Cold Pasta and Ham Salad

Posted on February 26, 2011 by easyrecipesandstuffc

During the summer months, I like to make a cold pasta salad to kind of cool things down at dinner. I have made a number of cold pasta salads, and the ham salad is my newest variation. I think you will find this easy pasta meal tasty and a fun family meal to make on a hot summer day.

EASY RECIPES

1 lb ham steak – fried or BBQ per direction, and then sliced into narrow one inch strips.

1/2 of a small jar of fire roasted red peppers, sliced into narrow 1 inch long strips.  

4 green onions diced.

8 pitted Kalamata olives cut in half.

1 Tbs fresh chopped basil.

1 clove garlic minced.

2 Tbsp Hoison Sauce (found in Asian section of market).

1/8 cup of bloody mary mix

1/4 cup of mayonaise (or use mayo substitue from Southwest Ceasar dressing recipe) 

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 and 1/2 cups of penne rigata pasta

In a large mixing bowl stir in the the mayo, Hoison, bloody mary, basil, and garlic (add dash of salt and pepper) .

Prepare pasta per directions on box. While simmering the pasta, place the frozen peas in the strainer you will later drain the pasta in.  After pouring the pasta into the strainer (and over the peas), rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and cool the pasta. 

When pasta is cool and fully drained of water, add pasta to the mixing bowl in which you previously mixed ingredients and gently stir (fold) the sauce mixture into the pasta.

Next add the ham, olives, and green onion and again gently stir (fold) them into the pasta.

For better presentation place a couple leafs of lettuce on each indiviual plate, and place the pasta salad serving on top.

That’s it.  You just made an easy cold pasta salad that both tastes and looks great and will hold in the refrigerator until your kids or guests arrive.         

AND STUFF

Seems like just yesterday my daughter was in high school where she lettered on the surf team. I know, for sure, lettering in surf probably sounds a little weird to any reader not in So Cal or Hawaii. To be fair it’s not all about sun tanning. In fact, surf team practices were conducted at around 6:00 a.m., before school. To me, bobbing up and down on a board in the Pacific Ocean in near darkness does not seem easy.

I remember one surf contest where the waves were huge. The tournament was tied. Which school would win rested on the girl’s teams. No girl on the other school’s team would go out in the pounding waves, and if just one girl on our team went out and caught a single wave the school would win. My daughter was the one girl that challenged the waves that day, and both she and the school were victorious!

I know what your thinking, another AND STUFF about surfing. But fear not, it’s another AND STUFF about skiing! The surf story was just to set the stage.

So we went to Denver and then Keystone, CO to visit family, friends, and ski. When it came time to go up to Keystone it was dumping snow. When we drove down the freeway ramp it was hard to tell when we were off the ramp and actually on the freeway. But we kept on going, and shortly after we arrived in Keystone the freeway was closed. This is very good news for those of us already in town because the next day there would be less people on the mountain putting tracks in the fresh powder.

I like to think that I am a fairly reasonable and thoughtful guy. But there are times when what seemed like a good idea just doesn’t pan out.

The good idea? Rather than skiing in the fresh powder, I would take advantage of the soft snow and go with my daughter to her snowboard lesson. In Keystone the ski/snowboard school area is a fair distance up the mountain accessible only by a chairlift. The schooling run does not terminate at the base. In some respects it is not unlike being taught to swim starting from a boat about 1200 feet off the beach.

My daughter being a surfer and a skateboarder picked up snowboarding pretty quickly. I on the other hand did not. As it turns out, learning to snowboard in knee deep powder is very hard. During the entire lesson I kept muttering to myself, “why oh why did I abandon my trusty graceful skis for a ¼ inch thick plank of fiberglass”.

Eventually the snowboard lesson ended. The instructor praised my daughter’s natural skills, stared past me and boarded away. There we were, up on the beautiful Keystone mountainside with a post card view of the village below. And, my feet were strapped onto a plank.

Oh well, there’s only one way down, so off I boarded. It was not long until I lost sight of my daughter. I trudged on, tumbling my way down. My natural learning curve was likely negatively impacted by my bad attitude resulting from the realization that I could have been skiing powder, but for my bad idea. After an eternity, exhausted and out of breath, I had progressed maybe 2/3 the way down, and to a point where walking was possible. Trust me, this is the ONLY time I have ever unstrapped, and walked down a mountain. It wasn’t so bad, kind of nice and quiet. After awhile I saw another walker coming towards me not too far away, a girl, actually my daughter.

