On Hiatus

Hey all, just a quick update to let you know cooking blog is on hiatus until at least mid-December. I'm in 2 master's classes this semester that are heavier than usual on the amount of reading, so creative cooking is not my forte right now.

I'd like to assure everyone that we're still eating, though it's really just a bunch of repeats from earlier blogs at this point. :)

See you at the end of the semester!

Grilled Beer Chicken with Potato Slabs

Beer in your chicken? Yeah, I was sure to get Craig's attention with this one. Found the recipe on rachaelraymag.com, apparently it was in the June/July '08 issue and I missed it!

INGREDIENTS:

-One 12 oz can or bottle beer, at room temp

-1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

-2 cloves garlic, smashed

-1 tbsp chili powder

-1 tbsp brown sugar

-2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling

-6 chicken drumsticks

-2 baking potatoes

-olive oil (for drizzling)

-lime wedges (for serving)

DIRECTIONS:

-In a resealable plastic bag, combine the beer, butter, garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, and salt. Add the drumsticks, seal the bag and let marinate while you proceed.

-Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Microwave the potatoes on high until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Slice the potatoes lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick. Drizzle both sides generously with olive oil.

-Transfer the chicken and potatoes to the grill. Grill the drumsticks, brushing with the beer marinade and turning occasionally, until the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the potatoes until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt. Serve the chicken and potatoes with the lime wedges.

COMMENTS:

-Okay, we made a few modifications here. First, we used chicken breasts instead of drumsticks. Also, we don't have a grill, so we put the potatoes in the oven and cooked the chicken on the stove. And the potatoes were the small red kind, not bigger baking potatoes...so we used more than 2.

-With the potatoes, we wanted to add a little more seasoning, so we sprinkled them with rosemary while baking, and put some parmesan cheese on at the end. (This is a hybrid of some potatoes we made out of my Carmella Soprano cookbook a ways back.)

-Overall, very tasty! The marinade keeps the chicken really juicy. No, it doesn't reek of beer, but the beer does give it some good flavor. (We used a golden ale that Craig brewed at home.) We served with a side salad. Yummm.

Jalapeno-Mango Shrimp

So I'm flipping through my latest issue of Rachael Ray Everyday, and I see this cool summer shrimp meal. Sounds tasty! Must try.

Unfortunately, I have to say this is the first and only time Rachael has failed me. We were not fans of this one. But here's the recipe and I have some comments at the end!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 jalapeno chile, finely seeded and chopped

-2 tablespoons EVOO

-2 teaspoons ground cumin

-Salt

-1 1/2 lbs extra large shrimp, shelled and deveined

-2 tbsp brown sugar

-Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

-2 mangoes, cut into cubes

-1 1/2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

-6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced

-2 scallions, sliced

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the jalapeno, olive oil, cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the shrimp and turn to coat.

Grill the shrimp until just cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side; let cool. Halve the shrimp lengthwise.

In a large bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in the lime juice. Add the mangoes, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, and cilantro; toss and season with salt. Add the shrimp and toss.

COMMENTS:

Okay, the big mistake in this meal is the CUMIN. There is nothing light and summery about it. It was way too powerful and gave everything else a yucky flavor. The mango and cucumber were quite yummy though and might be good with different seasoning. Craig was not a fan of the radishes though...I thought they were "eh".

Also, I will say I attempted this meal at a rather unfortunate time, as jalapenos and cilantro are being investigated for salmonella contamination. I ended up using a poblano pepper instead of jalapeno (Bill told me later this may not have been a great substitution), and I said "what the hey" with the cilantro and used it anyway. (The FDA cleared it later anyway...not that risky right?) We did throw the cilantro in with the shrimp for a minute though, because I felt safer with it semi-cooked. And we're all still standing...

So the moral here is...Rachael had a good concept, but it just didn't come together correctly. Not our top choice.

Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta

I wanted to use up some of the ricotta from my last dish, and I needed some ideas. Thankfully the ladies on the CT Tribe message board helped me out! This was recommended to me by Jess, via the Food Network.

I do have to say, this is a dish originally done by Bobby Flay. And I hate Bobby Flay. I mean I really hate Bobby Flay. If there was a chef I would not want to be like, it would be Bobby Flay.

But this is good anyway, so let's forget it was made by him, 'kay?

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound Italian hot sausage

1 large red onion, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

2 large yellow pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

2 large red pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 recipe favorite pizza dough, rolled into 4 (6-inch) rounds

1/2 pound grated fontina cheese

1 cup sheep's milk ricotta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Basil Vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat a grill.

Grill the sausage on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. Brush onions and peppers with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the onions and peppers until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the sausage from the grill and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices. Remove the onions, separate into rings, and roughly chop. Remove the peppers and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices.

Heat grill to high. Brush dough with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over and grill for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the grill and place on a flat surface.

Divide the fontina cheese among the 4 pizza rounds. Divide the sausage, onions and peppers over the cheese. Place the pizza on the grill, close the cover and grill until the cheese has melted, about 3 to 4 minutes. To finish in the oven, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pizza on sheet pans and bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Mix together the ricotta, extra-virgin olive oil, and oregano in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the pizzas from the oven and drizzle with Basil Vinaigrette. Top with dollops of the ricotta cheese mixture and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

COMMENTS:

We made a lot of edits to this one. First, as you all know, we do not have a grill. So we had to do everything with the stove/oven, but that really didn't take that much variation.

Secondly, we didn't do the 4 individual pizzas--we just did one big one. We found out early on that we could have done with way fewer red/yellow peppers as a result (as you can probably tell by the picture...). But we loaded 'em on anyway.

As usual, we skipped the onions. And I have no idea what fontina cheese is, so I bought Price Chopper Pizza Blend shredded cheese. Easy enough! And tasty. I also used a Boboli instead of making my own pizza dough.

Bobby Blah has his own recipe for basil vinagrette that he used...me, I bought the "Basil Vinagrette" salad dressing pack, mixed with oil and vinegar...beautiful and easy.

All in all, this was really good. Craig was skeptical at first because there was no pizza sauce on his pizza. But the sausage plus all the cheeses makes a really good mix, and the vinagrette isn't overpowering at all. YUM!

Fettucine Tomato Rustica

I wanted to try a little variaton on our usual pasta dish, so I got some ideas on allrecipes, bought some fun new ingredients, and got to work!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 (16 ounce) package dry fettuccini noodles
1 cup olive oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons basil pesto
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

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.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink, and juices run clear. Set aside to cool, then slice into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, combine remaining olive oil, pesto, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and ricotta. Mix until smooth.

In the large skillet, toss fettuccini with sauce and chicken. Cook on low heat 5 minutes, or until heated through.

COMMENTS:

For once, I did everything the directions suggested. :) While this was a quick and tasty dish, Craig and I agreed it wasn't everything the recipe made it out to be. It sounds very fancy-schmancy with all the cheeses and tomatoes and such, but it really just tastes like a basic thick, creamy fettucine dish.

Still a good one to try, and the sun dried tomatoes give good flavor--but maybe not worth all the money you'll drop on ricotta and feta!

Tomato Basil Chicken

I had some chicken. I had some fresh basil (thank you to the parentals for that). I needed to use them. Allrecipes.com to the rescue!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups olive oil for frying
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat 2 cups olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the eggs and bread crumbs in 2 separate bowls. Dip chicken in the eggs then in the bread crumbs to coat. Place chicken in the skillet, and fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Spoon over the fried chicken to serve.

COMMENTS:

To save time, we ignored the breading option, and just grilled our chicken on the stove. Personally I think this sounds better than doing the tomato mix on breaded chicken, and it did taste really good.

Also, we used roma tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, which worked fine. I like them because they're a little easier to dice up.

