Wild Mushroom Agnolotti in Basil Pesto Butter

"You are not to cook for 8 weeks!" and "No BLT's" stated the nurse at the Carolina Neurosurgical and Spine Center in a pre-surgery class filled with a group of patients and their primary care takers preparing for upcoming lumbar fusion surgery.

"Oh my God," I said to my husband during the class that took place two weeks ago prior to the back surgery.  This rule for recovery was just as much of a shock as learning the amount of pain that would be encountered for the first 4 days after surgery.  Cooking requires a lot of "bending, twisting, and lifting . . . the three BLT's", the things that you cannot engage in for 8 weeks while wearing a back brace and healing the wounds of surgery.

"Prepare lots of frozen meals ahead of time, or have someone cook for you,  or order take-out" continued the nurse.

Well, ordering take out every single day was not an option due to the expense, the huge portion sizes, and the amount of salt and fat included.  And as far as having someone else cook in this household, let's just say that my husband's cooking skills are almost non-existent except for Sunday morning pancakes and sausage.

So that really put the emphasis on preparing lots of frozen meals.  And I'm not talking about frozen pizzas or frozen boxed dinners either!

Truthfully I do make and freeze a lot of frozen homemade meals, but I thought that I'd get creative this afternoon for lunch while my husband was at work.  These new rules for recovery from surgery are proving to be like a little cheat sheet in the kitchen . . . to give yourself permission to use frozen ingredients too!  So since I was in the mood for feel-good carb-laden pasta, I slowly went to visit my happy freezer to see what I could put together.

One shelf of my freezer is filled with frozen pastas, both filled and un-filled.  Naturally since my husband fixed spaghetti in a batch of my frozen Bolognese sauce two nights ago, I went straight for the filled pastas.

Hmmmm?  Should I bathe these little pillows of beauty in a sage-butter bath?  Sounds good . . . but hey!  My drugged up head came up with a better idea!  How about using up a small container of frozen homemade marinara sauce?  Even better, my GPS location system went to the shelf where little plastic containers of my frozen home-made basil pesto was crying out to be used.

The pesto won!

So while the wild mushroom agnoletti were swimming in the boiling water on the stove, I melted a half stick of butter and stirred in about a tablespoon of my thawed out basil pesto sauce.  Not too much now; these are delicate pastas.

PERFECTION!  What a delicate and sublime flavor combination!

"So there!  I can still cook while in recovery . . . just a little more creatively with the help of my friend, the freezer!"

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti in Basil Pesto Butter

1 9 oz. package of Buitoni pre-made, frozen wild mushroom agnolotti
1 stick of butter
1 - 2 Tbsp. basil pesto sauce

Cook the mushroom agnolotti according to package directions.
Thaw out frozen basil pesto sauce.
Melt butter.
In a medium bowl, mix the hot butter and the basil pesto sauce.
Gently place the agnolotti in the warm pesto butter.
Toss lightly to cover the pasta lightly with the pesto butter sauce.

  

Mangia!

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Fresh Watermelon Salad

watermelon is one of the best things to enjoy in the summer!    There is nothing quite like biting into sweet, cold, juicy watermelons!    As a child I remember my father taking us to nearby produce stands where there were huge tin water troughs filled with ice and watermelon.  Wow, just like a cold beer in a ice-filled beer tub!   I pity anyone who lacks a memory of eating a slice of ice cold watermelon . . . simple with nothing added!  Yea, now that's summer eaten'!


However, for a recent gathering with friends, I prepared a heavenly watermelon with goat cheese salad, a sweet and savory combination that is so delicious you may not stop eating it!  I know that this combo sounds really weird, but all of the different textures and flavors combine perfectly and the balsamico vinegar lends a nice kick to smack those taste buds of yours!


A day or two ahead, marinate your goat or feta cheese (I use goat cheese because I find it more mild and so it soaks up all the herbs and olive oil more genuinely; plus my husband hates feta cheese . . . remember he's still "Mr. Meat and Potatoes"). . . I mean after all . . . feta?  Nothing but cheddar or mozzarella cheese for my guy!  Yet reluctantly and surpisingly he enjoyed his one bite of this salad and then proceeded to cut that tried-and-true slice of watermelon to enjoy while I noshed on this salad.


This is superb and I highly recommend this incredible watermelon salad!


And as with all recipes, to achieve mouth-watering results, please remember to use quality ingredients:    extra virgin olive oil instead of regular olive oil (unless specified), freshly ground black pepper instead of already ground pepper, freshly ground sea salt instead of regular salt, etc.


