Penne with Mushroom Gravy

Now playing:  Matchbox 20

Tonight was supposed to be 'Refrigerator Soup' night.  That's my creative way to use up what is in the refrigerator.  It's also my creative way to get my family to eat leftovers.  Alas, today is sunny and warm and not a good day for soup.  Given what I had on hand, I didn't want leftovers either.  There was leftover shrimp creole, which is probably questionable at this point.  There was something labeled "Burrito Stuff" that I pulled from the freezer yesterday, but I realized that it was not very good when I made it and wondered why I put it in the freezer in the first place.  Other than that, the choices were limited.  So here's what I came up with:

First, occupy your 3-year old with a snack.

Next, occupy your 43-year old with mowing the lawn.

Rummage through the fridge to come up with something appetizing to serve three people:

Penne pasta
1 pound of baby bella mushrooms (I did not add much in the way of spices to this dish, so I would not use a bland mushroom like white button mushrooms.)
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of flour
3 cups of chicken broth
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and white pepper to taste
Fresh parsley
Fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced (optional)

I was considering adding a little Merlot, but, well, I was running low, so it went into a glass instead.

 Slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic.

Add mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper to a heated pot with some olive oil and cook for a few minutes.

 Mix in flour and cook for a minute or two.  It will look like a hot mess, but that's okay.

Add chicken broth and simmer until thickened.  You won't know the thickness potential (I think I just made up a new term.) until it simmers.

If it's too thick for your liking, just add water.  If it's too thin, either simmer it down or just mix more flour with a little water and add it.
Which reminds me of a time when The Breadman did all the cooking.  My mother-in-law explained to me that the easiest way to make the flour/water mixture is to put it in a jar with a lid and shake it up.  So because the extent of my cooking involved screwing up a frozen pizza, I just nodded and smiled.  When next we met, she brought me an empty jar with a lid.  I was perplexed but I thanked her politely for the empty jar and tossed it in the garbage after she left.  Of course, she followed up with me to see how the process worked for me and I had to admit to her that I had no idea why she gave me an empty jar.

Anyway, serve over pasta with Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, and fresh jalapeno peppers (if desired).

I happen to know one mushroom hater who will not like this dish, but he is missing out.  Hater.

Next post:  I have chicken broth simmering on the stove, so that's probably it.

Shrimp Creole

Me:  What would you like to have for dinner?
Cricket:  Olives and carrots and apples and whipped cream and cheese and crackers and pickles.  Oh, and how about some tangerines? 
Me:  How about something more like dinner?
Cricket:  Quiche.
Me:  Getting closer, but we don't have any eggs.
Cricket:  How about shrimp?

We're in luck.  I had shrimp.

First, occupy your three-year old with making espresso for her parents because they will be up late watching the UC vs. OSU game tonight.

Here's what you need to serve four people:

1 1/2 cups of uncooked rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
garlic, minced  (I tend to use more garlic than most.  A clove or two will do for a normal person.)
1 or 2 stalks of celery, chopped, including the leaves.  (Why pitch them?)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
Creole seasoning (I tend not to measure...maybe a palm full)  (I also mix my own spice blends.  Why?  If I wanted a jar of salt, I'd buy salt.  Recipe to follow.)
a pinch of crushed red pepper 
1 or 2 tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth (Preferably homemade, but again, for another post.)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 pound of peeled and de-veined shrimp
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the rice as directed with a little salt and butter.
Heat the oil and cook the onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic with the creole seasoning and crushed red pepper.   It should take about 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and tomato paste and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
I don't know why I don't have a picture of this.
Add shrimp, cover, and cook for about five or six minutes until the shrimp is done.

Don't worry if it is a little soupy; the rice will soak up the excess, and that is what you want!
Add salt and pepper to taste. 
Serve over rice.

Promptly pick all the shrimp out of yours and sacrifice it for your favorite person.

I did not save the creole seasoning recipe that I used, but I believe this is it.  It had way too much salt in it though.  I would use 1 tablespoon instead of 3.  It wasn't very spicy, but I add spice at the table instead of in the dish.  Cricket thanks me for that.

Next post:  You'll know when I know.

Bubbles

I know I said my next post would be about homemade pasta, but I lied.  This one is more fun.
The Breadman has made it his life mission to make the biggest and most wow-worthy bubbles known to man.  Starting with homemade bubbles.  I tried to pick the least blurry pictures.  You'd think I'd get out the real camera, but Google+ makes using photos from the phone a whole lot easier.

He is still working on the right ratio, but tonight's ingredients are 1 1/2 cups of Dawn dish soap and one gallon of distilled water.

Why not just go to the store and buy bubbles?  Where's the fun in that?
And not just for her.  She's in bed and The Breadman is hard at work in the garage creating a contraption that will make bubbles as big as a car.  Yes, really.  I feel a bubbling blog series coming on.

Cricket lost interest for a while and started picking "dande-lines," which I think, after some not-so-extensive research, are actually called Beautyberry grape hyacinth.  (Thanks, Breadman.)

Had I known I would be a subject of a photograph, I would have put on some mascara.  Or at least brushed my hair.

Next up:  Maybe shrimp creole.

Full Fat Mushroom Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I expect a welcome back from my three followers!  I'll try this blogging thing again, but you all know me and my blogging habits...

I'm going to go easy on you for this first recipe, but you won't be disappointed.

I have had a life-long love affair with Alfredo.  The Breadman, however, does not like Alfredo at all, so I have never made it.  Until he came up with a brilliant solution, that is.  Unlike me, he does not mind marinara out of a jar.  He suggested that I make Alfredo for me and Cricket, and I can just heat up some jarred marinara for him.  Sold!

I got a late start tonight so I was just going to boil store-bought fettuccine, but then I realized that I did not have fettuccine noodles on hand.  I could either run to the store or make it by hand, so I opted for the latter.  It takes a little more time and effort to make them, but it's worth it.  That's another blog post in itself, though, and I digress.

I happened to have some baby bella mushrooms in the fridge, as well as some leftover cooked chicken, so here's what I came up with:

This serves four people.   If you don't eat mass quantities like us, that is.

Mushroom Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine noodles
4 ounces of baby bella mushrooms
1 stick of unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
(I warned you in the title that this was full fat.  It is Alfredo after all.)  
1 1/2 cups of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
(NOT the sawdust in the green can!)
1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley

First, occupy your three-year old with the most fun task of the day:  The salad spinner.  You can't have pasta without salad.

Then dump some tasteless marinara into a pot and heat it up for The Breadman.

Slice the mushrooms.

Melt the butter.

 Add mushrooms and cook for a minute or two.

Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed.
Slowly add the cream to the mushrooms. 

Let it simmer, stirring often,  for five or six minutes until it starts to get thick.
Add cooked chicken and heat through.
Remove from heat and mix in Parmesan cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over pasta and top with fresh parsley.

I was going to add a photo of the finished product, but I never claimed to be a photographer, so we will skip that this time.
The Breadman even said that this dish is something he could get used to.
He'd better get used to it; otherwise, I foresee a lot of jarred marinara in his future.
I think next time I will try to use half the butter and replace the heavy cream with half and half.  The sauce is not acidic, so there would be little risk of the half and half curdling, and my waistline will appreciate less fat.  Not to mention my arteries.
Next blog post:  homemade pasta.