Easy Shrimp and Scallop Paella

For as long as I can remember, I have loved Paella. Well, really, what's not to love, seafood, smoked pork, rice. I fell even more in love with Paella one summer several years ago when I took a week long course for school administrators on teaching students learning to speak English. Our amazing instructor spent one afternoon demonstrating to us what highly effective teaching of these students is like. She taught us the legend of Paella speaking entirely in Spanish. Yep, I took one year of Spanish in middle school. Yep, I remember almost none of it. And yet, while I can't recount it in Spanish, I easily understood it from this great teacher and learned a few new Spanish words as well.

Here's the legend. The men of Spain were called to war. While away from their wives, they had to learn to cook on for themselves.  They were near the sea, so they began by eating seafood, mariscos. After a while, they became bored with eating mariscos for every meal and found wild chickens, pollo. They ate pollo for a while, but soon became bored with it. As they searched their surroundings, they found wild boar and used it to make meatballs, albondigas. Soon they became bored with eating just meat and found rice, arroz. But the only tools they had for cooking arroz were their shields. They filled them with arroz, mariscos, pollo and albondigas. Eating this delicious dish they grew not only strong but fat, gordo.

When one gordo soldier returned to his wife, she refused to let him enter the house. If he had in fact been away at war he should be returning weak and thin. Surely, if he had been at war, he had been taken care of by another woman. The soldier husband tried to explain how he had learned to cook at war, but she wouldn't believe him. To convince her, ella, he cooked for, para, her, ella. She was impressed and convinced that el gordo had learned to cook for himself, so she let him come back home. The dish for her, para ella, Paella, saved their marriage.

This recipe has more of a Cuban twist using annatto instead of saffron. I think it has more flavor, but you certainly could use saffron if you prefer it. I also know that many Paellas include green peas, but I can't stand them so I use green olives, which I think add a much better flavor. It also doesn't have any chicken, but I think the seafood is the best part.

I don't promise that this Paella will save your marriage, it is quite delicious and easy. You should try it soon.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 ounces 1/2-inch cubes smoked sausage (about 1 3/4 cups)

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon annatto

1/2 teaspoon hot Spanish paprika or hot Hungarian paprika

3 1/4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth, divided

1 1/2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice

1/2 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp

1/2 pound uncooked scallops

1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives, halved

Directions

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add smoked sausage, onions, and bell pepper, and sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in annatto  and paprika, then 3 cups broth and rice. Bring to boil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes. Nestle shrimp and scallops into rice, top with olives, and drizzle with 1/4 cup (or more) broth to moisten. Cover and cook until shrimp and scallops are just opaque in center, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Pork and Mango Skewers

In the words of Neil Diamond, "Hello again, hello!" It's been weeks since I've posted, but for a great reason. I accepted a new full time position with a great local company, Priority One Financial Services. It's a great place to work. In fact it was named as one of Tampa Bays Best Places to Work by the Tampa Bay Times. I'm having a great time learning about boat and RV financing, but the hours have created a challenge for cooking dinner. It's one of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world, but I'm working until 7:00 PM. Even though Pup Daddy and I are used to eating fairly late, my usual habit of sipping a glass of wine for an hour before starting dinner would leave us eating at 9:30. This would be a real problem because we are asleep by then! Over the last several months I have gotten out of the habit of planning our meals for the week and shopping for groceries on the weekend. I've enjoyed deciding day to day what I wanted to eat, but now planning ahead is a must. I'm going to try to make more slow cooker meals. I'm also looking for recipes that I can prep in the morning and leave in the fridge for Pup Daddy to put in the oven when he gets home from work. I hope I'll have some great new recipes to post in the next few months.
 
When I made these pork and mango skewers, from FineCooking.com last night, it was Saturday, so I didn't think about prep ahead. You could definitely get them ready ahead of time so all you have to do when you come home is fire up the gas grill and cook them. You can find the prep ahead directions at the end of the recipe. The marinade for the pork is slightly spicy and very delicious. The mango adds just the right amount of sweetness and tanginess (is that word?) You could substitute just about any fruit you can think of. You could also swap out the pork for chicken or fish.
 

Start by soaking your wooden skewers in water for at least a half an hour. Next cut your pork tenderloin into 1 inch chunks and marinating it in the first eight ingredients for 1 - 8 hours. Peel and cut your mango into 1 inch pieces. Thread them onto your skewers and cook on your gas or charcoal grill.
 
