Day One, Page One, Recipe Number One

I thought it might be kind of fun to cook our way through the What's Cooking in Sister's cookbook that Margaret Richins had given me a long time ago. It has some funny recipes (How to Catch A Cowboy, page 98) and some old classics I already know (Strawberry Pretzel Salad page 31). Some of the recipes have funny comments (in a vegetable soup recipe the instructions include "to make this recipe low fat, add less bacon)

We started last night with the first recipe on the first page. One thing you will find about me is I never follow a recipe exactly. I either don't have all the ingredients or I think I can improve it somehow. I'll put the correct recipe first and then my variations to follow.

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms (Funghi Imbotitti) by Steve Prince
6tsp butter or margarine
1/2 C unseasoned bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 tsp onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. parsley, finely chopped
4 tsp parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
24 fresh mushroom caps

Melt butter in pan. Add bread crumbs and garlic and mix. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion, parsley and cheese; mix. Fill mushroom caps.

Lightly oil bottom of a glass casserole dish. Put in filled mushroom caps. Bake in preheated 325 oven approx. 30 minutes. IF you have put too much oil in dish and they are oily place on paper towel before serving. Will serve 6 people 4 caps apiece.

Buon appetito!

(Emily's variations- I used Pam instead of olive oil and left out the parsley. I didn't do the transfer to a bowl and ended up with maybe 30 mushrooms since some were real small)

We thought this was pretty good! We served them at the New Year's Eve gathering at Brooks house last night. I do have a photo but my card reader isn't working right now so I'll post it later

No Bake Noddles, Mango Salsa, Asian Meat Ball Soup

This picture is a couple months old but I thought I stick it with Emily's lasagna. It's made with those no bake noddles, too. I have used two types of no-bake noddles: Barilla, in a blue box and American Beauty in a red box (recipes on the back of the boxes). For your info, I like the American Beauty best. Barilla has separate directions for a 2 inch pan rather than a 3 inch pan to protect against spillage. (It seems like most people would have 2 inch, but whatever.) But it still spills! And I have made it twice with Barilla and both times it spills over and I've made lasagna a ton of times using American Beauty with no problems. ANYWAY, my advise just use American Beauty no-bake lasagna noodles.
This was the first time that I've made a mango salsa. YUM!! I loved it! I made it for fish tacos which were pretty good except for the fish part. I hate to admit this but next time I think that I'm just gonna buy frozen fish fillets and use those with the same recipe (in the Better Homes, & Gardens Cookbook).
One of my favorite soups: An Asia Meatball Soup. I double the meat balls and add more broth but I also always add too many noddles.

Meatball and Spinach Soup

Meatballs:

1 large onion, divided
½ lb lean ground sirloin
3 T. seasoned bread crumbs
¼ t salt
1 large egg, beaten
2-3 T. milk

Soup:

1 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 quarts chicken broth
4 oz vermicelli or angel hair pasta (I use more)
2 small yellow squash, sliced
1 bag spinach, very clean
1 T. Red wine vinegar (This is what gives it an Asian-type flavor.)

Grate 2 T. onion with beef, bread crumbs, salt, egg and milk. Dice remaining onion. In a 4 quart sauce pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion cook for 8 minutes. Add garlic. Pour chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil. Shape meat mixture into meat balls and gently drop them into the soup. Cook meat balls for about 5 minutes. Add pasta and cook till tender. Add spinach and let wilt. Then add squash and vinegar. I like the squash al dente so I don’t cook the soup for much long after adding in along with the vinegar. If you like a more Asian flavor, add more vinegar.

First step: get a crockpot. I bought one at my neighbor's yard sale for $3.

Get your ingredients together: onion, garlic, jar of spaghetti sauce, some sort of meat product (I used italian sausage), box of noodles (uncooked), and your 3 cheese combo- motzarella cheese, parmasian cheese (please not the stuff in the green sprinkle can) and cottage cheese (or ricotta for you richy riches).

In your frying pan brown your meat and throw in your chopped onion and garlic. Drain it; add jar of spaghetti sauce.

In a bowl mix your cheeses

Get ready to layer-

sauce, noodles (3-4 broken into pieces to fit in crockpot), cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, sauce.

Cook on low. The recipie said 4-6 hours but mine was done after about 2-3.

Easy! And it doesn't heat up your whole dang house.

PASTA all’ ARRABBIATA

This is a dinner that has become my backup dinner because it's fast, because I have all the ingredients all the time and because it's delicious! The recipe that's here doesn't have any meat in it but I have added chicken and bacon to it before. I can't take credit for the recipe, it's from my good friend, Heather, that now lives in California. I love it!! Thanks Heather!

PASTA all’ ARRABBIATA

3 quarts water

4 T olive oil

4 garlic cloves sliced or

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2-8 oz cans tomato sauce

1 cup chicken stock or water

¼ tsp salt

3 T fresh chopped parsley

1 lb penne of ziti pasta

1. Pour the water into a large pot and cook according to package directions.

2. While water is heating, pour the oil into a large sauté pan set on medium heat and cook the garlic and red pepper flakes until the garlic starts to sizzle about 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to let it burn. Add the tomato sauce, chicken stock-or water, salt, and 2 T of the parsley, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the sauce, turn the heat up to medium-high and toss until it’s well coated. Sprinkle w/ the remaining parsley and cook stirring for 1 minute.

4. *Cooks tips: Chicken stock will make the flavor a bit more intense and the finish more savory. If you do not want to use chicken stock you could add about ½ cup of the pasta-cooking water during the simmering process. The finish and flavor will be just as good. Prep-time about 30 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Margarita Pizza

I new favorite easy and fast dinner: Margarita Pizza. I hadn't ever heard of it before until I was cruising on a blog recommended on Design Mom. I this it was "What's on your Plate"...maybe. I still can't remember. But it's so simple and addictive because it doesn't feel as fatty Mr. Regular Pizza. Ingredients: home made crust, Parmesan cheese, fresh basil, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and salt and peppa. YUM!!
Before entrance into el orno. (oven)
AFTER! This is Golden Delicious! NOT an apple!