A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Copycat Recipe: Joe's Crab Shack Harvest Bay Mahi Mahi

 

 One of the great things about things about cooking restaurant-style food at home is being able to customize it.  I love this entree, Harvest Bay Mahi Mahi, a firm-fleshed white fish covered in rich Alfredo sauce mixed with sauteed shrimp and mushrooms,  from Joe's Crab Shack but I've always wanted more: more sauce, more shrimp, more mushrooms!!!!!  Viva la shrimp and shrooms!  Since I don't have a district manager looking over my food cost reports, that's easy to do without sacrificing any of the integrity of the original dish, not to mention, being able to shave a few butter and Alfredo sauce calories here and there without sacrificing that luscious mouth feel and rich taste.

Here's How I did it, step by step, and with photos:

Home-Made Buttermilk Herb (Ranch) Dressing

 I know that in some circles "ranch" dressing or dip is considered passe' but, to me, it ranks up there will all my favorite comfort foods like mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, chicken pot pie, and all the rest of the delicious, non-pretensious things that are so lovely and comforting to eat.  I do admit, though, that ranch dressing out a bottle from a grocer's shelf doesn't thrill me but making it home-made with fresh herbs is definitely the ticket! 

It's also much better for you.  Think about it.  Sure, it's a little more work to put the ingredients together but when you make it from scratch, including the mayo, you're talking about eating eggs, cold-pressed oil, buttermilk, dill, parsley, garlic, etc., all whole foods  not tons of chemicals and preservatives. That, and the fresh creamy herby taste make it worth every one of those 15 minute spent preparing it.

Baked Mostaccioli w/ All Day Slow Cooker/Crockpot Meat Sauce

 

 There's nothing like pasta, the ultimate comfort food, to feed a small army of company at the holidays.  It's tasty, it's easy, and it can usually be made ahead, all pluses in my book so that I can serve a delicious meal to my friends and family but also be able to relax on the day of and during the party instead of running myself ragged, cooking. 

Traditionally at New Year's Eve, I make a big lasagna, but this year I went to the same song, different verse, choosing to created a Baked Mostaccili dish instead. 

Several of my guests plus friends on Facebook asked for the recipe, so this is it:  Glenna's Baked Mostaccioli for a Crowd.  Even though the recipe easily serves 8-10, it can easily be cut in half for a family dinner or can be made as a whole and split into two separate baking dishes, freezing one for later. 

   

Cod (White Fish) Patties with Home-made Tartar Sauce

A couple of weeks ago, my cousin, Colleen, made salmon patties for her family for dinner and let me blog them. They were so inviting in the photo I suddenly had a craving.  Fish patties is one of those things that are quick, easy, and tasty, but I usually I forget to make them unless something reminds me. 

Thanks, Colleen!

I do have a can of salmon in the cupboard, along with a few cans of tuna and crab, but I also had some cod fillets in the freezer that sounded yummy too.  This is my recipe for fish patties or fish cakes as they're also called. Mine has a few more bells and whistles than Colleen's but only because I was playing with a much milder fish that needed a little kick in the gill to rev the flavor up.

Home-Made Mayonnaise in the Blender in 5 Minutes; Garlic & Parsley Aioli 1 More Minute

I've often talked about what rotten brats my brothers and sister and I were as kids, not because we were inherently mean, but because we were so spoiled by our Mom's creativity and know-how in the kitchen.  As an adult, I appreciate the summers we spent gardening and all the home-made great food we ate but as kids we were the frowny faces who whined to our cake-decorator Mom "Please, anything for my birthday but cake with decorator frosting!" See? Brats!

We also had home-made pancakes (not from Bisquick or a mix), home-made caramel sauce for our ice cream, and home-made mayonnaise on our sandwiches. Did we appreciate it?  No! We whined for Bisquick pancakes, white store bread, caramel sauce that comes in a Smuckers jar, and Miracle Whip!

I laugh now, and hope she's laughing in Heaven with the unappreciated Moms!

I've been making a lot of buttermilk herb (ranch) dressing lately and since that's all from scratch, it seemed a shame to keep using commercially made mayo (I'm a Hellman's girl) when I know how to and how easy it easy to make home-made mayo before proceeding to the buttermilk dressing stage.  Mayo, like all dressings, is a relatively simple concept with a variety of ingredients that can be used for slightly different tastes. I'll give the basic recipe and add some of the ingredients that can be exchanged for the basics to 'fancy up" the basic eggy, creamy, rich concoction that is mayonnaise. I may not have appreciated it as a kid but I do now, Mom!

Book & Cook: Murder in the Rue Dumas & French Bistro Croque Monsieur

 

Gene's Croque Monsieur and Arugula Salald from The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

Murder in the Rue Dumas by M. L. (Mary Lou) Longworth

There are some books that start off with a character so over the top that you immediately either love or hate him or her.  Refreshingly, this is not one of those books.  Second in the series, I enjoyed this softer, quieter, more gentle book and its hero, Judge (Detective) Antoine Verlaque.  Please don't read that as insult to the author.  I'm being honest here in that even though I am a fan of fast-pased high profile thrillers and mysteries, I'm also a fan of quieter books as well.  Let me explain.

