Cookin again

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 9, 2015

Tonight, I cooked a tasty dish for dinner...

I chopped some green onion and put them into a shallow cassarole dish with a BUNCH of whole garlic cloves, a half-stick of unsalted butter, a splash of white wine and some black and red pepper. This was roasted in the oven at 350F.

I started a box of cavatappi pasta to cooking.

Meanwhile, in a deep, flat sided saucepan, I sautéed a whole yellow onion and a half container of diced white mushrooms in olive oil. I deglazed the pan with the same wine I used with the garlic. To that mix, I added 2 cans of low-sodium diced tomatoes, a can of low-sodium V8, 2 bay leaves, generous portions of parsley & thyme, some red & black pepper, plus a little powdered garlic and salt.

When the garlic & onion mix was nicely roasted, I turned up the saucepan's heat to get the mix bubbling. At that point, I added the garlic & onion mix and 24oz of crawfish meat to the pan. Then, into the pot went all of the pasta.

Some vigorous turning & folding of the pan's contents got the pasta thoroughly coated in the sauce.

It kinda looked like a Creole had screwed up his Hamburger Helper...

I served it- 4 heaping spoonfuls per person- with tasty crackers and slices of a nice smoked Gouda. Definitely looking forward to leftovers!

Kramodlog · Mar 9, 2015

With the GF I made some baked squash, sweet potato soup, rosted pork loin, baked chicken with olive and apricot, oi-sobagi and, for a simple desert, chopped mango, today. We also had brunch with some friends. Pastried and cheese for use. No mimosa. A scandale when you think about it. It was the first time I saw the GF's (hipster) friends.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 9, 2015

I'm envious of your squash- I love the things, but I'm alone in this in my household.

Dioltach · Mar 9, 2015

I'm in the Dutch Caribbean, where my wife is from, and the other day I had repa di pampuna: pumpkin fritters. When I get home I'm going to make them myself, but a less sweet version with perhaps a bit of chilli pepper, then crumble up some goat's cheese and chop some coriander leaves and make a kind of quesadilla. Serve with sweet chilli sauce. Just the thought is getting me all excited.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 9, 2015

Are the fritters made with puréed or shredded pumpkin?

Dioltach · Mar 9, 2015

Puréed, with a bit of flour and egg. They add cinnamon and raisins here and serve them with icing sugar, but I reckon a savoury version would be better.

delericho · Mar 9, 2015

I found time to bake some bread this weekend. It's not something I get to do often, but I always enjoy the results.

(Nothing fancy - a mix of white and wholemeal flour with some added wheatgerm.)

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 9, 2015

There is something to be said for freshly baked bread. And that is, "Yes, please!" Even the plainest of breads, when fresh from the oven, can seem a treat.

There is a Market Street grocery near us- kind of upscale- that we've been using more and more, mainly because of their bakery. I'm usually going in for roasted garlic bread (a bread with whole cloves of roasted garlic), onion rye, pretzel rolls, or one of their 2 kinds of sourdough (mild or strong), depending on availability.

Scott DeWar · Mar 9, 2015

Dioltach said:
I'm in the Dutch Caribbean, where my wife is from, and the other day I had repa di pampuna: pumpkin fritters.

sidedish: Have you ever been to the isle off Bon Aire?

main course: My birthday is on pi day, so, my birthday meal is to be a Marie Calender's cherry pie. sans icecream. that would be too much.
The side dish is Swai filet marinaded in white wine and garlic olive oil. then I will bake at 350 over a bed of rice pilaf with pats of butter.
The veggie: Broccoli with holendaise [sp?] sauce.

Jan van Leyden · Mar 9, 2015

Scott DeWar said:
sidedish: Have you ever been to the isle off Bon Aire?

main course: My birthday is on pi day, so, my birthday meal is to be a Marie Calender's cherry pie. sans icecream. that would be too much.
The side dish is Swai filet marinaded in white wine and garlic olive oil. then I will bake at 350 over a bed of rice pilaf with pats of butter.
The veggie: Broccoli with holendaise [sp?] sauce.

Sounds good - up until mentioning Hollandaise that is. I really don't like this thick sauce which IMHO is covering all those fine tastes. Do you prepare the pilaf completely before putting it under the fish?