Your Favorite Secret Recipe

[FlyingClayDisk]

I saw another thread here earlier where members are discussing corn and some recipes. I tend to do a lot of scratch cooking in my home, but over the years I have found that I have kinda narrowed down the "weekly rotation" to a small set of dishes that I like, that I just eat over and over, and I am craving for something new.

Share with me your wildest and tastiest "secret" recipes. I'll try my best to replicate. I need some ideas for new dishes to cook to add variety to the menu. Oftentimes, I don't actually follow a recipe, but use it as "inspiration" for something similar or maybe even "doctored up" (as my grandfather used to say) into something a bit more spectacular.

Here's one of mine to get started:

Linguine With White Clam Sauce

The linguine:

9 minutes in a pot of rapidly boiling water with 1 tsp salt. Drop a full box of linguine (I prefer Barilla, but anything will do) after a rolling boil. Return to boil and immediately reduce heat to 1/2. Cook 9 minutes or until noodles are "Al Dente" or mostly soft, with an ever so slight crunch. Drain in a colander and immediately dowse with cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

The Sauce:

- 2,  3.5 oz cans chopped clams with juice. (I use dox-see clams in the can... you can use real clams but you'll need some of the juice)
- 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup white table wine (I usually use a chardonnay or pinot-grigio - whatever is cheapest on shopping day - I also salt my wine) (non-alcoholics may substitute lemon juice in 1/2 the amount + water)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp or 3 cloves crushed or minced raw garlic
- Dried basil for garnish

1. Place olive oil in a skillet and heat until sizzling
2. Add garlic and onion
3. Fry until fragrant and onions are translucent
4. Add italian seasoning, cook at full temp for 1 minute to release flavor, then reduce heat
5. Add clams with liquid and wine or lemon juice
6. Simmer until reduced by 1/2
7. Add salt and pepper to taste, or possibly leave this out if serving guests
8. In a large bowl or dutch oven, mix drained noodles and reduced sauce - mix well.
9. Plate the servings and garnish with a dusting of dried basil all over the dish

Garlic bread and steamed asparagus make a nice accompaniment. Despite this being a white wine dish, I do enjoy it with a red - Beaujoulais-Village seems to work well. A chocolate based dessert also goes well with this meal.

One of my favorite dishes, Linguine with White Clam Sauce.  I've got a variation on this dish which will blow your socks clean off your feet.  This is an InstaPot recipe and it's fantastic!

Go to the store and buy some garlic, a shallot, a can of Delallo or Progresso white clam sauce, a can of chopped clams, a bottle of clam juice.  You'll also need 1/2 box of linguine.  I'll assume you have butter and some white wine handy (preferably chardonnay)

Set your instapot (IP) to saute, and add a quarter stick of butter.  Chop about half a shallot and saute in the butter.  Right before the shallot is sauteed, add in 2 cloves of chopped garlic (you don't want this to cook long, maybe 1 minute).  Switch the IP to pressure cook and set for 6 minutes.   Add in the whole bottle of clam juice, the can of white clam sauce, and just the juice from the can of clams (not the clams...yet).  You can add about 1/4 cup of white wind here also.  Break the linguine in half drop in the pot.

Put the lid on the IP and let 'er rip for 6 minutes on high pressure.  When it's done you will have a feast fit for a King!!  But...but...WAIT!...what about the clams??  Yeah, so when the 6 minutes is up, vent the IP and stir in the clams and some Romano cheese.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes and it will thicken as the clams heat through.  Now you can eat your King's feast!

Oh, and be sure to add some good Romano cheese at the end (sacrilege for white sauces, I know, but just trust me...it's awesome!). 

Side note - I love Linguine with White Clam sauce so much that I have about (25) different recipes for it!  This particular recipe is both delicious and fast, because sometimes I want this dish so badly I just ain't got the time to waste...gettin' it in me belleh'!