Tag Archives: picky eaters

The dessert that almost wasn’t: Brownie Dessert Pizza

25 May

The final product was well-worth the journey, although at the time I was questioning it!

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go quite right? Well Sunday was one of those days and we almost didn’t have dessert for our dinner company because of it.

It started out that I was supposed to hit the store on my way home from our troop’s car wash at 1:00 that afternoon to pick up the stuff I needed to make the dessert: brownie mix, strawberries and cream cheese.

I forgot. I hate that.

I got all the way home and I realized I hadn’t gone to the store.

I went back out to Aldi’s at 2pm.

Strawberries: check. Brownie mix: check. Cream cheese: check.

Go home, start the recipe, which I’ve had before as a Pampered Chef recipe, but came across my desk in an email from the 24/7 Moms blog that I follow, which listed five outrageous dessert pizzas. (Of course I had to check them out!) The email directed us to Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam to get the recipe, which I did. Apparently she changed it slightly to make it healthier. (Me throwing chocolate chips into the brownie mix probably canceled out whatever she did to make it healthy.)

The recipe said to use a 15″ round pizza stone and parchment paper so that the mix won’t run off the stone and into the oven. I didn’t have a round pizza stone but I had a large rectangular stone, so I used that.

Parchment Paper: check.

Big mess in the oven: check.

Using the stone didn’t quite go as I’d planned.

About five minutes into the bake time, I smell something burning. Sure enough it’s dessert. I peek in and the brownie is literally dripping down in big, huge, chunky drips, into the oven. I quickly pull out the stone, throw the whole thing into the sink next to me and proceed to wash the brownie mix down the drain.

“Hmmm…technical difficulties with dessert,” I post on my status update on on Facebook as I decide what to do.

Don volunteers to run back out and get me another brownie mix. I take him up on that (he’s such a good guy) and off he goes.

He comes back around 3:30, and in the meantime I’ve decided to use the large bar pan that Pampered Chef sells. It’s long like my pizza stone but has low edges, which apparently I needed to keep the  batter IN the pan.

So I try again. All goes well with the baking, the brownie pizza comes out looking just fine.

Brownie Pizza, Take II

I begin making my cream cheese topping with my block of cream cheese. But now, I’m looking at my topping and looking at my very long brownie pizza and I’m thinking, “I don’t have enough topping.”

My next thought: “I have to go back to the store for more cream cheese.”

I won’t write what my next thought was after that, but it’s at this point where I decide that I should’ve just put a bag of Oreo’s on the table for dessert and called it a day.

It’s now 5:40 pm as I sneak out the door while Don showers, and our company was due in 20 minutes.

This time I ran to Price Rite and got my second block of cream cheese and came home.

The good news is, it all worked out and everyone liked the dessert except Elizabeth who picked off the cream cheese layer and put the strawberries back on top.  Whatever…

I’d definitely make it again and you can too, in fact, I highly recommend that you try it. It was incredibly delicious.

The recipe and directions are below, and now that you know my story, none of these trials and tribulations will happen to you.

See? So beautiful! Sooooo delicious and so just not my day that day!

BROWNIE DESSERT PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

1 box Ghiradelli Brownie Mix (I wonder if this was my first problem. I just bought any mix and I wonder if it yields more batter than Ghiradelli does. )

Parchment Paper

1 lg. rd. 15″ pizza stone or a round pizza sheet (you now know, I used the large bar pan.)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I’d grab two, just to be sure you have enough.)

1/4 cup powdered sugar (double for two blocks of cream cheese)

Handfuls of fresh strawberries, sliced or any fruit you like with chocolate  ( I also served a bowl of extra strawberries on the side so people could add more if they wanted to.)

Melted Semi-sweet Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips (I used Hershey’s syrup instead)
DIRECTIONS

Prepare the brownie mix as per the instructions on the box.

Cut the parchment paper to the shape of the pizza stone (I didn’t use parchment in the bar pan, I sprayed it with cooking spray.)

