2/17/12: Shrimp and Grits

Appetizers:
Crackers (Rice and Regular) and Cheeseball (don't judge)

Main Course:
Feta and Spice Grits
Ingredients:
Onion
Garlic
Italian Seasoning
Instant Grits
Water, skim milk
Feta

Instructions:
Saute onions, garlic, Italian seasoning in a pan
Add grits and water with about 1/4 of the water as milk (make as many servings as you want)
Add Feta
Stir and pop in the oven for a while

Sausage and Shrimp Topping: 
Ingredients:
Red Pepper (1)
Green Pepper (1)
Sweet Peppers  (a handful)
Sweet Italian Sausage (2)
Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning (or any slightly different seasoning from the grits)
Tomatoes (2)
Red Wine (Some)
Shrimp (A bag)

Precook the Italian Sausage. While you're doing this peel and devein the shrimp, or have somebody you love do it for you (if you're busy with the grits). Cut up the Rep Pepper, Green Pepper, Sweet Peppers, Sweet Italian Sausage  and toss in a pan.  Add some Mrs. Dash Italian seasoning, and red wine.  Cut up 2 tomatoes and throw in as well to act as a sauce.  Mash up the tomatoes as the cook. Cook for a while, then add in the shrimp.  Cook until the shrimp is done.

Serve the sausage and shrimp topping over the grits and top with Parmesan cheese.

Dinner 02/03/2012

Chef: John
Re-use ingredient: Chicken and coconut

Tonight I am making a series of gluten free items:

Thai Coconut Shrimp:
Typically Thai Coconut Shrimp is fried, but this is a healthier baked version
18-24 medium to large raw shrimp, butterflied (tails can be left on)
1/2 cup dry shredded/flaked coconut (baking type)
2-3 eggs
COATING MIX:
Rice cracker bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper OR dried crushed chili
1 tsp. white sugar
pinch white pepper (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Also prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with cooking oil, or covering it with parchment paper.
2. Stir the Coating Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In another smaller bowl, lightly beat 2 eggs. In a third bowl, place the shredded/flaked coconut.
4. Holding the shrimp by their tails, dip first into the beaten egg, then in the panko mix to lightly coat, then dip back in the egg, and finally roll in the coconut. Lay the shrimp on its side on your prepared baking sheet. Depending on the size and number of shrimp you're making, you may need to use one more egg. Tip: Since they are going to be baked, avoid over-coating, or your shrimp will be flat on one side.
5. Bake on the middle rack at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until coconut is lightly toasted (light golden-brown). Turn the shrimp halfway through baking.
6. Serve with with my Mango Coconut Dip (as shown), OR Thai sweet chili sauce (available at most supermarkets in the Asian section). ENJOY!

For my entree, I went with a traditional "gluten free" chicken cordon bleu:

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (pounded thin)

1 cup white rice flour

1 egg

2 slices ham

2 slices swiss cheese

1 cup ground corn flakes

Procedure:

Take chicken breasts and lay in 1 ham slice and 1 slice of swiss cheese. Roll them into a nice log and dip them in the white rice flour. Then dip them in the egg wash, then into the corn flakes. Then bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

For a side I went ahead and made a nice coleslaw.

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 head of cabbage

1/2 onion

1 cup mayonaise

Vinegar to taste

1/4 cup sugar

Procedure:

Combine everything but the carrot and cabbage into a bowl. Whisk together, set aside.

In a large bowl add the cabbage chopped, the carrot peeled, and the onion diced. Dress with the dressing and let chill for 1-2 hours.

Review of Dinner 1/20/11 - Canes v Caps

This was quite a unique challenge for dinner. Although, I can say it turned out quite well.

The pasta salad was great. There were a ton of veggies and the home made dressing had a wonderful flavor. However, it does not keep. Although we could pull out the veggies, the gluten free pasta did not keep quite as well as we hoped.

The slow cooker wings had one of the most wonderful flavors I have had in wings. Although they were amazing for chicken, I definitely think they don't have to be wings. The flavor combination would be wonderful with a nice chicken breast or even a pork roast. It would be a super light bbq with all the flavor. The chicken wings, although good, didn't necessarily act like wings.

What we thought the were:

What they turned out to be:

Blondies, wow... That is all you have to say to get my mouth watering. Blondies are a wonderful desert. The chocolate, coconut, and walnuts are just a great flavor combination. Now, these were gluten free and you would never know. Our one issue was with baking them long enough, but a gooey blondie can be just as good.

This dinner overall was an A-. There are some great things that we learned from making it and we would do differently, but the flavor combinations were superb.

I mean just look at it:

Dinner 1/20/11 - Canes v Caps

Tonight's dinner is taking place during our hockey tailgate.  So, in addition to the normal re-use challenge, I also had the challenge of having everything made ahead and tailgate friendly.  My official reused ingredients are tomato and yellow pepper.

