Mangia! Homemade Tomato Sauce!

I have a new favorite grocery store in Columbus. It's called Double Oak Farm. It is like going to the farmer's market any day of the week that you want!  They have fruit, vegetables, meat, baked goodies, and pantry items from Indiana farmers and producers.  It's a tiny shop but they have a great selection.  I went in last week to find some "old" tomatoes to make sauce with.  They didn't have any on hand, so they got a TON that weekend just for me! (Well, not just for me...but I still felt special.)  They were only $0.50/lb for their #2 tomatoes (code word for not so pretty).  But they were not ugly at all! They looked a lot like #1 tomatoes if you ask me!   I bought a conservative 8 pounds.  I used a couple for another dinner, and the rest I used to make my first batch of marinara sauce this morning.  I couldn't find the exact recipe that I had in mind, so I found a reasonable one from Mario Batali and then tweaked it A LOT until it was mine (he used canned tomatoes, amateur...)  This is only my first round of sauce making, stay tuned for future saucy adventures...

Malorie's Homemade Tomato Sauce

Makes about 8 cups (about 4 pint-sized jars)

Ingredients:
7-8 pounds tomatoes (find yourself some cheap, ugly #2 tomatoes!) -peeled, seeded, squished, see prep work below
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion, small chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium carrot, shredded finely
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (a mix of thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt, or more/less to your taste

Directions:

• Prep your tomatoes.  This is a bit messy.  I added a few pictures at the end showing this process.

1. With a sharp knife, score an "X" on the bottom of each tomato. 
2. Boil a big pot of water.
3. Fill a large bowl with ice water.
4. Carefully place tomatoes in boiling water for about 2 minutes (do this in two batches if your pot is too small)
5. When skins look like they are peeling off a bit or your "X's" are bursting, fish tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and place into ice water.
6.  When tomatoes are cool to touch, pour out ice water.
7. Get a large bowl and a fine mesh sieve/strainer.
8. For each tomato, peel and seed with a hooked finger into strainer over large bowl.  Put tomato flesh into the same bowl.  Cut off the stem "belly button" and discard.
9. With your hand, mush and push seeds and skins against the strainer over the bowl (to get the tomato juice).
10.  Discard skins and seeds.
11. With your hands, squish and crush the tomatoes in the bowl.  Fun fun! Now wash your hands. Tomatoes are prepped, hooray!

Now for the sauce...

• In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft.
• Add the tomatoes and juice, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring often.
• Lower the heat and simmer for 2 1/2 hours  (After about 1 hour, I used my immersion/hand blender to puree the sauce.  If you do this, be careful not to splash the hot sauce on yourself!)  If you don't have an immersion blender, let the sauce cool and then blend in blender.  If not, the sauce will just be chunky.
• Season with more salt to taste, or leave as is.
• I am not an expert canner, but I bought mason jars to look like I am. I washed them and filled them with the hot sauce leaving 3/4 inch from the top because I intend to freeze a couple jars. Let cool before putting in freezer (I think... again, I'm not an expert on canning.) 
• This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Serve with your favorite pasta and add fresh basil and parmesan, too! 

This is what the recipe looked like before I got my hands on it...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/basic-tomato-sauce-recipe12/index.html

Chicken Shawarma

Have you ever eaten an amazing meal at a restaurant and wanted to rush home and try to recreate it?  This happens to me a lot, most recently during a visit to Saint Louis to see my friend, Michelle.  We went to this delicious Middle Eastern restaurant called Ranoush in "the Loop".  I had the Chicken Shawarma and Michelle had the Falafel.  I made the chicken for Dan a couple weekends ago and I hope to make the Falafel when we go visit Dan's brother Kyle and his family.  They have recently decided to follow a vegan diet, and Falafel is perfect for that! Stay tuned in the next couple weeks for the falafel.  Ok, back to the Shawarma... it is a pita filled with grilled chicken marinated with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and curry powder. Served with a tahini (sesame) paste or yogurt based sauce and sliced tomatoes.  I did a google search for a recipe and went with one featured on Rachel Ray's $40 a Day.  I normally run as fast as I can from a Rachel Ray recipe, I'm not sure why, maybe because I know there is probably a better recipe out there. But, this recipe is not hers, but actually from the restaurant featured in her show.  It turned out to be a great recipe.  The sauce in the recipe is a traditional tahini sauce, but at Ranoush they served the Shawarma with a yogurt-based sauce.  The tahini sauce is really great poured over the chicken.  It is made with tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, water, and salt.  It tastes like really thin hummus.  However, I think I preferred the yogurt sauce (made with essentially the same ingredients, just with yogurt and less tahini) and will try making it with the falafel.  Here is the recipe and pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Shawarma

