Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce

I finally got tired of having meats and decided to have a dish with fish in it. Because I live in a landlocked state, I don't get fresh fish for the simple reason that I can't trust it. This was a simple and obvious solution because it calls for canned tomatoes.
What you do is make your own sauce by taking tomato concasse and cooking it until it gets juicy. I know I said to use processed whenever possible, but sometimes it's just easier to use fresh. Then you add garlic and mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are tender, add chicken stock, marjoram, tuna, and basil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Once ready, drain the pasta, spoon the sauce over it, toss to coat, and put some shaved Parmesan cheese on top.
To translate, tomato concasse is where you cut an x into the tomato, blanch it, peel the tomato, seed it, and chop it.
Will and I both found it to be wonderful and tasty. We loved how fresh it was.

Spaghetti with Ricotta Sauce: Had to Be Corrected at the Dinner Table

I had some whole wheat spaghetti that I was jonesing to use, as well as some ricotta cheese. I decided to make something different using the two.
First lesson learned with this recipe: if you don't have ground almonds or a nut grinder, do not use a hand cranked spice grinder to grind up the almonds. Second lesson learned: always add salt to ricotta because you will end up wondering what's missing if you don't.
It's really relatively simple to carry out. While you boil your spaghetti according to the package directions, mix together part skim ricotta, almonds, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sour cream on low heat to make a thick paste. Then add some olive oil gradually. Once that's incorporated, add some chicken stock and stir until it's smooth. Then you season it to taste with salt and pepper. When seasoning to taste, avoid dumping a whole bunch in and then not tasting it. Remember, you can add more as necessary, but you can't take it out; that old wives' tale of throwing a potato in doesn't work. Once your noodles are drained, put the noodles in a bowl and pour the ricotta sauce over, tossing to coat and garnish with pistachios.
Will and I liked it, but again, the recipe forgot to mention salt, so Will and I sat there for five minutes thinking about what was missing before I finally mentioned salt. And for those of you who think I just served pasta, think again. While almonds are a great source of fiber and protein, they have very little other nutritions, so I served a side of broccoli to add some extra fiber and vitamins to our meal.

Baked Beans on Toast: Quick and Easy

I was going to make a recipe involving ground almonds, but the almonds I borrowed from a family member turned out to be rancid, but luckily, I had bought some extra Heinz baked beans. I decided to make baked beans and toast.
I think this may be a new regular menu item because of its simplicity and speed, so it will be perfect on nights where Will stays late at work. All you do is preheat the broiler and put four slices of bread in to toast. Meanwhile, grate some cheddar cheese and heat your baked beans. Take your toasted bread out, and spread a bit of butter onto the toast. Top with the beans followed by the cheddar and broil until the cheese is melted.
Will and I loved it. It may not be the most nutritionally dense item I've ever made, but it certainly is tasty and easy. Even funnier is the fact that Will put on "The Who Sell Out" and the song "Heinz Baked Beans" came on right as the beans started bubbling.

Falafel: Tasty and Simple

We had my youngest sister over, and I had to make something that would be tasty but that we would have enough of to go around. This isn't really quick, but anyone can do it.
First, you grind up a pound of canned garbanzo beans. I prefer to use canned rather than cook my own because they smell awful when you cook them. Then you add coriander, paprika, three cloves of garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper, and process until combined. Then you add 2/3 cup of flour and 3 eggs, blend until it's just blended, and cover and chill for one hour.
Normally when you make falafel, you serve it in pita bread with iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. Iceberg has no flavor and no nutritional value save for hydration purposes, so I use spinach instead.
Usually, you fry the falafel using the swim method. However, if you want to spend a little extra time and far less fat, you can easily just pan fry them. Just make sure to use some form of high temperature oil like safflower or grapeseed.
Instead of white bread pita, I use whole wheat. I find it really complements the falafel.
As with every time I've made it before, Will loved it. My youngest sister, who has never had falafel, fell in love with it.

Cream of Guinness and Onion Soup: Unusual But Fun

I had a six pack of Guinness and lots of onions Will bought to support his boss's Masonic temple. I figured, why not use both to make soup?
This is pretty simple and straightforward. All you do is caramelize a pound of onions and a Tablespoon of brown sugar in 2 Tablespoons of butter. Once they are nice and caramelized, you pour in 12 ounces of Guinness, some Worcestershire sauce, some green hot sauce to taste, 6 ounces of water, and a little bit of ketchup. It sounds weird, but it works, somehow. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for twenty minutes. Meanwhile, heat up some cream; once it's warm, mix it into the soup and stir.
I was surprised at just how good this was. I thought, since it had all these unusual ingredients it was going to taste nasty. In actuality it was pretty good; the sugar sweetened up the Guinness, and nothing overpowered anything else.

