Ruth's Chris New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients:
-Makes 4 servings
-20 large (16/20) shrimp, peeled and deveined
-1 ounce canola oil
-1 tablespoon plus 5 teaspoons green onions, chopped
-2 ounces dry white wine
-1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
-4 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
-1 teaspoon Tabasco
-1/2 teaspoon cayenne
-1/2 teaspoon paprika
-8 ounces (2 sticks) salted butter

Directions:
Place a large cast iron skillet on a burner and heat over high heat. Add oil and cook shrimp until they are just done. It's best to prepare shrimp in batches if you do not have large skillet. Remove shrimp and set aside on a large platter.

Add green onions to the oil in the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Add white wine and let simmer until it is reduced by half.

When the wine is reduced by half, add chopped garlic, Worcestershire, Tabasco. cayenne pepper and paprika. Shake the pan well and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low.

Cut butter into small chunks with the knife and slowly add into pan, shaking fast to melt butter.

Continue to add butter and shake until all butter is melted. Add shrimp back to pan and toss well to coat shrimp with butter and seasonings and to heat the shrimp. Place shrimp on four plates and enjoy.

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Julie's Mexican Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients

1/2 to 3/4 of a 1lb box of lasagna noodles
olive oil
2-4 stalks of celery chopped
3-4 carrots chopped
1/2 to 1 onion chopped (or dried chopped onion if you don't have fresh)
3/4 to 1 lbs shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped roasted poblano pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic (or to taste)
2 cans mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
couple of pinches ground cumin
couple big pinches of whole leaf oregano
2 cups or so of shredded mozzarella
2 -4 cups of shredded cheddar or cheddar mix cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook lasagna according to package directions. Saute onions, celery in olive oil, add carrots and  continue to saute until softened. Add in poblano peppers and garlic, saute until fragrant. Add in mexican style stewwed tomatoes and tomato soup. Add in cumin and oregano and chicken. Simmer until tomatoes are softened and sauce starts to thicken. In 9 by 13 baking dish layer a bit of sauce in the bottom then noodles, sauce and cheeses, repeat until out of room, noodles or both. End with the cheese. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly. Finish off by turning on the broiler until the cheese on top sizzles and just starts to brown.

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

2006, Ellie Krieger, All Rights Reserved

Prep Time:15 minInactive Prep Time:25 minCook Time:7 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
4 servings

Ingredients
Fish:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound white flaky fish fillet, like tilapia or halibut
Chipotle cream:

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage or lettuce
1/2 cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over the fish fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes. Put the yogurt into a strainer lined with apaper towel and place over a bowl to drain and thicken for 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan over a medium-high heat until cooked thorough, about 3 minutes per side. Set the fish aside on a plate for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the thickened yogurt, mayonnaise, and chipotle pepper.

Heat the tortillas on the grill or grill pan for 30 seconds on each side.

Flake the fish with a fork. Top each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle cream. Top with fish, cabbage, corn and cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

From: Food Network

Notes: using chopped chipotle peppers made it a bit strong and the texture wasn't quite right. The cream sauce was a bit too thick.

Jello 'Deviled' Easter Eggs with Vanilla Filling

Jello Eggs
(makes 3 whole jello eggs, or 6 halves)
3 ounce package of jello, any flavor
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Lightly spray egg mold with non-stick cooking spray. Snap mold together and set it on a small tray to catch any spills. Combine jello and boiling water together; stir for 3 minutes until the jello is completely dissolved. Slowly pour mixture into 3 whole eggs (or 6 halves). Repeat as many times as you like, with as many jello flavors you like, until all your eggs are filled. Chill for at least 4 hours.

When you're ready to unmold the eggs, slowly pry the mold halves apart (I use a butter knife to gently coax the halves apart). Using a sharp chef's knife, cut the eggs in half lengthwise using one continuous motion. Next use a melon ball tool to make a well in the large end of each egg half.

Vanilla Filling
(makes enough to fill about 24 egg halves)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Cream together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Add the heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Put the cream cheese filling into a pastry bag that has been fitted with a star tip and pipe the filling into the egg halves. Chill until service.

Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Servings: 4


About This Recipe
"A great chinese vegetable side dish for such stir-fries as Mongolian Beef. Also goes well with Teriyaki steaks and chicken or any meat that needs a good healthy economical vegetable dish."

Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 head Chinese cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced gingerroot
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions
Stir together rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger root in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
Add red pepper flakes and minced garlic, and stir-fry until it becomes aromatic but not scorched.
Add shredded cabbage and stir-fry until limp, but not mushy.
Add contents of seasoning bowl and cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes more, until liquid is almost absorbed.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

From Food.com

Note: Used regular cabbage and doubled the liquids.

Ginger-Hoisin Beef and Scallions on Crispy Noodle Cakes Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ginger-Hoisin-Beef-and-Scallions-on-Crispy-Noodle-Cakes-101191#ixzz2LsXUqjnE

yield: Makes about 32 hors d'oeuvres
To form the noodle cakes, measure them out by taking a few strands of noodles and loosely squiggling them into a tablespoon. Once you get the hang of the amount needed, you can pretty much eyeball it.



