Pantry Revisited

Thursdays with Hazan.   yum.  these are truly thirty minute recipes so great for working women or men who like to cook pasta.   Get his book Thirty Minute Pasta  by Guliano Hazan.  amazon sells it.   i know because I ordered it when I already had one at home!   it just looked so good -- twice!  LOL.   this was really easy to prepare.  Unfortunately it called for anchovies and I do not do anchovies.  but it was delicious with just the pasta shells and broccoli, with garlic and red pepper flakes. Kayte ,  Margaret ,  Chaya ,  Glennis  

Is it really the weekend again already?  A busy week means it goes  faster.  This weekend we made Red Berry Barquettes from Mimi Thorrison's book  A Year in My French Farmhouse .   I did not own a barquette pan, so I substituted and used a big muffin pan.  the dough was a bit dry at first and I had to work with it just a bit.  and the barquettes crumbled easily when we tried to eat them.  but eat them we did!  Mimi said they are best eaten the same day.   we had a social function and when we got home at midnight we "tried" to eat them all!  they were that good!  I used strawberries for my red berry in these.  -------------------------- Next, we cooked Andrew Carmellini's Mango, Kiwi, and Coconut Tart.  I found the dough in this one to work very easily.  Loved the taste of the fruit and coconut together.  We had a garage sale here today and I treated our next door neighbors to a slice after we closed...

Thursdays.   Cooking with Ellie is always a treat.  You can be sure it will be tasty and healthy.  Sarah  has chosen  Pacific Rim Salmon Burgers found on page 91  in Weeknight Wonders.    Even though they are burgers, I chose to just serve them without the bun.   The sauce was really good but I am used to eating the salmon burgers with ketchup.  So this was quite a change for me.  It was light but with a spicy bite to it.  The ingredients were plain Greek yogurt mixed with mayonnaise, Sirachi sauce, and sesame oil, salt and pepper.   The dh said he could eat that sauce just by itself!  It is so nice to cook for those that appreciate the food. Next week it is catch up week so no telling what we might cook.  Check out or website to see what the others thought of this dish.   eatingwithellie.wordpress.com

It's Wednesday and that means cooking with Donna Hay!    Chaya  chose for us to make these spinach and ricotta pies.  I made ginormous ones!  I think my puff pastry went into orbit or maybe I filled them to more than capacity!   They look bigger in the photo than they actually are.  Plus they are on a small plate.  There is a video of Donna Hay actually making these online and you can see it here.  http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/15166/spinach-and-feta-pies .   In the video, Donna leaves her pies sort of open faced.  i closed mine up.   The DH is going to love having this for his lunch tomorrow.   For me personally I like foods with a little bit more flavor.  These are so easy to make and you could put many different ingredients.  Might be good with mushrooms!  Check out our site to see what the others did.   wwdh.wordpress.com

Here we are back at the weekend and enjoying some french deliciousness!  First we made Cherry Clafoutis from Mimi Thorrison's book A Year in My French Farmhouse .  I believe it is pronounced cla-foo-tee.  If I am wrong please correct me!  Mimi said to leave the cherries unpitted, but to avoid broken teeth, I chose to pit mine.  This was pretty easy to prepare, but I had a hard time getting it out of the pan.  Next time I will line the pan with parchment paper as I think that would help.  It puffed up beautifully in the oven, but when you take it out, it quicky loses its puffiness.    I finally got it onto a plate, and we took two pieces out to taste test.  It was delicious.  My photos really do not do it justice!       Next, we cooked Andrew Carmellini's Bowtie Pasta with Tomato, Arugula and Mozzarella.  This had several steps to go through to get to the finish.  At first I w...

In our Thursday pasta group, we get to choose which pasta dish we want to prepare from Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta cookbook.  This is the BEST book if you are a pasta lover!  Instead of fusilli, I used farfalle, or bowtie pasta.  That is the only substitution I made in this recipe.  It was so creamy and delicious.  Will definitely be a repeat for us. You cook your pasta.  You cook your pancetta in a little olive oil until brown. Then you add frozen or fresh peas and cook for six minutes.  Then cream is added and you cook for a few.  Mix with the pasta and voila. . .. delicious!! Buy the book and get started or see what the others made this week by clicking these links: Kayte , Margaret , Chaya , Glennis  

Thai pad noodle salad.   The recipe I simply would have overlooked normally since no shellfish for me.  But I decided to substitute chicken and give it a try.   Am I glad I did!   Maybe I was just in the mood for it. But honestly it was the BEST lunch I've had in a long time.  I wanted to eat the entire bowl.   I halved the recipe so it really makes a lot.  Lucky for Chandler he gets the other half for his lunch today and I am jealous.  I will make this again and again but I will most likely leave out the scrambled egg. I did not think it added anything to the salad.   I used rotisserie chicken for the ease of it.  Tai-pad  noodles, carrots, Napa cabbage, fresh basil with a tangy dressing made from siricha sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, olive oil and lime juice!  I left out the mint and peanuts.  The cabbage had a nice crunch to it.  And the rice noodles were oh so good!   Thank you...