Shrimp Scampi...take 2!

Last night I made shrimp scampi again. It is one of my favorite recipes. It's super easy to make, and filled with wonderful flavors. Last night I added the zest of the lemon to the lemon juice, for some additional lemony flavor. I also used some garlic and basil infused pasta that I came across in our panty...I think I might have found it a while back at Trader Joe's. And, to top it off, I was heavy-handed with the red pepper flakes. This all resulted in super flavors, and a bit of a bite! J had some pasta, but he wasn't interested in any shrimp, and little L had some sweet potato! She's still loving her food:) D was stuck at work and came home too late to eat with the rest of us, but he enjoyed the scampi later on in the evening. Another great meal around here...

We are sticking around tonight for New Years Eve, and are just going to do some appetizers and ice cream sundaes:) Nothing really to blog about, but easy for me, and nice just the same. Happy New Year to all. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for 2012!

Sweet Potato Latkes

1/3 c olive oil
1 large sweet potato (about 1/2 lb), grated
2 large white potatoes (about 1 lb), grated
1 medium onion, grated
1/2 c flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp salt

Place the oil into a cast iron (or nonstick pan) to heat, making sure not to have the oil smoking. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
Once the oil is hot, place about 1/4 c spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the oil and fry until golden-brown. Flip, and cook the second side until golden brown.
Place on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet after cooking to absorb excess oil.
You can place the cooked latkes in the oven on about 250 F to keep them warm while cooking.

Yesterday was the last night of Chanukah, and since we hadn't made any latkes, I thought we were over due. I wanted to change things up a bit, so I decided to add some sweet potato to the mix. This added a great flavor and texture to the potato pancakes, and really seemed to flush them out a bit. I served the latkes with the traditional sour cream and apple sauce. We all agreed that this was a wonderful way to end Chanukah!

Chinese Corn Soup and Vegetarian Steamed Buns

Chinese Corn Soup

Creamed Corn
1 1/2 tbs butter
8 oz frozen corn kernels
4 tbs water, divided
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs flour
3/4 c half and half
pinch of salt

Place the butter into a 3 qt sauce pot and melt. Next, add the frozen corn kernels, 3 tablespoons of water, and sugar. Heat until the corn is hot. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the remaining tablespoon on water and flour together. Add to the corn mixture and stir, until slightly thickened. Pour in the half and half and stir constantly, while insuring that it does not boil. Mix in the pinch of salt.

Chinese Corn Soup
1 recipe of creamed corn (see above)
2 c chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tbs water
1 tbs corn starch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c scallions, chopped

Place the creamed corn into a medium sized sauce pot. Add the chicken broth and place over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the water and corn starch. Bring the corn mixture to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir, cooking another few minutes until the soup has thickened. Lower the heat slightly, and slowly pour in the beaten egg, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and serve, with a generous sprinkling of scallions.

Traditionally on Christmas, we get take-out Chinese food and go to a movie, but with 2 little kids and a serious lack of good Chinese food near us these days, we decided to change things up a bit! I'm always up for a new adventure, and D has been begging me for my vegetarian steamed buns for some time now, so I thought that this would be the perfect excuse. But, since the buns never quite make a whole meal, and since we always get Chinese corn soup when we do take-out, it seemed like the logical addition. I examined a bunch of corn soup recipes, and almost all of them called for "creamed style corn" in a can. Now, I'm not really sure what that is, and I generally like to use fresher ingredients, so that is why I first made the creamed corn. The resulting soup was really delicious. It was so sweet, and not too salty (like the take-out soup always is!), and actually rather rich. So rich in fact that when I make this soup again, I am planning on substituting milk for the half and half:) D agreed that this soup was delic, and the scallions added just the right amount of flavor and texture. As D said, "There's no need to get this take-out anymore"...and, he is so right!

In addition to the soup, I made my vegetarian steamed buns. I had my trusty little helper, J, help me with the dough in the morning. J is really into helping me cook, and he loves making dough...so, for his birthday last year, my parents bought him a kid's kitchen stand which allows him to stand at counter height. D and I actually squirreled this gift away until recently because we were concerned with the safety issues of having J at counter-height! Luckily now, he listens to the "kitchen rules" most of the time, and can definitely be heard telling me to "stand back" or to "be careful" when working with the stove or oven!
I made one slight change to yesterday's dough recipe, which was to add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of yeast (making it a total of 2 1/2 tsp of yeast). My reasoning for this is that the small extra amount of yeast has really been making a difference in the consistency of my pizza dough, so I thought this would be the case here as well....and, I'm glad to report that it was! To the left is a picture of the dough-ball before rising...



And, here is a picture of the fully risen, and gorgeous dough after sitting out on the counter for most of the day. It was a bit more elastic and fluffier than usual, thanks to the extra yeast, and just as delicious in the final product.







Here is one of the buns, and of course, the requisite hoisin sauce drizzled for dipping:)

In other big news around here, L had her first "meal" last night. She's been licking her lips, and grabbing at all of our food for the past few weeks. We were planning on waiting the full 6 months until feeding her solids, but we are at 5 and a half months now, and the poor girl was just so miserable during our meals, we felt we couldn't wait any longer...oh, and the fact that she's been SUPER hungry overall this past week! During my Chinese food preparation, I steamed up some butternut squash and pureed it into a wonderfully smooth consistency. It was so perfect, I didn't have to add anything to change the texture before feeding it to L. I am proud to report that this little girl was beyond ready to eat...she immediately took charge of the spoon and kept shoveling the squash into her mouth on her own! Quite the contrast to J's first few weeks of eating, where he cried through every meal;) L had a smile on her little face from the first bite through the last, and seemed to revel in the fact that she had squash all over her hands and face. Happy eating, baby L!

Swedish Meatballs

This must be the week for "oldies but goodies" around here. We had one of our favorites, Swedish meatballs, for dinner tonight. I really can't say enough about how yummy this meal is, and when we serve it with buttered poppyseed noodles, it just can't be beat!

Tonight I strayed a little from the original recipe, and used an onion rye bread to make the breadcrumbs for the meatballs. It didn't alter the overall taste as much as I have anticipated, but it was still good. And, since the bread wasn't too stale, the meatballs were actually very moist. I also added some frozen peas to the noodles for a little extra green. Both D and I agreed that the peas were a welcomed change because they added a little "pop" to the texture. Yummy, yummy in our tummies;)

Curried Lentils in Tomato Sauce with Rice

Curried Lentils in Tomato Sauce with Rice is another one of our favorite vegetarian recipes. It's also super easy to make, and filled with wonderful flavors. I've been using lentils that have onion and bay leaf canned with them for some added flavor, and I've been heavy handed on both the cilantro and lime juice. Plus, when eating this dish, D and I have been adding some sour cream with makes the meal richer and also cuts some of the spice. J actually ate a few bites tonight, and seemed to like it until he decided it was a bit too spicy. Maybe next time I'll go really light on the cayanne for him...

Squash and Apple Soup

Last night we were looking for something tasty, healthy, and easy to eat when you've been working night shift (D, that is...although these days I feel like I am too with little L!). I decided to make one of our favorite soups, squash apple soup. I really like this soup because it's so sweet, and the textural contrast with the Terra chips makes it fun to eat. Plus, now that L is very close to eating solids, it gets me excited because this is a great baby food! J is into eating soups these days, and he's always into eating chips of any kind, so he was excited for this meal too. I got lazy and bought the pre-peeled and cut butternut squash, so that really eased up the prep time as well. And, there's plenty of soup left over to freeze and eat another day.

Spinach Zucchini Pistou

We are all a bit frazzled around here with D working nights these days. But, true to form, we are continuing with our "real meals" stretch! We had planned on having zucchini pistou for dinner tonight, but as this week goes, when I opened the recipe I realized that I had completely spaced and forgotten to buy basil. Since basil is a rather key ingredient in the recipe, at first my heart sunk...but, tonight the creative juices were flowing and someone was on my side! I substituted 6 oz of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and heated!) for the cup of basil, and I added in an extra 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to the sauce to remind me of creamed spinach. The result was fabulous. The meal was warm in flavor and the sauce was thick in texture. The spinach and nutmeg really added a new dimension to the traditional zucchini pistou. And, even though J kept asking for "plain noodles", he actually ate a fair amount of the "sauce" kind too!

Quesidillas, and Some...

So, again, this picture doesn't really say too much about the food, but I've been busy and D's working a week of nights...excuses, excuses:) Either way, this was dinner a few nights ago. Simple cheese and refried bean quesidillas on chili-tortillas with guacamole. Fast, tasty, and family-friendly;) We've had a few more dinners since then that just didn't seem to make it into the photo/blog world for me lately. It's certainly been hard juggling everything with a very tired husband! Last night was a portobello mushroom, zucchini, and tomato panini, and tonight was turkey burgers with sweet potato fries. All good, wholesome food that is SUPER fast to make.

This week promises some good meals, but the blog may lag behind. Stay tuned...

Sundried Tomato-Fennel Pasta Sauce

I've been testing out using my iPhone 4S as a quick way to take pictures for the blog, and I've decided that although the camera is a vast improvement over the 3, it's just not up to par. Continuing our pledge to make dinner every night this week, I am sorry to say that I forgot to take a picture of our black olive and artichoke heart pizza from two nights ago, but we've blogged a lot of pizzas, so I don't feel too badly about missing another one!

Last night I made the sundried tomato-fennel pasta sauce that we really love. I made sure to add a little extra dried red pepper flakes for a little kick, and it was truly delicious. Even J ate some of the sauce:) I'm also proud that this dinner actually even came together. D was working late, and both J and L were having mini meltdowns during the cooking process...but, I stuck it out, and everyone was glad for it...well, everyone except maybe L who couldn't enjoy the fruits of my labors!