Spread the brownie mixture on the parchment paper within 1 ” of the edges. It’s important to use the parchment paper because it will help prevent the brownie mixture from seeping over the stone while in the oven cooking (we all now know how that worked out.)

Cook the brownies until the center comes out clean with a knife or toothpick (15-20 minutes).

Cool completely. Flip brownie crust over onto a cooling stone and carefully remove the parchment paper then flip the round brown crust back onto the stone or a nice plate for serving. (I did none of this and served it right in the bar pan.)

Mix the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar well and spread on the brownie pizza base within one inch of the edge.

Layer cut strawberries around the crust and then drizzle with melted chocolate (or in my case, with Hershey’s syrup.)

Enjoy!

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: A new-to-me chicken recipe and an oldie but goodie

23 May

This meal was new to us, and we all gave it thumbs up. I’d definitely have it again.

For the past few months, my local paper has been featuring my blog’s recipes on their Facebook Page each Wednesday in a feature called “What’s for Dinner Wednesday,” so I have been trying to coordinate my blogging schedule to coincide with that feature by showing a dinner recipe each Wednesday.

Today, you’ll get a bonus, two recipes in one post.

The recipe in the photo to the left is one that was new to us, but I was inspired by an old recipe I used to make, one that was given to me by the math coach I used to work with in New Jersey when I taught there. It was a one-dish chicken and rice recipe. It called for cream of mushroom soup and rice. We used to make it a lot.

I wanted to make something similar to that, but not a baked casserole, so I searched for recipes using Cream of Mushroom Soup and Chicken until I found one here that was sauteed, and that’s the one we used and the one that is shown in the photo here. I wanted to be able to use brown rice with it, and be able to serve the rice “on the side” if someone didn’t want it all together, even though in this particular instance I do actually let my foods touch by putting the chicken on the rice.

I know, that’s big for me.

What I’ve decided to do is feature both recipes here and you can choose to make the one you’d like to make.

Enjoy!

ONE DISH CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup rice (not minute rice)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

boneless chicken breasts

DIRECTIONS

Combine soup, water and uncooked rice in layers with the boneless chicken on top, in a casserole dish.

Sprinkle with paprika and pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

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This recipe is a great new addition to our family’s menu.

BIG OVEN CREAM OF MUSHROOM CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 cup mushrooms (we had none so I skipped this part)

4 medium skinless/boneless breasts (I used tenders)

1 ten ounce can cream of mushroom soup

2 dashes salt

2 dashes pepper

cooked rice (I used Aldi’s Instant Brown Rice)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a medium skillet.

Add chicken and brown both sides for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add can of cream of mushroom soup (Do not add water).

Stir until chicken and mushrooms are well coated.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink), stirring once or twice.

This dish is best served over rice.

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On the side please

17 May

There’s something for everyone in this easy side dish.

Time for dinner: chicken. With rice. And a side.

Ugh. What to make “on the side” this time?

There’s green beans, asparagus, green beans, asparagus, corn, green beans…..

Okay our sides are not *quite* that routine, but almost. Throw in some cauliflower or broccoli on that list and that makes up our usual list of “on the side” veggies to go on our plates at dinnertime. Not everyone likes corn, not everyone likes peas or spinach so we only rarely have those, but they’re on the list every once in a while too.

Ugh.

I get tired of the same old thing.

On occasion though, I throw this one into the mix: carrrots/apples/craisins sauteed with honey, brown sugar, and butter. Sometimes I even put a squirt of maple syrup in there. Why not?

Now you know why it’s only on occasion. It’s a veggie and look: it’s dessert! Sort of.

It’s not something you can have every night obviously, and even if it didn’t have all those yummy ingredients in with the fruits and veggies, even this would get boring after a while too.

The thing I like about this one (other than the brown sugar and butter and honey) is that some people LOVE the carrots, and others LOVE the apples and craisins. There’s a lot of “I’ll eat your craisins” and “Can I have your apples?” going on at the table when I serve this on the side.

Although this is not a recipe, per se, it is a recommendation for a side dish which I’m passing along to you today. Give it a try and see how your family likes it!

My occasional side dish shown here with rice pilaf and marinated pork tenderloin.

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Alfredo Sauce for a dinner of your choice

16 May

Remember Karen’s Cookbook?

Remember a while back when I mentioned that my college roommate, Karen, had given me a handmade cookbook when we graduated? Well, if you don’t remember that post, you can read it again here with a recipe and again with another recipe from it here as well.

Since pulling out that cookbook again a few months ago, I have been reminded of all the recipes that are in it, and I’ve been making them again, one at a time. Last week was one of those times, and this time around, I made her Alfredo Sauce recipe.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love recipes where my family members can eat what they like from the meal or leave what they don’t like, and a recipe with sauce provides that same opportunity. They can have their meal either with the sauce or without. They can have it “on top of” or “on the side.”

It works out perfectly for us.

This Alfredo Sauce recipe was one that I remember making a long time ago and using over pasta, but it’s also good over chicken and over cauliflower or broccoli. Last week when I made it, we had pan fried chicken with rice pilaf and cauliflower, and I have to say, all five of us liked the sauce!! My kids started out putting it “on the side,” but ended up dipping everything into it as they realized how much they liked it. I was so pleased.

Karen’s recipe is simple and delicious, and I’m sharing it with you today. I apologize that I forgot to take a photo before we ate it! Sometimes, I just eat and forget to play paparazzi with my meal and this was one of those times.

ALFREDO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp. flour

1/2 tsp. pepper (I would skip this, personally, next time, or use less. I don’t love pepper.)

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup shredded parm. cheese (I used regular grated parm.)

1 tbl. parsley (I skipped it. Green Stuff throws my kids right off sometimes, and they won’t try something just because of that.)

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter.

Stir in flour and pepper.

Gradually add half and half.

Stir frequently.

Add cheese and stir until melted.

Serve with pasta and broccoli (or chicken or whatever you want!)

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My daily lunchtime dilemma…and a recipe

4 May

I dread the daily lunchtime dilemma.

I have such a hard time with lunch. I always have, even for my kids. I don’t love lunch unless it’s leftover dinner or unless it’s breakfast for lunch. But, if we have no leftovers and if I have had breakfast for breakfast and don’t want it again for lunch, I get kind of stuck. Some days my work schedule is such that I can eat a late breakfast and skip lunch altogether. Other days I have to eat lunch for lunch and I often just don’t know what to have.

This week I had one of those days. I’d done breakfast for breakfast and I was working from home so I had to eat lunch at home and there were no leftovers. I opened and closed the fridge a half dozen times, and the pantry closet never had anything new in it no matter how many times I looked.

Finally, I was completely starving.

Desperate.

I opened the fridge again, and I saw two things that struck my fancy that I hadn’t noticed before: leftover cooked bacon, and a fruit dip from my mom (one of my all-time faves) that had just a little bit left in the container. Somehow those two things came together in my head and I knew I had a fabulous little lunch in store for myself.

A few minutes on broil in the toaster oven and I had a crispy baked potato with bacon and cheese for my lunch.

Along with the leftover bacon, I pulled out some cheddar cheese. With the dip I pulled out a kiwi. I went to my potato bin and got myself the biggest baked potato I could find and I threw it in the microwave until it was cooked through. I opened it up, put in some butter, mixed it around and put the bacon crumbled on top. Over that, I grated the cheddar cheese.

I then put the whole thing in the toaster oven on broil for just a few minutes. When I took it out, it was crispy and piping hot.

It was delicious. I was in heaven.

And then, my mom’s almond fruit dip…this dip is so good! It’s great on strawberries, or on pineapple or on kiwi or really on just about anything. We’ve done grapes and cantaloupe too, it’s yummy.

This dip is great for company, or in this case, for me.

