Couscous w/ Fresh Corn, Garden Tomatoes & Arugula Pesto

I've been known to polish off a coffee cake in one sitting. I will seek out chocolate like a truffle pig. I can hardly start the morning without some kind of bread/muffin/biscuit/scone thingy. Yet, if I had to pick my favorite plate of food it would be a collection of salads made with Quinoa, Couscous, Farro, Mushrooms, Nuts and Vegetables. Does that make me "Bi-Palate"?

Israeli Couscous w/ Fresh Corn,
Heritage Tomatoes and Arugula Pesto

One reason I love entertaining is the challenge of crafting the event and the food around what or whom is being celebrated. My goal is always to Feed-The Fun! This past weekend, it was a Bridal Shower. The gorgeous lady-of-the-day is an actress, a yoga instructor, a baker and very intelligent about food. Her shower was vibrant with laughter and retro-games mixed with original games thought up by her circle of long-time girl friends (including a Newly Wed game that involved an interview with the groom-to-be on screen.) It was stylish and there were a lot of gorgeous people in one place.

(original photography by KhaliMacIntyre.com)

The sparkling bride-to-be loves and appreciates baked goods, so I made Lavender Cupcakes w/Lavender Frosting and Lemon Curd Filling.

She prefers healthy and mostly meatless meals, so I made Quinoa w/dried cherries in Lettuce Cups.

She enjoys eating seasonal, farmer's market foods, so I made Israeli Couscous with Fresh Corn (cut off the cob), and my very own garden Heritage Tomatoes, with home made Arugula Pesto.The next day, I made it again -- for me. Today, it was lunch -- for me. Send help, I'm Crazy-for-Couscous. Every bite of these tiny pasta pearls are dressed with peppery Arugula Pesto. Then, they get bejeweled with Heritage Tomatoes.Every spoonful is dotted with caramelized onions and sweet corn.

I have 2 ears of corn left and maybe one more apron-full of summer garden tomatoes. I have a long airplane ride ahead of me this week and you can bet I will have a little carry-on tub of this to munch.

The standard Couscous (originally from Northern Africa) that we buy in bulk or box in America is sometimes mistakenly thought of as a grain. Actually, it's pasta. It's made from hard semolina, and anciently from the durum (hard grain of the wheat.) It is a process that includes grinding, rolling, drying, and pre-steaming. A simplified version of it is done when you make Fregola Pasta. Using the boxed versions allows us to skip that part and gives us a filling and healthy dish that only takes a few minutes to cook. Like rice, Couscous easily takes on the seasonings and flavors that you add to the broth or cooked pasta. It can be served hot, warm or chilled and also makes a great thickener for soups and stews.

Israeli Couscous is similar to the standard Couscous, but the pasta rounds are larger. It was created during a time when rice was hard to come by in Israel. The wheat based dish was a great substitute for the daily consumption of rice (for anyone who could eat gluten.)Regular Couscous is generally cooked by adding 1 part dried couscous to 1.5 parts liquid, bringing it to a boil, covering it and taking the pan off the heat for about 5 minutes.

Israeli Couscous does better, I think, when you stir the dried grains in a bit of oil or butter to coat them, then stir to toast just a bit. Then, you add the liquid, bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat while it cooks for about 10 minutes.

Either kind of Couscous is so versatile and easy to store that it makes an easy go-to life saver in your pantry.

RECIPE: Israeli Couscous with Fresh Corn, Heritage Tomatoes and Arugula Pesto

1 cup fresh corn (about 2 cobs)
1/2 onion chopped
1 Tbls. butter
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbls. Olive Oil ( + more for drizzling)
Pinch of Garam Masala
3 cups fresh Arugula
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Cheese
3 cups diced Heritage tomatoes
2 cups Israeli Couscous (or standard - just follow pkg. directions)
salt/pepper

1) In a skillet on Med. heat, melt 2 Tbls. butter and 2 Tbls. Olive oil, add the onions and fresh corn. Season and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Add a pinch of Garam Masala and stir to heat through and distribute amazing flavor.

2) Scrap the corn/onions into a bowl to cool and hold til later. Using the same pan (with a tiny drizzle of oil if needed) saute the Arugula just until wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.3) In a blender - add the sauteed Arugula, the toasted pine nuts, 3 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup grated cheese, 1/2 cup Olive Oil, and a pinch of salt. Puree into a smooth pesto. Adjust seasoning to taste.

4) In a large saucepan, heat a drizzle of Olive Oil and add the Israeli Couscous. Stir to slightly toast the couscous for about 5 minutes, then add enough water to cover double the height of the Couscous. Heat to boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes til the Couscous is tender. Drain and spread out on a sheet pan to cool.

5) Transfer the Couscous to a large serving bowl. Stir in the Pesto, then fold in the Corn, Tomatoes and garnish with more Arugula and Grated Cheese.

