Mushroom Fettucine with Cheese Sauce — Presto Pasta Nights

I am hosting Presto Pasta Nights, PPN, this week.  This is a joy for me.  I have the time to study the recipes that come in and even make them, early on.  I meet new bloggers and discover new blogs.  Hosting is fun.  Please send your pasta recipes to chayathecomfycook at yahoo dot com and cc to Ruth at ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com, no later than this coming Thursday night.  Looking forward to your delicious sharing.

We just happened to have pasta for lunch.  Such a coincidence!

When I decided to make pasta, I knew, I wanted to use the ingredients, in the house.  What did I want to use up, was really the question.  I had almost a whole package of fresh button mushrooms and I had cream cheese and of course, fettucini.  That was to be the basis of this meal.

Mushroom Fettucine with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package fettucini

2 tablespoons margarine

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons margarine

1 (3 ounce) packagewhipped  cream cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 cup water drained from pasta

1/4 pound smoked salmon

Method:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

Add gluten free fettucini, and cook until tender.  Follow package directions.  (Save a cup of drained water.)

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons margarine in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add mushroomsand cook for two minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

 

  

In the same pan, melt 1 additional tablespoon margarine.

Stir in the cream cheese, breaking it up with a spoon as it melts.

Add the smoked salmon (lox) and cook for another minute.

Stir in the parsley and basil.

Add one tablespoons, at a time of drained water, until it becomes the correct consistency for the sauce.

Stir in  and mushrooms, and heat through.

Toss fettucini with mushrooms and eat and enjoy.

 

Check out Simply Hot Recipes at the Crazy Kitchen and Mouthwatering Mondays and Tasty Tuesday and Gluten Free Wednesdays and Strut Your Stuff

Basic Muffins Adopt a Style – Mark Bittman IHCC Savory Sausage Muffins

I did not need Mark Bittman to tell me that muffins are versatile and our imagination dictates the combinations but I was thankful for his suggestions as to types of muffins.  I would not have thought of what I ended doing if I had not read the entire article.  I can’t seem to find the article online although I am sure that is where I read it.  If you come across it, please let me know and I will add the URL here.

The theme this week, at IHCC, is Breakfast in Bed and what is better than muffins for breakfast and they go so well with my Egg Pie or scrambled eggs or an omelet.

Mark Bittman’s Basic Muffins    12 muffins       adapted

Savory Sausage Muffins

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons  canola, plus cooking spray to grease the muffin tin
2 cups rice flour mixture all-purpose flour   (1 cup white or brown rice,  2/3 cup potato starch,  1/3 cup tapioca flour)

2 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed  (I used Rice Dream)

1 sausage, sliced and then cut into thirds (each piece)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Grease a standard 12-compartment muffin tin.
Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Beat together the egg, milk, and butter or oil.

Make a well in the center-of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it.

Add sausage and red pepper.

 Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened.

The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of them comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve warm.

Submitted to Sunday Favorites  and Flashback Fridays and Tasty Tuesday