Tuesday

Roast Beef Po' Boys - almost - for the slow cooker

I say these are "almost" Roast Beef Po' Boys for a few reasons. First, I made our hoagie rolls in our standard 5-6 inches-ish length, rather than making something 8-10 inches like they do in New Orleans. My debris gravy is definitely not authentic. And, while we got them "almost" dressed, there's no such thing as a good tomato in Ohio in February, so they were missing a shirt.

But, yes, that IS gravy dripping down the side!

What is a Po' Boy? A sandwich filled with goodies by another other name is still a sandwich filled with goodies. Your area of the country might call them hoagies or submarine sandwiches or grinders. In New Orleans, Po' Boy is the local lingo. Of course, the most famous versions are usually filled with breaded and fried seafood - shrimp, catfish, crawfish, or oysters. To me, a Roast Beef Po' Boy (poor boy for those who prefer to spell the whole word) is like an open-faced roast beef sandwich all wrapped up in a bun.

Technically speaking, the debris floating in the gravy are bits and pieces of meat that have naturally fallen off the roast while it is braising. I didn't technically braise (slow cooking in liquid) my roast, but it's close enough for rock 'n roll when you're using a slow cooker. When I'm cooking with chuck roast, I prefer to use my slow cooker - turn it on in the morning and around supper time the meat is fall-apart tender. But, when I trimmed the fat, there were a few pieces of meat left in the rind plus a 3-ish ounce piece of roast. I pulled these little bits and pieces out of the fat and added them to my gravy.

Finally, a lesson in dressing your sandwiches in New Orleans. You don't have to say you want "lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise" on your sandwich, whether it's a po' boy, burger or muffuletta. All you have to do is say "dressed" and your sandwich miraculously comes laden with that specific quartet of goodies. Be warned: if you are in NOLA and you ask for your muffuletta to be dressed, they'll look at you funny.

The voice inside Harry's head told me to trim the biggest part of the fat off of the chuck roast before cooking it. I wasn't about to let that flavor go to waste, so there it sits waiting on its happy purpose. My knife also needed some love and I'm not as skilled in the meat-trimming department as Harry. I made a simple rub of Kosher salt, ground black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic and ground oregano and slapped it on both sides of the meat.

Then, something very strange happened. Harry was at work and the voice in his head told me to sear the meat. Usually, when I'm making a pot roast I just throw everything in the slow cooker and forget about it. I have a strange fear of cooking things at too high of a temperature but this worked very well. Just a few minutes and the flavor at the end was well worth it.

I don't think it's possible to eat beef without onion as flavor. I had a half of a huge sweet onion in the fridge and just sliced it real quick and covered the chuck roast with it. You can't see it but on the very bottom of the crock is the fat I trimmed from the roast - I just used it to make a nice bed for the seared chuck. After the onions, I poured in a half-bottle of Great Lakes Brewing Company's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (again, I think Harry's voice was speaking to me) and drank the rest. My cooker has settings ranging from 4 hours - high to 10-hours slow. I used 6 hours - high and it was about 7 hours (automatically turns to warm) before I started the gravy.

After pulling out all of the bits and pieces of meat from the fat and setting them aside, I strained the cooking liquid into my saucepan. I added about a half-cup of water and brought it all to a boil, including the bits and pieces of meat. Then, I made an easy flour-water slurry and added enough to thicken the gravy. I also added about a teaspoon of red wine vinegar and even though Harry was sitting there, his lips didn't move when some strange voice told me to add some butter to finish the gravy.

Now, a secret I read yesterday from New Orleans Magazine that the locals won't share with us Yankees is this: they all add a few splashes of hot pepper sauce to their Roast Beef Po' Boys. I have to agree with the logic - the Frank's didn't really add any heat but the vinegar cut through the richness of the gravy for a nice contrast. (The mayonnaise is buried under the shredded iceberg lettuce and yes, I sliced those pickles myself.)