Couscous is an easy base to your imagination. I hope you'll discover some of your own combinations of flavors and additions to this easy and healthy pasta. I'd love to hear about them. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by~

Remembering the Soprano's - A Ziti Pasta Casserole

Were you a Soprano's fan? I was the longer version of "fan", called "fanatic." My whole family was crazy for the craziness, hating ourselves for liking the bad guys, sucked into the television for every episode. We even went as far as having "Soprano Nights".

Ziti Casserole with Peppers and Mushrooms

Each person (above 12-years-old) would have a night to be in charge of the meal we ate before the show came on. One night, my middle son (about 17 at the time) was not comfortable enough to cook something up so ordered 4 giant Pizza and set up his boom-box with Italian music playing throughout the meal. It was so fun and we sang along while eating.

Every time someone on screen stopped into Vesuvios or Satriale's I got hungry.

(photo HBO promo)

The hardest thing to watch without drooling was when Tony Soprano would just reach into the refrigerator and pull out a great Ziti Casserole that Carmela had whipped up earlier. It was always there. That's when I started having Ziti Casserole in our refrigerator for the taking - anytime - lunch, dinner or in-between.In the last season of the Sopranos, my husband was in New York writing on "30 Rock" over at the Silver Cup Studios and got to sit in Dr. Melfi's chair, and walk through the sets of the show and even saw Tony (Gandolfini) with blood all over his face during a shoot (shooting?). Even though my husband is not easily thrilled by celebrities, seeing a Soprano gave him a rush, too. We were definitely fans. For his birthday, I bought him a brick from Satriale's in New Jersey. Can you say, "obsession"?It has been years, but for some reason my husband and I were talking about that casserole the other day and it seemed like a great one to share on my blog. It's an adaptation of a Sara Moulton recipe from way-back, and it's worth the bit of prep to have a few days of this golden pepper and mushroom cheesiness at my beck and call.

Ziti Casserole with Peppers and Mushrooms
(adapted from Sara Moulton)

1/2 onion (chopped)
2 yellow peppers (seeded and chopped)
2-4 garlic cloves (chopped)
1/4 cup olive oil (used as needed)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 red peppers (seeded and cut into thin strips)
2 orange peppers (seeded and cut into thin strips)
1 cup mushrooms (sliced)
1 pkg. Ziti pasta (cooked and reserve 1 cup pasta water to use if needed) salt/pepper
3-5 spring onions/scallions (sliced, including the green parts)
2 cups grated or shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

1) In a large stock pot, cook the yellow peppers, onion and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil on low/med. heat, covered until soft. This should take about 20-30 minutes 2) Add the cream to the stock pot, stir together, add salt and pepper. Then puree with an immersion blender (or you can use a blender). Reserve this Yellow pepper sauce for later. 3) In a deep skillet with a drizzle of olive oil, cook the red and orange pepper slices with the mushrooms, salt and pepper on low/med until just cooked through (about 10 minutes). 4) Add the red pepper mixture to the yellow pepper puree, and include the cooked Ziti, the scallions and 1 cup of the cheese. Stir all together (use the reserved pasta water as needed.) 5) Pour this Ziti pasta and peppers, etc.. into a large casserole dish (or I made a pyrex 9x12 plus another 8x8.) Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake on 350F for about 20 minutes til heated all through and the cheese on top is golden. Serve or cool and hold in refrigerator.

This is SO good cold for a quick lunch or if you're a die-hard Soprano fan - an anytime snack.(photo HBO promo)

Restaurant Style Pasta at Home (Sausage w/Mustard Cream Sauce)- Simple Saturday

Sometimes I have a hard time ordering Pasta Specials in just everyday Restaurants because I've worked in them and I know how simple it is to create that pasta at home. Of course, there are exceptions, but more often than not the recipe is very home-friendly. This same Pasta dish was over $20.00 a plate in a hotel in Southern California. You can make it at home for a couple dollars and in less than 20 MINUTES.

Sausage Pasta w/ Stone Ground Mustard Cream Sauce

The main ingredients for 4 servings, besides cooked pasta, are these three:

1) SAUSAGE (14oz) : This is already cooked Italian Sausage (You could choose Chicken, Turkey, Beef; It really just depends on your taste. It's exceptionally good with Vegetarian Sausage also, Mmmm.)

2) STONE GROUND MUSTARD (4 heaping Tbls): This can be found on the grocery aisle with the other mustards, the flecks of mustard seed give it a good zest - but it's also good with Dijon.

3) CREAM (1/2-3/4 cup): I use regular heavy whipping cream. Can you use non-fat? Yes, but it's not as tasty. I'd prefer to make my cuts by eating reasonable serving sizes.

You'll also need a small amount of Olive Oil, salt and pepper.

OTHER ingredients that can take it to a more complex level: Throw in crushed garlic, minced tarragon, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, or a drizzle of white wine.

