Spicy Tomato and Shrimp Pasta

Spicy Tomato and Shrimp Pasta

Life is about to get hectic once again, with my taco cart opening on Monday and our newly-opened AirBnB room filling up with bookings. Exciting times, yet we also must eat, right? Here’s a quick-fixing dish that’s loaded with flavor and can be on the table in a half hour. I used these cute little hat-shaped spicy tomato pastas in this, but any pasta will work. The pasta itself was truly spicy, so if using plain pasta and like spicy, simply adjust the pepper and red chile flakes in this to your liking. This serves two, but can be easily doubled.

Spicy Tomato and Shrimp Pasta

4 ounces pasta, any kind
12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
Ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of crushed red chile flakes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed, or a few handfuls fresh
Fresh-grated Parmesan, for serving (optional)

Begin cooking pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, season the shrimp lightly with Creole seasoning. In a medium skillet, heat the butter over medium heat and add the shrimp in one layer. Cook for a few minutes on each side, then remove to a plate and keep warm. Add the olive oil to the skillet then the chopped onion. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Pour in the can of undrained tomatoes, then season with pepper, chile flakes, oregano, and lemon juice. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Your pasta should be done by now, so reserve a half cup of the pasta water, then drain and add pasta to the tomato mixture. Stir in the spinach, then add the shrimp. Add in the half cup of reserved pasta water to loosen it up, and cook a few minutes more to heat through. Serve immediately with fresh-grated Parmesan.

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Beef Barley Stoup

Beef Barley Stoup

Is is a stew, or is it a soup? Who knows, but I call it a stoup! The day I made this it ate more like a soup, but the second day, its texture was more like a stew. I’m thinking the barley continues to soak up the liquid and thickens overnight. Either way, it was about time I made this staple cold-weather meal. Sooo comforting!

I used the last package of our top sirloin steak from last year’s quarter cow as we began to make room for our new cow in the freezer. Our lucky daughter got to take home about 10 pounds of ground burger to share with her ever-hungry male roommates in college that we never got around to using. (It appears we ate way less burger than we did in prior years.) You can use any cut of beef for this that doesn’t need a super-long cook for tenderness.

Stoup Base

Beef Barley Stoup

1 pound beef, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and pepper, for seasoning meat
Flour, for dusting meat
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped carrots
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes
4 cups homemade or low-sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
3 small sprigs thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Season cubed meat with salt and pepper, then toss with some flour to dust it. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add beef to pot, and sear cubes on all sides until browned. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Add onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms and cook about 8 to 10 minutes, until mushrooms start to brown. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste in the last minute of cooking.

Pour in the red wine and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits. Add the stewed tomatoes, beef broth, bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Stir well to combine. Add the meat, including any accumulated juices in the bowl.

Simmering Beef Barley Stoup

Bring to a boil, then stir in the barley. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, for about 45-60 minutes or until the barley is cooked. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs and taste for additional salt and pepper. Serve in bowls with crusty bread for dipping/sopping.

p.s. Tomorrow starts my seventh year of blogging, can you believe it?? Thanks for hanging with me! And please have a safe and Happy New Year!

Beef Barley Stoup

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Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash Casserole

We are in that “it’s hard to find a good vegetable at the store” time of year, so when the hubs asked me to pick up some veggies on my last trip, I settled on a spaghetti squash. After making this, I realized I had forgotten how much I like this beautiful squash! But is sure is a pain in the you-know-what to cut open. Most recipes for this showcase the innards in its lovely yellow shell as the serving container, but after my hack job it getting it open it was best left to throw it in a casserole dish.

Aside from trying not to chop your fingers off cutting the squash in half and getting it baked, this is an easy dinner to prepare. Serve with a salad and garlic bread, and dinner is served!

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash Casserole

3-4 pound spaghetti squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound hot Italian sausage (mild if preferred)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley (or fresh if you have it)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut spaghetti squash in half and remove seeds. Brush with olive oil, then salt and pepper it to taste. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet, and bake for one hour. Let cool until you can handle them, then remove the “spaghetti strands” to a bowl, using a fork. Set aside and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.

About halfway through the squash cooking time, cook the Italian sausage in a large skillet along with the onions and garlic until the sausage is cooked through. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir to combine, then reduce heat to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and parsley in another bowl.

Once all the players are in place, stir the spaghetti squash into tomato sauce, then pour into a 2-quart oil-sprayed casserole dish. Spread the cheese mixture over top, then the mozzarella. Bake in 350-degree oven for about 20-30 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash Casserole

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Lazy Sunday Italian Tomato Gravy

Lazy Sunday Italian Tomato Gravy

After we harvested the last of our ripe tomatoes before the first freeze hit, I decided to grab a bunch of the green tomatoes and hope for the best. These languished on the countertop for a couple of weeks as they slowly ripened. Yesterday I decided I better do something with the ones that finally ripened. Older tomatoes like this need to be cooked down, so slow-roasting them all day seemed the perfect way to spend my Sunday while binge-watching Chopped episodes. And it made the house smell divine!

While I used fresh tomatoes for half this recipe (I blanched and peeled them first), by all means use all canned tomatoes, and preferably San Marzano. Mine were fire-roasted but plain works equally as well. I had to add some additional water during the cooking since I didn’t have the canned juice to go with fresh tomatoes.

This recipe is halved, but by all means double it, as this tomato gravy can go with a multitude of dishes beyond pasta. We served it over rice with garlicky sauteed shrimp. I plan on poaching some eggs in the leftover sauce for a future meal. So rich and incredibly tasty!!

Lazy Sunday Italian Tomato Gravy
Adapted from Serious Eats/J. Kenji López-Alt

2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
8 baby carrots
1/2 medium onion, halved
Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Fresh and Canned Peeled Tomatoes

Lower rack in oven to bottom position and preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes thoroughly with your hands. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the crushed tomatoes to a container and refrigerate until later.

Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven until butter is melted. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, and basil, and cook for about two minutes until garlic is fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes, carrots and onion until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Tomato Gravy Ready to Slow Cook

Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar and place in preheated oven. Walk away and enjoy your day, coming back to stir about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add a little water if needed throughout. The sauce should reduce by about half and darkened to a deep red, about 5 to 6 hours.

Remove from oven, then discard onion quarters and carrots. Add the reserved tomatoes and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper. Serve immediately over pasta, rice or any which way you want. Leftovers can be refrigerated up to a week or frozen. Reheat from frozen with 1/2 cup water.

p.s. Austin Street Taco followers: I’ve closed my cart down now for the winter, but had a meeting today about a possible and exciting future venue next year! Stay tuned!

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Tex-Mex Enchiladas

Tex-Mex Enchiladas

It’s been a gloomy, rainy, and WINDY few days here on the high desert, and my taste buds wanted comfort food. And when you’re a Texas gal like me, sometimes that translates into Tex-Mex. I had some leftover shredded carne asada beef in the freezer, and of course the obligatory package of dried ancho chiles in the pantry. (What, you don’t keep those hanging around, just in case??) So of course, enchiladas are on the menu!

My Texas buddy Adam provided the inspiration for these, because Adam is connoisseur of all food Tex-Mex. No really, he is! I grabbed this recipe out of his archives, because a good enchilada sauce is timeless. Do yourself a favor and read his post about it, you might be enlightened!

Tex-Mex Enchiladas
Adapted from Joe Gracey’s Tex-Mex Enchiladas, via The Unorthodox Epicure

2 cups homemade chicken broth, or water
3 large dried ancho chiles
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, chopped (reserve 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Ground black pepper, and salt, to taste
1 tablespoon honey, if needed
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 corn tortillas
3 cups grated Monterrey Jack cheese
3 cups shredded cooked meat, heated through (can be beef, chicken, pork, whatever you have!)
Chopped cilantro, for garnish
Sour cream, for topping

Tear the tops off the ancho chiles and remove as many seeds as possible. Place the chiles in a sauce pan of simmering chicken broth until rehydrated and soft, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in a large skillet with a tablespoon of oil until softened.  Add the garlic in the last couple minutes.

Remove the chiles when softened, reserving the liquid. Add them to a food processor or blender along with the cooked onions and garlic and blend to a purée.

In the same skillet, stir in 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons flour and cook until starting to turn golden brown. Pour the chile purée into the skillet, along with the reserved chile liquid. Stir in the cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper. Sometimes the ancho chiles can be bitter (haven’t figured out why yet) so add a tablespoon of honey and a bit more salt to mellow it out, if needed. Bring to a simmer and then cook on low for about 30 minutes. Add additional water if it gets too thick.

When ready to assemble: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using tongs, dip a tortilla into the enchilada sauce on both sides, then place on a plate. Top with 2 tablespoons cheese and 2 tablespoons of meat, roll up and place seam side down in a greased baking dish. Repeat until baking dish is full. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with the remaining grated cheese along with the reserved onion. Heat in the oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and dish is bubbling. Remove and top with cilantro and offer sour cream on top, if you want. Serve with pinto beans and Mexican rice.

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Grated Zucchini and Fresh Tomato Pasta

Grated Zucchini and Fresh Tomato Pasta

Hello my long-lost foodie friends! In my six years of food blogging I have never taken a six-week break from blogging, but life kept happening at a lightning-quick pace. My daughter has flown the coop and gone off to college, I’ve taken a couple of much-needed vacations, and I’m about to wind down my food cart business for the winter. I’ve got one last hurrah at a local pumpkin patch event this weekend which I am looking forward to.

While I’ve done plenty of cooking at home between all this, I couldn’t find the time to get it together to photograph and post for you. And speaking of last hurrahs, my newest recipe comes from the zucchini from the last farmer’s market and pretty much the last of our ripe garden tomatoes. We have a late summer produce season here in Central Oregon, so while this may come to you too late for you in your neck of the woods, feel free to save this for next year’s bounty! And of course you can always use any good-looking store-bought produce when you can find it.

Grated Zucchini and Fresh Tomato Pasta

I have made this sauce three times in the past month, that’s how absolutely delicious and easy it is! Plus it’s versatile, too. It can be completely vegetarian, and truth be told, I wouldn’t miss the meat but I add it in for the hubby. He wants me to make it again with shrimp next time, too, which would be wonderful. The first time I made this I served it over cheese raviolis, and the next two times over garlic and herb pappardelle noodles with chicken. The pappardelle is my favorite! Any kind of pasta would work, but I do love the herb-infused kind with this. You can also use any variety of tomatoes. I used a combination of yellow, purple and red heirloom from our garden.

p.s. to my WordPress friends: I’ll be catching up with you soon! I really do miss reading all your posts. xoxo

Grated Zucchini and Fresh Tomato Pasta
(Serves two, easily doubled or tripled)

4 ounces pappardelle noodles, or other quick-cooking pasta
1 small zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion or shallots
1 pound fresh tomatoes
Splash of white wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Chopped cooked chicken (optional)
Fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Set a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, using a box grater, grate the zucchini onto a sided plate (I used a pie plate.) Spread out and lightly salt and let rest for a few minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low, then add the grated zucchini and onions or shallots, stirring occasionally. While the zucchini cooks, grate the tomatoes with the same grater. To grate, core the tomato, then slice a very thin slice off the bottom side. With a flat had, grate the tomato from the cut side until all that’s left is the peel. Discard peel and grate the remaining tomatoes.

