Author Archives: cookingwithcandi

Salmon Done Simply in Foil

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 4 comments

Again, I need to thank my friend Drew for finding this recipe. It is so good, it’s restaurant worthy. The oregano, lemon and tomatoes give it a mediterranean flavor. It is healthful, simple and very delicious. Joel decided to try to eat more healthfully in 2012 (incorporate more fish, etc.) Usually he doesn’t like to eat fish and if I make it he is disappointed.  But for this, he gave me the green light and the next night I made it. Drew had also tried it, after he came across the recipe from Giada de Laurentis. Really easy and really yummy, this one’s a keeper.  Thanks Drew and thanks Giada!

Ingredients: 

4 (approx. 5 oz. each) salmon fillets (I used 3 6 oz. for the two of us and we finished it all.)

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus another 2 tablespoons

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tomatoes, chopped (I used about 2/3 of the container of the small plum tomatoes; it’s not an exact count but you can eyeball it.)

2 shallots, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sprinkle salmon with 2 teaspoons olive oil and a little salt and pepper. In a bowl, stir together the tomatoes, shallots, 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to blend.

Place each salmon fillet on a piece of aluminum foil (make it large enough to wrap ends and tent.)  Spoon the tomato mixture over salmon. Fold the sides of the foil over the fish and tomato mixture, covering completely, then seal the packets closed. Place the foil packet on a baking sheet. (Do whatever works for you, I sort of spiraled the ends, and then folded up the top. As long as aluminum foil piece is large enough to cover it won’t be a problem.) Repeat this step with each piece . Place each individual piece on the baking sheet. Bake until the salmon is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. (That was the perfect amount of time for each piece for me. If your pieces are on the thinner side, you may want to remove before 25 minutes.) At the store, ask for salmon filets from the center; this will be the right size. Using a metal spatula, place the salmon on plate, and make sure to get all the sauce. Delicious! I served with rice pilaf and string beans. Of course, Joel ate the salmon and rice, not the string beans, but that’s okay as it was a very healthy meal.

4 Comments

Posted in seafood

Tagged , , ,

Maple Syrup and Mustard Glazed Chicken Breasts

Posted on January 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Always on the prowl for new ways to cook chicken, I came across this recipe that I had never made before. Not only was it delicious, it was easy to prepare and pretty healthy and low in fat. This doesn’t usually happen that it is so tasty and so healthy for you. No cheese, very little fat and very tasty. Cooks in 1/2 hour, perfect! I love browning in a skillet and with this meal it’s all in the one pan, stove top to oven to stove top. Really anything with maple syrup is a hands down winner for me, how can it be bad???  I made it with chicken breasts, but would be perfectly delicious with chicken thighs or pork. I served with rice pilaf and a salad. Any green vegetable would be a perfect accompaniment. I’m thinking haricots verts or brussel sprouts.

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

4 chicken breasts ( not the very thin ones, just regular size chicken breasts) the thin ones will cook too quickly and dry out

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Kosher Salt

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

2 medium garlic cloves , thinly sliced

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 heaping tablespoon stone-ground mustard

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil, swirl to coat whole pan. I pat my chicken breasts dry with a paper towel, I then lay them out on paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. I am generous here , use as much or as little salt and pepper as you like. After a while you’ll know how much to use. Salt and Pepper both sides. When oil is hot, add chicken to pan, saute for a few minutes on each side. Let it get browned. Then remove chicken from pan and put on a plate. Add broth , syrup, thyme, and garlic to pan, bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits . Cook for a few minutes, then add the mustard and vinegar and cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan, spoon some of the mustard mixture over the chicken . Place Pan right in the oven for 10 minutes.* I then let it sit for about 5 minutes, when the rice was ready, I just heated up pan for a minute or so, liquid became a little syrupy , and I poured it over chicken and rice.

Perfectly delicious.

*you can cut a little into chicken if you’re not sure it’s done, but I left it in pan checked for readiness and it was perfect. You just don’t want to dry it out. Nothing worse than dried out chicken.

Leave a comment

Posted in chicken

Tagged , ,

Chicken Cubes with Rosemary, Lemon and Garlic

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 1 comment

I have archives upon archives of saved recipes. Some days I just go through to see what I’d like to make next. I often come upon old ones which I’ve totally forgotten about. Other times, I cut out new recipes that I’m eager to try. But this one came to me through our friend, Drew (Susan’s husband). He got into cooking a few years back, found this recipe and turned me on to it. It is light and flavorful. What a ringing endorsement. For a while, it was very much a part of my repertoire. Then, for no apparent reason, I just stopped making it. But recently, while going through some older chicken recipes, I came across this one again. It really is simple–very few ingredients, and a perfect dinner served with rice and a vegetable. It is originally from Rachael Ray with a few changes on my part. If you’re not fond of rosemary, this recipe isn’t for you. (Although my son-in-law, Brian, isn’t a fan and he liked this chicken a lot anyway.)

Ingredients:

2 – 2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the thicker ones are the ones you’ll need)

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, stripped from stems (I chop them up)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/2 cup dry white wine (I use whatever is open, or buy something inexpensive to use like those little bottles I recently discovered, which are perfect to cook with.)

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

sprinkling of black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut chicken into large cubes (try to keep sizes uniform and not too small).

Arrange chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix garlic, rosemary, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and mix it together. Then toss and coat the chicken cubes with the mixture and distribute evenly. Place in oven. Cook for 20 minutes (set your timer; you don’t want to overcook.) Put lemon juice (from the lemon you zested) and wine in a separate bowl. After 20 minutes, add the lemon juice and white wine, turn oven off and return to oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve, spooning pan juices over the chicken pieces.  This is delicious served over rice. (I used brown rice this time out.)

1 Comment

Posted in chicken

Tagged , ,

Food from the Pantry – Weeknight Red Sauce with Spaghetti

Posted on January 16, 2012 | 1 comment

After a day of skiing it’s hard to get motivated to go back out, especially when you have only 2 episodes of Homeland to catch up with. I was too tired to even bother going food shopping, so decided to just check out what was in the pantry. Always have canned tomatoes, garlic, spices and red wine. There you go, and I always love spaghetti and red sauce. It cooks up quickly, is very tasty and we both had protein for lunch on the mountain, so just in the mood for some pasta. I have posted other red sauces, and this is how I made it tonite. Obviously it would be delicious with some meat or seafood in it, just didn’t have any on hand.

Ingredients:

1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion ( app. 1 medium size yellow onion)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1/2 cup red wine ( whatever I have open is fine)

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes ( I only had whole ones, I threw in food processor and crushed them)

*1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley ( optional) I didn’t have any on hand

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

*pinch of sugar ( optional) only after tasting sauce, if it is a little too acidy I throw it in to soften the acid of tomatoes

Directions:

 

Heat olive oil in a large saute ( frying) pan, add the onion and saute over medium heat until onions are translucent ( 8 – 10 minutes). Add the garlic, and cook for another minute or so. Add the wine and cook on high heat until almost all the liquid evaporates, a few more minutes. Stir in the tomatoes,oregano, *parsley, salt, and pepper. Taste and add additional seasonings, and sugar if you think it needs it. I let the sauce cook uncovered on simmer for as long as I can. At least an hour and if I can 2 hours. If sauce thickens too much add water, a little at a time, till it reaches proper consistency.

1 Comment

Posted in pasta, vegetarian

Tagged , ,

What I Cooked – Chicken Marsala

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 4 comments

Chicken Marsala

One night last week I prepared a version of Chicken Marsala which came out totally delicious, and worthy of posting this recipe. I am always trying out new recipes for this dish. I combined about 3 recipes and I must say this final recipe worked out just perfectly. It would have been more perfect with a green vegetable served alongside, like brussel sprouts but it was sort of last minute and didn’t have the veggies, which was just fine with Joel. I served it with a plain brown rice which worked out nicely.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all purpose flour for coating

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

I used 1 package thin chicken cutlets ( 5 pieces ) about 1 1/2 lbs.

