This past weekend, we joined Brett's parents and their good friends Jim and Susie for an awesome getaway at the lake of the Ozarks. It's amazing how just three days away can be so refreshing - we spent our time taking the boat out, drinking sangria in the water, playing Farkel and Catchphrase, waterskiing, jetskiing, shooting the minnow....and of course eating tons of delicious food!!! I feel so spoiled at the lake - but I love it!
My "assignment" was to make an appetizer for Saturday night. Truthfully, I felt like my options were fairly limited - I couldn't make any of Ellen's recipes, and I couldn't make anything with too many refridgerated ingredients (we had a 5 hour car drive to get there,) and I couldn't even make a few of my tried-and-true recipes which I'd given to Ellen. I wanted something original, something flavorful, and something that everyone would love!
After a good online search, I came across this recipe on Allrecipes - what could be more summery than tomatoes, garlic and olive oil brushed onto some crispy bread?! This bruschetta recipe is TO DIE FOR - though I do have several recommendations! I will make this over and over again - if I'm lucky, it might become a lake tradition!!
Double Tomato Bruschetta
6 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 C. sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, chopped (I used food processor)
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 C olive oil - plus a bit more for brushing on the bread
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1/4 C fresh basil(I implore you to not use dried herbs in this recipe)
salt + pepper
1 French baguette
2 C shredded mozzerela
1. Mix sundried tomtoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Let sit in fridge overnight.
2. About half-hour before serving, add chopped roma tomatoes and basil. Set aside.
3. Cut baguette into slices and brush with olive oil. Put in the oven (broil) for several minutes until toasted. Hint: Use a wire rack pan, if you have one - this lets the heat come on all sides of the toast.
4. Take the bread out of the oven. Top with tomato mixture and cheese. Put back into the oven until cheese is toasted.
And just a final thought: Susie made a great suggestion, that instead of mozzerella, using something more creamy (like goat cheese) would be the perfect topping to this already delicious appetizer. I will definitely be trying this next time!
As I'm sure you all realize by now, my list of stir-fries or other Asian-inspired dishes can go on and on.... but what can I say?! Cooking fresh veggies in a sweet and spicy sauce over hot oil, then eating alongside yummy jasmine rice....well, it's about as good as it gets! This dish is extra fun because it literally is a rice bowl - you stuff a small bowl with sticky jasmine rice like this:
Then flip into a second bowl for eating out of:
..and top with your delicious shrimp and veggies:
...TA-DA!!!
This recipe is something I sort of just made up, and that's not saying anything special - you could substitute beef/chicken/scallops, use whatever fun veggies are on sale, and switch up the sauces. I do think the pineapple is a must, however - it adds a sweet touch to an otherwise spicy and salty dish.
Shrimp Rice Bowls
15-20 large shrimp, raw and de-shelled
2 bell peppers, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks
1/2 can pineapple cubes
1 TBS fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
a couple drops of sesame oil
1/4 C Stir-fry sauce (I used Kikkoman's)
1/4 C Bangkok Hot Peanut Sauce
jasmine rice, cooked
1. Sautee shrimp and garlic in a bit of olive oil, with several drops of sesame oil. Cook just until pink (1-2 minutes) - you do not want to overcook the shrimp or the texture will be tough! Remove shrimp and set aside.
2. Add more olive oil to pan and sautee peppers, onion, and ginger over high heat. Turn heat to low. Add sauce, cooked shrimp and pineapple. Heat through. Spoon over hot rice.
I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe on my blog yet...but better late than never! I consider my mom's chicken broccoli casserole to be a real comfort food - it's rich (as in, a-cup-of-mayonnaise-rich!), it's piping hot, and the flavor is something that brings me waaaay back to when I was young and Mom would make this on my visits to Cali. I love classic dishes like this that are always good and have a story attached - someday I will pass this recipe on to my own kids but by then, it will be "grandma's chicken broccoli casserole"!!!
I've got no secrets or hints for this one - it's straightforward enough! It does bake for an hour, so factor that into your cooking time. This would be a good one to make ahead for a weeknight dinner, and if you can't eat the whole pan, just freeze half of it for another time.
Kudos to Mom!
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
2 10-oz packages of frozen broccoli, cooked and drained
3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 C real Hellman's mayo
1 TBS lemon juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 C toasted almonds
1/2 C toasted bread crumbs
2 TBS melted butter
Put broccoli in bottom of 9x11 greased casserole pan; spread diced chicken over the top of the broccoli. In a medium bowl, mix soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry, cheese and almonds. Pour over chicken. In small bowl, mix bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over casserole. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove foil for last ten minutes to toast bread crumbs. Let sit five minutes before eating.
Any time I complement Brett's dad, I'm accused of trying to get "brownie points." Now that I'm posting his world-famous sloppy joe recipe, I can already see it comin'.....
Sloppy joes are one of those super-cheap-and-easy-to-go-to meals. Brown a little meat, add a few seasonings, bam, let's eat. Normally I use the William's dry seasoning mix but upon mentioning sloppy joes to Brett a few weeks back, he begged me to get his dad's recipe. Great, I thought, sloppy joes made from scratch? So much for super-cheap-and-easy-to-go-to! I sent Gary a quick text message, and he sent the recipe back almost immediately - with THREE ingredients! Oh yeah, I can handle that.
Gary's World-Famous Sloppy Joes
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 16-oz can Manwich BOLD sloppy joe sauce
1 jalepeno, minced
Brown beef. Add sauce. Add jalepeno. Stir. Heat. Eat.
I'll be the first to admit, I have never been a huge fan of Emeril Lagasse. His energy is amazing but sometimes, too much - I like it in small doses, you know? A few years ago, I happened to watch one of his episodes where he was putting these wraps together. I don't remember why I was intrigued, or why I chose to write down the name of the recipe, or why I later went back and googled it. Whatever the reasons, I'm glad I did!!
This recipe is, well, FUN! It's relatively easy to make, always delicious, and a very pretty layout on the table - cool lettuce wraps, hot marinated pork, a spicy and sweet sauce.
I think the least fun part of this recipe is finding a way to successfully come up with 6-8 pretty lettuce cups. I always buy the biggest head of lettuce I can find, spend 15 minutes slowly peeling away layers, and I STILL don't know the secret. That's something I need to google, as I'm sure there's an easier way. When I re-heated leftovers on day 2, I actually just used chopped lettuce, like for a salad. Of course it tastes the same, but it isn't nearly as fun :)
PS - I served this with homemade asian slaw.
Emeril's Korean Pork Lettuce Wraps
medium pork tenderloin, trimmed (1-1.5 lb)
1/2 C soy sauce
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 C chopped green onions
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS fresh minced ginger
2 TBS hot chili sauce
2 TBS honey
vegetable oil
seasame seeds
2 C cooked jasmine rice
1 large head letteuce, leaves separated, washed and patted dry
After trimming the fat off the pork, wrap tightly in several sheets of plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 40 mins. You want it to be the shape of a slender log.
In a large casserole dish, add soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, green onion, garlic and ginger. Whisk together. Take the pork out of the freezer and cut into half-inch medallions. Place the pork in the marinade, cover and put in fridge for 1 hour-overnight.
In a small mixing bowl, combine hot sauce and honey. [note - this is the sauce noted in the original recipe. You can have fun with this part - I sometimes add hoison, horseradish, orange marmalade, etc.]
When the pork has marinated, remove from fridge and let sit 15 minutes. Heat several TBS of oil in a large skillet and carefully add pork medallions - be careful!!! It will splatter some oil - ensure your oil isn't too hot. Cook the pork for several minutes on each side, until cooked. 
Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
To serve, lay out the lettuce wraps, rice, pork and sauce. Take a lettuce cup, put rice inside, and a pork medallion, and drizzle some sauce. Wrap up and eat!