I highly recommend the fresh basil! The stuff we used was right out of my parent's garden and it tasted soooo good. Enjoy!

Balsamic Tortellini

Back when we first started living together (and I couldn't cook AT ALL yet), one of our favorite easy dinner staples was tortellini with marinara sauce. We had a craving for the tortellini, but I found this recipe online to change up the flavor a bit. Courtesy of allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 slices pancetta bacon, raw

1 (9 oz.) package cheese-filled tortellini

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bacon until onion is translucent and bacon is brown; remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

-Return onion/bacon mixture to skillet and add cooked tortellini. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and heat through. Place in serving dish or bowl, sprinkle with vinegar and cheese, and serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-Not being onion fans, we skipped the onion and put in some garlic instead. We also used regular bacon instead of pancetta.

-I'll say up front, this was not my favorite. I think maybe I used a little too much balsamic vinegar? I found the taste of the vinegar to be very strong and I didn't get to enjoy the pasta/bacon at all. I think it might be a good idea to use a little less of the vinegar than the recipe called for. Tweak and tell me what works!

Asian Beef with Snow Peas

As you've probably noticed, we love our stir fry. Many of our stir fry dishes have been with chicken in the past, so I found this variation on allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 lb. beef round steak, cut into thin strips

8 oz. snow peas

DIRECTIONS:

-In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.

-Heat oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Stir fry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. Add the steak and stir fry for 2 minutes or until evenly browned. Add the snow peas and stir fry for an additional 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-We didn't have rice wine, so we used red wine vinegar instead--a good substitute.

-This sauce was good--I'm not a big fan of soy sauce on its own, but the other things it was mixed with made it better, and a bit spicy too.

-Next time, we might vary the veggies a bit. The snow peas were great, but I think you could also get some good flavor with green/red bell peppers, onions, etc.

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

Craig looooves French Dip when we go out to eat, so I thought I'd try some at home. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com and it was very quick and tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10.5 oz) can beef consomme

1 cup water

1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef

8 slices provolone cheese

4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open the hoagie rolls and lay out on a baking sheet.

-Heat beef consomme and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to make a rich beef broth. Place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes. Arrange the meat on the hoagie rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of provolone.

-Bake the sandwiches in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese just begins to melt. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping.

COMMENTS:

-I wasn't able to find any "beef consomme" at the store, so we just bought regular beef broth and heated it up...no water added. I did see a suggestion online to try to add rosemary to the beef broth, but we didn't try it. Might be a good add though!

-These came out really good, and were very fast to make. We'll be adding it to our 30-minute meal playlist. :)

Pesto Chicken and Pasta

Whenever we are having a hectic night, one of our go-to dinners is just regular pasta with jarred pesto sauce. I decided to try this one (from our Betty Crocker Chicken cookbook) because it's a slight variation on our old favorite...a bit more flavor and spice in this one, but still quick and easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-3 cups bow tie pasta

-2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey breast

-1/2 cup pesto

-1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained roasted red peppers (from 7-oz jar)

-Sliced ripe olives, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook and drain pasta as directed on package, using 3-quart saucepan. Mix hot cooked pasta, chicken, pesto, and bell peppers in same saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until hot. Garnish with olives.

COMMENTS:

-This is a quick and easy meal. The roasted red peppers add a little more spice/flavor to it, in comparison to just using regular raw red peppers.

-We didn't use the olive garnish because...sadly, we have an olive-hater in the house. (Hint: not me.) I bet it would have been good though. Note to others: if you ever cook me dinner at your house, load on the olives, cuz I can't use them at home!! (Sorry honey!!) :)

Shrimp Creole

This one got RAVE reviews from the husband. Will definitely be added to our regular dinner rotation. Very spicy, good for summer or winter, and healthy to boot! From Betty Crocker.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 pounds uncooked fresh or frozen (thawed) medium shrimp in shells

-1/4 cup margarine or butter

-3 medium onions, chopped

-2 medium green bell peppers, finely chopped

-2 medium stalks celery, finely chopped

-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

-1 cup water

-2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

-1 tsp salt

-1/8 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)

-2 bay leaves

-1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

-6 cups hot cooked rice

DIRECTIONS:

-Peel shrimp. Make a shallow cut lengthwise down back of each shrimp; wash out vein. Cover and refrigerate.

-Melt margarine in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic in margarine about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.

-Stir in water, parsley, salt, red pepper, bay leaves and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes.

-Stir in shrimp. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are pink and firm. Remove bay leaves. Serve over rice.

COMMENTS:

-Yeah, we are definitely in love with this one. You've got meat (okay, seafood), veggies, and starch. Perfect!

-As mentioned in previous entries, I never buy uncooked shrimp. I have yet to see the value of it over pre-cooked shrimp, which save me time (and ewie-gooey deveining). Highly recommended! This will not require you to simmer so long in the last step. We also used instant rice. I am all about the quick dinner.

Five-Spice Barbequed Pork Chops with Asian-Style Succotash

This is a fun new recipe from my newest Rachael Ray cookbook...something a little different to do to your pork chops!

INGREDIENTS:

4 center-cut boneless pork chops

1 tsp five-spice powder

2 tsp grill seasoning blend

4 tbsp veggie oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 generous handfuls of snow pea pods, coarsely chopped

2 cups frozen corn

4 scallions, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp hot sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Season the chops liberally on both sides with the five-spice powder and grill seasoning. Heat 2 tbsp of the veggie oil in a nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Cook the chops for 6 minutes on each side, then add the hoisin sauce to the pan. Heat through and turn the chops to coat in the sauce. Turn off the heat.

While the chops cook, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of oil in a second skillet over med-high heat. Add the garlic and bell peppers, cook for 2 minutes, then add the pea pds, corn, and scallions and cook for 3 minutes more. Toss the succotash with the lime juice and hot sauce to combine.

Serve the chops with succotash alongside.

COMMENTS:

First off, it's important to know that five-spice powder and hoisin sauce are both found in the Asian foods aisle of the store. Now you won't have to go on a crazy witch hunt for these things like I did at my local Price Chopper.

Overall, we were really happy with this one. We forgot to use the grill seasoning on the pork, which probably would have given it more of a "barbeque" flavor, but it was still really good. What I LOVED was the succotash. (I have no idea what the difference is though between "succotash" and "veggie stir fry".) Anyway, the hot sauce and lime juice added some good kick to the veggies. Will definitely be trying that again!

Stuffed Peppers

Okay, I admit, blog has taken an inexcuseably long hiatus. The stress of two classes (the second of which started right after the last blog entry) made creative cooking an impossibility. But, final projects have been handed in and I'm ready for action again!

We made these stuffed peppers one night when Eric and Kim came to visit. They are SO GOOD. From my Betty Crocker cookbook.

INGREDIENTS:

6 large bell peppers (any color)

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp chopped onion

1 cup cooked rice

1 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper. Remove seeds and membranes, rinse peppers. Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover about 5 minutes; drain.

Cook beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt, garlic, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.

Heat oven to 350.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand upright in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

COMMENTS:

This meal is all about not following the directions (haha). Don't measure the sauce--put on as much as you want! Put extra in the baking dish too! Stuff those peppers full! They are better that way. Just to give you an idea...we only used 4 peppers, but made the same amount of beef mixture, and used it all.

This is a fun dinner get-together meal. We made it once pre-blogging days for my parents and it went over well then, too. Enjoy!

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp and Basil

I wanted a shrimp dish, and this one was recommended to me by one of the ladies on the CT board of thenest.com. Exactly the type of thing I was looking for!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/4 cup olive oil

1 (8oz) package angel hair pasta

-1 tsp chopped garlic

-1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

-2 (28 oz) cans Italian style diced tomatoes, drained

-1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup chopped parsley

-3 tbsp chopped fresh basil

-3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add 1 tbsp oil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Place pasta in a colander, and give it a quick rinse with cold water.

-Heat remaining olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring constantly, until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Do not let the garlic burn. Add shrimp, and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove shrimp from the skillet, and set aside.

-Stir tomatoes, wine, parsley, and basil into the skillet. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, 8-12 minutes. Add shrimp, and continue cooking until the shrimp are heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Serve the shrimp mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

COMMENTS:

-2 big cans of diced tomatoes seemed like a lot to me, so I only bought one. While this was a good amount in the end, I can see how 2 cans would not have been too much. So if you enjoy tomatoes, do go with the whole 2 cans.

-Overall this was a pretty light and healthy meal. A nice variation on the other shrimp/pasta meals we've done in the past.

World's Best Lasagna

After making my Chicken Lasagna a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try a regular lasagna too. So I searched on allrecipes.com and decide I couldn't go wrong with something titled "World's Best Lasagna." I then made it my mission to find out if this high-and-mighty title was in fact true!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb sweet Italian sausage

-3/4 lb. lean ground beef

-1/2 cup minced onion

-2 cloves garlic, crushed

-1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

-2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

-2 (6.5 oz) cans canned tomato sauce

-1/2 cup water

-2 tbsp white sugar

-1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

-1/2 tsp fennel seeds

-1 tsp Italian seasoning

-1 tbsp salt

-1/4 tsp ground black pepper

-4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

-12 lasagna noodles

-16 oz ricotta cheese

-1 egg

-1/2 tsp salt

3/4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 tsp salt.

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

-To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil; to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure foil does not touch the cheese.

-Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

COMMENTS:

-All I can say is, Wow. This person was not lying. This lasagna was amazing!! Extra cheesy and the meat sauce came out soooo good.

-A few things we did differently: left out the onions. Instead of cooking meat in a Dutch oven (we don't have one), we used a deep skillet, then moved it to a really big stockpot when we had to mix it with the sauce.

-Time saver: we used the Barilla no-cook lasagna noodles, which do not require you to boil them before going in the lasagna. You just place them (hard) in the lasagna layers and they come out cooked at the end. I have no idea how this magic works but I'm sticking with it.

-This made tons of lasagna, we had leftovers for over a week. Excellent comfort food!!

Sliders

Sliders have been a favorite of ours ever since we saw Alton Brown (from Food Network's "Good Eats") make them. They are a quick fun meal especially for the weekends!

INGREDIENTS:

-About 1 lb. ground beef

-dinner rolls

-Worcestershire sauce

-Garlic (chopped)

-American cheese slices

-Sandwich pickles

-Ketchup and mustard

DIRECTIONS:

-Mix the ground beef with Worcestershire sauce and chopped garlic. (As much as you want...sorry, we guesstimated!) Divide up the ground beef into small patties...about half the size of a normal hamburger.

-Spray a skillet with cooking spray, then grill up the burgers. About a minute before they're done, add the cheese slices on the top of each burger.

-When done, arrange each burger on a dinner roll, and top with pickles and ketchup/mustard as desired.

COMMENTS:

-Not much to comment on here. For some reason these taste better (and are more fun to make) than normal cheeseburgers. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi

We hadn't had seafood in a while, so I did an allrecipe.com search for "shrimp" and this is what came up. Good stuff!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 cup olive oil

-2 lbs large shrimp - peeled and deveined

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 1/2 cups dry white wine

-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-5 tbsp fresh lemon juice

-1/2 cup chicken broth

-1/2 cup butter, diced

-salt and pepper to taste

-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

-In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Lightly coat the shrimp in flour. In batches, saute shrimp in oil until golden brown; each batch should take approximately 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

-Discard oil and add the wine, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and chicken broth to the skillet. Cook over high heat until liquid has reduced by half (approximately 5 minutes). Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat to medium, add shrimp, cook for 1 minute (until shrimp are heated). Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

COMMENTS:

-We skipped the flouring of the shrimp. This was mostly for time and convenience sake, but someone also left a comment on allrecipes that the recipe was just as good without the flouring. They did say that if you opt to flour them, only put on a very very light coating.

-Because we didn't do the flouring, and our shrimp were already peeled, deveined, and precooked (yeahhhh Price Chopper), we just heated up the shrimp a little, then took them out to do the sauce, and put them back in at the end. No draining required.

-2 things that we would do differently. First, we bought small shrimp because they were on sale. Mistake! Big shrimp would have been more filling. (We ended up snacking on carrots after dinner to compensate...haha) Second, I heated the liquid for 5 minutes like they said, and I thought the liquid reduced by half, but I think I was wrong. There was a lot more liquid at the end than I think there should have been. Hence the eating of the shrimp in bowls. Maybe we should have reduced it longer?

-Either way, the shrimp tasted very good. Next time, I'll just cook longer and buy bigger shrimp! We served the broiled broccoli and garlic that you may remember from one of our past recipes--this was a really good side dish. Enjoy!

Beef Fajitas with Spanish Rice

This delicious creation has actually been made once pre-blogging days. It was delicious then, and it was even more delicious now. The recipes (there are actually 3 here) come from my regular Betty Crocker cookbook. Please note that this recipe takes a bit of pre-planning and time coordination. This is a great fun dinner, especially if you are craving Mexican food!

Note that there are 3 recipes needed for this.

INGREDIENTS:

Fajita Marinade:

-1/4 cup veggie oil

-1/4 cup red wine vinegar

-1 tsp sugar

-1 tsp dried oregano leaves

-1 tsp chili powder

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Spanish Rice:

-2 tbsp veggie oil

-1 cup uncooked regular long grain rice

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2 1/2 cups water

-1 1/2 tsp salt

-3/4 tsp chili powder

-1/8 tsp garlic powder

-1 small green bell pepper, chopped

-1 can (8 0z) tomato sauce

Beef Fajitas:

-1 1/2 lb beef boneless top sirloin steak, 1 1/2 inches thick

-12 flour tortillas

-2 tbsp veggie oil

-2 large onions, sliced

-2 medium green or red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips

-1 jar (8 oz) picante sauce

-1 cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

-Guacamole

-3/4 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

-Start with the marinade first, the night before or morning of the meal. Mix all marinade ingredients in shallow glass or plastic dish. Add the top sirloin steak, and turn to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

-The rice and fajitas can be cooked at the same time, so I'll separate out those directions.

Spanish Rice:

-Heat oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook rice and onion in oil about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is golden brown and onion is tender.

-Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender.

Beef Fajitas:

-Set oven to broil.

-Remove beef from marinade; reserve marinade. Place beef on rack in broiler pan. (Line with aluminum foil for easy clean up.) Broil beef with top about 3 inches from heat about 8 minutes or until brown. Turn; brush beef with marinade. Broil 7 to 8 minutes longer for medium-rare to medium. Discard any remaining marinade.

-While beef is broiling, heat oil in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers in oil 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Cut beef across grain into very thin slices.

-For each fajita, place a few slices of beef, some of the onion mixture and Spanish Rice, 1 heaping tbsp each picante sauce and cheese, about 2 tbsp Guacamole and 1 tbsp sour cream in center of tortilla. Fold it up!

COMMENTS:

-Where to start? Well first, we've found it's easier to slice up the beef before you put it in the marinade. And don't skip the marinade. Trust me, it's worth it for the flavor!

-To cut down on time, we used instant rice. We cooked it up in just a couple minutes, then added all the ingredients and let it sit on low heat for a minute or two. Done!

-The Betty Crocker recipe actually doesn't call for the Spanish Rice as part of the fajitas--we made that up, because we skipped the onions and felt like the fajitas needed more. The rice is soooo good in the fajitas though. Definitely worth it.

-Things we also skipped on: guacamole. Oh, and I highly recommend using shredded "taco blend" cheese instead of cheddar or monterey jack!

-We first made this meal when we had a couple friends over one night. It's definitely a fun get-together meal.

-I have included pictures of both my girly fajita, and Craig's "manly" fajita. Guess which is which!

Chicken with Peppers and Artichokes

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Best Chicken book again. I have wanted to try something with artichokes for a while so this fit the bill!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 jar (6 0z) marinated artichoke hearts

-1/3 cup white wine or white wine vinegar

-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

-2 medium red bell peppers, each cut lengthwise into fourths

-4 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

-Drain marinade from artichoke hearts; reserve. Mix reserved marinade and wine in shallow nonmetal dish or resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and bell peppers, turning to coat with marinade. Cover dish or seal bag and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

-Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Remove chicken and bell peppers from marinade; reserve marinade. Cover and grill chicken 4-6 inches from medium heat 5 minutes. Turn chicken; add bell peppers to grill. Cover and grill 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bell peppers are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

-Strain marinade. Mix marinade, artichoke hearts, onions and pepper. Heat to boiling; boil and stir 1 minute. Serve artichoke sauce with chicken and peppers.

COMMENTS:

-Most importantly, we didn't cook it the same way. Since we don't have a grill, we just cooked the chicken and peppers on a skillet. It still pretty much comes out the same way, I would imagine.

-Skipped onions as usual.

-The end result was really good! The marinade was tasty and even Craig liked it. I was taking a chance on him with this one because he's only eaten artichokes one other time, and he wasn't sure he would like them. He did end up picking out the actual artichokes, but he liked the marinade at least. If you are an artichoke fan, this is a good dish to try!

Cookie Dough Brownies

Well, my first ever solo baking experience was interesting to say the least! Yes, we laughed, we cried, and in the end, the brownies tasted delicious. And the Giants won the Super Bowl. So all was right in the world. :) But I think, like my idol Rachael Ray, I will stick mostly with cooking from now on...

INGREDIENTS:

-1 package fudge brownie mix

-1/2 cup water

-1/2 cup oil

-1 egg

-1/2 cup chocolate chips

Filling:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

-1/4 cup sugar

-2 tbsp milk

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 cup flour

Glaze:

-1 cup chocolate chips

-1 tbsp oil

-1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 13x9 inch pan. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, water, egg, and oil; beat 50 strokes by hand. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spread in greased pan and bake at 350 for 33-35 minutes; do not overbake! Cool completely. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; blend well.

Add flour and mix well, then spread over cooled brownies. In small bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tbsp butter on medium for 1-2 minutes or just until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Carefully spoon glaze over filling and spread to cover. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, pressing down slightly. Cut into bars and store in fridge.

COMMENTS:

Tip #1: If you use your brand new shiny KitchenAid mixer to mix the butter/brown sugar/sugar mixture...do not stick your spatula in the bowl while the mixer is mixing. (Crying episode #1)

Tip #2: The chocolate for the glaze doesn't really melt in the microwave. I don't know how in the world the creator of this recipe was able to do that. I ended up with a thick, but not melty, chocolate glaze. Which, needless to say, did not spread well on top of the brownies. (Crying episode #2) Craig helped me by melting an additional 1-2 cups of chocolate chips (these are not diet brownies!) so that we could get enough glaze to cover all the brownies. Phew, crisis averted.

But as I said, in the end, these brownies were delicious. I got the idea for them from a post on thenest.com and those ladies never steer me wrong. I made them for the Super Bowl (we had a few people over) but we had tons leftover. DARN. So we've had brownies for dessert all week. :) This is definitely a good twist on your traditional brownie! Just make sure you learn from my mistakes!