Innie or Outie

Hubby’s back in the mood for cooking Mediterranean-influenced edibles, Papa’s Olive Chicken Pasta:

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For the entrée he sautéed chicken breast chunks in olive oil, added julienned yellow and green bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, sliced green and black olives, and garlic chives. He tossed the mixture with assorted pasta; plated; and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. To complete the meal, hubby served a small salad of homegrown greens, iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, and herbed croutons with an olive oil, white wine vinegar, and shikwasa (Hirami lemon) dressing.

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A basic meal for beef eaters, Papa’s Steak & Potato Dinner:

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Hubby pan fried the steak in olive oil – using the juices with garlic and Worcestershire sauce, whole grain mustard, and white pepper for the “gravy”. Accompanying the meat entrée are baked potato with sour cream and a salad consisting of iceberg lettuce, arugula, julienned yellow bell pepper, sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and chives drizzled with a white wine vinegar, whole grain mustard, and olive oil vinaigrette

So, here I am still trying to come up with dishes that will help us use up a little more of that enormous gift of twenty-five 70 gram servings of somen. This is the latest creation, Sausage-Pepper Medley on Bleu Cheese-Basil Somen:

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To make this very simple dish simply use the desired amount of hot somen tossed with chunks of room-temperature bleu cheese and chopped fresh basil, topped with julienned onion sautéed in olive oil and minced garlic paste stir-fried with julienned spicy sausage, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, chives, and kamaboko. To complete the meal, I decided to go with a cool refreshing fruit instead of greens, Spiced Pear Salad:

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Peel and grate pear, then toss with chopped fresh mint leaves. Chill in refrigerator until almost ready to serve. About five minutes prior to serving, line bowl with iceberg lettuce, top with pear mixture, and sprinkle with desired amount of powdered all spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon. (If desired, you can make mini lettuce wraps instead of a salad with this recipe.)

Here’s a seafood meal Hubby made, Papa’s Tuna Pabuca Dinner:

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For the tuna pabucas he used onion sautéed in olive oil, tuna, panko, fresh rosemary, and egg. He formed the pabucas, sautéed them in olive oil, then smothered the pabucas with a cream, butter, cheddar, fresh rosemary, basil, scallion, Worchester, and white pepper sauce. The greens were frozen spinach sautéed in sesame oil with dried garlic chips. The rice was sprinkled with dried parsley flakes. To complete the meal hubby added a small salad of iceberg lettuce, arugula, cherry tomato, chive, and herbed croutons topped with a creamy sesame dressing.

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This was a tasty and simple meal that Hubby threw together, Papa’s Gratin Dinner:

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While at a local restaurant supply market, Hubby found this Potato and Bacon Gratin:

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The only preparation for this entr̩e was to pop it into the microwave oven. (The sauce was tasty, but I found the ingredients to be a little lacking Рmainly no onions.)

To accompany the gratin, hubby made a simple and light side dish, Papa’s Tomato-Free Salad:

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Although he forgot to pick-up tomatoes, the salad – which consisted of iceberg lettuce, arugula, julienned yellow bell pepper, chopped fresh chives, cucumber slices, herbed croutons, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and topped with a creamy cheese dressing – was still light and packed with flavor.

To complete the meal, hubby added two types of fresh bakery bread, Toasted Garlic Bread with Walnuts:

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He simply sautéed the bread slices in olive oil with minced garlic paste. (The walnut chunk bread was extremely tasty when prepared in this manner.)

This is a simple and light meal for those hot summer days, Chicken Nugget Salad:

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Sauté chicken nuggets in olive oil and flavor with Italian seasonings. Cut into bite size chunks and toss in a salad of choice. I used iceberg lettuce, arugula, julienned yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, chives, and chopped fresh basil, parsley, and rosemary leaves. Then drizzled the salad with a whole grain mustard/white wine vinaigrette.

To accompany the salad, I used Bleu Cheese Toast Strips:

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Simply toasted bread with bleu cheese melted on top and then sliced into strips.

Hubby decided to take a try at Southern-style chicken-fried cooking, Papa’s Chicken-Fried Ham Dinner:

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For the meal hubby used ham slices stuffed with cheese and arugula (coated and cooked Southern chicken-fried style) and rice smothered in mushroom gravy, accompanied by an Oregon bean medley with minced chili peppers and a small side salad of iceberg lettuce, arugula, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits with a creamy cheese dressing.

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When hubby and I threw this meal together we didn’t consult as to what ingredients were being used in each other’s recipes. It seems we were both in the mood for some garlic and bell peppers to differing degrees. The result was a very flavorful outdoor meal, Grilled Steak and Mushrooms with Bell Peppers Dinner:

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Early in the day, at least three hours prior to serving, prepare the Summertime Penne Salad:

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The salad consisted of 2 tablespoons regular classic mustard, 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard, 1/4 cup dill pickle juice, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 finely diced hard-boiled eggs, 1 diced red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons chopped chives, 1 tablespoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon minced garlic paste, 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and cooked penne thoroughly mixed then refrigerated.

Accompanying the pasta for the outdoor meal was Papa’s Grilled Foil-Wrapped Mushrooms and Bell Peppers:

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For the veggie packet, hubby used butter, fresh mushrooms, sliced bell peppers, minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, soy sauce, chopped chives, white pepper, and sesame oil grilled on medium heat for 20 – 25 minutes.

Completing the meal was the meat entrée, Papa’s Basic Grilled Steak:

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This was a real “no frills” recipe with nothing added to the steak. Simply grill as is. When ready, mix a little soy sauce with the juices from the grilled mushrooms and bell peppers (above) and use as a dipping sauce.

The weather’s giving us a break and allowing for outdoor cooking fun. Here’s another simple meal I came-up with for the BBQ pit, Grilled Foil-Wrapped Pork and Potato Dinner:

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The meal consisted of Grilled Foil-Wrapped Garlic-Mustard Pork with Onions:

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Pork roast strips, whole grain mustard, red wine vinegar, minced garlic paste, fresh parsley, white pepper, sesame oil, and white onion slices wrapped in foil and grilled on medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes.

Also included in the meal was Grilled Foil-Wrapped Ginger-Basil Potatoes with Red Bell Pepper:

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Potato slices, chopped fresh basil, minced ginger paste, lemon juice, diced red bell pepper, black pepper, olive oil, and grated parmesan cheese wrapped in foil and grilled on medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes. (Please make sure the heat is not too high or you end up with a bit of charring as a result.)

To finish the meal, I added a fresh salad of homegrown arugula, iceberg lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits with a creamy cheese dressing sprinkled with dried oregano flakes.

Hubby came up with this tasty meal for a hot summer’s day, Fish Sandwich:

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The sandwich consisted of red snapper sautéed in olive oil and iceberg lettuce on whole grain bread with horseradish, mayonnaise, and dill weed. Accompanying the sandwich were dill pickle sticks and a side salad of arugula, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits topped with a creamy cheese dressing.

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