Sauce and Vacation Adventures

Vacation is over and I have one week's worth of work under my belt.  As usual, I left for 10 days and returned to not know a good number of employees in one of my stores.  That's what happens when you have almost 200 direct reports who like to move around a lot, I guess.  Nametags are a very handy thing -- for the most part.  I have become accustomed to answering to 2 of my other co-worker's names because for some reason, they always mix us up.

My March vacation was great.  We got so much wedding planning done that it's almost insane.  We took 2 hours, sat down with our wedding planner and florist and got 75% of the wedding planned out!  Best of all -- lots of cake tasting!  I'm not going to spoil the surprise, but let's just say we're going to have 3 different types of cupcakes at our wedding.  And everyone is sure to love all of them.

We also took a few days and flew North to visit my family and go dress shopping with my Maid of Honor and one of my Bridesmaids.  While there, I had the opportunity to make a few of my favorite dishes as my family requested them.  Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken picatta, Raspberry shortbread cookies, chocolate chip snowball cookies and (a first) home made sauce!

I now have a good backlog of recipes to go through as I have a feeling I will be slacking the next couple of weeks as Easter and Spring Break come up.  Often, we are required to work 6 days one of the weeks and long hours the rest of the weeks.  I believe my 6 day week is the 2nd week of April.  And, when I'm working long hours and/or 6 days, I typically completely crash on my days off, doing nothing except exactly what is necessary.  Which may or may not include cooking...

Before I sign off for the night...I'm going to share the recipe for my new favorite sauce -- which I may or may not have used in both eggplant parmesan and chicken parmesan (because someone doesn't like eggplant...)

I don't always have a car available for use when I visit home, so I always request my ingredients be purchased ahead of time.  So, the sauce recipe was born out of necessity as I had requested 4 cans of sauce be at my disposal and I instead found myself with 4 cans of diced tomatoes!!  Well...no worries.  With the help of my dad's handy immersion blender, a pantry of spices and some cheese I was able to turn the diced tomatoes into a really good sauce.

First...dump the tomatoes into a sauce pan and season as desired.  I added Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning, Red Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Chili Powder.

 Once the flavors have had a chance to mingle and the tomatoes are heated, pull out your immersion blender and blend it together to the desired consistency.

Heat the sauce back up again and add some shredded Parmesan-Romano Cheese.

 Let it melt into the sauce, stirring occasionally.  Serve the sauce as desired!

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cans diced tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Red Pepper
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Other seasonings as desired.
3/4 shredded Parmesan-Romano Cheese

Directions:
Add diced tomatoes to an empty sauce pan and heat over medium heat.
While heating, add seasonings as desired.
Once spices have been incorporated to tomatoes, remove from heat.
Blend with an immersion blender to desired consistency.
Replace on heat.  Add cheese and stir occasionally.
When cheese has melted and sauce is the desired temperature incorporate into another recipe as desired.

Until next time!  

Seafood, Alfredo, and Cannolis...Oh My!

As of 3pm Thursday, I was officially on vacation.  Which means that I have plenty of time to read, cook, and relax, right?  WRONG!  As usual, I have jam-packed my schedule with appointments, wedding planning, events, and more.  First up was Goofy's Mystery Tour which took place Thursday night.  This has quickly become one of my favorite activities of the year.  The Disney Cast Events folks work tirelessly to put together trivia, puzzles, and other activities all which give us clues to solve some sort of final mystery.  For the last two years I have had the privilege of competing with three of my wonderful co-workers.  It's a long, late night, but it is ridiculously fun...especially when we get tired and start going crazy...like being given a clue sheet with close up pictures of classic Disney treats that any good foodie would recognize right away and we started yelling out the answers before we realized we should probably be quiet so the teams around us wouldn't steal all of our answers.  Or, when we start forgetting which way is right and which way is left so we start walking into each other.

Oh...did I forget to mention that we are also bungee corded to each other?? All four of us are clipped together with a bungee cord so we can't be more than a few inches away from each other at all times and there are another 150 or so teams all bungee corded to each other are also running around trying to collect clues that we have to try to avoid.  We had a few close calls where we'd be walking down one of the streets and another team couldn't decide which way they were going.  Half of them would scream "left!", half of them would scream "right!" and since they're tied together that wouldn't work.  So, we would just stop and let them figure out which way they were moving around us.

Next up was bridesmaid dress shopping with one of my bridesmaids yesterday afternoon.  The trip was very successful, we found a dress that we think everyone will like and that looks great on her.  We'll know next Saturday if the other two like the dress or choose to pick out their own dresses.  Either one is good with me.  As long as they have the same color, same fabric, and same length, I'd rather them all be comfortable and wear what they want.

Last night, my fiance and I celebrated a handful of good things that have happened recently and a few good things that are to come.  Including, being able to move in together a few months earlier than originally expected and my fiance officially being accepted into his graduate program!  I, of course, volunteered to cook dinner.  So, what was our celebration meal? Seafood Alfredo and Cannolis!

I'll admit, I took the easy way out this time -- mostly because we are trying to use as many ingredients that we have on hand as possible because we don't want to move things if we don't have to.  But, it makes for a good quick and easy meal.  I had this one done beginning to end in only about 30 minutes.

First up, because the shrimp and scallops were previously frozen, I had to drain the excess water.  They were taken out of the freezer about 12 hours before I started cooking with them.  After draining (and rinsing) the shrimp and scallops, add them to a skillet with a little garlic salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Be sure to cook the seafood through.  Once cooked, the scallops should be firm and translucent, and the shrimp should be pink all the way through and curled slightly.  You can see in this picture the shrimp are just starting to be cooked through.  

While the seafood is cooking, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.  Once the water is boiling, make sure you add some salt before adding the pasta.  This will season the pasta while it is cooking.  Cook the pasta until just al dente and drain and rinse.  Once drained, add a little bit of butter (just enough so that the pasta doesn't stick together) and salt to taste.  Set the pasta aside.

Now, this is the point that I would usually start making my own alfredo sauce.  However, this time I used a jarred alfredo sauce -- with my own little twist.  Once the seafood is done cooking if there is an excess of water, drain the water and place back in the skillet.  Pour the jar of alfredo sauce into the skillet and season to your liking.  I added some garlic powder, pepper, and chili powder to it (SHHHHH...don't tell my fiance, he doesn't like chili powder, but he loved dinner last night).  Mix the sauce well and heat a little.  Next, add some frozen vegetables, mix well, and heat the mixture through.

We had a bag of peas in the freezer, so that's what we used.  But, I'm sure it would be wonderful with broccoli too!  Once the vegetables are heated, add the sauce mixture to the pasta, mix so the pasta is coated, dish up and enjoy!

Next up were cannolis -- mostly because my fiance and I were talking about them last week.  I'm part Italian and originally from Boston.  So, I grew up with many good Italian bakeries around.  We're headed to Boston in a few days, but because of the snow, we probably won't be able to get cannolis from my favorite bakery in Boston while we're there.  From what I hear, transportation is still a mess so no cannolis and Italian cookies from Mike's Pastry :( if you haven't heard of Mike's Pastry, be sure to check them out the next time you're in Boston.  The lines are usually long, but semi-orderly.  There's very little space to eat in the shop, but that's okay!  The whole of Boston's North End is right outside the doorway to explore while eating your pastry.  Whenever I'm there, we will pop in and grab a couple of cannolis and a few pounds of Italian cookies and wander over to Boston Common or the Public Gardens and relax and people watch while enjoying a cannoli.  

For my cannoli filling, I mix together about 2 cups of ricotta cheese (I use fat free, but feel free to use whichever), 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp cinnamon, and about 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.  Make sure you get all of the powdered sugar that will inevitably hide at the bottom of the bowl.  It's usually a good idea to taste the mixture at this point to see if it is as you like it.

Next, pour this mixture into a pastry bag, or a ziploc bag.  Place in the fridge to firm up a little bit and to let all of those flavors blend together.

After letting the filling rest a few hours, snip off one corner of the ziploc bag and fill each shell evenly.  Feel free to add a few more chocolate chips to the end of each cannoli.  And, enjoy!

In a few days, we'll be headed to Boston to visit my parents.  They've requested that I cook a few things for them.  So, stay tuned for some cookies, Eggplant Parmesan, and chicken picatta recipes!

Seafood Alfredo

Ingredients:
1 bag bay scallops
1 bag shrimp (use whichever size you would like -- pre-cooked or raw)
1 box pasta, any shape
1 jar alfredo sauce (any brand/flavor.  I used Ragu Creamy Mozzarella)
1 bag frozen vegetables (I used peas)
Butter
Garlic salt, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, chili powder to taste

Directions:
Boil water for the pasta.  Once boiling, add salt and pasta.  Cook until pasta is just al dente.  Drain the pasta and return to the pot.  Add salt to taste and just enough butter so that the pasta does not stick together.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray over medium heat.
Drain excess water from the scallops and shrimp and place in the skillet.
Season with garlic salt and Italian seasoning.  Cook until shrimp are pink and scallops are translucent.  Drain any excess liquid and return to the skillet.
Add the alfredo sauce to the scallops and shrimp and season to taste.
Return the skillet to heat, add frozen vegetables and heat through.
Once vegetables are heated through, add the sauce mixture to the pasta, mix together, and serve.

