Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Pasta

Sunday I made Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Pasta. I looked around for an easy lemon pasta recipe and found Giada De Laurentis had one that was easy and looked great – check out her Lemon Spaghetti.

For the shrimp I made a marinade as follows:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
two garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tsp of Old Bay seafood seasoning
a few turns of fresh black pepper and a pinch of sea salt
Some fresh chopped basil to sprinkle

I whisked this all in a medium bowl and then tossed in a half pound of large de-veined shrimp. Let that marinate for about an hour; then placed the shrimp on skewers that were soaked in water for about a half hour.

I grilled the skewered shrimp on high on an electric grill for about three minutes each side. Only turned the skewers once. Enjoy. Write if you have questions.

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Eggplant Parmesan

Note: My Eggplant Parmesan is NOT a vegetarian meal. It is a wonderful blend of Italian meatballs, sausage, cheese, eggplant, and home made sauce.

4 Medium/Large Firm Eggplant

4 Eggs – beaten with a little water

3 cups Italian seasoned bread crumb

Kosher Salt

1 cup Olive Oil

1 cup Vegetable Oil

Left-over meatballs (4), left over Italian sausage (3), and about two cups of left over spaghetti sauce.

½ lb sliced provolone cheese

4 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese

Peel the eggplant and slice them a little more than ¼ inch thick.

Lay the sliced eggplant out on a large platter and generously salt them with kosher salt. Layer the slice and salt them until all of them are sliced and salted. Let them set for about an hour. A lot of dark liquid will come out of the eggplant. Be sure and drain the liquid.

After an hour, rinse all of the eggplant under cold running water, and then pat them all dry.

In a medium bowl, beat 4 eggs with a tablespoon of water. Pour out 2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs onto a large plate. You may need to use more bread crumbs or eggs depending on the size of your eggplant.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

On a large sheet pan (it helps to have two pans) blend the olive oil and the vegetable oil.

Dip sliced eggplant in egg and then in the bread crumbs and place on the oiled sheet pan. Do this until the sheet pan is full. If you have another pan, do the same process.

Bake the eggplant until golden brown on both sides (about 10 minutes each side). When done, lay the fried eggplant on a large platter lined with paper towel to drain the excess oil. Put paper towel between layers of eggplant to ensure proper drain.

Repeat this until all of the eggplant has been fried and let them cool a bit.

In the meantime, using a fork or potato masher, break up the meatballs and sausage with some sauce. Then add the rest of the sauce and mix.

In 9 X 9 baking dish – spread some sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.

Line the pan with the first layer of eggplant. Next put down three slices of provolone cheese and a little of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Next, spoon on some of the meat/sauce mixture. Repeat these steps until the baking dish is full, or you’ve used up all of the eggplant. Top with any remaining sauce and cheese.

Bake –covered (I use a sheet of parchment paper covered with aluminum foil) for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

(ok, it’s not a perfect picture, I had to try some!!)

My family loves to make eggplant sandwiches using Portuguese Rolls. Sometimes I will cook angel hair pasta and top with a nice square of eggplant parmesan and extra sauce.

Enjoy. If you have questions, write me at dadcooks at reciperedux dot com.

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Mac and Cheese – with a twist

I made a terrific macaroni and cheese – this time I just kind of threw it together but I added a little Dijon mustard.  I also used two cheeses – Velveeta and Cabot Sharp White Cheddar.

8oz. elbow macaroni
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
8oz.  grated sharp cheddar
6oz. cubed Velveeta Cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9×9 baking dish.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally until it is almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, set aside and cover to keep warm.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and stir quickly to make a paste – as soon as it forms add the milk a little bit at a time, so that it all combines without lumps.

Add the salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and Dijon mustard and whisk to combine completely – simmer slowly until it makes a sauce that will evenly coat the back of a wooden spoon.  

Course grate the cheddar cheese and cube the Velveeta and add both to the sauce and blend completely.  Add the cheese sauce to the pot of macaroni and stir until all is combined evenly – then transfer to the buttered baking dish.  Smooth it out, then sprinkle the top with seasoned bread crumbs.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until it bubbles from the sides and the bread crumbs get a bit toasty. 

Serve warm.   This tasted even better the next two days, heated up in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

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Good Bye Toby

Toby, you were a great friend to us – I know you are in doggy heaven. We love you.

