Michael's Dinner Rolls

INGREDIENTS

6-7 cups white flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, crushed up
2 cups water
2 yeast packs

butter for brushing bread once almost done
sesame seeds to sprinkle on bread once almost done

DIRECTIONS

1.) Measure two cups of warm water (warm enough to dissolve the yeast, but not so hot it kills it - you should be able to stick your finger in the water without it burning you) and pour in the yeast packets. Allow them to bubble up for a couple of minutes.
2.) Mix dry ingredients in large bowl (don't use all of the flour yet).
3.) Add the yeast and water to the dry ingredients. Mix sufficiently into unified lump and be sure to put flour on your hands while doing so!
4.) Put the dough on the counter and knead it for 8-10 minutes. Add flour as needed but try to keep the dough wet. When kneading, pound the dough with the butt of your palm and fold over constantly.
5.) Once the dough is kneaded and smooth, form into sphere. Place in large bowl (I use a giant pot) and coat sphere of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and allow to rise (about an hour and a half in winter months, about an hour in the summer).
6.) Once the dough has risen to twice its size, punch it. Move back to counter and add a little more flour, then beat out the oil and air a bit.
7.) At this point, you can preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8.) For rolls, separate into several separate but equal sized parts. Roll into balls, place on baking sheets and let rise for about 20 minutes. (For a loaf, let rise one hour.)
9.) Brush with butter and bake for 15 minutes.
10.) Remove from oven, brush with butter again and sprinkle with seeds.
11.) Bake for about 5 more minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
12.) Remove bread from oven. Knock on it do make sure it sounds hollow. Eat it!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine

Source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

INGREDIENTS

3/4 lb linguine (can use wheat to make it healthier)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2.5-4 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2-3 lemons (half 1 lemon zest grated, 1/4 lemon sliced into thin rounds, juice of 2 whole lemons)
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (approx.)
2.5 tsp salt (approx.)
1/4 tsp pepper (approx.)

DIRECTIONS

Drizzle some oil into a large pot of boiling, salted water. Add linguine. Cook 7-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, melt butter and 2.5 tbsp olive oil over medium low heat. Add garlic, saute for one minute. Add the shrimp (which I rinse in a colander in the sink first), 1.5 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and saute about five minutes until just pink, stirring often. Remove from heat, add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

Drain pasta. Combine well with shrimp mixture. Serve!

NOTES

I've made this countless times. It's delicious every time without fail (except for maybe the first time when John and I split up at the grocery store and I put him in charge of the shrimp --- he bought COOKED shrimp. It was probably not that good that time.) It also takes me under a half an hour and I am a slooooow cook. :-)

Bakon Vodka Bloody Marys

Source: my co-worker Ann (original source unknown)

INGREDIENTS

32oz bottle of Clamato
1.5 cups Bakon Vodka or plain-jane vodka if you must!
2 tbsp ketchup
juice of 1 whole lemon or 4 tbsp lemon juice
juice of 1/2 large orange or 4 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp celery salt
horseradish to taste
hot sauce/tabasco to taste

lime for glass rimming
Old Bay seasoning for glass rimming

DIRECTIONS

Mix everything except Clamato, lime and Old Bay seasoning in blender.
Stir mixture with Clamato in large pitcher.
Rim glasses, add ice and pour in Bloodies.
Enjoy!

NOTES

I highly recommend using real orange and lemon juice, and of course, finding Bakon Vodka (order online if you have to!)

Silver Spoon Basil Pesto

I made this for the first time earlier this week. All you need is a food processor (mine's a handheld one).

For a few seconds, process together:
250 g basil leaves (stalks removed)
100ml extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt
40 g pine nuts (optional)

Combine with 25g grated parmesan and 25g grated pecorino cheese and process again for a few seconds. (I only used parmesan though.)

Stir into warm pasta, and eat!

Vegetarian Chorizo Breakfast

This is not really a recipe, per se, but I just recently discovered how yummy this is.

1. Heat up 1 Field Roast Vegetarian Mexican Chipotle Sausage in the microwave for 1 min. 30 sec.
2. Fry two eggs.
3. Mash up heated sausage with fork, sprinkle with Queso Blanco or any other crumbly Mexican white cheese.
4. Place eggs on top.
5. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Soooooo good! Beware of the kick in the sausage, if you don't like spicy dishes.

Brunch dish: braised eggs with tomato, spinach and yogurt

from Yotam Ottolenghi on The Guardian.

Just made this for Sunday breakfast, and it was delicious, kinda healthy, and not too much work. It tastes Mexican or Middle Eastern, but whatever it is....you'll love it!

