The name for this healthy weeknight pasta is a hybrid of Naked ‘Green Machine’ smoothie (which I had enjoyed earlier in the day) and ‘Cookie Monster’ because he cannot stop eating cookies (i.e. me around pasta).  This dish was a hybrid of  leftover “Squashy Pasta” sans beets and the rest of my greens in the fridge that needed using. To supplement my dwindling supply of Farro pasta, I added a bit of Whole Wheat Orrechiete (of the same brand). In retrospect this was a terrible idea because my self-control around pasta plummets to sub-zero levels. However, the pasta itself was awesome.  You can leave the chicken out to make this a quick, healthy, tasty vegetarian meal if you like. The name is a semi-misnomer as this dish includes non-green veg as well – but the green is the predominant color, so operating on the “not everything is green in green goddess dressing” we are going to stick with the name.

This recipe assumes that you do not have any leftover Squashy pasta. Use whatever veg you like, is in season, needs to be used and just make sure that at least half is green!

Green Monster Pasta

Serves 4-6

Farro Gemelli Pasta (Rustichelle d’Abruzzo brand or favorite), one-half to one box 

One recipe Roasted Butternut Squash

Three Zucchini cut into large quarters

One Yellow Squash cut into large quarters

Broccoli Rabe or Crowns, slightly steamed

Three to four larger shallots, sliced into thin strips

Five or Six Garlic Cloves

Three Cups Baby Spinach

One bunch of asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces (or slightly larger) and slightly steamed

Black Pepper

Small amount of Pecorino Romano, Shredded

Half-Cup to Cup of Basil Pesto (depending on preference(

Half-cup to two-thirds cup Unsweetened Cranberries (depending on preference)

Quarter cup White Wine

     One Chicken Breast with seasoning of choice, sliced

Quarter Cup reserved pasta water

 One bunch of fresh basil, julienned

An hour prior, prepare the butternut squash (or make the night before). Once the squash has about twenty minutes left, begin to steam beets and bring salted pasta water to boil. Reserve beets and add pasta to water to cook for about 14 minutes. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large saute pan and add garlic, shallots and a bit of pepper. Cook until glassy (add crushed red pepper if desired). Hit this with the white wine and cook off the alcohol. Salt Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Squash and when the pasta has about two minutes left to cook, add to the saute pan (this is to make sure your veggies still have some crunch. Drain pasta, reserving a small amount of the pasta water, and add pasta to the saute pan. Add beets, roasted butternut squash, pesto, black pepper, and a small amount of grated Pecorino cheese. Add small amount of water a bit at a time as needed to make a sauce. Mix well and garnish with plenty of fresh basil and serve.

After the Hot Peppermint Coco discovery I found my mind drifting – with alarming frequency – to Rumplemintz.  I began to day dream about what I could mix it with that would be amazing. Marshmellows….cookies….rum balls. I thought the later might get me involuntarily sent to AA so I scratched it. Then a wonderful idea came to me – Boozy Brownies. You have to try it just for the name. I did in fact make sure that it could be done at my former [wonderful] department’s Christmas luncheon at Old School Bar and Grill in Austin. Their dessert chef was amazing and was gracious enough to respond to this inquistive diner (I asked if I would need to omit liquid to make room for the alcohol or if it oculd be added in as is) but hey – I haven’t never made brownies and I never claimed to be a baker. It was super easy and makes a perfect paring with ice cream or crumbled into a milkshake.

Boozy Brownies 

One Box of favorite Brownie Mix, plus ingredients it gives on box (depending of the brand you will likely need oil/water/butter/and-or eggs – you can sub applesauce if desired) 

One to two cups (depending on preference) chopped walnuts, AfterEight dark chocolate mints, and dried cherries (or cranberries) 

One to three shot glasses of Rumplemintz (I think I may have used around four)

Candy canes or peppermints to make Peppermint Dust  

Follow instructions for brownie making on box. Add Rumplemintz and chopped goodies. Bake to specified time. Meanwhile, place several candy canes in a food processor or blender and pulse until all or most large chunks are gone and a semi-dust like material remains. Dust the brownies with the crushed peppermint.

Note: I apologize for the lack of pictures in some recent recipes….I got a new phone and lost all my stored photos.

 

It has been a while since my last post. Since last year in fact!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!  My absence is fully attributable to a complete “check-out” from all things computer after a grueling semester which immediately followed a grueling legislative session and special session immediately following a grueling semester…you get the idea. Between working full-time, grad school work/class/projects/papers/research, and job searching/interviewing (which we all know can be a full-time job) and house hunting – I really wanted to throw my computer out of the window. As you can imagine, I really lacked much time to cook during all this and fully intended to use my nice, nearly month-long break from work and school (god bless excess vacation days) to do three things: work out, cook all the new ideas I have, and run a giant list of errands. I succeded in working out. I minimally accomplished two but most cooking took place in a dutch oven and most errands were pushed to the wayside. November 2011 will forever be remembered (at least by me) as take-out month. I pushed out a few posts the second week of December, but just lacked the desire to do anything more than work out and sleep.

My cooking is usually a spastic process similar to what was just outlined.  I admit I have been more organized and maybe there is a half-truth to the saying practice makes perfect….I will not ever be perfect (especially if you throw in a vodka whilst I am in between apps and mains), but practice certainly does make better, more thoughtful and organized versions of food in Andiland – for example…I managed to have Christmas dinner ready in time and without a huge mess or crazy kitchen. Most ingredients are still thrown together haphazardly – I have accepted the fact that I will probably never be able to follow a recipe – they are usually well thought out (in Andiland – this may not be applicable in the real world) and rarely come out inedible. That said, after my hiatus from cooking – I was off my game, or maybe I was even apathetic toward my food (sacrilege I know) and actually had to throw out a batch of gnocchi that I made. This is likely more of a reflection of my extreme lack of the essential patience it takes to make proper gnoochi or risotto, than the ability to make it, at that particular time. So I took out that frustration on a new endeavor – soups and stews. I have made stews several times before, but it has never been a permanent guest of my dutch oven. I have done a 180 apparently, because I made soup about 90 percent of the time in December. The trend continues; as I write this, I am enjoying a delicious black bean soup that benefitted from an accidental addition of roasted tomatillos that was intended for the Chicken Mole I was planning to make to accompany it (when I was not making it, I was eating eat from my favorite Austin eats).

The moral of the story: even though I had to feed myself out of seemingly endless brown cartons and slept less than a colicky newborn – I completed grad school with high marks, landed an amazing position as Director of Advocacy, and had enough vacation time to take a month and a half off my old job with pay! Life has a funny way of working out sometimes…so Happy 2012 everyone and I cannot wait to resume my cooking and blogging life.

 

 

My graduation party had a “Sammies and Pizzas” theme. Though I did not end up making most of my menu for it…I did make a fun and delicious twist on classic grilled ham and cheese. I will definitely be adding this to my sandwich go to. Like all good sandwiches, these were grilled; however, if you have an inexplicable desire for a cold sandwich – go for it.

Grilled Ham-Pretzel Sandwich 

Serve Four to six

One Loaf fresh Pretzel Bread
Six Slices of thick ham
Four slices of Fontina
One Apple Sliced into thin slices
Bourbon Molasses Mustard

Heat a pannini maker. Whilst it is heating up, cut the pretzel bread into quarters and then slice halfway to make two sides. Rub one side (or both if desired) with the Bourbon Molasses Mustard, then layer ham, cheese, and apples. Sprtix the bread with a bit of olive oil mist and place constructed sanwich in the panini makers until bread is golden brown and the cheese is meltey.

You can easily pair this with your favorite soup!

Temperatures have finally cooled down in Austin (thank goodness) and the damp, chilly day we were lucky enough to have yesterday called for soup. I had decided to make french onion soup, after I was told that the French Onion that was being offered by our brunch spot was “just not right today.” So I did not get my soup fix and immediately started pining for french onion soup. French onion, next to tomato soup, is the epitome of comfort in my opinion. I love it so much and it can be so pesky to get right (for home cooks and restaurants alike). I made up my mind that I would make some incredible little bowls of sweet onion and rich broth with gooey cheese and toasted bread and had many glamorous thoughts about sitting by a stone fireplace in the mountains, snow falling outside, all snug in a onesie and pink uggs, slowly breathing in the luxurious aroma onions and broth before devouring it. The fantasy ends with me licking my chops and magically losing 10 pounds because of the magic powers the soup possesses (and maybe a glass of real hot chocolate). Sounds great, right? Back in reality…I had a couple mimosas during brunch yesterday and I suppose this really threw me off my game. I seemed to make a lot of errors in the soup (though it really did smell good) and also did not use ingredients that I normally would have. End result was a quite tasty soup, it was just a bit different from the version I had been fantasizing about. No worries though, I think I may just make it again tomorrow night….and maybe two days after that as well. Welcome to the fall =)

There are three things that are essential for french onion soup or, more accurately, mind-blowingly awesome french onion soup: Properly caramelized onions; homemade beef stock; a variety of onions. I did not have that latter two elements and for some reason my onions never caramelized (which was strange). It seemed that there was too much natural moisture in the onions, which does not normally affect cooking but when trying to caramelize I suppose it can? I plan to just keep trying! I also got a bit heavy-handed (read: wow did I screw up) on the thyme and so the soup was quite earthy and less heavenly. Here is the recipe for the good, but less traditional french onion soup I made last night….keep your eye out for another recipe that will likely be coming soon!

French Onion Soup

Serves Two

Five large sweet onions
One medium red onion (optional – Needed to use one)
Two large shallots (optional – I just had some)
One and one half cups dry white wine
Three cups chicken or beef stock (I only had chicken)
Bouqi Garni with Sprig of Rosemary, Three Sprigs Thyme, One Bay Leaf, and One Sage leaf (sage optional) – all freshly picked
Four tablespoons butter
Small amount of sugar
Pinch Salt
Pepper to taste
One Loaf of thick, crusty bread – sliced one inch thick
Four slices of smoked Fontina Cheese
Splash of Sherry or Cognac (optional)

Slice onions in half, then slice the half into 1/8 inch slices (approximately). Heat oil or butter in a large saute pan or dutch oven. Once a medium-low heat is achieved, put onions into the pan and stir well to coat. After a couple of minutes add salt and sugar. Stir well. Return to pan every few minutes to check and make sure that the onions are not burning (add more oil, butter, or a little water or broth in the event that they do begin to burn). The goal is to have onions brown and stick to the pan without burning. Stir every few minutes for about a half hour, then lower heat and continue cooking for about an hour continuing to stir and adjust according to brownness. Eventually, the onions will be a rich, dark brown color. Once caramelization is achieved, hit the pan with a splash of cognac or sherry and allow the alcohol to cook off. Then add the stock, wine, pepper, and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for at least 15 minutes, test for taste and then cook as long as desired to develop more flavors.

Toast bread until brown and ladle the soup into ramekins. Place one slice of bread on top of the soup in each bowl, cover with Fontina and bake at 410 degrees (on the top rack) until cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly browned. (I did not do this and simply added a small piece of cheese toast to the hot soup because a) I did not want too much bread or cheese and b) I had no desire to do more dishes that night).