It really makes a difference in the end-resulting flavors and final dish.  You'll be so glad that you did!

at our local produce stand:   a 'refrigerated' trailer full of cold, sweet watermelons!

the goat cheese happily marinating in all of the herbs, spices, and olive oil

Watermelon Salad with Fresh Herb Marinated Goat Cheese


Watermelon cut into 1 - 2" cubes
1 small roll of goat cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh herbs, finely chopped (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary)
3 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup of fresh basil, broken into pieces by hand
Balsamico vinegar -- to drizzle on salad


Prepare the marinaded goat/feta cheese at least 2 hours earlier than serving the salad.
In a clean glass jar, pour the oil into it.
Add the chopped feta/goat cheese.
Add all chopped fresh herbs.
Add red pepper flakes and minced garlic.
Gently, very gently swish the cheese cubes around in the marinade.
Place in the frig to chill for 2 hours.
Just before serving, cut watermelon into cubes.
Sprinkle the marinaded cheese cubes over the watermelon cubes.
Drizzle with balsamico vinegar or pass it around to guests.

Stay Cool ! 

  Mangia!

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Peaches and Cream Ice Cream with Fresh Raspberry Coulis!

Stopping at local roadside produce stands in the summertime is so much fun!  Everyone seems to have their favorite little places where our cars automatically turn on their own into crowded parking lots.  When July arrives Bill and I know that it's time to drive to the roadside stands to fill up the back of our Jeep with several bushels of 'free-stone' or 'cling-free' peaches.  I love this variety simply because they are so easy to remove the pit than the earlier varieties that are available in June.  'Free-stone' peaches seem to have a more tender texture too.  But from what everyone is saying, both the June and July peaches have been super sweet this year.  And that's such a good thing!  

More peaches are grown in South Carolina than any other state in the U.S., and a healthy, but competitive rivalry exists between Georgia and South Carolina despite Georgia's infamous nick-name of 'the peach state'.  I guess that everyone has their own preference, and yea, I'm slightly biased about S.C.'s super sweet, tender, and juicy peaches.  My husband (not a S.C. native) found out that the reason for the extra sweetness of S.C. peaches is that more of this state's peaches are grown closer to the mountains, in the foothills where the temps are slightly cooler, especially at night, which peach trees thrive on.   


I've read and even prepared several recipes for fresh home-made peach ice cream, but thus far, my husband and I believe that the hands-down best recipe out there is from David Lebovitz that he shares in his bible on ice cream, "The Perfect Scoop".   This time I decided to add a fresh raspberry puree to top off the ice cream simply because we love the flavor combo of  the classic 'peach melba'.  Mmmm, can't go wrong with this pair!

Fresh Peach Ice Cream
(adapted from "The Perfect Scoop")


6 large fresh peaches (or frozen, we freeze peaches ever summer)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice


Place a large bowl or metal container in the freezer to chill before you begin.
This container is what you'll put the finished ice cream in and so it will be already be pre-chilled.
Peel, slice and pit the fresh peaches.
Add the sugar to the peaches.
With an immersion blender or hand-held electric beater, blend peaches and sugar with sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Blend only until peaches are nice and chunky, not pureed.
Pour the peach mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Freeze for several hours or overnight until your desired level of firmness is achieved.


Fresh Raspberry Coulis


2 baskets of fresh raspberries
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. raspberry jam/preserves


In a medium bowl, puree the raspberries with an immersion blender.
Pour the pureed raspberries into a medium sauce pan.
Using a sieve, pour the mixture through and press lightly to separate the juices of the berries from the skin and seeds into a bowl.
Discard the seeds and flesh (put them in your composite pile if you have one).
Add sugar to the juice that has the seeds and skin/flesh removed.
Return to the pan on a medium to high temperature burner on the stove.
Add raspberry jam/preserves.
Bring to a boil and stir for about 3 minutes.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Serve with your favorite flavor of ice cream or pound cake.

add sour cream to the sweetened peaches

 add heavy cream

 add vanilla

 with immersion blender, give it all a whirl and keep the peaches fairly chunky, not pureed

Mangia!

have some fun and take a trip to your favorite roadside produce stand this summer!

I haven't joined in a foodie blog hop for some time now due to a year of serious career demands, 

but I'm sharing this today over at

The Tablescaper's 'Seasonal Sundays' and 

A Slice of Southern's 'Southern Sundays'.  

After all, it's nice to share isn't it?

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