Recipe courtesy Cafe Mediterranean

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 5 drops yellow food coloring, optional  (omitted)
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenders, no chopping involved)
• 4 pieces pita bread
• 1 tomato, chopped
• Shawarma Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

To make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, and oil. Add curry powder, salt, pepper, and food coloring and whisk to combine. Add chicken and coat with marinade. Marinate chicken overnight in the refrigerator. (I only marinated for 3-4 hours)

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade. Grill chicken for about 10 minutes on each side or until fully cooked through. Serve chicken on pita and top with tomatoes and Shawarma Sauce.

Shawarma Sauce: (I cut this recipe in half for you, and reduced the water)
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup store-bought tahini
1/2-1 cup water (just add a little at a time until you reach a good consistency, it should be pretty thin)
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt

Add garlic to the bowl of a food processor and process until chopped. Add tahini and pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly add cold water until frothy. Add lemon juice and mix until creamy. Season with salt, to taste.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/40-a-day/chicken-shawarma-recipe/index.html

Two simple dinners...

Both of these dinners are so easy and spring-y, I think you'll love both!  The first recipe is a fun take on a caesar salad.  It directs you to cook the shrimp and crouton skewers in the oven, but I think it would be even better on a grill!  The second recipe is pasta with peas, pancetta, and parmesan (that's a lotta p's!).  I made this twice so far using different types of pasta.  The second time I made it, we were under a tornado warning so I was frantically finishing it up so we wouldn't have to eat it in the bathroom! (Don't worry, it missed us and we only got a little thunder storm). 

#1: Bread and Shrimp Skewers with Romaine Salad
(from Everyday Food Magazine, March or April 2011...can't find it right now!)

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound large peeled and deveined frozen shrimp (about 24), thawed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 5 ounces crusty bread, cut into 1-inch pieces (3 cups)
• 1 hard-cooked egg yolk, mashed (omitted)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 2 large hearts romaine lettuce, leaves separated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine shrimp, half the garlic, lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. In another medium bowl, toss bread with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Thread shrimp and bread onto eight 8-inch wooden or metal skewers. Transfer skewers to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until shrimp is opaque throughout and croutons are golden, 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine remaining garlic, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons oil, egg yolk, and mustard; season with salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined; stir in Parmesan. Add romaine and toss to coat. Sprinkle salad with more Parmesan and serve alongside skewers.



Photo taken from Cooking Light website

























#2: Bucatini with Green Peas & Pancetta
(from Cooking Light Magazine April 2011)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pancetta (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (or onion)
1 1/4 cups shelled green peas (about 1 1/2 pounds unshelled) (I used frozen, thawed peas)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine (omitted)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or a pinch dried)
1/2 pound uncooked bucatini pasta (I've used both ziti and rigatoni)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add pancetta; cook for 10 minutes or until browned and crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove pancetta from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan; set pancetta aside. Add shallots; cook for 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add peas and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add wine and thyme. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid reduces to 2 tablespoons (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat.
2. Cook pasta in boiling water with 1 tablespoon kosher salt according to package directions, omitting additional fat. Drain the pasta in a colander over a bowl, and reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to pea mixture; toss well. Stir in reserved cooking liquid. Place about 1 1/4 cups pasta mixture in each of 4 shallow bowls; top each serving evenly with grated cheese and pancetta.

Rori Trovato, Cooking Light
APRIL 2011

I love you, a bushel and a peck...

Happy Valentine's Day!  Here are some "drunken" dark chocolate truffles that I made for Dan.  And here is the recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chocolate-truffles-recipe/index.html

Of course, I tweaked it a bit.  Before mixing in the liqueur, I divided the chocolate into 3 equal portions and then added a tablespoon of different liqueurs to each one (brandy, triple sec/orange, amaretto).  I also melted the 8 oz. of chocolate in my small crock pot instead of using a heating pad and bowl (really, Alton?!).  These turned out pretty good, but I'm more of a milk chocolate fan.  However, these weren't for me anyways and Dan loved them!  Tonight's dinner: heart shaped homemade pizza with my big and little valentine's. :)

11 uses for Apple Butter, 3 days of hibernation & 2nd Remix Outfit

Still hibernating around here...I am hoping hubby will take us out tomorrow to hobby lobby and dinner, hey-oh!  Yesterday I made crockpot apple butter that takes all day.  Man oh man it's worth the 12 hours.  Last night I had it over vanilla ice cream and this morning Luke and I had it on some toast.  I was brainstorming some other uses for this tasty stuff...with greek yogurt, spread on biscuits, pancakes or waffles, thumbprint cookies, inside wonton wrappers for little pie fritters, baked inside of cresent rolls, mixed with oatmeal, swirled in cake batter and baked into a apple cake...ooh I might need to have that apple butter topped ice cream again!  Recipe follows post. I'll take and post a picture tomorrow.  Here is my second outfit for the 30 for 30 remix challenge...

Outfit 2: Argyle Cardigan + pink v-neck + cargos + suede boots
Luke: dino pjs + elmo slippers :)

Crock Pot Apple Butter (Adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-apple-butter-93886)

Ingredients:

About 3 lbs apples (10 medium) (I used a mix of granny smith, gala, & braeburn) - peeled, cored, & diced small

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1. Mix all ingredients together in crock pot.  Cook on high for 1 hour.

2. Turn down to low and cook for 9-11 hours until thick and brown.  Half way through I stirred and mashed with potato masher...though I'm not sure it was neccessary.

3. Uncover and cook for one hour more.

4. Cool and store in fridge or freezer.



Spicy Peanut Tofu

...or chicken.  But, are you still afraid of cooking with tofu?? Tofu is your friend!  It is good for you and cheap ($1.99 for 14 oz!).  This recipe just may be your new favorite comfort food.  It is mine!

Friendly tofu



Spicy Peanut Tofu on Brown Rice - Photo by Malorie

Spicy Peanut Chicken or Tofu on Brown Rice


adapted from Cooking Light Magazine August 2008
Serves 8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
2 blocks firm/extra firm tofu (24 oz.),cubed (dried between paper towels for 30 min-few hours, whatever! )
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup smooth or chunky natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I do about 30 turns of my pepper grinder!)
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 28 oz. can petit diced tomatoes OR 3 cups chopped plum tomato (about 6 tomatoes)
2 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium vegetable or chicken broth OR 1 ¾ cups water
1/2 cup crushed/chopped salted peanuts
8 cups hot cooked brown rice

Preparation

1.Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.

2.Add onion and garlic (and tofu if using) to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

3. Add chicken (if using) to pan; cook 4 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.

4.Stir in peanut butter and next 5 ingredients (through tomato paste); cook 1 minute.

5.Add tomato and broth to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.
6.Serve chicken mixture over rice. Garnish with crushed peanuts.

Buffalo Chicken Paninis and Baked Artichoke-Spinach Dip

Both of these dishes bring "restaurant food" to your kitchen.  I prefer most things when I make them at home for a bunch of reasons: 1.) Tastes better or just as good, 2.) Healthier, 3.) I know what ingredients are used, 4.) Less Expensive, and 5.) Fun to make new things.  There are really only two reasons it is good to eat at a restaurant these days: 1.) No dishes! and 2.) My mini sous-chef gets a little hard to manage as he crawls around the kitchen and pulls stuff out of the cabinets.  But, I have a really hot dishwasher and my sous-chef is stinkin' cute, too.  So, no good excuses here!  Ok, on to the recipes!  The Buffalo Chicken Panini recipe is straight from Cooking Light magazine from October 2010.  The only changes I made were 1.) add a slice of mozzarella and 2.) use a George Forman grill as a panini press.  I'm liking those numbered lists today...  The Baked Artichoke-Spinach Dip is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe on FoodNetwork.com.  I tripled (booya!) the amount of parmesan cheese, used more artichokes, and baked it instead of using the stove.  I ate it too fast to take a picture.



Buffalo Chicken Panini - Photo by Dan


















Buffalo Chicken Paninis

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)
Ingredients
1/4 cup hot pepper sauce, divided (I used Frank's)
1 pound chicken breast tenders (Have whole chicken breasts? Slice into tender-sized strips)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
6 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
*4 Slices mozzarella
8 (1-ounce) slices white or sourdough bread (Used crusty bread from bakery section)

Preparation

Preheat broiler; coat broiler pan with cooking spray. Combine 2 tablespoons sauce and chicken in a medium bowl, tossing to coat. Arrange chicken in a single layer on broiler pan; broil 4 minutes on each side or until done (about 2 inches under broiler). Place chicken in a bowl; toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sauce. Combine cheese and mayonnaise. Spread 3 tablespoons cheese mixture on each of 4 bread slices; top each with one-fourth of cooked chicken, mozzarella slice and 1 bread slice. *I used a George Forman grill to cook the paninis.  If you don't have one, where were you in the early 2000's?? and follow the following steps: Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange 2 sandwiches in pan. Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of sandwiches; press gently. Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted (leave skillet on sandwiches while they cook). Repeat procedure with remaining 2 sandwiches.

