Category: PROTEINS

Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Over Sweet Corn Cakes

Welcome to Simple Saturday!

I’ve been participating in a challenge this month, do you think you could eat on a Dollar a Day? (Check out the link for details). I’ve been doing the challenge but with an unfair advantage – I allowed myself to use anything I already had on hand. It’s turned out to be more of an “eat from the pantry and freezer month” than anything else so far.

Here is last night’s yummy, frugal and very simple recipe. It was definitely the Meal of the Week!

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Chipotle Shrimp – 1 pound of shrimp marinated overnight in bottled chipotle sauce (with one teaspoon of cornstarch added). Put shrimp and marinade in large, deep skillet, add a can of diced tomatoes. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally while preparing corn cakes.

Corn Cakes – 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix, 2/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, one can of sweet creamed corn and 1/2 can regular sweet corn. Mix and prepare just as you would pancakes.

Spoon shrimp and sauce over corn cakes and serve with fruit smoothies. Trust me, it’s a perfect combo, it was delicious – except for the fact that I used shrimp I had in the freezer that had been cleaned and shelled, but it didn’t occur to me that it still had the tails on until dinner was ready. Be sure to take the tails off if you try this, duh!

We have two birthdays at Our Krazy Kitchen this week – be sure to stop by to wish our Tuesday host Min and our Wednesday host Chaya a Happy Birthday!

Have a great weekend 🙂

TOMATO CHICKEN with BASIL

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into tenders
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Progresso Tomato & Basil Soup
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh minced basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
4 cups hot cooked pasta

  • Heat oil in skillet.
  • Add garlic and chicken, sauteing until browned.
  • Add soup, milk, cheese and basil.
  • Heat to a boil.
  • Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until desired thickness.
  • Serve over pasta.
  • Garnish with fresh vbasil (which I forgot to do before the picture LOL)

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Company is Coming – Tried and True or a New recipe??? Maybe just a simple SALAD



OUR FIRST VISITORS!!!


A fun time IS INDEED being had by all, and why not… Jackie’s favorite Aunt, her cousin, his wife and a teenage daughter (teenagers, god help me) have come to our little condo in paradise and we are having the time of our lives!

!Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. As always, I am so surprised when I CAN COOK THAT!


But today, I want to be a little less surprised.  Meaning… When company is coming and you want to make a good “foodie” impression on them… Do you try an exciting new sounding recipe, create something from the top of your head, do your best tried and true recipe…  Or work a new interpretation of a tried and true…


Somehow, I have decided that making the same thing in exactly the same way is not very appealing to me.  So, I decided to make one of my better recipes, but add a bit of island flair…


Last week on my “normal” site, I posted a recipe for Terriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad.  I had gotten the recipe from a fellow blogger, Melanie from THE SISTER’s CAFE.  I did a very unusual thing for me…  I followed Melanie’s recipe as she wrote it.  If you go to her post (click HERE), Melanie listed a few additional ingredients as optional.  But really, if you have a plate of spinach, do you need to add parsley?  Adding the oranges and water chestnuts was already inching the price up.  So, unless you have them on hand, do as I did and leave out the craizins and parsley, … Here is what she wrote…

Spinach Salad With Teriyaki Bowties 
submitted by Melanie sisterscafe.blogspot.com

16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
1 – 2 bags of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted
2 cups torn cooked Chicken

Dressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce
5 Tbs. Sugar

Cook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it’s just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).

This sauce is terrific!  Beyond terrific in fact.  The whole thing blended so well.  It was a perfect addition to my new series on what to do with those rotisserie chickens that are so cheap here in paradise… a raw whole chicken is $10… A precooked rotisserie chicken is $6… If I can get a good explanation for the price difference, I would be very interested…  But in the mean time, I am buying one a week, and posting a series of recipes on what to do with the leftovers… but I digress…




They are company, so I wanted to show off a little.  Instead of the rotisserie chicken, I made an island inspired Blackened Chicken.  I recently covered a how to post on my “normal” site for blackening.  I am sure 😉 that you all read that piece (click HERE if you did not).  So I don’t need to remind you that blackening is not BURNT , and it is NOT a spice, it is a cooking process with butter and spices charred to the outside of the meat, and then the meat is baked to a proper internal temperature.  In this case, I melted 1 tablespoon of butter for each breast (in this case, 4), added 1 TBS of Cajun spices per breast (4). Got that very hot (just barely starting to smoke).  Put the breast into the butter/spice mixture for 2 minutes.  Listened to it sizzle and watched it smoke just a little.  Turned the breast over and charred the spices and infused the butter into the breast for another 2 minutes.  Then I popped em in a 350 degree pre-heated oven until my remote temperature prob read 165 degrees (about 30 minutes).


I have already bragged about this salad once on my own site.  The addition of the blackened chicken really set this apart as something special.

The sweet terriyake sauce was excellent the first time I made the recipe.  Adding a Cajun spiced blackened chicken to the sweet made for an even better tasting combination… Even the teenage daughter (teenagers, god help me) had a second helping…

Please, if you should try this… Goof around as much as you like with the salad… Peppers, mushrooms, pine nuts, scotch… go ahead, add what ever you like… Why not.  BUT, the dressing for this is the real star of the recipe.  Give this dressing a try as listed.  you will not be sorry!


So,  I return to the question I originally asked…

Company is coming…

Something new
Something tried and true
Something tried and true, but with a new twist???

I need to know, More guests are coming to visit.  There is a lot of pressure to cook for someone’s vacation.

But also, who knows when the ladies (and Chris) will accept my invitation for the first annual OUR KRAZY KITCHEN summit meeting… Cooking for that group of culinary stars… Now that would be pressure!

PAN FRIED RED SNAPPER with WHITE WINE LEMON BUTTER SAUCE

When I was in college there was a local grill that did the most amazing fish I’d ever had. I hate to admit that was before Cajun or Blackened became popular. I spent many years trying to duplicate their red snapper after they closed their doors.

PAN FRIED RED SNAPPER with LEMON BUTTER
1 pound Red snapper, cut to portion size
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large very ripe lemon, juiced
zest from the lemon
3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

  • Rinse and dry the fish fillets with paper towels.
  • In a mortar & pestle grind all seasonings together until they are a fine powder and well blended.
  • In a large skillet melt the butter.
  • Saute’ the onions, garlic and lemon zest until fragrant.
  • Arrange onions and garlic towards edge of pan.
  • Arrange fish in center of skillet.
  • Sprinkle with the seasonings.
  • Cook for 4-5 minutes.
  • Turn fish, sprinkle with the remaining seasonings and cook another 4-5 minutes.
  • Add lemon juice and cook another 1-2 minutes.







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SUBTLE DRUNKEN CHICKEN – NO DANCING OR WOBBLING!

According to Wikipedia Drunken Chicken is a name given to many different ways of cooking chicken that all involve alcohol. A western version (also known as beer can chicken, dancing chicken or chicken on a throne) is made by standing a prepared chicken upright on a partially filled can of beer and cooking it slowly in a barbecue or oven. The can goes into the opening of the chicken so that the beer evaporates and permeates the cooking chicken. It received the name dancing chicken due to way the chicken wobbles once the beer has evaporated and due to the fact the chicken is flavored with evaporated beer. The wobbling and falling usually indicates the chicken is done This means I already have a drunken chicken recipe with my Tropical Roasted Chicken, but thought I’d try for another!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 ounce Curacao
1 ounce Bacardi rum
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 broccoli crown, cleaned and separated
1 can diced garlic & onion tomatoes, drained but reserve juice
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups egg noodles

  • Pierce each chicken breast several times with a fork.
  • Combine the rum and Curacao in an airtight tupperware.
  • Add chicken and marinade for several hours over overnight.
  • Prepare egg noodles according to package directions.
  • Steam broccoli to JUST tender.

  • In a small saucepan melt 3 tablespoons butter.
  • Sprinkle with flour and make roux.
  • Combine the marinade and reserved tomato juice and add to roux.
  • Cook over medium heat until thickens slightly.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over a medium heat.
  • Drain chicken, retaining marinade.
  • Saute chicken, garlic and green onions together, salt and peppering to taste.

  • Add tomatoes and heat through.
  • Add broccoli until warmed through.
  • Plate over egg noodles.
  • Pour sauce over top.

SUBTLE DRUNKEN CHICKEN – NO DANCING OR WOBBLING!

According to Wikipedia Drunken Chicken is a name given to many different ways of cooking chicken that all involve alcohol. A western version (also known as beer can chicken, dancing chicken or chicken on a throne) is made by standing a prepared chicken upright on a partially filled can of beer and cooking it slowly in a barbecue or oven. The can goes into the opening of the chicken so that the beer evaporates and permeates the cooking chicken. It received the name dancing chicken due to way the chicken wobbles once the beer has evaporated and due to the fact the chicken is flavored with evaporated beer. The wobbling and falling usually indicates the chicken is done This means I already have a drunken chicken recipe with my Tropical Roasted Chicken, but thought I’d try for another!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 ounce Curacao
1 ounce Bacardi rum
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 broccoli crown, cleaned and separated
1 can diced garlic & onion tomatoes, drained but reserve juice
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups egg noodles

  • Pierce each chicken breast several times with a fork.
  • Combine the rum and Curacao in an airtight tupperware.
  • Add chicken and marinade for several hours over overnight.
  • Prepare egg noodles according to package directions.
  • Steam broccoli to JUST tender.

  • In a small saucepan melt 3 tablespoons butter.
  • Sprinkle with flour and make roux.
  • Combine the marinade and reserved tomato juice and add to roux.
  • Cook over medium heat until thickens slightly.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over a medium heat.
  • Drain chicken, retaining marinade.
  • Saute chicken, garlic and green onions together, salt and peppering to taste.

  • Add tomatoes and heat through.
  • Add broccoli until warmed through.
  • Plate over egg noodles.
  • Pour sauce over top.

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FRIJOLE CHILI

What do you do with leftover refried beans? Make chili of course. One of the things I have done for many years is menu plan. Nothing, and I mean nothing goes to waste around this house! I made this recipe a few years ago to use up some leftovers and it quickly became our favorite alternative chili.

FRIJOLE CHILI
1/2 batch refried beans *
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cans Rotel original tomatoes with chiles
2 cups beef broth (2 tablespoons Better than beef bouillon + 2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper

  • Brown ground beef and onion. Drain fat.
  • In a large sauce pan, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
  • Add ground beef and onions. Heat through.
  • Top with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese.

*you can substitute 1 can of refried beans if you prefer

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CARNE’ ASADA

According to Wikipedia Carne asada is a roasted beef dish, literally meaning “roasted meat”[1][2]. The dish mainly consists of pieces or thin cuts of beef (e.g. flank steak, skirt steak), sometimes marinated, sometimes lightly salted or rubbed with salt, pepper and/or spices, and then grilled. It can be eaten alone, with side dishes, chopped and eaten as tacos, or chopped and used as filler for tortas, burritos, etc. It is commonly accompanied with guacamole, salsa, beans, and grilled scallions and tortillas.

The dish is commonly prepared in the northern parts of Mexico (in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas) as well as in the American Southwest (especially Texas and New Mexico). It can be found as the main ingredient in tacos, tortas, burritos and fajitas, or is simply served as a stand-alone. It is sold at Mexican meat markets called “carnicerias” in the American Southwest; especially those states with Mexican/Mexican-American enclaves.

When purchasing carne asada from meat markets, consumers have two options available to them regarding the amount of preparation the steak has undergone pre-purchase: preparada, marinated meat as described above, serving as a time-saver for the home cook but typically at higher cost; and no preparada, unprepared meat, allowing for a home cook to create one’s own marinade. I buy unprepared meat and doctor my own.

All my pictures are before as we’re having it for dinner tonight. I’ll add an after picture later.




CARNE ASADA
2-3 pounds flank or skirt steak, sliced THIN
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced thin
2 lemons, 1 sliced thin, 1 wedged for squeezing
1 lime, sliced thin
1 orange, sliced thin
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon FRESH ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

  • Soak the meat in the vinegar for an hour or so.
  • Remove meat from vinegar and dry on paper towels.
  • Sift together all the seasonings and rub into the meat on both sides.
  • Layer the meat into a container alternating with the slices of lemon, limes, oranges and onions squeezing lemon juice on each layer as you go.
  • Let marinate for overnight or a day or so.
  • Grill on a VERY hot grill to desired doneness.
  • Serve with warm tortillas, Fresh Guacamole and Garden Tomato Salsa.
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TASTE & CREATE ~ One Little Corner of the World & POULET SAUTE AUX HERBES de PROVENCE and SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE

I stumbled upon TATSE & CREATE last month and couldn’t wait to participate this month. I was paired with Katie from One Little Corner of the World. The object is to scour their blog and find an appealing recipe to try. While reading Katie’s blog I ran across her fun group effort to create a Julia Child evening. I’m trying her POULET SAUTE AUX HERBES de PROVENCE and SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE from her post Julia Child, Dinner and friends. Her description of the meal reminded me of the progressive dinners we did as girl scouts – I always loved those meals sooooooooooo much. I also enjoyed Katie’s description of their trials and tribulations as they pain stakingly worked through Julia’s recipes.

