Ravioli with Asparagus and Pesto.

Hey, Foodies, Food Adventure time again! Got something super quick and easy today. Get ready to get your ass kicked by food! Tonight's experiment is Ravioli with Asparagus and Pesto.

This dish is going to be super easy because the pesto is already made. I like quick and easy =)

Heat up a large skillet with some butter and roast your asparagus with a few cloves of garlic. Cook until tender -- 5 minutes on medium-high should do the trick.

All I had to do was boil some water and toss in my pasta since the pesto was made ahead of time. Once the pasta was done, I tossed it all in a big pot and mixed it up.

Total cooking time after the water was boiling is a total of seven minutes. That's faster than the drive thru at Arbys. Lets Eat!!!!






Tony's rating: 4.75 Strong! spicy! Dee-lish. Oh, man, I love pasta in all forms, but this is cool because its not your classic red sauce or alfredo sauce. But, it did satisfy. It was hearty and healthy. I could eat vegetarian like this every night. Total cost 10 bucks.

Sandy's rating:  4.5 stars
This was amazing.  It was light, but filling.  And, simple, but flavorful.  Having the pesto sauce in the freezer made it very quick.  And, very affordable!  I can't wait to have this again.

Until next time my friends, All Men must Dine! ~Tony

Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage

This week's food adventure is something simple, yet quite delicious.  And, it makes a lot. so you can freeze some for later.  This week we are making lentil soup with Italian sausage!

Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian sausage                      a handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb. dried lentils                           2 carrots, sliced
1 large yellow onion, diced          3 cloves of garlic
2 chicken bouillon cubes              24 oz. can diced tomatoes
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil                        1/2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. fennel seeds

1.  Heat olive oil over medium heat.  When hot, add diced onion and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are clear.  Add Italian sausage and half the fennel.

2.  Once the Italian sausage is thoroughly browned, add eight cups of water, lentils and the remainder of the ingredients.  Return to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer 30 minutes, adding water if needed.

Notes:

*  We accidentally picked up chicken Italian sausage.  It was still quite good.

*  We added about two teaspoons of fennel seeds because the sausage we were using did not have any that was noticeable.  If the Italian sausage you choose to use has more of that flavor, you may want to use less than listed above.

*  Ordinarily I would have celery in this dish, but I forgot to pick it up at the store.  I am kind of glad as that may have made the dish a little too salty.

Reviews:

Sandy's rating:  4.75 stars

Soup is good food!  This dish is hearty, delicious, and satisfies both the belly and the soul.  I'm glad it makes so much.  It's a good, simple dinner and fairly healthy, too.

Tony's rating:  I give it a strong 4.5 stars. I love the lentils and the chicken sausage was perfect. Not your mom's chicken soup.


Cost to make:      about $11.00
lentils - $1.44
chicken Italian sausage - $6.19
diced tomatoes - $1.63
onion - $1.59
2 carrots - .69/bag
Everything else was already in the kitchen!

Ironborn Salmon Patties

Winter is here... finally.  And, its Food Adventure time again. Tonight we are gonna make some Ironborn Salmon Patties and watch Game of Thrones. For the night is dark and full of terrors.

These salmon patties are the easiest thing in the world to make. They are basically a fish meatball (minus the garlic and wine) Here is what you will need.

You can not kill what is already dead.

2 cans of Salmon

2 eggs

1 cup of bread crumbs

1 medium onion

Use the pointy end.

Get your can opener and put the fish in a bowl. 

Add eggs, bread crumbs, and onion. Mix well. I do it with my hands and mix it up good. Then, roll up the salmon into 4 equal size fish balls. Smash it down to make it into a patty. If its too dry, add another egg to make it sticky.

Hodor!

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Flip after 20 minutes. Chow time! Let's eat!!

Dracarys

Tony's Rating: 4.75 Why are the most simple of dishes the best? Not only was it easy to make, it was extremely satisfying. Great with sides of rice and green beans. The other patties

 will be fish burgers later this week, also high on the yummy scale. Cost to make? We paid the Iron Price.

All men must dine

Sandy's Rating :  4.5

This was a very satisfying dinner.  The salmon patty was HUGE and I couldn't eat all of it, but it was very flavorful and I really enjoyed it.  This dinner is a simple pleasure that makes me feel at home.

