Penne with Mushrooms, Arugula, and Brie

This month's Real Simple arrived at The Tree-house last week, and I couldn't wait to find a guinea pig to sample the recipe for Pasta with Brie, mushrooms and arugula on pg 310 (no way I was getting away with serving it to The Hub, who refers to arugula as weeds, as in "what are these weeds in my salad?" and "I don't want the weeds in my soup." Charming.)

So Aunt Keri's Kitchen took a field trip last night to whip up dinner for my beautiful girlfriend Terresa (and snoogle my adorable honorary niece, Harper.)

The recipe is so simple and the results so tasty, it kind of blows my mind.

Make a box (or 3/4 of box as the recipe suggests) of Penne according to the directions on the package while you assemble the rest of the dish:

First you chop 1 lb button mushrooms:

Then slice one small red onion:

If you are me, you have to pause several times to make faces like this and let onion tears roll down your cheeks:
Before you get this:

The Mushrooms and Onions go into a big skillet over medium heat until the shrooms start to sweat and the onion gets soft, then you add 1/2 cup of dry white wine. They suggested trying Vermouth as a substitute if you didn't have white wine around, (me, not have wine around? snort) so I decided to go for the Vermouth, just 'cause:

Also, salt and (since they go together like shamalama-ding-dong) pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of each, at this point and let it all cook until the liquid is just about gone:

While that is cooking away, chop 8 ounces of Brie into 1inch chunks. This brand seems to come in a can, which I have not seen before and made me feel like I was opening cat food or something

Mmmmmmm, Brie...

Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water, and add the pasta to the mushroom and onion mixture. Add 4 cups of baby arugula and the Brie chunks and toss to combine everything.

The peppery arugula, the creamy Brie, the earthy mushrooms - Oh. Mah. Gah.

So Good.

We also had a salad of green leaf lettuce, tomato, pear, and blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette (same as the one I used earlier in the week.)

And, because Terresa is extra fabulous, I made these as an extra fabulous end to the meal:

Oh yeah.

Stolen Moment - Pumpkin

Mmmmmm, Megan over at Nuts For Nutrition is tickling our taste buds with the flavors of Fall once again.
This time she makes a hearty, yummy-looking pumpkin nut loaf, and explains perfect pumpkin roasting along the way.

Sounds so perfect on this snowy day. Im'ma let her finish here. (Sory, I couldn't resist saying it.)

Pear and blue cheese salad with grilled steak

Through circumstances I couldn't even begin to explain in any reasonable time frame, we have started receiving fruit-of-the-month club shipments. (That's the gift that keeps on givin' Clark... It sure is, Eddie. It sure is.)
This month is pears. They are very good pears, and I am certainly not complaining, but the "what else to do with this fruit" question has popped up a time or two.

Last night? A simple salad of green leaf lettuce dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons light oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Shake well to blend (I prefer a good old fashioned Mason Jar for shaking purposes.)
Feel free to use more oil, I am not a huge fan of oily salad dressings, myself.
On top of the greens, crumbled blue cheese, a couple of strips of crumbled turkey bacon, some grilled sliced rib-eye, and one perfect, juicy, fat, cubed pear.

Tangy from the dressing, salty and pungent from the cheese, hearty from the beef, and sweet from the pears - perfection in a mouthful.... mmmm...

The depth of my addiction

As seen on Day to Day

And now she's baking....

Blessedly at home today, instead of the office, I decided to try one more recipe from my new (used) copy of Betty Crocker's New Low Fat Low Cholesterol Cookbook (which hasn't really been "New" since 1996 - but which the fabulous Megan from Nuts For Nutrition recommended, so how can it not be totally awesome?)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup margarine or spread, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white or 2 tablespoons cholesterol free egg product

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix sugars, margarine, vanilla, and egg white in large bowl.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and remove to wire rack.

What I did differently, and a few observations:

I didn't want to make a special trip to the store for tiny chips, so I used the regular ones I had - and I had about 3/4 cup left, so they all went in. The dough was kind of weird when mixed. Sort of dry and separate from the chips (granted, maybe smaller chips would fix this.)
Observe:

I used "egg product".

I used just under 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda - I just don't fill the measuring spoon quite full to compensate for our mile high air up here.

I made them bigger than called for- mostly because it was sort of a chore to form the dry dough and chips into cookies, and so they ended up larger than a rounded teaspoon.

I cooked each batch for 8 minutes and that seemed just about perfect.

I had my doubts, but these cookies actually bake up quite pretty. Lookie here:

Oh, and my Mother-in-law sent me this pumpkin spatula for Halloween - just FYI it is the perfect cookie-moving shape and will henceforth be used year round. Don't judge me.

Betty Crocker Low Fat, Low Cholesterol Mac and Cheese

Here is the recipe as printed in the book:

7oz pasta shells or elbow pasta
1 tablespoon margarine or spread
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard (dry)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (4oz)
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped red pepper

Cook and drain pasta as directed on pasta package.
Melt margarine in large pot and add flour - whisk over low heat to combine.
Add salt, mustard, and pepper and combine. remove from heat and stir in milk gradually.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in cheese, remove from heat, add pasta.


Some thoughts from Keri's Kitchen:
1st of all - using half the amount of margarine for the roux does NOT work - it results in a clumpy mess that does not combine with the milk - so just use equal parts (2 tablespoons) flour and "spread". I used Olivo for the heart healthy olive oil it is made with.
Also keep in mind - thickening with a roux is much easier and produces much better results if you are adding a HOT liquid, so heat the milk before adding it to the roux.
If all goes well you get this thick liquid that will coat the back of a spoon like this:

(I also like to throw 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg into cream sauces, that is the brown flecks in the sauce)
Then you can add the cheese and whisk it in:
I will say this is a little thicker or tougher feeling on the whisk than normal cheese sauce - perhaps because it takes a bit more to get low-fat cheese to melt into the sauce:

I omitted the veggies since we were having a yummy green salad with red peppers and roasted acorn squash:
and I reserved a couple tablespoons of the shredded cheese to sprinkle over the top after spreading the mac and cheese into a cooking spray coated square baking dish (since The Hub is a fan of baked mac and cheese)
The Hub says he thinks this is as good as The Barefoot Contessa Mac and Cheese that I have so proudly mastered, and given his Cholesterol situation, and desire to have cheesy macaroni mixtures as often as possible, I have a feeling this is the new house recipe of choice.

A new addition to the ED&BK family

Joining the mix here at Eat, Drink, and Be Keri is my new "Day to Day" section, where I can shamelessly muse regarding the little and big moments that fall outside of the "Eating and Drinking" parts and more in the "Being Keri" realm.
Lucky You!