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup olive oil

8 ounces Cremini Mushrooms sliced (stemmed)

1/2 cup Marsala ( you can buy in supermarket in the oil or vinegar section usually)

1/4 cup Sherry ( I used what I had in the house , it’s not really cooking Sherry but it was fine)

1/2 cup chicken stock

*1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley ( I didn’t have so I didn’t use)

Directions:

In a shallow bowl or large plate, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. coat chicken pieces in the flour mixture.

In a large skillet, melt butter in olive oil over medium heat. When oil is hot place chicken in the pan and lightly brown. A little hint, don’t futz with the chicken , place it in ( make sure the oil is very hot) and let it be , turn after about 5 minutes, it should be a light golden brown, then do the same for the other side. Use tongs , try not to pierce the skin of the chicken. Remove chicken to a plate, I take paper towel and blot it.

Lower the heat, put mushrooms in pan. I sprinkle a little salt on the mushrooms. Cook mushrooms for about 5 minutes till their moisture has evaporated, and then deglaze the pan with the sherry, Marsala,  and the chicken broth. Let it cook for another few minutes. The sauce will reduce slightly. Return the chicken to the pan, cover the pan and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, turning once. Before you serve sprinkle some chopped parsley on it if you like. I served over brown rice.

Chicken Marsala

4 Comments

Posted in chicken

Tagged , ,

Kitchen Sink White Bean Chili (also my Super Bowl Chili)

Posted on January 11, 2012 | 1 comment

dirty sink from kitchen sink chili

We just got back from two beautiful days in Moab, Utah. We hiked most of the time and the glory and splendor that is there has no words. If you ever have the opportunity to go you should do so. It is an amazing area–Arches National Park, the Canyonlands, the whole area is just breathtaking. We hadn’t had snow here so we went on the road. Now we’re back and today was spectacular! It snowed in Aspen last night and we skied today. So nice to be back skiing. It was Sunday, and the Giants were in the playoffs. Joel set the DVR and we were gone all day. I had taken out a package of chopped turkey and figured that I would pick up a few things and make this chili that I love. I use a lot of stuff from my pantry and substitute ingredients where necessary (it’s a think-on-your-feet kind of recipe!) I served with shredded cheese and chips, and it was heartwarming and delicious.

I also have to add a little note: I cook a lot and usually make a big mess. Joel always cleans up and he is such a good cleaner upper! Our deal is that I do the cooking and he does the cleaning. I might add that this is a very good deal because I am not so fond of cleaning up the mess I make cooking. Obviously, I try to clean as I go, so as to not be a complete pig about it, but he’s really a good sport about it, in general. Anyway, he asked me to post a picture of some of the mess I left him in the sink.

I also make this as one of my dishes for Super Bowl but usually for Super Bowl I do it in the slow cooker so it stays warm for a long time. I just throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and simmer away. Tonite I cooked it in my trusty Le Creuset. I often mess around with these ingredients and you can too. For instance, I only had 1 can of White Northern Beans but I had 2 of Pinto so as long as they are white beans it’s okay to use them. I didn’t have Picante sauce in the house, but I had some great salsa, so I used that instead. I made it with turkey but you can use chicken, or eliminate meat altogether and make it vegetarian with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. It’s chili, which is not a perfect science by any means; so be flexible with ingredients, but make sure to use proportionate amounts.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 large white onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped (I use green for color but be my guest and switch to whatever you have handy or prefer to use)

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

3 15 oz. cans of White Northern Beans (or any white bean, such as Pinto), drained

7 oz. salsa or Picante sauce (Newman’s own was in pantry but I found a fresh salsa in fridge so I substitured the fresh salsa) they are both fine, use whatever

1 8 oz. can of diced green chiles (I used 2 cans of 4 oz. hot green chiles)

1 8 oz. can of whole kernel corn

1 lb. can diced tomatoes (drained)

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. Mexican oregano (this is available here in Colorado but may not be everywhere. You can try to find it but if you can’t, regular oregano will have to do…and yes, I know that it looks like pot in my picture.)

Kosher salt to taste (you’ll need a fair amount but salt along the way to your liking, I used a fair amount of salt, but use your own discretion, it’s a big pot of chili

Freshly ground black pepper to taste (if you have white pepper that works as well in this, because it is White Chili)

3 – 4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock (I start out with 3 and if it is too thick I usually add up to another cup.) I did use 4 at the end, if you’re eating it that night use 3 then before you freeze or refrigerate add another cup to the pot.

