White Mushroom Sauce on Linguine Pasta

I was not feeling all that well last night and my girlfriend made sure that I was going to be alright. I think she did amazing at it even though it wasn't much, but it's the thought that counts. So today on my way home from work, I stopped by the store and picked up some Mushrooms since I was going to whip up some amazing food for her dinner today. So let me know what you think!

Ingredients
Pasta
bunch of Linguine Pasta
Italian Herb Mix
Sea Salt

Mushrooms
1 lb White Button Mushrooms
3 Shallots
1/2 stick Butter
1/2 cup White Wine
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Fennel Powder
Sea Salt
Fenugreek Seeds
Flax Seeds
Sesame Seeds

I began this with the knowledge that she loves Mushrooms. I have been slowly getting into making sauces because I find the process quite interesting and want to be able to make them for any occasion. So I gathered my materials and began this endeavor.

I filled a pot about halfway with water, a dash of Sea Salt, and a heavy dash of Italian Herb Mix. I turned the heat for it to high. Once it started to boil, I turned the heat down to medium and proceeded to grab the Linguine Pasta. I took out a good amount and snapped it all in half and put them in the pot. Make sure to keep an eye on it at first so it doesn't boil over. Pay no attention to the 2 Chorizo Sausages I am cooking up for tomorrow's lunch in the small pot! Then turn your attention to the Mushrooms.

I diced the Shallots and sliced the Mushrooms first. In the saucepan, I put the half stick of Butter in and turned the heat to high medium. Once the butter was mostly melted, I turned the heat down to just below medium and threw in the diced Shallots.

Once they started to turn translucent, I added in the sliced Mushrooms and half cup of White Wine. Mix really well to get all the Mushrooms covered with the sauce in there. Check your Pasta at this point, it should be close to being done. Once it is done, turn off the burner and cover.

About 1 minute later, I added in the spices. First I went with a heavy pinch of Italian Herb Mix with slightly smaller pinches of Onion and Garlic Powder. Fennel Powder was next and I used about the same amount as I did for the Italian Herb Mix. To finish it a dusting of Flax, Fenugreek, and Sesame Seeds went in. Mix together thoroughly.

Once the Mushrooms are spongey, they are done cooking. Turn off the burner. Now turn your attention to your Pasta. Get a strainer out and pour the pasta into it. Use a pair of tongs to take the pasta out to serve. I used a ladle to scoop out Mushrooms and the sauce mixture from the pan and carefully pour on top of the pasta. I added some grape tomatoes as garnish around the edges, which I must say the color contrast is quite nice. Enjoy.

Salsa Spectacular!

Had a relaxing weekend and today I decided to make some salsa. Two different kinds really. I didn't think one kind would do it, however the second is almost half salsa - half arriabata sauce.



Verde Salsa

Ingredients:
4 Roma Tomatoes
2 Med. Yellow Onions
2 Poblano Peppers
3 Anaheim Peppers
2 Jalapeno Peppers
2 spoonfuls of Spice Mix

Spice Mix:
McCormick's Steak Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Tumeric Powder
Curry Powder
Marjoram
Oregano
Basil
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Cumin
Ground Allspice
Ground Nutmeg

The Spice Mix is pre-mixed together and was mixed in once everything else was mixed together. The Ingredients were added in the order listed, top to bottom. The Roma's, Onions, and Peppers were all diced up/almost pureed in a food processor first.

Mix together and serve with tortilla chips. I used Tostito's Scoops since they are the best for salsa if you ask me.

Roja Salsa

Ingredients:
6 Roma Tomatoes
1 Lg. White Onion
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
3 Hungarian Wax Peppers
2 Jalapeno Peppers
3 spoonfuls of Spice Mix*

*Spice Mix is same as listed above. I keep it in a jar since I tend to use it a lot.

The Roma's were pureed in my food processor, along with the onion, wax peppers, and jalapeno's. The bell peppers were just diced up by hand. What makes this one very different is that once the tomatoes and onion were ready, they went into a saucepan. I turned on the heat to medium and added in the bell peppers, then the wax peppers, finally the jalapeno's. On top of all that, the spice mix. I stirred it all together, as well as every few minutes for about 10 minutes. Then turned heat off and it was ready for serving, also with Tostito's Scoops.

Chef's Choice Chili

So as many of my friends around here know, I absolutely LOVE to make chili. I love it. I make it a lot during the colder months, however after making the Tomato Sauce yesterday, I decided that I have gone too long without chili.



Homemade Tomato Sauce:
-Get your soup pot or large saucepan depending on how much you are making. Mine filled a large saucepan since I did not make my normal amount(about 1/2 of normal).
-Mix all your spices together in a bowl to your liking, or straight in the pot like The Chef does. I went heavy on the basic ingredients as well as the Tumeric and Cajun Perfect Pinch. The rest I went light on since they are just there to smooth out all the flavors.

-Now that your spice mix is making your kitchen smell amazing, onto the food processing happy times! Basically I like my chili smooth with not a LOT of huge chunks in it. The order I processed was Roma's, Greenhouse Tomatoes, Onion, Carrots, Poblano Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers. Add to pot as you go, turn the heat on med-high when you add the Roma's and stir them in with the spices. A little olive oil will smooth it out if necessary.

-Grab your grouping of green onions and dice them up almost to the white part. You can put the green onion's roots into water and they will grow back! Add to pot.

-Stir everything together evenly and turn to medium heat. Once it starts boiling, change the temperature to low or simmer.

-Let simmer for about an hour, then it should be tasty enough to eat!

Homemade Tomato Sauce:
6 Roma Tomatoes
2 Greenhouse Tomatoes
1 White Onion (Large)
2 Jalapeno Peppers
2 Poblano Peppers
4 Carrots
1 cup diced Green Onions

Spices for Tomato Sauce:
Cayenne Pepper*
Chili Powder*
Garlic Salt*
Ground Cumin*
Ground Allspice
Ground Cloves
Paprika*
Celery Salt
Ground Black Pepper*
Ancho Chili Powder*
Ground Tumeric Powder
Curry Powder
Mesquite Seasoning*
Perfect Pinch Seasoning - Cajun

*are the basics, the rest are choice ingredients.

For Chef's Choice Chili:
-First get a pot the size you think you need for the chili, or maybe a little bigger.

-Get your pound of ground beef and brown it in the pan with Lowry's Seasoning, maybe some butter too if you love calories as much as I do!

-Once the beef is all browned and tasty smelling (yes take a sample to make sure, you know you want to!), you get your tomato sauce and add it directly into the pot. Stir.

-Use food processor for white onion, then add it in. Stir. Let it cook on low to medium-low for about 30 minutes.

-That time frame is just a rough estimate of time needed, so whenever your frequent tastings of it say it is done just dish it out.

Ingredients:
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 White Onion
Lowry's Seasoning
Shredded Cheese

Capresi Skewers

Today was a great day to stay inside in the AC out of the Texas heat. So naturally, I turned to the kitchen and created Capresi Skewers. I started off with the Capresi Skewers because I wanted to see how it would turn out. To make this dish you need the following: -wood skewers -cherry/small tomatoes -mozzarella cheese -basil leaves -mix of sage, thyme, and oregano spices -EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) (also a food processor or small blender) In the food processor, I combined the basil leaves, spices, and EVOO...and created a great tasting and smelling sauce. I would say it reminded me almost of pesto, but not quite. On the skewers I alternated tomatoes and chunks of cheese(try to keep them somewhat close in size) and placed them on a plate together. Once I had 2 skewers done, I grabbed the food processor and spooned out the sauce on top of the skewers and poured the rest next to them.