Presto Pasta Night Potluck Pasta Party Extraordinaire

Presto Pasta Nights Hits a Major Internet Milestone We're turning 4 on Friday!!!
A global potluck party for pasta lovers and if the food alone doesn't get you, how about the idea that you might win a prize for entering your fave dish! More about that in a minute. For those of you who are Presto Pasta Night regulars, I don't have to tell you how much fun it is, but for the rest of you... where have you been hiding all these years?


Did you know that...

• Presto Pasta Nights, is one of the longest, continuously running weekly online food events on the Internet
• We're celebrating its fourth birthday on Friday, March 4th
• It’s a pasta potluck party extraordinaire for all things pasta - everything from couscous to orzo; udon to luckshen; soups to desserts; baked, stir-fried, quick toss; simple and elaborate;
• Every ethnic & cultural take on the noodle is represented;
• In the 203 weekly roundups there are 3,700 recipes uploaded by thousands of pasta lovers around the globe!
• Every week, thousands of pasta lovers check out the latest collection of pasta dishes. There are standards like Lasagna, Spaghetti, and Mac ‘n Cheese… and often with a twist; Asian stir fries and Noodle Soups; Indian curries and everything from simple to exotic like homemade squid pasta; from breakfast through dessert and every course in between, there’s a dish for everyone.

And since I've whetted your curiosity (and appetite), I'm excited to say that Garofalo Pasta (which I love and adore) has generously agreed to send some lucky PPNer a case of their awesome pasta like their oh so cute radiatori.
Not to mention that I'm still hoping some other wonderful sponsor will come forward with a giveaway.

If you have a blog, just write a pasta post, mention Presto Pasta Nights with a link and send me your link by Thursday night - email: ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

If you don't have a blog but do have a delicious recipe you want to share (only rule is it must have a noodle component), just email me the recipe and I'll post it myself... giving you all the credit, of course.

Don't forget to tell all your friends to join in the fun too.

Presto Pasta Nights Still Going Gangbusters

It's Friday and that time again... time to get out your pasta bibs and chow down to some awesome dishes. Beth Anne of The Seventh Level Of Boredom did a great hosting job - thanks for all the hard work. And to all of you who shared your dishes, this week - I love them all! But enough talking... let's eat!

Presto Pasta Night #202

Next week is the big 4th birthday bash. It's hard to believe that Presto Pasta Nights, started on a whim is now one of the longest, continuously running weekly online food events on the Internet. There's even a special surprise or two for a lucky entrant. So... put on your party best or your roomiest PJs and get ready for the pasta potluck party extraordinaire! So tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends. I'm hoping for the biggest Presto Pasta Night Roundup EVER!

To join in the fun, just whip up a pasta/noodle recipe; write about it on your blog - if you don't have one, just email me the recipe and I'll post it myself; mention Presto Pasta Nights and link to it; send your link to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

A Weird Week of Pasta

You'd think that I'd be so pumped about next week's giant birthday bash... yes... Presto Pasta Nights will be turning 4 and we're having a huge party. I do hope you'll join us... and tell your friends to come too. But I digress... you'd think I'd be making fantastic pasta dishes every night.

Of course, I'm excited, but I've also had the worst cold. Actually, I think it's the same one I whined about a couple of weeks ago. It came back with a vengence... and fever! So frankly, I could barely defrost the last of the chicken broth I had in the freezer, let alone do any writing or fancy cooking...

Not to say I didn't have some sort of pasta with my soup.... think a handful of little pasta shells added to the broth while it was heating up, plus this other favorite soup of mine pictured at the top of the page (actually it's an old photo... no energy for new ones) of this...

Quick Vietnamese Soup

which is a healthy restorative - slice or two of fresh ginger, handful of spinach and for the "comfort" part, some Star Anise & Cinnamon along with the last of my Chinese dumplings. Heavenly!

I did make some farfalle (because they're so cute)... because how hard is it to boils a pot of water? ... and tossed it with the last of the pesto in the fridge and some goat cheese. No photo, but very comforting.

And finally, tonight... a new pasta dish from a new cookbook I'll be reviewing soon -Low-Salt DASH Dinners It's a quick and easy and packs quite a tasty punch...

Richard's Four Taste Pasta with Shrimp

So finally, I get a pasta entry to send to Beth Anne of The Seventh Level of Boredom who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night. You can share yours by mentioning her and Presto Pasta Night and emailing her the link - bethanneleach (at) gmail (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. See you tomorrow at the roundup.

