Rosemary Skewered Shrimp

I took these little guys to my friends Alisha and Molly's dinner party. I served them with my Creamy Herb Dip. They were easy, tasty and very pretty! There were ten people at the party, so I only put one shrimp per rosemary stem. If you're cooking for more people, or have less rosemary to work with, add two or three shrimp per stalk.



Rosemary Skewers

You'll need a lot of thick rosemary steams. Clean and dry them. Then trim them, if needed.

Firmly hold the top of a rosemary stem between your fingers. Use your other hand to grab the bottom of the herb. Slid your fingers down away from the tip of the rosemary, removing the needle like leaves. You want to clear a space large enough for your shrimp to fit on it.

Set the skewers aside.

Chop the rosemary that you remove from the stalk and use it in the marinade, stalk, and dip.

Marinade

24 Shrimp - peeled and deveined (reserve the heads and shells)
1/5 cup Evoo
1 T Soy Sauce (I used gluten free)
Lemon Juice from 1/2 a lemon (reserve the squeezed lemon)
3 cloves Garlic - crushed and peeled
Black and White Pepper
Cayenne
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Rosemary
Chives
Sugar
splash of White Balsamic Vinegar
splash of Water

Mix everything together in a bowl. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Creamy Herb Dip - Dressing

I made this for a dinner party appetizer of Rosemary Skewered Shrimp. The dip was great with the shrimp, and I have used the leftovers for lots of things since then.



2 c Mayo
1/2 c Buttermilk
8 oz Sour Cream
Juice from 1/2 a Lemon
2 T Fresh Chives - thinly sliced
2 T Fresh Parsley - chopped
2 T Fresh Rosemary - finely chopped
1 T Fresh Thyme
2 T Capers - drained and chopped
1/2 t Smoked Paprika
1/4 t Cayenne Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Salt
White Pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Tip - Roux

A roux is flour and fat cooked together, usually equal parts. This is done to thicken and flavor sauces, gravies and stews.

Thyme for Biscuits

The smell of fresh bread is always a crowd pleaser. Biscuits are quick and easy, but still give you the same satisfaction as freshly baked bread.



1 Egg
2/3 c Cold Milk
2 c Flour
4 t Baking Powder
3 t Sugar
3/4 t Garlic Salt
2 t Fresh Thyme (leaves only)
dash White Pepper
1/4 c Shortening
1/4 c Cold Butter

Preheat oven to 450°.

In a small bowl, beat an egg and the cold milk together. Then place it in the fridge.

Mix the next six ingredients together in a bowl.

Spicy Red Wine and Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

It snowed another couple of inches last night, so we stayed in. I made this sauce from what was on hand. It turned out to be very tasty! I served it with fettuccine and broccoli, but any pasta and vegetables would work. I think shrimp would be a nice substitute for the chicken too. As always, have fun with it!



1-2 T EVOO
1/2 Onion - diced
1 Celery stalk - dice
s/p
1 Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless) - diced into small pieces and seasoned with s/p (optional)
3 cloves Garlic - diced
1/4 - 1/2 c Red Wine
Garlic Chili Sauce (or other hot sauce)
1/2 28oz can Muir Glen Whole Fire Roasted Tomatoes
fresh Thyme
Fresh Basil - chiffonade
1 T cold Butter
1 1/2 c Broccoli Florets - Blanched, Chilled in an Ice Bath, and Drained (not needed for the sauce, but it adds flavor, color and great texture)

If you're making pasta with the sauce, start to boil a large pot of water. I blanched my broccoli, and then cooked the pasta in the same water. Don't forget to heavily salt the water before cooking anything in it.

Heat EVOO in a skillet over med-low heat. Then, add the onions and celery. Stir occasionally.



When the onions are clear, add the chicken pieces to the pan.



Turn the heat up a little so that the chicken browns, but doesn't burn. You're looking for a golden brown.

Stir in the garlic.

Once the chicken has started to brown, deglaze the pan with your red wine. You want the pan to be hot when the wine is added. If you're scared of the alcohol flaring up, turn the flame off as you add the wine. Then, turn it back on.

Use a spatula to scrape up and incorporate any brown bits from the bottom and sides of the pan into the sauce.

