Tomato & Butter Sauce

Things around here got a little crazy for a bit with crazy margins, dropping sidebars and font so light in color it might as well have been invisible.  Thanks for putting up with me and my crazyness, you guys rock the house. *Doing crazy 80′s rock hand gesture while teasing hair and gassing myself with Aqua Net*

During this time of madness where I was obsessed with getting things straight, I needed to make dinner simple and quick.  I’ve read about this tomato and butter sauce before somewhere but I couldn’t remember where so I just made it up as I went.  It was an on the fly thing, but sometimes that is when you make your best stuff.

I had a carton of some local cherry tomatoes that I bought at the produce stand just a few days before.  I got them because they were such a great price and they were so cute, I just wanted to pinch their cheeks…..if they had cheeks.  I usually don’t buy fresh tomatoes unless I already have a plan for them, otherwise they are bound to go bad in my fridge.   I decided before it was too late I better put these darling little babies to good use.

You will be in shock, shock I tell you with the taste of this sauce! It is pretty awesome considering it has so few simple ingredients.  You may never go back.

WARNING! The use of butter here is crazy huge, so let’s agree to keep it on the DL (down low) from your cardiologist or anyone with a name ending in M.D.

It would be a good idea if you blanched the tomatoes first and peeled them, but like I said I was tired and sort of skipped that step…..ok not sort of, I did skip it.

In a large sauce pan over med-high heat add 5 tablespoons of butter, onions, garlic and tomatoes.  Let it all simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cherry tomatoes start to pop.

Once the tomatoes start to pop, take a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon and crush the tomatoes.  You want to wait for the skin to pop or you could end up with tomato juice squirt all over you.  Add 1/3 cup of water or chicken broth, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile back at the chicken ranch.  Wash about 1 1/2 lbs or 4 pieces of chicken and pat dry with a paper towel.  I am partial to thighs, but legs or breast will work, although you may need to cook the breast longer.  Rub the chicken down with 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Over medium-high heat, melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a fry pan, add 2 crush garlic cloves and chicken.

Don’t forget to check you sauce and stir, u don’t want it to stick.

Don’t mess with the chicken too much.  Let them brown on each side for about 5 – 6 minutes, or until juices run clean, adding more butter 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary.

During this time you should put a pot of water to boil, and boil the pasta until al dente.

Transfer the chicken over to the sauce, and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  You can add a little bit of the chicken butter too if you want.

What the heck, right?  Go big or go home!

Now as if the butter content wasn’t enough why don’t we top the whole thing off with a few crumbles of goat cheese.  Why?  Because you can!

Pile up your pasta, spoon sauce over pasta, sprinkle goat cheese over top, garnish with some fresh basil and plate the chicks.

Chicks..maaaaan!

Purrrrrr, hello sweet mama! Where have you been all my life?

This sauce is awesomeness, and surprisingly creamy without the goat cheese.  If you add the goat cheese you get some extra creamyness not to mention awesome goat cheeseyness.

Is there a limit to how many “ness’es” one can use in a single post?

Anyway it was great and incredibly flavorful all with simple basic ingredients that you probably already have in your frig.

The spousal figure was in love with this dish, minus the goat cheese.  He has some personal issues with what he calls “fancy” cheese.

Peace Out Girl Scout!

- Chick who hides from anyone with a name ending in M.D.

Print Recipe

Tomato & Butter Sauce

• 25 cherry tomatoes
• 7 tablespoons of butter, divided
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup of chicken stock
• 4 chicken thighs, skinless

In a large sauce pan over med-high heat add 5 tablespoons of butter, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Let it all simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cherry tomatoes start to pop.

Once the tomatoes start to pop, take a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon and crush the tomatoes. You want to wait for the skin to pop or you could end up with tomato juice squirt all over you. Add 1/3 cup of water or chicken broth, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime,  wash about 1 1/2 lbs or 4 pieces of chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. I am partial to thighs, but legs or breast will work, although you may need to cook the breast longer. Rub the chicken down with 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a fry pan, add 2 crush garlic cloves and chicken.

Don’t forget to check you sauce and stir, u don’t want it to stick.

Let the chicken brown on each side for about 5 – 6 minutes, or until juices run clean, adding more butter 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary.  During this time you should put a pot of water to boil, and boil the pasta until al dente.

