Gravlax

This is currently in my refrigerator. It's my first attempt at gravlax, which is cured salmon. The rub is a simple combination of salt, sugar and pepper topped with fresh chopped dill. By Thursday (possibly Wednesday night), I'll know if I'm successful in executing this dish. I'll post the recipe if it turns out as I hope. Wish me luck!

Crab Cakes - Absolutely Delish!

Tonight's dinner was one of the best I've made in a long time. I was a little skeptical due to an unfavorable past experience trying to make homemade crab cakes, but Old Bay’s recipe didn't disappoint. It was super quick to make and they were all easy to cook.

Crab Cakes
Slightly adapted from from the recipe on the Old Bay can

2 slices bread, crusts removed
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 lb. lump crab meat

Tear bread into small pieces. Mix in mayonnaise, Old Bay, mustard and egg. Stir in crab meat. Shape mixture into 4 equal-sized patties. Broil 10 minutes on low, then another 2 on high for the broiled version. To shallow pan-fry them, heat approximately 1 inch of canola oil in a skillet. Once hot, add patties to the pan and fry for approximately 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Enjoy alone or with cocktail or tartar sauce. I recommend alone.

Buppy prefered the fried version, while I'm torn between the two. The broiled version I think would win for me, except that I should have flattened it a bit more so the bready-mixture would have cooked just a tad more. We both agree that next time we'd use either 2 1/2 or 3 tsp Old Bay simply because we both love the seasoning. 

While this wasn't an inexpensive meal by any stretch of the imagination, 4 crab cakes for basically the price of 1 lb. of lump crab meat was a steal compared to what we would have paid in any restaurant. Plus, they were better than quite a few I've tasted in restaurants, so it's a win-win. Enjoy!

One of the shallow pan-fried puppies. Hello crispy goodness!

One of the broiled cakes. Look at that lump crab meat and crispy top.

Note: this post is linked up to Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for her Full Plate Thursday, 8/18/11 edition. Hope you all enjoy!

Faidley's Crab Cakes

Wow, neither of us looks happy to be there, do we?

While in Baltimore during my sister's visit, we decided to hit up Faidley’s, a restaurant known for having stellar crab cakes. They were a contender (against Gertrudes) on Michael Symon's Food Feuds; I can't remember who won the battle, and Google is no friend of mine today in my search. Who knew it'd be that hard to find out!? Moving on . . . I thought it'd be fun to pick crabs with my sister, but every time she visits, we always get side tracked doing other things or going to other restaurants. The friend that accompanied her on this visit showed no interest whatsoever in picking crabs (I used to feel the same way, until I realized it's a social experience, not just a meal), so why not try crab cakes instead. We were down on the Inner Harbor, and Lexington Market wasn't too far to walk. Turns out, it was worth it.

The jumbo lump crab cake, which was $12.95.

We tried 2 to compare; the jumbo lump is on the left, the backfin is on the right (we had already started to eat that one, which is why it looks like it does).

The backfin crab cake (partially eaten), which was $8.95.

There was absolutely no contest as to which one was better. While the backfin one was definitely delicious, we could still taste some mayonnaise and filler. As for the jumbo lump . . . just luscious lumps of crab meat, barely held together. Very delicate in both flavor and stick-togetherness.

The 2 crab cakes and a medium soda (plus tax) totalled $24.80, and I'm glad we paid them a visit.

On a side note: Lexington Market is weird. It's like 50 small restaurants all jammed into one closed building, with few places to sit down. It had a funky smell and pretty much every food/ingredient you can imagine. We had a hard time actually finding this particular restaurant, and there were tables to stand at to eat, that's it. We crossed the street after we'd eaten and headed into another building, an extension of Lexington Market if you will. The further in we walked, the more desolate it became and the worse it smelled. Buppy was almost jogging to get out by the time we reached the back door. I'm really not sure what to make of the place, but the crab cakes were good.

Oven-Fried Whiting Fillets

I wasn't excited for this meal. When I opened the frozen package of whiting fillets to pull a few out to thaw, they smelled fishy. I contemplated skipping this meal, leaving the fish in the fridge long enough to go bad, then throwing it out. We even went out to eat on Friday night to avoid this one. But Saturday night rolled around and I made myself cook the fillets. Surprise! They were actually pretty good and didn't taste fishy at all. Silly me for being a scaredy-cat!

Crispy Oven-Fried Fish Fillets
Adapted from allrecipes.com

7+/- whiting fillets (skin on is fine, but they need to be boneless)
1/3 c. milk
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. dry Italian bread crumbs
Cooking spray
Tartar sauce, optional

Preheat the oven to 450F. Place a baking rack on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Rinse fish fillets, then dip into milk. Coat with flour, dip back in the milk, then coat with bread crumbs. Place fillets on the baking rack; spray with cooking spray. Bake 10-15 minutes or until they're done. Serve with tartar sauce if desired.

While they were good fillets and not fishy, I don't think I'd like them without my homemade tartar sauce. Something about the breadcrumbs. The original recipe called for crushed up croutons, not breadcrumbs, but I used what I had on hand. I think next time I'd try it with croutons or crushed up crackers or potato chips.

Both kids ate the first fillet we put on their plates, and Tiny Tot #1 even asked for a 2nd one. Buppy, Tiny Tot #2 and I all ate the fish with the tartar sauce; Tiny Tot #1 preferred his fish plain even though he said he liked the tartar sauce. I honestly wasn't sure they'd eat the fish because they weren't 'fish sticks', but Buppy and I were very pleasantly surprised. They're generally good eaters, so I guess we shouldn't have been.

There is no recipe per say for the tartar sauce I made because I added everything to taste, but here's what went into it: mayo (I'd like to have used 'light', but all we had open was regular), chopped up dill pickles, lemon juice, seasoned salt, garlic salt, black pepper, pickle juice and dried dill weed. I'm not a fan of restaurant or store-bought tartar sauce because they're made using sweet pickles, which I can't stand. This tartar sauce was good enough to eat by the spoonful (in my humble opinion), but I didn't because of the darn calorie content. It really jazzed up the fish though. I highly suggest making this at least a few hours prior to eating so the flavors can meld and the dill weed can rehydrate. Enjoy!

*This post is linked to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap for Thursday, 5/19/11 --- fish!

Lemon & Dill Salmon with Roasted Veggies

Wednesday night's dinner turned out fantastic. Really, really good. And super simple, too! Prep time was all of 5 minutes give or take, which always makes me happy.

Lemon-Dill Salmon
Adapted from allrecipes.com

2 (4 oz.) salmon filets
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice (yes, bottled is fine)
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Roasted veggies (optional side dish)

Preheat oven (or the toaster oven, which is what I used) to 350F. Wash salmon and pat dry. Stir melted butter, lemon juice, dill weed, garlic powder, salt and pepper together. Place salmon on baking tray (or in a baking dish if going into a normal oven) and pour the butter mixture over the filets. Cover the tray/dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Move salmon to plates or a serving platter.

If serving with roasted veggies as we did (or steamed or grilled, if you prefer), toss the cooked veggies with the remaining butter/lemon juice mixture from the dish/tray you baked the salmon in. It lends wonderful flavor to veggies. No surprise there though --- it's butter!

Obviously my verdict is wonderfully delish. I know I should eat more fish, but it's hard with a freezer full of meat. That, and fish around here isn't exactly cheap. Well, catfish and tilapia can be found on sale for $2.99/lb. sometimes, but I prefer salmon and cod, both of which are much more pricey. I did find cod on sale this week though, so I'll be picking some of that up. I almost think I'd be willing to try this recipe with tilapia; the butter/lemon/dill combo was so wonderful, I think it might perk up just about any fish. Except maybe catfish, 'cause that just tastes like dirt to me.

Try this out with your favorite fish; I promise it won't disappoint in either taste or ease of preparation. Enjoy! Now . . . off for a walk on this beautiful Friday. Happy weekend everyone!

*Linked to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap for Thursday, 4/7/11. Her topic? Easy recipes.
*Linked to Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday, 2/17/11.

Baked Dijon Salmon

I simply don't eat enough fish. I like some fish, but others? Not so much. Not a huge catfish fan; in my humble opinion (which is really all that matters, right?), it tastes like dirt. And I ate a fair amount of the stuff growing up (dirt, not catfish, although I had to eat some of that too since my dad was a fan), so I would know. Salmon is one of those fish that can be good or bad, depending on how it's made and who prepares it. Smoked salmon . . . well, can't really go wrong there. I love smoked salmon, but I wish it weren't so darn expensive in these parts.

The other day (ok, a while ago), I found a pretty decent deal on individual portions of salmon filets, 4 oz. each. I thought these would be perfect a.) portion control, and b.) for a night when I'm home alone and don't need to make a lot of food. We decided to pull 2 out of the freezer the other night with absolutely no idea how we were going to prepare them. Buppy suggested baking with a little butter and . . . Old Bay, I think. Eh, too boring for me. I decided to peruse allrecipes.com to see what I could find that was a bit more exciting. What I happened upon turned out fantastic, and I'm so glad I took the time to do my little search. Simple, with easy ingredients, and quick --- what's not to love?

Baked Dijon Salmon

Adapted from allrecipes.com

1/8 c. butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

3/4 Tbsp. honey

1/8 c. dry bread crumbs

1/8 c. finely chopped walnuts

2 (4 oz.) salmon filets

Salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat toaster oven to 400F. (Note: we used our toaster oven because we were only doing 2 filets instead of 4 as the original recipe called for. Why not conserve energy, right? But if you don't have a toaster oven, by all means use a regular oven.)

In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard and honey; set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs and walnuts. Brush each salmon filet lightly with honey-mustard mixture, and sprinkle the bread crumb-walnut topping over each filet. Bake salmon 12-15 minutes in the preheated toaster oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

As for the side in the picture --- I took 1 large russet potato, washed it, poked some holes in it and microwaved it until tender (note: you could use the oven to bake it if you wanted to instead). Once tender, I sliced it into rounds and laid them on a plate. I sprinkled with garlic bread powder, onion powder and a small amount of Asiago cheese. I then microwaved them another minute or two, just to slightly melt the cheese. They were lacking a little in the salt department, so season to taste. Enjoy!

Greystone Grill - Restaurant Review

Photo courtesy of Greystone Grill's website.

Last night was a very enjoyable excursion to a restaurant in the Columbia/Ellicott City area with a good friend of mine who happened to be in town for work. I couldn’t let an opportunity to see him slip away since he finally made it to the Bmore area, so we met at his hotel and walked across the parking lot to check out the Greystone Grill. Besides, being the foodie that I am, I welcomed the excuse to try out a new restaurant!

We started with a blue crab & artichoke fondue described in the menu as ‘a melting pot of cheeses with crisp crostini.’ People, that’s fancy talk for dip. It didn’t come out in a fondue pot, and no dipping skewers were provided. I was a little let down at the sight, but their crostinis more than made up for it! I’m not usually one to love bread by itself, but this was a definite exception to my rule. I’m not actually sure if it was scratch-made in the restaurant or if they jazzed up some store-bought goods, but the light sprinkling of Old Bay really made them shine. Dipped in the “fondue”, it was a flavorful way to start the meal. It definitely could have stood more artichokes in my opinion, but I’m not gonna knock cheesy-crabby goodness with really snazzy bread!

For the main event, my friend completely stole my idea after I told him what I was vibing on just prior to ordering. He was all set to order the shrimp & champagne pasta [which sounded divine!], but at the last minute went with the pan-seared ahi tuna, Greystone salad & side of the day, which happened to be green beans sautéed with garlic.

