Coconut Curry Shrimp

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appetizers, basmati rice, coconut, coconut curry, curry, dinner, food, foodie, lunch, main course, main dish, postaday2011, recipe, shrimp, side dishes, supper

I love coconut and I love shrimp… Hubster doesn’t like either. After a long weekend, I decided to indulge  in two of my favorite ingredients (and cooked him something different tonight).

Coconut Curry Shrimp

 

Coconut Curry Shrimp Ingredients:
1 lb. shrimp, 1 minced shallot, 2 c. coconut milk, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1/2 c. tomato sauce, 1/2 c. dry white wine, 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro, 1 Tbsp. curry powder, 1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger, fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt

Coconut Curry Shrimp Directions:
Peel & devein shrimp and set aside. Add olive oil and shallot to pan and sauté until soft. Add garlic, ginger and curry and warm. Add tomato sauce, coconut milk, salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp and cook until they turn pink. Stir in cilantro. Serve over basmati rice.

*Serve in small ramekins or dishes as an appetizer.

One of my favorite things about shrimp is that is how quickly it cooks.

What was for dinner tonight?

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Gruyère Cheese Straws

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appetizers, bread, bread sticks, cheese, cheese straws, cocktail hour, food, foodie, Gruyère, holiday buffet, hors d'oeurve, hors d'oeuvres, recipe, snacks

These cheese straws are a great addition to a holiday buffet, whether it’s hors d’œuvres or a full meal. They take only a few minutes to prepare. Serve them standing up in a glass jar, tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar to match your decor. These are great treats adults and kids both like.

Cheese Straws

Ingredients:
2 c. flour, 2 c. grated Gruyère cheese, 3/4 cup softened butter, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, fresh ground sea salt, 1/2 c. water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat together butter, garlic powder and cayenne powder and cheese, set aside. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine flour into cheese mixture and slowly add water. Stir until well mixed allow dough to rest for about 30 minutes. Pull dough into small balls and roll into a long log, twist both ends of dough to create a spiral pattern. Press cheese straws on baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

*Sprinkle with paprika, poppy seeds or sesame seeds before baking!

Dinner for Two

Have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! What are your holiday plans?

Tasty Ties

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appetizers, dill salmon, hors d'oeurve, hors d'oeuvres, mini meals, salmon, salmon puffs

Sometimes when I’m baking and cooking, I remember all the things I used to watch my mother make and I feel a bit like her. A few months ago my mother was playing with puff pastry dough and told me while she was baking, that she felt like me. Talk about role reversal.

So to honor those thoughts, I’m sharing my favorite hors d’oeuvre recipe. I first made them for Hubster and my wedding, I made it recently for my BFF’s baby shower.

Salmon Puffs

Ingredients:
Pastry dough, 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, zest of one lemon, 1 small can of salmon, 2 Tbsp. dried dill weed

Directions:
Preheat oven at 350°F. Using a biscuit cutter, make small rounds of dough. Press dough into mini muffin cups. Soften cream cheese, stir in lemon zest and dill. Mix salmon to cheese mixture. Spoon mixture into mini muffin cups and smooth down the top to make filling level. Bake for 20 minutes and serve hot.

*These can easily be made ahead of time and heated up on a crisper tray before serving.

Grilled Corn on the Cob Discs

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appetizers, barbacue appetizers, basil, basil lemon, BBQ appetizers, cilantro, cilantro lime, corn, corn on the cob, dill, dill orange, Father's Day Menu, grill, grill recipe, grilling, lemon, lemon basil, lime, lime cilantro, orange, orange dill, summer grill, summer recipe

Summer Grilling
June is here and summer is around the corner (my summer vacation starts Friday!)… These corn discs are great for parties, everyone can have as little or as much as they like. Their tiny size makes them perfect for kids or as appetizers. Great idea for a Father’s Day Menu!

Grilled Corn Discs

Ingredients:
corn, butter, fresh chopped cilantro, fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground pepper, lime juice, lime zest

Directions:
Husk corn and throw away husk and silk. Slice cob into 2″ thick discs. Soak in water with a splash of lime juice (or lemon juice). Grill discs over medium heat, turning a few times. Mist discs with lime juice as they grill. Remove from heat and brush or rub with butter to your liking, toss in cilantro, sea salt, pepper and zest. Serve hot.

*Play around with combinations of lime, orange and lemon juice and zest for the corn. Change it to use and match your favorite fresh herbs.

My Favorite Combinations: Lime Cilantro, Lemon Basil, Orange Dill

Savory Chicken Pasties

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appetizers, chicken, chicken cordon bleu, chicken pasty, dinner, pastry, pasty, pears, recipe, savory, savory pasty, snack, swiss

During our holiday in Scotland, we loved walking into a bakery and walking out with savory chicken pasties…  I decided to create the same yummy in the belly, easy to eat experience for dinner (think of it as a gourmet Hot Pocket).

Savoy Chicken Pasty

Ingredients:
Phyllo sheets, Chicken breasts, sour cream, Dijon mustard, pears, swiss cheese, olive oil (or melted butter)

Directions:
Cook chicken breast in frying pan with EVOO (use any herbs, spices you like for your chicken). Remove from pan, allow to cool and pat dry. Brush olive oil on each layer of Phyllo. Mix together Dijon mustard and sour cream together and set aside. Layer 1 slice of cheese, pears, cream (thin layer), chicken, cream and second slice of cheese on the left side of the Phyllo sheets and fold over. Brush with olive oil and press sides closed. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Yum, yum! I think this would be very plain without the pears, Hubster thinks it would be very plain without the ham. Next time I am going to try bleu cheese with my pears and chicken instead of the swiss.

*Hubster’s chicken breast was wrapped in a thin slice of ham before layering his ingredients in his pasty. Sort of chicken cordon bleu…

*You may prefer the taste of the butter over the olive oil.

*Of course you can add any combination of meat, cheese and veggies to make these delicious pasties. What combinations are you going to try?

Chinese New Year

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appetizers, cheese wonton, chicken stir fry, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, ethnic cooking, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, fortune cookie, hot tea, main dish, recipe, shrimp rolls, spring rolls, steamed rice, stir fry

This year, Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day. Enter the year of the tiger. Dressed in red, a bowl of tangerines in hand, and chopsticks next to the place setting our festivities were just beginning.

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, while Hubster took a nap, Pumpkin and I set up the festivities and prepared the food. My bamboo was intended for our centerpiece, but then I decided to proudly display the flower my Pumpkin bought me. On the menu? Cheese wontons, spring rolls, stir fry, steamed rice, hot white tea and pomegranate juice. We nibbled on chinese noodles with duck sauce and wasabi rice crackers while prepping the meal.

We planned to use my fortune cookie recipe and add sweet messages to show Hubster/Dad how much he means to me, but time was a little short. The store was of mung beans, Bok choy and snow peas, but our feast turned out just as nice. I cannot believe how much my 8y.o. actually did, I love having a sous-chef!

Cheese Wontons
Pumpkin lined my mini muffin pans with mini wonton wrappers. Then mixed together cream cheese with chopped green onions. He spooned the mixture into the muffin cups and folded the wrapper over. All I did was talk him through it and bake the wontons at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Cheese Wontons

Spring Rolls
I prepped the veggies, pumpkin rolled them and I fried them! We stuffed the spring roll wrappers with shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, shredded celery and alfalfa sprouts (they were out of mung beans). He whisked a few eggs and drizzled over the veggies, and rolled the wrappers and sealed shut with the egg. I fried them vegetable oil until they were golden brown.

Spring Rolls

Chicken Stir Fry/ Fried Rice
I poured the remaining egg mixture into my sauté pan to cook. I then removed the egg from the hot pan. I cooked thin chunks (I didn’t have the time to cut thin slices) chicken breast in the pan with stir fry sauce until done. I added baby corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, the remaining cabbage, carrots, celery and alfalfa sprouts to the sauté pan. I tossed the cooked egg back into the pan and sprinkled with sesame seeds and fresh grated ginger. Pumpkin decided he wanted the steamed brown rice thrown in with the stir fry, so it turned out somewhere between stir fry and fried rice.

Stir Fry/ Fried Rice

Although we didn’t have a festival of lanterns, the dragon or fireworks, our festivities brought good luck and fortune into our home.

Chinese New Year