Garlic-Lemon-Butter Shrimp & Mushrooms

I think that the title of this post might just be enough of a recipe that I could leave now. But then what would be the point of having a blog?

Well, the point of this blog has been kinda absent the past couple of months. Not because I stopped eating (ha!), but because I stopped cooking and started grilling. And I haven't been able to stop. Chicken and zucchini, pork chops and mushrooms, Salmon and asparagus...if it's been in my kitchen lately, it went outside to the grill and came back already eaten.

But shrimp were on sale this week, and I have a hard time NOT burning the ever-loving shrimpiness out of shrimp when I grill them. So it was back to the kitchen for this one.

I was out of real butter, fresh garlic and lemons. So I used fake butter, garlic powder and some bottled juice. And it was SPECTACULAR. So, food snobs be damned, I made heaven in a bowl with "fake" ingredients.



And it was only when I got to the end of my bowl and slurped up the last of the buttery-lemony-garlicy sauce that I realized...this dish needs bread. A good chunk of it to soak up all those juices. The Professor was eating his over rice and when I mentioned that, he stopped cold, pointed a finger towards the kitchen and said "Go! Do it NOW!"

Since I was out of lemony-garlicy-buttery juice, I'll let you ponder if you think I went and did that.

But if I'm back in the kitchen in an hour, making a batch of Garlic-Lemon-Butter sauce...well, it's no one's fault but my own, because I think I may have a new addiction.

Garlic-Lemon-Butter Shrimp & Mushrooms

• 1 lb 31-35 (or any large-ish) shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 8 oz button mushrooms, quartered (of just halved if they're small)
• A bunch of globs of butter or a buttery-type substance (I used Country Crock)
• Many, Many dashes of Garlic Powder
• about 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
• about 1 Tbsp dried basil

Glob a bunch of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and when it's about half melted, add the mushrooms. Shake about 1 tsp of garlic powder over the whole thing and stir it. Let the mushrooms cook for about 10 minutes - you want them to release their liquid, but not dry out.

In a small bowl, mix a couple more tablespoons (or just globs - there was no measuring tonight) of Buttery Stuff with another teaspoon or so of garlic powder and the dried basil.

Turn the heat up to medium-high.

Add the Buttery Stuff Mixture and the lemon juice to the skillet, then dump in the shrimp. I used my tongs to make sure they were all at the bottom of the skillet, and then turned them over when they started to turn pink.



When the shrimp is thoroughly pink, your dish is Done.



Serve over rice, or - if you want heaven in a bowl - just pour it in a bowl and serve with some nice thick bread to soak up the juices.

Apple Custard Pie

You can tell when I have family visitng, can't you? It's when I start trying out stuff and posting about it. I admit, I've gotten lazy in my day-to-day life. Especially this spring. We bought a gas grill last fall, and for the past 3 weeks, I've been a grillin' fool. I still burn half of what I cook, but at least I'm using marinades so the char has a little sweet taste too it.

Speaking of sweet taste: This pie was awesome. I'd never even thought of an apple custard pie before, and then I ran across one at Recipezaar, and knew I had to try it. I think it may actually replace the Dutch Apple Pie for the foreseeable future for one simple reason: I used a graham cracker crust. That is so much easier than making pie dough!

The original recipe is here. Amazingly, I didn't change much, although I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.



Apple Custard Pie

Ingredients:

For graham cracker crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used Cinnamon Grahams this time)
  
• 1/3 cup Splenda
• 1/2 stick of butter, melted

For Pie:

• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 2 Gala and 1 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/4 cup Splenda (If I had used Splenda for baking, I would've cut it down to 1/8 cup)
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1ish tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For streusel:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F.

Crust: Mix cracker crumbs, Splenda and melted butter together and press into the bottom of a 9" pie pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Pie: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a skillet. Add apples, Splenda and cinnamon and cook for about 5-10 minutes (depending on how thick you sliced your apples) until soft but not mushy.

Butter...Sugar...They sing when they're together in my pans.

Beat 1/4 cup butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until incorporated.

Add 2 tbsp flour and vanilla and beat until blended.

Add buttermilk and beat until smooth.

Use a slotted spoon to spoon the apple sliced onto the pie crust (leaving behind the sugary-buttery syrup. I know. Sacrilege).

Pour the custard batter evenly over the apples.

Bake for 40 minutes.

I had sprinkled some cinnamon on when I was struck with the urge to just get a fork. Luckily for my family, I carried on with the recipe.

Mix together the streusel ingredients until crumbly. Mine? didn't get crumbly. It got creamy. I have no clue why. So I just dropped it by spoonfuls all over the top of the pie and baked it for another 30-40 minutes, until the top had melted and formed a top crust.

It doesn't look like much yet...but just wait til I cut this baby open.

Also? Because the combination of butter, sugar and cinnamon can't taste BAD. So it doesn't really matter if it looks perfect. Because the inside looks like this:

I was lucky enough to have one of the last two slices for breakfast. I may make it part of my daily diet.

I Played A Trick On My Mom Last Night . A Tabbouleh Trick.

See, my dear mother isn’t one to be adventurous when it comes to ethnic foods. Give her a bratwurst dripping in sauerkraut, and she’s a happy German lady. Give her a choice of lamb korma or pad Thai, and she chooses a glass of water, with a cracker on the side. It’s one of my dad’s jokes that my mom isn’t particularly daring when it comes to other-country foods.

Still, I had two recipes that I thought she’d like, if not love. Souvlaki – a Greek dish – is just a fancy way to say “marinated meat”. Some olive oil, some lemon juice, a little oregano and garlic…a few pieces of chicken breasts and voila! I thought she'd enjoy that one.

But I was totally unprepared for her reaction to my not-quite-authentic couscous tabbouleh.

I didn’t try to scam this one past her. I told her straight up what the name of it was, and when she asked “what is it?” I may have left off the “Lebanese salad” part of the description and jumped right into a list of ingredients. See, I know a few things about what my mom likes to eat, and I really, really, had a good feeling that she’d like everything in this: A few raw veggies (including one of her beloved red bell peppers), a little lemon juice, a sprinkling of completely non-authentic Parmesan cheese. And how can you actually dislike couscous?

What completely blew me away, however, is that I watched her take thirds (and possibly fourths when my back was turned) of the tabbouleh. I bit my tongue. I wanted to burst out “But Mama! That’s a Mediterranean dish!” And finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. When she spooned up just a wee bit more of the stuff (And I will admit, it was dang good) on her plate, I had to tell her. I can’t trick my mom for long before I feel guilty.

My dad (who – like me – will eat just about anything that gets in his mouth) told me it was a good thing I hadn’t told her first. But now? I’m not so sure. My mom’s starting to rock out with the adventures these days.

Maybe tomorrow night I’ll fix that lamb korma after all.

And to make matters even more fun, my maternal experimentation is being thrown into the ring for Presto Pasta Nights. Double fun!

Couscous Tabbouleh

• 1 box Parmesan flavored Couscous(I used Near East. I’ve never seen un-instant couscous around here)
• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Roma Tomatoes, diced small
• 2/3 of a large cucumber, diced small
• ½ of a large red bell pepper, diced small
• 4-5 scallions, finely copped
• 2 oz pine nuts
• ½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup chopped parsley

Directions

Cook couscous according to package directions. Then get busy chopping up your veggies.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp EVOO and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice over the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Add your veggies, pine nuts and cheese, and fluff again.

Toss in your parsley.

Fluff-ernate again.

Now take a taste and add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and /or pepper as your heart desires.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. This stuff just gets better over time.

Update: Squash Casserole

Hey, remember this recipe? Squash Casserole?

This week, I was hit with inspiration. Inspiration in my new cure-for-all-ills: ricotta cheese. Lately, I have been addicted to the stuff. You wouldn't know that from my blog, but that's called "my real life".

This week, I decided to try another squash casserole. I wanted something that would hold together a little better than my last attempt. I decided I needed something a little more cohesion-building than sour cream - and the ricotta was just sitting there on my refrigerator shelf.

I think I have a winner here. The spice blend could be changed up in a quadrillion ways. Fresh herbs would be a wonderful substitute. I keep hoping McCormick's will send me a case of free seasoning, so I'm gonna blog about that option.

Squash Casserole

Ingredients:
Olive Oil cooking spray
1 pound yellow squash (4 small), cut small
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp McCormick's Roasted Garlic & Herb blend
1 cup? Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a medium skillet with Olive Oil cooking spray. Put the squash and onion in the pan, and then spray them with it, too. "Spread the Spray" could be my new motto.

I think I put a little salt and fresh ground pepper in there too.

Cook about 10 minutes, until veggies are soft.
In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, sour cream and seasoning.

This is my new seasoning love:


And this is the yummy goodness that will hold the squash together:



Toss mixture with veggies.

Spray a 2 quart cooking dish with more of the "Spread the Spray" love. Pour in the squash mixture.

Hmmm...that needs something.

Look at the squash casserole, and decide it needs some more seasoning. I know! More Roasted Garlic and Herb Blend!

It'll look better in a little while. I promise.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Getting Warmer...

In a small bowl, mix together cheese and bread crumbs.

Mmmmm....cheese and bread crumbs...

Spread cheese-bread-crumbs mixture over casserole.




Bake for another 15 minutes, or until casserole is bubbling around the crust.

Ohh Baby

Portion out for your next 3 lunches before you inhale the whole delicious creation.

Chicken Pasta Salad

The whole thing started with a rotisserie chicken that I picked up today. I had simply planned on eating it over the next couple of days, but sometime between picking it up and getting it home, my brain started whispering "Pasta Salad...Pasta Salad". As I was putting my groceries away, I noticed the things languishing in the veggie drawer that really, really needed some attention. A half a bell pepper here, a few lonely stalks of asparagus there. It was enough to make a vegetarian cry at the neglect taking place in my fridge.

No vegetarians here, though, so I went on about my day. Talking to my sister later, I mentioned that I was thinking of making a chicken pasta salad later. And then she asked for pics and a recipe and I knew I was committed.

And also - hey! I can do Presto Pasta for the first time in ages (It's at What's Cooking this week)!

Chicken Pasta Salad

• 2 cups? chopped chicken
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 orange bell pepper
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 (small) carrots
• 1 cup+ shredded mozzarella cheese
• 12-ish stalks of asparagus
  

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup salad dressing (I used Parmesan Romano, which is no longer to be found in stores)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic ( the dry kind, not the wet kind. You know, from the spice aisle, not the produce section)
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• a bunch of fresh ground pepper
  

• 8 oz uncooked pasta (I had Wacky Mac to use up)

First up: The asparagus needs to be roasted a little, because I'm not big on raw asparagus. If you are, you can skip this part and just chop it up with the other veggies. I tossed it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some freshly ground pepper and a little kosher salt. I know, that's not the most original way to roast asparagus - but you know why everyone cooks it like that? Because it's damn good.


Yes, my loaf pan is safe to cook in. It's just well-used.

Stick that in a 400F oven for about 4 minutes - not enough to really cook it, because I still wanted some crunch. Just enough to talk it down from the ledge. Even asparaguses (Aspargi?) need love.

While that's going on, mix the sour cream, salad dressing, celery salt, minced garlic and some fresh ground pepper together. Taste and adjust if you want more salt or pepper, then set aside.



A note about the salad dressing: I hate 99.999% of the ones out there. Ranch makes me gag. Bleu cheese is just gross. But I think that - if you're into that kind of thing - either of these would make good substitutes.

Cook your pasta, and drain.

Sidenote about Wacky Mac: There's actual vegetables in there. You knew that? Then you should have told me NOT to say out loud "Hey! There's beet powder in this!" Because then your beet-averse husband will not touch your food - or you, after you've eaten it.

While your pasta's cooking, chop up your chicken, bell peppers, celery, carrots and asparagus into small pieces. I got all fancy-pants and used my peeler to shave the carrots, but I only have that kind of energy once in a lifetime. Also, has anyone else noticed that organic carrots are much smaller than the doped-up ones? Makes me wonder what kind of carrot-growth-hormone I've been eating.


All those colors make me very happy.

Once everything's chopped up, you're home free.



Put the pasta in a big bowl - seriously, big is important here - and dump in the dressing, reserving about a 1/4 cup. The Pasta is gonna soak up dressing like a sponge over the next couple of days, so I keep some in reserve to mix with it each morning while I'm putting my lunch together. Mix it until the pasta's coated.



Now, this is the true test: Have you chosen a big enough bowl? Do you even OWN a big enough bowl? Because you need to not only get the chicken and veggies in with the pasta, but you have to have room to mix it around a lot. You don't want some piece of celery feeling left out because it didn't get it's share of the dressing-love. Half the time, I have to dirty a 2nd bowl because I've guessed wrong again. And that doesn't help my case with The Professor, because he thinks I dirty bowls just for the fun of it.



There's a recipe in progress somewhere in this post, right?

Time to mix in the cheese. I usually cut a chunk up into little pieces, but the shredded mozzarella in my fridge has been open for a week. I have no idea how much cheese was left, but I'm guessing between 1 1/2 and 2 cups. Give it another stir.



