It’s been a very long time, I know. I think this will be my last entry for this cookbook and most of the others. I’m having a difficult time being inspired to write about the recipes. From this point on, I will most likely only write about the ones from my hometown cookbook cause that one is special to me.
I have to say that even though the writing bug has left me these days, this particular one from Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade meals is worth talking about.
What you’ll need
For the Ribeye
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of port wine
1 tablespoon of Montreal steak seasoning
For the butter
3 tablespoons of softened butter
3 tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese
For the Mashed Potatoes
1 container (24-ounce) of homestyle mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons of sour cream
1 tablespoon of horseradish
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
The mashed potatoes will take very little time to make, so I suggest cooking the steak first. the first step there is to preheat your broiler on your oven. As the oven heats up we will make our marinade by combining olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, the wine, and steak seasoning in a small bowl.
Line a bakig sheet or pan with alumunium foil, place the steaks on top, and then prick the steak a few times with a fork. Next, pour the marinade over the steak. You may need to prick the steak more to make sure the marinade soaks. Marinade on both sides and then set aside for our next step.
We will now make the buttter, to do so mash the butter and blue cheese with a fork.
Broil the steaks for 5-7 minutes per side if you like your steaks medium and then serve with the butter on top.
While the steak broils, you should make your mashed potatoes. Doing so is very simple and easy. You’ll just place the potatoes in a large microwave safe bowl. Depending on the mix you bought, you may need to add water before you microwave. It’s also best to follow their instructions on how long to cook. Whatever it states, cook about half the time listed. Once cooked, stir in the sour cream, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce.
Then place the mix back in the microwave and complete the suggested cooking time.
What I remember most about this dish is the blue cheese earthy yumminess in the mashed potatoes. It paired perfectly with the bite of the horseradish too. I ended up making those mashed potatoes again and will probably add it my reportraire for the future.
Bless the heavens for tofu! It’s one of the few things I fry well and it’s healthy. Well it is if you don’t fry it…but we don’t need to focus on that.
All we need to focus on is how easy this recipe from The Everything Thai Cookbook is!
What you’ll need
1 package of tofu, cut into cubes
Vegetable oil for frying
Sauce to dip
Look at that shopping list friends! So simple, so short, so easy.
I love it.
Our first step is to get a frying pan out and pour that oil on til you have about 2-3 inches. Then we heat this sucker up over medium heat. If you have a way to check the temp, we want this to be 350 degrees. If you don’t have a device you can do that fry test of dropping a breadcrumb piece and seeing if it sizzles right away.
Once you feel you’ve had a good temp test you can fry your tofu cubes by placing them as evenly as possible in the pan. Turn over the cubes once in awhile until they are golden brown on all sides and that’s that!
So simple that even I can do it.
Once they are fried all you have to do is soak up the oil by emptying the tofu out of the pan and onto a plate lined with paper towels.
I don’t have much to say about this recipe since there’s not a whole lot to it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good or useful to have in your repertoire.
I ate it as a little snack when I made it and for the leftovers I extended some Thai takeout by sprinkling in my own tofu.
I also recommend making your own stir fry and having fried tofu instead of meat. It’s a really easy recipe that one can plan on incorporating more in daily cooking practices.
This recipe has lots of garlic and therefore lore would tell us it’ll keep the vampires away. I don’t know if I believe that garlic helps ward off vampires. Where is the proof? If anything they probably like a human that eats a lot of garlic. Makes for good blood I say.
Why would you want nasty blood to drink when you can have blood that has been cleansed by the antibiotic powers of garlic.
It’s propaganda the vampires started I’m telling you.
I personally love garlic and am not afraid either way so if you’re the same read below on how to make this lovely cabbage with garlic from The Italian Mamma’s Kitchen.
What you need
1 large savoy or white cabbage
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 large garlic cloves (at least) peeled
salt and pepper to taste
Our first step in making what the Italians call Verza all’Aglio is to boil the cabbage. So get a nice sized saucepan out and fill it 3/4 of water and set that burner to high.
While we wait for the water to boil, inspect your cabbage for any damage leaves and discard. Then cut into 8 equal sized pieces.
When the water is boiling place your pieces in the pot for about 5 minutes or until the cabbage has softened.
Next get a large saute pan out and heat it up with some olive oil and saute the garlic with pepper for about a minute.
Our final step is to add the cabbage. Heat up for a little bit longer with the garlic and then transfer to a serving bowl. Season with some salt and serve.
Still not certain that this dish keeps you safe from vampires but I can also confirm that I was not visited by any counts in the middle of the night.
Don’t have much else to say about this dish. It’s simplistic, easy to make, and healthy so might as well give it a try!
It’s been a year since I made this dish. I was holding out for the anniversary of it because I got dumped the day after making it.
Thankfully dear readers it wasn’t the dish’s fault. In fact I think my ex questioned whether he should break up with me or not because of this dish. He did say I was an excellent cook in our relationship exit interview. He also said a lot of other things that have made me question why he chose to end things.
Alas, that is a mystery that won’t be solved today.
Hopefully if you slave away in the kitchen and make fresh spinach pasta from scratch and roll them up like a ravioli cannoli, it’ll make your significant others and loved ones appreciate you and want to keep you in their lives.
But I digress…
What you’ll need for the spinach pasta
1 pound of fresh spinach, thick stems removed
2 eggs
about 3 cups of flour
What you’ll need for the rest
14-16 oz of fresh spinach leaves, stemmed
1/2 pound whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 pound of whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of minced fresh basil, plus 8 leaves torn into pieces
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 cup of milk
1 bay leaf
1 fresh thyme sprig
grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons of olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 can (14 1/5 ounces) of whole plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup of grate Parmesan cheese
Our first goal is to make the spinach pasta and the first step of that is rinsing your spinach leaves. Don’t completely dry them afterwards either. We want them slightly damp.
Place that spinach in a pan and then cook over medium for about 2-3 minutes. Once wilted, drain the spinach and cool it with cold water.
After this process we need to fully dry the spinach because it’s going to get mixed with one egg in a blender.
Get your flour out and make a well in the center. Beat your remaining egg in the well and then pour your spinach egg in. Gradually mix in the flour from the side until the egg is no longer runny and the dough isn’t wet.
We should now be ready to knead the dough. Use your fits to lightly press onto the dough turning over and over in a ball shape until the flour is no longer sticky. Be sure to sprinkle flour on the dough from time to time to help with any lingering stickiness.
Divide your dough ball in half. Cover one half with a kitchen towel and with the other roll out the dough into a flat rectangle with a rolling pin.
Thin it out for a bit and then pass through your pasta maker on the widest setting, then roll it out in a rectangle again and repeat this process about 10 times.
I bet you thought you were done now, but rolling pasta dough is a process and yes, we are going to roll it again and through each setting until we get to the end.
Set your thinned out pasta on a baking sheet, cover with a towel, and then repeat this process with your stored dough ball from earlier.
Once all of your pasta is made, cut them into 5-6 inch squares.
Making pasta is a lot of work isn’t it? I often feel I should do it more often so the carbo loading doesn’t make me feel as guilty.
We are now ready to make some sauce and the first step for that is to butter your saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour for about a minute and then add the milk. Let this mixture come to simmer while whisking constantly. Then add the bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook this over low heat and whisk for about 20 minutes. No need to whisk constantly at this point, just often.
Remove the bay leaf from the sauce and set aside.
Grab a pan and heat over medium with two tablespoons of olive oil and then add the remaining garlic and the red pepper flakes. Sauté this for about a minute and then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes.
Now you can blend the tomatoes in a food processor and return it to the pan or just manually with a spoon cut the tomatoes into chunks. I myself don’t mind some texture but if you want a smoother sauce the blender is the way to go. Whether you blend or not, once the sauce is ready you’re going to simmer some more along with the basil leaves for about 5 minutes.
We are almost ready to bake this thing and to do so we wanna start with pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees and getting out a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and buttering it up.
Before you bake the pasta, get a colander out and fill it with ice water and a dash of olive oil. Now get your boiling water ready and cook the pasta for about 10 seconds. Grab the pasta with tongs and lay them on the olive oil ice to cool and unfurl.
Once pasta is unfurled, get your spinach filling and place about a 1/4 cup onto each pasta square and then roll the square up like log. Place your logs on the baking dish and top with your butter sauce and then the tomato sauce. Sprinkle some Parm on top of that and place in the oven for about 20 minutes!
How to describe the finished result? Well I suppose it reminded me of lasagna with hints of spinach enchilada. I put in a lot of work on this one and was proud of the end result. It most certainly didn’t leave a bitter taste in my mouth unlike my previous relationship. If only my ex was more appreciative of my willingness to put in the work. Whether that be in the kitchen or in our relationship. I’m sure he’s gonna regret it. If not now, someday soon. C’est la vie.
At least there’s always good food in my life, now let’s find the good men.
thehermitfool 