Recipe(tried): This Week's Winners - Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Basil and Parsley, Ragout of Wild Mushrooms, Chicken Ole (crock pot), Chinese-Style Fish Fillets (microwave)

Here are this weeks winners. They were really delicious this week.
Enjoy.

This was very good. I just adapted it to the way my husband likes pasta - no lumps, just smooth sauce. So I pureed the sauce with a hand blender. It was very good. All that basil really is delicious.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Basil and Parsley
The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
Serves 2-3 as an entree

1/4 cup minced shallots (2-3 shallots) *
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups diced tomatoes
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 pound spaghetti**
Grated parmesan cheese

In a medium skillet, saute the shallots and onion in the olive oil over low heat until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until it begins to brown, 1-2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, sugar and pepper. Simmer for 30 min. Add the parsley, basil; simmer 1 min. Remove from heat.

Sauce can be made ahead to this point up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate. Reheat before using.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons salt and the pasta. Cover until the water returns to a boil. Cook until the pasta is tender but firm, about 7-9 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir well. Serve hot, sprinkled with grated cheese.

* I did not have any shallots so I just sauted garlic and onions.
** I always make 3/4 pound of pasta just in case my son wants some too. So I made 3/4 pound instead of 1/2 pound and there was enough sauce for it all.
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This tasted like something out of a fancy restaurant and it was just delicious. I didn't make many changes.

Ragout of Wild Mushrooms
Adapted from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
Serves 4 as an entree

2 T. dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped shallots*
1 T. olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3-3/4 cups assorted fresh mushrooms, cut into 1" pc.
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup diced plum tomatoes**
1/4 cup tomato sauce, preferably homemade
1/2 cup red wine***
1 t. porcini powder, optional

Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the cold water. Soak until soft, about 30 min. Remove the mushrooms from the water, squeezing the water back into the bowl. Pour the liquid through a sieve and reserve. Coarsely chop the mushrooms and set aside.

In a mediums skillet, saute the shallots in the olive oil until they soften, about 2 min. Add the garlic and saute until light brown, 2-3 minutes. Add the fresh and reconstituted mushrooms and toss well.

Add the salt, pepper, thyme, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, porcini soaking water, and porcini powder, if using. Bring to a simmer over hi heat. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked, 10-15 minutes. If the mushrooms are cooked through but the sauce is thin, uncover and simmer for a few minutes more until the sauce has thickened. Remove the thyme. Serve hot.

* Instead of shallots, I just used garlic and lots of it.
** I didn't have plum tomatoes. I used one of the tomatoes from my backyard and used a little more tomato sauce.
*** I didn't have red wine in the house, just non-alcoholic wine from the supermarket. I used that instead. It was just fine. If you can drink it, you can cook with it.

I served this with some soft polenta that I made in the microwave (so easy, just put 3/4 cup cornmeal in a microwaveable container. Add 2-1/2 cups water and a little salt. Cover with paper towel. Cook for 3 minutes on HI. Take out and stir. Place in microwave again and cook for another 3 minutes. Take out and let it sit. It's done and none of the mess or constant stirring.
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Oh how I love the crockpot. So easy. So slow...

Chicken Ole
Crockery Cookery by Mable Hoffman

1 10-1/2 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 10-1/2 ounce can cream of mushroom soup*
1 7 ounce can green chile salsa**
1 cup sour cream***
1 T. grated onion
12 corn tortillas, broken into 6-8 pc. each****
4 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken or turkey
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese *****
Orange slices
Avocado Slices

Lightly grease sides and bottom of slow cooker. Combine soups, salsa, sour cream and onion in a bowl. In the slow cooker, arrange alternating layers of tortillas with chicken and soup mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-10 more minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with orange or avocado slices.

* I used the fat free stuff and it was fine.
** I didn't have green salsa, just red or peach. So I used some of that and a little freshly roasted poblanos.
*** I used fat free sour cream.
**** I didn't have tortillas, just tortilla chips. I used that instead (in fact, they were WOW tortilla chips)
***** I didn't have plain cheddar, I had Healthy Choice so I used that and a little shredded Monterey Jack for a little more flavor.

I served it over white rice (which I had leftover in the refrigerator) and a salad with garlicy dressing. It was really good.
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Chinese-Style Fish Fillets
Adapted from Microwave Gourmet by Barbara Kafka
Serves 1 (I doubled recipe)

4 ounces bok choy or Napa Cabbage, shredded, about 3 c.
1 tablespoon peeled and slivered fresh ginger
4 ounces skinned sea bass or black bass fillet, 1/2 inch
thick
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 scallion, trimmed, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 teaspoon tamari sauce
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon chili oil

Toss bok choy and ginger together until ginger is evenly distributed. Arrange in the center of a dinner plate.* Score the skin side of the fish fillet with slashes 1/8 inch deep, about 1 inch apart. Place fish, skin side up, over the greens.

Stir water and cornstarch together until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour over fish. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100% for 3 minutes. Prick plastic wrap to release steam.

Remove from oven, uncover and serve hot.

* I didn't use a dinner plate. I used a microwaveable container.

Notes: I used halibut instead of sea bass.

I served this with a greens stir-fried with ginger (I made an impromptu sauce of bean sauce, black bean chili paste and some water) and some white rice that had some sesame oil sprinkled on it. I put the rice in a small mold and unmolded it and put the greens on the side. Placed the fish with the cabbage under it next to the greens and then sprinkled some of the sauce over the whole thing and around the outside of the food like they do in the restaurants. I garnished with some scallion and herbs from the garden.
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I made this as a side dish on Friday night and it was delicious. It is an old dish called Potatoes Anna. I got the idea to do something like it from seeing a chef do it on TVFN awhile back. It was a little time consuming but so delicious.

No definite amounts available.

I took 2 potatoes, russet type and put them through the slicer on my cuisinart. Then I put them in ice water for 10 minutes while I preheated the pan and melted a little butter and put some olive oil in too. The recipe said to let it melt but do not brown the oil/butter combination. Then drain and rinse the potatoes and pat them totally dry in some towels. Then start layering them in a circular pattern in the hot pan. After one layer, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese, a little salt and a little melted butter. Let it cook for a couple of minutes and then do another layer and put the same things on top. Let it cook. Then put another layer on top of that. Just sprinkle a little cheese and a little salt. No butter this time. Let it cook a bit. Then put it in a 375 degree oven for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. About 15 minutes before it is done, flip it so the underside gets brown. When it is done, it should be brown on both sides. Drizzle a drop of butter and a little parmesan cheese on top and serve.
SOOOOOO DELICIOUS but definitely for when you are feeling naughty or when you are entertaining.
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