Barbequed Shrimp

This recipe awakens your taste buds to new and different flavors. It has an excellent rich and spicy sauce for dipping good crusty bread. It is called Barbeque Shrimp, but it is by no means Barbequed Shrimp. We first ate this in New Orleans at Mr. Bs Restaurant. We asked for the recipe (which they actually gave us) and Ron has played with it a little bit since then. It is simple to prepare and most ingredients are on hand. No salt in this recipe at all.

Barbequed Shrimp
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 T canola oil
3 T fresh cracked black pepper
2 T parsley
1/4 c Worsteshire sauce
1 Stick butter
1 Lemon
2 T 1/2 and 1/2
Chopped green onions or chives
1 1/2 lb fresh shrimp with tails (size 24-35)

Saute garlic in oil. Add shrimp till pink (don't overcook) 30-45 seconds. Add worsteshire, pepper, butter. Stir till consistent. Add parsley and lemon. Right before serving, add 2 T 1/2 and 1/2.

Garnish with fresh parsley, green onion or chive and dip in crusty bread.

20 minutes to prep and cook. Serves 8 as appetizer or 4 as side dish.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Nana and Papa

Gumbo topped with fried okra
The Roux

Today, being Saturday, Ron is making Gumbo. This is Emeril Lagasse's recipe and is really delicious, dark and sultry.

1 c vegetable oil
1 c flour
1 1/2 c chopped onions
1 c chopped celery
1 c chopped bell peppers
1 ob smoked sausage (andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise into 1/2 in slices)
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne
3 bay leaves
6 c water
1 lb boneless chicken meat, cut into 1 in chunks
1 t Emeril's Rustic Rub
2 T chopped parsley
1/2 c chopped green onions
1 T file powder

1. Combine the oil and flour in a large cast-iron or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat Stirring slowly and constantly for 20-25 minutes. Put something good on the TV and DO NOT LEAVE THE ROUX (This is why men make this dish. What woman has 20-25 minutes to stand around an oven stirring?)
The roux should become dark brown, chocolate color. It begins to smell nutty the more you cook it.
2. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers and continue to stir for 4-5 min or until wilted. Add the sausage, salt, cayenne and bay leaves. Continue to stir for 3-4 min. Add the water. Stir until the roux mixture and water are well-combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hr.
3. Season the chicken with the rub and add to the pot. Simmer for 2 hrs.
4. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, green onions and file powder.
5. Remove the bay leaves and serve in deep bowls.

Ron has also created an avacado salad which is one of our favorites. Always good all the time.


Avocado Salad
1 Avocado, halved
1-2 T Cottage cheese
Diced tomatoes
Green onions sliced
Balsamic vinegar
Italian dressing

Place avocado hole side up on a bed of lettuce. Add some Italian dressing.
Fill avocado with cottage cheese.
Drizzle with tomato, onion and Balsamic vineger.
Enjoy!

Bri's Pizza

So, once again while my parents were out dining on their nice 3-course homemade meal with their friends, I was stuck at home left to fend for myself. My parents were offering to order me Chinese food, me being the outstanding daughter that I am told them I could make something with whatever is in the freezer. When I went to look at what food we had I could take my pick from, I saw a salsbury steak TV dinner, an individual frozen pizza that made my stomach turn last time I had it, and some chicken taquitos that were way past their expiration date. In the Italian spirit I was feeling, I decided to go with the pizza. It looked so depressing and as I was about to switch over to the taquitos, the wheels in my head started spinning, and this is what I came up with:

INGREDIENTS:
-disgusting pizza
-one tomato
-basil
-mozzarella cheese
-Spice Islands Pizza&Pasta seasoning
-garlic powder

DIRECTIONS:
1. Unwrap nasty pizza and preheat oven
2. Slice tomatoes and chiffonad basil
3. Spread mozzarella cheese all over pizza
4. Place tomatoes and basil on pizza
5. Add garlic powder and spices
6. Pop in oven, cook, and enjoy.

Bri's Sandwiches

Hello to whoever reads this. It's my turn to take a whack at writing this I guess. Well, I'm Bri and I was forced to make dinner for my family tonight. Usually when my mom wants to make sub sandwiches for dinner she'll take out all of the condiments, meat, and extra veggies and tell us to create our own. For some odd reason, my mom left the task up to me to create gourmet sandwiches for everyone basically because when I'm hungry and have nothing to eat I'll whip up something nice, and not to toot my own horn but they're pretty good. So what did I do when I was left to do whatever I wanted? I did just that. I created the SuperSandwich. Too bad I didn't get to taste any of it myself, my parents chose to eat that one while I chowed down on others. So, I hope you enjoy them as much as mom and dad did.

INGREDIENTS
-ham
-roast beef
-sliced onion
-mustard
-lettuce
-provolone cheese
-sliced tomato
-vinegrette dressing
-Italian bread

DIRECTIONS
1.Open bread up
2.Put mustard on one side
3.Add two slices of ham, lettuce, sliced onion, tomato, and drizzle vinegrette over.
4.Close sandwich, add provolone on top
5.Put in toaster oven/griddle
6.Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers in the crockpot (with a surprise)

I am not a trained culinary chef, but I am 100% Italian and have been cooking Italian food my whole adult life. It is not until recently that I have discovered almost every Italian dish (that I make) contains the same basic ingredients:

Garlic
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Bread crumbs
Romano cheese

And they all go well with Carlo Rossi Paisano wine, which I keep a big jug of handy for all occasions. This dish is no exception to the Italian rules of ingredients.

In the wintertime I crave hearty, satisfying meals that are warm and comforting.

Today, since I'm painting all morning and working all afternoon, I will be putting one of my favorites, stuffed peppers, in the crock pot. I've been making this for years. It's great because it takes literally 10 minutes to put together and cooks while you're doing your thing all day long.

Today's surprise is that instead of using ground beef, I am using ground turkey. This is a surprise for Ron because he hates when I use ground turkey in anything. I make killer enchiladas with turkey and usually he doesn't know it's not beef. I have found when substituting turkey for beef it may need extra salt. Since the meat goes right into the peppers uncooked, this can get greasy. So we will see the difference in the grease level and if Ron can detect my surprise.

Stuffed Green Peppers in the crockpot:

3-4 green peppers with tops cut off and seeded

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 egg

1/4 c romano cheese

S & P

1/2 - 1 c cooked rice

1/2 t oregano

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 t parsley

Mix all together and stuff in green peppers.

Layer some sauce in the bottom of the crock.

I make meatballs with the leftover meat and place them in the crock.

Sauce

Top with 2 cans tomato sauce, sprinkled with basil, garlic powder, S & P

(You can also top with your favorite jarred sauce--but I've never done that since that would be an Italian sin)

Turn crock pot on for 8 hours and, voila, when you come home, your home will smell delicious and you can eat whenever you want.

Pork Goulash from Chef Duce Raymond of Sweet Baby Ray's

Today, instead of cooking, Ron and I were invited to a friend's home for dinner. This friend happens to be the chef of Sweet Baby Ray's restaurant in Wood Dale, IL. He cooks competition BBQ with Ron and they are crazy when they get together.

When Duce told Ron what he was going to be serving us, Ron kiddingly said, "Oh, that's nice. I've never made that for guests before." They went back and forth and Ron even told him I was allergic to goulash. He said I'd take lobster, though.

Well, Duce blew us away with his goulash. It was the smoothest, most tender, comforting meal I've had in a while. The flavor combination was amazing. I was honored to eat with them such a scrumptious meal.

He has graciously given the recipe for my blog. To top all this off, the whole meal, which serves 12, can be made for a mere $10.

You will be very happy to have spent whatever time you have on this meal. Thank you, Duce and Sarah!

Duce's Pork Goulash
5 lbs pork butt (shoulder)
2 c carrots (diced large)
2 c celery (diced large)
2 c onions (diced large)
1 T minced garlic
1 t Thyme (dried)
1 t oregano
1 bay leaf
2 T S & P
2 T paprika
1 gallon beef broth
2 c flour
2 c canola oil
Egg noodles
Sour cream

1. Trim fat from pork and debone
2. Cut in 1" cubes
3. Liberally season pork with half the S & P and paprika
4. Toss in 1 c flour
5. Heat pan on high with 3 T oil and sear a little at a time in pan
6. Remove from pan
7. Make roux with remaining 1 c flour in pan with veges. Cook 5 minutes
8. Add beef broth and bring to a boil
9. Reduce to simmer and add meat
10. Simmer uncovered and skim fat every 20 minutes for 2 hours
11. Serve over egg noodles
12. Top with sour cream

Duce also made us a beautiful salad which he placed inside a parmesan cheese bowl. Stunningly beautiful, simple and delicious.

