What's for Apps? Shrimp Summer Rolls!

Tonight we went to a cookout down on the Intracoastal at our friends Austin and Jenny's Club's dock. It was so fun and the breeze down on the water almost made us forget it was 100 degrees out!  I had to bring an app, and I wanted something that could be served at room temp and that was refreshing in the oppressive heat.  These came to mind.  I hadn't made them in a long time, but thought they were just the thing.  Now, these can be a little time consuming to do, but they are fun, and I suggest making them with a friend while drinking a glass (or two) of wine (advice I should have given myself before I started these). But in the end they are worth it because they are beautiful, delicious and seriously healthy.  Give them a try...they'll be the hit of the party!

Shrimp Summer Rolls
Makes 10 large rolls

• 1 lb 30 count shrimp
• 1/2 pkg vermicelli rice noodles (found in Asian aisle), soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained.
• 1 package Vietnamese rice paper (you can find these at the Asian market or sometimes in the Asian aisle of the supermarket--do NOT use egg roll wrappers...they are not the same thing!)
• 5 crab sticks, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and julienned
• 1 handful pre-shredded carrots
• 1 pkg enoki mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
• 1 bunch mint, leaves stripped and roughly chopped.
• 1 bunch cilantro, leaves stripped
• sweet chili sauce (store bought--in the Asian aisle)
• ginger soy sauce (recipe below)

Fill medium pot with water, bring to a boil.  Salt water and add shrimp.  Cook for 2 minutes, or until pink and firm.  With a slotted spoon, remove shrimp into a colander and rinse.  Slice shrimp in half. Turn off heat on burner and add noodles.  Let soak 10 minutes until they become soft.  Drain and rinse.  Set aside.

Line up all ingredients.  Fill shallow plate with warm to hot water. Cover another plate with a damp paper towel.  Dip rice paper in warm water and let sit for 10-20 seconds.  Make sure all areas are under water.  When soft (don't let sit too long--you don't want it soggy) carefully pick up rice paper and place on damp paper towel (if it gets wrinkled, don't panic! Just carefully smooth it out).  In the center of the rice paper, put 5 shrimp across, uncut side down.  Then layer all ingredients on top.  Fold side closest to you up over ingredients.  Fold sides in (like a burrito) and then tightly roll up until fully sealed.  Repeat with remaining rice papers and ingredients.  Do not stack the rolls, as they are very sticky! Slice in half and serve with dipping sauces.  Enjoy!

Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce
Add 2 TBSP soy sauce and 2 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce (or you can do all one or the other) to a small bowl.  Add 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Grate peeled ginger into the sauce (maybe 1/4 tsp).  Grate 1/2 clove garlic into the sauce.  Add 1/2 tsp sesame seeds. Whisk together and let sit to allow flavors to come together.

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What's for Dinner? Summer Tomato "Pizza" Pie!

Home grown tomatoes sunning themselves on our sill

Man, I am worn out from this past week!  Finn was sick, turned one year old, we had BOTH sets of Grandparents in town and a big party on Saturday.  It was exhausting, but a lot of fun. We've been eating leftovers from the weekend for 2 days now (I had the party catered), so tonight, I wanted something else, and needed to use some of our garden tomatoes that were sunning in the window.  Some of the ladies at Sully's work were talking about this tomato pie recipe and I decided to try it.  I had all the ingredients on hand and seemed simple enough to do (as a general rule, I do NOT bake!). I adapted the recipe a bit, but it came out really good.  Sully said it tasted like a tomato pizza...hence the name.  If you have fresh tomatoes and basil, this is a great, simple dish to make...and it will impress your friends!  Enjoy!

Summer Tomato "Pizza" Pie

Serves 4

• 1 refrigerated pie crust (or can use frozen already in pan)
• 3-4 tomatoes, sliced (you can peel them first but isn’t a must)
• kosher salt
• 5 large basil leaves, rolled up and cut in a chiffonade
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 green onions, chopped
• ¾ cup shredded mozzarella
• ¾ cup shredded cheddar
• ½ cup mayonnaise (I use light Olive Oil Mayo)
• pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Roll pie dough on to 9-inch pie pan (spray with Pam) or put in a tart pan. If using pie pan, crimp edges of the crust so they look nice.  Prick bottom of crust with fork.  Prebake pie crust for about 12 minutes, until slightly golden (you may need to prick more halfway through, if you see the crust is rising up in the middle).  Lower oven temp to 350.  Set crust aside to cool.

Pie before cheese mixture is added on

Place sliced tomatoes in a colander.  Add a pinch of salt and let drain over sink for about 20 minutes to get a lot of the liquid out.

In a small bowl, mash together the cheeses and the mayo until combined.

In the pie pan or tart shell, layer tomatoes on the bottom.  Sprinkle with herbs and onion. Layer on the cheese mixture and spread evenly over top.  Add fresh ground pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Broil for about 2-4 minutes (watch it!) until the cheese is golden and bubbly on top.  Let sit for about 10 minutes and slice and serve!

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What's for Dinner? Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Marinara over Spaghetti Squash!

Ok, so we have more eggplant and peppers galore from the garden (holy cow, we are having a fantastic first attempt at a garden!) that we needed to use and I came across this recipe that looked really good.  We also had spaghetti squash from the garden as well.  Funny story...

Back in the early 2000s, Sully and I did the South Beach Diet for several months.  We both lost a lot of weight, mostly because we didn't eat many carbs for that period of time.  A substitution for pasta, according to the South Beach way of life, was spaghetti squash.  I used to make it every so often, and liked it.  Flash forward to this spring.  We were planting the garden and Sully bought a spaghetti squash plant because he thought I really liked it (I like it ok, but it wasn't something I ever would have thought about growing).  Anyways, little did we both know, the spaghetti squash is an unruly plant that completely takes over.  It grew out into our yard, up our deck trellis and every other which way.  When it was all said and done, we had 4 large squash and a crazy, cracked-out plant we had to get rid of!  But, I digress...

This recipe has a lot of steps, but I added some notes to make it a bit simpler, if you like.  You can't get away from roasting the eggplant, but you can buy jarred roasted peppers instead of doing it yourself.  This came out great and I did really like the spaghetti squash.  I didn't even miss real pasta (and I LOVE pasta).  But if you don't want to deal with the squash, by all means, use pasta!  I hope you try it, it's really good and doesn't get much healthier than this!  Enjoy (and beware of the man-eating vines, if you ever plant spaghetti squash)!

Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Marinara over Spaghetti Squash
Adapted from Rachael Ray
Serves 4

• 2 medium eggplants (or 4 thin, purple Japanese eggplant)
• 1 spaghetti squash, sliced lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1 red bell pepper (or 1-2 jarred roasted red peppers)
• 2 red chile peppers , I used overripe Anaheims from the garden (or 2-3
• jarred Piquillo peppers)
• 1 head garlic
• 1 sprig rosemary, minced
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 carton sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 28-oz can whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes, with juice
• 8 basil leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• grated Parmesan or Romano cheese  

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut top off of garlic bulb and remove outer skin.  Place on a sheet of tinfoil.  Drizzle with olive oil and top with rosemary.  Fold foil around bulb to form packet and seal tightly.  Place in oven.  Total cook time with be about 45 minutes (while eggplant is roasting) or until garlic is soft and removes from skin easily. 

Cut eggplants in half, lengthwise.  Brush cut side with olive oil and place, cut side down, on a baking sheet.  Roast for 30-45 minutes, until browned and very soft.  When done, set it and garlic aside and cool.

If roasting your own peppers, brush all peppers with olive oil and broil for 3-4 minutes, until skin is charred, and turn with tongs until all sides have been well charred.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Place spaghetti squash, cut sides down, on a microwavable plate.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high for 8-10 minutes, until flesh easily shreds with fork (be careful when unwrapping plastic...the steam is HOT).  Shred flesh of squash and put in serving bowl.

While squash is cooking, in a large saucepan, add 1 TBSP olive oil.  Sauté mushrooms until brown.  Add chicken broth and tomatoes.  With a fork or hand potato masher, mash whole tomatoes so they break up a bit (watch out, sometimes they will spit at you!). Let simmer.

While tomatoes are simmering, scoop flesh from eggplant and add to food processor or mini prep.  Remove skin, stems and seeds from peppers and add to processor.  Scoop garlic from skins and add to processor.  Process until smooth (or leave a little chunky, if you like).

Add eggplant mixture to tomatoes.  Stir well.  Cook for another 10 minutes, until sauce starts to thicken. Add oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over sauce over spaghetti squash and top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

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What's for Dinner? Smoked Chicken Pasta!

Sorry, I've been slack on the postings!  Between planning for Finn's 1-Year Birthday (BOTH sets of grandparents are coming in town) and then having a sick baby boy, it's been busy around here!  So...I do the best I can!  :)

Sunday, Sully engaged in one of his new favorite hobbies...smoking meat.  I got him a Weber smoker for our anniversary this year and he's enjoyed experimenting with it.  This weekend he smoked some chicken leg quarters (they were on special at the Teet for $.47 a pound!).  They came out really good...juicy inside and crispy skin on the outside.  We had leftovers, so I thought the smoked chicken would go well in pasta.  If you don't have a smoker, you can usually buy smoked chicken...Fresh Market has it in their rotisserie section.  You could use regular rotisserie chicken in this...just make sure to use the smoked mozzarella to add the smokiness that is so tasty in this pasta.  And, P.S., I highly recommend asking for a smoker for Christmas...it makes some amazing meat!  I hope you like it...GO MEAT!

An array of delicious smoked meat

Smoked Chicken Pasta
Serves 6

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 2 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off the cob
• 6 poblano or anaheim peppers
• 2 TBSP plus 1 TSP butter (I used Brummel and Brown spread)
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2/3 cup light cream cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 3 smoked chicken quarters, skin removed and meat pulled from bone and shredded (about 2 cups)
• 1 can Rotel, drained
• 1 TBSP creole or blackening seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 oz smoked mozzarella, cut in small cubes

Cook pasta according to directions.

Heat broiler in oven.  Place peppers on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.  Broil about 5 minutes on one side, or until skin starts to turn black and bubble.  Flip over.  Broil another 3 minutes on second side, until done.  Let cool.  Once cool, remove tops, skin and seeds.  Chop and reserve.

In a medium skillet heat 1 TSP butter and saute corn until it begins to char.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat butter until melted.  Stir in flour and combine to form a smooth paste.  Slowly add in milk and stir until sauce forms and thickens.  If too thick, add a little more milk.  Reduce heat and add cream cheese and Parmesan and stir until combined and smooth.

Add cheese sauce to pasta and add seasonings.  Stir until combined.  Add chicken, peppers, tomatoes, corn and mozzarella.  Serve!

** This would also be good with black beans and/or crumbled bacon added in.

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What's for Dinner? Chicken and Pepper Stirfry

Tonight, after having spent all last week with my parents, I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to cook one of my mom's recipes from when we were growing up.  Back in the day, my mom was kind of your standard Baby Boomer Housewife cook...she made simple, quick dishes (including a lot of casseroles), but all were tasty!  This recipe was one of her more "adventurous" undertakings, as Asian food was not in her normal cooking repertoire.  I had some bell peppers (from the garden of course) that I needed to use and that made me think of this.  Ahhh, "memories...like the corners of my mind" (remember the scene with Tom Hanks in "Big", anyone?).  I hope you like it!  Enjoy!

Chicken and Pepper Stirfry
Serves 4

• 1/2 cup soy sauce (can use regular, reduced sodium or a combo of both)
• 2 TBSP cooking sherry
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 TBSP cornstarch
• 2 TBSP oil (olive or canola), divided
• 3 chicken breasts (about a pound), cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 bell peppers, cut in thin slices (use a combo of red and green)
• 1 onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 1 8 oz container sliced mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts (optional)
• 1 cup water
• rice

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce through cornstarch and mix well.  Set aside.

Over high heat, saute chicken in large skillet and cook until brown and cooked through.  Reserve to bowl.  In same pan, add remaining oil and saute peppers, onions and mushrooms until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and water chestnuts, if using, and saute 1 minute more.

Add reserved chicken back to the pan and add sauce.  Stir to combine and cook about 1 minute.  Add water and let mixture simmer and thicken, about 5 more minutes.  When all is combines and sauce is thick, serve over rice.

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What's for Sides? Nan's Delicious Artichokes!

We have lots of parties...it's what we like to do! A lot of the time we do kind of a pot-luck thing, where all of our friends bring food over and/or we cook together.  But sometimes we have parties that we do all the cooking.  At one of those parties, our annual Mardi Gras fete, my friend Nan came and brought me a little hostess gift.  She knows my love of food, so she brought a hand-written card of one of her favorite recipes, with some of the ingredients that go in it. It was such a cute idea and the recipe sounded great.  I FINALLY got around to making her dish last night, and wish I hadn't waited so long.  There's a reason she calls them her "delicious artichokes".  This was easy and really good!  All the flavors go perfectly together.  It's great as a side dish, and Sully and I thought it would be awesome as a stuffing for chicken, as well (just dice the artichokes up smaller).  Give it a try.  And next time you go to a party, try Nan's idea for a hostess gift...your friends will be grateful!  Enjoy!


Nan's Delicious Artichokes
Serves 4-6

• 4 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 4 anchovy fillets (don't be afraid, when cooked here, they taste nutty, not at all fishy!)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 TBSP capers
• 4 oz fresh bread crumbs (take the extra time to throw some old bread in the food processor, it's worth it)
• 3 TBSP toasted pine nuts (throw them in the toaster oven for a few minutes...be sure not to burn!)
• 2 pkgs frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (or 3 pkgs of the fresh pack ones in the produce section at stores like the Fresh Market)
• 3 TBSP fresh parsley, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat 3 TBSP olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium low heat and add anchovies.  Saute until anchovies melt into oil.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the red pepper flakes, capers and breadcrumbs.  Stir and keep on heat until bread is toasted, crispy and golden brown. Add pine nuts, salt, and pepper (be careful, anchovies are salty, so taste before you add more salt). Pour mixture into bowl and set aside.  Add additional TBSP oil and saute artichokes until they take on a bit of color and are tender.  Add reserved breadcrumb mixture and the parsley.  If you want, sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese. Serve!

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What's for Dinner? Flounder Florentine!

After our heavier Pad Thai last night, I wanted something a littler lighter this evening.  My mom and I went to Fresh Market and (amid a complete Finn meltdown) found some great looking flounder.  It was actually called Turbot Flounder.  I had to look that up, because I had heard of Turbot, but didn't know it was a flounder.

So [quick flounder lesson], the Turbot Flounder or European Flounder is mostly found in Europe in the White, Black and Mediterranean Seas and was introduced to Canada and the USA by accident in ballast water on ships.  The Turbot Flounder I got at the Fresh Market today was from Canada.  The flounder we usually get here in the South is Southern Flounder.  There are also Summer Flounder and Winter Flounder in the Western Atlantic and Olive Flounder of the coast of Japan.  Now, you can go brag about your flounder knowledge to all of your friends.

I have this easy recipe that is really good.  You can do it with Flounder, Sole, Halibut or Grouper...pretty much any kind of mild white fish (not too thick or steak-y).  I served it with mashed potatoes and more sauteed garden zucchini.  Sorry guys, no photo for this tonight.  I don't have my usual setup since I'm not at home and the photos I took just don't look too appetizing...I couldn't do it to you!  Next time I make it I will update this entry.  It may not look good in photos, but give it a try...it's simple and really tasty!  Enjoy!

Flounder Florentine
Serves 2

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 TBSP butter, melted
• 1 TBSP mayonnaise
• 3 green onions, sliced (whites and greens)
• 2, 5 oz bags baby spinach (or you can use 1, but it cooks down a lot)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 lb flounder fillet(s)
• salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, mix together Parm, butter, mayo and the white and half of the greens of the scallion.  Set aside.

Spray a 9x13 casserole with cooking spray and layer spinach on the bottom.  Sprinkle garlic over top.  Lay flounder fillet(s) over spinach and squeeze lemon juice on top.  Brush on sauce mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, depending on how thin your fish is (if not done, keep cooking until it is, but don't overdo...you don't want mushy fish)! Top with the remaining green onions and serve with rice or mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!

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What's for Dinner? Pad Thai!