I've actually only had one Roast Beef Po' Boy in Louisiana and it wasn't even in NOLA. We stopped at Abita Brewing in Abita Springs, LA to have a beer and decided we needed to eat. No, I don't think mine is as good as that one was but this sandwich is killer. Harry thanked me for not making them 10 inches long because he still would have felt the need to eat two. This size is just right!

Roast Beef Po' Boys for the Slow Cooker - serves 6
2 1/2 to 3 pound beef chuck roast, trimmed of large fat and rind
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces amber beer or porter (yes, you can use wine or water or beef broth)
1 cup sliced onions

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cold water, divided
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon butter

6 hoagie rolls or submarine sandwich buns, toasted
shredded iceberg lettuce
dill pickle slices
mayonnaise
tomato slices (if available)
hot pepper sauce (if desired)
lots of napkins

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, granulated garlic, paprika and ground oregano. After trimming the chuck roast, rub both sides of the meat with the rub ingredients.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When heated add the olive oil and swirl around, then place the roast, flat-side down, in the skillet. Allow to sear until a nice crust forms on the bottom, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the roast over and sear the other side. Remove from heat and set aside for a moment.

Layer the fat trimmings in the bottom of your slow cooker, then place the seared chuck roast on top of the trimmings. Cover the roast with the onion slices then add the 6 ounces of beer. Cover the cooker and let roast for 6 to 8 hours or until very tender.

Remove roast to a plate and cover with foil to keep it warm. Remove any small pieces of meat that might remain in the slow cooker or the fat and set aside in a bowl. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, add 1/2 cup of water and the bits and pieces of meat, then bring to a strong simmer.

In a cup or bowl, mix 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour with one cup of cold water until smooth. Slowly add the slurry to the simmering liquid, whisking to prevent lumps, until the gravy is thickened. Add the red wine vinegar and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the flour taste is gone. Whisk in the tablespoon of butter and the gravy is finished.

To assemble the Roast Beef Po' Boys:

Thinly slice the reserved roast beef. On each toasted hoagie roll, spread mayonnaise on the top half. Pile several slices of roast beef on the bottom half of the bun and then ladle on some gravy. Top with tomato, pickle, hot pepper sauce and shredded lettuce and serve with several napkins.

Monday

Jambalaya with Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Sausage

In our continuing celebration of Mardi Gras here in an area of the world that really doesn't care about it, we decided to make Jambalaya. Well, I gave Harry a choice - we could have Jambalaya or Shrimp Etouffee, one of his absolute favorites. When we were in NOLA, he ordered it every single night!

He really wanted his favorite, but settled with 'we've never made Jambalaya before.' Well, I have but it might have been right before we met.

I had to make do with what ingredients I could find here in Ohio, but found some awesome Key West Shrimp and an Andouille-flavored smoked sausage. No, it's not the *real* stuff, but it does provide a great flavor and some heat. Feel free to use regular smoked sausage.

There's no such thing as a one perfect recipe for Jambalaya - it's doing to be different in every single kitchen. In French cooking, the basic building block of most stews is a combination of diced onions, carrots and celery. Cajun and Creole cooks leave out the carrots and use bell peppers. I chose a yellow bell pepper because of the intense sweet flavor. Try to keep your diced veggies about the same size - celery should be a bit smaller because of the density. Sweat them in a stock pot just until they start to give off their aroma - they'll be cooking for awhile and you don't want them to turn to mush. Add the garlic and stir around for a few seconds until you can smell it.

Add the chicken and smoked sausage. We debated later that maybe I should have seared the meat first before I added the vegetables. Yeah, I might have gotten a little bit of caramelization on the meat but in the end, we didn't miss it. Saute and stir around occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink.

Now I've added all the liquid, canned tomatoes and seasonings. Once this comes to a simmer, it's time to add the rice. Reduce the heat to low, put a lid on it and don't peek for at least 15 minutes. Taste test the rice for doneness, then add the shrimp, stirring gently just to submerge the shrimp. Cover the pot again and it's done in 5 minutes.

And time to eat. I made some quick garlic bread and we nibbled on raw veggies while I was cooking - because Harry was out of peanut-butter filled pretzel nuggets.

Debbie & Harry's Jambalaya - generously serves 6
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced sweet onion
3 celery ribs, cleaned and diced
1 medium bell pepper, cleaned and diced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces smoked sausage or Andouille sausage, cut into medallions
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 15-ish ounce can vegetable broth
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can roasted diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (or to taste - we used our Cajun Kick)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Frank's Red Hot Sauce to taste (or use your favorite hot sauce)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice (we love Basmati or Jasmine)
1 pound medium to large raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned
Chopped scallion for garnish

In a large stock pot with a heavy bottom over medium-high heat, saute the onion, celery and bell pepper until the aroma fills your kitchen, about 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds. Then, add the sausage and chicken, stirring well. Continue to saute over medium heat until the chicken is no longer pink.

Add the vegetable and chicken broths, the water, the canned tomatoes and the seasonings. Stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a simmer. Stir in the rice, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Do not open the lid until at least 15 minutes have elapsed. If you stir while the rice is cooking, it will clump together and get gooey.

After 15 minutes, taste the rice for doneness and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Gently stir in the shrimp and cover the pot for another five minutes. Garnish the jambalaya with diced scallions and serve with a crusty bread.

Salt-Free Cajun Seasoning Made at Home

I fell in love with Cajun and Creole flavors during a long-term work assignment in Louisiana. This Midwest girl learned that Cajun didn't have to mean "light my face on fire" heat or that everything was blackened. Harry spent some time with a bayou family when I was about 6 or 7 years old - I'm sure it had nothing to do with the hottie in the short-shorts. I'd love to meet her - she and her family taught him about so many wonderful foods and she even gave him some recipes that we use today.

I made a trip to a few grocery stores just before my work assignment ended, stocking up on seasonings, crawfish and Community Coffee. Those items are long gone and I had to learn to make the seasonings myself. I don't criticize anyone for using the major label stuff that is available on the grocery shelves in central Ohio. My biggest problem with the commercial seasonings is that the first ingredient on the label is salt. While salt has its place in almost any cooking as a flavor enhancer, I want to taste the flavors, not the salt.

When we were starting The Wright Taste, we wanted to include a line of seasonings. We scoured the Internet, looking for recipes. We had the same problem as I had in the stores - every recipe had tons of salt. I tried making the recipe and just eliminating the salt but there was no balance of flavors, just some heat.

We had all these spices but couldn't find a good combination on the web. So, we started playing and the strangest thing happened. No salt and equal quantities of six spices gave us the balanced blend of flavors we loved in Cajun food. We labeled this as Cajun Kick and loved that we could tell our customers it contained no salt and they controlled the heat - from a little sprinkle for flavor to a light-you-up heat.

We sprinkle this salt-free Cajun seasoning on pork chops or boneless chicken breasts before cooking. I also use it in any recipe that calls for Cajun seasoning. You probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry!

Measure equal amounts - I suggest starting with 1 teaspoon of each - of these six spices: granulated garlic, granulated onion, ground white pepper, ground cayenne pepper, ground paprika, and ground black pepper. Mix together a store in an airtight container in a cool dark place. If you decide to go big and make a huge batch, store the bulk of it in the freezer, refilling your pantry container as needed.

Sunday

The great homemade yogurt experiment - round one

This was my breakfast this morning. Yeah, I love a hearty breakfast filled with peameal bacon, scrambled eggs, whole wheat pancakes, biscuits and sausage gravy and any host of other breakfast yumminess. But, Harry's working 6-7 days a week and I'm still working on actually eating breakfast every day AND I made my first batch of homemade yogurt in more than 20 years.

