Coconut Shrimp

Adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe. I love coconut shrimp, but can't afford to eat out. This is the closest I've found to my favorite.
Canola oil for frying
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt or sea salt
2 pinches ground cayenne pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons Chinese five spice blend
1 cup shredded coconut
3 egg whites
1 pound large shrimp, peeled but leave the tails on
Fresh lime, orange marmalade (easy to make your own out of fresh orange juice, grated orange peel, a little sugar and corn starch)

Mix bread crumbs, salt, cayenne and five-spice powder. Add the coconut, mix well.

Lightly beat egg whites, add the shrimp, mixing well. Press each shrimp into the breading mix. Put on wax paper to dry. Handle carefully. If breading doesn't stick, dip again in egg whites and bury it in the breading, pressing gently. Handle gently. Let dry for 10 minutes or so.

Heat 1 inch or so of oil. It's hot enough when you put a piece of bread in oil and it browns quickly. Gently add shrimp. Fry for about five minutes, browning well on each side. Drain on paper towels and serve with lime wedges and marmalade on the side.

Trudy's Chicken Tortilla Soup

This looks very yummy...

1 small rotisserie chicken
2 lbs.large tomatoes, chopped
2 medium jalapenos
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons green chiles, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
1 7-10 oz. can enchilada sauce (Macayo's)
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons red chili powder
¼ teaspoon celery salt
Wondra quick mixing flower
4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Saute onions in large saucepan until transparent. Add tomatoes until they are softened. Cool and put in blender with cilantro, green chile, jalapenos, garlic, chili powder and cumin. Puree to medium consistency. Shred chicken and add remaining items to blended mixture in pot. Heat through and serve with tortilla chips and cheese.

Yumminess and Rice

I probably don't even have to say it at this point, but this recipe (like basically every recipe I post) is both easy and delicious. I made it up this evening!

You will need:

rice (1/2 dry cup per eater) and water (twice as much as the amt of rice)
a basic protein such as tofu or chicken (3-4 ounces per eater)
a clove of garlic
a small jalapeno of the spiciness you desire (scarred ones are spicier than smooth-skinned)
fresh or frozen greens (one cup uncooked per eater - I used frozen collared greens)
diced tomatoes (1/4 cup or more per eater)
a bit of butter or oil (less than a tablespoon)
salt to taste


Steam the rice in a pot with a lid that fits tightly. Put the rice and water in the pot, cover it, and turn the heat to medium. When it is starting to steam (hopefully before it boils over) turn the heat about as low as possible. Do not check on it for at least 1/2 hour. The rice will be done when there is no loose water left in the pan and you can see holes in the mass of rice.

As you steam the rice, dice the garlic and jalapeno and chop the protein into bite-sized chunks. Put a tiny bit of oil in a frying pan, turn the heat to medium and let it warm up, then add the garlic and jalapeno bits. Let them cook for less than a minute before you add the protein. Stir this occasionally, but don't be afraid to let the protein brown a bit on the bottom.

In another pan, add bit of oil or butter, turn the heat to low-med, and throw in the greens. Let them defrost if frozen, or begin to cook if fresh. Then throw in the tomatoes and cook it until they are hot.

Now, throw everything in a bowl, salt to taste (or not at all), and eat it up!

Creme Brulee French Toast

Here is a recipe I just snagged from one of my friends. It sounds fattening, but worth a try when you are ready to splurge.

1/2 C butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1 loaf Texas Toast, extra thick
1 Tbs. corn syrup
5 eggs
1 1/2 C half & half
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Over medium heat, cook the butter, sugar and corn syrup until smooth. Pour into a large greased jelly roll pan. Place 12 slices on a single layer. Mix together eggs, salt, half & half and vanilla. Spoon some of the mixture over each piece. Cover and sit overnight. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When serving, flip each piece over...it will be covered with gooey and awesome syrup. Yum!

Rosemary Chicken

Bryan made these for dinner last night. It was delicious. He enjoys watching Tyler's Ultimate. I borrowed this from foodnetwork.com

Crispy Baked Rosemary-Garlic Chicken Legs

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time:
20 min
Inactive Prep Time:
20 min
Cook Time:
1 hr 10 min

Level:
Easy

Serves:
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

* 12 chicken legs
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 4 stems rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
* 4 cups panko bread crumbs
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 eggs
* 2 cups milk
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put a sheet tray in the oven to preheat.

Wash and trim the chicken legs of any excess fat. Mix the garlic, rosemary and panko together in a shallow rimmed dish and season well with salt and pepper. Alternately, crush the garlic and rosemary with some olive oil and salt in a mortar and pestle.

