Annual Recipe Column
Yes, you asked for it, the annual recipe column. If you are an experienced chef or cook, as they say in France and in all the old W. C. Fields movies, “C’est fini,” in other words, stop reading, these recipes are not for you. These recipes are strictly for the woman or man in a hurry or who just love EASY and fast things to cook.
As one speaker said, “The first time I quote a famous person, I always use their name when using the quote. The next time I quote this famous person, I say, a man/woman once said. The third time I quote the famous person, I say someone once said.” These recipes are of the third kind, someone once told me this recipe.
It’s Italian night at your house and you can make the most famous Italian dish with only four ingredients found readily in every kitchen. Spaghetti Aglio Et Olio, translated spaghetti with garlic and oil. Boil spaghetti whatever kind is on hand until it is “al dente”(translated it means when you can take a piece of spaghetti and bite it into easily, but not too easy).
In a skillet, saute some pieces of minced garlic in some oil, drop in a few red pepper flakes, the kind they put on top of a pizza, stir in the spaghetti and pour everything in a bowl. Viola!
It is said that every Italian man knows this recipe in case his wife or mother is not at home when he needs a quick meal. Introduce your whole group to this quick recipe, even the cat likes it. Non-purists like some shredded Parmesan cheese and a drop of lemon juice on top.
Quick I need an EASY and fast dessert for the hungry masses or for a potluck dinner. Again, you only need three basic ingredients, a bag of the cheapest cookies you can find, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, whatever your taste. Layer these cookies in the bottom of a container, reserve a few for garnish. Poor milk on top, let it soak the cookies, but not sloppy, then put a layer of cool whip and garnish with some of the crushed cookies. That’s it.
One more before we close the book on recipe week. Four basic ingredients, this one will require an oven, oh, drats!
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a metal jelly roll pan or another flat pan with a lip, melt a stick of butter or margarine, then take a sleeve of salted saltines, put a single layer of these in the melted butter, heat for 8 minutes, 9-10 may be too much. Next take out the pan with the butter and saltines and throw, I mean place, some chocolate chips, some small dollops of peanut butter, let everything rest for a few minutes until the chips start to melt, gently swirl everything together and smooth out to the edges of the pan.
Place pan in the refrigerator, the mixture will harden and can be broken off like peanut brittle. “Someone” once called this recipe, “Salty Sweeties.” I call it addictive.
Bon appetit, Y’all!