Shrimp over linguine with bacon, lemon and cilantro..

This dish is an easy week night meal, and it taste so good too.  Easy and delicious meals make great, busy work week dinners.
I love this southwestern version of Shrimp Scampi and I think you would love it too.  The bacon and cilantro make this dish yummy.

Serve with crusty bread.

1 12 ounce box of spaghetti or linguine (I use Barilla)
1 whole lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 cup good parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 bunch of roughly chopped cilantro
8-10 Jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 slices of bacon
salt and black pepper
1 medium, ripe tomato
5 Tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine.

Cut up 1 medium tomato into dice size pieces and sprinkle with salt.  Let sit for 15 minutes and cook spaghetti or linquine as package directs.  Drain and set aside.  While pasta is cooking, start cooking the bacon.

Saute 4 slices of  good bacon in 2 tablespoons of butter, chopped to 1/2 " pieces until cooked, but not dark brown.  You don't want bacon bits here.  Remove from heat, place on paper towel to drain.

Add 2 more tablespoons of butter and shrimp, saute on each side for 2-3 minutes, until pink.  Add a clove of chopped garlic.  Stir and deglaze with a 1/2 cup dry white wine.  Add 1/2 squeezed lemon, lemon zest and toss.  Add cilantro and parmesan cheese, bacon and tomato.  Serve with lemon wedge to squeeze over. 

Enjoy ~ 

Israeli Couscous with Dried Cranberries, Celery and Scallions ~

I love watching Anne Burrell's show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.  I like her style, her boldness, heck I even like her "man grunts".  She's unique and her recipes are wonderful.

This recipe is wonderful, either warm or cold.  I served it with simple slices of grilled chicken, even in the dead of winter.  Although, this day was warm, sunny and a wonderful 60 degrees farenheit.  In Boston and in January no less.

The way she cooks the couscous in salted water, bay leaves and blood orange peels was so interesting.  She inticed me to try it and I had most everything in the house.  I didn't have green onions, but chopped a half of yellow onion small and put it in with the cranberries and vinegar to sit for about 1/2 hour on the counter.  I think it took the bite out of the plain onion and made it work well.   I did doubt her love for plain celery here, but it was a fabulous addition, so nice and crisp.  I added julienned red leaf lettuce, because I didn't have any parsley either..... and it worked wonderfully.

So do give this dish a try, you won't be disappointed, I promise.

Here's the link to her recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/israeli-couscous-with-celery-scallions-and-cranberries-recipe/index.html

Mini Pommes Anna ~

I love potatoes, well any carb really.  But, I am ever so in love with potatoes, really.  I have made many kinds of potato dishes over the years, but this one is a cinch to make and it's delcious too.  And it's all baked in a muffin tin, how easy is that?

No real recipe, just have on hand some very thinly sliced potatoes.  I used a mandoline, on a very thin setting.  If you have a food processor, it will work too, or even a good sharp knife.  The potatoes need to be really thinly sliced, that's all.  Just potatoes, salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves.  It makes quite a statement on your dinner table too.

Here is what I did.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter, brush the inside of a six holder cupcake/muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

Now take about three slices of potato and lay them in each muffin slot.  Brush with a little butter and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, just a pinch of each.  Place 2 or 3 slices more on top of the first layer and brush again with a little butter.  Repeat layers until muffin slot is filled.  Sprinkle with a little more salt, pepper, and finish with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves.

You will need about 3 large potatoes to fill a six muffin pan.  Press the potatoes down with your fingers gently as you make your layers.

Place in the oven uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, uncovered.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

These will come out of the muffin tins easily.  I used a thin spatular to take them out and you can serve them either straight out or invert them and they will look like the one in the middle of the above picture.  They look gorgeous either way don't you agree?  Here's a closer look at the inverted version.  Just adorable and each muffin tin of potatoes is just enough for one serving.

Oh did I say how simple these potatoes are to make?  Well, they are foolproof and taste simply delicious.  And the ideas are endless too.  Any flavor combination you'd like you could do.  Next time, I will be trying some parmesan cheese, sprinkled in between the layers.  Because next to my love for potatoes, is my love for cheese!   

Enjoy ~

PW's BBQ Chicken Pizza - Yum ~

Here in Boston we aren't really known for our BBQ, let alone BBQ Chicken Pizza.  But, I was home yesterday morning and perusing recipes and came across one from The Pioneer Woman's Website.  I saw her awesome pictures and thought, yum.  I have never tasted, never mind made a pizza with bbq sauce on it.  We here in Boston are more known for our "red sauce" type of pizza.  And I have made plenty of those through the years.  So as the New Year was fast approaching, I decided to give this "new-age" pizza a try.  It has all the ingredients I love, so why not.  I did throw in extra ingredients on mine, to spice things up just a bit.  And I am so glad I did, it was a delicious and mighty tasting dinner.

So here you go, a pictorial of my BBQ Chicken Pizza.



If you're making one pizza, use one half of a boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Put it in a plastic bag, or a container with an air tight cover, with 1/2 cup of bbq sauce and let it marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge.  When ready to begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place chicken into a pyrex dish and pour the marinade over it.  Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.

While your chicken is baking, prepare your other ingredients.

1 medium red onion, cut in half and sliced thinly
1 6 ounce ball of mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
2 ounces of chedder cheese, sliced thinly (optional)
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped tiny (optional)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Place your dough on your floured counter and stretch it into a large half sheet pan, with a tablespoon of cornmeal on the tray so it doesn't stick while it bakes.  I buy my dough frozen from my grocery store and keep it in the freezer, so I can have it on hand always.  It comes in a 1lb package and that's the amount I use to make a large pizza.  Any brand will do, trust me. Or you can make your own if you like.

When your chicken is done, slice it thinly and then cube it.  Take 4 tablespoons more of your bbq sauce, any good jarred brand will do.  Or you can make your own.  Now spread it on your pizza dough.  Oh and  turn up your oven to 500 degrees, farenheit.

Don't put too much sauce on the dough, just enough like this.  Spread it around, with the back of a tablepoon.

Now start layering everything on top of your pizza.  First your cheese, then your chicken, next your jalapeno and red onion.  Fan out your red onion so no one gets big clumps of it when they bite into the pizza.





Place your pizza in your lower 1/3 rack of your oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove pizza from the oven and check the underneath crust by lifting your pizza from the edge with a butter knife.  You are looking for a golden brown crust under there.  Now place your pizza back in the top 1/3 part of the oven for 2-3 minutes, so all of the cheese is nice and melty.

Remove pizza from the oven and let rest for about 5 minutes before cutting it.  Then sprinkle lots of chopped cilantro on top of the pizza and serve.

  I didn't stop at one slice.

Yum, that's for sure.  I am now a big fan of BBQ pizza and will be putting this on my menu again for sure.  I love pizza and not just the "red sauce" type any more.

Enjoy ~

Ina Garten's Scallops Provencal ~

In between Christmas and New Year's get togethers, I try to eat healthy dinners.   These Scallops are not just low in fat (I use half the butter), but they are amazingly delicious and easy to prepare.  I left out the parsley because I didn't have any to sprinkle over, but the flavors are just out of this world just the same.  Trust me on this one, Ina hits it out of the park with this dish.

This recipe is on my rotation all winter,  I buy a big bag of flash frozen Sea Scallops at Costco and keep it in my freezer.  I use three large ones for when I am cooking for one.  Here's the link to her recipe on the Food Network Board.   Enjoy ~


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/scallops-provencal-recipe/index.html

Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Cake ~

My sister's granddaughter Laina, discovering her first Christmas Tree.  Oh Holy Night.....

I have been making this knock off ice cream cake for a long time.  And once again I have no real recipe for one, I just make what I thought up from having so many Carvel Ice Cream cakes through the years.  After awhile, I kept saying, how hard would it be to make a cake that cost so much?  Again, I come back to think the way Ina Garten says on many of her shows.  Use good ingredients.

For one 9" cake, have a spring form pan and wrap the inside with plastic wrap, leaving extra overlapping.  Use 1/2 gallon of good ice cream, or make your own.  And two and 1/2 sleeves of oreo cookies, crumbled in the food processor.  I used to do a layer at a time, so I know that I use a sleeve at the bottom and another in the middle layer and a half of sleeve on top of the cake.  The possibilities are endless, all you need to mix up your layers is your imagination.

Start with a layer of oreo cookie crumbs, pressed in the bottom of your prepared 9" sprinform pan.

Let your ice cream set out on your counter for about an hour.  Unless you keep your house extra warm, or it's very hot outside, then do 1/2 hr.  Just enough to soften, not melt.

Next, spoon in 1/2 of your ice cream and don't even bother with spreading it around.  It will settle just fine.

Next, sprinkle with the second sleeve of oreo cookie crumbs.

For this cake I chopped up two large candy canes (I crushed the candy canes with my rolling pin in a zip lock bag.  Set aside the larger pieces to decorate the top.

I also chopped up 1/2 box of Ande's Christmas Crunchy Mints.  Again, saving the bigger pieces for the top layer.

Now, sprinkle half of the smaller candy cane pieces and half of the Ande Mint pieces all over the top of the oreo cookie crumbs.  And gently press down with the back of a tablespoon.

Add the rest of your ice cream.  In the summer, I place the cake in the freezer between layers to harden up a little.  I don't in the winter, but the ice cream will be very soft by this point.  So gently spread the ice cream to the edges.

For the top of the cake, decorate with the rest of your oreo cookie crumbs and your candies.  I do cookie crumbs around the edges and make a circle in the center.  But, you can do it anyway you want.  This cake is a crowd pleaser any way you make it.  Cover cake with more plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Take it out of the freezer about 1/2 hour beore serving.  Remove the sides of the springform
pan and peel down the plastic wrap.  Take a knife and smooth out sides of cake.  Serve with a basic chocolate sauce if you like.

Here is mine ready for the freezer.  Oh, I really love to use peppermint stick ice cream for this cake, but every store was sold out, so I used mint chocolate chip.  It works.

Enjoy ~

Chocolate Crunch Cookies for friends.....

Only special friends get home made cookies at Christmas time...

They are just so much work and energy, that the people have to be super good friends... you toil over the stove, you package with care and tie things up with a special ribbon.  You wouldn't make these for just anyone now would you?

Wrong ~   ;-)

These Chocolate Crunch Cookies are so easy, they are done in a flash.  Yes, a flash.  They also taste yummy and are pretty low in fat.  And that's another bonus to these little treats.

Here's the recipe from a friend, Trish..

In a Dutch Oven, melt on very low heat, 8 ounces of good milk chocolate, 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  When all of your chocolate is melty and shiney remove from burner.  Mix in 5 cups of Breakfast Cereal, Corn Flakes.  Stir with a wooden spoon gently until all of the Corn flakes are covered, about 5 minutes.  Then take a teaspoonful  and drop on parchment or aluminum foil. (I just laid the foil down on my counter, like so)  And let sit for 3 hours, or overnight as long as its cool in your house.

Here they are all set.

All ready to wrap, 1 dozen in each bag.

Place cookies in bag, tie wth a pretty ribbon and they are good to go.  Good enough to give to your nearest and dearest, but easy enough to give to all of your friends.  Oh, did I say how good they are?  Yummy.  I brought them to work with me and people asked for the recipe.  I almost laughed at them and said sure.  I love to share a good thing....

Enjoy ~