Monthly Archives: April 2014

Shrimp Scampi quick, easy, delicious

Posted by corinneisabella in Healthy & Nutritionally Correct, My Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Shrimp Scampi- quick, easy, delicious

shrimpscampi

 

 

The Stuff you need : 

  • 1 1/2 pounds large or extra large shrimp (about 16 to 24)
  • 1/3 C. butter
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb pasta of your choice (Linguini, Spaghetti, Angel hair, Penne )

What to do with the Stuff :

  • Cook pasta as per directed, set aside, keep warm
  • Peel, devein & rinse shrimp set aside
  • Heat butter in large skillet, over medium heat
  • Saute’ garlic 2 minutes or until softened but not browned
  • Add the onions, saute until soft
  • Add shrimp, saute’ for 1 min
  • Add wine and lemon juice; cook until shrimp are pink and firm, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side
  • Do not overcook
  • Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper before serving
  • Garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs if desired

Chicken Piccata – Saturday Weekly recipe post

Posted by corinneisabella in Healthy & Nutritionally Correct, My Recipes, Presentation and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Piccata Pollo !

piccata

 

The Stuff you need :

  • 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
    • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
    • 2 TBS butter
    • 2 TBS olive oil
    • 1/2 cup white wine
    • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
    • 2 TBS capers
    • 4-6 minced fresh garlic cloves
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 4 cups hot cooked pasta (= 8 ounces-uncooked)
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley- garnish
    • 8 lemon slice (half – moons)- garnish

What to do with the Stuff :

    • Pound each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; to 1/2-inch thickness
    • Place flour in a shallow dish, seasoned with lemon pepper
    • Dredge chicken in flour/lemon pepper mixture
    • Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
    • Add chicken, and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned
    • Remove chicken from pan; keep warm
    • Add white wine, 1/4 cup lemon juice, capers, and garlic to pan; scrape pan to loosen browned bits
    • Cook for 3-5 minutes or until slightly thickened
    • Sprinkle with salt and pepper
    • Serve chicken over pasta, top with sauce; garnish with fresh parsley

 

No Fail, Easy, awesome Hollandaise Wednesday Weekly recipe post

Posted by corinneisabella in My Recipes, Nana's Recipes, Stuff

NO Fail, easy, home made, awesome hollandaise

no fail.hollandas

The stuff you need :

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons (or more- to taste) hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco, or Sriracha)
  • 1/2 cup hot, melted butter

 

What to do with the stuff ;

  • In a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and hot pepper sauce
  • Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds
  • Place the butter in a glass measuring cup
  • Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and bubbly hot
  • Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream
  • It should thicken almost immediately, blend 30-50 seconds
  • Keep the sauce warm until serving, by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water

Serve over Eggs Benedict, Steamed veggies, Eggs, Steaks, roasted potatoes, pretty much anything ! It is DELISH!

Makes 1 Cup

Homemade Split Pea Soup – thick, SIMPLE, EASY delicious! (Saturday weekly recipe post)

Posted by corinneisabella in Healthy & Nutritionally Correct, My Recipes, Nana's Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Homemade Split Pea Soup SIMPLE, EASY delicious

splitpea

The stuff you need:

1 Ham Bone with meat
3 large carrots chopped
5 celery stalks chopped
2 medium onions diced
8 garlic cloves diced
1 large potato peeled & cut into cubes
2 – 14 oz bags Split Peas
1 TBS Black Pepper
1 TBS Thyme
1 TBS Sage
½TBS Ground Cloves
Salt to Taste
What to do with the stuff:

Put the bone into a large, heavy bottomed soup pot and cover with veggie or chicken stock ( or water)
Bring to a boil,
Saute’ all diced veggies, in olive oil
Add veggies to large pot, reduce to a hard simmer
Pour the dry peas into a container and pick them over looking for bad peas and stones
*****On the package of peas – there will be directions to soak/soften the peas, don’t do it******
The starch in the peas will be lost, and your soup will never thicken !! ANCIENT SECRET HERE !!!
Pour the dry peas into the pot, reduce to slow/soft boil
Add all the spices, (except salt)
Stir for a while to make sure peas aren’t stuck to the bottom and start to burn
Don’t cover the pot right away, the steam needs to evaporate so your soup will thicken
A gas stove set on low flame keeping at the slow soft boil-simmer
On an electric stove, the best setting is about halfway between simmer and low
Slowly continue to boil, stirring every 25-30 minutes, allowing the boiling water to remove all the meat and marrow from the ham bone
After 2- 3 hrs remove bone, peel off the loosened meat before returning all the meat AND bone back to the pot
Allow soup to continue to simmer, stirring about every 30 minutes, (this is to keep things from sticking to the bottom of the pot)
Simmer roughly 5-6 hours, as it takes about this long to thicken
The longer it cooks the thicker it gets
The peas and veggies will dissolve, the bone will be cleaned of remaining meat and marrow
Remove the large bones and any fat/gristle you see
Taste the soup to adjust the seasonings
The hambone may have had a lot of salt, you may not need to add any, or you may need to add to taste
Trust your palate, increase the other spices accordingly

