Tzatziki sauce

On our recent visit to Greece, we enjoyed the local yogurt dip, tzatziki, quite a bit! It was so garlicky and deliciously light with cucumbers. I brought some powdered mix home with me, mixed it with yogurt, and it was very good.


Then I found this recipe in Salon ezine, and I'm posting it in honor of my travel mate Laurena, who loved it the most. The method of draining the yogurt will give it a nice, creamy consistency. I hope you enjoy this light and nutritious summer dip!

Michelle's tzatziki sauce

Time: 2½ hours

Ingredients

You will need

• 1 yard of cheesecloth
• Rubber band
• Dowel or chopstick
• Large sauce pot
• Mixing bowl

Ingredients

• 4-lb. tub of yogurt
• 1 large cucumber
• 4-5 cloves garlic (pressed)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Dill to taste
• Salt to taste
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Spread cheesecloth on a flat surface.
2. Remove top from yogurt container. Take container and turn it upside down onto cheesecloth. Lift away container. Wrap yogurt in cheesecloth. Seal top of cheesecloth with a rubber band.
3. Stick chopstick or dowel through top of cheesecloth and suspend the bundle over an empty pot. Let drain for two hours.
4. Meanwhile, grate cucumber and squeeze liquid out. Press garlic.
5. After yogurt has drained, dump the resulting cheese into a bowl. Add garlic and vinegar. Stir.
6. Add dill and salt to taste and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve with dolmas, falafels, or simply pita bread!

Pasta Caprese

Image from Free-Photo-Gallery.org

This post is inspired by my online friend Marcia who wrote in a post that she has too many cherry tomatoes. Imagine that! Too much of something from a garden? Seems like it's always too little or too much.

This recipe was inspired by all the colorful little tomatoes now available at farmers markets and Trader Joe's, where I happen to shop. For about $3 you can get a little tub of little tomatoes. I wanted the flavor of a Caprese salad with the addition of a little pasta.

The recipe also was  influenced by the fact that it is warm much of the year out here in Southern California, and my husband likes me to use the oven as little as possible.

But browned cheese is just so delicious, that I came up with the compromise of using a high heat for a short period of time, like pizza. I added the Parmesan because it's so good browned!

This dish tries to include a good amount of vegetables. You can mix in some spinach or arugula, or serve the pasta on top, to increase the tasty vegetables in this dish.

I hope you enjoy!

Pasta Caprese

Ingredients:

2 cups cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 lg tomatoes, chopped)
1/2 bag pennete (or similar) pasta (8 oz), cooked (can use leftover)
1  1/2 cup chopped mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil, chopped or torn


Directions:

Heat the oven to 450 degrees, F. Combine pasta, 1 cup cheese (reserve some), and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, mix well. Put reserved cheese on top.

Put into oven as quickly as possible, turn heat down to 425 F and set the timer for 12 minutes.

When done, turn off the oven for the browning to finish.

Remove and cool slightly, top with basil.

Serve over arugula. Serves 2-4.


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If you are starting with uncooked pasta, do not start the oven until the pasta has cooled slightly

Food pyramid replaced by 'MyPlate' icon emphasizing fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy

The US Department of Agriculture got rid of the Food Pyramid after all these years and many changes. Now they have made a pie chart into a dish (with a little drink on the side).

The message is the same, I think: For good health eat mostly fruits, vegetables, and grains. Plus a little protein.

They go into more detail in this article: Food pyramid replaced by 'MyPlate' icon emphasizing fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy from Science Daily.


For tips and more information about eating healthy, go the the government's new web page to address nutritional health: ChooseMyPlate.gov


For more info:

Spaghetti Carbonara

I love Spaghetti Carbonara. Not only is it made with two of my favorite foods: pasta and bacon. But it's also so easy; the heat of the noodles cooks the eggs and melts the cheese.

But most recipes I've found call for what seems like too many eggs or cream. While I was watching Mad Hungry one day, I noticed that her recipe called for only 3 eggs! I couldn't wait to try it.

So the next time I had nothing for dinner but some bacon and eggs, I pulled out the pasta (which I almost always have on hand) and looked for the recipe. I read the comments first, and decided to add garlic to Lucinda's recipe.

When I went to make it for dinner, though, it seemed like I should add some vegetables, or else I'd have to come up with something else to add to dinner! So I added small tomatoes and some spinach that I had on hand. The first time I made it, I put the spinach into the colander with the tomatoes, which resulted in much more wilted spinach than in the version below. If you like your spinach more wilted, just put it into the colander with the tomatoes.

The first time I made it I used the cheap parmesan that we had in the refrigerator. The second time I used better quality parmesan, and I have to say that it was delicious both ways, but better with the better parmesean.

There wasn't much left over from the first time I made it, so my husband tasted it, and promptly requested that I make it again! I have a feeling I'll be making it a lot more in the future.
You can make it with lots of other shapes of pasta. Hope you enjoy!


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Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 pound bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 small cloves garlic
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 bag of spinach (4 cups?)
  

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and cook the spaghetti. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-low heat until just crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Skim off some of the fat. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Put the tomatoes into the colander, and then pour the pasta water over them to drain the pasta. Add to the bacon in the pan, add the spinach, and toss to combine
   
   
2. Whisk together the eggs, cheese, garlic, and pepper in a small bowl. Pour into the pasta, and combine thoroughly. Add salt as desired.
   

Serve immediately with extra grated cheese, if desired.
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Adapted from Mad Hungry, September 2010
Read more at Marthastewart.com: Spaghetti Carbonara - Martha Stewart  

Eggnog Cake

My son has a birthday around Christmastime, so I'm always looking for good cake recipes this time of year. He really doesn't even like cake much, but he does like this one.

Also I love Eggnog. I love Starbucks' Eggnog Latte, I even put eggnog into french toast batter this time of year. (Goes great with ham!)

I picked up this recipe in 2003 on Rec.food.recipes. Anyone remember that? Credit to Robert Puckett who posted the recipe. You can see I've used it for years!


Eggnog Cake

2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 package yellow cake mix (approx. 18.5 oz.)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup commercial eggnog
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. rum or 1 tsp. rum flavoring plus 1 tsp brandy flavoring

Grease as 12-cup bundt cake pan with soft butter. Press almonds against sides and bottom of pan; set aside.

In a large bowl combine cake mix, nutmeg, eggs, eggnog, vegetable oil and flavoring. Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 325 F degrees for 50 - 55 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling.

Prick cake with a thick skewer and top with Rum Syrup while cake is still warm, (optional) or top with powdered sugar.


Rum Syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 1/2 ounces rum (3 Tbsp.)

Boil sugar and water 5 minutes. Add butter, vanilla, and rum. Cook until a syrupy mixture. Yields about 1 cup.

From Robert Puckett
Rec.food.recipes
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.rfr