Shrimp, and Scallops, and Squid! Oh, my!

It always begins like this on a Saturday afternoon, “What’s for dinner tonight? I know, let’s make something easy.  How about Seafood Pasta? It's easy and always delicious."  Off goes my husband to purchase our seafood.  I used to buy the frozen blend of Seafood Mix at Trader Joe's, but buying your own mixture of fresh seafood, makes more sense, and tastes so much better.  I’ve made Seafood Pasta a variety of ways, but tonight it went down like this!

Ingredients:

1 pound of shrimp

1/3 pound small scallops

1/3 pound squid, chopped into small pieces

1 pound of linguini

1 onion, chopped

2 shallots

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

parsley, dried

¼ cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

You may vary the amount of garlic, shallots, and onions according to taste.

I always keep a jar of sun dried tomatoes in my fridge.

I slice the sun dried tomatoes into small pieces.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat until hot.  Add onion, shallots, garlic, and sauté until tender.
Add the sun dried tomatoes, and continue to sauté.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add parsley and continue to cook on low heat.  I buy my dried parsley at
https://www.penzeys.com

I always set my timer and cook the pasta according to package directions.

We enjoy Linguine with Seafood Sauce.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Be careful not to add too much salt, because some of the pasta water will be added to the seafood sauce.  Add pasta and cook according to package.

Drain seafood and place in a bowl.  

Add salt and pepper to the seafood mixture.

While the pasta is cooking, add the seafood to the skillet, and sauté over medium heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, scoop the pasta and place it into the skillet.  

Toss the pasta with the seafood mixture.  

Add a couple of ladles of pasta water and continue to cook in the pasta in the skillet. Continue to toss the pasta and seafood.  The starchy pasta water helps to bind and thicken the sauce, and emulsifies it into a creamy, non-greasy coating.

Sometimes you need variety,
 even when it comes to Pasta.

Buon Appetito!

2015 Kids 4 Kids Run/Walk: Taking Big Steps to De "FEET" Cancer!

Today my daughter, Bianca and I participated in the Kids 4 Kids 2015 5K Run/Walk at L. A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.  It was 74°, sunny and a perfect day to be outdoors.  While walking we got a chance to enjoy some of the sights along the way.  Every year we look forward to participating in this event and taking big steps to De "FEET" Cancer.  We are proud that our donation to this cause will be added to the Children's Cancer Research fund in providing for research to make bold new strides in childhood cancer.  We didn't break any records, but we did cross the finish line, and received our own fabulous 10th anniversary medal!  Tomorrow I will wear my Kids 4 Kids T-Shirt and medal to school with pride! 

Staple Center

Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers Guard 

Oscar De La Hoya, American Boxer 

Nokia Theater L. A. Live

 Former Kings' Hall of Fame left wing Luc Robitaille  was unveiled on March 7, 2015.

Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings Forward 

And we're off!

The Bob Hope Patriotic Hall is the home to military artifacts and memorabilia.
It also houses documents from wars and conflicts starting with the
American Revolutionary War, and including recent Middle East conflicts.

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

Stimson House is a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion.
It has changed hands many times, but today it home to the
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

We made it to the finish line!

We were proud to represent our school.

We enjoyed a delicious Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
at Red Mango.

Today we enjoyed life's variety!

Life wants you to touch, taste, and see the grandeur of the world's unfathomable variety. -Bryant McGill

For The Love Of Pho!

Pho is so much more than just a bowl of soup.  It is a harmonious dish that is as healthy as it is delicious.  Vietnamese food is known to be one of the healthiest in the world because of the importance placed on a balance of yin and yang to create food that is beneficial to the body.

My family and I absolutely love Pho.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgX2q9WPoqo

I prefer a rich, earthy homemade beef bone broth for our Pho, and I try to make the beef broth at least once a month.  I always make enough broth for two meals.  I blogged last week about making the Pho beef broth, now it’s time to enjoy this dinner experience with my family.

The broth is the most important element in Pho and it can make or break this dish.  After several attempts, this Italian girl can proudly say that she’s mastered the making of a deliciously, clear and fragrant Pho beef broth.  I recently read an article about broth becoming the new coffee. Bone broth is having a serious moment.  Bone broth offers health benefits for your entire body, including improving your digestive and immune systems, bones, joints, hair, teeth, and nails.  

http://wellandgood.com/2014/11/05/why-new-yorkers-will-be-sipping-bone-broth-in-coffee-cups-this-winter/

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Beef Broth (about 3 ½ quarts)

1 pound dried “banh pho” noodles

1 ¼ pounds  Shabu Shabu beef (approximately)

Scallions (thinly sliced)

Thai Basil

Bean Sprouts

Lime wedges

Hoisin sauce

Chili Pepper

Sriracha Sauce

Assembling the Pho Soup Bowls:

1.  My Pho broth was stored in the freezer.  It is important to remove and discard the layer of fat after the broth has partially thawed.   