We washed it down with this special Game of Thrones beer, Valar Morghulis amber lager, we have been saving since Christmas. I feel as fat as Lord Manderly.  Until next time, All men must dine! ~Tony

Guacamole and Chips

So many people have told me how much they dislike guacamole, then they eat it at my house.  Guess what?  They love guacamole, but never knew it because they'd only ever had it at some restaurant or from the refrigerated aisle in the grocery store.  In fact, they usually ask how to make it before they leave.  That being said, this week's food adventure is for those that "hate" guacamole and those who love it, too.

You will need:

4 avocados                                             1 cup diced tomatoes
1 small onion, diced                                lime juice to taste
1/4 c. chopped, fresh cilantro                  salt and pepper to taste
1 bag white corn tortillas

This one's hard guys, peel and seed the avocados.  Mix first four avocados, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes.  Taste.  Add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate.

Heat oil.  Cut a stack of corn tortillas into six pieces.  Fry in hot oil until crispy.  Drain on paper towel before moving to serving bowl.  Repeat until you have enough chips.  Add salt to taste and toss chips lightly.

Put everything in serving bowls, grab some beers, and chow down!

 Notes:

*  Frying the chips is a to-taste thing.  We don't usually cook them for more than 3 - 4 minutes, but that can decrease the longer you have the oil on the heat.  So, check them regularly.  When you get them right, you will never buy a bag of whatever brand corn chips again.

*  We have made this with a little more cilantro than we did this time.  It seems to be good as long as you add just a little.

*  You will want to add at least a teaspoon or two of lime juice to your guacamole.  We usually use squeeze  couple of fresh limes into it, but this time we used a bottle of lime juice we had in the refrigerator.  Lime juice helps keep the guac from turning brown.  And, let's face it, brown guacamole is exceptionally unappealing.

*  Guacamole has consistently been a crowd-pleaser at our house.  It's easy to make and fun to eat.  We had it for dinner with nothing else.  Sinful!

Sandy's review:  4 stars

*  We used a few more tomatoes than usual because we had a bowlful we needed to use.  I think that made this batch a little bit thinner than normal.  But the flavor was perfect and the chips were crunchy.  It made for a delightful dinner after a hard day of work.

Tony's review:  3.5 stars

*  I think I added a few too many tomatoes because I was trying to use a bunch we had from the garden we needed to use.  That made it a bit runny.  I like mine a bit more avocado-y.  I noticed we ate every bit of it.

Cost:

Avocados - about $4
Tomatoes - from the garden
Cilantro - about 80 cents
Lime juice - we had a bottle of it
Onion - about 80 cents
corn tortillas - about $1.50
Oil - hmmm, we had it, but probably about $2-3 depending on the size of the bottle.

Total is less than $10 for us and  probably only about $13 if we had to buy tomatoes, limes and oil.  Really cheap, really fun dinner.

Sandy

Bacon Spinach and Tomato Alfredo

Hey Foodies, Food Adventure time again. And this week's experiment is Bacon, Spinach and Tomato Alfredo.

As you guys know, pasta is, like, my favorite thing in the world, and coming up with creative ways to serve it is always fun. So, start your water boiling and let's get cooking!

Things you need:
2 jars of alfredo sauce
8 oz pack of fresh fettuccine
8 oz pack of spinach
6 slices of bacon
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of fresh tomatos from the garden.

Fresh pasta only needs to cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. So, stir frequently and taste often to insure your pasta is cooked to your personal preference. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and mix your vegetables, spices and sauce.

Professional, do not attempt this at home!

Now, the best thing about this dish is the pig. Bacon! Who does not love bacon? So, fry up your bacon. Get it good and crispy, but be careful to not over cook it. There is a fine line between perfectly crisp bacon and burnt bacon. Respect the pig and watch over it. Now that that's done, chop it up into little pieces, stir into your dish, and serve. Time to eat.

Tony's Rating: 3.5 Not bad. Cost about 10 bucks to make. Maybe omit the garlic next time,and oh yeah, add more bacon =)

Sandys Rating : 4.0  I enjoyed this dish.  It was a nice twist on the BLT and alfredo.  My only complaint, it needed a little more bacon!

Till next time my friends. All men must dine! ~Tony