Baked Eggs

We have vowed to make real meals all week. We had some eggs around that I wanted to use up, so baked eggs seemed like the perfect dinner. I love how amazingly simple, but rich these taste, and with all the herbs, it's brimming with flavor. I substituted half and half for cream in the recipe, but it didn't change a thing. I also love serving them in these All Clad dishes because it just makes the whole thing seem so much more fancy!

I may have broiled the eggs for a second too long, and the cheese got slightly more browned that I might have preferred, but it didn't change the taste. D agreed that this was a super way to enjoy eggs!

Lemon Artichoke Chicken...Take 2.

Last night D and I felt it was time that we make a really well balanced, delicious and healthy meal. I remembered how much I enjoyed by dad's lemon artichoke chicken, but D had missed that meal, so it was a perfect recipe for dinner! I was really heavy handed on both the lemon juice, zest, and wine. I used a nice, crisp sauvignon blanc, and lots of it! The wine and lemon gave the chicken a very tangy and delicious flavor, and the overall sauce kept the chicken very tender and juicy. Even J exclaimed, "It's so juicy!" after his first bite. Speaking of J...he started to throw a tantrum saying "no chicken!!!" before even sitting down for the meal, but after a bite he was saying, "mommy, this is so good":) I served the chicken with a salad full of greens, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and green pepper, and topped it off with some wonderful feta cheese. This meal was a complete hit, and it felt wonderful to eat a real, well-balanced meal...oh, and we enjoyed a glass of the wine as well;)

Skate Wing? No Thank You!

So last night's dinner was a bit of a fiasco. I had sent D and J out in the morning on a couple of errands while L was napping. One of the errands involved going to our local fish market. I was in the mood for sole meuniere, so I had asked D to buy some sole. Well, they were out of sole, and D got a bit confused in the "flaky-white-fish" department, and we ended up with a few pieces of skate wing. Neither of us had ever eaten skate before, but we thought it was worth a try.

I looked up a couple of recipes, and since most of what I found involved stews or flavorful sauces, I concluded that skate is bland and flavored by the cooking process. I wanted to make things simple, so I just sauteed the skate wing in some olive oil and lemon juice. I contemplated adding some capers, but didn't want to waste any before an initial tasting...and, I'm glad I waited! The skate was both chewy and mushy at the same time, and although the initial taste was lemony and not too bad, the aftertaste was fishy and disgusting. I'm not sure if this was a product of a bad piece of fish, or a product of skate wing. I've heard so much about it in restaurants lately...but, I doubt we'll be making it again! Besides, D informed me it's on the over-fished-do-not-eat list!

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

I admit that life has gotten a bit too hectic lately, and the blogging is most certainly suffering...so, I'm sorry and hang in there because I promise that someday, I'll be back to blogging more regularly!

The other night for dinner D and I were craving some "comfort food", and I was hoping for something nutritious that J would also eat. J's been into soups lately, and what could be more simple or more comforting than a bowl of homemade tomato soup accompanied by a grilled cheese sandwich?

I made the tomato soup recipe that I had previously posted way back when, but of course I changed up a couple of things. First off, quite by accident I purchased whole canned tomatoes instead of the diced variety that the recipe called for...and, because I wasn't paying attention, I didn't drain any of the juice out of the can. Because of this oversight, I added much less other liquid...2 cups of veggie broth, only about 1/2 cup of 2% milk, and 4 oz of tomato paste, making this soup much less "creamy", but still delicious! Finally, I added a lot of freshly ground pepper and garnished it with some grated parmesan cheese.

D and I both enjoyed this version of my tomato soup. The celery flavor really shines through and gives it a separate twist to the run-of-the-mill tomato soup. We also made our grilled cheese sandwiches with pepper jack cheese to give the meal a kick. It was delicious. J certainly enjoyed his soup and grilled cheese (with Swiss)!

Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce with Rosemary Potatoes

I've definitely been a bit absent from the blog these days, but I have good reason...D has either been working late or been out of town A LOT over the past couple of weeks, and I've been trying to survive with the 2 little ones. Needless to say, dinners have been quick and not too involved, and certainly not worth blogging!

Even though D was working late again tonight, I decided that it was about time I made a real meal. I found this very wintry recipe for chicken with Brussels sprouts and mustard sauce in the latest edition of Cooking Light Magazine. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but ended up cooking the Brussels sprouts in a bit of cider instead of the broth. In addition, I roasted some potatoes, simply tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.

This meal was delicious, and the best part was that J even ate it, well, minus the Brussels sprouts! And, I think that I get some bonus wife points because I made D a plate and put it in the fridge for him to heat and eat when he got home. He enjoyed the meal as much as the rest of us, and even commented on how "perfectly" I roasted the veggies:)