Some menu items for the last few weeks

• Chili
• Chicken Curry
• Asparagus Soup
• Stuffed Peppers 
• Pot Roast
• Chicken Paprikash
• Fish Tacos
• Roasted Salmon with roasted Potatoes and Asparagus 

Pavlova

Over this holiday season my sister-in-law (SIL)  and niece came to visit.  While here my SIL  made Russian salad with homemade mayo, which left me with a lot of egg white.  I found Povlova as one of the things I could make to use up the egg whites.

The kicker was, I had never had this dish before so I was unsure as to what the end product should be like.  I looked up several recipes and videos online and ultimately followed a Martha Stewart recipe and a Simply Recipes post.

I did mix the cornstarch with the sugar before adding it to the egg whites.  Once the whites where at a stiff peak I folded in a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of lemon juice.

This dish was unbelievably easy and delicious.  I think that I will try reducing the sugar from   1.5 cups to only 1 cup to reduce the sweetness a little.

Nick Stellino's Pasta Alla Russa

The kids and I like to watch Create TV on PBS and my son, after catching a 13 pound lake trout that we smoked, thought that this dish looked good.  We tried this dish tonight and while my son really liked it the rest of us just kind of tolerated it because the flavor was so strong.  I like my smoked fish on cracker, but this was worth a try and if you are a person who likes a lot of the smoked fish flavor this is a good recipe to try.

Bow tie pasta in boiling water to el dente. 

 I the mean time...

Saute together

Butter

Add finely chopped shallots

Minced garlic

Smoked fish

Vodka

Clam juice or chicken stock & Tomato sauce

Salt & Pepper

Cream

Cook sauce down a little

Add el dente pasta & a few peas.

cook to done

Top with Parmesan cheese 

Serve

Our home smoked Lake Trout

Recent Meals

I do like to keep an account of meals that I have made for future inspiration for those weeks I just can't think of anything to make.

• Eggplant Parmesan - Used Eggplant from the garden

• Swiss Steak -   Family says this a make again

• Chicken Curry - because everyone likes this one 

• Sweet and Sour Chicken

• White Bean Soup

• Potato Soup

• Seared Coho - My son and I cough this fish ourselves on lake Huron.  It was wonderful along with some rice and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon.

• Stuffed Peppers - Daughter's favorite so I thought her how to make them.

Summer Shrimp Pasta

This pasta dish turned out to be one of the best pasta dishes that I have made is a long time.  the balance of flavors was just  right and I was proud to use many items from my back yard...WOOT! (I know, woot is so dated)

Put a large pot of heavily salted water on to boil for the pasta.  The pasta I used was Barilla Plus curly Q pastas, about half a box.

In a large saute pan I added

1 medium light green zucchini, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
1 medium yellow summer squash, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
2 medium to large tomatoes, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
4 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin or roughly chopped  (from my garden)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
a dash of salt

I sauteed this on low covered for about 5 minutes, until the water boiled.

I dumped the pasta into the boiling water and then quickly cleaned about 1 pound of raw shrimp (took about 3 minutes)

In the saute pan I pushed the softened squash tomato mix to one side and place the cleared side over the burner and added about 1/2 cup white wine and let it cook down a little.  Dump the shrimp into the saucy area, and by now the pasta should be just barely al dente.  Scoop the pasta over the shrimp.  once all the pasta is added stir all together, if more liquid is needed add some pasta water.

season with salt and pepper to taste and add fresh oregano  (from my garden), about 1.5 tablespoons.

Cover pot until done, pasta just the way you like it...for me about 2 minutes.

Dish up into a serving bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and a squeeze of some fresh lemon.

Birthday Cake

My 11 year old daughter made me this cake for my Birthday...She has become a wonderful Baker!