Two Aldi Gems: Priana Garlic Gourmet Pasta and Frozen Mussels

By Nicole Williams / in Recipe / March 31, 2007

The hard part of moving to any new area is finding things, like groceries, that are similar to what you used to get. While at Aldi last weekend, I bought a few experimental items and they ended up tasting GREAT: Priano Garlic Gourmet Pasta (made in Germany) and frozen mussels (Packaged in Scotland).

Priana Pasta
Mark and I have taken to buying "Amish Noodles" at Krogers because they are wider and have no strange extra ingredients. When I looked at the back of the Priana label, I was pleased to observe only two ingredients: Wheat and garlic. Better yet, these noodles are cheese-eep. We made the following dish with them and they were fabulous.

Recipe: BBQ Pork ad Asparagus Pasta

1 package pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 Ristra Red Pepper
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 cup wine
4 teeth of garlic
1/2 onion
4 grilled pork chops, diced
12 spikes of asparagus
1 tablespoon rosemary

Set water to boil for pasta. Sautee diced onions, garlic, rosemary, pepper. Add 1/4 cup wine. Simmer for about 2 minutes. Pour in pork bits and tomato sauce.

While this is happening, the water will boil, put in pasta.

Add Spaghetti sauce to the tomato mix. Add Cut up asparagus to the boiling pasta when it is about 2 minutes from completion.

Strain pasta and asparagus when done and mix with sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Mussels
For $2.50 you get enough mussels for two people to eat as an appetizer, or enough for 4 servings of mussel pasta.

I just bought 8 boxes for my freezer...

A New Discovery: Sauerkraut in Baked Chicken

By Nicole Williams / in Life N Culture, Recipe / March 19, 2007

This weekend, we took turns operating a rototiller in the front yard to get ready for early spring planting. The house is over 50 years old and so is the grass. Breaking this ground was HARD work. Needless to say, I didn't have much energy to cook an extensive Sunday meal.

To make things simple, I grabbed a chicken, washed it, then looked around for spices. We had apples, sauerkraut and rosemary.

Not to be discouraged by the lack of spices around, I cut up the apple, stuffed it into the bird with the sauerkraut and sprinkled the rosemary on top. The bird baked for 1.5-2 hours at 350 degrees and ended up being the best baked chicken I have ever made. Here is the recipe:

Rosemary-Sauerkraut Baked Chicken

One 4-5 pound chicken (reduce ingredients for smaller birds)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
1 apple of the season
1 cup sauerkraut (get the good quality stuff or make your own)

Wash the chicken, inside and out, with warm water (make sure all the innards are outtards). Place in casserole dish or roaster for cooking. Cut the apple into chunks. Stuff them inside the bird. Shove the cup of sauerkraut into the bird. Place Rosemary leaves on top of the bird and rub them around a bit if you want to get the flavor into the meat (which you do). Bake covered at 350 degrees F until the bird is done.

Please use a meat thermometer to make sure the bird at the center is 180 degrees, you really do not want to get food poisoning.

Uncover and bake for 2-4 minutes to brown the top.

Prep time: 5 minutes at the beginning, 5 minutes when it is done.

Asparagus Season Arrives Early in Tennessee

By Nicole Williams / in Life N Culture, Recipe / March 16, 2007

In Tennessee, we have already had days of sunshine in the upper 70s. The grass is beginning to grow again. Our daffodils are just about finished and tulips are on their way. And we have asparagus for cheap in some markets.

That's right, Spargelzeit is upon us in Tennessee a full month before Oregon. The Germans go crazy for the vegetable during this time of year, hence the name "Asparagus time" or "Spargelzeit." Upon seeing the good price and fresh-looking sprigs of this ancient vegetable with many health benefits, I quickly bought about eight bunches.

We have been including it in all our recipes, but here are a few that center around the vegetable...

Asparagus Salad
1) Cut as much asparagus as you want into one-inch lengths and boil. Drain.
2) Allow them to cool and melt a pat or two of butter over them.
3) Salt and pepper to taste.
4) Cool in the fridge and serve in a large salad bowl with olive oil drizzled over them.

Asparagus Pasta
1) Make your pasta and red sauce as normal.
2) Cut asparagus into bite sized chunks.
3) Sprinkle them on the top of your pasta dish, add parm, and you're ready to rock n roll.

Oregon Grilled Asparagus
1) Cut the asparagus into lengths and soak in soy sauce for about 30 minutes.
2) Grill on low until the asparagus is tender.

Asparagus / Butternut Squash Enchiladas
1) Make this recipe: https://nicolesauce.com/2006/12/15/the-polotics-of-a-winter-wonderland-and-butternut-squash-enchiladas.aspx
2) After removing from the oven, sprinkle already boiled pieces of asparagus on the top.
3) Place casserole back in over and broil for about 2 minutes.

I saw another interesting recipe for grilling asparagus where you take a stick of butter and seal it in tinfoil with the vegetable, then grill it.

Of course, Mark asked the logical question after we began eating piles of asparagus: Will this make my pee smell funny? It is interesting to note that, at least on the blogosphere, many don't get the allure of the vegetable. One writer found the whole process of Spargelzeit in Germany baffling. He/She goes on to review the whole urine effect. Note in the comments that buttered asparagus-tinfoil-grill recipe.

Now, I can understand not liking this veggie. As a child, I seem to remember a time or two when I was served (not by my own mother) this delicacy stringy and cooked until it hardly kept its shape. Sort of an asparagus mush. It was bitter and terrible.

So some tips:

The proper way to boil asparagus: Bring water to a boil with asparagus in it. Turn off the burner and wait a few minutes. This will leave the vegetable softened but still firm.
The proper way to cut asparagus: A friend once told me a helpful secret. Grasp a spine of asparagus just below the crown and at the bottom and snap it in two. From where it breaks and lower is where it is stringy and tough. Discard that part.
The proper way around the proper way to cut asparagus: Don't want to waste so much asparagus? In Germany, they use much thicker and much whiter asparagus. To prepare this well, all you do is use a potato peeler on the lover half or so of the spike of asparagus. Removing the skin, removes the stringy unpleasantness. This also works for thick green asparagus.

Half Homemade Pizza and a New Kitchen Coming Soon

By Nicole Williams / in Life N Culture, Recipe / February 20, 2007

Well, the post Atkins transition is done and, though my weight fluctuated abut 5 pounds, it is now a steady 158 and lowering on the sparkpeople.com method. One of the really good things about their method is that it allows me to eat pizza, with the crust, and encourages a lifestyle change. Their web tracking system is pretty good too!

That said, we've been cooking almost solely at home these days and making quite a mess of things. With no dishwasher to keep up to the task and counter tops that always look dirty to me, the time has come for a little kitchen remodel.

Now, several years ago, I embarked on a similar project. 12 moths later, it was not done and my lovely roommate was about to move out from the frustrations if living in a perpetual construction site. This time, I tried a new method: waiting 7 months to schedule the update so that the contractor is tried and true, I have a window in my schedule to do my part, and I have saved enough money to deal with surprises.

Here is the plan, we will see how things shake out:
Tuesday: Phil (contractor) comes in and removes the cabinets and counter top in the kitchen (and makes them disappear forever). He then sets up the plumbing and wiring for the dishwasher and disposal. Mark and I pick up the dishwasher at Sears. Phil installs new cabinets (which I bought today) and the subcounter top for tiling. In the evening, Mark and I spread a thin layer of adhesive on the bottom of the marble tile so that it sits level tomorrow.

$650 in labor
$900 in cabinets
$300 for the dishwasher

Wednesday: I get up really early so that I can set tile first thing in the morning, even before cooking coffee, then go to work. Mark takes the tiles that need to be cut to Lowe's for cutting and comes home to set them. After work, we grout together.

$280 in tile and tiling tools

Thursday: Phil drops in and installs the sink and dishwasher and they miraculously work the first try. Mark and I move stuff back into the kitchen.

This is our fantasy. I will give a daily update of the actual time line and project cost as we go. It should be interesting. Meanwhile, we are having the lazy man's pizza before we lose the kitchen for a few days.

Half Homemade Pizza

1 cup sauce
6 OZ pepperoni
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 cups Mozzarella cheese
1/4 diced onion
1/2 cup diced GREEN olives
1 Boboli-style crust

Put your pizza stone in the oven and heat for 15 minutes at 400 (if you don't have a pizza stone, run out and get one, they are really cool). Open oven and assemble pizza on oven rack. Place crust on stone. Put on sauce, mushrooms, onions and olives, then a layer of cheese, then the pepperoni. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the pizza is done. Serve.

Before

Vegetable Stock

By Nicole Williams / in Recipe / February 12, 2007

A friend was amused that I could not eat the amount of meat required on the Atkins diet to stick with it. She remembered travelling high and low in Germany, seeking vegetarian dishes for me. This was a near impossible task in the erly 90s. Especialy in EAST Germany. Subsequent visits have been much easier for the vegetarian visitor, with many menus having more healthy options than the typical American restaurant.

Though I do eat meat and am healthier for it, my vegetarian years taught me many cooking tricks that have made my meat dishes turn out better than standard fare. One trick I learned in my early vegetarian days was how to make a vegetable soup stock. Keep in mind:

I was in college at the time and had little to no cash
I had time on my hands to do this
I hated tomatoes. I still don't really like them all that much...
Squash was out of the question (yuck)

It starts like this:

Every time you have vegetable scraps, put them in a tupperware container in your freezer. Make sure they are clean before you freeze them. The best scraps are onion and garlic peelings.
Wait for the pile of vegetable scraps to grow.

Waiting...

Waiting...
When you have enough to fill a pot, cut up one onion (peel and all) and put the frozen veggie mass into a large pot with the onion. Top it off with water.
Bring this mixture to a boil, then simmer for 4-6 hours. Make sure to keep water in there.
Strain out all the vegetable mass and simmer the soup broth down until it is as concentrated as you want it.
Salt to taste, then freeze if you don't want to make soup.

I use this stock in many things, from Rissoto to squash bisque (I got over my dislike for squash). The best part from my small l libertarian perspective: It's super cheap to produce!

Mark’s Crockpot Beef Burrito Filling

By Nicole Williams / in Recipe / January 11, 2007

1 roast cut into 1/2 inch squares (indeed, we did have 2 roasts to eat this week)
1 onion
3 teeth garlic
2 16 oz cans green enchilada sauce
1 can green chili
1/2 cup meat stock
2 red peppers from the Ristra
1 cup white rice
1/2 cup diced cilantro

Combine all ingredients except for the rice. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add rice. Slow cook for an hour or two. Serve.

Stew – It’s What To Do (When He Doesn’t Want Roast Beef)

By Nicole Williams / in Recipe / January 7, 2007

Over New Year's, we had roast beef and mashed potatoes with Mark's mother. Two days ago, I flattened a round steak, stuffed it and rolled it up, then baked it. When I mentioned that we would have roast beef for dinner, usually a very popular announcement, Mark said, "Again?"

Clearly, it is time for fried chicken or pasta, but there is a defrosted roast to eat before it goes bad. Luckily, we ordered about $40 in vegetables from PlumGoodFoods.com this week and are well prepared for beef stew.

In fact, this is a meal that my busy bachelor friends will love because it takes about 10 minutes to prepare and is an impressive accomplishment if you have invited a girlfriend over for dinner. The only special tool needed is a crock pot - something every bachelor should have, and Jamin' Philip Gray agrees.

Beef Stew Instead Of Roast Beef

One Defrosted Roast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Two medium sized onions, diced
1 bay leaf
2 celery stocks
2 large carrots, sliced or cubed
2 medium sized potatoes, sliced or cubed
2 handfuls of spinach, diced
1/2 cup red cabbage, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 dry red pepper*

*While in Santa Fe in December, we had hoped to buy green peppers, but the season was past. Instead of fresh green peppers, dried red ones were available in large quantities. These Ristras are a beautiful addition to the kitchen and a great source for spice in day to day meals:

1) In a crock pot, place all ingredients.
2) Add 2-3 cups of water, depending on how much room is available in the crock.
3) Cook on high until the soup simmers, add water as needed to keep it moist.
4) Reduce to low and simmer until it is time to serve.
5) Remove the red pepper and bay leaf, then add salt and pepper to taste just before serving.

This meal is exceptionally easy to prepare because the only cooking time needed is the dicing of ingredients. I often use the crock pot for meals during the Legislative Session, when work demands much of my attention. Meals can be prepared in the crock pot, which I keep in the fridge until it is time to cook them. Because the crock slow cooks, I can turn the machine on at noon and have a nice meal at 7 with no pre-dinner cooking hassle.

Serve this meal with a nice loaf of artisan bread and butter and add a salad if you are feeling fancy.

A Lot in Colorado and Rosemary Sausage Pumpernickel-Cornbread Stuffing

By Nicole Williams / in Life N Culture, Recipe / December 24, 2006

Stagecoach is so stunning that we have been looking at lots since August. Last week we found one with the a great view. After looking at comps, we made what we thought was a fair offer, came to terms with the seller and are on our way to our first country paradise...

With all the traipsing around on the lot, we really wished we had snowshoes on. The post Colorado blizzard snow drifts are above mid thigh in some areas of the land. After a morning of snow-filled boots and below zero temperatures, we stayed in and prepared for Christmas dinner.