Cannolis

Ingredients:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Cannoli shells

Directions:
Drain any excess water from the ricotta by placing it in a strainer placed over a bowl.  Cover ricotta with a piece of plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and put a heavy can on top of it.  Drain in the refrigerator for a couple hours.
Mix together all ingredients, except cannoli shells, until well combined.
Place in a pastry bag or Ziploc bag and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Pipe cannoli cream into cannoli shells.  Garnish with chocolate chips, if desired.
Serve immediately

Crab Wontons, Dumplings, and Sweet and Sour Chicken

This week's entry is brought to you by the letter C...as in Chinese food!  Anyone who knows me knows that I love Chinese food.  What I don't love is how much takeout costs.  So, I figured I'd experiment with some home recipes.  Tonight's menu included dumplings, crab wontons, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, moo goo gai pan, and egg drop soup.

What didn't I like about tonight's dinner?  I started cooking around 3pm and didn't finish until around 6:30pm.  What did I like?  Everything tasted wonderful and there are a ton of wontons and dumplings left over in my fiance's freezer so next time it won't take nearly as long to cook dinner because individually wrapping and sealing each wonton and dumpling wrapper is what took the longest by far.  I did a really good job keeping up with dishes until the end when everything was cooking at the same time.  I ended up with a sink and a half full of dishes.

Because I made so much this week, I've decided to focus on three of my six recipes and take a closer look at the rest of the recipes the next time I make them.

First up...the Crab Wontons!

In a bowl, combine some cream cheese, crab, garlic, ginger, and green onions.  Mix it up really well and put it aside for a second.

Next, find a place with a good amount of room and set up an area to fold the wontons.  I just washed and dried my cutting board and used that.  I made sure there was a foil lined cookie sheet next to me and that there was enough room for the cookie sheet cleared in the freezer.  Just being the two of us, we knew we wouldn't eat all 30-some odd wontons that we would end up with.

When the space is cleared.  Start stuffing and folding.  Lay out wonton wrappers and add a couple of teaspoons of the filling to the center, wet the edges with water using your finger, and seal them however you would like.  I folded them in a triangle and then took the 2 edges of the triangle and sealed those together with a little water.  Place these on the cookie sheet.  You can separate out those you are freezing (if any) and those you are cooking once they're all done.

Once they are all folded, separate out the ones you are freezing from the ones you are cooking.  The ones you are freezing, place in the freezer on a cookie sheet for an hour or until frozen solid.  After they are frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.

Lay the remaining wontons out on a cookie sheet.  Spray the top of them with a little cooking spray and place in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.  Be sure to check them after 10 minutes just in case your oven is running hot.

Some of mine didn't seal as well as I thought they were.  But, that's okay.  They were good anyways!

Next up...the dumplings.

Mix together some ground meat (I used turkey), diced mushrooms, shredded cabbage, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, and white pepper.

Same as with the wontons, prepare a cookie sheet with foil and make sure there is room in your freezer.  By the time the dumplings were ready to go in to freeze, the wontons were already frozen.  Lay out your wonton wrappers, place about a tablespoon of filling in the center, wet the edges with water and seal.

As you can see...I experimented with different folding techniques.  I can't say one was better than the other.  Just do whatever is easiest for you!  Once they're all filled and folded, separate out those you're going to freeze from those you are going to cook.  The ones you are freezing can go into the freezer for an hour.  The ones you're cooking can be set aside.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat.  Once the oil is heated, cook the dumplings about 3 minutes on each side until crisp on the outside.  Be sure not to crowd the skillet or else the filling may not completely cook!

Finally, the sweet and sour chicken.

Cut up a couple of chicken breasts into about 1 inch pieces.  Place them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  After they are seasoned, add some cornstarch and mix to coat.  Put some vegetable oil in a skillet and start heating it over medium heat.  While the oil is heating, mix together some sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic powder and set aside.

Once the oil is heated, grab another bowl and beat two eggs.  Working one piece at a time, dip the chicken in the egg and then place in the skillet.  Cook until brown on each side -- but not cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Be careful not to crowd the skillet.

After the chicken is done cooking, transfer to an oven safe 9-in X 11-in pan.  Cover with the sauce and place in an oven at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, or until sauce is thickened.

I had the opportunity to use a bunch of ingredients I usually never use, which was great.  However, we did find out that not everyone is fond of sesame oil which means it has to be omitted from my recipes next time around.  Oh well, it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Until next time!

Crab Wontons

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 can crab

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

Salt & White Pepper to taste

48 Wonton Wrappers

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, crab, garlic, green onion, ginger, salt, and pepper.

Assemble the wontons on a flat surface.  Place 2 teaspoons of the fillingg in the center of each wrapper.  Using your finger, wet all four sides with water.  Fold sides over, pinching edges to seal.

Place wontons in a single layer onto the baking sheet.  Lightly spray wontons with nonstick spray.  Place into oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (I use turkey, feel free to use pork or chicken)

1/4 cup mushrooms, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon ginger, grated

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

48 won ton wrappers

Vegetable oil

Directions:

In a bowl, combine meat, mushrooms, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, and white pepper.

Working on a flat surface, assemble the dumplings.  Add about 1 tablespoon filling to the center of each wrapper.  Using your finger, wet all four sides with water.  Fold the wonton and seal.

Heat approximately 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add dumplings in a single layer and cook until crisp and golden about 3 minutes each side.  

To freeze, place uncooked dumplings in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with foil and freeze approximately one hour.  When frozen solid, place into freezer bags.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9-in X 13-in or 9-in X 11-in baking dish.

In a bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper.  Add cornstarch and gently mix to combine.  Set aside.  Meanwhile, make the sauce.  In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic powder.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat two eggs.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the egg and then place in the oil.  Cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.  

Add chicken to the prepared baking dish.  Top with the sweet and sour sauce.  Place dish in the oven and bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to coat chicken or until sauce has thickened.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Happy Valentine's Day!!

And, because it is Valentine's Day, what better pairing to explore than chocolate and strawberries??

Valentine's Day started a little early for us.  Thursday night, my fiancé went out grocery shopping and returned with the most gorgeous red roses.  I think maybe I'll keep him :)

Beautiful Roses

Today is really Valentine's Day and I usually do some sort of baking around Valentine's Day each year.  This year it was a little more difficult because I am at my fianceé's house for the weekend without all of my cool kitchen tools.  I have to admit, I've started taking over his kitchen a little bit.  He likes to cook -- but doesn't have the same love of kitchen utensils and tools as I do.  I have begun to frequent Wal-Mart's kitchen department each weekend because I'll go to cook something and be missing some sort of tool.  I was surprised, Wal-Mart usually has a good quality tool for a reasonable price which is great because soon our kitchens will be combined and we don't need two of everything.  I just need tools that I'm not going to go crazy with.  Like knives.  After trying to cook something a couple of weeks in a row with knives that weren't right for the job, I had to go out and buy a couple of key knives, like the one I used to cut up the strawberries today.

This was the first time I tried this recipe and I will definitely be making it again!  As usual, I was inspired by a recipe I found on pinterest, but altered it to make it my own.

First up, wash and chop up some strawberries.  It is the perfect time to be using strawberries around here, Plant City Strawberries are finally in season.  And, Plant City is only about 30 minutes away so they are wicked fresh.

Next, whisk together some flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Then, in another bowl, mix together 2 eggs and some vegetable oil and add in some chocolate chips and the strawberries.

Then, pour the strawberry, chocolate chip, egg mixture into the dry ingredients.  Make sure you mix them together really well.  Don't forget the dry mixture that will inevitably hide at the bottom of the bowl.

Pour everything into a greased loaf pan (or, if you have a non-stick pan like me, just pour it in!)  Make sure you spread it out evenly.

Then...put it in your oven and wait for the smell to take over your house.  Keep an eye on it for the last 15 or so minutes of cooking.  The oven must be running a little cold -- it took me 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for to have the middle completely cooked.

Finally -- the hard part.  Take it out and let it cool before slicing into it.

Yum...it tastes good cold or warm with just a little bit of butter.  This one is definitely going into the keep file.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
• 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare a 9"x5" loaf pan using non-stick spray or butter.
• Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl.  Mix until combined.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the oil.
• Add the strawberries and chocolate chips to the egg/oil mixture.
• Pour the strawberry/chocolate chip mixture into the dry ingredients and incorporate well.
• Pour the dough into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Happy Baking!