 
You should try these soon.

Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. canola oil; more for the grill
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. pure ancho chile powder
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
1 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium ripe mangos, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 skewers, 10 inches or longer, soaked in water for 30 minutes if wooden
1 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk the orange juice, lime juice, oil, sugar, ancho powder, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 tsp. salt.
Add the pork, toss to coat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
Thread the pork and mango cubes onto the skewers, alternating them and beginning and ending with a piece of pork. Each skewer should have about 5 pieces of pork and 4 pieces of mango.
Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire. Scrub the grill grate with a wire brush and then wipe clean with a paper towel dipped in oil. Cook the skewers, turning once, until the meat is browned on the outside but still slightly pink in the center, about 8 minutes. Serve garnished with the cilantro.

Prep Ahead Directions
Soak skewers for 30 minutes to overnight. Cut pork into cubes and thread onto skewers. Marinate pork on skewers for up to 8 hours. Just before cooking, peel and cut mango into cubes. Thread them onto skewers. Grill and and remove pork and mango from skewers to serve.

 

Kickin' Collard Greens

I'm a southern girl, born and bred, and I love southern food. That includes collard greens. I was blessed this week to have one of Pup Daddy's colleagues give us fresh collards from her home garden. Pup Daddy even found this recipe for them on AllRecipes.com. Even though I'm from a southern girl and love collards I've never made them before and thought it would be very difficult. I was so wrong. It does take some time...prepping the greens and cooking them on low heat for quite a while, but they are not difficult. This recipe is so delicious. You should try it soon!

Directions
1 tablespoon olive oil

3 slices bacon

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

3 cups chicken broth

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound fresh collard greens, cut into 2-inch pieces

 

Ingredients

 

 

Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender. (I cooked mine about an hour and a half.)

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Yep, I'm still looking for ways  use up the abundance of Romaine from my garden. These lettuce wraps were a great way to use up about 6 leaves. Even though I didn't use up much lettuce, they were easy and delicious. Served with some Basmati or Jasmine rice they are a perfect light meal.
 






Ingredients
6  Romaine, Boston, bibb or butter lettuce leaves
1/2  pound  chicken breast, cooked and finely chopped
1/2  large onion, chopped
1 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon sodium soy sauce
1 TB cup hoisin sauce
1 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoons Asian chili pepper sauce (see Note)
4 oz sliced water chestnuts, drained, finely chopped
2  green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
 
Directions
Rinse lettuce leaves, keeping them whole. Set aside to drain.

Cook onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili sauce in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, water chestnuts and green onions. Cook until onions begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Stir in sesame oil. Arrange lettuce leaves on the outer edge of a platter. Spoon meat mixture in center. Allow diners to spoon meat mixture into lettuce leaves and eat like a taco.

Dipping Sauce
Combine 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 TB Asian chili sauce, 1/3 cup sugar or Splenda, 1 TB grated fresh ginger.
 

Real Deal Pizza

For as long as I can remember Friday night has been pizza night at our house. It started with Pizza Hut delivery when my son Brandon was little. I looked so forward to the warm cheesy pizza it even effected how I gave my weekly spelling tests to my students each Friday. I would give students the word to be spelled and then illustrate the word with a sentence that somehow referred to pizza. It was quite a challenge for me as well as both fun and dread for my students. We have gone through many different favorite pizza places over the years, but for quite a while, I've been trying to find pizza recipe that really tastes like one I could get at a good pizza joint.

Yippee! I finally found it on one of my favorite food blogs, Table for Two, by Julie Chiou. The original recipe is from Cooks Illustrated, a highly respected food magazine. This recipe has a couple of important secrets. First, the dough is made cold with ice water and refrigerated for 24 hours before making the pizza. It makes a nice thin dough with crispy edges. The recipe makes enough dough for two 12 inch pizzas. If you only want to make one pizza you can freeze the extra dough. The other secret is a screaming hot pizza stone. Heating the stone for an hour in a 500 degree oven means the pizza cooks quickly and the crust doesn't get too tough. I realized a few things after making this pizza the first time. First, I needed a pizza paddle. With the pizza stone so hot you have to have a way to slide the pizza on to it. I tried sliding it off of a cookie sheet but the dough stuck. I did get it on to the stone but not with out a bit of cursing and a funky looking pizza. Also I realized that I was using too much cheese and not enough sauce which made for a dry topping. Finally, I cooked the pizza way too long and the dough came out tough. My second attempt came out perfect (though I still need a bit of practice transferring the pizza from the paddle to the stone.) This recipe is for pepperoni pizza, but you can of course use the toppings of your choice. Pup Daddy and I have been talking about it all week. I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow night.

