay fairly hot for the next step). Put pasta in a bowl and add the basil, oil and cheese, toss and serve. Yummy.

Kung Pao Salad A La Cinnamon and Spice

First, Muneeba at http://anediblesymphony.blogspot.com/ awarded me with the One Lovely Blog award. My task it to pass this on to 10 new blogs I have found! So I will be gather my list of folks over the next few days, until then please go to An Edible Symphony and check it out!

Let me start by saying this makes a big salad. It easily serves 4 people very hearty dinner sized salads, VERY easily. You can use whatever veggies or lettuces you want, this is just what I used. Also, if you don’t eat meat I think if you used tofu for this it would be amazing.

The original Kung Pao recipe came from Reni over at Cinnamon and Spice, http://cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/ . I can’t tell you how much I love this recipe. I have made it about 4 times now. The other night I had everything I needed but the rice….go figure. I did have soba noodles, but that wasn’t quite doing it for me. You guys know I have been on a crazy salad kick… well I thought… why not. It was wonderful. Actually so good the first time I made it we ate it up like little piggies (I had brought ½ over to my folks for dinner…so don‘t judge!) and never got a picture. Sigh…I guess this just meant I had to make it again. Another side, is if you want to cut calories or cut hassle you can bag the soba noodles (they are surprisingly calorie dense). They don’t add a lot, but are good flavor catchers, but not necessary if you are trying to simplify.


Salad
1 zucchini ribboned
2 small carrots ribboned and chopped
1 bunch of green onion
½ bunch cilantro (remove the stems just add leaves)
½ head of broccoli blanched
2 heaping handfuls of spinach chopped
¼ package soba

Boil water and add soba noodles and cook to package directions, drain and let cool. Add all veggies to a bowl and toss.

Chicken
1.5 lb of chicken diced
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
4-6 fine slices ginger, each cut into quarters
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns(I use red pepper flakes)
1 tbs oil

Heat oil add pepper and fry the peppercorns for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, garlic, ginger, and onion. Stir-fry these to allow the flavor to come out, then add the peanuts. Take of heat and allow to cool.

Once chicken and soba are cool add to salad.


Dressing

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons red rice vinegar
1 table spoon cooking wine


Wisk together and toss with salad. Eat…yummy.

Pork Chops in a Mushroom Cream Sauce Over Pasta

As recipes go, this was a great pork chop recipe and great pasta recipe. I used the Omaha Steaks Pork chops for this because they were given to us. I thought they were tough, which is pretty hard considering I cooked the pork chops for all of 5 minutes total and the pork chops were cooked in liquid. However, the recipe itself was good and I will make it again.

¾-1.5 lb pork chops
½ lb pasta
1 small clove of garlic
2 shallots chopped finely
1 package of mushrooms (any type you like) washed and roughly chopped
3 TBS butter
1 cup white wine
1 ½ tsp marjoram
½ c. cream or half and half
Salt to taste
Parmesan to taste


In a skillet heat the butter and throw in the shallot and garlic. Sautee for 3 minutes.
Add mushrooms and sauté for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, start water to boil for pasta and add pasta and cook.
Add pork chops and wine to skillet and cook. My pork chops were thin so they only cooked for about 2 minutes each side, but cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your pork chops.
Add cream and cook for 1 more minute (just to heat through). Server over pasta and top with cheese.

Pasta Ceviche Revisited

I made this back in September http://mommygourmet.blogspot.com/2008/09/pasta-ceviche.html. It seems I have been remaking some older recipes recently. I am a bit behind on posting. We switched to Verizon FIOS, and I have found my speed to be ridiculously slower than Comcast and have a lot of issues with my internet just shutting down. THAT said, it has slowed my blogging considerably, both in keeping up with sites I love and keeping up with my own blog. So I am working to blog a bit smarter ( read: the kids are in bed) so hopefully I can get back to blogging more regularly!! Next I will be sharing my pork chops recipe that I made with my Omaha steaks pork chops, but for now a revisit on an older recipe.

