Spinach and Mushroom Cream Pasta

Some days, I just want something decadent. And while this goes against the grain of my usual eating habits, some days a girl has got to have her carb fix! And like a true Chic-Pea recipe, this one is good enough that you'll be begging for leftovers.

Spinach and Mushroom Cream Pasta
Serves 4 to 6, takes about 45 minutes

1 pack of pasta (we used a sleeve of spaghetti in the photo, but comparable to a pack of shells)
1/3 lb bacon, diced (use a non-serrated knife and make sure its really sharp or it will take you forever)
1 lb frozen chopped spinach
1 lb mushrooms, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup half and half
1/2 pack of shredded mozzarella (or 3 string cheese sticks!)
tsp oregano
basil if you have it
pepper and salt to taste (you shouldn't need much salt.)

1. Set your pasta to boil in salt water. I like shells or ziti for this recipe because everything ends up being the same size, but the picture uses spaghetti so its versatile. Once the water boils, cook for 6-8 minutes until al dente (cooked right through but not squishy. it should still have some chew to it). Rinse under cold water and drain.
2. Heat a large skillet. When hot, cook bacon until it renders all its fat, is a dark pink, and a smidge crispy. 
3. Add the garlic and saute in the bacon oil. 
4. When the garlic is fragrant, add mushrooms. If the mushrooms aren't cooking well because the pan is too dry, add a quarter cup of the half and half and turn the heat down to low. Make sure you scrape the yummy brown bacon bits off the bottom of the pan - that is the real flavoring to your sauce!
5. When most of the mushrooms have cooked, add the spinach. The mushrooms and spinach will give off a lot of water. 
6. Add the remaining half and half. The contents of the sauce should be level with the amount of liquid. If you don't have enough, add milk or water.
7. Cook on low for another 5-10 minutes to incorporate the flavors. 
8. Just before serving, add two handfuls of the shredded mozzarella to the sauce and mix. This will thicken the sauce and give it an added boost of creaminess.
9. If you have ziti or shells, add to the sauce and mix thoroughly to incorporate the "chunky" bits of the sauce with the pasta. If you have long noodles, serve the sauce over the already plated noodles.
10. Enjoy!

Steve's Raspberry Pomegranate Pork Chops

I have this unique problem for a 24 year old - I can't drink my weight. Ever. I am a lost soul, founded in Prohibition and wandering around Vegas, where alcohol is more plentiful than water.

So my friend Steve and I had some extra Raspberry Pomegranate wine coolers. They've been sitting in his fridge for a while. So I decided to make them a key ingredient for today's dinner.

Steve's Raspberry Pomegranate Pork Chops (for four pork chops)
1/2 a wine cooler (we had Bartles & Jaymes Raspberry Pomegranate)
1/4 a cup soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Pound the pork chops to tenderize them a bit.
2. Mix all ingredients, cornstarch last.
3. Coat the chops evenly. Leave in marinade for 15-30 minutes in the fridge. 
4. Heat your skillet with about a tablespoon of oil. Wait until your pan is nice and hot and the oil is shimmery.
5. place porkchops in pan, bone side toward the center. Cook about 3-4 minutes. When one side is cooked, flip to the other side. Cook another 3-4 minutes, remove from pan.
6. Boil remainder of marinade as sauce for about 5 minutes. Pour over chops.
7. Serve! (or cook your veggies in the pan next :)

Summer Mango Chicken

Today I staggered home through the heat and humidity of NYC. I knew I had nothing in my fridge. I knew I didn’t really want to cook – its too hot, and I don’t have air conditioning. But I did know that I bought my two other meals of the day, and spending money on the third was just plain irresponsible of me. So I inventoried the fridge:

Frozen chicken (diced)
Ripe mangos
Cilantro (left over from guacamole)
Red onions – already half gone
Garlic

And Voila! A meal!


1.    Season frozen chicken with a teaspoon and a half soy sauce, a generous pinch of cinnamon and cayenne, a teeny pinch of cumin, and a tablespoon of cooking wine. Maybe a drizzle of sesame oil too.
2.    Cube the mango. Mangos are oval and usually wider one way. The width is determined by the big skinny pit inside. Slice just above the center (hopefully skimming right by the pit) on either side. Take the halves and use your knife to score lines horizontally and vertically into bite size cubes, but don’t go thru the skin. Invert the mango skin so the fruit pops out – scoop it out with a spoon or cut it free with your knife.
3.    Chop your onion into similarly sized bite cubes. Mince the cilantro and garlic.
4.    When the chicken is defrosted, heat up your pan with a teaspoon of oil. Swirl the pan so it is coated evenly.
5.    Toss in the garlic. Cook until fragrant.
6.    Add chicken and marinade. Wait a minute or two (when the chicken is cooked at least on one side) and add onions. Cook until onions are mostly transparent.
7.    Add the cilantro and mangos. The riper the mango, the less you need to cook it. If you mango is super ripe, don’t cook it at all. Cook on medium heat for about a minute, maybe two, until the cilantro is incorporated and the mango and onion have picked up all the yummy chicken bits on the bottom of the pan. Do not cook any longer than this or you’ll end up with mango puree!
8.    Serve! Goes well with rice and beans.

Fruit Salad --> Fruit Parfait

I loooooooooooooove LOVE loooove summer. Not just because it warm out, or the leisurely way everyone goes about their lives. But because of the FRUIT. When you walk around parks with the farmer's markets, the fruits call to you, screaming, "EAT ME!" They tempt you as you peruse by with their scented nectar, pulling you in with their perfume. The berries, the peaches, the pineapples and melons. And they seem to get me every time.

And then Suanne has a treasure trove of fruit. In a one-person household -____-;;

Now Kelly will tell you she freezes her fruit. Suanne will tell you its a crime of nature not to eat them now. hahaha. So I make fruit salad!

My most recent fruit salad included strawberries, peaches, apple, and orange segments plus zest. Let me tell you how to segment an orange - otherwise called supremes.

You can watch chef Ming (and his always color coordinated dish towels to his shirts) supreme an orange here:


Technique: How to Supreme Citrus Fruit

1. Get a SHARP knife. This will not work with a butter knife. If you need zest, zest the fruit first.
2. Take your orange/lemon/lime/grapefruit/pomelo and slice off a bit from the top and bottom. (aka the part where the stem was). You want to cut enough so that you slice through the pith (the white squishy part) and can see the fruit.
3. Stand the fruit on the sliced edge.
4. Slice the fruit from the top, cutting with the curve of the fruit, separating the pith/skin from the fruit. This will make orange juice on your cutting board, so make sure you have a good hold on the fruit. Take your time.
5. Continue to slice all the pith and skin from the fruit so you have a globe of solid orange/lemon/whatever.
6. When you look at the fruit, you should see the longitudinal lines (vertical) that separate the segments. Cut just a smidge to the left and right of these lines and wiggle the supreme out. Now you have yummy fruit, with no pith or membranes! Isn't that faster than peeling?
7. Take the leftover membrane after you've removed all the segments, and give it a good squeeze. Reserve if you need some of the juice :)

And now for the parfait! When you have too much fruit salad, or just want to dress it up, grab some yogurt and you have a very impressive breakfast or light dessert.

Summer Fruit Parfait
Serves four large portions or six smaller ones

Two peaches
1 apple (granny smith or fuji)
1 orange
pint of strawberries
honey
plain or vanilla yogurt
sliced nuts (almonds for me)

1. Wash and dry your fruit.
2. Get rid of leaves, pits, and not so yummy parts of the fruit, like bruises
3. Zest and supreme the orange (no juice!! just the supremes and zest!)
4. Slice your fruit into 1/2 inch cubes. (the smaller the cubes, the prettier the parfait. Bigger cubes are great for just salad)
5. Toss in a big bowl!
6. Squirt a teaspoon of honey over the top, mix well. (if you just want salad stop here)
7. Grab 4 or 6 wine glasses
8. Add 3/4 an inch of fruit.
9. Add a layer of yogurt. Add a layer of fruit, yogurt, etc until you hit the top
10. Top with yogurt and the nuts.
11. Serve within 30 min. Salad is good for about 24 hours, then it gets kinda soppy.
12. ENJOY!

Guacamole Ole!

I make a DARN good guac. I made a big bowl of it once for my friend Steve and Perry. It lasted about 15 minutes. They forgot to share so I only got two bites of it!

The secret to good guacamole is ripe avocados. I pick Haas avocados, but the general rule for any avocado is this - pick one that has a little give. When you hold it in your palm and give it a gentle squeeze it should be a little soft. Think about the firmness of a ripe peach. It should NOT be hard. Avoid ones with bruises (aka spots where they got banged up and are a little too squishy in that area). When you slice into it, it should have the same give as room temperature butter. (See http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_peel_an_avocado/ for how to halve, seed, and cut your avocados).

The guacamole can be made as hot, sharp, or as green as you like it. Feel free to experiment!

Guacamole
Serves 4 as a snack, or two ravenous men.

2 ripe avocados, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 of a small sweet red pepper, minced (aka fine dice)
1/2 small red onion, minced very fine
1/2 jalapeno, minced very fine (your fingers may tingle after this so if you're sensitive, wear gloves)
1 clove garlic, minced very fine or paste (see: http://www.cuisineathome.com/main/videos/57-garlicpaste.php)
6 springs cilantro (as in individual thin stems, not 6 cilantro plants with the roots), minced
1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste

1. Prep all ingredients as directed above
2. Get a large bowl.
3. Combine the red pepper, red onion, jalapeno, and garlic.
4. Add the avocado. Mash some of the avocado to create a finer paste, but leave some intact for texture. As you mash, mix with other ingredients.
5. Stir in cilantro
6. Squeeze the lime juice over the guacamole and stir to incorporate. The citric acid in the lime keeps the avocado from oxidizing and turning brown as well as brightens up the flavor. I use almost a whole 1/2 lime, but add little by little to make sure it suits your taste.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste. If serving with chips, keep in mind those are already salted!

Espero que lo disfrutas!

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Okay, I know that this is my second post today, but there is a method to my madness! After making the delicious meatloaf the other day, I decided that it was lacking potatoes. But what kind of potatoes?

Roasted? Eh.
Fried? Bleh.
Mashed? Aha!

On my way home from work, I stopped at my local Indian grocery store (Thanks for the tip, Suanne!) and picked up some red potatoes. Then I headed home to create my luscious masterpiece! (Do I over-hype my food a bit? I'm beginning to think so ...)

Anyway, once the potatoes were finished, I crumbled some of my leftover meatloaf in the bottom of a mini-casserole dish, then covered it with a layer of mashed potatoes and baked my impromptu shepherd's pie in a 400-degree oven until it developed a light, golden-brown crust. Delicious!

**Shout-outs: This recipe is born out of a variety of tips I've picked up from tons of sources over a number of years. The ones I can remember are Wolfgang Puck, Alton Brown, and, of course, my awesome mom.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
- 1/2 pound of red potatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 tbs. butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Approx. 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (Keep the dark green and and the light green, separated. Discard the white parts.)
- Approx. 1/4 cup heavy cream (Guesstimate it!)
- 1 tbs. rosemary
- 1 tbs. basil
- Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a larger pot than you think is necessary, boil enough water to cover the potatoes. Add the potatoes and cover. While those cook ...
2. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt the butter and sauté the garlic and light green onions until tender.
3. Add the heavy cream, rosemary, and basil. Bring to a low simmer.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
5. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be about ready. You want to get them out of the water just as they start to get mushy. They should still be a little firm, but should mash when you press a fork down on one. Don't wait until they're soggy - that's too long!
6. Drain the potatoes into a colander and shake to remove excess water. Then, immediately return them to the still-hot pot. This will help to evaporate any leftover moisture.
7. Add about half of the warm cream and either whip or mash the potato mixture. Slowly add more of the cream until the proper consistency is reached. (You may not use all of the cream.)
8. You may need to add more salt, to taste. Your call.
9. Top with a sprinkling of the dark green onions.

Mmmm!

Mmmm ... Mmmm ... Meatloaf!

So, I haven't posted much lately - sorry to my co-author and all of our soon-to-be fans!

But fear not, my friends, for I bring you a new take on an old favorite (or not-so-favorite)! I've taken what can be a tired, boring, bland meal and turned it into a juicy, satisfying, filling comfort food.

It takes a little bit of work, but it freezes and reheats well. (I'm all for anything that freezes well: homemade food is so much better than TV dinners. Bleh!)

And now, without further ado, I give you one of the best meatloaves you'll ever taste!


Mmmm ... Mmmm ... Meatloaf
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup of carrots, diced
- 1/4 cup of celery, diced
- A splash of red wine (Either regular wine or cooking wine is fine.)
- 1/4 cup of green onion, chopped
- a handful of baby spinach
- 1/2 pound of ground turkey
- 1/4 cup pumpernickel crumbs (You can use any type of bread, but I like the flavor of pumpernickel. Also, bread that's more stale than fresh works better. Trust me.)
- 1 egg
- A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 1.5 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. coriander

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sauté the red onion, garlic, carrots and celery in a small amount of olive oil until they are tender.
3. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and let it reduce a bit.
4. Add the green onion and spinach. Cook until the spinach wilts. Remove from heat.
5. In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients with the veggies and another splash or two of red wine. (Use your hands - it's the best way to mix it! Just be sure to wash them well both before and after.)
6. Press the mixture into a loaf pan and cover with foil.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake until a thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit (about 15 to 20 minutes). There should be a nice crust on the top.
8. Once the meatloaf is cooked, remove from oven and let sit for at least ten minutes before cutting. (If you cut it immediately, all the juices will leak and the loaf will become dry!)
9. Enjoy!