Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi
Originally uploaded by c3howe

-14 Medium White Shrimp
-1 lemon
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 TBS blackening spice
- 3 TBS butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup wine
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 TBS parsley, chopped

1. Season shrimp with salt, pepper and lemon zest. Dredge in flour seasoned with blackening spice.
2. Sauté shrimp in olive oil over medium high heat, approx. 2-3 mins each side. Remove shrimp from the pan.
3. Add butter, garlic and lemon juice to pan. Add wine and stock, let reduce for two mins. Add parsley and shrimp back to pan and pour over angel hair.
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One of those nights...

One of those nights...
Originally uploaded by c3howe

Last night was one of those nights. Where all you want to eat is a 8 corner pepperoni pizza from Jets while watching The Middle and Modern Family in ABC! Nothing beats it. Nice glass of sauv blanc and a crisp caeser salad. <3



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Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls
Originally uploaded by c3howe

- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 scallions, sliced thinly
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups of shredded cole slaw mix
- 2 TBS soy sauce
- 1 TBS sesame oil
- 1/2 lb ground chicken breast, cooked and minced
- 1 TBS cilantro, chopped
- 20 egg roll wrappers
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil


1. On medium heat, saute first 5 ingredients until tender in sesame oil. Stir in chicken, cilantro and soy sauce. Set to the side to cool.

2. Add 2 TBS of the filling into the middle of each egg roll wrapper. Follow folding instructions on package. Seal the folds with a dab of water.
3. In a skillet set over moderately high heat, heat a 1/2 cup of vegetables oil and saute the egg rolls until golden brown on all sides, using tongs to turn them. Serve with soy sauce or your favorite peanut sauce.

Where's The Heat?

South Florida has experienced  3 of coldest months in the last 4 decades! I just want my HOT sunshine to return, I'm running out of warm clothes. It should be like this 350 days out of the year:

Mushroom and Thyme White Pizza

Mushroom and Thyme White Pizza
Originally uploaded by c3howe

- Fresh pizza dough, toll into a circle
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 shallots minced
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 12oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1/2 TSP fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
- Parmesan, grated
- pecorino romano, grated
- crumbled goat cheese
- mozzarella shredded
- thinly sliced red onions


1. Heat pizza stone and oven to 475.
2. In a sauce pan heat up olive oil, garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes. Put to the side when finished.
3.In a saute pan, brown mushrooms in a little olive oil. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Deglaze pan with wine. Let wine reduce and then add the balsamic.
4. Partially cook pizza crust for 5 mins and take out of oven.
5. Brush the oil mixture all over the crust of the pizza. Top with mushrooms, cheeses and red onion. Put back in the oven for approx. 5 min or until crust and cheeses are brownish.

Creole Spiced Tilapia Piccatta

Creole Spiced Tilapia Piccatta
Originally uploaded by c3howe

- 2 tilapia fillets
- Creole seasoning
- 12 oz sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 TBS capers
- 1 TBS butter

1. Season tilapia with Creole Seasoning and salt and pepper. Cook tilapia in a little olive oil in a sauté pan at medium high heat. Remove tilapia onto plate and cover with tin foil.
2. Add 1 TBS of olive oil to the pan and add the mushrooms. Brown mushrooms, approx 5 mins.
3. Add garlic and sauté for 1 min. Deglaze the pan with wine and leomon juice.
4. Stir in capers and  butter. Bring to a boil and let sauce reduce for 1 min.
5. Pour mushrooms and sauce over the tilapia.

White Pizza with Arugula Salad

 - Fresh pizza dough, knead into a circle

- ¼ cup olive oil

- 3 garlic cloves minced

- 2 shallots minced

- Pinch of red pepper flakes

- fontina cheese, shredded (I put mine in the freezer first, it's easer to shred when its hardened)

- crumbled goat cheese

- mozzarella shredded

- thinly sliced red onions

- 1 lemon

- Baby arugula

1. Heat pizza stone and oven to 475.

2. In a sauce pan heat up olive oil, garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes. Put to the side when finished. Don't let garlic burn just toast.

3. Partially cook pizza crust for 5 mins and take out of oven.

4. Brush the oil mixture all over the crust of the pizza. Top with cheeses and red onion. Put back in the oven for approx. 5 min or until crust and cheeses are brownish.

5. In a small bowl whisk together 1 TBSP of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice with salt and pepper. Toss in baby arugula and top the pizza with the salad. Then feast!

Creamy Corn Empanadas

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups frozen corn, defrosted
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup shredded monetary jack cheese
• 8-10 (6-inch) store-bought empanada wrappers, you can find them in the frozen foods
• Olive Oil

1. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook until smooth and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Add the milk slowly while whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add the paprika, cumin and salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the corn and parsley, return to a simmer. Scrape the filling into a bowl and cool completely before filling wrappers. Once cooled add cheese to mixture.

2. Wet the edges of 1 of the empanada wrappers with a fingertip dipped in warm water. Center a generous 1/3-cup of the filling on the wrapper. Bring the sides of the wrapper together to meet over the filling and pinch the sides together to seal and form a half-moon shape. Lay the half-moon flat on the work surface. Work you way around the edges, bringing about 1/2-inch of the bottom layer of dough up and over the top layer, to make a mini-pleat. Press as you go to seal the pleats. If you don't want to mess with crimping, just seal the edges all the way around with the tips of the tines of a fork. Brush empanadas with a little olive oil before baking.

3. Preheat  oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use a nonstick baking sheet. Bake until the empanadas are light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool. I love to serve with my tomato soup, perfect combo!

Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• Juice from ½ a lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 oz crumbled mild blue cheese

This was super easy! I blended the first 4 ingredients in my Ninja (best kitchen tool ever!) and then folded in the blue cheese. I served this with Spicy Buffalo Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts from the Food Network.

Fresh Tortillas

SO EASY to make fresh tortillas and I had everything in my cupboard. The only thing I would do differently next time is use a tortilla press; it took a lot of time hand rolling each ball of dough. I infused my tillas with lime zest... I think adding cumin would be a nice addition as well! Here is the recipe I used.

Fusilli with Crispy Proscuitto, Broccolini and Mushrooms

Fusilli with Crispy Proscuitto, Broccolini and Mushrooms
Originally uploaded by c3howe

-1 box of Fusilli
-8 slices of prosciutto, julienned
-Sliced mushrooms
-1 bunch of broccolini, steams trimmed
-2 large cloves of garlic, minced
-Pinch of red pepper flakes
-1/2 cup white wine
-juice from 1 lemon(zest it first)
-1/4 cup of parmesan
- 1/2 cup of grated ricotta salata cheese

1. Boil pasta in salted water according to box. Reserve some of the pasta water for later.
2. Fry prosciutto in olive oil until crispy. Remove from oil and place on paper towel.
3. In the same pan, sauté mushrooms and broccolini until tender and add garlic and red pepper flakes.
4. Add wine and let reduce to half. Mix in Fusilli, lemon juice, lemon zest and a ladle of reserved pasta water (it will thicken the sauce). Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Finish pasta by adding the crispy prosciutto and cheeses!

Leave it to the Sushi Masters

My boyfriend and I had wanted to make sushi at home for a while. Saturday night the idea came up and we decided to head to our fish monger, Mr. Fish and Publix to get the necessities. We bought it all:

-sushi grade tuna

-shrimp

-tempura batter

-sushi rice

-rice wine vinager

-avacado

-cucumber

-carrots

-cream cheese

-nori

-wasabi

AND SOY

We had so much fun making the rolls and we did a damn good job for our first time......... let me also add it will be our LAST time making sushi. It just doesn't taste the same as you get going out. I don't think we even finish 1 of the 4 rolls we made. We dumped it all in the trash and ended up eating Jets pizza.

Lesson: Try everything once. We will look back at this catastrophe and appreciate our sushi chefs at The Blue Fish, Blow Fish, Tee Jays, Lemon Grass and Sushi Thai more than ever.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Red Wine

Roasted Tomato Soup with Red Wine
Originally uploaded by c3howe

- 1 28 oz. can of Italian peeled whole tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic, halved
- 1/4 cup of red wine (I used Bridlewood Syrah)
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- ricotta salata cheese

1. Strain tomatoes from its juice and reserve juice for later.
2. Place whole tomatoes in a baking dish with garlic and wine. Roast at 375 degrees for 20 mins.
3. Sautee onion and carrots in butter until tender. Add stock, tomatoes and the juice into the pot.
4. Use an immersion blender to puree soup until there are no longer any vegetable chunks left.
5. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste and stir in cream.
6. Top your bowl of soup with shaved ricotta salata!

I served my soup with creamy corn empanadas, perfect for dipping!