Pan-Fried Shrimp

I have a massive backlog of recipes and photos, and everytime I upload pictures, I kind of get stressed out that I haven't posted about them. lol
My goal is to upload as many things as possible this week - unless it turns out to be a crazy week again. :/  I really have been keeping busy in the kitchen and I have so much great stuff to share with you guys, but it feels like my days don't have enough hours in them. I'm counting down the days until my spring break. lol

This meal was really tasty. I made these shrimp with the veggie stir fry from my last post, and they were delicious. They were also fairly easy to make. I used pre-peeled shrimp, so it made my work that much quicker. :)

Pan-Fried Shrimp

Ingredients

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 lb shrimp - peeled & deveined

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 large egg, beaten

2 tsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Combine the panko and cilantro in a shallow dish. 

Sprinkle the shrimp with salt & pepper. Combine the egg and water in another shallow dish. Dip the shrimp in the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko and cilantro mixture until covered. Place in a single layer on a plate. Repeat the process with the remaining shrimp, egg, and crumbs. 

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, cook for 2 minutes on each side (or until done). Drain shrimp on a paper towel and serve. 

Recipe adapted from:  Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals

Vegetable Stir Fry

So I've gotten into the habit of writing these during my lunch break and I always end up craving whatever it is that I'm posting about. lol
This is something I've made a couple times and I'm always really happy with it.  The good thing about this dish is that I can make it as a side, like I did in the photos below, or I can add meat, chicken, shrimp, anything, really - and it is my full meal.
For the vegetables, I usually use a pre-mixed stir-fry bag... especially when it's a last-minute decision on making this for dinner. Most of the time, I prefer my fresh farmer's market veggies, but this is an exception.

Regardless of what you use, the end result is delicious.

Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients
1 bag stir fry vegetable mix (you can also use fresh, if you prefer)
1tbsp plum sauce
1tbsp sesame oil
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1tsp soy sauce
1 tsp teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced

Instructions
Heat wok on medium-high heat & coat with nonstick cooking spray.  Place garlic and vegetables in wok. Pour in teriyaki, soy, sesame, and plum sauce. Stir in ginger. Sear for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked but still crunchy.

If you are adding meat, poultry, or seafood, sear it first until it is almost cooked through before adding the vegetables.

Serve and enjoy. :)

XoXo

Jen

Black Truffle Steak and Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I'm sorry I haven't been posting - work has been absolutely nuts and our social calendar has been nonstop as well. I'm hoping to catch up in the next few days - I have SEVERAL recipes I want to share with you all. :)

So let me preface this by saying how much I love sweet potatoes. I can eat them all the time and in many different forms. I just think they are so tasty and filling. Today's post comes with help from my assistant chef, my hubby Eddie. :) I am definitely not a grill master, and honestly, the grill kind of scares me, so I let him take care of that when the time comes for it.

This meal was delicious. The steak was juicy and tender, and since we only seasoned it with Kosher salt and pepper, you could really taste the great cut of meat.  I garnished it with a dash of Black Truffle Salt and it added a tiny hint of truffle flavor. It was oh-so-good.

I'll let the dish speak for itself, although pictures don't really do it justice.


Black Truffle Steak and Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

16 oz New York Strip (or other read meat) divided (YES, we eat big portions of steak... you can adjust to whatever you want to eat)

Kosher salt and black pepper (for seasoning)

1 tsp black truffle salt (optional) Available Here

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin fries

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp black truffle salt

Instructions


For the fries, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix sweet potato, olive oil,  Kosher salt and pepper.  Spread evenly in a single layer on a large nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, then flip fries over. Bake for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until the fries begin to brown on the edges.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with black truffle salt.

For the steaks, while the fries are in the oven, preheat your grill.  Season steak pieces with Kosher salt and pepper.  Over medium-high heat, grill steaks for 7 minutes on one side, then turn and grill for 5 minutes on the other (for a Medium steak), or until desired done-ness. How long you cook it also depends on the thickness of the steaks. Remove from the flame, sprinkle with a dash of Truffle salt, and serve.

Roast Chicken and Vegetables

So since we pigged out on delicious food all weekend, this week has been a little more on the low-key, less fattening side. Monday night was definitely a "no rice, no pasta" kind of night. Chicken and veggies were the players in this meal.

I also didn't want to include a lot of sauces, and seeing as I got my delicious Florida Sunshine seasoning at Mickey's Pantry this weekend, I decided I would use that. It is a salt blend, so I didn't want to use too much, but luckily, there was no need to! The seasoning itself was delicious. If you don't have this seasoning, no worries... use 1 1/2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp grated ginger, and 1/2 tsp lemon zest. It also uses dried rose petals, so if you want to pulverize some and toss that in, too - great!

I had a lot of veggies, and I really wanted to use them so that they didn't go bad.


Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped onoins
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large yellow pepper, seeded and sliced
6 asparagus spears, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
6 baby carrots, chopped (I used organic, non-engineered carrots, and I also threw in the chopped greens from the tops of the carrots - they added a pretty intense flavor)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp Florida Sunshine seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper

4 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Florida Sunshine seasoning


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix vegetables, garlic, paprika, Florida Sunshine, olive oil, and pepper in a large bowl until completely mixed and vegetables are coated.

Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.  Season chicken with pepper and Florida Sunshine.  Place chicken on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes on one side. After 10 minutes, turn chicken and place vegetables on the sheet as well, spreading as evenly as possible.  Bake for another 10 minutes. Once 10 minutes have passed, change the setting on the oven to broil, and leave chicken and vegetables in oven. Broil until the chicken and vegetables begin to brown, about 4-6 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

xoxo

Jen

P.S. This is an original recipe. :)

Weekend fun and new goodies!

So as I posted on Friday, I was out of town for my anniversary this past weekend. Eddie and I went to Disney and celebrated our first year of marriage. We can't believe how fast time has flown. We arrived Friday night and didn't do a whole lot, since we arrived late.  Then Saturday we hit up Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney. In Downtown Disney I discovered Mickey's Pantry - a kitchen store with oh-so-many goodies for me to enjoy! So I'm going to do two posts tonight. Or maybe one tonight and one tomorrow morning. :)

I'm just going to give a few highlights of our weekend, and I'm going to talk about some of my goodies! ;)

Us at Magic Kingdom :)

Great pic of Mickey and Minnie

Me with a cute Mickey apron (although I didn't buy this one - I bought a Minnie one!).

Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict with Key Lime Hollandaise Sauce at the Wave Restaurant at the Contemporary Hotel - I highly recommend... this was one of the best dishes I've ever had. Definitely now on my list of things to make. :)

In the car, headed home. :( 

Cheers to our first year!

Cheers to many more!

Fun Stuff I Bought at Mickey's Pantry

To flavor my daily cup of joe. 

Irish Cream, Cinnamon, Chocolate Mint, Amaretto :oP

This is a delicious salt blend that they were promoting. The next meal I post on here will use this, but it's not necessary for you to have it. If you are interested, you can find it on www.spiceandtea.com. They also have a few stores in the southeast US. 

This, I cannot WAIT to use. I have no idea what I'm going to make using this, but I know I have to make something soon. As soon as you open this little baggie, the aroma that comes out of there is so outrageously good.

Again, if you're interested in the salt blends, you can visit The Spice and Tea Exchange. They have really really cool stuff, and I would have spent crazy amounts of money in there if I had spent more time in there.  Definitely worth looking into!

I'll be posting again soon. :)
Enjoy

Xoxo, 

Jen