Red potatoes with lemon butter and fresh herbs!

This is a great side dish for any kind of meat or fish.  First, the shopping list!

List
Red or white little potatoes (I think I used 6-8 medium sized ones, a little smaller than a tennis ball)
4 tbs butter
1 lemon
fresh parsley (I told you, I do not let fresh herbs go to waste!)
fresh basil (or just buy the tube of fresh basil in the produce section, that's what I do)
salt
pepper


1. Cut your potatoes in four big chunks and put in a large pot.  Fill with water until all the potatoes are under water.  Bring water to a boil for 15-20 minutes.  You know they're done when you can slide a fork or knife in and out of a potatoe with east, no crunchy feeling.

2. While the potatoes are boiling, you can rinse your herbs in water and then chop the parsley and basil.  You should have about 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and the same for fresh basil, or if you use the tube use about 2 tbs of basil.

3. When the potatoes are cooked, drain water out and put the potatoes back in the pan with the butter, fresh herbs and squeeze 1/2 lemon's juice in there too.  Just use a sprinkle, about 1/8-1/4 tsp of salt and about 1/4-1/2 tsp of pepper.  Stir this all around in the pot so the potatoes soak up the butter and lemon and all the yummy herb flavors and you're done!  The potatoes will get a little mashed in the stirring process, so don't worry, it's going to be delicious.  Taste and add more of whatever seasoning you think it needs, if any!  The lemon is a great sub for extra salt in this side dish.

Recipe discouragement

Sometimes when a recipe has too many directions I assume it is too complicated and just skip over it (which is funny, because I tend to over explain things all the time).  What I found to be helpful was to just highlight the key words/terms in the directions and that made everything much easier.

P.S.  I read that balled up aluminum foil works great as a substitute for SOS pads and it totally worked on the crock pot I used and didn't wash for a few days... but I do recomend filling the pot or pan you're using with hot soapy water first and let it sit for a few hours or overnight.  Or you could clean your pans right after your done cooking with them, but who has time for that?

Seafood pasta w/citrus chardonnay sauce experiment

Ok, this is going to be another recipe without exact measurements... it was an experiement that tasted great, but next time I think I would serve the asparagus on the side or just forgo it all together, but you can do what you want.  Also, if you don't like certain meats/seafoods that a dish calls for, but the sauce sounds good, feel free to sub in your favorite and see what happens, could be amazing!  Any-who, here's the dealy-o:

Seafood pasta w/citrus chardonnay sauce

Shopping list:
4 tbs butter (butter makes everything better)
asparagus (just one bunch will do, you're only going to use about half.  Also, cut about an inch off the bottom, because that part is very tough)
1/2 package fettucine
1 lemon  (sometimes if you buy a whole bag, it's more cost efficient than buying 1 or 2 and they last a long time in the fridge)
garlic (I buy the precut in the big jar, it's quicker when making your meal and it also lasts a loooong time in the fridge, but you do usually need to use twice as much as fresh garlic cloves)
1/2 lb medium shrimp
12 mussels
1 can artichoke hearts (packed in water, not oil, still tastes good and less fat)
1 cup Chardonnay
1/4 cup of either heavy cream, whole milk or half and half (I say this because when something calls for cream I pretty much use whatever's in the fridge.)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (I had leftover from the stew)
2 tbs fresh basil (I use Gourment Garden in the tube, it's in the produce section, real, fresh herbs, ready in the tube for your cooking convenience.  It's awesome, you get your moneys worth and will usually last a couple months.  Check the pull date.)
salt
pepper

OK, I'm going to be honest, this recipe took a little while for me to make, but it was an experiement and now that I've done it once, I think I can give you the short version.  I think.

1. Cook fettucine according to directions, drain, then put back in the pan tossed with a little olive oil, put the lid on and set aside so it stays warm.
2. While pasta is cooking, you can melt your butter in a large pan on low to medium heat with the garlic.  Add the juice of your lemon, chopped parsley, basil and the cup of chardonnay and heat over medium-high for about 5-10 minutes at a gentle boil.
3. Whisk or stir in the cream/milk until well blended.  Turn heat down to low or warm, add asparagus and 1/2 can of artichoke hearts(quartered) and sprinkle with about 1/4 tsp(guesstimate) of salt and the same for pepper(add more pepper if you like a bit more kick, or sub with cracked red pepper, just remember a little goes a long way with that stuff).  Only let this cook for about 3 minutes or the asparagus will get mushy.  Or just forgo the asparagus and keep it on warm, the artichokes will be fine.
4. If you have the right equipment to steam the shrimp and mussels, do it for about 2 minutes.  I just used a large pan, boiled some water and put a metal rack I use to cool off baked goods and put that on top of the pan and put the mussles and shrimp on top of that and then covered it with a large lid from another pan (I know, I'm fancy).  The shrimp will be pink and firm when they're done and the mussels will have opened
5.  Put the shrimp and mussels in with the sauce and toss around.  Put fettucine on a plate or bowl and serve the seafood mix on top, be sure to put a few spoonfuls of sauce on top too!  Like most pasta dishes, this would be great with some good bread and a side salad.

Side note:  Buy an extra can of artichoke hearts and you can use the leftover 1/2 can of this recipe along with a new can, put it in a sauce pan with a few tbs of butter, parmeasan cheese and a sprinkling of your fresh parsley, heat on medium until artichokes are warmed and cheese is a little melty and BAM!  Instant side dish.  Probably would go best with any kind of grilled meat or fish.

Measurements

You'll notice in this blog that my measurements aren't exact, the only time I really try to stick to measurements is when I'm baking, otherwise I just kind of eyeball the measurements or add more of a spice or ingredient if it's something I really like the flavor of.  I recomend you do the same, and don't be scared of new ingredients or recipes you haven't tried before, you might surprise yourself! 

Be adventurous, sometimes the best way to learn is from trying something new and making mistakes.  One of the first meals my Nana made for my Pop instructed her to wash the chicken.  She took this literally and washed it with Tide.  She told me the chicken was aweful, but it was a learning experience.  This story amazed me, because my Nana is one of the best cooks I've ever known.

dinner last night - Beef Stew

My Cooking Light cookbook provided me with a tastey meal last night, but, like most recipes on here, I'm going to give you my version.

Made a beef stew yesterday, but instead of cooking it entirely on the stovetop, I threw most of the ingredients in the crock pot so I could spend less time in the kitchen and that way dinner was ready whenever I wanted it.  I recomend putting this together before you go to work, or sometime during the morning while the kids are napping or at school.

Shopping list:
1 to 1.5 lbs beef stew meat (you can buy it in pre-cut chunks in the meat section at the grocery store)
olive oil
3-4 tbs butter
2-3 cups mushrooms (I use baby bella pre-sliced, more flavore and pre-sliced saves time in the kitchen)
2 cups sliced carrots (about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, doesn't need to be perfect)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery (make this thin, 1/8 inch or less, celery doesn't soften as well in the crockpot as the other ingredients)
2 cloves garlic or 2 big tbs of pre-chopped garlic from the jar
1 cup water
1 cup cabernet sauvignon (I usually use whatever red wine is in the house, last night it was Pinot Noir)
1/2 tsp thyme (I was out of thyme, so I used poultry seasoning, because thyme was the first ingredient listed)
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt (regular salt works too, just use a little bit more)
1/4-1/2 tsp ground black pepper (get yourself a pepper grinder if you don't already have one, it makes a difference!)
28 oz can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
2-3 bay leaves (always good to have on hand if you like making flavorful stews and soups)
2.25 oz can sliced olives, drained (I didn't have any of these, so I chopped up a big handful of green olives that were in my fridge, worked great)
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup flat-leaf/italian parsley (some recipes you can sub with dried herbs and spices, but fresh is a must in this case)

1.  Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a large pan on medium high, throw the meat in and lightly salt and pepper it, brown it on the outside, maybe 3 minutes, then put the meat in the crock pot (the crock pot will finish cooking the meat, making it tender)
2. Put the butter in the pan, melt it, add the mushrooms and brown, about 3 minutes, then add the rest of the raw veggies, cook for a minute to absorb the butter, then throw in the crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Either cook on Low setting in the crockpot 6-8 hours or you can cook on High for about 4 hours.  Dinner is done, dude!  The recipe suggested serving over mashed potatoes (I like Idahoian instant mashed potatoes, quick and easy) or another yummy suggestion is to serve it with some good bread or fresh rolls, which is what I did.  This makes about 4-6 servings, depending on how big the bowls are that you put this in :-)

You can add a little more salt to the recipe, if you think it needs it.  If you think you've put too much salt in the stew and it tastes like a salt lick, put a big chunk of raw, peeled potato in there for a half hour or so to cook.  The potato will absorb the extra salt, just pull it out before serving the stew.

Stay tunned for future recipes.  When I buy fresh herbs I usually end up making several recipes that call for the same ones so they don't go to waste.  Flat-leaf parsley was the key in this recipe.

New to blogging...

Hello all!  I am pretty new to blogging, so I hope you'll come back to my page often to check out my new posts as I figure this out!  My goal with this blog is to post recipes I've used, doctored up or created myself.  I love good food and cooking, but don't have all day to make a recipe and realize many of you are in the same boat.  I also try to find recipes that don't cost an arm and a leg to make, because in this economy everyone seems to be on a budget!  I'm a big coupon clipper and love telling people about great deals I've found.  I also appreciate hearing about kitchen tips and ideas from others, because for me, you can never know too much about cooking!

I have no professional cooking experience and will make spelling errors on this blog, bear with me!  I hope everyone will enjoy reading this blog as much as I will enjoy creating it, and remember, nothing is ever "burned", it's blackened (or you can throw some ground red pepper on it and call it Cajun).