Tequila-inspired Mexican Pasta

While making homemade ravioli the other day- I ended up with a little extra pasta, both a plain and spinach pasta. The easiest thing to do of course, is roll it out for back-up noodles, but as always, I wanted something slightly different. Recently I've had a craving for parpadelle pasta- it's simple a flat, ribbon shaped pasta. You'll see this often used with a hearty beef or boar ragu.

Our friend Hoss sent us a bottle of tequila as a thank you for the visit- Any time Hoss! We had eaten a lot of Italian food recently, so the ragu was not of interest, but the tequila was. My goal was to make a Mexican type of dish, incorporating peppers and the tequila. I think this was a success; and it goes well with a margarita too!

Of course- please feel free to purchase parpadelle pasta rather than making your own. And substitute other peppers - these are just what I had on hand. And don't forget the salt on the rim! Ahh to be fat and happy with 'cultural' food. Nice.

Tequila-inspired Mexican Pasta

Start a large pot of salted water for the pasta....cook pasta (parpadelle) accordingly, reserve a cup of the pasta water.

Sautee
1/2 spanish onion, chop into large pieces, 2x2
Olive oil

add, continue to sautee until edges begin to caramelize (want the peppers to retain a slight crunch when served):
1/2 red pepper, large chop
1/2 yellow pepper, large chop
1 roasted poblano pepper, large chop
1 tbls ground cumin
Fresh black pepper


Deglaze pan with:
1/2 cup tequila (remove the pan from heat when add alcohol!)

Add to the pan:
1 can of diced tomatoes
dash of chili oil or ground red pepper
4 tbls fresh oregano
2 tbls fresh parsley

simmer until warmed throughout.

Add your freshly cooked pasta to the pan, toss. Add a few spoons of pasta water to help give a little more moisture to the dish.

Top with a little grated cheddar cheese, or chihuahua cheese.

Banana Semifreddo

I just can't stop. I cannot stop with the frozen treats! It's like I'm fricken' addicted! Dave wanted a treat one night- and all I could come up with was bananas and whipping cream. Aha!

This one is a super quick, simple, mock ice cream. It's like a half frozen mousse- which is exactly what semifreddo means in Italian (half frozen). My recipe below is about as simple as it gets. Most semifreddo recipes call for either whipped whites or yolks and sometimes both. I skipped the eggs in my variation because I don't think they are needed for this.

This semifreddo does not become totally frozen. I'm thinking you could use some cookie cutters, like a monkey, or a tree, and it would be real fun for kids!

But never does this dessert need an ice cream maker. It just quick and easy! A great trick I do is take bananas that are turning brown, and place them in the freezer- you don't even need to wrap them! This works great for this recipe, and even banana bread.

If you want to jazz this up a bit- drizzle warm chocolate or caramel sauce across it and serve with coffee and Baily's.

Banana Semifreddo

Mash one ripe banana until smooth (you may find using a hand held blender or small Cuisinart is easier).

Whip:
1/2 cup cream
add 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla

Fold the whipped cream into the mashed banana; Place in small pan or muffin tins lined with plastic wrap. Freeze for 2-4 hours. Slice and serve.

Rosebud Restaurant- Theater District

As a former restaurant owner, I do understand when a kitchen has an off day and will typically give a restaurant two tries before vowing to never return. And if we receive service that is outstanding- this will also give us incentive to return, even if the food was sub par. Service can make or break a place!!

This will not be the case today- the Rosebud Restaurant will never get anther dime from me. Every ingredient came from a can! The roasted red peppers, the green bean in the pasta dish- both from a a can. And the ricotta gnocchi was basic flour pasta - not even close to a ricotta gnocchi. The side of sauteed broccoli was straight from a frozen bag- it had all the stumps and everything! There was a ridiculous sauce on the steak that it think they made from some leftover breakfast pancakes... that's not really the wine sauce it was advertised as.

But what about the service? Let me just say this- upon ordering a 2nd bottle, our waiter tried to bring us 'different' bottle of wine; we watched him purposely turn and hide the label as he filled our glasses.

This is a part of the Rosebud chain here in Chicago, and I've honestly heard decent things about these restaurants in the past ... if the Theatre District is indicative of the rest- ick! ...

Another experience which again solidifies my disinterest in chains. This place gets a red dot in our restaurant map list- STOP, do not return and I suggest you save your money as well.

Rosebud Theater District, 70 West Madison. Chicago, IL

Ditalini Olive Pasta Dish (hot or cold)

Drinks after work at Club Lago tends to make us super hungry, if you can believe that! Even though Guido let us sample the new meatball sandwich he's working on, for the second time- we still needed more food. I blame our hunger it on the walk home in zero degree temperatures.... and the liquor.

