Pasta con il Pangrattato (Pasta with breadcrumbs)

Evan came back from Sunday lunch at my Mom's a few weeks back and said "Mom Gram made really good stuff today". Stuff. Ok, what kinda stuff? "Macaroni stuff with breadcrumbs and junk, it was good". Ok so we have stuff and junk? Hmmmm. I called my Mom so I could be sure I added the proper amount of stuff and junk in this macaroni and breadcrumbs thing. Turns out she made Pasta con il Pangrattato, commonly known to the non-Italian speaking crowd as pasta with breadcrumbs, which I am told was a staple in most homes in Italy and Sicily when times were tough and there was no meat or nary a meatball to be found. Since Evan the picky eater said it was good, I thought I would give it a try with my little twist on it of course. I did change some of my mother's amounts cause that is the kind of rebellious daughter I am.

Pasta con il Pangrattato
Pasta with breadcrumbs
Printable recipe
1 lb Pasta
3/4 cup good olive oil
2 - 2/12 cups breadcrumbs (preferably home made* see note)
3 - 5 cloves of crushed garlic
6 - 8 slices cooked, crumbled bacon
olives (I used just about a full can , chopped)
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Fresh parsley
Salt & pepper

You can use spaghetti for this recipe but try to use pasta that will "hold on" to the ingredients or are that are tublar in shape to give the ingredients someplace to hide in. Pastas like fusilli, farfalle, orecchiette, rigatoni, etc. Cook the pasta until it is al dente. In a pan large enough to hold all the pasta, heat the oil on medium heat. Don’t let this get too hot. Add the breadcrumbs and garlic and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring constantly. At this point I added in the bacon and olives and immediately added the pasta to the pan. Lightly toss to combine all the ingredients. Top with Parmesan & fresh parsley. You can even drizzle on some more oil if top you’d like.

* Homemade breadcrumbs are easy and eliminate the need to throw out old, stale bread. Line your bread up on a sheet pan and place it into a 400 degree oven for about 10 - 15 minutes. Check the bread and when it’s good and dry remove it from the oven, and pulse in a food processor until it’s the consistency you want.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Don’t those three words just make you think of summer? Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is not the kind of pie you think of at Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s definitely a summer time pie. Sweet ripe berries and tart, tangy rhubarb…..be still my tongue!

I am not lucky enough to grow my own rhubarb, but I am lucky enough to have a very special neighbor who has a little patch in her yard. While I was out in the garden last week she said to me “if you want that rhubarb, just come and take it, we won’t use it”. Well that’s all I had to hear. I do admit I felt a bit guilty chopping down the huge leafed plant, but my guilt melted away as I began making the pie. I’m not sure anyone in my neighbor’s family even likes rhubarb, but I will offer them pie anyway. My husband has never had strawberry rhubarb pie! Can you imagine that? I mean most people have at least tasted it, but nope, not him. Well we will fix that.

I used an Elise recipe (simplyrecipes.com) and it turned out fabulous. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. I used ¾ of a cup of sugar since my berries were very sweet. I think the addition of the quick cooking tapioca was genius. It thickened it up just right. I shared half the pie with my neighbors, they loved it! Happniess all around. Well not quite all around. John tried a bite. Not for him. This recipe goes into “things John won’t eat file”, which is not a very big file at all. I think the only other thing in that file is eggplant. Pity.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Printable recipe
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
1 9-inch piecrust
(If making a 10 inch pie, or just want more filling, use 4.5 cups of rhubarb, 1.5 cups strawberries, and 1 1/4 cup of sugar) Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange rind. Let sit for 10 minutes. Turn into a pastry lined pan. Top with the pastry, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape.

Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake an additional 30-40 minutes longer. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or cold. If you do cool to room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.

Salmon Teriyaki Skewers with Pineapple

Living in the Ocean State does have its perks. One of them being lots of fresh seafood. My most favorite of all seafood by far is salmon (followed closely by shrimp and swordfish). I saw this fantastic recipe on simplyrecipes.com and knew I had to try it. Let me just tell you all right now, that this was the best salmon I have ever tasted, and I have eaten a lot of salmon over the years.

The marinade will now become my “go to” marinade for most of the fish that I grill and cook. One bite and John and I both “ooohed and ahhhed”. It was that good. This salmon melted in our mouths. Being the ginger fiend that I am, I added more ginger than the recipe called for. I think I may even add some fresh pineapple juice next time. If you don’t like salmon, try this marinade with another fish you like. You will not be disappointed.

Salmon Teriyaki Skewers with Pineapple
Printable recipe
Marinade
½ cup soy sauce (try and use a soy sauce from a Chinese market)
¼ cup rice wine vinegar (substitute regular white vinegar)
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
¼ cup minced green onions
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pinch chili pepper flakes (optional)

1 salmon filet, rinsed and cut into ½ inch cubes (I used 2 filets and still had plenty of marinade)
1 pound fresh pineapple, cut into 1 inch chunks (please don’t substitute canned pineapple for this step, it just won’t be the same).

In a medium bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the fresh ginger, minced green onions, chili pepper flakes, and vegetable oil. Place the cubes of salmon in the bowl, coat completely with the marinade. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours. Remove salmon from marinade. Place marinade in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, set aside.

