What You Should Have Eaten #60

Ricotta Pasta 

with Zucchini, Garlic and Mint

Here’s number three in a series.

The drink was a Goldfinger, with Cinzano (I used Gallo sweet red Vermouth), vodka, orange juice, and orange bitters. Like I said last week, I enjoy the clear spirits, but dumping some sweet vermouth in with the OJ, that made it just a bit too sweet for me. I also find vermouth tends to cut down on the bite of the alcohol, but sometimes you need that bite. I like the bite with vodka and gin drinks.

Chopping up the zucchini is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The mint was the kicker of this recipe. It was a flavor that I don’t normally associate with a dish like this. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it didn’t necessarily stick with me in a gotta-have-it-again way. This was my least favorite of the five variations.

What You Should Have Eaten #59

Ricotta Pasta with Sausage

Here’s number two in a series. Last week it was grape tomatoes, peas, and basil. This week it’s sausage.

 Browning the sausage is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The drink was a Toronto, with Canadian whisky (Canadian Mist for me), Fernet Branca, sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters. I’m not the biggest whisky fan, I tend to enjoy the clear spirits, and this drink is almost half bitters, so it’s a bit of a face wrinkler. I can’t see myself making this again unless it’s on a dare.

The addition of the sausage and the subtraction of the veggies made this meal a bit heavier than last week’s. It was good, though. To me, pasta will always be better with meat and cheese.

Out of the five different ricotta pasta dishes I’ve made in the last five weeks, this is the one my kids liked the most. I guess, since it didn’t have any veggies in it, it was the least weird looking.

What You Should Have Eaten #58

Ricotta Pasta 

with Grape Tomatoes, Peas, and Basil

This is the first of a series of ricotta pasta variations that Ray has in her book, 365: No Repeats.

My drink with this meal (and I guess I should be honest with myself, the drinks are with the cooking, not the meal itself. I’m usually halfway into a beer by the time dinner hits the table) was a Port Flip.  It’s port, cognac, sugar syrup, egg yolk, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. I usually tend to stay away from the flips because I’m not all that crazy about raw eggs, but I was feeling adventurous…and it wasn’t bad. Sweet and frothy.

The dinner itself was extremely simple to make. Simple and cheap, which is how I like my meals.

The only alterations I made to this meal were substituting grated parmesan cheese for the Parmigiano-Reggiano, taking out the onion, and using dried parsley and basil instead of their fresh counterparts.

The simplicity of this meal is such that there’s really nothing else to write about. The kids even enjoyed it…after they picked out the peas and tomatoes, of course. This is definitely a meal I can see myself making during the week so I don’t have to rely on frozen dinners, pizza, or fast food.

What You Should Have Eaten #57

Chicken in a Fresh tomato and Eggplant Sauce

I’ll be honest, I found these pictures on my phone and realized I had forgotten all about this meal. I don’t remember much about it other than liking it.

My apologies that there isn’t any commentary, but I’m extremely behind this week. Here are pictures, though!

 

What You Should Have Eaten #55

CrunchyJapanese Fish with Vegetable and Noodle Toss

Click the title to a link to the recipe. The picture I took of the cookbook didn't come out all that well.

The drink I made while fixing this dinner was called an Oracabessa. Dark rum, banana-flavored liqueur, and lemon juice. Even with the lemon juice, it’s too sweet. The juice cuts it, but not really enough. I’d add a smidge more rum and a smidge less crème de banana (which is what I used as my banana-flavored liqueur).

I went cheap with all the possible ingredients here. Generic spaghetti. I used some frozen tilapia that I already had instead of the haddock. I actually used Rice Krispies instead of a generic cereal, but that was only because it was on sale and I had a coupon. All the spices and herbs I used were dried; nothing was fresh.

The only bean sprouts that my Kroger had available were from mung beans. I’m not at all familiar with bean sprouts and this is the first time I’ve ever cooked with them, so I don’t know if a different type would have affected the taste.

There are some things I always stay away from. Two are onions and spicy hot things. I decided to include the cayenne pepper, figuring that such a small amount of spice in such a large amount of food wouldn’t be overpowering. I kept out the scallions, though. Even a tiny amount of onions tend to tear me up.

I thought I had an almost full bottle of soy sauce (generic from Kroger, of course) in the fridge or an unopened full bottle in the cabinet, but I should have checked before going to the store. Since I didn’t have any soy sauce (let alone tamari), so I did the only thing I could think of: I used Worcestershire sauce. That’s the English soy sauce, right?

This was a pretty easy meal to prepare. As much as I enjoy the experience of preparing a meal, I sometimes just want to fix something that I can throw together. I mean, that’s technically what I do during the week, but that’s usually frozen dinners. It’s nice to just throw together a good meal quickly that doesn’t come out of the microwave or start out in the freezer.

Easy, yes, but tasty, too. The kids wouldn’t eat it because they’ll only eat fish if it’s in stick form, and there was no way that I could convince them that this was the same as fish sticks. I liked it, though. The fish was flaky and not overly “breaded,” and the lo mein was good, even without the soy sauce.