Recipe(tried): This Weeks Winners

Here are This Weeks Winners!! ENJOY!!

Saturday Nights Dinner

After a discussion I had a few days ago about The Frugal Gourmet, I decided to
go into my books. I found this wonderful recipe. Reminded me of the food I had
on vacation there in April 1986. So comforting after being out in the cold New
Jersey air.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas

Recipe By : Adapted from The Frugal Gourmet's - Our Immigrant Ancestors
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 lb dried gandules -- rinsed OR
1 15 oz can Goya Gandules -- drained & rinsed
3 cups water
1 oz salt pork -- chopped small
2 oz ham -- chopped small*
2 cloves garlic -- peeled & crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 med green bell pepper -- cored/seeded/chopped
1 med red bell pepper -- cored/seeded/chopped
1 med yellow onion -- peeled & chopped sm.
1 med tomato -- chopped small
1 tbsp Annato Oil -- ** see note
1 cup Uncle Ben's Converted Rice
Freshly ground black pepper -- to taste
2 cups cold water
salt -- to taste

If using dried beans, start recipe this way: In a small pot bring the gandules
and 3 cups water to a boil. Cover, turn off the heat, and allow to stand for 1
hour. Drain the peas, reserving the water.

If using canned gandules, then ignore the first part of the recipe and continue
the recipe from here: In a 6 quart pot, saute the salt pork, ham, and garlic in
the olive oil for a few minutes. Add both bell peppers and the onion, cover, and
cook over medium heat until the onion begins to turn transparent. Add the
tomato, drained gandules, and 1-1/2 cups of the reserved water. Simmer, covered,
over low heat for 15 minutes until the peas are almost tender and most of the
liquid is gone.

Stir in the annatto oil, rice, black pepper, and 2 cups of cold water. Bring to
a boil and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is
tender. Add salt if needed (it needs it).

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NOTES : * I used 2 links of chinese sausage because that is what I had on hand.
It gave this just the right smokiness. I just used the sausage and no salt pork.

** I didn't have any annatto oil (altho' I did have some in the refrigerator
downstairs until the problem we had with it last week) so I used 1 tsp. turmeric
to give the rice the same beautiful yellow color.

I served it with just a little chopped roasted garlic on top and hot sauce on
the side. It needed a good amount of salt, I thought. Also a good grinding of
black pepper.

I halved the recipe (as usual). We also finished the whole thing, which is a
rare occasion in our house.
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Sunday Nights Dinner - Valentine's Day

There are three factors to tonights meal:
1) I was given an avocado by my mom so I decided to make guacamole as an
appetizer even though it didn't go with the Italian theme of the dinner.
2) I was trying to re-create a restaurant pasta dish that my husband had about 5
years ago. It was called Linguine a'la Frank Sinatra. He gave me the basic
ingredients (and the thing he didn't like about it) and I changed it and made it
my own. It came out great.
3) I created a dessert for tonight. I saw Sara Moulton on Cooking Live (TV Food
Network) make a dessert with frozen puff pastry. I had always wanted to work
with it and never had the chance. So I bought a box. And inspiration came my
way. Wait until you see what I did...

Appetizer

* Exported from MasterCook *

Tomatillo Guacamole

Recipe By : cooking with two hot tamales by Milliken/Feniger
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 sm onion -- diced
6 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded -- finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro -- finely chopped*
1 tsp coarse salt
12 med tomatillos, husked, washed -- roasted
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
4 lg avocados -- halved/seeded/peeled

Combine the onion, chiles, cilantro, and salt in a large bowl. Add the
tomatillos, a few at a time, mashing and blending with a fork or pestle to a
fine paste. Add the avocados and continue mashing and mixing until chunky. Serve
immediately.

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NOTES : * I didn't have cilantro so omitted it all together. I just added the
juice of 1/2 lime.

Risa's notes: First, I quartered the recipe because I only had one avocado.
Secondly, I made the whole thing in the food processor. I put the first few
ingredients in and pulsed a couple of times until it was chunky. Then I added
the tomatillos (I had some in the freezer that were already husked so I drained
them real well and added them, one at a time), then the avocado and then some
lime juice (so it wouldn't discolor). I served the guacamole with some potato
chips (since I had no nacho chips).

