Pepper Shrimp

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
4 Tbsp. butter
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
1/8 tsp. salt and pepper

Place shrimp shells in saucepan and cover with water, add salt and pepper.  Cook on high heat for 15 minutes to create stock. Remove shells and set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in large saute pan over medium high heat, add spices and garlic.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and green onions, cook and stir for 5 minutes.  

Add shrimp and cook for approximately 3 minutes, until no longer pink.  

Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.  Increase heat to high and pour in shrimp stock.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.  In a separate pan melt 5 Tbsp. butter and whisk in 2 Tbsp. flour. Add to mushroom mixture and stir until blended.  Return shrimp to the pan and cook for 1 minutes over low heat.  

Serve over rice.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. red food coloring (1 oz. bottle)
1 can cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat, set aside.  In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds.  Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined.  Gently stir in food coloring.

Spoon batter in 1 or 2 inch diameter rounds, about 1/2 inch high on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart.  Bake for 8 minutes and remove to a baking rack to cool.  After cooled, spread a small amount of frosting on flat side of cookie and sandwich with another cookie.  Wrap frosted pies individually in plastic wrap.  Store in container.

Mexican Pizza

While many of us sit around the TV this afternoon watching the Nascar Daytona 500 (go Gordon!) we are looking for good food to snack on.  Here is a recipe that I think is fun, it combines the great taste of tacos with the ease of pizza.

Ingredients:
1 large Boboli Pizza Crust
3/4 cup refried beans
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
1 cup ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
3/4 cup water
2 cups Mexican blend cheese
Cilantro, chopped
Green Onion, diced
Diced Tomato
Shredded lettuce

Cook and drain ground beef, add taco seasoning and water and cook on high until bubbling, then turn down heat to low for 3 minutes until thickened.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Heat beans and spread a thin layer over crust.  Top with enchilada sauce and cheese (use more or less as desired).  Add green onion and cilantro and bake until bubbly.  Top with shredded lettuce and diced tomato.

Starting Fresh

Well, it has been awhile since I last posted a new recipe.  It's not that I haven't been cooking (my waistline can confirm that!) but rather I haven't been blogging about what I have been cooking because quite frankly, I have been in a cooking funk.  Everything seems bland and mundane.  I have gotten so tired of the same family favorites.  It is time to reclaim the kitchen and freshen up my recipe box.  I have decided that I will post regularly, I will try new recipes and post the best ones, and I want to buy a new digital camera so I can take photos of my creations (although I warn you all, I am not a photographer so this will not be a layout for a food magazine - I do not claim to be another Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ because if you have ever been to her site you will be in awe of her beautiful postings).

So I hope you come back and try some of my recipes, post comments (even the bad ones) and even share some of your favorites with me and I can post them on here for you! 

Let's Eat!

Crumb Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

If there is one thing my husband loves, it's dessert. You may have noticed that I have entered more dessert recipes on here than anything else! That being said I am always trying to perfect a recipe or come up with a new one. In the case of this recipe I played around with the filling just a tad and then modified my pie crust to be gluten free. When my husband was told that he could no longer eat wheat gluten we thought it would be impossible, but slowly I have been coming up with some recipes that are proving to be family favorites (even for my teenagers).

Crust - see Flaky Single Crust Pastry (*note - if you are making this gluten free you will need to prebake the crust for 10 minutes to ensure a thoroughly cooked crust on the bottom)

Filling
3 cups sliced rhubard
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour (you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumb Topping
1 cup flour ((you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1 tablespoon butter, cut into smaller pieces for topping pie before baking

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Stir all filling ingredients together until well coated and allow to sit for 45 minutes. Pour into prepared crust. Combine crumb topping ingredients and mix together by hand until crumbly. Top pie with crumb mixture and dot the top with 1 tablespoon cold butter bits. Bake for 55 minutes, or until bubbly. Allow to cool before serving for easier slicing.

Sweet Cornbread

Ever since my husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease two years ago I have been experimenting with various recipes and trying to modify them so that they would be gluten fee and he could enjoy eating normally again. It is hard to fill a man up on only grilled meat and veggies! Men want bread, heck we all crave it! Here is a wonderful cornbread recipe that I came up with this weekend. Now, I am a southern gal, born to southerners but raised in the North, and I have had my fair share of great cornbread. This is the closest I have come to making something that even my southern Mamaw would eat, and that says a lot!




1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mix (I use Tom Sawyer's brand and it is by far the best I have tried)
3/4 cup gluten free cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 vegetable oil
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon honey
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Pour oil into a cast iron skillet and place into oven to heat up. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, honey, and egg, mixing until dry ingredients are moistened. Add hot oil and carefully stir until blended. Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm

Heavenly Gluten Free Blueberry Crisp

4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup gluten free flour mix (I use Tom Sawyer's Mix)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle blueberries with 1 TBSP. flour mixture and toss to coat. Pour blueberries into baking dish. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour mixture with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add in the butter by hand and rub mixture between your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Layer the crumb mixture over the blueberries. Bake in the oven until bubbly, about 40 minutes. Serve with non-dairy whipped topping. Makes 4 generous servings.

*You may also use frozen blueberries but you will need to increase your cook time to approximately 50 minutes.