shrimp scampi w rice pudding dessert

tonight's menu we used traditional meals, however experimented with different recipes.  shrimp scampi is common in my house, but not my co-chefs, so we used a recipe she found, so it was new to me.  it was good we both agreed, but definitely could have been better, having tweeked a few steps.  i would not recommend this recipe, however the ingredients were traditional and flavor basically the same.

the same situation was true for the rice pudding...this was something neither one of us had made before, and we also felt the need to tweek the recipe a little to improve the quality...this is all added in the notes...

shrimp scampi

Mediterranean Couscous Salad and Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Ingredients

1/2 c. whole wheat couscous
1/2 c. boiling water
1 c. diced plum tomatoes, peeled & seeded
1/2 c. diced cucumber, seeded
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly gound pepper
1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

Combine couscous and water in large mixing bowl and let sit until water is absorbed. Combine in separate bowl vinegar, s&p and oil to make the dressing. When couscous is cool, fluff with a fork and add remaining ingredients and dressing. Toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hrs. (It is better fresh though)

Makes 4 side dish servings

Serves 8| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 35m

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes

pumpkin + sausage + zucchini lasagna w apple crisp dessert

tonight we cooked up some late seasonal recipes, a lasagna with zucchini + pumpkin, and apple crisp with granny smith apples.  the entre was for sure an experimental lasagna dish that was discovered on the Food Network’s site.  eye catching was the twelve stars ‘Pumpkin Lasagna’ by Robret Irvine.  it was simple to prep, but did take a bit of time (around 30-45 min).  as we were preparing it, the various ingredients seemed random and quite silly…but it worked.

SO much to our surprise, it turned out a very delish and would definitely make it again.  NB somehow we ended up using a lot more cheese than required…cook time 1 hour

ingredients

flavorful homemade chicken pot pie

ingredients 

pie crust (store made or)

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter

4-6 tablespoons cold water

filling

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

2 3/4 cup chicken broth

3 cups cubed chicken

vegetables: celery, carrots, peas

herbs: garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley

preheat oven to 375.  first make the filling (white sauce) in a large saucepan which was the butter, flour and broth.  melt the butter first, add flour and SLOWLY stir in the chicken broth.  make sure there is no clumping and the broth remains smooth.  (do this while the chicken is cooking)  then add in chopped garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley.  next add in the chopped vegetables, and chicken-once it is cool enough to cut.  after the filling is made, pour in to pie plates, cook for 50 min.  let cool for 10 minutes before serving. delisch!

turkey dinner sandwiches + sides ala pecans

this evening of ‘real simple’ wednesday-night cooking we made turkey & cranberry chutney sandwiches with sweet potatoes w pecans & parmesan and green beans w pecans & maple vinaigrette sides.  the meal was actually very simple and was quickly able to be prepared. 

the most flavorful were the sweet potatoes; however, if the turkey sandwich was made with real roast turkey, that would be amazing.  (i swear i have had this sandwich on the cape before.) 

the green beans were from a summer issue, and the directions have them as a cold salad.  but for the season, we were thinking that they would be great warm.  it wasn’t the most amazing..we had just enough pecans for these three meals that included it.

we had this with a cab sav and it was a pretty good pairing!

 

turkey & cranberry chutney sandwich

serves 1| hands-on time: 15m | total time: 15m
ingredients

2 tablespoons cranberry or some other fruit chutney

2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans

2 slices sourdough bread

2 ounces thinly sliced roasted turkey

2 ounces Brie, sliced

1/4 cup arugula

directions

In a small bowl, combine the chutney and pecans. Spread the chutney mixture on the bread and form a sandwich with the turkey, Brie, and arugula.

sweet potatoes w pecans & parmesan

serves 8| hands-on time: 15m | total time: 1hr 10m
ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the baking dish

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1⁄4-inch-thick rounds

1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)

kosher salt and black pepper

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

pinch of cayenne pepper

directions

Heat oven to 375° F. Oil a shallow 2 ½- to 3-quart baking dish. In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the Parmesan, 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper; transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake until tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the pecans, sugar, thyme, cayenne, the remaining tablespoon of oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.

Remove the foil from the baking dish, sprinkle the pecan mixture over the potatoes, and continue to bake, uncovered, until the pecans are toasted, 10 to 12 minutes.

green beans w pecans & maple vinaigrette

serves 8| hands-on time: 15m | total time: 1hr 50min

real simple harvest dinner

this might not be a 'real simple' dinner, but it was easy enough, and tasted so good!  we had two people cooking which made it go by fast and was more fun.  this summer, the real simple magazine was a great gift from a special friend for being a part of her wedding.  recently, we decided that a great night to hang out is wednesdays when her husband is out at the bowling league.  so what a great excuse to experiment with some recipes, sharing tasteful meals with great friends, and using a unique gift!  oh...and as any normal cooking club has, it comes complete with leftovers to take home.  

the magazine this month featured so many great recipes for fall, and we tried to choose one's that might have complimentary flavors.  for this meal, we cooked up chicken with acorn squash as an entree, and two sides, butternut squash bread pudding and bourbon-cranberry compote.

note to new-to-the-recipe: the acorn squash was very hard to cut up, and the bread pudding took a while to prep and cook, but it was awesome!  we also shared the oven so we manipulated the time a little.  if we had made four more pieces of chicken, the dinner would easily serve 6.

chicken with acorn squash and tomatoes

hands on time 20 min total time 30 min serves 4

1 small acorn squash (about 1 1/2 lb) halved seeded and sliced 1/4 in...

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

4 cloves garlic, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 6-oz boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

salt + pepper

+heat oven to 425.  on a large rimmed baking sheet, toss squash tomatoes garlic with oil salt pepper. roast until squash is tender, 20-25 min

+heat oil in large skilled on med heat. season chicken with coriander salt pepper.  cook until golden brown and cooked. serve with squash and tomatoes and sprinkle oregano

bourbon-cranberry compote

hands on time 5 min total time 1 hour incl cooking serves 8

1 12 oz bag cranberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

1/4 cup bourbon

+in sauce pan combine cranberries sugar apple juice and bourbon

+simmer, stirring occasionally until the cranberries begin to burst and the sauce thickens, 20-25 min

butternut squash bread pudding

relishes

l

let's hope the gracious gourmet is at tomorrow's ct wine fest again!  what a great find last year-the relishes did not last long.  now they are really up and running with a great site, complete with recipes!

they are even on twitter @graciousgourmet with their latest posting which I had to repeat for our lady in NOLA:  In New Orleans? You can now find The Gracious Gourmet products at the St. James Cheese Company. Fantastic cheese... http://fb.me/ATiF8Bb0

we also met mariah from http://mariahsrelish.com/  who was starting her business out of her house...her relish didn't last long either.  


looking forward to seeing who else is there, with new ideas, local, and home-grown products.

herbal sun teas & simple syrups

this would be a great recipe book for someone who loves herbs...and grows them, and designs herb gardens??  so refreshing and simple.   

i plan on making one soon and post the recipe i use!

liqurious discoveries

so this is awesome.  from explorations on twitter, i found apart of the notcot empire (which i do follow) called liqurious.  i thought this was so much fun and clicked on a few of the postings including i want one of those wine screw keychains.  how perfect for picnics, right?!

apparently anyone can post drink recipes and thought the cucumber gimlet was worth clicking on and discovered the crumpets and cakes blog.  i thought this was just another smart blog sharing recipes!

   

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

My birthday is one week away and I am visiting with my parents this weekend to celebrate my 29th birthday as well as Father's Day. Last week, my mom asked me what kind of cake or cupcakes I would like for my birthday, and, without hesitation, I requested Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcakes. She made them for me last year after seeing Tyler Florence of the Food Network bake them. They were so scrumptious I didn't want to wait more than 365 days to have them again!

Here's the recipe, with my modifications at the end:

Ingredients:

• 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup grape jelly (Recommended: Welch's Grape Jelly)
• Candy bars (Recommended: Reese's Pieces, Butterfinger, Nutterbutter, Heath Bar, smashed up with a rolling pin, for decorating)
• Peanut butter frosting, recipe follows
  

wine shop at home

this is like a jewelry party for wine!  i'm not surprised it exists (since 2002), and actually feel my discovery is a little late.  i found this while i was looking at 'group updates' on linked in.  sabrina lamberson also in the texas a&m alumni group called for a 'wine consultant opportunity conference call!'  after a little search, i'm pretty sure it hasn't reached the 13 colonies yet. 

wine shop at home