GF Pasta Salad:
Rice Pasta spirals
cucumber
green onion
sweet peppers
celery
tomato
yellow pepper
dressing: dijon mustard and a tiny scoop of miracle whip for creaminess, champagne vinegar and lemon juice (1/4 cup total), olive oil (1/2 cup), pepper, garlic

Slow Cooker Wings with Carrots, Celery, and Blue Cheese Dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
some sriracha hot chili sauce
1/8 cup worchester
bbq sauce
1/4 cup molasses
garlic powder
1 can miller light
texas pete
chili powder
salsa

broil the wings - 6 minutes side one (slightly frozen), 6 the other and throw it all in the crockpot with the above mixture. Let it sit overnight in the fridge, then turn on for the whole day on low.  Take to the hockey game and enjoy!

Gluten Free Blondies - from http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups bisquick gluten free
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
some walnuts
a little over a cup of dark chocolate chips

Mix by hand, then put in a pan (we put Pam in ours first).  Bake for around 25 minutes at 350.

1/13/12 Dinner Review

John made a Choose Your Own Adventure Dinner.  And I had a nice long blog post ranking everything, but then I lost it. Computer 1, Wyetta 0.

So here's the quick version:
This meal would be a great party meal if we're hosting.  We could have both gluten free and gluten loaded flatbreads, and our guests could pick their own toppings.  It also was excellent reheated for breakfast.  Along those lines, I think having a brunch party, these would work well too.  Some mimosas, flaming coffees and breakfast flatbreads? Yum.

Overall, the flatbreads were a little dry and dense, but we're pretty sure that was due to only using half the yeast.  Next time, I think we'd try with all of it.  The ones that we reheated to melt the mozzarella had a better texture, so we might consider that for the future too.

The flatbread flavor combinations were fun.  My favorite was the avocado and mozzarella, and John's was the mozzarella and pepper.  The special topping pairing was zucchini and ricotta with salt and pepper.  It was light and summery.

The chocolate cake, there isn't much to say.  It was flourless chocolate cake, so dense, creamy and rich.  We just had to cut it down with ice cream.

And don't forget the pictures of the wine and dog!

01/13/12- Our First Friday Dinner of the New Year

After a great stay in Cancun, a nice Holiday, and a wonderful break from work we are back to cooking friday night dinners. This weeks challenge was to go 100% gluten free and vegeterian, while re-using an ingredient. My re-used ingredient: Zuchinni.

This is a 2 course, DIY meal. The great thing here is you can adapt toppings as you see fit for the main course (desert should be the same, if you wanted).

Flatbread Pizza Breads with various toppings:

On day 1 I started the dough

Ingredients:

6.6oz oat flour

6.6oz brown rice flour

6.6oz white rice flour

2tsp sea salt

1 1/2 packet of active dry yeast

2 tablespoon golden flaxseed, finely ground

12fl oz warm water (about 120F)

Combine all flours and flaxseed. Then add the most of the water. Continue splashing water in until the mixture is pliable and doesn't stick to your hands. It will happen, don't worry.

This is the proper recipe to follow, I unfortunately (while doubling the original recipe messed up and didn't put in enough yeast).

For toppings we used the following:

1/2 container of ricotta cheese

1 Orange pepper

1 Zuchinni grated (put on top of a flatbread with the ricotta to be a wonderful combination)

1 block fresh mozerella

4 plum tomatoes

1/2 onion carmelized with sugar

For desert, we made a wonderful flourless chocolate cake:

• 10 ounces chocolate chips
• 7 ounces butter, cut into pieces
• 5 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• Directions:
• Melt chocolate chips in a double broiler
• Whisk eggs and sugar together in a bowl
• Fold chocolate into egg mixture
• Combine all ingredients
• Pour into a 9" springform pan
• Put springform pan into a larger pan filled with water, so that the crust does not burn.
• Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Serve with ice cream
• Hint: Cut into 12 or more slices, this is extremely rich.

12/16/11- Dinner Review

Being the first dinner after our engagement, I believe this was the true test of whether or not this will last :). Overall, this dinner was wonderful. However, we must grade it through a rigorous report card.

The grading scale will be based on learning from past experiences, combination of ingredients, juiciness.

Our first attempt (weeks ago) at the meat we used for the main entree in this meal resulted in disaster, or at least the process was a disaster. Lamb has eluded us during Friday night dinners, however, this time we better learn from our past mistakes since we are cooking inside.

This dish is packed with wonderful veggies:

Learning from past experiences: Utter Success

As you can see we pan seared the lamb and it looked wonderful while cooking.

The finished product was not burned, and the house was not on fire. This is why we can consider cooking lamb this time an utter success.

The other past experience we learned from was our sweet potato breading.

This just as last time, turned out to add a wonderful sweetness and crunch to the lamb. Remember though, don't eat all the sweet potato chips before making enough breading.

Juiciness: Excessive

The only part of this meal that could be improved was the juiciness. The lamb was juicy and tender (which is good), but the zuchinni au-gratin had quite a lot of water. This ran over and made it slightly mushy. However, with a little flour this is a great way to have vegetables.

Combination of ingredients: A+

Bananas and icecream, an amazing combination. Caramelizing the bananas, just superb. This provided a crispy, cold, and sweet desert that was the perfect end to a great meal.