Monday, December 23, 2013

Seafood Bake




Seafood Bake


Seafood Bake Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
½ large red pepper, diced
½ large green pepper, diced
1 cup of lobster meat
12 cooked jumbo shrimp, cut into thirds*
2 cans of clam meat
2 cups of raw frozen scallops
1 tbsp Old of Bay Seasoning
½ cup of sherry or white wine
1 ½ tbsp of Seafood base*
1 cup of Chicken stock
2 cups of milk
1 pint of heavy cream
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp of butter
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
½ bag of egg noodles, cooked

Cracker Topping Ingredients

1 sleeve of snack crackers, (Ritz crackers)
1 tsp of paprika
4 tbsp of butter

Cracker Topping Instructions

In a small bowl crush cracker with your hand until loose and crumbly. Add butter and paprika mix well and set aside.

Seafood Bake Instructions:

In medium skillet melt 1 stick of butter, then stir in 1 cup of flour, continue to stir until flour is well incorporated, forming a thick paste and begins to smell like peanut butter.(This is a roux, be sure not to burn.) Then set aside.
In a large pot melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium high heat, add minced garlic, olive oil, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, pepper, celery, and onions, stir.  Sweat for 2 minutes.  Then stir in peppers and sweat for an additional 2 minutes.
Stir in milk, wine, chicken stock, seafood base*, and heavy cream bring to a boil then stir in roux.
Reduce heat to medium. Cook and continue to stir until thickens.  Stir in seafood, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. (You can serve as seafood soup at this point.)
Spray a large casserole dish, add noodles then ladle soup on top of noodles.  Cover the soup with cracker topping and place into 375 degree oven and bake until browned and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes then serve.

***Note if you can’t find seafood base: Use raw shrimp in your ingredients and follow below instructions. In a small pan bring to a boil 1 cup of water, 1 tsp of crab boil, and 1 tsp of pickling seasoning. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn opaque.  Drain water from shrimp into a small heat resistant container and set aside (seafood stock). Cool shrimp and remove shells, cut into thirds then set aside.

Double Dip Tenders








Double Dip Tenders

Ingredients:

2 lbs. raw chicken tenders, rinsed
3 cups of all purpose flour
½ cup of milk
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 tbsp of white pepper
1 tbsp of seasoned salt
1 tbsp of ground paprika
1 tsp of black pepper
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat a deep fryer to 350 degrees.
Cover either a large plate or sheet pan with wax paper and set aside.
In, a large bowl mix together milk and egg set aside.
Mix together all seasonings and flour in a large bowl.  Evenly divide seasoned flour into two bowls or on two plates then set aside.
Lightly dust the tenders in the first divided seasoned flour mix.
Next coat tenders into the egg/milk mixture, and then evenly coat tenders in the second divided seasoned flour mix.
Place coated tenders onto wax paper cover pan/plate.
Dip tenders back into the egg/milk mixture, and carefully coat tenders.  Then lightly coat tenders again in the seasoned flour mix for a second time.
Place double dipped tenders back onto the wax paper covered pan/plate.  Then place tenders into the refrigerator for 25 minutes.
Add tenders in small amounts into the deep fryer and cook for 7 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Drain grease from tenders on a rack or paper towel covered plate.
Serve with your favorite sauces.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Holiday Citrus Drink








Holiday Citrus Drink

 Ingredients:
 
6 oz of cranberries, fresh/frozen
1 ¼ quarts of water
1 cup of orange juice
½ cup of sugar
2 tbsp of honey
½ cup of pineapple juice
1 tbsp of lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:
 
Add water and cranberries into a large pot; bring to a boil until the cranberries start popping.  Add remaining ingredients, stir until sugar is melted.
Bring mixture back to boil and boil until mixture starts to froth then reduce heat to simmer for 25 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Remove from heat; use the back of a large spoon to coarsely crush cranberries.  
Strain drink into a large heat resistant container.
Serve hot or cold.
For larger amounts double recipe.

Banana- Nut Streusel Muffins









Banana-Nut Streusel Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups of all- purpose flour
1 cup of skim milk
¾ cup of mashed bananas
1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
 1/3 of white sugar
1 tbsp of baking powder
½ tsp of salt       
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup of canola/vegetable oil
½ cup of chopped walnuts
2 tbsp of molasses
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Streusel Topping
¼ cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
1 tsp of cinnamon
3 tbsp of butter
¼ cup of chopped walnuts

Streusel Topping Instructions:
Mix all toppings ingredients together in a small bowl, except for nuts. Mix until topping is light and crumbly then mix in nuts, set aside.

Muffin Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper muffin cups then set aside.
In a large bowl sift flour, sugars, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour mix and set aside.
In, a medium bowl mix together milk, egg, molasses, oil, bananas, and vanilla.  Add the mixture into the flour well and mix all ingredients together. (Don’t over mix.) Then mix in nuts.
Use an ice cream scope and evenly scope the batter into muffin pan’s cups. Sprinkle a layer of the Streusel topping on top of the batter. Gently tap topping into batter twice with the back of a teaspoon.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. (Insert a wooden toothpick into the center of muffins if comes out clean then muffins are done.)
Let muffins rest for 5 minutes then serve.

***Note: If using a large muffin pan preheat to 400 degrees and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.