This year, Ben and I are going out for Valentine's Dinner but there were plenty of years (especially when the kids were little) that it was just easier (and cheaper) to stay in and make a Valentine's Dinner at home. If your Valentines plans call for a home cooked meal this year - I have two words for you --- Stuffed. Shrimp. Keep the meal simple by serving your shrimp with some crusty whole grain bread and a simple salad or vegetable. You'll have extra white wine left over after you add a dash to the stuffing so pour a couple glasses, pick up some flowers and surprise your Valentine with a delicious home cooked meal this Valentine's Day. Stuffed Shrimp 4 slices white sandwich bread 36 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deviened 1 Tablespoon butter 2 celery ribs, chopped fine 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley 1 Tablespoon white wine 2 teaspoons lemon zest 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Pulse bread in food processor until coarse crumbs form. Place 6 shrimp in food process and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake 8 minutes at 375 until lightly toasted. Cool Melt butter in skillet and add celery. Cook 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and saute an additional 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl along with chopped shrimp and bread crumbs. Stir in mayonnaise, parsley, wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pat remaining shrimp dry with paper towels. Here is where I had to deviate from the original Cook's Country recipe. The recipe said to butterfly each shrimp by cutting a slit along the back and then standing each shrimp up so that the tail curled over the top. This seemed like a good idea UNTIL I tried to stuff them. I couldn't get them to stand up for anything. I tried cutting a deeper slit, I tried using less filling, more filling - nothing worked. They fell over every time. I finally gave up and just laid them on their sides and put a scoop of stuffing in the center. Bake 6 minutes. Turn. Bake another 6 minutes. These stuffed shrimp are SUPER tasty and your Valentine will never know that they're low in fat. As I see it, more room for chocolate. See - you don't have to go out to a fancy restaurant to have an elegant dinner on Valentine's Day. These stuffed shrimp will impress any Valentine. Ciao!
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A trip through the produce isle at the grocery store last week left me craving summer fresh produce. I'm missing the overflowing bins of fresh green beans, the crisp, green asparagus stalks, the bright green heads of fresh broccoli - ahhh sweet summer vegetables. I'm getting tired of cooking the same old vegetables so when I find a new way to prepare a winter vegetable - I'm all in. In this case - roasted carrots - with and almond relish that will make you forget that we are in the middle of winter. This is certainly NOT a boring winter vegetable recipe. Roasted Carrots 1 pound carrots, peeled (about 12) 3 cups water 1 Tablespoon butter 1/2 teaspoon salt Almond Relish 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted 1 Tablespoon green onion, sliced 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped 1/2 teaspoon honey 1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped dash paprika pinch salt Bring water, butter and salt to a simmer in large skillet. Add carrots in a single layer. Remove pan from heat. Cover carrots with a parchment circle. Cover skillet with lid for 20 minutes. Remove lid from skillet and bring carrots to a simmer over medium high heat. Sinner until almost all water is evaporated. (About 45 minutes.) Discard parchment paper circle. Continue to cook 2-4 minutes until carrots are lightly glazed and no water remains in skillet. Transfer carrots to a dish to serve. Combine relish ingredients. Serve over carrots. No more winter vegetable blahs. A nice bright, crunchy orange carrot is just what I needed to pull me out of my winter vegetable rut. Thank you Cook's Illustrated for this little gem of a recipe. Ciao! The weather is going to get warmer soon (I hope) so I need to get the rest of my new soup recipes made so we're not eating soup in the middle of July. I also picked a fresh batch of spinach from my garden on Saturday and I could hardly wait to try it. I ate a lot of it in salads but I wanted to try some in my soup as well. I couldn't think of a better way to highlight my home grown spinach than in this turkey orzo soup. Turkey Orzo Soup 1 Tablespoon oil 12 ounces 93% ground turkey 1 Tablespoon oregano 4 sliced baby bella mushrooms 5 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups chicken stock 2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes 3/4 cup orzo pasta 3 cups spinach Just in case you are not familiar with Orzo - let me introduce you. Orzo is essentially a pasta - made from semolina - just like spaghetti. It's cut to look more like rice than pasta though so it throws people for a loop when they see it in the grocery store. It comes in both white and whole wheat varieties and it's perfect for soups. It cooks quickly and it gives vegetable soups a little bit of that hearty chew to sink your teeth into. (Did that even make sense?) Heat oil in skillet. Add turkey and cook until browned. Add oregano, mushroom and garlic. Cook 5 minutes. Add stock, water, salt, red pepper and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook 7 minutes. Serve. Stir in spinach and serve. Making the most of these chilly February days with some hot bowls of delicious soup. It won't be long before we're cranking up the air conditioner to try and keep cool. Ciao! Dreary, rainy Monday mornings call for comfort food. And if you grew up in the South, that comfort food might just be banana pudding. Banana pudding cupcakes are the perfect little pick me up on a Monday - or any day really. The moist banana cake filled with vanilla pasty cream on a vanilla wafer crust and topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting is a perfect way to enjoy the flavors of this traditional dessert in a whole new way. The homemade pastry cream really takes these cupcakes from ordinary to extraordinary. Don't cheat and open a box of pudding mix - I promise you that it's worth the extra effort to make your own pastry cream. Banana Pudding Cupcakes For the Banana Cupcakes: 2¾ cups all-purpose flour 1¼ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature ¼ cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature 1¾ cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 eggs 1½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 4 bananas) ½ cup buttermilk For the Vanilla Pastry Cream: 3 cups half-and-half 6 large egg yolks ½ cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Reserve 12 vanilla wafers and crush remaining wafers in food processor. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Press 1 Tablespoon wafer mixture into 12 paper lined jumbo muffin cups. Bake 5 minutes at 350. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add bananas and vanilla. Scoop batter over wafer crust in jumbo muffin tins. Add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk. Bake 24 minutes at 350. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. To make the pastry cream, bring half and half to a simmer in a small saucepan. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together until the mixture is pale, about 1 minute. Whisk half of the warm half-and-half into the egg yolk mixture. Pour mixture into the remaining half-and-half in the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve and press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Put in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, or until chilled. Cut a hole in the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with chilled pastry cream. Fill pastry bag with cream cheese frosting. Pipe frosting on top of each cupcake. Garnish with reserved wafer crumbs and vanilla wafers. Now that's the way that this Italian girl from Ohio does banana puddin' y'all. (hahaha) Ciao! For the past couple of months, I have been on a huge hummus kick. I can't really explain why I'm craving hummus or what inspired this recent hummus fascination but I just can't seem to get enough of the creamy dip lately. My absolute favorite way to eat hummus is with salty pretzels or crackers but I'm trying to get a few more vegetables onto my hummus plate too. Like I said, I've eaten LOTS of hummus over the past couple of months so I've had the chance to try a lot of different varieties - both store bought and homemade. I finally stumbled on an ultrasmooth and creamy version with roasted garlic that is far superior to any grocery store version. If you are a fan of roasted garlic, you need to try this. You may never buy grocery store hummus again. It takes a little bit of time to prepare but I think you'll agree - it's TOTALLY worth it. Roasted Garlic Hummus 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup water 6 Tablespoons tahini 2 Tablespoons olive oil 14 ounce can chick peas 1 head garlic 1/2 teaspoon salt pinch cayenne (optional) Slice head of garlic in half. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap tightly in foil. Roast 1 hour at 350. Let cool slightly. Combine lemon juice and water in a small bowl. Whisk together tahini and 2 Tablespoons oil. Peel skins from chicken peas and discard. Process chick peas in food processor until ground. With machine running, add lemon juice mixture and oil/tahini mixture. Squeeze in roasted garlic and process until smooth. Serve with your favorite pretzels, pita chips, vegetables or crackers. Ciao! |
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