Asparagus and Potato Tart

Jamie Oliver has a show on one of the cooking channels that our family enjoys watching. The show, Jamie at Home, focuses on fresh, locally grown produce and meats. Today, Amy made his delicious asparagus/potato tart for lunch. It was fabulous. We will definitely be making this again, especially when we have left over mashed potatoes.
This recipe has been tweaked to fit with the ingredients I had on hand.

Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
sea salt
1 pound asparagus spears, woody ends removed
8 oz. filo pastry
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup freshly grated Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
3 large eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. evaporated milk (we were out of milk)
two shakes of grated nutmeg
freshly ground pepper

Boil potatoes in salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Blanch the asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain in a colander.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Layer the filo pastry in a baking dish. Brush each layer of filo dough with melted butter. We used a large cookie sheet, but I feed a large crowd. It's important to work quickly, because the filo dough will dry out. The pastry layers should be about 5 layers thick.

When the potatoes are down cooking, drain immediately. Mash the potatoes with the cheeses, then mix together the eggs and cream and add to the potato mixture. Spread the potato mixture over the filo dough. Bring the sides of the filo dough and scrunch together to form a rim. Take the blanched asparagus and line them up across the potatoes. Brush with remaining melted butter. Bake in preheated over for about 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Poppy Seed Egg Noodles (Recipe 17)

Poppy Seed Egg Noodles

Ingredients:
16 ounces egg noodles
6 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Cook egg noodles in boiling water. Drain.

Melt butter in skillet. Add onions and cook until tender. Remove from heat. Pour butter mixture over egg noodles and add poppy seeds. Toss until thoroughly covered.

This went over fairly well at my house. Most of the family enjoyed the crunch of the poppy seeds, but the 4 year old refused to finish her portion because she didn't like the texture.

3 Bean Barley Salad (Recipe 5)

In Search of a new side dish, I found this recipe for a cold bean salad. I've never made or eaten a bean salad. Most of my family really enjoyed the taste of this dish. My husband thinks the taste is good, but the texture is different than what he normally eats. He suggested that I add chopped raw carrots or celery to it next time. My 5-year old fussy eater didn't like this, but she doesn't like anything.

Three Bean Barley Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules (I used one cube)
1 cup quick cooking barley
1 16-oz. can kidney beans
1 15-oz. can black beans
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans
1 cup honey mustard dressing

Thoroughly rinse all beans.


In a saucepan, bring water and bouillon to boil. Stir in barley. Cook at reduced heat for 10-13 minutes, covered. The water should be absorbed and the barley tender.


Let cool 10 minutes. Add beans and salad dressing. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2-12 hours. Approximately 10 servings.

Day 2 Cheese and Rice Casserole (Riso e Formaggio)

There is a lot of left over cheese from our New Year's Eve party, so I decided to make a cheese recipe. This recipe was inspired by the recipe Cheese-and-Rice Casserole in the Betty Crocker's International Cookbook.

Cheese and Rice Casserole, serves 8
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoonground pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Colby-jack cheese, chopped fine
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, chopped fine
4 eggs
2 cups milk

Heat water, rice, salt, hot sauce to boiling. Cover and cook at reduced heat for 10-14 minutes, until tender.



Fluff rice. Layer half the rice in the bottom of a 11x7 inch baking dish. Top with 1/2 chopped onion and 1/2 chopped green pepper. Repeat layers.


Beat eggs with milk, pour over rice mixture. Top with cheese.



Bake in 325 degree over for 45-55 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes, then cut into squares.



Almost everyone enjoyed this dish. I don't care for cooked green pepper, so I probably won't make it with green pepper when the kids have grown up and moved away. This was a nice change from potatoes or pasta.