Back in the day when I was young and married and filled with adoration of making everything from scratch, we made yogurt often. The father of my children had purchased one of those Salton makers when he was a teenager and yeah, it worked OK. My memories are hazy but I do recall that the yogurt was usually very dry and sour to the taste, and I always had to flavor it heavily to get the kids to eat it. Then, we got divorced, I got custody of the kids and he got custody of the yogurt maker.

Even though I was reduced to buying yogurt at the store, I'm pretty sure I got the better end of the deal.

A couple of years ago, I came across an article from my friend Angie, How to Make Raw Milk Yogurt . I've lived in this area my entire life. I'll admit to not being involved in the local farmers market scene until about five years ago, but those raw milk people are very, very secretive. I was interested in getting my hands on some to make a sourdough starter. NO ONE would talk to me. The one person who admitted to knowing someone who might be able to get some raw milk wouldn't help me out - I guess he was afraid I would follow him.

So, I was stuck buying my milk at Kroger because I didn't have time to go to the Hill's Market to get some low-temp pasteurized milk.

I found a post via Pinterest (are you addicted yet? shoot me an e-mail at debbieandharryskitchen at gmail dot com and I'll send you an invitation) from Emily at Keeper of the Home explaining the slow cooker method of making homemade yogurt. Emily was making 8-cup batches in a round slow cooker. But, I had read a few other yogurt-making blog posts that indicated my huge, oval slow cooker might not work well with a small amount. So, I'm starting with a half-gallon of organic whole milk that, unfortunately, is ultra-pasteurized but at least it's not UHT.

For my yogurt starter, I bought (mistakenly, because I meant to get full-fat) an organic fat-free plain Greek yogurt. In reading through comments from other homemade yogurt-makers, I found that I should try to get a yogurt that has at least five active cultures.

Time to start - by the way, the actual working time about 20 minutes.

Plug in your slow cooker and turn it on to heat up while you are heating the milk. I put mine on the "High - 4 Hour" setting. I poured the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heated it over medium until it was 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir the milk every once in awhile so it doesn't stick to the bottom and scorch.

As soon as the milk hit the right temperature, I put it into half a sink-full of cold water (make sure the water doesn't come up over the top of the pot!). I don't know if I was supposed to leave the milk 'still' but I kind of stirred it around with my digital thermometer until the temperature was right around 100 degrees.

I took my starter yogurt out of the fridge when I started heating the milk. The picture is deceiving - it was a 5.3 ounce container. Add about one cup of the cooled milk to the yogurt to temper it, then add the yogurt/milk mixture to the rest of the milk in the slow cooker.

Turn off and unplug your slow cooker and wrap it in a huge, heavy towel. I took care to tuck the towel under the sides of the cooker. And, in the words of my favorite kitchen geek Alton Brown, 'just walk away'. Leave the yogurt sit idly for 6 to 10 hours. Emily said she usually leaves hers for 8 hours (again, she makes one-quart batches). I unwrapped the yogurt at 9 hours and immediately put it into the fridge where it slept overnight.

Emily suggested resting in the fridge for 12 hours. Mine was there for a little longer than that because the satellite guy showed up early to install the new receiver/DVR so we can feed our "Walking Dead" addiction. After he left, this is what I found. I was shocked that the yogurt seemed so firm! Wow - I actually did it. I made homemade yogurt and I have visions of smoothies and dressings and just yogurt with granola for breakfast dancing in my head. I also saved back one cup of the yogurt in a separate container to start my next batch.

For my first try, I'm very happy. The full texture, once I poured it out of the slow cooker into a container, is a little less thick than your standard Greek yogurt. But, one of my teenage memories of yogurt is staying with a family near Barneveld, Holland and pouring the yogurt out of a carton like milk, then adding a spoonful of this wonderful woman's homemade strawberry preserves. The taste of this yogurt is actually very mild. I was trying to explain it to Harry last yesterday - think about a mildly dry wine, it doesn't suck your cheeks into each other when you taste it and there's just a bit of sour tang.