Note about mayo/blue cheese mixture:  I made 2 sandwiches one day and saved the rest for the next day.  However, the leftover mayonaise and blue cheese spread turned into liquid in fridge overnight (weird).  So, just make the amount you need if you are making these in batches.


Baked Artichoke-Spinach Dip
adapted from Alton Brown's Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip (foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients
1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach  (using fresh? Chop about 4-5 oz. and add water in a microwave bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes, drain)
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan  (the kind in the bag, or the canister kind would work)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients.  Spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with canola spray.  Pour mixture in dish, bake in oven until bubbly for about 35 minutes at 375 degrees.  Too hungry to wait??  Microwave mixture until bubbly and eat!  Serve dip with torilla chips, pita chips, crispy breadsticks, or vegetables.

Happy Birthday, Dan! Dark Chocolate Cake and Tomato-Goat Cheese Paninis

Dan had two requests for his 28th birthday...chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and tomato-goat cheese paninis!  So, I turned to trusty David Lebovitz for the cake and made paninis that I've made a hundred times before.  They are based on the ones I ate every other day for lunch on my study abroad trip to Paris in 2005.  The devil's food cake with dark chocolate ganache frosting was amazing...you must make it if you love dark chocolate.  The cake was moist and dense and the frosting was rich and semi-sweet.  I needed a big glass of milk with this one!  It was the most decadent and delicious cake I've ever made and it was also the easiest!  Even the frosting was...ahem...a piece of cake!  The paninis are super simple.  How can you go wrong with a combo of tomatoes, basil, bread, mozzarella, and goat cheese? Nope, you can't go wrong.  And you probably already have a panini press (aka old George Forman grill!)

Dark Chocolate Cake - photo by Dan

Slice of Dark Chocolate Cake - Photo by Malorie

Tomato-Goat Cheese Panini - photo with bad lighting by Malorie

"Panini Press"

Devil’s Food Cake by David Lebovitz

Besides just making half of the following recipe to yield a one-layer cake, I did not alter this recipe.  I made some notes next to the ingredients to let you know what I used if there was an option (example: water or cream).  Be sure to use a good quality chocolate for the frosting.  Chocolate chips or baker's chocolate won't give tasty results.  Try some of the premium chocolate bars in the candy section!


one 9-inch (2 layer) cake

For the cake:
9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising) - I just used all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup strong coffee (or water) - I used coffee leftover in the pot from the morning
½ cup whole or low-fat milk - I used skim milk here

For the ganache frosting:
10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped  - I used 2 types of dark chocolate: Lindt 50% Cocoa Dark Chocolate Bar and Whole Foods 365 Dark Chocolate Bar
½ cup water (or cream) -used water
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter


1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)

5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

7. To make the frosting, melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

8. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1 hour at room temperature.

To frost the cake:

Run a knife around the inside of each of the cakes which will help release them from the pans. Tilt one cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper from the bottom and invert it back onto a cake plate. Spread a good-sized layer of icing over the top. Top with the second cake layer and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing as decoratively as you want.

Storage: Cake is best the day it is made, although it’s fine the next day. Store at room temperature under a cake dome. Just be sure to keep cake out of the sun in the meantime.


Tomato-Goat Cheese Paninis

Makes two  6" sandwiches

2 hoagie rolls or a 12" soft baguette, cut in half
1 tomato, sliced
few leaves of chopped/torn fresh basil (or you could use a little pesto as a spread)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or italian blend cheese (or slices)
2 oz. goat cheese log

1. Preheat your panini press, George Foreman grill, griddle, or skillet on medium heat.

2. Build your sandwiches:  Bread, slices of goat cheese (sometimes crumbly, won't be perfect slices), tomato slices, mozzarella, basil leaves, Bread.

3. Place sandwich in press and cook until cheese is melted and outside of bread is crusty and slightly golden.  If you are using a griddle or skillet, push sandwich down with a plate and then flip after a few minutes.

