Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé
Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé
FIESTA!
…
All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel
Holy cow.
You guys this recipe knocked my socks off.
And then the dog ate them. Just kidding! He only eats the baby’s socks. And thankfully it’s summer so we’re going barefoot now. woohoo!
This recipe is simple but it hits all the right notes.
Since getting this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment I’ve made this twice. Making a recipe again when I don’t have to is big. Especially in such a short period of time! But when you find something you love you go with it. And I loved Mary Kay’s blog called Homemade Cravings. Seriously, I had some cravings after I checked out her blog.
Check these out… Mini Layer Nacho Bites, Panera Autumn Squash Soup, Cream Cheese and Caramel Frost Apple Cupcakes. See, she has great taste! Check out her Pinterest account too. She pins some great dishes as well. yum!
Since I made this twice I made some alterations the second time around. Nothing too drastic but just a few things to make it my own. I increased the amount of chicken to the recipe to add more protein and increase the amount of servings this pasta dish made. (hello leftovers!) As well, I increased the amount of sauce that is made since I loved it the first time I made it so I had to have more!
It’s quick to get all of this together but my tip to you is how to get the kernels off the corn cobs easily and neatly. Take a big pan and put an upside down bowl in the middle of it. That is going to be your pedestal where you hold up your corn, bottom side down. Then you run your knife down the side of the corn, allowing the kernels to fall off into the pan.
Be sure to use all the great fresh corn you have at your finger tips this summer when you are making this great pasta dish. Yum! I bet this would also be great with some fresh zucchini as well.
Ingredients
Process
Adapted from Homemade Cravings
_____________________
There are so many other great posts out today. Be sure to check them out on the link below:
As well, check out my 2 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!
____________________
Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
This Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake is a delicious vegetarian pasta casserole that will have you begging for seconds. The artichokes and spinach pack a flavor punch and the buttery crumb topping is the perfect finishing touch.
I do this every year to myself.
I think this process is like giving birth. Or at least I am going to compare it to that for this analogy. Just go along…
…
I have been determined to make lobster for this week’s Sprint Cup Snacks recipe for this weekend’s NASCAR race at Loudon International Raceway. in New Hampshire. Must have lobster when in New England. It’s a given! But my challenge was to make something that both Price and I would enjoy since he is pretty indifferent to lobster when I L-O-V-E it.
Often it works out well that Price is ‘meh’ about lobster and I love it (although I do feel super guilty about eating them now that I read the most amazing book called The Secret Life of Lobsters where I learned that our tasty ocean bug friends are at least 7 yrs old before gracing our dining tables…) since he will put them in the pot for me. I just can’t!
We typically do grilled steak and lobster… so I get the surf and he gets the turf… but I wanted to change things up so I had to go a searchin’ for something so mouth-watering that Price could not resist regardless of our royal red friend. Ultimately I found the best recipe… drum roll please… Lobster Mac and Cheese.
This was a very rich, luscious mac and cheese. Plus it was studded with lobster! If you don’t like lobster then skip it since the mac and cheese base is great anyway, but really, it is so worth it to add the lobster.
PS- I learned my local grocery store steams lobsters for you for Free!!! I highly suggest you check with your grocery store because it’s a total GAME CHANGER!
Makes 4 generous servings
Ingredients
Process
Slightly adapted from Baked By Rachel
Perfect Penne alla Vodka will be on your table in under 30 minutes tonight. Create this flavorful dinner any night of the week. You’ll love every single bite.
Post Originally from 12/18/12, Pictures updated 2/21/19
Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE
I always felt that ordering Penne alla Vodka was a big fancy move when I was out to dinner. It just felt so fancy to me. Alla Vodka. That sounded fancy when I was 15 or so. Plus, vodka… hello… it felt like it was a big deal to get it, even with all the alcohol cooking out of it.
…
I have not been the mood to do anything lately. Well, that is not true. I want to scrapbook all day, every day. I just don’t feel right not being able to be creative. Thinking about how far behind I am working on Project Life makes me want to break out in hives. I left off at week 12… it is now week 26. kill me. And no, I don’t have to continue, but I want to. When I work at it I feel good, I really enjoy it. So I just need to get set up for it, and find some time, and I’ll feel like myself again.
