Homemade Arrabbiata Sauce w/Penne

Arrabbiata Sauce is an Italian angry tomato sauce. I say angry because you use a lot of peppers instead of focusing on tomatoes. You usually serve with pasta...which is what I did here.

Ingredients:
2 Roma Tomatoes
2 Greenhouse Tomatoes
4 small Jalapeno Peppers
2 Caribe Peppers
3 Poblano Peppers
2 Anaheim Peppers
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth
1 can Tomato Paste

Alright, I began by slicing and dicing up my Tomatoes. I put these in my deep saucepan first and set the heat to MEDIUM.

I then diced the Jalapeno's up and tossed them in.

Then the same with the Caribe's.

The Poblano's.

Finally the Anaheim's.

Now I added in the Vegetable Broth and stirred everything around. I then added in the Tomato Paste. Do your best to stir this in. It won't happen 100% but the cooking process will take care of that. Cover.

About 10 minutes later it should look like this. I turned off the heat now.

Let sit for about 5 minutes. Then use a food processor or blender to puree. I used a blender. I cooked up some Penne Pasta as well for it to go with. As I created this dish for my lunch while I'm at work during the week, I put in a small tupperware with a sprinkle of Asiago Cheese on top. Enjoy..I know I will.

Chef's Original: Lunch for Work!

This is a dish I threw together last week and have since repeated as it is amazing for lunch on a workday. It began as a rough idea of throwing some things together. Namely, quinoa and peas. However, this changed to include a few more ingredients.

Ingredients
1 box Small Shell Pasta
1 cup Frozen Peas
1 cup Frozen Corn
2 cup Quinoa
Sea Salt
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese

I began this by filling my deep saucepan with water for the Pasta. I then put a dash of Sea Salt in the water and turned the heat to HIGH and covered it. I also turned the heat to MEDIUM for the Peas and Corn to start them cooking.

Now I turned to the Quinoa portion of this recipe. This part is made simple by use of a Rice Cooker. If you do not have one of these, I strongly suggest investing in one to suit your needs. I measured out the 2 cups of Quinoa and put it in the Rice Cooker.

Then I put in the 2.5 cups of Water that is required. Then plug the Rice Cooker in and push the level to COOK. Now let it be. You might need to let out some steam later on though, it does tend to bubble over a little bit with Quinoa.

Now turn to your pot of water for the Pasta. It should be boiling or close to it. Add in the entire box of Small Shell Pasta. Make sure they all sink. No, I am not sure why you should do this but I do it and so should you. It's what all the cool kids do...

Now that the Pasta is cooking, you might want to turn the heat down a little bit to around MEDIUM. I added in 2 large pinches of Italian Herb Mix at this point to flavor up the pasta a little bit.

Now stir it to make sure it mixes well.

A few minutes later the Pasta should look like the following picture as it is done. Taste test to make sure.

Oh look, the vegetables are done as well so turn their heat off.

Now it's just waiting on the Rice Cooker to cook that Quinoa. Oh no! It's almost foaming over!

Just take the top off long enough for a quick picture and it dies down.

It will click off to WARM once the cooking is done. You can leave it on that, but it dries the Quinoa out so I just unplug it.

Now, strain the Pasta first using a strainer. We don't want any water in this dish. Now put the Pasta into a large mixing bowl. Strain the frozen vegetables and put them in the same mixing bowl. On top of this add the Quinoa. Then stir some life into it! Go crazy and make it consistent throughout.

Then serve! I added a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix and pinch of Shredded Asiago Cheese to the top. Enjoy!

Zesty Chops

I picked up a plethora of Pork Chops the other day and decided some cooking was in order. I have not Zestified anything as of late, so today I decided to Zesty it up.









Ingredients:
8 Pork Chops
Italian Caesar Dressing
Lemon Juice
White Wine
Italian Herb Mix

I began with trimming the Pork Chops because I demand lean cuts of meat! I am not a fan of the fat on pork, chicken, or beef unless it's a long cooking process where the fat will melt away.

So after trimming them, I created a Zesty marinade. I used 1 cup of Italian Caesar Dressing to start with. To this I added about a 1/4 cup of Lemon Juice. Then I noticed a delightfully non-empty bottle of White Wine nearby, which I poured about 1/2 a cup's worth into the mixing bowl I was using. I stirred all of this together.

Then I put in about a 1/3 of a cup of Italian Herb Mix in and stirred again. Then in went the Pork Chops that I used a fork to mix into the marinade mixture. I let sit for about 30 minutes while I cooked up some other foods.

I placed a large saucepan on the stovetop and proceeded to turn the heat to medium. Once I felt some heat coming off the pan, I poured in the mixture and Pork Chops. I cooked the Chops in the marinade for a more intense flavor. After about 5 minutes, I flipped them for an even cook through.

Then I took them off and served them with some spicy rice I cooked up in my rice cooker. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Worktime Lunch

Tonight I decided to cook up the mushrooms and bell peppers I had in my fridge. They were not going bad or anything, but were screaming at me to use them. So in spontaneous fashion, I threw together a Chef's Original dish.






