Baked Fettucine & Asparagus w/ Lemon, Pine Nuts & Mascarpone

Why couldn't I just say Baked Fettucine? Well, because the lemon makes this dish feel light, the pine nuts are a beautiful addition, & the mascarpone makes it feel decadent. I made this dish a few weeks ago when "the family" (reminder to self: you're NOT a member of the Sopranos, SNAP OUT OF IT) was over to try out my 1st effort at a homemade red sauce. Since I am more of a white sauce, bechemel, olive oil, garlic butter type of girl, I had to make another dish. If you look in the pictures you will see there isn't too much of a cream sauce. THAT'S what I loved. It was wet but not too creamy, therefore not rich or too heavy. I didn't fall into a food coma after eating it & that's a good thing!

Olive oil
2 lb medium thick asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 bunch of scallions, cut in thin rounds
Finely grated zest from 2 lemons
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of dried or ¾ tsp of ground thyme = 3 sprigs fresh
Sea salt & black pepper
1 tblspn unsalted butter
1 tblspn flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup grated Parmigiano
Generous pinch of ground allspice
Small pinch of cayenne
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 lb fresh fettucine
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted


~Heat oven to 450. Lightly coat a 9x13 baking dish/casserole with olive oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus & blanch until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain in colander, run under cold water to keep green color. Set aside. If you want to you can scoop the asparagus from the water, leaving it boiling so it's ready for the pasta. Or you can prep the asparagus earlier in the day like I did.

~In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute scallions for 1 minute. Add asparagus & saute for 1 minute. Take skillet off heat & add half lemon zest, the lemon juice, thyme, salt & pepper; mix well.

~In a saucepan, heat butter & flour over medium heat, whisking constantly for 1 minute. Add milk, still whisking, until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat a bit & cook until smooth & lightly thickened, 3-4 minutes.

~Turn off heat & add the mascarpone, the remaining lemon zest, & 1/2 cup of Parmigiano, whisking until mixture is smooth. Season with allspice, cayenne, salt & pepper.

~In small bowl, combine breadcrumbs & remaining Parmigiano. Season with salt & pepper & add a drizzle of olive oil. Mix well.

~Cook the fettucine leaving it slightly undone. Drain & return to cooking pot. Add the mascarpone sauce, the pine nuts, & the asparagus with all its juices. Toss & taste for seasoning. Pour into the baking dish & sprinkle breadcrumb mixture evenly over top.

~Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Enjoy with a glass of white wine!

My Thoughts: this wasn't hard to prepare but also not your regular throw together pasta meal. It's perfect for a weekend dinner and well worth the effort. It was sinful without all the sin because it was not laden down with too much alfredo or the usual creamy sauces.

Oh My Lucky Starfruit

Yesterday I picked up a Starfruit at the supermarket because I never had one & I wasn't even sure how to eat one. Well, I looked it up online & all I can say is, I can't wait to get some more today!!! They are delicious & if you never had one before you must try it. They're not too sweet but not too tart, and a whole lot of exotic!!

They are healthy, only 30 cals per fruit & full of antioxidants. When ripe, it is mostly bright yellow with light tinges of green.

Just wash. Hold it vertically (not shown above) to trim & remove the outer brown edges.
Then lay it on its side as in the above pic & cut crosswise into star shapes. A perfect little treat last night. All that's missing here is a nice glass of crisp white wine.

Click here for more info if you're interested.

I Got Tagged - 7 Things I Am

Kimmers tagged me to write 7 things about myself. If you read only one, jump to #7 because this one was unexpected & gave me hysterical laughter. Thanks Kimmers, this was my first Tag & I enjoyed it!!! I tag Jennifer, Buried with Children, Deanna, Angela, Sassy Stephanie, Courtney & Tam. If you've done it before, no worries.

1) I don't love chocolate like many women. I can pass it up a million times & if there was no chocolate left in the world I would be ok. Sorry to my PMSing Choco-Loving sisters! If they made a movie about me it would be called Like Water for Cheetos. I just love my chips! 2) I have struggled to like my present job since the day I got here, 3 YEARS AGO! But I do believe I am here for a reason, other than learning time goes by WAY TOO FAST! I feel like if I can make it here I can make it anywhere. Seriously, God is testing me & once I can prove to be a more patient & gentle soul in this crazy place, where NOT being a more patient & gentle soul is understandable, then I can move on.

3) I cry about 3 times a week, whether it's from a true story of loss I heard about, a touching moment with my family or a movie or book. I was planning to write this morning that I haven't cried since Friday night when we watched Rambo (the awful things they did to the villagers/children) but I forgot about my tearjerking experience reading Anne Brashares' The Last Summer (of you and me) on Sunday. I read it in less than 24 hours, crying all the way. THEN, this morning I was surprised by some tears on my way into work as I listened to what sounded like a sad autobiographical song off of Jason Mraz's new CD. Great CD by the way.....

4) The only fantasy/dream I have connected to my passion for cooking & entertaining would be to own a quaint cafe like this one pictured here. A charming space where I can serve up delicious nibbles along with beer & wine, & make people feel the things that I do when I walk into a place like this: comfort, happiness, guiltless indulgence, strong friendships, exploration & discovery, life dancing on my tongue, beautiful music in the air....

5) I LOVE to grocery shop, & I don't ever look at the prices. If I want it, I get it. Before you hate me, a big reason for that is while the visit is one of necessity, it is also my main luxury. Ya see, I don't ever buy myself shoes or clothes. I own 3 bras - black, white, beige, because that's all I need. Luckily, my husband buys me most of my shoes & some of my clothes (without me around (he's got great taste)) so I don't go around naked. Me? I just love me some gourmet goods.

(This morning, I dropped off the pail with the napkins & Peruvian grilling sauce, to Tammy in an effort to cheer her up. She loves food in pretty packages too & I thought this pail would go great with her adirondack chairs on her patio)
6) I LOVE the family I have. Terry & I talked about having 2 children but once we had Tristan we found ourselves perfectly content. We have the time & resources to do the things we want to & life is just good, so why change it. We're also very lucky to have both of Tristan's grandparents living 25 minutes away, & on the same block!!!!!
7) And for the final thing about me. I am laughing as I write this because I had to email my sister asking if it was true if I almost got kidknapped once or was it a twisted story in my head. After all, I once grew up thinking I went to Mt. Rushmore when in fact there was a place we visited in New Hampshire that had a little Indian statue on the mountain. I get confused.....
Anyway, while my sister confirmed it was true someone walked off with me when we were little but I was retrieved shortly thereafter by my big brother, she suggested a few other things to write about myself. I laughed so hard at her delivery that I just needed to copy & paste her response. I guess this final one has quite a few facts about me.

"I would say almost getting kidnapped is on the list. I can also say these 2 things:

you picked up a baby squirrel thinking he was sooo cute; maybe not so cute when it took a few of us to pry his claws out of your skin/shirt. Tears began to fall from your eyes.

you decided to ride your bicyle on a family day outing with your father and sisters, and really had no clue how to use the brakes yet. Driving a bike downhill, towards perpendicular traffic, when all of a sudden, dear old dad rode past his two older daughters riding on one bike with a banana seat, like lightning, and in the nick of time, grabbed your handle bars before the on coming cars clocked your ass.

Or you can write how in a game of Manhunt, you got scared by someone who jumped out from behind a car, tripping over the concrete walk, busted your chin open, and your older sis carried you up 3 flights of stairs!"

And this is my dearest sister Lauren who shed further light on who I am:

Chocolate

Stir Fried Pork with Snow Peas & Cashews

This is one of our favorite stir frys, being healthful & so delicious as it is. I've made it many times whether on a weekend or even a weeknight & although it has more than a few ingredients I assure you it's a cinch to put together.

Directions:

1 pork tenderloin
3 tblspn soy sauce
1 tblspn Chinese rice wine
¾ cup chicken broth
2 tsp corn starch
¼ cup oyster sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp crushed red pepper
2 tblspn oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 10oz pkg snow peas or sugar snap, defrosted
½ cup cashew nuts
Whole grain brown rice

Slice pork crosswise into ¼” slices & then cut each slice crosswise to get long thin pieces. Transfer to small bowl & add 1 tblspn of the soy sauce & rice wine. Toss & refrigerate.

