Shrimp Alfredo

So the word alfredo scares me....that is up until I tried this recipe tonight and I am hooked.   Super simple; Super Good.   I had some shrimp I needed to use so I went to allrecipes.com, typed in shrimp and up came tons of recipes.   Found this one, Peppered Shrimp Alfredo:   Folks, you need to make this.

• 12 ounces penne pasta
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, diced
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 (15 ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter together with the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, red pepper, and mushroom; cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 2 minutes more.
3. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until firm and pink, then pour in Alfredo sauce, Romano cheese, and cream; bring to a simmer stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir drained pasta into the sauce, and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Happy Cooking!

Bistro Steak-and-Egg Salad (Courtesy of Rachel Ray)

Round loaf crusty bread, ends trimmed, cut into 1/4 inch slices                    
1/2 C plus 2 tbsp EVOO
2 cloves garlic, 1 halved and 1 finely grated
1 1/2 lbs London Broil (skirt steak)
S & P
1/2 C plus 1 tbsp cider vinegar
4 eggs
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 bags mixed greens
3 C baby arugula
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese

Preheat lg. grill pan over med-high heat.  Brush the bread slices with 1 tbsp EVOO and grill turning once 1 to 2 minutes.  Rub each crostini with halved garlic.

Rub steak with 1 tbsp EVOO and season with S & P.  Grill turning once until thermometer reads 135 degrees for med-rare, 3 to 5 min per side.   Let rest, then thinly slice against grain and on an angle.

Meanwhile, fill a lg deep skillet half way up with water and bring to simmer over med heat.  Add 1 tbsp vinegar.   Working with one egg at a time, crack egg into small bowl and gently slide into water.  Cook until whites are opaque but yolks are runny, 3 to 5 min.  Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer egg to a kitchen towel to drain.

In lg salad bowl, whisk together the grated garlic, remaining 1/4 C vinegar and the mustard.  Slowly whisk in the remaining 1/2 C EVOO and season with S & P.  Add the mixed greens, arugula, & 1/4 C parmesan cheese and toss.  Divide among 4 plates and top each with steak and an egg.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve with crostini


*This recipe was quick and easy.  The egg on top brought the salad, steak, and dressing together beautifully.   It was really good.  I didn't have a grill pan so I just put the bread in a skillet and toasted then also used a skillet for the steak.

Dinner for One!

Alaskan Halibut with Mango Salsa                          

So, it is very nice to pull a piece of fish out of the freezer that was caught by hand in Alaska.  It would only obviously be better if I was in Alaska to eat it but I am in Kansas and that is the next best thing.  It was so good.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet along with a few dashes of lemon pepper seasoning.   Add filet and cook on each side about 5 min or until cooked through but not overcooked.  A nicely done piece of fish will be flakey at the touch of a fork.

Mango Salsa:   Cut up two mangos, dice one half of a jalapeno (seeds removed), dice 1/4 red onion, chop 3 tbsp cilantro, and add juice of 1/2 lime.   Salt and Pepper to finish.  Serve atop fish.

Back to the Basics

Sometimes, you gotta go there.   Gotta break down and go for the old fashioned meal and for me it was meatloaf.   Now, this isn't something I make very often but something I crave every now and then.   Mostly because the leftovers on a sandwich is simply heaven.

This recipe isn't really a recipe I followed.  It was something I just threw together and truth be known, there is probably a thousand like it.

Meat Loaf

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 C. quick oats
3 TBSP  Ketchup
1/4 C tomato sauce
4-6 dashes Worcestershire
6 slices of day old bread

Place the slices of bread 3 to a row on a cookie sheet.   Mix all ingredients together and shape into an oval and place on top of the bread.   The bread soaks up all the grease and makes clean up much much easier.   I'm all about easier!

Bake @ 375 for 1 1/2 hours or until center is no longer pink.

Use leftovers heated up on toast with a little mayo for the greatest sandwich ever!

Th Big Easy

Now, it's no secret that I don't agree with low-fat and great all in the same sentence.   I do however believe in 'easy' and 'great' going together and easy dishes is what I'm all about.   This recipe comes from Southern Living magazine.   I always look at magazine recipes and rarely try them and thankfully someone else tried this for me and it's delicious so I wanted to test it out.  If you, like I, want a good soup for a cool day, here it is.

"Big Easy" Gumbo

Makes:  8-10 servings
1/2 C peanut oil
1/2 C flour
1 C chopped sweet onion
1 C chopped green pepper
1 C chopped celery
2 tsp Creole seasonings
2 tsp minced garlic
3 (14 oz) cans chicken stock
4 C shredded cooked chicken
1/2 lb. andouille sausage cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 C frozen black-eyed peas
1 lb. peeled lg. raw shrimp

Heat oil in lg. dutch oven over med-high heat, gradually whisking in the flour.  Whisking constantly cook mixture 5 -7 min or until a chocolate color but DO NOT BURN.

Reduce heat to med, stir in onion, pepper, celery, seasonings and garlic.  Cook 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Gradually stir in chicken broth; add chicken, sausage, and peas.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer 20 minutes; stir occasionally.    Add shrimp and cook additional 5 minutes before serving.

Note:  My suggestion is to have all of you ingredients chopped, sliced, measured, and ready to go.

It's Cold Out....Finally!

So on this the first 'cold' day and it was all of 52 out, ha, I felt it was necessary to mark the occasion with a soup.  My first thought was this yummy gumbo recipe my dad makes but couldn't come up with the recipe in time so I resorted to a tried and true recipe from a family friend that always results in full happy tummies.....and it's easy.  

Clam Chowder

2 ~ 6 1/2 oz cans chopped clams
1 C. chopped onion
1 C. chopped celery
2 C. frozen hash browns
3/4 C. flour
3/4 C. butter
1 qt. 1/2 n 1/2
salt
pepper
1/2 t. sugar

In a saucepan, combine hashbrowns and clam juice.  Cook until hashbrowns are warm then add onion and celery and cook until tender.   Add water to cover and continue simmering.

In a dutch oven, melt butter and add flour.  Stir cooking for 2 min.  Add 1/2 n 1/2 and stir until thick.   Add vegetables, clams, and seasonings.  Simmer for 20 min.

Campfire Delight!

I love camping.   It's nothing but hard work, a big mess, crappy weather but I love it.   And what I love about it is the food, the recreation, the atmosphere, the people.   Here is a campfire treat unlike and refreshing change to the infamous Smore!

1 pkg crescent rolls
1 stick of melted butter
Mixture of cinnamon and sugar

Using a 2 prong hotdog/marshmallow stick, wrap one or two crescent rolls around both sticks so you have a square flat piece of dough.    Hold over hot coals taking caution not to burn.  Turn occasionally until crispy but not burned.   Dip in butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Yummy!