Crack the eggs into a similar dish, add the milk and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In another dish add the flour and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Take the chicken legs and 1 at a time, dredge in the flour, then the egg wash and then coat well with the rosemary-garlic panko bread crumbs. (Cook's Note: you could also bread the legs by putting the bread crumbs in a large plastic bag and shaking the legs in the crumbs inside the bag.) Lay the chicken legs out on a tray lined with parchment paper, as you work. Refrigerate the legs for about 15 to 20 minutes for the breading to set.

Remove the hot sheet tray from the oven and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Arrange the chicken legs carefully on the tray, spacing them out evenly (the chicken will sizzle when added to the hot oil). Roast until the chicken legs are golden and crispy, about 35 to 40 minutes Remove the chicken from the oven to a serving platter. Season with salt and serve with lemon wedges.

Jerk-Spiced Shrimp

1 T. Sugar
1 T. Paprika
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. ground red pepper
1/4 t. ground thyme
1/8 t. ground allspice
2 T. olive oil
1-1/2 pounds shrimp - peeled & deveined

Mix shrimp with olive oil. Combine first seven ingredients, mixing well, and add to shrimp. At this point - you can place shrimps on skewers and barbeque, or make shrimp fajitas. For fajitas, over high heat, add a little olive oil, onions, peppers, garlics, mushrooms (any thing you like) and stir fry until slightly blackened. Add a little more olive oil, add shrimp and stir fry until the shrimp is opaque. It doesn't take very long. Serve in tortillas or over rice. This is a low calorie, 260 calories per serving, recipe. And it is delicious! Get creative and add to your favorite salad or recipe.

Wow, did I get lazy last night

And still I managed a home cooked meal. :)

So I covered six chicken breasts (still frozed) in a garlic rub that I got from Pampered chef and threw them in the oven at 350 for 40 min. With about 10 min left on the chicken I started 5 cups of penne noodles boiling. Then I looked around the kitchen for about 10 min for the stupid can opener. Finally found it and put 2 small cans Hunts tomato paste and 2 cans water on a medium heat. I added a tablespoon of dried minced onions, some garlic powder and kosher salt. Then I pulled the chicken out and chopped up 1 and 1/2 of the breasts and added them to the sauce. Noodles were done at this point. I actually had horribly neglected them while searching for the cursed can opener, so they were stuck to the bottom of the pan. Drained them and scraped them and poured the sauce on. (Onions weren't quite done yet. Could have used a few more minutes, I think.) After dinner I chopped up the remaining chicken for use with a future dinner.

Overall, a success. Could have been better with more effort/time put into it.

Simple Mushroom Sauce

The other night Forrest made wild rice with mushroom sauce. It was delicious and so simple! The recipe he used for the sauce came from http://www.helpwithcooking.com/sauces/mushroom-sauce.html. He didn't use any olive oil (who uses warm fat to melt other fat?). Next time, he says, he will adapt the recipe with spices and/or other additions.

Simple mushroom sauce

Ingredients

• 6 oz (170 g) of thinly sliced mushrooms
• ½ pint of milk
• ½ oz (15 g) of butter
• 1 heaped tbsp of flour
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil and melt the butter in it.
2. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are soft and dark in colour.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
4. Add the flour and pour in the milk.
5. Mix the ingredients together, stirring continuously.
6. Return the pan to a medium heat and cook the sauce, stirring constantly until it thickens.
7. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 - 8 minutes.
8. Serve hot.

Peach Gingerbread

This is a recipe that I made over Christmas weekend. It was a big hit! :) I made it in mini bread loaves, but the recipe is for muffins. I think that it is delicious either way! Mindi

Peach Gingerbread

2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of applesauce
¼ cup of apple juice
¼ cup of Molasses
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can of peaches in juice, drained and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, salt and spices.
3. In small bowl, combine sugar, apple sauce, apple juice, molasses, egg and oil.
4. Stir in apple sauce mixture into flour mixture until moistened. Fold in peaches.
5. Spoon into muffin cups.
6. Bake 20 minutes.

Easy low-fat white sauce

So this was pretty good for what I was going for. Wanted a flavorful sauce for pasta without a lot of calories. I've made similar sauces, but this was my favorite combination. I was using flour for thickener, but it tended to burn on the bottom.

4 cups milk
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp minced dried onions
pinch dried peppers (for just a very little kick
enough corn starch to thicken it.
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the corn starch with a cup of milk and then combine all the milk together in a medium sauce pan. Slowly heat the milk to a simmer. While it is heating you can add the other ingredients. Make sure to stir constantly until at desired consistency. Add to pasta and toss to coat evenly.

edit: Originally wrote 2 tbsp minced garlic. Wow! That would be something! I like garlic, but that is too much. :)