Ingredients

Crust

3 cups bread flour

2 tsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. instant yeast

1 1/3 cup ice water

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup cornmeal

 

Topping

1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce, homemade or store-bought

2 cups shredded, whole-milk mozzarella cheese

Pepperoni slices
 

 Directions:

To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to combine.

 

With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and process until the dough is combined everything is incorporated, about 10 seconds. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

 

Add the salt and vegetable oil and process until the dough forms a smooth, tacky ball that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl anymore. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 1 minute on a lightly oiled or floured work surface then transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours or up to 3 days. (AFTER the refrigeration process, the dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, put in a freezer bag, and frozen for later use.)

 

1 hour before making the pizza, preheat oven to 500 degrees and adjust the oven rack to the 2nd highest position. Place your baking stone on top.

 

Remove the pizza dough from the fridge and divide in half. If you plan on freezing the other half of your dough for later use, this is the time to do it.

 

Form your dough into ball and lightly oil it. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

 

Transfer your dough to a floured work space and flatten to an 8-inch disc. Using your hands, gently stretch the dough to a 12-inch circle. You may need your rolling pin at this time to help you get the crust thin.

 

Take the cornmeal and spread it over a pizza peel then place your pizza dough on top. Gently stretch it to 13-inches. Start layering your toppings, leaving a 1-inch border from the edge: marinara sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni.

 

Carefully transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly and melted.

 

Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

BBQ Shrimp and Parmesan Grits

Two of my favorite foods, shrimp and grits. They are perfect together which is why they are a southern favorite. For many years Pup Daddy swore he did not like grits. He was completely amazed when we had stone ground grits at The Farmhouse at Serenbe in Georgia. At this tiny farm restaurant everyone gets the same meal and the day we ate there the meal was fried chicken with grits and roasted veggies. He was quite certain he wasn't going to like the grits. What he found out was he had only ever eaten instant grits and that they are nothing like the real thing. Stone ground grits  do take longer to cook, usually about 45 minutes. You can use quick cooking grits if you must, but I don't recommend instant. If you make the grits with milk instead of water they are deliciously creamy!

The BBQ shrimp aren't cooked on the grill and don't have any BBQ sauce in them so I'm not sure where the name comes from. This is a New Orleans recipe that I found on the Food Network website. They are super simple and delicious. You should definitely have some great bread with this meal to sop up the sauce from the shrimp.

Ingredients

Grits
3/4 cup stone ground grits
3 cups milk
3 TB butter
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Shrimp
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced (1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons), rinds reserved and slice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
11/2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 pound (about 30) medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

 

Directions

 

Grits

Put grits in a large bowl and cover with 3 cups of water. Let sit for several minutes to allow any chaff to rise to the top. Remove it with a strainer. Then pour grits and water through the strainer. Put grits in a medium sauce pan with milk and bring to a simmer. Simmer grits for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently until the grits absorb the milk.Add butter and Parmesan. Stir until both are melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Shrimp

Heat a 12-inch skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium-high heat. Add butter, and cook until melted and foamy. Add garlic, rosemary, and lemon juice and rinds. Stir in Worcestershire and hot sauces, and bring to a simmer. Season shrimp with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook until pink and firm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with pepper.  

Creamy Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas

If you like chicken enchiladas, you will love this recipe! It's creamy, tangy and a great way to use up left over chicken. Make the filling with cooked chicken, onions, sour cream, jack cheese, salsa verde and avocados. Top the enchiladas with a cheese sauce made with chicken broth, cream, cream cheese and green chiles. Just bake for about 45 minutes.

You will want to eat the whole enchilada!