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Mac and Cheese or Cheese and Mac

Chef Joe’s Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe courtesy Chef Joe Randall Show: The Best Of Episode: Prix Fixe

Kosher salt 2 cups elbow macaroni 2 eggs, beaten 2 cups evaporated milk 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2-1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar 1 cup bread crumbs 1 teaspoon paprika 1/4 cup grated ParmesanPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally until it is almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, 1/4 cup melted butter, the cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of salt.Put half the macaroni into a buttered 2-quart casserole and top with half the cheddar cheese. Repeat. Pour the milk mixture over the macaroni and cheese.In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the paprika, the remaining butter, and the Parmesan. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the macaroni and bake until brown and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm.

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Meatless Pizzas

We had company from Cincinnati last night and a big request for pizza. Since we follow the dictate of – no meat of Fridays during Lent, I made three excellent meat-less pizzas.

1. Caramelized Sweet Onion and Baby Bella mushrooms with homemade pizza sauce and provolone cheese – got rave reviews on that one.

2. Greek Pizza – with the obvious – homemade pizza sauce, pre-cooked spinach w/garlic, chopped Kalamata Olives (pitted), fried eggplant, and Feta cheese.

3. Pepper Pizza – Slivers of Red and Green Bell Peppers with rings of Cubanelle Peppers – homemade sauce, provolone cheese as well.

I always dust the pizza (no matter what the toppings are) with garlic powder and dried oregano before putting them in the oven at 400 (for 25 minutes).

Try these… they were a real hit last night.

Sorry I don’t have any photos – I was so busy serving – and I might have had too much wine 😉

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Chicken Vesuvio

This recipe for Chicken Vesuvio came from a local restaurant in the Orlando, FL area – Pebbles. As far as I know the restaurant has closed in our area (I think there were 4 or 5 in the Orlando area) and I really liked this dish. It was published in the Orlando Sentinel as well as Restaurant Secrets of Central Florida. Hope you like it.

Pebbles’ Chicken Vesuvio

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter

4 oz demi-glaze

2 tsp. capers

2 oz white wine (Chardonnay)

2 ½ tsp. chopped garlic

1 oz lemon juice

2 egg yolks

1 sprig fresh rosemary

8 oz ( ½ lb) of your favorite pasta

½ tsp. oregano (fresh)

4 Italian plum tomatoes

½ tsp. chopped fresh parsley (garnish)

½ tsp. each salt and pepper

10 to 12 snow pea pods – blanched

½ tsp. tobasco

½ red pepper, julienned

8 oz chicken breast, skinned and cut into strips

¼ cup grated Romano or Asiago cheese

In a large sauté pan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter. Add capers, ½ teaspoon of the chopped garlic, lemon juice, rosemary, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and tobasco; stir to make Vesuvio butter.

Add chicken strips to pan and sauté over medium heat until browned on both sides. Add remaining 2 teaspoons chopped garlic, demi-glaze, wine and lemon juice; let mixture cook until reduced in volume by one-third. Whisk in remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Remove pan from heat; stir in egg yolks and continue stirring until sauce thickens. Add hot pasta and plum tomatoes.

Turn pasta out onto a platter. Garnish with parsley, snow peas and red pepper if desired. Top with grated cheese.

Makes two servings. Serve with your favorite Chardonnay.

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Cincinnati Chili

My daughter asked me for the Cincinnati Chili recipe that I usually make. This is supposed to be “Empress Style” i.e. Empress Chili Parlor. This was the second request in a week (my son asked for it last weekend) – so I figured I’d post it today.

This is very nice on a winter Saturday – Enjoy

Cincinnati Chili (Empress

2 lbs 93% lean ground beef (or ground sirloin)

2 large onions chopped

3 large garlic cloves chopped

1 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp Chili powder

2 tbsp Ground cumin

2 tbsp Ground allspice

2 tbsp Ground cinnamon

1 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp powdered cocoa

2 tbsp ground red pepper (use less if you want it less HOT)

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp of red wine vinegar

3 or 4 bay leaves

1 small can tomato paste

1 small can of tomato sauce

==========================

1 lb. Package of spaghetti

grated sharp cheddar cheese

One large WHITE onion chopped

Oyster crackers (optional)

In a large pot, pour in 11/2 quarts of water. Add the tomato paste and the can of tomato sauce. Stir this around until all the paste is dissolved.

Add the chopped garlic.

Add the ground sirloin my dropping small chucks of the meat into the liquid (that’s right – it goes in raw). Stir this around so that it is a loose mixture of liquid and meat (gross !!)

Add the two chopped onions, stir, and then add in all the rest of the ingredients. The entire mixture should be somewhat loose when you start and then will thicken as it cooks. If it seems to thick to begin with add more water.

Let this simmer on low or about three hours or until thicker. It smells great the entire time its cooking!! If it gets too thick and you don’t keep an eye on it, it will burn and you’ll have to throw it out! – so be careful dammit !

Cook pasta til done and drain. Place pasta on plates or pasta bowls and cover with Cincinnati Chili. Top with 1) dice white onions, sharp cheddar cheese, hot sauce (optional). Serve with oyster crackers is you want to.

Chili Pups………In a hot dog bun – – – spread a little yellow mustard into the bun, scoop in some Cincinnati Chili, top with onions, cheddar cheese, hot sauce. YUMMMMM.

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Basil Sweet Basil

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Anticipation

Of Christmas, Yes – but also of Lemons!

When we bought this house two years ago it came with a dog – Sadie

 

and citrus trees. One pink grapefruit tree, one honeybell orange tree, and one lemon tree. The lemons should turn yellow in January or February. You can’t see them very well, but there are about 24 lemons on this tree. So hopefully you’ll see some lemon dishes getting published here.

Merry Christmas everyone !!!

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Meatballs

 

Meatballs

 

I made meatballs today, but this time I just kind of threw it together. Here’s what I used

 

2 lb ground chuck

4 links of sweet Italian sausage (meat pulled from the casing)

Six slices of Pepperidge Farm white bread crumbled (rubbing bread in hands to crumble)

1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs

Sprinkling of milk

3 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

½ medium onion chopped

1/3 of a large green pepper chopped (fine)

2 eggs beaten

Couple of shakes of extra virgin olive oil

 

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried savory

¼ tsp ground red pepper

¼ tsp ground paprika

1 tbsp fennel seed

 

In a very large working bowl combine the ground chuck and the sausage and blend the two with your hands. Add the bread that has been moistened with sprinkling of milk. Add in all of the rest of the ingredients in the order listed. Add a little water to the whole mixture and a few shakes of olive oil.

 

My mother-in-law always added fennel seed to her meatballs. She thought it was great for Italian Sausage, it should be good for meatballs —- and it is… my family loves them that way. Try it.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll the meatballs and put them in baking dishes and add a little water to the dishes before putting them into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked. They will cook some more when you add them to your sauce pot later.

=Dad

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Italian Sausage and Bean Soup

I had some sweet Italian Sausage hanging in the freezer as well as 6 quarts of chicken stock in the outside fridge… so I decided to make some kind of soup.

Here’s what I came up with:

3 links of sweet Italian Sausage
1 large or 2 med onions chopped
4 slices of bacon – fine dice
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
small sprig of rosemary – whole
a few thyme branches
half a package of fresh-washed spinach
1 15oz can of canallini beans
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 28oz. can of whole Italian tomatoes
handful of linguine – broken into 1/2 inch length

In a soup pot, render the fat from the bacon with a little olive oil. Dice the onion and garlic and cook in the rendering until the onion is translucent. Add a reasonable amount of salt and pepper and the red pepper. In a separate pan, fry up the Italian sausage until very well done, slice it up in smaller pieces, fry again until all of the insides are well done, then add to the soup pot. Add back in the cooked bacon. Add the rosemary sprig and thyme, then add the chicken stock and stir. Bring it to a slow simmer, then add the tomatoes and beans. Half an hour before serving add the spinach and the pasta (linguine – or use your favorite pasta or whatever you have on hand). Good Stuff !!!

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Sunday – Pasta, Meaballs and Sausage

1 Medium onion – diced
3 cloves garlic – chopped
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Drizzle the olive oil into a large pot or dutch oven and add the ingrediants as listed.

Then add:

Six pound can of Italian Peeled Tomaotes which have been run through the food processor until medium/thin texture
Three small cans of tomatoe paste
1 litre of spring water OR two .5L bottles of spring water (normal drinking size)
1 Medium carrot – cut in quarters
1/2 green pepper – (NOT diced)

Blend in the procecessed tomatoes and the tomatoe paste with the water until you have a very smooth consistency – IMPORTANT: be sure and dissolve ALL of the tomaote paste or as the sauce heats up you may have clumps that settle to the bottom of the pot and will burn.

Make your favorite recipe of meatballs.  I will post this recipe at a later time.  Bake the meatballs in about a 1/2 inch of water in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes-or until they are cooked all the way through.  I include the sausage as well in this process.

Add some fresh basil about an hour prior to serving.

Use your favorite pasta – We had the grandkids over for dinner, so we made “kid-friendly” pasta.

Serve with some crusty bread and a salad.

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