Fresh Butter Beans!

We went to the local Farmer's Market today for something to make for dinner.  It was a hot and busy day with lots of people shopping for fresh produce.  Today's list included Red Delicious apples, russet potatoes, locally grown onions, butter beans,  Vy's Pies , and to see if the quilt lady they advertised about was really my sweet friend Pauline.  I got lucky on so many counts.

Now for the confession:  I do not like Lima beans or butter beans.  Really and truly.  The real reason I picked up the butter beans today was for my daughter Paulina who loves them.  Neither she nor I had ever eaten them fresh.  The amazing revelation is that fresh butter beans taste NOTHING like the canned or dry ones.  They were amazing.  They were so good that my oldest daughter (who never eats anything green) loved them!

It all started with a small bushel of locally grown, fresh butter beans. I dumped them in the strainer and rinsed  well to get off all the little leaves and dirt.

Into the pan they went with just enough water to cover and some salt for flavor. They boiled for thirty minutes.  I drained them and added some butter (you really are not surprised, are you?) and stirred well so the butter melted.

The butter beans were wonderful! Needless to say, there were no leftovers. I am amazed that she and I both loved them.  A new favorite bean to our menu!!

The proof is in the picture. Billieanne....actually eating something green. I love my beautiful daughters.

It was a comfort food kind of night

Today was a sad day for my children and their biological father. His mother passed away last night and I pray that she is resting in peace.  Tonight was not a night to try something new and fancy so I did what any good Italian momma would do and busted out the pasta, the butter, the garlic and the bacon!

I put some garlic bread in the oven to bake while I made the rest of this quick and comforting dish.  One pound of bacon was put into a pan to fry into crispy goodness. One pound of pasta went into salted water to boil.  One and a half sticks of butter went into a pan so that I could clarify it into a wonderful sauce.  I smashed and minced 10 cloves of garlic.  While the pasta boiled and the bacon fried, I put the garlic into the clarified butter to marry and meld into garlicky goodness.

When the pasta was finished it was drained and put into a large bowl. The bacon was crumbled over top and I poured on the clarified butter and garlic. It was tossed together and served with the garlic bread.

Overall it was a very comforting meal that everyone enjoyed. It has been a sad day and bacon and pasta generally make things better. Maybe not the healthiest of meals but since we don't use bacon very often, I think it was okay.

Don't forget to tell the ones you love that you do love them. Also do not forget to share your faith with them as well. You never know when it will be too late.

If "Chopped" can do it, so can I! (In other words, making something new out of leftovers!)

I had a mess of spaghetti with meat sauce leftover from just a few days ago and I absolutely was not going to let it all go to waste. One of my favorite new episodes of "Chopped" on Food Network had leftovers in each mystery basket. It was very intriguing how they re-worked the various items into something new. It was a challenge I was ready to take on!

My pursuit began at the grocery store. Strolling through the vegetables and various other rows with my beautiful red-headed daughter Paulina, I was looking for something to inspire me.  Inspiration came in the form of my girl pointing out the pre-made pizza crusts and suggesting we do a spaghetti pizza! Grabbing the crusts, some extra tomato sauce and some shredded Parmesan, we headed home to make some magic!

I put some butter (yes, butter - sometimes it is the only thing that will do) in a saute pan to melt and added one large yellow onion chopped with three smashed and chopped cloves of garlic to get soft and yummy. Next I chopped some fancy Italian zucchini into small chunks and put it into the onions and garlic to soften up as well.

While the zucchini and onion and garlic married in the pan and embraced the butter, I began to prepare the crusts for their toppings.  I spread the crust with a very thin layer of spaghetti sauce.

Next came a layer of the leftover spaghetti and meat sauce.

Following this was a layer of freshly chopped white mushrooms, a layer of shredded Parmesan cheese, and then a heaping spoonful of the sauteed zucchini, onions and garlic.

Then more Parmesan and a heavy layer of sharp Cheddar cheese.

Now, as many of you know I have quite a few carnivores in my household. There is one in particular who wants to eat healthier but just can't seem to go "green" with her vegetables - literally. Therefore I made a second pizza that was strictly for the meat-eaters.  It started with the same base of the pizza crust, a little sauce, the spaghetti with meat sauce but then I added a healthy topping of pepperoni.

I added the Parmesan and Cheddar cheese to the top of this and threw them both in a 450 degree oven for about 10-minutes to heat through, crisp the crust and melt the cheese. While the pizzas were baking, I put together a salad of mixed greens, chopped red, yellow and orange sweet peppers, chopped fresh mushrooms, grape tomatoes, a chopped apple, Parmesan and Cheddar cheese.

And finally on the plate:

The vegetable pizza was my favorite.  The zucchini and onion blend mixed with the pasta and the crisp crust was dancing across my palate. It was so very, very good. I preferred it to the all meat version.  Overall I believe this leftover experiment was a success.