Monday, January 21, 2008

More Food at Girls Weekend, Part 2

And then there was more....
After dancing and wine until 2 in the morning, we woke and started eating again. I learned that a Bloody Mary and super huge apple fritter do not make for a healthy breakfast. But after an hour of snowshoeing in the -25 windchill and a few trips down the big slide at the INDOOR pool, I felt much better. Even good enough to eat cheese.

Our lovely ornamental (long story, it's funny) brought some lovely cheese, including the biggest hunk of Saint Andre I'd ever seen, a beautiful baked brie loaded with fruit and we think nuts, and then this grainy gouda that was a nice complement to the sweet soft cheeses. (Anyone remember the name of the gouda)?

We properly stuffed ourselves and then moved onto dinner. T had a brainstorm in the middle of the afternoon and roasted some sweet potatoes with blue cheese and pecans. Now that was a good idea. the sweetness of the potatoes was offset with the tart saltiness of the cheese, and nuts make everything better, as well as provide texture.

The super yummy entree was made my Jen, and is called Lake Cuomo Pasta. A blend of twisty pasta, vegetables and cheese. What could go wrong? The recipe is at the bottom of this post, and I believe she found it in Vegetarian Times.


And then Berg put together this lovely salad. (I'm still waiting to get the recipe from her, but stayed tuned.) Essentially, she took a whole lot of sliced red onions and mixed them with a whole lot of fresh tomatoes and then mixed that with a whole lot of balsamic goodness and threw it all in the microwave. She served it on top of a bed of fresh spinach and made all of us drool. The warm vegetable wilted the spinach just a tiny, tiny bit and everything melted together. I'll bug her for the recipe, I promise!!


So until next year, it will just be memories, and hopefully more cheese!!

Vegetarian Times, recipe developed by Elizabeth Yarnell

3 cups (8 oz) radiatore pasta (rotini or fusilli are fine as well)
3 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
2 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs basil, chopped
6 small zucchini, sliced in rounds
3 cups low-fat ricotta cheese (I use 2 cups, then add 1 cup cottage cheese)
9 cloves (3 Tbs) garlic, minced
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups porcini or shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Generously spray inside of 5-1/2 or 6 quart Dutch
oven with cooking spray.

2. Spread pasta in even layer in bottom of pot. Add enough water to tomato
liquid to make 1 cup. Stir liquid into pasta with olive oil. Toss tomatoes
with basil in separate bowl; season with salt and pepper. Spread over pasta.
Top with half of zucchini rounds.

3. Combine ricotta, garlic, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, and salt in small
bowl. Spread over zucchini. Layer mushrooms and remaining zucchini over
ricotta mixture. Cover pot, and bake 53 minutes, or about 3 minutes after
aroma wafts from oven.

Note: I added grated parmesan when it was done, and stuck it back into the
oven for about 2 more minutes.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

that baked brie was so awesome, i wish i could remember the brand. i'll need to ask our ornamental. i'm craving it right now. can't wait to get the recipe for the salad - i could eat that salad every night (and probably should, to make up for lack of veggies in my diet for the last year!).

Anonymous said...

oh, can you believe it? no one ate the organic truffles seen in the background of the salad picture. guess we were too stuffed with cheese and cake. so i took them home and put them in the fridge. it'll be my emergency chocolate.

Anonymous said...

This is T's sister...the other T.
She just told me about all your yummy girls weekend food and your blog. I'll be checking it often for recipes and ideas - thanks for sharing.

www.becauselifeisfunny.blogspot.com