Peanut Noodles and Parmesan Pasta

Now that the semester is winding down more, back to some recipes. First up today is an easy and filling peanut butter, noodle, chicken and vegetable dish. To start off, cook 3-4 chicken breasts in a pot of boiling water until cooked, about 11 minutes. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, start on the sauce. To make, combine 1/2C creamy peanut butter, 2T low-sodium soy sauce, 2t minced garlic, chili powder to taste, and ginger to taste and whisk until combined. Then, cook pasta until not quite done, then add whatever vegetables you want to the boiling water for a few minutes until both are cooked. Save 1C of the cooking water to add to the sauce and drain the remainder. Add cooking liquid to the peanut sauce, them toss in with pasta, vegetables and chicken. Great warm or cold, and I like adding quite a bit of chili powder to give it a solid kick.

Next is a dish made with smoked sausage, which keeps for quite a while, so is good to have on hand. Cook your choice of pasta in salted water in a large pot, then drain and set aside in a temporary dish. Then, put either sliced smoked sausage or some other sausage in the same pan you cooked the pasta in as well as olive oil and 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook until warm or cooked, depending on the type of sausage used. Then, add 5 or so handfuls of baby spinach and cook until wilted (it goes down a lot). Then, add the pasta back into the pot as well as 1/2C Parmesan and stir until combined and gooey. I had and enjoyed this fresh or reheated, but if reheating, it helped a lot to very vigorously shake the container I stored it in to break up and clumps and distribute the sauce before dispensing.

French Bread and Awesome Scrambled Eggs

Today I've got a basic french bread recipe that is pretty easy to make and adds some class to a meal, as well as my version of scrambled eggs that taste pretty awesome.

First, the French bread. To make the dough, combine 3C all-purpose flour, 2.5t yeast, 3/4t salt and 1C warm water. mix and kneed for about 10 minutes, then let rise for an hour or two. Then, roll or stretch out into a largish rectangle, and roll up from a wide end. Moisten the edge with water to seal it, taper the edges and place onto a lightly cornmeal'd pan. If you want a lightly brown and glossy top like in my picture, brush lightly beaten egg whites on top. Then, cut 3-4 about 1cm deep slices into the top of the bread and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. This is best right out of the oven and, once sliced into, will begin to become stale rather quickly. I made a dipping sauce for this out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper, black pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley, garlic powder and minced garlic, and it was fantastic. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Bread/Detail.aspx

Next, my version of scrambled eggs. This is largely personal preference, but I make them by combining 3 eggs, about 1.5t each of basil, oregano and thyme, and about 1.5T Parmesan. Whisk well, then cook on high heat. When the eggs are beginning to become differentiated, take the pan off the heat for about 15 seconds while still stirring. This makes them fluffier for some reason. Then, continue cooking until they are 97% done and put them on a plate; they will finish with their internal heat.