Presto Pasta Night #201 Has Me Drooling at Breakfast

A big THANK YOU to Pia of Cook Healthy for doing a terrfic job as host for Presto Pasta Night #201. The roundup is awesome. Thanks everyone for such great entries. But who needs to hear from me... check it out the droolingly delicious dishes for yourself.

Next week, Beth Anne of The Seventh Level of Boredom is hosting. So send your gorgeous goodies to bethanneleach (at) gmail (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

Don't forget the big fourth Presto Pasta Night birthday bash will be over at Once Upon a Feast the week after - March 4th. I'll be hosting the big party and hope to see you all there.

Two On One Pizza & Amazing Leftover Scramble

It's been many months since I made my own pizza dough. Ridiculous, really since I found an awesome recipe that is so easy, even a clutz like me can make one - a little "free form" I admit, but I call it "Artisan" Pizza and none of the toppings end up on the bottom of my oven. My recipe for California-style Pizza Dough , from James McNair's New Pizza (my review) is simple, ends up being crispy - just the way I like it and freezes well. My suggestion to you is to make a double batch, cut into 4 pieces and freeze each separately for that last minute craving. Well... it will need time to defrost, but if you take it out around lunch time, it's ready for dinner.

Wandering through my many new iPad apps and foodily.com, potatoes on pizza kept being offered up. And while they all sparked my attention, I just did my own thing. I wasn't sure if my Honey - carnivore and meat eater pizza lover that he is - would like it so I did a half and half thing.

Two On One Pizza

top of post

In fact, he loved them both. That said, I still had potato slices and onion slices, not to mention some mushrooms and chopped rosemary in the fridge this morning. Plus some pancetta I've been craving and some farm fresh eggs. Naturally I was compelled to whip up this tasty scramble...

What's your favorite pizza topping? And what do you do with the left over, unused ingredients?

Check out Presto Pasta Night 200

What a lovely celebration feast! Helen of Fuss Free Flavours did a brilliant job of hosting Presto Pasta Night #200!!! And a special thank you to all of you who shared your pastas with us this week and continue to share week after week. It's hard to believe but on March 4th, Presto Pasta Nights will turn 4!

Next week Pia of Cook Healthy will be hosting. I hope to see you all there. Just send your entries to cookwithpia (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

Presto Pasta Night #200 - Amazing

I can't really believe that my harebrained idea of doing a pasta roundup nearly four years ago, is actually celebrating issue #200. Helen of Fuss Free Flavours will be hosting Presto Pasta Night tomorrow and you all still have time to enter. Just email your entry to helen (at) best-shaw (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

But let's talk about me for a second... I did plan on creating something truly out of this world for the event. It is pretty spectacular considering all that tension 200 issues ago, when I wondered if there was anyone else out there who loved pasta as much as I did/do. Roundup after roundup, I have not been disappointed. Thanks everyone for your awesome dishes over the years. Just check them all out! March 4th Presto Pasta Night will turn FOUR! And I hope to see all of you and your friends at the birthday bash.

Back to my entry... Yesterday I mentioned Foodily.Com as a great place to check out recipes whether or not you had the latest and greatest iPad or iPhone. I even mentioned looking up "Pasta" + "mascarpone" because I knew I had some mascarpone in my fridge with an expiry date that was coming up fast. First choice of 111 was from Jamie Oliver - one of my favorites, because he really does cook for those of us who like easy, simple to do, tasty dishes.
His dish - Tagliatelle with Mascarpone, Parmesan & Spinach fit the bill - easy to prepare, ingredients in the fridge. Oh... wait... I'm an idiot... no mascarpone! In fact, it was ricotta. No worries. Heavy cream (48%)...not really an option in Canada although apparently creme fraiche might do. I decided to use whipping cream (35%) which, frankly, still has way more calories than I need. Tagliatelle...nope...just went with some multigrain fusilli. That's the wonderful thing about a Jamie recipe... they're really just starting points.

My Honey thought it a little bland, but then most of my pastas are quite savory. This one, IMHO, is just mellow and reminded me of a very delicious mac & cheese. As for bland... no way! With 2 cloves of garlic and lots of nutmeg, not to mention butter and cream... it was creamy and ...need I say it again... mellow. I'll be making one of his favorites on Saturday - requested by my daughter who loves shrimp but doesn't cook it at home...
Should I go with Pasta with Shrimp, Mussels & Chorizo
Or Pasta with Garlic Shrimp & Pancetta

I'm polling... so leave your choice in the comments. And while you're at it... What's your favorite mild and mellow pasta dish?

