Cajun Red Snapper with Red Pepper Cream Sauce

This recipe was an experiment... I just used what i had in the kitchen in an attempt to concoct something yummy. It actually turned out great! Chris loved the sauce and even used it as a dipping sauce for his bread. Thats when you know it is good!

With a glass of wine, some good music and our beautiful new patio--this was the perfect meal!



PS I didn't measure at all this time. See if you can use my ingredients and create somethingwith the exact amount of spice you prefer! Just taste as you go!! You can do it.

Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
A few tsp of garlic, minced
A few tbs of onions, diced
Chicken stock
White wine
1 plum tomato, diced
Crushed red pepper flakes
Heavy whipping cream
Olive oil

Preparation:

1. On medium high heat, warm olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, onions, red peppers, crushed red pepper and tomatos. Saute until peppers are soft.
2.  Add chicken stock and wine. Let simmer for 10 min. Add heavy whipping cream to thicken sauce and to reduce spice. Keep warm while you prepare fish.
3. Rub snapper with a cajun seasoning. Sear both sides of fish in a pan with little oil over high heat. Transfer to oven and bake for 3-5 minutes at 375.  Remove from oven and let rest 5-8 minutes. It is very easy to overcook this fish. Take it out of oven even if you think its not ready- it will continue to cook while it rests.
4. Spoon sauce over fish and top with fresh lemons.

"Super Fun Dessert"

A few weeks ago, my future sister in law invited us over for dinner. When asking what I could bring, she replied with "A Super Fun Dessert." So this is what popped up on my google search for a super fun dessert. And it sure was delicious! :)

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:

Devils food cake box mix
1 gallon ice cream of choice (I used cookies and cream)
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Saran wrap

Preparation:

1. Bake devils food cake as per box directions. Bake in two 10 inch round pans. Let cool for at least 30 min.
2. Line a 9 inch round pan (you want a smaller pan because ice cream expands) with saran wrap and pack soften ice cream in tightly. Fill to the brim of baking pan. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours.
3. To make chocolate ganach: heat cream in a pan over medium high heat and add chocolate chips, stirring constantly. While ganache is hot, ice cakes on sides and tops. Refridgerate both cakes for 1 hour.
4. After all refridgeration/freezer time has been met- you are ready to assemble. On a cake plate, place cake (ganache side up), ice cream layer (be sure to remove saran wrap!), and top with the other cake. Keep in Freezer until you serve!

ENJOY!!!



Braciola

For Christmas, I recieved Giada de Laurentis' cookbook, Everyday Italian. It is an amazing book that breaks down all the basics of Italian cooking. One rainy Sunday, I decided to experiment with a recipe I had never heard of before, called Braciola. It is a signature beef dish that is prepared  like a rollatini and can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients.

Warning: Start this recipe early as it takes almost 3 hours to bake.

Braciola

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
1 garlic clove
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup provolone
2 tbs chopped parsley
4 tbs olive oil
S & P
1 flank steak
1 cup white wine
3 1/4 cup marinara sauce (whatever kind you like)

Preparation:

1. Combine bread crumbs, garlic, both cheeses, parsley, ONLY 2 TBS of olive oil and S & P in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Lay flank steak flat and evenly coat with entire bread crumb mixture. Starting at one end, as tightly as possible, roll up the flank steak. Have someone help you tie it securely in several places with twine.  S & P the entire Braciola.



3. Heat remaining olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Brown Braciola on all sides for a total of about 8 minutes.
4. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Add in marinara sauce and cover partially with foil. Transfer to oven. Cook for 1.5 hours, turning Braciola and basting with marinara from bottom of pan every 30 min. For the last 30 min, bake uncovered.



AMAZING TURKEY LASAGNA

Make this and you will love it. I promise you that. We had it for dinner last night and ate until we couldnt move anymore. We might have polished off the whole pan BUT it was low fat. Haha Well...about as low fat as you can get for lasagna (which isnt very). Really easy to make--you just need to allow time for it to cook.

Chris' Favorite Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 can Delmonte Traditional spaghetti sauce (or any plain red sauce-- simple flavors)
1 lb ground lean turkey mean
italian seasoning
garlic powder
s & p
15 ounce tub fat free ricotta cheese
1 pkg low fat mozzerella cheese
2 eggs
whole wheat lasagna noodles, already cooked per box directions
parmesan cheese to top

Preparation:

1. Brown turkey meat over medium heat in skillet. Add GENEROUSLY (you want to taste the seasonings) italian seasoning, garlic powder and s & p. Remove from heat.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with 2 eggs. Set aside.
3. Spray a little pam on the bottom and sides of glass baking dish. Begin with a layer of noodles. Then spread half the ricotta cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Next cover with half the ground turkey. Then half the sauce and top with mozzerella cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients (noodles, ricotta, meat, sauce, cheese). HOWEVER, leave a little sauce and cheese aside to save for the top. Place one more layer of noodles on top and lightly cover with remaining sauce and cheese. Add parmesan cheese over top before baking.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

ENJOY!

Texas Ice Storm Improv: Crazy Chicken Enchiladas

First off I would like to say that I live in Texas for a reason! I was not a fan of the week long ice/snow storm and frigid temeratures!! Anyways, in the midst of the crazy weather, we got a craving for mexican food. Not wanting to go out (the restaurants were probably closed) or fight the ice to run to the grocery store -- I attempted to improvise with what we had and created some delicious chicken enchiladas.  The first problem was we didnt have any tortillas, cheese or sour cream. Our neighbors lent us cheese, I learned that buttermilk can be substituted for sour cream by adding lemon juice, and last of all I made homemade tortillas (which to my surprise were really easy)!

Tortillas

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm awter

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients together and knead into a big ball. Break off  2 inch balls one by one and roll out to the thinness and shape of a tortilla.
2. In a flat pan on medium high heat, place dough on pan and let cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then flip. They cook very fast-- be careful you don't burn them.

Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, boiled and then shredded
1/2 can cream of mushroom
1/2 can cream of chicken
1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tbs lemon juice
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of garlic powder
s & p
3 cups cheese
cilantro and salsa to top

Preparation:

1. Combine cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, buttermilk, lemon juice, and seasoning. Mix thorougly and separate into equal parts in two bowls.
2. In one bowl mix in shredded chicken and ONLY 2 cups of cheese. This will be your stuffing for your tortillas.
3. Using the mixture in the other bowl (without chicken and cheese) pour enough to cover lightly the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.
4. Place a few spoonfulls of "stuffing" in the middle of a tortilla. Roll up and place seam down into baking dish. Repeat until dish is full.
5. Pour remaining mixture (sans chicken and cheese) over the enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top.
6. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Top with cilantro and salsa.

Crab Cakes with Lemon Dill Sauce

Sorry I have not blogged in a while! Work has been busy! Had a wonderful date last night with my Valentine. We went to Sapristi in Fort Worth. It is an adorable little french bistro. The food was delicious. We had steak tartare, a ceasar salad with anchovies, mussells and fries, chicken cordon bleu with a lemon artichoke cream sauce and of course, lots of yummy wine :) I highly recommend this restaurant. We love trying new things. My next big cooking attempt will be to recreate their chicken cordon bleu.

As for this weeks recipe. I actually made these crab cakes the day after sushi date night. We had so much leftover crab, and I wanted to use it before it went bad. They turned out delicious and were definitely filling enough to eat for dinner not just for an appetizer.

Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of lump crab meat
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup crushed ritz crackers
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
4 tbs butter
1 green onion, diced
1 minced garlic close
2 tbs djion mustard
4 tbs heavy whipping cream
1 egg
dash of cayenne pepper
s & p
1 tbs parsely, minced

Preparation:

1. Saute green onion, bell pepper and garlic in butter on medium heat until soft. Remove from heat.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combind sauteed mixture, heavy whipping cream, mustard, egg, parsley, cayenne, ONLY 1/2 cup crushed ritz, and S & P to taste. Then slowly fold in crab meat.
3. Form into patties (the size of hamburger) and then coat with additional ritz mixed with parmesan cheese. Refridgerate for at least 2 hours.
4. After 2 hours of refridgerating, place crab cakes on a metal baking sheet. Bake in oven for 400 degrees at 10-12 min or until crispy brown.

Lemon Dill Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup mayo
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 tbs parsley
zest of small lemon
3 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients and refridgerate.

***Hope you all enjoy!! These crab cakes were such a treat for us! Chris loved them :)

Date Night: Roll Your Own Sushi

First off, I am so sorry its has been so long since I blogged. Truth be told...I'm still cooking, just forgetting to take pictures of my food! On friday night, Chris and I stayed in and had an affordable and fun date night. We bought a roll your own sushi kit from World Market that had basically everything you need minus the fresh veggies and seafood. It makes 4 rolls, 2 bowls of misu soup AND it was only $12.99! The instructions were super easy to follow. At the grocery store I spent about $15 on lump crab meat, a cucumber, an avocado, carrots, scallions and smoked salmon. We will definitely try this again. Our goal is to go to the Asain Market and get a little more creative with our rolls.

Roll Your Own Sushi

Ingredients:

Sushi Kit from World Market
1 container of lump crab meat or a stick of imitation crab meat
1 cucumber
1 avocado
1 carrot
Scallions
1 package of smoked salmon

Preparation:

1. Start by slicing all of your veggies julienne style. The thinner the better. You don't want to over stuff your rolls or they won't stay closed once you cut them into pieces.

2. Follow the simple directions on the box. Basically you take your seaweed (shiny side down) and place it on the bamboo mat. Cover evenly with sticky rice mixture (directions on box) and then stuff with veggies and seafood of your choice. Then simply roll with the bamboo mat, cut and serve. Here is a picture of what it should look like before you roll.

Here is the finished product! Yum!