Now, this is a LOT of pasta salad! But I can go crazy on this stuff. It usually shakes down like this: I'll dump some in a bowl for a snack. And then get a refill. And then 2 more. And then I realize that "snack" just metamorphosed into dinner, and I haven't fed The Professor yet.

I just realized that I had planned on using some artichoke hearts as well, and completely forgot. I'm too lazy to go add them now, though.

Tonight's Dinner: Creamy Lemony Peppery Salmon and Aspargus. Or something.

So I seem to do better about posting recipes if I do it immediately upon finishing the dish. Actually, right now I'm typing as the salmon cooks, so who knows if I'll even hit publish? I guess you'll know that I did if I you're reading this.

Blech. Meta-blogging is so boring. But I'm too lazy to hit delete.

So, tonight's misadventures come to you via my leftover sour cream (doesn't that make your mouth water?) and salmon fillets (not left over, just bought them yesterday).

I had no idea if this would work or not, but I also had asparagus. And asparagus and a lemony cream sauce seemed like they would go together too. Best of all? They (the salmon and asparagus, keep up already) both cook pretty quickly. The longest cooking part of this meal was the rice (because I didn't use instant).

(I need a few more parentheticals).

There's a term for cooking meat like this - is it poaching? Braising? Am I supposed to know this, being the blogger and all?

There goes my street cred.

**My incredibly deep thoughts on the taste of this dish at the end.

Creamy Lemon Pepper Salmon
Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup (half stick) margarine
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
2 salmon fillets, about 1/2 lb each
1 lb asparagus
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 400F.

Lightly spray 13"x9" pan* with nonstick spray. Rinse salmon filets, pat dry, and place in one half of the pan.

Heat olive oil and margarine in a skillet on low. Add garlic and cook on low for one minute. Stir in lemon pepper and lemon juice.

It'll look better in a few seconds. Promise.

Still on low, whisk in sour cream until it's smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

That's better.

Pour sauce over salmon – is this called poaching or something? I’m sure there’s a technical cooking term for this that I’ve forgotten. A term besides “Make My Mouth Water”, that is.

Cook for 12-13 minutes, or until the salmon flakes in the middle. Yes, you'll have to move some sauce aside to check, but there's enough sauce to cover it up. You could also use a meat thermometer, but that's so HIGH TECH. (It's also something you have to clean by hand, and I mostly avoid that.)

While the salmon cooks, trim your asparagus and toss with the barest hint of olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Come to Mama, Green Goddess.

About 3 minutes before the salmon's done, put the asparagus on the other half of the pan and continue cooking.

Serve over rice.

It looks like The Blob turned white and smothered my dinner.

* I did mine in a 13x9 pan so that I could add asparagus in the other half of it for the last 3 minutes of cooking. You could do the salmon by itself in a square glass pan - you have my permission.

**Pretty good, but very ugly pictures. I could have used about 3x as much pepper (not the lemon pepper, the real pepper) in it, but The Professor is not a huge fan, so if I ever attempt something similar, I'll probably just roughly double how much I ground into the pan. Also, maybe a little more garlic?

The asparagus ROCKED in this sauce. And the remains of it are going to be my lunch tomorrow, over the leftover rice with the leftover sauce. Even if I did have to beat The Professor back with a cleaver to claim it. Lesson? He needs to be faster to the cleaver drawer.

Tonight's Dinner - what's this called again?

I wanted to say I made carnitas, but that's really just the meat portion of it. So this is maybe a carnita casserole? Or an enchilada casserole with no enchilada sauce? Whatever it is, it made The Professor declare it was good. Since The Professor declares that Mexican food is the lowest on the food chain, I was completely blown away by how much he liked it.

It was kind of a long road to dinner, though, even though I pretty much knew what I was going to do before I started.

I started with a half of a roast (about 2 lb) that was in the freezer, wavering on the edge of being frost-bit. It needed help, ASAP.

The bottle of Jameson's is not intended for this recipe, but if you get the urge, feel free.

I started it's rehabilitation by putting it (after it thawed, duh) in my crock pot.

I dumped in a cup of salsa, a cup of pork stock (no beef in house at the moment, but a can of that would work) a teaspoon of garlic powder, another of ground cumin, a couple of dashes of Taco Bell hot sauce and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. I turned it on low and let it go for about 7 hours while I had a lazy Saturday full of much HGTV.

I was disappointed when it came out of the crock pot. I wanted meat so tender that it was falling apart. My meat was most definitely willing to stay together.

