This is one of our favorite potato dishes. Very healthy!
Low-Fat Mashed Potatoes
Recipe from: Quick & Delicious (Reader's Digest)
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds all-purpose potatoes
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup part-skim ricotta or low-fat cottage cheese
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (parsley, basil, or chives)
1. Peel potatoes, if desired, and cut them into 1-inch chunks, Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add enough cold water to cover them. Cover saucepan and bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate; continue cooking until tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Use electric blender or food processor to process yogurt and ricotta until the mixture is completely smooth.
3. Drain potatoes and return them to the saucepan. Heat the potatoes over moderate heat to evaporate the excess moisture, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
4. Using a potato masher or hand-held electric mixer, blend the yogurt mixture into the potatoes until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped herbs’ transfer potatoes to a bowl, and serve immediately.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
Scallops and Bacon
Again, from Nigella's recipes.
I cooked this for our lunch date (last 2005). It's a simple dish but it was fantastic! Enrique loved it as well. To complete the menu, I served this dish with a simple linguine and salad.
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Scallops and Bacon
This is one of my favourites: it has just the right balance between nursery comfort and dining-room elegance and takes hardly any time to cook - and thus is just what you need after a hard day's work. Properly speaking, it is more of a starter or savoury, but when there's just two of you eating, it makes a perfect supper almost in its entirety; all I'd add is a dark and leafy salad, dressed with walnut oil and lemon juice.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon oil
4 rashers streaky bacon, cut in half across
10 scallops
1 tablespoon seasoned flour
1 tablespoon butter, optional
quarter cup dry sherry
fresh parsley
1. Put a teaspoon of oil in a thick-bottomed frying pan and when hot add the strips of bacon. Cook until crisp and remove.
2. Separate the white flesh of the scallops from the corals, cut them in half horizontally if they are very fat, and dredge the fat white discs all over in the flour.
3. Add the butter to the pan if the bacon hasn't made much fat and over a low to medium heat fry the floury scallops, turning after about 3 minutes and cooking on the other side for about another 2, or until they are cooked, but only just. Now add the corals (if using) to the pan and just turn them in the butter for a minute and remove.
4. Put the scallops, their corals and the bacon on a plate.
5. Over the heat add the sherry to the pan and pour it over the scallops and bacon.
6. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and there you have it.
Serves 2.
I cooked this for our lunch date (last 2005). It's a simple dish but it was fantastic! Enrique loved it as well. To complete the menu, I served this dish with a simple linguine and salad.
*********************
Scallops and Bacon
This is one of my favourites: it has just the right balance between nursery comfort and dining-room elegance and takes hardly any time to cook - and thus is just what you need after a hard day's work. Properly speaking, it is more of a starter or savoury, but when there's just two of you eating, it makes a perfect supper almost in its entirety; all I'd add is a dark and leafy salad, dressed with walnut oil and lemon juice.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon oil
4 rashers streaky bacon, cut in half across
10 scallops
1 tablespoon seasoned flour
1 tablespoon butter, optional
quarter cup dry sherry
fresh parsley
1. Put a teaspoon of oil in a thick-bottomed frying pan and when hot add the strips of bacon. Cook until crisp and remove.
2. Separate the white flesh of the scallops from the corals, cut them in half horizontally if they are very fat, and dredge the fat white discs all over in the flour.
3. Add the butter to the pan if the bacon hasn't made much fat and over a low to medium heat fry the floury scallops, turning after about 3 minutes and cooking on the other side for about another 2, or until they are cooked, but only just. Now add the corals (if using) to the pan and just turn them in the butter for a minute and remove.
4. Put the scallops, their corals and the bacon on a plate.
5. Over the heat add the sherry to the pan and pour it over the scallops and bacon.
6. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and there you have it.
Serves 2.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Very First Meal
This is the first meal I have ever cooked for Enrique. I was so nervous and scared that he won’t like it. Honestly… He did!
Thanks very much Nigella for the recipes!
LINGUINE ALA VONGOLE
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
8 to 12 littleneck or other small clams in the shell, scrubbed
About 2 strips Pancetta or Bacon, sliced into smaller pieces (optional)
1/4 pound linguine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 dried red chili pepper or 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1/3 cup French dry white wine
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley.
