Monday, May 21, 2007

Recipe review

I have almost used up all of the food in our outside freezer! Yeah! Then I can defrost it and clean it out before I start again. I have told some new moms that I would make and freeze some baked pasta for them.

Here are my updates for recipes, click on the title above and it will take you to the post.

Spice-Baked Sea Bass (Frozen Halibut for us, Orca brand from Costco) and Red Lentils - my husband said that the two things he doesn't really like (fish and lentils) both were great! Before I get comments - yes, I know he loves sushi, but doesn't like fish otherwise. :-) If you like cumin, you will like this recipe.

Tortellini with Bacon, Greens and Brown Butter - I changed this one up because have you priced tortellini???? $4 for 8.8 oz. In this family, that would be two servings, with no leftovers. So what I did was use a large package of penne (I buy the 6 pk of penne and the 6 pk of spaghetti - Garofalo imported pasta and keep in the pantry at all times. Sorry, whole wheat pasta tastes like dirt and is overpriced as it is "popular" now, so I am a purist and prefer Italian pasta, as the pasta should be the neutral palate for the flavors that you add. Also, because I am Italian and the brand name reminds me of my maiden name.)

Off the soapbox, back to the recipe - I cut back the butter by 2 Tbsp. (used 4) and probably used half the bacon it called for. I keep a package in the freezer and slice what I need (don't worry about getting slices, just cut a small piece off the end when you need some bacon. I also save the bacon fat, put in a tiny container in the fridge. Then I can use a teaspoon if I ever need that flavor to saute something.

Since I didn't use cheese tortellini, I bought a small piece of smoked mozzerella as I thought the smokiness would stand up to the bacon and tart arugula. By the way, if you can find arugula fresh (even organic), it is cheaper than buying it prepackaged. I spent at least $1 less buying it this way and I think I got even more. This is something we need to grow out back in a little salad garden.

So by extending the recipe and having smaller portions as this was a rich recipe, I think I cut back the fat grams by at least half. Still not a light recipe, this one was a winner with the man in the house.

Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives - this one was really good. Definitely serve rice with it as the sauce is a little juicy and needs something like rice or couscous to get the juices. Since I didn't have any big jars of Spanish olives (you can buy at Costco), I bought a small jar at the store, but made a mistake and they weren't pitted and didn't have pimentos! So I had to cut them off the pits for the recipe. Time consuming, so watch what you buy!

As for the pizza, we simply used mozzerella (shredded, kept in the freezer), the rest of the arugula, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts. I used the brown rice and made a vegetable stir fry using the Kirkland frozen stir-fry veggies and Kirkland egg-substitute.

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