This week I'm back home visiting with my parents in Apex (the Peak of Good Living).  My uncle is also up from Miami and he inspired me to make Pad Thai tonight.  (And yes, I might be the only person in the world that goes home and cooks for my parents, instead of my parents cooking for me...ha!) He was in the Air Force and stationed in Thailand during Vietnam in the late sixties, so needless to say, he knows good Thai food--I had a lot to live up to!  When researching recipes, I found that a lot of them call for some unique ingredients like cane sugar and tamarind paste.  I tried to keep it to ingredients you can buy in a normal grocery store.  I also wanted to make it healthier, since a lot of the Thai places use a ton of oil.  I think the flavor came out great and I didn't miss the extra oil.  My uncle had two big servings, and even my Mom, who declared earlier in the day that she didn't like Pad Thai, said she loved it.  On a side note, Dad loved it as well, but wished there was tofu in it.  Sorry, Dad, keep dreaming.  Enjoy!

Pad Thai
Serves 4-5

1 lb rice noodles
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 TBSP brown sugar
2 limes, one juiced and one cut into wedges for garnish
1 TBSP toasted sesame oil
2 TBSP peanut or canola oil, divided
3 eggs, scrambled
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onion, sliced diagonally in 1/2 inch pieces (green and whites)
1 large handful mung bean sprouts
1 large handful pre-shredded carrots
1 large handful cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
Sriracha hot sauce

Place the rice noodles in a bowl and cover with very hot tap water.  Let sit for 30 minutes until soft (they will still be a bit al dente, you don't want them to get soggy).

In another small bowl, stir together 1 TBSP canola/peanut oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar and sesame oil.  Whisk until well combined.  Set aside.

Heat remaining oil on high in large wok or skillet, and add chicken.  Saute until brown and cooked through. Reduce heat to medium high and add garlic, white and half of green parts of onion and carrots and saute for about 1-2 minutes.  Add sauce and noodles. Thoroughly toss together and cook for about 5-10 minutes, continuously tossing.  Once noodles are soft, move some of the noodles over to the edge to make an opening in the bottom of the pan.  Pour in eggs and let them cook.  Start scraping them up and continue until they are scrambled.  Once they are fully cooked, add bean sprouts toss with the egg and pasta and make sure everything is well combined.  Remove from heat and add to serving bowl.  Top with the rest of the green onion, cilantro and chopped peanuts.  Add Sriracha hot sauce to taste for some heat.

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What's for Apps? Lobster Roll Crostini!

We had a great July 4th weekend...lots of friends, fun, family and even more FOOD!  Yesterday we had a cookout with our Wilmington crew, and as usual, we had sooo much food.  Everything was delicious.  We had shrimp tempura rolls, sausage and cheese stuffed jalapenos, homemade pimento cheese, tomato and feta bruschetta and buffalo chicken dip.  And that was just the appetizers!  My addition to the spread was a "lobster roll" crostini.  I've been up to the Northeast and had their famous lobster rolls before...big pieces of lobster tossed with mayo and celery and spices, then put on a buttered roll.  I wanted to make an appetizer version of this so I thought crostini would be perfect.  I buttered and grilled the baguette slices, so they had a little bit of a smoky flavor.  It was really easy to make and they turned out great...I just wish I had made more!  But with all the other awesome food...we definitely did NOT go hungry.  Overall it was a great weekend and it made me even happier than usual to live in this great country.  Happy 4th everyone!

Lobster Roll Crostini
Makes ~20 Crostini

• 6 medium lobster tails
•  kosher salt
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped celery leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 baguette, sliced on the bias into 1/2" slices
• 1/4 stick butter, melted

In a large pot of boiling water, add the lobster tails and salt generously.  Cook for 8 minutes until they turn red and tails curl.  Remove from water and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the mayo, celery, onion, celery leaves and celery salt.  Once lobster cools, remove meat from shells and coarsely chop.  Add to mayo mixture. Refrigerate for several hours.

Butter one side of baguette slices.  On low heat, place bread, butter side down and grill until golden (and grill marks appear on bread).  Flip and keep on heat briefly.  Remove to platter and top with lobster mixture.  Add more celery leaves for garnish, if desired.  Enjoy!

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