Crab & Papaya Salad

This is a light, summery salad that can be served as a first course or an appetizer, or a light lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

3 cups papaya, diced and peeled

1 pound lump crabmeat

1 orange bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 finely chopped jalapeño pepper

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix papaya, green onions, jalapeño pepper, bell peppers and crab meat.  In another bowl, combine canola oil, lemon juice, cider vinegar, sugar, black pepper, and salt, stirring with a whisk.  Drizzle vinegar mixture over crab mixture and mix.  Chill before serving.  Enjoy!

Spicy Ginger Beef

This has a nice combination of sweetness and heat.  Add more Sriracha, if you prefer it extra hot!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb skirt steak, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped basil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger, divided

2 tablespoons Thai chili garlic sauce

1 tablespoon Sriracha hot chili sauce

1 tablespoon white sugar

Salt and pepper, to taste 

Optional:

2 cups steamed white rice

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add beef and one tablespoon of the ginger. Stir fry until meat is barely cooked.  With a slotted spoon, remove beef to a bowl, draining oil back into skillet.

Add the Thai chili sauce, garlic and onion to the remaining oil.  Cook until the vegetables are translucent.  Add peppers, mushrooms, and remaining ginger.  Stir fry until vegetables are tender.

Add the soy sauce to the vegetable mixture. Stir to combine.  Pour reserved meat, with accumulated juices, into the skillet.  Cook until the meat is just heated through.  Add basil and hot sauce, then mix until well combined.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately, on a bed of rice if desired.

Cheesy Bacon and Egg Cups

These were simple to prepare and were gobbled up as soon as I set them out.  Making them in a muffin pan adds to the presentation, and the fresh basil gives a vibrant flavor to the dish.


Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 lb (about 12 slices) slightly precooked bacon
1 dozen eggs
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
6 large basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute bacon in pan until just slightly cooked.  Remove from pan and lay bacon on paper towels to drain.  Coat a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray; fit each muffin cup with a slice of bacon, allowing the bacon to protrude over the edges of the cup.  For some slices, you may need to cut them in half to get this to work.  I used 1 to 1 1/2 full slices of bacon for each muffin cup, just slicing as needed depending on the size of the slices.


Divide half the cheese and basil among the cups.  Crack one egg on top of each cup and sprinkle with remaining basil.  Bake at 375° until set, about 15-20 minutes.  Let the cups rest for 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.  Run knife around edges of cups to unmold and serve.


This is an easy recipe to modify - you could substitute prosciutto, use a different type of cheese, or add vegetables.  Next time I plan to make one with cheddar and mushrooms.  Enjoy!

Surf Nacho Boards

This is a fun twist on nachos.  I tried to position the shrimp on top so that they sort of looked like surfers on surf boards.  This was for a Cruise Ship theme party, so I'm not quite as crazy as that sounds!

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips

1 cup refried beans

1 cup monterey jack cheese

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

1/2 of a red onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tomato, finely chopped

3 tbsp lime juice

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup medium sized shrimp, cooked

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Make a salsa of the jalapeno, onion, tomato, garlic and cilantro.  Season with lime juice and salt and pepper. Arrange tortilla chips on a baking sheet and top with the salsa, then sprinkle generously with monterey jack cheese.  Press one shrimp into the bean/cheese mixture so that it stands.

Bake in the oven at 350 until the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper again, if necessary, and serve when hot.  Surf's up!

Butterscotch Brownies

My mother actually used to make these when I was a kid.  I don't know what made me think of them one day, since I hadn't had them since I was little, but these tasted exactly as I remembered.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 

2 eggs 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 package (11 oz) butterscotch morsels, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in another bowl until creamy.  Beat in eggs, then flour mixture.  Stir in just one cup of the morsels.  Spread into pan.

Sprinkle with remaining morsels and bake for 30- 40 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and serve.

These are very rich.  I made a tower of peanut butter treats for a party, and added these as the bottom layer.  Yum!

