10 minute pasta

Roma tomatoes are very happy at my house right now. We are picking tomatoes and making pizza sauce every few days. While tomatoes are in abundance, my family loves to make this pasta. It is simple and delicious. You can make this in the time it takes for you to drive to a restaurant for take-out. I hope you enjoy it.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

To serve four, you will need:

1. 12 -15 Roma tomatoes or 4-6 regular tomatoes chopped
2. 8 ounces of angel hair pasta
3. olive oil
4. 1/2 small onion chopped
5. 2 cloves garlic minced
6. handful of basil leaves chopped
7. 1/4 cup of dry red wine
8. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
9. salt and pepper to taste

Put salted pasta water on to boil. While waiting: chop tomatoes, onion, basil and garlic. Put a large skillet on medium heat. You will make the sauce in this. When the pasta water is at a heavy boil, add the angel hair. Be sure to time the pasta. It cooks very quickly (in about 4 minutes) and will be mushy if overcooked. By now the skillet should be hot. Add olive oil, onion and garlic to the skillet at this time. As soon as the onion and garlic become transparent, add the tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper and wine. By now your pasta should be ready to eat. Drain well and add to the tomato sauce. Divide pasta between four bowls. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Aunt Becky's Guacamole

My Aunt Becky was an amazing lady and cook. She was passionate about good food. Sadly, she passed away a couple of years ago. I think of her often especially when I make guacamole. The first time I ever had it was at her home. I've never had guacamole I like as well as hers. Husband and I had this tonight with our veggie fajitas. I hope you enjoy her recipe as much as we do.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 avocados mashed

1 tomato chopped

2-3 cloves of minced garlic

1 onion chopped

juice of 1/2 lime

handful of chopped cilantro

olive oil - just a swirl around the bowl

salt and pepper to taste

Simply mix all ingredients and eat! I could make a meal on this with a good tortilla chip.

A variation to this is to add chopped basil instead of the cilantro, different, but equally great.

Since you went to all the trouble to make fresh guacamole you might as well make a great Margarita to go with it. I am so against the neon green mixtures you find in grocery stores full of high-fructose corn syrup. This recipe is for a Margarita the way it was intended, tart and refreshing.

Classic Margarita

2 oz silver agave tequila

1 oz triple sec

Juice of 1 large lime

1 tsp agave syrup ( you will find this in the baking aisle near sugar)

Coarse salt for garnish

Rub the rim of a glass with lime and rub it in the coarse salt. Add ice to the glass. Combine tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and agave syrup in a cocktail shaker or jar and shake for 30 seconds. Pour into salted glass and enjoy.

Pesto Confessions

I spent yesterday morning making pesto. One of the plants husband left alone gave me six batches of pesto! I'm so excited. We will definitely not have to buy the expensive stuff from the store this year.

My family loves pesto. I will share some recipes using it later. Whatever you do don't buy the canned variety. The refrigerated type is heads above the canned in my opinion. I have not found one that is even close to homemade or refrigerated. Of course, I stopped trying a couple of years ago.

My sister always tells me that my pesto is different. She thinks it's due to the fresh basil. It's time to come clean. When I began making pesto, I was complaining about the cost of the pine nuts to the owner of my local greenhouse. She gave me a great solution - use sunflower seeds instead! I was reluctant to try it but being the Betty Bargain that I am, saving money prevailed. To be honest I couldn't tell the difference (my sister is the only one who can). Now I wouldn't consider using pine nuts in this. I save them for pasta dishes that lets them shine.

My secret is out. Here is the recipe I use. I revised it from a recipe my daughter found in a book at school years ago.

Basil Pesto

2 cups of freshly washed basil leaves

1 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of sunflower seeds (use the pine nuts here if you want)

1/2 cup of graded Parmesan cheese

3 cloves of garlic

1. Put garlic, basil, and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed.
2. Add cheese and sunflower seeds and blend for 3-4 minutes.

That's it. Now you can use it on pizza, pasta or for dipping bread into. I make lots of pesto in the summer and freeze it for later use. Typically I freeze it in ice cube trays. When it is frozen, I put the cubes into freezer bags. I take out what I need and thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator.

It's not too late!

Driving my daughter to soccer practice this week, I have been seeing a sign outside the local greenhouse. It says herbs, veggies and annuals half price! Now is the time to get those herbs you like to use and spend too much buying in the grocery store. I promise it is not as difficult as it seems. I have lots of herbs in my regular herb garden. However, I also keep a pot of my favorites on my patio. I only have to open the back door and snip what I need. In this pot I have cilantro, parsley, sage and basil. These are the herbs I use most frequently. They are no effort to grow at all. I have only watered them twice this summer and that was early in the season. Now they flourish when my flowers need constant attention. Remember, herbs are just weeds. They should grow when nothing else will. I have also had lots of success growing them with my flowers. They add the greenery you need but serve a greater purpose.

Make things simpler and save money by running to your greenhouse and getting herbs to season your life.

Sunday Dinner

We returned from vacation yesterday and there must be a thousand things to do today. Yard, garden, laundry, and dog all needed our attention. Usually we like to grill something on Sunday during the summer. Today we were desperate for a good meal that would not require much looking after.

This is a great recipe for roast chicken. It is yummy and will leave you with leftovers for the next day. I am also a fan of it being a one pot meal, leaving me time to do other things while it cooks.

Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole fryer chicken

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

2 TBSP honey

2 TBSP fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried chopped or crushed in the mortar and pestle

2 cloves garlic minced

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, honey, rosemary, and garlic.

3 carrots cut into chunks

2 potatoes (sweet potatoes work well too)

1 large onion quartered

1 package of frozen brussels sprouts

2 yellow squash cut into chunks

2 turnips peeled and quartered

6 mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken in the middle of a 9X13 baking pan. Add the vegetables to the pan putting them in all open spaces. Top the vegetables and chicken with olive oil mixture trying to spread evenly. Salt and pepper everything to taste. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

The other beauty of this dish is that if there is an ingredient you don't care for leave it out. By the same thought if there is something else you love, add it. Today I don't have brussels sprouts so I plan to serve a simple green salad with our meal. I was a vegetarian for three years and prepared the vegetables without the chicken. So, anything goes!

Here is what I like to do with the leftover chicken.

Chicken Salad

leftover chicken

1/2 cup or so of grapes, dried cranberries or raisins chopped

handful of chopped pecans

1 slice of onion minced

1 stick of celery finely chopped

1/4 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt (I know it seems strange but, it lowers the fat and adds a touch of sweetness.)

1 TSP dijon mustard

salt

pepper

Pull the leftover meat from the chicken and chop. Add vegetables and fruit. Combine mayo, yogurt, salt, pepper and dijon in a small bowl. Add to chicken, vegetables and fruit.

Perfect Shrimp.

Let's talk about the perfect summer shrimp. Of course, the best shrimp comes right off the ocean. However, good quality shrimp may also be found at home. The secret is in how you cook it. Whatever you do, do not over cook the shrimp.

Ingredients:

One pound of large shrimp

One twelve ounce beer

Palm full of sea salt

Old Bay seasoning

Pour beer into large stock pot.

Add water till stock pot is half full.

Add sea salt and bring to a boil.

Add shrimp and boil until shrimp turn pink and float. When they float they are fully cooked.

Remove from heat and drain. Do not over cook.

Sprinkle with a generous amount of Old Bay seasoning.

Peel and Eat.

Necessary Equipment

I thought I should let you know the tools and accessories that the Keene household can't live without.

1. Sharp Knives: Husband loves his Shun knife and would recommend it to everyone. His outcast knives are sharp enough for me. I am not nearly as skilled with a knife.
2. Grater: We put parmesan on everything.
3. Gas Grill: Heats up quickly and the temperature is more controllable. We even grill in the winter so charcoal is out of the question.
4. Heavy Duty Stock Pot: Find one that has a removable colander for pasta and a steamer basket for vegetables.
5. Electric Smoker: We use it to smoke turkey breasts, salmon and occasionally ribs. As with the grill, the temperature is more easily controlled with electric.
6. Stainless Steel skillets: They can go from stovetop to oven, no problem.
7. Pizza Stone: Put it in the oven while it preheats. The crust will be amazing.
8. Kitchen scissors: Will cut everything including chicken bones.
9. Cast Iron Skillet: Can't make a descent grilled cheese without it.
10. Metal mixing bowls: We have various sizes.
11. Wooden spoons
12. Mortar and pestle: Essential for grinding herbs.
13. Metal tongs: We use them inside and out.
14. Colander
15. Measuring cups
16. Large porcelain casserole (dutch oven): Can go from stove top to oven like skillets.
17. 2 Loaf Pans
18. Pepper mill
19. Food Processor: It will act as chopper and blender.
20. Each Other: It sounds so cheesy, but we love to be in the kitchen together. Husband swears that couples who cook together have more sex. Sorry Maggie! Kidding aside, we have solved many problems while chopping vegetables and having a cold beer.

Not Your Grandma's Green Beans

I am not a dietitian or a chef. I am just someone, who at times, is quite obsessed about what my family eats. For the record, I want to say, "Just eat real." Stay away from processed, high fructose laden things disguised as food. Your body and taste buds will thank you.

I went out to my garden this morning and was delighted to find that I had green beans ready to pick. Fresh green beans for dinner! My husband and I grow a type called Tenderette. It is a thin stringless bush bean that has a very small bean inside. Growing up, we both came from households that grew white half runners. While we love the way our mothers cooked them, we have never missed the hours spent stringing and breaking.

We like to cook our skinny beans in a way that differs from the usual Southern way. A couple of years ago while at our farmer's market a farmer shared this recipe with me. (By the way, listen to the farmer when you buy his produce. He will be happy to offer ideas for preparing his bounty.)

Green Beans with Fresh Thyme

Ingredients:

1 pound of green beans washed, dried and strung if necessary. Do not break.

2 cloves of garlic-leave the skin on

juice from 1/2 fresh lemon

olive oil

salt

pepper

2 tsp. anchovy paste

a couple sprigs of fresh thyme- remove the leaves and discard the stem

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. While oven preheats toss the beans and garlic in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Bake beans stirring often until they begin to turn a little brown and caramelize. It will take 20 minutes or so. At this time, squeeze the lemon over the beans, squeeze the garlic out of the skin and toss with the beans. Sprinkle with the thyme.

I hope you enjoy them!

Those of you who know me will not be surprised to hear me say to cook something else in that oven while it's hot. You can accomplish 2 tasks and use your electricity wisely. While preparing my beans, I will also roast potatoes. If you decide to do this check the time for the potatoes and put them in first.

Roasted Dijon Potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 pound of small red skin potatoes, pricked with a fork several times

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together olive oil, mustard, cumin, and chili powder.

Toss the potatoes in the mixture to evenly coat. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Don't Screw with the Basil!

I was recently visiting my sister and her family. Knowing that they have a killer downtown farmer's market, I suggested we meet there to get some goodies and have lunch after. My family arrived first and I must say we were appalled by the price of fresh basil. Farmers were charging $3 for a small bunch. There were maybe six leaves on the bunch! Being a tight wad, I thought that I should share how easy it is to grow basil.

1. Go to your local fruit market or garden center and buy a tray of three plants. The cost is around $2.00.

2. Plant it outside in the ground or in a large pot.

3. Here is the important part---Leave it alone!! Basil doesn't want to be fussed with. I tell you this because I am a fusser. I want to baby the plants in a way that smothers them. My sweet husband has taken over the job of leaving the basil alone.

In a couple of weeks you will have hundreds of dollars worth of basil to sell at the farmer's market!

Here is my family's favorite basil recipe:

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1. a loaf of good french bread, sliced
2. 3-4 fresh summer tomatoes, chopped (in the winter use Campari tomatoes)
3. 2 tbsp. of olive oil
4. 1/2 bunch of basil leaves chopped
5. 1 clove of fresh garlic cut in half
6. sea salt to taste

Combine tomatoes, basil, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt. Set aside. Brush slices of bread with remaining olive oil and toast. You may do this in the oven on 400 degrees, in a skillet, or grill it. When the bread is toasted, rub slices with garlic. Top with tomato mixture.

It's amazing that something so simple could taste so great!