The Pastabilities are Endless

Pasta, pasta salads, and pasta casseroles - from greek pasta salad to pasta pizza casserole – the possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do with pasta in the kitchen. Enough said, let's get busy!

I would like to share a favourite of mine, as well as some simple substitutions that can be made to turn the dish around. You might even gain your own ideas for substitutions as we go along.

What I am starting with is a tuna pasta salad, which I will guide toward turning this dish into a tuna pasta bake, as well as toward a traditional pasta salad and a vinaigrette pasta salad.

The Recipes

Ingredients (Tuna Pasta Salad):
pasta noodles, of choice
white onion, diced
celery, chopped
one can white chunk tuna in water, drained
Hellmann’s mayonnaise
salt, to taste
lemon pepper, to taste
oregano, to taste

In a saucepan, boil your pasta noodles, adding salt to the water. Cook el dente, and drain. Allow your noodles to cool, you can hurry this process by running them under cool water, or by putting them in the refrigerator momentarily. Once your noodles have cooled, add your onions, celery, and tuna, mixing well. Mix in Hellmann’s mayonnaise and add salt, lemon pepper, and oregano to taste. Lemon pepper is my not-so-secret ingredient that gives this dish a beautiful taste. You can never go wrong when pairing seafood and lemon flavours.

Turn your tuna pasta salad into a tuna pasta bake by substituting the mayonnaise for one can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup and milk, enough so that your pasta will not dry out as it bakes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and place in an oven-safe casserole dish. Mix in cheeses if desired, and top with bread crumbs (or I have even heard of people using potato chips), and bake until thickens and topping is browned.

Note: Accordingly,
you will not need to cool your noodles, and your noodles should be cooked a little less than el dente as they will continue to cook in the oven. Lemon pepper may also be substituted for a regular black pepper when making your cooked version.

Turn your tuna pasta salad into a traditional pasta salad by substituting the tuna with sliced red peppers and carrots.

Turn your traditional pasta salad into a vinaigrette pasta salad by substituting the mayonnaise for oil and vinegar, of your choice.

One thing you should not feel with all these substitutions, is confused. There are so many combinations that you can never truly go wrong,

Haley

Fast, Fresh, Fabulous Fish

I understand that not everyone is a seafood lover, but I do not understand why. My dad and I have always been the only two in our immediate family who will eat almost anything - I can remember as just a young girl, my dad coming home from work and often surprising me with octopus salad, which we would share right from the container until he would leave the last piece for me - let me just say I can count the number of foods I do not like on one hand. And if I do not prefer a food, it is usually not a distaste for the food itself, but rather for the way in which it was prepared. "Distaste", what an awful word, I can't believe I just said it.

Being that Lake Erie is practically my backyard, it is no surprise that there is great fish in this area. So, it is inevitable that my mom, and older brother and sister, have become accustomed to some seafood and I do not just mean shrimp. This recipe, in fact, is one that even they will taste on the occasional Christmas Eve when, for us, meat is not an option.

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It is breaded, oven fried perch. Do not tell me that does not make you hungry. And my trick here is slicing your perch fillets into small pieces, that way you do not have a huge piece of fish merely coated with the the breading flavours, but rather a bite size piece that does not allow for the fish to overpower the tasty seasoning. Do not get me wrong, the breading is not your typical thick, beer battered deep fry, and I guarantee you won't eat just one!

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The Recipe

Ingredients:

perch fillets

dry bread crumbs, of your choice

grated parmesan cheese

thyme

milk

Cut your fillets into small pieces, not too small, enough to allow for a couple bites worth. Combine your bread crumbs, parmesan, and thyme. Dip your fish pieces in milk and coat with bread crumb mix.

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Lay your breaded perch pieces on a greased, flat baking pan. Drizzle melted butter over the pieces or I sometimes just slice some shavings of butter to put atop each piece, which will melt on its own once in the oven.
Bake at 450 degrees, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. The length of time will depend on the thickness of your fish.

Once cooked, eat as is or add lemon, pour on tomato sauce, or add slivers of parmesan or parsley flakes.

Serve as an appetizer or meal,

Haley

Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese and Cucumber wrap

As a current University student, I know the feeling of constantly being "on the go" and I am sure that these days almost everyone can relate to leading a busy lifestyle. And wouldn't you know, one of my favourite parts of the day is taking a solid hour or two or more to indulge in a relaxing and tasteful dinner experience, which is usually a late one. Needless to say, lunch breaks do not always, realistically never, allow for a fabulous, homemade, sit-down meal.

Therefore, I have an "on the go" treat, which involves one of the few tricks I keep up my sleeve - who said "trick-or-treating" had to end last week? I have never been the type of person to get used to take-out or having fast-food "meals" on a daily basis, and so this is where these tricks come in handy. On the go? Looking for something quick, easy, and healthy? I don't mind if I do: The Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese and Cucumber wrap.

The Trick to your Treat of a worthwhile Lunch a.k.a. The Recipe

Ingredients:
pita (whole wheat for a healthier option), I recommend using Lebanese pita for a wrap as opposed to the thicker Greek pita; Lebanese pita is thinner and about 2 inches longer in elongation
garden vegetable cream cheese
cucumber

Lay your pita flat and spread your vegetable cream cheese over the surface, to your liking. The amount may determine the wrap's health factor. Slice your cucumber, and place the slices in a row as you would for a taco or fajita. Then wrap as you would a fajita, and you are all set.

You may be wondering "is that it?", but what seems like nothing special will prove otherwise to your taste buds. This wrap is extremely refreshing for an afternoon lunch. The crunchy cucumber slices allow for an added texture that pairs well with the cream cheese. You might even try adding feta cheese as well, but I recommend keeping it simple, allowing for the cucumber to be the prominent taste.

When I am running out the door, 15 minutes to where I have to be, who would guess that something so simple is one of my regular cravings. Forget that you forgot to have lunch, with that being said, this craving is possible to satisfy in those mere minutes.

That someone who occasionally walks down the street with a wrap in hand, say lunch time, (eyes shut, going mm mm) is me,

Haley

Viva Las Vegas: The Cheesecake Factory

This past weekend some friends and I stayed at The (Venice inspired) Venetian in Las Vegas! Similar to previous visits, one of the most memorable aspects of Vegas to me, is the food. Instead of trying to mimic one of The Venetian's fabulous Italian dishes, I would like to focus on a smaller plate, in a bigger place (with big taste!) - cheesecake at Caesar's Palace.

Dinner at Caesar's The Cheesecake Factory was a spectacle from beginning, with an incredible 200 item menu, to end. With portions so large they could be shared by two, it was still a must to save room for one of their more than 40 flavours of cheesecake. The cheesecake of course, shared by one.

After contemplating between my top three cheesecake choices, which I was finally able to narrow down to a white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake, a Kahlua cocoa coffee cheesecake, and a tiramisu cheesecake, I opted for the tiramisu. Now you are probably wondering why I settled for a traditional tiramisu flavour, however, I was convinced on the tiramisu cheesecake when I discovered it was not just tiramisu flavoured cheesecake, but a deliciously flavoured cheesecake layered on an actual tiramisu cake bottom. Literally combining tiramisu with cheesecake. Oh God.

Along with this fantastic idea, I am going to give you my very simple, yet delicious, cheesecake recipe, which you can try pairing with any of your own dessert foundations, whether it be a tiramisu base, brownie base, cookie base, and the possibilities are endless.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

Mix cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed. Once blended, and there are no clumps, add your eggs mixing on low speed. Pour over your choice of crust, and bake until centre is almost set.

One thing worth placing my bets on in Vegas?

You can bet I cashed in this idea, and took it home,

Haley

Veal Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca Italian: "jumps in the mouth"

Forget jumps, this entree leaps, twirls, and does summer saults in my mouth. This is probably because veal is my favourite meat and prosciuitto my favourite delicacie. While everyone is likely familiar with veal, sliced prosciuitto on the other hand, is usally served in sandwiches, as an antipasto, and often pairs with cantaloupe melon. It is a delicacie that is also especially popular in Italian cuisine, used in pasta sauces, on pizza, or involved when cooking other meats.

My mother claims to this day that she has never had better veal saltimbocca than at a little restaurant in Italy, on her and my father's honeymoon. *Sigh* That obviously cannot be topped, but I am told mine comes close (thanks mom and dad). This recipe is simple to make and even easier to eat. What better than the combination of veal topped with proscuitto and Italian spices, marinated in wine.

The Recipe

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Ingredients:
olive oil

butter

dry white wine

veal cutlets

proscuitto slices

sage leaves

Place the veal between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet. Season if desired, cover each veal piece with a slice of prosciutto, and place a sage leaf on top. You can secure the sage in place with a toothpick.

Heat your oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add the veal in batches, with the proscuitto facing up, and fry over medium high heat until the veal is cooked through. This will only take few minutes.

Try to drain most of the oil from the pan and add your wine. Cook over high heat, adding more butter if desired.

Spoon the juices over the veal when serving.

Jumping with flavour,

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Haley

To Puree or Not to Puree: Potato Leek Soup

At the onset of fall, amongst the cool and rainy weather you can huddle under an umbrella, like my mother, so you can still barbeque your favourite meats and grill your favourite vegetables, or you can embrace the "soup season". Whether you are someone who finds it easy or one who finds it hard to accept that summer has passed, I have a recipe that will help you ease into the fact that fall is here. So when the clocks "fall" back an hour, and you are walking in from the cold to your home at hours of darkness, you will see that there is no better dinner than cozying up to a quick and easy, but not ordinary, warm bowl of soup.

When I walked into work this weekend, and we did not have many customers' orders to satisfy, I found my boss gathering ingredients together with her own craving to satisfy, potato leek soup.


Potato leek soup is like a soup version of a baked potato with chives (or "the works" baked potato, depending on your garnishing). A leek belongs to the onion and garlic family, and looks like a green onion in appearance, but on a larger scale. And a potato, well, is only the best ingredient for endless possibilities in the kitchen.

Interested in this soup, I peaked over my boss' shoulder to learn her recipe. When I get to the recipe, you will understand why this soup looked absolutely appetizing to me. Why I say lookED is because when I sat down for lunch the most terrible thing had happened. She had pureed the entire soup. "Why did you puree the soup?" I asked, to which she answered, "you're supposed to puree potato leek soup...well, I guess you don't have too". To puree or not to puree? Two roads diverged, and sorry I am not, I can travel both.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
oil
white onions
celery
red skinned potatoes
leeks
sour cream
cheddar cheese & green onions to garnish

In a pot over medium heat, sautee your onions and celery in oil until soft, do not brown.

Cut your potatoes, which I recommend not peeling, into cubes or chunks. Once the onions and celery are soft, add your potatoes, while also adding more oil to coat the potatoes.

Slice the white base and light green part of the stalk of your leeks and add to the pot, feel free to add a taste of white wine or chicken stock at this point, and cook until your leeks are wilted.

Fill your pot with water and bring to a boil, adding water just enough so that your soup is still thick/chunky.

The best of both worlds
Although the pureed soup was not all that appetizing to look at, it still tasted delicious. However, if you choose to leave your soup looking hearty, do not puree, add or top with sour cream, and enjoy. Otherwise, puree, but top with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and green onions to give it some texture.

Now put your grills away with no reason to be sad about it,

Haley

Bye Bye Banana Bread, Hello Banana Snack Cake

I baked my heart out at work this weekend. Everything from your classic brownies and chocolate truffles to lemon cheesecake squares and brandy snaps! I even fit in some no-bake nanaimo bars.

I work for a family owned and operated Italian catering and specialty food store, and in terms of our desserts we have an absolutely talented elderly lady who bakes the intricate Italian cookies right out of her basement, while at our kitchen, we usually stick to a binder of laminated all-around favourites that make the average customers happy. Every now and then, however, a new recipe may find its way in. And this is where the banana snack cake comes in, into the baking binder, into my heart, and into my tummy.

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If you like banana bread (I know it is a favourite of mine that I have tested several recipes for) then you will love this cake. With a twist, it is full of extra goodies from oatmeal oats to chocolate chunks and shavings that mmm melt in and all throughout this treat. To gain an idea of how good it is, the owner's elderly mother called over to me as I was cutting the cake into squares, while she sat grinding what she had dried of the summer's Italian herbs, "can I have the ends". She then proceeded to eat all of the edges that I removed from the cake and for some reason her facial expression did not lead me to believe this was just because she refuses to throw anything away. A sample was also enjoyed by several customers who were in the store at the time, other workers, and of course myself.

The recipe was obviously copied and taken home with me, and the cake is likely to appear into my coffee breaks this week. If you are feeling a little envious right now, I am sure it can make an appearance with you as well - in your kitchen, breakfast nook, lunch bag, hidden in your apron at work (guilty), pocket during class (may be guilty of this week) - oh, it is just so good and I would be more than happy for you to experience it too!

The Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

(I recommend sifting the dry ingredients listed above)

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips, or cut up a chunk of chocolate

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk (1 tbsp vinegar, fill with milk to 1/2 cup)

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13X9 inch pan. In a large bowl combine your butter, eggs, buttermilk, and bananas. Blend well. Stir in the rest of your dry ingredients. Spread the batter over your greased pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Slice up your cake, pour a cup of coffee, and you are all set,

Haley