Cookies for Valentine's Day

I think I just found the solution to a few of my Valentine's Day gift problems. I like to send something sweet to the special people in my life. They are scattered around the country so I have to find something that offers local delivery in 50 states.

This year I have decided on cookies. I think candy and chocolates get overdone so I like to break it up a little. Luckily, I found a site that not only offers local delivery in 50 states, delivery on their gourmet cookies is free. I always love free shipping. Now I just have to decided who gets what, and which ones might be coming to my house for Valentine's Day. :)

Who Likes Cuban Food?

I lived in south Florida for about fifteen years. While living there I grew to love Cuban food. Finding a good Cuban restaurant was so easy that I rarely cooked it at home. Once I moved away that was a different story. It took a little experimenting but I now have several recipes that I cook often.

Picadillo is a favorite of ours. It is a ground beef recipe that is served over rice. My husband calls it Cuban spaghetti sauce. Don't ask me why, there's no pasta involved! It would traditionally be served with fried plantains.

Picadillo

1 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 pounds ground beef
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 T. vinegar
1 T. tomato paste
1/2 t. cumin
salt and pepper
1/2 cup sliced green olives stuffed w pimentos
2 T. capers

Saute the onion, garlic and peppers in the oil until tender. Add the ground beef and brown. Add the rest of the ingredients except the olives and capers. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the olives and capers and heat through. Serve over rice.

Penne Pasta with Peppers and Olives Recipe

I was hungry for pasta one evening but the pantry was pretty bare. I scrounged around and came up with the following recipe. It is great as is with a salad and crusty bread. I have also served it with sliced grilled chicken on top. I hope you enjoy!

Penne with Peppers and Olives

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
5 or 6 pepperoncini peppers, sliced
6 calamata olives, chopped
2 cans (or 1 large can) of petite diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
dash each of thyme, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
16 oz. penne pasta

Bring water to boil in large pan, add salt to the water then and the pasta. While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet. Add oil and saute onion and garlic until tender. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients except the balsamic vinegar. Bring to simmer and let cook until the pasta is ready. When pasta is tender, drain it and to the sauce. Toss well to coat and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vinegar.

Accessorizing the Kitchen

I love to accessorize my kitchen. After all it is the place where I spend a lot of time. Some people accessorize their wardrobe, I accessorize my kitchen.

Right now I am shopping for enclume pot racks. I have been thinking about hanging an enclume pot rack there for a while and now I have decided to go with it. My collection of pans and skillets seems to be reaching the critical mass stage and the cabinets may explode at any moment. LOL A rack will let me to get the clutter in the cabinet under control and give the kitchen a new look. I have heard good things about enclume potracks, now I just need to decided which one to buy.

Barbecue Shrimp - Promise Fulfilled

It took two tries, but I think I have cracked the code for Ruth's Chris barbecue shrimp. It all goes back to the old adage that less is more. I had previously looked at the recipes published online and most of them had ingredients listed that I knew were incorrect. I could tell by taste that there was no rosemary in the Ruth's Chris recipe and most of them called for it.

My version of the recipe is below. Give it a try and see what you think. My recipe is for 2 pounds of raw shrimp but it can easily be increased. The butter freezes well. You can make enough for several uses and freeze it to make it even quicker to compare.

Barbecue Shrimp like Ruth's Chris

1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 lbs. peeled and deveined shrimp
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 scallion, chop greens and discard white portion

Combine first 6 ingredients and refrigerate. This can be done earlier in the day. The sauce will thicken more if the butter is chilled but you can use it immediately if you wish.

Add oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer, you may need to do it in batches. As soon as they start to curl turn them over. Remove as soon as they are opaque. Add wine to skillet and reduce by half. Add scallion greens and butter to skillet. When butter is melted add shrimp back to skillet and toss to coat. Serve with bread to sop up the delicious sauce.

Let me know what you think.

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 to everyone. I hope you have a prosperous and fulfilling year.

We brought in the New Year at home last night. My husband and I are not into going out to New Year's parties. There are way too many drunk people driving for our liking. We started our celebration by having happy hour drinks with steak bites wrapped in bacon and the antipasto dip that I previously posted. Dinner was pan fried grouper. We brought the new year in with champagne and strawberries. Much better than attending a party!