Farfalle with Eggplant: Great and Summery

Will loves eggplant, so in the spring and summer, I try to cook as much of it as I can. I wasn't so sure of this particular recipe, but it turned out wonderful.
First, you take one eggplant and dice it up. Stick it in a strainer, salt it, and let it sit at least 30 minutes. Then, in a small saucepan, heat some olive oil and add some diced shallots and garlic; saute until they're just starting to brown, then add canned diced tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper; cover and simmer it for 30 minutes. Rinse the eggplant and pat it dry with paper towels and stick it in a skillet with olive oil and brown it. If you don't have a skillet large enough to do all of it at once, just do it in batches and keep the eggplant warm. Cook your farfalle according to the package directions, drain it, and stick it into a bowl. Pour the sauce over the top and toss it to coat, then add the eggplant on top.
By now you may have a couple of questions. First, the reason I use canned tomatoes is because I only use canned tomatoes when making sauces; only if I am serving something with fresh tomatoes will you find fresh in my house. The reason I do this is because canned tomatoes have a lot of lycopene in them; the more processed the more lycopene. Lycopene, as many of you will know, is thought to aid in the prevention of prostate cancer. As I don't know much about Will's family history, I make sure to use a lot of processed tomatoes. One thing to remember when using canned tomatoes is, never use dented cans. That can be evidence of botulism, and nobody wants that. Second, the reason to put a lid when cooking any sort of tomato sauce is, because of tomatoes' viscosity, it tends to require more force for air to be released when boiling, so it spatters all over your stove. Believe me when I say that tomato stains are the hardest stains to get out of just about everything, from counters to clothing. The reason you salt eggplant is, eggplant can get bitter if you're going to brown it, so it needs a heavy dose of salt to help counteract that.
Will and I loved this dish. It was so good that Will actually took four helpings of it.

Chilaquiles: Easy, Fast, and Delicious

We always keep around enchilada sauce, tortilla chips, and cheese just in case I get sick or don't feel like cooking. Friday night was one of those nights. This is the single easiest recipe in my entire arsenal, so even the worst cook can prepare this amazing dish.
First, find an enchilada sauce you like and stick with it. I prefer El Pinto's medium red, but my mother in-law swears by Rosarita's red, so do a can cutting to see which you like. Next, pick your favorite tortilla chip. Will and I prefer to use a mixture of yellow and white corn, but using just one or the other works well too. Finally, pick your cheese or cheeses. We use a mixture of panela, cheddar, and colby cheeses. You mix together crushed up tortilla chips with just enough sauce to coat the chips, and add a bit of cheese. Keep doing this process until you fill the oven safe container you are mixing this in. Once you finish, just stick it in the microwave or the oven. The only real difference is that you need to add any cheese you want melted on top of the chilaquiles after you heat them through if you choose to use the microwave to do this.
This time, we got everything just right. I grated the cheese in just the right amounts so none of them overpowered the others, Will didn't go overboard with the enchilada sauce, and the tortilla chips soaked up the sauce perfectly.
For those of you who don't like to go vegetarian, chilaquiles are incredibly versatile. You can add leftover shredded chicken or ground beef to the mix with no real problems. For those of you who prefer vegan meals, make sure you get tortilla chips that weren't made with lard and tofu cheese, and you have meals that people will rave about.

Chicken Fajitas: Cheap and Easy

I made chicken fajitas on Thursday night. This is one of the easiest recipes in my arsenal of recipes. All you need are chicken breasts or tenders; I prefer tenders because they tend to be a bit cheaper, but breasts are fine, too; bell peppers of two different colors; and onions. Typically, you use red and green bell peppers, but I don't like the way green bell peppers taste, so I use red and yellow.
For the chicken, just slice it up and season it with chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Add it to the pan with your sliced bell peppers and onion and cook until it's all cooked through.
All you need to do is serve it with flour tortillas. This is also incredibly easy to make it vegetarian or vegan. All you need to do is either swap the chicken for tofu or remove the chicken and add another colored pepper to the mix and to make sure you use lard free tortillas (I'm from the southwest, so out here it's really easy to find tortillas still made with lard, but there are also ways of finding ones made with vegetable shortening if you know where to go).
Will loves this recipe, especially since I make sure it's still sizzling when I serve it. This recipe is best made on cast iron, but anything will work.