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup sour cream
2 cups jack cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup prepared salsa verde
1 avocado, sliced
4 large flour tortillas
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
3 oz cream cheese
1 can green chiles
salt and pepper

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chicken, onion, sour cream, salsa verde and 1 cup of cheese. Make cheese sauce by heating chicken broth, cream and cream cheese until reduced by about half. Add the other cup of cheese and stir until cheese melts. Add green chilis. Lightly cover the bottom of a 10 X 10 baking dish with cheese sauce. Place on cup of filling in each tortilla, top with 1/4 of avocado and roll up. Put enchiladas in baking dish and cover with remaining cheese sauce. Top baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Let enchiladas cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Big Mac at Home

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles onions on a sesame seed bun! My favorite fast food burger is the Big Mac, but I can't remember the last time I ate one. I only eat fast food out of necessity when I need to eat in my car, and a Big Mac can not be eaten while one is driving. It's way too messy! But, hallelujah, I found the special sauce recipe. You may think that it's just French or Russian dressing, but it is not. The special sauce has a base of mayo and mustard, but also includes onion and garlic powder. When you put it all together this burger is quite tall, so be sure to make your patties very thin. To make it double- decker like the real thing use two bun bottoms. I promise you if you like Big Macs, you will love this messy burger in the privacy of your own home!




Ingredients for 2 Burgers
2/3 lb ground chuck
salt and pepper
4 slices American cheese
1/2 cup chopped onions
6 hamburger dill pickles
Shredded lettuce
2 soft hamburger buns plus 2 more bun bottoms
Special Sauce

Special Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 TB white wine vinegar
1 TB onion powder
1 TB garlic powder
1 TB paprika
2 TB sweet pickle relish

Directions
Combine all Special Sauce ingredients in a small bowl. (Can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.) Make 4 thin burgers with ground chuck. Cook on the flat side of a grill pan or in a frying pan on medium high for 2-3 minutes. Flip burgers and top each with a slice of cheese. Remove after another 2 - 3 minutes.

To build burgers put Special Sauce on a bun bottom. Top with a burger and onions. Add another bun bottom topped with Special Sauce. Add lettuce, another burger, onions, pickles and bun top.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Yes, we had this for St. Patrick's Day last Sunday, but honestly who doesn't love good corned beef anytime. Other than being delicious, this is like most slow cooker recipes, super simple. Put your corned beef in the slow cooker with the pickling spices in the package. Add one beer and top with some peeled potatoes. If you want cabbage to got with your corned beef and potatoes remove the them  after 8 - 10 hours on low, leaving all the liquid in the slow cooker. Add your cabbage, over with water and cook on high for another hour. Yum!

Ingredients
1 package uncooked corned beef brisket
1 beer
4 -5 five medium potatoes, peeled and halved
1 head cabbage, quartered

Directions
Rinse liquid off corned beef after removing it from packaging. Place in slow cooker. Add pickling spices from package. Pour in beer. Top with potatoes. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours or on high for 4 - 5 hours. Then remove meat and potatoes from slow cooker to an oven proof dish. Put in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Add cabbage to liquid remaining in slow cooker. Add enough liquid to cover cabbage. Cook on high for another hour. Remove and serve with corned beef and potatoes.

Caesar Salad with Caesar Grilled Chicken

Pup Daddy and I have dabbled in vegetable gardening over the past few years with varying results, mostly poor. This year we finally figured out that in tropical St. Petersburg we needed to start in January, seriously amend our soil, and use drip irrigation on a timer (I have a real problem remembering to water regularly). Voila! It worked. Now I'm searching for ways to use our bumper crop. Right now I need to use lots of Romaine and what better way than Caesar Salad. I'm not kidding you, this was THE BEST Caesar Salad I have ever had, including the those from super fancy restaurants like Bern's Steak house. Even better, it's super easy. You will always want this dressing in your fridge.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com. The base for the dressing is mayo rather than raw eggs, which makes sense. Mayo is just raw eggs and oil. And yes, there are anchovies in it. If you have an aversion to them, you'll just have to get over it! You absolutely can not have Caesar Salad without them! If you can't make yourself chop them up, you can buy anchovy paste in a tube and squirt it in.

You can use store bought croutons, but fresh ones are very easy to make. Besides, I always seem to have left over bread to use up. For these croutons I used my favorite Fresh Market bread, Rosemary and Sea Salt, but any bread will do. Brown up some garlic in olive oil. Remove the garlic and add the bread, turning it over when it gets brown. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper as soon as you take them out of the pan.

 

For the chicken I marinated bone-in, skin-on thighs in my own Caesar Marinade and cooked it on my gas grill. I love chicken thighs because they have such great flavor and stay moist. You could absolutely use any cut of chicken you like and use your favorite method to cook it.

