Y-U-M

February brings my favorite time of year: Girl. Scout. COOKIES.

Thin Mints + homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream =

Shrimp with Garlic Cream Sauce

Alas, yesterday was another Friday during Lent, which means no meat for dinner. We don't eat a lot of fish because I...basically don't like fish. I can do shrimp every so often, but I didn't want to do the same shrimp scampi that I did last week. Instead, I envisioned spicy shrimp with a garlic cream sauce... so off to Google I went for some inspiration! Here is what I ended up with:

Shrimp with Garlic Cream Sauce
Ingredients
~1.5 tbsp butter
~1 tbsp olive oil
~3 cloves garlic, minced
~1/2 of a shallot, minced (you could use the whole shallot... I like shallots but they don't like me so I try to minimize their use!)
~uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (I probably only used 1/4 pound of very small shrimp because I didn't want leftover shrimp. There was plenty of extra sauce so feel free to increase the amount of shrimp)
~spices for shrimp - I use Essence of Emeril, homemade.

~1 plum tomato, pureed

~1/2 cup dry white wine
~1/4 tsp basil

~1/2 cup heavy cream

~1/3 grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

~Melt butter and heat olive oil in saute pan. Add garlic and shallot, cook 1-2 minutes.

~Season shrimp and add to pan. Heat 3-5 min until cooked, them remove from pan.

~Add wine, reduce by half over med-high heat.

~Add tomato puree and basil, simmer over low heat for 5 min.

~Stir in cream, heat through.

~Stir in Parmesan cheese. Add shrimp back to sauce to reheat and allow sauce to thicken.

This was very good! I served it with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. We will definitely be having this again!

Platinum Chef Challenge 6: Stuffed Cumin Chicken

The Platinum Chef Challenge (PCC) is back! I love participating in this blogging challenge with the ladies on thenest. For some reason, I can stare at my kitchen/cupboard for hours and not come up with a meal, but give me 5 random ingredients and my mind races! For me, the PCC is just a way to expand my horizons in the kitchen and 'flex my wings,' if you will. I'm not much for creating dishes from scratch, so I like to push myself to come up with new things. In past challenges, I've been able to experience new ingredients, as well.

For the sixth installment of PCC, the ingredients were as follows:
Vanilla
Cumin
Butternut Squash
Barley
Chickpeas

Cumin jumped out at me as a sign for some Middle Eastern cuisine. I did some digging for inspiration and technique, and decided to make Stuffed Cumin Chicken. I created a chicken breast with a honey spice glaze, stuffed with a barley, spinach and chickpea stuffing. I topped them off with a warm vanilla squash yogurt sauce and served along side honey cumin baby carrots.

To make the stuffing:

Ingredients

1/3 cup barley, rinsed
dash salt
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4" thick ring of large white onion, diced.
2 oz fresh spinach

1/2 cup chickpeas
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon

1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin

Directions
~Bring the salt and chicken stock to a boil in a pot. Add barley and cook until tender and slightly chewy, about 45 min/
~Heat oil in a saute pan. Add garlic and onion, cook over medium heat for a few minutes until garlic is fragrant and onion begins to become translucent.
~Add spinach and cook until wilted down.
~Puree the chickpeas in a processor with the lemon juice.
~Combine all barley, spinach, and chickpeas together and add remaining spices.

For the glaze:
Ingredients
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all in a small dish

Preparing the chicken:

~Spray the bottom of a baking dish with nonstick spray.

~Split boneless/skinless chicken breast lengthwise to create a pocket in the middle. Add stuffing to pocket. (I ended up with probably 1/4 cup in each. I made 3 total and had about 1/2 cup stuffing leftover)

~Brush glaze on both sides of chicken

~Place in baking dish and cook in the oven at 375 degrees F until done, about 30 minutes. (I always check that the meat had reached a temp of 160 degrees F with an instant read thermometer).

For the yogurt sauce:

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 egg white (yes I know this is weird, sorry!)

1 tsp cornstarch

seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean

1/4 cup boiled, mashed butternut squash (in retrospect it would have been better to puree this so the sauce didn't have that 'stringy' look).

dash cinnamon

Directions

~Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan OFF THE HEAT, stir to make sure cornstarch is incorporated. While stirring constantly, place over medium heat.

~Bring yogurt to a boil while stirring constantly. This is to prevent curlding.

~When the yogurt has boiled successfully, you can relax the stirring. Reduce to a simmer, for 3 minutes.

~Stir in squash and cinnamon.

~If a thinner sauce is desired, add some warmed chicken stock to preference.

To serve with the chicken, I steamed some baby carrots and tossed them with a bit of honey and cumin. Plate chicken and serve with warm yogurt sauce.

I think this was my first time really cooking with cumin. Unfortunately, I don't think I really care for cumin... or yogurt sauce. It wasn't bad, and my husband seemed to enjoy it, but I guess it's hard for me to judge where it falls on the scale.

