Shrimp Scampi

Butter... Paula Dean's favorite dessert. It's good in most things and shrimp scampi is no exception. I love this dish because it's amazingly simple and incredibly versatile. Can be served with pasta and/or crisp bread. I chose to do both because we ended up with unexpected visitors the night we served this and wanted a more filling plate.


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November Issue - "Sizzling Shrimp Scampi"

1 stick of unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Zest from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Fresh Gruyere cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450 F.

In a medium bowl, mix butter, garlic, 1/2 tablespoon parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme. Season with pepper and salt.

In a large baking dish, arrange the shrimp around the dish, tails up. It's best if you use a circular dish for this. Spread the butter mixture on top of the shrimp and roast in oven for about 10 minutes. The shrimp should be nice a pink and the butter should be bubbling.

Sprinkle shrimp with remaining parsley and basil leaves. Grate some Gruyere cheese on top and serve hot on top of linguine or crostini bread.


This was absolutely delicious. The shrimp was succulent and the buttery flavor was just amazing. I recommend this for anyone looking for a quick fix on a weeknight or when in a pinch! Enjoy!

Prime Rib

Prime Rib seems to be the thing to eat on Christmas Eve, so I figured I'd give it a go. Every time I think of prime rib, I think of mocha, our first dog. We were really determined not to feed her people food, ever. Well... that didn't last long. It was maybe a couple months after we got her, we spent a long night out at dinner to Varanese (yes, we go there a lot). We felt bad about leaving her in her cage for so long, so I decided to cut up some of my prime rib that I had leftovers from. The minute the meat touched her mouth, she didn't even chew. She straight swallowed it! And kept begging for more ever since. I can't blame her, it was pretty good, and you really should never turn down great food, whether human or dog!

Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 lb. rib roast
6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
salt and pepper
2 & 1/2 cups red wine (I used a pinot noir)

A good roast is so simple in ingredients, but if you don't watch it closely, it can really turn a great dish into a mediocre or even bad dish.

Make sure you meat is at room temperature before you do any cooking.

Place the garlic slices underneath pockets of fat. You can also slice small cracks in the meat to stuff it in, but my piece of roast had enough marbling throughout that I didn't have to do too much of that.

Rub both sides of roast in enough salt and pepper to your liking.

Preheat oven to 500 F. Yeah, this is going to be a high heat roasting method.

Place meat in a roasting dish and bake in oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Turn heat down to 325 F and roast for another 5-8 minutes.

Then increase heat to 425 F and cook for about 15 minutes longer.

Let rest of cutting board for 10 minutes. While you're waiting, you can make a quick jus.

Place the roasting pan on the stove and heat under high heat. Deglaze the pan with about 2 cups or more of red wine and make sure you lift up the brown bits, or sucs. Add salt and pepper to taste and reduce sauce by about 1/2.

Cut the roast, it should be a nice medium rare, and serve with mashed potatoes topped with the jus.

I originally cooked my prime rib for about 40 minutes, and I duly regretted it. Andy said it tasted fine, but I knew I overcooked the meat... at least for my liking. It was nice well done I think, but I would have liked to have seen more pink in there. So I adjusted the directions above for what I think would be a great medium rare. Enjoy!

Manicotti a la Crepes

Last March, I took my little sister and her boyfriend out to our favorite restaurant, Varanese, for her birthday. We had an amazing dinner and when it was time for dessert, the two of them ordered crepes. Being the immature boyfriend that Andy is, he kept making jokes about crepes in relation to a certain bodily function we all have. Yes, it was 30 minutes of crepe jokes. And so every now and then when I see my sister and her boyfriend, someone will bring up one of the crepe jokes and it seems like it will be an ongoing thing. Well... now that I've made these manicotti out of crepes, I'm sure the jokes will roll again, but hey... it was delicious. So laugh all you want, but as long as it's good going down, bring it on.


Ingredients:
Adapted from My Gourmet Connection's recipe

4 eggs, lightly beaten and divided
1 cup flour
1 & 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste
handful of mixed greens
12 ounce package of ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, plus more for topping
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup half & half
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup parlsey, chopped
about 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

In a medium bowl, mix together 3 eggs, flour, milk, butter, and salt. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for about an hour so it can thicken.

While you're waiting for the batter, you can start on the sauce and the filling. Heat the oil in a large skillet under medium high heat. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, just a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper. Salt and pepper to taste and simmer until sauce slightly thickens. about 10 minutes. Then add half & half and wine. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and basil. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, combine the mixed greens, ricotta, remaining egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella and all of parmesan cheese. Set aside until you finish making the crepes.

To make the crepes, spread 1 tablespoon of oil on an 8 inch round skillet and rub all over the sides and flat of pan. Heat the pan under high heat and add 3 tablespoons of batter. Remove from heat and rotate pan so batter can spread out. When crepe has "set" (about 30 seconds), flip over and return to heat for another 30 seconds. Repeat with remaining batter and make sure to separate crepes with wax paper to avoid them sticking together.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Line a large rectangular roasting pan with nonstick spray. Spoon a small amount of marinara on the bottom of pan so crepes do not stick to pan. Place the crepes on a flat surface, spoon a nice helping of the filling onto each crepe, and roll up. One by one, place each crepe into the pan. I had about 10 good sized crepes fit into my pan. Then top the manicotti with the remaining sauce and top with desired amount of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.

Uncover foil and bake for another 7-10 minutes, when cheese is slightly browned. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

This was a pretty good dish, not to mention VERY filling. We had plenty of leftovers and it tasted pretty good. The original dish called for frozen spinach, but I had mixed greens on hand, and they still tasted pretty good, but I'm sure spinach would have been great also. The marinara originally didn't have the cream or the wine, but I added them to add more depth of flavor and it sure did. Every bite was tasty and I highly recommend this dish! Enjoy!

Seafood Sandwich

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday with whatever holiday you are celebrating this season! I know it was a great time for me. Everything I got this year is something I've wanted and will use. Even my parents got me things that I actually liked this year! You'll notice a lot more color and flare with the food pictures to come also! Thanks to Andy, I got many new fabrics and dishes to accentuate my food! Hopefully it'll make it all more appealing! Cheers!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Stellar Recipes' blog

5-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Small handful of parsley leaves, chopped
Juice from 1 lime
3/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 flounder fillets
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 slices rustic italian bread
mixed greens
1/2 lb. frozen cooked shrimp

In a small bowl, combine the basil, parsley, lime juice, and sour cream. Mix everything together well and salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Combine the flour with some salt and pepper and dredge each flounder fillet with flour.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Place flounder in skillet and cook both fillets until browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.

In another skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp is heated through and nice and juicy.

Assemble sandwiches by placing handful of mixed greens on slice of italian bread. Then place flounder fillet on top of greens. Then top flounder with a few pieces of shrimp (I did 6 per sandwich). Then on top slice of bread, spread some of the basil/sour cream mixture on top and cover sandwich with bread.

This is not your normal, everyday fish sandwich. This is something special. Definitely is well deserving of a "seafood sandwich" title. Enjoy!

Chicken Nuggets

Now, I don't have children... unless you count Andy and my dogs. Then I would have 3 children. But no actual little beings reside in my household. But if I did have kids, I would make my own chicken nuggets for them. They're a breeze to make, they're probably healthier for you since you actually know where they're coming from, and they obviously taste better. So why not save on the Happy Meal and make a happy meal at home?


Ingredients:

Vegetable oil for frying
3 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips or "nuggets"
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 cups of panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

Spread out your panko and your flour on two separate plates. Set the eggs aside in a small bowl. This is going to work like a conveyor belt and you're just gonna go from one station to the next.

Dredge your chicken pieces in flour, dip in the egg mixture, then coat with the panko. Easy as 1, 2, 3. Right? Right.

Heat up your oil in a large saute pan. You want maybe about 1/2 inch of oil in the pan, enough to cover about half of the nugget. Depending on the size of your pieces, you may want to cook a little bit more or longer, but place about 10 nuggets in the pan at a time and mine were perfect with 3 minutes per side.

Can keep warm in the oven at 200F or can serve right away. I served mine on a platter while we watched the football game and had 4 different dipping sauces on the plate: barbecue sauce, ketchup, Frank's hot sauce, and some sweet chili sauce. Andy said if you dipped the nugget in the hot sauce, then the sweet chili sauce, it made for an awesome combination.


I love this recipe because it's EASY. Couldn't be any easier if you ask me. Quick finger food is always a plus. And the recipe makes tons of chicken. We probably only ate about half, so I have plenty for lunch today!

Chili Shrimp

Last weekend was pretty eventful. It was also pretty tiring. We went out with a bunch of work folk to some bars to celebrate one of my co-worker's birthday. It was a blast, but I also had to work at 8am the next day, and that was NOT a blast. Also, our work Christmas party was the following night as well. I was supposed to make this Chili Shrimp dish for the party, but was too tired to even want to pick up a pan, let alone go to the grocery for supplies. So instead, I brought Puppy Chow and Oreo Ball Truffles, which were a hit, so I didn't feel so bad. So I knew I had to eventually make this dish, and I made it for dinner last night, and it was awesome. Too good to share, almost... but I'll share it with you all of course!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November 2009 Article "Chili Shrimp"

1 lb. shrimp, peeled, cooked, & deveined

2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 dried lemongrass stick, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
fresh cilantro, chopped

In a small bowl, combine ketchup, sherry, chili sauce, lemon juice, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large skillet under medium high heat. Add shrimp and saute for about 2 minutes, turning once.


Add remaining oil and mix in jalapenos, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger. Cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.


Stir in scallions and add sweet chili mixture and simmer for about 1 minute.

Stir in cilantro and serve over jasmine rice.


Andy definitely fell in love with the sauce for this dish. I couldn't agree more either. It was a perfect mix of the sweet and the heat. I thought maybe the jalapenos would overpower the dish and make it too hot, but it definitely felt only like a back burner. Andy also pointed out that every bite was a different flavor experience. This is definitely a dish I recommend anyday! Enjoy!

Pulled Pork Tacos

It's been a rough two days. It definitely seems like one of those "when it rains, it pours" couple of days. My car has been acting stupid. I had to replace the battery the other day, and it still is kind of shaky, so I'm fearing it's on it's last leg. And to top it off I woke up this morning to Andy telling me I had a flat tire. Bah Humbug! I don't have time for this stuff. I've got cooking, baking, shopping, and plenty of other things to do. Ugh... anyway, now that I'm done venting... here's this delicious recipe for pulled pork tacos, adapted from Life's Ambrosia's blog

Ingredients:

2.5 lb pork shoulder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup beef stock
2 small avocados, pitted
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, cut in half
1 tablespoon cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, sliced and seeded
soft tortillas
mexican cheese blend
shredded lettuce
1 tomato, diced

Place first 7 ingredients in crock pot (yep, CROCKPOT!) and heat on low for 7-8 hours. Pork should be falling apart as you touch it, so shredding should be a breeze. Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer on warm while you prep the toppings.

Everything else requires pretty much no actual "cooking", but is crucial to the flavors of the taco.

The avocado cream is just heavenly, and so simple! In a food processor, combine the avocados, sour cream, juice from 1/2 of the lime (I used the other half of the lime juice to add a little zing to the pork, but that's optional), and cilantro. Process on low for about 30 seconds and voila... avocado cream.

All of the other toppings should be self explanatory and you could even improvise and put whatever you'd like on there!

This was great. The pork was amazing and the avocado cream added another dimension of flavor along with the fresh vegetables. This was just delicious and pretty much maintenance free. Enjoy!