4. Devour!

Summer Rice Salad à la Française

Five years ago, I went to Paris to study abroad for the summer.  On Bastille Day (July 14th), it was almost 90 degrees and definitely not the time to fire up the mini Euro oven or the stovetop in the un-air conditioned apartment.  So, my host mom, Catherine, made a cold salad of rice, tuna, corn, and capers for myself and my friends that were over before we went to watch fireworks at the Eiffel Tower.  Sounds like a funky combo, I guess. But, five years later I am still thinking about that salad. I have never made it- until today!  Sometimes the stars align...or I guess the ingredients align... I have very, very few food items in the house because I let them dwindle before our vacation.  But, like I said, this dish was meant to be made!  I had rice, 2 ears of corn, 2 packets of tuna that Dan bought for hiking (but were packed in oil), capers (that I inherited from Michelle before she moved to St. Louis), and basics to make a vinaigrette.  I didn't have a recipe for this dish, only my memory from a half decade ago.  I think I came up with an accurate rendition of this easy, French, summer meal.  Bon Appetit. :)

Summer Rice Salad

3 cups cooked rice, cooled
7 oz. chunk light tuna (did you know Albacore white has 3 times the mercury?!)
Kernels from 2 ears of corn,  about 1 1/2 cups
2 tablespoons capers
Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, crushed/minced
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 turns of the pepper grinder (however much that is!)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (lemon juice would probably be good here, too)
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
Whisk vinaigrette ingredients together.  In large bowl, stir together cooled rice, tuna, corn, and capers.  Add vinaigrette and mix together.  Chill in fridge.  Eat and reminisce about France.

Caramel Popcorn

I need to bring a snack to a friend's house today... Finally, I had an excuse to make this caramel popcorn I found over a year ago featured on David Lebovitz' blog!  Just as I suspected...it is delicious! Tastes a lot like English toffee actually.

Caramel Corn

*I used air-popped popcorn, not the stovetop method in this recipe.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!...Shrimp Creole, Biscuits, Mini Lime Cheesecakes

We had college friends in for dinner last night, so I cooked up some Shrimp Creole over rice, buttery drop biscuits, and mini lime cheesecakes.  To make the Shrimp Creole, I started with a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, but made it into a slow-cooker recipe for Slow-Cooker Month.  Not knowing exactly when our guests would arrive, this was a great cooking method.  It's not a "throw & go" recipe, but definitely worth making.  I think this is 5th time I've made it!  For the mini lime cheesecakes, I used the same recipe found in Red, White & Blueberry.  This time around I used limes in place of the lemons and individual, pre-made graham cracker crusts.

Shrimp Creole
adapted from Emeril's Shrimp Creole

Ingredients


4 ounces (1 stick) butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery
Salt and cayenne
2 bay leaves
2 pounds peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (or 1 28oz. can petite-diced tomatoes)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of hot sauce
2 pounds of large shrimp, peeled, tail-off, and deveined  (I use raw frozen shrimp, thawed)
Essence, recipe follows (I use Emeril's Bayou Blast seasoning, which is the same thing)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (I omitted this)
4 cups cooked long-grain white rice

Directions


In a saute pan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, peppers, and celery to the pan. Season the vegetables with salt and cayenne. Saute the vegetables until they are wilted, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, saute 1 minute more.
In slow-cooker, place sauteed vegetables, tomatoes, & bay leaves. Season with worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and cayenne.

Cook in slow-cooker on high for 3 hours.

Season the shrimp liberally with Essence. Add the shrimp to the slow-cooker and cook for about 4 to 6 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink and curl up. Stir in the green onions.

Serve the Shrimp Creole spooned over the rice.


Drop Biscuits
from Better Homes & Garden Cookbook
Makes 12 biscuits

Ingredients


3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup butter, cut up into tablespoon pieces
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (skim milk + 1 1/2 tbs. vinegar or lemon juice)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.

2. Using a large spoon, drop dough into 12 mounds 1 inch apart onto a greased or parchment covered baking sheet.
3. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve warm.


Mini Lime Cheesecakes
 
6 individual, store-bought, graham cracker crusts
 
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 1 1/2 limes)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and sour cream, then lime juice, lime peel, and vanilla. Spoon batter into pie crusts (about 1/4 cup (heaping) batter in each)


Bake cheesecakes until slightly puffed and set in center, about 30 minutes; cool completely in pan on rack. Chill cheesecake until cold, at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; keep chilled.

Serve with whipped cream on top.  (And a sprinkle of lime zest, if you want to be fancy.)