So there you go, she was the only girl brave enough to charge the ocean and take the monster wave for her school, and on this day brave enough to get out of her snowboard and walk down the mountain with her dad.

So, while enjoying your cold pasta and ham salad with family or guests, why not strike up a conversation about acts of bravery you have seen.     

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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Beer Cheese Soup

Posted on February 23, 2011 by easyrecipesandstuffc

It was cold last weekend, so my wife asked me to make her favorite winter soup, Beer Cheese. We got the fireplace going and enjoyed the following step by step recipe taken from the 1976 supplement to the What’s Cooking in Walla Walla cookbook.  I googled the name to see if I could find current contact information, but having no luck, I give all credit for this great recipe to them, and suggest that if you can find the cookbook it is worth picking up.     

EASY RECIPE

BEER CHEESE SOUP

Saute’ in approximately ¾ cup margarine (I prefer butter) the following:

            2 cups finely chopped onion

            2 cups finely chopped celery

            1 cup grated carrots

Add:

            7 oz flour (1- 3/4 cups)

            2 tsp each dry mustard, oregano, and sweet basil, and ¼ tsp garlic powder.

Cook the above “Roux” slowly for a few minutes to remove raw flavoring.

In a separate pot slowly bring to boil the following: 2 Qts. Chicken broth, and 1 Qt half and half (the “stock”).

When “Roux” is ready, whip into stock.

Add 2 ½ lbs of grated Velveeta cheese, ¼ cup chopped pimento, and 2 bottles of beer.

Bring just to boiling point.

That’s it, you have just made an absolutely killer Beer Cheese Soup.  I would serve the soup with a small salad, and some great French bread for dipping.

AND STUFF

I was surfing the satellite channels the other night and came across a hunting and fishing network. That brought back some fun memories from my days on the plains and in the mountains.

Back in the day, all the guys would meet at a friend’s mobile home for the pre-hunt party the night before goose and duck hunting opening day. Since we would be leaving early to get to the secret spot, we crashed in the trailer rather than going home. We got up long before sunrise, piled into a van, and looking somewhat like a plaid-clothed SWAT team, headed out.

On this particular opening day our plan was to pull a sneak along a fence line that was adjacent to a game preserve full of migrating geese. We would get one shot as the flock rose to flight at sunrise and flew away from the safety of the preserve. We parked the van a half mile away and ever so quietly approached the fence line. And then we sat on the cold ground excitedly awaiting sunrise and the anticipated cloud of geese overhead.

At sunrise the geese started honking. It was loud, and getting louder. This was going to be awesome. We lay motionless along the fence line, too excited now to feel the cold. In the early light we could now see that the fence line was probably about 1/8 of a mile from the water, and the adjacent flock. The geese began to rise slowly at first, and then in larger numbers until they almost looked like a swarm. As anticipated, the geese began to fly in our direction, but they were still far out of range.

Who knew that a bunch of yahoos could plan and execute the perfect hunt. All we had to do now was wait for the geese to fly right over us. And then, while the geese were still out of effective range, a shotgun fired three rounds and the cloud of geese gracefully banked away from our position. No one in our group had yet stood to fire as the geese were not in range. We looked down the fence line, and even farther away from the flock than we were, stood one lone moron with his shotgun pointing at the cloud of geese safely flying away.

And just like that it was over. The geese put on oxygen masks and rose to what seemed like an elevation of 100,000 feet on their way to Mexico. Although we did later bag some mallards, it just wasn’t the same.

That’s my story, why not see who has the best ‘one that got away’ story for fun table conversation while you enjoy your Easy Recipe dinner.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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Pasta Rosa

Posted on February 20, 2011 by easyrecipesandstuffc

I call this weeks easy pasta meal Pasta Rosa because the sauce is slightly pink. The combination of sausage and shrimp in the creamy sauce makes for great family cooking or entertaining.   

EASY RECIPE

¾ lb Pork or Turkey hot Italian sausage.

12 shrimp peeled and deveined.

2 tsp garlic minced.

2 green onions slit down the middle and chopped

2 Tbsp (and a little extra for garnish) chopped flat leaf parsley.

2 mushrooms sliced.

½ tsp oregano.

½ cup half and half

15 oz can of stewed tomatoes chopped.

¼ cup of Sherry.

1 lb Farfalle pasta (bow tie shape) – heat water to boil and while cooking the following ingredients boil pasta per directions on box.

Brown the sausage, drain most of the grease and set aside the sausage.

In same pan, with tablespoon or so of sausage grease, saute’ the green onion, mushrooms and garlic, then add chopped tomatoes and sauce. Bring ingredients to high simmer and add the browned sausage and the half and half. Reduce to a low simmer for a few minutes and add the shrimp.  Bring to high simmer again for about 5 minutes to cook the shrimp.

Place a portion of pasta on each plate, ladle sauce with shrimp on top of the pasta, add a little parsley and parmesan cheese, and you are ready to serve a great easy recipe.     

My wife suggested adding chopped kalamata, could be great but have not tried it yet. 

 AND STUFF

You can run but you can’t hide.

My oldest son was and is a very good surfer. When he was 14, and getting out of middle school, I took him to Fiji to surf Cloud Break.  If you do not know, Cloud Break is a surfing spot that is at least 5 miles out in the ocean off the coast.  The waves are huge because the water goes from deep to nothing as it hits a coral reef in the middle of the ocean.  But, that’s a story for another time.

We left LAX on a great international airline which flew us to Tahiti, where as it turns out we were to transfer onto a not so great regional airline.  After getting into the terminal in Tahiti we located the check-in counter for our plane, but no one was there.  We looked for a flight board, but again, no luck.  So, we went to a larger airline’s desk and asked if they knew anything about our flight.  Without the slightest hint of humor, the counter clerk informed us the plane would eventually show up.   Nice.

So, we sat. We got bored, and then we got hungry. We convinced the customs official into letting us go outside to walk around and get a candy bar.  After a few hours of anxiety we saw a 737 land and taxi up to our area.  Sure enough, a counter person showed up for our airline and we were off to Fiji. Well, not quite.  The jet landed just about every time it spotted an island.  Before getting to Fiji, we landed in Samoa, and then Cook Islands. I could be wrong, but it seemed like the runway was grass in Cook Islands.  But no matter, the little terminal was great, and they even had an island band playing while we waited for the next leg of the flight.  Eventually, the plane ran out of islands to land on, and there we were landing in Fiji.

No rest for the surfer though, because after landing and clearing customs, we had to take a minibus from Nadi to the Coral Coast. We went from city traffic to small paved highway roads, and finally narrow dirt roads. But, eventually we arrived at our lodging which is known as a surfer destination.  After checking in and unpacking, and having flown through the International Dateline, we really did not know what time or day it was, so there was only one thing to do, hit the water.

The water was crystal clear and as warm as a bathtub. Unlike the Pacific Ocean abutting California, because of the reef, and the warm water you could literally sit in the water and relax.

The next day we were off to Cloud Break.  But, that’s a story for another time.

As you have likely surmised by now the hotel was remote, on an island that is fairly remote. There was a nice hotel restaurant that was open during meal times, and a snack bar that served grilled cheese sandwiches. Our eating choices wore thin pretty quickly.  So we decided to take the local’s bus into town to buy some food. The open air bus meandered through the villages and we could see the school children playing soccer on this island paradise.   

After purchasing provisions we boarded a bus for the return.   Eventually, the bus pulled up to our surfer hotel.  As the bus slowed to stop, my son froze and dropped in his seat.  I was pretty sure there were no Interpol warrants out for my young son, but to be on the safe side I asked him what was wrong.  My son whispered to me “over there, look”! I looked but saw only a group of new arrivals to the hotel. I was able to get my son to sit up and having his attention I again asked him what’s up. My son responded, “see that lady walking over, that’s my teacher!”

So, let’s recap, we took multiple jets, traveled across date line, landed on numerous islands, stayed at a surf camp that is accessible by a open air bus that travels over dirt roads, and there at our hotel appeared my son’s 8th grade teacher. To be fair I suspect his teacher, having gotten as far away as possible from the classroom, was more disappointed to see my son than he was to see her. Eventually, they met up and everyone had a big laugh.

That’s my ‘you can run but you can’t hide’ story.  While enjoying my easy recipe meal why not strike up a conversation about the surprise meetings you have had on vacation.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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Cajun Pork Tenderloin and Vegetables

Posted on February 15, 2011 by easyrecipesandstuffc

My recipe for Cajun Pork Tenderloin with Vegetables, has evolved from numerous pork tenderloin recipes I have prepared.  I like this version, as it is for the most part a one pan meal.   While this recipe may be a little more involved than prior ones, it is easy. And, the resulting meal will be a hit with family or dinner friends.