New Kid on the Recipe Finding Block

I've mentioned before that I have a new iPad and, naturally have been finding new and cool foodie apps. I still promise to share my take on them but the reason for this post is to share a great new find of mine that looks like an app, works like an app but in fact, is not an app at all.

Foodily.com is a web site that acts like an app and I definitely like to play with it when I'm out or sitting on my couch away from my laptop (that usually sits plugged into a large monitor and external mouse & keyboard set up). It's a recipe search tool on steroids! The magic of it... it searches for recipes on websites and foodblogs so the sky's the limit. Like my epi and How to Cook Everything and Jamie Oliver's (just for iPhones), and Wholefoods... you can find recipes by doing a simple search. The coolest part is that you don't need fancy phones or iPads to get awesome results. Once you've chosen a recipe you can "like it" or "save it". You really should check it out.

Here's last night's story... I bought a bunch of dark magenta kale at the farmers market from Ted Hutten a couple of weeks ago and still hadn't gotten around to using it... good thing it's such a hardy plant. I always find kale tough and rubbery, but I do appreciate how good it is for me.
I typed the word "kale" in the main search...
...and got 1007 choices from the likes of Epicurious, NY Times, Simply Recipes, Elana's Pantry , Cook Sister (one of my favorite blogs that I forget to check out specific recipes when I'm hunting) and a thousand more including the one I went with - Whole Foods' Oven Roasted Kale .
Foodily gives a quick look at the ingredients and first steps with a link to the actual recipe on the actual site it originates from, so you can decide whether or not it's what you're looking for.
I served the crispy, melt in your mouth kale (it really was heavenly) with an adaptation of an adaptation...

Pear Chutney Chicken Breasts

I took a perfectly lovely recipe from Norene's Healthy Kitchen and used my homemade Pear Chutney. This time around, there wasn't enough chutney so I added some homemade Pear & Blackberry Jam (basically my Blueberry Jam recipe replacing the same volume of blueberries for pears & blackberries). As for the curry powder, I used Epices de Cru Aleppo Seven Spice Blend.

As for tonight's dinner... the mascarpone cheese (before it expires) and pasta (111 options and I'm going with a variation of Jamie Oliver's Tagliatelle with Spinach ) for Presto Pasta Night #200! Don't forget that Helen of Fuss Free Flavours is hosting the big event. Send your entries to helen (at) best-shaw (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

A Taste of Decadence

Last week I teased you with the my upcoming trip to Decadence - Chocolate, Wine, Cheese which opened the month long Savour Food & Wine Festival organized by RANS - the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia.

I arrived at the Decadence event last Thursday a bit early and got a glimpse of what it takes to put such a splendid evening together. Don't you just love the tower of glasses? First, I must admit that while I definitely like to drink wine, I'm a novice when it comes to pairing the best wine to really enhance the flavors of a dish. In fact, whenever I plan a dinner party, I head straight for my local wine shop for expert suggestions. Naturally, I was excited to get some tips from the expert sommeliers.

Before I share some photos and the menus, I do want to speak about my favorite element of the evening. The chefs are Culinary Arts & Pastry Arts students of Nova Scotia Community College -Akerley Campus under the guidance of their brilliant chef instructors Chef Sean Kettley and Chef Jean-Luc Doridam. In fact, after last year's Savour Food & Wine Show I was fortunate to have Chef Kettley give me a very informative tour of their facilities. The students went on to win the Atlantic Culinary Competition, and a chance to become part of Culinary Olympics 2012. I hope someone from NSCC wll fill me in on the details... But I digress... Back to Decadence...

The students were challenged to pair artisanal cheeses and succulent chocolate, both in their raw form and in finished dishes with wines, ports and dessert wines. The first hour features cheeses paired with wines while the second half of the evening is dedicated to chocolates and their wine, port and dessert wine pairings.

So let's take a little photo journey... and excuse the less than stellar photography... I was more into tasting than filming.

