Pesto Shrimp with cherry tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 cup pesto

Directions:

1. Saute onion in coconut oil and then add garlic.
2. Add shrimp and toss to coat with the onion and garlic.
3. Cook shrimp for 1 minute and add tomatoes.
4. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until shrimp is bright pink and the tomatoes are tender.
5. Toss with pesto.

*serve with spaghetti squash or rice.

Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup white cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup salsa
• salt to taste
• 8 whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Saute the onion in olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cumin and saute for another 3 minutes.
3. Add the chicken, yogurt, cheddar cheese, salt and salsa.  Stir and heat through.
4. Spoon mixture evenly into tortillas and roll up.
5. Place in baking dish and top with salsa and cheddar cheese.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mixture will look something like this

Perfecto Pork

Ingredients:

• Boneless pork loin (NOT tenderloin) cut 2/3rd's though lengthwise on non-fat side
• 2 teaspoons salt
• pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaves
• 3 cloves mashed garlic

Directions:

1. Mix together garlic, salt and herbs and coat pork with mixture. 
2. Cover and refrigerate 2-24 hours. 
3. Pull pork out of the fridge 1 hour before you begin to cook it. 
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
5. Cook pork until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. 
6. Flip pork so fat side is up and broil on high until the fat melts and turns brown, be careful not to burn it.
7. Remove from oven and let rest at least 10 minutes before you slice.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cooked chicken, diced
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp celery seed
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 unbaked pie crusts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Sautee onions and carrots in butter.  Add peas and celery for the last few minutes.
3. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and celery seed.  
4. Slowly add broth and milk.  Simmer over medium-low heat until thick.  Add chicken.
5. Place mixture in pie crust and cover with second crust.  Make several slits in the top.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until pastry is golden brown.  Cool for 10 minutes.

Grilled Trout

Ingredients:

• 2 whole trout, cleaned
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lemon, thinly sliced
• Red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 close garlic, minced
• 2 sprig fresh thyme
• 2 sprig fresh rosemary

 Directions:

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil the grate.
2. Rub each trout generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt; sprinkle inside of cavities with salt and black pepper. Place half the lemon and onion slices into cavity of each trout, and place a sprig of rosemary and thyme into cavities.
3. Turn preheated grill down to low (or adjust vents for charcoal) and place the trout directly onto the grill; cook until flesh flakes easily and the skins are browned, 6 to 7 minutes per side, flipping once.

Shephard's Pie

Ingredients

• 2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup cream, for a lighter version substitute vegetable or chicken broth
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 3/4 pounds ground beef or ground lamb
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beef stock or broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, eyeball it
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, a couple
• of handfuls
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef or lamb. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. If you are using lamb and the pan is fatty, spoon away some of the drippings. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/30-minute-shepherds-pie-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Everyday Chili

Ingredients:1/2 a bag of black and pinto beans, soaked over night
1 can Rotelle-chili mix
4 roma tomatoes, diced
chicken broth
1/2 tsp. Ancho, chipotle and chili powder
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 lb hamburger
12 oz. Denver griller steak
2 small onions, diced
2 mild peppers (ancho and pablo), diced
3 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cumin
3 cloves garlic
juice from 1/2 lime
1 cinnamon stick (remove before eating)
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Soak beans overnight. 
2. Let steak come to room temperature. Season with salt and pepper. Sear 1 minute on each side in a hot pan. Let sit 10 minutes then dice up and add to pot. 
3. Combine all ingredients except lime juice. 
4. Let simmer on low for 4-8 hours. 
5. Adjust salt as needed. 
6. Add lime juice last hour. 
7. Remove cinnamon stick.

