Recipes: ArcaMax Chef For You
Friday April 4, 2008
• Appetizer -- Asparagus Rolls
• Main Course -- Shrimp and Tomato Pasta
• Dessert -- Chocolate Mint Delights
• Grocery List
• Tales from the ArcaMax Chef
We hope y'all enjoy this menu which serves 6 to 8.
Appetizer -- Asparagus Rolls 1 pound fresh asparagus
1 package crescent roll dough
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
One quarter cup real bacon bits
One quarter cup green onion, finely chopped
Break off tough ends of the asparagus leaving just the tender tips. Steam for several minutes until cooked crisp tender. Open crescent roll dough and separate at the seams. Sprinkle some cheese, bacon bits and green onion on each roll followed by an asparagus spear. Roll up and bake in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until rolls are browned. Slice and serve.
The Skinny: Use low fat cheese.
Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top
Main Course -- Shrimp and Tomato Pasta 1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic
One quarter cup olive oil
1 tsp. dried basil
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pound linguine
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Combine shrimp, garlic, olive oil, basil, parsley, and tomatoes in a large saucepan and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Meanwhile cook pasta in a separate pan until “al dente”. Drain water from pasta and place individual servings on plates and top with sauce. Sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese.
The Skinny: Not much room for improvement here.
Marinated Mushrooms
2 pounds fresh mushrooms, washed and stems removed
Two thirds cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Two thirds cup white vinegar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
The Skinny: Ditto.
Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top
Dessert -- Chocolate Mint Delights Two thirds cup butter
1 and one half cups sugar
1 10-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels melted
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
One eighth tsp. salt
One half cup crushed peppermint candy
Cream together butter and three quarters cup of the sugar. Add melted chocolate, corn syrup, egg and vanilla and stir well. Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir well. Stir in crushed peppermint candy. Shape dough into balls and roll in remaining sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Allow to cool before serving.
The Skinny: Use your favorite egg and sugar substitutes.
Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top
Grocery List 1 pound fresh asparagus
1 package crescent roll dough
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
One quarter cup real bacon bits
One quarter cup green onion, finely chopped
1 pound small shrimp
6 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp. dried basil
5 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 pound linguine
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 pounds fresh mushrooms
Two thirds cup white vinegar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried rosemary
2 cups flour
Two thirds cup butter
1 and one half cups sugar
One half cup crushed peppermint candy
1 tsp. vanilla
1 10-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels melted
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top
Tales from the ArcaMax Chef Last time I was explaining how proud I was of myself for figuring out a way to keep the varmints out of my tomato patch. I never had varmints the first two years I grew tomatoes in a home garden. I just stuck some plants in the ground, watered them when they looked wilted, and enjoyed a bounty of fresh tomatoes. It all seemed so easy. Why did the garden store stock so much paraphernalia for gardening when it took so little effort?
I experienced the reality of home gardening in year three when muskrats found my garden and developed a taste for the tomatoes. To make matters worse, the muskrats would gorge themselves on the fermented fruit under the peach and apple trees in my yard. The drunken muskrats would then develop a good case of “fear of nothing” and do just about anything to get to the tomatoes, including the scaling of my chicken wire fence around the garden.
I had to think of something or the boozed-up muskrats were going to destroy my entire garden. Although generally known as a ground hugging animal, the rowdy rodents from the salt marsh behind my house were now adept at scaling a four foot fence.
I designed a roof for my garden made out of chicken wire and secured the fence around the garden with large heavy logs. I tightly connected the chicken wire roof to the chicken wire fence and put a wooden pole in the middle of the garden to support the roof. Now the muskrats were unable to tunnel under, or climb over the fence. My tomatoes were safe.
I enjoyed the fruits of my labor for about two weeks. The plants grew like weeds and I was harvesting four or five tomatoes a day. Even more impressive, the plants were really blossoming in the hot summer weather and were soon covered with tons of fat green tomatoes that would soon mature into a bumper crop. I made plans to learn how to can tomatoes, salsa and pasta sauce and even thought about the need for a second freezer to store all my fresh tomato creations. There was no way I would be able to eat all those tomatoes when they ripened at the same time.
The Day of the Great Undoing dawned hot and extremely muggy. We were in the middle of a heat wave and most of the plants in my garden were showing the stress from the extreme heat ... not including the tomatoes, of course. With some regular watering, the tomatoes were relishing the hot, humid weather and thriving.
There was a chance of thunderstorms pretty much every afternoon but it seemed as though the storms always missed us. The sky would darken and the thunder would rumble in the distance but the storms never made a direct hit on our little neck of the woods ...
God Bless America.
Enjoy!
Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top
Sincerely,
The ArcaMax Chef
 Click here for a printer-friendly version of this issue.
| | | | |  The History Channel Magazine
The History Channel Magazine offers thought-provoking insights into the significant events and places that helped shape America's rich past.
Order your free issue now, and receive a free commemorative American Flag lapel pin!
Click for more info | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment