Shrimp Scampi

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Today we went to my parents for a Labor Day barbeque.  Mom had one of my favorite snacks marinating in the fridge: Shrimp Scampi.  You can either cook the shrimp in the broiler or you can make it on the grill like we did today.

Shrimp Scampi

1 lb. raw shrimp, deveined and shelled

1 c. olive oil

2 tbsp. minced parsley

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp. salt

Shell and devein shrimp, rinse and pat dry. Place in shallow bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over shrimp. Cover shrimp and chill for 2-3 hours.

To Broil:

Preheat broiler.  Line broiling pan bottom with foil for easy clean up. Place shrimp on pan. Broil 5"-6" from heat, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with lemon.

To Grill:

Put shrimp on skewers (if using wooden skewers, make sure you let skewers soak in water first).  Heat grill on low. Place shrimp on grill and cook 3-5 minutes per side, depending on size of shrimp. Shrimp will 'pink up' and curl when cooked. Serve with lemon.

Enjoy!

Mom's Sour Cucumbers

Friday, September 4, 2009

Looking for something to serve with the hot dogs and burgers for Labor Day weekend?  These sour cucumbers are a great addition to any barbeque feast. The best thing about them is that they can stay outside all day, unlike potato salad or macaroni salad that contains mayonnaise. This serves two but you can easily double or triple this recipe.

Mom's Sour Cucumbers

1 medium cucumber
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt

Peel cucumber and slice thinly.  Layer cucumber in a medium dish, salting in between layers. Let cucumbers sit at room temperature.  Pour water off cucumbers every 10 minutes for about a half an hour.

Pour red wine vinegar over cucumber slices and stir. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator.  Let chill for at least an hour.

Enjoy!

Eggplant, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I was feeling creative yesterday and wanted to do something with tomatoes. I wasn't in the mood for a caprese salad and I thought that eggplant would be a nice twist.

Eggplant, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small eggplant, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4" thick slices
2 tablespoons oilive oil
5 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, toss the eggplant in the olive oil, and liberally season with salt and pepper. Spread the eggplant out on a baking sheet, in a single layer, and roast for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack until room tempature.

Cut eggplant into bite size pieces. Add cut up eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella to a medium bowl. Drizzle bowl with balsamic vinegar and add Italian seasoning. Serves 2.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Parfait

Monday, August 31, 2009

Parfaits are very easy to make and can save you a lot of time if you're in a hurry. If you want something a little different, you can add a layer of fresh blueberries when they are in season.

Breakfast Parfait

1/4 c.+ 2 tbsp. plain non-fat yogurt
4 tbsp. Smucker's Simply Fruit Blueberry Spreadable Fruit
1/4 c. + 1 tbsp. vanilla granola

In a small glass, layer two tablespoons of yogurt, two tablespoons blueberry spreadable fruit and 2 tablespoons of granola. Repeat. For the last layer, use remaining two tablespoons of yogurt and sprinkle granola on top. Put in refrigerator for about 15 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

Honey BBQ Chicken Pizza

Sunday, August 30, 2009

I have to give credit to my husband for this pizza. We were at Wild Bill's Buffalo Wing ® at the Palisades Mall and he was eating the Honey BBQ chicken wings. He loves this sauce and he asked me would it be possible to make a pizza with this sauce? This is what I came up with.

Honey BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 pizza dough
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
3/4 c. Wild Bill's Buffalo Wing ® Honey BBQ sauce, divided
1 tbsp. butter
2 c. mozzarella cheese

Place dough on floured surface. Stretch dough into a rectangle and cut in the middle to form two doughs. Stretch both doughs into a circle. Let dough sit for about 10 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low. Add 1/4 c. wing sauce and chicken and stir until combined. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

To make pizza:

Poke holes in dough with fork. Place dough on pizza stone in 430 degree preheated oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Let sit on wire rack for about 3 minutes until dough is cool to touch.

Add 1/4 c. wing sauce to dough and spread sauce on dough like pizza sauce, leaving about 1/2" of dough for crust. Add about 2/3 cup of mozzarella cheese to pizza. Sprinkle half of chicken mixture over cheese. Lastly, add 1/3 c cheese to pizza and cook in oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Repeat directions for second pie.

Enjoy!

Arthur's Tavern - Hoboken, NJ

This weekend, we visited one of my favorite restaurants - Arthur's Tavern in Hoboken, NJ. My parents brought me here right after they got married in 1994 and I fell in love. I try to come down to Hoboken once a year to visit this place. I can promise you, once you come here to eat, you will not leave hungry.

Arthur's is located on Washington Street, which is the main drag in Hoboken. It's very close to the PATH train which makes it easy for the New Yorkers to travel to this great eatery.

