EASY RECIPES AND STUFF

Super Easy Shrimp and Avocado Appetizer

Posted on July 10, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPY

I’ve been doing some entertaining and working with the BBQ so this week the easy recipe is Shrimp and Avocado Appetizer. Your guests will never know how easy your great appetizer was to put together. Follow my step by step recipe and you will have a great appetizer to go along with your killer BBQ meal.

Ingredients:

24 medium shrimp – shelled

2 Avocados – sliced

24 dill pickle rounds

French bread baguette – sliced

Siracha Hot Chili Sauce

Szechuan sauce

For the Marinade:

1/2 C Orange juice

1/4 C white wine

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp McCormick Cajun Seasoning

Preparation:

You will need 4 to 6 bamboo skewers which should be soaked in water for awhile sho they don’t burn in the BBQ. In the meantime, mix all the Marinade ingredients bowl. Place the shelled shrimp in a plastic bag and pour the marinade over the shrimp and seal bag. Place shrimp and marinade bag in refrigerator .

Slice the french bread into thin rounds, brush one side with olive oil. And heat in oven a couple minutes to heat and lightly brown.

Slice the avocados into 24 slender slices.

Put shrimp onto the skewers and BBQ on medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side.

Assembly:

Remove the BBQ shrimp from skewers. Brush each slice of bread with a little Szechuan sauce, add a pickle slice, a shrimp, an avocado slice, and top with a drop of Sirachi Hot Chili Sauce.

And that’s it, you just made a killer appetizer!

AND STUFF

So there we were ready for our first trip to Washington D. C. and to see Bill. Plane tickets? Check. Trolley tour of Capital area? Check. Museums? Check. Phone rings, and its Bill’s friend telling us the power is off for millions of people including Bill. It is thought we should cancel. We decide to hold, maybe things will get better.

Later in the day we were able to get through to Bill on the phone. He advised us that it could be days until the power is back on. We decide to stay loose until later in the day. Early evening we call Bill and he advises there is still no power we all reluctantly agree that best thing to do is to bank the tickets for later use. I tell Bill I bet the power comes on the minute I cancel the plane tickets.

I was wrong. The power came on about 4 hours after I cancelled the plane tickets.

Next day we tried purchase new tickets and they were 300% more than our original tickets. So, we decide to do a Staycation.

We live near the beach, the weather was perfect,so we spent a few days loving life at the beach. Then we did some hiking beyond Malibu. Super cool hike with great views of house ruins.

And maybe even a spaceship disguised as a hill house.

We missed seeing Bill and the sights of DC but you know what, it was kinda cool slowing down and taking time to see things in the old hood.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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KILLER TOMATO ARTICHOKE SALAD

Posted on July 5, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

My recipe this week is a killer summer salad which is easy to make and full of flavor. My Killer Tomato and Artichoke Salad will please family and friends.

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes

1/2 red onion

30 Kalamata pitted olives

1 and a 1/2 12oz jar Marinated Artichokes

10 fresh basil leaves

2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp white wine

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 C Feta crumbled cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Quarter the tomatoes, and scoop out the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into bite size pieces.

Slice the Kalamata olives in half.

Slice the red onion into thin rounds and then in half.

Chop the basil leaves.

Drain the juice from the jar of artichokes, cut any large pieces in half.

Pour the preceding items into a large bowl.

Add a dash of salt and ground pepper

In a small bowl mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wine, and Italian dressing. Add dressing to contents of large bowl and gently mix.

Add the feta cheese and gently mix.

That’s all there is to it. You just made a super good fresh salad perfect for that summer BBQ dinner.

AND STUFF

I made the Killer Tomato and Artichoke salad for a beach dinner a week ago and even the kids liked it. So, I decided to serve it to my family on the 4th along with blue cheese burgers and chips.

But, even better, Kacy invited us and the neighbors to her house for a pot luck 4th of July BBQ. That gave me the chance to try the recipe with a different group of people. I can tell you that everyone who tried my salad loved it! And the only people who didn’t try the salad were those who don’t like tomatoes in the first place.

So, tip one, this salad is super easy and killer good. Tip two, make a small green salad for the one or two in your group who don’t like tomatoes. There should be nothing but smiles around your table.

Roger

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Easy Sloppy Wellington

Posted on July 1, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

[I’m at the beach, please enjoy this encore recipe and July 4th And Stuff story]

EASY RECIPE

This week my recipe for great low cost meals is an easy, fun, and affordable variation of Beef Wellington. The idea for my recipe came from the Cuisine at Home recipe for Mushroom Wellingtons. I liked their idea of using Portobello mushrooms and puff pastry sheets, but I wanted to create an entirely different fun family meal. I concluded that the Portobello mushroom would provide a great platform for serving one of my favorite comfort meals, the Sloppy Joe.
The recipe will serve 6.

Ingredients:
6 Portobello Mushrooms
1 ½ lbs Ground Sirloin
2 8 oz can of Tomato sauce
½ Onion diced
¼ Green pepper diced
1Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Garlic Clove peeled and diced
1 tsp Fresh Basil chopped
¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Chili Powder
Pepper to taste
¼ Cup American Honey Bourbon Whiskey or similar sweet liqueur (likely not in your mother’s recipe)
1 box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (thaw as directed on the box)
2 Tbsp butter – melted
Step 1: Wash the mushrooms and then use a spoon to remove the stems and gills to create a cup to hold the Sloppy Joe meat.

Step 2: Break up and brown the ground sirloin, remove meat and reserve meat, leaving one Tbsp of meat juices in fry pan.

Step 3: Saute’ the onion, green pepper, garlic, and then add the tomato sauce, basil, Dijon Mustard, chili powder, salt, pepper, American Honey Bourbon and stir. Then add browned meat stir and simmer.

Place the Portobello Mushrooms on an oven sheet which has been lightly sprayed with canola oil, and cook at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Step 4: Take a sheet of the puff pastry, cut it into 4 squares. Sprinkle flour on your board, and roll each square out to about 10 inches. Place one hollowed out mushroom on the puff pastry, spoon Sloppy Joe mixture into the cavity in the mushroom, and fold the puff pastry over the mushroom and meat leaving a small opening at the top. Repeat the assembly five more times. Brush each Sloppy Wellington with melted butter.

Step 5: Spray oven sheet with canola oil, and bake for 20 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 425 degrees. As oven temperatures vary, keep an eye on the Sloppy Wellington and remove them when puff sheets are golden.

Plate the Sloppy Wellington with a fresh salad, and there you go, you have elevated the lowly Sloppy Joe to a highbrow Sloppy Wellington meal.

AND STUFF

It’s hard to believe but the 4^th of July is this weekend. Man time flies! Seems like just yesterday we were skiing in Mammoth. Point is, summer is here, and I love the 4^th of July.

I like how the day builds to the grand finale fireworks show. I usually start the 4^th off with an early morning power walk at the beach with She Who Must Be Obeyed.

(Heads up, this is a photograph of She Who Must Be Obeyed, deceptive isn’t she)

Early in the morning the beach is still quiet, and the sand clear of the beachgoers who arrive in mass later. June Gloom this year has been minimal so if that holds, the ocean views will be incredible.

Street parking on the 4th completly disapears as the day progress so, after our walk, we park our cars on the street in front of our house so that our in-laws in their 80’s, and other family can just drive into our garage later.

Next, at midday we walk to the beach with our chairs, boogey boards, and ice chest loaded with appropriate snacks and innocent looking fruit juice (margaritas). If we arrive before our neighborhood friends we spread our chairs and towels in such a manner as to hold down space for our friends, and if our friends are already there we fill in space they have held for us. And then, other than talking and watching the kids, we enjoy the rare but wonderful activity of doing virtually nothing. We catch up on what is going on in the hood, and then the conversation almost always steers to how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area, of such a wonderful country.

