Week 19: Linguini with Shrimp Scampi

I have a thing for shrimp scampi. I love it with pasta. I love it baked and buttery all by itself. But, I've never really made a shrimp scampi that I've really, really loved.

That's what led me to this recipe.

It is a shrimp scampi with pasta and without a lot of butter. The final product was light and lemony tasting. (I made it in the dead of winter, but it would be a great summer pasta dish.)

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi
Taken from Barefoot Contessa Family Style
by Ina Garten

Serves 6
Prep time: Super quick (less than 20 minutes)

Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
1 1/2 lb linguine
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
5 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp minced garlic (9 cloves)
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 C chopped fresh parsley
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 C freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes



Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 Tbsp salt and linguine. Cook according to package directions.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minutes. Be careful, the garlic burns easily!

Add the shrimp, 1 Tbsp of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.



I made half a batch of this - it was more than enough for dinner for two hungry adults and a good size lunch portion. My only real complaint is the parsley; there was too much parsley. We'll make this again, though. It was super quick and really tasty.

Week 19: Spaghetti with Sauteed Chicken and Grape Tomatoes

Spaghetti with Sauteed Chicken and Grape Tomatoes
From: Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Calories: 302 Points: 5.5 pts

• 2 skinless chicken breast halves, diced in 1 inch cubes
• cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and dries basil
• kosher salt and fresh pepper
• 8 oz spaghetti (I used Walmart's Great Value Brand. It's really good!)
  
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
• 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Season chicken generously with salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, spray with oil and add chicken. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until no longer pink. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.

While pasta cooks, add olive oil to skillet on high heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden brown (do not burn). Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté about 4-5 minutes. When pasta is drained, add pasta to tomatoes and toss well. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Add fresh basil and chicken and toss well. Serve and top with good grated cheese.

My Notes: I really liked this. It's a nice light, summery type dish, which works well with a salad and some crusty bread. My husband didn't think the sauce was hefty enough, but I think that's the idea. I will definitely make this again, preferably with some fresh basil and tomatoes from the farmers market next summer!

Week 19: Best Beef Stew

I made this as a "Sunday meal." Around my house, Sunday is a time for comfort food, food that takes a long time to cook, and food that will yield some lunch left-overs.

I had a craving for beef stew and have never really been happy with any recipe I've tried before. None of my favorite cookbooks yielded anything. An Internet search got me nowhere. Lucky for me, there happened to be a recipe in the latest Cook's Illustrated.

With no further ado, I bring you what really is "the best" beef stew.

Best Beef Stew

Taken from Cook's Illustrated, February 2010, p. 8 - 9

Serves 3 to 4
Total time: about 3 hours



2 medium garlic cloves, pressed (about 2 tsp)
2 tsp anchovy paste
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 boneless chuck-eye roast (about 2 pounds)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, cut in 1/8" thick slices (about 2 C)
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in 1" pieces (about 2 C)
1/4 C flour
2 C red wine (I used Malbec)
2 C low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
4 spring fresh thyme
4 oz salt pork, rinsed of excess salt
1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut in 1" pieces
2 tsp (about 1 packet) unflavored powdered gelatin
1/2 C water
1 C frozen peas, thawed
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degree.

Combine garlic and anchovy paste in small bowl; press with back of fork to form paste. Stir in tomato paste and set mixture aside.

Trim excess fat and silver skin. Cut meat into evenly sized 1 1/2" pieces. Pat meat dry. Do not season.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add beef and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and carrots to Dutch oven and stir to combine with beef. Cook, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds.

Slowly add wine, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits. Increase heat to high and allow wine to simmer until thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. This step will smell delicious. Put your nose close to the pot and just breath it all in.

Stir in broth, bay leaves, thyme, and salt pork. Bring to a simmer, cover, transfer to oven, and cook for 90 minutes.

Remove pot from oven; remove and discard bay leaves and salt pork. Stir in potatoes, cover, return to oven, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 45 minutes.

Cook over medium heat until potatoes are cooked and meat offers little resistance when poked with fork (meat should not be falling apart), about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over water in small bowl and allow to soften for 5 minutes.

Increase heat to high, stir in softened gelatin mixture and peas; simmer until gelatin is fully dissolved and stew is thickened, about 3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.

I made a few modifications from the original recipe. First, the original recipe called for 4 pounds of meat. I only used 2 pounds of meat. The ratio of sauce, potatoes, vegetables, and meat was still perfect; it would have served more people with more meat (obviously), but it also would have been too meaty for my tastes.

Also, the recipe included 1 1/2 C frozen pearl onions. They were added as soon as the stew was removed from the oven and cooked over medium heat for 15 minutes. We picked every single last pearl onion out of the stew. I have serious texture issues, but you can feel free to add them - as long as I'm not joining you for dinner.


There were some things about this recipe that freaked me out. One, the anchovy paste. Two, the salt pork. Three, the gelatin. The recipe raved about how the anchovy paste would add some serious savory-ness to the recipe. So, I used it. The recipe gave the same explanation for the salt pork. So, I dumped it in. The recipe also claimed that the gelatin would make the stew "glossy" and rich. I overcame my fears, added all the ingredients, and was delighted.

I'm going to make this recipe part of my permanent Sunday rotation. It's perfect for a Sunday because once it's in the oven it leaves plenty of time (90 minutes) for a nap. You'll wake up to a house that smells absolutely amazing! It is even something that I would make for some meat-loving dinner guests.

Week #18: Chicken with Olives and Artichokes

Hey, there! Remember me? I believe the last time I contributed to this blog the leaves were just beginning to change. And now, an obscene number of weeks later, we are covered in snow. I am trying to get back to blogging in the new year. I have kept up with the cooking part of our challenge but have fallen short on following through with sharing what I made.

So without further ado, here is my first recipe of the new year:



Chicken with Olives and Artichokes
Adapted from: Weight Watchers Now and Later page 60

(Note: the idea behind this cookbook is that you cook extra of one ingredient on the first night and then use the leftovers to make a different dish later in the week. For the purpose of this blog, I will share the recipes seperately as I try them. If you wanted to make one recipe without the second night meal you would just adjust the ingredients accordingly)

6 5oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 8.5oz can artichoke hearts drained and quartered
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (I upped this considerably to 3/4 cup more on that later)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (I used an entire lemon)
8 kalamata olives chopped (I subbed black olives to appease my husband who is anti-kalamata)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (oops. I just realized I forgot this)

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned 3 minutes on each side (okay, so this is where things started going off the rails. The chicken breasts I purchased were mutant sized and so I had to throw timing out the window and add more of the other ingredients to compensate)

2. Stir in the artichokes, broth, lemon juice, olives and garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook until the flavors are blended and the chicken is cooked through, 5 minutes (or in my case 20 minutes because of the mutant chicken breasts)

(Optional: transfer 2 breasts to a container to be used in future recipe)

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in basil (oops) Serve the chicken with the sauce. (Note: In part because I had to add more broth to compensate for the mutant chicken breasts, my sauce was really thin at this point so instead of serving right away, I removed the chicken and returned the sauce to the stove to cook down for a few minutes) We served the chicken and sauce over a bed of whole wheat egg noodles.

Review: This was okay. Much like any recipe made to be low fat and healthy, there were many ways I could think of to make it taste better but all of those methods would reduce the "low fat and healthy" aspect. I think feta would have been a nice touch here. Would add a little bit to the WW points total, but I think it would have worked well with the existing flavors.

Week 18: Stuffed Green Peppers and (bonus) Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

I made this because I got an awesome new casserole dish set from Stephanie, Karl, and AJ for Christmas. My search started by Googling "best casserole recipes." I didn't find much and tried Tasty Kitchen instead of Google. I decided I needed to be more specific and ended up with the stuffed green pepper casserole recipe. There were lots to choose from (did you know people put corn in their stuffed peppers?!!?), but I opted for a super easy one.

Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole
Adapted from: Robbie's Recipes



1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 C cooked rice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
3 medium green peppers - sliced lengthwise
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown meat, onion, and chopped peppers in skillet, stirring occasionally. Drain off fat.

Stir in rice, salt, garlic salt, and 1 can of tomato sauce; heat through.

Spray a 9" X 9" X 3" baking pan with cooking spray and line with 1/2 the sliced peppers. Pour half of meat mixture over peppers. Layer remaining sliced peppers on top of meat mixture. Pour remaining meat mixture on top. Pour remaining tomato sauce over meat mixture.

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes.

The verdict: Liked it and will make it again. It would be a great dish to make the night before and pop in the oven right after work. It would also be a great dish to make and deliver to a friend (for baking in the comfort of their own oven).

And, in case you were wondering. . . we ate the stuffed green pepper casserole with some yumm-o biscuits.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits
from my own recipe boz
Makes 12 biscuits

2 C biscuit / baking mix
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 C milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine biscuit mix, cheese, minced garlic, and milk. Stir with a fork until moistened.

