Sunday, February 24, 2013

Shrimp Scampi with Linguini

Not sure where I found this recipe, but it was in with all of the recipes I copied from my Mom's recipe box....the reason why I don't know where this recipe came from...my mom doesn't really make seafood dishes, so why would I have copied this recipe from her recipe box?

Nonetheless, I tried this recipe the other night and it was scrumptious! (And, the leftovers were probably amazing...but Ryan got to enjoy those)

The recipe I used called for dry white wine...I didn't have any, so I omitted it. Not sure how it would have changed the outcome, but if you want to add it to this recipe add 1/2 a cup.


Shrimp Scampi w/ Linguini
Ingredients
1 lb. linguini
4 T. unsalted butter
4 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 T. red pepper flakes
1 pound shrimp
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Step by Step Directions
1. Cook the linguini according to the package directions.
2. In a large skillet, melt 2 T. butter and 2 T. EVOO over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, shallots, garlic, red pepper and red pepper flakes. (approximately 3-4 minutes)

3. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. (I also sprinkled with garlic salt) Add them to the pan and cook until the shrimp are pink. Then, add lemon juice. Remove from heat.

4. In the skillet, add the remaining 2 T. of butter and the 2 T. EVOO and the parsley. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp and shallot mixture to the pan.

5. Reserve 1/4 c. of noodle water and then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot. Pour the shallot/shrimp mixture over the noodles and add the starchy noodle water as well. Stir.


6. Sprinkle with cheese and serve!









Friday, February 22, 2013

Pizza Meatloaf...a throwback to my childhood

I have been in a bit of a cooking rut lately. It didn't help that I thought I was on death's door for two weeks. But, I have made a few "new" recipes in the kitchen in the past few weeks....new as in...I found some recipes  my mom used to make and I thought I would put my own "spin" on things...

The first one was one I used to LOVE back in the day, but she didn't make it very often. Most times it was just meatloaf. I guess whenever cheese is involved, that is a dish I will remember forever.

As for the ground beef, I used the 90/10 package. I thought about using the 93/3, but I figured I needed a little bit of fat. And, I'm sure you could use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Also, for future reference I may play with different types of toppings...but for this one, I stuck with cheese (and red pepper flakes, of course!)

Total time to make this is around an hour, but most of that is the baking portion.


Pizza Meatloaf
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef (90/10)
1 cup tomato paste (6oz.)
1 cup water
1/2 t. oregano
2 garlic, minced
1/2 c. Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 c. diced onion
1 T. fresh parsley, diced
1 beaten egg
1/4 t. fennel seeds
1/2 t. onion salt
1/2 t. - 1T. red pepper flakes
1 c. mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

Step by Step
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine tomato paste, water, oregano, fennel seeds, onion salt, parsley, half of the red pepper flakes and minced garlic in a bowl.
3. Combine 1/2 of the above mixture with the bread crumbs, diced onion, egg, and salt/pepper.
4. Mix together (I used my hands) with the beef. Shape into a loaf and place into a shallow baking dish.

5. Bake 45 minutes without sauce.
6. Remove from oven. Top with rest of the sauce mixture. Then, top with cheese and remaining red pepper flakes. Bake until cheese has melted (about 5 minutes)


Serve with a green veggie and mashed potatoes.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Microwaved Spicy and Cheesy Sliced Potato

These potatoes pair nicely with the Spicy Healthy Hot Wings at Home recipe found on this blog.  I love how easy and tasty these turned out to be! Especially since I am not a big potato fan! (hard to believe, but true)

These were prepped and made in less than 15 minutes!


Spicy and Cheesy Sliced Potato
Ingredients
2 baking potatoes
2 T. melted butter
2 t. chives
2 t. green onions
2 t. garlic salt
2 t. chili powder
2 T. - 3T. shredded Mexican cheese

Step by Step Directions
1. Slice the potatoes (make sure not to go all the way through) and place in a microwave safe casserole dish. (my dish was sprayed with PAM)

2. Whisk the chili powder and garlic salt into the melted butter.

3. Pour the butter, chives and green onions over the potatoes.

4. Microwave for 10 minutes.

5. Pull the slices further apart and top with cheese.

Serve with the Spicy Hot Wings!



Spicy Healthy Hot Wings at HOME!

The Super Bowl is almost here! Time to invite friends and family over for your Super Bowl party...whether you watch it for the game or the commercials, one thing is for sure...you MUST have wings to make your party complete!

Now, I LOVE wings. But, I DON'T love how I feel after I eat them. They are a bit too much to handle when the majority of the time I eat very well. So, I wanted to come up with a recipe that would just as tasty as any hot wing we had ever had, but without all of the extra fat and calories. So, I didn't bread them or fry them. I did pull out the crock pot...

One thing I will suggest if you are going to try this recipe, make sure you have baking sheets that have raised edges otherwise, when you broil the wings, the juice will make an awful mess of your oven. (ours is self cleaning right now!)


Spicy Healthy Hot Wings
Ingredients
12 full wings (frozen or fresh)
1 t. red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves
1/2 t. onion salt
1/2c. light beer
23 fl. oz. Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Step by Step Directions
Mix all of the dry ingredients in with the beer and half of the Frank's Red Hot. Place the wings into the crock pot. Pour the remaining Frank's over the wings.

If frozen, cook on low for 7 hours. If fresh, cook on high for 2-3 hours.


Be VERY careful after cooking the wings. They are VERY tender and will fall apart.
**I cooked the wings overnight and then refrigerated the wings all day.**

Carefully, place the wings on a greased (I used PAM) baking sheet.
Set the broiler to high, bake for 7-8 minutes.


Serve with blue cheese and celery!