Entree

* Exported from MasterCook *

Linguine a'la Frank Sinatra (adapted)

Recipe By : Unknown Restaurant/Unknown Chef/Freehold, NJ
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic -- coarsely chopped
1/2 lb linguine or spaghettini
3/4 lb medium shrimp -- peeled & deveined
3/4 lb sea scallops -- washed & dried
salt and pepper -- to taste

1) Heat a small pan on medium heat. When hot, add olive oil and garlic and cook
until the garlic is lightly golden. Watch it carefully so the garlic doesn't
burn. Remove from heat when golden. Remove garlic from oil and set aside. Do not
throw out the oil.

2) Put up a pot of water to boil. When at a rolling boil, add 1 tbsp salt and
lower the heat a bit. Add the linguine and cook according to package directions.

3) Meanwhile, preheat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic
infused oil. Let it heat a bit and then add the shrimp. Cook on one side until
pink. Turn shrimp over and add the scallops. Cook until the scallops are opaque
and the shrimp is pink and curled up. Remove from pan. Set aside.

4) When pasta is al dente, or the way you like it, add the pasta to the pan. Add
the seafood and reserved garlic and heat for one moment. Serve with parmesan
cheese on the side and some hot bread or breadsticks.

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NOTES : My husband and I had gone to a restaurant in Freehold, NJ one night with
his parents. The owner of the restaurant was the brother of a woman who owned a
favorite restaurant from my old neighborhood. My husband remembered that the
entree he had that night was called Linguine a'la Frank Sinatra. It had garlic,
oil, shrimp, scallops and way too many olives (that was the one thing he didn't
like about the entree). So he asked that I re-create it for Valentine's Day
dinner. All he asked is that I omit the olives. Since I'm not thrilled with
olives, I agreed. This is what I came up with.

Dessert

* Exported from MasterCook *

Chocolate Nut Cloud

Recipe By : Risa Golding
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 sheet thawed puff pastry
Nutella
2 tbsp sliced blanched almonds
whipped cream or faux whipped topping -- such as Cool
Whip
confectioners sugar -- for dusting
cocoa powder -- for dusting

Cut one sheet of puff pastry in half and freeze the rest. Let the pastry dough
thaw and then unfold. Place on a lightly floured surface. Take a heart cookie
cutter and cut out 4 hearts. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place pastry hearts on
an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. When golden and puffed,
remove from oven. Remove from pan and set aside.

On a clean surface, place two puff pastry hearts. Open them and spread some
Nutella on both sides. On one side, place several of the almond pieces. Take a
spoonful of whipped cream and place it on top of the nuts. Close the hearts.
Place two on each of two plates. Dust some confectioners' sugar and some cocoa
powder on each plate. Serve immediately.

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Serving Ideas : Coffee

NOTES : I got the inspiration for this dessert while watching Cooking Live on TV
Food Network one night. Sara Moulton was working with frozen puff pastry. She
cut out some with cookie or biscuit cutters and then filled them with things and
dusted the finished product with confectioners' sugar. It looked so good. We had
just gotten a huge jar of Nutella at Costco and I was trying to think of ways to
use it up. My husband loves peanut butter and chocolate and thought I would mix
his love of nuts and chocolate with the puff pastry and that is how the dessert
came to be. He said it is the single most wonderful dessert I have ever created.
I have to agree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday Night - Leftovers
(Tortilla Soup and Chicken Chile Verde)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday Nights Dinner

I didn't have a lot of time to cook. DH had gotten home late from work and I had
to do over-time with the 3 year old. So this was perfect and it was pretty tame
(good because I don't like really hot Indian curry):

* Exported from MasterCook *

Tofu Curry in a Hurry (Mom's )

Recipe By : Recipes From an Ecological Kitchen,Lorna Sass (S. Badian)
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Tofu Indian
Vegetarian Vegan
Eat-Lf Mailing List

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup frozen peas -- thawed
1 pound firm tofu*
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons cumin seed
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger -- grated
1 small chili pepper -- or pinch cayenne
pepper
3/4 pound ripe tomatoes -- cored and finely
chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder -- (2 to 3)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley -- chopped
soy sauce

Press the tofu for 10-15 minutes. You do this by putting the block of tofu on a
plate. Place another plate on top and weight that plate with something heavy
like a big can of tomatoes. Drain the liquid. You can skip this step but it
makes the tofu a little meatier and less watery.

