The Devil made me Cook it.

Fra Diavolo loosely translated means "brother devil", but don't expect to find this dish on a menu in Italy. This is an Italian-American invention and is basically a simple pasta sauce heated up with crushed red pepper flakes. Another facet of this dish is that it usually incorporates some type of seafood: shrimp, lobster, calamari (squid), crab, scallops and a firm white fish such as pollack, haddock or cod. The pasta served is one of the long pastas such as linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti. Considering it is not a traditional Italian recipe, I don't see why one could not substitute chicken or pork for the seafood.

First off, lets recap my Homemade Pasta Sauce:


Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
3 Tbsp garlic
3-28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
1-12oz can tomato paste
2 Tbsp dried basil, crushed
1 Tbsp each dried oregano, thyme and marjoram, crushed
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Add all listed ingredients into a 6-qt crock pot (previously sprayed with non-stick spray); mix thoroughly. Set on low heat; let the sauce cook for 8 hours.

Yields about 14 cups.

Notes:

This recipe can be made on the stovetop, but should be stirred every 1-2 hours to keep sauce from sticking and burning on bottom of pot.

The long cooking time allows for the sauce to become richer and thicker. If a thinner sauce is desired, cut the tomato paste by half, leave out the diced tomatoes, and cut cooking time in half.

Now since I was making my Vegetarian Pasta Sauce yesterday, I decided to use that instead of starting another sauce from scratch. Why not? It's just the homemade pasta sauce with veggies added; just a little more nutrition thrown into the mix.

Lets put this dish together. You'll need, to serve four:

1/2 lb pasta (linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine)
2 1/2 cups seafood (a single item or combination of shrimp, crab, lobster, calamari, scallops or cut up firm white fish such as pollack, haddock or cod)
3 cups sauce
crushed red pepper flakes (1 tsp for mild, 2 for medium, 3 or more if hot or hotter)
chopped fresh parsley

Prepare the pasta according to directions. While the pasta is cooking, place a large, deep skillet on medium-low heat and add the sauce and seafood; cover. If it begins to bubble up, lower the heat to keep the seafood from over cooking and the sauce from burning.

Once the pasta is done, strain it and add it to the skillet plus the crushed red pepper flakes; toss to coat the pasta; let it all cook together for about 1 minute to allow the pasta to pick up the flavor of the sauce.

Plate it up and sprinkle the parsley over.

Could this be any easier!?!

So have a little brother devil for dinner and spice up your night. Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op.

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op

Website: http://bountifulbaskets.org/

I was told about this great program, where every two weeks you can fill up a basket with wonderful fruits and vegetables. Not only that, but breads, oils and bulk fruits or vegetables are also available. So with website in hand, I decided to check it out for myself.

Bountiful Baskets is a cooperative run by volunteers, so no salaries to boost up the prices on the goods you buy. Items are bought at discounted prices, but they're high quality, not seconds or cast offs. I go to the Monticello, Utah distribution point every two weeks; some places have it every week, so you need to check your state and area when participating.



Still wondering if this is right for you and your family? Lets take a look at the above photo of what I just picked up on Saturday, May 12th. Bag of grapefruit, container of black raspberries, avocados, large apricots, spinach, 4 bags of carrots, mangoes, honeydew melon, apples, tomatoes, bananas (green and ungassed, so they turn yellow naturally and don't brown quickly). That was just the usual basket of 50% fruit, 50% vegetable. Then I purchased the additional Italian Veggie Pack which contained onions, garlic, fresh herbs, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, lemons and eggplant. Let me tell you, I kicked myself all day for not ordering two of that Italian Veggie Pack - yes, you can order more than one of everything, depending on your need.

Right now I have a 6 quart crock pot simmering with a wonderfully scented Vegetarian Pasta Sauce and I added shredded carrots for more sweetness. The great thing about the abundance of food you receive is the ability to not only make great meals for yourself and your family, but to store the excess for later meals. Don't forget though, you can share the wealth too with other members of your family or maybe a neighbor who is in need.

So go to the Bountiful Baskets website, register and begin your journey to a more bountiful, healthy way of eating.

Mary Cokenour

Hungry? Eat some pillows.

Light, small dumplings made from semolina or wheat flour, potatoes or ricotta cheese; we're talking about Gnocchi (nok-ki). Tracing back their history to ancient Roman times, gnocchi is a popular dish, not only in Italy, but in coastal Croatia as well. The making of it is similiar to pasta making; simple ingredients of a "flour" whether a ground grain or potatoes, egg and salt. Some recipes can be quite inventive, inducing cheese, sweet potatoes, or a vegetable such as spinach into the mix.

If you're pasta making challenged like myself, there are many brands of gnocchi available on the market such as DaVinci, Colavita and Don Peppe. Sold in one pound packets, prices can vary from 4 to 8 dollars depending on the type of market you're buying from.

Gnocchi

Ingredients:

2 lbs potatoes (not baking potatoes)
1 ½ cups flour plus additional for rolling
1 egg
1 tsp salt

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes in hot salted water until fork tender. Let cool before removing skins; put through a ricer or grater into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 ½ cups flour, egg and salt and knead together until a ball forms.

On a floured board, cut dough into 6 portions; roll out each portion to a ¾ inch diameter. Cut the rolls into one inch pieces; use a fork to roll each piece.

The best way to prepare gnocchi is by finishing them off directly in the sauce you're serving them with. They will pick up all the flavors of the sauce, so you won't be overwhelmed with just a flour or potato flavor for the entire dish.

Tonight's dinner was gnocchi in a sauce of browned butter, white wine and shallots. Shallots are basically "onion candy"; a delicate scent and sweet taste that will make you smile with delight, not cry your eyes out in pain.

Browned Butter Sauce with White Wine and Shallots

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp salted butter
2 large shallots, diced
¼ cup white wine
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat; add shallots and stir occasionally to make sure butter and shallots are not sticking or burning. At same time, bring a large pot of water with salt to boil.

Remove skillet from stovetop and add wine; set skillet back on stove. Add gnocchi to boiling water; gnocchi will be ready when they float to the top; about 3-4 minutes. At the same time, the alcohol from the wine will burn off and the butter will begin turning brown. Strain the gnocchi and add directly to the skillet; let cook for 3 minutes, turning the gnocchi once in the sauce.

Plate and top with freshly ground black pepper.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Real Men Make Mom Quiche.

Mothers' Day will be this coming Sunday, but unfortunately, my son William will still be in Pennsylvania. However, he has decided to move here; the tickets have been bought, vacation time has been scheduled and he'll be arriving the weekend of May 26th. We're all feeling a bit excited and nervous at the same time; it's been three years since we moved to Utah and he decided to stay behind. Talk about new adventures!

Anyway, if he was here for Mothers' Day, I would love to see a demonstration of the culinary skills he acquired while working as a cook. Now we've all heard the saying, "real men don't eat quiche"; well I want to see it made. I know he reads my blog, so Bill, pay attention as you'll be tested soon after you arrive and settle in.

Quiche was already written about in January 2011, but I'll do a quick recap.

Basic Quiche

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups half n’ half
4 eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp salt (can be adjusted up or down dependent on ingredients added in)
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 – 9” unbaked deep dish pastry shell

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine half n’ half, eggs, salt and pepper. Pour into pastry shell; bake for 45-50 minutes, or until egg mixture is golden brown and set.

See guys, easy peasy, so now I'm going to throw in a curve ball...Asparagus. It's basically a super vegetable; low in calories and sodium; contains zinc, iron, folic acid, vitamins A, C, E and K and whole bunch of other minerals I won't bore you with. The popular type seen in stores is a green color which will become woody as it grows older. The tougher the stem, the older the asparagus, so look for those young, tender shoots.

There is a white variety which is basically the green type that has been grown inside a hill of dirt; the sun kept off of it to keep photosynthesis from occurring and turning the vegetable green. I love this type in Vietnamese Crab Asparagus soup, and I'll post that recipe one of these days.

For the quiche, I steamed 10 spears of asparagus till fork tender; and sauteed a quarter cup of diced onions in butter, on medium heat, till soft, but not browned or burned. I added the onions and a half cup of shredded Swiss cheese to the basic quiche mixture. After pouring the mixture into the pie crust, the fun really began. I started to place the asparagus spears in a tree design, cutting some of the spears in half to make smaller "branches" for the tree. Now the spears will float a bit in the liquid, so don't expect a perfect design, but from the picture above, I'd say it came out kind of cute.

So there's the challenge for you real men out there; make a quiche for your mom on Mothers' Day. It might not turn out perfect, but in her eyes, you, and it, will be.

Mary Cokenour

Bugles Adds Sweet to their Salty.

In 1966, a cone shaped snack made from corn and fried in coconut oil hit the market; it became a big hit. I was a little kid then and I still remember my first box, yes, they came in a box, of Bugles. Even though they have flavors called Sour Cream and Onion, Nacho and Barbeque; the original flavor was always my favorite. If I wanted a little extra something, I would dip them in French onion dip, but that's about all.

Then they decided to add two new flavors to the line up; Caramel and Chocolate Peanut Butter. At first I was hesitant to try them, thinking that the corn taste would not pair well with the sweet flavors, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The Caramel Bugles have a tendency to be broken up in the package. Though they have a nice, smooth caramel flavor; the coating is hard and seems to make the crispy corn snack break more easily.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter has a more silky texture on the outside, so the crispy cone stays intact. The peanut butter flavor is more predominant with this snack; and it is listed higher up on the ingredients list. The chocolate flavor comes from cocoa and is very faint.

Surprisingly, a 2/3 cup serving has either 19 or 20 grams of carbs, depending on whether you're indulging in the caramel or chocolate peanut butter. However, don't get me wrong, I'm not proclaiming this to be a 100% healthy snack, but one you don't have to feel as guilty about. If making a snack mix for a party, definitely include both of these products.

Mary Cokenour

Wagon Wheel Pizza Doesn't Roll for Me.

Wagon Wheel Pizza

164 South Main
Monticello, Utah, 84535

(435) 587-2766

Website: N/A

First off, let me state that I was asked to do a review of Wagon Wheel by an anonymous commentor on my food blog page for Thatzza Pizza, a newly opened pizza competitor for Wagon Wheel. Remember folks, I'm a pizza snob and very tough when it comes to pizza reviews. I've traveled to many places in and out of the United States, and trying pizza whenever I could was always on the list of things to do.

Wagon Wheel Pizza was established in 1984 and is owned by Susan, a former resident of Florida. When entering Wagon Wheel, it looks like a typical pizzeria with booths lining one wall and a few tables here or there. After about a 5 minute wait while Susan finished prepping a pizza for the oven, my order was taken, and questions answered, with a friendly smile. I was told my order would be ready in 25 minutes, but it actually took 45 minutes which gave me time to see some of my food prepared.



The Meatball Sandwich consists of three frozen 2" meatballs that are defrosted in the microwave, mixed with sauce and then heated again in the microwave. They are sliced in half, placed on an untoasted 6" sub roll and garnished with slices of green bell pepper and onion. Once unwrapped, the sub cannot be picked up to be eaten as it has become a "hot mess" with the roll falling apart from not being toasted. A fork is a must if you order this sandwich.


If you want chicken wings, you must ask for them as they are not listed on the menu; they come with a choice of two sauces: hot or bbq. They are baked on parchment paper, so do not expect a crisp texture since the wings are basically steaming in the fat coming off the wings and caught on the paper. While the chicken was fully cooked with a mild bbq flavor, the thick, gummy skin was totally unappealing.





The pizza at Wagon Wheel does not use the typical Utah style of crust, namely focaccia bread. The crust is thinner, allowing for a browned and crispy texture.

The sauce, while having a good flavor and you can see the herbs, is smeared thin; the cheese is thick, but not the creamy, gooey type that one associates with pizza. To get a single bite of cheese with crust, you must completely bite through the slice, or the cheese comes sliding off in a complete sheet. As the pizza cools, the cheese congeals more and the crust becomes very tough.

To be fair, I have to say that Susan was busy prepping food, checking on the oven, plating food, while her two workers were either filling salt and pepper shakers, or filling a drink order for 8 people - 2 drinks at a time; guess the employee didn't know how to carry a tray. The drink order employee then completed the meatball sandwich; was going to put it in the oven for toasting and then changed her mind. That was a big mistake in my book.

Mary Cokenour

Got Spaghetti? Make Potpie!

Yes, you read the title correctly; I'm going to tell you how to make potpie with spaghetti. Now I know you're thinking, "how do you make a traditional potpie with spaghetti as a topping? Hint: the spaghetti is not a topping, but a main ingredient. Curious?

Well it all began when I was reading some recipes at an online recipe site and saw "Spaghetti Alfredo". Curious, I checked out the ingredient list and preparation. Basically it was cooked spaghetti mixed with cream of mushroom soup, milk, chopped broccoli and topped with sharp cheddar cheese. My thought was, "Alfredo?" I was not getting the picture, especially with the sharp cheddar cheese.

Now I needed to make dinner and thought (yeah, I do a lot of that) that it was time to be adventurous once again and play with my food. I make an awesome chicken pot pie, but didn't want to deal with a pie crust or biscuits. Remembering the recipe I just mentioned, the lightbulb flashed on, why not use potpie ingredients, but mix it in with spaghetti? The result? Not only was it a quick meal to put together, but the scent made me salivate, and the taste was just oh so good!

So here you go, "Spaghetti Potpie Casserole". Now doesn't that look num yummy?  Needing a recipe for a get-together; consider this one next time and prepare to be praised.






Spaghetti Potpie Casserole

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter, divided in half
½ cup each diced red onion and red bell pepper
1 lb cooked spaghetti, kept warm
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
1 cup parboiled, diced carrots
1 can (10.5 oz) each cream of celery and cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp each crushed, dried thyme and parsley
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup finely shredded Mexican blend cheese

Preparation:

In a 10” skillet, medium heat, melt one tablespoon butter; add onion and bell pepper; sweat till softened, about 3 minutes; do not let vegetables brown or burn.

Preheat oven to 350F; smear bottom and sides of a 3 qt. casserole dish with other tablespoon of butter.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix softened onion and bell pepper together with all ingredients, except the cheese. Spread evenly into casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes; until cheese is completely melted, but do not let brown.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour