Started with a 3/4 lb cut of sashimi grade ahi
cut into two pieces
made a mixture of coarse ground pepper, seasoned pepper, sesame seeds and sea salt
2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet
heated the skillet until the olive oil started to smoke
coated both sides of the tuna with the spice mix

fried for 45-60 seconds, flipped, did the same with the other side.
cut into thin slices, served fanned on plate with a spicy soy sauce (didn’t have any wasabi, so I made a mix of soy and Schezuan sauces)
Where do you but the meat and how fresh does it need to be for sushi?

I want to make this for my boyfriend
I went to our local butcher. I’m sure any decent seafood shop would work too. Make sure it’s Ahi (yellowfin) tuna. It should be a nice red color, not gray or brown.

Red not gray or brown

Thanks!

That’s not cool.
A lot of times you can tell a sushi restaurant by their tuna, if they have nice perfectly rectangle cuts of tuna like so:

Then you can bet your ass off that the tuna they’re using are these types of tunas.

The best color is almost a deep fluorescent red like so , never ever really dark or brown. Another way to tell if the tuna is bad is to just simply smell it, if it has a fishy smell, then its gone bad.

Nice, I usually sear mine for about 3 minutes a side on the grill. I also throw some snap peas and sliced squash in a tinfoil pouch and cook it on the grill a few minutes before putting the fish on.
Actually it’s hard to tell the freshness of tuna by color anymore because a lot of fish sales places treat the tuna with carbon monoxide, which gives it a good red color without guaranteeing it’s freshness. Just rely on your nose more than anything else.
or just go to an organic fish market. I guess they might be hard to find other places but this supermarket near my work called berkeley bowl usually has a few different kinds of sushi grade fish on hand. and most of the time its super fresh and tastes really good. some of the best salmon I’ve ever had I got from berkeley bowl and made nigiri with it. they get good tuna as well. it helps to ask when they get their shippments and go on the same day.

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Preheat oven to 350F. Cut the ends off of the onion, then in half. Mix bread crumbs with olive oil just enough for them to get mangled up. Add ogreano. Then mix it until firm. Put some butter on the onions, then the bread crumbs. Then put some paramesen cheese on top. Bake for 30-45 mins.
Slice the onions, cook on low heat in olive oil until they carmelize. Toss in a dash of rice wine vinegar and some salt and pepper. Chop up a cup of fresh cranberries and saute those too. Let that cool a bit, then mix it up with some grated romano or mozza cheese. Spoon all this onto melba toast (or your choice of crackers) and bake under a broiler until the cheese bubbles.

Tasty, easy, deviously fancy or-doovres.
Bloomin Onion

What this requires is a sharp knife and a steady hand. Use a LARGE onion, it is easier. Peel the onion, and slice enough off of one end so that it will stay upright by itself. Now, slice the onion vertically in a series of 1/4 – 3/8" parallel slices, stopping 1/2" shy of the bottom. Rotate the onion 90 degrees, and repeat. Place the onion in ice water, and let sit for at least 1 hour. (This causes the ‘bloom’ to open up.) Mix 1/4 c flour with one egg and 1 T milk. Remove the onion from the ice water and drain very well. Coat with the batter, and fry in very hot oil until golden brown.
french onion soup. seriously, it’ll decimate that bag of onions, and it’s definately worth it.

gonna try that for dinner.

didn’t even think of that. when I finish off this lot of beef, I’ll make some beef stock for soup
One recipe I found on a bbq forum I follow is this:

Videlia onions are now in season. These are the world’s sweetest onion, acccept no pretenders from Texas or Washington as a substitute. When purchasing sweet onion, the bigger the onion the sweeter, that’s why the big ones sometimes get a premium price. Flat ones are sweeter than round ones of the same weight, don’t ask me why. The name is registered, there are imposters, llok for the real thing.
Obtain a suitable amount of onions, one per person. Peel. Slice off the stalk end to make a flat surface about the size of a half dollar. Place on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap onion. For ease, I use the sandwich wraps. If the onions are big it will take two, but its still easier than messing with a roll. Shake on black pepper to taste. Spalsh or two of worchesteshire sauce (you kow what I mean). Put a bouillon cube on top. I find that beef tends to be a little too salty, chicken is o.k., I use vegetable if I can find it. Also look for it loose in a jar, in which case use 1/2 teaspoon –jar is easier than unpeeling all those cubes. Top with a generous pat of real butter. Trust me this is one recipe where "You really can believe this isn’t butter"
Wrap tightly in aluminmum foil, put on smoker for about 2 hours. Time isn’t really critical, as they can be eaten when the butter melts. Basically, they’re done like a potato — when a skewer will a-l-m-o-s-t go through.

I was going to try it this weekend but was futzing around with a windy day and a smoker that would either be to hot or to cold. So instead I did grilled corn.

did you check the thread date?

hence the
they mellow out so much when cooked; you could probably just double them up in any recipe

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antipasto salad, risotto w/ chicken, bread

jambalaya

enchiladas, rice + beans, veggies
Pork roast, stuffed shells, make-your-own tacos, pork chops.

I have no idea , just random stuff that came to mind. Something fun!
What kind of dinner party do you want to put on?

Casual & fun, more formal & reserved? Specifics would help plan the appropriate meal. If it’s more casual and fun, have people fix their own meals like with fix-your-own tacos and what not. The freedom to choose will add a lot to the meal. If it is a more formal meal, do you want to have mutliple courses? If so, you should go with your choice of salad, maybe a more expensive dinner entree, followed by dessert.. etc.
Another question is how much you actually want to spend, because then you know if you can put on a less expensive casual or more expensive formal.

GL.
Its more or less casual… just something to do on a sunday night for my friends… i dont want to spend too horribly much, but i also dont want to be a cheap ass…

tacos are actually a rad idea!
some sort of pasta dish would be easy and mostly everyone likes pasta
add a salad to the mix and some nice bread and you’ve got a meal

maybe a baked mac and cheese recipe?
Least effort, most impressive:

Sirloin roast:

• 1 1/4 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher (or 1/2 tablespoon table salt)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons
• 2lb sirloin tip roast

Combine spices and olive oil, let sit 15 minutes room temp. Rub over entire roast.
Place roast on baking sheet lined with foil.
350 degrees, 45 minutes (until internal reaches 140).
Turn off oven, let sit for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes.
Slice and serve.
(From All Recipes).

Side dish: Mashed potatoes or rice. Both from a box if you’re super lazy.
Salad: Lettuce, avocado, red onion, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, italian dressing.

All done in about 1.5 hours.
chicken and noodles is always good and usually good for a larger group of people. I like lasagna, too, thats always easy and everyone likes it. depending on the weather, stew or a big pot of chili would be good, too.
Time to watch "easy entertaining" on the food network

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The piece you got is like a T-bone steak? Or is it a big chunk of meat?

Lamb is usually very tender… it didn’t exactly get old enough to toughen the meat up. The same meat on a cow would be tough since the legs are all muscle. With that in mind, on a cow I would highly suggest braising because that’s the only way you’d be able to cook it without drying it to near jerky-state.

I think on the lamb, I would probably still go with the braising for that cut of meat if it’s a steak-style cut, but if it’s a roast style cut, I would DEFINATELY go with braising.

Tell me, in this pic, you got a cut of leg, right? Is it cut across the leg, or up and down for a halved leg?

Just found this, it might help you figure out exactly what cut you have and what it’s good for.

its a 1lb hunk of meat with part of the leg bone in the center. i think i’m just gonna salt and pepper, and cover with foil on a rack and pan to catch the drippings and keep it moist and see how it turns out. lamb is expensive in that pick i think its the back leg, cut in half from side to side, not up and down.
I’d probably add some liquid in the foil pouch with it, otherwise you’re bound to lose moisture through evap. I’d also add some aromatics with it… maybe leeks, celery and garlic. sweat those with EVOO or butter and maybe add in some red wine and maybe some vinegar… or not, and just take the liquid after the sweat and add that to the meat pouch.

It sounds like you’re wanting to go simple, so maybe just choose a few aromatics, sweat em up, and put it in your foil pouch. I realy like garlic, so that would always be in my sweat, but whatever you like for flavor.
lamb tastes like a fat piece of shit when its not cooked right
hey 1st post here

Lamb is pretty common here in Australia, to roast a half leg just put in a tray sprinkle with some Rosmary (fresh is better) and cook in the oven for about 30mins at 180*c (I think thats 350*f) some olive oil over the top is good too.

to test if its done push a spike into the thickest part, if the juice is clear its done, so adjust the time to suit that

dont cover or use a sealed bag as it will steam it and lose the lovely roast flavour lamb gets

alternative is to remove the bone and stuff with sun dried tomato, cheese and garlic but the bones a bit difficult to do
Lamb is awesome as many stated already if it is cooked right. I think this pertains more so with larger sections. I’ve had lamb somoza’s (spelling?) and I’ve had them when they were overcooked and just right and because of the taste and the fact that it was ground lamb it was still awesome. I’ve had lamb chops and the must have flavor and juiciness. From what Ardenfrost already has described I would go that route because his description itself is making me hungry. Either way post pics and let us know how it goes.
Lamb is absolutely delicous. Crown rack of lamb I had it for my birthday last wekk. Salt crust, little olive oil before you throw it on the grill. And it’s gotta be rare-medium rare.
i made it like a roast w/ salt and pepper. has a very game like taste to it that I do not like. yuck. $16 down the drain
Is lamb not popular/expensive/not eaten much over in America? We have it all the time here in England.

I liek it, has to be cooked well though. With mint sauce. Mmmmm…..

you messed it up.. have someone else teach you how to prepare it.

lamb is pretty rare around here except in metropolitan areas.
you can get em at costco here so yeah its common too. mm lamb chops, medium rare/rare ftmfw!!
can’t stand lamb, if i’m gonna eat some meat it’s gonna be beef not that shitty gamy shit
your loss

lamb isnt even game, so if its "gamey" then it certainly wasnt cooked right.

so true

lamb is really great, we started eating a lot more of it when my sister married a Muslim man and we stopped being able to have ham as a sunday dinner

lamb can be cooked badly like any other meal, but grilled or on a rotiserrie in the summertime or roasted in the oven it’s delicious

for a boneless roast I would make a paste – chopped garlic, rosemary, s + p, olive oil other stuff on hand and apply liberally

tie it up and brown it quickly then finish cooking in the oven

you make some rice pilaf and some nice green beans with garlic and lemon and it’s so freaking good

bonus if you know some lebanese type recipes – those people know how to cook
i like doing a grain mustard crust on a half or full rack , searing the mofo then finishing it up to medium rare in the oven

olive oil garlic and rosemary yes but roast it on some fresh cut potato wedges
turn the leg every 1/2 hr so that the potatos get some lamb goodness… they will crisp up and be the best you have had.

he has an episode about gyros which is basically made out of ground lamb… but yeah he needs to do lamb chops or leg of lamb…

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Ingredients:
8 roma tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic
8 Fresh basil leaves finely chopped
100G of herb goat cheese
1 Family sized package of Penne noodles

Method:
Dice the tomatoes, peppers and garlic.
keep tomatoes in a seperate bowl to be added to the pasta later
cook the pasta and sautee the peppers and garlic together until they are tender. finely chop the basil

once the pasta is finished throw in some olive oil and the goat cheese, mix it around until the cheese has well coated the noodles
add all the vegetables and mix around some more

and your done! add salt and pepper to taste i really like the addiction of fresh ground rock salt.

sorry no pics my cam is dead, but i highly recommend this!
I’ll be trying this.

I love cheese and pasta.

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Spinach Pie
1 box Phyllo Pastry
2 large bags Fresh Spinach
1 Yellow Onion
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Arabic Seven Spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, saute onion and seven spice in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes. Add spinach in small batches and saute until spinach is wilted. Lay out phyllo pastry and cut into 6"X6" squares. Brush each square with olive oil and place 4 squares into individual cups inside a muffin tin. Fill each cup with spinach mixture and then fold phyllo over the top. Place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes, until the phyllo begins to crisp and become light brown.

Hummus
2 cans chickpeas
1 8 oz can tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Arabic Seven Spice

Mash garlic with salt, using the edge of a knife and make into a paste. Place all ingredients, including garlic into a blender and blend until smooth. You will probably have to stop and scrape the sides several times. Pour mixture into a bowl and serve with spinach pies, pita bread and fresh cut vegetables.

Okay, now I am hungry for spinach pie and hummus. I think I will make some for Christmas.

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take 2-3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts – cut ‘em up into ~1" cubes. Marinate them with 2 tbsp rice wine, and 2 tbsp corn starch. let ‘em marinate for 30 minutes.

sauce: ~1/2cup OJ, 2tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp sesame oil (yum), 2tsp brown sugar, 1tsp chili oil or flakes. I put a tbsp of corn starch in the sauce as well – really helps to thicken it up. If you like more orange flavor (this just has a hint of orange), put some orange marmelade in the sauce. that’ll really kick it up a notch

mince a clove of garlic & a sliver of ginger

put some vegetable oil in a wok, and turn on medium-high. How do you know when your oil is hot? I run my finger under water, and ‘flick’ some water into the oil while it’s heating up. once it starts to snap, it’s hot.

pour yourself a homebrew.

make sure you have some backup. ALL beer should come in 22oz bottles, btw. (that’s a regular 12oz bottle next to it)

size reference:

drink 1/2 the glass before you do anything else

put the garlic & ginger into the oil – when you can really smell them, it’s time to add the chicken.

put the chicken in the oil

when you can’t see any more pink, it’s time to add the sauce

rest the chicken on the sides of the wok, add sauce, wait for it to simmer

mix

mmmmmmmmmm

and no MSG!

throw some rice with it, and you’re set.

gets warm too fast.

22oz = hotness
Cool post

Gonna try it tonight maybe

that plate is only 1/2 of what i made. eating the rest tonight.

i forgot to buy green peppers at the store.

just chicken & rice. that’s it. oh, and beer.

the edges go up

or do they go down
i use a similar recipe, but you need to grill some onion, bean sprouts, squash, and zuchini with a tomato wasabi paste on teh side.

it’s VERY simple.

the thing i hate about cookbooks & recipes, is that they don’t have enough pictures, and that they dont’ tell you HOW to tell when your chicken is done, when the oil is hot, what temperature to put shit at, etc.

i used to think that if i put the stove on HIGH, everything would cook. That may be correct, but everything will also burn.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

platanos

what the fuck?

that’s too many vegetables

i have the square bowls, small plates, and little cups too. green & blue.

apparently they don’t have the green online. might have to check at the store
keep on rockin the Chinese in the free world. that looks

fixed

what’s not healthy?

OJ has some carbs in it, and there’s about 2tbsp of oil.

well, then there’s the beer.
always wanted to make some orange chicken

Now I just need to figure out how to make House Chicken

corn starch, oil, beer, rice wine, brown sugar

its not BAD for you by any means, its just not "good"

You’ll need some plywood….a couple of 2×4′s

Good thing it’s the weekend, because we all know you don’t drink during the week.

thanks for the photo recipe, i will make it tommorrow night!

Mutha fawking

Looks great!
i think im gonna go run downstairs and start marinading some pork chops for lunch

always gotta rain on my parade, eh?

Whoa. Whats the green stuff?

looks good.

I used to have this stuff called "Jalepeno Mash" which was an AWESOME top to a burger. Sweet/spicy/tangy

not mine, queerbait

I love that jardines chipotle salsa. Try "clints" shit. Thats even better.

Must suck working at home.

"DRINK", not "have a beer".
The green stuff is Jardine’s Hot Tomatillo salsa. You oughta be able to buy it in Austin since it’s a "100% Texas" brand. They sell it at Central Market, the same place where I bought the buns, smoked tillamook cheddar, and ground buffalo. I love that store.

go look in the spice isle for "jalapeno salt". damn delicious

im naked right now
I think I’ve had it… I bounce all around the good salsa brands. My favorite is the Desert Pepper black bean salsa.

The key to Foreman grilling is cooking it about 1 minute less than the instructions say… otherwise it’ll be too dry

In for shitty sidekick II pic.

Im en route.
nice thread i think we need more thread like this including all the nice pics

check the "kitchen & cellar" forum. great stuff in there.

I thought of this album. But that does look good as hell.

We have a kitchen and cellar forum?

your friend Minty directed me to it. good stuff in there.

Huh, I’m making Hooters wings tonight. I’ll be sure to get I <3 IDB pics.

awesome.

You need to put a big ass 22 oz beer in his arms.

I also need to figure out how to blend skin tones

bwahahhaha

you’re always my favorite, Lehr

too bad I kill threads.
pottery barn bowl? I bought my GF the blue colored ones

that was a plate
that looks good. I might have to try that tonight… here is another quick and easy if anyone is interested.

In a large bowl add some olive oil and chicken breasts. Toss the breasts until coated with olive oil. Now add chili pepper and groun cumin to chicken toss until coated again. Foil line a pan and then add the chicken to the pan. Top the chicken with red and green bell pepper slices, green chilis and some chopped onions. Add some more cumin and chili pepper. Now bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350-400. Once the chicken is pretty close to being done take it out and shred fresh cheddar and some pepperjack on it, Stick it back in the oven for 10 minutes or so enjoy.
i was making general tso’s chicken last night, but i have been unable to get the chicken to fry like it is in the restraunt. Whats the best way to fry chicken chinese style?
where did you buy that huge beer? all we have here are grocery stores with budweiser

Corn Starch I’m guessing

you can buy 22oz bottles at any grocery store around here.

try sifting your flour.

i have no idea – i dont’ fry food
Tasty, looks like something I used to make back in the day

or just look for small wisps of smoke that come off the oil.

if you put a drop of water in there, you can sit on the couch and drink a beer. you don’t have to watch.
Looks good, wouldn’t you have more taste if you marinated it for awhile in the sauce?

Make a batter (egg, flour maybe? depends on how you like yours) then you deep fry it. Prepare the sauce, then put the deep fried bits into the sauce and mix it. That’s how they do it at the restaurant i worked at. It’s kind of cheating, the chicken is all deep fried and cooked beforehand.

IF you wanted it not as fattening, just skip the deep frying part
if you dont have a wok, is there anything else youd reccommend
You have about the same setup as I do: Homebrewing equipment, same wok, etc

you could do it easily in the biggest skillet you’ve got. wok just makes it a lot easier.

if you don’t have a wok, go buy one.

then post in here to figure out what you need to do with it.

don’t buy a non-stick wok unless you really want one

Holy shit, that looks awesome. I need to check and see if we have a wok, but if we do, I’m trying that soon.

Excellent! Pretty simple, eh? Makes for a quick, yet different meal.
I finally got around to cooking this up tonight. I left out the chili flakes and replaced the rice wine marinade with a little bit of teryiaki sauce. Came out awesome; great recipe!
the alcohol evaporates when cooked. Rice wine gives the dishes an awesome zing
deservatory bump

as a rep from the cooking crew, i’m impressed…i want to try this even

The Williams-Sonoma book are great for that. Every recipie has a pic. There are plenty of sidebars with interesting info and a great glossary/appendix detailing cooking techniques, special ingredients and sauces. I have the following books; Recipies from Portugal/Spain, Asian Cooking and Seafood. They’ve all paid for themselves many times over.

I’m going to try it today for lunch! I’ve been really starting to use my Wok lately, and I love it. Can’t afford Chinese anymore so I had to learn to make my own. Last night I made beef w/broccoli and bean thread.
Well, we tried this tonight and it didn’t turn out good at all. We ended up eating peanutbutter and banana sandwiches for supper instead!

what happened?

man, all that msg hate is hype. there nothing wrong with a slight dash of msg.
I’m going to make this tonight for all my friends. I’ll take a pic of the finished product.
Do you put your walk right on your glass stove top or do you use a ring?
And what kind of oil do you use, I always heard peanut is good.

right on it, but that’s because it’s got a flat bottom. if it was completely round, that’s when you use the ring.

i think you use the ring on gas stoves as well, to get it to spread out the heat better.

but yeah, right on the glass.

i use olive oil 99% of the time.

peanut oil is nice too – gives the food a nice flavor.

Thanks brudder.

peanut oil has a high smoking point, which is good for cooking things quickly because it can get really hot. olive oil does not, which is why you don’t deep fry with olive oil
bumping this cause i’m about to try, I wish i could take pics as well…. my digi cam took a shit. and I have slvr with a shitty ass camera
im cookin this right now too, but the sauce looks browner then in the pics, and you cant even taste the orange, only the sesame oil>. we’ll see.. will post pics

Reduce the sesame oil, its very potent stuffs. You can always add orange juice concentrate as well that will bring out the orange flavors
wtf, why do you need to drink half a glass of beer before cooking? is it liek doing autopsy or something?

it’s an absolute necessity

mine is fairly brown as well. We’ll see how it tastes, just wiating on veggies and noodles.

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I usually don’t care much for the bottled sauces, but this one I bought was ok. Can’t remember what brand though- I just know it was really thick. I put it over cheese ravioli with Italian sausage and mozz. cheese on top, and yeah it was pretty good, but I’m sure the homemede stuff is better. It usually is!!

an easy way is to make a bechemel, get vodka going in another pan and add tomato sauce to it and spice as desired, then mix in bechemel to desired consistency and let it simmer. if you want cheese add it to the bechemel to make it a mornay then mix into tomato sauce until desired color/consistency is reached.
this was a white sauce? I guess I should have read the title. the one I had was a vodka marinara that maybe had some cream in it but it wasnt a bechemel (or if it did use one it woulda been kinda pointless). you could just try throwing a shot into your home made sauce.

I found a couple of recipes:

i wasnt referring to a white sauce i said its sometimes easier to make a bechmel first then mix it into the tomato sauce.
So… the vodka is gonna boil off really quickly, and its just ethanol and water so… I guess the taste is altered by the other stuff briefly cooking in ethanol?

yep… just enough. Now if you wanna make a drunken pasta, you add the vodka in afer making the sauce.
It’s called Vodka Sauce. Many authentic Italian restaurants use this sauce in the dish: Penne alla Vodka. The sauce is simply a Pomodoro Sauce/Marinara with a dash of cream and a shot of Vodka…..the sauce should simmer to allow the alcohol in the vodka to cook out. Just google "Vodka Sauce" or "Penne alla Vodka."
From Cooks Illustrated:

So that the sauce and pasta finish cooking at the same time, drop the pasta into boiling water just after adding the vodka to the sauce. If possible, use premium vodka; inexpensive brands will taste harsh in this sauce. Pepper vodka imparts a pleasant flavor and can be substituted for plain.

Serves 4
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes , drained, liquid reserved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion , minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Table salt
1/3 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
Grated Parmesan cheese , for serving

1. Puree half of tomatoes in food processor until smooth. Dice remaining tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces, discarding cores. Combine pureed and diced tomatoes in liquid measuring cup (you should have about 1 2/3 cups). Add reserved liquid to equal 2 cups.

2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are light golden around edges, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and pepper flakes; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Remove pan from heat and add vodka. Return pan to medium-high heat and simmer briskly until alcohol flavor is cooked off, 8 to 10 minutes; stir frequently and lower heat to medium if simmering becomes too vigorous. Stir in cream and cook until hot, about 1 minute.

4. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta. Cook until just shy of al dente, then drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water, and transfer pasta back to Dutch oven. Add sauce to pasta and toss over medium heat until pasta absorbs some of sauce, 1 to 2 minutes, adding reserved cooking water if sauce is too thick. Stir in basil and adjust seasoning with salt. Divide among pasta bowls and serve immediately, passing Parmesan separately.
I have tried a few vodka sauce recipes. This one from the food network is my favorite:

I like this recipe, from Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals (I and II–it’s in both books). Makes 4 servings, but you’re making it for 2 with seconds in mind.

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (once around the pan)
1 Tablespoon butter (I use Smart Balance, butter’s fine, don’t use margarine)
2 garlic cloves, minced (the grocery store sells little jars of minced garlic in the produce section, this helps speed things up)
2 shallots, minced (these look like a cross between an onion and a garlic bulb, but are in the onion family (so look around the onion section)
1 cup vodka
1 cup chicken stock
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
12 oz. pasta, such as penne rigate or linguine (I prefer whole wheat)
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
Crusty bread

Put large pot of salted water on to boil. (Stew pot/Dutch oven is fine, fill up 3/4 of way, salt it a bit to accelerate boil time)

Heat a large skilled over moderate heat (read: medium to medium-high). Add oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute garlic and shallots, 3-5 minutes to develop their sweetness. (REALLY WATCH THIS. I recommend heat to be medium, and temporarily remove pan from heat as soon as you get a golden-brown color in the onion/garlic. Otherwise it will burn!)

Add vodka, 3 turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about a cup. Reduce vodka by half, 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente, a bit firm to the bite (here’s where you fish out a piece of pasta with a slotted spoon, don’t burn yourself!) While pasta cooks, prepare your salad or other side dishes.

Stir cream into the vodka sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve immediately, along with crusty bread.

For those that like a little protein, saute some shrimp in a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, and white wine (eyeball it, but don’t drown the shrimp) Just enough to cook. You’ll want to do this on about Medium heat, and turn once while cooking. You don’t want the shrimp to stick to the pan. When they look cooked through, remove them from heat, and cover (stick them in your microwave on a plate covered with a paper towel to keep them warm.) Careful, don’t cook them on the stove too long, else they will be a bit dry and rubbery in texture.

Add the shrimp in at the end, when you toss the pasta noodles with the sauce and basil leaves.

She also offers this salad to go with it:

Heart-y Salad: Hearts of Romaine, Palm, and Artichoke
(makes 2 servings)

1 heart romaine lettuce, shredded
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (half a bundle)
1 can (14 oz.), hearts of palm, drained
1/4 pound prosciutto di Parma (ask your deli)
1 can 15 oz. quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1/4 pound wedge Pecorino, Romano, or Asiago cheese
Basalmic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place romaine on a platter and toss with parsley. Wrap harts of palm in prosciutto and cut into bite-size pieces on an angle. Arrange palm and artichoke hearts over the romaine greens. Shave cheese with a vegetable peeler into short ribbons, working over the salad plate. Drizzle with vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper.
Thanks for the recipes. I agree that canned vodka sauce is really gross, but I love it in restaurants… will try over the holidays!
I made this one for the girlfriend last night. We both really liked it. This is the third vodka cream pasta sauce recipe that I have made and it is my favorite one so far

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First thing is get yourself some real meat, not some pre-packaged shit. For the first one we’ll use some mortadella, provalone, prosciutto and sopresatta. and get good meat and cheese, its not that much more money for a decent brand.

now everything else, some good and fresh european sandwich rolls, some arugula, a tomato, some good oilve oil (i use some homemade oil but you can get pretty good stuff almost anywhere)

Next is chop up your arugula ( I throw the stems out but you can keep them if you like them)

now put in a bowl and toss with some olive oil and throw in some ground black pepper.

now cut up some roasted peppers, buy the fresh ones they have not the ones in the jars.

now toss them with the arugula (cutting them into thin strips works best,

now slice your roll and drizzle some oil on it (dont go to heavy because as soon as you squeeze the sandwich to bite into it all of the juices will squeeze out into the roll so you dont want to over do it now)

next I sliced up a tomato (no pics of that) then put your meat on the bread, If I had gotten bigger rolls I woulda used more meat but this is plenty on a roll this size, add all three meats then top with a slice or two of tomato.

now top with your arugula pepper mix

a few slices of that provalone and throw the lid on that bitch

now stand back and admire your work

I also made another one with smoked mozzarella arugula and tomato for you non meat eating panzies.

Ignore the S&S label I just use this bottle to refill with teh homade stuff

go ahead and fucking hate cause that bitch was delish.

Now thats a sandwich, you have to have all fresh good ingredients or it’s not nearly as good. Good choices on meat also.
good sandwich. a nice touch is after you drizzle olive oil on the inside of the bread, throw it in a fry pan for a minute to warm it up, then build sandwich, then put whole sandwich in pan with a little olive oil on the outside, press down a bit to help get things inside warm.
MMMMM.

also, roma or cherry tomatoes work better, they are less watery. you can subsistute basil for arugula, and dont ever ever EVER let me see stop and shop olive oil in a pic again.

you didnt read the other thread but I just use that bottle because I got a gallon of homemade olive oil and its easier then pouring out of a gallon container, plus it has the drizzel top
12 bucks plus what I had at home, and I got about 4 sandwiches and had enough proscuitto for an egg sandwich in the morning. so about 4 bucks a sandwich I guess.

you make your own?

my grandmother brought back about 5 gallons that her sister in italy made. like I said i just use the old bottle to fill up, thats why that label is so old, I don even think they use that logo anymore.
muffuleta

you should have heated that baby up

Looks good.
Looks good. And we have the same plates. I have a set in black and a set in white.

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Ingredients:
1 pound extra lean pork loin (you can buy the kind with 2, and make 2, up to you)
Fresh rosemary
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
whole garlic cloves, peeled and cracked (easier to buy the prepeeled ones, you just crack them with the side of a knife)
pepper grinder
salt

take a rectangle casserole dish and line it with foil on all sides, makes for really easy clean up

heat oven to 350-360
put pork loin in dish, cut three deep slits into it, big enough to fit 2 whole cracked garlic cloves in each

drizzle entire thing with some olive oil, not too much

pull fresh rosemary from the stem and put over the pork and inside the holes

pour balsamic vinegar all over, dont’ be stingy, also pick the roast up and let some get under it

put fresh ground pepper all over the top, be generous

salt the top, be stingy

put in oven, leave for like 30-45 minutes (30 for 1 pound, 45 for 2, maybe a lil longer for 2)

take it out and let it rest, DO NOT CUT IT, very important, about 5 minutes

cut at a diagonal and serve

i had it with brown rice and steamed radishes

i have never had the steamed radishes. does it alter the flavor at all, they are something i have been curious about but never tried. I saw the rachel ray show where she made them, but haven’t gotten around to trying them.
steaming the radishes took away the bitterness and made them pretty caulifower tasting
i have to say that i made this a while ago and it was fantastic

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