Transfer the chicken over to the sauce, and let simmer for about 5 minutes. You can add a little bit of the chicken butter too if you want.

Now as if the butter content wasn’t enough why don’t we top the whole thing off with a few crumbles of goat cheese. Why? Because you can!

Pile up your pasta, spoon sauce over pasta, sprinkle goat cheese over top, garnish with some fresh basil and plate the chicks.

Chicks..maaaaan!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Many of you don’t know this but when I was a Air Force brat my family was stationed in Warner Robins, GA.  I spent most of my childhood in Georgia.  Even though I spent many years in Georgia I have never been a big fan of southern food.  Don’t get me wrong I appreciate it and crave it once in a while, but it is rarely my first choice.

However there is one dish that I fell in love with during my time in George…fried green tomatoes…oh and peach cobbler, but that will be a post for another day.    Oddly enough I haven’t had fried green tomatoes in years…yesterday I decided to put that to an end.

The great thing about these is that they come together lickity-split.  The hardest part about this dish was finding the green tomatoes.  Thanks to a produce stand of a local farmer, I had green tomatoes in hand.

Set up a dredge station with one bowl of beat eggs, a bowl of the cornmeal mix and 1/2 inch sliced green tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper.

I did experiment with 1 dredge vx. 2 dredge and I decided that the 1 dredge was better.  Dredging it twice make the coating a little thick and the tomato doesn’t get a chance to soften, so I recommend dredging just once.

Heat a skillet with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.   Fry the tomatoes about 2 min. each side, but do not overcrowd the pan.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and enjoy.

Yummy crunchy, corny, tomato goodness.

Obed had never had a fried green tomato and although he looked at them suspiciously he tried them and cleaned his plate.  I fell in love all over again and reminisced of the times that my mom, sister and I would order fried green tomatoes at Po’folks.

Print Recipe

Fried Green Tomatoes (Cookie | June 2008)

• 4 large, firm green tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely ground cornmeal
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 eggs
• Vegetable oil

Sprinkle the tomato slices with the salt and pepper; set aside.

Set up dredging station. Combine the cornmeal and paprika in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs.

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with 1/2 inch of oil, then place it over medium-high heat.

Dredge the tomato slices in the egg and then the cornmeal mixture.

Fry as many tomatoes as fit comfortably without crowding the pan, until nicely browned, about 2 minutes a side.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined platter to drain. Repeat until all the tomatoes are cooked.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

I am currently getting Obed and I ready for our birthday celebration vacation to Denver.  I had some pizza dough in the freezer, so last night I decided that I was going to whip together a pizza for dinner.  After a fierce battle over pizza with sauce vs. no sauce, I decided to surrendered.  I like bianca pizza, Obed says pizza isn’t pizza without sauce.  I could say that I made the pizza with the sauce because that is how my man likes it, but really I did it because I didn’t want to hear any complaints.

I remembered a recipe for Roasted Tomato Sauce that is in one of my Weight Watcher cookbooks.  The recipe is super simple and you end up with a rich tomato sauce full of roasted flavor.

Chop up your veggies, 3 lbs of roma tomatoes, 1 large onion, 3 cloves of garlic, basil, italian seasoning, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.   I seed my tomatoes because I like the sauce to be chunky, but if you like it saucier don’t remove the seeds.

Toss them all together and get them well acquainted with each other.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spread all the vegetable out on a large baking sheet.

Roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes until, roasted and fragrant.

Spoon roasted vegetable into a food processor and pulse until desired consistency.  I like mine a little chunky, if you want yours to be a little more saucy add some tomato sauce.

Taste the sauce and tweak the seasoning to your taste, add salt, pepper or vinegar if needed.  I tossed in a few more fresh basil leaves.

The sauce worked perfectly on our pizza and I got no complaints from the peanut gallery, in fact he loved it.

Print Recipe

Roasted Tomato Sauce (Makes 2 1/2 cups) Adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

• 3 lbs plum tomatoes, cut in fourths lengthwise
• 1 large yellow onion, cut in wedges
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Adjust oven racks to divide the oven in thirds.  Spray 2 large baking sheet with olive-oil nonstick spray.

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl until well coated. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheets.

