Oven Fries with Rosemary and Sea Salt

Herb-iforous heaven lol!

So summer doesn't officially start until next week but I'm well on my way to integrating lighter recipes into my cooking repertoire for the summer season. I usually make oven fries at home since deep frying is such a task having to pull out a large pot and so much oil. I also believe oven fries are so much healthier for you and its easier to integrate different flavors with this method in my opinion. For this particular recipe I used Idaho potatoes but russets, yukon golds, and red potatoes should work just fine. This recipe also gives you so much leeway in the variety of herbs and spices you can use, the possibilities are endless. These fries are really quick and tasty, I paired it with a salmon burger but you can let these flavorful fries accompany your favorite steak, bbq chicken, burgers, or grilled fish.

Crappy pic...Tasty fries!

Oven Roasted Fries with Rosemary and Sea Salt

Serves 2

1lb idaho potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh rosemary 

cooking spray

- Heat Oven to 400 degrees

- Wash and scrub potatoes

- After washing cut potatoes into french fry shape. Heres a great tutorial on how to make perfect french fries.

- Rinse potatoes and pat dry.

- In a large bowl toss the potatoes along with sea salt, olive oil, red pepper, and rosemary.

- Take a large sheet pan and coat it with cooking spray. 

- Proceed to spread seasoned potatoes on the sheet pan in a single layer.

- Place fries into the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes or until fork tender and crisp.

- Remove from oven and enjoy!

Fish Pasta

Fish Pasta..Deelish!

You ever overcooked and had leftovers for days on end? Well sometimes that happens in the Pink Room kitchen...we get all hot and bothered with a recipe, make tons of it, then cant finish all before we get sick of it. Sometime after Christmas we fried some king fish but never got to finish it all and I couldn't bear to eat it the same way that I had been for the past few days so I wanted to make a completely new dish out of it. I know some of you are looking at the screen like "did she just say she had that fish for a few days??" I can assure you there wasn't anything wrong with the fish and if you buy fish on the regular you know how expensive it is, so letting it go to waste wasn't an option. I decided that making some kind of sauce and boiling some pasta would be the tastiest option for the fish. I wasn't really to sure how it would taste since I was using king fish which is a fish with a very outstanding flavor but you can use any thick cut fish that you have on hand. Also if you would like to make this recipe healthier just substitute regular pasta for whole grain pasta. This recipe wasn't hard to make and was ready in about half an hour and it was such a delicious meal. I recommend serving with a light salad and your favorite wine. Enjoy!

Fish Pasta

16oz linguine or spaghetti, cooked, with 1/4 cup pasta water reserved

3 large tomatoes, cut medium dice

1 medium onion, small dice

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp Italian herb blend

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

3 tbsp olive or grapeseed oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

 1lb fish, cooked and broken into chunks

- When pasta is finished boiling make sure to toss pasta with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Place large saute pan on top of medium heat, add in oil and proceed to saute garlic and onions until no longer opaque.
- Add in tomato paste and herbs, stir vigorously
- Add in tomatoes, fish, red pepper flakes, and pasta water, stir
- Lower heat and cover your pot and let it simmer for about 7-10 minutes
- When sauce reaches desired thickness, toss in your noodles and turn off the stove
- Adjust the flavor with salt and pepper, top with fresh parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese if desired
- Serve immediately

Food Photography and Weekday Lasagna

I really love that food photography amongst the foodie blogs are up there with the likes of fashion photography(at least in my head).  Most of the blogs I follow post amazingly tempting photos of the dishes that they prepare and even if its something that I don't eat..the photo alone opens my appetite. The photos on these blogs are usually taken with a DSLR camera and other high tech equipment that I simply cannot afford right now. I always loved photography but an expensive camera isn't in view for me right now unless Aladdin and his genie makes a pit stop at my house. I have already scoped out a camera that I think would be well suited for me(the Nikon D3100) and hope to be able to buy it sometime this year and take a photography class just to get my feet wet with professional photography...Until then its just my old canon point and shoot or my cellphone camera. I try my best to make the most of it by taking photos in natural light and using some background props and so far the response has been great so I guess I'm doing something right. So I'm hoping my readers will bear with me until the upgrade happens.
Thanks so much..you all are a swell bunch :)

Hey hey hey, that doesn't mean I wont leave you without a recipe today. The catch is that It has no photo but that doesn't mean its anything less than delicious. The recipe is for a quick yummy no meat lasagna. I don't really make lasagna but I wanted to experiment by using some marscapone cheese that was getting ready to expire soon. Marscapone in appearance is similar to cream cheese but in taste its like cream cheeses cousin that lives in the Hampton's and flies by private jet. Marcapone should be available in the specialty section of your dairy isle but I bought mine from my local Trader Joe's.
When it comes to lasagna I'm use to my sisters richer version of spinach lasagna that is so rich it gives you "the itis." I wanted something lighter and quicker for everyday and this recipe hit the spot. It had great texture and taste...my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I hope you all decide to try it out..its superb!

Weekday Lasagna

half pack or 16 noodles of lasagna, boiled

32oz(1 1/2 bottles) marinara pasta sauce

16oz ricotta cheese

8oz marscapone cheese

16oz mozzarella cheese, grated

-  Spray a rectangular casserole dish( I used 14x9) with cooking spray and put a light layer of pasta sauce on the bottom. Also bring oven to 380 degrees.

- In medium bowl mix mozzarella with marscapone cheese, the mix will be clumpy its fine.

- Layer casserole dish with four pasta noodles and spread a layer of ricotta over them. Scatter the several clumps of the mozzarella cheese on top and then finish with a layer of pasta sauce. Repeat this step two more times.

- For the last layer of noodles just remaining pasta sauce and cheese mixture on top. If you have grated Parmesan on hand that can also be spread on top.

- Place lasagna in oven and bake until browned on top about 30 minutes.