Garlic Pasta

You know dinner needs to be prepare soon, but you don't know what to make. Your brain isn't working properly and you become frustrated. At least, I do. A simple solution that sometimes stares you straight in the face and finally hits you like a brick falling from a building. I can always go to my pasta back-up plan to save the day.

I think you all know by now that I love garlic. I use the stuff whenever I can, so why not have it with a favorite type of meal. Pasta! With some herbs and maybe a little onion. This is one pasta dish where the tomato is not an invited guest. I sauteed the garlic with a good amount of olive oil to let the flavors blend together as well as adding the herbs. I used a bland of penne and small shell. That was all I had in the cupboard. you don't have to stick to one type of pasta to make a good dish, right? Anyway, the aroma is wonderful. Love it!

If you're in a jam to make something fast, this is a quick fix dinner. You can add tomato sauce, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. I prefer it without.

serves 2-3



Garlic Pasta
4 c uncooked pasta
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil (plus extra)
4 large garlic cloves (minced)
2 Tbsp dry or fresh parsley
2 Tbsp dry or fresh basil
1/2 c grated parmesan
salt
8 oz tomato sauce (optional)

Boil pasta in a large water filled pot until al dente. Be sure to season the water with salt and a slight drizze of olive oil. Boil for roughly 10-12 min. Drain most, but not all the water.

In a sauce pan, heat the oil and saute the onion, garlic, parsley and basil for a few minutes. You'd want the onions to be limp. Mix in the pasta.

Serve warm.

Baked Garlic Tater Tots

Tater tots. In a way they're sort of like the mini version of the hash brown. The traditional way of making tater tops is to fry them. Yet again, here I am turning things around and baking them. I had 8 baby red potatoes that I had gotten from the farmer's market and my initial choice was just to roast them in the oven. But I had a craving for hash browns early this week, which developed into wanting tater tots.

You can use one large potato rather than using the baby ones. Be sure it's a potato you'd use for making a baked potato. Russets are good. I added a good helping of garlic powder. Not in an overpowering way, but you instantly know it's there. It's very tasty. I liked it better than the fried version. Eek! Gasp! Yes, I chose the baked over fried. I had this with some regular ol' ketchup. Lots of it.

The recipe will make about 15 taters.



Baked Garlic Tater Tots

8 baby red potatoes ot 1 large russet potato
1-2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp all purpose flour
salt
pepper

Bring a pot of water to a boil.

Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Rough 20 min. To make sure it's ready, poke the potato with a knife or fork and should pierce through the skin without any hesitation.

Let the potatoes cool. Preheat you oven to 425˚F.

Then with a grater or potato ricer, mash the potatoes to bits.

Season with a little salt and pepper. Mix in the garlic powder and flour. Form in to little balls.

Place them on an baking sheet. Bake for 30 min. Turn them after min to give them an even browning.

Garlic Shrimp & Crab

Last May, I traveled to the Philippines to visit family and the day before we left to return to the States, we had a big family dinner at this restaurant (I think it's called Seafood 88 or something like that) near my cousin's law office. It was a nice sort-of upscale type restaurant. You can bring in your own meats and seafood and they'll cook it anyway you'd like. Two of the dishes that really stuck with me that night was the delicious crab and shrimp.

The crab was boiled to perfection and the shrimp was not rubbery at all. You could actually bite into it without having to fight it. Both were tossed in a garlic sauce that was made some spices (cumin maybe? or a touch of cayenne) and a hint chili peppers. So it had some heat to it, but not so much to make your mouth feel like it's on fire. It was just the right amount, where it gives you a little kick and you go. "Oh, where did that come from? I like it" No milk needed afterwards. The bright red color in the photos below are how they actually looked when they served it. My mom, who usually stays away from any kind of spicy food, ate and loved it.

To this day I can't forget those dishes. I've been trying to find a places that can match up to that, but no luck. If anyone can suggest otherwise, I'm all for it.

Me, being so hungry that night, totally forgot to take some photos, but as it just so happens that my cousin took a couple of shots of the dishes before everyone devoured it. Just looking at them makes my mouth water. How could you not resist those?