Cut the tofu into 1/2" cubes.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Stir in cumin seeds and cook for a second or
two. Stir in the ginger and chili pepper and saute for another few seconds.

Add the tofu and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until the tofu
is lightly browned on most sides, about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, 2 tsp curry powder, and the turmeric. Cook for 3 minutes,
stirring frequently. Taste and add more curry powder if the curry taste isn't
strong enough.

Stir in the peas, cilantro and tamari to taste. Continue to cook,m stirring
frequently until most of the liquid released by the tomatoes has evaporated and
the peas are cooked, about 1-2 minutes.


* I did not press the tofu. I used extra-firm tofu which I feel had a terrific
texture as is. It doesn't fall apart like other tofu.

Other notes: I served it with a millet pilaf that I made by sauteeing some
veggies (scallion, green & red bell peppers and some swiss chard stalk) in a
little olive oil and stirring in some cooked millet and some seasonings - this
time they were some asafetida, garlic powder and a dash of coarse salt. I placed
it under the curry when I served it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday Nights Dinner

Sometimes you have an urge for a restaurant meal but don't feel like ordering
in, so I made one in my kitchen...Pasta in White Clam Sauce plus it's low fat.
Yum...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Pasta In White Clam Sauce

Recipe By : In The Kitchen With Rosie by Rosie Daley
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 oz dried spaghetti
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup shallots -- chopped (2 large)
3 cloves garlic -- peeled & minced
12 littleneck clams -- * see note
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
10 oz canned baby clams -- broth reserved**
1 tsp cornstarch -- dissolved in
2 tsp water
3 tsp Parmesan cheese -- freshly grated
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp fresh basil leaves -- chopped
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp louisiana-style hot sauce
2 tbsp fresh parsley -- chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add the spaghetti, and cook
to desired doneness, 6-9 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, put the wine, water, shallots, and garlic in a medium saucepan and
bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the fresh clams, cover, and continue to
cook over medium heat. Remove the clams when their shells have opened. Stir the
broth from the canned clams into the saucepan. Cook a few minutes more, until
the liquid is reduced by half.

Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the buttermilk and cornstarch mixture. Cook
for about 2 minutes more to thicken, whisking constantly. Stir in the parmesan
cheese, canned clams, oregano, basil, pepper, hot sauce, and chopped parsley.

Combine the pasta and the clam sauce in a warm serving bowl and toss to coat.
Garnish with the cooked clams, in their shells.



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Serving Ideas : warm breadsticks

NOTES :
* I didn't have any fresh clams. I used another can of chopped clams.
** I drained both cans of clams and then soaked them in some milk to take out
the tinny smell and also any funny "fishy" smells (that was a tip I got from
watching Cooking Live with Sara Moulton on TV Food Network).
*** Where the recipe says "Add the fresh clams, cover, and continue to cook over
medium heat. Remove the clams when their shells have opened", I disregarded it
and let the liquid reduce even further and then I added the reserved juices,
reduced those and then added the buttermilk mixture. Then I followed the rest of
the directions to make the sauce.

Other notes: I used a little extra cornstarch to make the sauce even thicker and
I also used Tabasco as my hot sauce and I made buttermilk with Saco Buttermilk
(the dried powder I always have in the cupboard).