Once you walk in to Arthur's, you enjoy the casualness of the red checkered tablecloths to the specials written on a dry erase board. You will also enjoy see pictures of many famous people from sports to actors, including Frank Sinatra. During the summer, they have tables out front that you can sit and enjoy a great meal on a beautiful day.

The menu is limited but Arthur's is well known for their steaks. As you can see from the menu, they have three types of steak - the Junior Sirloin 12 oz., the 24oz. and the big 48 oz. Most of the time, I get the 24 oz. Another added bonus, it comes with Arthur's potatoes which are the best potatoes I have ever eaten in my life. For an appetizer, I recommend the garlic bread. It is loaded with garlic and parmesan cheese - this is one treat that you want to share with everyone at the table. Your beverages can come king sized too. This is the home of the liter beer. Yes, I said liter beer. Their strawberry daquiri was very good too.

The moment you sit down , you are greeted with pickes and homemade coleslaw. The coleslaw isn't your traditional coleslaw. It does not have any mayonnaise at all and it's very delicious.

For dinner, I had the Petite Sirloin and Shrimp, which was accompanied by their special rice. It was fantastic. This is a perfectly portioned meal and hits the spot. Everyone else got the 24 oz. sirloin which was accompanied by the Arthur's famous potatoes.

So, if you happen to be in Hoboken, I strongly suggest you swing by here for dinner. If you're in the mood for a good steak or a hearty hamburger, this is the place to come.

The Unpizza

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Unpizza

This is one of our family secrets. This pizza is great because you can either eat it hot out of the oven or cold the next day and it travels well. The Fontina gives it a nice nutty taste and compliments the mozzarella and sausage. If you're looking for something different, this is the way to go.

The Unpizza

1 pizza dough

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage - cooked and drained

6 eggs

8 oz. Fontina cheese

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp. Parmesan/Romano cheese

1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Cook and drain sausage on a paper towel.

Coat 8x8 baking dish with olive oil. Stretch dough over dish - leave about 4" of dough overlapping each side.

In medium bowl, mix eggs, Fontina, Mozzarella, Parmesan/Romano and Italian Seasoning.

Pour half of the egg mixture onto pizza dough. Add sausage and pour remaining egg mixture to dough. Fold dough to cover top and seal.

Bake for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let sit for about 15 minutes and remove from baking dish.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Chocolate covered strawberries are a nice little romantic treat when you want to celebrate something special. I always make them for our wedding anniversary. They are very simple to make and they go really well with some sparkling wine.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1 package strawberries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp. heavy cream
splash of vanilla extract

Rinse strawberries and drain on a paper towel. Make sure you dry the strawberries so the chocolate will stick. Heat chocolate, heavy cream and vanilla in a small sauce pan over low, stirring constantly. Once chocolate has melted, dip strawberry in chocolate sauce. Place dipped strawberry on a wax paper covered plate. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour or until chocolate has completely cooled on strawberry.

Enjoy!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Who does not love a biscuit with a meal? I love going to restaurants and trying different types of breads before my appetizer arrives. For years, I have been trying to come up with the perfect biscuit to serve for dinner and I finally found it!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

2 c. Bisquick
1 c. cheddar cheese
2/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Glaze
3 tbsp. butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. parsley

Preheat oven at 425 degrees. Mix Bisquick, milk, cheese, butter and garlic powder in a bowl. Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Drop biscuits in a heaping tablespoon on baking sheet. Cook for about 10 minutes (oven time may vary).

While biscuits are in the oven, heat butter, garlic powder and parsley over low heat in a small saucepan. When biscuits are cooked, brush butter mixture over biscuits. Serve warm.

Makes about 10 biscuits.

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Wine Sauce

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I love sauce and gravy. Whether it be Country Fried Chicken or Pot Roast, it has to be coated with something. This recipe is the basic Chicken Cordon Bleu with a twist - a white wine sauce that you can put on the chicken and noodles. It is out of this world.

For something different or if you don't have a lot of time, don't wrap the ham and swiss in the chicken. Just bread the chicken, brown it and let it simmer in the wine for about 15 minutes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Wine Sauce

4 thin cut, boneless chicken breasts
4 slices of thin deli sliced ham
4 slices of deli sliced swiss
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
3 tbsp. butter
3/4 c. white wine (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
1 chicken bouillon cube or envelope
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup half and half

Lay chicken breasts flat and fold cheese and ham slices to fit on top. Fold chicken over filling and fasten with skewer or toothpick.

Mix flour, paprika and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. Roll chicken rolls in mixture until well coated.

Melt butter in 12" skillet over medium heat. Add chicken rolls. Brown all sides. Add bouillion and wine and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cover and let simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Remove chicken and skewers/toothpicks.

Mix cornstarch and half and half in cup until well blended. Add to skillet and stir constantly. Cook until thickened.

Serve sauce with chicken and egg noodles.

Enjoy!