 

You should seriously try this!!!!

 

Ingredients

 

Chicken

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 TB fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 lemon)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 TB anchovy paste or minced anchovies

1 TB Worcestershire sauce

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

salt and pepper

 

Salad

6 cloves garlic, peeled

3/4 cup mayonnaise

5 anchovy fillets, minced

6 tablespoonsgrated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil    

4 cups day-old bread, cubed

1 large head of Romaine, torn into bite sized pieces

 

Directions

Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy paste and Worcestershire. Add chicken and marinate from 1 hour to 8 hours. Grill over direct medium heat for 24 minutes flipping half way through cooking.

 

Mince 3 cloves of garlic, and combine in a small bowl with mayonnaise, anchovies, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut the remaining 3 cloves of garlic into quarters, and add to hot oil. Cook and stir until brown, and then remove garlic from pan. Add bread cubes to the hot oil. Cook, turning frequently, until lightly browned. Remove bread cubes from oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Place lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with desired amount of dressing, remaining Parmesan cheese, and seasoned bread cubes. Serve with grilled chicken.

Rosemary Dijon Pork Cutlets

Sometimes there's no great story, it's just a really great dish. This is one of those times. I used pork cutlets because they caught my eye in the grocery store. After a long day on the road I knew they would cook quickly. The sauce is very creamy and the Rosemary, Dijon combination is perfect! This recipe is really more of a method. You could use any protein. Chicken, turkey, steak or even fish would be great. You can also flavor the sauce in a variety of ways. You could add your favorite cheese, herbs, even veggies like mushrooms or sun dried tomatoes. Get creative and give this a try.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 TB seasoning salt
1 lb 1/2 thin pork cutlets
2 TB butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB fresh rosemary, chopped
1 TB Dijon mustard

Directions
Heat oven to 180 degrees. Combine flour and seasoning salt. Lightly coat pork cutlets in flour mixture. Melt butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Cook cutlets for about 3 minutes on each side in the skillet. Remove to a oven safe pan and keep warm in the oven while your make the sauce. Deglaze pan with  chicken stock, scraping up brown bits. Add heavy cream and reduce by half or until sauce reaches the thickness you prefer. Add rosemary and Dijon. Serve over pork cutlets.

Potato Turbate - AKA Pinellas County Schools' Shepherd's Pie

I rocked Pup Daddy's world this week. Yep, I made Potato Turbate. Many of you will ask, "What the heck is Potato Turbate?" But those of you who attended Pinellas County Schools know. For some reason the school cafeterias decided to call their Shepherd's Pie recipe Potato Turbate. Everyone I know has fond memories of it. In fact, when I worked for PCS I would be sure to put in my order early in the morning on Potato Turbate day to make sure I got mine. Pup Daddy has such fond memories of lunch in the school cafeteria, he has had a long time dream of opening a restaurant called, "School Food." Customers would line up, pick up their small carton of milk and be served the meal of the day by women in hairnets. Be careful, if you're too slow or talking too much you will get yelled at. Of course, the best meal on School Food's menu...Potato Turbate.

I found this recipe online in an article from the St. Petersburg Times. I tweaked it a bit, and it honestly tasted just like I remember. You should try it for some easy, yummy comfort food!

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper
1 ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2  Tbsp. flour
1  Tbsp water
1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups mashed potatoes
 1 tsp paprika

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown beef and onions lightly in a saute pan. Drain off and discard fat. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce garlic powder and onion powder to pan. Cook five minutes. Mix flour and water and stir into meat. Add beef stock or beef extract combined with water.

Put ground beef mixture in the bottom of a 9x11 pan. Top with cheese and then potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for ½ hour until lightly browned.

Apple-Cheddar-Squash Soup

This past weekend was the coldest of the season this year. Brrrrrr, here in St. Petersburg, Florida the high on Sunday was 54! It was so cold I couldn't wear sandals, which is, of course, in Florida the meter for how cold it is. We wear sandals all year long. Also, of course, cold weather calls for soup and I made one of my very favorites. I had always stayed away from squash or pumpkin soup because I thought they would be sweet like pumpkin pie, but when I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine I decided to give it a try. While it does have apple in it, it's not sweet. It is quite savory and very creamy, but without heavy cream. In fact, the recipe calls for whole milk, but I used 2% and it turned out great. The potato and the squash really thicken it up. The recipe also says to blend the vegetables and apples immediately after you cook them.  If you've tried to blend anything hot, especially with liquid in it you know the steam likes to explode out of the top of the blender. You can do this if you must, but I like to cook them and let them cool for a while before blending. The garnish, prosciutto, fried in butter, just takes
it over the top!

Cold weather or not, you should try this soon!

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 medium apples, thinly sliced

1 large white potato, diced

1 1/2 cups chopped peeled butternut squash, fresh or frozen

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 cup apple cider

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into bite-size pieces

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Chopped chives, for garnish (optional)

Crusty bread, for serving (optional)

 

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-low heat and add the onion, apples, potato and squash. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sage and flour. Add the cider and cook over high heat, stirring, until thickened. Add the broth and milk, cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the potato is soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto and cook until crisp, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Add the cheese to the soup and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Puree in a blender in batches until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the prosciutto, more cheese and chives, if using. Serve with bread, if desired.

Shrimp Tacos

One of my favorite restaurants in St. Pete is Red Mesa. One of my favorites there is the shrimp tacos. The shrimp are seasoned and grilled. They are topped with a bit of cabbage, pico de gallo and a habanero aioli. Yes, I wish I could get there recipe, but since that hasn't happened yet I just had to make my own version.

I seasoned the shrimp with Siesta Key Spanish Sazon from another of my favorite places in St. Pete, Savory Spice Shop. It was really cold last night so I didn't grill them, but they turned out delicious in a non-stick skillet with a bit of olive oil. I made my own pico de gallo with tomatoes, onions, green pepper, cilantro and lime juice. Instead of habanero  aioli, I made a chipotle mayo, sour cream sauce. I used a little bit of broccoli slaw to give them some crunch.

No, they're not Red Mesa shrimp tacos, but they are delicious.

Ingredients for 4 tacos
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 TB Siesta Key Spanish Sazon or other seasoning blend
4 corn or flour tortillas
1/4 cup cabbage or broccoli slaw

Pico de Gallo
1/2 cup tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper or jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced

Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 TB chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped (to make it less spicy just use the adobo sauce and not the chiles)

Directions
Make pico de gallo and chipotle pepper sauce by combining ingredients.

Heat skillet with 1 TB of olive oil over medium high heat. Sprinkle seasoning blend on both sides of shrimp. Cook shrimp in skillet, 1-2 minutes per side, until they become opaque. Remove from pan. Heat tortillas one at a time for 1-2 minutes.

Assemble tacos with shrimp, slaw, pico de gallo and chipotle pepper sauce.

Slow Cooker Beef Short Rib Stroganoff

After a long day on the road working with my education interns I was excited to walk into my house to the smell of onions and beef. I have made more stroganoff recipes that I can count. I started long ago with and easy ground beef recipe. I've also made a gourmet mushroom stroganoff with heavy cream, sherry and Dijon mustard. Chicken stroganoff has even been made in my kitchen. I think this is the best recipe yet, and one of the easiest. The sauce is super simple but very tasty. The short ribs, cooked low and slow for 8 - 10 hours just fall off the bone.

 

Start by placing sliced onions on the bottom of your slow cooker. Put your short ribs on top of the onions. Then sprinkle onion envelope of French onion soup mix over everything. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. When you get home after your long day remove the short ribs and put them in a warm oven. Ladle out the drippings from the slow cooker into a fat separator and pour out the beef juices back into the slow cooker. Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream and fresh mushrooms into the slow cooker and mix together with drippings and onions. Cook on high for another hour. Serve over buttered egg noodles topped with short ribs. Delicious!

 

 

Ingredients

1 large onion, sliced

4 beef short ribs

1 envelop French onion soup mix

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cup sour cream

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

 

 

Directions

Place sliced onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with short ribs and French onion soup mix and thyme sprigs. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours.

 

Heat oven to 170 degrees. Remove short ribs from slow cooker and place in oven to keep warm. Ladle drippings in the slow cooker into a fat separator. Pour the beef juices back into slow cooker discarding fat. Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream and mushrooms to slow cooker. Mix together with onions and beef drippings. Cook on high for another hour.

 

Serve over noodles or rice topped with short ribs and fresh thyme.

Grilled Chicken, Artichoke and Goat Cheese Pizza

This recipe combines some of my favorite foods, pizza, artichokes, goat cheese, and chicken along with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. And who doesn't love anything grilled. You can cook this pizza in the oven if you don't have access to a grill, but I highly recommend grilling if you can. It makes the crust crispy and a bit smoky.

