Chicken Shrimp Coconut Curry

Sometimes you have a bunch of ingredients laying around, and have no idea what you can make with them. I had some potatoes, carrots and onions laying around that needed to be used up quickly. (I didn't feel like making gnocchi again!) I found a can of coconut milk in my pantry and the idea of curry started forming.

Ingredients

• 1, 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• some chopped baby carrots, chopped
  
• 2 russet potatoes (pealed and chopped)
• 1/3 sweet onion, diced
• 1 chicken breaste, cubed
• 8 shrimp
• +3 Tblsp brown sugar
• 20oz can of pineapple (drained)
• 8 tsp curry powder.
  

Instructions

• Combine milk, water and spices with potatos, carrots and bring to a summer. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the veggies soften. (covered)
  
  
  
• Add onions, chicken, shrimp and pineapple chunks and simmer covered, stirring occasionally until the meats are cooked
  
  
• remove from heat, serve over rice.
  
  
  
  

Initially when I tasted the curry, I felt there was something missing. There was something different from what I've had in similar curries at restaurants . I finally realized... SUGAR! The little bit of brown sugar listed in the ingredients brought this curry from ordinary to extraordinary!

7 Layer Taco Dip

Everyone loves my Taco dip, but I'm not sure that it's actually 7 layers. It is a great way to prepare for any party, because you can make the dip the morning of, and then stick it into the oven once guests arrive. This way, they are guaranteed to enjoy a warm, melted, delicious taco dip!

Ingredients

• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1- 16oz can refried beans
• 1 - 8 oz cream cheese
• 1- 16oz sour cream (use half)
• 1 jar salsa
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 can black olives
• Shredded cheddar cheese (lots)
• Avocados
• lime (for garnish if making guacamole)

Layers:
1) mix beans with taco seasoning

2) Sour cream and cream cheese (blended)

3) Guacamole (or in this case sliced avocado)

4) black olives

5) green onions

6) salsa

7)cheese

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 min (or until cheese is melted), serve and be happy. Make sure you enjoy some of the dip quickly, because it won't last long!

Tequila lime shrimp

I used to love to buy margaritaville's tequila lime shrimp, but it has been so expensive that it is worth trying to find a recipe I like myself. I found a recipe that I could modify to my purposes.

My Tequila Lime Shrimp Pasta Recipe

• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 8 Tblsp tequila
  
• 6 Tblsp Lime juice
  
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• Frozen, pealed shrimp
• Cayanne pepper to taste
• 1 box pasta
• 1 cup frozen peas

Instructions

• Boil some lightly salted water (for the pasta.) Drop the pasta and cook according to the manufacturer's directions.
  
• Saute the garlic in the butter for 1-2 min, then add the tequila and lime juice.
• Once the sauce is simmering, add the frozen shrimp until they are cooked through (completely pink and curled up.) If the sauce isn't thick enough, then remove the shrimp and keep reducing the sauce.
  
  
  
• Drain Pasta (don't rinse) and combine with frozen peas, stirring thoroughly.
  
  
  
• Pour sauce and shrimp over the pasta and mix.
  
  
  
• Enjoy your yummy pasta dish!
  

Chicken Soup with Rice

This isn't your grandma's chicken and rice soup. Why? I bet your grandma's soup is more wholesome and uses more fresh ingredients. (And maybe it has some real CHICKEN in it!)

Ingredients

• 7 cups of water
• 8 bullion cubes
• chopped onions
• 1 and a half cups of uncooked rice
• Frozen vegetable medly
  
• 2-3 whole eggs (beaten)
  

Instructions

• Cook seven Min or until rice is cooked.
  
• Add frozen veggies and bring to a boil
• Beat 2-3 eggs, drop into the boiling soup, stirring as you pour the eggs in (this will help break up the egg pieces.)
  
• Bring back to a boil. Cool and serve.

What I based the soup on. I had plenty of rice, what could I add to it?

A nice thing about this soup is that you don't have to start with frozen and dry ingredients. You can use canned chicken soup, old hard leftover rice and fresh veggies and get a similar result.

The only issue I had with this dish is that since I cooked the rice directly in the broth, the rice soaked up most of the liquid. Now, this was still delicious (and the rice texture wasn't so mushy), but if you want more of a soup consistency I would cook the rice separately and then add it at the end. I frequently add bullion cubes to my rice anyway, so then you wouldn't have to worry about diluting the flavor.

This is a hearty meal that is easy to whip up when you haven't stocked up on groceries for a while.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

In part of my quest to use up my pantry ingredients, I am trying to avoid buying cereal for breakfast. I decided to turn some plain oatmeal into cookies. I started off with a "Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I" recipe (of which there are many), but decided to tweak the recipe slightly.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Crisco
• 1/3 Cup Splenda Sugar Blend for Cooking
• 2.5 cups Shaws brand Quick Oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Cream together Crisco, sugars until smooth, then add eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda) and slowly mix into the wet mixture.
4. Stir in oats and raisins.
5. Drop large spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes* or until browned. (*Because the cookies are so thick)
   

Makes 18 large cookies.

The cookies didn't flatten that much. Maybe next time I make them I'll press the cookies to get a flatter, disk-like shape.

They’re thick and warm and delicious. Maybe I needed a bit more liquid because they didn't seem to be spreading out too much and stayed very thick. That being said, they made great breakfast bars!

We ate a few as they came out of the oven, so I couldn't get a picture of them all!

Pasta Workshop

Keith and I received a gift for a private cooking lesson from Artepicure last Christmas. We made sure to take advantage of this class before we moved away from the Boston area. The walk to the school was a little sketchy, but the classroom itself was full of character. The instructor and his wife live in the studio, and they have the most incredible collection of art... the walls are COMPLETELY covered with their collections.


The Class: Pasta Workshop
This class teaches the art of fresh pasta making. We will make potato gnocchi, filled ravioli and a hand formed pasta shape. This class will explain the science behind the choice of different flours, the proper cooking techniques for obtaining the best results, which sauces go with what shapes and the ease in which anyone, with a little understanding, can create beautiful artisan pasta at home.

My one disappointment with the class was that Keith and I did not prepare the sauces that went with pastas. But the meal we prepared was fantastic.

The best tip of the day was to use a food scale to measure the ingredients for pasta. The volume of flour can change a lot depending on humidity, but if you rely on the weight then you will get perfect pasta dough every time.

Two pasta doughs, one with egg (right) and the other without (left). The eggless dough was easier to kneed.

We made an egg pasta dough to create the butternut squash ravioli. (The instructor made the filling, but this is something that I've done myself before.) The big aid was how to fill and cut the ravioli easily (see pictures below.) When I made ravioli myself, I cut out circles and then folded them in half with the filling on the inside. I can see how I could make them much faster using this method. I also learned how great it is to use a pasta roller - rolling the dough out by hand is so hard!

I forgot to take a picture of the final dish, but the ravioli were served in a sage and browned butter sauce.

The second pasta we made was Orrechietti (translation - little ears). These were completely hand shaped. First, you roll out the dough into a snake, and then cut it with the pastry scraper into even pieces. You then press each piece down with your thumb to form the ear-shaped pasta.

I thought the flavor of the dough was great, but the texture of the shape was a bit reminiscent of spaghetti-o's (especially since it was served with a tomato sauce.) This would be a great shape to make with kids - it is a fun "craft" project.

Last (but not least), we made gnocchi. This was the dish that we were anticipating the most, since Keith loves gnocchi so much (I love them, too.)

This was the star of the day. These gnocchi just melted in your mouth. They were served in a creamy pesto sauce (just heavy cream and pesto and bam!) I have never tasted gnocchi this fresh in my life. This is a great kind of pasta to make at home, because the equipment that you need is minimal (just a potato ricer). Sure, having a gnocchi board would be great, but you can score them with a fork or just leave them unscored. This dough is so fast to make, I can see myself making gnocchi frequently (which will make Keith very happy!)

Immediately after the class, I went home and added some of the tools from this workshop to our registry (food scale, gnocchi board, pastry wheel and pastry scraper.) After this lesson Keith was also on board for the KitchenAid Pasta Roller Attachment)


Class Notes (I am afraid that I am going to loose the sheet that came with the class, so I am making note of the proportions for each of the pasta doughs here. )

• Egg Pasta Dough
• 9 oz all-purpose flour (2 cups spooned and leveled)
  
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
• 2 large eggs
• 1-3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• Pasta Dough
• 12 ounces all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 6+ ounces cold water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• Gnocchi
  
• 1.5 lbs russet potatoes (We learned that the most common error in gnocchi preparation was the wrong choice of potatoes.)
• 3.5 ounces unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten