For the last Think Pink Monroe #TastyTuesday, sometimes you just need a cocktail. Today we are giving the classic Cosmo a MaurPowerFoodie twist.
Ingredients:
1 oz Citrus flavored Vodka
.5 oz Chambord
1 oz Cranberry Juice
.5 oz Lime Juice
Optional Garnish:
3 raspberries
sugar
and/or a lime wedge
Combine the drink ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, shake, and strain straight or on rocks. Garnish with lime wedge and/or sprinkle raspberries with sugar and use a torch to brûlée the sugar on the raspberries (if you do not have a torch, put them under a broiler for 15-30 seconds and top the drink wit the brûléed raspberries.
I don’t know about you guys, but I absolutely love pasta. However, I have become spoiled and mostly only eat homemade sauce. Making sauce tends to be a long process so I usually make extremely large batches and freeze it in separate containers. These containers tend to be enough sauce for at the very least feeding 6-8 people pasta, usually more. This creates a couple of problems: 1) sometimes it is just me or me and one other person, AND 2) sometimes I don’t have time to defrost a container of sauce, yet make a whole new batch…. SO I developed a really quick 15 minute pasta sauce that is absolutely divine. When you simply don’t have time or don’t need too much sauce, here is your solution for that quick dinner pasta fix.
You ready?
Here goes….
First the ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 small can tomato paste, 2 ripe tomatoes or 1 carton of ripe cherry tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 Bay leaf, 2 fresh basil leaves, 2 fresh sprigs of rosemary, 4 segments of garlic clove, 1 habanero pepper, garlic powder, a bottle of Bordeaux (optional).
That’s it! Nice and easy. Now for the process.
1) Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan.
2)Finely chop the garlic, half the onion (save the other half for something else), and the habanero. Always wash your hands after handling the pepper, and do not touch your face until you do so.
2) Add the garlic, onion, and pepper to the hot oil, reduce heat, cover, and let the mixture sweat out, stirring occasionally as you proceed with the next steps.
3) Dice the tomato into small chunks. If using the cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters.
4) Finely chop the rosemary and basil.
5) Once the onions, garlic, and pepper have cooked down a bit (about 5 minutes) add the tomatoes, rosemary, basil, and bay leaf to the sauce pan. Stir and cover for 3 minutes.
6) Using a wooden spoon or a potato masher, smush the tomatoes into the mixture.
7) Add the can of tomato paste. If so desired, add a splash of the Bordeaux (This gives the sauce a very deep, bold and unique flavor and helps to counteract the spice of the habanero a bit… completely optional, but I like it). Increase heat to medium-high. Stir frequently and heat for 5 minutes.
8) Season to taste with a bit of garlic powder, probably no more than 3/4 a tablespoon.
There you have it! Deliciously spicy tomato sauce in about 15 minutes. Try it out and let me know what you think. Also goes great with pork and chicken dishes. If you want a full dish, check out my full Simple Italian Dinner Recipe.
One of the things I found when my mom was going through her cancer treatments was how important it was to have meals ready for her when she wanted to and could eat. It is also important for both preventative and continuing health to make sure those ready to eat options were health conscious options. When I think comfort food, the first thing I think of is a nice bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. This recipe is a great way to feed the whole family without a lot of work, not to mention, you can freeze some of it for future easy meals. I use low sodium chicken stock and add ZERO extra salt outside of that which is in the ingredients already. Note: This recipe is for a large slow cooker but if you do not have a slow cooker, simply put in a large pot, and once you have added all the ingredients, bring to a boil, lower heat to low, cover, and let cook for 8 hours over low heat.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 cups low/no sodium chicken broth
1 package of soup greens (easily found packaged together in most stores, but if not grab a carrot, celery, onion, turnip, and a radish)
1 lb of desired pasta shape (I like mini shells or egg noodles, but this is all personal preference)
1 bushel parsley
4 basil leaves
2 bay leaves
sprig of rosemary
sprig of tyme
1 tsp sage
2 tbsp chopped garlic
4 Thai Chili Pepper (optional if, like me, you like a little heat)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Parika
Old Bay
Olive Oil
Truffle Oil (optional)
Sesame Oil (optional)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Instructions:
Prep your soup greens. Wash them and peel the onion. Depending on how chunky you like your soup, chop your vegetables accordingly. I personally like using the soup greens for flavor, but then remove everything but the onions and celery. As such, I cut the other greens in large pieces so that they are easily strained out at the end.
Season the chicken breasts (I use a rub of garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, and a touch of old bay).
In a hot pan, coat the pan with olive oil (if you want to use an infused olive oil, I suggest a basil oil or garlic oil).
Sear off the chicken breast on high heat for about 45 second on each side. Remember, you are not cooking the chicken through. Just a nice sear on each side of the chicken to bring out some extra flavor.
5. Add the soup greens, other than the onion and pepper, to your slow cooker and place the seared chicken on top of the greens.
6. In the same pan as you seared the chicken, over medium heat add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Let sweat while moving them around for about 1-2 minutes.
7. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth, and increase heat to high. Bring to a light boil.
8. Pour mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker.
9. Add the remaining 9 cups of stock to the slow cooker.
10. Add your herbs (I used thyme, basil, parsley, sage, bay leaves and rosemary. I also like to leave these whole, not chopped, so I can remove them easily at the end).
11. Season the mixture with 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp ground black pepper, 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning, 1 tsp old bay, 1 tsp parika, a few drops of sesame oil, and a few drops of truffle oil.
12. Cover and set the slow cooker on low for 8+ hours.
13. When you have about 10 minutes left, cook your pasta in boiling water to an al dente and then strain (you can do this directly in the crock pot for the final 30 minutes, but I like a lot of broth and do not want the pasta to absorb it all).
14. Strain out the herbs and any vegetables you do not want in your bowl of soup.
15. Shred the chicken.
16. Assemble your soup bowl as follows: Desired amount of noodles, desired amount of chicken, and then ladle broth and vegetables over the noodles and chicken.
17. (Optional) I like to finish my bowl with a little parmesan cheese on top.
Check out MaurPowerFoodie as 1 of the top 100 Amateur Chefs in the Country, cooking for Chef Gordon Ramsay, Restauranteur Joe Bastianich, and Chef Graham Elliot.
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