Even though there were plenty of yummy-sounding entrees to choose from, I chose to order an hors d’oeuvre and a side instead. I went with the ahi tuna appetizer --- “pan seared rare and sesame crusted, served with a wasabi vinaigrette.” It was, surprisingly, the first time I’ve ever ordered tuna in a restaurant. My side of choice? Sautéed mushrooms seasoned with garlic and thyme. Very glad I chose to go with a smaller portion; it was actually just the right amount. The tuna was very smooth, with a nice mellow flavor. I usually love sesame anything, but it seemed to get lost once I dipped the tuna in the wasabi vinaigrette; eh, the vinaigrette was really good as well, so I can’t complain.

Overall, I’d rate the experience as a 4 out of 5. The company was wonderful, the food was tasty, and the 3 hours flew by! Hopefully Buppy and I will be able to visit this restaurant, too. I think I saw on their website that they offer discounted gift certificates. Now who doesn’t love that?

Crab Dip Stuffed Mushrooms

The idea for these crazy-tasty mushrooms sprang into my head when I was visiting my local produce market [which I love-love-love!] and found their mushrooms to be much larger than normal. They're always a lot cheaper per pound than in our regular grocery stores, but they're usually smaller too. Fine with me, because they get chopped up and added to salads and sauces and wherever else I can throw a mushroom in, so who really cares about size anyway?

Last week though, they were big. Really big. And the caps were still closed, which always means they're fresher. I looked at these babies and thought, "No doubt about it; I shall stuff you!" And that's just what I did.

Buppy and I tossed around filling ideas --- there are so many options to choose from! --- and finally decided on a crab & cream cheese one. I searched high and low on the 'net, but couldn't find anything that was exactly what I wanted, so why not make up my own recipe? So I did. And it was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself [which I do].It produced far too much for the amount of mushrooms we used, but we were rookies this go-round and will know to either make less, use more mushrooms, or just baked the rest of it right away and serve it with baguettes and/or crackers. Seriously, it's not like cream cheese & crab dip will ever go to waste, right? Unless you're one of those wacky people allergic to seafood, in which case, I pity you.

Crab Dip Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe a la moi

1 [8 oz.] block 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c. reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 3/4 tsp. Old Bay
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 [8 oz.] container crab meat [do not use claw! anything but claw!]
14 large button mushrooms
Bread crumbs, optional
Parmesan cheese, optional

Wash the mushroom and remove the stems; set caps aside. Finely chop the stems and reserve to add to the cream cheese mixture later.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Beat together the cream cheese and mayo until smooth. Add the lemon juice, Old Bay and Worcestershire sauce and beat until just mixed. Add in the chopped mushroom stems and crab meat, then mix [with a spoon, not beaters!] until just combined. Do not over mix! You want the crab to still be a little chunky. Chunky crab is goooooooood!

Note: I'll tell you at this point that Buppy and I pre-baked the mushroom caps to allow them to release some of their liquid; nobody likes a soggy mushroom. I found a blog on the 'net that said salting and baking made them better, so I gave it a try. I'm not sure I'd suggest this to anyone else because it made a weird skin form around the outside of the mushrooms that we weren't too fond of. Won't do that again, so I won't provide cooking times or temp info here. My advice: don't pre-bake. I might change my tune after trying these again without pre-baking the mushrooms, but until then, I plan to steer clear of the pre-bake.

Take your mushrooms and lay them on a baking sheet, stem hole up. Stem hole? Kinda sounds dirty, doesn't it? Back to the mushrooms . . . fill each hole with a heaping spoonful [basically as much as will fit without overflowing out of the mushroom]. Really load 'em up. Then, if you're so inclined, sprinkle each button of goodness with a lil' bit of bread crumbs followed by a lil' bit of Parmesan cheese. Any cheese would work, and I'm sure you can use bread crumbs or cheese or both or neither. Whatever makes your skirt fly up.

Place the pan into the pre-heated oven for 17-20 minutes. My time here was much lower because as I said, I pre-baked my lil' shroomies. Most recipes that don't pre-bake them call for a cook time of 17-20 minutes, so that's what I'm going with. If your oven cooks as unevenly as ours does, rotate the pan half way through the cooking process. The mushrooms are done when they're soft and the filling is heated through. Mmmmmmm.What you do with the leftovers is your biz, but remember that you'll definitely have some. Throw it in a small casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and/or cheese and bake that right along with the 'shrooms. Or just make more mushrooms. Invite your friends over for 'em --- they'll love you forever and always. Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday - June 21, 2010

It's that time again. Time to map out our meals for the week. Make sure we thaw what we need before the night we need it. Get any missing ingredients prior to attempting a recipe. Good stuff.

Last week was mostly on track with what I planned. We were thrown off mid-week because we didn't feel like making the ribs. Buppy loves ribs, but we got a bad 10 lb. box and are now just trying to use them up. We caved and ordered pizza one night, but then did the ribs the following night. They still weren't good, and after 1 rib, I was done. As I said, mostly on track though . . .

Monday: Leftover buffet / fend for yourself

Tuesday: Crab stuffed mushroom caps [no recipe yet, but I plan to devise my own]

Wednesday: Chicken in Poblano cream sauce [I love a restaurant version of this and am trying to recreate it]

Thursday: Leftover pork roast & sides from Sunday [my 1 night home alone]

Friday: Shrimp pizza

Saturday lunch: Tuna melts, fresh fruits and/or veggies we have on hand
Saturday dinner: Beef & broccoli stir-fry over white rice

Sunday lunch: BLTs with fresh fruits and/or veggies
Sunday dinner: Marinated grilled pork chops, baked sweet potato chips & green salad

Buppy's father & his wife are coming down from NY and should arrive Sunday afternoon/evening, so Sunday through the following Tuesday night will be meals with them. Good times!

White Bean Tuna Salad

Most of the more recent recipes I've been trying out have been from my Taste of Home's Light & Tasty Annual Recipes 2005 cookbook. I can say I've been pleased with the majority and will continue to test new ones. The following recipe is one that I'm still on the fence about.

It's good, but I think the red wine vinegar is overwhelming. It has a strong flavor to me, similar to balsamic vinegar, and it easily takes over the dish. All in all I like the flavor combo as well as the textures, but next time I'll add less of the red wine vinegar. I halved the recipe as I wasn't sure how we'd like it, plus we had other meals going on, so I didn't want too much leftover in the fridge. Turns out I made it prior to leaving for Gettysburg on Saturday and haven't even eaten any for a meal yet. What follows is the full recipe, not the halved version I used.

White Bean Tuna Salad
Taste of Home's Light & Tasty Annual Recipes 005
Kathleen Law, Post Falls, ID

1/4 c. red wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced [I used jarred & it worked fine]
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 can [15 oz. each] white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
2 cans [6 oz. each] light water-packed tuna, drained & flaked
3/4 c. sliced ripe olives
1/2 c. chopped red onion [I used white because it's what I had on hand and it worked just fine]

In a small bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients; gradually whisk in oil. In a large bowl, combine the beans, tuna, olives and onion; add dressing and toss gently. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 serving [3/4 c.] equals 247 calories, 7 g fat [1 saturated fat], 17 mg cholesterol, 754 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 20 g protein.
Diabetic exchange: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable.

Obviously I don't normally have all of the nutritional info that comes with recipes or things I happen to make up, but since it's listed in the cookbook, I thought I'd share in case anyone is interested.

I'm thinking this might be my dinner tonight. Buppy and I were both kind of stumped as to how to eat this as it's not really 'salad-y' enough to eat on it's own [in our opinions], so I might pile it on top of some romaine and add some tomatoes. The dressing in this recipe can then act as the dressing for the entire salad. Buppy said he was going to try to eat it with Triscuits, so I guess it'd be more like a dip for him. I'll have to ask how that works out for him. If anyone tries it and finds a new way to eat this, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!

