Pasta and Gaarlic Bread

Here are some guest recipies from the NEAR Immortal Brad H (too soon?)

Pasta with Meat Sauce

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup diced onion (preferably sweet onion)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1/3 cup parmesian

2 15oz cans whole tomatos

1 1/2 lbs rigatoni pasta

Black pepper, salt, olive oil or lard

Heat large cast iron pan or heavy pot and add olive oil or lard. Add diced onion and cook until onion is translucent and tender. Add ground beef and brown, turning every couple of minutes. When the beef is nearly browned, add garlic, taking care to keep it from browning. Drain most excess grease and save drippings. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with thyme.

Add tomatos (with juice) and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and allow to stew for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Prepare rigatoni per box directions. Salt the water add drippings. Always rinse with cold water and take care not to overcook.

When prepared, the tomatos in the meat sauce should have become very soft and tender, breaking in small peices. Stir parmesian into the meat sauce. Serve in shallow bowls over pasta.

Garlic Cheese Texas Toast

8 thick slices of bread (Texas Toast)

1/4 cup grated parmesian

1/4 cup mayonnaise (light mayo does not cook well, I recommend the real stuff)

1/2 cup grated cheddar

1/2 cup grated provolone or gouda

1/2 stick butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, minced greens and whites

Lard (optional)

Mix cheeses, mayo, garlic and green onions into a mash and set aside. In small skillet over medium heat, melt butter 2 tsps at a time. Place bread in butter and allow buttered side to just begin to brown around the edges. Lightly grease baking sheet with lard and place bread butter-side up on it. Spread cheese mix evenly over all 8 slices of bread. Bake bread at 400F for about 12 mins. Cheese should be bubbling but not brown when ready, and bottom of the bread should be toasted.

Philly Maki

For those of you who don't want to watch the video:
you need:
Celerey (thinly sliced)
Smoked Salmon
Cream cheese
sushi rice
sushi nori (roasted seaweed)
plastic wrap
bamboo mat

Cook your rice. Put a big peice of plastic wrap on your bamboo mat. Center the Sushi Nori on that. Cover it with rice- the rise is warm and moist and will make the sushi nori felxiable. pipe a line of cream cheese down the middle, and put the celery and salmon right on that. Roll it up and pinch it in the bamboo mat. Uncover and cut with a very sharp knife. Eat.

Dress up the Frozen Cheeze Pizza

Frozen pizzas from the grocery store are about $5. And boring. Here are some things to add to your pizza before baking so you can have a tasty, interesting meal that is easy and a lot of times, can get rid of your leftovers in a different way! You can also use these toppings on your own homemade pizza.

REMEMBER-- baking a pizza does not cook your meat. Cook any meat on your pizza BEFORE baking. Don't get food poisioning. It sucks.

Mexican Pizza:
Mexican Blend Grated Cheese
Taco seasoned beef
crushed tortilla chips
Mexican Pizza is best on white, cheese pizza.

Itallian Pizza:
Motzerella Cheese
Itallian Sausage, cut into thin, coin-like slices
Carmilized onions
Fried Green Peppers
This pizza is awesome on whole wheat pizza-- and if you're making your own, try it with Alfrado sause instead of the normal red sause.

Hawaiian Pizza:
Ham (did you see my recipe for ham yesterday? I used it on Pizza for dinner and it was awesome)
Pineapple from a can-- the whole circles look cool, but peices work just fine.
best on cheese pizza

Meat Lovers:
Meat lovers is awesome on peperoni pizza, and the best way to do it is with leftovers-- that one chicken breast you're never going to eat, leftover ham, that roast thats about to go bad, etc.

Breakfast Pizza:
Order a pizza last night? add some scrambled eggs and hash browns and bake till warm and crispy for a way-cooler version of the leftover pizza.

Sunday Ham

Awesome Ham Glaze

you need:
Spices. I use Basil, Thyme, Oregeno, Salt, Lemon Juise, Black pepper, Celery salt
BROWN sugar
Honey
Water.

Simmer some water, one to one and a half cups should do. Add about half a cup to a cup of brown sugar slowly, so it totally dissolves. Add your herbs and spices, enough to add flavor but not to overpower the sugar. Ham glazes are meant to be sweet. Let this simmer uncovered a few minutes so it can lose a bit of water. Add honey to keep it sweet and thicken it up, usually about 1-2 tablespoons. Pour glaze slowly over ham and as you bake your ham, go in an use a baster to reglaze the ham as it drips off. Be careful not to burn yourself because that sucks and hurts.


Rosemary Potatos
Spices: rosemary, oregneo, basil, pepper, salt and onion powder
Potatos
Veggie oil

Cube your potatos into 1-inch cubes. Coat in oil. Coat oily potatos in spices. Bake 45 minutes or till soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, turning every 15 minutes. Nom Nom Nom.

Steamed Buttery Broccli
Brocci
butter

Steam your broccli however you usually do. Just as it's finishing up, put it in a micowave safe bowl. Chop up about 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle that, and some salt and peppter over the bowl. Nuke for 45 seconds.

Sin and Vice Cake (Mardi Gras Cake)

First, make some coffee. Just a serving should do, double brew it if you really like coffee.

Next, mix up a mocha cake. You can use any recipie for chocolate cake you like (even a box cake!) just replace the water with coffee. Stick it in the oven and bake as instructed.

While that is baking, cream 2 cups of confectionors sugar with 1/3 of a cup of buttter. Raid your liquor cabnet for 2 tablespoons of Kahula and add that as well as 3 tablespoons of strong coffee and mix till smooth and spreadable.

Once your cake is out of the oven, cooled and frosted, you can decorate it however you want. one easy thing to do (great for today) is make a paper cutout of a mask and/or beads and sift sugar or cocoa power through it to lightly cover your cake with a pretty design!

Party Food!

Baked Fries:
-Potatos
-Veggie Oil
-Spices
Chop up your potatos into thin fry shapes (the thinner they are the crispier they will be and the quicker they will cook). Preheat your oven to 415. Spread them in a SINGLE LAYER on a cookie sheet, and dump a few tablespoons (enough to coat your fries) veggie oil on it. Add the spices you want, and some salt. I did a batch of Chili fries using McCormack's chili seasoning and a batch of Rosemary fries with rosemary, oregneo, basil, pepper, salt and onion powder. Hand toss the fries, oil and spices till it's all coated. Bake, turning fries with a spatula every five minutes. Usually they take about 20-30 minutes to bake, make sure they are crispy and golden and soft in the center.

Party Dip (aka Heart Attack)
-2 boxes cream cheese
-1.5 lbs ground beef (for the Vegitarian type, use a squash of some sort)
-taco seasoning
-1 can of chili (vegitarian chili for Vegiartians)
-Salsa
-Mexican Cheese

Cook the beef and add taco seasoning as the package suggests. Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of the pan-- I use a glass baking pan so you can see the layers. Make sure it is spread all nice and evenly, then layer the beef(or Squash), chili, Salsa, and top with a nice thick layer of mexican cheese. Bake for 45 minutes or so at 350f.