So, for breakfast this morning, I had some of my homemade yogurt over some really good granola I found in the natural foods section at Kroger. I sprinkled on just a pinch of turbinado sugar, but the granola has a natural sweetness from pomegranate, acai and apples that balanced with the tart of the plain yogurt - I really didn't need the sugar but it sure looks pretty.

The yogurt experiment will be ongoing. I'd like to make smaller batches more often just so I don't risk letting any go bad. I need to know how many times I can "inbreed" my starter before it stops working. I'm sure if I were to use this to start a salad dressing, I would definitely drain it for awhile to thicken it. I'm also thinking about trying a yogurt cheese.

Saturday

Dear Mr. Coffee...never again

I bought this Mr. Coffee coffeemaker on February 2. Today is February 18 and if I had time to go to a store, it would be in the trash already.

When my old Mr. Coffee took a crap after two years in 2007, Harry had found an old percolator when we were moving to the farm. I believe it was circa 1970s due to the ugly floral motif on the side. BUT, that percolator made the best coffee I'd had at home in years - until it finally died a few months later.

Enter Harry's Hamilton Beach coffeemaker. It wasn't very compact but it had all the elements we needed: automatic start, auto-shutoff and reliability. And it was reliable until around the first of the year.

Our coffee routine is simple: I set up the coffeemaker before I go to bed so that the coffee is ready when Harry gets up at 1:00 a.m. to go to work. He has time to drink about one cup and fills his sippy cup with one for the road. That leaves at least a half-pot of coffee for me and unless the cat crawls on my head to wake me up, I try to sleep until 5. Even if I wake up at 3, the warmer has shut off by then. I usually put my first cup in the nuker to warm it up and turn on the burner on the coffeemaker to warm up the rest of it.

We'll forget the fact that maybe I should just make him a half-pot and then make fresh when I wake up.

So, around the beginning of the year I noticed that the warmer didn't always come on when I turned it back on. There were also a few times that I tried to make another half-pot because I was in a mood and it refused to work. I'm used to intermittent wipers but an intermittent coffeemaker is a bad, bad thing.

Timing happened to be working that I had to take Dad to Columbus for a doctor's appointment on February 2 and lo and behold, there was a K-mart right across the road from the office. PERFECT! We went in, headed to the small appliances and I looked around. There was a Hamilton Beach coffeemaker exactly like the one that had just breathed its last - well, almost exactly.

It was red. Never in the more than 25 years of having my own kitchen have I even remotely considered the possibility of decorating with red anything. It would look great in my SIL's kitchen with all of her apple-y decor but not in my log cabin with custom knotty-pine cabinets.

Besides, black hides the splashes better - I'm just being realistic.

So, I selected this compact Mr. Coffee coffeemaker because it had a timer and auto-shutoff. It was $29.99 and when I got to the register, I found out I had $8 in K-mart rewards. Woot woot!!!

Since I brought home this machine two weeks ago, I've not had a decent cup of coffee. Twice in two weeks, the filter has bent over when I move the water arm over it, leading to grounds floating outside of the filter and not only dripping into the coffeepot but just making a general mess inside the basket-holding area. A mess that takes forever to clean because of all the nooks and crannies and the fact that wet coffee grounds are akin to Cream of Wheat - they keep multiplying.

I tried to blame the constant dribbling from the spout on the fact that it was designed by a right-handed person with no consideration for the left-handed consumer. I tried pouring with my right hand and still dribbled everywhere. These aren't drips, they are dribbles. Then, I told Harry about the messy problem and he's having the same issue.

The spout on the carafe is too small - it is intended for people who don't need a cup of coffee in them in order to pour a cup of coffee. It is so small, you can only pour slowly, gently. I want my coffee and I want it now.

