Roasted Asparagus and Garlic Pasta

Both of these recipes minus the shrimp come from my teammate mersaydees in the November 2009 Aussie/NZ recipe swap. I am a huge fan of asparagus - I wasn't always though. Thanks to my mother-in-law it's now one of my favorite veggies. The garlic pasta was a huge hit as we like this kind of thing anyway.

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan
(This recipe amount calls for 4 servings - I made just enough for me as I am the only one here that likes it - I am posting the 4 servings amount.)

1 1/2 lbs asparagus
1 TBSP vegetable oil
course salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Trim asparagus. On a rimmed cookie sheet mix asparagus with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Make sure there is a single layer and sprinkle with cheese. Roast in the oven about 10 minutes or until asparagus is tender. Serve immediately.

Garlic Pasta (with Shrimp - my addition)

8 garlic cloves
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1 cup whipping cream
salt
pepper
1 lb angel hair pasta (measured dry)
parmesan cheese or romano to taste
2 TBSP fresh parsley for garnish OR throw in some dried parsley to add a bit of color

Mince the garlic and saute in the oil for a few minutes. Add cream, a little salt and ample fresh ground black pepper. Simmer for a bit to reduce the cream. Toss cream with hot pasta. Add lots of cheese to taste and parsley for garnish.
**I made this a main dish by sauting shrimp and adding it over the pasta.

Macaroni and Cheese

Classic Macaroni and Cheese is the correct name of this so yummy, creamy mac-n-cheese. There was an actual macaroni and cheese cookoff in Portland either this week or last week with chefs from everywhere making their own creations. The requirement - using Tillamook cheese products! You can go to www.tillamookcheese.com then click on the recipes link. From there are many choices to choose from. If you click on the recipe link for Macaroni and Cheese there will be many choices to peruse at your leisure. After having done this myself....I opted to make the below recipe for my family. It was a winner!

Classic Macaroni and Cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I will tell you what I did to the recipe to make it work for my family. If you want the original - go to the website.

16 oz small elbow macaroni - cook per package directions and drain

3/4 cup breadcrumbs - either homemade or panko
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 TBSP softened butter
Combine these ingredients in a medium size bowl and set aside.

4 cups Colby Jack cheese shredded and set aside

In a large dutch oven melt 3 TBSP butter.
Add:
4 TBSP flour and whisk well. Gradually add 3 cups **whole milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in:
2 pinches of nutmeg
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (If your family doesn't like spicy - leave out. It adds a nice "kick.")
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Cook, stirring continuously until sauce begins to thicken. About 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add 4 cups shredded cheese. Stir until smooth. Stir in pasta. Pour into 9x13 baking pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. Top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake uncovered until cheese is bubbling and the top is golden. Approximately 25-30 minutes.


**On the whole milk...
I don't buy whole milk. I like the powdered milk from the LDS cannery and found out I can make my own - which I did for this recipe. 1 cup powdered milk and 3 cups water in a blender makes the amount of milk needed for this recipe. Just thought you should know that. :) Maybe this helps lessen the fat content - not that you should be worrying about that if you are eating macaroni and cheese in the first place. Enjoy! This makes excellent leftovers as well. Hence the 9x13 pan. This recipe can always be halved.

Shrimp in Lemon Cream Sauce

This recipe was probably hands down the most favorite out of all the recipes I chose this month for the Aussie/NZ recipe swap on recipezaar. My teammate was I'mPat from Perth West Coast of Australia. Her original recipe she posted calls this Seafood in Lemon Cream Sauce. We don't like scallops so left those out and probably tripled the shrimp as we love those. She found the recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly After Work Fast. It is fast going to together. The kids all thought it was definite restaurant quality. Which is a HUGE compliment coming from them.

Shrimp in Lemon Cream Sauce
2 1/2 lbs large shrimp or prawns (I buy mine already cooked and if the tails are still on - just pull the shells off)
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp lemon juice
4 TBSP apple juice
1 1/2 cups cream
Parsley for garnish if desired
hot pasta
In a bowl - combine shrimp, oil and garlic. Let marinate for a couple hours.
Simmer lemon juice and apple juice in a pan, uncovered until reduced by half. Add cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for a couple of minutes. Since my shrimp was already cooked - I added the whole bowl at this point and simmered until hot.

Cook up some asparagus and or sugar snap peas. Set aside.

When the shrimp is heated through - you will probably have to eat a couple just to make sure - Drain the sauce into the hot pasta. Mix well. It makes a fettuccine kind of dish. Serve shrimp over pasta and add vegetables.

Lasagna Soup

I was on the prowl for a tasty soup/stew I could make in the crockpot that we haven't had before. My father-in-law and brother-in-law were over working on Russell's car and I had cub scouts to do. I needed something that I could make during the day and leave for a few hours to simmer. I've seen this recipe several times on recipezaar's Aussie/NZ recipe swap and the pictures people took were so outstanding! The chef is Seasoned Cook from Eastern North Carolina.
Just before we served this tasty soup.
Christopher said this soup was Amazing! Michael took it to school for lunch the next day.

Lasagna Soup

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 onion, chopped

28 oz chicken broth (I used my homecanned chicken broth)

28 oz diced tomatoes (I used my homecanned tomatoes)

15 oz tomato sauce (I ran a pint jar of tomatoes through the blender to make sauce)

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (I only had the non-grated kind)

1 1/2 cups lasagna noodles, broken (I used the kind that don't have to cook first)

2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In large 5 qt saucepan - brown meat and onion. Drain. Put in 5-6 quart crockpot. Add remaining ingredients except lasagna noodles and mozzarella cheese. Two hours before serving add broken lasagna noodles. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. We loved this with garlic bread.

**This makes awesome leftovers! I bet it would freeze well too. There wasn't any left to find out.

Chicken Soup with homemade noodles

Homemade Noodles
We will take this step by step if you find the thought intimidating. It's really not. I promise. We will be making egg noodles today. Let's get started.

2 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP soft butter or margarine

Combine all ingredients in medium size bowl. Now for the steps.
Your dough should look like this - a ball. Here it's on the table with flour. You will need a large place for rolling.
Very gently with your rolling pin start rolling the dough flat. I flip mine over and add a little extra flour so it won't stick to the table or the rolling pin. I flip the dough a few times.

Once the dough is approximately 1/8 inch thick get out a trusty knife or in my case a pizza cutter. I have discovered pizza cutters cut more than just pizza. They cut for example - pancakes, french toast, waffles and even noodle dough! It's fast and efficient.
I don't measure as you can see. I just start cutting into desired widths. Cut the length of the dough.
Now move to the width and cut into desired sizes.
I moved my noodles to a floured towel to dry out for a couple hours. I have since learned if there is enough flour on the table - I can just leave them there. I do have to use a metal spatula most of the time to scrape them up though. Just thought I would forewarn you.
When your favorite chicken soup is ready - add the noodles about 30 minutes before it's time to eat. They will puff up like so and be so thick and tasty. If you don't know how to make chicken soup - or you would like to see how I do it...keep reading.

Chicken Soup

For this large family this is what we do...

4 large chicken breasts, frozen

6 quarts water

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Place chicken in 12 qt stockpot. Fill it about 1/2 full (6 quarts) with water. Add ground pepper. This will be the chicken stock base when the meat is done cooking. I cook my stock on low for about 3 hours. Remove chicken and using a strainer - strain out large fat chunks from stock.

Add...

4 large carrots, sliced

4 celery stalks, sliced

1 lg onion, chopped

1 1/2 TBSP dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

chicken boullion to taste

Cut the above chicken that was removed and return to pot. It is cool enough to not burn our fingertips now. When the soup has simmered for a couple hours and it's about 30 minutes before time to eat - turn up the heat to about med-high. Just high enough to get the water to start boiling. Add your noodles a handful at a time. If you discover they are kind of sticky - you will need to break/pull them apart before adding to the pot. You don't want a big clump of pasta in there. After each handful of added noodles - stir. After about 30 minutes - it will be time to eat and your pasta will look like the soup picture above.