*This recipe is in metric, but it's easy to convert amts. using Google. Just round up to the nearest half cup/tsp/Tbsp.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
200g baby potatoes, cut into thin slices
½ a red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (I used 1 tsp. dried chilli instead)
200g cherry tomatoes
1 garlic clove, crushed
150g baby spinach
4 free-range eggs
100g Greek yogurt
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Salt and black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onions and cook on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the potatoes, chilli and some salt and pepper, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring for about 20 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden brown and the potatoes are cooked. Add a little water if the vegetables start sticking to the pan.

3. About 5 minutes before the potatoes and onions are ready, place an iron pan on a high heat and leave until it is red-hot. Roast the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes, tossing gently, until charred. Remove from the heat.

(Note: I skipped this step b/c I was too lazy, and I just put raw tomatoes on at the end. It was delicious anyway!)

4. Stir the garlic and spinach into the onions and potatoes and cook for a minute or two, until the spinach wilts. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

5. Spread the potato and onion evenly over the base of the pan and then carefully crack the eggs on top, trying not to break the yolks.

6. Cover the pan and cook on a medium heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the egg whites are set. Remove the pan from the heat and spoon over the yoghurt, avoiding the yolks.

7. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, then carefully place the tomatoes on top. Bring to the table in the pan.

Yellow Split Pea & Sweet Potato Soup (Whole Foods)

8 1/2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 cups dried yellow split peas (1 bag)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Bring 1/2 cup water to simmer in a large saucepot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook about 5 minutes or until translucent. Stir in ginger and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add remaining 8 cups water, peas and sweet potato cubes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Uncover and continue to simmer 15 minutes. Mash up potatoes and peas in pot using a whisk or a potato masher, to your preference of smoothness.

Whole Foods recommends to garnish with pumpkin seeds, but I don't. Who cares?

Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes

Source: Food Network - Rachael Ray

Notes: It tastes like Greek macaroni and cheese and was incredibly easy to make. Reminded me of Carie's previously posted "Mediterranean Pasta Knock-Off" recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb orzo
salt (to taste)
freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup feta cheese crumbles (I actually used only 1 6oz package of crumbles and it was plenty cheesy).
1 handful of parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Directions:

Heat salted water in large sauce pot to boil and add pasta, cook to al dente.

Melt butter in the pot while still hot and combine with feta. Add cooked pasta to feta butter and toss with parsley and tomatoes, season with a little pepper.

Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

Source: Food Network - Barefoot Contessa

Notes: I will never buy sauce in a jar, can or even ready-made from Whole Foods again. Making this sauce was quick and easy and it was unbelievably flavorful!

If you want to add meatballs or Italian sausages, I would use only half to three quarters of a 1 lb box of spaghetti, because the sauce to noodle recipe was perfect.

Ingredients:

THE SAUCE:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped yellow onion
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced
1/2 cup Italian red wine, such as Chianti (or for alcohol free, use chicken or vegetable stock)
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used a bit more - just eyeball it)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or eyeball it!)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (or eyeball it!)
A few shots of hot sauce, such as Tabasco (optional)

THE PASTA:

1 lb box of plain or whole-wheat spaghetti (I used whole wheat for extra healthiness)
Pot of water
A couple of drizzles of olive oil
Salt to taste

ALSO!:

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:

THE SAUCE:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent and slightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine (or stock) and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper and hot sauce, if you choose. Cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for at least 15 minutes.

THE PASTA:

Add olive oil and salt to large pot of boiling water. Once the water is in a rolling boil, add the pasta for 8 to 12 minutes until al dente. Drain water from the pasta and return to large pot. Sprinkle generous helpings of grated Parmesan cheese on top of pasta before sauce! (I learned this from The Silver Spoon, the amazing tome of Italian cooking that I went right out and bought after looking through Mandy's copy!) Next pour sauce over spaghetti and Parmesan. Toss all together with large tongs. Serve in bowls, sprinkle a little additional Parmesan on top of each for presentation and you can garnish with a little parsley or basil, if you like. Then, eat it!

Andrew's Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

• mushrooms, chopped
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots or onions
  
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2-3 Tbsp whisky
  
• About 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
  
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

1. In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots or onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add a dash of chilli if you have it. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.

2. While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

3. Add the wine and whisky. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of stock at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite. Remove from heat.

4. Fry the garlic, then add the mushrooms. When mushrooms are soft, add them to the rice, along with parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp butter, and salt and pepper to taste.