Pasta Alfredo

The sauce has a bit of a nutty flavor from the nutmeg, a bit of tangy flavor from the lemon, and combined with the other ingredients is a filling main dish "comfort" food.

 Ingredients:
 (Start cooking both pasta and sauce on separate burners at the same time)

• 16 oz pkg of bow tie pasta

Cook to Al dente (usually 2 minutes less than indicated on the package) in boiling salted water, drain.

Alfredo Sauce:

3/4 cup half and half 

3/4 cream cheese

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp. garlic

1/2 tsp of garlic salt

1/4 tsp  pepper 

• Garnish - Ranch Tortilla Chips (optional)

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes until thickened.  Pour over pasta.   If desired, garnish with Ranch flavored tortilla chips (which can be crumpled on the top to add texture and flavor) then serve.

Linking up to Presto Pasta Night which is hosted on 8/17/12 by Simona at http://briciole.typepad.com/.
Be sure to check out all of the other wonderful pasta creations by other participants:)

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

My son has been on a seafood kick and as I have had an aversion to it, I went in search of recipes for Tilapia, as he had it elsewhere and loves it.

I was not familiar with it, so I looked it up on Wikipedia and it indicated they are low in mercury, saturated fat, calories, carbohydrates and sodium and they are good protein source.

Photo:  Wikimedia



As I had never cooked them before, I went in search of a simple recipe and found this one by user Eireann at Allrecipes and using suggestions by other users, adapted it and my son loved it (he made his into a sandwich on white bread) so I thought I would share it.

Per Allrecipes
the calories per serving prepared this way would be 142 , the total Fat: 4.4g and the Cholesterol 49mg

Adapted recipe:

• 4 tilapia fillets
• Non-Stick Coating Spray
  
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• Few dashes of pepper to taste 
• Paper towels   
• Plastic gloves (optional)

 

 
Spray a baking dish with non-stick coating spray (I used a 9x9 inch pan, but it depends on the size of the fish).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Saute the lemon juice, butter, minced garlic, parsley and a few dashes of pepper in a skillet on medium low heat for 4-5 minutes.

Rinse off cleaned fish and pat dry with paper towels.  This was a major gross out moment for me and suggest using plastic gloves if this bothers you.

Arrange the fish in the baking dish and pour over the sauteed mixture.








I baked mine for 15 minutes, then turned the fish over and baked for another 30 minutes.  The fish should be white and flake when you pull on it with a fork when done.

Might not be a good idea to watch man eating fish movies shortly before or thereafter.

Heavenly Ghettalain Garlic Bread

This recipe was from the book "Cookin With Coolio" and would be great for Halloween as it would be sure to ward off any vampires as it uses 1/2 cup of minced Garlic.

If I make it again though, I will cut the amount in mayo used by at least a 1/2 a cup any maybe even a cup as I thought it was overpowering, but otherwise it had an interesting creamy tangy flavor in addition to being cheesy and garlic.

Recipe:
1 loaf french bread
2 cups mayonnaise (I recommend reducing to 1-1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup minced garlic
5-6 dashes of hot sauce
Few dashes Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix the mayo and cheddar, then add the softened butter, minced garlic and hot sauce.

Slather on the bread and cook 10-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the bread toasted.   Add a few dashes the salt and pepper over the top.

Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce)

 Tzatziki sauce is a yogurt/cucumber sauce used in Greek cooking, usually on meats, gyros, souvlaki.  It can also be used as a dip for fresh vegetables or even diluted and used as a salad dressing.

This recipe is from Food.com
http://www.food.com/recipe/tzatziki-greek-yogurt-cucumber-sauce-ww-core-312799
and also heavy on the garlic, which I love, but if you don't use one or two cloves instead.

It has a creamy clean garlicky taste and works well with spicy foods.  I have used it on a spicy rice with peppers stuffed in tortilla (although traditionally pitas are the bread of choice).   I also what was left over with a little bit of milk and used it on a salad.

The recipe:

• 1 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt 
• 1 medium or 1/2 of a large cucumber
  
• 3 cloves garlic 
• Salt
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Dill 
• Pepper

Scoop seeds out of cucumber with a spoon (the original recipe advises to peel, but I prefer unpeeled).

Grate the cucumber and mince the garlic.

Generously saturate with salt I  used about 25 shakes to and let set for 10 minutes to draw out the moisture and keeps it from becoming soggy.

Strain the mixture in a a strainer or cheesecloth to get out at much of the moisture as you can.












Put back in a bowl and add the Greek yogurt and the dill, mix thoroughly.

