**cooking advice needed**

[malta blue]

So with all the snow, we have cancelled our plans to go out to dinner tonight. Mr MB, Little MB and I will be home tonight. It is supposed to snow more this evening and up to another 12 inches tomorrow.

Mr MB wants Italian for dinner - he wanted to go get pizza and I talked him out of that idea, so now the ball is in my court.

What should I cook tonight, keeping in mind I am at work until 3....

[mcscajun]

1. What does Mr. B prefer (aside from pizza, of course)? Northern or Southern Italian?

Risotto or Pasta?

Sausage, Veal, Chicken or Seafood?

[malta blue]

5. He is the master at risotto but I do well with gnocchi

myself - but again, I have to work until 3 and then go get the supplies, so time is limited.

Little MB is a pretty adventurous eater, so the we are okay on that front....

[mcscajun]

12. How about a nice wild mushroom risotto, with grilled garlic shrimp, then?

Minimal ingredients, quick prep, quick cooking. :D

And a nice Pinot Grigio on the side.

[malta blue]

15. ANYTHING but mushrooms - I am deathly allergic -

but the rest sounds wonderful. Perhaps I can talk him into an asparagus risotto....:)

[MissHoneychurch]

2. Make pizza yourself

tastes better anyway.

:)

[malta blue]

6. You are right, but I want something a little "fancier"

than pizza tonight...
:hi:

[MissHoneychurch]

14. How about gnocchi

with sage butter? It is made easily and tastes like heaven

Burro e salvia (Sage and butter)

Preparation time: 5 minutes.
Cooking time: 5 minutes.
100g butter.
Bunch of fresh sage leaves
80g grated Parmesan
Black pepper.

Wash and dry the sage leaves. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the sage. Cook very gently over a low flame taking care not to let the butter burn. Pour over cooked pasta and stir through well together with freshly grated parmesan. This super-quick sauce is ideal with 'naked ravioli' (ravioli filling without the pasta) but is also suitable with any short pasta. In this case, drain the cooked pasta keeping back a little of the water. Return the pasta to the saucepan, add the sage and butter and stir over a low heat for a minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in a good helping of grated Parmesan.

The sauce should look smooth and creamy; if it has dried out too much, add a few drops of milk or fresh cream. Grind a little black pepper over when serving.

[malta blue]

16. Sounds yummy - I will see if they have gnocchi at the

store - I don't think I have it in me to do it by hand today. I was up at 5am. :(

[MissHoneychurch]

19. Ugh that is early

you can make it with any pasta actually. It always tastes great. Whatever you eat tonight .... I wish you a good start into the year 2008 :hug:

[malta blue]

22. Thanks for the ideas MHC

Happy New Year to you too!

[Madrone]

3. GOPisEvil suggests baked pasta.

Go with baked ziti, with or without meatballs, depending on your preference. 15 minutes of prep, an hour (at most) of baking. If you buy a disposable baking pan, there is limited clean-up.

[malta blue]

9. That sounds like a good idea, but I don't think I have any

sauce in the freezer.

I suppose I could do a jarred sauce and doctor it up, but I usually prefer my own creations.

Thanks Madrone and GOPisEvil!!!

:hi:

[Madrone]

13. He suggests Newman's Own (he uses tomato/basil) with some extra dried herbage.

And you are welcome. :hi:

[malta blue]

18. Thanks for the secrets you two - now get off

DU and start having fun....

[Madrone]

23. I'm waiting for Madrone to get out of the shower.

We're a little slow waking up and getting moving here. :)

[malta blue]

24. OK OK

I hope you two have a wonderful day, and a great evening planned to welcome the new year!

:hug:

[PeaceNikki]

4. I recommend Chicken Parmesan

Here's a good recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30686,00.html

Add a nice side salad with Raspberry vinagrette dressing.

[malta blue]

11. That sounds good, and easy to make.

Thanks for the link!

:hi:

[auntAgonist]

7. I'm making

a cabbage roll casserole. All the ingredients of stuffed cabbage without the work.

Can you have pizza delivered?

aA

recipe: makes 12 servings.

This casserole combines chopped cabbage with ground beef, tomato sauce, and rice. Preparation is much simpler than for standard stuffed cabbage rolls.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 1/2 pounds chopped cabbage

1 cup uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon salt
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet, brown beef in oil over medium high heat until redness is gone. Drain off fat.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the onion, tomato sauce, cabbage, rice and salt. Add meat and mix all together. Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour broth over meat mixture and bake in the preheated oven, covered, for 1 hour. Stir, replace cover and bake for another 30 minutes.

[PeaceNikki]

8. OOoooo... I'm saving that!!

:)

[malta blue]

10. OMG that sounds so delicious and I LOVE

stuffed cabbage. And although Little MB will have nothing for it, I have bookmarked this for future use.

Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
:hug:

PS - the only pizza we like is 30 minutes away. The ones that deliver to us are just awful!

[Highway61]

17. That sounds awesome...

I make stuffed cabbage and although it is one of our favorites...it is time consuming. This sounds great...in fact I will be making tonight...thanks!

[auntAgonist]

20. You will enjoy it I'm sure of that!

you're welcome and Happy New Year.

aA

[Highway61]

32. Your not gonna believe this

But right after I replied to you...I made it...I am cooking in the oven at 300 for a few hours to gain some extra "flavor". ( I added garlic and put some kielbasa cut up in the mix. With a salad and warm crusty bread, it's gonna be a good dinner. My husband came home and said the house smells like heaven....I agree it does. Thanks for the recipe and Happy New Year to you as well! This one is a "keeper".

[begin_within]

21. Fried Eggplant

That's what I'm making tonight. Get a long Japanese or Chinese Eggplant, peel it and slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle with salt all over and let sit for 20 min. Rinse the salt off and pat dry with towels. Dip in beaten egg, then seasoned bread crumbs. Fry in hot olive oil or any good oil, just a minute or two on each side, until light brown. Drain on paper towels - you will use a lot of paper towels. Sprinkle with a seasoning such as Spike or the salt-free seasoning sold at Costco. Serve with a ranch dip or any creamy dip. This and a bowl of mixed fruit and a glass of champagne, and some firecrackers and sparklers and that's all you need tonight.

[malta blue]

25. OOh sounds yummy. Thanks

for the tips.

[seemunkee]

26. Linguine with clams and shrimp

Real Ceasar salad, good crusty bread and some wine.
Simple elegant and oh so tasty.

[malta blue]

28. Oh my - that sounds so tasty! I haven't had that in

such a long time. I wonder if he would be up for that....

We have the salad and wine parts covered, I would just need to get the bread and pasta fixings.....

[seemunkee]

29. You're half way there.

[malta blue]

31. I wonder if Little MB will do okay with clams....

she likes shrimp well enough, but won't eat it every time I make it, just when she wants.

Thanks so much for the idea though, my mouth is watering thinking of it....

[bif]

27. How about a shrimp risotto?

[malta blue]

30. I don't want to make him do all the cooking and risotto is

his bag, I do much better with gnocchi. He is up for sharing the tasks, but if we go risotto, he ends up doing all of it.