2.  Heat Broth:  Bring the broth to a gentle simmer over medium heat in a stock pot.

3.  Soup Bowls:  I purchased these wonderful soup bowls, perfect for Pho at www.bargainfair.com/.  They were very reasonably priced.

 

My Pho soup bowls are placed in a 250° oven to keep warm until ready to be used.

4.  Cook Noodles:  Follow directions on package for cooking noodles.  

I purchased these Pho noodles at www.worldmarket.com/.

5.  Remove soup bowls from oven and divide the noodles evenly among the 4 bowls.

6.  Now arrange the slices of raw beef over the noodles, dividing the meat evenly among the four bowls.  

My husband purchased the beef at a Korean Market in Korea Town.

7.  Top with very hot broth.

On my dinner table I place bowls of  garnishes.  We each add our own garnishes that we enjoy to our soup bowl.

Bean Sprouts

Sliced Hot Chili Peppers

Sliced Scallions/Green Onions

Lime Wedges

Thai basil, also known as Oriental basil or Asian basil.
Compared to the common Mediterranean sweet basil, it has
a more pronounced licorice or anise flavor.

I fell in love with Thai basil, so I decided to root a sprig I purchased at
the Bangkok Market on Melrose Avenue.  I took a sprig and placed in in
a container of water.  I kept the water covering the leaf nodes on the
stem and below the leaves.  I refreshed the water in the container every few days,
until the roots began to grow.  After a number of roots appeared I planted it
in a pot.  Soon I will have my own Thai basil to pick and enjoy.

I like to serve our Pho Beef Soup with a side of Spring Rolls.

I purchased the Spring Rolls at Smart & Final.
I baked the SpringRolls  in the oven according to the directions.

"Let it be mine!"

Vietnamese Pho noodle soup is so delicious that even Anthony Bourdain loves it.  During his Vietnamese special on the Travel Channel, Anthony Bourdain:  No Reservations, he screams out with desire, "LET IT BE MINE!" as he sees the bowl of Pho come to him.

Sometimes you need variety, even when it comes to soup.
Buon Appetito!

Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

At least once a week we have spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner.  I won’t call my meat sauce Bolognese, because in Italy, the pairing of the right kind of pasta with the right sauce is considered almost sacred.  Bolognese sauce is served over Tagliatelle.  Bolognese sauce always contains carrots and celery.  It is also cooked very, very slowly over many hours. 

My version of meat sauce is simple, quick to make, and delicious.

My recipe for meat sauce is for 1 pound of spaghetti.

1 pound of spaghetti serves 4 adults.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of olive oil

½ onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

¾ lbs of ground meat

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon of dried basil, or 2-3 sprigs of fresh basil

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

1 pound spaghetti

Steps:

1.  Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in onion and garlic.  Add ground beef.  Sauté, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps of meat.  Cook until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I've tried many brands of canned crushed tomatoes
grown in California. 

I always keep a variety of olive oils on hand.

2.  Add the can of tomatoes and stir.  Fill the tomato can 3/4 with water, and add to the saucepan.  Add  a bay leaf and basil.  Stir mixing well.

3.  Let the sauce come to a boil, lower temperature, and let simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring often.

Cooking Pasta:

There are countless varieties of pasta brands and shapes.  When I make meat sauce I almost always use spaghetti, and our favorite brand is Pasta

De Cecco.

Fill a large pot with about 4 ½ quarts of water.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Once water is boiling add 2 tablespoons of salt.  Stir to keep the pasta from sticking.  Stir within the first 2 minutes of cooking pasta.  The pasta is more likely to stick together, in the beginning, before the starches are released into the water.  We like our pasta “al dente” so after 10 minutes I test a strand to see if it’s almost done.  I cook the spaghetti for a total of 11 minutes.  Drain spaghetti well and add it to the saucepan with the tomato sauce.  Cook the pasta in the sauce, incorporating it all very well, for at least 1 -2 minutes.  This allows the flavor from the sauce to be absorbed into your pasta.

Serve the spaghetti with meat sauce.  Add parmesan cheese to taste. There is always a variety of hot peppers at my table.  Adding chilies to our pasta is a must!  I remember as a child, attending wedding receptions, my dad always came prepared for the meal.  He carried a few of his homegrown peperoncini (hot peppers) in his suit pocket, to share.

Tips:

*add salt and pepper to ground meat before adding the can of crushed tomatoes

*the ground beef that I buy contains about 18 % fat and it imparts a richer flavor to the tomato sauce

*whatever pasta you choose, follow the suggested cooking time and adjust according to your taste

Sometimes you need variety, even when it comes to spaghetti.

Buon Appetito!