Ingredients:
1 lb White Button Mushrooms (diced)
1 Red Bell Pepper (sliced)
1 Green Bell Pepper (diced)
Sake
White Wine
Port
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Butter
Basil Leaves

I began by placing my saucepan on the stove and setting the temperature to medium. I grabbed the Butter and put about 1/3 of a stick in the pan. I poured in about 1/2 a cup of the White Wine to start things off, followed up by 1/4 cups of Sake and Port. To this mixture, I added in a dash or three of Teriyaki Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Sweet/Sour Sauce. I then threw the Red Bell Pepper slices into the pan. On top of that went the Mushrooms, which were quickly followed up with by the Green Bell Pepper pieces.

To top this off, I added in a healthy dusting of the Italian Herb Mix and Ground Black Pepper. I then used a pair of tongs to mix everything together evenly. Make sure to stir every once in awhile for everything to cook properly.

About 2 minutes into the cooking process, I added in some Basil Leaves. I want to say about 1/4 cup to 1/2 a cup. I'm not sure, I just grabbed a bundle of the Basil and started tearing them into small pieces and tossing them in the pot. So don't use a measurement here, use your love of Basil. Go Nuts!

I stirred them in and let the concoction cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. You can check to see if the vegetables are done by observing the Peppers being soft, as well as the Mushrooms being spongey. If you can't tell, taste testing is always a good plan! Enjoy!

This is for my coworkers: If you are the first one to come to my desk tomorrow at work, and say I LOVE MUSHROOMS, you get a free lunch!

Flank Steak pt. 2

I decided to cook some Flank Steak again today, it's just so tasty. That and I wanted tasty lunches for the rest of the week rather than go out to get fast food. So I looked in the fridge and made some slight changes to the recipe I used last time.





Ingredients:
1 bottle of Rahr Stormcloud (1 for you too!)
dash of Sea Salt
dash of Indian Spice Mix
healthy dose of Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp of Italian Herbs
1 tsp of Ground Cumin/Coriander
1/2 tsp of Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 cup Roasted Hot Hatch Chilies
1/2 cup diced Red Onion

There is local food store that is called Central Market and I went there last week. I noticed there is a Hatch Chili Festival going on this month complete with containers of roasted chilies, so naturally I bought some since I know I'll use it somewhere.

As per usual, I cut up the steak into 4 pieces to better fit in my large saucepan/skillet. I then put the skillet on the stovetop and poured in 1 bottle of delicious Rahr Stormcloud brew. It smelled amazing, and also produced a lot of foam. Don't worry, it dies off pretty quickly. Once the foam is mostly gone, turn the heat to medium.

To this, I added in all my spices and diced Red Onion. I grabbed one of the Hatch Chilies and cut it up into several smaller pieces and put that in the skillet as well. It should be simmering by now, so stir everything in there to make sure it's mixed well.

Put in the steak a piece at a time. Cover. Let cook for about a minute, then flip them over. You want just enough browning to happen to almost seal the juices in that side.

Let cook for about 5 minutes, then flip again. I did this to try and make sure the cooking was thorough and even. It worked pretty well. Leave them like they are now for approximately 6 minutes, then cut to check if they are cooked to your satisfaction. I aimed for medium/medium-well, I hit the mark perfectly.

I then took the steaks off, sliced them into strips and presented them with a spoonful of the Red Onions from the skillet on top. Looks great, tastes even better.

I then used my Rice Cooker to cook regular white rice and a small pot to cook some frozen vegetables. The rice, vegetables, and steak are now my lunch for the work week. Enjoy!

Summertime Appetizer Snack

So as mentioned in my previous post, I made couscous. I also decided that I should make a snack for my girlfriend. I don't think that just couscous alone is enough, so I decided that those Cremini Mushrooms in the fridge needed to be dealt with...as a sauce!

Ingredients:
Mushroom Sauce:
12 Cremini Mushrooms
1 bottle Dark Beer
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice

Green Onions/Scallions

Couscous:
2 cups Pearl Couscous
4 cups Water
dash of Sea Salt
Italian Herb Mix (few pinches)

The couscous was cooked in my rice cooker according to the instructions that it came with, and of course with some herb mix added in. You start this up and let it be since it doesn't need any more attention.

The Mushroom Sauce began with a small saucepot on the stove, where I put in about 3/4 worth of standard beer bottle's beer. Set the heat to medium, any higher and it looks like a cloud is emerging from the pot, trust me...I found this out.

I grabbed my trusty food processor and proceeded to slice up the Cremini Mushrooms and then dice up quite finely. Then pour/dump the mushrooms into the saucepot with the beer. You'll probably have to scoop it out since it is quite sticky at this point, not sure why. Stir.

Let it go for a few minutes, but make sure to watch it in case you have to turn down the heat a little bit or stir. Add in the Orange Juice, maybe 1/2 a cup's worth. As for the lemon juice, I want to say like 10 drops worth were added, barely anything at all. Stir.

At this point your couscous should be done and the rice cooker on 'warm'. So now grab some Green Onions/Scallions and cut them up about halfway down into small chunks. Your mushroom sauce can go for as long as you want it to, but I turned off the heat at this point and dished everything up. Enjoy.

Summertime Lunch

So today I decided that my girlfriend needed a tasty lunchtime snack because she was quite famished. So I decided to use the Capresi Skewers with a small salad and guacamole.

I won't have an overall recipe with this post since the Capresi Skewers are already mentioned in this blog. The only recipe I will say was new, was the basil sauce used in the Skewers recipe, and by new I mean changed. I changed the recipe to equal parts olive oil and italian caesar dressing plus the basil and herbs mixed in. I sprinkled that on the skewers and salad, and added the guacamole to the side. Enjoy.