Drop by tablespoon onto baking sheet.

Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Melt butter and add garlic powder. Brush mixture over biscuits.

The verdict: These have been a long-time favorite in our kitchen. They taste just like Red Lobster. Brad always begs me to only make half a batch, though, because otherwise we eat all 12 of them (hanging head in shame)!

Week 17: Shredded Beef and Fancy Macaroni

Brad loves shredded beef sandwiches and whines that I can't make then as well as his grandma. This is due (at least partially) to my irrational fear of crock pot cooking. Long days at work plus a crock pot with a faulty thermostat plus meat without much fat plus not enough cooking liquid has led to many burned dinners and impromptu nights out. That, however, is another story.

I tried this beef recipe in hopes of making Brad smile. He didn't say it was better than his grandma's (or even as good as his grandma's), but he did eat two sandwiches.

I served it with Ree Drummond's Fancy Macaroni - which I was simply looking for an excuse to make. And, I baked the macaroni and cheese in my new Le Creuset Mini Cocotte's.

Shredded Beef Barbecue
12 servings
Taken from: Taste of Home

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 - 10 hours (slow cooker)



1 beef sirloin tip roast (2-1/2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup each ketchup and water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons chili powder
12 kaiser rolls, split

Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides over medium-high heat; drain.

Transfer roast to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the ketchup, water, onion, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, celery seed and chili powder; pour over roast.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat; shred with two forks and return to slow cooker. Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each roll.

One sandwich equals 313 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 2 g fiber

My review: The sanwiches were fine. The meat wasn't fatty (one of my frequent complaints about shredded meat sandwiches), and it was flavorful (no extra BBQ sauce required).

Fancy Macaroni
6 servings
Taken from Pioneer Woman

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes



2 C Macaroni
4 Tbsp Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
5 slices Regular Bacon
1/2 Tbsp Bacon Grease (reserved From Bacon Slices)
1/8 C All-purpose Flour
1 C Whole Or 2% Milk
1/4 C Half & Half
1 whole Egg Yolk, Beaten
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/4 C Grated Gruyere Cheese
1/4 C Grated Fontina Cheese
1/4 C Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
2 oz, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside.



Fry bacon until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Reserve grease.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.



In a pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/8 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.

Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and bacon and bacon grease and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.

Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot.

My review: This was labor- and dish-intensive. I bought and shredded way too much cheese (the left-overs were frozen). The bacon, butter, and cheese led to a dish that was plenty salty; I didn't add any additional salt. Also, I'm not a huge onion lover. Next time I will cut the onions at least in half. And, I'm not sure that I'd bake it in small dishes again. It was a little dried out. And, I don't know that I'd use the full amount of noodles the next time, either. How's that for a rambling review?

Week 16: Pork Tenderloin and Applesauce

I love watching Food Network. I recently saw Ina Garten make this applesauce and decided it was just what we needed for dinner, with a pork tenderloin to go with it.

Appplesauce
from Ina Garten for Foodnetwork
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Makes 2 1/2 quarters



2 large oranges, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 lb Granny Smith apples (about 6 to 8 apples)
3 lb sweet red apples (McIntosh) (about 6 to 8 apples)
1/2 C light brown sugar, packed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place the zest and juice of the oranges and lemon in a large bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples (reserving the peel of 2 of the red apples) and toss them in the juice. Pour the apples, reserved apple peel, and juice into a Dutch oven or enameled iron pot.

3. Add the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and allspice and cover the pot.



4. Bake for 1 hour, or until all the apples are soft.

5. Remove and discard the red apple peel. Mix with a whisk until smooth, and serve warm or at room temperature.



The process made the house spell absolutely delish. And, the applesauce had a really great texture. The final product, though, was really, really, really tart - like make a sour-face at the dinner table tart. Next time I would use less orange and lemon juice and zest and more sugar.

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin
from Ina Garten for Food Network
Prep time 15 minutes
Marinates for a minimum of 3 hours
Cook time 15 minutes

1 lemon, zest grated
3/4 C freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
1/2 C olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt
3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 teaspoons salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag.

2. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

4. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat.

5. Sear the pork tenderloins on all sides until golden brown. Place the saute pan in the oven and roast the tenderloins for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees F at the thickest part.

6. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter.



I only used one pork tenderloin (about 1 pound) and marinated for less than 30 minutes with the entire marinade recipe. The flavor was great.

Once again, though, the meat thermometer did me wrong - most of the pork was cooked perfectly, but one end of it was still completely raw. So strange! We will definitely use this marinade again, though.