There was just enough left for me to make a little side dish for myself with the dip and a kiwi, although I could’ve skipped the kiwi. I’ve been known to eat this dip with a spoon. The kiwi was healthy though, right? Right.

It was perfect.

You too, can have my perfect lunch at your house!

Here is the recipe for my mom’s Almond Cream Dip, which according to my recipe card, she got from a 1982 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine.

INGREDIENTS

One 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 ounce vanilla instant pudding

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1 tsp. almond extract

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pudding using only one cup of milk.

Fold in whipped cream and almond extract.

Refrigerate if not served right away.

Enjoy! And tell me, what do you like to eat for lunch?

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Another great recipe from The Budget Gourmet Mom

1 May

Do you ever get tired of the same old thing?

I love asparagus! I found out earlier this year that most of my kids like asparagus, so I was so thrilled when Aldi’s started carrying it in their frozen veggies section because it meant that we could afford it and afford to have it any time we wanted to.

I bought it by the boatload. We had it all the time.

I’m tired of asparagus now.

Well, not tired of asparagus so much as I am tired of cooking it the same old way every time, which everyone likes: sauteed with oil and garlic in a frying pan on the stove, which is also the same way we make our green beans because it’s everyone’s favorite way.

I was happy to see a new cooking suggestion a few weeks back from The Budget Gourmet Mom blog that I follow. It was a recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic and it made me wonder why I’d never thought to roast my asparagus before.

Sometimes you just need it to hit you over the head, I guess.

It also reminded me that I have another recipe for preparing asparagus that my mom used to make, so when I make that one, I’ll post it as well. I haven’t made it in years and years.

So here is Krista’s recipe for you for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic. If you’d like to see her beautiful photography to go along with her preparation of the asparagus, head on over to her blog. I go there EVERY day and I always love her posts.

Thank you Krista!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb asparagus
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • a few thin slices of red onion
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Wash and trim the asparagus. Lay out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
  3. Mince the garlic and sprinkle over the asparagus. Top with red onion rings.
  4. Bake 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Jacob’s Cookbook

27 Apr

A brownie recipe from Jacob's new cookbook

I know I’ve mentioned it in the past, but I meet some amazing people in my job at the newspaper, and I mean really amazing. So often I come home after a story, completely stunned by what I’ve just learned about the person I’ve just interviewed. Two weekends ago I had an interview that completely blew me away both as a parent and as someone who loves food and cooking.

Two weekends ago I met Jacob.

Jacob is 14. He’s an eighth grade student and he’s about to publish a cookbook as part of a project he has to do for school. The proceeds from his cookbook will benefit the local community food bank.

That in itself is amazing, but that’s not what blew me away, actually.

Here’s what did: when I interviewed Jacob I asked him where he got all of his recipes from for his cookbook.

His answer: he made them up.

Jacob has not only created a cookbook at age 14, which will benefit a worthy cause, but he created all of the recipes himself from scratch, including how much of each ingredient for each recipe. He created the cookbook page layouts, made all of the recipes, took all the photos of all the foods, and typed them all up himself.

I just about fell out of my chair.

I said to Jacob, “That. is. amazing.”

Jacob with his cookbook before it goes to print.

Jacob said he knew that, but I don’t think he REALLY knew that. I mean I don’t think I could just MAKE UP a recipe (never mind a cookbook full of them) and figure out all the stuff that has to go in it, all by myself and I am FORTY YEARS OLD-I’ve been cooking for several of his lifetimes and I couldn’t do that!!

I sat and interviewed Jacob for about 45 minutes or so, and my article about him can be seen here.

More importantly though, I have one of Jacob’s dessert recipes right HERE on my blog!  That’s right, he was kind enough to share one of his recipes with me and one with the newspaper. I am so glad that the one I have is a dessert recipe, since apparently Jacob and I both have a sweet tooth.

Here it is, Jacob’s recipe which he created himself for Orange Zest Brownies.