Add pepper (I used 6 turns on the pepper mill) and mix.

If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for 7-10 days.

GARLIC MAYO

DIY you own gourmet condiment!

This is becoming common in upscale deli sandwiches and a major retailer even now makes "Garlic Mayonnaise" but you can DIY your own with version quick and easy at a lower price.

This makes 1/2 cup finished garlic mayo. I like to use it to dip my fries as well as use on a sandwich.  Depending on how "garlicy" you like your mayo determines how much garlic you want to add - for a subtle flavor stick with the 1/2 tsp garlic and 1/4 tsp lemon juice.

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used commercially prepared from a jar)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp minced garlic (or 1-2 cloves fresh chopped up, depending on size of clove)
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp lemon juice (I used RealLemon from a bottle - use fresh if on hand)

Measure out 1/2 cup mayo.

Add the minced garlic

Add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of lemon juice on top of the garlic.  Stir together and refrigerate at least two hours before serving to allow the flavor of the garlic to meld with the mayo.  Keep up from 7 to10 days in the fridge.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

If you love garlic or warding off vampires, these light, fluffy and tasty biscuits are for you!
These are a little like the Cheddar Bay Biscuits that you can get at Red Lobster.

Makes 12 biscuits.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups Bisquick or similar baking mix
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 TBSP cold butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 1 clove fresh)

Topping for biscuits:

• 2 TBSP butter or margarine
• 1/4 tsp dried cilantro or parsley
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put baking mix in a bowl. Use a grater and grate the butter into the bowl and mix together until will distributed. The butter does not have to cut in completely - having little bits of butter in the batter helps to make it fluffy.

Add milk, garlic and cheese.

Mix until well blended and dough balls up in the center of the bowl.

Drop by tablespoon on to a greased baking sheet. 15-17 minutes and remove from oven.

Put the topping ingredients into a microwave safe bowl for about a minute to melt the butter. Remove from the microwave and mix the ingredients together.

Brush or spoon the topping mixture on top of each biscuit and serve.

Baked Spinich Dip

I wanted to use up a box of spinich that had been in freezer for awhile and went in search of a recipe and found this one at

http://www.recipezaar.com/Baked-Cream-Cheese-Spinach-Dip-118103

It turned out pretty good and served mine with tortilla chips, although it could be served with bread or pita wedges. It was mild and creamy, but really didn't have an overtly spinich taste to it. I did end up adding a little more tabasco sauce and parmesan cheese.

1 (300 g) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 (250 g) package cream cheese 1/4 cup onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (I ended up using a little over 1/4 tsp) 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

4 TBSP Paremsan Cheese (optional)

Blend all ingredients in food processor, except cheddar cheese, adding as much milk as necessary for a smooth and creamy consistency.

Amount of garlic and/or Tabasco sauce can be increased for more intense flavour (I ended up adding another 1/8th tsp of Tabasco sauce after it was baked as it was a little to bland for my taste).

Spread in pie plate

T

Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375F for 35 minutes or until heated through and cheddar cheese is melted. Mine was a wee bit overbaked, but I mixed the cheese topping in and it turned out ok.

In the reviews I had read on the recipe, many recommended adding Parmesan Cheese, so I added about 4 TBSP.

You could put in decorative bowl for self-service, or put on a plate with a side of chips, pita or other bread.

GREEK POTATOES

This is a recipe based on the one posted by at Recipezaar http://www.recipezaar.com/Greek-Potatoes-Oven-Roasted-and-Delicious-87782 These would be great for a chilly night due to the baking time being a total of 80 minutes, which gives them a flavorful zing from the spices and garlic flavor seeping and baking into them. This receipe is enough to serve 6 people and I estimate the cost with the ingredients that I used to be around $3, which is cheaper than one fast food sandwich. I loved these, but they were a bit too exotic for Marv and Kyle's tastes and they are just plain old potatoes fans.

Preheat Oven to 440 degrees

Pare around 8 potatoes and cut into wedges (6-7 per potato)and place in a bowl.

Add:4 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup olive or canola oil (I used canola as I did not have any olive oil left)

1 tbps Oregano

2 tbsp Lemon Pepper or juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp pepper

Few dashes of Sicilian spices (optional)

Few dashes Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

Few dashes pepper

The toss until well blended.

Pour into baking pan lined with aluminum foil(optional, but makes clean up easier)Then pour the 1 cup water into the baking pan and distribute the potatoes evenly the place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, take the pan out and stir the potatoes and will probably need to add an additional 1/2 water, then place back in the oven for another 40 minutes.

Take out and they will look look like the first picture and they are ready to serve!