Zucchini Tomato Sauce

When the zucchini and onions are softened, add a splash of wine to the pan. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and the dried Italian herbs. Simmer the sauce on low. Now add your pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Just before the noodles are ready, add the tablespoon of butter and the cooked chicken, if using, to the sauce. Stir until butter is melted and chicken is heated through. Drain the pasta and add to a serving dish. Pour the sauce over the noodles, and pass with grated Parmesan. A good thick slice of crusty buttered bread is also a must for sopping up the delicious sauce! Enjoy!

Grated Zucchini and Fresh Tomato Pasta

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Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

While Harvey was flooding Houston and other parts of the south, Oregon has been hell-bent on burning itself down. The air quality is downright nasty and unhealthy right now — and has been — for several weeks. But through that all our local farmer’s market still plugged on, albeit many vendors and shoppers short. And with the lack of shoppers came an abundance of fresh produce my way in exchange for some of my Austin Street Tacos, and equally as much free to take home at the end of the day.

One of my dear blogging friends, Jodi over at The Creative Life in Between, had a perfect recipe posted on her site a couple of weeks ago that made the perfect candidate for some of the produce. While my time is short for blogging while running my cart, I did have a reprieve today to post this fabulous recipe as the concert I was going to sling tacos at tonight was canceled due to the smoke.

I pretty much made this recipe as written, using ground burger and halved the recipe. I’ll just linky you over to her recipe, as she has a handy-dandy printable of it too! I know MANY of you have an abundance of zucchini out there, so please plan on adding this to the list of many things to make with it. It’s quite easy AND delicious!

Click here for the recipe —> Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage

Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage

After two months of no measurable rain and temps in mostly the 90s and triple digits, we had a welcome day of rain and cool temps in the 70s. The sudden change in weather gave me the opportunity to come up with a one-pot meal that was both satisfying with plenty of heat.

The weather seems to have moderated now back into temperatures normal for Central Oregon, with abundant blue skies. Just in time for the pending Apoc-Eclipse, which we are escaping from for a week to our private RV property on the coast. The forecast is for mostly sunny skies, and we’ll be uncrowded and safely ensconced away from the madness that is sure to come here. We are also in the path of totality over there, and even if we end up with a few clouds and maybe fog, it will still get dark, right?

I know I’ve gone missing in the WordPress world, but the power went out last Friday and fried our modem, and our “stellar” internet provider could not get a tech out here until Tuesday. And now I’ll be absent again for another week. So I’d best get this recipe out to you!

Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage
Adapted from Tastes of the South

2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
1/2 pound Andouille sausage, sliced
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (15-ounce) can light red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low sodium
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, chopped vegetables and garlic, and cook about 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender and sausage is browned. Add the beans, tomato, thyme, paprika, cayenne pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Cook 5 more minutes and remove from heat. Stir in rice and broth.

In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs and melted butter; set aside.

Add the skillet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully slide skillet out and sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture. Continue to bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes more. Serve with a side of cornbread.

 

Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes

Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes

I know this beef man from Ireland, and Conor Bofin is his name. He’s the closest I know to a connoisseur of any part of the damned cow that I know, even the unusual and sketchy bits. But he can cook the most amazing meals with that lowly bovine, so I jumped on the chance to sort-of copy-cat this wonderful braise of beef shanks with some nice meaty ones from our quarter cow.

While my photos won’t do it justice — and I wasn’t about to try and plate it for a shot — I think anyone who makes this will be satisfied with the most delicious gravy and tender beef. I served mine with some Parmesan risotto, but pasta or potatoes would work fantastic too. One of my deviations from the original recipe was to reduce the mushrooms (not enough on hand) and add a couple of almost-overripe tomatoes to the braise, which added a wonderful color and flavor to the gravy. (The long braise makes your house smell dreamy, too!)

Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes
Adapted from Daub of Beef from One Man’s Meat

2 meaty beef shanks, seasoned with pepper and salt
1 tablespoon high-heat oil (I used grapeseed)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Half of a very large onion, chunked up
4 ounces whole white mushrooms, quartered
2 medium ripe tomatoes, cut in eighths
Half head of garlic, peeled and sliced thick
2 1/2 cups homemade or high-quality beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup good red wine (I used an Oregon Pinot Noir)
2 bay leaves
Handful of thyme sprigs
Black pepper and salt, to taste

Beef Shank Ingredients (Mostly)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season the beef shanks with pepper and salt, then score the membrane in several places on the sides. Heat a Dutch oven to medium high heat and add the oil, then sear the beef until very browned on all sides. Remove and set aside to a plate.

Browned Beef Shanks

Add the butter, then toss in the onions and mushrooms. Reduce heat a bit. Cook and stir until the mushrooms have browned and onions are softened.

Veggie Madness (I like to dose my dishes with pepper at random moments)

Top with the tomatoes and garlic, then pour in the beef stock. Grind more pepper over if your feeling it. Stir in the tomato paste until combined. Now pour in the red wine and bring up a a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Nestle the beef shanks into the liquid, then add in the bay leaves and thyme.

Braise Ready for Oven ~ Time to read a book now. I did. Really.

Cover and cook in the oven for 4 to 5 hours, until beef is fall-apart tender. Remove the beef to a plate, then remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs and gently stir gravy to combine. Taste for additional seasonings and add, if needed. Serve each shank with risotto, pasta, or potatoes, topping the shanks with a generous amount of gravy and veggies.

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Homemade Tomato Soup (with Grilled Cheese, of Course!)

Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

I have been wanting to try my hand at homemade tomato soup for years, especially since we grow and can our own tomatoes. When my friend Suzanne over at Pug in the Kitchen posted this recipe, I knew it was time. Besides, I had a can of San Marzano tomatoes that had been in my pantry over a year, and what about those 20 pints of canned jars of tomatoes I forgot about in the garage? How did I forget about canning those from the fall? I grabbed a few for my pantry lest I forget again.

This soup comes together quite easily after some initial prep. And if you are wondering how long it takes for tomatoes to caramelize in a hot oven, it takes 18 minutes according to the smoke alarm that went off during my 20-minute timer. I suggest using a vent fan during this process. 😉

My husband was amazed at the taste of this soup. According to him, it did not taste like tomato soup from a can. Errrmmm… We’ll leave it at that. Oh, and don’t forget to cook up some ooey-gooey grilled cheese sammies for dunking! We used sourdough bread and a combination of Monterrey jack, sharp yellow cheddar, and pepper jack that was leftover from Super Bowl. This makes about 3 to 4 dinner-size servings.

Homemade Tomato Soup
Adapted from Tomato Soup at A Pug in the Kitchen

1 28-ounce can San Marzano or good quality tomatoes, liquid reserved
1 pint homemade canned tomatoes (about 1 large cup fresh), liquid reserved
Ground pepper and sea salt, to taste
Olive oil, for tomatoes and vegetables
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 bay leaf
Small piece of Parmesan rind
3 large leaves fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
Additional basil, chiffoned for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place all the drained tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Season to taste with ground black pepper and sea salt. Roast until caramelized or until your smoke alarm goes off (18 to 20 minutes).

Roasted and Caramelized Tomatoes

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion and cook until they start to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook about a minute more until fragrant. Add the roasted tomatoes and the reserved tomato juice (About 2 cups, add water if you don’t have that much. My canned tomatoes had a lot of of liquid.) Also add the bay leaf and cheese rind. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Remove the bay leaf, then add the chopped basil. Taste for seasoning.

Simmering Soup

Pour into a large blender and puree until smooth (or use an immersion blender if you have one. I need one!) Return soup to the pot, then add the butter and cream and stir until incorporated. Keep warm while you griddle up some grilled cheese. Ladle into bowls, top with additional basil, and serve immediately with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Homemade Tomato Soup

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