Creamy Tomato Penne

I feel torn between posting here and my Chlarson Family blog, so I'm just posting both places. I'm just figuring people don't look at both, so it won't be like I'm repeating this. Although I am going to copy and paste this so it will be exactly the same!
I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman. I love her site and read it all the time now, I think what draws me in regularly are her giveaways. She gives away Kitchen Aids, to cameras, to $250 gift cards. It's amazing, and I'll never win, but I can't help trying! This recipe has shrimp in it, and I'm not a seafood fan, let alone I barely eat meat, but I had to try it for Matt, and it just looked plain good! I really liked it, but eventually had to sift through the shrimp. It would be good with chicken too, although I still wouldn't really eat the chicken. I would also like it without any meat!
Creamy Tomato Penne

1 Pound Shrimp

3/4 Pound Penne Pasta

Butter

Olive Oil

1 Small Onion

2 Cloves Garlic

1/2 Cup White Wine

1 8oz. Can Tomato Sauce

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Fresh Parsley

Fresh Basil

Salt & Pepper

Cook the Penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Peel, devein and rinse *under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 Tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minute until just opaque. Do not over cook them. Remove them to a plate and let cool for a few minutes.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.

In a large skillet heat 2 Tbsps. butter and 2 Tbsps. Olive Oil. Add the garlic and onion and saute,

stirring occasionally. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite-sized pieces and set aside. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit, add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low sodium chicken broth instead (about 1/2 cup).

Now add and 8 oz. can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup off heavy cram. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer while you chop your herbs. About a Tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley and about the same amount of chopped basin or if you're feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

Zuppa Toscana

I love Olive Garden during lunch. Mike and I always get the soup and salad combo. Mike gets the Pasta Fagioli and I get the Zuppa Tuscana. It’s so yummy. However, I think I have found a better replacement. It’s not as spicy as Olive Garden’s, but I prefer it less spicy (you could definitely spice it up if you want). It was a real hit with Rose.

Zuppa Tuscana


1 package of Jimmy Dean sausage
1/2 small onion chopped
2-3 celery chopped
Olive oil
4-5 Russett potatoes cut in bite size chunks
3 cans chicken broth
1 pint half/half milk or cream
1 cup chopped Kale
Garlic Salt


In large stock pot cook sausage until crumbly and drain off fat. Set meat aside and sauté onion and celery in pot with olive oil until tender. Add potatoes and chicken broth and season with garlic salt. Cook until tender then add the half and half and kale simmer until thoroughly heated. Serves about 8.


Okay Matt...it's your turn.

Also,

I have to talk a little about my favorite beverage. Mexican Coke or Hecho en Mexico Coke. It's so good. You will never be able to drink any other kind of Coke again. That's really all there is to say. Go to Costco and buy it.

Chick Food

Matt has invited me to contribute to his blog. I suppose that means I'll be representing the chick food. This recipe is so yummy. I feel pretty safe in calling it chick food, because of the reaction I get from Mike when I want to make it (and nothing else) for dinner. His reaction usually is complete disgust....a salad for dinner??? A man needs his meat apparently.

Tortellini Caesar Salad

1 package (19 ounces) frozen cheese tortellini
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 cups torn romaine
1 cup seasoned salad croutons
Halved cherry tomatoes, optional

Directions

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, milk, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and garlic.

Drain tortellini and rinse in cold water; transfer to a large bowl. Add romaine and remaining Parmesan. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing; toss to coat. Top with croutons and tomatoes if desired.

I don't have a lovely picture to attach....but imagine a caesar salad with tortellini in it.

Comfort Food

Mmmmmm, roast beast, potatoes and gravy. This is my comfort food. Nearly every Sunday growing up my mother would put a roast in the oven to cook while we went to church. The smells that bombarded us as we walked into the door after three hours of church were heavenly. I can remember this so easily because my "wife and I" (TM) still carry on the tradition. I also still carry on the tradition of picking at the roast just after church before the meal is prepared. I just cant help myself the aroma is just too alluring. Ohhh and then the mashed potatoes. I am definitely a potato guy. Then there is the gravy. This meal is perhaps the most perfect meal there is. Shaila thought that I should have added salad to the picture for the colors. I told her that it takes away from the appeal. This meal may be a little gender sensitive.

Matt's Mashed Potatoes
-7 Regular Sized potatoes peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
-1 Cube salted butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- Milk
- Seasoned Salt
- Garlic Powder

1. Boil potatoes until soft
2. Strain potatoes
3. Add potatoes butter and milk to mixing bowl. Right now you are asking how much milk? Well welcome to Matt's recipes. I start with about 1/4 cup of milk depending on the potatoes. Then mix with a hand held mixer. I check the consistency and then add more milk if needed to get the desired "fluffiness"
4. Add season salt and garlic powder. Again I do not have a measured amount used. Remember though that garlic is strong and you only need a small amount. Mix again.
5. Salt and pepper to desired taste while mixing. *Advice: Do NOT taste while mixing!!

Shaila's Gravy
- Meat Drippings from Roast
- 1 cup cold water mixed with 2~3 tablespoons flour
- Dash of garlic powder
- Pinch of Dill Weed
- Salt and pepper to taste

Roast cooked in a crock pot with Lipton onion soup and 2 cups water on high for 2 hours then low until nice and tender.

Using baster, take out drippings from pan, leaving fat/oil. Bring drippings to boil over medium heat. Stir in water/flour mixture. Bring to boil. Add seasonings to taste. Perfect!!

Dads Salsa

The secret is out! Hopefully my Dad doesn't kill me for this. Technically it's a pico de gallo but the word Salsa is actually just a Spanish, Arabic, and Italian word which can refer to any type of sauce. This is a very good sauce for chips, eggs, and anything else one can think of. I like mine with avocados in it and my sister puts garlic in hers, so you can think of some variations you would like and make a comment.

Recipe
-2 Bundles Cilantro
-8 Green Jalapeños
-1 Pasilla Pepper
-1 Anaheim Peppers
-8 Roma Tomatoes
-2 Regular Tomatoes
-1 White Onion
-2 Avocados (optional)
-1/2 Fresh Lime

1. Wash all produce
2. Chop and dice the tomatoes (I like smaller pieces which also add more surface area in which the natural juices can be absorbed and released)
3. Chop cilantro.
4. Chop and dice half of the onion.
5. Slice open the peppers and clean out the seeds. IMPORTANT wear gloves while handling the peppers. Also run the jalapeños under hot water to take some of the heat away, if so desired.
6. Chop and dice peppers.
7. Add all cut ingredients. stir.
8. Squeeze lime half into mixture
9. Salt to taste.
10. Chop and dice avocado. I usually do this to the portion I plan to eat because avocados deteriorate so quickly.

Apple Crisp with a twist

O.K. I was at the store the other night and saw a ready made package of apple crisp (just add apples) I tossed it in the cart. Shaila told me that its just as easy to make from scratch. So I surfed around and found a recipe that I could expand on. I liked this recipe because it includes nutmeg. Here is the recipe:

-8 Large Apples
-10 tablespoon butter
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-3/4 cup flour
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
What I added:
-1/2 lime squeezed onto apples
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-carmel drizzled ontop after cooked

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. place peeled apple slices in 9x13 pan
3. Mix dry ingredients and add butter (cold) and work with a pastry cutter.
4. Spread crumb mixture on top of apples.
5. Cook for 50-55 min.

This is a pretty good recipe. I used golden delicious apples and liked the taste but the apples turned pretty soft so you may want to experiment with the apple variety. Also, as one can see, I tried to broil the top to make it a little more crisp and it didnt work out so well. This is what the experiments are for. I would also add probably 3 more tablespoons of butter to the dry mixture next time too. Try it out and tell me what you think.

Joining the Wagon!

It is official! I have decided to start a blog to follow the crowd. It's the cool thing to do, right? Well the only thing I feel I have to offer is my cooking experiments. So I I will post my recipe's that I like to use. You can use them and improve on them, but if you do not like them the KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!