Stoppin' at Nonnie's

On my way home from Atlantic City last weekend, I was determined to stop at a cafe for a delicous breakfast of eggs benedict. On the way there on Saturday afternoon, I passed countless places to stop and envisioned the yumminess I'd find at one of them the following morning. My plans all changed though as the GPS took me home a different way than it had taken me there on Saturday; I ended up coming home on the Atlantic City Expressway, which led me to the New Jersey Turnpike. What did this mean for me? All highway miles, with no cute cafes along the way. The travel plazas could only offer Starbucks, Burger King, McDonalds and the like. This was not gonna do.

I decided to veer off my route near Havre de Grace with no real destination in mind; I just knew I was hungry. I ended up going about 10 miles off the Turnpike and just scanning the restaurants I passed. Hmmm, what looks good today? I decided on a small little Italian pizza/pasta/panini joint called Nonnie's. From their rather extensive menu, I chose their Bugsy panini. They threw steak, shrimp, American cheese, raw onions and Old Bay together for a tasty filling sandwiched between 2 seasoned piecies of heavy-duty bread. Smashed it all up in a panini pressed and BAM --- lunch was served. I could only eat about half the sandwich, so the other half came home and was dinner later that night. It reheated pretty well in the toaster oven, and I was a satisfied customer of Nonnie's.

Disappointment

Can we talk about dinner? Or maybe, I'd rather not.

We made scallops for dinner. We purchased them this past weekend (Sunday, I think), and although Buppy sealed them with our vacuum sealer, he didn't seal them all the way as they were very juicy and we weren't sure when we'd be eating them. Mistake #1, but not Buppy's fault. My bright idea when I came home from work was to dip the scallops in an egg wash, then into bread crumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese. We placed them on a broiler pan, sprayed them with cooking spray to brown, baked at 400F for 10 minutes, rotated the pan (our darn oven bakes unevenly), then baked for another 8 minutes. To finish them off, I broiled them for another 2 minutes or so to *hopefully* brown and crisp up the outsides. We decided to eat some of our leftover Asian noodles with them; while not a great flavor combo, the noodles needed to be eaten and there were lots left. I hate wasting food and try to avoid it if at all possible. Most of the time we're really good about this as Buppy is really great about taking in leftovers for meals at work (since he works 48 hours at a time).

Dinner was . . . . a fail. Perhaps not what I'd call an epic fail, but a fail nonetheless. To be honest, my stomach is rather upset as I type this. Buppy only had one scallop that was a little fishy, so while I don't think they'd gone bad, my idea as far as how to prepare them was flawed. How? I haven't figured it out yet. It sounded so good in theory. But there obviously was a big difference between my 'in theory' and 'in practice'. I thought breaded and baked would be good, but somehow it just went wrong. Something was very, very salty in the breading. I know Parmesan cheese is known to be salty, but this was just overwhelming. Ick. And the bread crumbs had a strange taste to me, like they were old, but I don't think they were. They weren't brand new, but we've used that canister fairly recently. I guess it was a combination of things, but whatever the case, it wasn't good.

I don't often fail at cooking. Not to say that things always turn out as I plan, just that I'm not often disappointed with what we make, even if it's not quite as I'd imagined. This is one of those times where I can definitely say that I'm disappointed in how our meal turned out. But oh well, that's part of the learning curve of cooking, isn't it? You cook, you learn, then you cook some more. I just hope I feel better for the chili cook-off tomorrow!

Babycakes & Tuna Cakes!

Babycakes is my mom’s cat; she’s so feisty and . . . well, she just runs the house. I miss her. I miss having a cat in general, but Buppy claims he’s allergic. I secretly think he just dislikes them. Ah, c’est la vie.

I digress. Onto the main topic of discussion today: tuna cakes! Before I decided I was hungry for them one day, I’d never eaten or considered making these little patties of fishy goodness. I’ve come across a lot of recipes for salmon cakes throughout the years, but I’m not huge into canned salmon and wouldn’t waste fresh by turning it into cakes (no offense to those who do!) Then one day, out of nowhere, tuna cakes began calling my name. Actually, it was more of a shout. I had to make some.