1/4 pound rice noodles (rice vermicelli)
8 thin scallions
2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh gingerroot
about 1/2 cup vegetable oil
a 1-pound piece beef tenderloin
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably Kikkoman)


Fill a 4-quart kettle three fourths full with water and bring to a boil. Cook noodles in boiling water until tender, about 3 minutes, and drain in a colander. Finely chop white and pale-green parts of scallions, reserving dark-green parts. In a bowl toss noodles with chopped scallions and 1 tablespoon each of gingerroot and oil until combined well.
To cook noodle "cakes," in a large nonstick skillet heat enough oil to cover bottom of skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Drop some noodles by heaping tablespoons (see note, beginning of recipe), evenly spaced, into skillet and with a fork spread to form 1 1/2 inch circles. Cook noodle cakes until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes on each side. With tongs transfer noodle cakes as cooked to paper towels to drain. Make more noodle cakes in same manner, adding more oil to skillet as needed. Noodle cakes may be made 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
Pat tenderloin dry and halve lengthwise. Cut each piece in half lengthwise to form 2 long strips (4 long strips total). In a bowl whisk together lime juice, hoisin and soy sauces, and remaining tablespoon gingerroot. Put beef and hoisin mixture into a sealable heavy-duty plastic bag. Marinate beef, covered and chilled, turning bag over once or twice, at least 1 hour and up to 6.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Remove beef from bag and transfer marinade to a small saucepan. Simmer marinade 2 minutes and cool completely. Ginger-hoisin sauce keeps, covered and chilled, 1 day.
In a heavy skillet heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until just smoking and brown beef on all sides, about 3 minutes total for each piece. Transfer beef to a small shallow roasting pan and cook in middle of oven 10 to 12 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer beef to a cutting board and let stand 20 minutes. Beef may be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
While beef is standing, cut reserved scallion greens into 1 1/2-inch-long thin julienne strips. Chill scallion greens, wrapped in a dampened paper towel, at least 10 minutes and, in a sealable plastic bag, up to 1 day.
Cut beef into 1/4-inch-thick slices and top each noodle cake with 1 slice. Top beef slices with about 1/4 teaspoon sauce and a few scallion greens.

From: Epicurious

Note: Used elk instead of beef. thinly sliced it and only marinated for about 10 minutes and then stir fried it. Didn't make the noodles. Lots of comments about how to effectively make the noodles on the website.

7 Tips for Perfect Homemade Ice Cream

I’m excited to share that I finally know how to make perfect homemade ice cream. Even though I’ve had an ice cream maker for a year and a half, I was an under-achiever with it. I wasn’t getting perfect ice cream out of it, week after week of trying.
The ice cream I used to make was good – we all enjoyed it. But it was soupy or icy. Well, no more. Our ice cream is now perfect – a soft serve, yet firm and scoopable ice cream without iciness or soupiness. I have mentioned this in a previous Tuesday Twister. It is time to make a post full of what I’ve learned.
I use a Cuisinart ice cream maker, the kind with an insulated freezer bowl. Many ice cream makers are similar to this; two of the tips apply to this type of ice cream maker only, not the old-fashioned kind.
Make sure the freezing container gets a good 24-hour deep freeze, so that it is frozen solid.
Use more cream and less milk. I am currently using 100% cream, and no milk at all.
Use a solid sweetener such as Rapadura, Sucanat or evaporated cane juice. The evaporated cane juice is somewhat refined, the others are not. Using a liquid sweetener (such as honey) with more water content increases the iciness of the ice cream.
Grind a coarse solid sweetener in a food processor or blender to make a fine texture. (Rapadura or Sucanat)
*Fill the ice cream maker halfway (perhaps 2/3) only. The frozen tub in which the filling gets churned only has so much freeze to give before it is no longer cold. If there’s too much filling, there’s not enough chilling.
Add ingredients which increase creaminess, such as egg yolks or avocado.
When chilling, choose a cool place in the house to do it. Don’t set the ice cream maker next to a woodstove, crockpot, or working oven. Conserve that freezing power!
(I thought of another!) Chill the filling thoroughly to maximize freezing power.
*This tip is the MOST important! My ice cream maker is a 2-quart. I only use it to the 1-quart capacity, or perhaps a little more. If I fill it anymore, we get soupy ice cream. Sonya concurs.

High-quality homemade ice cream is more frugal than eating it out. In 1 quart of ice cream, I spend $5 on local Jersey cream. The other ingredients are usually sugar and egg yolks, which I’d say adds another $1.50 max. This makes the total $6.50.
So in our family of five, a serving of perfect homemade ice cream costs $1.30. I can’t remember the last time we went out for real, gourmet ice cream – but I’m sure we paid more than $1.30 each! When we go out for run-of-the-mill ice cream, we pay more than $1.30 for one scoop.
Conclusion: no matter how you slice it, even homemade, high-quality, perfect ice cream is a steal. So go make some!
Check out my simple recipes for perfectly creamy chocolate ice cream and the chocolate syrup (pictured).

From: http://gnowfglins.com/2010/01/28/7-tips-for-perfect-homemade-ice-cream/#

San Blas Islands, Panama (Iguana Island)

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Panama: Paradise found on the San Blas Islands

San Blas Sailing