Tasty Tuesday

I had some leftover grilled asparagus to use up, so I tossed it into this pasta, along with some grilled chicken. It was delish! I used Garden Delight penne, so it was hard to determine the pasta from the asparagus. I've had this sauce on my to-make list for quite some time, I'm not sure what took me so long to make it!

Pesto Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 12 ounces, weight Dried Fettuccine
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• ½ whole Onion, Diced
• ½ whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded, Diced
• ¼ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Freshly Crack Black Pepper
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• ⅓ cups Basil Pesto (jarred Or Homemade)
• ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated
• ¼ cups Fresh Parsley, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

In a large pot of boiling water, boil pasta per package directions. Drain.

While pasta is boiling, prepare the sauce. In a large skillet heat the butter and olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and red peppers and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Saute until onions are translucent, 6-7 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two.

Sprinkle the flour over all and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to prevent flour from burning. Add the half-and-half and whole milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, 3-4 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in the pesto, Parmesan cheese and parsley. Check to see if additional seasoning with salt and pepper is needed.

Place pasta on a plate and spoon cream sauce over all. Garnish with parsley and more Parmesan cheese.

For our Mother's Day picnic, I thought I'd try my hand at making deli-style roast beef. It was easy to make, tasted better than the stuff from the deli, and half the price.

Deli Style Roast Beef

Ingredients

Beef Eye Round Roast

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500.

2. Drizzle the roast with olive oil.

3. Season the roast with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder (or whatever you choose).

4. Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan.

5. Cook for 20 minutes.

6. After 20 minutes, drop the oven temperature to 300.

7. Cook for another 30 minutes (for medium rare), or until the roast temperature reaches your desired temperature.

8. Remove roast from oven and tent it with foil.

9. Let it rest for 20 minutes, and then slice it up!

My co-worker brought me in some rhubarb from his garden. I whipped up these muffins last night and stashed them in the freezer (of course we tried some first!).

Rhubarb Muffins

Ingredients

• 1-½ cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Oil
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 2 cups Chopped Rhubarb
• 2-½ cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
• ⅓ cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk. (If you do not have buttermilk, combine 1 tablespoon of vinegar and milk to make 1 cup. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, stir and add to recipe.) Beat together well. Add in rhubarb and stir.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Stir into the wet ingredients.

Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Mix together melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Press lightly on top of muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Delicious warm or cooled.