Brunch is Best

One of my favorite things about Kentucky is horseracing at Keeneland in the Spring and Fall. I have a tradition with my bestie Susan that at least once per meet she and her hubby Kevin make the pilgrimage up to LEX to eat, drink, and be merry! This always entails a pre-track brunch complete with Bloody Mary's! I look forward to these days with my friends and each time we make tons of new memories!! Here is a little something I served this fall meet.....

Crustless Spinach Quiche

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

5 eggs, beaten

3 cups Italian cheese blend ( I like Kraft)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degress. Grease an 8in pie plate. Heat oil in a large onion and cook, stirring occasionally until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until all liquid is evaporated. Take off burner and allow to cool a bit. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Add slightly cooled spinach mixture slowly to the eggs mixture. Scoop all into prepared pie plate. Bake in oven about 30 minutes until the eggs are set. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes prior to serving.

Reason I Love Fall #37 =SOUP

Some of these posts will be out of order as I have skipped ahead of all the awesome things I made this summer to focus on all the great things I am making now. Since it is fall, I have gone into COMPLETE soup mode. I could eat it every single day I think! My friends and I have a standing date on most thursday nights that we call G3. I make dinner and we catch up on EVERYTHING under the sun! I look forward to all the time I get to spend with these girls, and love to whip up something yummy while we catch up. It seems as long as I send home leftovers to the boys that they will let us continue this tradition as long as we want into the wee hours of the morning! An oldie, but goodie that I just made.....courtesy of Rachael Ray, but I changed it up a little bit to use pre-prepped items from the freezer section.

Potato, Spinach,and Tomato Soup

3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 bag frozen onions, thawed
2 tbsps EVOO
2 quarts of chicken broth
6 cups of frozen southern hashbrowns ( the cubed variety hashbrown)
1 pound triple washed, bagged spinach, with stems removed and chopped coarsely
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, grated or ground
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes in puree
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmigiano-Romano cheese

In a large pot, saute garlic and onion in the EVOO. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and cook 20-25 minutes until the are tender and breakup to thicken the soup. Stir in spinach to wilt into the soup. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add in tomatoes, heat through 2-3 minutes. Remove from stove. Serve topped with cheese.

Just when you thought I had abandoned this blog.....

This whole food blog started up again this summer when I had a lot of time on my hands. Then life happened....good and bad.....and talking about food fell to the side. Finally though, things have settled back down and I can put my focus back to something I love....and that would be talking about all the yummy food I make or consume on my world adventures. I have tried a lot of new things over the past few months, and pulled out some of my favorites to celebrate babies and birthdays! So I hope to set aside some time to share all of those yummy recipes with my friends!

Summer Comfort Food....Ham and Tomato Pie

It has been one of those weeks....and it is only tuesday! So I really wanted some good comfort food to eat as I execute my plan for the evening which is to curl up and finish my book and go to bed at a decent hour tonight. So the choice of the day became.....Ham and Tomato pie!

Ham and Tomato Pie

1 (8oz) package diced cooked ham

1/2 sliced green onions (about 4)

1 frozen unbaked pie crust (regular not deep dish)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided in 1/2 cup each

2 medium plum tomatoes sliced thinly

1 large egg

1/3 cup half and half

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Saute ham and green onion in a large pan about 5 minutes until the moisture is evaporated. Brush the bottom of the pie shell with the dijon mustard. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese on the bottom on the shell. Spoon in the ham mixture evenly over the cheese, and top with a single layer of the tomatoes. Beat the egg and half and half together and pout over tomatoes. Sprinkle evenly with basil, pepper, and remaining cheese. Bake on lowest rack at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and sset. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes to cool. Cut into wedges to serve. Enjoy!

Summer Sandwiches

I really love going near water in the summer.....pool, lake, or beach....I will take it! I wear much higher sunscreen these days, a huge brimmed hat, and lecture about re-application , but I still love it. I also love that it is an excuse to sit around and eat!! So, one of my favorite things to make and take along are tea sandwiches and I think you might enjoy them too!

