Nochoke Pasta

I'm not sure if anyone is still checking this blog, but I've decided to jettison my favorite new recipe out into cyberspace, just in case. (Ooh! It rhymes!)

As evidenced from the title, we call this Nochoke Pasta. Strange name, yes? This recipe was modified from one titled "Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes," which I found on Food Network's website (see URL below). I followed the directions for the most part the first time I made it, and it was super tasty, but Jeremy and I agreed that the artichokes didn't really add much to the pasta. Plus, they were fairly expensive for everyday use. So the next time I made it I left out the artichokes, and it was fantastic. Hence, Nochoke Pasta.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 Tb of oil reserved
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
approx. 1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine (can be replaced w/ more chicken broth if necessary)
16 ounces fusilli pasta
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (can be replaced w/ dried basil, just eye it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (ditto)
approx. 2 cups (to taste) Italian blend shredded cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-sized pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl. Add the garlic to the same skillet, and saute over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fusilli in boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta (do not rinse). Add the pasta, sausage, basil, and parsley to the tomato mixture. Toss until the sauce is almost absorbed by the pasta. Stir in the Italian cheese. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

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I also made a couple other money-saving modifications, most notably leaving out the fresh mozzarella and shredded parmesan and replacing it with generic Italian-blend shredded cheese. I'm sure the fancy cheese would be great, so if you feel like splurging, try it and tell me what you think.

Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30506,00.html

Pork Fried Rice

We made yummy easy pork fried rice (don't expect chinese food fried rice, it's not really that since it doesn't include eggs). Basically you make the rice, stirfry some pork chopped in little pieces, then throw the rice in with the pork and stir in some green onions chopped really small and a bunch of soy sauce. Very easy, very filling and quite good.

camping food

campfire pizzas.

hot dogs on sticks.

smores.

and tomorrow we are trying to make pancakes on a cookie sheet over the fire. yeah, i don't have much hope for that one either.

Recipe from Dan

Notes:
I made this recipe for me, debbie, Laura E., Jeremy, Bethany, and Jon on 6/26. I haven't experimented, but I believe quality of wine makes large difference in quality of final product. The more intense the wine, the better. For the last 20 minutes it says to turn to low and simmer covered. I set stove to high and left uncovered to reduce the sauce, since it was very soupy when I made it (but I made a double recipe). We also used beef boulion cubes to make the beef broth to save money.

Beef tips in red wine sauce

Yield: 4 Servings
2 cup Cubed beef sirloin, trimmed Of all visable fat
2 teaspoon Olive oil
1 medium Yellow onion, chopped
2 cup Sliced mushrooms
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Flour
½ teaspoon Dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
½ cup Dry red wine (Quality of wine makes large difference in recipe in my opinion)
1 ½ cup Beef broth
3 cup Cooked extra-wide egg Noodles
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Brown beef cubes in the olive oil in a 12 inch nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Turn the cubes frequently to ensure even browning on all sides. Add the onions and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, or until the onions are fragrant. Add the mushrooms and garlic and reduce heat to medium low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until mushrooms are brown. Combine the flour, thyme leaves, black pepper and nutmeg in a small dish. Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the meat and mushroom mixture, stirring well. Allow the flour mixture to "toast" in the pan without burning for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then, stir in the red wine and beef broth. Stir until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens very slightly. Reduce heat to low, cover loosely, and simmer for 20 minutes. The sauce will continue to thicken as water evaporates during cooking. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a few tablespoons of water or beef broth. While the meat is cooking, cook the noodles according to package directions. When tender, stir the noodles and parsley into the beef mixture and heat through.

Recipe found at:
Click me

this is not a post! haha. (i bet you think this song is about you...)

i just realized that i don't always work off recipes. i kind of work on stuff till it looks about right.

that being said, i wanted to say something on the blog. so in the great tradition of dan mouw:

hi.

i'll try to post something soon. like pie (laura...) tee hee.

Lemony Porkchops

So this is one of my (Jeremy's) favorite meals that my mom made when I was growing up and I didn't realize how easy it was until I asked for the recipe, which is as follows:

Ingredients:
Pork chops - as many as you want
Lemon - 1 to 2 slices per pork chop, depending on their size
Ketchup - see below
Brown sugar - ~1 Tbsp per lemon slice

Preheat oven to 350°F.
The pork chops should be thawed in the refrigerator or microwave. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil (trust me on this). Place one or two slices of lemon on each pork chop (or three if they're really big). Put ketchup in a bowl and mix it with a little water to decrease its viscocity enough so that it's easily pourable. Liberally cover the pork chops with this slightly watery ketchup. Place a scoop (~1 Tbsp) of brown sugar on each slice of lemon. Cook at 350°F until it looks done (~20 min). I've noticed that the sizes of pork chops vary greatly from one store to the next and even within the same store, so you'll have to adjust for those differences in the amount of ketchup, lemons, and cooking time.
When finished, clean up is a breeze because you can just throw away the aluminum foil. If you didn't use aluminum foil, you may as well throw away the cookie sheet, it's not worth it.

Chicken Enchilada

Here's a recipe that was one of my favorites growing up. It's not exactly fancy gourmet, but it's pretty tasty and easy to make.

Doritos, a little less than one bag
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 lbs. chicken
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/4 tsp. tabasco
2 tsp. chili powder
green pepper, cut up (optional, but I'd really advise it... it adds a nice crispness)
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I find Mexican blend or pepperjack works well too)

Cut up chicken into bite-size pieces and cook in pan. I like to cook it in some chili powder to add a little flavor. Mix together all ingrediants except Doritos and cheese in a 9 x 13 pan. Crush some Doritos and mix them in until it looks to be about the right consistency. Top the mixture with a layer of Doritos and top that with the cheese. Bake at 325 degrees for 20–30 minutes. The recipe says to serve it with taco sauce, which I've never done, but that would probably be good too.