12 oz. sour cream (Lite is good. Non-fat is okay, but I don’t love it. Strain first to get rid of that little bit of liquid. You can also use yogurt. Add this ingredient last and blend in well.) Sometimes, I take it out of container and mix it up a bit so it will blend in better.

Shredded cheese (Mexican Style, Jalapeno or Cheddar), for topping. (I let people add this themselves, since some people don’t want the cheese.)

* jalapeno pepper (I love the heat so I dice up a fresh jalapeno, add it to mine, and then leave it in a little bowl for anyone else who may want it.)

Tortilla chips on the side

Directions:

In a large stockpot (my trusty Le Creuset) melt the butter on a medium heat.  Add onion, peppers and garlic and cook until soft. I add the garlic at this point and a little kosher salt.

Puree 1 1/2 cans of the drained beans (Cuisinart food processor is best) until beans are smooth and add to the pot.

Add the rest of the beans, along with the salsa, chiles, corn, tomatoes, and spices (plus anything else you may want to add). Cook for a few more minutes on a low heat,  until the ingredients are blended.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. I then lower the heat and simmer for about an hour on the stove top.

Before you’re ready to serve it, add the sour cream and blend well while simmering.

I place the shredded cheese, extra sour cream, chips, fresh-cut up jalapenos, salsa (and sometimes guacamole) in bowls on the side so everyone can make their chili their way.

Enjoy!

This is so easy, you can make in the morning, and let it sit all day in fridge. You may want to add liquid at some point when you serve. We ate it that night, and then I put in containers for fridge and freezer. I added the rest of the stock before I froze it. Just add back to pot and stir, and then ladle into containers.  Keeps in fridge for at least 3 days. Perfect for freezing, I just take it out of freezer in the morning and by evening it should be defrosted , heat it up and you may need to add some liquid if it is too thick. Those little boxes ( 1 cup size) of broth come in handy here.

1 Comment

Posted in chili, meat

Tagged , ,

Carrot Soup with a touch of Ginger and Apple

Posted on January 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have played around with 3 different recipes for Carrot Soup, I tried it with low fat milk and honey, it was blah. So this was the one that won out. I actually used apples and ginger. It is vegetarian and if you leave out the heavy cream at the end it is lower in fat, and vegan as well. I did add the heavy cream to get a certain velvety consistency . I also tried it with baby carrots once and not as good as the long organic ones I usually buy. So if you like carrots, and I do, and even Joel does (they’re not green) go for it.

Directions:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 average sized yellow onion sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 average apple (not too big, and not too small) , peeled and sliced

2 lbs. carrots , peeled and sliced

6 cups vegetable broth ( or chicken broth ) whichever you prefer or homemade stock , you will start out with 5 cups, and I added another cup of broth at the end. (see directions)

Carrot Ginger Soup with a touch of cream

* you may need some water at the end of cooking before adding cream to just thin out a bit , start with 1/2 cup and add from there, if you’re not adding the heavy cream you may want a bit more water.

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated

dash of nutmeg

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste at the end

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

In a heavy stockpot (Le Creuset) over medium heat heat the olive oil, add the onions continue cooking until onions are translucent, about 8 – 10 minutes. Add ginger and garlic, and continue cooking for another minute or so, you’ll be able to smell how fragrant this is. Add sliced apples and sliced carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.

Turn heat to medium -high and add broth/stock whichever you’re using .  Bring to a boil , reduce heat to low and bring to a low simmer, uncovered. You’ll want to cook this until carrots and apples are softened, about 1/2 hour – 40 minutes. When this happens, remove from heat and let it cool down a bit.

With the immersion blender I started to puree. If you’re using a blender do small batches at a time so there are no soup explosions. Once the soup is completely blended, check consistency , if you need more liquid add a little water at a time, I added 1/2 cup at this point, you may or may not need it, I also added another cup of Broth at this point, I needed the liquid, you will judge for yourself how much liquid you’ll need to add. This is also where I add nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. I would say a little black pepper, as the ginger packs a bit of a kick on it’s own. At very end add cream, go slowly and stir in . Serve with croutons if you like, or just this way with a sprig of thyme ( if you have it in the house) or chervil, or just plain.

