Batter for Deep Frying Recipe!

Want a Good Beer batter w/o the Beer?  I just made the most amazing battered and fried yellow or crookneck squash!

All it takes:

1/4 cup Flour

1/2 Panko Bread crumbs

1 1/2 cups Milk

2 Eggs

1 12 oz can Sprite or 7Up!

 
Soak about 1/2 cup bread crumbs in 3/4 - 1 cup milk.  Add 2 eggs and about 1/4 cup flour with a little more milk (about 1/4 cup... if it gets a little too runny, add a little bread crumb or flour)  Add the Sprite.  The fizz and little touch of sweetness really adds a lot to this recipe.  Batter whatever it is you want to batter and deep fry!  This will puff up very nicely and should cover your food beautifully.  We also made this with pickle wedges.  It was DELICIOUS!

Have Dinner in Record Time! Squash Toss!

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini Squash
1 Medium Yellow (or crook-neck) Squash
2 Polish Sausages (sub kielbasa or sausage of preference)
4 Tablespoons Pesto
1 1/2 cups Frozen Ravioli of choice (cheese or spinach & cheese)
Top with Freshly grated Parmesan cheese or similar





Directions:

Fill a pot with water and Raviolis and place over med heat.  While this is coming to a boil, chop Sausages, squash and any other vegetable you would like to add (try green beans, broccoli, or even small eggplants).  Add all veggies and sausages into a large fry pan and begin to cook on med heat.  When the Raviolis are boiling, drain and add to the vegetables.  (These veggies don't take long to cook, so by the time they are done (or al dente), the raviolis can be added.)





Toss in the Pesto stir until evenly mixed.  Serve with the grated Parmesan cheese or similar.
This is well-paired with another vegetable like cucumber or a salad.

                                         Enjoy!

Halloween Pot-Luck? Try these Stuffed Slugs! (Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers)

This recipe is a fun and tasty Halloween recipe!
With the sweetness of the peppers and the tart craisins this is quite the appetizer! 

We have used this as a Harry Potter Party recipe (Mimbulus Mimbletonia stuffs Slugs) as well as just a great quick and easy appetizer for any pot-luck dinner party.  Feel free to comment and rate!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

20-30 Mini Sweet Bell Peppers  

          (depending on size)

¾ Cup Ricotta Cheese

1 Bunch Spinach (medium to finely 

           chopped)

½ Cup Parmesan Cheese

¾ Cup Craisins

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 ½ Cups Cooked Quinoa

Directions:

Precook the quinoa (just like rice, 2 parts water to 1 part Grain and simmer/steam until cooked.  Should be a little nutty in texture, but not to crunchy/chewy.  Should be firm- similar in texture to steel cut oats.)

Mix all the ingredients minus the bell peppers in a bowl until well-blended.

Cut the tops of the peppers either all the way off or mostly off and fill with stuffing.

There are two ways to stuff the peppers....

1.) Use a spoon/your finger...

or 

2.) Use a piping bag.  

I use a baggie and cut the corner just big enough for the craisins to squeeze through easily.  

  

Continue stuffing the peppers until all the stuffing or peppers are gone.   

       ****Side Note!!!****

If there is extra stuffing, it is good to just eat as a side ‘pilaf’ or to add it to a green salad.

 

Line them evenly on a cookie sheet and 

Bake at 350˚F for 20 minutes or until fork tender.   

Serve hot and enjoy! 

What to do with Zucchini!? STUFF IT!!!

Carrie and I had planted a garden this year, and we were both pleasantly surprised to see such success come from it! (despite the horrid little squash bugs!!! yuck!)
We also saw some red peppers on sale!  YEE!!!  So I bought a few and roasted them in the oven on broil, peeled a & sliced them and added them to jars and put them in the fridge for the perfect recipe!
I LOVE fresh herbs, and in our garden, we have basil, which we never run out of uses for, and oregano among other herbs.  The oregano was taking over everything, so this was the perfect recipe for it!