Mini Frittatas - Part B

I've gone a little crazy with these frittatas. They're so easy to work with. You can use any combination of meats, veggies, cheeses, and herbs that you like. I would avoid foods that have a lot of liquid in them, such as tomato seeds though. Here's three meals that I made with my leftover eggs. See my post Mini Frittatas - A for the original recipe.



Tacos

Butter
Mini Frittatas - cut into quarters
Salsa
Spinach
Tortillas - warmed
Cheese (I used sliced provolone and a grated cheese blend)



Heat a little butter in a pan. Add the egg chunks to the pan and cook just until they are heated through. Remove the eggs form the pan. Loosely cover the frittatas and set them aside.



Heat your salsa up in the pan that the eggs were in. Once it's hot, add spinach to the pan. Toss the spinach around to evenly coat it with salsa. Then, turn off the heat.



Lay a tortilla down on a flat surface. Top with provolone, spinach mixture, and eggs. Then sprinkle a little cheese on top and roll it up. If you're going to eat the tacos latter, wrap them in foil. If not, place them on a plate and keep rolling until you're out of stuffs to stuff.



Frittata Foo Young

I had some leftover egg mixture that I had not cooked yet. Instead of cooking it in a muffin tin, I just baked it in a pie pan until it set.



Vegetable or Chicken Stock (I made a quick stock using the bones from a rotisserie chicken)
White Wine (optional)
Green Onions - thinly sliced
Corn Starch
Dark Soy Sauce - chilled
Chicken - shredded or diced (I used meat from a rotisserie chicken)
Egg Mixture - cooked
Rice - cooked

Mini Frittata (Chicken and Broccoli) - Part A

I got the idea of using a muffin tin from Miss Molly. She made Green Egg and Ham Mini Frittatas for a baby shower. They were so cute and tasty that I've made several since. Other than broccoli/chicken and pesto(green eggs)/ham, I've also made turkey/chipotle gouda, sun dried tomato/pepperoni and asparagus/green onion combos. Use what's in your fridge, play around with the flavors and make it your own.



6 eggs
3/4 c Mlik
1/4 c Cream
1-2 T Melted Butter (optional)
1 c Cheese - shredded (I used a Mexican blend)
1 1/2 c Chicken - cooked and shredded or diced
1/2 c Broccoli - finely chopped
1/2 c Cauliflower - finely chopped
Garlic Salt
White Pepper
Garlic Chili Sauce
1 T Dried Oregano
1/2 t Smoked Paprika

Preheat oven to 300° F

Whisk the eggs, milk, and cream furiously for a few minutes.

Stir your butter, cheese, meat and veggies into the egg mixture.



Season to taste.



Using nonstick cooking spray, grease two muffin tins. If you only have one, cook in batches. You can also cover and refrigerate the rest for the next day. Look for my next post for some tasty ideas.

With a measuring cup or an ice cream scoop, fill the baking cups. Stir the eggs as you go so that you'll have an even mixture of stuff in each muffin cup.

Lemon - Soy Marinated Grilled Halibut

Halibut is a firm white fleshed fish. It's texture makes it great for the grill. The flavor of this large fish is pretty mild and clean. It's great simply prepared and served with a light sauce.



You could substitute any other firm fish for the halibut in this recipe and it would still be tasty stuffs.

1 T Ginger - minced
2 T Lemon Juice
1 t Lemon Zest
1 T Light Soy Sauce (substitute gluten free soy for a GF dish)
1/2 T Dark Soy Sauce (I used a mushroom flavored dark soy)
1 T Dried or a hand full of fresh Parsley
1 T Green Onion - chopped
Garlic Chili Sauce (or other hot sauce)
Splash of Water
Halibut*



*If you buy a large piece of fish, it's best to cut it into manageable pieces. The smaller size is easier to flip and to remove from the grill. I like to keep the pieces about the size of my spatula.

Mix all of the ingredients, except the fish, together in a flat bottomed dish.

Remove about a 1/4 of the mixture and set it aside.

Place your halibut in the dish, move it around, flip it over, spoon some marinade on top of the fish, and cover it.



Let this marinate for ten minutes.


Flip the fish and spoon more marinate on top of it.