So, Mr. Coffee, while I can't return this P.O.S. machine to K-mart because I got rid of the packaging and, honestly, with the price of gas it's not worth the trip, I wanted to let you know that I will never buy anything branded Mr. Coffee again.

DISCLOSURE: Obviously, this product review was not paid for by the Mr. Coffee company. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tuesday

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Yep, another attempt to infiltrate Harry's belly with vegetables. He's getting easier to get along with about it, only reminding me three times a week that I need to learn to eat more beans. The rice blend I got at Costco a couple of weeks ago has lentils in it - isn't that making progress?

I love spaghetti squash. To me, it doesn't have a "squash-y" taste that I associate with butternut or pumpkin. If I manage to cook it properly - which DID happen this time - the spaghetti squash isn't mushy and the strands separate easily. I knew tossing it with just butter, salt and pepper wouldn't be enough to hide the vegetable taste from Harry and I didn't want to go with a marinara sauce.

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Roasted Red Pepper Penne from Jessica at How Sweet It Is. I'm pretty fond of the sounds of her original recipe - whole wheat penne and chicken breasts tossed in this super-simple roasted red pepper sauce. I was going to cheat and just buy a couple of roasted red peppers from the olive bar but Jessica made it easy to understand how to quickly roast the peppers in my oven. Well, almost.

I thought I was picking a rather small spaghetti squash. But, the instructions on the label gave some microwave time per pound. Harry broke out the kitchen scale and this puppy weighed in at 1 pound, 13 ounces - YIKES! On the bright side, I do have some leftover spaghetti squash for my lunch today. Remember that you won't eat the peel or the seeds.

I usually just cut the spaghetti squash in half, place them cut side down in a baking pan with a bit of water and bake for 30-45 minutes. The label told me to pierce the skin all over with a fork, then microwave it whole for about 2 minutes per pound. I went about 3 1/2 minutes. Then, I put the whole, uncut spaghetti squash in a baking pan in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. I pulled it and the ham loaf out when the peppers were roasted and peeled, and let them set for the five minutes it took me to make the roasted red pepper sauce.

These would have only taken about 8 minutes or so to char except I screwed up when I turned on the oven. I think the last thing I baked in the bottom oven was the ham at Christmas and the rack was near the bottom of the oven. I preheated the oven to Broil and slid the pan into the oven. Near the bottom. Fortunately, Harry can actually lift the stone-covered rack while it's heated to 500 degrees as long as he's wearing the Ove-Gloves (love those things - thanks Mom!). Once we got the peppers close to the broiler, things moved along pretty quickly.

As soon as the peppers came out of the oven, I wore an Ove-Glove and slid them into a zip bag. No the peppers didn't cause the bag to melt but touching the hot pan created a small hole - I just folded the bag over. Let the peppers steam inside the bag for 20 minutes or so - this will soften the skins so they peel right off.

Everything got to moving quickly once the skins came off and I didn't get many pictures. I tossed the roasted red peppers into the food processor, added the garlic, basil (dried, because I'm lame), black pepper and Parmesan cheese then gave it all a few whirls. Next, we drizzled in the olive oil and let it run until the sound changed, meaning it was emulsified. We each tasted and Harry declared "needs Franks and red wine vinegar" - that's just how most everything ends in our kitchen.

But, he was right. The Frank's added a kick without too much heat and the red wine vinegar brightened up the sauce.

As soon as the sauce was done, I grabbed an Ove-Glove and cut the spaghetti squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and use a fork to separate the strands. I actually only used about half of the sauce and I've got another cup in the fridge that I'll use for a lunchtime pasta later in the week.

The verdict? I loved it! Harry decided that 1) the squash didn't taste green 2) it was actually kind of good because it held a bit of crispiness and 3) he'd like to try it with a tomato-based sauce. Sigh.

He liked the sauce but I'll have to tread carefully. Another vegetable into our menu planning! And, this dish can actually be considered healthy!