**Combine ¼ cup of chicken broth, the remainder of soy sauce, cornstarch, oyster sauce, sesame oil & crushed red pepper. Set aside.**

Heat oil in pan until very hot. Add pork & stir fry until no longer pink but don’t overcook. Maybe 5 minutes. Transfer to plate. Add onion & garlic to pan & cook for a few minutes until slightly softened. Add snow peas & remaining broth & cook for a few minutes. Add soy sauce/broth mixture & cook for 1 minute or until sauce is thickened. Return pork to pan & add cashews.

Serve over rice.

My thoughts:

This is good for 2 people with leftovers or 4 peoples with no leftovers.
**If you like it saucy double the sauce above (which is just the broth/soy sauce mixture) even if just for 2 people.**

I Throw a Mean Martini Party!

I guess I do since I won Molly's Martini madness competition with my version of the perfect martini party.


I am so excited because this is what I won:



Thanks so much to Molly & to Jerry at MartiniArt.com for providing the wonderful prizes! You might want to visit as Jerry is offering a 10% discount, which is good until August 23rd (use promotion code MG189).

The Crockpot Chronicles - Crock Pot Roast

The rump roast I had in my freezer for 2 months, and wanted to get rid of, was the inspiration here. This was prepared Friday morning & enjoyed shortly after I came home. The great thing about this one is we used it for leftovers on Sunday evening for my husband's version of a hot shot, something he has grown up on & enjoyed immensely. We get 2 recipes in one today.














Crock Pot Roast

3-4 lb rump roast (mine was a standard size)
Small bag of potatoes (I used fingerling)
1 Vidalia Onion, sliced
Brown gravy mix (I used one jar of prepared from my pantry)
1 can of Cream of mushroom soup
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Cut potatoes (I did not take the skin off) in small pieces & put half in the bottom of the crockpot. Season with salt, pepper & garlic powder. Pour a little of the brown gravy over the potatoes. Set pot roast on top of the potatoes. Lay the sliced onion on top & sides of the meat. Put rest of the potatoes in pot & season everything again. Pour the cream of mushroom as well as the rest of the gravy mix over all. Cook on high for 6-7 hours. I did mine for 6 hours and let it stay on warm until I came home.

Next time I would add carrots or a vegetable to it. We served it over noodles even though there were potatoes in the dish, something we normally don't do. I just wasn't prepared for a side. Too much starch of course so next time I may omit the potatoes, especially since we used them in the hot shots below which calls for mashed potatoes.

Hot Shot













Terry grew up on pot roast quite a bit so for leftovers they would always make sandwiches. This one specifically has mashed potatoes in the middle of the sandwich & lots of gravy poured over it. Since this was a last minute leftover idea, Terry had to fish out the cut up potatoes from the roast &.then make fresh mashed potatoes. I also did not have enough leftover gravy but usually there would be much more poured on top here. Just make a sandwich out of your meat. Plop some potatoes in the middle & then pour lots of your gravy all over.

Terry really enjoyed this as he is a huge sandwich guy. As for me, I just had some pot roast over the mashed potatoes.

Some Bloggy Love

I received the following two awards this past week & I wanted to share them. They were really nice surprises because they came from two people I had just started to read & found so interesting. I will pass the love on this week but really wanted to acknowledge Jason & Jennifer's kindness to me.

Jason from the The Jason Show shared the love with this one. I just began reading him last week and then he came by for a visit & loved my Martini Party. To repeat what he said, too bad I live on the other side of the country! If I was to have a real martini party Jason is someone I would want there. He is someone who has really lived, he lives authentically & with a big heart!











And the Blogging Friends Forever Gold Card comes from Another Online Mom. I was fairly new to her trials & tribulations of a stay at home mom when she gave me this but I was hooked when she was so desperate to weigh herself one day while at Target she just ripped a new digital scale right from the box, and that was her 2nd attempt!!!! The first being a regular scale that needed batteries. Oy vey!