Eats - Spaghetti with Spicy Tomato Shrimp Sauce

I apologize that there aren't any pictures of this. It was an off-the-cuff meal that turned out delicious. So delicious that I cleaned my plate before thinking about taking a picture. So...here's what I did:

For the Tomato Sauce:
1/4 of a large white onion, diced
15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp red wine
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
A few sprigs fresh basil - chopped
3 cloves garlic - chopped
Salt
Black pepper

Heat a sauce pan on medium high heat with 2-3 tbsp olive oil.  Add the diced onions.  Cook 5 minutes, then add the can of diced tomatoes and the sugar.  Stir and let the tomatoes and onions cook down for about 5 minutes, add the wine and let cook another 5.  Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes more, or until the sauce has reached a desirable consistency.

For the shrimp:
1/4 stick butter
15 shrimp (no tails, deveined, pre-cooked)
A few sprigs fresh basil - chopped

3 cloves garlic - chopped

3 tbps White wine

Salt

Black pepper

Crushed red pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet.  Add all ingredients to the pan.  Allow to cook a few minutes, then add the tomato sauce to the skillet and stir together, cooking just a few moments.  Toss with spaghetti and serve.

For timing:
Start the water boiling for the pasta when you add the "remaining ingredients" to the tomato sauce and start the shrimp when you add the pasta to the water.

Another hint (From one of my smart aunts):
Chop your fresh herbs and garlic together.  The herbs keep the garlic's stickiness to a minimum, and the garlic keeps the leafy herbs contained.

Eats - French toast made from leftover challah and topped with apples cooked in sorghum.

This was one of the first pictures I ever posted, but I didn't include a recipe.  After remaking this French toast last weekend (and getting the rave review of "Best breakfast I've ever had" from my boyfriend), I decided it was about time.

So...start with your leftover challah (Or any bread, but let's be serious - challah is the best, and worth the minimal effort to bake a loaf.  Look back at this post for the recipe).  I like my french toast to be fairly thick, so I cut about 3/4 to 1 inch thick slices.

For your batter:

4 eggs
2/3 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
A few teaspoons each of cinnamon and nutmeg

Using a fork, combine the ingredients in a pie pan or other low dish.

Prepare a pan with 3 tablespoons oil (again, canola is the healthiest).  Once hot, dip your first piece of bread for a few seconds on each side then quickly transfer to the pan.  Cook a few minutes until the bottom side is crispy and brown, then flip and repeat.  Serve with your choice of fruit, maple syrup, powdered sugar, you name it.  Personally, I'm a fan of apples and sorghum (pears and sorghum is also super delicious).

For the apples:

Prepare a small saucepan with two tablespoons of butter.  Add two sliced granny smith apples.  Place a lid on the pan until the apples start to soften, then add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon, leaving the apples to cook without the lid until they look slightly browned.

Serve the French toast with a healthy portion of apples and a few tablespoons of sorghum.

Eats - Crepes stuffed with berries and savory apple fried potatoes (and bacon)

For my crepes, I've been using this recipe for years.  You can play with it if you need, adding water or flour to adjust the thickness depending on your preference. I like mine to be pretty thin. I stuffed these with sliced fresh strawberries and blueberries, then topped them with powdered sugar.  They are also great with maple syrup on top.

The potatoes need about 40 minutes, so I would start those first, then give yourself about 20 minutes to do the crepes.

Fried potatoes:
3 Tbsps. oil (I use canola because it's the healthiest)
6-8 Yellow potatoes
1/3 large white onion
1 Granny Smith apple
3 Tbsp. white wine
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Slice the potatoes thinly and set aside.  Dice the onion and chop the apple into 1/2 inch chunks.  Heat the oil in the pan.  Once hot, add the onions.  When they begin to turn clear, add the potatoes.  Place a lid loosely on the pan.  After about 10 minutes, add the apple and rosemary.  Return lid.  Wait another 5 minutes or so and add the white wine.  Remove lid.  When the potatoes have begun to brown and are starting to look nearly done, add the salt, pepper, and paprika.  Cook a few more minutes, then serve.

Eats - Beets and Beet Greens (Cooking with whiskey)

Great with the sweet potato

In case it isn’t obvious by now, I like beets. A lot. They’re beautiful, delicious, healthy, and versatile. Even their greens are beautiful, delicious, healthy, and versatile. When sold alone, beet greens are known as Swiss Chard. An aside – a variety of Swiss Chard, called Rainbow Chard, is particularly lovely. As the name implies, it varies in color from yellow to green to pink, and maintains its color through cooking, adding flair to dishes.

Alright. On to the recipe at hand.

I had two beets leftover from the pickled beets and eggs (previous post), so I decided to use them with the greens of one bunch of beets (as sold). The beets were boiled and peeled already, so they just needed a bit more cooking.

I started with a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, adding a quarter of an onion, cut into slivers, a third of a shallot, and a large clove of garlic. After two minutes, I added two beets cut in sixths, rosemary, black pepper, and salt. I cooked the beets an additional five minutes, then added the greens, cut into manageable pieces, a splash of tamari, and a few tablespoons of whiskey. Once the greens have wilted, it’s ready.

My brother’s review: “It’s really damn good.”

Eats - Pickled Beets and Eggs

Pickled Beets and Eggs

I started with three large Mason jars and 7 medium beets.

I boiled the beets about 30 minutes, then plunged them into ice water to remove the skin, quartered them, and divided the portions between each of the jars. I also diced 1 large shallot and sliced 1/2 red onion, dividing them between the jars and adding sprigs of rosemary to each.  For the brine:

2.5 c. Cider vinegar

.5 c red wine vinegar

black pepper

salt

1 c. water

1 c. sugar

tbsp mustard ground

2 tsp allspice

Then I added equal parts of brine to each jar, capped them, and put them in the refrigerator for two days.  On the second day, I boiled 9 eggs, peeled them, and put three in each jar, capping the jars and returning them to the fridge for four more days.