We will hang at the beach basking in the sun until late afternoon. Then, I will leave She Who Must Be Obeyed at the beach with our friends, and walk home to start work on the barbecue. Nothing fancy just burgers, hot dogs, salads, beans and chips. Our deck is on the walkway to the beach and it is always fun when people walk by and tell me the barbecue smells great.

We time the meal so that after a few drinks, and dinner, the sun is just starting to set. Because, that means it’s time to go back to the beach, this time with chairs, blankets, jackets, and more “fruit juice” because the first of two fireworks shows will be starting shortly.

In Redondo the fireworks show is performed from a barge a few hundred feet from the pier. This year the beach will be more crowded then ever because some neighboring communities have cut their fireworks show due to budget concerns.

If there is no June Gloom, and the sky is clear, there is nothing like sitting on the beach with the waves crashing while watching a fireworks show. Redondo puts on a pretty good fireworks show. And if that ended the evening it would be just fine. But, it’s not the end of the evening.

At the conclusion of the Redondo fireworks show, those in the know (that now includes you) turn the beach chairs to face the other direction. And there, a few hundred feet off shore in front of a lovely beach side house sits another barge. This barge is also loaded to the teeth with fireworks. But, this time it is not a city show. Nope, it’s a private citizen who honors her deceased husband every year with her own fireworks show. Her fireworks show is usually as good and sometimes even better than the city show.

So, let’s recap, a beautiful day at the beach, followed by a barbeque and two fireworks shows at the beach! What a celebration. What a day.

Happy Birthday America.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

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Pita Bread Italian Sausage and Peppers

Posted on June 21, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

This week’s easy recipe requires a sauce pan and a fry pan, or if you prefer a BBQ and a sauce pan . If you like pita bread, and Italian sausage, but don’t have a lot of time to cook dinner this recipe is for you. Follow the step by step recipe and you will be enjoying a great meal in no time.

Recipe Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Package of pita bread

½ red bell pepper – sliced in rounds and then in half.

½ green bell pepper – sliced in rounds and then in half.

½ medium white onion – sliced in rounds and then in half.

1 C mozzarella cheese – shredded

1 lb. chicken hot Italian Sausage (if frying remove casing)

14.5 oz can tomato sauce

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

¼ red wine

6 fresh basil leaves- chopped

3 cloves garlic – diced

1 tsp dry oregano

¼ tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

In a sauce pan combine tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chopped basil, oregano, cumin, wine, garlic, and salt and pepper. Bring to simmer.

In fry pan coated with olive oil sauté the red and green bell peppers, and onion. When softened and slightly browned, remove to bowl and cover with foil.

In same fry pan brown the Italian sausage for approximately 12 minutes breaking the sausage into large pieces as it browns. Spoon out grease as necessary, and add water if the sausage is drying out.

Place four pita breads on paper plates, cut an opening in the pita bread to create a pouch, add sauce, vegetables, more sauce, and top with a cheese. Place in microwave to melt the cheese.

Remove pita bread from microwave oven and plate for dinner. Add salad and a garnish of your choosing, close the bread cover and enjoy your great, fast and easy dinner.

AND STUFF

I had a great Father’s Day last Sunday. Enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with She Who Must Be Obeyed, my Father in Law and Trudy, and the brothers in law and their families. After that my youngest son and Sue raced off the Cabrillo Beach to catch my oldest son finish his paddle board race from Catalina Island.

You should know, I have two foundational rules of life: I do not run unless a tiger is chasing me, and I don’t swim unless I have fallen out of a boat. So with that in mind I am at a loss as to why one would paddle for 4 hours using arms and hands only to cross 22 miles of open ocean. For me the solution is a Catalina Express 40 minute cruise to Catalina with food and bar service. But, that’s just me.

Anyway, my son finished somewhere in the top ten of 93 contestants who entered the Rock to Rock race.

After photos at the tents, Sue and my youngest son were off to the house to open my Father’s Day presents. As you know from last week, I don’t have any needs. I was wrong. Clearly I needed a new black chef jacket, and a Beer Master brewing kit. Very cool indeed. Now for sure I have everything I need!

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger