I decided today that I should really go back to my old favorite recipes and repost them with pictures, and perhaps make a printable version of the recipe (pdf) .. we’ll see if I make it to that. Anyways, beef stew is a favorite of our family during cold snaps .. and this stew seriously rocks. It does take some effort though, but its soo worth it.
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After making a trip out during a tropical storm for pork fried rice other day I decided I really wanted to make some fresh seafood fried rice. I have yet to find a good shrimp and scallop fried rice at the restaurants near us, but I usually end up burning fried rice when I’ve made it in the past. This time I was determined to do it right.
A few weeks ago while surfing Pioneer Woman Cooks and Smitten Kitchen Nik and I decided there were so many beautiful recipes that we should get together and try them out. Last night was our first of hopefully many more get together dinner nights. Everything that was made was FANTASTIC!! Try them yourselves! As an awesome bonus, since Nikki’s mom was in town and could watch Halle, we went out to catch a late night show of Iron Man.
On the menu, Alex’s Chicken and Mushroom Marsala
Nikki’s salad (spring mix, strawberries, parmesean cheese, pecans and a honey mustard balsamic dressing)
Justin’s wild rice (which I forgot to get a picture of).
And Icebox Cake.
My family has been making a variation of this cake forever, its in the shape of a log, but this was so much more fun! And so easy too! All the details are on the Smitten Kitchen site, but here’s a shot of the chocolate wafter box so you can find them. Publix stocks them with the ice cream cones.
Another recipe from Fix, Freeze, Feast .. this one caught my eye because it uses cranberry juice. I just thought that was unique, so I had to try it!
I have some catching up to do. A few weeks ago I made a few make-ahead meals, stuck them in my freezer, and forgot about them. Well .. I didn’t really forget about them, I made them, I photographed them, and then I never blogged about it. Which is a shame because they’re pretty good. So I have a few recipes to share with you today, and not much else 
Hope you enjoy!
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Ever wonder how to make shrimp cocktail? I found some really fancy recipes online, especially Alton Browns. But we just wanted to make the simple kind .. you know boiled shrimp.
I had no idea how to boil shrimp .. well I know you could stick it in a pot of water .. but for how long, and are you supposed to add stuff .. like seasoning? Searching through the internet came up with a bunch of recipes for ‘shrimp boils’ .. louisiana style, with Old Bay Seasoning. I hate Old Bay Seasoning. Anyways I finally found a forum that said to dump them in boiling water for 3-5 min, then stick in an ice bath .. perfectly simple.
First I cleaned and de-shelled the shrimp. Usually I’d use my deveiner/shelling poker tool .. but I wanted to keep the tail shell on here .. so I held them down (see pic below) and used my serrated knife to cut the shell. The serrated knife was sooooo much easier then my super sharp paring knife that kept slipping 
Then I plopped them into boiling water, I added some salt .. because .. well they’re salt water shrimp, and everything tastes better salty right? Well I was willing to risk it (I wasn’t going to eat them anyway)
After 3 min they were all opaque and pink
So into the ice bath they went
And then I just put them on a martini glass with store bought cocktail sauce in it.. beautiful huh?
On top of that .. I picked up a pound of medium sized shrimp while at the fish market and decided to finally give Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy a try. And it was damn good
I’ve recently discovered something about myself .. I really enjoy eating home cooked meals. On top of that I love to find recipes and try them out. However, I dont like to cook every night, more like once a week, I really enjoy cooking once in awhile. But because I don’t like to cook regularly I find myself heating up ‘bag meals’ and zapping microwaved box meals too often. So I started to wonder if I could start making my own frozen dinners. I found in my last Real Simple magazine that they had a ‘make-ahead’ recipe for steak fajitas. I then spent the rest of my Sunday afternoon reading everything I could about freezing meals and once a month cooking (OAMC). Monday I packaged up my first make-ahead meal, those steak fajitas, and this afternoon I reheated a bag for the first time.
Here’s straight from the freezer
After 10 min of defrosting
After draining extra water & turning heat up to cook the meat
Here is my fajita ready to eat (yes, I know I rolled it into a burrito, that’s just how I do it). Perfect meal for after my wii workout
The Recipe (from Real Simple Magazine, June ’08)
freeze it
cook it (per serving – my bags have 2 servings each, so this was doubled)
In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the oil (use 1 teaspoon per serving). Empty the frozen contents of the bags into the skillet. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium high and cook, uncovered, until steak is cooked through, 2 to 6 minutes. Serve with the tortillas & salsa and sour cream if desired.
My changes – I doubled the recipe, ending up with 8 servings, or 4 bags of 2 servings.
I’ve been inspired, I picked up a few cookbooks and I can’t wait to start stocking my fridge with yummy meals that I made! And I really can’t wait until Nikki can cook again and we can start exchanging make-ahead meals!
This is one of my favorite things Sean will cook for me. Well, he used to cook it, until I learned how Since there isn’t a real recipe, it took me a bit to learn. All my cooking experience comes from baking, where you have to follow a recipe closely. Cooking is more abstract, and I’m starting to ‘get it’. Of course the more you cook, the easier it gets
Auntie Karen introduced this to my family while her and Uncle Bruce were hanging out with us after the hurricanes of 2005. Now its one of our favorites
Tonight I cooked 2 dinners, including making homemade croûtons! Ok .. so all I did for the croûtons was cut up some really stale bread, tossed them in a baggie with some dried parsley, oregano, and olive oil .. then spread them on a cookie sheet and baked them for 10 min .. but they came out alright (just wish I had remembered some garlic powder). But I made Sean a grilled chicken ceaser salad and myself some fajitas and both came out great. Sean even got involved and topped his salad with tons of cheese, it looked beautiful! Anyways I just had to brag Its nice to be home.