Recipes made by Smart & Final Smarties using La Romanella Products

I am a member of Smart & Final's Smarties.  Right now,  there are 80 members in this group.  Recently, several of us were asked to share a recipe with our readers using La Romanella products from Smart & Final.  This is so easy for us to do because there are so many products in this line!  I posted my recipe last week along with a couple other Smarties.  I wanted to share with you their recipe.

My friend Sara Hawkins of SavingForSomeday made a delicious recipe: Spinach Stuffed Shells.  She also included a dessert recipe that sounds divine: Roasted Stone Fruit with Honey-Blood Orange Ricotta Creme.  Her pictures make you want to be invited for dinner.


My other friend is also named Sara!  You can imagine my husband's confusion when I'm talking about Sara!!  It's always, " Which Sara!"  Well, her blog is SuperSavingSense.  Her blog is all about saving MONEY!!!  So she created a dish that would taste great, be easy to make with kids and cost conscience.  She whipped up Grilled Chicken Pasta with Asparagus.  I just love Asparagus!


Please, check out their recipes; they are fantastic.  


Just as a reminder....


Smart & Final is giving away a fabulous trip for two to Sonoma Wine Country.  Have you checked it out yet?  Well, you still have a chance if you haven't.  The contest is open until March 8, 2011.  You have to be 21 in enter but I don't believe that's a problem for my readers!!  What a wonderful getaway!  You could go with your honey and have a very romantic time.  Another idea is to take a girl friend along.  Anyways, click here to enter and GOOD LUCK!!  I would be thrilled if one of my readers won!

Smart & Final's La Romanella Facebook Contest

Have a FABULOUS day and make it GREAT!

Smart & Final La Romanella Products, Giveway, and Recipe

Smart & Final has a wonderful product line:

Here are a few products from La Romanella:

Mediterranean Inspired Cooking
using La Romanella Products
sold at Smart & Final

Smart & Final is having a wonderful Giveaway!



They are promoting their La Romanella products by having an amazing contest/giveaway on Facebook.  Enter here for your chance to win a trip for two to Sonoma Wine Country!

Smart & Final sent me a box full of their La Romanella products and asked me if I would like to share a Mediterranean inspired recipe with my friends & followers.  Well, of course, I said "yes."   It's really wonderful  when a company is asking you to try out their products and cook a nice meal for the ones you love!  Smart & Final also gave me a $25 gift certificate to buy any additional items for my dinner.  Right now they are having a fabulous deal:  Buy a bottle of Turning Leaf Wine for $5.99 and get a package of selective varieties (16 ounces) La Romanella Pasta Free!  I sure did take advantage of this promotion! (Promotion good through 2/22)

First, I had to investigate what would make a recipe Mediterranean.  I checked out this website to get my answers.  I was surprised by the wide range of countries that actually made up the Mediterranean area.  Mediterranean cuisine is defined by the preparation of food in three regions: North African (particularly Morocco), eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey), and southern Europe (Italy, France, and Spain).  As you can see, I could go in many different directions with the recipes!  

I browsed the internet to find the perfect recipe that was considered Mediterranean that my husband would enjoy.  There are so many to choose from so go and explore!  I picked a few recipes that I felt would be easy to prepare with the wonderful ingredients from the La Romanella line.  I asked my husband to pick from them.  His choice:
 

Penne Pasta with Blue Cheese and Mushrooms (I modified this recipe to our liking)

  1 package of La Romanella Penne Pasta

    1 Medium onion - finely chopped

    2 Clove of garlic - finely chopped

    1 Teaspoon of dried tarragon

    1lb. Of mushrooms - sliced

    1 Cup of vegetable or chicken stock

    8ozs. Of good blue cheese - Gorgonzola       

    1 Bunch of flat leaf parsley

    La Romanella  extra virgin olive oil

    La Romanella Parmesan to sprinkle

    Salt and black pepper to taste

    10 Cherry tomatoes: cut lengthwise

    1 sweet red pepper

Method

First fry the onions, mushrooms, red pepper and tomatoes in some of the olive oil in a non stick fry pan - on a good heat - making sure they are well browned. This takes about 10 minutes.  

Turn down the heat and add the garlic - cook for five minutes stirring as you go.

Now add the stock and tarragon and reduce until sticky. About 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile you can cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water for about 8-9 minutes.

Crumble the blue cheese into the sauce - add half the parsley and salt and pepper to taste, giving it a good stir.

Drain the pasta, return to the pan and add the sauce - mix well.

Spoon onto 4 dinner plates. 

Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and the rest of the parsley.

This was an easy recipe to make.  Although, I really did make a big mess in the kitchen while making it! 


P.S. My husband loved it!  Worth the mess I made in the kitchen.

Please, go check out Smart & Final's La Romanella line; they have so many great products.

