Poco-Cocoa – Page 206 – Things & Stuff

Sauceless
This past week, Justin went through our old recipe files and picked out some of his favorites that we hadn’t had in a long time. This was one of them…Farfalle with Mushrooms. I don’t know where the idea came from, but it’s so simple and yummy that I can’t believe I had forgotten about it.

I’m a fan of pasta, with any kind of mix-in, whether it’s a sauce or just some sauteed vegetables. That reminds me of the first dish I remember cooking by myself…my mom let me buy (meaning she bought it for me) a little “Easy Italian” cookbook from the grocery store. I found a dish in there that I wanted to make, something like Pasta with Zucchini and Tomatoes. It called for garlic, and olive oil, and zucchini, and tomatoes, and not much else. I remember the next time we went to the grocery store I made my mom buy me a little tiny bottle of olive oil (I had no idea I could have used regular cooking oil), and some dried minced garlic (we never used fresh garlic at home, so neither of us knew how to use it), and then at home, I made the dish. I was so proud of it, and I thought it tasted sooooo good. I gave a bit to my Dad to try, and he said, “Where’s the sauce?” Up to that point, pasta at our house meant spaghetti and meat sauce, and nothing else. It amazes me how many new foods I’ve tried since then, and how many sauceless pastas we eat.

So anyway, this is a sauceless pasta.

Farfalle with Mushrooms
- 8 ounces farfalle (bowtie pasta)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 10 to 12 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and saute over low heat just until the garlic begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and have released some liquid, 5 to 8 minutes.

Combine the drained pasta with the mushroom mixture. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and toss together. Top each serving with extra Parmesan cheese.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Source: poco-cocoa.
September 3, 2006

Recipes
Oh, so good
Justin and I each have our own favorite side dishes: I love mashed potatoes, while Justin adores roasted veggies with browned butter sauce. Occasionally when I’m making the week’s menu, I’ll ask him if he has any requests…he often says, “roasted vegetables!” So this meal made us both happy.

To go along with the sides, we made Spice-Crusted Tofu, which is always a treat. All those flavors, the sweetness from the honey, and the crunch of the pine nuts…delicious. Plus mashed potatoes? And roasted broccoli? Such a good meal.

And what’s even better is that the next day, I get to have this:

Mashed potato sandwiches. The ultimate high-carb comfort food.

Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic-Browned Butter Sauce
- 1 large bunch broccoli, cut into florets (or a bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces, or green beans or cauliflower or…)
- Cooking spray
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 400ËšF.

Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 12 minutes or until tender and roasty-toasty.

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool a bit; stir in soy sauce and vinegar. (This will sizzle and pop and burn you to no end if you don’t let the butter cool first. Trust me.) Drizzle over vegetables, tossing well to coat. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.
August 30, 2006

Recipes
Just checking in…
Aaaahhh, the weekend. It was a busy one, with lots to tell you about, but today I feel like doing a list, so here it is.

1. Justin and I worked all day on Saturday on various home-craft projects. The photo above is of our bedroom wall…I found the “Beautiful Conifers of Canada” print here, and Justin worked his magic with simple leaf silhouettes on a similar background to create a wall grouping. We mounted the prints on sturdy cardstock, then lined them up along the wall. We decided to frame the whole thing with two lengths of string, pulled taut across the top and bottom edges of the grouping. I love it! Until now, this wall has been a big, blank, chocolate emptiness…the bedroom looks so much nicer already.

2. Friday night we went to the Blue Theater to see a screening of Let Them Eat Cake a documentary on the fight to keep junk food out of Texas schools. We loved this theater…I wish I had taken a picture of it! The film itself was good, and the gallery next door featured scanned images of the crazy marketing that junk food companies direct toward children. Blue french fries? Green ketchup? It was so disturbing to see how advertisers slyly encourage kids to nag their parents (who are often depicted in ads as being “uncool”) to purchase these foods.

3. Saturday night we went to the Dougherty Theater to see my friend Vidya’s dance company’s performance. It was so much fun! The theater is so small and cozy, and I was just amazed by how graceful and gorgeous Vidya looked on stage.

4. This is Toast, our new puppy at the bed and breakfast. I don’t remember whether I mentioned it or not, but our old dog, Myles, passed away last month. We were all pretty sad about it. Toast is about two years old and full of energy, and he’s super-friendly and loving. And he’s so cute!

5. Sunday morning we ate lunch with Chad and Lindsay at Las Manitas, my absolute favorite Mexican food restaurant. I took some photos, and I’ll do a write-up in the next few days.