Notes:
If your soup happened to stick to the bottom and is burned lightly-don’t loosen anymore of the burned soup from the bottom
Simply transfer the soup into another pot, (don’t scrape the burned part on the bottom until after the good soup is transferred)
Put new pot on the stove, finish cooking
This is AWESOME for leftovers! and freezes really well too, so- you can cut the recipe in half, OR make the large quantity, and freeze the rest for another great meal
For vegetarians, omit the hambone-may cut the simmer time down a bit, add Tamari for a deep flavour

 

 

“Seafood Arrabiata” Wednesday weekly recipe post

Posted by corinneisabella in Stuff and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Seafood Arrabiata” – Italian for angry- “Arrabiata” is a spicy tomato sauce

Seafood Arribiata

The Stuff you need :

  • 8 ounces uncooked linguine
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 cup bay scallops
    12-16 peeled & deveined medium shrimp
    1 small onion chopped
    1/2 -1 T crushed red pepper to taste (I like it SPICY)
    6 garlic cloves, minced
    2 tablespoons tomato paste
    1 (14.5-ounce) can petite-cut diced tomatoes, drained
    1/2 cup clam juice
    12 little-neck clams
    12 mussels, scrubbed
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
    1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil

What to do with the Stuff :

  • Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, set aside
    While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
    Add onion, red pepper, and garlic; cook 3-4 minutes
    Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a simmer
    Add clam juice; bring to hard simmer
    Add clams, cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 4-5 minutes.
    Add mussels; cover and cook 3 minutes or until clams and mussels open
    Discard any unopened shells
    Add scallops and shrimp to pan cook 3 – 5 min until no longer opaque
    Stir in parsley; cook until thoroughly heated
    Serve over pasta
    Sprinkle with fresh basil

Grilled Fish in Foil, Belize-Island Style – Saturday weekly recipe post

Posted by corinneisabella in Healthy & Nutritionally Correct, My Recipes, Presentation, Stuff and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Grilled Fish in Foil, Belize-Island Style

Belizefish

 

The stuff you need:

1 to 2 lbs grouper (or other firm fish) – head & guts removed -(save for later, great fish stock)
1 green bell pepper – sliced in strips
1 to 1 ½ yellow onion – sliced in rounds
2 tomatoes – sliced in rounds                                                                                                                                                                                                      3 cloves garlic chopped
1 lime – cut in half
bunch fresh cilantro chopped
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
¾ stick butter (sliced)
Season salt to taste
Hot sauce to taste
Flour Tortillas

What to do with all the stuff:

Tear off two 24” pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil 18” wide
Both sheets flat on counter and layer1/2 of the sliced onions and potatoes, and 1/2 cilantro in center
Dot with some butter
Spread fish on top of onions, potatoes, cilantro mixture
Spread mayonnaise fairly evenly on both sides of fish
Spread mustard on top of mayo
Layer tomato slices, and crushed garlic on top
Add bell pepper strips
Add carrot peels
Add remaining cilantro
Dot butter slices on top and sprinkle the pile with seasoned salt & pepper to taste
Dot hot sauce to taste (I use habanero sauce, but any kind will do- Adjust accordingly)
Squeeze lime juice from both halves of lime
Carefully fold foil up and around fish, and seal the foil. Add more sheets if necessary
Place on a hot grill and allow to cook for 40-45 minutes undisturbed
Carefully remove foil pouch and place on a cookie sheet, let set 5 min
Cut down the center of the foil
Stir to incorporate all the ingredients and juices
Serve with fresh flour tortillas
You may serve over steamed rice or cous cous, or all on it’s own,
the juices are excellent, as will be the fish
WATCH FOR BONES!