Being so disinterested in cooking I have been gravitating towards quick fix dinners. Salads have been gracing our table a lot lately but this Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce dish was a big winner. I had just restocked the fridge and pantry from moving so I didn’t have to run out last minute to grab something. I love when that happens. I also love Philadelphia Cooking Cream. We use a lot of this to add to pasta dishes, casseroles, or on eggs. It adds a lot of flavor to dishes easily. I’m not singing their praises because they are sponsoring me, I just really like the cooking creams. Man I would love to be sponsored by them, that would be so cool since we go through so much of this stuff. Ha!
Serves 6
Ingredients
Process
____________________
Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
When the cat’s away the mice will play. Or in this case, when Price is away, Nicole will eat garlic noodles. And Price was just in Vegas for a guys trip so I obviously made these!
Years ago I saw a post on White on Rice Couple for Garlic Butter Noodles. They were sharing a recipe they adapted from Jaden’s new The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. Umm, big whoop! I’m Italian so I grew up on pasta with butter and a bit of garlic. Well, shutthefrontdoor this is totally different and amazing. I knew I would have to immediately make this recipe. The noodles, garlic, butter, some sugar, and fish sauce were all calling out to me.
I was hooked from the start. Price, not so much. So this is now a dish that I make when he is working late or away. When he works late the second he opens the door he exclaims ‘YOU MADE GARLIC NOODLES!!! NOOOOO!!!” Why does he protest so much? Because no matter how many times I brush my teeth I still stink of garlic. I don’t mind but I’m not on other end of it. So you have been warned, but I swear it is worth it.
The combination of the butter, garlic, and brown sugar is out of this world. The garlic is slowly cooked in the butter just enough to bring out the flavors. (Don’t burn it! If you do, start over!) Then when you add the brown sugar it becomes caramel-y with the butter. That alone is great but then you add the fish sauce and soy sauce and the whole thing get a 1-2 punch with umami flavors. The scallions are a nice touch for flavor and texture. I add the sambal bajak for some some heat and spice, which I can’t get enough of in this. The recipe is quick, addicting, and will be a favorite in no time!
serves 1
Ingredients
Process
What do you make when your significant other is away? Seafood? Wine and cereal? Dinner becomes eating cake while standing over the sink.
____________________
Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Easy Spaghetti with Chickpeas- a simple dinner made up with pantry staples. The chickpeas make the sauce extra flavorful & give it a wonderful texture.
Open up your pantry to throw together a great, simple dinner tonight. Easy Spaghetti with Chickpeas will be a new dinner favorite because it’s hearty and so tasty!
…
A simple pasta dish that combines the bright fresh flavors of spinach with the richness of a runny yolk, topped with toasted breadcrumbs for the perfect bite!
post from 1/15/11, pictures updated 11/4/16
I have a big thing for eggs.
I love them in just about every way they are prepared. They make a base or even addition to a meal. I often have breakfast for dinner.
My friend makes the best yellow rice with pigeon peas and whenever she shares it with me, I top my plate of rice off with fried egg(s) and a lot of hot sauce. I love egg drop soup. Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwiches give me life. I could go on and on…
One of my favorite ways to eat eggs is in pasta.
I have seen simple versions carbonara with raw eggs on top which just look so gorgeous. So I gave it a try and I have been hooked on it since.
While pasta with carbonara sauce is great, I find that the way I like it best is with spinach and eggs. I sure do love my bacon but I love freshly sauteed spinach with pasta. Plus, this makes this a lighter dish.
But when you have an egg yolk sitting on top of a bed pasta things entirely transform. You gently pierce this egg yolk, allowing it to slip its way through the fine strands of pasta. The egg yolk graciously coats the hot pasta changing it from a simple pasta with spinach to a really good, simple dinner.
I tend to make this when I am eating dinner solo since it is a quick and cheap dish to whip up. Pasta is a great dish when you want to make something quick, but you should make is extra beautiful and the egg on top does that. Trust me.
Now, eating raw eggs should be done with care as there always is a risk of eating meat and eggs that are not fully cooked. I tend to prefer my burgers medium-rare so I am unphased with topping off my pasta with a raw egg since I always approach this with care. I use really fresh eggs from brands I trust and respect. But, even then using pasteurized eggs is the best approach.