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“As most people know, opposites attract. Well it is the same for flavors in food. A citrus flavor will go great with a sweet and creamy flavor. That is why orange chocolate brownies are perfect! Enjoy!” -Jacob Gebhart,  Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts

Easy ingredients!

INGREDIENTS

BROWNIES

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup shortening (I used 1/3 cup butter instead.)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBSP orange zest
FROSTING

3 oz. cream cheese

1-2 TBSP milk

2 and 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 TBSP orange zest

The orange zest gives it a great flavor.

DIRECTIONS

BROWNIES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Heat chocolate and shortening in a 2 quart sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat, add sugar, eggs, vanilla, mix well. Then add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Make sure to cool completely before cutting and frosting.

FROSTING

With an electric mixer, on medium speed, combine cream cheese and 1 TBSP of milk.

Add sugar, a little at a time, beat after each addition. (I added the last TBSP of milk halfway through as it got thick.)

Then add the orange zest and combine.

Cut cooled brownies into 9 pieces. Spread each square with orange cream frosting.

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I found the recipe very easy to follow and quick and easy to make, just how I like my recipes to be! If you’re a taster when you bake, I highly recommend tasting the batter after the sugar is added but before the eggs. SO GOOD. I also tasted the cream cheese frosting before and after the zest was added, to see just how much the zest changed the flavor, and I was amazed at what a little bit of zest can do both to the texture (it was immediately creamier) and to the taste (it did now have that hint of orange flavor in it.)

For the orange zest, I used the zest from two medium oranges and split it between the batter and the frosting. It did work out to be just about one whole tablespoon in each, I’d say.

I opted to serve my frosting “on the side” as optional because with all the different likes and don’t likes at my house,  I didn’t want anyone not to want the brownies because they had “stuff” on them.

I also took half the batch to a friend’s house one afternoon and we enjoyed them with our coffee.

Great job Jacob, thanks for sharing your recipe with me! It truly was a decadent dessert!

Anyone who is interested in purchasing Jacob’s cookbook, Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts, when it’s published, please send an email to Jacob at jayg@cox.net.

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Ragu Alla Bolognese

25 Apr

A couple of years back, a new extra-special meal was introduced at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

When my kids sleep over at their Grandma and Grandpa’s house they always return with tales of all the yummy things they got to eat while they were there, and although we eat pretty well over here too, they always seem to have that extra special something at their house that makes my mouth water. It makes me want to sleep over too. Maybe next time instead of dropping off, I’ll just hang out and see if anyone notices the extra mouth to feed.

A couple of years back, they started returning with tales of a new dish they’d had and loved: Pasta Bolognese. Elizabeth especially loved it and whenever anyone asked her what her favorite meal was, she’d say “Spaghetti Bolognese.” She’d constantly request the meal at home, but the only problem was, I didn’t have “the” recipe for it and I knew it was a pretty involved recipe. The last thing I wanted was to go through all the work with the wrong recipe only to have her say, “It’s good but it’s not as good….”

Until recently we didn't even have the coveted recipe for the Pasta Bolognese, much to Elizabeth's dismay.

Recently she had to submit her favorite recipe for a troop cookbook for Girl Scouts. Her first choice: Spaghetti Bolognese. I still didn’t have it. Her second choice: Spaghetti with Lobster Sauce, also a recipe I didn’t have. Her final answer: Grandma Rose’s Famous Tuna and Spaghetti. BINGO! Finally, a recipe I had! After hearing my tale of recipe woe, my mom gave me the recipe for the Bolognese Sauce they make.

One recent rainy Sunday we decided to try it out. Don’s Kitchen opened up and he went to town cooking up the recipe. The recipe itself is one my mom got from a family friend. It turned out wonderfully! We used just one part of how much it made so we froze three batches: two for our family and one for company.

Thankfully, when we asked Elizabeth for the verdict on how it came out, she said, “It’s perfect.”

Whew…

Price Rite had everything we needed to make an affordable Pasta Bolgonese meal for our last April Vacation dinner.