At first, Detective Verlaque reads a bit cool and removed, definitely not a hot-headed maverick of a detective but throughout the book bits and pieces of his background come out, his love of food and cigars, his loyalty to his opera-loving partner Bruno Paulik, and well as, his depth of emotion for his girlfriend, Marine Bonnet.  And that's not even mentioning his dogged persistence, intuitiveness, and compassion in solving the mystery of who murdered Dr. Moutte, director of the theology department at the University d'Aix. (Aix-en-Provencer in southern France) where Marine's mother is also a professor.

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For foodies and "mental travelers who have no need for luggage" (Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen) the book inspires smile after smile with descriptions of food and towns so unlike my small midwestern American city that I feel that I'm vicariously traveling.  Even the sound of the beef and chicken roasts with potatoes and carrots that Antoine and Marine make, that we eat often for Sunday dinners here at home, seem exotic in the setting of southern France.  One of my favorite of the book's meals was the Croque Monsieur Antoine treats his friend and crime-solving partner, Bruno, to in a small family-owned restaurant while they're out tracking down leads in the case.

I first wrote about Croque Monsieur after seeing the movie "it's Complicated".  The "Crispy Mister", fried ham and cheese sandwiches or what we would call grilled ham and cheese,  first appeared on Paris menus around 1910 and has variations as plentiful as there are chefs:  plain, with mornay sauce, with a fried egg or fresh tomato slices on top, etc.  My favorite version is with thick cut ham slices and mornay sauce, which I've included a recipe for here..

To cut to the chase, did I like the book and its characters?  So  much I've already ordered its predecessor, Death at the Chateau Bremont, and am eager for the summer 2013 release of the next in the series, Death in the Vines.

             

This or That Recipes: Fast Creamy Tuna, Chicken, or Bacon Pasta

One of the greatest kitchen skills my Mother taught me was the skill of substituting ingredients in recipes.  I did not realize until sometime in my 20's that not everyone knows how to do this. I know several wonderfully talented home cooks (and some professionals too) who cannot extrapolate beyond the printed recipe in front of them.  That's not a criticism, merely an observation.

The ability to look at a recipe and match up the ingredients in it with ingredients in the pantry that are similar but not the exact items is a learned skill. This recipe is a perfect example. The final dish is simple, with few but specific types of ingredients that are quickly prepared and easily modified into numerous recipes all containing  the elements of:  cream, starch, vegetable, and protein.

For this recdipe, I used rotini pasta, light cream cheese with grated Parmesan, frozen peas, and Hormel bacon pieces.  For stove top tuna casserole, I use elbow macaroni, light cream cheese with shredded cheddar/monterrey jack mix, a large can of tuna, and either peas or frozen broccoli that I've chopped up smaller to heat through faster. But as long as you have something creamy, a pasta or rice, and a colorful vegetable, you can make a fast, easy, and tasty meal..

Lucy Approved Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Sour Cream Sauce

My cousin, Colleen. posted this collage to Facebook with the caption "Lucy approved!" so I had to blog them. The enchiladas look divine and Lucy's adorable enthusiasm about them say this recipe is definitely a winner!  I'm adding rotisserie chicken and tortillas to my grocery list for this week.

Simple preparation with complex flavor, this a great work night family recipe and could even be prepared the night before for more dinner hour ease the next night or even frozen for a later date.

Thanks for sharing with us, Colleen and Lucy!.

Kraft Foods Inc: Pasta with Creamy Garlic & Walnut Sauce

Photo by Kraft on Kraft Foods website

These days I'm having a particularly good time paying attention to what my friends and family are eating and posting about on Facebook.  Why?  Because I can't eat right.  Well, not much or much of anything yummy.  I'm on the plain, boring non-functing gall bladder diet, looking forward to surgery next Tuesday.  After month of intermittent pain and vomitting followed by the last few weeks of non-stop vomitting and pain, I'm ready for them to get this little troublemaker out of my body!

So in the meantime, until I can eat/cook again, I'll be blogging lots of goodies my friends are eating.  This pasta dish comes from Janna, who made it for her family this week and said they'all liked it so much it's going to be a permanent fixture in her recipe box.

Looks delicious!  Can't wait to be able to make it myself.  Thanks for sharing, Janna!. 

 

Jordan's Hand-breaded Shallow Fried Mushroom Caps & Home-made Honey Mustard

The number one great thing about teaching kids to cook is that they learn how to make their own snacks!  Plus, they can help with dinner, but making their own snacks is at the top of the list.

Niece Jordna had jones for fried mushrooms the other night and, let my little heart beat with pride, instead of buying pre-breaded 'shrooms, she bought fresh white buttons and breaded them herself.  Way to go, Jo! Very proud. From scratch over boxed any day.