Disclaimer:  I was compensated for my time from Collective Bias.  All of my opinions are truly mine.  I will always share my honest opinions.  

Cooking with Smart & Final's New Coffee line: Ambiance

Coffee Marinated Sirloin Steak

I'm trying a new coffee brand from Smart & Final, Ambiance, that is being released to the public this January.  One of their new flavors I'm trying is French Roast.  It is a dark roast coffee which really isn't my thing but my husband likes it.  He travels often so I needed to find another way to use this coffee.  I didn't want the coffee to go stale so I decided to try a new recipe that uses brewed coffee in a marinade. Here's the  recipe I'm trying: Coffee Marinated Sirloin Steak, where the marinade adds creaminess to the steak.  An added bonus – the coffee’s acidity tenderizes the meat as well.

 I'm trying it tomorrow night.  Since I work during the day, I plan to make the marinade tonight and have my husband add the steak in the afternoon.  When I looked through the ingredient list, I was pleasantly surprised because the ingredients (except for the steak)  can be found in most households so this would also make a great cost-saving recipe!  The only ingredient that you may not have on hand is fresh ginger.  When I was running errands today, I stopped at the grocery store and purchased it.  Ginger is very inexpensive, the cost for two inches was just 33 cents!

I have been looking for recipes using coffee and the site where I found this recipe is: http://www.brewed-coffee.com/coffee/coffee-marinated-sirloin/.  The recipe was originally posted in The Canadian Press.

So, without further chatter from me, here's the recipe:

 Coffee Marinated Sirloin

Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours (20 minutes active)

Servings: 4

1 1/2 cups cold coffee
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/2-inch chunk fresh ginger
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Four 8-ounce bottom sirloin steaks (or other tender, broiler-friendly cut)
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

In a blender or food processor, combine the coffee, pepper flakes, peanut butter, honey and ginger. Puree until smooth, then taste and season with salt and pepper.

Pour half of the marinade in a baking dish. Set the steaks in the baking dish, then pour the remaining marinade over them. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

When ready to cook, preheat the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the steak, in batches if necessary, and sear until lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Transfer the steaks to the prepared baking sheet. For medium-rare, broil for 7 to 8 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the steak reads 135 F.

Let the steaks rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Easy Menu for New Years Eve

I plan to have a few people over for New Year's Eve  and want to keep it simple.  The menu is so easy to prepare with the help of my husband!  Because I want to keep it simple, I'm only preparing two of the dishes and plan to purchase a cheese and vegetable platter.

New Year’s Eve Main Dish

The Best Barbecue Wings

The Barbecue Sauce:

1 slice bacon

1 bunch of fresh thyme

extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped (I use more, just cause I like garlic)

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablesp. red or white wine vinegar

1 tablesp. dry mustard

1 teasp. ground cumin

1 teasp. paprika (not the sharp type)

black pepper

First Street Chicken Party Wings, sold in a 4 lb bag for $7.00 (that’s only $1.75 a pound)

Thaw the wings 

To make the sauce:

Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle.  Heat about 2 tablesp. of oil in a large sauce pan over low to medium heat.  Add the thyme and cook slowly for 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste.  Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly for 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove bacon bundle.

While sauce in simmering, heat outside grill to medium heat.  

Make sure that your grill has a thin coating of oil on the grates to help prevent the wings from sticking to grates.  Coat the wings lightly with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on wings and grill for 10 minutes (5minutes each side).  Preheat kitchen oven to 375 degrees F.  

Take the grilled chicken and place on cookie sheets covered with non-stick foil. Remove 1 cup of sauce from simmering pot and brush wings with this.  Place in oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes (until done!) 

Place wings on platter and serve with remaining sauce.

Along with this:

BLACK BEAN SALSA

2 cans drained black beans

1/3 cup small diced red pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped purple onion

1/4 cup small chopped unpeeled cucumber

2  tablesp. small diced celery

2  tablesp. minced jalepeno pepper (deseeded)

1  tablesp. chopped fresh basil

2  tablesp. olive oil

2  tablesp. tomato juice (or 1/2 cup salsa)

2  tablesp. red wine vinegar

1  tablesp. lemon juice

1 1/2 teasp. chopped fresh thyme

1/2    teasp. ground cumin

1/2    teasp. chili powder

1/4    teasp. salt

1/4    teasp. pepper

1 crushed clove of garlic

Mission Tortilla Chips (selected varieties, 22 OZ. @ $1.99 at Smart & Final)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.  Check seasonings and adjust to taste.  This dish will last one week refrigerated.  Prep time: 30 minutes, no cook time!

Enjoy this tasty Sala & chips with Shasta Soda (varieties on sale for $0.59 at Smart and Final) (Limit 10)

What are you planning to serve for your New Year's Eve gathering?

Happy New Year!!!!