I think here in Richmond we have been getting glimpses of spring. For goodness sakes I sent my son to preschool twice last week in shorts and a T shirt (nope, I am not kidding). Then it got cold again. I think the new cold snap got me craving even more the flavors of spring and summer. So I had to make this recipe again. This time I used, scallop, flounder (good sale at the seafood market), and shrimp (already had). Once again, it was outstanding and I had to give old hubby a kiss for the idea. If you like heat, I think throwing some chopped jalapeños would be good. I didn’t, just opting for the  red pepper. I love the spicy, sweet, and tang of lime. The only things I changed (because you know I have GOT to change something) this time is, I added quite a bit more than a pinch of red pepper, and I squeezed the lime not in the sauce but over each individual dish (I figured it would be better for the leftovers). Also, and not of much importance, I sliced the scallops into thin pieces (they were big ones) as opposed to keeping them whole.

Thai Pork and Green Beans with Coconut Milk

This is a dish I wrote about before in May 2008 ( http://mommygourmet.blogspot.com/2008/05/thai-pork-and-green-beans.html ) . My husband asked me to make it for his birthday. I obliged. I made quite a bit, so he could have it to his hearts content. I decided to change up the leftovers a bit and I added about a ¼ c. of coconut milk. It was out of this world. Honestly I don’t know which I like better. The original is fresh and simple but the coconut milk adds a wonderful richness. It also got me thinking that this summer I might try some fresh tomatoes too.

I swear nothing is safe in this house, even dishes we love!

Beet and Blue Cheese Salad

I have gotten a bit behind on the blogging of late. If it gives you any clue this is something I made January 18th. This is a really simple salad and quite pretty. I used a simple olive oil and lemon dressing, but any vinaigrettes would work.

This made four salads:

1 large beet, boil until tender and pop the skin, let cool then grate
¾ c. blue cheese
½ c. toasted walnuts
4 cups lettuce or mixed greens
thinly sliced onion

On four plates put on cup of lettuce or greens. Top with ¼ (for each plate) blue cheese and walnuts. Add onion to taste. Put ¼ of the shredded beets and top with dressing. Do not toss.

Curried Salmon over Golden Raisin Brown Rice

1 lb salmon
4 tbs butter divided
1 clove of garlic grated or crushed
1 tsp corn starch
½ c. milk
2 tbs cream
1 tbs plus 1 tsp (divided )of sweet curry (I used Penzey’s)
½ tsp salt
1tbs soy
2 tsp brown sugar (could use honey or agave too)
1 roasted read pepper
1 medium onion sliced
2 tbs dry vermouth
Salt and pepper


I have to be honest. I almost abandoned this recipe. It wasn’t coming out right. I added a bit of this and that and almost pitched it and stated over. I couldn’t get the richness I wanted. I thought I needed coconut milk and didn’t have any, but the brown sugar hit the notes I wanted. I am so glad I didn’t give on this. It is one of my favorite dishes of late, and I WILL be making this again. That said, I think that the roasted red peppers get pretty lost in the dish and I ended up using the sugar to give the sweet I was looking for. I would say, if you have them put them in. The red pepper surely made it pretty, with flecks of red spotted off the mustard colored curry. I just am not totally convinced that it made much difference in the flavor of the dish.

In a small skillet heat 2 tbs of butter. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Meanwhile in a small dish, whisk together milk and corn starch. Add that to the butter and garlic.
Then add the cream, salt, soy, red pepper (if you have), 1 tablespoon of curry and sugar. Heat until thick and set aside.

In a separate skillet heat remaining 2 tbs of butter and sauté onions over low heat until nice and brow and soft.
Add the teaspoon of curry and stir.
Add vermouth and cook for 1 minute.
Salt and pepper fish.
Place the salmon in the dish with onions, turn heat up to medium high. Cook salmon for one minute, flip and cook on other side one minute.
Reduce heat to medium low and pour you curry sauce on top. Cook for another 5-8 minutes.





Rice
I served the salmon over rice. I used brown but you can use whatever rice you like. If you use anther type of rice, just cook it to the package instructions.

1 cup brown rice
3 cups of water
3 bullion cubes
2 tsp curry
½ c. golden raisins

Put everything in a pot and bring to a boil, stir to incorporate the bullion, cover and cook for 45 minutes over low heat.