Being a foodie I wanted to see the Julie & Julia movie really bad. Hubby took me to see it for my birthday last year. I really enjoyed it, Meryl Strep especially. Meryl played a fantastic Julia. I laughed until I cried. 

Meryl Streep as Julia Child in “Julie & Julia”. (Photo~Sony Pictures)
“Fat gives things flavor”–Julia Child.
SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE (French Onion Soup)
6 large onions (about 5 pounds), sliced thin
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 quarts beef broth (preferably homemade)
1 cup white wine
twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices of French bread, toasted
3/4 pound coarsely grated Gruyère
8 slices French bread (about 1 inch thick)
**Out of habit I grabbed some garlic which was not in the original recipe, but made a superb addition!
  • In a large kettle cook the onions in the butter over moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
  • Sprinkle the onions with the flour and sugar and cook the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes.
  • Add the broth slowly, stir the soup constantly until it comes to a boil, and simmer it, covered, for 20 minutes.
  • Season the soup with salt and pepper.
  • Put 2 slices of the toast in each of 6 heated soup bowls, top each toast with 1 tablespoon of the Gruyère, and pour the soup over the toasts.

POULET SAUTE’ AUX HERBES DE PROVENCE
Chicken:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 3 to 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry
1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill or with mortar and pestle
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
2/3 cup dry white wine or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth

Sauce:
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (optional)

For chicken: 

  • Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat.
  • Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken pieces and cook only until golden, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch.
  • Transfer chicken breast pieces to plate.
  • Sprinkle remaining chicken pieces in pot with half each of thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper.
  • Add garlic to pot.
  • Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 to 9 minutes.
  • Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper.
  • Return breast pieces to pot; baste chicken with butter in pot.
  • Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes.
  • Transfer to hot platter; cover.
  • Remove peel from garlic cloves; mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot.
  • Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes.
  • Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.

For sauce: 

  • Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken.
  • Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine.
  • Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time.
  • Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Stir in herbs, if desired.
  • Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.
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BEEF & BROCCOLI

BEEF & BROCCOLI
1 pound flank or round steak cut into thin strips
3 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup snap pea pieces
1 Jumbo egg, white only
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 small bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon Better than Beef Bouillon

  • Slice meat into thin strips.
  • Whisk together the egg white and cornstarch.
  • Pour over meat and toss to coat well.
  • Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour or so before preparing the meal.
  • Heat sesame oil in a large skillet or wok.
  • Saute’ broccoli pieces for several minutes until crisp, but tender and then add garlic and onion slices.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and add more oil if necessary.
  • Stir fry meat pieces for several minutes until cooked through.
  • Whisk together the hot water, bouillon, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and red pepper flakes until well blended.
  • Add broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until glaze forms/
  • Add vegetables back in and heat through.



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CHEESEBURGER CUPS

CHEESEBURGER CUPS
1 pound ground beef
1 small bunch green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
12 ounce tube buttermilk biscuits
12 2×2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a large skillet brown ground beef and green onions.
  • Drain off fat.
  • Stir in ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
  • Grease a each cup of a muffin tin.
  • Press a biscuit into each muffin hole and upp the sides.
  • Spoon beef mixture into each cup.
  • Top with a slice of cheese.
  • Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown and done.
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BLACK RASPBERRY GLAZED CHICKEN

BLACK RASPBERRY GLAZED CHICKEN

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, halved
1/3 cup blackberry preserves
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

  • Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  • Add onion and garlic, sauteing until translucent and fragrant.
  • Sprinkle over chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Add chicken to skillet and saute’ until done.
  • Remove chicken from skillet & keep warm.
  • Reduce heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, preserves, vinegar, & pepper, stirring constantly until the preserves melt.
  • Spoon sauce over chicken, and its done!
  • Serve with buttered noodles or rice.


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