girlgonegrits: spritzer

It was a few years ago that I first had the honor of meeting Shelley from FranishSpeaks. It was at the first Austin Food Swap and not knowing what to expect, I showed up so nervous about my wares that I simply looked for the friendly smile of anyone to cling too. I know that sounds cheesy but it's true. There was Shelley smiling away and eager to put the first handshake forward. Since then we have become friends as well as fellow food bloggers. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when she announced she was going to have a little girl. Her friend and fellow food blogger Ilke came up with this great idea to host a virtual food shower. Bloggers were invited to post one of there "freezer friendly" recipes during the week of June 27th. This would give plenty of time for Shelly to prepare and freeze a number of go-to, heat-and-serve meals for when that sweet little Baby Ruby makes her debut in August. So what do you cook for a dad who is a professional chef and a mom who is a trained pastry chef? As daunting as that may seem, I know that their professions will be the last thing they are thinking about after being up all night with that sweet little one. Many of us have been there and we know that just about anything that can be thrown together quickly or heated up fast will fit the bill and be appreciated. But even with that, the challenge is still to make a dish packed with flavor so I thought I would do a pasta recipe that my family loves and, as a Steel Magnolia once said, "freezes beautifully". After all, Baby Ruby is a soon-to-be special dinner guest and though she may not be eating the same food as her parents, she will definitely be the honored guest at the dinner table... I'm jus' sayin'!

Ruby Red Tomato Pasta Bake

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound tube pasta such as penne or rigatoni (I used Trottole because I had it on hand)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), halved horizontally (I sliced mine 1/4" thin while still frozen. Pre-cutting and cooking at this size saves valuable cooking time)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. of crushed garlic
6 cups whole milk
1 large portabella mushroom, finely diced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella (6 ounces)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
1 cup of bread crumbs (I used day-old garlic bread that I put in my food processor to create crumbs)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season sliced chicken with salt and pepper. Saute until golden. Set aside.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in mozzarella and parmesan.
Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each casserole with 1/2 cup of bread crumbs.
Wrap one in plastic wrap and then foil to tuck away in the freezer. Make sure you put a little sticky note or write with a sharpie on the foil that there is a layer of plastic wrap under the foil. (no new parent should have to deal with that mess) Also, if you are giving the freezer one away, place a card with the re-heating directions directly with the dish.
Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Speck of Ruby Salad

Ingredients:

1 head of butter lettuce

1 Rio Red Ruby Grapefruit, peeled and supremed (reserve juice)

1 avocado peeled and sliced
Dried Cranberries
Crumbled Blue Cheese

Grapefruit Vinaigrette:

Reserved juice from grapefruit and enough extra to make up 1/4 cup of juice.

1 Tablespoon of Agave or Honey

1 Teaspoon of Honey Mustard

Salt & Pepper to taste

6 Tablespoons of olive oil

In a small jar combine the ingredients and shake vigorously until thick and emulsified. Keep leftover in fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Gently wash and tear lettuce into large leaf bite sizes. Arrange the avocado and grapefruit slices on lettuce leaves. Sprinkle dried cranberries and cheese over the top.
Drizzle with vinaigrette.

http://youtu.be/kjIGU4BCpn8

Ruby Red Spritzer

Pomegranate Juice

Sparkling Water

Pitted Cherries.

Fresh Lime juice

Drizzle of Agave syrup (too taste)

Ice

In a tall, ice-filled glass, fill 1/3 of the glass with pomegranate juice. Fill the glass with sparkling water and drizzle agave and squeezed fresh lime to taste. Garnish by floating a cherry or two on top. Now sit back for a moment and relax as theses moments will be rare.