Rotini with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Onion Roasted Potatoes

There has been a lull in posting--if you check this often, my apologies. I have still been cooking, but finding the time to put the recipe and pictures on here has been tricky. In addition, I have been pouring through culinary magazines like nobody's business. By doing that, sometimes if we just don't have time to cook, it makes me feel like I still made even a slight attempt to be "culinary" for the day.

Lucas and I are big pasta eaters. In fact, some weeks we probably have pasta with every meal. Recently we have tried to use whole wheat pasta when available to add a semblance of healthiness to our fast and carbohydrate loaded dishes. The latest issue of Food & Wine (February 2008) has an article dedicated to fast, hearty pastas. It was, of course, the first article I read when I opened the magazine. Thus far, we have tried 2 of the recipes with minor adaptations to both. I can't say I've been really pleased with either--although I can't say that isn't because I didn't stay true to the original recipe or I just didn't care for the dish. I am picking one of the two to share (in my opinion , the slightly better of the two). This dish involves a roasted red pepper sauce. I have made a roasted red pepper sauce in the past, and was looking forward to seeing how mine compared with the recipe in the magazine. In the end, I think both Lucas and I preferred my version because it is a bit more flavorful--I will post that here sometime and you can compare them yourselves. The main difference in the 2 is the source of fat--my version uses heavy cream and this one uses olive oil. Take your pick, I guess.

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
3/4 lb. rotini noodles (I used whole wheat)
6 oz. roasted red peppers (if you don't have access to fresh, you can find them in jars)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. tomato paste
1 large garlic clove
3 fresh basil leaves
1/2 lb. salted fresh mozzerella cheese cut into 1/2" cubes
salt and pepper

1. Boil the water and add the rotini noodles. Cook according to package directions.
2. In a blender, puree the red peppers, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, and basil leaves until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat the sauce in a small sauce pan until simmering.

4. Drain the pasta place into a large serving bowl. Toss with the sauce, mozzarella cubes, and if desired, top with fresh basil.

Now, I'm not saying this recipe wasn't good at all--we definitely ate it all, and even had leftovers the next day--I'm just saying it could use some tweaking for my taste. You might try it and love it. If you do try it and make any changes, let me know so I can give them a try.

Our side dish was onion roasted potatoes, a staple since Lucas and I first got married. It is easy, quick, and always tasty. It is also readily adaptable to size of crowd you are feeding. I make it with new (red) potatoes and for that use one potato per person. If you are using russet or other large potato, you may just need 1 for every 2 people.


Ingredients:
1 packet dried onion soup (e.g., Liptons)
olive oil
potatoes, cut into cubes

1.. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Coat potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle on onion soup--stir until well coated. I usually use less than a whole packet--just sprinkle and stir until the potatoes are completely coated and save the rest for next time. Use enough olive oil to coast, but you don't want a pool at the bottom of the pan either.
3. Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. Stir halfway through to ensure even cooking.

Enjoy!

Honey Pecan Porkchops with Carrots and Apples

In addition to having a plethora of lemons to use, we also have a large quantity of pecans fresh from the farm, thanks to Lucas' grandparents. Recently, we were looking for a last minute recipe to use with some porkchops we had bought on sale, and what a delicious and fast recipe we did find. Anything involving butter, pecans, and honey really can't go wrong. We served this with a side of carrots and apples, which is a recipe of my mom's that I hadn't made it quite awhile. This became evident when I forgot how to make them while in the process of making them, and therefore they did not turn out like mom's. Thankfully, though, I have called her since then and now have the correct method for next time!

Ingredients:
1. 1 lb. porkchops or tenderloin cut into strips
2. 1/2 c. flour
3. salt and pepper
4. 2 T. butter
5. about 1/4 c. honey
6. about 1/4 c. pecans
(We used more honey and more pecans than the recipe requests....therefore, our version was most likely tastier =])

Directions:
Combine the flour and salt and pepper in a bowl. Dredge porkchops in mixture to coat. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add porkchops and cook until brown on both sides and center cooked through. Remove porkchops from pan, but reserve drippings.





To drippings, add honey and pecans, stirring to make a sauce. Heat through, and serve over porkchops.





For the carrots and apples:
1. Cut 2-3 medium sized carrots into coins.
2. Slice 1 medium sized apple into slices, then cut slices into quarters (see picture...). You can peel or leave skin on.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil (I don't know how much--enough to cover the carrots and apples...). Add carrots and boil until they begin to soften. For the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the apples.
4. Drain water and add 1-2 T. butter and 2-3 T. brown sugar to the hot carrots and apples. Melt over low heat to form a glaze. Feel free to adjust the amount of butter and sugar to taste. Those amounts are just guesses anyway, since it changes every time I make them.

Enjoy!

Breakfast for Guests

This recipe came from Food & Wine magazine--a birthday gift from Lucas. I was skeptical about the ricotta cheese, but it made for incredibly moist pancakes with a slight crispiness on the edges. We tried a few without blueberries as well (Lucas is not a huge fan of berries in bread like items), and found that they are good either way (Lucas did enjoy those with blueberries as well). They were served with pure maple syrup and butter and will in fact be served to anyone who comes to stay with us and is here for breakfast. If you want to try them yourself:
Ingredients:
1.5 c. flour 1.5 c. plus 2 T. milk
1 tsp baking powder 6 oz. ricotta cheese
1.5 tsp kosher salt 1 T. vanilla
3 eggs, separated 1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the milk, ricotta cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to this bowl until smooth.
2. Beat the egg whites at medium speed until frothy. Beat at high speed until soft peaks form, then fold egg whites into batter until no streaks are left.
3. Heat a griddle, then lightly butter it. Ladle a scant 1/4 c. of batter for each pancake, using the cup to thin out the batter onto the griddle (they cook best if thin). Cook over moderately low heat until they begin to set (1-2 minutes), then lightly press a few blueberries into each pancake. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown. Transfer to plate and keep warm in oven. Can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight. Whisk batter before using.

Welcome!

Hello--welcome to my new blog, dedicated to postings of food and recipes. Lucas and I still keep our other blog, but this will be the place for me to share what has been going on in the Ward kitchen.

On the other blog, I mentioned that we have a Meyer lemon tree in our yard. I'm not going to repost the previous things I made, but most recently I tried a sugar cookie with Meyer lemon icing. The

cookie recipe was my grandma's, and it makes a nice, chewy cookie that is crisp on the edges. I had to try a few different recipes before I found one with that consistency. Should have started with Grandma's cookie first! The icing was a simple combination of powdered sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and the juice from a lemon. I have made it once with Meyer lemons and once with lemons from the store (Eureka or Lisbon maybe?). The Meyer juice is much sweeter and therefore makes a very sweet icing.

Aside from baking, I came across a recipe for Red Curry Chicken that I tried out last week. It was made with a mild curry sauce and served with brown rice and sweet potatoes. This was my first attempt at Indian food, and I can't wait to try it again. The recipe: 1 medium diced onion, 8 oz. chicken breast, cubed, 1/2 c. canned diced tomatoes, 3/4 c. water, 2 T. olive oil, 3-4 T. red curry paste (mild). Saute onion in oil. Add chicken and cook until lightly brown. Stir in curry paste. Add tomatoes and water and simmer uncovered until sauce thickens and chicken is thoroughly cooked. I made one slight change to the recipe in that I used a chicken that I had roasted the day before with a garlic and lemon rub, so our chicken may have had a different flavor than the recipe will give. I served it over brown rice with sweet potato that I roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt.

Next time--Ricotta cheese blueberry pancakes.