Tasty Tuesdays: Major FAIL!

So, I got home from work and was all ready to make my Tasty Tuesday recipe for the week, but when I was done, it sucked. It was supposed to be Lemon Curry Roast Chicken, but it was't curry enough and the lemon taste was too dessert-y because of the tang. It wasn't sweet. It was tangy like lemon curd with some spice at the end. Bleh. It just wasn't edible. I ended up throwing the rest away after I ate one serving for dinner (and barely getting it down.) I'm thinking of writing Tyler Florence and letting him know his chicken was nowhere near ultimate.

Tasty Tuesday: A Mingle Monday Crossover!

In honor of Mingle Mondays from Life of Meg, I'm giving you two recipes! The first is a recipe from one of the sites I "mingled" with! Sweet Pea Kitchen actually just posted one of my favorite recipes; Skinny Girl Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have actually made these cookies numerous times and they are one of my FAVORITES! They are dense and kind of a cross-breed between a cookie and cake texture which is fine by me! Go ahead and check out the recipe on the Sweet Pea site here!

As for my own recipe for the week I bring you Butternut Squash Tomato Gratin! This is a great recipe from the cookbook "What Can I Bring?" and I think it's a nice blend of summer and fall!

Serves 12

Ingredients:

1 -2 medium butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (14 ounce) cans diced canned tomatoes (plain or with basil, oregano)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

Directions:
1 Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
2 Using a sharp knife, trim off and discard the ends of the squash, then slice it in half lengthwise.
3 Scoop out the seeds and discard them.
4 Place the squash halves, cut side up, in a microwave oven, cover them with waxed paper and cook on high until soft, yet still firm enough to cut into cubes, about 8 minutes.
5 Place the squash on a large cutting board and let cool until you can handle it, then peel and cut into 1-inch cubes.
6 Place the squash in a 13 X 9 inch dish, drizzle the olive oil on it, then scatter the tomatoes, followed by the cheese evenly on top.
7 Bake until the cheese melts and squash and tomatoes are heated through, about 20 to 25 minutes.

To simplify it I bought a couple bags of the already cut butternut squash that you can find over by the bagged salads in the produce section. So basically, with the exception of grating cheese (which is SO hard to do), you basically dump the squash in a baking dish, drizzle olive oil, pour tomatos on top, then sprinkle cheese. Into the oven it goes! It tastes great and makes your kitchen smell wonderful as well! Bon appetit!

Tasty Tuesday: BEST PASTA EVER

I'm sorry I don't have pictures, but just trust me that this pasta is pretty and DELICIOUS!

B.P.E. (Best Pasta Ever) -my own recipe
Serves 1

1 cup uncooked TJ's Brown Rice Penne Pasta
2 slices prosciutto-chopped into small pieces
1-2 Tbs. butter
1/4 white onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped ( I use the frozen pre-minced kind at TJ's)
Grated Parmesan-to your liking ( I use about 4 tbs. to make this into a sort of garlicky mac and cheese)

Okay, this recipe is by no means healthy, but it is delicious!!! Yum! Yum! Yum! Eat it when you want to indulge!

Cook the pasta in boiling water for 10 min. This seems to be the perfect temp for brown rice pasta.

Let the onion sweat over medium heat in a saute pan. After a min. add the prosciutto so it can start to crisp up.

Add the butter and garlic and keep over medium heat until the onion start to brown slightly.

Drain the pasta and pour the whole butter/onion mixture on top. Add the parmesan and stir to create the best gooey, garlicky pasta ever!

I now make this about once a week! And I should probably start eating salads on the days I decide to have this for dinner.

Tasty Tuesdays: Steak Involtini

In an effort to actually use my cookbooks and learn how to cook (one of my goals for the year), I've decided to implement Tasty Tuesdays. I'll post a new recipe that I tried to make each week and what my finished product looked like.

First up, Giade de Laurentis' Steak Involtini (recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

Breading:

• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Filling:

• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (8-ounce) London broil steaks, trimmed and pounded 1/8-inch thick
• 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
• Special equipment: 4 (4-inch) skewers

Directions

For the breading: In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

For the filling: In a large bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of Parmesan, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup olive oil, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cut the steaks in half crosswise and place on a work surface. Spread the mixture evenly over the steaks. Roll up the steaks and secure with skewers.

In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat. Roll the steaks in the bread crumb mixture until coated and add to the skillet. Cook the steaks until brown on all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the marinara sauce to the pan. Bring the sauce to a simmer and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer, turning occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes for medium-well.

Remove the skewers, place the steaks on a cutting board and slice thinly. Arrange the steak slices on plates and serve with the marinara sauce.

So here's what I did differently:

• Nixed the breadcrumbs since I'm not supposed to have bread and just rubbed the whole thing in parmesan.
• I used a really big flank steak because I couldn't find London Broil. I sliced it in half (and my finger with it) and after getting a band-aid, I stuffed the whole thing with the filling and rolled it up. Since it was so big it looked like this:
• 
• So after browning all of it I realized the middle was never going to cook all the way through. I took the whole thing out and put it all in my pretty Le Creuset pan and sliced it.
• Then I heated my oven to 400 degrees and put it all in for 20 min.
• It came out looking like this:
It's not the prettiest thing to look at, but it is darn tasty! Nice mellow tomato flavor and yummy parmesan and garlic-y taste as well. Plus, I was able to make 6 servings out of it. Serve with a side of Trader Joe's Balsamic Butter Veggies and it would be a delicious meal!