Romance at it's FINEST!

Yep. After nearly 40 years of marriage, this is as good as it gets. This was my Valentine surprise to my wife. Okay, so we also went to dinner and a play but those things took place over the weekend before Valentines Day. What you see above is what my wife saw on February 14th as she arrived home from work. I had Toby Keith's song playing on the stereo - "You shouldn't Kiss Me Like This" - and we danced to that song. Simple........like me!! How was your "V Day?"

Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

This was a recipe I got from a cooking class I attended recently with a former business colleague. I always enjoy these classes because you get a copy of the recipe, you sometimes participate in the cooking of the dishes, you get to sample every one of the 4-5 recipes they make at every class AND they serve wine with the sampling........which makes everything taste better!

This dish came out spectacular. I cooked the broccoli rabe a little longer than they did in class so that it would be less chewy and it came out perfect. You can also substitute spinach for the broccoli rabe if you wish and the taste would still be perfection! Any other ideas on how to fine tune this even more to make it still more interesting?

Makes 4 servings

3/4 pound dried orecchiette or other small shell-shaped pasta
1 pound sweet italian sausage (removed from casings)
1 bunch (about 3/4 pound) broccoli rabe (also known as ropini), tough stems discarded, washed well
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Accompaniment:  freshly grated parmesan cheese


In a large kettle of boiling salted water, blanche broccoli rabe, remove with a large slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Drain well. Cut up into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.

In the same pot of boiling salted water, cook the orecchiette until very al dente!

While pasta is cooking, heat a large heavy skillet and add the olive oil. Add the sausage and saute over moderately high heat, stirring to break up chunks, until no longer pink.

Add the broccoli rabe and saute in pan with the sausage, stirring occasionally until it begins to brown. Add garlic and saute, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add broth and raisins and simmer until broccoli rabe is just tender, about 3 minutes - a little longer if you want it softer. Add butter, stirring until incorporated. Add pine nuts.

Drain pasta and return to kettle. Add broccoli rabe / sausage mixture and heat through, stirring to incorporate all the flavors.

Serve pasta with parmesan and an additional drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Voila!

Pasta with Roast Tomatoes and Goat's Cheese

Now we're talking! Any time I find pasta to be part of a recipe, I'm excited! After eating pasta, I always want to take a nap. Sometimes before eating pasta, I want to take a nap. In a few more years, I'm afraid that I'll want to take one WHILE eating pasta.  Anyway, this dish is real COMFORT FOOD. This was the very first dish I made when I decided to take up cooking just a short time ago. I thought the best way to begin down the culinary road was to find a simple but delicious recipe. What better way to stick to my plan than to take a recipe from a book called, the Three Ingredient Cookbook by Jenny White. I figured, how can you screw up a recipe with only three ingredients? Try it.....you'll love it!

Serves  4

8 large ripe tomatoes
450g / 1lb any dried pasta shapes
200g / 7oz firm goat's cheese, crumbled
60ml / 4 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
salt and ground black pepper

1)  Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5. Place the tomatoes in a roasting pan and drizzle over 30ml / 2tbsp of the oil. Season well with salt and pepper and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until soft and slightly charred.

2)  Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water, according to the instructions on the packet. Drain well and return to the pan.

3)  Roughly mash the tomatoes with a fork, and stir the contents of the roasting pan into the pasta. Gently stir in the goat's cheese and the remaining oil and serve.

Stuffed Tomatoes - YUM!

