one of many versions of "dirty rice"

I made dirty rice to go with baked fish a la New Orleans. The dirty rice is #39 (the fish was #6). Be aware that with adding all the extras to the rice, it makes quite a lot. If you're making this for just a couple of people, cut the recipe at least in half, if not more.

Greek style shrimp

Number 38 of my 50 was Greek style shrimp found here.

We skipped the suggested salad and served it with rice. We also substituted the white wine with white grape juice.

pork and mushroom ragout

Number 27, from my book called Secrets of Slow Cooking.

a boneless pork loin roast - about 1 1/2 pounds

1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, divided
2 tbl cornstarch
2 tsp. savory
sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
8 oz. package sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, sliced
black pepper

cooked egg noodles or some other pasta.

Brown pork roast on all sides in a skillet with cooking spray or a little bit of oil.

Put half of tomatoes in crockpot with cornstarch, savory, and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix it up.

Put mushrooms, onion, and roast in crockpot. Pour the rest of the tomatoes over the roast and sprinkle with pepper.

Cook on low 4-6 hours until roast reaches internal temp of 165.

Put the roast on a cutting board and cover with foil. Let stand 10-15 minutes, then slice and serve with noodles. Pour sauce from crockpot over the plated food.

pasta with chicken and sun-dried tomato

This is #36 - I have no idea where it came from. I just had this list of ingredients stashed in a note on my other blog.

bowtie pasta cooked like usual

chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces and cooked in a skillet, then set aside while the vegetables are being cooked

2 tbl. olive oil to cook the following:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato
1 zucchini, diced
1 summer squash, diced (not sliced)
1-2 garlic cloves minced or crushed
1-2 tsp rosemary
1-2 tsp basil

Toss all together with pasta and chicken. Add a little more olive oil if it's too dry for you until it's how you like it. There's not a sauce with this.

pasta with sausage and fennel

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm REALLY behind on this blog ... I'm going to blame my lack of posting on pregnancy exhaustion. I'm finally coming out of it - hooray! I have 5 recipes to post for my 50-challenge, including a couple I did all the way back in July, bringing me up to 40. So I have 10 more to do in the next 6 weeks to get all the way to 50 within the calendar year.

Anyway, so here's #35 - pasta with sausage and fennel. It's from a book we have called "The Working Stiff Cookbook" by Bob Sloan.

1 tbl. olive oil
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 pound hamburger
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium bulb fennel, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine or beef broth (our substitute for red wine is apple juice - we've never had a problem with it)
1 28-0z. can of crushed tomatoes
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper

Heat the oil first, and cook the sausage and hamburger in it. Break up the meat as it cooks so it's in small pieces. When it's done, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan, then pour out the excess grease from the pan.

Put skillet on medium heat and cook onion, fennel, and garlic until softened.

Add meat to pan with vegetables, pour in wine/broth, and cook for about a minute until the liquid reduces.

Add tomatoes and herbs, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until sauce is the thickness you like.

Serve with cooked pasta - regular thickness spaghetti or linguini are best. It's a pretty hearty sauce, so you don't want to use a delicate pasta.

Zucchini Medly and Fritters

Two successful zucchini dishes for dinner tonight. I liked that they were similar enough that I could prep and cook both at the same time without too much of a hassle, but the final dishes tasted different enough that it wasn't boring. Hooray for eating vegetables!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-and-Zucchini-Melody/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Zucchini-Fritters-Ever/Detail.aspx

cake truffles

Tanya posted about these on her personal blog here - I think they're really cute and wanted to get the info out for everyone in case someone wants to make something similar this weekend. They'd also be really cute at Christmas in other colors to be little ornaments or something.

The original idea is from bakerella.com and I just spent a little while going through that site. Click on the "cake pops" option in the top left corner, and you will get TONS of ideas on what to do with these things for pretty much every single holiday!

Red Beans and Rice

This is one of our favorite cold-weather foods!

1 lb dried red beans

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp cajun or creole seasoning (we use Tony Chachere's)
kielbasa
rice (about 1 cup per serving)

Rinse the red beans, then put them in a pot of water to soak overnight.

Drain the water, cover the beans with water again, then put them on to boil. Once the beans are boiling, turn down to a simmer.

Add the onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning to the pot early on so it can cook down. (You can also add celery and/or a bell pepper.) Cook the mixture for about an hour to an hour and a half. Slice the kielbasa and add it about 15 minutes before the beans are done.

Meanwhile, cook the rice in a separate pot.

Serve the beans over the rice, and drop on a few drops of Tabasco sauce.

It takes a while to make, but it's worth it, and we usually have leftovers for days!

Brownie Muffins

I realize that there is no such thing as "guilt free" treats - espeshally brownies - but these have very little guilt - taste amazing - and are SOOOO easy!

http://www.recipezaar.com/Ww-Brownie-Muffins-the-Longmeadow-Farm-281279

Tomato Bisque

I found this one on Recipezaar (#49957). Yummy and great with grilled cheese sandwiches! My hubby, who HATES tomato soup, loved this and requested I make it again.


Tomato Bisque

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, hearty
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper, more to taste
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium pot, heat the oil.
2. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender and lightly browned on the edges, about 7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and thyme; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, broth, honey, salt, and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until reduced by a quarter and thickened, about 15 minutes.
7. Using a standard or immersion blender, puree about half the soup; it will still be chunky and thick.
8. Return it to the pot and stir in the cream.
9. Heat gently and adjust the seasonings.
10. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with the parsley if using, and serve immediately.