Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Grilled Sea Scallops


1 lb. sea scallops (about 10-12 pieces) Olive Oil
Lime
Salt
Pepper

Begin by marinating the scallops for about 10 minutes in the Olive oil, juice of one lime, and salt and pepper. Make sure to use olive oil as it helps the scallops not to stick to the grill

Place the scallops on a HOT grill and resist the urge to move them....let them cook untouched for 3 minutes
Carefully flip them over and let them cook 2-3 minutes on this side. You do not want to overcook them because they turn to rubber. A well cooked scallop is never cooked all the way thru.....and it is always tender....like buttah :)

I served them up with a Basil Parmesan Orzo that was to die for. That basil is fresh from our greenhouse! It's so nice to go out and pic some herbs and use them in your recipes....Can I get an Amen!

Hope you are inspired to make some tonight.

Basil Parmesan Orzo

16oz. pkg of Orzo
1/2 cube butter
2 lg. cloves garlic
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan
Garlic salt
Pepper
Fresh Basil

Cook the Orzo in a large pot of water until al dente, approx. 8 minutes.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and lightly brown the garlic. Add the cooked orzo and the rest of the ingredients except the basil. Heat in the saucepan just until the cheese melts and it is heated thru. Chop the basil in a chiffonade style (little ribbons) and toss in off the heat. Enjoy!

Cheese and Onion Enchiladas

From:  http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/

I made some adjustments, and I think they made these enchiladas!

  • 3 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 3 large onions, sliced and separated into rings
  • 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
  • a generous 1/3 cup taco seasoning
  • 1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce
  • 3-4 cups shredded cheese, Mexican blend
  • 10 flour tortillas
  • Salsa (we used pineapple & peach salsa; it really added a lot to the flavors)
  • Sour cream
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Saute onions in butter until very soft and starting to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a second large skillet. Mash beans and add to skillet. (I use stainless steel pans, and I mashed the beans right in my skillet.) Add in half of the tomato sauce and the taco seasoning. Cook until heated through.

Mix the enchilada sauce with the remaining tomato sauce and spread about 1/2 cup in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

Spread a large spoonful of the bean mixture on a tortilla. Top with onions and then sprinkle generously with shredded cheese. Roll up and place, seam side down, in the 9×13 pan. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Spread the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with additional cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Oh. my. goodness.  These enchiladas were so very good, and they were very filling. I can’t imagine that anyone would be able to eat more than two of them.

Chicken Pesto Panini

From: http://www.rhrecipes.blogspot.om/

  • 1 loaf Ciabatta bread, cut horizontally then in about 6 pieces
  • 6 Tbsp prepared pesto
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup Baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup (ish) Sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1-2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken meat
Prehead a panini press. To build the panini: Spread one tablespoon of the pesto on each piece of ciabatta bread (I like it split between both sides). Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on each side of the bread. Then layer a few spinach leaves, a few sun-dried tomato slices, and the chicken. Put your slices together and place onto hot panini press. Press sandwhiches until warmed through, cheese has melted, and the bread is crisp.

Tips:

• No Panini Press? Not a problem - check out how to make a panini press from what you already have in your kitchen!

• You can prepare these ahead (up to a few hours), wrap them up, and cook them when ready.

• To make even more gourmet - use fresh mozzerella (I was going to, but that's so expensive for 14 people!)

• Buy the sun-dried tomatoes in oil, the dry ones are not the best texture.

• Have your local bakery slice your bread loaf for you to cut on time.

Mushroom-and-Swiss Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce

From: Pioneer Woman

I went berserk the other night, whipping up some scrumptious sliders and topping them with some wine-soaked mushrooms and Swiss cheese. What can I say? I was feeling mischievous.

To slather on the slider buns—which were actually just storebought dinner rolls split like hamburger buns—I whipped up some spicy fry sauce. And for those of you who don’t know what fry sauce is…then you’ve never been to Utah or eaten fries late at night in a college dorm mess hall.

Ingredients:
• ⅓ cups Mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (less If You're Sensitive To Spice!)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 8 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Chopped Finely
• ½ cups White Or Red Wine (optional)
• 4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• 4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
• 4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 4 slices Swiss Cheese, Cut Into Four Squares
• 8 whole Dinner (or Slider) Rolls, Split

Preparation Instructions

In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, ketchup, and cayenne. Stir together until totally combined. Set aside. (This is the spicy fry sauce.)

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and cook over medium heat for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and toss around, then add wine (if using), Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook for several minute over medium heat, or until all liquid has evaporated. Transfer mushroom mixture to a separate bowl, scraping all contents from the skillet.

Mix ground beef, heavy cream, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly mix ingredients. Form 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture into patties, making an indentation with your thumb to keep the patties from plumping too much when they cook. In the same skillet as the one used to cook the mushrooms, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add four patties at a time, indented side face up. Cook for 4 minutes, then flip. Spoon generous portion of mushroom mixture on each patty, then top with one or two squares of Swiss, depending on your preference. Place lid on skillet and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until burgers are cooked through and cheese is melted. Remove to a place and keep warm while you repeat with the rest of the meat mixture.

Toast halved buns under the oven broiler. Spread generously with spicy fry sauce. Place patties between buns and serve immediately with fried onion strings

Picture Directions:
Fry sauce is nothing more than ketchup and mayonnaise. And now you know the truth!

Start by making the spicy fry sauce: throw some mayo into a small bowl…

Then add some ketchup.


And some cayenne. Go a little lighter than this if you can’t HANDLE the spice.


Stir it together till it’s all combined, then set aside.

Chop up an onion…

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Dump in the diced onions…

 Toss and stir them around, cooking them for about five minutes or so.

Then grab the mushrooms, then chop ‘em all up.

And throw ‘em in the skillet with the onions.
Then pour in the wine, baby!
I’m sorry, but wine and mushrooms simply go together. It is written.
 But you can leave them out if you’re not into wine.  Or if you’re sensitive to wine.
Basically, don’t listen to me at all.

Cook the mushrooms for several minutes, until all the liquid has cooked off.

Transfer the ‘shrooms to a separate bowl, scraping the skillet as much as you can.

Dump a couple pounds of ground beef into a bowl.
Pour in a little heavy cream. Trust me!

It’ll give it a yummy richness and make you feel extra naughty.
Add in some kosher salt (or heck, regular salt)…
Some freshly ground black pepper…

And a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce.


Use your grubby (or clean, preferably) hands to knead the mixture together…
Then grab 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture. I love to use a scoop for this. I pretend I’m working at Beefkin Robbins and serving up a big meat cone.  I’ve always had a rich inner life.
Meat. Grubby hands.

Work it around into a nice patty shape, then make and indentation in the middle of the patty with your thumb. This is a little trick that’ll keep the little patty from plumping up and becoming an unwieldy shape.
Throw ‘em on a plate and set ‘em aside for a minute.

Return the skillet to the stove and melt a teeny bit more butter over medium to medium-high heat.
Throw the patties into the pan with the indented side up. Cook for a few minutes on the first side…
Then flip ‘em on over.
Heap a heapin’ helpin’ of the mushrooms on the top of each patty. Look—another scoop!

Throw a couple of squares (one large square cut into four equal squares) of Swiss over the top of each one.
Throw a lid on the skillet and allow the patties to finish cooking…and the cheese to melt.


Yum! (And add some more cheese if you’re into that kind of thing.)


Throw them on to a plate and keep ‘em warm while you repeat with the rest of the patties.


Next, toast up some split dinner rolls (I put them under the broiler), then spread plenty of the spicy sauce both on the top and bottom of the roll.
Then smush the patties between the two halves! Mmmm.


Heaven. Sheer heaven. (And get this: I served these with Fried Onion Strings…and then I dipped the onion strings in the extra spicy fry sauce.

Shrimp Francesca

• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 (8 ounce) can (8 to 10 count) artichoke hearts in water, drained
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely shredded imported Romano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

2. Arrange the shrimp in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Gently squeeze any excess liquid from the artichoke hearts, break the hearts into quarters, and arrange in spaces between the shrimp. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and parsley over the shrimp and artichoke hearts; sprinkle lemon juice over the crumbs.

3. Melt butter with garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; drizzle the butter mixture over the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the top with Romano cheese.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crumbs and cheese brown lightly and the shrimp turn opaque and orange-pink in color, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Ice Pops

• 2 cups fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and sliced bananas, mixed
• 2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 8 small paper cups
• 8 popsicle sticks

1. Place the mixed blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, sliced bananas, yogurt, and sugar into a blender. Cover, and blend until fruit is chunky or smooth, as desired.


2. Fill paper cups 3/4 full with fruit mixture. Cover the top of each cup with a strip of aluminum foil. Poke a popsicle stick through the center of the foil on each cup.

3. Place the cups in the freezer for at least 5 hours. To serve, remove foil and peel off the paper cup.

Sunday, August 1, 2010