 

Stellar Shepherd’s Pie (Wednesday weekly Recipe post)

Posted by corinneisabella in My Recipes, Stuff and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stellar Shepherds Pie

Shepherdspie

Stuff you need:

  • 1 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ lb ground beef
  • ½ lb ground sausage
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 small green pepper, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 & ½ C well seasoned veggie, chicken or beef stock
  • 2 TBS tomato paste
  • 1 TBS soy sauce
  • 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 TBS mild curry powder
  • 1 TBS cornstarch
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed peas, corn, and carrots
  • ¼ C milk
  • 1 TBS butter
  • ½ C shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • diced green onion & parsley (garnish)

What to do with the stuff:

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
  • Add potatoes, cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain, and return to pan
  • While potatoes are boiling, heat oil in a large skillet
  • Cook ground meat with the onion, red pepper, and garlic until beef is evenly browned
  • Stir in beef stock, tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and curry powder
  • Bring to a boil, and simmer 5-6 minutes
  • Mix cornstarch with a little stock to form a paste, stir into skillet with tomatoes, corn, peas and carrots
  • Cook until thickened; season with salt and pepper
  • Spoon into a casserole dish
  • Preheat oven on broiler setting
  • Add milk and butter to cooked potatoes, whip until smooth and creamy
  • Spoon mashed potatoes over meat mixture
  • Sprinkle top lightly with shredded cheese.
  • Place under broiler for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and speckled with brown
  • Garnish with chopped green onions & parsley

 

It’s For REAL, authentic “Sopa de Arroz” (Mexican Rice) Saturday weekly recipe post

Posted by corinneisabella in My Recipes, Stuff and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

It’s For REAL, authentic “Sopa de Arroz”- (Mexican Rice)

Sopadearroz

Stuff you need:

  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 3 roma tomatoes, cut in quarters
  • 1 medium onion, cut in quarters
  • 4 cloves garlic, cut in half
  • ¼ c fresh cilantro
  • 2 ½ c veggie, or chicken stock
  • 2 TBS chicken, veggie, or tomato bouillon (cubes or powdered)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 TBS vegetable oil

What to do with the stuff :

  • Puree tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin & bouillon powder in food processor until smooth
  • Heat vegetable oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat
  • Add rice and sauté until rice turns a light golden brown
  • DO NOT (as much as you want to) STIR AFTER THIS POINT
  • Pour puree mixture over the sauteed rice
  • Bring rice to a boil
  • Taste broth, season additionally if necessary with salt & ground pepper
  • Cover saucepan and reduce heat to low
  • Simmer undisturbed, until all liquid has absorbed (approx 25-30 min)
  • Turn off heat and let set 5 to 10 minutes before serving

 

Mexican Chorizo & Eggs (Chorizo con Huevos) Wednesday Weekly recipe

Posted by corinneisabella in My Recipes, Stuff and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mexican Chorizo & Eggs (Chorizo con Huevos)

chorizo con huevos

The Stuff you need;

  • Olive oil (or bacon fat)
  • 1 small onion, diced (red, white or yellow onions)
  • 1 medium jalapeno` seeded and diced (use gloves!)
  • 1/2 lb (4-6 links) Mexican chorizo sausage, removed from casing
  • 5 to 6 eggs
  • Salt, pepper for seasoning
  • GARNISHES: optional…
  • Tortillas – (warmed for serving)
  • diced cilantro
  • sliced avocado
  • diced tomatoes
  • shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
  • What to do with the Stuff: 
  • Heat 2 TBS olive oil or bacon fat in large skillet over medium heat
  • Add the chopped onions, and jalapenos, and saute`until softened
  • Move onions & jalapenos to the side of the pan
  • Add ground up bits of chorizo
  • Use a wooden spatula to break up the pieces of sausage
  • Stir until the sausage is cooked through, though not necessarily browned
  • If you are not using lean chorizo, drain the excess fat from the pan before proceeding
  • If you are not using lean chorizo, you may want to cook the chorizo first, draining the excess fat, then remove to a plate while you cook the onions in the remaining fat. We usually cook with lean chorizo, so excess fat isn’t an issue
  • Crack the eggs one at a time, into the pan
  • Break the yolks and stir the eggs into the sausage
  • Add a light sprinkling of salt and pepper
  • Stir constantly until the eggs begin to set
  • Remove from heat

Serve immediately with a side of warmed corn tortillas and garnishes listed above.

Bon Appetite!