Dinner guests? Easy solution.

This is my sure-fire company dish.  I actually have people request that I make it when we invite them over!

Penne alla Vodka

One pound penne pasta

4 ounces prosciutto, diced

1/3 of a sweet onion, diced

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup good vodka

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 cup heavy cream, DO NOT try to use anything else!

Dash red pepper flakes

1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley – not necessary, but a nice garnish if you want to get fancy

First, get your water boiling for the pasta.  In a large dutch oven, 5qt or greater, melt butter over med low-medium heat.  Once butter is melted, add onion and  prosciutto.  Cook until proscuitto is brownish in color.  Add vodka and cook until you can no longer smell the vodka/alcohol smell over the pot – a few minutes.   Add tomato sauce and heavy cream and gently simmer for 8-10 minutes.   Toss pasta into the boiling water and cook according to the package.   Add red pepper flakes to the sauce and stir (if you like more kick, add more).  Once pasta is cooked to you liking, drain and add into the sauce.  Coat pasta and let cook for a minute, then pour into serving boil.  Add parsely to garnish.  Viola!  Kids love this dish as well and don’t worry – the alcohol is cooked out!

Have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend!

The BEST burger ever…

Photo by: paulswansen

I have to admit, I used to be one of those people that ate the plainest of plain burgers – just cheese, only ketchup and go ahead and leave off everything else.  And don’t you dare mess too much with the burger patty getting all fancy.  Well, that was until I had this Chipotle Burger.  My eyes were opened and the Aha moment happened!

Recipe (shhhhh, let’s just keep this between you and me):

- 2 lbs 80 – 85% lean ground beef (if you go too lean thinking, “healthy”, also think “no flavor)

- 1/3 of a sweet onion diced

- about 8 chipotle peppers, diced (these can most definitely be canned, I even prefer it)

- at least 1/2 cup shredded cheddar (if you make the mistake of getting leaner beef, or just love cheese, add more cheddar)

- a load of garlic powder (it depends on my mood that day, but I would guess at least 2 teaspoons)

- throw a little salt and fresh cracked pepper in there as well

Roll up sleeves, remove all rings.  Gently knead it all together until well mixed.  Be careful not to over-knead or the burgers will be tough.  Loosely form your burger patties to the point they are almost falling apart (trust me).  My husband, the self proclaimed Grill King, is always worried the patties will crumble on the grill, making him look bad and compromising his “manliness” – but they always come out perfectly.  Phew.

Cook on grill or grill pan on high heat a couple minutes a side to your liking.  Serve on potato buns with your choice of fixings.

Enjoy!