I made my own pizza dough, but you can buy dough at the grocery store. Publix has it in the deli. Don't use the canned pizza dough you find in the refrigerated biscuit section. An important trick for making a nice thin crust is to let your dough rest. If you make your own, let it rest for at least and hour after the recommended rise time. If you buy it at the store, let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour before you try to roll it out. If you are going to grill the pizza, put brush each side with a bit of olive oil and put it on some parchment paper. The paper will help you transfer it more easily to the grill.

 

 Grill one side of the dough. Flip it over, add your toppings and grill again until the bottom of the crust is done and your toppings are heated through. Now...eat!

Ingredients

 

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water (100 - 110 degrees)

1 pkg rapid-rise active dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

4  cups all-purpose flour

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp kosher salt

 

Topping:

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced

1 cup canned artichoke hearts, quartered

1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

 

Directions

 

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Stir briefly and let stand for 5 minutes or until the top surface has a thin, frothy layer (this indicates that the yeast is active). Add the flour, oil, and salt. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 1 minute or until the dough begins to come together. Increase the speed to medium. Continue to mix until the dough is slightly sticky, smooth, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn it over to coat all sides and tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and let rest for another hour.

 

Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat.

 

Cut the dough into  2 equal pieces. Keep one piece of dough in the freezer to use later. If dough is sticky, sprinkle rolling surface lightly with flour. Roll out one piece of dough to a diameter of 10 - 12 inches. Lightly brush the top with oil. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature of the grill to medium heat. Place the dough on the cooking grate with the paper facing up. Grill over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until the dough is well marked and firm on the underside, 2 to 5 minutes, rotating as needed for even cooking. Peel off and discard the parchment paper. Transfer the crust to a work surface with the grilled sides facing up.

Spread the ricotta evenly over the crusts and then sprinkle with Parmesan. Add the rest of the toppings. Return the pizzas to the grill and cook over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until the toppings are warm and the bottom of the crusts are crisp, 2 to 5 minutes. If the crust is done before the toppings are warm you can transfer to the oven and broil until they heat up. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges. Serve warm.

 

 

Homemade Burger Buns

It is truly amazing that I am posting a bread recipe. When I was a kid I hated bread. No, really, HATED bread. I especially hated the texture, so much in fact, that for a while I wouldn't eat cake because it reminded me of bread. Brother Don loved bread and, like all brothers, loved annoying the heck out of me. The things he would do with bread cannot be written in a food blog because I'm trying to encourage to cook and eat.



I have learned to love some bread. Not only are these buns pretty easy to make, they are totally delicious and your house will smell amazing while they are baking. Seriously, what's better than the smell of baking bread? Puppy Daddy kept going outside so he could walk back in the house and get a fresh whiff. You really should try these soon!

I found this recipe on several other blogs. They attribute the recipe to King Arthur Flour. The first step is to make your dough. Just dump all the ingredients except one the white of one egg and the sesame seeds into your mixer. Mix until the ingredients come together to form a dough.

Using the dough hook, knead the dough for about 7 minutes. If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook you can knead the dough by hand.

Let the dough rise for 1 and 1/2 hours. It should double in size.


Punch the dough down and turn it onto your counter top. I didn't even need any extra flour to keep the dough from sticking. To make eight good size buns cut the dough in half 4 times.





Shape each piece into a ball. The smoother you make the ball, the prettier your buns will be. You can see what happens if you don't make a smooth ball by checking out my Bacony Bacon Burger picture. The buns still taste great!
 

Put the buns on a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet with parchment paper. Smash the balls down gently with the palm of your hand. Let the buns rise again for 45 minutes.




You can just brush the tops of the buns with melted butter, which is my favorite, but you can also top them with sesame or poppy seeds. To top with seeds whip the egg white until frothy and brush it on top of the buns. Then sprinkle with seeds. You could also add some dried onion flakes and a little garlic salt for Everything buns.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 - 18 minutes until they are golden brown.

Ingredients
3/4 to 1 cup warm water (start with 3/4 cup and more in small amounts if dough is too dry)
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs (1 divided)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about 45 minutes, until noticeably puffy.

4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust. Alternately, brush buns with egg white and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.

6) Cool the buns on a rack.