Something New: Butter Wine Veggie Blend

Came up with the name myself clearly.

Anyway, this was something I thought up to use up the veggies I had that were ready to go bad. It was a gamble, but it paid off.

You'll need:

• 1 ear of corn
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 3 small tomatoes (I used Early Girl)
• 1/8 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon unsalted
• splash of white wine (I suggest Pinot Grigio)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used black pepper and sea salt with a grinder)

Serves 2

Tear off the ends of the green beans. Wash with warm water (the cleaning of your veggies is always implied). Cut corn off cob. (Just stand it up and work your knife down. Make sure not to cut too deeply!) Start your pan (I suggest 10" of larger) with butter. Keep on medium low heat so as not to burn the butter while you prep! Mince tomatoes. Once butter is melted put in green beans. Coat with butter. Add salt and pepper. Bring to medium heat. After a few minutes add garlic. Stir and allow for light browning of garlic. Add in corn and tomatoes. Allow to cook uncovered for 4 minutes. Stir and toss in splash of white wine. Simmer- covered for 10 minutes.

The result: Tender and yummy. I decided to add a slice of toasted sourdough. Fantastic.

Let me know how yours comes out! 

Dinner Favorites: Nic's Pasta Sauce

So I've been making and perfecting this past sauce for the past 12 or so years. What goes in it depends on availability, but it's mostly the same key ingredients. I figured it's time to share my recipe so my dad can try to finally beat my sauce (never going to happen) and you can give it a try in your kitchens.

My pasta/spaghetti sauce includes:

• Jar (24 oz) of pasta sauce (I suggest favorite of choice but I use either Ragu, Prego, or Francesco Rinaldi)
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 lb pasta of choice
• (optional but suggested if you have tomatoes you want to use) 4 small tomatoes of choice- this time i used the Early Girl variety
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 large yellow bell pepper (can substitute for 1 large banana pepper)
• 1/2 a large vidalia onion
• 6 white button mushrooms 
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic 
• 1 tablespoon oil (for pan)
• splash of white wine (Pinot Grigio or something not sweet)
• Grated Parmesan cheese to top
• Shredded Parmesan/Romano cheese to top (yes, I use both)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used black pepper and sea salt with a grinder)

Serves 4-6 

Dice the onions. However, if there are those who don't really like onions feel free to mince them. Cut both peppers into strips after halving them. Dice the mushrooms as well. I suggest at least a 12" hot frying pan when you add the veggies. Be sure to add the oil beforehand of course! I also suggest adding the garlic after the veggies to keep from burning them.

In a medium pot put the sauce on medium-low heat. Mince the tomatoes and add them. I suggest a lid to keep from sauce splatters. Salt minimally. (At this point I would suggest having the water for your pasta heating to a boil!) 

Once the onions became translucent add the ground turkey to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Once turkey is browned add the splash of white wine. Cook for a few more minutes. 

Add veggie and turkey mixture to sauce.Make sure to bring it to a boil before putting it on low to simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Perfect time to cook the pasta of your choice!

For this particular meal I used Perciatelli pasta. Since I cook for one I used half the box so that I can pack for lunch and have another dinner out of it. Probably will use the extra sauce with toast. I also paired my meal with Blue Fin Riesling. 

FYI: Toasted sourdough bread with a dab of butter is PERFECT for sopping up extra sauce and meat. 

Result: Delicious. My taste buds and stomach thanked me. 

So what do you think? Give it a try and let me know!

Words Into Action- Nic's Welcome

This has been a long time coming, but I'm glad I finally did it. My uncle and I have said many times that we needed to get a blog going. We cook. We bake. We drink. We critique. We hang. But now that I'm 400+ miles away, that isn't so easy for us to do together. What better way to stay connected than for me to get off my butt (though I sat through the whole creation of this) and finally make the blog we've been talking about for the past year.

Welcome to Nic and Hill. I invite you to follow (and hopefully enjoy) a conversation between an uncle and niece. I'm Nic the niece and I'm excited to share my kitchen discoveries with you. I will be using this blog to share recipes, chat up my food, drink, and entertainment adventures, and continue to explore life and its joys with my uncle. I'm the dabbler between the two of us but I hope you won't mind dabbling with me.

Cheers!