EASY RECIPE

2 – 1lb pork tenderloins

Dry Ingredients:  Mix together in a bowl ¼ tsp crushed cumin, 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning (store bought), 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper, and dash of salt and pepper.

Vegetables: 

1 red onion chopped in large pieces

1 red pepper sliced in large pieces

1 cup snow peas with ends trimmed

2 cloves garlic diced

1 cup mushrooms cleaned and sliced

Saute’ vegetables in 1 tsp of olive oil, and set aside for later use.

Brace yourself and just get through the following:

In a small sauce pan bring 1 and 1/2 cups of good red wine to a low simmer, and stir frequently while it reduces to about 1/2 cup of wine

When red wine is reduced liberally brush the wine onto all sides and ends of the tenderloins, and then sprinkle the dry ingredients all over the tenderloins (reserve any left over reduced wine for later).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place 1 Tbs of olive oil onto a large oven proof fry pan.  Heat the olive oil to coat fry pan and then place tenderloins in fry pan and sear for about 5 minutes turning them to brown the tenderloins on all sides.

When the tenderloins are nicely browned, add a 15 oz can of chicken broth, some left over reduced wine,  ½ can of water, all the vegetables and stir the liquid and vegetables.   Place the oven proof fry pan and contents into the oven preheated to 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove fry pan, and confirm internal temperature of the tenderloins are 160 degrees. Cover the fry pan with aluminum foil and let tenderloins stand for 5 minutes.

Slice the tenderloins into nice serving sizes, place two or three slices on each plate, add some of the vegetables, and drizzle fry pan sauce over the slices and vegetables.    

Serve with a side dish of rice or mashed potatoes, and that’s it, you just made a fantastic meal for your family or dinner guests.

AND STUFF

For years, whenever the discussion of skiing came up here in So Cal, I would politely listen as folks talked of Mammoth. I thought the stories were interesting and all, but being a little slow on the uptake sometimes, I saw no reason to check the mountain out. As I would tell my wife (a born and raised So Cal gal), yeh we could check Mammoth out someday, but really I am used to Colorado, Montana, and Idaho.

My ignorant bliss came to an end about five years ago when my wife suggested we take a summer trip to Mammoth Lakes to do a little a hiking and fishing, and what the heck check out the mountain. I figured a weekend in the mountains would be fun, and it would be a painless way to finally check out Mammoth.

So, after about a 5 hour drive we started the final ascent from Bishop toward Mammoth Lakes. About the time we drove past the Mammoth Lakes airport I saw some bowls and mountain runs which were pretty impressive. Later that day I realized that the runs and bowls visible as we approached the ski area were only a small percentage of the total ski area. The place was huge, no, make that Mammoth!

And as I was acting like a kid in a candy shop, what with a huge world class mountain only 5 ½ hours from the beach, my ever patient wife held a pleased expression on her face that to me seemed to say “thankfully, he is teachable”.  Nowadays, you have to give me a very good reason to ski somewere else.

Well, fast forward to the present. I took my youngest son and his buddy to Mammoth for a little snowboarding. Although its been a little warm, there was plenty of the 16 feet of snow left from the big dump in December. Having not had significant new snow for awhile, the existing base was being groomed to perfection by the cat operators. While first tracks in fresh powder is king; when fresh is not available, first tracks screaming down fresh corduroy is pretty darn fun.

As it turns out my fresh corduroy runs were limited to the runs it took to get the boys to their destination, Art Park. The park was built in part with funds raised from artworks commissioned to honor local snowboarding legend Jeff Anderson who died in a tragic accident in 2003. The park has everything the young boarder could wish for to satisfy the need to jump, stomp, grind, or soar (for more information go to: http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/blog/_/post/5931733/jeff-anderson-memorial-art-park ).

But, Art Park is just one run. One run, when there are so many more runs beckoning. While riding the chair up to the point where we could board (ski for me) down to the Park I could see countless corduroy and bump runs. For two days I would suggest every so often that maybe we should check out some other runs. The boys would hear none of such foolish talk.

As previously mentioned, I am teachable. I finally figured out, if you can’t beat ‘em’ might as well join ‘em’, and since I was going to be in the Park for the duration, might as well use what if offers. With no way out, I broke a life long rule of keeping my skis on the surface of the mountain at all times, and took to the air off a large table top jump. Turns out the kids were right, Art Park is awesome.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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