Thread salmon, pineapple, and onion pieces on skewers. (If using bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them for at least an hour) If using a grill, prepare grill for high, direct heat. Oil the grill grates. Place skewers on grill. Cover. If using an oven broiler, place on a rack on a broiling pan, so that the salmon pieces are 6 inches from the element. Turn after 2 to 4 minutes. Baste with reserved marinade. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes more, basting frequently, until salmon is just barely cooked through. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

I ain't makin' no sandwiches for monkeys

For those of you who don’t know, my husband works with monkeys. Yes, he gets paid to hang out with 9 furry little Rhesus monkeys all day. He also has to come up with new and exciting treats and enrichments for them, so their little monkey minds stay bright and focused. This is an email conversation we had today.

John: How expensive is peanut butter and molasses? I was thinking about making treats out of those, but I think I need something to bind them together….like a patty shape….maybe freezing them?? Tell me what you think.

Me: I have a sandwich maker thingy....I think. Peanut Butter from BJ's isn't too bad, but molasses is a bit expensive. Small jar for about $2.50. What about fluff? That's cheap.

John: Fluff? Do we have a little left for me to try out before buying some? I remember the sandwich thingy; I think I saw it the other day. Only problem is, we don’t have a freezer here at work so it would have to be given day of.

Me: You want me to make sandwiches for monkeys??????

Bad enough I gotta make them for all of you every night.

I'm sorry, but I am not making sammichs for monkeys. I have to draw the line somewhere.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Squares

It was a gloomy kinda Saturday yesterday. Cloudy and the threat of rain all day. Most weekends we are outside working in the yard, but yesterday wasn't that kind of day. I had a bridal shower breakfast to go to in MA and by the time I got home, half the day was over. Tati called and said she had made some Bolognese sauce....did we want to have dinner together? Sure! Pot Luck Dinners rock. I had already taken some chicken out which was marinating in the fridge (olive oil, lemon, ginger, garlic and soy, yum). It was 2:00pm so I had to think of something quick and easy to make for dessert. Hmm. What to make?

I had made these Cream Cheese Squares several times already and they always had been a hit, but they needed something....something more....chocolaty (doesn't everything?). So I tweaked the original recipe and added in some chocolate chips and chunks that I had left over from another recipe. I almost went with a bag of mini chips I had, but I'm glad I didn't because the chips and chunks really proved to be the perfect size for this. This recipe is quick, delicious, and great for dessert or as a breakfast treat.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Squares
Printable recipe
2 cans (8oz each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, divided
2 pkgs (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350. Unroll 1 of the cans of crescent rolls and press it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan to form a crust, firmly pressing the seams together to seal.

Beat cream cheese, vanilla, egg and ½ cup sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chunks or both).

Unroll remaining can of crescent dough onto a large sheet of wax paper. Pat out the dough to form a 9x13 rectangle, pressing the seams together to seal. Invert over the cream cheese mixture to form the top crust.

Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until light golden brown.

Combine ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and sprinkle over the squares when they come out of the oven. I know it looks like a lot of topping, but it really is just enough for the finished product.

These squares are very versatile. You could mix in a flavoring, add some fruit, nuts, etc. Experiment and see what you can come up with.

We had a really great dinner, laughed a lot and ended the night with a fire until a downpour cut it short. Sometimes last minute plans prove to be the most fun.

James Beard Burgers & Cool and Creamy Cucumber Salad

There will be no photos of the absolutely delicious burgers that we had for dinner last night because my camera was not in the mood to cooperate. It had been on the charging station, like it always is when not in use, and the green "go" light was on, but when I tried to use it to take a photo of my luscious, moist & juicy burgers ....I got nuttin'. The lens would not retract, yet the power light was on. I surmised that it was the battery and ran to Circuit City to get another one long after we all had devoured the burgers and cukes. So no photo of the burger and a not so great one of the cukes that sat a little too long to be properly photographed. Just trust me that the James Beard burger is one of the best burgers I have ever made. Who would have thought that one tablespoon of heavy cream would make such a difference?

James Beard’s Favorite Hamburger
Printable recipe
2 pounds chopped beef chuck or round
1 onion
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Unsalted butter
Vegetable oil, as needed
Kosher salt, to taste

Spread the meat out on a board and grate 2 to 3 tablespoons of onion into it—use a fairly fine grater so you get just the juice and very finely grated raw onion. Now mix in about a tablespoon of heavy cream and some freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Form into patties--a 6 to 8-ounce patty for an average serving.

Using a black iron skillet or your best copper one or your pet aluminum frying pan, Teflon-coated or not (with a Teflon coating you won't need much fat, just a little bit for flavor), and cook the hamburgers in the butter and oil over fairly high heat, giving it 4 to 5 minutes a side, depending on how well done you like it. Salt this creamy, oniony, peppery hamburger before serving it on a buttered bun or English muffin, or as a main course with sliced tomatoes and onions or some home-fried potatoes.

We cooked ours on the grill, cause...well it's grill season. My friend Brandon advised me to work with a simple two-zone fire. Sear it hot so it gets a nice char/crust and then finish it over the cooler section of the grill until it's the way you like it. I take mine medium well thank you. We topped the burgers with sauteed mushrooms, cheese, and onions and pickles. Evan had a hard time getting his mouth around his and only finished half a burger. I almost finished all of mine, but couldn't get that last bite in. Man they were good.



The Creamy Cucumber Salad was just perfect too, and the ginger-soy dressing, it's outta this world. This recipe is from my friends Todd & Diane at White On Rice Couple. If you want the recipe visit them here. You will also get to see gorgeous photos of how the cucumber salad should really look. By the time I got home from the store and took of photo of the cukes, they just weren't as perky and crispy as they should have been. What I love most about his recipe was the delicious dressing. I think I added more ginger than the recipe called for, but I am a ginger fiend, so all was good.

Pork & Beans

I love Weezer.