Parmesan bowls
1. Sprinkle parmesan cheese in 10" circle on a griddle
2. When melted, remove from griddle and cover ramekin upside down to cool
3. Remove when cooled

A special shout-out to Dave and Cathy Raymond for bringing the Minos Greek bread which was the perfect accompaniment to our hearty meal.

Chicken Fried Steak and Country Gravy

Warning: This meal is not for the feint at heart. Heavy, fried, fattening, full of lactose (of which I am intolerant), and tantalizingly delicious. I feel like I am in the south when I eat this meal.

Ron has been wanting to make chicken fried steak forever. I have always discouraged the idea because of all the frying. But while I was busy painting (see my other blog (http://designtoliveblog.blogspot.com/), he was busy preparing. So now I had no choice but to eat chicken fried steaks finally. I actually looked forward to it. Since this is the new year and I have already reniged on my challenge of working out, I might as well go all out.

He also made red jacket garlic-roasted mashed potatoes with mascarpone cheese for a side and I made a lovely salad.

Red jacket garlic-roasted mashed potatoes
8 red potatoes
S & P
1 T Romano cheese
1 T Sour cream
1 T mascarpone cheese
1 whole head Roasted garlic

1. Boil, drain and mash the potatoes with S & P.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mash with hand masher

Country Gravy
1/2 c Butter
1/2 c Flour
2 c milk
2 c buttermilk
shake of nutmeg
Cayenne (to taste)
Paprika
8 oz. mushrooms
Small onion
1 clove garlic

1. Saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in 1 T canola oil
2. In separate pan, make roux with butter and flour
3. Add and heat up milk, buttermilk, S & P & nutmeg


Country Fried Steak
3 Large cube steaks
1 c corn meal
1 c flour
S & P
1 t Cayenne pepper
1 t Garlic powder
1 T parsley

1. Marinate steaks in buttermilk (about an hour)
2. Dredge steaks in above mixture
3. Fry in hot peanut oil (350), turning after 4 minutes. Another 3 minutes on other side, or until golden brown
4. Remove, drain and serve with country gravy

Bueof Bourgignon

Ok. I know I shouldn't be doing this, but Ron cut up a chuck roast on Sunday and we have to eat it. I have been busy visiting our daughter in the hospital all week so we haven't eaten at home once.

I plan on making Julia's recipe but revising it to put it in the crock pot. We have to be at the hospital all afternoon again but I want a hearty meal when we return, whatever time that is. I had made her recipe once before, right after seeing the movie. I thought, "This is beef stew. No big deal." Well, it took 1-1/2 hrs to put together and another 2-1/2 hrs to cook. Right before we ate, I swore to my family I would never make it again, no matter how it tasted.

When we sat down to dinner, we honestly weren't expecting much. BUT, oh, the depth of flavors was AMAZING. This was more than beef stew. The flavors melded together to perfection and dispelled any previous dislike for beef stew I had. (Ron really likes it so I make and eat it)

Wish me luck. I'll let you know what I do to revise it and how it turns out.



Well, just to follow up, I spent the whole day and night at the hospital and my family ate the bueof unfinished and hated it. I neglected the last 2 steps where you have to strain the gravy and cook it, so it tasted very winey to them and not very good. i did, however, shorten the prep time to 1 hour and used sliced bacon instead of the chunk that she calls for.

Sorry I flubbed this recipe. I will try again...

Sunday dinner-Beef Stroganoff

Sunday dinner and, finally, my turn to cook. Ron trimmed all fat from the beef tenderloin for the Beef Wellington meat, so it was a lean, tender, delicious cut of meat. That was the perfect opportunity to put it to good use. Beef Stroganoff is one of our favorites so we invited Nana and Papa over for a hearty winter meal. Can you believe they've never tried Beef Stroganoff. Recipe to follow.

I have decided there is nothing to compare to the smell of onions and garlic sauteeing in a pan. I think this beats even chocolate chip cookies. I could be cooking upstairs, starting anything with onions and garlic sauteeing, and my kids could be downstairs with friends and they'll come upstairs and wonder what I am making that smells so delicious.

We also found a star competitor in the salad dressing refrigerated section at Jewel. It is good on anything--we made a fresh lettuce salad with avacados, celery, blueberries, blue cheese and fried up bacon bits, topped it off with this delicious dressing and voila, a yummy, fresh tasting Asian salad. The dressing is by Litehouse and is called Toasted Sesame and Ginger. I'm afraid I'm going to have to buy more since it's almost all gone.

Between tinging the bread in the salad dressing and the Beef Stroganoff, we cleaned every plate on the table.

Papa made some very good rice pudding for dessert and we were in roly-poly heaven.

Beef Stroganoff
(This is my sister-in-law Anna's recipe. It is very easy and very good.)

1/2 stick melted butter
1 chopped onion
Round or sirloin steak, sliced thin
Burgundy wine
Cream of mushroom soup with the same amount of milk
Mushrooms sliced
Egg noodles

Sautee onion in butter.
Add meat and season with seasoned salt, garlic powder, S & P.
Add wine and let simmer. (If meat is tough, cover and simmer 1/2 hr)
Add soup and 1 can milk and cook till warm.
Add 1 T sour cream and mix through till warm.

Serve atop cooked egg noodles and enjoy!

What to do with leftover lobster

Well, Papa brought lobster tails for New Year's Day yesterday, and my mouth is still watering from what Ron created with the leftovers. Recipe follows.

After doing some household chores, Ron was bored and decided it was time to create.

He cut up the leftover lobster and a few leftover shrimp and went to work.
He added S & P, 2 T mayo, 1 t dijon mustard, some celery and onions, 3 shots of hot sauce, 1/4 t lemon and mixed it together.

He grilled some leftover Italian bread and made a magic lobster sandwich topped with sliced avacado
.

New Year's Day Feast-Crab Rangoon recipe

Today we began cooking, just like most special days, early in the afternoon. Some days we begin cooking early in the morning but since this is New Year's Day, we got a late start. Cooking is a big part of our family, almost as big as eating. Ron (dad) is super passionate about food. He can cook for anyone, at any time, for any reason, ANY kind of food. It will always be delicious and there will always be enough for at least 5 extra guests.

Ron and I had already together prepared his famous Beef Wellington this morning. We had lots of juicy, tender crab meat left from from New Year's Eve with the Kosteckis, our neighbors. Usually Ron does most of the cooking on these special days, but for some reason he handed over one of the appetizers to me. Since we were about to make Bri's favorite appetizer, crab rangoon, she had no choice but to help. Bri is a typical 17-year old. She loves food more than she loves cooking. It is time to teach her the joys of cooking, daddy style. The recipe follows.

As we began our assembly line, with Ron handing out orders, in walks Krystian, Bri's 17-year old boyfriend. Krystian has helped in our kitchen before, doling out chocolate chip cookie dough. It took him a while but he finally got them the perfect size. I felt a little sorry for him at first because he was definitely out of his element. But as usual, he jumped right in without a word and went to work.

So as we had our assembly line going, we talked. We talked about New Year's Eve and all the things that happened within our family that we knew about. Mostly happy things, from what I could conjure up from the conversation.

Then we began talking about cooking. We are Food TV junkies in our home, and Krystian came up with the idea of starting a Food TV show on our cooking escapades. As we talked, we came up with more and more ideas and decided to start a blog regarding our family's cooking excursions. We will share with you some of the fun things that happen while you cook. Mind you, not everything is fun. The kitchen can be a very intense place at certain times during the process, but with some quick moves and tongue biting, we come out unscathed and ready to sit down to a scrumptious meal.

Oh, yeah, when we are alone as a family, we can't get through a meal without critiquing every apsect of the food at every meal. This usually happens when I cook. Mind you, I can cook. I just don't prefer to cook. I have been in school for the past 3 years and basically just cooked to get dinner on the table. Ron's food has to have "presentation" as well as be exquisite. When we have company over, it goes without saying that everything is mouth-wateringly delicious.

I hope you enjoy watching/hearing about some of our adventures in cooking. We will try to share as many of our favorite recipes as possible and maybe even have some famous and not-so-famous guest chefs. We hope to inspire all ages that it's all about Food, Family and Fun.


Crab Rangoon

1-1/2 c shredded crab meat
1 pkg cream cheese
5 green onions chopped
2 dashes tobasco sauce
1/4 t 5-spice powder
S & P to taste
1 pkg wonton wrappers
Egg wash (1 egg w/ 1 t water)

1. Mix together first 6 ingredients
2. Lay out wonton wrappers and brush egg wash on outside edges
3. Add about 1 T mixture to center
4. Fold wonton in triangle over mixture
5. Fork sides together
6. Fry in 1" of oil (anything but EVOO) about 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned
7. Lay on paper towel to remove excess oil
Serve on platter with sweet and sour sauce.
We also used wasabi mayonnaise because everything tastes great with wasabi mayo on it.
And this time we also tried some Toasted Sesame Ginger dressing (by Litehouse) and it was a nice accompaniment.