Soup will last in an airtight container for about 4 days. Soup also freezes pretty good, I would allow it to thaw for a day in the fridge before heating up, and you may have to add some liquid to this as well.

Leave a comment

Posted in soup, vegetables, vegetarian

Tagged ,

Two Jewish Girls Cook Up Some Real Italian

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 1 comment

finished product

Two Jewish Girls Cook Italian

 

 
I have a few lasagnas that I like but the one that I recently made with my BFF, Susan, was truly wonderful.  The original recipe came from Saveur and we mostly followed it as is except for a few small tweaks. It is not for the meek–it has a lot of moving parts and is an effort but worth every step of the way. First, you have to make the Bolognese (meat) sauce, and then a Bechamel and then assemble the lasagne itself. The recipe calls for spinach noodles but that option was out because we couldn’t find spinach noodles in the valley and there was no way we were making them from scratch. We used Barilla noodles, which worked out perfectly.  I have already posted my other Bolognese but this one is also  wonderful and includes prosciutto, chopped chicken livers, and milk. This recipe drums up a pretty nice shopping list. Susan and I shopped on Wednesday, cooked the Bolognese on Thursday, and assembled the lasagne on Friday. Our plan is to  cook it partially and refrigerate. We’ll then take it out of the fridge before going to a movie, and heat it back up when we get back to the house. Susan and I get along quite well in the kitchen–we don’t get in each other’s way and it is a totally fun way to spend time together doing something we both love. We served this lasagne with an appetizer of shrimp cocktail (complements of Joel) and a green salad.

I will start this recipe with the Ragu a la Bolognese sauce. By the way, the movie was wonderful, as was the entire evening.

Happy, healthy new year to all.

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1 small yellow onion, peeled and minced (we sliced first and then used food processor)

1 rib celery, minced (we sliced first and then used food processor)

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and  minced (we sliced first and then used food processor)

2 – 3 slices (3 oz.) prosciutto, chopped (we bought it pre-chopped)

2 – 3 chicken livers, finely chopped (available in the chicken section of most supermarkets in a container)

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck meat

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup dry white wine (I recently found out you can buy small, inexpensive bottles, which are good to cook with)

1 cup milk (use whole milk)

1 cup beef or chicken broth

1 28 oz. can pureed italian plum tomatoes (if you can’t find pureed, just put whole ones in food processor)

Directions: 

Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy pot (Le Creuset is perfect) over medium high heat. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent, but not browned (5 minutes or so.) Add celery and carrot and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add prosciutto and chicken livers and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until meat is just cooked and still a little pink. Crumble ground chuck into pot and season to taste with salt and pepper. Break up chuck, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon, until meat is just cooked and still a little pink, about 5 – 8 more minutes.

Stir in wine and cook until the liquid more or less evaporates. (This took us a while. The recipe says 3 minutes, but it took us more like 10 (maybe because of the altitude?) Next, heat up milk in a small saucepan (do not boil , just heat until it’s hot.) Reduce heat  on sauce to medium and add hot milk, stirring occasionally, until the milk reduces. (We ended up cooking it for about 15  minutes.) In a separate saucepan, heat the tomatoes and broth until hot and then add to the meat mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 2 – 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bechamel Sauce: (called “Balsamella” in Italy)

Ingredients (yields 2 cups Bechamel, which is exactly what you’ll need):

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups hot milk

4 tablespoons sifted flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes (do not allow the mixture to brown.) Gradually add in the 2 cups of hot milk, whisking constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir constantly until sauce is as thick as heavy cream, about 15 minutes.

Lasagne:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (to grease pan)

1 box of Lasagne noodles (we didn’t use the pre cooked ones, I wouldn’t in this recipe)

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 recipe for Bolognese (above)

1 recipe for Bechamel sauce (above)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 x 12 baking pan and set aside.

Cook Lasagne noodles according to directions on box (don’t overcook.) We laid the noodles out to dry. You don’t want them moist in pan. (Here in Colorado, they dried in about 2 minutes.)