 

Lobster Bites with Brie and Champagne Cream

This turned out really well.  I love these puff pastry shells with nearly anything in them, and the combination of lobster, champagne and brie is pretty solid!  This recipe will make about 30 cups, so reduce the ingredients if needed.

Ingredients:

2 packages Athens mini fillo shells (15 per package)
2 tablespoons butter
1  small red onion, finely chopped 
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup champagne
6 ounces Brie cheese, rind removed, cut up
8 ounces fresh or frozen lobster, cooked and cut into chunks
1 package almond slices, toasted (optional)

Directions:
Thaw and bake pastry shells according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Add onion and garlic; cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in flour and ground red pepper.  Stir in cream and champagne.  Note - the mixture may appear curdled at first, but will become smooth as it cooks.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; then add Brie, stirring until melted.  Add lobster last and cook until just heated through.
 
Spoon the mixture into baked pastry shells.  Garnish with toasted almonds, if desired. 


Tips:  Make sure to bake the pastry shells first, otherwise they will become soggy.  Also, the almonds were a pretty and interesting touch, but I also liked the shells without.  The flavor of the brie and lobster together is so intense that it doesn't really need a garnish, so you might want to taste and compare before adding to all.  Enjoy!

Pimento Cheese Sliders

I hate to admit it, but I got this recipe from Rachel Ray's magazine.  Don't worry, I'm sure she had nothing to do with it in real life!  And, the magazine just started coming for free, probably because I subscribed to the Food Network magazine and they got my name off a mailing list - I swear, I would never pay for that housefrau's mag!  Regardless, it's a yummy recipe, and it's also adorable, so how could I resist?  I've adjusted it a bit, as always.

Directions:

16 slices white bread
1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

Cheese Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons pimentos, well-drained and chopped
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Several drops hot sauce

Garnish:

Toothpicks
8 slices pickles (sweet or dill, up to you)

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Cut the bread into 3-inch rounds with a cookie cutter or trim into slider-size squares. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted and golden, 8-10 minutes.

Note - you can also use a toaster for this.  I toasted mine first, then cut them out with the cookie cutter while still hot.

Combine the meat with the garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Mix and form eight burgers and drizzle with oil.  Heat your grill (or indoor grill pan) to medium-high heat. Cook the patties for 2-3 minutes on each side for medium rare.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cream and simmer to thicken for about 3 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Melt in the cheese and stir in the pimientos, mustard and hot sauce.  Taste and add additional seasoning, if necessary.

Divide the patties among eight toast slices and top with the cheese sauce and another slice of toast. Garnish with the pickles and secure with toothpicks.  How cute!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Bisque

I started making this soup from a recipe, but in my usual combative way, I didn't agree with anything other than the main ingredient.  I added and subtracted ingredients until I came up with this, which I must say turned out delicious. 

Ingredients:

3 roasted red bell peppers, peeled and seeded

1 roasted red onion

1 roasted bulb of garlic

1 roasted tomato
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream

2 cups Gruyere cheese 

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoky paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Broil for about twenty minutes, until soft and slightly charred.  Once the vegetables are done, remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Heat butter over medium high heat.  Add flour all at once, whisking vigorously. When the mixture thins and starts to bubble, reduce heat to low.  Cook for a few minutes, until softened and hot.  Add the chicken stock and mix well to avoid lumps.  Continue to stir until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

At this point, you can either use a food processor or blender to puree the roasted vegetables, or add them to the pot and use an immersion blender to puree.  Either way, be careful - impatience has caused me a number of burns when it comes to blending hot soup!

After the vegetables have been incorporated into the mixture, add the cream and cheese and again bring to a boil.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  At this point, the soup should be pretty intensely flavored - sweet, smoky, and creamy.  Sprinkle with additional cheese, if desired, and serve with bread or crostini.  

I happened to be making this soup on a whim, when Kyle brought about a dozen guys home from a film shoot.  You would think that twenty-something guys would run for the door at the words "roasted red pepper soup" but they ended up devouring the entire batch.  So, as it often does, it worked out for the best that I was making a giant pot of soup at midnight.  Enjoy!