Thanks to all you Liver and Onion fans for bringing me to this great moment. With 385 posts and over 19000 views from all over the world, including Mexico, Canada, and the US, as well as New Zealand, the UK, South Africa, etc. Too many to recall over the years. Thank you all and Buen Provecho!
Category: Uncategorized
Roasted Parmesan Garlic Shrimp
“Honey, I’m home!” (for all of those familiar with that old greeting from some TV show?) Welcome back former followers. Your encouragement is appreciated. A recent house sitter left behind some really nice frozen shrimp and (Pinterest to the rescue) I decided to thaw them out- 24 beautiful specimens which only required peeling and deveining. Once done, I put them in some cold water with a little salt and put them back in the refrigerator awaiting dinner prep. Some fresh asparagus was also waiting to be used. Everything came together with very little prepping…
- 1 pound medium raw shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- Cocktail sauce for dipping (1/2 cup ketchup + 2 tablespoons horseradish)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with oil.
Place the shrimp in a single layer on the sheet. Evenly distribute olive oil, Parmesan, garlic, oregano and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss together with your hands and spread out again.
*Place the pan in the oven and roast the shrimp until just pink, firm and cooked. This should take 9 minutes. When done sprinkle with lemon juice and serve with whatever side you have chosen.
*NOTE…since the oven was on I also roasted the asparagus which was drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan. If you choose to do the asparagus, put it in the oven 10 minutes before the shrimp and leave them in until the shrimp are done.
Easy Cranberry Chutney
No photo for this one as it is all blended together in a jar and then refrigerated. Great for using during the upcoming holidays…
Easy Cranberry Chutney
From inthekitchenwithkath.com
(Adapted from a recipe in Yumana’s Table by Yumana Devi)
Makes about 3 cups, and doubles easily if you’re serving a crowd.
1 (12-ounce) bag of cranberries
2 large apples
2 large oranges or limes
1 cup pure maple syrup (I used ½ cup)
- Zest the oranges.
- Wash and drain the cranberries and put them in a pot. (My 3 quart pot is the perfect size.)
- Peel, core, and chop the apples, and add them to the pot.
- Juice the oranges. Add the juice and the orange zest to the pot.
- Add the maple syrup.
- Bring the chutney to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, for about 30 – 45 minutes, until the cranberries have popped, the apples have cooked down, and the chutney has thickened a bit. Stir it occasionally while it’s cooking.
- Cool and transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve OR put it in an airtight jar, ready for use. Would be great over cream cheese as an appetizer or with roast beef…not just turkey!
Spicy Shrimp Pho
First had this Vietnamese noodle soup in San Francisco, The portions they served were a little large, but awesome.
Spicy Shrimp Pho (http://chefsavvy.com/spicy-shrimp-pho/)
Prep time 10 mins Cook time 20 mins Total time 30 mins Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti (I substituted rice noodles for a less heavy Pho)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced
- 2 tablespoons green onion, sliced thin
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 cup button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 12 ounces large shrimp, uncooked
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti until al dente (or prepare rice noodles according to package)
- Meanwhile add oil to a large pot or dutch oven.
- Add garlic, jalapeno and green onions. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in chicken stock, fish sauce and sesame oil. Bring to a simmer.
- Stir in mushrooms and shrimp. Simmer until the mushrooms are tender and the shrimp is fully cooked.
- Take off of the heat and stir in pepper, lime juice, and cilantro.
- Divide the noodles among the 4 bowls and pour the soup on top.
- Garnish with extra lime wedges and cilantro if desired.
Thank You. Gracias. Merci, etc.
You may not have noticed, but the last post was #300! When I started it in 2011 I was not sure where I would go with it. Incredulously I have had 5823 visitors with a viewership of 13570!!! Along the way I actually assembled a cookbook of 150 of my first recipes, On my best day I had 130 views. To date – 49 WordPress followers and 50 email followers.
Twenty-five countries are represented, besides the obvious Canada, the US and Mexico. They include some surprises (you never know how far your words travel) – Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Czech Republic, UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Azerbaijan, Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, India, Montenegro, Venezuela, Armenia, Hong Kong and Serbia. Thanks to all of you who took the time to check out my blog!!!
Slow Cooker Garlic Rosemary Roast Beef
Someone in the house is not a fan of turkey at Thanksgiving, so I scoured Pinterest for this wonderful roast beef recipe, which turned out to be delicious! This is definitely one of those KISS recipes – Keep It Simple Stupid! That someone in the house really enjoyed it…serve some horse radish alongside it! As always, the words in red reflect my changes to the original recipe.
Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Crusted Roast Beef
Author: Slow Cooker Gourmet Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- 2 pound eye of round beef roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 or more stalks fresh rosemary
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic or more
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 cans of beef broth
Instructions
- Rub roast all over with olive oil
- Chop three stalks of rosemary leaves and combine with garlic, sea salt and pepper
- Rub around the outside of the roast to form a crust
- Preheat a skillet to 400 degrees
- Add roast and sear on each side until lightly browned (4-6 minutes)
- Deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar and transfer all contents to slow cooker
- Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours OR cook on high for about an hour
- Pour one or two cans of broth around the roast and more rosemary stems to taste
- Cook for another 30 minutes and check with a meat thermometer depending on the doneness you like.