The absolute quickest thing to make in a situation like this is a quick pasta dish; in the time it takes for the pasta to cook- you'll have the rest of your ingredients chopped and ready to go.

This pasta dish is really another variation of my mock macaroni and cheese dishes. So easy to change up the type of pasta, the cheese and the veggies being used. Using the pasta water helps give it a cheap 'sauce-effect.' You'll love the bites that have a warm crumble of goat cheese, mmmh good. And what's even better, this particular recipe works great as a cold salad as well.

The ditalini pasta is a tiny tubular pasta that works great in soups, and I like it on cold pasta salads as well. And it's real tasty after a couple of glasses of vino! Now that you know how easy and cheap it is to throw a meal together, you can afford to go out and support your local clubs with a drink or two. Keeping the neighborhood joints like Club Lago alive- that is the Fat and Happy way!

Ditalini and Olive Pasta

Boil a large pot of water (always use more water than you think you have to when you cook pasta) add salt and cook according to package directions:
2 cups of uncooked ditalini pasta

In the meantime, sautee in a oil oil until softening begins:

1/4 cup chopped red onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrots

add:
2 cloves garlic

Drain pasta, reserving pasta water. Add a drizzle of oil oil to the bottom of the pasta pot, return to stove, but turn off the heat. Add the past back in. Add in the onion mix, and:

1/2 cup chopped deli olives
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated Romano or asiago cheese
1 cup of the pasta water (add more or less to your liking)
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss well. Add:
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

Serve immediately with a hunk of bread.

*if you want to make this a cold/room temperature dish, simply cool the pasta after draining and the toss with all ingredients, skip the pasta water but do add more olive oil with the sauteed veggies.

Zucchini Suffed Zucchini

The title is not a spelling error- this zucchini was stuffed with zucchini ... and some onions and cheese and then topped with bread crumbs.

But, mostly zucchini.

It was late in the weekend, and there wasn't much left to choose from in the fridge. I found this zucchini and not much more. But it turned out to be a super simple, nice, light meal. As I write this, I'm envisioning many variations of this as well- You could easily drop in some ground sausage or turkey to make this more protein rich; or try adding some whole wheat couscous! Use what you have available, certainly some roasted red peppers would be great with the goat cheese, or roasted poblanos with a dash of hot sauce would give it a great kick!

This is probably more of a summer dish and would be fabulous finished off on the grill, but in the dead of winter- it was a real nice change from all the heavy, hearty meals. Lighten up one meal and you may be surprised at how fat and happy you are!

Zucchini Stuffed Zucchini

Bake 1 large zucchini for about ten minutes to soften. Cool slightly.

Cut a small slice off one side of the zucchini- this will be the bottom, to help stabilize it. Now cut out the top and carve as much of the inside as you can, leaving all the walls in tack (think of carving a pumpkin.) Rub the inside of the zucchini with olive oil and pepper.

Chop all the insides of the zucchini. Also chop about the same amount of red onion.
Sautee the onion in olive oil until they begin to soften. Add the chopped zucchini and 1 chopped garlic clove. Sautee for few more minutes and add 1 tbls fresh chopped thyme. Toss with about three or so tablespoons of goat cheese and stuff into the zucchini.

Put the stuffed zucchini back in the pan you sauteed with, sprinkle the top with Panko bread crumbs (or homemade crumbs), a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Broil until the bread crumbs are browned and the cheese is bubbly.

Use this as a full meal, or get small zucchinis and use as a side dish!

Indian Crock Pot Pork

Crock pot cooking is a great, easy way to cook almost anything! But often times the flavors of crock pot cooking can tend to be the same leading to boredome.

This recipes help cure that boredome. It's a bit of Indian/middle eastern spices meet American housewife cooking. Stop by Whole Foods and grab some naan bread to really round out the flavors of this dish. And if you're up for something really nutty- don't use a fork, use the naan bread to scoop up the pork and sauce! Crazy!

If you're up for a little more spice, double the cayenne pepper! This is a fun recipe with loads of serious spice flavors- and a great break the the typical crock pot dish! And yet another reason to be fat and happy!

Indian Crock Pot Pork
1 pork tenderloin (can use a real cheap cut of pork for this)

1 Tbls ground ginger
1 Tbls ground cumin
1 Tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
scant 1/4 tsp anise seed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
black pepper

1 can tomatoes
1/2 cup of tomato paste
2 cups broth

Add all the ingredients to a crock pot. Simmer on low-medium low for 6-8 hours. Pull apart the pork with two forks. Turn up the heat to high- and simmer for about 20 minutes with the cover off, to thicken the sauce slightly.

Roast the veggies while your thickening your sauce:
1 potato, 1 carrot, 1/2 small yellow onion and 1 celery stick - all chopped to bite size pieces.
Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, lay on a baking sheet and roast in the oven (375 degrees) until potates are just fork tender.

You can add the veggies to the crock pot with the pork for ease, do add another 1/2 to 1 cup of broth to compensate for the liquid the veggies will soak up. The potatoes will be a bit mushier if done in the crock pot - but still good!

Serve with warm naan bread and a scoop of the roasted veggies (cubed potatoes, celery, onion and carrot.)

Another interesting way to serve this is with basmati rice rather than to potatoes-for an even more authentic Indian feel.

Banana Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Did you read my post about the Almond Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirl?

The short story is that the temperature was below zero and I wanted ice cream. Not being able to decide between two flavors- I choose to make two.

Take 1/3 of the base from the Almond Cherry Ice Cream, and continue below. (If you decide to only make one ice cream, use the whole base of the custard from that recipe, and double the ingredients below.

A couple of items to note- if you're making your own chocolate covered pretzels, you need to fully cover the pretzels in chocolate or they will get soft. Also, add lots of salt on top to for that great sweet-salt mix!


Banana Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Take 1/3 of the custard mixture from the Almond Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream.

In a blender, add 2 ripe bananas and blend until smooth. Add in the custard and blend for a few seconds. Pour into your ice cream maker and continue as manufacturers directions.

Have about 1/2 cup of creamy caramel and about 10 chocolate covered pretzels ready. You can use jarred caramel, but I have a super fantastic - foolproof caramel recipe here!

As you put the ice cream into a container for your freeze, add the caramel swirl. Simply place a big scoop of ice cream in the container, and then drizzle it with caramel and and chocolate covered pretzels. Now add another layer of ice cream and another drizzle of caramel and chocolate covered pretzels. Continue in this manner until complete. Enjoy!

The chocolate covered pretzels:
You must completely cover the pretzels in chocolate and then salt them- I used my pink salt for this. If you don't totally cover these pretzels in hardened chocolate, they will begin to soften in the ice cream. Just melt some chocolate chips, (don't add cream or anything, as you want the chocolate to be hard) dip the pretzels in the chocolate, shake, and place on a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle heavily with larger salt crystals.

Almond Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirl

It's so cold outside, that I watched random strangers, clean-business folk, approach cabs at red lights (cabs that had fares in them already) and try to talk their way into sharing a ride! eeeck. That's cold!

So why is that I want ice cream during the coldest week on record in ten years? Maybe because I got a new ice cream maker for Christmas (the theme this year was Initial Matching- so I got "Monique's Magical Cuisinart (MMC), thanks Mark!) or maybe because I just like ice cream.

So I actually took the base custard below, and made two ice creams from it because I couldn't decide on just one flavor. So feel free to use this only as the almond cherry swirl- (you may want to add a few more nuts and cherries) or check out the post for the Banana Caramel with Chocolate Covered Pretzels recipe and make both ice creams! With the chocolate swirl- if you just warm chocolate and use that- you will have hunks of hard chocolate in your ice cream. Which is okay sometimes, but this time I wanted a runny swirl (notice in the photo the runny chocolate swirl- that is straight from the freezer!) So check out how I made that below!

Either way- you're going to love these even if the temperatures are below zero and you can't talk your way into someone else's cab- just stay home, pull on an extra sweater, eat ice cream and be fat and happy!

Almond Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Swirl

Heat to just below boiling:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups milk

In the meantime, whip together until the yolks are light and doubled in size:

4 yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp almond extract

Temper the hot cream to the egg mixture, add everything back to the pan on the stove. Cook over medium low heat until the custard is thick- and you can draw a line in the back of the spoon through the custard, and the line stays. Stir this constantly. When it's ready, strain the custard, then cool the custard in an ice bath and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Now decide if you are going to make one or two ice creams. Pour 2/3 of this custard in your ice cream machine, and use your machine as directed. (If you are going to make one, pour all the custard in the ice cream machine.)

At the end of the freezing cycle add

1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries and a few Tablespoons of the juice
1/2 cup of toasted almonds

If you add the chocolate in at this point- you'll just end up with muddy ice cream. So as you put the ice cream into a container for your freeze, add the chocolate swirl. Simply place a big scoop of ice cream in the container, and then drizzle it with chocolate. Now add another layer of ice cream and another drizzle of chocolate. Continue in this manner until complete.

Chocolate Drizzle
3 Tbls cocoa powder
3 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Mix the above with with a small wire whip. Add 1 Tbls of warm cream at a time, until you have a thick sauce. (depending the humidity- you may need only 1 tbls.) Cool. Drizzle on the ice cream as you pack it to freeze it.