Wordless Wednesday: Best Bar Food

Never underestimate the allure and deliciousness of fried artichokes and fried pickles.

Shrimp Two Ways, Two Days Part II

Leftover cooked shrimp in my experience either ends up as a salad, in a salad or on a soup. There is no secret to this as shrimp can easily be overcooked and become tough like leather (how many Top Chef episodes have you seen when the judges decry overcooked shellfish??) BUT, that being said, I saw no issue with WARMING the shrimp and using in a recipe, so with beautiful ingredients on hand: fresh cilantro, limes, a farm grown red pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne and cumin, a new dish was born...shrimp fajitas

The shrimp already had some nice flavor from the previous nights marinade and grill, but for this dish I wanted to amplify the spice, so I made a quick rub of chopped cilantro, about a teaspoon each of cumin and cayenne and some lemon juice, and redressed the shrimp:

In a saute pan, I added a little olive oil and sauteed the peppers and onion that I sliced into strips. Right when the veggies were just about to brown and were still crisp, I added a quick squeeze of lime, the garlic and the shrimp.

The shrimp were only in the pan long enough to marry the flavors and warm them. Then it was time to dress them on some corn tortillas. I tried two different toppings: one of just goat cheese and a little more cilantro and one more traditional of sharp cheddar and sour cream:

The extra cumin and cayenne really amplified the spice which had quite a little bite but was by no means uncomfortable. I think I have convinced my husband that shrimp is indeed fabulous!

Shrimp Two Ways, Two Days - Part I

Not only does summer bring my love of the grill, but it brings my love of seafood too! I have had some shrimp in the freezer I have been aching to cook it and there are some new recipes I have been wanting to try..and experiment with! Might I add that a certain husband of mine is who I have made it a project to get him to love shrimp like I do, so extra pressure to make success!

So I started by looking for a tasty, easy and relatively light marinade because my first shrimp recipe idea was for shrimp skewers. Then I found a recipe for marinated grilled shrimp on AllRecipes.com . A super easy marinade of garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, basil, salt and cayenne pepper. They marinated in the fridge for about 45 minutes and then onto skewers they went. Frankly this was much easier than peeling those full two pounds!

My husband got to grill them (which frankly was another part of my shrimp plan. If he smelled them cooking how could he resist?) and when they came in, they were a beautiful sight!

I was so focused on those shrimp I skimped a little on the side, opting for a frozen veggie blend of wild rice with spinach and tomatoes. It made for a lovely plate though!

This recipe earned the husband and future company over dish seal of approval! Stay tuned for part II when I show you what happened to the leftover shrimp! Yes these were incredibly delicious but two pounds of shrimp is a little much for two people!

Meatless Monday: Quick and Easy Banana Bread

I realize summer doesn't exactly conjure up images of baking bread...but I had some overripe bananas left and for some reason banana bread sounded great! When the weather gets warm, and I do feel like baking (which as any of you know is not THAT often) I do my baking int he evening when the temperatures are cooling. No one wants a hot oven in the heat of the day!

I found this recipe for "quick and easy" banana bread on Cooks.com , not a terribly complex or visually appealing website but it has a tons of variations of the same dish you are looking to make, and it makes cook crooking an easy venture sometimes! This particular recipe is super quick and easy, because it uses self-rising flour...an easy short cut and something I tend to have on hand because I am such an impatient baker!

Banana Bread  Courtesy of Cooks.com

2 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1/2 c. nut meats or raisins (I decided to use Blueberry Craisins to try something different)
1 c. sugar
3 mashed bananas 
Melt butter and pour into mixing bowl. Stir in sugar, eggs and bananas (in that order). Add flour to banana mixture gradually, adding nut meats or raisins last.Pour batter into well-greased loaf pans (2) or a 9x13-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in thickest part comes out clean.

I wanted to make and sure all this bread so I made one in a loaf pan and one in an 8x8 pan. In hindsight, I should have stuck to the instructions because the breads came out a little flatter than I would like, but the flavor was there...and it was eaten in about an hour when it got brought into work! I also enjoyed the Craisins in the bread. I am going to use this combination next time to make some muffins and add a little bit more banana for extra moist banana goodness!

Party Time! Hot dog anyone?

I love entertaining. My husband may say it stresses me out with the cleaning, and shopping and cooking, but I love having people over, sharing food (and adult beverages) and just enjoying a great day. This year, instead of a Memorial Day party, we had a NOT Memorial Day Party and still had BBQ and grilled hot dogs with all the fixings.

I love hot dogs...a new article on Yahoo actually talks about the best and worst ones for you...but for me it's about the toppings. Any of you who witnessed in person or on TV my unique opportunity to serve Coach Marty Schottenheimer an impromptu hot dog, know I am all about topping it in unique ways (for those of you who didn't see it, I made a bacon wrapped hot dog topped with blue cheese cole slaw...delicious.) Last year for hubby's 40th we did a Hot Dog bar (idea courtesy of my friend Ingrid) and anything you could put on a dog we did.

I also love themes, and it just so happened we had leftover luau decorations I had recently discovered in our garage (from my little guys FIRST birthday! He's almost 5 y'all) and so as you can see form the tiki's, we went for it.

Enter my dear friend Ingrid, the master baker who upon being informed of the luau theme brought THIS to my party:

If I didn't love her I would loathe her due to my jealousy over her baking awesomeness. If you want to know how she made it, check out her blog at http://cookingforbetty.blogspot.com/ Might I add it was even more delicious than it was cool to look at!

Now if you'll excuse me, it's 85 degrees outside and I am in the mood for a hot dog!

Link to Love: Cooking for Betty

A very good friend and fellow foodie started a cooking blog recently...she is a master baker, a great friend, and 100% the reason I was able to pull off my Top Home Chef win!
Check her out at:
http://cookingforbetty.blogspot.com/
And tell her The Cook Crook sent you!