Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Summer

I am sure by now most of you thought you were never going to hear from me again with new recipes. I promise you I have been looking, but I just haven't come across anything worth passing on. That's the beauty of the site.. I won't give you any recipes that my kids have not given their blessing to.

In any case, a few of you have been asking for recipes for things I have brought to various gatherings lately, so in this update we have:

Key Lime Pie
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
Blueberry Muffins

and one real bit of food...
Red Thai Curry Shrimp (or Chicken)

My family loves loves loves Thai food and this curry recipe really comes out tasting like a meal from a restaurant. There are a few ingredients that you won't have on hand, but if you like this kind of food, I promise you'll make it more then once.

More to come when there is something to share. I haven't forgotten about you. There are over 100 recipes posted by now, use the search feature and browse back through the old recipes. I'm sure you will find plenty you meant to make but never had the time to.

Jen

Thai Red Curry Shrimp (or Chicken)

We love this recipe... comes out just like "Thai Restaurant" food. It's worth buying the ingredients. We've made it 3 times already.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (or thinly sliced chicken)
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice


DIRECTIONS:
1 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp; sauté 3 minutes or until done. Remove shrimp from pan; keep warm.

2. Spoon coconut cream (the thick part from top of the can) into pan using a slotted spoon. Add curry paste; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring constantly.

3. Stir in remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 10 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently.

4. Add bell pepper; toss to coat. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add shrimp; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

INGREDIENTS:

2 rolls Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough (I tried with Pillsbury and the cookies did not taste nearly as good)
2 8oz packages cream cheese - at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grease 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 325
2. Cut and layer one roll of cookie dough to cover bottom of pan
3. Mix filling - cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla - until well combined
4. Spread over cookie layer
5. Cut and layer 2nd roll of cookie dough on top of cream cheese mixture
6. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes or until brown and "set"

Blueberry Muffins

These are sweet - more like cake, then muffin, but yummy


Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 pint fresh blueberries - rinsed, drained and patted dry
2 tablespoons white sugar


Directions
1. Position rack in the middle of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray the top of a muffin pan with non-stick coating, and line with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 1/4 cups sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

4. Mix together 1 3/4 cup of the flour and baking powder.

5. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.

6. Crush 1/4 of the blueberries, and stir into the batter. Mix the rest of the whole blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of the flour, and fold into the batter.

7. Scoop into muffin cups. Sprinkle tops lightly with sugar.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, and tops spring back when lightly tapped.

Easy Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks, beaten
2 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 9" graham cracker crust (I buy the one that says 2 extra servings)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Combine egg yolks, milk, and lime juice. MIX WELL
3. Pour into crust
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Refrigerate.

THAT'S IT!