Crispy Shrimp Tacos

Whenever C is out for the evening, Miss F and I are usually going to enjoy some sort of seafood dish. Last time she requested shrimp tacos, but the crispy kind. I don't think I have ever made crispy shrimp tacos and I am fairly certain she has never had them out, so I am not sure where she got the idea, but it was a great one. Especially when we topped them with her favorite "green sauce" aka sour cream, tomatillo salsa and lime juice.  She ate her without the cabbage and avocado, but she did add some black beans to her tacos.

Crispy Shrimp Tacos

2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp, tails removed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ cup sour cream
½ cup tomatillo salsa
Juice from one lime

1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
8 flour tortillas, warmed

Whisk together the flour, chile powder,and salt together in a small bowl. Add it to a resealable plastic bag. Add the shrimp to the bag, toss well to make sure they are evenly coated. Heat the butter and oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook the shrimp for 4 to 5 minutes, turning halfway through, until cooked through.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, salsa and lime juice. Salt to taste. Serve the shrimp in flour tortillas with sour cream tomatillo sauce, avocado and cabbage.

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Steak and Green Bean Stir Fry

This was inspired by a Cooking Light recipe, but in the end, was very little like its original. Miss F was obsessed with the steak. Even though she insisted that it wasn't steak, it was beef. We tried over and over again to explain to her that steak is beef, but she was insistent that it wasn't. She devoured her whole plate, green beans rice and all. She also covered it with Sriracha, she has always loved spicy foods, but she has gotten even more adventurous with spicy foods, especially Sriracha.

Steak and Green Bean Stir Fry

¼ cup unsalted chicken broth
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
12 ounces boneless sirloin steak, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 cup chopped green beans
½ onion, sliced

In a two cup measure, whisk together the broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, Sriracha and corn starch. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok, swirl to coat. At the beef, green beans and onion, stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the broth mixture to the pan and cook for 3 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.

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Poblano Shrimp Pasta

Whenever C goes out of town, Miss F and I indulge in seafood of some variety. Her favorite is shrimp, by far. She can eat more fried shrimp than anyone I know, she is a machine. Luckily, she also loves shrimp prepared in other ways. She and I really enjoyed this pasta, which was loosely based on a Rachael Ray recipe. It comes together incredibly quickly, dinner is truly ready in the time it takes to cook the thin spaghetti, which isn't long at all.

Poblano Shrimp Pasta

1 pound pasta, I used thin spaghetti
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound medium shrimp, deveined, shelled and tails removed
1 small poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup cream

Prepare the pasta per package instructions, drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the shrimp, poblano, and onion. Saute for 5 to 8 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute more. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and cream, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 3 minutes more, add the drained pasta and toss well to coat, salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

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Apple Pie

I have been on the quest for the perfect apple pie recipe for the longest time. I love Martha Stewart's crust recipe, but I have never been thrilled with any of the pie fillings I have tried.  I really liked the results from using Gala apples.  I usually like a tart apple, like Granny Smith, in my apple desserts, but the Gala apples cooked beautifully.  This pie is spectacular on its own, but even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Perfect for fall and even more perfect for your Thanksgiving table.

Apple Pie

Crust:
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cold, cut into small pieces
¼ to ½ cup ice water

Filling:
3 pounds Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
juice from ½ lemon
2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons cream

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add the butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds.

With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out both refrigerated dough disks into a 12 inch circle. Place one into a 9 inch pie pan, trim the crust ½ inch from the sides.

Stir together the apples, sugar, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add the apples to the pie pan. Cut the butter into ¼ inch cubes, dot the apples with the butter pieces. Cut the remaining dough into 1 inch strips, weave a lattice top onto the pie. Brush the top with the cream.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes more. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas

I have been obsessed with tomatillo salsa lately. I always seem to have a jar lurking in our fridge. I took my usual white chicken enchilada recipe and adapted it to include the leftover tomatillo salsa I had. If I hadn't, I would have eaten my weight in chips and salsa. These enchiladas are super simple and come out perfectly. Miss F and I are huge fans, C isn't as enthusiastic.  I can admit fully that I polished off the entire pan for lunch the next day.  I just heated them up straight in the pan and ate them all.  Oink oink.

Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas

12 corn tortillas
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups shredded Cheddar Jack cheese
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
½ cup tomatillo salsa (or your favorite salsa verde)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 40 seconds. Mix the chicken with 1 cup of the cheese. Place a couple spoon fulls of the chicken mixture in each tortilla, roll up and place in the prepared pan.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or so, whisking the whole time. Whisk in the broth and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth, heat for 5 minutes until thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and salsa. Pour the sauce over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or so to brown the cheese. Serve.

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Baked Sour Cream Chocolate Doughnuts

I love baking doughnuts. It really doesn't take too terribly long, especially if I use my mini-doughnut pans.  Whenever I make these on the weekend, I never have a single doughnut leftover.  Miss F and C usually take down two pans worth in one sitting...then proceed to complain that they ate too many doughnuts.  On a weekday, I always have some leftover, which makes for great grab and go breakfasts during the week.  This recipe is from the Semisweet Sisters.

Baked Chocolate Sour Cream Doughnuts

½ cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a doughnut pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg, vanilla, oil and sugar. Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt until well combined. Fill the pan with the batter and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Crockpot Rosemary Chicken with Butternut Squash

I like to have butternut squash at least once a week in the fall. It is one of my most favorite vegetables and even though it is still in the 80s here, it still makes it feel a bit more like autumn.  Miss F firmly rejects butternut squash, even though I involved her in the prep of this meal.  She ate a ton of green beans and chicken, only trying the tiniest bite of squash.  This is the perfect fall meal.  I adapted the recipe from GI 365.

Crockpot Rosemary Chicken with Butternut Squash

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup milk
1 large butternut squash, peeled and seeded
1 small onion, chopped
1½ pounds chicken thighs
1 tablespoon minced rosemary
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Parmesan, for serving

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth. Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens

Cube the butternut squash into 1 ½ inch chunks. Add the squash and onion to the crockpot, top with the chicken thighs. Pour the broth and milk mixture over top, then sprinkle with the rosemary and salt. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

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Garlic Fat Bread

So one of the best foods in life is fat bread. I can usually try and force it to go with whatever dinner I am serving, but sometimes, you have to have plain garlic bread. And when you want garlic bread, why not invent garlic fat bread?  My little family of three nearly devoured this entire platter.  I may have snuck a slice or two more around 11 pm.  And then C was all upset the next day because we didn't have much leftover.  That is how popular fat bread, and now garlic fat bread, are.  Serious deliciousness.

Garlic Fat Bread

1 loaf French bread
½ stick softened butter
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
3 ounces grated Mozzarella

Slice the bread lengthwise. Mix the butter and the garlic powder; spread over each cut side of the bread. Sprinkle the Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese over the butter. Place under the broiler until slightly brown and heated through.

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