Midnight Musings

Pasta Mashup Recipe

I was recently asked by KTEH to be part of their "Cooks With Garlic" production, where local Silicon Valley-ites were asked to submit videos of them cooking their favorite garlic recipes. We shot the video below at my house for one of my favorite recipes, "Pasta Mashup" which I can make in 10 minues flat -- and with ingredients already on my shelf or in the freezer.

So here's the video and recipe is below.

Pasta Mashup

Notes: This is a quick one-dish pasta "mashup" that Silicon Valley Techies and Moms will both enjoy. Easily made from your freezer or pantry shelf - substitute fresh vegetables when available, and add in any leftover condiments and relishes that you have in the back of your fridge. I use angel hair pasta because it cooks in 2 minutes.

Makes 2 hearty servings or 4 side dishes

Ingredients
1/2 box angel hair pasta (or your favorite pasta type)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons of jarred chopped garlic (or 4 cloves of garlic)
1 cup of frozen chopped onion (or 1 small onion)
4 tablespoons of Trader Joe's Sun Dried Tomoto Brushetta Mix
4 tablespoons of Trader Joe's Olive Bruschetta Mix
2 tablespoons of capers
1 teaspoon of jarred chopped garlic flowers (hard to find - or add another teaspoon/2 cloves of garlic)
1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes (or 2 large fresh tomatoes)
Grated parmesan cheese to garnish

Instructions
1. Boil a pot of water and cook the angel hair pasta. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet or wok (or even in the pot used to cook the pasta), heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add and cook the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes.
3. Add all of the other ingredients except the pasta and parmesan cheese. Cook for about 2 minutes until bubbling hot.
4. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to mix in the sauce. Add more or less pasta to suit your taste.
5. Pour into a serving dish and garnish with the cheese.

Milk and peanut butter

In the mornings, I usually stand at our kitchen counter pulling breakfast stuff together and serving it to my kids. Out come the milk, bread, eggs, peanut butter, apples,plates, glasses -- your normal morning paraphernalia.

Like in many of your households, I'm trying to do four things at once and was feeling pretty good about having things under control for a change. I made toast, spread peanut butter on them, turned to get the milk and grabbed a glass.

I then promptly poured the milk into the the open peanut butter jar.

There I stood, looking at a jar of milk-soaked peanut butter. The kids were busting up and I had to admit that it was a bit odd!

I then proceeded to dump out the milk in the sink, and literally, rinsed out the peanut butter jar with some more water. I figured the peanut butter might be a soggy, but still edible. I have to report that my peanut butter toast this morning tasted as normal as ever.

Lesson learned: slow down and watch out for open peanut butter jars!

Also crossposted on svmoms.com.

Chocolate Mint Bars Recipe

The first time I ate this was at a holiday party - and I think I had 3 bars before realizing I had better stop! Given to me by my walking buddy, Amy.

This recipe can be easily doubled, using a 13x9 pan.

First layer, cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar

Then add:
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup nuts

Spread into greased 8x8 pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool.

Second layer, mix together and spread on top of the cake layer:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. cream
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Third layer, mix togehter and spread on top of the mint layer:
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 tbsp. butter

Recipe: Cantaloupe Bread and Cantaloupe Smoothie

My son is a huge fan of cantaloupe, but we inevitably  have too much of it on hand. And if you don't eat it quickly, it goes bad - really bad!

So here are two great recipes that we tried this morning, with a bit of commentary included.

Cantaloupe Smoothie

1.5 cups of chopped cantaloupe
1 banana
5 ice cubes
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Put everything in the blender and puree until smooth. Add more ice and or sugar to taste. Makes about two servings.

Cantaloupe Bread

This recipe idea came originally from AllRecipes at http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/CntlpBrdwithPrlinGlz.asp.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs


• 1/2 cup vegetable oil


• 1/2 cup apple sauce


• 1 cup white sugar


• 1 cup Splenda


• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract


• 2 cups cantaloupe - peeled, seeded and pureed


• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour


• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder


• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1 cup chopped walnuts

ECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.


2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, apple sauce, sugar, Splenda, vanilla and cantaloupe. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Stir flour mixture into cantaloupe mixture; stir to combine.  Stir in the nuts. Pour batter into prepared pans.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Substituted one cup of whole wheat for one cup of flour, one cup of Splenda for one cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1/2 cup of the oil. Skipped the topping.  Came out nice, but would add 1 cup of chopped walnuts next time. Can't taste the cantaloupe though, more like a banana bread (that's what the kids thought it was)

Rocky road chocolate bark - great, easy holiday gift

Each year I make a homemade chocolate bark as gifts for my kids teachers, hostess gifts, etc. I love this recipe because it's 1) fast; 2) easy; 3) kid-friendly; and 4) absolutely scrumptious! The secret -- using the microwave instead of a double boiler to melt the chocolate. I timed myself this year and it took about 25 minutes to make a double batch!

Ingredients:
- About 2 pounds of milk chocolate. I use 3 11.5 oz bags of Guittard milk chocolate chips. I've also used Ghiradelli chips as well, but can't taste the difference. You can also use regular chocolate blocks.
- 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
- 3 cups mini-marshmellows
- 3 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Prepare a large cookie sheet (12 x 17.5 inches) by lining it with parchment paper, lightly sprayed with an oil spray. In a pinch, you can also use plastic wrap.
2. Place the chocolate and shortening in a large glass bowl. Heat on high for one minute and then stir with a spatula. Repeat heating for one minute and stirring until the chocolate is completely melted.
3. Stir in 2 cups of the marshmellows and 2 cups of the walnuts.
4. Pour the mixture on to cookie sheet and spread out to about 1/2 inch thick (or thinner if you prefer).
5. Sprinkle another  cup of marshmellows and cup of walnuts on top of the chocolate  and then gentle press it into  chocolate. This is a great step for the kids as they LOVE to like their hands clean!
6. Cool at room temperature until completely firm, about 4-6 hours or overnight. Cut or break the bark into pieces. Store bark in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

For presentation, I get cellophane gift bags and fill them with the bark, tying off the top with some curling ribbon.

The Adventures Of Condiment Boy

Our seven year old son is really into condiments. His usual morning breakfast is toast with peanut butter dipped in a sauce made of ketchup, taco sauce (Taco Bell mild), and BBQ sauce (KC Masterpiece Original, but Bullseye will also suffice).

This morning, he asked for some cottage cheese -- and promptly poured taco sauce all over it. I asked him how it was and he said it was "good." Other previous adventures have been watermelon with ketchup and my all time favorite, a chocolate cupcake dipped also in ketchup. Some would say "yuck", others would say "inventive". We just grin and marvel at the capability of a child to have such adventures in eating, and then turns his nose up at green beans.

Giving up Diet Coke

I have now been free of Diet Coke for six days and 4 hours, not that I'm really counting! The last one I had was last Tuesday for lunch and I'm finally feeling better.

Why give it up? I came to the realization that Diet Coke, even the caffeine-free version, just wasn't that healthy. The epitome came the other day when I was grabbing lunch at Whole Foods and asked where the Diet Coke was. The worker (rather snidely) told me that the store carried only natural products and that Diet Coke was definitely NOT natural. So instead, I investigated their cold drinks section and discovered a wonderful world of really cool drinks! I grabbed a bottle of MetroMint Peppermint Water which was, well, minty.

I've since been trying all sorts of new waters out, ranging from Propel (which I drank all the time while training for the Wildflower triathlon earlier this year) to the Vitamin Water series. It's actually pretty fun!

The downside was the caffeine withdrawal -- I just felt out of it for several days. The benefit has been that I'm sleeping a lot better a night (I'm a chronic insomniac -- note the title of this blog!) and the cravings for that Diet Coke are starting to wane.

So I bid adieu to a beloved friend that has served me well for decades. And onwards to new drinks! So if you have any suggestions on caffeine-free drinks (and preferrably, somewhat low calorie), please add them to the comments!

Cooking with romanesque

I picked this up this week at Whole Foods in San Mateo and couldn't resist trying it out. It's called "romanesque" and is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. This picture doesn't do it justice. To cook it, cut up like cauliflower and boil for about 3 minutes or until tender. We kept it simple with the preparation, just plain with a bit of salt and pepper added for taste (the way we usually have our veggies).

To my kids' credit, they tried it...and promptly spit it out.

It's definitely crunchier than cauliflower, not as sweet, and the nubby texture adds an interesting feel to the vegetable. I think it was the texture that threw the kids off. My husband and I enjoyed it, and his words, "I'd eat it again" mean that it's a success. But as I'm trying to simplify, not complicate weeknight dinners, I'll probably make it only for company, and then, as an interesting conversation side dish.

Our 10th Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this past Saturday with a "gourmet potluck". One of the keys to our successful union has been a love of family, friends -- with plenty of food mixed in! We also made a new year's resolution to expand our recipe repertoire by trying a new recipe every week.

So we asked everyone to bring a favorite dish: the one salad, entree, side dish or dessert that they KNOW is a sure-fire hit when company comes over or with the family. We also asked them to bring the recipe so that we can make it in the future. We've posted the recipes (at least the ones we have as of this date online for everyone to enjoy. (There is also a link on the side bar).

And if you have additional suggestions on recipes that work for both kids and adults, please send them -- we're especially looking for vegetarian recipes that work for picky seven year olds!

Cooking corn smut

It sounds awful. I looks awful. But it tastes pretty darn good! We found "corn smut", which is more commonly called Cuitlacoche or the Mexican Truffle, at the Stockton farmer's market last Saturday -- there's a mushroom seller there who has some pretty unusual stuff at times! (Cuitlacoche can also be found in cans at larger Mexican grocery stores).

I found a few sites with recipes, this one being one of the better ones. Cooked it up with some garlic, a little chili hot sauce (didn't have any real chili poblanos) and tried a little that night. My husband and I didn't get sick or anything, so the next day, I made a quesadilla with it.

It has a slightly gritty texture on the tongue and a bit of a bitter taste. If I had some epazota leaves, it would have brought out that exotic flavor even more.

So if you're lucky enough to live near a corn field, you might want to ask a local farmer if they have any corn smut on their fields. You'll get a pretty strange look, but give it a try!