The DIRECTIONS are really quick and simple:

While your PASTA IS BOILING--

1) Slice your Sausage into bite size pieces
2) In a large skillet, drizzled with olive oil and heated on Med/High - drop the SAUSAGE pieces in to brown on all sides. (Even though the sausage is already cooked, this gives it a roasted flavor and adds flavor to the skillet for the sauce)
3) Remove the browned sausage and hold on a plate. Reduce the heat to the skillet and add the MUSTARD, pinch of salt and pepper, stirring to mix it in with the oils and toasty browned bits. This will take only about 1-2 minutes.
4) Add the CREAM to the skillet, stirring to incorporate and cooking it into a rich sauce. Reduce the heat further if needed. If it's too thick, add more cream as needed (or stock if you prefer).
5) Return the sausage to the skillet and when the PASTA is finished cooking, use a strainer spoon or tongs to lift the pasta out of it's water and directly into the skillet of Mustard Sauce. Stir to combine, adding some of the pasta water to the skillet if desired, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese or Pecorino and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
As always, I'd love to hear or see pictures of your meal. And pat yourself on the back; If you served four people you just saved 80 dollars!
What are you going to buy with that? Hmmm?

Handmade Mushroom Pasta w/Pork Tenderloin & Sage

Oh Mama, don't you love Umami? That's the earthy warm 5th taste that shows up, even in the air, when you heat up mushrooms. When you add that flavor to the dough for handmade pasta - - - Che buono!

HANDMADE MUSHROOM PASTA with Pork Tenderloin & Sage

I love being a multi-tasker so I'm constantly looking for ways to add to, double up, and extend things. One of my very favorite things to make is flavored pasta. Being able get some of my "vitamins from vegetables" while practicing my "addiction to carbs" just makes me smile. I've made Dandelion Pasta, Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, Chocolate Pasta, you name it. And this Mushroom Pasta Dough is one of my favs. It's very simple and the only real work comes in the kneading, which is so important. I really enjoy the feel of dough and kneading is like therapy, but a lot cheaper. I'll warn you; While showing the steps to this process there's no way to make a mound of mushroom paste look pretty, but it's a lot like pate at that point. Start with 1/2 cup of Dried Wild Mushrooms and 1/2 cup sliced Baby Bellas. Cover the Dried Mushrooms with a cup of boiling water, to reconstitute them. Drain them and reserve the mushroom water for later. Saute the mushrooms on Med/High in a small amount of Olive oil for just a few minutes to bring out the juices. Let cool, then add the mushrooms from the pan to a blender with 2 eggs. Puree to a smooth paste. On a work board, make a mound of 2 cups of All Purpose Flour and 1 tsp of salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the mushroom paste into the well. Gradually pull the flour from the sides into the mushroom paste, kneading as you go. When and if you need moisture, add a couple Tbls from the mushroom water that you reserved. Continue kneading the dough for about 10 minutes until you have a smooth, blister free dough that when pressed with your thumb returns quickly. Cover the dough and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut the dough into two parts and cover the half you're not working . Press or roll out the first half until it's flat enough to be rolled through the widest setting on a pasta machine. Continue to roll the dough thinner through the machine, cutting sections as you go to make it manageable. Roll the cut sections through the Fettuccine blades to create your Mushroom pasta.

To hold the pasta for cooking, toss serving size amounts in a bit of flour and make mounds of them on a parchment covered baking pan. These can also be frozen, then bagged for later. Cook fresh pasta in salted boiling water until it floats to the top, or about 3 minutes. Drain and serve with your chosen sauce, optionally adding chopped sun-dried tomatoes, capers or olives. Ingredients: 1/2 cup Dried Mushrooms 1/2 cup Baby Bella or other button (sliced) 1 cup boiling water (for reconstituting dried mushrooms and reserve this) 2 Tbls. Olive oil 2 Large Eggs 2 cups All Purpose Flour salt/pepper to taste *Optional* Sun-dried tomatoes olives capers chopped parsley chopped fresh sage.


To prepare the Pork Tenderloins as shown in the picture:

6 oz. Pork Tenderloin (slice into 1/2 inch rounds)
2 Tbls. Olive oil 1/3 cup white wine
1 small onion (sliced )
12 oz. Stock (veggie or meat)
2 Tbls. chopped fresh sage
1/4 cup cream

Saute the Tenderloins in olive oil on Med/High just til browned and reserve. Turn down to Low/Med and add onions to the pan. Cook onions til caramelized, adding salt to taste. Deglaze pan (add in) white wine (or just a bit of stock if you don't want to use wine). Cook this til most of the moisture is gone, for about 5-10 minutes. Put the Tenderloins back into the pan, add the stock and cream. Cover the pan and cook on Low for about 10 minutes. Add sage and turn up heat to reduce liquid by 1/3, about 3-5 minutes. Stir to make sure nothing sticks. The Pork Tenderloin is ready to serve. You can add the pasta into the pan, or serve separately over the pasta when ready. Garnish with chopped parsley.