Trash TV

I adore trash tv. The hour between when I get home and when V gets home is my private time to watch whatever trash tv I want. Pretty much the only shows I actively dislike are the Kardashians, The Hills, The City.... I'm sure there are more... hehe

On of my favorite shows is the Real Housewives of New Jersey. I can't stand any of the other Real Houswife series but this one I'm always excited to watch. V actually really likes this one also so it's fun to watch it together and gossip about the people on the show. There's one lady on the show, Theresa, is a trip. She's first generation Italian and is supposedly a great cook. And she came out with her own cookbook. And I bought... accidentally on purpose.

I didn't want to buy it. I tried really hard to avoid buying it. But, I follow her on twitter and people kept telling her how much they love her recipes and how they've lost weight cooking from her book and how everyone they cook for loves the recipes also. So, after weeks of hearing this, and finding the book on sale with free shipping, I decided to go ahead and buy the book. The little stories in the book don't do much for me. If I could cut the book apart and just keep the recipes, I would like it a lot better. She does have some good tips about how to make a massive batch of tomato sauce base, then can it and use it as the base for a multitude of other recipes. I think I might try that. She also recommends buying dried pasta with duram wheat because it's the traditional kind of wheat used in Italy and isn't broken down and bleached like most pasta flours. So it's almost like a whole wheat.

Anyway, last night was the first night I made anything from her cookbook. I made baked chicken with lemon basil sauce and rosemary roasted potatoes.

The potatoes are really my recipe. I've been growing rosemary and basil in little pots outside. I cut new potatoes into little bits and tossed it with chopped rosemary and a little bit of olive oil. Then I roasted at 400 for 15 minutes then 430 for 30 minutes (I just made up that timing last night, but it worked really well.)

The lemon basil sauce was so yummy and tasty. Basically, you put a small garlic clove, a big handful of basil, juice from one lemon, two glugs of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor. Then if it needs to be thinned out add a tiny bit of water. I added too much water last night but I just drained it a little and it was fine. I would definitely recommend this sauce for fish, chicken, steak. It might be good on veggies too. Enjoy!