Ragu alla Bolognese
INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1/2 of a large onion

1 and 1/2lb lean ground hamburger (or you can use a mix of beef, pork and veal. We used just hamburger our first time.)

3/4 stick butter

2 cans kitchen ready tomatoes (28 oz.)

2 cans beef broth, 2 cans water

6 TBS. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1/2 cup red wine

The longest part of this recipe is just the simmering. The rest cooks up fast and easy.

DIRECTIONS

Dice celery, carrots and onion very fine. (Don used the food processor.)

Brown lean meat in butter and oil. Add vegetables to meat.

Put tomatoes through the blender. Add to mixture.

Add beef broth and water, salt and pepper.

Allow sauce to come to a boil and then simmer on low heat for two hours uncovered or more.

You can skim oil off the top when done.

Option: you can add heavy cream or half and half at the end if desired, for more of a pink vodka sauce.

Makes 5 meals for two with two pounds of meat.

Does that not make your mouth water?? You know what? It was even better the second day!

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Balsamic Glazed Salmon

18 Apr

This sauce was great over salmon, and later over chicken!

I love seafood, but recently I discovered that I’d developed a shellfish allergy. Therefore, there’s only certain seafood that I can actually eat. Thankfully, salmon is one of them. I love salmon. Usually I make it with hollandaise sauce over it and the last time I did, that went over well with everyone. However, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to serve things so when the Allrecipe.com Daily Recipe came for Balsamic Glazed Salmon, I had to try it. I love balsamic vinegar.

The recipe was easy and fast, and I served the sauce “on the side” so that if someone didn’t want sauce they didn’t have to have it. We had some sauce leftover and Don thought it’d be good on chicken so we saved it for another night. Sure enough, a few days later we served it on the side again, this time with some chicken breasts and it was just as good.

Here’s the recipe from Allrecipes.com

BALSAMIC GLAZED SALMON

Simple ingredients....and the chance to use my microplane zester!

INGREDIENTS

8 three ounce fillets of salmon about 3/4″ thick (I used five fillets since there’s five of us).

Freshly ground black pepper (or the kind in the jar)

3 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

4 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

orange slices for garnish (we didn’t do that)


Grating one medium sized orange all the way around with the microplane zester was just enough for the amount of orange peel needed in the recipe.

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the salmon in an 11×8″ shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

2. Stir the cornstarch, broth, vinegar, brown sugar, orange juice and orange peel in a two quart sauce pan over high heat to a boil. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

3. Place the salmon on a serving platter and serve with the sauce. Garnish with the orange slices.

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Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

10 Apr

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I really love the “Daily Recipes” that I get in my email inbox from Allrecipes.com. I’m constantly making a note to try one out “some day” and last week I had a chance to try a new one. I had everything on hand with the exception of one ingredient: mushrooms, which I had actually had on hand but it turned out they weren’t good anymore so we threw them out. The recipe was fine without them but I’d add them in if I had them next time.

Everyone loved this recipe and I’d definitely make it again. I made some notes and adjustments below.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound fresh asparagus (I used a bag of frozen from Aldi’s.)
  • 1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles (I used a pound of wheat spaghetti.)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (This was a lot. I’d do less next time and add a bit more lemon juice instead.)
  • 1 cup butter (I think you could cut some of this out as well. Maybe down to  1 1/2 sticks instead of two.)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined (I used a bag of frozen from Aldi’s.)
  • 1 pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a small saucepan, boil or steam asparagus in enough water to cover until tender; chop and set aside.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to full boil, place the pasta in the pot and return to a rolling boil; cook until al dente. Drain well.
  3. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in the olive oil over medium-low heat until the garlic is golden brown.
  4. Place butter and lemon juice in the saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted. Place the shrimp in the saucepan and cook until the shrimp turns pink. Place the mushrooms and asparagus into the saucepan, cook until mushrooms are tender.
  5. Toss the shrimp and vegetable mixture with the egg noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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