Roast vegetables, switching the pans from one shelf to the other halfway through the cooking.  Roast until the tomatoes and onions are browned and have an intense, sweet aroma, 45 – 50 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a food processor; pulse until mixture is combined but still chunky.  Season to taste.

I removed the seeds from my tomatoes for a thicker consistency.  For a saucier one do not remove the seed from the tomatoes.

Me Make-a Lasagna

I do jumping jacks…

I do squats….

I lift dumbells until my arms become lasagna noodles…..

Then I come home and make a delicious, meaty, cheesy lasagna.

This may seem counter productive, but I torture myself so I can have a slice of this yummy lasagna.  I do however refrain from eating the entire pan.  I think we all can agree that Italian food is one of the most comforting foods.  In my opinion no meal gives you a bigger hug then a saucy, cheesy lasagna.

I have been wanting to make a lasagna for a while now and I have had the noodles sitting in my pantry for at least 2 months.  I finally got around to it after enduring 2 tortuous weeks of fitness boot camp.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy being tortured 3 times a week at 5:30 am…..really I do.

No seriously…..I do. I feel great!  No pain, no gain….right?

I cannot express how much I love a saucy, cheesy lasagna and this one did the trick.  The original recipe called for carrots and brown sugar, but I thought that would give it a sweetness that I don’t usually associate with lasagna.  I am all about savory and cheesy when it comes to lasagna.

I made this lasagna in a 9×9 pan because there are only two of us and I thought a 13×9 would be a little much.  If you want to do a family size 13×9, I would use 15 noodles and double the sauce and cheese mixture.  Also when baking the lasagna place a baking sheet under it because the sauce and cheese may bubble over.

Mmmmm cheesy, meaty, saucy….need I say more?

Print Recipe

Three Cheese Lasagna (adapted from Bon Appetit – March 1997)

SAUCE

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces lean ground beef
• 6 ounces mild or spicy Italian sausages, casings removed
• 2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper

LASAGNA

• 12 lasagna noodles (you will have to trim the noodles for 9×9 pan)
• 1 15-ounce containers part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 1 large eggs
• 2 cups finely grated mozzarella

SAUCE:

Heat oil in large heavy pot or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 12 minutes. Add beef and sausages to pan; sauté until cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer until flavors blend, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Cool.

LASAGNA:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Drain; cover with cold water.

Combine ricotta and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Mix in spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in egg.

Drain pasta and pat dry. Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of 9×9-inch glass baking dish. Place 4 noodles over sauce, overlapping and trimming to fit. Spread half of ricotta-spinach mixture evenly over noodles. Sprinkle 1 cups mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta-spinach mixture. Spoon half of the sauce over cheese, spreading with spatula to cover (sauce will be thick). Repeat layering with 4 noodles, remaining ricotta-spinach mixture, 1 cups mozzarella and sauce. Repeat and top off with extra shredded cheese and fresh basil. (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake lasagna 40 minutes; uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 40 minutes. Let lasagna stand 15 minutes before serving.

Heirloom Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

Is everyone excited to be back at the office or school after your long weekend?  Probably no…no worries me neither. The one good thing is that since we had a long weekend, that means a short work/school week.   I decided to take advantage of my long weekend and do some Spring…..well Fall cleaning. I also did some cooking, baking of course and Obed and I went out for dinner and a movie.    I finally got to see Julie & Julia.  I know I am a little behind but I finally got around to it.  I did enjoy the movie, I found it very funny and charming although I did find the story of Julia Child more interesting and fun then the story of Julie Powers, but it is definitely a movie worth seeing.

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Gazpacho

How many of you ladies have a husband what will not consider a meal, a meal if there isn’t some meat on his plate?  That when you order pizza it has to be the meat lovers or nothing.   He won’t even consider the veggie pizza.  How many times have you been making dinner as he has hovers around asking, “Is there any meat in it?”  I am sure I have many fellow sympathizers.  My man is a hard core carnivore, not only does there have to be meat in it but it has to be chunks of meat.  For example if  I am making something with sausage he protests if I cut the casing to break up the sausage, he wants it in slices. 

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 large red onion, diced
• 1/2 large cucumber, diced
• 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 zucchini, diced
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• 1 Jalapeno, Finely minced
• Sliced avocado
• Cilantro
• 8 large shrimp
• Dash of Cumin
• Pinch of kosher salt

In the food processor, combine the minced garlic with red onion, cucumber, tomato, zucchini,  tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, Tabasco, and a dash of salt. Pulse until all ingredients are blended well.