I wasn’t all too sure what to put in, but Buppy and I tried to make crab cakes once upon a time (eh, let's not talk about 'em though, ok?) so I just decided to throw together whatever sounded good at the time. And you know what? They were really good! I didn’t measure anything out exactly, as is usual for me, but I guesstimated at the time what I used so I could recreate them whenever I want. Or share the recipe with you.Tuna cakes

1 can tuna (I prefer and have only tried with water-packed)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 Tbsp. celery, minced
½ Tbsp. capers, chopped
1 egg
1/3 c. bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. butter

I emptied the can of tuna into a bowl, added all other ingredients (except the butter, it’s for frying!) and mixed with my hands. I tried to keep the whole thing from turning into mush but still mixed to incorporate everything. I then formed what I had into 3 good-sized patties (as you can see above.) I melted the butter in a non-stick skillet over med.-high heat, let it get good and hot and pan-fried the cakes for a few minutes on each side until they turned as golden as I wanted them. I’d say it was probably 4-5 min. on each side. They were done, I was hungry and they tasted super yummy.

Buppy has yet to try them as I made them on a night when I was home alone. Hopefully I can make them for him soon; I think he’ll like ‘em!

Grandma's Shrimp Appetizer, Jazzed Up

I realize that my last 2 posts have been about shrimp dishes, but I just created this appetizer today, took pics and decided that this too needed to be blogged about. It was that good.I talked in a previous post about a simple appetizer my grandma used to make with shrimp, cream cheese and cocktail sauce. I also had a dish similar to this at a wine tasting party a few months ago. Today I got a craving and decided to create my own.

I already had cream cheese in the fridge and usually make my own cocktail sauce. I knew we had almost all the other ingredients I wanted to use except for a can of tiny shrimp, so we picked that up this morning while out running errands.

This is what I threw together (as usual for the girl who never remembers to measure, all these measurements are approximate!!):

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened in the microwave
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8-1/4 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. Old Bay
2 Tbsp. finely minced raw onion
1 tsp. lemon juice

I mixed all of this with a hand mixer until smooth, creamy and well blended; spread this onto any type of plate you choose. Pick something fun that makes you feel good!

Homemade cocktail sauce is easy:

Mix together as much ketchup and horseradish as you'd like, making sure the heat matches your tastes. I added about 1 tsp. lemon juice to mine as well this time and it was a nice addition.This cocktail sauce was then spread out over the cream cheese mixture on the plate. I topped the entire thing with one can of tiny shrimp, drained. I used chopped green onion as a garnish, but lemon wedges or fresh parsley would work well too. Enjoy!

Shrimp+Cocktail Sauce+Cheese= Pizza Goodness

Some of you may find this recipe strange, others may think it perfectly normal. When I first attempted to introduce Buppy to it, he was definitely skeptical. But I have other friends from my previous place of employment who have grown up with such a food and love it as much as I.

I was first introduced to this dish at Shooters, a.k.a The Party Capital of the Universe. This is a supper club in Plover, WI with great food, an amazing owner and a good crowd of regulars. I started working there as a bartender while in school at UWSP; this happens to be where I developed my mad-crazy bartending skills and love for the job. The homemade chicken soup (with homemade noodles or dumplings, depending on the day) is out of this world. Really good salad bar. Broasted chicken that kicks butt and will burn your face off if you eat it without allowing it to cool off at all (trust me on this one.) They also have this sandwich that I just can't get enough of. In fact, when I visited WI this summer to see family, I made sure to stop at Shooters to see friends . . . and to eat this sandwich. It's called an Oscar Exotica, but I digress. Today's post, should I ever get back on track, is about Shooters pizza. Specifically: shrimp pizza.

When I first told Buppy I wanted to make this, I couldn't seem to remember what type of sauce Shooters used on theirs. We talked about marinara, but I was sure that wasn't it. Then I suggested alfredo, but neither of us likes jarred alfredo sauce (and my homemade recipe is too thin to act as a pizza sauce and Buppy's is just too darn unhealthy.) Then it hit me --- cocktail sauce silly! (Well, the cocktail sauce didn't actually hit me . . . ) This, my friends, is good stuff.

Please don't be upset and get your panties all in a bundle because I didn't measure anything when I made this. It's simple, so don't stress.
Shrimp Pizza
Inspiration: Shooters, Plover, WI

1 pre-made pizza crust (We used Boboli, although I don't really care for that kind. I haven't made it with an un-baked or homemade crust, but as long as you cook the shrimp first to get the water content down, I'd think it would be ok.)
1/2-1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
Fresh garlic, minced
Cocktail sauce
Raw onion
Mozzi cheese

Lightly saute the shrimp and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked, roughly 2 minutes per side. Please take care not to over cook, as I've already mentioned in a previous post how I feel about over cooked shrimp. Once cooked, remove from pan with a slotted spoon to take as little juice with them as possible; set aside. Chop some raw onion until it's the size you want it, or leave it out if you're not an onion fan. Spread cocktail sauce all over the pizza crust, as much as you'd use if making a regular pizza with marinara. Do get scared now. Top the cocktail sauce with the shrimp (roughly chopped is a good size) and raw onion, then dump on as much cheese as possible. I mean, as much as you'd like. We actually used a combo of mozzi and extra sharp and it turned out well. Toss that puppy into the oven according to your crust directions and wait. Once your crust starts to brown and the cheese is nice and melty, pull it out and dig in. Shooters also used to put on chunks of raw tomato too, but Buppy and I don't care for tomato cooked like that. Still, everyone else seemed to enjoy it. Play with whatever toppings you'd like and enjoy!

Velvet Shrimp: Quick, Healthy & Delish

I love shrimp cooked almost any way. Breaded or naked (ha ha ha, I said 'naked'), fried, baked, boiled, steamed --- you name it and I'll devour it. The only time I don't particularly care for them are when they're over cooked, but other than that, I'm all in. While we don't eat them all too often, we still like to have some on hand in case we get a craving for seafood around here. Plus, it's quick to thaw.

As a staple appetizer when I was small, my grandma would put a block of room temperature cream cheese on a plate, douse it in cocktail sauce and throw 2 cans of small salad shrimp on top. I remember looking forward to this every year during the holidays. For some reason, I've never made that particular appetizer, but talking about it is makin' my mouth water. So simple, yet so, so tasty. Funny how 3 ingredients can be such a slam dunk!

Speaking of shrimp, I just went to check to see if I'd blogged about my shrimp 'za. I could have sworn I had, but apparently that was on my old, more personal blog. I'll have to pass that recipe on soon as it is wonderful! I know some of you might feel a lil' shady about a shrimp pizza, but fear not. Stay tuned for that upcoming recipe. Back to today's post though . . .

I found this recipe in a Light & Tasty magazine from Sept. 2006. Yes, folks, that's how long I've wanted to try this blasted recipe, about 3 years. How terrible is that? Oh well, Buppy and I had the night to ourselves a week or 2 ago and decided that it was time. The original name for the recipe is 'Makeover Velvet Shrimp', as in they took it and made it healthier than the original. While they didn't show the original recipe, I'm confident it couldn't have been any better than this was. So to sum up, not only is this recipe easy and divine, it's not too bad for you either!

Velvet Shrimp
Light & Tasty, Sept. 2006

12 oz. uncooked linguine
½ c. thinly sliced green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. seafood seasoning (we used Old Bay since that's what we had on hand and enjoy)
1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 ½ c. half & half cream
¾ c. shredded part-skim mozzarella

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook onions and garlic in butter for 1 minute. Stir in seafood seasoning; cook 1 minute longer. Add shrimp; cook for 3-4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove and keep warm.
Combine flour and cream until smooth; stir into skillet, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese just until melted. Return shrimp to the pan and heat through. Drain linguine; top with shrimp mixture. Yields 6 servings.I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!Update: I'm submitting this to Life as Mom's ultimate recipe swap for this Thursday (1/7/10). Go check it out for more healthy meals!