I made this with my daughter and other than the fact that I let the tomatoes get a little too soft, they came out great. I put them in the broiler rather than over hot coals outside because...well, because....it was too cold outside! I'm going to love making dishes with my wife and kids. My son is in London so we won't be making many dishes together but he is a pretty good cook himself. I look forward to when he and I can concoct something together! It's fortunate that he grew up perfectly normal seeing as how he could have been traumatized from an early age. When he was two years old, I took him to the supermarket with me and while he was playing in the toy aisle, I was trying to get everything on "THE LIST" that my wife gave me. This was a challenge for me so I really focused in on that list. So much so, that I checked out and headed home - forgetting that I brought my son with me. All the way home, I sensed that I had forgotten something on "THE LIST" and pulled it out while driving to double and triple check it. That uneasy feeling never left me and it wasn't until I pulled into the driveway that I remembered about my son. Before heading back, however, I remembered that I had perishables with me so I threw them in the doorway and asked my wife to put everything away. Thank God I didn't have to explain the situation to her until I had thought it through a little more. Phrasing is everything! Good news: I found my son still playing in the toy aisle when I returned to the supermarket AND I saved the perishables!
This recipe comes from a book titled, Practical Low Fat Cookery.

STUFFED TOMATOES     Serves 4
Prep time:  about 25 minutes   /    Cooking time:  around 10 minutes
4 beefsteak tomatoes
4 1/2 cups cooked rice
8 scallions, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp pine nuts
3 tbsp raisins
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1)  Cut the tomatoes in half, then scoop out the seeds and discard.
2)  Stand the tomatoes upside down on absorbent paper towels for a few moments in order for the juices to drain out.
3)  Turn the tomatoes the right way up and sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper.
4)  Mix together with rice, scallions, mint, parsley, pine nuts, and raisins.
5)  Spoon the mixture into the tomato cups.
6)  Drizzle over a little olive oil, then grill the tomatoes on an oiled rack over medium hot coals for about 10 minutes until they are tender and cooked through.
7)  Transfer the tomatoes to serving plates and serve immediately while still hot.

REALLY GOOD!

                                    
Vegetable Lo Mein was one of the first dishes I ever made and that was just a few weeks ago. This not only tasted wonderful BUT looked just like the picture you see above (taken from a book called, All New Light Cooking by PIL Publications). I was very proud because, well, let me tell you where I started from just a short time ago: Before I retired, I knew absolutely nothing about cooking and I tried to take the initiative to warm up some soup for myself one evening. I understood the directions to say that I needed to put the soup in a pot and heat. That sounded easy enough! So, I put the can in a pot and turned on the heat. My wife came home from work and informed me that I was supposed to first remove the contents from the can BEFORE placing in the pot. Who knew? I am not a lot further along the cooking continuum right now but I did learn that lesson and successfully cooked the vegetable lo mein. I'm sure no one has done anything like that before.........but if you have, I'd love to hear it.

VEGETABLE LO MEIN     Makes 6 servings
8 ounces uncooked vermicelli or thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
3/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 cups sliced bok choy
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 cups shredded carrots
6 ounces firm tofu, drained and cubed
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup plum preserves  (not easy to find - plum jam will substitute)
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1)  Toss vermicelli with sesame oil in large bowl until well coated; set aside. Heat vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet or wok over medium heat. Stir in garlic and ginger; stir fry 10 seconds. Add bok choy and onions; stir-fry 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add carrots and tofu; stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender.

2)  Combine vinegar, preserves, water, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until preserves are melted, stirring constantly. Combine noodles, vegetable mixture and sauce in large bowl; mix well.

Great publication!

Hey gang. I'm brand new to cooking. When I was working, I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and was extremely proud of that achievement each and every time. Since I recently retired, one of my hobbies is learning to cook. So, everything I learn is a big deal to me and gets me pretty excited! You guys may already be reading or have a subscription to CLEAN EATING. If not, I just wanted to tell you that I think it's outstanding. In addition to the numerous recipes, I find the articles to be very informative. Like how berries can "clean your brain." (February 2011 issue). They "kick an aging brain's 'housekeeper' into third gear" I don't know about you, but at my age, that's GREAT news! Their site is cleaneating.com and they will soon be offering cooking class videos. Now this may all be old news to most of you, but to me - well, I have a steep learning curve. Would love to hear about the publications you read and any advice for me as I venture into this new world of cooking.