Italian Chicken

Okay this isn’t fancy or exciting folks, but it was good. My mother-in-law got Joel and I some Omaha Steak things for Christmas. In there was chicken. I wanted to keep it simple and see if these really were any different than plain Jane store chicken.

4 4oz chicken breasts
6 tbs of parmesan (I use Locatelli)
2 tbs Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs olive oil

Mix parmesan, Italian seasoning, a nd salt together. Set aside
Heat oil in a skillet and add garlic and turn heat up to medium high.
Dredge chicken in the cheese-herb mixture and lay in pan with oil and garlic.
Cook each side for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium low.
Cook each side for an additional 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and let set for about 5 minutes.
Serve.

I do have to say, these were particularly good chicken breast, nice and juicy and supple. Worth the price…not so much. We had this with just plan old frozen spinach that I cooked in some oil (about 1 tsp) and a clove of garlic. I added about ½ cup of chickpeas to 2 cups of spinach, and 2 tbs of Greek yogurt, a pinch of crushed red pepper and salt….good. My husband asked for a repeat performance tonight with our salmon.

Pork Loin with Apple Stuffing

This dish was made in honor of the arrival of one Ms. Verity Grace. Our neighbors (and good friends) had their very first wee one and she is just lovely. I decided to help by stocking the fridge and freezer with a bit of food.



3-5 lb pork loin

Stuffing

2 TBS oil
¼ c. onion
2 celery stalks
1 large tart apple (I used granny smith)
1 c. of raisins
½ tsp salt
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 clove of garlic crushed
Pepper
1 cup of stock
6 pieces of whole wheat bread
1 egg

Sauce
½ c. maple syrup
6 tbs Dijon mustard
2tbs soy sauce

Heat oven to 400.

For the sauce combine all ingredients, mix until well blended and set aside.

For the stuffing, heat the oil and add celery, apple and onion and sauté for 5 minutes until soft.
Add raisins, salt, poultry seasoning, garlic, pepper and stock and bring to a boil.
Break bread into pieces and add to mixture until all the stock is absorbed (you may need a piece or two more or less. Add a piece at a time until you all liquid is absorbed but it is not dry). The bread should be mushy.
Take the stuffing off the heat and let cool.
Filet open the pork tenderloin. Salt and pepper it.

Once the stuffing has cooled a bit, add the egg. Lay the stuffing in the middle and roll. Secure with butcher string (I found out after I started I did NOT have butcher string so I had to toothpick it with this.)

Put the loin in a roasting pan and cover with roughly 1/3 of the sauce. Put in the oven and bake covered for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 and add another 1/3 of the sauce to the meat, recover and bake another 20 minutes.
Add the final 1/3 uncover the meat and bake another 15-20 until done.
Let meat set 10-15 minutes before cutting into.

Lamb and Goat Cheese Eggplant Rollatini

Filling

1 tbs olive oil
1 onion diced
6 oz of mushrooms chopped
1 large clove of garlic grated
2 tbs oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tbs dry vermouth
1/8 tsp Penzeys lamb seasoning (optional)
¼ lb soft goats cheese
1 lb ground lamb

Eggplant

1 large eggplant slice thin
Salt
Cooking spray

Sauce

1 c. chicken stock
12 oz Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 tsp oregano
1tsp thyme
½ tsp salt
2 tbs goat cheese
Any leftover meat filling

Honestly when I made this my intention was to use ground veal. If I could not get that, I would use ground pork. Sadly 2 supermarkets and 1 butcher later, only to be told finally that there was some odd shortage of both??? I settled on lamb. I also borrowed my parents meat slicer for the eggplant so I could get even and thin slices (a surgeon, I was never destined to be).

I started by slicing the eggplant longwise, then I salted it and let it sit.

In a skillet heat your oil to medium and add onion. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, oregano, salt and vermouth. Let cook for about 5 minutes.



Add the lamb and cook until done. Suck off (there has got to be a better way to say that… is drain correct??) the excess grease.


Add the goats cheese and stir to incorporate, set aside.




While the meat mixture was cooking I took another skillet and coated it with cooking spray and cooked the sliced eggplant for about a minute on each side. I removed and set aside.