TWD: Almost Fudge Gateau

I am SO excited to now be a part of Tuesdays with Dorie (go here for more!). I received Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours for Christmas and have been dying to dig in. For this week, Nikki of Crazy Delicious chose the Almost Fudge Gateau. I had a few technical problems along the way (ok, one big one... over beating the egg whites), but in the end it was still edible so I don't think I did too badly. Also, reading over the directions here I realize that I never dusted my pan with flour. Again, it didn't seem any worse for wear and unmolded perfectly from my springform pan.

Almost-Fudge Gâteau
5 large eggs
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup of sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons coffee or water (I used water as no one in my house drinks coffee so I didn't have any)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

For the Glaze (optional)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a mixer bowl or other large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add the chocolate, sugar butter and coffee. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted; the sugar may still be grainy, and that's fine. Transfer the bowl to the counter and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes.
Using a rubber spatula, stir in the yolks one by one, then fold in the flour.

Lookin' good so far!

Working with the whisk attachment of the mixer or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they hold firm, but glossy peaks. Using the spatula, stir about one quarter of the beaten whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest. Scrape the butter into the pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a couple of times to even the batter.

Here I am... about to over beat the egg whites...

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake has risen evenly (it might rise around the edges and you'll think it's done, but give it a few minutes more, and the center will puff too) and the top has firmed (it will probably be cracked) and doesn't shimmy when tapped; a thin knife inserted into the center should come out just slightly streaked with chocolate. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Run a blunt knife gently around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Carefully turn the cake over onto a rack and remove the pan bottom and the parchment paper. Invert the cake onto another rack and cool to room temperature right side up. As the cake cools, it may sink.

Cooling, and not terribly impressive...

To Make the Optional Glaze:
First, turn the cooled cake over onto another rack so you'll be glazing the flat bottom, and place the rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper to catch any drips.
Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave oven – the chocolate should be just melted and only warm, not hot. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir very gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Stir in the corn syrup.

Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth the top with a long metal icing spatula. Don't worry if the glaze drips unevenly down the sides of the cake – it will just add to its charms. Allow the glaze to set at room temperature or, if you're impatient, slip the cake into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. If the glaze dulls in the fridge, just give it a little gentle heat from a hairdryer.

I made one mini gateau in a ramekin so I could taste test before bringing this delight to work. I probably would not have done this if it weren't for the over beating part... I was nervous! Clearly, there was no problem with the final product. :-)

Tomato Shrimp Scampi

I received this from my mother as part of a collection of recipes given to me at my bridal shower. I tweaked it a little for our taste (GARLIC), and so that it made a little less so there wasn't too much leftover. This is a great dish, and pretty easy to throw together.

Tomato Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

6 oz Pasta (I used Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti

Drizzle of olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (4 tomatoes)

1/2 cup white cooking wine

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp sugar

3 scallions, chopped

3/4 pound raw shrimp

1 tsp red pepper flakes

4 tbsp parmesan cheese

4 tbsp chopped basil

Directions:

~Saute garlic in olive oil and heat 2 minutes.

~Add tomatoes, cook 5 min.

~Add wine, lemon juice and sugar and simmer 6 minutes.

~Add scallions, shrimp and red pepper flakes, cook until shrimp turns pink - about 3 minutes.

Looks good so far!

~Stir in basil and parmesan cheese, toss with cooked pasta.

Yum! This has a wonderful light fresh lemon flavor, with a little kick from the garlic and red pepper.

Sage Chicken and Pumpkin Polenta

Fall isn't over at our house! I had some pumkpin leftover from Cuteshorn's soup (which was also really good!), so I decided to try my hand at something different. I had some chicken thawed, so I went in search of something that would combine the two. Eventually I stumbled upon a pumpkin polenta recipe that sounded really good. So what then would I do with the chicken? I'm not very creative and am still trying to learn what flavors and spices go together. I decided sage was a good way to go, and found this recipe for Sage Chicken.

My notes on the chicken recipe: I combined all the seasonings and breadcrumbs to make one master batch, then coated both sides of the chicken with it. I had 4 chicken breasts but still found their recommendation to be a lot. I will probably cut it down next time. I baked mine at 350F until a thermometer read 160F in the chicken, then broiled for a minute or two, to help crisp up the topping.

Pumpkin Polenta (Source: Relishmag.com, Recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon, Relish the Season, "From Patch to Pan," October 2007. Below are the amounts I used, as I only wanted to make 1/2 the recipe)

Cooking spray

2 cups water (I used chicken broth)

3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup stone-ground cornmeal (not instant or pre-cooked polenta)

3/4 cups cooked pumpkin, coarsely mashed (I use canned)

1/8 cup sour cream or heavy cream

Few turns coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup shredded Gruyère or Jarlsberg cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or if you are like me and grab the wrong thing at the store, Grana Padano cheese)

Preheat oven to 350F. Generously coat a 1 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. (I forgot this and still survived fine). Combine water, salt and cornmeal in dish, mixing well (the mixture will separate). Bake, uncovered, 40 minutes.

Remove from oven; stir in pumpkin, sour cream, pepper, nutmeg and half the cheeses. Bake 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, top with remaining cheese, and place under the broiler for a few minutes, until top is brown and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

These both turned out GREAT and got rave reviews from my fiance. Both recipes are definitely keepers!