Pour into a large bowl, stir mixture together and check seasonings, adding salt if needed. Chill soup for at least a 1 hour; soup need to chill to allow the flavors to marinate.

Remove the soup from the fridge and stir. Check seasonings one last time.

Season shrimp with cumin and salt, drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Grill on grill skillet until pink.  Drizzle a thick slice of wheat bread with olive oil and grill on grill skillet.

Ladle soup into a bowl and garnish with remaining diced vegetables, a slice of fresh avocado and cilantro. Finally, place a grilled shrimp on the top and serve with grilled slice of bread.

Italian Sausage with Saucy White Beans

I have been dragging my feet about posting this recipe.  Unfortunately it is due to my own vanity.  There is nothing wrong with this dish, in fact it is incredibly tasty.  The reason I was dragging my feet is because I was not happy with the pictures I took.  However I decided my photography insecurites is no reason to deprive you of such a tasty dish. 

I made this over a week ago for Hubby.  I needed something quick and easy because he had a softball game that night.  Because of the rush there are no step-by-step photos and the ones I do have are “okay”.  I am probably just being really hard on myself.

Enough complaining let me tell you about this dish.  The inspiration for this dish was the Italian Sausages with Balsamic Tomatoes that I made the week before.  It is basically the same dishm just adding in some white beans.  Hubby and I were very impressed with how the beans came out.  They were flavorful and saucy.  This dish is perfect to serve with some bread to scoop up the beans.   It will become a new kind of comfort food for me.  Previous to this dish I had only had Spanish beans over rice.  In fact I thought it was weird when people would eat beans straight up, man was I missing out.

Ok so here it is, really simple.

 

Italian Sausage with White Beans  (serves 2, with leftovers)  Print Recipe

• 4 Italian Sausages
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 can White Beans
• 1 can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• fresh basil
• salt and pepper

Place the sausages, garlic, onion and peppers in a large baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Shuffle the sausages around until well coated.  Bake in the oven for 15 mins at 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl combine tomatoes, tomato paste, beans and balsamic vinegar, stir.  Pour the bean mixture over the sausages.  Return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes. 

Garnish with fresh torn basil and Parmesan cheese.  Serve with toasted bread.

Spicy Tomato Shrimp with Creamy Polenta

 Ahhhhh…the heavens have opened and I have found a new love.  For awhile now I have been curious about polenta but it was usually mentioned hand-in-hand with grits.   This made me hesitant and it was little bit of a turned off, because it was compared in likeness to grits and I hate grits.  I know to some people that may sound sacrilegious, but what am I going to do?  I just don’t dig the texture. 

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Bacalao (Salted Cod Salad)

Bear with me while I write the post.  I am suffering from a lack of sleep after piping that I think where 1,500 petals last night on to some cupcakes, which I will be posting later.  Me very sleepy, fingers a little cramped.

When I was a kid my grandmother would make this salad and it was one of the few things I would refuse to eat.  Great way to start off a food post huh? Of course I don’t think anyone can successfully feed a child salted cod.  If you have please let me know.  After much protest from both me and my sister this was no longer  offered in our household. 

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Chicken Salad Stuffed Tomatoes

If you didn’t know apparently the southern part of the Midwest is in the clutches of a heatwave…and it’s not burning in my heart.  Did you get that? It’s a little joke.  You know like the song…..ok maybe it wasn’t so great, sorry moving on.  Needless to say it is hot, like really hot, like if you wear shorts and sit on a leather seat or worse pleather seat, you and the seat are sure to become one and in this case it does not end in happly ever after.  Not to mention you may have 1st degree burns.

Well this heat doesn’t give me much of a desire to cook.  Especially since my kitchen is so well ventilated…..NOT!  Unfortunatly in order to say alive we must consume some form of sustanance, which therefore requires me to cook.  In an effort to keep myself and Hubby alive and well norished, while at the same time trying not to pass out from a heat stroke, I came up with this light yet filling dish.  Oh and there is a bounus, it is actally healthy.  I stayed away from anything heavy, starchy,  cheesy or fried. 

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