Mango Guacamole

I've made this forever! But I just made it for a work party today and people really seemed to like it, so now... I share with you. (Sorry no pictures, because there wasn't any left.)

What you'll need:

3 Avacados
1 package of Green Onions
1bunch Cilantro
1 Mango
Lemon Juice
Salt

What to do:

You guessed it! Chop it all up. Peel and dice the mango. Chop up the green onions. You can use as much cilantro as you like, but I just use about a handful and chop it finely. Mash up your avacados. Mix it all together.

Add in lemon juice, I use about 6 capfuls, but you can use more if you want it tangy. Salt to taste. I like it really salty.

Options:
It doesn't haaave to be mango. You could also try pineapple or even peaches. Oranges anyone? I've never tried, but why not? I once saw a Martha Stewart article that opted in cranberries. Nice and colorful.

Just a Thought:

Obviously, you can use guacamole on a lot of good things. Here's one that I really like: Toast up a bagel, top with a slice of tomato and then a slice of cheddar cheese. Toast that or microwave it until the cheese melts. Put the guacamole right on top! Fattening, yes. But gooooooddd fattening. Really, it's all veggies!

Tortellini En Brodo

This is less a recipe than just a tip for one of my favorite suppers. This was something that my Dad found when he lived in Rome and we always had this when I was little.

You can find Tortellini in your grocery's freezer section. I prefer the meat tortellini. Prepare the tortellini as you would normal pasta, just boil water and then add the tortellini and boil until it's soft. Drain the pasta and add chicken broth.

That's really it, but you could fancy it up with some watercress (automatic gourmet quality dinner). Plus, I always serve it with nice crusty bread or garlic bread. Perfect for icy cold winter days.

Carbonara

This is an eeaasssy one!


What You'll Need:
Spaghetti
2 Egg
shredded Parm Cheese (or even just shaky Parm in a can)
Bacon (you can also use the pre-cooked bacon or Morningstar Fake-Bacon)

What to do:
Cook the pasta as usual while you fry up some bacon. When the bacon's done let it dry on some paper towels and then break it into tiny little pieces.

As soon as the pasta is done, drain out the water and throw the spaghetti back in the pot. Add 2 eggs and stir into the pasta. The tempature of the pasta will cook the eggs. Add in Parm cheese and bacon crumbles, stir.

This is my Mom's recipe, and I absolutely love it. Some people like their carbonara a little creamier (this recipe is a little dry). If so, just add a little cream at the same time that you add the eggs. Viola!

Spaghetti and Meatballs the Fussy Way

I didn't take a picture of this one because, well, you all know what spaghetti and meatballs looks like. But here's a special twist for ya;)

Things You'll Need:
Spaghetti
Meatballs
A Great Husband

What to do:
1. Make Meatballs
2. Make Spaghetti
3. Realize you forgot to buy Spaghetti Sauce.
4. Send wonderful husband out in the freezing cold to buy sauce.
5. And Serve.

Taboulleh

This is one of my favorite side dishes, but this week I'm taking it for lunch a couple of days. Yes, you can buy it at Wegman's. Or you can make it just as easily. My friend, some of you know him as the original owner of Gray Cat, makes this Middle Eastern dish with Israeli Couscous instead of Bulghar Wheat. You really have to trust him, after all he is Israeli;)

What you'll need:
Bulghar Wheat (1 cup)
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Parsley (1 bunch)
1 Leek
Lemon Juice

What to do:
Put the 1 cup of Bulghar Wheat in a big bowl, and add 1 cup of water. Let that sit for an hour.

Start chopping: Chop the Parsley. Chop a leek into tiny little rings, and then do a little random chopping to break up the rings. Cut a tomato in half and cut out all the guts (seeds and all), then chop into small pieces. Do the same with a cucumber (no seeds). You can add as much tomato or cucumber as you want. I try to stay away from veggies, so I only go with about 1 of each.

Add all of those lovely veggies into the wheat and stir in gentlely. Add some salt and pepper. Lastly, stir in about 6 capfuls (2 tbsps) of lemon juice. Give that a taste. I like mine to be pretty tangy so I go heavy on the lemon juice. It's best if you let the salad sit for a little while to soak up all the juices.

Baked Pasta Pie

This is an EASY recipe, I swear and just about everybody should have some sort of gooey cheesy baked dish in their repertoire.

What you'll need:
Pasta (something that will hold onto the sauce, like Gemelli, Ziti, Rigatoni, your choice)
Spaghetti Sauce
Ricotta
Mozzerella, shredded
1 Egg

What to do:
You ready for this? Make pasta as you normally would, drain.
Mix together ricotta, half of the mozzerella, and an egg. Then mix in the spaghetti sauce. Add in the pasta, stir it all up, and cover the top with the leftover shredded mozzerella.
Bake at 375 degrees until it's nice and browned and gooey. That's absolutely it.



I like to make some garlic bread to go with and of course it's the perfect opportunity for a super easy salad that my Aunt Dode always makes (served best with just lettuce, chopped tomatoes and chopped cheddar). The dressing is actually no dressing at all, just seasoning that really soak into the lettuce making it taste awesome. Just toss on some garlic salt, onion salt, oregano and parsley. Make the salad a couple minutes before serving so it will soak up all the flavors.

Mardi Gras '99

I bet you thought that I was going to give you our family's recipe for Jambalaya, didn't ya? Well I'm not, only because I'm saving that for a special occassion. But I will share with you my German roots: Fastnacht Kuecheles. And hopefully, my Mom won't kill me for giving away the family secret!

What you'll need:

Flour
Sugar
Yeast (1 packet)
Oleo or Margarine
Milk
1 Egg at room temp.
Crisco (that's right a can of lard) for frying

What to do:

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup Flour, yeast, 1/8 cup sugar. Melt 1/8 cup oleo/margarine, and add a little less than 1 cup of milk to the saucepan, heating just until lukewarm. Then add to dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes.

Add 1 egg and 1/4 cup Flour to make a thick batter. Mix on high for 2 minutes.

Add 3/4 cup more Flour and stir in with a spoon (not the electric mixer). Cover the bowl and let rise til double in size (about 1 hour).

Place dough on floured surface and knead slightly. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into squares (about 2 x 2 inches). Let dough stand, Covered, while heating Crisco to 375 degrees.



Fry each square until brown. Remove from oil and set on a paper towel. Once dried, shake in your choice of cinnamon sugar (my favorite) or confectionary sugar.



This whole frying can take a while, but man, there won't be any left by the time you finish with the next batch. Plus it's perfect while waiting to hear election results. It may sound a little difficult, compared to my earlier recipes, but I'm here to tell you, Yes, you can ;)

Spin Dip

Because it's Super Bowl Sunday, I give to you my favorite party recipe.

What You'll Need:

Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed
1 Can Artichoke Hearts, chopped
1 package Cream Cheese
1 pint Sour Cream
16 oz shredded mozzerella

What to do:

Just miz it all up, saving a little of the shredded cheese for the top. Bake at 375 degrees until brown and bubbly. I like to serve this with tortilla chips, but you could take a cue from the restaurants and serve with toasted pita chips or deep fried pasta (a la Olive Garden, but really who has that much time?)

A Special Note:

There's no need to kid ourselves -- dips will never be low fat. That being said, you could of course use fat free sour cream and light cream cheese. You could also up the amount of spinach and artichokes. That way you can put more cheese in it, because really that's the best part.

Spicy Broccoli Pasta

What you'll need:

Vinegar
Olive Oil
Broccoli (2 heads)
Medium-sized Pasta Shells
A clove or two of garlic (I buy mine bottle and pre-minced)
Andouille Sausage (or a different kind if you would like)
Salt and Pepper

What to do:

1. Cook the Sausage in a broiler. Put a pot of water on to boil. Cut up some broccoli into bite size pieces.

2. Once the water has come to a boil, add the broccoli and cook for about 2 minutes. Then remove broccoli and drain; bring water back to a boil. Add pasta.

3. Cook pasta as normal to your own taste. For this recipe, I like to make my pasta pretty well-done and not at all al dente.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Cut up sausage into bite-size pieces, and add to frying pan with minced garlic cloves. Add broccoli to the frying pan. Pour in 2 Tablespoons of vinegar, and cook for about 3 minutes. Add drained pasta, and toss with salt and pepper to taste.

Our Mission...

I really like to cook, and I like to blog. So, this seemed like a no brainer. From now on I'll be posting some of my favorite recipes, sometimes with pictures, sometimes not (sorry!). Most of these recipes are just things that I've been cooking forever, but if I've inadvertantly stolen your cooking property, please let me know. I'll be happy to credit you.

I hope that you all find this useful!