Main Dish | I Can Cook That

Pasta in a Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce

When the weather gets cold, I start craving pasta, pasta, and more pasta (I fully blame this on my Italian mother). I don’t want to get stuck eating the same thing every night though, so I try to have a few recipes on hand that I can cycle through so that I don’t get sick of my delicious carbs.

Combining my love of mushrooms with my affinity of pasta, I tend to use this recipe a lot. This recipe does include whipping cream though, so I wouldn’t suggest making this a weekly staple. But it is a really easy and comforting meal.

Ingredients:

1 box uncooked farfalle pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 package of each of the following: shiitake, cremini, portobello and oyster mushrooms (if your supermarket has an exotic mushroom blend, grab 2 of those. If some other mushroom is calling your name, feel free to sub), sliced
½ cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
Pepper, to taste
¼ cup dry white wine (I just used whatever white wine was on hand and open)
2/3 cup whipping cream
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Scallops Grapefruit and Fennel? Hmm…

After watching a few episodes of Top Chef Masters recently, I had a hankering for some scallops (which I’m going to blame on seeing Jamie, who made like 14 scallop dishes during her season on Top Chef). Luckily, the December issue of Cooking Light had a recipe for scallops that looked really appealing: Seared scallops with fennel and grapefruit salad. I was interested to see how such strong flavors would work together.

Ingredients:

1 large grapefruit

1.5 cups sliced fennel bulb (1 small-ish bulb)

½ cup flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

½ – 1 lb sea scallops (about 12 for two people)

Salt and Pepper, to taste

To start, peel and section the grapefruit, reserving about ¾ cup grapefruit sections in a bowl. With the remaining grapefruit, squeeze to extract the juice (about ¼ cup) and set aside (apart from the grapefruit sections.

To cut the fennel, trim off the stalks and discard. Remove any dirty or hard areas on the bulb (that white part at the bottom) by peeling off the first layer if needed. Cut the bulb in half and lay them on the cutting board flat side down. Slice across the bulb in thin slices.

Combine the grapefruit sections, fennel, and parsley in a bowl. Set aside.

grapefruit and fennel salad

I always thought cooking scallops would be a daunting task, but it is actually really easy, and quick too! However, be careful to not overcook them, scallops can get very rubbery if left on the heat too long. This recipe called for pan frying the scallops so I started by heating 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan. While waiting for the pan to heat up, I sprinkled some salt and pepper on the scallops and then added them to the pan one by one (I used tongs to put them in so that the liquid didn’t splash all over the place). Let the scallops cook one that one side for about 4 minutes. Use the tongs to flip the scallops over and cook for another minute. Remove the scallops and keep warm.

seared scallops

Add the reserved grapefruit juice to the pan and cook for about two minutes. Remove from heat.

To assemble the dish: place half of the fennel mixture on each plate (I made two servings). Divide scallops evenly (each plate should have 4-6 scallops) then top with half of the rendered juice.

This ended up being a really pretty dish, if I do say so myself. Taste-wise, it was something nice and different, but I don’t think I enjoy fennel ( = mild licorice) enough to add this to my list of rotating dinners. However, I’m pretty jazzed to add scallops to my list of foods I can handle cooking!

My Attempt at Afghan Cusine

There are two Afghan restaurants near where I live, and I love them so much that not one, but both restaurants know me by name. That’s when it hit me that I should probably attempt to recreate some of these delicious meals myself, to help my poor empty wallet. So, here’s my attempt at Korma-E-Murgh (at least that’s what it is called on their menu). The dishes are usually made with lamb or chicken, and the lamb far surpasses the chicken. But making lamb still intimidates me, so I’m trying this with my trusty chicken. On the menu, this dish is described as “delicately seasoned boneless diced chicken with tomatoes, onions, and selected Afghan spices, served with white rice”… here goes..

Ingredients

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 cup water

For the chalow:

1 cup basmati rice
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Chicken

Continue reading My Attempt at Afghan Cusine

Mexican Night

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I need to clean out my fridge to make room for all of the leftovers I plan on hoarding from my relatives. (I love that they end up feeding me for the whole weekend) The best (and tastiest) way to do this is to make tacos for dinner.

Ingredients

Chicken
Taco Seasoning (recipe below)
Yellow Rice
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Onions
Green Pepper
Guacamole (recipe below)
Cheese (I used pepper jack and cheddar)
Taco shells or soft tacos

I usually have most of the above lying around, which is why this is my favorite recipe to get rid of a bunch of ingredients. As a side note: I live alone, so I just buy a bunch of chicken on sale, put the pieces in individual freezer bags, and pull them out the day before to defrost in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the rice according to directions. While the rice is cooking, put 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan on medium heat. While that warms up, season the chicken with the taco seasoning.

Taco Seasoning Recipe

Taco Seasoning

4 parts chili powder
4 parts ground cumin
2 parts paprika
2 parts salt
2 parts black pepper
1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1 part crushed red pepper flakes
1 part dried oregano

Mix. Store remaining spice mix in an airtight container.

Brown the chicken on both sides and place in the oven for 20 minutes. While the chicken and rice are cooking, chop all vegetables (tomatoes, green peppers, onion and lettuce)

To make the guacamole, cut avocados removing the seed. Put in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add onion, some chopped cilantro, chopped onion, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a dash of black pepper, and some of the chopped tomato. Mix.

Homemade Guacamole

Make sure to leave yourself enough onion and tomato to have as a topping for your tacos. Once the chicken is finished cooking, cut into bite size pieces and serve.

Not to shabby of a spread!

Each person can build their own taco to their liking. I usually take the leftovers and combine them for lunch the next day too. Yum!

Finished Product

Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce

As the days grow colder, I begin to mourn the loss of one of my favorite summer ingredients: tomatoes. I know, I know, tomatoes are available year round. But they lose their appeal when they begin to look like Styrofoam. Trying to get in one last hurrah with fresh tomatoes, I decided to try a recipe from Cooking Light (September 2010 edition, I’m a little late in my preparation), “Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce”.

Ingredients

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine (I substituted box spaghetti, I’m sure fresh pasta would really enhance this dish though)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved (about 1/2 cup)

Continue reading Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce