Superbowl Sunday

It seems that everywhere you look someone is writing a recipe on their blog for Superbowl Sunday.  Since my husband is an avid Eagle fan, we are forbidden to mention the Superbowl in this house, as he is still in mourning and wearing his green Eagles shroud!


One of the great things about writing a blog is that as you become more well known, you start to get wonderful e-mails from publicists, publishers, and a host of other people who want to tell you about their products.   Today was one of those days, and I received an e-mail that stopped me from forfeiting my game...


In spite of my poor husbands team shortcomings,  I feel it only fair to put at least one recipe on the blog that is Superbowl themed, as I am not a poor sport (or a football fan for that matter.) This mornings 
e-mail  from Maria Coder the Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator for  BnB Finder.com got me  out of the penalty box, and allowed me to be able to post a recipe for all my wonderful readers.


 She sent me this recipe with these two cute pictures, for a great appetizer for Superbowl Sunday. She said, "I thought this fun football field-looking (healthy) appetizer complete with teeny tiny lightweight football players could be of interest to your readers. Hope you like it!" and so I am passing it on to all of you.  The recipe is from : The Barn Inn Bed & Breakfast in Millersburg, Ohio.  

Corn Bread Salad

1 pkg. Jiffy corn bread mix                              
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix                                
1 cup sour cream                                              
1 cup mayonnaise                                              
1/2 green pepper, chopped                            
1/2 sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion 
1 jar bacon bits

3 large tomatoes
1 can pinto beans or black beans
1 cup whole kernel sweet corn
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the corn bread according to package instructions and bake in either a pan or cup cake liners.  Cut into squares or crumble into a bowl.  Set aside.  Mix vegetables in a bowl.  In a separate bowl mix mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch dressing.  In a 9" x 13" pan or serving bowl, layer half of the corn bread, half of the vegetables, and half of the cheese, half of the bacon and half of the dressing.  Repeat layers. Organize salad cups into rows (photo shows seven rows and four columns but adjust your “field” to your tray size). Use a few cooked strands of spaghetti or cheese to show the scrimmage lines and cake decorations (or small toys) are positioned as football players. Pretzels or chocolate make great goal posts.

Single Corn Bread Salad

Maria was kind enough to supply one recipe, but you could use several of your favorites to achieve the same look.  Let me know if you give it a try, and thanks Maria for bailing me out on this one. Make sure you clink the link above and visit Maria's site if you are a fan of Bed and Breakfasts, the amount of information on the site is amazing!

If by chance you are an Eagle fan or a Jet fan (I am a New York girl myself), there is always next year, and the year after, and the year after....

Chicken Pillows

I was looking at some other food blogs recently and one of them was called Real Mom Kitchen. She had a recipe on her blog called Chicken Pillows and I had some leftover chicken, so I thought I'd try it. Of course, never being one to follow a recipe as it was written, this is my version.

If you would like to see the original post from Real Mom Kitchen click the link for
Chicken Pillows. Laura has some really wonderful recipes on her blog so be sure to check if out when you get the chance.

This was a great way to use up the leftover chicken. Sort of a cross between a chicken pot pie and a chicken croquette. I loved the sauce. I think if I make them again, I might use the regular size crescent rolls and make them a little smaller. I had enough filling left over to have done one more pillow, but the jumbo crescent rolls only come 6 to a package, so you can only get 3 instead of four pillows.

Here is my version of Laura's Chicken Pillows

2-3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
2 -3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 (4 ounce) can chopped mushrooms
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash of pepper
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
¼ cup milk
1 cans of crescent rolls (I used the new Premium size)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¾ cup Panko Crumbs
¼ cup grated cheese
1 stick melted butter


Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Add the red onions and sauté a few minutes until soft; add the scallions and mushrooms. Sauté for a few more minutes until nicely caramelized. Add in the other 2 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese and the milk with a fork. Add vegetable mix, additional salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Brush the top of each pillow with melted butter and then Panko/Breadcrumb mix, butter side down. Brush the other side and dip it into Panko/Breadcrumb mix. Place on baking sheet that has been Sprayed with PAM. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Milk (about ½ of the empty soup can)

¼-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Freshly ground black Pepper

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat, gently bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until heated thoroughly.

Here is what you will need for the recipe:

Laura's chicken Pillows:
2-3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
2 -3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 (4 ounce) can chopped mushrooms
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash of pepper
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
¼ cup milk
1 cans of crescent rolls (I used the new Premium size)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¾ cup Panko Crumbs
¼ cup grated cheese
1 stick melted butter


Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Add the red onions and sauté a few minutes until soft; add the scallions and mushrooms. Sauté for a few more minutes until nicely caramelized. Add in the other 2 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese and the milk with a fork. Add vegetable mix, additional salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Brush the top of each pillow with melted butter and then Panko/Breadcrumb mix, butter side down. Brush the other side and dip it into Panko/Breadcrumb mix. Place on baking sheet that has been Sprayed with PAM. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Milk (about ½ of the empty soup can)

¼-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Freshly ground black Pepper

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat, gently bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until heated thoroughly.

It's Simply Scampi, Simply Delicious!

My friend Anne Murch-Gutierrez is simply the best cook... She has sent me so many recipes that I wish I had nothing better to do than cook, and of course eat! Fortunately, I have been able to make a few of her wonderful recipes (and hope to make many more) which I have posted here on the blog.

Recently, she sent me her Shrimp Scampi, which was so incredibly delicious, that I had to post it here so you can all try it!

Shrimp Scampi on Wheat Capellini
Anne Murch-Gutierrez

½ cup Olive oil
6 tablespoons Whipped butter
¾ cup Chicken stock
6 to 7 large garlic cloves - peeled, diced and minced
1 large shallot - peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian oregano
½ cup Italian parsley minced
6 to 7 Basil leaves rolled and chiffonade (thinly sliced)
10 - 12 sliced button mushrooms
1 pound raw medium-sized shrimp peeled, deveined and butterflied
1 teaspoon Lemon Garlic Garni
1 teaspoon Mc Cormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Shredded Parmesan, Romano and Asiago Cheeses
1 box wheat Capellini spaghetti
½ teaspoon dried minced garlic
Sea salt

In a 12” pan pour in the olive oil. The oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Heat on low heat. Add the minced garlic and shallots, and allow to cook until translucent. Now add the whipped butter, mushrooms, chicken stock, oregano, parsley, Lemon Garlic Garni, Mc Cormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes; allow to simmer. This will reduce - then add shrimp. When the shrimp turns opaque it is done. This will happen very quickly. Turn heat off and sprinkle with basil.

Preparing the spaghetti can be done while preparing the scampi.

In a large pot add a large amount of water top with a small amount of olive oil and ½ teaspoon of minced garlic. Bring the water to a boil. When water is boiling then add sea salt and the spaghetti. Cook about 6 to 7 minutes until al dente. Use tongs to lift out most of the spaghetti (about 3/4ths) and drain the rest.

This is what you will need for the recipe (note, Anne used fresh herbs, but she is in a far warmer climate than I am, so I was forced to use dry herbs (use about 1/3rd the amount if using dried herbs - use fresh if you can.)



Shrimp Scampi on Wheat Capellini

½ cup Olive oil
6 tablespoons Whipped butter
¾ cup Chicken stock
6 to 7 large garlic cloves - peeled, diced and minced
1 large shallot - peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian oregano
½ cup Italian parsley minced
6 to 7 Basil leaves rolled and chiffonade
10 - 12 sliced button mushrooms
1 pound raw medium-sized shrimp peeled, deveined and butterfly
1 teaspoon Lemon Garlic Garni
1 teaspoon Mc Cormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Shredded Parmesan, Romano and Asiago Cheese
1 box wheat Capellini spaghetti
½ teaspoon dried minced garlic
Sea salt

I like to prep everything first to make assembly easier

Measure out the chicken broth

Measure out the butter

and set aside

Get your garlic ready
(I'm lazy and buy peeled garlic)

and crush it

and set aside


(Chop your spices if you are using fresh or
measure out your spices)

Wash your fresh herbs


Parsley

Chop the parsley (I used a scissor - I told you I am lazy!)



Oregano


Basil


Measure out your dried garlic (I didn't have minced
so I just crumbled the dried garlic I had)

Peel your shallot and chop
(I thought I had some shallots but didn't so I
used an onion and it tasted great)
Chop your onion -
slice in one direction and then



turn the opposite way and slice again
set the chopped onion aside

Butterfly your shrimp by cutting a tiny slit in the end opposite the tail
(buy your shrimp with the tail on, but deveined - if they are
not deveined, gently remove the black vein from the back of the shrimp)


If you didn't buy pre-sliced mushrooms,
slice them now (lazy me bought pre-sliced)

Now that everything has been prepped, you are ready to began
making the scampi - Put the water up to boil and while it comes to a
boil and the spaghetti is cooking, you can prepare the shrimp.

Preparing the spaghetti can be done while preparing the scampi.

Fill a large pot with water


add kosher salt (I ran out)


and bring to a boil (I went a little out of order
due to force of habit)


top with a small amount of olive oil

and ½ teaspoon of minced garlic bring to a boil.


When water is boiling then add
the spaghetti. Cook about 6 to 7 minutes until al dente.

found the sea salt, so I added a tiny pinch since I
had already salted the water



In a 12” pan pour in the olive oil.


The oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan.
Heat on low heat.

Add the minced garlic
and shallots, (I added the onions)

and allow to cook until translucent.

Now add the whipped butter,
mushrooms,


chicken stock,


oregano, (I added the dried basil here,
but if you have fresh, add it at the end)


Lemon Garlic Garni,
(Anne sent me these spices,
they are available from Garlic Festival)


Mc Cormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning,

fresh parsley


and crushed red pepper flakes; allow to simmer.

This will reduce - then add shrimp.

Don't forget to stir and check your spaghetti


When the shrimp turns opaque (and pink) it is done.

This will happen very quickly.
Turn heat off and sprinkle with basil (if you haven't already added it.)

I didn't drain the spaghetti at first, I just lifted
it out with tongs, because you need a little of the water
anytime you have an oil based sauce

Place the spaghetti on a serving platter

then drain any remaining spaghetti into a
colander


add remaining spaghetti to the platter

Place the scampi mix on top of the spaghetti

Mix very gently


Place on individual dinner plates
Sprinnkle with grating cheese if desired

watch everyone in your house enjoy it
the way Marc did !