Month: February 2007

Grilled Eggplant and Roasted Red Pepper Panini

Eggplant sammies

Last night required another super speedy dinner plan: I had only twenty minutes until Gilmores. Yes, I am terribly addicted to the Gilmore Girls. Who would have thought it, right? I, queen of cynicism and snark, book-readin’ and CSPAN-watchin’, I watch the Gilmore Girls? A television show was sponsored by Focus on the Family? (Or so the rumor goes. Can anyone confirm this?) Yes, I like to thank my old housemates, Laura T and Julia, for sending me down the path to ruin, by introducing me to the wit and spark that is the Gilmores, oh those several years ago.

Point being that after having a drink with Mr. X and rushing home after said drink, I had only twenty minutes to assemble something edible. Well, these sandwiches were not just edible, they were delicious. I think they were both completely digested five minutes into the show (which was pretty moving, despite my severe disappointment with this entire seventh season).

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Penne with Italian Tuna, Roasted Tomatoes, and Artichoke Hearts

Penne with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Artichoke Hearts

One thing I have always had a weakness for is canned tuna. I grew up eating it in macaroni and cheese, and to this day making boxed mac and cheese without tuna just doesn’t seem right. When I saw a can of imported Italian Tonno (or, yeah, tuna), and almost that same day happened upon a recipe for a basic pasta dish involving said Italian tuna, I had to try it out. Of course, I tweaked it a little because I had a bunch of other stuff in the refrigerator I wanted to use, and because I’m almost never content to do just what the cookbook tells me.

All in all, this only took about 20 minutes to make, so it’s a good week night dinner. I would probably use a little more pasta next time, though, to balance out the tuna. I usually only cook about 3/4 of a cup of pasta per serving, which often is more than enough. This time, though, I should have thrown in a little more.

The Italian tuna really is slightly different from the Chicken of the Sea or Bumblebee or whatever crap I usually buy. Maybe that’s because it’s packed in oil, and I never buy tuna packed in oil. Or maybe it’s actually the tuna itself. It seemed a little more buttery, or salty. I can’t really find any Tonna vs. Tuna references, so if any of you have a clue, let me know.

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Corn Potato Chowder and Dinner Rolls

Corn Chowder

My apologies for the late update–today was a particularly difficult Monday morning. The Corn Potato Chowder dinner was actually Friday night’s, courtesy of Crystal and her family recipe. I decided to make basic dinner rolls, to continue my current obsession with dough and baking. I’m not sure how well I’m going to be able to reconstruct chowder making: There was a lot of wine consumed Friday night. But I’ll do my best.

Crystal’s made this chowder a few times before, and I always like it. She said it wasn’t as good this time, but I still thought it was good. It’s a very starchy chowder, heavy on the potatoes, but overall pretty healthy, I think. You can definitely taste the corn. And the bacon. Mmm. Bacon. She did say that this is a recipe you can tweak a bit, so I’m sure if I don’t get it exactly right here, it will still be good. The bread, thankfully, I can reconstruct exactly. I might go with less sugar in the future, but they were loved by all at the dinner table, so I should stop criticizing them, probably.

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Pasta e Fagioli, mostly

Pasta e Fagioli

Last night it was cold, and I lost my hat, and I was super tired from staying up until 1 am the night before, and I really, really wanted soup. Good soup. Hearty, filling, not-from-a-can soup, and I wanted it quick. Nothing complicated, or time-consuming, or that would make me stand over a stove for a long time. This soup exactly fit the bill.

I think it’s a pretty traditional Pasta e Fagioli, but in my cursory research, I couldn’t really find a definitive Pasta e Fagioli reference. I figure, though, that it contains both Pasta and Fagioli, so that’s close enough for me. Plus, since I got the recipe from Eating Well, it’s even good for me and stuff. Of course I ended up with way more than I expected, so I’ll be eating this for a few days, but no matter, it is good. And warming. And full of vegetables and good stuff. Did I mention that it was also easy?

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