Once the eggplant and the meat mixture is done, I took about 2 tsp of the mixture and put it at one end of the slice of eggplant and rolled it up. I put it in a baking dish. Roll until you are out of eggplant or out of meat.




In a skillet I added the chicken stock, yogurt, seasoning, goat cheese and leftover meat filling (if you have) and heated to let thicken a bit (about 3-5 minutes). Once thickened, remove from heat and pour over rollatini. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tuna and Fennel with a Lemon Dill Aioli and an Embarrassing Story

Every once in a while we all have to chuckle at ourselves. Hopefully that chuckle can be followed with a bit of relief at how far we have come. I used to not like sushi. I think in retrospect, the first several trys I had at it, just also turned out to be bad sushi. When we went to dinner with friends, who unwittingly, ordered a ton of sushi for us to share…I had little choice but to eat it. I waited anxiously for the sushi to come, not knowing how I would make my way through (the last sushi I had had, I couldn’t force myself to swallow…literally). Luckily for me (and several sushi restaurants near me), it turns out I love sushi if is good and now there is not a week that goes by I don’t indulge in some.

Prior to realizing raw fish could be good ,I went out to eat with a young chap I would later marry. He took me to a lovely restaurant in his town. We each got a salad and decided to split an entrée. It was a thia tuna dish. The waitress brings it out and we dig into the tuna, and it was rare!! Egad. We immediately called the waitress over and explained the obvious issue. God love her, with out bursting out laughing, she carried that beautiful piece of tuna back to the chef and had that man cook it within an inch of its life. Honestly, I just simply did not know you could eat tuna rare. I still like mine medium rare and not full on rare, but now a well done tuna steak, in my mind is ruined. It is dry and heavy. So to that chef and that piece of tuna who sadly gave its life to have me desecrate it… my humblest apologies. I hope this recipe offers some solace.

Fennel topping
1 fennel bulb sliced (tops removed)
½ large Vidalia sliced
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Fish
4 tuna steaks
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
lemon

Aioli
2 tsp mustard
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp dill
1 tsp caper

Make the aioli, by combining mustard, lemon juice, dill and capers. Mix well and set aside.

In skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil to medium high. Add fennel and onion and sauté for 1 minute reduce heat to medium low and sauté for another 10 minutes until nice and brown.



Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet over high heat. Add tuna and sear for 30 second on each side. Reduce heat to medium. I personally like my tuna medium rare, so I cooked it and additional 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other and let it rest, but it was a pretty thick steak. Unless you like it very well done, it is always better to pull it off early and put it back if need be than overcook it. Once you pull fish off squeeze lemon over.

Top tuna with a heaping spoon of fennel and onion and then top with a healthy spoonful of aioli.

Salmon Wrap

This weekend we went to a party and someone brought these amazing pork lettuce wraps. That is what inspired this dish.

½ lb salmon
4 Savoy cabbage leaves
2 tbs lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper
¼ tsp fresh grated ginger
1tsp corn starch
4 tbs cilantro leaves
4 tsp chopped spring onion

In pan put, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and corn starch and wisk. Heat over medium low heat until thickened. Set aside and allow to cool.
Remove and clean cabbage leaves
Cut salmon into 4 equal pieces.
Salt and pepper salmon, and place in the center of cabbage leaf.
Spread a heavy teaspoon of the sauce onto the salmon. Sprinkle with teaspoon of onion and a tablespoon of cilantro, roll and place in steamer basket. Repeat for all four rolls.
Steam for 10-12 minutes.


I served this with a Asian inspired coleslaw. I used the remaining Savoy, 2 cups of carrots and put it in the food processor. I put in a bunch of spring onions, chopped (about 5) and a bunch of cilantro chopped, I mixed it all together and put a dressing of:

2 TBS lime juice
3 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
2 TBS white vinegar (Asian would have been better)
4 TBS sugar
Zest of ½ of a lime

Mix together, pour over and let sit.

Bacon and Swiss Mac and Cheese

The Gourmet Gastronomer is having a Mac and Cheese off and I just had to get in on the action. Please go by the site and vote for my mac and cheese!!! http://www.gourmetgastronomer.com/ .



5 pieces of lean bacon chopped(I use one marketed as low fat, normal bacon just a lean cut)
3 tbs shallot
2 tbs flour
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. dry white wine or vermouth
2 c. swiss
1 cup (dry) macaroni cooked
½ tsp salt

Topping
2 hamburger buns
1 small clove of garlic
3 tbs parsely
2 tbs butter
Pinch of salt and pepper



Cook your one cup of dry macaroni according to package. Drain and set aside.
Heat over to 350 and put in hamburger bun and cook 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook chopped bacon until done.
Add shallots into pan with bacon. Sautee for 3 minutes.
Add flour and stir to coat.
Add wine and cook over low heat until sauce thickens.
Add heavy whipping cream. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add Swiss cheese and salt. Cook until melted and sauce smooth.
Remove from heat.


In food processor add clove of garlic and 2 tbs of parsley and pulse about 10 times. Add butter and pulse another 5 times. Add toasted buns and pulse until mixture looks fine. Add last tablespoon of parsley and pulse 3 times.

Mix together macaroni and sauce and pour into a baking dish. Top with bread mixture and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Shrimp and Smoked Pork

If you have not been to Bende (to the right under “sites I love”) you really should check it out. They have lots of really lovely things. Among my many favorite is their smokes pork loin. It traditionally is sliced thin and served as part of a cold plate (with other meats and cheeses). I will often use it to cook with. It is super smoky and imparts a wonderful flavor, however it is a super lean cut of meat. I would tell you a really good smoky bacon would be a good substitute, but cook the bacon and blot prior to putting in the sauce.


3 tbs smoked pork lion (or smoky bacon)
½ onion sliced
2 tbs butter
½ lb shrimp cleaned and chopped into bite sized pieces
1tbs olive oil
1 red bell pepper diced small
1 cup dry white wine
2tbs flour
1 c. half and half
½ lb pasta
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of lemon (if you have it)

In a pan heat butter and oil.
Add onion and loin.
Sauté for 10 minutes.
Add flour and stir to coat, then add wine, shrimp and bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add bell pepper and cook. It should be thick.
Add half and half , nutmeg, sugar, salt and pepper (I suggest a lot of pepper). Cook about 3-5 more minutes to heat half and half and thicken just a bit. Toss with pasta and squeeze a little lemon over.

Pork Taco’s and Lentil Soup

This ends up being 2 meals. Half the pork tenderloin is used for the pork tacos and half is used for the lentils. The lentils form almost like a chili, it is a very hearty bean soup. Also note, I used the tenderloin, not a loin roast. I think that is much better for this dish. If you want more information on costs and meals go to the most neglected blog in the world, family meals for less and check it out.


Pork lion 2.5 lb
1 Onion chopped
1 bag of red lentils
2 tbs cumin
1 jar of sofrito sauce
6 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of red wine
1 tbs oil
Salt and pepper to taste




We used this as two separate meals. The first meal was pork tacos, with refried beans and rice. The second meal is a pork and lentil soup with salad.

Here is how I did it. In a stock pot I sautéed the onions in a bit of oil. Add the bullion and lentils. Add the wine and sofrito sauce. Bring to a boil. Salt pepper pork tenderloin and add to pot. Add cumin. Reduce and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Check periodically to make sure tenderloin is under liquid and stir the beans. Once the tenderloin is good and tender take it out and shred the meat. Add half back into the lentils. We set the lentils aside for another day, you could have them in or with the tacos too. The meat that is left is for the pork tacos. It should have a good flavor form cooking in the lentils, but if you want you add more cumin.

To top the tacos I made a quick salsa with three tomatillos. I cleaned three put it in the processor with 1 garlic clove, a pinch of red pepper, salt pepper and 2 tsp of lemon juice. Also, I put a little lime juice and salt in the sour cream too. We had our pork tacos with lettuce, sour cream and salsa on corn tortillas. I have to say, they were pretty tasty.

Beef Satay Lo Mien

Okay this is t three-parter but is easy… trust me! Plus if you do a larger cut of meat like the london broil you will have that left over for another meal… so it is a two-fer! If you don’t love the spice you can leave off the Sriacha sauce in the sauce.

MeatLondon Broil or other cut of beef
Fish sauce
salt
Garlic
Garlic Chili Sauce

Lo Mien
1 package of lo mien
1 cup of broccoli (just floret, small pieces)
3 carrots
½ sweet onion or 1 bunch of green onion

Sauce
6 TBS peanut butter (or ¼ c plus 2 tablespoon, I just hate to dirty two thing!)
1 c. cilantro
Juice of two limes or about 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tbs water
2 tsp sriracha hot sauce


How much garlic, salt and fish sauce depends on the size of the cut you decide on. (I used about 2 lb cut of london broil. I used 3 TBS of minced garlic. 3 TBS fish sauce, 2 tsp salt. ) I put the meat in a bag and put the fish sauce, garlic and salt and let is sit for about an hour. Make sure the meat is coated fist. While meat is setting, heat oven to 350. Bake meat for 30 minutes. Pull out and coat the top with a thin layer for the garlic chili sauce (if you don’t have it skip it and just keep cooking meat for another 15 minutes of so). Once coated put under the broiler for 7-10 minutes. Let set.
Cook lo mien noodles to package instructions. Drain and cool. Add broccoli (chop to small florets) onion and carrot. Toss.
Add all the sauce ingredients to food processor or bender (or you can hand stir) and process. Do not add the sauce until right before you are ready to serve or the lo mien dries out.
Plate lo mien (once sauce is added) top with 4-5 pieces of thinly sliced beef. Enjoy…

Cilantro Lime Tuna

2 tuna filets
4 TBS chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime
Zest of ½ lime
Salt/pepper

Season filets heavily, just like chicken tuna takes a fair amount of seasoning. Heat oil in pan over high. Once good and hot, sear each side of tuna and reduce heat to medium low and cook to desired doneness. While cooking, chop cilantro and add the zest to it and mix. Once fish is done, top each filet with about half the cilantro and squeeze the juice of half a lime on each filet.

Zucchini Pasta for Two

I haven’t had this yet, but apparently is so good that has been a summer staple over at my folks house this summer. This is a recipe of my mothers making. It apparently started its incarnation with just the zucchini, onion and seasoning and that is how they had it several times. Tonight she had a couple tomatoes and threw them is as well and thought it was too good not to share. She said this was born out of an over abundance of zucchinis this year that needed to be used. She promises that she will share a zucchini with me so I can try this lovely creation….however the summer is almost over and she is just NOW telling me about it. I don’t hold out much hope, I think they just might be enjoying it too much to share right now!
2TBS butter
1TBS olive oil
½ onion diced
1 small zucchini diced
2 medium tomatoes chopped
Salt
Pepper
2 cloves garlic
Basil
½ lb pasta
Parmesan


Put past on to cook meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil together. Add onion saute just until soft. Add diced zucchini and cook about 5 minutes, just until almost done, but not mushy. Season with garlic, salt, pepper and basil to taste. Add tomatoes cook 3-5 more minutes or until heated through. Serve over pasta and grate fresh parmesan over.

Artichoke Dip

I am probably one of the few people that loves to cook but consistently uses jared crushed garlic instead of crushing my own. I love fresh garlic, but it is not consistent. Sometimes I would use 3 cloves and not get the garlic flavor I wanted and other times 1 clove and felt overpower by the flavor….in the same dish. I still use fresh don’t get me wrong, but typically in fresh things like a bruchetta, or to rub over bread, or if I want to stuff meat. Otherwise, I like the ease and consitatncy of the jarred stuff.

1 c. marinated artichoke hearts or one can
1c. Mayonnaise (I always use low fat, it makes it far less oily, and if you want to make the dish with far less calories use half low fat mayo and half low fat sour cream, honest it will still be just as good)
½ c. Feta
½ c parmesan
3 tablespoons crushed garlic (the jar stuff, if you use fresh use far less)

Mix together and bake at 350 for thirty minutes. This is great leftover on a bagel, as a substitute for mayo on a sandwich or very best of all, in an omelet in the morning. Plus it is a party favorite, and great if you have vegetarian friends.