Salt to taste
Directions
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, soak clams in cold water.
2. Add linguini to boiling water, and cook until slightly underdone; pasta will finish cooking in sauce. Meanwhile, place a large saucepan over medium-low heat, and add olive oil, garlic and chili pepper. Sauté gently, reducing heat if necessary so garlic does not brown. Add pancetta or bacon slices if desired.
3. Add dry wine and clams, and cover. Clams should open in about 2 minutes. (If pasta is ready first, drain it and toss with a small amount of olive oil.) Add hot drained pasta, cover, and shake pot gently. Allow to simmer for another 1 or 2 minutes until it is done to taste.
4. Discard any clams that have not opened. Add half the parsley, and shake pan to distribute evenly. Transfer to a plate or bowl, and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
Yield: 1 serving.
BEEF WITH LEMON SALAD
The Roast Beef you see to in advance; the salad you do just before you eat.
Ingredients
2 pounds (or thereabouts) top loin, sirloin, or tenderloin (I used 1 block, about 1 1/2 inch thick)
1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Arugula leaves
1 head radicchio
1-2 romaine lettuce hearts
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Rub the meat with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the skillet and put about 1 tablespoon olive oil.
3. Fry the beef in all sides. When done, wrap the beef with aluminum foil and set aside until it cools down.
4. When cooled, carve the beef into thin slices
5. Tear the arugula, radicchio, and romaine hearts into rough pieces. Mix together the arugula and romaine hearts, and set aside the radicchio.
6. On a plate, put the arugula and romaine leaves mix. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
7. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper. Lightly mix.
8. Flatten the salad a bit (as a bed), then place the slices of beef (as in a circle, with hollow middle) on top of the salad.
9. place the radicchio shreds in the middle.
10. Sprinkle in the shaved parmesan cheese. Squeeze in lemon and add salt and pepper if desired.
***Note: serve white or red wine, whatever you prefer! (I personally liked French White Wine to go with these)
Thanks very much Nigella for the recipes!
LINGUINE ALA VONGOLE
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
8 to 12 littleneck or other small clams in the shell, scrubbed
About 2 strips Pancetta or Bacon, sliced into smaller pieces (optional)
1/4 pound linguine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 dried red chili pepper or 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1/3 cup French dry white wine
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley.
Salt to taste
Directions
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, soak clams in cold water.
2. Add linguini to boiling water, and cook until slightly underdone; pasta will finish cooking in sauce. Meanwhile, place a large saucepan over medium-low heat, and add olive oil, garlic and chili pepper. Sauté gently, reducing heat if necessary so garlic does not brown. Add pancetta or bacon slices if desired.
3. Add dry wine and clams, and cover. Clams should open in about 2 minutes. (If pasta is ready first, drain it and toss with a small amount of olive oil.) Add hot drained pasta, cover, and shake pot gently. Allow to simmer for another 1 or 2 minutes until it is done to taste.
4. Discard any clams that have not opened. Add half the parsley, and shake pan to distribute evenly. Transfer to a plate or bowl, and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
Yield: 1 serving.
BEEF WITH LEMON SALAD
The Roast Beef you see to in advance; the salad you do just before you eat.
Ingredients
2 pounds (or thereabouts) top loin, sirloin, or tenderloin (I used 1 block, about 1 1/2 inch thick)
1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Arugula leaves
1 head radicchio
1-2 romaine lettuce hearts
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Rub the meat with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the skillet and put about 1 tablespoon olive oil.
3. Fry the beef in all sides. When done, wrap the beef with aluminum foil and set aside until it cools down.
4. When cooled, carve the beef into thin slices
5. Tear the arugula, radicchio, and romaine hearts into rough pieces. Mix together the arugula and romaine hearts, and set aside the radicchio.
6. On a plate, put the arugula and romaine leaves mix. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
7. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper. Lightly mix.
8. Flatten the salad a bit (as a bed), then place the slices of beef (as in a circle, with hollow middle) on top of the salad.
9. place the radicchio shreds in the middle.
10. Sprinkle in the shaved parmesan cheese. Squeeze in lemon and add salt and pepper if desired.
***Note: serve white or red wine, whatever you prefer! (I personally liked French White Wine to go with these)