Quick and Easy Spaghetti

Yesterday, I sent a recipe for fish tacos that I found on myrecipes.com via email to Rick.  Mahi was on sale at Publix, and I thought that they sounded pretty good.  Rick, of course, was not as enthusiastic about them I was which sent me back to culinary drawing board for something to do for dinner.  Luckily, the new issue of Cooking Light was waiting in the mail box.  On the cover was a quite yummy looking pasta dish with sausage.  After a call to Rick, we decided that we would give it a try. 

The recipe was really, really easy and quick.  It was definitely a perfect dish to make on a week night when you are short on time (and in my case last night I didn't want to miss any of the Tar Heels' game in the NIT).  I had never broiled sausage before, and it was definitely a quick and easy way to do it...seems to be a recurrent motif with this meal...quick and easy!  I didn't make a lot of changes to ithe original recipe.  I did (as usual) increase the amount of garlic, and the canned tomatoes that I used were peeled.

Here's what we did.


Spaghetti with Sausage and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage links

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions
Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions and then drain.


While pasta is cooking, arrange sausage on a small baking sheet. Broil sausage 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pan from oven (do not turn broiler off). Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in a single layer on baking sheet. Broil sausage slices 2 minutes or until browned.

Place tomatoes in a food processor; process until almost smooth. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add crushed red pepper and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick. Add sausage and cooked pasta to pan; toss well. Top with fresh basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Enjoy!

Pork chops and potatoes

Publix had pork chops on sale again this week so I decided to do the Parmesan and Sage Crusted Pork Chops again.  This time around, we cooked them in olive oil to get a nice golden-brown crunchy crust, and then we baked them in the oven at 475F for 20 minutes until they were cooked in a baking dish.  Unlike the last time we made this recipe, the pork chops were pretty thick so they needed the additional cooking time in the oven.  For the side, Rick wanted to do baked potatoes again, but I wanted to try something different.  I was searching on myrecipes.com and came across this recipe from Cooking Light for roasted potatoes.  I changed it a bit by using 5 cloves of minced garlic.  Another change that I made was with the fresh herbs.  Instead of using flat-leafed parsley only, I used a combination of fresh flat-leafed parsley, basil, and sage.  Because I didn't have one, I omitted the lemon rind from the original recipe.  Rick said that he wasn't a huge roasted potatoes fan, but we both really liked these. Here's what we did.

Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1  tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 1/2  pounds of Yukon potatoes (about 4 cups), chopped into 1-2 inch cubes
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  teaspoon  sea salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of fresh sage, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 475°.

Combine garlic and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Drizzle remaining oil evenly over potatoes in a large bowl, tossing well to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 475° for 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden. Combine reserved garlic and herbs in a small bowl; sprinkle garlic mixture evenly over potatoes.

Enjoy!

Rick does dinner AGAIN!

Maybe I should be sick more often because he did it again last night!  How lucky am I?  Last night, Rick brought over some whiting that he had purchased at Sewee Outpost.  If you ever find yourself on Highway 17 North heading to Myrtle Beach (or South heading to Charleston from Myrtle Beach), I would recommedn checking them out.  They have all kinds of good stuff nfrom food to equipment to everything inbetween.  They also serve awesome biscuits on weekend mornings.  I stopped by Publix on my way home yesterday and picked up some House Autry Seafood Breader.  That stuff is amazing, and it makes perfect breading for frying fish.  I swear it tastes like something you would get at a fish camp back home.  We have yet to try out the chicken one, but I'd imagine that it going to be awesome, too.  Rick requested that I make our favorite cole slaw, and I also whipped up a tartar sauce by combining McCormick's tartar sauce with some horseradish sauce.  I was impressed with how quick and easy our meal was.  Too bad the Tar Heels didn't play so well last night.

Before I post the recipe, I would like to apologize for being slack and not posting pictures.  I promise to upload them this weekend!!

Here's what we did.

Rick's Fried Whiting

Ingredients
1 lb of whiting filets
1 box of House Autry Seafood Breader
Vegetable Oil

Directions
Cut whiting filets into 2 inch pieces.  Put breader into a gallon freezer bag, add filet pieces, seal, and shake to bread the fish. 

Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron or heavy skillet (about 1/8 inch deep to pan fry).  When the oil is heated, add whiting pieces to oil  and pan fry about 2-3 minutes per side (or until fish is flaky).  Remove fish and place on a paper-towel covered plate to drain the oil.

Enjoy!

Rick does dinner

Those of you who are my friends on facebook (and/or in real life) know that I've been feeling a little under the weather lately so Rick decided to make dinner for us last night.  I picked out this recipe from Cooking Light.  It seemed pretty simple, and it kinda reminded me of the tilapia that we like to do with capers.  It was so sweet to watch Rick read the recipe and make dinner.  Of course, I couldn't stay out of the kitchen, and I made the roasted garlic crostini again and minced the flat leaf parsely.  I had to smile when I saw Rick making some of the same mistakes that I used to make as a novice cook, and I'm proud of him for putting up with me and making a great meal!  We served it with some wild rice out of a box which wasn't that great, but the chicken turned out wonderfully!

Here's the recipe

Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce
Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained
3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley

Directions
Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; pound to an even thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge chicken in flour.


Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes. Turn chicken over. Add broth, juice, and capers; reduce heat to medium, and simmer 3 minutes, basting chicken occasionally with sauce. Sprinkle with parsley; cook 1 minute. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.


Bring sauce to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Serve over chicken.

NY Strip + cast iron skillet + oven = YUM!

Even though the weather isn't nice enough to head out to the grill, it doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a delicious steak at home.  When the weather isn't cooperating for grilling, the next best thing to do is to break out your cast iron skillet, crank the oven up, and have perfection in a matter of minutes.  It amazes us how easy and quick it can be to do a steak this way.  I learned how to cook steak this way thanks to the suggestion from several posters on insidecarolina.com's off topic board.  Cast iron skillets are a must-have for any and every kitchen.  They are so versatile and go into the oven without any problem!  I often wonder now how I lived without them before my mom got on a cast iron kick and bought me several for Christmas one year.  One thing that you can do that I don't for the recipe is to sear the steaks prior to putting them in the oven.  We've done it both ways, and either way, the steak turn out great!

Rick brought over the steak dust that his mother got.  It turns out that it is Tone's.  You can get it at Sam's Club and also order it online.  Instead of using the steak seasoning that he had, we used McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning.  We opted to go with that one because it smelled more garlicky than the other one.  As usual, we paired the steak with baked potatoes and had a great weekend night dinner! 

Here's what we did.

Cast-iron skillet steak

Ingredients

2 NY Strip Steaks (or cut of your choice)

1 tablespoon Tone's Steak Dust

1 tablespoon McCormick's Steak Seasoning

1 cast iron skillet!

Directions

Preheat oven to 500F.  

While the oven is preheating, mix the steak dust and seasoning together in a small bowl.  If you are doing more than 2 steaks, keep the proportion of seasoning be 1 tablespoon of each to 2 steaks.  Season both sides of the each steak with the seasoning by rubbing it in. Do not return the steaks to the refrigerator to allow them to warm up.

Place the steaks on the cast iron skillet and place the skillet in the oven.  Cook them for around 4 minutes on each side for steaks to be medium rare.  Adjust time for more or less doneness.

Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken

When Rick told me that he had taken out some chicken to thaw and was craving some Chinese food, I suggested that we try to make sesame chicken.  I've never done it before, but a quick search of the internet found this recipe from recipezaar.com.  There are actually quite a few version of it on various sites on the internet, but I opted to use it as my base recipe.  I served it with fried rice and steamed broccoli.  Admittedly, I'm not a huge broccoli fan, but Rick keeps going on and on about how it is a super-food.  How can I win against that? ;)  

Our meal turned out pretty good,  and I think that our version is probably a wee-bit better for you than what you get from your average Chinese restaurant.  Rick didn't deep fry the chicken, but did it in about an inch of peanut oil and turned them. I don't know that the marinade added all that much to it, and next time, I may marinate it longer.  It smelled great, though!

Here's the recipe!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch cubes

Peanut oil for frying

Toasted Sesame Seeds

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cooking sherry
• 3 drops sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 

Sauce

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic-chili sauce
• 1 large clove garlic, minced

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade together, and marinade the chicken for around 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, mix together all of the sauce ingredients. Pour them into a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down to low and keep warm while you are deep-frying the chicken.

Add enough peanut oil to a cast iron or heavy skillet to have the oil be 1 inch thick.  Heat the oil over medium-high heat, and when it is heated, add the marinated chicken pieces enough to cover the majority of the skillet.  Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels . Repeat with the remainder of the chicken. Just before you are finished frying, bring the sauce back up to a boil.

Place the chicken on a large platter and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with sesame seeds

Enjoy!