But I am nothing if not stubborn, so I persevered. I started shredding it with a couple of forks, pulling out any fat that I ran across.

I took half of the meat and put it in a bowl. Then I got a slotted spoon and started pulling out the solid leftovers from my crock pot (which I had left on while I worked on the meat, so that it might reduce a wee bit. It didn't). When I had about a tablespoon of juicy-tomato-y-salsa-y stuff in with the meat, I mixed it up to keep it from drying out.

Side note - I had also used 2 lonely avocados hanging out in my fridge to make a small batch of guacamole before I started shredding the meat.

Now, I needed some diced tomatoes and some shredded cheese. Cheddar would've been prettier, but I had mozzarella in the fridge. It's healthier, and cheaper. So, Mozzarella is what we use around here.

Now, it's assembly time!

The wine is also purely ornamental. How does all this alcohol keep finding its way into the pics?

I got out my 2 quart round casserole dish and put a soft taco on the bottom.
Spoon half of the meat mixture on top and spread it around, then top it with a handful of tomatoes and some cheese.

Cheese: God's gift to the faithful.

Then do another layer of soft taco, meat, tomatoes and cheese.

Then, just for fun, I did a layer that was just cheese and put another soft taco on top.

I went back to the crock pot and spooned up some more of that lovely liquid - I don't want to waste all of that hard work, after all. More cheese (can you ever really have enough?), another sprinkle of tomatoes, and it was ready for the oven.

After 20 minutes in the oven, I turned on the broiler to get the cheese a little brown and the tomatoes a little toasty.

Note to self: More tomatoes next time.

Half of it went on The Professor's plate (he was sniffing around, getting impatient at this point) with a spoonful of guacamole and another of sour cream.

It's a good thing guacamole tastes so good, cause its not a very photogenic individual.

I think some caramelized onions and maybe a pretty-colored bell pepper would've been awesome, and I'll have to try that next time. Tonight, I just opened a bottle of beer and now....well now, I have a very happy husband.

Choclate Mousse

This is months past due. I have no excuse, other than my old standby: I have a laptop and a short attention span.

I thought you'd understand.

So last year was the Year of Thirty. All of my best gals and I turned 30. Due to our parents various life-cycles (and procreative natures, she says as she pours wine to forget about THAT thought), it took a full 12 months to complete the cycle. The Bestest Friend turned 30 first (oh, she just dove for the liquor cabinet too!), and The Wee One completed the year almost exactly 11 months later.

I made this somewhere in that year, for one of our birthday parties drink fests weekends. I don't even remember which, but that's not important. What is important, is that it was ridiculously easy. I snagged the recipe from Baking Bites, so verily, go hither anon and check it out. Because someone - and it may just be your subconscious, but hey, that counts - will love you.



And yes, I know, her pictures are better. But I don't care, because I got to eat the results, and it has cured me of any photo-ability-ego I may have once had. Also, apparently, any grammar skills.

Quote of the Day

"I prefer butter to margarine, because I trust cows more than chemists."
--Joan Gussow

Carrot Souffle

It's badly kept secret that The Professor doesn't much care for things of a vegetable nature. Pretty much any plate of food I give him is met with a "You just had to put the vegetables in there, didn't you?".

One of the few exceptions to this - if it's even an exception - is sweet potato casserole. With a maximum of butter, brown sugar and cloves. Two of those three pretty much negate the benefits of giving him vegetables in the first place...but it's better than nothing. Right? RIGHT?!?

So when I fixed a carrot souffle for a small dinner party a few weeks ago, he immediately thought he was getting sweet potatoes. I didn't disillusion him until he'd taken a few bites, and then he had stopped listening. I *think* he heard the word "Carrots"...but sometimes it's hard to tell when he's paying attention.

The comments on Recipezaar - from whence this recipe comes - mentioned that even carrot-haters love this dish. Which means I'm going to have to make The Best Friend eat it at some point, just to see if it's true. Even if I have to trick her into trying it.




* 1 1/2 lbs carrots, sliced
* 1/2 cup butter (I used Smart Balance)
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used Splenda)
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or to taste - I definitely used more, but didn't measure)

• Add carrots to a saucepan; add water to cover; bring to a boil; cook 20-25 minutes or until tender; drain.
  
• Add carrots, butter, and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor.
• Process until mixture is smooth.
• Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set.
  

Note: Remember how I didn't have a food processor? Well, that hole in my heart has been plugged. The Bestest Friend gave me one for Christmas! And this was the first thing I made with it.