Here’s where you can find my Rustic Mediterranean Chicken w/ Roasted Brussel Sprouts:
ttp://twintalesfromthetrenches.blogspot.com/2007/10/rustic-mediterranean-chicken.html

I love roasting vegetables in the fall. Makes the whole house smell good and is a great cooking technique for fall vegetables.

Also, here’s a couple of recipes that my brother sent to me. One is a delicious way to enjoy cauliflower and the other is a nice, warm appetizer.
http://twintalesfromthetrenches.blogspot.com/2007/10/cauliflower-au-gratin-and-so-much-more.html

Enjoy and thanks for the recipes!!

Kelsi

Ground beef
Potatoes – any kind will do, but I think the yukon golds make the best mashed taters ever
Butter
Milk or Cream or Half & Half (I think Half & Half is best)
Onion
Corn (I use frozen kernels to make it easier)
Sage
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Nutmeg
Cornstarch & beef broth – OR take the easy way and buy brown beef gravy in a jar.
Oven: preheat to 350 or 375 or whatever. This isn’t precise.

(1) Peel the potatoes. Cut them up into manageable cubes for quicker boiling. Put in a large pot filled with water; turn the heat on high. Yep, you don’t even have to get the water boiling first.
(2) While potatoes are boiling, chop up your onion. We like onion a lot in my house, and we REALLY like vidalia onions, so I usually do one giant onion. You’re supposed to saute the onion in some butter or olive oil and paprika, but I like my onions to be crunchy, so I skip this step.
(3) Sprinkle the ground beef with salt, pepper, sage, and paprika, and brown it in a large skillet or saute pan. Add the onion whenever you want, depending on how tender or crunchy you want it.
(4) While the beef is cooking, put a pot of water on the stove to boil (for cooking the corn).
(5) When the beef is done, line a colander with a couple paper towels and drain the fat from the beef, then put the beef back in the skillet.
(6) Now, make a gravy. You can take the easy way and just dump a jar of gravy into it and stir it up. OR, you can mix a couple tablespoons of cornstarch into a cup of hot water, then pour that over the beef. I try this a lot and it always takes forever to thicken up and I get nervous that I’ve ruined the whole damn thing because of the stupid gravy. More recently, I used the jar kind. I like the homemade stuff better, but Rob likes the stuff in the jar better. Turn off the heat and set the meat aside.
(7) At this point, your potatoes are probably nice and soft. Drain the water from them and mash them (I use my KitchenAid mixer for this part) with butter and whatever milk product you’ve decided to use. Add salt & pepper to taste, as well as the secret ingredient: nutmeg! It sounds random but the mashed potatoes will be damn delicious.
(8) Oh, at some point you should probably add the corn to the boiling water from step 4; after a few minutes, drain the corn.
(9)See what a pain in the ass this is? I usually drink heavily when I make this. It is delicious, though. And so is the wine.
(10) Note absence of peas and carrots and whatever other veggies are supposed to go in Shepherd’s Pie. That’s because neither Rob nor I like those. Too healthy. Yuck.
(11) Anyway. In whatever casserole dish you please (size depends on how much of this nonsense you are cooking), layer the ingredients as follows: beef, corn, taters. Some people put a thin layer of potatoes at the very bottom (below the beef), but others (such as myself) find that crossing the line from “pain in the ass” to “pain in an ass the size of Canada”.
(12) Dot the top of the potatoes with more butter, because, really, at this point, do we give a shit about calories and fat grams anymore? No way jose.
(13) bake at whatever temp you please for somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes. Probably 45.

This is the worst recipe write-up I have ever done. But the recipe itself is yummalicious, I promise.

Anyway, here is a GREAT no-cook sauce for a great pasta. Easy if you have kids and don’t have time to cook. Make the sauce during their nap and then all you have to do is boil the pasta and toss. Yippee! It’s from a really good vegetarian Italian cookbook.

Spaghettini al limone con le olive
Thin spaghetti with uncooked lemon and black olive
sauce
For 4-6 people

The sauce is uncooked and takes just minutes to make.
A word of caution, however: use only high quality
extra-virgin olive oil. A bland olive oil will not
give the sauce sufficient flavor; it will only make the
spaghetti seem oily.

Zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large cloves garlic (I crush them or use the pre-chopped garlic from trader joes in the bottle)
1/2 cup sharply flavored black olives, such as gaeta,
niçoise or kalamata olives, pitted and sliced (i use
kalamata)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons
dried
thyme
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons salt
Plenty of freshly milled white or black pepper
6 quarts water
1 pound spaghettini (thin spaghetti) or capellini

To remove the zest from the lemon, grate the lemon on
The small holes of a standard box grater, being sure not to
include the bitter white layer just below the oily
yellow citrus skin. Use a pastry brush to dislodge the zest
that clings to the holes of the grater. Alternatively, use
a citrus zester, which can be found in most kitchen
specialty shops. (I use a microplane grater which I LOVE)

In a warmed serving bowl large enough to accommodate the pasta later, combine the lemon zest, lemond juice, olive
oil, garlic cloves, olives, thyme, the 1 teaspoon of salt
and pepper to taste. Press on the garlic with the back
of a wooden spoon to release its juices, and remove it
just before you add the cooked pasta to the sauce. (Again, I
didn’t do this, because I use the chopped garlic and I
leave it in there.)

To cook the pasta, bring the water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and the 2 tablespoons salt to
it. Stir frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking
together and continue to cook over high heat. Capellini will cook in approximately 3 minutes and spaghettini in about 5 minutes. Taste the pasta to determine its doneness; it should be al dente. do not overcook the pasta. If in doubt as to its doneness, drain it
immediately, as the pasta continues to cook while it is
hot. Take care not to overdrain; the pasta should be
piping hot and still dripping when it is transferred to
the serving bowl. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water.
toss the hot pasta with the cold sauce. Capellini have
a tendency, because of their fineness, to absorb moisture
rapidly, and so it is often necessary to return some of
the pasta cooking water to the sauce to prevent it from
clumping; the additional water will help to distribute
the sauce easily through the strands. Serve piping hot.