Garlic String Beans and Cauliflower.

Prepare half a pound of fresh String Beans by cutting off the tips and rinsing with cold water. Cut up about half a pound of fresh cauliflower. Take one clove of garlic, remove all of the skin and put many small slices into the clove without cutting all the way through. Put the cauliflower and the clove of garlic into a steam pot for about 15 mins. Then add the string beans. Continue to steam for 10 more mins.

Meanwhile heat up some olive oil in a small skillet on medium low heat. Chop up two cloves of garlic, add to olive oil. Increase heat to medium high. When the cauliflower and string beans are done steaming, add them to the skillet. Make sure all of the veggies are evenly coated with the garlic sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

*The whole clove of garlic in the steam pot helps to infuse the garlic scent and flavor into the veggies while they steam.
*A little lemon juice added to the oil and garlic in the skillet, adds a little zip to the veggies.

Garlic English Muffins

So the other night, I was entertaining some guests with a midnight-candle lit dinner, when I discovered that I didn't have any garlic bread to serve with the pasta I had prepared. After a few moments panicking in my kitchen, I found some English Muffins in my freezer.. I knew it was a strange idea, but I thought it was worth a shot-- English Muffins prepared as Garlic Bread...


Preheat the oven on 350 degrees. Slice open the muffins and lay them open on a plate. Spread a some Olive Oil over the muffins, then sprinkle with Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper and Oregano. Bake for 15-20 minutes until desired crispness.


Side note, my guests were pleased.

Romaine Lettuce Sandwich Singles

Some time ago, a good friend of mine showed me how clean and cut a heart of Romaine Lettuce so as to have perfect sandwich sized pieces.

Take the heart and gently open the layers and rinse with cold water without destroying it... Then cut off the white bottom, and about the top inch and a half to two inches (all the while keeping the heart together in your hand). Finally, cut the remaining lettuce into bread sized portions and viola! Perfect Romaine Lettuce Sandwich Singles!

*The discarded lettuce tips and bottoms work great for various compost mixtures. Go green friends.

Spaghetti with Meatballs

For this recipe, I used angel hair spaghetti.. Cooked according to the box... For the meatballs I used, one pound of fresh ground beef, about half a cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, one egg, one five ounce can of milk, and one clove of garlic, diced.
Just mix it all together in a large bowl. Makes about 25 meatballs.. Brown them all over in a frying pan.. Drain.. Add a can of sauce, then serve.

Best with Chocolate milk!

Untitled.

I'm sorry I haven't posted any new recipes. There has been a short series of deaths in my family and I simply haven't had the time to keep up. I have however tried a few recipes and will post them shortly.

-Heather

Baby-Back Ribs, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Brussell Sprout Casserole.

Stu and I finally got a kitchen table today... It's a cute little brunch sized table... Perfect for just the two of us. Something strange took hold of me after we had put the table together and placed it in the dining room... I had an urge to make dinner like you wouldn't believe. There's something so, spectacular about setting a new table for the first time. I definitely made a big to-do of it.

I, personally, cannot take all of the credit for the ribs we prepared.. I only thawed and cut them... Stu marinaded and baked them....

The ribs were marinaded in Mesquite Smoke flavored Barbecue Sauce, with two cloves of garlic finely diced, onion powder, salt and pepper. Baked in the oven at 375 for about an hour and a half.

The Garlic Mashed Potatoes were instant.... I hope to one day be able to make homemade Mashed Potatoes, unfortunately, I'm not there yet.

As for the Brussell Sprout Casserole, just take maybe, half a pound of Brussell Sprouts, wash and halve them. Slice six to eight pieces of bacon into one inch pieces, and put about a quarter-cup of light brown sugar in a bowl on the side... Layer the three ingredients, Sprouts, Bacon then Sugar... Laying the bacon in a patch-work layout. So as the Sprouts are all but completely covered by the bacon. Then just bake in the oven at 350-375 for just short of an hour (or until the bacon is as crisp as you would like it to be).

Been out sick

.I took a few days off from cooking on account of my having a stomach bug for the past two weeks.... I think any decent cook would agree that cooking while ill can have terrible after effects... I'm looking forward to more cooking this week though! I'm feeling better and I'm ready to get back in the swing of things.