Schnitzel and Spaetzles

 Schnitzel
Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 Tsp dijon mustard
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup dry bread crums
• Parmesan
• 2 tsp pasley
• 2 tsp chives, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Pound chicken until 1/2 inch thick, sprinkle with salt and pepper
3. Place in 3 shallow dishes: flour- eggs, mustard- breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, chives and garlic
4. Dredge chicken through flour then egg then breadcrumbs
5. Heat oil over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook until brown on bottom.
6. Flip chicken over and place skillet in oven.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.

 

Spaetzle

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup milk

Instructions:

1. Bring salted water to a boil.
2. Sift together flour and salt.
3. Add eggs and milk and beat well.
4. Pour batter into colander over boiling water.
5. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Drain.

Season with butter and salt/pepper.

Crock Pot Pork

This recipe is loosely based on a couple of recipes I found online. I'd gotten a boneless pork loin but wasn't feeling the love for my normal recipe so I looked around and cobbled something together. I served it with plain, shredded cabbage and it was amazing.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 pound boneless pork loin
• 4 to 5 cloves roasted garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 t sage leaves
• 1 t rosemary leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Pepper to taste
• Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup brown mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup beer 

Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, not including the cranberries or garlic
2. Add the brown sugar, mustard and honey to the bowl and mix well
3. Pour some of this mixture into your slow cooker and put the pork on top
4. Top the pork with the remaining mixture
5. Sprinkle the cranberries and garlic around the pork
6. Add the beer
7. Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours or until you can shred the meat easily with two forks
8. Shred the meat and enjoy!

Tortellini Salad

I got this recipe from my mother; the original recipe actually calls for goat cheese. However the first time I made it, I didn’t have any on hand, but I did have feta. I think you could use either kind and get good results; I’m just used to using feta. I like the flavor combination. 

Ingredients:

1 pound tortellini, cooked, drained and cooled (I use cheese tortellini)

6 sundried tomatoes, diced

6 roasted red peppers, diced

3 T olive oil

5 T balsamic vinegar

1—2 T oil from the sundried tomatoes (optional; I usually add just 1 T for extra flavor)

7 fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 ounces crumbled feta or goat cheese

Parsley to taste

Directions:

• Combine the oils and vinegar and whisk til thoroughly mixed.
• Pour the oil/vinegar mixture over the pasta.
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
• Chill before serving.
• Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice

It doesn't look very colorful but it's quite tasty.

This recipe is based on one from Pierre Franey's The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet.

I’ve reduced the meat, increased the rice, substantially reduced the fat and replaced the white wine—which I never have on hand—with a good sherry. This recipe works well with roasted broccoli. Although this recipe may sound similar to the chicken, Swiss cheese and rice recipe I posted earlier this year, they taste quite different from each other.

Ingredients:

4 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 T butter
½ C finely chopped white onion
1 clove garlic, put through a press (more if you like, which I definitely do)
½ pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
½ good sherry, not cooking sherry
1 C raw white rice (see notes below if you want to use brown rice)
1 ½ C chicken broth or water

Directions:

1. In a large skillet that can hold all the chicken pieces in one layer plus the rice, melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the chicken pieces and brown for about 5 minutes.
3. Turn the chicken, and add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and bay leaf. Make sure these don’t rest on the chicken but are getting sautéed. Cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add the sherry and cook until it’s almost all evaporated. You may want to turn the chicken pieces during this bit so they all get a nice bath in the sherry.
5. Add the rice and broth, and make sure the rice doesn’t rest on top of the chicken pieces.
6. Cover closely and cook for 20 to 30 minutes over low heat until the rice is done.
7. Enjoy!

Notes:

• If you use bone-in chicken, you will need to increase your cooking time in steps 2 and 3.
• If you use brown rice instead of white rice, you’ll also need to increase the cooking time listed in step 5 to about an hour. You may also need to add extra liquid to the pan.
• This dish also makes a great side dish if you omit the chicken.

Sliced Baked Potatoes--Two Versions!

Version 1

Version 2

How do you find new recipes? I find a lot of mine while eating out or surfing the web. I ran across an image for this recipe a couple of weeks ago on Pinterest (if you want an invitation, let me know). Well I like potatoes, and these seemed pretty interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. We tend to go meatless a couple of days a week and this looked like a hearty, meatless entrée to me.

I googled sliced baked potatoes and found a handful of recipes so I sort of combined them all together to create my own.

Be warned, my version isn’t a hands-off recipe. You’ll need to tend to your potatoes about every 10 minutes until they are cooked.

Ingredients:

2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and with the skin on
4 T butter, melted
½ C shredded cheese, your choice (I use cheddar/jack cheese from Costco)
Italian seasoning to taste

Directions:


Version 1

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Place two wooden spoons on a cutting board about as far apart as your potatoes are wide. Use the handles to hold your potato in place as you slice the potatoes and to keep you from slicing all the way through. You want the bottom of the potato to remain intact. Also, slice thinly—my slices are about ¼ inch wide.
3. Place the sliced potatoes in a baking pan. I use cooking spray only because I wanted an easier clean up session afterwards.
4. Carefully open your sliced potatoes and drizzle the melted butter across them. Don’t worry when it runs out the sides—you will be basting the potatoes with this butter throughout the cooking process.
5. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on the potatoes and try to get some inside the slices.
6. Bake for a total of 60 minutes. Important! About every 10 minutes, pull the potatoes out and re-baste with the butter. Also turn them over. That will let all the skin get a butter bath.
7. After 60 minutes, remove from the oven.
8. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the potatoes and return to the oven for about 10 minutes.
9. When done, place each potato in a shallow bowl. Pour the remaining melted butter over the potatoes.
10. Enjoy!

Version 2

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Slice the potatoes into thin slices, preferably about ¼ inch wide.
3. Pour about half of the melted butter into a large baking dish (9x13) that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Tilt the pan around until you’ve coated the entire bottom of the pan.
4. Place the sliced potatoes in the so that the slices are in no more than two layers. Ideally you want just one layer of potatoes.
5. Drizzle the melted butter across the slices.
6. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on the slices.
7. Bake for about 60 minutes. About every 15 minutes, pull the potatoes out and flip them. This helps a lot with ensuring the potatoes brown evenly.
8. After 60 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the shredded cheese over the potatoes. Bake for another five minutes or until the cheese is all melted.
9. Serve with sour cream if you feel decadent.
10. Enjoy!

Macaroni and Cheese

When Ben was little, I bowed to the tyranny of a two year old and made mac & cheese from the blue box. But honestly that stuff is expensive and full of strange ingredients. Plus I dislike using canned soups a great deal. In fact, you could say I downright hate it. Fortunately this mac & cheese recipe doesn’t need any cans of anything.

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta (we prefer gemelli but if you like elbow macaroni, have at it)
4 T butter
¼ C all-purpose flour
3 C milk
2 C shredded semi-hard cheese (cheddar, Gouda, Monterey Jack—whatever you have on hand and feel free to mix it up)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2/3 C freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Cook your pasta OR follow my "no humidity added to the house" method below. Drain well.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
4. Whisk in the flour until a paste forms.
5. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth.
6. Bring the sauce to the boil over moderately high heat, stirring or whisking constantly, until thickened.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and add in the shredded cheeses until melted (not the Parmigiano-Reggiano just yet).
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Stir in the cooked pasta and then put the mixture into a 9 x 13 glass or ceramic baking pan.
10. Top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
11. Broil about four inches from the heat for about four minutes or until richly browned.
12. Let the dish sit for about five minutes before serving.
13. Enjoy!

*Bonus no humidity method for cooking pasta:

1. Bring the water to the boil in a covered saucepan.
2. Add the pasta, cover and immediately turn off the heat.
3. Let sit, covered, on the stove for 20 minutes.
4. Drain and enjoy your humidity-free home.

Caveat: Angel hair pasta doesn’t really need the full 20 minutes and gemelli may take up to 25 minutes.