Penne with Spinach Sauce & #4: Message in a Bottle...better late than never!

 Don't you worry, there'll be no excuses coming from me about why I stopped my countdown to Valentine's Day.  Only because I didn't stop it - I just took a little hiatus.  Still been cooking, and watching some of my fave romantic comedies, so I'm gonna finish this thing even if it takes me 'til summer.  My fingers are crossed that it won't!  Better late than never, right?  I don't believe that saying is applicable in every situation, but this is my blog, and I say it fits perfectly here.

Actually, this recipe is one you should be glad I didn't share until after the lover's holiday.  Its mighty tasty, but it'll leave your breath wreaking of garlic for days!  At least ours did.  But after nearly five years of wedded bliss, you don't really let the breath thing get in your way anymore.  Which is exactly why I chose the honorable mention that I did for today.  This pasta really is delicious, and mighty healthy, so enjoy it with whomever will tolerate your breath after.  That's how you know its true love.

Penne with Spinach Sauce

From Giada De Laurentis via foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

1 pound whole wheat or multi grain penne

3 garlic cloves

2 ounces goat cheese

1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves

2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add the penne and cook until its tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

Mince the garlic in a food processor.  Add the goat cheese, cream cheese, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and half of the spinach leaves.  Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Set the cheese and spinach mixture aside.

Meanwhile, place the remaining spinach leaves in a large bowl.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.  Spoon the pasta atop the spinach leaves in the bowl.  Scrape the cheese and spinach mixture over the pasta mixture and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten.  Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle Parmesan over and serve.

#4: Message in a Bottle

There was no way I could leave a Nicholas Sparks selection off my list, so I'm sharing with you the most recent of my discoveries/favorites. I'm quite the fanatic of all things Nicholas Sparks (see this post on my personal blog to see just how serious I am), which makes it a joke that I just saw Message in a Bottle for the first time a couple of months ago.  I loved it, although I was a wreck by the end (romantic and emotionally draining, just like every other movie based on one of his novels).  But so worth it!  Kind of like the pasta, kids!  If you haven't seen it, you must.  Its on Instant Play if you've got Netflix (how is it possible for technology to be a godsend and life-ruiner at the same time?  I could seriously watch Netflix for days at a time!).

The Honorable Mention for the night is Couple's Retreat.  Its funny because its true.

#5: French Kiss & Crock Pot Spinach Lasagna

Every two weeks I host a healthy taster table at work (a fun part of my job as the employee wellness coordinator), and I saw this recipe on one of fave cooking blogs last week: Gourmified.  It looked pretty darn good, and the guest host who posted it gave raving reviews of it.  I put it on my list of recipes to sample for my bi-weekly taster.  When I saw it on yet another of the blogs I follow: Just Cook Already, I bumped it right to the top of the list tout suite!  Today was the day, and it was quite the success.  It even rivals my current favorite lasagna (which is also super quick and healthy) which you can find the recipe to right here.  Anyway, I hope you and whoever you choose to treat with this dinner find it as fabulous as we all did!

Crock Pot Spinach Lasagna

From Jessica Seinfeld

Ingredients

1 can (14.5 oz.) crushed tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 container (15 oz.) part skim ricotta cheese

1 ½ c. grated mozzarella cheese

¼ c. grated parmesan cheese

8-12 lasagna noodles (depending on the size of your crock pot; precooked noodles are not necessary!)

6 c. fresh baby spinach

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, salt, oregano, black pepper and red pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and parmesan.

2. In the bottom of a 5-6 quart slow cooker, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce. Top with 3 of the noodles (breaking to fit, if necessary). Spread about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the noodles and layer with 2 cups of the spinach. Dollop 1/3 of the cheese mixture evenly over the top. Repeat twice more with the noodles, sauce, spinach and cheese mixture. Top with the remaining 3 noodles, sauce, and ½ cup of mozzarella.

3. Cook on low, covered until the noodles are tender – especially in the center of the lasagna – about 3 to 3 ½ hours.

 

 

 

#5 = French Kiss

 

Ok, so I know this is not the most romantic scene from the movie, but it is one of the funniest for sure!  This one is just one of those great, sweet romantic comedies.  Its classic Meg Ryan (pre plastic surgery nightmare), and if you don't already love Kevin Kline, you will after this movie.  He's offensive, and its fantastic. 

Speaking of offensive...the honorable mention for today is Pretty Woman.  If someone were to tell you that a story about a hooker would make a great romantic comedy, you might not believe them.  But then you see the movie and you admit that you were wrong-o!  I love this movie - again, its no oscar winner, but its classic.  My grandmother even loves this movie ha!  If you haven't seen it, it's time to just get it over with.  You'll be glad you did.  Promise.

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits, #6 = Romeo & Juliet

Due to the fact that I've been super out of touch, and out of cooking practice if I'm being quite honest, I'm posting this recipe which I actually baked back at the beginning of December.  Better late than never, no?  Yes.  I took these biscuits to dinner with some family/friends and they were a BIG, BIG hit.  Dick loved them, I loved them, our cousins/friends loved them, and they went surprisingly well with the delicious ribs that cousin John slaved over for dinner.  They are nice and sweet...just like Romeo.  Again with the bad transition, I know.  But I'm kinda flying by the seat of my briches here, so you'll just have to deal.

Enjoy this one, food lovers - its quick, easy, and might darn tasty!

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

From Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

5 Tbsp. cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 peices

1/2 cold sour cream

1/4 c. cold milk

1/3 c. finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Directions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet w/ silicone paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.  Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps.  Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour.  Quickly cut & rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.  You'll have pea-size pieces and smaller.

3. Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients.  Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough.  Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick, gentle kneading - 3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together.  Toss in the pecans and knead another 2-3 times to incorporate them.

4. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough.  Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high.  Don't worry if the dough isn't completely even.

5. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can.  Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of this first round.  By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet.  Gather together the scraps, working them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer these to the sheet (the biscuits can be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months.  Bake w/out defrosting - just add a couple ore minutes to the oven time.

6. Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown.  Transfer them to a serving basket.

#6: Romeo & Juliet

Clearly this is the longest clip ever, but it's my favorite part of the movie!  I was in the 6th grade when I first saw this movie, and totally swooning over Leo - after falling in love and crying my eyes out (7 times!) in Titanic ha!  Anyway, I still think this is one of the sweetest scenes ever.  The whole movie isn't the greatest, but this love story is probably the most famous love story in the world, so it makes my countdown this year.  Because of cutie-patutie DiCaprio, the honorable mention for tonight is Titanic.  Loved it then.  Love it still.  I'll never let go.

Dinner & a Movie Countdown to Valentine's Day: Bewitching Potato-Carrot Pancakes & #7 Pride & Prejudice

I know I've been totally MIA forEVER, but I'm not gonna miss this opportunity to share some of the delicious recipes we've been enjoying and gush about some of my favorite romantic movies...just in time for the holiday of lovers!  See last year's countdown HERE.

Folks, this is a cooking/foodie blog, so let's get right to the heart of this post...the food!

The first time I tasted potato-carrot pancakes was in San Francisco at the Home Plate, where I fell in love with their breakfast menu.  I've tried to re-create some of the other dishes we tasted there, to some disappointment I must admit, but these little latkes were a delight!  Plus, they gave me an excuse to use my new-ish food processor that Grandma Shirl gave me for my birthday!  Not gonna lie, the power of food processors is a little frightening, but it was an adventure nonetheless. If you love breakfast for dinner as much as I do, and you're sick of resorting to pancakes/waffles/french toast every single time, then this is just the ticket, my friends.  I hope you are bewitched by these potato-carrot pancakes as Mr. Darcy is for E. Bennet!  Horrible transition, but just scroll down, will ya?

Potato-Carrot Pancakes

From Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast

Ingredients

3/4 lbs (about 3 medium) white potatoes, peeled

8 oz. (about 3 medium) carrots, peeled

1/2 c. thinly sliced scallions

coarse salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. matzo meal

1/4 c. vegetable oil, for frying

1/4 c. reduced fat sour cream, for serving

1/4 c. apple sauce (sweetened or not), for serving

Directions

1. In a food processor fitted with a fine-hole grating attachment (or on the small holes of a box grater), grate the potatoes and carrots.  Transfer to a large bowl; add the scallions and 1 1/2 tsp. salt.  Using your hands, mix thoroughly.  Mix in the egg and the matzo meal until combined.  Divide into 8 mounds of equal size.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over med-high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan.  Add half the potato mounds; flatten each to a 1/2-inch thickness.  Cook until golden brown, 2-4 minutes per side.

3. Transfer to paper towels or parchment paper to drain.  Rpeat with the remaining mounds (reduce the temperature to medium if browning too quickly).  Sprinkle with salt, and serve with sour cream and apple sauce, if desired.

#7 - Pride & Prejudice (the newer one)

I just finished reading this book (yes, the book) for the first time ever today, and may I tell you that Mr. Darcy is just as horrible and wonderful on pages as he is on the silver screen?  He has bewitched ME body and soul, and I am now a die-hard Jane Austen fan.  For real.  Not just because I love the movies that are based on her books.  To tell you the truth, I actually hope that Sense and Sensibility is a much better book than movie because I don't like that movie at all. 

If you can get your man to watch this with you, then you have more lady powers than I do because Dick is so not a fan of this flick.  May have something to do with Kiera Nightly's underbite, but that can't be the only reason. 

Because I do love Jane Austen, I must also add this honorable mention:  Becoming Jane.  I do love Anne Hathaway, but this movie is just so romantic, and sweet, and tragic.  I love it.  And I love James McAvoy.  Enjoy, my lovely friends!