Cheesy Jalapeño Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken

This recipe was so stolen from skinnytaste.com (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/04/cheesy-jalapeno-popper-baked-stuffed.html).  I adapted it just a little bit to my personal taste, but it was QUITE yummy.  What's wonderful about this website is that it includes WW points too (for those of us who follow such things).  What I did to adjust my recipe was:

• I only used one jalapeno pepper - I'm a bit scared of those things
• I chopped two scallions and added it to mine
• I used Panko crumbs vs. bread crumbs
• I used three strips of pre-cooked bacon
• My pack of thin-sliced chicken breasts only had five in it, so I divided the filling into 5ths vs. 8ths

I gave this recipe two thumbs up, but it was a bit too oniony (is that a word?  Is that even possible?) for my husband.  My friend and neighbor Carla posted this recipe on her FB page (where I got it from - she posted it at just the right time.  I was browsing for dinner ideas).  She said next time she'd sautee the peppers a bit  before adding them - and I think that's a great idea.  To me, this tasted so much like a stuffed potato skin, except it was in yummy chicken.

I brought leftovers for lunch.  This is one way to keep people out of my office in the afternoons ... :-)

Shrimp Tortellini

Last spring, my step daughter came to visit.  After a long (and fun) day of tasting wine in the warm VA sun, we stopped at Whole Foods on our way home to pick up something for take out.  As it turned out, no one could make up their mind about what to eat - I was tired and grumpy, and my husband just looked at me and said "can you please just figure this out?"  I huffed away with my mighty hand basket and headed to the produce.  There I picked up a pint of grape tomatoes, a cucumber, an orange pepper - then I picked up a pound of frozen shrimp that was cooked, shelled, and deveined.  I then headed to the fresh pasta isle and picked up a 16oz pack of cheese tortellini (both Rob and Erin are happy, happy people if there is tortellini in their life).  And that's how this recipe came to be - and it's one of our very favorite summertime meals.


Shrimp Tortellini

• 1 16oz Cheese Tortellini (FRESH is best)
• 1 lb Shrimp
• 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, cut in 1/2
• 1 Cucumber, chopped
• 1 Orange pepper, chopped
• Lemon Mustard dressing (recipe to follow)
• Old Bay seasoning to taste
• Fresh Basil to taste

Cook the tortellini according to the package.  Drain and let cool.

If you're using the frozen, precooked shrimp, place them in a colander to defrost.  Once they're defrosted, remove the tails and lay them on a paper to drain.  If you have fresh shrimp, cook, peel, devein, and cool (the frozen shrimp are MUCH easier.  Sometimes you can find fresh shrimp that's already cooked too - that's the ticket).

Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper and put in a large bowl.  Place the shrimp on top of the vegetables.  Sprinkle the shrimp with old bay seasoning to taste.

Pour about four tablespoons of the Lemon Mustard dressing on the shrimp and veggies (or to taste - you'll want the dish to be nicely coated with the dressing, but not have dressing "soup" at the bottom of the bowl).

Once the tortellini is cooled, add it to the shrimp and veggies.  Add about four or so more tablespoons of the dressing to the top.  Mix thoroughly.  When done, add the fresh basil to the top (I like to cut the basil into ribbons).  My husband loves to add fresh ground Romano cheese to this dish - I bet Parmesan cheese would be good, too.

(AN ASIDE:  This particular batch doesn't have the orange peppers in it - and it's good anyway)

Lemon Mustard Dressing (This dressing is EXCELLENT on salads and works well as a marinade as well)

·  3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
·  4 cloves of garlic (Trader Joe's Frozen Garlic works great with this recipe!)
·  2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I like Rice vinegar)
·  Juice from one lemon
·  1 T Dijon mustard

To make the dressing, combine the  vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to blend. Gradually add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly until well blended and smooth.

 

Kim Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Nothing is better than a good lettuce wrap.  What I love about them (well, one of the things anyway) is that they're actually healthy.  My husband and I tend to eat a bit differently - I watch calorie intake (and depending on what's around, that could be a lot of intake) and he tries to eat low-carb.  This dish fits both of our dietary needs.  I made this recipe and had my adult son over for dinner - we still had enough left over for me to bring lunch the next day.  I've made this with both ground chicken and ground turkey, and the turkey tastes better IMHO.  But, either will work just fine.

Ingredients

·      Olive oil spray

·      2 lbs ground Turkey

·      1 8oz can of water chestnuts

·      1 8oz container of mushrooms

·      ½ chopped large sweet onion

·      Iceburg lettuce

·      Sriracha sauce to taste

Stir fry sauce

·      2.5 tablespoons of soy sauce

·      1 tablespoon of  brown sugar

·      1.5 tablespoon of rice vinegar

Spray Wok or large frying pan with olive oil spray.  Sautee the turkey, making sure the turkey doesn’t clump together, over medium/medium high heat.  Season to taste with salt.

In the meantime, chop the water chestnuts, mushrooms, and onion (I do this in the food processor – this dang thing has saved my LIFE.  If you don’t have one, GET YOU ONE). 

Once the turkey is cooked through, drain and add it back to the pan.   Add the vegetables to the turkey, continue to cook and stir occasionally for about five minutes (or until the veggies look cooked through, and the moisture from the mushrooms has evaporated).

Add the stir fry sauce and mix well.

Add a good squirt of the Sriracha sauce.  Stir well – give it a taste.  Add a little more if you want to kick it up a notch.

Serve with lettuce “cups.”  We like these with just a taste of a peanut sauce.

Because I got busy talking and then eating, I forgot to take a picture of the final plating  - but here's a picture of the leftovers I brought for lunch.  Bon Appetite!

Asparagus wraps with Spicy Ginger Sauce

Saturday night we ushered in my friend and neighbor Nichole into a new decade.  I decided to make asparagus wraps to take to the party with spicy ginger sauce - after all, Nichole IS a spicy ginger!

The first order of business is to find crescent seamless dough sheets - if you can't find them, regular crescent rolls will do (when you roll out the dough, just pinch the seams back together).  The seamless ones are just easier to work with.  Locally, I always find them at Kroger.

For the recipe, you'll need crescent seamless dough sheets and fresh asparagus (the larger ones - bigger in diameter do better with this recipe) for the wraps.  The sauce will be mayonnaise (I suggest the light mayo - I think it works better in this dish and you'll save yourself a calorie or two), sriracha sauce, and FRESH ginger root.

Cut the tough ends off of the asparagus - I cut them to be about three inches long.  Wash and dry on a paper towel.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425.

Roll the crescent dough out on a cutting board.  I find that if you stick the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes before you want to work with it makes it easier (and less sticky) to work with.  Cut the dough into strips - I think I cut strips for about two dozen wraps.  I found a pizza cutter works great for this task.

 Wrap the dough around each asparagus stalk and place on a greased cookie sheet.  I like to use olive oil - and after you have arranged your asparagus, spritz with a little more olive oil.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or so - you'll want them to be a medium/golden brown (if you take them out too early, the dough is not cooked on the bottom - just like the crescent rolls that have tricked me a time or two).

While the asparagus' are in the oven, prepare the sauce.

The sauce isn't an exact science.  You can make it as spicy or not as you would like.  The more sriracha and ginger you add, the spicier it will be.

Start with about 1/4 or so cups of mayo.  Add some sriracha and mix.  If it's too spicy, add a little more mayo.  If you're a huge spicy mayo fan, back off of it just a bit here because you're going to be adding some more heat with the fresh ginger.

Peel the ginger root.  With a microplane, grade the ginger.  Fresh ginger will grade very fine and it has a lot of liquid.  Start with about a tablespoon of the ginger and stir it into the sauce.  Taste - make whatever adjustments you deem necessary.

Once the asparagus are done, let them sit about five minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.  Serve with the sauce on the side.

Asparagus Wraps:

About two dozen asparagus stalks (1 bunch)
1 can of Crescent dough cut into 24 strips

Wrap dough around asparagus stalks and cook for 15 minutes at 425 - cooking time may vary.

Spicy Ginger Sauce:

Mayo
Sriracha
Fresh Ginger Root

Mix to taste

Restaurant Review - Conch Republic (Rockett's Landing, Richmond VA)

I love Key West. Rob and I got married almost five years ago on one of the beaches there - it was a super fun town. Even in July, there was enough of a breeze that we were not miserable, and I don't remember it being humid at all. Key West typically is about 82 degrees during the day and 72 degrees at night. I could really get used to that.

When we travel to fun places, we like to dine on what the area is known for. In Key West, that's conch. It's a shellfish that tastes similar to shrimp or crawfish. So we loved sampling conch fritters (plus, isn't everything better fried?) and the like when we were there.

Last night, I asked the dinner fairy to please come visit my house (via Facebook. I'm pretty sure he/she lurks on Facebook). As I was leaving work, Rob sends me a text and asks me if I had any dinner plans, then suggests a change of scenery. (The dinner fairy can show up in a lot of different ways, so just go with it). We had been to the Boathouse restaurant at Rockett's Landing in February and noticed a little restaurant next to it called the Conch Republic. Both restaurants have an awesome view of the James River and the city skyline. So I suggested that the dinner fairy take us to Conch Republic.

We get there and the bar is pretty much hopping which I would guess were young professionals working in the city. It was too chilly to sit outside last night, but we got a great table looking at the sunset (well, at first the sun - so if you decide to go, bring your sunglasses). We got to watch several blue herons float in the sky above the water. And we got to order dinner.

For appetizers, we decided to get alligator bites (and yes, they do taste a lot like chicken). I ordered a bowl of she-crab soup for dinner and Rob decided on the Jambalaya which had conchs in it.

The food portions were huge - I'm glad that is all the food we ordered.

Unfortunately for us, we thought all of the food was way too salty. The gator bites breading was light, which was nice, but we found ourselves sucking down water. My soup was really meaty - one of the most crab-meaty she-crab soups I've had in Richmond. Again, though, it would have been much better with less salt. Rob's Jambalaya was also not great, which is a shame because they did use nice spices and vegetables that would have been very flavorful.

All in all, the experience was great, but the food was meh. I'd go back for happy hour, and possibly only order a salad to eat.

Spicy Curry Shrimp

Yesterday, Whole Foods posted a link on their Facebook page that they would have shrimp on sale this coming Friday for $5.99/pound.  What a great deal!  Problem with that was – I started craving shrimp LAST night.  I came up with this recipe – the only thing I did differently is added a little water, but honestly I think it would have been better if I hadn’t (the veggies and shrimp have enough moisture so it’s not too thick). 

(A side note – google pink slime.  And then research your local grocery stores to find out who DOESN’T use this crap in their ground beef.  In RVA, we’re safe with Kroger (and Whole Foods of course), but the parent company of Martin’s says they do use it.  Even sitting aside the gross factor (which, admittedly, I cannot), you’re paying for premium meat and it just isn’t.  Ugh!)

Spicy Curry Shrimp

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 clove of minced garlic*
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 cups snow peas, or other veggies to taste
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste (more/less to taste)
• 1 can coconut milk (light)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
• 2/3 cup fresh cilantro (or to taste)
• Sriracha to taste

Heat oil to medium-high – you just need enough oil for a little sautéing.  Add onion and stir cook for three minutes.  Add the garlic and fresh ginger; cook one minute.  Add the snow peas – stir cook for another three minutes (you want them to be crunchy, so be careful not to overcook them). 

Add the tomatoes, red curry paste, coconut milk, and salt.  Mix thoroughly.  When the mixture is heated through, add the shrimp and cook for about five minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked through.  Stir in the cilantro.  Add (or don’t add) Sriracha to taste.

Serve over steamed rice (I like to cook ½ cup jasmine rice and ½ cup brown rice together – makes 2 cups total of cooked rice)

*If you haven’t already done so, treat yourself to Trader Joe’s frozen garlic – it’s nothing but pure minced garlic that is frozen in individual serving sizes.  Best. Thing. Ever.

WW Points – 5 if making six servings; 7 for four servings.  Rice is extra …

Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse

Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse

I found this delightfully easy recipe (http://www.food52.com/recipes/16044_herve_this_chocolate_mousse) and decided to give it a shot.  I was telling one of my coworkers about it, and she said “I bet if you add a liquor, like Kahlua, it would be to die for.”  And I bet she was right.  But instead of using Kahlua, I decided to use Bailey’s instead.  I also halved the internet recipe – so this recipe makes two delicious desserts!

In a small sauce pan, heat ¼ cup of Bailey’s, 1/8 cup of milk, and a 4oz candy bar over low heat (I used Ghirardelli’s semi-sweet chocolate and skim milk.  You can use all Bailey’s if you want to and skip the milk).

 

Constantly stir until everything is melted together.

 

Transfer the melted chocolate into a glass bowl.  Submerge that glass bowl into a bowl of ice.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the chocolate for approximately three minutes, until the mousse thickens up.

Transfer the chocolate into two bowls.

Lick the bowls, the sauce pan, the spatula, and the beaters.

Don’t make this way ahead of time and refrigerate – the mixture gets too hard.  It can sit for several hours – so keep it on the counter.  Before serving, add whipped cream (it’s very decadent, so the cream really adds a touch).

Enjoy with a wonderful red wine, or a little Bailey’s on the side.