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Meatless Friday Menu- I can’t believe I love it Fried Brussel Sprouts

By Tricia on February 26, 2011 in Meatless Friday

I know what you are thinking, brussel sprouts? but OMGoodness, I promise, if you try this you will love it. Not only will you love it but your friends will love it and will call you months later to tell you that they love it. This is not the best picture but really no picture will be good enough to describe the awesome goodness that is this dish.

What you need:

Brussel Sprouts 1 pound

Canola oil for frying

3 cloves of garlic

Anchovy paste

1/4 cup red wine

1 tbsp honey

2 scallions, thinly sliced both white and green parts

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cups flat leaf parsley chopped

2 tbsp salt packed capers

Sea salt to taste

How to make it:

Put enough oil in the pot to cover the brussel sprouts, about 3 inches. While the oil is heating up pull all the ingredients left except the brussel sporuts, capers and parsley, in a bowl and whisk together. Make sure your bowl is going to be big enough to accomodate the brussel sprouts once they are fried.

Fry the brussel sporuts in batches until the edges brown and curl, about 3 minutes. In the last batch add the parsley and capers. Stand back, the capers will pop and sputter oil about 2 minutes. Drain them on paper towels and put them into the bowl of olive oil, anchovy mixture. Serve it hot and have bread ready to dip in the sauce when it is all done.

Working in batches, deep-fry the Brussels sprouts until the edges begin to curl and brown, about 3 minutes. To the last batch, add the parsley and capers (stand back-the capers will pop and sputter!). Give the contents of the pot a stir. When the color of the parsley becomes a deeper, more saturated shade of green, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, remove the contents of the pot with askimmer and place directly in the bowl of dressing. Toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Meatless Friday- Mushroom Alfredo with Bowtie pasta

By Tricia on February 19, 2011 in Meatless Friday, Recipes

I have mentioned this before but our family does not eat meat on Fridays…ANY Friday. If you do the same or even if you just don’t eat meat on Fridays during lent, perhaps you get to the point where you can’t feed your family one more fish stick. So…. I have decided to share my vegetarian or meatless recipes with you, every friday, every week, unless I fall off a cliff or get reeeeeeeally busy. So stay tuned.

Todays recipe is loved by my husband and all the kids. It is super yummy and decadent but not expensive at all. My goal is always to keep a our Friday meals to under $8 (for 10 people!!!!) Other meals such as breakfast and lunch are way cheaper but Fridays are special. I will try to break down the cost of the meal every week, OK? Here we go. (Oh let me apologize for the colors in the pictures, I was cooking at night and the lighting my the kitchen is not the best).

What you will need:
6 tbsp butter (.50)
1 lb of mushrooms sliced (I used baby portabella) $1.99
3 cloves of garlic (.25)
3 tbsp flour (.10)
3 cups milk ( Gallon of milk 128 ounces costs $3.00, 3 cups is 24 ounces = .56)
1 package cream cheese (.99)
1 cup parmesan cheese (really good parmesan cost me $5 for a triangle chunk) I used less than half) $2.00
1 lb of bow tie pasta (.99)
Total $7.38 that is .73 per person for a really good gourmet meal.

Slice your mushrooms and mince your garlic.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and the garlic minced and cook, stirring until the mushrooms release their liquid and it has evaporated. Sprinkle the flour and mix then slowly add the milk stirring constantly.

Add the cream cheese cut into chunks and stir until all dissolved and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese. Add your salt until you get the taste you want.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta in boiling salted water until tender. Drain your pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve immediately.