Assembling a great meal.....

while cleaning out the kitchen.

As previously mentioned, the past few weeks we have been cleaning out our freezer/ fridge/ pantry/ and porch-farm in an effort to save money, get creative, and clear out food before we leave for the beach. Here is tonight's creation. By the way, please excuse the bad lighting, we are redoing our kitchen lighting, and right now we have one light bulb.....the joys of home ownership.

Fisherman's Wharf Rub: My fantastic mother-in-law buys this for us at a store in Maine. It is essentially oregano, lemon, parsley, garlic, and salt. It is the perfect rub for fish.

+ Frozen Easy Peel Shrimp: We buy this when it is BOGO at Harris Teeter. It is good for making meals in a jam.

+ Tomatoes/Basil: from our porch farm, sprinkle a little salt, perfection.

+ Brown Rice Pilaf= Voila! Assembled.

The "Great's" Pasta Sauce

Today was my grandmother's birthday, who along with my grandfather, my niece called "The Great." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to her grave in Richmond to celebrate her life with my family, but she hasn't left my mind all day. My little Serafina and I looked at pictures of her at our wedding, and we chatted about her namesake.

Tonight, because I am still in the middle of Mission-Clean-Out-Kitchen, I didn't have the ingredients to make any of her classic dishes. So, I offer you a very simple pasta sauce recipe. We don't do jarred sauce in our house, it is a ridiculous expense that never tastes good. I remember being shocked at my roommates eating Prego/Ragu in college, it is so disgusting and just lazy. Making your Italian sauce makes the house smell wonderful and the food taste good. Just make a batch on Sunday, and freeze what you don't eat in small containers. In making sauce, my grandmother didn't believe in piling on vegetables and fancy spices into your pasta sauce. She felt strongly that if you buy the right ingredients and let it simmer long enough, you should have a rich sauce that won't overpower your foods. So, buy good tomatoes, olive oil, and pasta, take your time in cooking, and you should have an excellent sauce.

The "Great's" Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tbn of olive oil.
• 2 Cans of Progresso Whole Peeled Tomatoes (Muir Glen is acceptable in a pinch, but nothing else)
• 1 can of Progresso or Muir Glen tomato paste

 Directions:

1. Saute the garlic in a large saucepan. Do NOT burn, it ruins the sauce.  
2. Add in the whole peeled tomatoes, and hand squeeze the juices out slowly. You want the whole tomatoes for the chunkiness, but the best juices are inside. 
3. Add the tomato paste, allow the sauce to briefly boil
4. Salt and Pepper to taste
5. Let simmer for two hours on the stove at low heat.

Serve with DeCecco Penne and Pecorino Romano cheese.....and you will be having the typical Sunday dinner at our house.

Linguine with Clams, Arugula, and Tomatoes

Growing up, I knew there was only one reliable Italian restaurant in the DC area. Yes, there were many trendy Italian restaurants and tons of family restaurants, but Landini Brothers in Old Town was the closest to my Grandmother Serafina's cooking that I tasted (click for a Washington Post review here). Once a month, my family drove down King Street and showed up for our special menu. The Landini Brothers, taking a quick look at my sister and I, would squeeze our cheeks and seat us at our corner table. We would get an onslaught of questions, terms of endearment, and all sorts of reassurances that we were accepted into their family.

Another way we found the way into the Landini family is ordering off-menu. Despite the fact that my favorite menu item has not been around since the late 80's, I still order a special Linguine with  Clams and Arugula. Unfortunately, replicating it in my kitchen didn't seem to work. In particular, steaming the clams, picking the meat out, and then cooking them with pasta always made the entire dish an ordeal. In result, I considered those cans of clam sauce. I was super scared of clams in a can, but I finally decided that it was probably safe. Additionally, there are types that are all natural and preservative free, especially by the olive oil company Colavita. After careful inspection I gave it a try, and it was actually a decent weeknight meal.