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce - serves 4 as a hearty side

2 medium red bell peppers
5 cloves garlic (remember we love garlic! - use less if you prefer)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Frank's Red Hot Sauce to taste
1 2-pound-ish spaghetti sauce

Place your oven rack near the top of the oven and preheat the oven to broil. Clean the bell peppers, cut in half and remove the seeds and stems. Place the peppers cut side down in a baking pan and place the pan in the oven. You'll want to keep an eye on the peppers - once they start to char, things will move very quickly.

When the peppers are black, remove them from the oven. Quickly place them into a zip bag so that the skins can steam and become easier to peel. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Wash the spaghetti squash and pierce the skin all over with a sturdy fork (the skin is pretty tough!). Microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes, then place the squash into a baking pan or dish, uncut. Bake at 375 for about one hour.

While the spaghetti squash is baking, make the sauce. The heat from the squash will warm it, so you don't have to heat it up. Peel the blackened skin from the peppers and place in a food processor. (If you have an immersion blender, you can do all of this in a bowl.) Add the garlic, chopped small, Parmesan cheese, basil, black pepper and red wine vinegar and pulse a few times until all the ingredients are incorporated. Drizzle in the olive oil as the processor is running until you hear that it has incorporated. Add a few splashes of Frank's to taste and set the sauce aside.

When the squash has softened, remove from the oven. Working quickly with oven mitts or a potholder, cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds (there won't be many) and discard them. Using a fork, scrape the flesh and it will separate into spaghetti-like strands. Add sauce to coat, stirring gently but mixing well (the sauce will be kind of thick). Sprinkle a little extra Parmesan on top to serve.

Saturday

Lightened Up Italian Wedding Soup

Please pay no attention to the fact that my work table is apparently crooked! This Italian Wedding Soup was so easy and so fast! It's a little bit on the "light and brothy" side for Harry, but I made up a batch of calzones to go with it and the meal was hearty and satisfying.

I love Italian Wedding Soup, but I've only ever had it in restaurants. So, I had to turn to the web looking for inspiration. The first recipe I found via Pinterest turned me off - it suggested adding beaten eggs to the finished soup, similar to Hot & Sour or Egg Drop Soup. That definitely didn't ring any bells for me so I kept searching. I actually found this one at Cooksdotcom and it gave me a good starting point.

I had our homemade chicken stock in the fridge but decided to go with canned vegetable broth instead to cut down the fat content. I've made my own vegetable stock but I'm usually money ahead to use the canned stuff (very rare!). I used our own meatball mix that I froze in bulk for this purpose, but you could easily use turkey meatballs to cut down on the fat some more or frozen meatballs of your pleasure. The seasonings in the meatballs were just right to flavor the broth and I only added a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.


I'm starting with raw meatballs and borrowing a tip from my friend Pam - she never browns her meatballs before adding them to sauce or soup. After the broth came to a simmer, I gently added the meatballs and remembered to stir gently so I did break them up. They cooked beautifully and I think it helped them release their flavors.

I'm always trying to sneak vegetables into our meals and this soup is no exception. I knew we probably wouldn't eat a whole bunch (head?) of spinach before it went bad and didn't want to go to heavy with it in here. We were in a Kroger that had a salad bar so I just bought enough to tightly fill a one-cup measure. Hey, it only cost 23 cents!



And the rest of the veggies I snuck in - every little bit helps!

Lightened-Up Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
3 cans (15-ish ounces) vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 pound small meatballs
1/2 cup dry orzo (or broken spaghetti)
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh leaf spinach

In a medium saucepan, saute the celery, carrot and onion in olive oil just until softened. Add the vegetable broth and water, then bring it to a simmer.

Gently add the meatballs, then allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Increase the heat to medium.

Add the orzo, stirring gently and cook until orzo is al dente, about 10 minutes. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the spinach just before serving.If you're feeling really indulgent, feel free to top the Italian Wedding Soup with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
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