Night 19

Recipe 136

Spaghetti con Aglio e Olio with Tomato and Onion Salad

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Spaghetti

Crusty bread

EVOO

Garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Flat anchovy fillets

Flat-leaf parsley

Tomatoes

White or yellow onion

Course black pepper

I actually made this recipe last Monday but due to illness in the house haven't gotten around to posting it. I've actually made this recipe in the past because it is in another one of RR's cookbooks. It's one of the few recipes she has done that with because it is a classic Italian dish and really yummy! It's very easy to make and has a great kick to it. It's a surprisingly simple dish but the few flavors that are used are very bold and stand out.

I will most likely get another recipe on here Monday night since we have so much going on at the church this weekend. Thanks for checking in on my progress!

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Mandy

Night 18

Recipe 55

Halibut Soup

My rating ***1/2 (Matt's going to poker night so I spared him a fish dish!)

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Andouille sausage (or chorizo)

Yellow onion

Carrot

Poblano pepper (the store didn't had one so I did a green bell - a poblano is a mild sweet pepper)

Garlic cloves

S&P

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Hominy

Halibut

Zucchini

Flat-leaf parsley

Cilantro

Lime

French bread or any crusty bread to mop up the juice

Wow I had no idea how expensive halibut is! I think I should have just halved this recipe since I made it for myself, but now at least I have leftovers...I wonder if this would freeze well? I guess I can try and see what happens. The bread was great for dipping in the broth/juices and for filling up that carb crave! This has to be a pretty healthy dish because of all the veggies and fish. There really wasn't much sausage and I would have doubled it because there was so much fish. This was a good soup but I have so many other soup recipes that this one is lower on my list to make again. Definitely worth trying though! My next installment will be on either Saturday or Sunday, so stay tuned!

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Night 17

Recipe 65

Uptown Down-Home Chili

Matt rating ****1/2

Ground beef

Grill seasoning

Baby portobello mushrooms

Shiitake mushroom caps

Yellow onion

Celery ribs

Red bell pepper

Garlic cloves

Worcestershire sauce

Chipotle peppers in adobo

Ground cumin

Beer (I used Sam Adams Boston Lager)

Black beans

Crushed tomatoes

Beef stock

Thyme

Smoked Gouda

White onion

This chili made my house smell SO good! It only called to let it simmer for 10 minutes, but I made it a little early and let it simmer for an hour. I really think that helped everything come together to make an excellent chili. The smoked Gouda and chopped onions on top were a great finish. I also made cornbread to go with the chili because you just can't do chili without it! Matt really liked the chili and didn't realize until a few bites into it that there were mushrooms in it. He hates mushrooms because "they're a fungus", but once again he ate the entire dish and gave it a great rating! I am throwing a baby shower next month and we are going to do a soup pot-luck. I think I'll make this chili for it!

Once again we forgot to put the memory card in the camera when we took the picture so I don't have one to post. I'm sure you can imagine what chili looks though!

I won't be cooking tomorrow night since we have dinner at church, and then Thursday Matt has a guys poker night so it looks like I'll be back for the weekend. Happy cooking!

Night 16

Recipe 59

Chicken in a Horseradish Pan Sauce over Orange and Herb Couscous

Matt rating ***1/2

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

S&P

Chicken stock

Plan couscous

Navel orange

Flat-leaf parsley

Yellow onion

Prepared horseradish

Thyme leaves

Dijon Mustard

Half-and-half

Yet another take on a chicken dish...this one actually took me 30 minutes. Maybe I'm getting better in the kitchen, or this was just a pretty easy recipe to make...most likely the latter of the two! The pan sauce tasted more like dijon than the horseradish, but that was fine by me. It was very creamy and tasty, and I've become a big fan of couscous. I would recommend pouring extra sauce on the couscous to make it a little more flavorful though. This was one of the easier dishes I've made and definitely worthy of a Sunday dinner!

I have been absent from this project for a few weeks due to family being in town and then us going out of town, but I'm picking right back off where I left off. I haven't decided on a dish tomorrow yet. I'm going to see if we actually get a rainy cold day and if so I'll make a comfort food meal. I just LOVE this time of year when the weather changes and you can feel that crisp air and watch the leaves falling from the trees! We might have to make a drive through the mountains to get a preview of the colors. This is the time of year that I really love living in this beautiful state.

Night 15

Recipe 269

Big Beef Balls with Bucatini (or spaghetti)

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Spaghetti

Ground sirloin

Garlic

Egg

Italian-style bread crumbs

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Freshly grated nutmeg

Course black pepper

EVOO

Onion

Dry red wine

Crushed tomatoes

Tomato sauce

Flat-leaf parsley

Capers

Sage

Pancetta

Cremini mushroom caps

Beef stock

This was just spaghetti and meatballs, but homemade! The meatballs were definitely the star of this dish and I will use this recipe to make meatballs again. I made this dish when my family was in town a few weeks ago and they ate it up. Unfortunately the pictures we took were saved to the camera and not the memory stick and we don't have the cord to plug it in to the computer, but I'm sure you can get a pretty good idea of what spaghetti and meatballs looks like.