Peppermint Shortbread Cookies

I found this recipe while going through my Sunday coupons. I thought they sounded good, so I decided to try them out (plus it would be a good use of the candy canes we had put on our Christmas tree). These were a nice little treat!

Peppermint Candy Shortbread Cookies (source: Argo website)

1 cup butter, softened (no substitutions)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 cup corn starch

Frosting(optional, but highly recommended!):
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candy (I don't know how they came up with this amount... I used way more than 2 tablespoons!)

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Mix butter, sugar, crushed candy and vanilla thoroughly using an electric mixer. Gradually blend in flour and corn starch. Form into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press down on each cookie to flatten using fingers or a flat bottomed drinking glass (dipped in sugar to prevent sticking). Bake at 300ºF for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown. Cool for 5 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and mix until frosting is smooth. Drizzle cookies with frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy.

French Onion Soup - The Easy Way

I love french onion soup... so when I got my little individual soup crocks, I knew exactly what I wanted to make first! I was feeling a bit lazy, though, so I wanted an easy recipe. Living Insanity's Crockpot French Onion Soup (courtesy of Sandra Lee from the Food Network) definitely fit the bill!

I was only making soup for two, so I cut the recipe in half. (Though we still had some leftover.)

French Onion Soup (with living insanity's suggestions and my own interpretations)

1 1/2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 can (14 ounces) low sodium beef broth (recommended: Swanson's)

1 can (10 ounces) beef consomme (recommended: Campbell's)

1 packet onion soup mix (recommended: Lipton's) (the full recipe calls for 1 packet, I didn't feel like trying to figure out what half of a packet was, so I just used it all!)

French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere

Combine onions, broth, consomme, and soup mix in a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours, or LOW setting for 8 hours. Ladle soup into serving bowls.

Top with cubes of French bread.

Sprinkle cheese over each bowl.

Put soup bowls under broiler until cheese is melted. (Alternatively, place the bread on a baking sheet and top with cheese; broil until cheese has melted,about 30 to 40 seconds, and set on top just before serving.)

Voila! My fiance and I both thought this was great, and perfect for a cold, snowy, New Year's Eve!

Comfort food: Pasta and Garlic Bread!

My fiancé had the night off from work (a rare occasion) so I decided to cook up something nice. His request was something we’ve had a number of times… Pasta with puttanesca sauce with chicken, zucchini and yellow squash. Typically I just buy jarred puttanesca sauce, but I thought this time I’d try to make it from scratch. I found a recipe from AllRecipes and it turned out great!

Ingredients:
8 ounces pasta
1/2 cup olive oil (I followed the recipe reviews and used a lot less. I didn’t measure, just drizzled it in the saucepan)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes, pushed through a sieve (I skipped the sieve part)
4 anchovy filets, rinsed and chopped (I skipped these)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons capers
20 Greek olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet over low heat; cook garlic in oil until golden. Add sieved tomatoes, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in anchovies, tomato paste, capers, olives, and red pepper flakes. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I let the sauce simmer while I cooked up some chicken breast (chopped to bite size pieces) and then some sliced zucchini and yellow squash, then added the sauce to the cooked chicken and veggies.


We served it with Barilla PLUS pasta.

I also was in search of a new garlic bread recipe. We’ve made it a few times and I’ve never really liked it (partially due to my tendency to burn it under the broiler :-) ). I posted on What’s Cooking for some help, and nestie tandd offered this recipe. We loved it, but I will probably cut down on the butter next time, it made a lot for the size of the italian loaf.

Garlic Bread (From nestie tandd)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened (I used ½ regular and ½ light butter)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
1 loaf of sourdough bread, halved lengthwise (I couldn’t find sourdough, so I just used Italian)


Directions:
Preheat oven broiler and put rack on top setting.
In a small bowl, combine softened butter, minced garlic and parmesan cheese. Season with garlic salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and paprika. Mix until smooth.
Spread the mixture on the cut sides of the bread, distributing evenly.
Place on cookie sheet, cut side up, and broil until brown.
You have to keep an eye on this because it will burn quickly if you are not paying attention.

(Mashed) Potato Pancakes

Like a lot of people this time of year, I had some leftover mashed potatoes (ok, a LOT leftover... who knew 3 potatoes would make that much!). I decided to try my hand at potato pancakes this morning. Wow! I've never had potato pancakes before, so maybe that was part of the infatuation, but I loved these! I started with a recipe from Allrecipes.com, and doctored it up a bit (shown in italics).

Ingredients:
2 cups mashed garlic potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

few dashes Frank's hot sauce
1 tablespoon butter (I used canola oil for cooking... somewhere between the computer and the stove I forgot it said to use butter!)

Sour cream (for serving)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together potatoes, beaten egg, salt, cayenne, black pepper, onion powder, flour, Frank's, and cheese. Heat oil on a large griddle at medium heat. Drop potato mixture onto griddle 1/4 cup at a time. Flatten with a spatula to 1/2 inch thick. Fry approximately 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve hot with sour cream.

I was afraid to go to far with the heat (spice) on these, but next time they could stand a little more, so I'll kick it up a bit. Overall... these had me wishing for more leftover mashed potatoes!