Stuffed Zucchini

 2 Large Zucchini (preferably a little over-grown)
1/2 lb ground beef hamburger
1 Shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Can diced tomatoes (I used tomatoes w/ sweet onions)
1 bunch fresh oregano
Pepperjack cheese
1 egg
1 Red bell pepper, chopped finely (preferably pre-roasted!)
1/4 cup bread crumbs

In a saucepan, cook garlic, ground beef, and shallot until cooked through and broken into small pieces.  I added Montreal Steak Seasoning to this for flavor. YUM!

Between stirrings, cut the zucchini into 2- 2 1/2 inch lengths and hollow out to make into cups.  *Be sure to leave enough on the bottom so the juices don't leak out too much!

When the hamburger is cooked through, remove from heat and add tomatoes, oregano, egg, bread crumbs, chopped roasted red bell peppers and some Pepperjack cheese.  I used very little of this (maybe 2 slices cut into small pieces for the entire mix)  Stir it all together, the cheese should melt a little so it's distributed evenly throughout the mixture.
Fill the cups with this mixture and place on tin foil on a jelly roll pan (a.k.a. cookie sheet) and top with your favorite cheese!  In my case, it was a small strip of muenster and pepperjack together.

Cook at 425 F until fork-tender.  Serve with a nice summer salad and enjoy!!!

Easter 2011: Potatoes and Dessert! Yum!

My mother asked me what I would cook this year for Easter and I let her know I would be making the dessert and the potatoes.  Two of the most delicious (and usually fattening) dishes!  So a warning for the following recipe!  For the potatoes I tried a mock-up of a dish we had in Ireland and it turned out fabulously!  Here's the recipe!

(I DID warn you!!!)

I will also add pictures when I make it again!)

Creamy Bacon & Garlic Stuffed Potato Skins (a.k.a: twice-baked potatoes)

6-8 pre-baked potatoes

1 pk smoked bacon

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 Cup cream or whole milk

1/2 Cup Butter, melted

12 oz Savory Garlic made-for-cooking Cream cheese or similar (this is a newer product that can be found by cream cheese at grocery store)

1 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

In a saucepan cook bacon and when it's about 1/2 done add the garlic until both are thoroughly cooked.  Drain and let cool.  Break the bacon up into pieces and put in a large mixing bowl.

Cut the potatoes in 1/2 and scoop out middles and add to the bacon.

add all other ingredients, reserving a handful of shredded Parmesan to top the dish with.

Mix together with handheld mixer.  If the mix is too dry, add a little more milk.

S&P to taste.  I also added a little more garlic salt, but that is also to your particular taste. 

Fill in the potato skins with mixture and top with the rest of the shredded Parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven at 350 F until the top is starting to brown and the mixture is completely heated through. (about 20-25 min)

Enjoy!

Patty's Green Shamrock Shore...

Sigh! 

I would love little more than to have stayed in Ireland for another little while and perhaps get  another serving of Haddock from Galway!  It now seems like such a distant memory!  

Our days were scattered between driving and seeing new things.  We did get lost a couple times, and

thanks to our GPS we found ourselves again in the most enchanting of places.  We did all the touristy things and had the time of our lives!

Day 1: Orient ourselves and get used to driving those tiny cars, on tiny, winding roads going 80km/hr... on the opposite side of the road! 

*** Yes! the gas pedal is on the same side!  Just for the record!***

 

 Day 2: Attempted FINDING a church, but getting lost and going on the backroads through Killaloe and Ballina, which had the most charming farmer's market.  We got some of the most decadent desserts and fine salads there!  I also got a few teas (roibos) to try and they smelled divine!  

 

After that we took a GPS road (ummm.... path?  It wasn't really a PAVED road...)   This was an unexpected perk to driving ourselves!  Getting lost was so much fun, we had to stop and take pictures!  

This small and ever-winding road EVENTUALLY took us to our final destination for the day; the Cliffs of Moher. (a.k.a:  Cliffs of Insanity!!!)  

 

These are absolutely beautiful and worth the short hike.  There were a lot of people there, but it didn't seem too bad since there are so many cliffs that each person can take their own.  These are very captivating cliffs that are absolutely mesmerizing!

  

 On our way home from the cliffs, we stopped at a graveyard that was around, and inside an old church ruin.  It was right on the sea and very beautiful.  I love their high-crosses in Ireland!

I Kissed the Blarney Stone  (twice!)

Day 3: Blarney Castle (after losing car #2 a couple times, we finally made it!)  We were about the only ones to the castle, when a tour bus arrived right behind us!  It's okay though, we got to kiss the stone before they did! (but after every other tourist who's ever been to Blarny!)  I got to kiss it twice!  (my roommate didn't catch the picture the first time, so the guy let me go again! :) Watch out tour bussers behind us!  After that we headed just around the hill to Cork City.  Driving there= Yikes!!!  End of story!

Day 4: Ring of Kerry.  We spent the day driving one of the most scenic drives in the world, and I can honestly say it really is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen!  It is breathtaking. 

Driving the extra Skellig Loop was an experience to remember!  There was a certain hill that was so steep, I thought first my car wouldn't even make it up.  Then I started feeling like we would tumble head over heel backward clear down to the sea!  It was amazing!

 

We paid 4 euro to hike up a little hill to view the Skelligs and we were stunned at their dramatic cliffs and dangerous enchantment.  I think they were a little better than the iconic Cliffs of Moher, but both were worth seeing!  This might be due to the fact that there isn't really a visitor's center dedicated to them, and they seem so much more raw and dangerous than the mysterious Moher cliffs.  I may have to return to both places and re-evaluate my opinions...

Day 5: Galway City.  We first went to a castle that was closed, then to Connemara to a Marble place.  We then headed straight to the beach.  Not much for sun-bathing there, but Salthill was a fun stop.  Afterward, we headed to the Pedestrian Only Part of Galway and discovered all the shopping we could find!  There were pubs and good-eats all over the streets!  We saw a beautiful little cathedral and had the BEST beer-battered fish I've EVER had!  It was Haddock, (catch of the day) and it was so flaky and moist it was falling off my fork!  I needed a spoon to eat it!  It was AMAZING!  Sigh............

 

Day 6: Train to Dublin.  We hadn't originally planned for Dublin in our itinerary, but we wanted to take a train there.  We went to a museum and saw some great exhibits!  (Book of Kells, high crosses, and Irish silver)  Then to the national Library which had a lot of green Connemara marble in it.  It is a beautiful building.  What a great place to do genealogy!

 

  

Day 7: Cashel and Hore Abby.  This was another unexpected treasure of our journey!  We had heard from some locals that it wasn't really worth going to... "just a rock on a hill, go somewhere worth-while, like Las Vegas!"  Ha!  Yeah right! It was amazing!  There is a lot of history there!  It was the most beautiful drive from Garrykennedy, where we stayed, to Cashel.  

There, we took a tour, some pictures and advice from the shop-woman to eat at Lady's Well in Cashel.  It was a delightful cafe in town and the food there was gourmet!  It was reasonably priced and simply scrumptious! 

We then headed over to Hore Abby.  It was a fun stop with just us!  (Our two miniature cars were all that would fit in the pull-out for the ruin in the middle of a cow-turd-stained field)  We played around the ruins and the arches for a long time, just enjoying the enchantment that comes with ruins.  It was one of our favorite memories to savor.

 

Day 8: Home :'(.  It really wasn't long enough, I'll have to return again!  Our trip home wasn't too bad, but when we got home, Salt Lake welcomed us with the worst blizzard of the year!  It was crazy to think we had gone from the Sunny (okay, so semi-rainy, blustery, but only partly cloudy) Ireland to a thick blizzard in less than 48 hours.  Welcome home!  Such a memory!