- Remove and let rest for 15-30 minutes then slice to serve
Looking back!
Some of you like our friend, Bev Scott have been with the blog since day one. Others have joined over the last four years. I will be on vacation for the next few weeks and will not have access to my computer to add more blog recipes. In the interim, look back at some of the ones listed below for your summer entertaining. With the bounty of the harvest coming up you might want to check out the dill and chili sauce recipes again…
- Boston Baked Beans
- Chili Sauce (yes, tis tomato season)
- Easy Tiramisu Dessert
- Freezing Dill (what to do when you have too much fresh dill)
- Mojitos by the Pitcher
- Lazy Crock pot Lasagna
- Vegan Watermelon Pizza
- Regs Lasagna
- Jacks Icebox Salad (if you’re too young, an icebox was an early name for fridge)
- Lee Hongs Cucumber Salad
- Appetizer Party
Let me know if you try any of these….
Lazy Crock Pot Lasagna
No oven, no worries. Pinterest to the rescue again! This has to be one of the best recipes I have ever found and it goes together fairly quickly. Your guests will rave about it as did ours. This recipe would be great for any potluck you get invited to. Be sure to follow the link at the end of the recipe for more great recipes.
Lazy Crock Pot Lasagna Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 large jar (45 oz.) high quality pasta sauce (I used one of the two large jars of Prego that I bought at Costco)
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 large package (25-30 oz.) cheese & spinach filled ravioli (uncooked) (also Costco, my large cooker used 36 pieces of the stuffed ravioli – Pasta Prima brand)
Instructions
- Brown ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Stir in Italian seasoning and pasta sauce. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
- Spray the inside of a 6-7 quart crock pot with cooking spray. Layer meat sauce, ravioli and cheese.
- Repeat layers ending with cheese. (I ended up with two layers.) Cover and cook on low 3 hours and reduce heat to WARM.
Follow Spend With Pennies on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Best Bolognese Sauce
My apologies for the late posting but I was waiting to make this for company last night!
This would be great if you are planning a buffet for Christmas Eve or New Years Eve, It says it makes 4 to 6 servings, but it would stretch further if there were other foods available. I would serve the warm spaghetti in a chafing dish, with a small crock pot of hot sauce and grated Parmesan beside it. Maybe a small amount of red pepper flakes! To make it go further you could cut back on some of the meat…
The Best Bolognese Sauce
Yield: 9 cups of sauce or 4-6 servings
*If you don’t have a food mill to crush the tomatoes, use a blender or immersion blender. Make sure to leave as much texture and chunks of tomato as possible, do not liquefy.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 1/4 pounds ground pork
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 ounces pancetta or bacon, sliced
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup (3 oz) tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup milk
2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, passed through a food mill*
2 bay leaves
1 bunch fresh thyme, tied together with kitchen string
1 Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind
1 pound fresh pasta, such as fettuccine, tagliatelle, or pappardelle, cooked until al dente and drained
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving
Directions
In a large, heavy, deep lidded Dutch oven or pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, ground pork, and salt and pepper to taste and cook until browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the meat to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the pancetta/bacon and cook until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to the paper towel-lined plate.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the milk, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and cheese rind and stir until combined. Add in the meats and season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer then partially cover and reduce to medium-low. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
You can also transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cook for 3 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaves, thyme, and cheese rind. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with pasta and grated cheese.
Beer Brined Pork Chops
Okay, so I am a day late with the new posting…AGAIN! I had a great excuse this time as we were decorating the house for the holidays and putting up our Christmas tree…I know its early, but we were having company and all of the decorations were laying out on their bed… Anyways I have had this recipe for awhile and never got around to trying it until last night (yet another excuse for delaying the posting until we tried it). It is great!
Beer Brined Pork Chops
Ingredients
2 cups (500 mL) dark lager or bock beer or whatever brand you have
2 tbsp (30 mL) coarse salt
2 tbsp (30 mL) packed brown sugar
1 cup (250 mL) ice cubes
1 onion, sliced
4 bone-in pork chops, 1 to 1-1/4 inches thick (about 2-1/2 lb/ 1.125 kg total)
Spice Rub:
1 tbsp (15 mL) smoked paprika (if you don’t have it just use the regular)
1 tsp (5 mL) pepper
1 tsp (5 mL) garlic powder
1 tsp (5 mL) packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried thyme
Preparation
In baking dish, whisk together beer, salt and brown sugar; stir in ice cubes and onion. Submerge pork chops in mixture; cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)
Spice Rub: In small bowl, combine paprika, pepper, garlic powder, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and thyme.
Remove chops from brine; pat dry with paper towel. Rub spice blend onto both sides of chops.
Place chops on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill until juices run clear when pork is pierced and just a hint of pink remains inside, about 4 minutes per side.
Servings: 4
Serve with some fresh grilled asparagus. FYI..I did not do these on the BBQ, as I just used my stove top griddle…
Buen provecho...2022 