Line the bottom of prepared baking pan with a layer of pasta (we used 3 sheets on the bottom, which was perfect.) Spread evenly with 1 cup of meat sauce, and sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese. Add another layer of noodles,  evenly spread 1 cup of bechamel sauce on noodles, then sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese. Repeat these layers (with the sprinkle of cheese on top of each layer) until you have 3 layers of meat sauce and 2 of bechamel, ending with the meat sauce on top. Reserve any extra meat sauce to put on top or for another time. There should be no remaining Bechamel sauce.

Bake in the top third of oven for 10 minutes. Then, turn oven up to 500 degrees and cook until lasagne is bubbling around the edges and browned on top, 5 – 7 minutes longer. Do not overcook. Allow lasagne to rest for 8 – 10 minutes before serving.

1 Comment

Posted in meat, pasta

Tagged , ,

What’s in the Fridge?

Posted on January 3, 2012 | 3 comments

Freezer in Colorado

Colorado Fridge
fridge in NY

I have wanted to post this for a while. I am always intrigued by other people’s refrigerators or really what’s in them. While some people may be intrigued by what’s in other people’s medicine cabinets, I am more drawn to their refrigerators. So I thought it would be fun to see if I could get a dialogue going with what’s in all of your fridges. I am going to list my 10 items I almost always have without fail. Of course there is usually a salad dressing, leftovers, other kinds of milks periodically for baking etc. My NY fridge looks like it was fresh off the Thanksgiving tear, packed to the brim. Then we can do pantries, the other thing I’m curious about . Right now though let’s concentrate on fridges. Send me your pictures if you can figure that out, and I will post mine. Hope to hear from all  of you.

1. Tropicana OJ, no pulp (Joel has drunk this every day of his life since I’ve met him)

2. Skim Plus milk (in my NY fridge) and 2 % milk (in Colorado fridge, because they don’t have Skim Plus out there)

3. Unsalted butter sticks (always on hand to cook with)

4. Fage and Activia yogurt

5. Lots and lots of different mustard, but always Dijon

6. Strawberry and raspberry preserves

7. Eggs

8. White wine

9. Apples and Grapefruits

10. Parmesan Cheese

My Freezer always has butter sticks, blueberry or corn muffin Vitamuffin tops, bacon, Skinny Cow truffle Bars (chocolate), cranberries, vodka, ravioli, Dr. Praegers veggie patties, Haagen Dazs (hopefully Caramel Cone) and I am hooked on this new Gelato , Talenti Brand and Sea Salt Caramel is my favorite.

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

After the Scampi

Posted on December 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Cold Shrimp after Scampi

Salad with Cold Shrimp Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette

The day after the Scampi, Joel and I went skiing. After ski, I wasn’t in the mood to go out so we stayed in . We had actually cooked up some of the remainder of the 5 lbs. of shrimp we had taken out to cook the scampi. It was in the fridge cold. Joel was happy eating that with cocktail sauce, and I was happy eating that cold shrimp in a salad. I used the Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing that I already had made. It was delicious, light, and just what we were in the mood for, no fuss no muss, and sometimes you just need to eat lightly, forgo some of those calories. Even with working out all the time, skiing, and hiking the amount of calories can be daunting , it just helps us to indulge a little more frequently.  The thing with cold shrimp is you can’t keep it for too long in the fridge, so we had to eat it within 2 – 3 days of cooking it.

Here is my cocktail sauce, which I’m sure you know by now that we like it with a lot of kick. Just alter ingredients to your liking.

Heinz Chili Sauce ( available next to Heinz Ketchup)

White Horseradish

Heinz Ketchup

Just mix up about a cup of Heinz Chili Sauce, a cup of Ketchup and put in by the tablespoon the white horseradish till you get the consistency you like, and the flavor you like, I know by now how it should look, but you’ll have to taste. Be careful with the horseradish, but you can always add more ketchup to tone it down. These are just the 3 ingredients I use, Use as much or as little as you’ll need. It beats those store bought brands by a mile.

Cold Shrimp the next day

Leave a comment

Posted in Salad, Sauce, seafood, Uncategorized

Tagged ,