Fat per serving: 3.6 grams
Calories per serving: 375
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday Nights Dinner

We're going down Mexico way tonight. I never cooked from the Make-A-Mix book
before. Thought I would try it out. It was quick (since I had most of the mixes
made) and it was really delicious.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Mexican Chicken Bake

Recipe By : Make-A-Mix Cookery by Eliason/Harwood/Westover
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 cups Creamy Mushroom Sauce -- which includes
BASIC WHITE MIX
2 cups instant nonfat dry milk -- or 1-1/2 c. regular
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 cup butter -- or margarine
MUSHROOM SAUCE
3/4 cup white sauce mix
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup button mushrooms -- sliced
1 1/2 cups Chicken Gravy -- OR
1 10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup milk
2 cups Chicken Mix -- * see note
1/2 tsp salt
1 lg onion -- finely chopped
1 7 oz can green chile salsa
1 10 oz pkg cheddar cheese -- shredded
12 corn tortillas -- cut in 8 wedges
GARNISHES
Fat-free sour cream
pickled jalapenos, sliced
pickled garlic, sliced
Hot sauce -- on the side

First make white sauce mix: Combine dry milk, flour and salt. Mix well. With a
pastry blender, cut in butter or margarine until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Put in a large airtight container. Label with date and contents. Store in
refrigerator, use within 2 months. Makes 1 quart white sauce.

To make mushroom sauce: Make a white sauce first by putting equal parts white
sauce mix and water in a pan. Over medium heat, cook the two until nice and
thick. Take off heat and add 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms. Mix well.

To make chicken bake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter a 2 qt casserole. In
a medium bowl, combine creamy mushroom sauce and chicken gravy (or cream of
chicken soup) and milk. Stir to blend well.

Add chicken mix (or turkey mixed with MIX ingredients*), salt, onion, green
chile salsa and 2 cups of the shredded cheese. Layer tortilla pieces and chicken
mixture alternately in prepared casserole, ending with chicken mixture. Top with
remaining shredded cheese. Bake 35-45 minutes, until bubbly. Makes 8 servings.

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Serving Ideas : white rice, salad

NOTES : * I didn't have CHICKEN MIX so I took the ingredients from it (water,
parsley flakes, 1 carrot peeled & chopped, salt, pepper and dried basil leaves)
and placed them in a pan and boiled them for a moment or so. Then mixed them
with already cooked turkey that was cut in bite-size pieces.

CHICKEN MIX RECIPE:
11 lb chicken (4 medium fryers), cut up
4 qt cold water
3 tbsp parsley
4 carrots, peeled & chopped
4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried basil leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and cook over high heat until
water boils. Simmer until chicken is tender about 1-1/2 hours. Remove from heat.
Strain broth and refrigerate until fat can be skimmed. Cool chicken, remove and
discard bones and skin. Put chicken into 6-1 pint containers, leaving 1/2" space
at top. Pour skimmed chicken broth into six more 1-pint containers with 1/2 inch
space at top. Seal and label with date and contents and freeze. Use within 3
months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday Nights Dinner

Another night of Mexican food. This time something similar to last night but
made in the crockpot. When hubby came home, we went out shopping. Knew he was
going to do that so set up the c/p around 2 pm so we would have dinner at
regular time.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole

Recipe By : The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever
Serving Size : 5 Preparation Time :5:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree
1 14.5 oz can chunky salsa
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2 15 oz cans black beans -- rinsed & drained
1 15.25 oz can corn kernel corn -- drained
1 4 oz can green chiles -- chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
5 corn tortillas -- cut to fit c/p
1 2.25 oz can sliced black olives -- drained

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, salsa, tomato paste, beans, corn, green
chiles, cumin and garlic powder. Mix well. Ladle about 1 cup of the mixture into
the bottom of a 4 qt slow cooker; spread evenly. Top with 1-1/2 tortillas,
cutting to fit as necessary. Spread on 1/3 of the remaining tomato mixture.
Repeat these layers 2 more times, ending with the rest of the tomato mixture;
spread evenly over the top. Sprinkle the sliced olives overall.

Cover and cook on the LOW setting about 5 hours. Serve hot.

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NOTES : Per serving, 349 calories, 2g fat (6% calories from fat), 19g protein,
66g carbo, 0mg cholesterol, 254mg sodium.

Food Exchanges: 4 Starch/Bread, 1 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable

NOTES: Stick to corn tortillas here as they yield a more desirable result then
the flour variety, which falls apart in the slow cooker. For best results, don't
cook beyond the time recommended in the recipe. Sprinkle shredded cheddar or
Monterey Jack cheese over the top, if you desire, right before serving.

Recipe given to me by Shade from the MC-Recipe list (Thanks Shade).

RisaG