Caprese with Shrimp Scampi

Quick & Easy for a light dinner

Slice beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and in this case cucumber (I forgot to get basil at the store, but that should really be on here too)

Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette

For shrimp scampi:

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 TBSP butter

1 garlic clove minced

parsley to taste

In a medium pan, add butter and melt

add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until slightly brown

add white wine, reduce heat to medium-low

reduce for about 5 minutes

add shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes each side

garnish with parsley

The bread is our favorite: Rosemary & Olive Oil

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Apparently, this is the best thing I've ever made for Alyssa...

Blueberry Compote:

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 1/2 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP water

3/4 tsp Corn Starch

1 TBSP Fresh-squeezed lemon juice

In a small bowl, mix lemon juice and corn starch with a fork, set aside

In a small sauce pan bring blueberries, sugar, and water to a boil

Reduce to a simmer and add lemon juice/corn starch mixture

Turn off heat and cover to keep warm

Pancakes:

3/4 Cup AP Flour

1 1/2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

*Whisk all dry ingredients in a large bowl

1 large egg + 1 egg white

1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 TBSP canola oil

*Whisk all wet ingredients in a medium bowl

*Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spatula, making sure flour has disappeared, but not over-mixed which will create chewy pancakes.  Yuck!

In a large pan over medium heat, spray non-stick spray and drop about 1/3 cup of pancake batter, cooking for about 2 minutes on each side

Top with warm blueberry compote and powdered sugar (optional)

Makes 6 pancakes

Crab Benedict

What a great way to start the weekend!

To prep:

Slice your favorite artisan bread (or for the traditionalist use english muffins)

Slice beefsteak tomatoes and avocado

Prepare a hollandaise sauce (melted butter, egg yolk, vinegar, salt, pepper in a blender, sorry look up a good recipe because I usually wing it)

Keep hollandaise sauce warm by placing in tightly sealed tupperware in a hot water bath

For Eggs:

Bring salted water to a boil in a medium pot

Crack each egg into a ramekin filled halfway with white vinegar

Begin whisking water vigorously in a circular motion to create a vortex in the center of the pot

With the water in motion, pour contents of one ramekin into the center of the vortex and continue whisking.  

This will keep the egg tight and reduce the strands that can occur if you just drop the egg into stagnant water.

Boil for about 2 minutes and remove from water with a slotted spoon.

Repeat with the rest of the eggs

For Tomatoes:

I like to pan-roast mine to bring out the flavors, but you can serve raw if preferred

In a small pan over medium heat, add sliced tomato

Crack pepper and salt and cook for about 2 minutes each side, or until a slight char begins to form

Finished Product:

Lightly toast the bread

Top with avocado, tomato, egg, crab meat & hollandaise

Enjoy!!!

Filet Mignon Oscar Style

One of my favorite dishes of all time!

The traditional preparation also has asparagus but I kept that out this time

I can't exactly recall the bearnaise recipe, but I went extremely simple and did the blender prep rather than the double pot whisking variety.  Lazy me.

The bearnaise has egg yolk, butter, white vinegar, tarragon, S&P

After blending I keep it in a tightly sealed tupperware in a bigger tupperware with very hot (not boiling) water to keep warm while the filet is cooking.

To prep:

Trim filet of excess fat and cook on the grill, or grill pan to your liking

For medium rare, about 5-7 minutes per side over high heat

Top with crab meat and pour bearnaise over the top

This dish is served with steamed broccoli and marsala mushrooms

To make the mushrooms, pour about 1/4 cup marsala wine in a pan over medium heat

Immediately add mushrooms and simmer for about 15 minutes

Crab Cake Stuffed Salmon

Ok the is the last crab dish for a while, I promise!!!

So I cheated a little bit on this by buying pre-made crab cakes...

If you're going to make crab cakes on your own, find a good recipe!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

1) Prep the crab cakes as you like

2) For the sauce:

*1/2 cup chardonnay

*2 TBSP butter

*1 shallot, diced

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat add chardonnay & butter and reduce, stirring occasionally for approx. 10 minutes.

Add shallots and continue reducing while other items are cooking

3) Salmon

Make a long incision in the salmon, about 2/3 of the depth of the filet

Stuff with the crab cake (or just plain crab)

As you can see from the picture, overflow is fine

Spray a glass baking pan with non-stick spray and place salmon inside

Bake for 15-20 minutes

Pour chardonnay reduction over salmon and enjoy!!

Brown Sugar Spiced Salmon

This was delicious!!

Served with 2006 Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir

I'll try to write this out as a true recipe this time (Serves 2)

(Optional)

Cherry Chardonnay Reduction

1. 1 to 1 1/2 cup chardonnay
2.  4-8 pitted cherries
3. 1 TBSP brown sugar

• Pour chardonnay into a small sauce pot set to medium heat
• Add 4-8 pitted cherries, depending on sweetness desired
• Simmer for 5 minutes, then extract cherries with slotted spoon
• Continue to reduce for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, monitoring the pot to make sure it doesn't boil
• When reduced to about 1/4 of the original volume, whisk in 1 TBSP brown sugar
• If reduction boils, remove from heat for a few seconds, and reduce to medium low
• If reduction becomes over-reduced add water by the TBSP to rehydrate

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

1. 3 medium sweet potatoes
2. 1 egg yolk
3. seasoning of choice (salt, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne)

• After putting chardonnay reduction on the stove (initially). wash and slice potatoes to whatever width you prefer, mine were 1/4 inch approx.
• Submerge sliced potatoes in a bowl of water and let soak for 30 minutes 
• After potatoes are in the soak, preheat oven to 425
• Whip egg white to soft peaks and add whatever seasoning you have chosen
• Take potatoes out and pat very dry
• Toss potatoes in egg white seasoning
• Place on a baking sheet (I put mine on a cooling rack over a parchment paper-lined baking sheet)
• Bake for 15 minutes then turn over and bake for another 15 minutes
• Reduce heat to 200 and leave in oven for 15-20 minutes

Garlic-sauteed Broccoli

1. 2 TBSP minced garlic
2. 1 cup broccoli
3. 1 tbsp olive oil

• During second baking of sweet potato fries:  Place large pan on stove over medium-high heat     add oil
• Add garlic after approx. 1 minute
• Add broccoli after another 1 minute 
• Sautee for approx. 8 minutes, or until tender

Brown Sugar Spiced Salmon

1. (2) 4-6 oz. Salmon Filets, skinned if necessary
2. For Rub: 3 parts brown sugar, 1 part each: cayenne powder, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, chili powder

• Mix all dry ingredients together 
• Dredge the salmon filets in the rub
• Place on baking sheet and add to the oven when there are 10 minutes left during the second portion of baking of the sweet potatoes fries and leave in during the 200 degree cool down
• Drizzle Cherry Chardonnay Reduction over Salmon