Give this a try and you’ll be asking for seconds in no time!
Make 6 servings
Ingredients
Process
____________________
Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Making Chinese food with my Dad has become one of those experiences that leads to great food, dirty dishes, lots of laughs, and full stomaches. One year our bird, Studley, ‘got hungry’ and flew into the bowl of fried rice- no one was happy then. Or we always seem to bring up the time when my brother, Dad, and I made chinese food and the kitchen looked like a nuclear holocaust. Food on the floor, sauces dripping down the cabinets, spills in the fridge, and a sink full of bowls. Of course everything was worth it since the food is always amazing. We have made shrimp with lobster sauce, chicken with cashews, chicken and shrimp chow mien, and, as always, fried rice.
When my Dad came to visit a few weeks ago we planned on making chinese food so he brought up some of the ingredients and his wok. This excited me to no end. It had been so long since I had the fried rice. Sure, you can get fried rice at your local chinese food restaurant, but I have to say that it’s not the same. I find the fried rice from most chinese food places has too much soy sauce for my preference. So that is why it is worth it to take the time to make amazing fried rice.
Price and I made mushroom risotto last night. It was the first time I ever made risotto. It took so much longer than the recipe said it would but it was worth it because it was so good. I’m now determined to make lots and lots of risotto.
I pulled out my Martha Stewart Classics Cookbook and got to work. It was really easy to prepare, I just had no idea how many pots/dishes it would use… 1 large to cook risotto, 1 pot for broth, cutting board, 2 bowls for prep, wooden spoon, and bowls for eating. I was hoping around grabbing different bowls and things but now I’ll be better prepared next time.
I followed the recipe with the exception that we: 1) did not have shallots so we used 1 small white onion. 2) we did not have wild mushrooms, so we used button mushrooms, and it still was good 3)We had some truffle butter and we used that with a little bit of unsalted butter to total the amount in the recipe. Truffles make me happy 🙂
We have an electric glass stove top so I had to continually play around with the heat because 1 min it was hot and the broth was getting incorporated quickly and then the next it was taking its sweet time. Oh I wish to have a nice gas range one day. Plus i think I was a bit nervous in doing this since I have the tendency to cook things on a higher temp that what is called for so I overcompensated this time and the cooking part took about 40 minutes instead of 25-30.
Heat stock in pan over medium heat. Add dried mushrooms; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon; chop finely. Keep stock at a simmer over medium heat.
Remove stems from fresh mushrooms; chop finely. Slice caps 1/4 inch thick. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add mushroom caps; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl. To pan, add remaining 6 tablespoons oil, mushroom stems, and shallots. Cook, stirring, until translucent. Add rice; cook, stirring, until rice begins to sound like glass beads, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add wine. Cook, stirring, until wine is absorbed by rice. Using a ladle, add 3/4 cup hot stock to rice. Using a wooden spoon, stir rice constantly, at a moderate speed. When rice has absorbed most but not all of liquid and mixture is just thick enough to leave a clear wake behind the spoon when stirring, add another 3/4 cup stock.
Continue adding stock in this manner, stirring constantly, until rice is mostly translucent but still opaque in center. Continue cooking until rice is al dente, but not crunchy. As rice nears doneness, watch carefully; add smaller amounts of liquid. The mixture should be thick enough that grains are suspended in liquid the consistency of heavy cream. The risotto will thicken slightly when removed from heat.
Add dried mushrooms and mushroom caps; warm over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Divide among four bowls; grate Parmesan over risotto. Serve immediately.
Cooking the onions
The dried mushrooms after they were reconstituted and but into the broth for 5 minutes
Rice just into the pot
Almost done.. sorry for the crap photo, there was so much steam!
All done! I shaved some parm on the top.
The photos are horrible! So sorry about that. The risotto looked so much better in real life. Plus it smelled and tasted great. I thought the process was easy and the result was great. I think I am going to try butternut squash risotto next. I really was surprised how much oil and butter were in the recipe. I have to see about cutting that back because 1/4 cup of oil is a lot!