6. The University of Texas will be starting up classes this week, so Austin is once again jam-packed with students. Lindsay and I went grocery shopping together on Sunday afternoon, along with EVERY. SINGLE. UT STUDENT. It took us two hours to get out of that place, through crowded aisles of kids buying Ramen noodles by the case. We have hereby decided never to grocery shop on a Sunday again.

7. Speaking of grocery shopping, Lindsay has started a blog to keep track of her wonderful meals. She posts her grocery list once a week, then throughout the week she updates the blog with each meal, a photo, and the recipe. Isn’t that a cool idea? Check it out here.

8. Sunday night we had dinner at Rob and Shara’s house, and Shara made the most amazing lasagna. We stopped by their new house (they’ll be moving in this week!) to see all the hard work they’ve put into it. It’s looking good, but I don’t envy them a bit…painting and tearing out cabinets and re-wiring plugs…

9. I finished reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver this week…holy moly! It was incredibly good, and if you haven’t read it, you should. Justin and I also finished reading the His Dark Materials series (yes, this is the third time I’ve read these books). I read aloud to him at night while he sketches or plays a game, but I suppose now we need to find a new book to read together.

10. I’ve become addicted to crossword puzzles. After we watched Wordplay weeks and weeks ago, I wanted to try my hand at the puzzles…I started with the Monday and Tuesday New York Times puzzles, and I loved them! I just bought four little books of NY Times crosswords at Half-Price Books, and they’re keeping me pretty busy.

11. Finally, I made the gazpacho (from the Spanish cooking class), which turned out deliciously. Now that I’ve tried and approved of the recipe, I’ll share it with you!

Gaspacho de Andaluz
- 1 (28-ounce) can Muir glen fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 slice bread, crusts removed (if using a fluffy bread, toast it first)
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used 1 tablespoon balsamic and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I only used about 1/4 cup, and the texture was perfect)
Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Check flavor for salt. Pass through a mesh strainer and chill thoroughly. Before serving, check flavors again for salt and vinegar. You can used the strained solids as a bruschetta topping.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Source: Adapted from Central Market Cooking School.
August 28, 2006

Crafty, Recipes
Mail!

Hooray for swaps! My far-away friend Laura and I decided to do a handmade cookbook swap, with a few of our favorite recipes inside. She sent me the package above…just look at all that beautiful paper! I tried very hard not to tear it as I was unwrapping, because it is just so gorgeous.

Laura’s recipes came attached to this beautiful hand-painted canvas cover:

All of the recipes are handwritten, and have more of that fabulous paper attached to them (did someone say chocolate?!):

And many of them have an Asian theme, which goes perfectly with all the goodies she sent!

Clockwise from top: Gorgeous card, set of colored pencils with an Asian menu printed on the back them (they’re the COOLEST pencils I’ve ever seen), sushi tissues, a tiny tin container, the recipe book, and a kitten bookmark. So fun! The bookmark is already in the book I’m currently reading.

In return, I sent her this book:

Filled with handwritten recipes…

And photos…

Plus a few goodies as well.

Clockwise from top right: the recipe book, Mexican pasta shells, a CD of some of my favorite tunes, traditional Mexican peanut butter candies, my favorite canned green salsa, a Popeye candy bracelet, and a container of chile-salt to sprinkle on fresh fruit.

Mail days are always good days…thank you so much, Laura!

August 23, 2006

Everyday Life

crafty, edibles
Hello?

Internets? Are you still there?

We’re still here, doing a whole lot of nothing. It’s been so hot that cooking seems like torture…turning on the stove heats up our little house like a space heater. So there are no new recipes to share, as we’ve been mostly snacking on sandwiches, cereal, and other such non-cooked items.

As for crafts, I have been working on some things, but as they’re Christmas presents for people who might read this (yes, I’m actually getting an early start), I can’t post pictures just yet.

We have been spending time with friends, having potlucks and movie nights, or evenings outdoors listening to live music and chatting. We even made it to the theater to watch Lady in the Water, which we loved. Of course, we love all of M. Night Shyamalan’s films, so that was no surprise.

So anyway, I was just checking in to let you know I’m still here. Hopefully this week I’ll have something creative to share with you, whether it be a recipe, a crafty creation, or maybe just some fun links. In the meantime, enjoy this (super-hot) summer!

August 20, 2006

Random Thoughts

Sauceless

Oh, so good

Just checking in…

Mail!

Hello?