A quick Meal # 1

Today, I will talk about cooking. One of my favorite things to do is to cook and work in the kitchen. Even though I hate to do dishes, I still do them, as it is a good workout, which accompanies making the food.

Many of you may be eating things that were prepared before they even left the factory. But for me, this is no fun and usually tastes like an old shoe. So for the first thing I will teach you, is the one thing that many people have a hard time with. That is white sauce. For this meal, you will need the following items:

Meal # 1
2-3 decent sized cloves of garlic
3 cups of milk
¼ cup of butter (this can be margarine)
1 pack of shimeji mushrooms or White Mushrooms
2-3 tablespoons of flour
1 whole tomato
½ head of lettuce
6-8 rounds of fettuccine
1 can of cream corn
1.5 cups water
1 tablet of consommé
1 head of broccoli

This meal consists of three components. A salad, pasta and soup.
For the salad, we like to keep it simple. We wash the lettuce and tomato thoroughly removing the outside layers of the lettuce. Chop the lettuce in 1-inch squares. Cut the core out of the tomato with a paring knife. Cut it in half and then cut the halves into ½ inch squares.

Place a portion of the lettuce in a dinner bowl and then sprinkle the tomatoes over the top. Repeat this for the number of people in your group. You can put a light Italian dressing over it or mix up the proverbial vinegar and oil with a touch of pepper. The salad is now ready.

The corn consommé soup is nice and simple. Put the can of cream corn in a saucepan. Add the 1.5 cups of water and the consommé tablet. Heat and stir the mixture. Let the pan cook over a medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and serve in small bowls.

The final thing is the mushroom cream sauce and fettuccine. You can put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. While the water is boiling, you can prepare the garlic and other things. First, place the cloves of garlic on a cutting board. Using a large cutting knife, smash the cloves slightly by laying the knife on the clove and hitting the flattened knife with a closed fist. BE CAREFUL WITH THIS. Repeat this for each of the cloves of garlic.

Remove the shells from the cloves and chop them in nice small chunks. Now place a small amount of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Turn on the heat until the pan is hot then turn to medium. Add the butter or margarine and the garlic to the pan.

Once the butter is melted, add the milk and bring to a decent bubble. While the milk is heating, wash and cut the mushrooms. Add to the mixture after about 5 minutes. Continue cooking the mixture for about 5 more minutes, stirring generously.

You can now wash and cut the tops of the head of the broccoli. Start a pot of water boiling. The water for the pasta should be boiling by this time. You can add the fettuccine to the water and be sure to set a time for the allotted time of cooking. Be sure to stir the pasta occasionally while doing the other things.

Now add the flour to the cream sauce mixture, gently sprinkling it over the mixture and stirring at the same time. Continue stirring and cooking it. The sauce should begin to thicken. At this point, add salt and pepper to the mixture as desired. Don't over salt. The person eating the food can always add salt.

It will likely take about 10 minutes more for the sauce to form to a decent consistency. By now the pot of water for the broccoli should be boiling. You can put the broccoli in the water. Cook for about 5 minutes

At this point you should have the pasta cooked and drained. Add it to the cream sauce and mix it up good. Take the broccoli off the stove and drain good. Place in a bowl and salt lightly.

Serve the pasta in small to medium portions on a pasta plate. Add 3-4 pieces of broccoli to the plate. While the contents of the pasta are a bit fattening, it is the balance of the meal and the portions that matter. You can add a bit of fruit to the meal as a desert or a combination of yogurt and fruit.

This meal serves 3-4 adults.