Summer Sandwiches

2 loaves white bread that have been frozen (just put it in the freezer in the bag it came in...if u are super healthy use wheat, but I swear it isn't as good)
1 english cucumber sliced very thin and place on paper towels to drain for 30 minutes
1 can crushed pineapple. drained, and allowed to sit on paper towels
1-2 tablespoons fresh dill, depending on how much you like
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup mayo

Mix mayo and cream cheese together. Divide into two bowls.

In one bowl, add the drained pineapple and mix.

In the other bowl, add dill.

Remove bread from freezer. Cut all the crust off the bread. I usually can stack 4 pieces at once and use a good bread knife.

Then, assemble.....

Spread pineapple mix on bread to make a sandwich and cut in two ( either straight or little triangles are nice). I use one whole loaf for pineapple sandwiches.

Spread dill mix on both pieces of bread, add drained cucumbers, and put together as a sandwich. Cut the same way, half or diagonal. Use loaf number 2 for cucumber sandwiches.

These keep nicely in a tupperware container....and are so good!

Mastering homemade pasta....Shrimp Scampi Yumminess!

My mom has come down to hang out with me for the weekend, plus a few more days and we have been cooking up a storm! One of the new skills I learned on Saturday was how to make homemade pasta! I don't think I will ever want to eat pre-made pasta again!!! It was a process for sure, but fun to do and worth the effort. I had a good time drinking wine and walking through all the steps of making it! All the wine resulted in a texting frenzy of pictures to D to document all my steps!! I loved it so much I had to share....I do miss having him around to test all the new cooking projects and adventures I get into. There are many things I appreciate about him, but the fact that he is a foodie and likes to cook as well ranks pretty high....a nice thing to have in common!

So I used all the fresh pasta to make one of my classic recipes that I started cooking years and years and years ago....one of my daddy's favorites! It has evolved a little over the years, well, mainly only now I add truffle butter and herbs....I am older and more sophisticated!! Haha!

Shrimp Scampi Yumminess
1 lb fettucine (fresh preferably)
1 lb raw, peeled, deveined, tail removed shrimp
1/2 stick salted butter
3 large shallots, diced
3 good size garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 large heaping tablespoon white truffle butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup good white wine (drink the rest!!!)
salt
pepper
chives
flat leaf parsley
Romano cheese, grated or in a block to grate fresh on top


Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil for fettucine. Meanwhile, in a large skillet put 2 tablespoons of olive oil and half stick of butter. Add garlic and shallot and cook until shallots are soft and clear, about 4-5 minutes. Do not cook on too high of heat because you do not want to burn the garlic. Stick to around medium to medium-high depending on your stove. Add worcestershire and cook for one more minute. Add white wine and bring to a soft boil for about 1-2 minutes and then turn down the heat. Add raw shrimp to pan, salt and pepper to your taste. Shrimp takes about 3 minutes to cook....do not overcook your shrimp, watch them closely. Add the same time, add your fresh fettucine to the water...this too takes 3 minutes to cook. If you do not use fresh, you must start this basically before you ever even put anything in the skillet and the shrimp and sauce cooks fast! So, watch the shrimp and when they are almost done, drop in the white truffle butter. Drain pasta. Place in a large bowl, pour shrimp mix on top. Grate fresh romano cheese on top to your desired amount. Snip chives on top, and a tablespoon or so of parsley.

Ready to serve!!! One of my all time favorites! Enjoy!

Asian Grilled Salmon

It is too hot to cook today, almost too hot to eat. I think if I didn't have salmon that needed to be used or frozen I would have just skipped dinner today! This is a recipe stolen straight from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. One of my favorite food network personalities! It is fast and easy, I highly recommend you give it a try!

Asian Grilled Salmon

Salmon Filets (2-4 depending on size)

For the marinade:
2 tbsps dijon mustard
3 tbsps good soy sauce
6 tbsps good olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Mix all the marinade items together. Put half the marinade on the salmon and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

You can grill this salmon skin side down to start for 4-5 minutes per side or broil it for about the same time if you don't want to fool with the grill. Just want until it is cooked almost through and it will continue to cook when removed. Serve with removing marinade drizzled on top.

I love this recipe served with asparagus just grilled or broiled alongside of it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.