Simple pasta with balsamic vinegar

This dish is very much what you make of it - it can be as complex or simple as your mood and contents of your pantry. Here's the barebones version, add or remove components as you like. Don't skimp on the quality of the balsamic vinegar, there's reasonably good cheap stuff out there, and aged vinegars tasty enough to drink straight from the bottle. This is what makes it work.

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

Pasta (fresh if you have it)

Sausage (optional)

Coarsely chopped onion

Chopped brown mushrooms

Red wine

Grated hard cheese (example: asiago, parmesan)

Aged balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

Butter (optional, but delicious!)

Start your water boiling in a pot with a dash of salt.

In a pan, add a mixture of olive oil and butter heating up. Add the chopped onions and mushrooms. Once the onions start to go soft, add the sausage and a bit of salt.

Add pasta to the water once it's boiling.

When the mushrooms have begun to brown, the onions have started going see-through, and the sausage looks ok, add a splash of decent red wine - enough to coat just the bottom of the pan. Continue heating the pan as the wine thickens a little, then remove heat and set aside.

Drain the pasta, toss it into a bowl. Add the onion/mushroom/sausage mixture and stir. Add 2tbsp balsamic vinegar and toss. (You may want to add a bit of olive oil if it's looking dry, the object here is to ensure the pasta is coated with delicious.) Season with salt and pepper until it is amazing. Done!

Frellnik learns to cook

[19:58] <@frellnik> blue cheese, bacon, set aside, make grilled onions, dijon mustard, dill pickles, hardboiled egg, and i'd be drinking a boat!!

Buckeyes

My family always made these rich, "crack bombs", if you will for Christmas time when I was a child. One batch makes quite a few depending on how big you make them, and they will take awhile to eat up, so I'd suggest freezing the left overs. (unless you are an absolute chocolate-peanut butter fiend!)

3/4 lb margarine
2 lbs powdered sugar
1 pint peanut butter
12 oz chocolate chips (semi sweet)
1 7oz jar marshmellow creme
1/4-1/2 cake paraffin

Mix first four ingredients well. form into balls . refrigerate for several hours. melt chocolate chips and paraffin in double broiler. Dip the balls into the chocolate with a toothpick. Let cool

(Some number of) layer dip

This is the dish that I bring to almost every pot luck I go to and is frequently requested by friends. It actually makes really good leftovers, however, I've only had some left once so don't take this to a party expecting to eat it for lunch the next day. XD

Difficulty: Casual

Taco Meat:
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp salt
1.5 Tbs chili powder
3/4 cup salsa
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs olive oil if the beef is really low fat

Layers:
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use reduced fat and no one notices)
Small container sour cream (again, I use reduced fat)
2 medium avocados
12 oz can of tomatoes with green chilis
Ranch style beans (if I've made them)
Onion (I don't include this, but my mom does)

Brown the beef with all of the taco meat seasonings and pour into the bottom of a large Pyrex baking dish (mine is 9.5*13.5*2). Slice avocados and layer on. Drain can of tomatoes and pour on for the next layer. Repeat with the beans and onions. For the final two layers coat the dish in sour cream and then add the final layer of cheese. Serve with chips.

This dish is so easy to make, but will be a HUGE hit with your gaming group. Feel free to go on about how much work you put into the dip, I won't tell. ;)