The Twelve Tasting Stations: I loved them all, but I'll start with the two Ports that were served. First I admit to not really being a Port drinker... don't get me wrong, pears poached in Port is an awesome thing to eat... but I have this antiquated notion of "Old Boys Clubs" and gentlemen with big fat cigars when it comes to actually drinking any. All that changed ...
...Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port (Portugal) - I could have just stayed with this all night!
It was brilliantly paired with slices of Oka and a Pickled Asparagus & Oka wrapped in Prosciutto. The chocolate dessert Madagascar Manjari 64% Valrhona & a chocolate tartelette.

Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port (Portugal) was served with cambozola (a delightful mellow Italian blue cheese) and Cambozola, Smoked Salmon & Caramelized Onion Croque Monsieur dipped in roasted garlic custard before frying - definitely one of my stars of the night.
Chocolate: Nova Scotian 70% Dark Chocolate from Just Us! And these gorgeous brownies.
Pfeiffer Rutherglen Muscat (S Australia)was paired with one of the more elaborate and unique dishes using goat cheese - Orange Tarragon Cheese Cream with Prawn & Red Pepper Sabayon.
This one needs a second photo of the little logs of goat cheese sprayed with white chocolate. The whole dish was pure Heaven.
The dessert chocolate was Venezuaelan caoba 41% El Ray and a Hazelnut chocolate parfait.

Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz (S Australia) was paired with double cream Brie and a whimsically presented Torched Maple Brie with Spiced Candied Pecans (Unfortunately my photography skills were not up to snuff on this one).
Chocolate dessert Tanzania 75% cacao Bary (France) and these cute and tasty Pillow Cookies.

Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) paired with Pepper Jack Cheese and these wonderful Salt Cod & Pepper Jack Fritters (best finger food ever).
The chocolate was Jivara 40% Valrhona (France) and Milk Chocolate Truffles with Cocoa Nibs.

Columbia Crest Riesling was was paired with Fox Hill Cumin Gouda (Nova Scotia) Cheese and a Roasted Baby Pear Salad with Cumin Gouda and Curried Apple Dressing. The Chocolate Irapa Rio Caribe 40.5% El Rey (Venezuela) and these stunning Chocolate and Strawberry Mirroir.
Jaffelin Macon Village Chardonnay (France) paired with Neufchatel cheese and Porcini Mushroom & Neufchatel Tart. Chocolate: Ivoire Select 25% Callebaut (Belgium) and white chocolate Bavarian with Lemon Curd. No photos, but delicious.

Bouchard Aine Pinnissimo Pinot Noir (France) paired with Port Salut - A country Pate with Port Salut & Onion Marmalade.
Chocolate: Equatoriale Noire 55% Valrhona (France) and Chocolate Creme Brulee.

Carmen Gran Feserva Merlot (Chile) paired with Chester Beer Cheese and an elegant and so delicious Hazelnut Crusted Lamb loin with Chester Beer Cheese & Merlot Reduction...
I'm still drooling over this one. Chocolate: Orropuce 65% cacao Barry (France) Chocolate Chiboust with Sour Cherries.

MAN Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa) paired with Pecorino Romano and delicious, whimsical Caesar Salad Cones.
Chocolate: Gran Cru 85% Michel Cluizel (France) and cocoa chocolate truffles
(I think the photo is the appropriate truffle photo - by the time I was tasting all the chocolate I had forgotten to write down which was which).

Grand Pre Sparkling Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Mascarpone for this fanciful Mascarpone and cantaloupe Caviar Shooter.
Chocolate: Elianza Ivoire 33.5% Michel Cluizel (France) and Raspberry & White Chocolate Frangipane.
Grand Pre Pomme D'Or Apple Cider Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Old Dubliner Aged Chedder to balance the sweetness of the wine. Aged Cheddar & Sweet Potato Tarts.
Chocolate: Ivoire 35% Valrhona (France) and White Chocolate Cheesecake with Sour Apple Compote.

All in all.. a fabulous evening and a perfect beginning to a month long festival. If you happen to be in Nova Scotia this month, you can Dine Around at participating restaurants spotlighting great prix fixe menus; and in Halifax especially, you can attend the Rare & Fine Wine Tasting on Feb 18th and culminate the festivities with the Seventh Annual Savour Food & Wine Show on March 2nd.
Cheers and Bon Appetit!

Nostalgic Trip to Fall Harvest Festivals

Just a short post... but I couldn't resist sharing tonights supper. Usually, people in the middle of freezing, blizzardy weather think of Spring or wish for Summer. Somehow my dinner reminded me of trips to St Jacobs, Ontario in the Fall where you can still see Mennonite farmers on their buggies, eat the most wonderful sausages, and pick up beautiful Brussels sprouts, beets and every other Autumn harvest treat at the farmers market.

Instead of St Jacobs market, my stash of Brussels sprouts, beets and the Sweet Turkey Fennel Sausages came from last week's trip to the Halifax Seaport Market. The Beet & Potato Hash comes from Mango Cheeks at Allotment 2 Kitchen - I've been dreaming about it for two weeks and finally got around to making it. It tastes even better than it looks and will be on my menu often. The Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pecans is an old standby.

Spices, Spices & More Lovely Spices

It's true that I hadn't finished off my stash of Epices de Cru Curries & Masalas that I wrote about here, before I started craving more spicy goodness from them... and I finally picked some up at the market last week...

My Aleppo Seven Spice Blend from Epices de Cru

I did use up the last of the Sri Lankan Black Curry & the Singapore Curry blends to make my own curry blend and a variation of a Mark Bittman recipe from my brand new app for my brand new iPad.

Mellow Lamb Curry

As for the Aleppo Spices... we all know that spice blends are great to flavor soups and stews, but I ground them up and dusted two excellent strip loin steaks from Getaway Farm and grilled them ... indoors on a grill pan rather than brave the snow to do it outside. Served with a tasty Caesar Salad - a perfect dinner.

And now I'm off to the market again to see what else I can find...

Presto Pasta Night #199

First let me say Gung Hai Fa Choi ro Gong Xi Fa Cai to all who celebrate the Chinese New Year. Personally, I enjoy celebrating everyone's festivities. And the entries this week definitely make it a world wide celebration. Thanks all for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

Somehow Scot, of The Rusty Chefs and first time PPNer got left out last week. And we almost missed this fantastic Pad Thai recipe. It's a great tutorial.
Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor had me drooling over the keyboard and licking the screen with this awesome Linguine & Clams.
Juli of Pictures of a Princess sends this Herb Chicken & Pasta dish, which is perfect comfort food for our sub-zero weather.
Kristi the Veggie Converter did an amazing job taking Chicken Puttanesca to a vegetarian Nirvana.
Gay, our Scientist in the Kitchen shares this Shrimp, Veg & Noodle dish that's a very easy and simplified Pad Thai. Can't wait to try it out.
Michelle of Ms. Enplace whipped up a very tasty looking Baked Ziti with Meatballs... definitely on my "must try" list.

Katerina of Culinary Flavors is back with a dish to satisfy every possible mood of her family... Cream Cheese Chicken Tenders with Pasta.

Mango Cheeks over at Allotment 2 Kitchen got me very excited with her Beetroot & Cumin Pasta dish. I was just wondering what to do with the bag of beetroots I bought at the market last Saturday.

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen brings some much needed warmth and sunshine to the roundup this week. Her Greek-style Meatballs with Isreali Couscous, Apples, Cranberries & Herbs hits the spot.

Graziana of Erbe in Cucina has been hiding from us for a while, but she's back with this easy and tasty Apple, Walnut & Sage Pasta. Welcome back.

Theresa of The Food Hunter's Guide tells a lovely story about backyard gardens... much appreciated as I look out at all that snow... and shares this great recipe for Homemade Pasta with Fresh Veggies & Sausages.

Shu Han of Mummy I Can Cook! shares these glorious Peking Dumplings to signify family reunion and, trust me, when your family learns that you're making these... they'll all definitely head over to your place.

Claudia of Honey from Rock did a brilliant job of turning leftovers into a totally new, totally wonderful Chicken Cannelloni with Afredo Sauce.

Joanne, who always Eats Well With Others shares a perfect Macaroni & Goat Cheese with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

It was a rushy week here and I ended up fixing up a bottled sauce to go over my cute pennoni pasta (they're as cute to look at as they are to say... penne on steroids!) You can find the "recipe"..I use the term very loosely... HERE.
Thanks again everyone for such delicious pastas this week.
Next week is a special milestone... Presto Pasta Night hits the big 200! Helen of Fuss Free Flavors will be hosting. So put on your party clothes and bring your pastas to the party. Just write a post, mention Fuss Free Flavors & Presto Pasta Nights with links and email your link to helen (at) best-shaw (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by February 10