Yogurt Sauced Potatoes: Needs Work

I tried making potatoes in yogurt sauce. It was tasty, but I honestly think I screwed up because the sauce didn't stick the way it looked like it should have.
It was a bit hot for my liking; in fact we had to make an emergency run to the store to get more yogurt just to cool it down a bit because both of us found it too spicy. One thing that wasn't so bad, though, was that it was a great laxative.

Splurge Day: Kielbasa With Potatoes and Onions

Once in a while, I make this dish because it's quick, easy, and cheap. Unfortunately, this time the potatoes came out nice and crispy, but I added too much oil. I forgot that there was no pour spout to limit the speed at which the oil pours out of the bottle. I managed to get half of it back into the bottle, but I still couldn't get quite enough back in to keep it from getting greasy.
It was good, but next time I will be more careful about putting in a smaller amount of oil in. Lesson learned.

Goat Sausage and Mushroom Calzones: Not Bad

As I mentioned before, I had a ton of goat sausage and mushrooms left over from making grilled pizza, so I decided to make calzones with it. I really don't like to heat up my house by running the oven in the middle of summer, so I put them on a baking tray and cooked them in a grill. It would have gone great...had I not forgotten to brush the tops with oil. The tops were mostly anemic, while the bottoms were quite dark. Needless to say, I learned my lesson.
I will not have another entry till Friday, since tonight is a leftovers night. I will make sure to make up for it, though.

Brussels Sprout Soup: Time Consuming and Needs Some Tweaking

I had some frozen Brussels sprouts in my freezer because I thought I would have to use them in the stir fry. I ended up getting some fresh for that recipe, and don't like things to take up my freezer, so I was trying to think up ways to use it. Wouldn't you know it? When I borrowed one of my mother in-law's cookbooks, there was a recipe that called for, you guessed it, frozen Brussels sprouts. It even required the amount I had for a half batch.
It doesn't require a lot of effort, just a ton of multitasking. What you do is fry some bacon and garlic in a big soup pot. I forgot to thaw bacon, so it's easily omitted. Then you add almost a cup of chicken stock, milk, rice, oregano, and salt and pepper. Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Then you add frozen peas and carrots. Again, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile coarsely chop your partially thawed Brussels sprouts. Combine about half a cup of broth, salt and two cups water. Bring this liquid to a boil and add the Brussels sprouts. Return it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, 10 minutes. Then you add the contents of the pot to the rice mixture. Stir in three eighths of a cup of Parmesan cheese, and serve with crackers.
Will liked it, but I wasn't all that fond of it. Call it me being my own worst critic, but that's just how I am. To me, it could have been so much better. I think this will require some extra tweaking for me to figure out exactly what I want to do to improve upon it.

Grilled Goat Sausage Pizza

My mother in-law brought me some ground goat from the farmer's market. I was looking for some inspiration on what to do with it, when I came across a recipe for goat pizza. That's when I realized I could make a pizza on the grill because I had frozen some pizza dough in my freezer.
I made goat meat sausage using garam masala, ground fenugreek, chili powder, ground coriander, and merlot. I also used some baby bellas for the toppings. For the cheese, we used a beautiful mozzarella.
Will took care of the sauce. All you do is get some watered down canned tomato paste, and add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, fennel seeds, oregano, basil, a bit of cayenne and just enough clove to cover the tip of a table knife. He made it a touch too spicy, but it complemented the Indian spices in the sausage, so it all worked out okay.
The grill gave the dough a nice flavor and browned it really nicely. The toppings were just right. I had a bunch of toppings left over, so I may ask Will to pick up some ricotta so we can make grilled calzones.

New Mexico Style Steak

Because it's been really hot out, I've been doing a ton of grilling and trying to find all kinds of grilled recipe ideas. This was one of them, and it's super simple.
All you do is grind together paprika, pepper, and fennel and rub it all over a cut of top sirloin steak. You then put it on the grill for eight minutes if you want it medium rare like Will and I do. Then you put some slices of Havarti cheese on the steak and cook until melted. Finally, you put some green chili salsa or some salsa verde on top of the steak. Will and I prefer El Pinto jarred New Mexico green chilies, but any will do.
Will liked this so well that he managed to forget the salad I served it with. This is most definitely a keeper.