Linguine with Clams, Arugula, and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 tb olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of grape tomatoes halved
• 1/2 lb linguine (whole wheat or spinach)
• 1 can of Colativa Clam Sauce
• 4 cups of arugula
• 1 tb red pepper flake
• 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. In a saucepan, saute garlic and olive oil, then add the grape tomatoes for 3 minutes

2. Meanwhile, boil water, and add in linguine
3. In the saute mixture, pour the clam sauce over the tomatoes, add in arugula, red pepper flake, and lemon juice.
4. Let the arugula wilt, and mix the ingredients together.

5. Drain and add the linguine into the clam mixture.
6. Add salt and pepper, and serve.*

Notice the steam over this picture! We used spinach linguine, but honestly I think the whole wheat Barilla or the regular DeCecco would have been better. Sometimes, you use what you have, and that is wonderful.


* some people would add cheese on top, but because it is fish, Italians usually don't top with cheese.

A little Tuna Spread

Sometimes, we try and stretch the dollar, and push our pantry until it is empty. For this very reason, I always keep a can of tunafish and some mayo on hand. You can always use up your veggie drawer with some tuna spread. The other day, AAM and I were stocking up, and I told him I am always thoroughly confused in the tuna section. A child of the eighties, my concern for dolphin safety interferes with just grabbing a can off the rack. I told him that it was getting harder and harder to figure out if a company does dolphin-safe fishing. He looked at me floored, and readers might be seeing a trend in this interaction, and explained that all tuna is basically dolphin safe now. Honestly, he shouldn't be shocked, I am so stuck in the eighties that I refer to CVS as Peoples, Blockbuster as Erols, and Whole Foods as Fresh Fields. One would think we were rockin' it in 1985 DC by the way I refer to the world.

Speaking of childhood, here is my homemade tuna spread that we grew up on and adore. It goes really nicely on sandwiches or with a plate of crackers, Kerrygold reserved cheddar cheese*, quartered salt and peppered tomatoes, half a boiled egg, and romaine. In my family, that is called "Mom's lunch," for obvious reasons: it is what she eats for lunch everyday. Don't be afraid to add any sort of veggie to your plate, it goes with everything. In fact this tuna spread, goes really well with tomatoes, so for those previously mentioned tomato wrinkling issues, this is a great method of giving your meal some lycopene. Some people might already do this, but for many it is a shock when I make it in front of them. By mixing the typical ingredients put with tuna in a Cuisinart, you get a wonderfully creamy texture. I abhor the gross textured dryness of canned tuna, so this is a great solution. This recipe can make sandwiches for a week, which makes packing lunch easy!

Tuna Spread Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of chunk light tuna (or 2 smaller cans)
• 3 celery stalks
• generous serving of ground pepper
• sprinkle of salt
• 2.5 tb of mayo
• 2 slices of tomato
• 2 slices of Kerrygold Reserved Cheddar*
• Lettuce
• Two pieces of Whole Wheat toast

1. Put the celery in a a Cuisinart or blender, and pulse.

2. Next, throw in the tuna, pepper, salt, and mayo on top. 
2. Pulse several times, until the tuna reaches a creamy texture

2. Spread on a sandwich, and serve with tomato, lettuce, cheese on whole wheat. In this picture I used iceberg, which I normally don't buy, but it was left over from a bbq my parents had. A good crunchy romaine is perfect for this sandwich.

*I like the sharpness and richness of Kerrygold, plus it supports the Irish economy. Although I try to buy local when possible, as a dual citizen, I also like to support my family's homeland as well. The Irish economy took a phenomenal dive last year, much worse than here, which is sad considering the Celtic Tiger was turning around history. When we visited last Spring, by the giant open arms every restaurateur and hotelier held towards us, we realized any little effort we make might help. So we try and buy Irish if we see it available.  Kerrygold is at the local market, and supports various dairies around Ireland.

What is my favorite season?

Tomato season. One of my favorite foods, good juicy tomatoes come into their prime late summer, and are actually particularly yummy in the mid-Atlantic region. I have been known to fill our entire kitchen with a variety of tomatoes, which follows with a tomato themed meal three times a day. Sometimes all this tomato growing and purchasing causes a surplus, and some are bound to start to wrinkle.

