Gaming Dinner

Since Don and I moved back to Bellingham, Gaming has been a regular part of our weekly routine. We currently have three campaigns going which we rotate between Tuesdays and every other Friday. It's been a vital part of our social life as not only do we have great fun with an activity we enjoy so much, but it's with some of our closest and dearest friends. Shortly after we moved here and joined the group we started doing weekly dinner rotations on gaming nights. Seriously, we have a schedule and everything. It's been an exciting adventure as we have some very culinarily talented friends among our group so each gaming session brings a new variety of home cooked delights as we each try to one up the last hosted dinner.


This week Don and I happened to be up for rotation and we stole this one straight from Cora Reuter which she prepared for us when we were in Tacoma last week. Not only is it delicious but it's inexpensive and feeds an Army. Cora, if you are reading this I was SHOCKED after I mixed all the noodles, veggies, cheese, and sauce together in a giant bowl that it all actually fit in my pyrex dish! Thanks Cora for bringing this recipe into my life and I'm excited to pass it on. The recipe is called "Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables" is by Giada de Laurentiis and can be found on the Food Network Website. No huge modifications or improvements here. This one is perfect exactly as written. Follow the instructions and you can't go wrong. It's even vegetarian friendly.


The other thing that is great about Gaming Nights and every once in a while entertaining for 8 to 10 people is that it gives you a great opportunity to use up things like a giant head of red cabbage that it would take just the two of us weeks to get through. Last night I made a warm red cabbage salad seasoned with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with feta and toasted sunflower seeds among other surprises.

Balsamic and Feta Warmed Red Cabbage Salad

1/4 cup of Sunflower Seeds
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3/4 head of red cabbage, quartered, cored, and then shredded into thin strips
Olive Oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 Tablespoons dried currants
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
Couple of springs of fresh chopped rosemary
1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds

Toast sunflower seeds in a small warm dry skillet over medium heat. The seeds are done when slightly golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool so they do not burn.

Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium high heat, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Saute red onion and garlic a few minutes until softened, stirring frequently so as not to burn he garlic. Add shredded cabbage and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook cabbage tossing with the tongs frequently until cabbage is moist and softened but not totally wilted. Remove from heat. Add sunflower seeds, feta, currants, Balsamic Vinegar and chopped rosemary and toss thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated. Serve immediately and sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds for garnish.

Fettuccini with Swiss Chard, Pine Nuts and Cinnamon and Dried Fruit Port Sauce

I found the inspiration for this recipe on www.foodandwine.com when I was googling new recipes and uses for swiss chard. We have varied it slightly and posted our revised recipe below. It was quite simple to make and such a fun combination of flavors you wouldn't normally expect to go together. It's also a great vegetarian option.

3 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped dried appricots
1/4 cup dried currants
1/2 cup tawny port
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 ounces spinach fettuccini
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°. Toast the pine nuts until golden brown, about 8 minutes.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the Swiss chard and 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Cook until the chard is wilted and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the apricots, currants, port, and cinnamon and simmer until the port is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the fettuccine until just done, about 12 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce, Parmesan, pine nuts, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Greek Pasta with Rainbow Chard and Sausage

Here is another fun spur of the moment creation we came up with. The inspiration for the meal was a beautiful bunch of Rainbow Chard we received last week in our Dandelion Organic delivery Box. This is the first time I've ever cooked with Chard and our recipe incorporated every aspect of the plant from the tough stems to the giant multicolored leafs. Greek flavors of feta and kalamata complimented the chard quite nicely and was a lot more exciting than your typical pasta and red sauce.

2 Cups uncooked penne pasta
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Sweet Italian Sausages, Casings removed
1 Bunch Rainbow Chard, Stems Removed and finely Diced, Leaves separated and coarsely Chopped
1/4 Cup White Wine
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Feta Cheese, Crumbled
12 Kalamata Olives, Coarsely Chopped
12 Cherry Tomatoes

Cook Pasta according to directions. Heat Oil in medium sauce pan. Add Garlic and saute 60 seconds, stirring constantly and being careful not to burn. Add crumbled sausage and cook until browned. Set Sausage aside on a plate. To Same pan add diced chard stems, water, and wine. Cover with lid and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Remove lid, add chard leaves, cover and cook another 5 minutes. Toss together pasta, cooked sausage, cooked chard, feta, olives and cherry tomatoes. Serve and enjoy.

Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta

Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta is probably one of the coolest things I have ever made. And talk about presentation... WOW! Isn't it beautiful? I picked the recipe because we had some Delicata Squash to use up from our Dandelion Organic Delivery. Don made the comment as we chowed down on our delicious meal, that all of our meals that center around squash feel like dessert! The recipe is a bit labor intensive but still fun to make and a great way to spend the evening. For a copy of the full recipe, please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.foodnetwork.com. I adjusted the regular version slightly as follows.

Pick a squash, any squash. The recipe calls for Acorn Squash but we had some nice Delicata on hand so used that instead. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Place on a baking sheet and fill with water to 1/2 inch. Cover with foil and roast/steam in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour.

Next prepare the red sauce. Saute 4 minced garlic cloves and 1/2 cup finely chopped onion in olive oil in a medium sauce pan for three minutes. Add one cup whole peeled tomatoes with juices and 1 Tablespoon dried basil. Use some kitchen sheers to cut up the tomatoes into smaller chunks. Simmer for another three minutes. Then add one 1/2 cup homemade chicken stock and simmer yet another three minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of fair trade organic white cane sugar at the end and remove from heat.


In a medium frying pan saute one medium red onion, sliced vertically, with two sweet italian sausages and one hot italian sausages, casings removed and broken up. Meanwhile, dice 1/2 pound part skim mozzarella cheese into half inch chunks. Also cook one package penne pasta in salted boiling water. Toss Pasta, red sauce, cheese, and sausage mixture together and spoon into the squash cavities. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley for garnish and serve.