One of our favorite restaurants is Bonefish. And you cannot eat there without ordering the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. It is to die for. I found this lighter version of Bonefish's specialty from Ginas Skinny Recipes. It was very easy and quick to make, and Derrick liked it! The shrimp really only takes 3 minutes to cook. I could hardly believe this and probably cooked it about a minute too long. The Thai Sweet Chili Sauce and Sriracha were in the Asian section of the grocery store. Two HyVee's were out of the Sriracha, but I found some in stock at Price Chopper. Now that I have a huge bottle of it, I need to find some more recipes with Sriracha! Send them my way if you have any! I served the shrimp over a bed of chopped romaine (iceberg or cabbage would work fine) with yellow rice. Wild rice or a veggie would also go very well. This shrimp would also be a good filling in soft tacos like the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos at Bonefish.
5 tbsp light mayo
3 tbsp thai sweet chili sauce
1 tsp sriracha (to taste) - add more to make it spicier
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp olive oil
lettuce or cabbage, chopped
4 tbsp chopped scallions, optional
In a medium bowl combine mayo, thai sweet chili sauce, and sriracha. Set aside. Divide lettuce between 2 -4 plates (however many you are serving - I think this recipe serves 2-3 people pretty well).
Coat shrimp with cornstarch and mix well with your hands.
Heat a large skilled or wok on high heat. Add oil. When oil is hot add the shrimp and cook tossing a few times until pink, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and combine with the sauce. Coat well.
Place shrimp on lettuce and top with scallions.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Derrick loves cookie dough, so when I found this recipe from the-girl-who-ate-everything I knew I would make it for him - what better occasion than his birthday? These were a bit time consuming. I cut back by using premade icing. Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Buttercream is delicious. I was thinking I could have saved a ton of time by using a cake mix, but you do NOT want to do that. The homemade cake part of these cupcakes is worth it!
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For the cookie dough filling:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
6 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting
For decoration:
sprinkles
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
Combine butter and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until it has firmed, about 30 minutes.
Cut a cone-shaped portion out of the middle of each cupcake. You can taste-test this part! Yum! Fill each hole with a couple tablespoons of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
Frost the cupcakes. Sprinkle with sprinkles. I kept them chilled, but some like them room temperature so the frosting and cookie dough melt in your mouth. It is funny to see the surprised look on people's faces when they think they are biting into a regular cupcake.
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For the cookie dough filling:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
6 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting
For decoration:
sprinkles
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
Combine butter and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until it has firmed, about 30 minutes.
Cut a cone-shaped portion out of the middle of each cupcake. You can taste-test this part! Yum! Fill each hole with a couple tablespoons of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
Frost the cupcakes. Sprinkle with sprinkles. I kept them chilled, but some like them room temperature so the frosting and cookie dough melt in your mouth. It is funny to see the surprised look on people's faces when they think they are biting into a regular cupcake.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Cheesy Corn
Every Christmas my close girlfriends have a gift exchange. That way we all buy one nice gift and don't have to buy 12 mediocre gifts. Everyone gets something nice off their wish list, and we make an event out of it by bringing different food dishes and having a dinner party. Sarah brought this delicious cheesy corn, and I immediately copied the recipe which she happened to have with her. After reading the recipe I realized this must be a special occasion dish only. It is not the healthiest which is probably why it is difficult to stop eating it. I made it this mother's day when we had both our families over to celebrate. My dad brought burgers which Derrick grilled. Derrick's mom brought scrumptious potato salad - even my dad loved it, and he usually doesn't care for potato salad. For dessert we had peanut butter brownie sundaes. (My mom's favorite.)
Now this recipe calls for an entire stick of butter. I only used a little less than half a stick. But I really think you could almost leave out the butter altogether. I will try it next time and let you know how it goes.
1 small bag frozen sweet corn
1 can mexi-corn
1/2 stick soft butter
1 box - prepared Zatarain's yellow rice
1 cup sharp cheddar, grated
1 pkg. cream cheese
Mix all together. Put in casserole dish. I used a 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Now this recipe calls for an entire stick of butter. I only used a little less than half a stick. But I really think you could almost leave out the butter altogether. I will try it next time and let you know how it goes.
1 small bag frozen sweet corn
1 can mexi-corn
1/2 stick soft butter
1 box - prepared Zatarain's yellow rice
1 cup sharp cheddar, grated
1 pkg. cream cheese
Mix all together. Put in casserole dish. I used a 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Crock-pot Salsa Chicken
This recipe seems similar to the other crock-pot chicken I posted, but it tastes (and is served) completely different.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. salsa (I used Margaritas)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. sour cream
Place chicken in crock-pot. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken. Pour salsa and soup over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve with rice.
We always have this with Spanish rice. The absolute best Spanish rice we have tried from a box is Near East brand. Just make a bed of rice and put the chicken and sauce on top.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. salsa (I used Margaritas)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. sour cream
Place chicken in crock-pot. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken. Pour salsa and soup over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve with rice.
We always have this with Spanish rice. The absolute best Spanish rice we have tried from a box is Near East brand. Just make a bed of rice and put the chicken and sauce on top.
Italian Chicken
Chicken is healthy, right? It can sometimes be so boring, though. So I've been looking for ways to spice it up. Even on the grill I feel like it doesn’t absorb marinades like steak does and doesn’t get real flavorful. Derrick liked this chicken - said he liked the flavor. We ate it with green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy.
Chicken breasts
Prepared pesto
Italian breadcrumbs
Cover baking pan with foil and grease. Spread pesto on chicken so that it is covered on all sides. Roll in (or sprinkle on) Italian breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
You don’t want chicken breasts that are too thick. Then you won’t get as much pesto/Italian flavor.
Chicken breasts
Prepared pesto
Italian breadcrumbs
Cover baking pan with foil and grease. Spread pesto on chicken so that it is covered on all sides. Roll in (or sprinkle on) Italian breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
You don’t want chicken breasts that are too thick. Then you won’t get as much pesto/Italian flavor.
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
dash salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup peanut butter
1 c. oatmeal
1 (12 oz) package chocolate chips
1 c. nuts, optional (I left out)
Cream sugars, salt, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and peanut butter. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Mix well. Drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned 9 minutes. If too dry add a few drops of milk. Mine were not too dry.
In the convection oven (which I am still getting used to - first tray was too light, second tray a little too brown, third tray... jackpot!) they took 7 1/2 minutes.
Grilled Salmon
Derrick and I both love salmon and order it all the time at restaurants, but have never cooked it at home. My dad’s grilled salmon is what I always ask for on my birthday, so I asked him for some tips. He uses a dill marinade, which is pretty hard to find. So I went with Lemon Pepper marinade which was just as good, I think. I bought fresh salmon from Price Chopper and marinated it for a couple hours (I think 30 minutes will suffice, though). Derrick fired up his awesome grill and put the salmon skin side down directly on the grill. It got a little seared where it touched the grill, but I think that actually gave it more flavor. Derrick would probably disagree. He grilled them a little less than 10 minutes, coated them with more marinade, flipped them, and left them on about 4 minutes longer. We checked to make sure they flaked with a fork and removed them from the grill. I think they were perfect and absolutely delicious. Derrick liked it, too (maybe not as much as me). We had wild rice and green beans with it. I am going to have to find another type of rice that he likes better, though. Wild rice is not his favorite. I just love it, though – especially with fish. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Anyway, I sure hope I can talk him into grilling salmon again! I think this is my favorite thing we’ve made.
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