Pasta with Vodka Sauce

I LOVE this dish. It reminds me of my Mediaedge days when we would go to Remi's takeout cafe and get penne with vodka sauce for lunch. Yum! I miss those days and my friends that I worked with there. This recipe does not compare with Remi, but I tried. I had a little bit of ziti left in a box and a bit of whole wheat penne and I wanted to get rid of both. Also, the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions, but I had none so I used two small shallots instead. Also, you can use whatever kind of vodka you want for the sauce. I chose Kettle One since there would be a lot leftover and would rather have a vodka I would drink versus the cheap stuff that could take nail polish off.

1/2 uncooked penne (the ziti worked too)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 shallots (or 1/2 cup of onion, finely chopped)
1 teaspoon of salt (divided)
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 vodka
1/4 chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 whipping cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
   
2. Heat the oil up in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and cook until they are tender. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add the vodka; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the rest of the salt, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes.
3. Place the tomato mixture in a blender and process until smooth.
4. Return the mixture to the sauce pan; stir in the cream. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat, stir in the pasta and basil.

Special thanks for this go to our neighbors Dennis and Amy for giving us some basil. My basil plant has no leaves left. Next year, I resolve to grow a huge basil plant.

Dinner this week

This is a light week for dinner. Light that is, in terms of the number of meals to be prepared. It was a busy weekend, we went out to dinner on Saturday and on Sunday we had a family dinner at one of Mike's aunts' houses. It was a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Yum! Anyway, I digress....this week we are going to have the following:

• Pasta with Vodka Sauce
• Ham and Egg Fried Rice
• Pizza Margherita (I am going to try to make the dough this time, yikes!)
  

Restaurant Review - Mistral

On Saturday night, Mike and I celebrated our fifth anniversary with a dinner at Mistral. Neither of us had been there and were both dying to try it. We have heard great things about it and Mistral lived up to our expectations. Mike likes to eat earlier than I do and wanted a 7:00 reservation. I thought that we would be the only ones in there so early on a Saturday night. However, the place was packed! We didn't have the best table, we were in the back near the kitchen, but the company more than made up for the bad table.

I had been checking out the menu the week prior to dinner, but still was not sure what I was going to order. I had the mussels to start and Mike has the tuna tartare. Both were wonderful. For the main course, I had the sirloin while Mike had the trout special. We settled on the Catena malbec for our wine, it was great since it was one that we did not have a chance to sample while in Argentina. The desserts were wonderful as well, I had the warm chocolate torte and Mike had the plum galette.

I loved Mistral and would go again. The portions were a great size, the atmosphere was great as it was not stuffy, and despite the crowd, we did not feel rushed.

After dinner, we had the car drop us off at Persephone for a drink. We have to support the Southie businesses, even though it isn't close to our part of Southie. The night was capped off with drinks with the neighbors at home on their patio. Thanks guys!

Ham and Egg Fried Rice

This could be a side dish or a main entree. I decided to make this a main dish by adding extra ham. Next time I make this, I am going to add water chestnuts so that there is a little extra crunch.

4 cups of cold cooked long-rain rice
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (I only had red onion at home, but it worked)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup sliced green beans
1 1/2 cups of diced ham (or less if you want to make this as a side dish)
1/4 soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sliced green onions

1. Heat a skillet or wok over high heat and add the canola oil. Add the onions and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute or until onion begins to brown. Add beans and ham; stir-fry 2 minutes or until the ham begins to brown.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the rice. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil.. Push the rice mixture to the sides of the pan or wok. Pour the eggs in the center and cook until they set, stirring to scramble. Gently stir the eggs into the rice mixture. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
   

Pasta with Gorgonzola Sauce

My apologies for posting this one a few days late. I've been lazy. I think that this one tastes great as leftovers. I put in more cheese than the recipe (from Cooking Light) calls for. I also didn't read the recipe through when I was making up my grocery list and overlooked half-and-half in the ingredients listing. Since I did not get the half-and-half, I used 1% milk, resulting in a soupy sauce. The half-and-half would have been a waste since we don't use it in our coffee.

8 ounces uncooked ziti
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
12 teaspoons half-and-half (or 1% milk for a soupy sauce)
6 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
2 cups of fresh spinach

1. Cook the past according to the package directions.
   
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and garlic to the pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in the half-and-half and cheese for 2 minutes or until thick (again if you use milk the sauce won't get thick), stir constantly. Stir in spinach and pasta cook 1 minute or until the spinach cooks down.
   

Corn on the Cob & BBQ Ribs

This was a very messy and great tasting meal that requires a lot of dental floss after dinner. The corn has a coating that uses a few of my favorites, cilantro, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. I wasn't loving the BBQ sauce for the ribs, so I will just list the recipe for the rub. I thought that it on the ribs without the sauce was good.

Mike got gas for the grill yesterday and was pumped up to use it again, too bad it was a bit too chilly out to eat on the deck, it was also a little wet from the rain that we got. Mike needs to get credit for being the grill master tonight.

Corn on the Cob
4 ears of corn (I just made three, but the rest of the ingredients are good for 4 ears)
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lime juice (I used bottled instead of fresh)
1/3 cup of Parmesan
1 minced garlic clove
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 cup of cilantro

1. Cook corn in a large pot of boiled water for about 5 minutes. Drain the corn.
2. While the corn is cooking mix 5 tablespoons of olive oil and the next 4 ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook about 2 minutes. Turn the corn frequently.
   
4. Brush the cheese mixture on the corn in the skillet. Cook until the coating begins to color, about 3 minutes.
   
5. Place the corn on a platter and brush the cilantro and any remaining cheese mixture onto the corn.*

*I really wasn't paying close attention to the recipe and just mixed all the ingredients together instead of brushing the cilantro on at the end. It turned out fine, but I thought I should include the standard recipe (from Bon Appetit).

BBQ Rub
1 rack of ribs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
t teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of allspice

Rub the mixture over ribs, cover with foil and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Fire up the grill and keep the ribs on until the are tender.

Because I was not loving the BBQ sauce, I am more than willing to take suggestions. Send them in so I can try them.

BLT Bow Tie Pasta

Despite the great weather today, tonight's dinner had to be made inside since we ran out of gas for the grill. We had no time to get gas yesterday because we went to a wedding which was so fun. Because the wedding was so fun, I was completely exhausted and did not want to run all over the place running errands (i.e. getting gas for the grill). We did take advantage of the nice evening and eat outside on the deck.

This recipe calls for a lot of bacon to be used. I have made it with regular bacon and turkey bacon. Both options work well. I chose to use regular bacon today and added a bit more than 12 slices. It is not a diet friendly recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of Bon Appetit.

1 pound farfalle pasta
12 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup of thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
dash of crushed red pepper
3 cups of arugula
1 cup of thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup of Chardonnay (the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
1 cup of grated fresh Parmesan cheese

While the pasta is cooking in a pot of boiled water, cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon and place on paper towels. Save 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings in the pan and add the tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Cook the tomatoes and peppers for two minutes, then add the onions, arugula, and 1/2 of the basil. Cook until the arugula starts to wilt, then add the wine; bring to a simmer. Add the pasta and toss to coat. Add in the cheese and toss until it melts.