"J" is back with a vengance!

He's BAAAAACK!  This meal was "J's" re-entry into solo performance (as "A" has been tag-teaming a lot with him recently).  His re-entry?  Not disappointing.

It starts out with a basil cream mixture.

Which gets put with egg and pasta flour (homemade basil pesto pasta, folks).

The beautiful pasta dough.  You can see the flakes of fresh basil!

Rolled out, and ready to shape!

Hand-shaped, ya'll!  Isn't "J" incredible?

So cute, but very time consuming.  "J" made the comment that it was one of the most intense (time wise) meals he's made thus far.

As they do in Italy (when in Rome, right?).  Sun-dried pasta.  This drying procedure allows you to use the pasta whenever you want!  Store it for later.  We, of course, opted to use it immediately.  Was just fun to try a new method.

For the pasta, we used the first squash from the garden!

There she is!

Just after picking.  It's so rewarding (more so for "J" and "A", as they tend to the garden daily) to be able to walk into your back yard, pull a fresh ingredient and use it immediately!

My dad has a garden of his own, and last weekend sent me home with one of his squashes.  We used both!

Here is the sun-dried basil pasta, ready to be cooked!

In addition to the squash, steak was included in the pasta.

And, lots of cheese!  This is a fresh mozzarella.

Fresh shredded Parmesan as well!

Okay, I had to include this.  There were two party fouls, both made by me during the scope of the evening.  First: The wine bottle fell out of the fridge (an unopened bottle no less) and shattered everywhere (including the wine...boo).  Next, while trying to clean that mess, I broke a glass in the sink.  Sorry "J" and "A"!

As the pasta process was underway, we enjoyed a fresh/homemade pea soup!

Included in the soup was a special treat.  A huge scallop!

The scallops grilling up nicely.

Nice grill marks, huh?  And, notice the steak starting to cook.

Getting poured.....

Beautiful color. 

A little dollop of cheese...

With the scallop.

And some fresh mint.  Included in the soup was butter, cream, pureed mint, chicken stock, peas and various other seasonings.  It was so delicious.  I had never had pea soup.  Grew up on peas, as a side-dish to most of our dinners (so, like them).  But, had never thought of pea soup.  It was so creamy, and had just the perfect amount of pea flavor.  The chicken stock helped even the flavor out, of course with the cream.  The scallop?  Cooked to perfection.  Had a buttery flavor, and definitely "made" the dish!  Great fresh starter.

Here is the squash cooking up nicely!  Have you ever eaten raw squash?  I do all the time.  I like it as a crudites, along with bell peppers, carrots, etc.  "J" had never heard of having squash raw.  Tried it, and liked it!  It's best, of course, dipped in a ranch sauce.  :)

Here are the steaks, cooking on their first side (you saw them flipped in the scallop picture above)

Here is the mixture ready to be mixed with the pasta.  It contains the steak, fresh tomatoes, squash, the Parmesan cheese, fresh basil and rosemary.

Pasta out of the water!

All mixed together!  Notice the chunks of mozzarella (added at the last). 

This dish was so fresh.  Not having a sauce made it incredible.  Just the fresh ingredients of the tomatoes and squash made it.  The tomatoes bursted in your mouth, and had such a sweet flavor! 

For dessert?  A local treat, from Ingrid's Kitchen.  Chocolate pie, strawberry cupcake and peanut butter cupcake. 

Can't have that type of dessert without a fresh glass of Braum's milk.  We even made a run to Braum's to get the milk....it's that good.

We each had a sampling of all desserts.  Perfect ending, to another great Not So Mundane Monday. 

Until next time.....A la cuisine!

Not 1, Not 2, but 3 meals made out of one!

"A" celebrated her parents anniversary this past weekend with a surprise anniversary party (which they pulled off successfully!).  Both her and "J" made homemade brisket, among other delicious items.  This homemade brisket, including a homemade bbq sauce, is what we used this week for our meal.  So, left-overs for our first meal with a third meal as well (our lunch).  Unreal, right?  That you could get three different amazing meals out of one.  The start of this first left-over meal included a fresh watermelon (adult) beverage.

"A" took cut-up watermelon and blended it with a variety of other items (vodka being one..insert smiley face). 

A sprig of fresh mint, from the garden, as a garnish.  The drink was SO refreshing.  A great way to start a meal!

Appetizers included sliced cucumber with a cream cheese mixture and toppings which included tomatoes (from the garden) and a fresh mango salsa.  Delish!

I had some avocados from the weekend, so I brought them to make my "famous" guacamole.  This offering didn't "go" with the meal; but who doesn't like guacamole regardless of what you're having?

In my guac I include chopped tomatoes, sour cream, juice from a lime and a seasoning packet (as well as salt and pepper).

These avocados were perfectly ripe!

A trick I learned is to place a few of the pits in with the finished product.  It keeps it from turning that yuck brown color, while sitting out.

See?  This has been sitting out for a few hours, and still green as can be!  Much more appetizing, if you are grazing on it all evening.

So, I couldn't help but put this photo in.  This is a sunflower, which graces the garden in the back yard.  Beautiful, isn't it?  We need to try and figure out how to get the sunflower seeds out of it!  I love me some sunflower seeds.  Lately the one's flavored in pickle seasonings are my favorite.

Our first squash!  Should be ready in a few more weeks.  Stay tuned.

"J" getting some onions for the meal!

First one

Our first bundle!  So neat to pull from the ground, and use!

So, here's the brisket left-over from Saturday. 

The meal starts with the onions, from the garden, getting golden brown on the stove top.

Then the brisket, which has been shredded, gets added along with some of the homemade (yes folks, homemade) bbq sauce.

That goes into a tortilla sandwich with cheese, and grilled.  Hello shredded brisket quesadillas!

Look at how golden brown the tortilla is?!?!  The cheese oozing out?!?!  I think so!

So tangy and filling (the meat was incredible) and just completely hit the spot.

For dessert?  A homemade apricot pie.  Although "J" could easily make this, it came straight from the heart of my 81 year old grandmother.  She's good.

Homemade whip cream for it though!

My slice.  I meant to get a photo of it with the whip cream on top, but forgot.  Was too excited to dive in and eat it!

So, how did we turn the left-over bbq brisket into yet a third meal?

Well, you start off with some fresh mint from the garden.  Which will make for some incredible tea.

Very refreshing for a lunch-time drink.

Then you start with melted butter.

A double-broiler.

The yolk of an egg.  Mixed to death.  :)

And mixed to death over the heat.

More mixing.

The melted butter joining the fun, while more mixing is happening.

Still joining, and mixing. 

Eggs cooked over-easy.

A wonderful tip here: Use a biscuit cutter to control the eggs while cooking.  No more whites running all across the pan!

English muffins are next.  Nice and toasted!

Then the left-over (for the third time) bbq brisket.

One egg.....

Two eggs, and some fruit!

For the sauce: The butter egg mixture from above, which made a wonderful hollandaise

 sauce.  Mixed to perfection.  No packet here.  Great job "A"! 

Look how fabulous?  The egg yolk running out and mixing with the hollandaise sauce.  Add the crunchy texture of the english muffin, and the savory flavor of the meat.  Perfection.

Folks, not yolks (ha!), unreal.  McDonald's has nothing on us!

And done.  What a "hit the spot" lunch this was.

This was a great series, learning how to make a not so mundane meal into terrific Tuesday lunches!  With "A" starting back to school soon (those dang kids!) we wont have this special lunch-time "time" together again (for a while at least).  It's definitely been fun.  Who knows what's next for JAK.  You better stay tuned!

Until next time...... A la cuisine!