THE FOOD ENTHUSIAST: cooking tips and tasty recipes!
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PastabilitiesStay with an Italian theme by adding some sausage to your typical bottled sauce. Throw in some broccoli, fresh garlic, and a little spinach for good measure. It only takes a few minutes more and you'll feel like you're having a special dinner. Another speedy favorite is tossing cooked pasta with minced fresh herbs, olive oil, and Parmesan. Leftover beans make a hearty dinner when combined with pasta and a few veggies. And speaking of leftovers, don't forget any bits of leftover veggies you have in the fridge. I love roasted veggies tossed in olive oil over ziti pasta. Sneak some whole wheat pasta into your family's menu. Start with angel hair pasta cooked a little longer than you would regular pasta. That way your family won't even notice. You can also sneak in a little tofu while you're at it. Puree silken tofu with some fresh basil and a handful of nutritional yeast and you have a faux ricotta to mix in with your regular tomato sauce. The nutritional yeast adds a cheese-like flavor that really makes it. It also makes a nice veggie broth addition when you're making soups. For a change of pace try a stir-fry over angel hair or spaghetti. Use a terrriaki, black bean, or garlic sauce and your new favorite Chinese take out may be in your own kitchen! Go to an Asian market and stock up on a few jars of pre-made stir-fry sauces. Get out the peanut butter and make some Thai noodles. A little coconut milk, peanut butter, and some chili makes a beautiful warm sauce for pasta. You can also make a cold sesame noodles with peanut butter and sesame oil. It's a perfect summer dish and looks great on Noritake Colorwave Sky color. Try making your next pasta dinner into a pantry challenge and see what you come up with. Marinated artichokes, olives, beans are all fair game. Be up for trying a few unusual combinations. One of my favorite pasta sauce combines creamed corn with minced pickled banana peppers. Add a few shrimp if you have some on hand. See if you are impressed by it as much as I am. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Saturday 6th February 2010, 5:38 AM Food From Your Pantry: Beyond Easy ChiliMake sure to have cans of beans, corn, and tomatoes as well as various grains and pastas. I like to keep dried beans on hand too. They are cheap and only have the amount of sodium you add. If you use canned beans rinse them first and lower the salt in the recipe you are following. Beyond Easy Homemade Chili
Stove top: In a large pot heat up 1 Tb olive oil. Once it's hot add onions, once they are translucent add garlic and spices. Add the canned goods and water. Cook until hot throughout (about 15 minutes on medium heat). Serve with sour cream over rice, or with tortillas. I like to mix and match my Sengware dinnerware to show off my food. My favorite color for chili is the Sengware Pomello. I also use my freezer as an extention of my pantry. I keep various frozen veggies, leftover cooked beans or grains, all of which I can use in a moments notice. Try making a farmers market chili by adding frozen broccoli, peppers, winter squash or other veggies you have in your freezer to the chili mix. Use leftovers as a burrito or quesadilla filling. It also makes a tasty baked potato topping too. Try it on baked sweet potatoes as well. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Thursday 21st January 2010, 3:03 AM Super Simple New Year's DinnerFirst off, make sure you only invite the people you really want to be around. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but over half the time I end up doing it myself. Obligations do not make a fun start to the new year. You can take care of those later. Taking care of yourself will change the whole tone of your year. Have a table set up with some simple hors d oeuvres. You can keep it simple with a cheese platter, but choose a few new cheeses to add to your standard fare. I like truffled cheese, cranberry cheddar, and derby sage. They all add an extra wow to the typical cheese plate. In addition to the typical water crackers have a fresh baguette sliced and lightly toasted. I find that without toasting it, it starts to taste stale faster. Add a veggie platter with your favorite dip, and it's more than enough to keep your guest's hunger in check before dinner. If you want to serve sparkling wine, make sure to have a few bottles chilled ahead of time. You can serve a cocktail before dinner, another wine with dinner, and save the sparkling wine for a midnight toast if you'd prefer. Don't forget the designated drivers and people who just don't imbibe. Have something special made up that tastes so good they don't feel left out. Mix up a virgin mojito with sparkling water, muddled lime and fresh mint, with a little simple syrup. You can make up a pitcher ahead of time and be set for the evening. Make a great dinner out of a simple soup and salad combination. Buy some pre-washed baby salad greens and add some attention getting cheese and fruit to make it more special. Try pear with blue cheese, berries with goat cheese, or shredded apple with a sharp cheddar. Nuts and dried fruit are other nice additions. I love dried cranberry and goat cheese topped with some almond slivers. Select a soup you can make ahead of time and keep it warm in a slow cooker. You can make a traditional oyster stew, winter squash soup, or even something as simple as cream of potato. Dress it up with fresh herbs and croutons. Serve everything up on your best Noritake dinnerware to make your dinner even more elegant. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Tuesday 5th January 2010, 5:39 AM Cocoa ExtravaganzaFirst, you need to pick a base. This could be any kind of milk from healthy skim to half and half. It's just as easy to make a low fat version. In fact, you can make it dairy-free by using a base of soy, almond, or rice milk. It's a perfect treat for a child with a milk allergy. Nothing lights up a little girl's eyes like a big cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows! Also, try some vanilla non-dairy milks. You can get them in unsweetened varieties as well as pre-sweetened. Now, decide on a sweetener. You can use the usual sugar, or try honey or agave nectar for a different spin. You can also use a no calorie sweetener like stevia if you want to save a few calories for desserts. The beauty in making hot chocolate from scratch is you get to control exactly how sweet you want it to be. Explore different kinds of cocoa. These days you can find tons of single origin chocolates and blends specially made for drinking chocolate. You will also find the prices vary widely too, so you may need to collect a few of these over time. Another option is to grate a chocolate bar and melt it in your base. If you use sweetened chocolate, you will probably leave out the sugar, but you could still add a touch of honey if you want to add a different flavor. Mix the 3 ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a low flame so you won't scorch your milk. Taste as you go along and add more sweetener or cocoa if needed. Adding a teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt makes it really special. You can make it Aztec stlye and add some chili powder. Try adding a cinnamon stick, cloves, and some orange extract for an interesting holiday brew. Make sure to have some extra options for the grownups. Frangelico, Kaluha, Bailey's, B and B, and Grand Marnier are always out when I'm serving up cocoa. If you know most of your guests will be imbibing you may want to make the main batch of hot chocolate with less sweetener. You can always have extra sugar that people can add to suit their taste. I serve my hot chocolate in colorful sengWare mugs to add an extra splash of color. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Friday 18th December 2009, 12:32 AM |
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