The time is now to let the bread get stale for Monday's feast and we would have cut up two loaves of bread (one whole wheat, and one Pumpernickel), but the stores are out of almost everything. That's right, a Denver blizzard, paired with Steamboat Springs doubling in size with incoming visitors for the Christmas holiday has resulted in a Soviet-like grocery situation. People are actually waiting for the delivery trucks to arrive and buying the store out as items get here. Having given up on finding what I wanted, the following recipe will suffice for our feast.

Rosemary Sausage Pumpernickel-Cornbread Stuffing

1 batch cornbread, broken into crumbs
1 loaf Pumpernickel bread, cut unto one-inch squares and stale (good thing I bought this a week ago!)
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage (muhahaha - I got the last of the sausage)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 onions
4 teeth garlic
1 spoon full of Mexican red peppers (Guess what I left at home? My turkish peppers )
1 cup turkey stock (made from the turkey neck because there is no stock at the gorcery store)
6 eggs (uh-oh, we only have 16 eggs left!)
2 hands full of mushrooms

Caramelize the onions, then add the mushrooms, rosemary leaves, Mexican peppers and garlic and saute. (I will propable add 1/4 cup of white wine at this point, too.) Brown the Sausage.

Put all the dry ingredients in a larg bown and add the onion-spice-sausage mix and the 6 egs and squish around with your hands.

Place in a casserole dish, pour the stock over the top, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until done.

If you try this one, let me know what you think as I have not yet cooked it. Update on flavor to follow the holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Blizzard – and a Blizzardy Frosting Recipe

By Nicole Williams / in Life N Culture, Recipe / December 21, 2006

Snow is coming down in piles. My sister's husband is trapped due to airport closures. We are tucked safely away in a toasty condo. The cat is snoozing in her bed next to the fireplace. And there is a birthday to celebrate!

With roads slippery as heck up here, and the cake already baked, running to the market for some frosting doesn't sound very fun, so I whipped up the following frosting:

Nicole's White Blizzard Frosting

1 normal-sized container of sour cream (If you are in Germany, quark would be even better in this)
1 stick salted butter (1/4 cup, I dunnoh the gramage)
1 package cream cheese
5 Tablespoons organic sugar (It's all organic all the time at my sister's house)

Make sure everything is at room temperature and mix all this stuff together really well. I used a hand mixer for about 5 minutes. Add sugar if you like it extra sweet (I don't). Spread it and chill.

A word on quark:
Our friends at Wikipedia have one explanation of this yummy German food. But, if you just type "Quark" in a Wikisearch, you only get the more English version of the term and no other choices. Who will join me in the Quark revolution? We need to add a new Quark entry in the English version of Wiki and get the word out. Quark is also a food -- and a GOOD food at that!

Cornbread Mushroom Stuffing

By Nicole Williams / in Recipe / December 20, 2006

4 cups stale cornbread crumbs (Make the bread yourself to avoid cornbread with wheat flour)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, diced
2 tblsp olive oil
2 tblsp died fresh rosemary, or dry equivalent
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 green chili from a can (You can use fresh ones, but I only found canned up here in the mountains)
2-4 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (not the Kraft bottle if you can avoid it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil until a drop of water sizzles in it and add the onions. Caramelize them. Add mushrooms and sauté them. Add rosemary, stir. Remove from heat.

Mix the stale or toasted cornbread crumbs with the onion-mushroom mixture, salt and pepper, and diced green chili. Crack 2-4 eggs into the mixture. Eggs add moisture and hold the stuffing together - you can decide on the calorie-fat-tastiness trade off. Mix well.

Put stuffing mixture in a casserole dish, pour the vegetable stock over it, cover and bake for about 25 minutes. Add the Parmesan to the top and bake until the stuffing is done.

Other great references for cornbread stuffing:
Gluten A Go Go (sounds yummy - I'll try it for our January Turkey feast)
Kizzie's New England Cornbread stuffing (Not vegetarian, watch out for pop ups on this site!)
Coming for Dinner (It's a turduckon supporting recipe - I couldn't resist!)

Brad Edmond's Take on Stuffing:
Giving Thanks to Family, Friends, and the Market

But I also owe thanks to thousands of other people, without whom the Thanksgiving dinner I eat - along with most other meals I enjoy - would be beyond my reach. ...

My mom's oyster stuffing is but one example of this miracle. It is a wonder that we have access to oysters, for one thing! Although I live near enough to the bay, oftentimes the oysters are shipped from bodies of water hundreds or thousands of miles away. Each of the other ingredients has a long distance to go before it ultimately winds up in my hungry tummy.

With all my recent complaining about not being able to find things in the Rocky Mountains, it is rather amazing that I can get fresh mushrooms and rosemary in this vast, frozen locale.