This morning, I noticed my cherry tomatoes, from a North Carolinian vegetable stand, were starting to slowly wrinkle. I sliced them up, sprinkled my favorite herb mixture on top and topped with feta and eggs. Yum Yum.

Roasted Tomatoes, Eggs, and Feta

Ingredients

• 1 cup of tomatoes of any variety (try to mix them up in texture and color for a particularly yummy blend)
• 1 tb herbs de provence
• 1 tb olive oil
• 1/3 cup of crumbled feta (I used Organic Creamery's Feta, because it is extra creamy)
• Generous sprinkling of salt and pepper
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 fried eggs

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 450.
2. Slice your grape/cherry tomatoes and cut the larger tomatoes into at least quarters, place them in a small baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with the herbs de provence, salt, and olive oil on top of the tomatoes, then mix with your hands. 
4. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then sprinkle the feta on top, then put it back in the oven. .
5. Meanwhile, fry two eggs.
6. When the eggs are done, take out the tomato mixture, and slide the eggs on top. Sprinkle with pepper.

Linguine with Ricotta, Beans and Tomatoes

As I mentioned earlier, I am working through Giada de Laurentis' book Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites. Last night we tried her Linguine with Green Beans and Ricotta recipe. Reading the recipe, I realized it lacked spice, so when I cooked the greenbeans I used cayenne infused olive oil, which gave it flavor, but I could have added red pepper flakes to help even more. I also used regular green beans and just chopped them instead of sliced them, and it was still good. After making it, AAM and I both agreed it lacked moisture. We loved the idea of the dish, but it just needed a little more creaminess. Next time I make it, I am going to mix the ricotta with some cooking water and a tablespoon of olive oil to make it less dry. Looking at the recipe on the Food Network site, it seems many people agree with us. I do think with those modifications, it can be fixed. The dish is such a good and easy weeknight meal, that it is worth keeping.

Here is the recipe, copied from Food Network's website:
Linguine with Ricotta, Beans and Tomatoes

Ingredients

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• 1 pound whole-wheat linguine
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound French green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 lemon, zested

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the green beans and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Transfer to a serving plate and top with lemon zest. Serve.

Tri-Color Cod

Because I really began cooking when we got married five years ago, we received many wonderful cookbooks at showers and our wedding. Like all books, a few drifted to the bottom of the pile. I am re-visiting them and trying new recipes. It is so interesting what peaks your interest years later. Try it sometime, you will be surprised what originally scared you, and how much you matured as a cook since!

This simple recipe was inspired from a combination of recipes in Bon Appetit's Cookbook. If you don't already own a good dish for baking, and I don't mean pyrex, I highly recommend going to a gourmet cooking store and buying one. I am not a fan of spending ridiculous money on cooking supplies, but a good baking dish really can help the quality of your food. Look into Le Crueset or Emile Henry, both brands sell good dishes to invest in improving your cooking. Look at it as a long-term investment that you can pass on to your children.



Tri-Color Cod with Couscous

• 3 tb olive oil
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes
• 1 cup of chopped basil
• 1 lb of cod
• 2 tspn kosher salt
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of couscous
• 1/4 cup of shredded parmesean
• Ground pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven at 375.
2. Pour the grape tomatoes in an oven-safe cooking dish. Mix 1 tb olive oil and 1 tspn of salt into the tomatoes.
3. Add the chopped basil, then lay the cod peices on the basil and tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle the rest of the salt and 1 tb of olive oil on top. Liberally grind pepper on top
5. Place in the oven for about twenty minutes. Remove once the cod flakes easily.
6. Meanwhile, boil water with the rest of the olive oil and a little salt
7. Turn off water, mix cous cous and parmesean in. Let fluff and sit.
8. Serve the couscous, with the cod and basil tomatoes on top.

This meal would work with mahi mahi, sea bass, zuchinni or other meaty fish and veggies.