Eating Dinner With My Family

The boys were not expecting anything from this dish.  The strikes against it in their eyes were many. (meatless, cabbage, mushrooms were the big 3)  This little dish surprised us all!  The smoky cheese was a nice touch.  I personally would have liked more tomatoes, but I did go a little light on the cabbage because it was all I had.   Still sorry about the short posts, but if I ever catch up, I will have more insight, humor or at the very least words ;) in my posts. Alpine Mushroom Pasta 8 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine 6 cups shredded Savoy cabbage, (about 1 small head) 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 medium portobello mushroom caps, gills removed, thinly sliced 1 small onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 cup dry white wine 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1 cup diced smoked cheese, such as smoked mozzarella, Cheddar or gouda 2 teaspo...

This is a totally yummy, fast way to approximate Chinese take out!  I would have preferred another protein, shrimp isn't something I usually crave, but it was great!  The boys inhaled it!  If I didn't have to thaw and clean the shrimp, this would have been a snap! Moo Shu Shrimp   12 small flour tortillas 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 pound shelled and deveined medium shrimp 3 large eggs, beaten Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 1 large garlic clove, minced 3 ounces sliced mixed wild mushrooms (1 packed cup) 8 ounces shredded coleslaw mix (3 cups) 3 scallions, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch lengths 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, plus more for serving Cilantro leaves, for serving 1. Preheat the oven to 200°. Stack and wrap the tortillas in foil and heat until warmed through. 2. Heat a large wok or skillet until very hot to the touch. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until smoking. Add the shr...

Don't let the length of the recipe daunt you!  It was less of a process than it appears, and even if it was difficult, it was pretty much worth it.  If I were to make any criticism of it at all was that the reduced braising liquid was still pretty runny and the sandwich was a huge dripping mess.  Correction a huge, dripping, tasty mess.  My husband wanted something crunchy in the sandwich, but that didn't stop him from having 2 ;).  We all agreed it was a solid 4 stars.  The only possibly difficult ingredient to procure is the pomegranate molasses.  If you can't find it locally, you can get it on line but I made my own.   I had made it for a Lebanese fried fish  ages ago, and finished it off tonight in this Shawarma.  The tahini sauce was wonderful and I am looking forward to having it on my sandwich at lunch tomorrow. Braised Lamb Shawarma For the lamb 4 bone-in lamb shoulder chops (about 10 -oz. each) 1 Tbs. vegetable oil mor...

I was totally at a loss about what to make tonight. I had a short list of recipes for this week, but as I prepared to go to the grocery, I went back to the 'to try' file and looked for something easy and fast. I had this burger in there for a while now and I never made it because I thought it would be too plain. I am so happy that I was so very wrong! It was simplicity incarnate! All I needed to so was slice, grate, mix, cook and... ambrosia! The consensus around the table was a 4.5 out of 5. Keep in mind we have become a bit snobby about food in general much less burgers! We were all pretty happily surprised by how tasty this was. This recipe was from Food & Wine magazine and they haven't steered me wrong... well ever is a bit of an exaggeration but 95% of the time their recipes are winners in my family. I followed the recipe pretty much to a tee except for the rice wine vinegar. I like the roasted garlic version of it. (Oh and I mixed up the sriracha and mayo to the s...

This is a recipe everyone should know.  It is a perfect recipe because: it's economical, easy, doesn't make a mess and can be tailored to any diet, taste preference or ingredients on hand. (for example: I have left out mushrooms out of the boy's packet or no meat and vegetable broth for a vegetarian friend)  I have made this before with a variety if ingredients, but this is how I made it tonight.   If you click on the title and to to the original Alton Brown recipe, you will see the way I made it the first time I cooked it.  I personally really like the addition of the cabbage and would include it always.  We had a pound of shrimp and there were 7 or 8 in each packet, so we ended up with a more than the recipe calls for, but even with the extra, the meal, for 4, was less than $10.  I have made it with just veggies and its really good that way too.  I don't use the "flavor" packets that come in the ramen for the broth, but ...

I found this recipe while working on one of my newsletter for Front Porch Pickings .  They are a local and organic produce company.  We had cabbage this week and I wanted to find something really different to do with it.  I looked at this originally for a laugh.  Cabbage and marmalade sounds like a recipe for disaster. (LOL no pun was intended but...)  Once I looked at it, I thought it looked good and was excited to try it.  I loved the marmalade, but thought the "pizza" was just ok.  I also used it in place of butter as the author recommended and I thought it was good, better even that way. Cabbage and Onion Marmalade   2 Tbl olive oil 1 to 1 1/4 pounds onions quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced a 1 Lb cabbage shredded or finely chopped Salt and freshly ground pepper 3 garlic cloves minced 2 Tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 Tbl capers drained, rinsed and mashed in a mortar and pestle For pizza: 1/2 recipe whole-w...

My first thought upon completing this dish was it really isn't pretty is it!  My fist bite was pronounced ok.  I decided that I really needed to add more than a dash of garlic and salt.  I also made one other change.  There was tons of the bacon fat left in the pan.  Maybe the bacon was extra fatty or thicker than the original recipe called for so I omitted the butter.  The noodles were done at the same time they were to go into the cabbage, so I didn't need to worry about them sticking to each other.  Maybe they meant salted butter and that would account for the need for a bit more salt.  (I did a dash of salt and a dash of granulated garlic.  I try to never by my seasonings mixed.  It costs less and you can easily do it yourself)  Well after the additional seasoning, (oh a splash of hot sauce as well)  I have to say I started to really like the dish.  The bites with a bit of  every component were really great! Two o...