Because it's Fall and I'm heading to the Windy City...

Because it's that time of year when soup, chili, and stews are necessary...

Because I am heading to Chicago for a week and will not be cooking or posting...

Because I want to see how many comments I can get...(muhahahahaha ---evil laugh)

I will be giving away this Le Creuset 6 quart enamel-on-steel stock pot to a random commenter.  Andrew will pick the winner. You can pick the color.

What do you need to do? 

Just post a comment by Sunday, September 26th and let me know what you'll be cooking now that Autumn is upon us.

I'll announce the winner next Friday, October 1st, when I return from the Windy City. 

Shrimp Fra Diavlo

Fra Diavlo means Brother Devil...Obviously, this dish was named after my brother, Markie.  Oh. He so hates when I call him that.  Muhahahahaha (evil laugh)!  Actually, he hates the name Markie now that he is a man. His nickname when he was young was Prince Markie.I think he would like being called that now!  I am off topic but he'll understand.  Another muhahahaha!  This recipe can be served as an appetizer or served with pasta for a main course.  The heat is up to you...it's called devil for a reason.  Muhahahahha.  The evil laugh is courtesy of Ileana and Victor, who respond to facebook posts once a day with that response.  Love that! Copy that!

The Ingredients:
1 lb large shrimp (peeled, deveined)
1 tsp chile flakes (more if you like spice)
1/2 cup olive oil (extra for other dishes)
8 cloves of garlic, sliced (divided)
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup marinara sauce (I like Mario Batali's new brand)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp honey

The Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Marinate shrimp in 1/4 tsp of chile flakes. Keep refrigerated.
Make garlic oil.  Add olive oil and 6 cloves of sliced garlic to small sauce pan. Heat over low heat until garlic is soft and oil is very fragrant, about 20 minutes.  Save any remaining from this recipe.  You can use it for many other dishes to add flavor!
Make the tomatoes.  Add tomatoes to a sheet pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until tomatoes are wrinkled and just beginning to brown.
Heat skillet over medium high heat until hot.  Add 2-3 tbsp of garlic oil.  Add shrimp.  Saute for 1 minute per side.  Pan should be hot!  Shrimp should be just turning pink and slightly browned. Do not overcook shrimp. Remove to a plate and cover with foil. 
Add 2 tbs garlic oil to skillet. Add roasted, cherry tomatoes. Saute on medium high for 8-10 minutes. Add remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze with white wine, 2-3 minutes, add marinara, chicken stock and garlic slices from the garlic oil.  Add additional chile flakes now if you want more "devil".   Cook over medium for 20 minutes.  Strain sauce through a strainer, press out all yummy solids or blend in a blender.  Return to pan.  Heat to simmer. Add honey and cream.  Add shrimp & pasta, if serving as a main dish or serve with garlic toast as an appetizer.
(Hint: save 1-2 ladles of pasta water and add if sauce is too thick)

Homemade Pizza Rolls/Pockets

Pizza rolls have been a pajama party tradition on our house every since they came out in the 70's.  I ate them as a kid, my kids have eaten them. They are a hit. They are easy.  However, I happened to read the list of ingredients the other day when Benj was over (doing laundry) and I was surprised that I didn't recognize many (any) of the ingredients. Check these out.

Ingredients

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste)Cooked Pizza Topping (Sausage made with Pork and Chicken [Pork, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Salt, Spice, Maltodextrin {Corn, Tapioca}Natural Flavor]Water, Textured Vegetable Protein [Soy Flour, Caramel Color]Sugar, Sodium Phosphate, Hydrolyzed Corn and Soy Protein, Soy Flour, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Torula Yeast)Water, Mozzarella Cheese Substitute (Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Rennet Casein, Modified Corn Starch, Potato Starch, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Vital Wheat Gluten, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate [Preservative]Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide [Color]Maltodextrin, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12)Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Pepperoni Pizza Topping (Pepperoni made with Pork, Chicken and Beef [Pork, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef, Salt, Spice, Dextrose, Oleoresin of Paprika, Sodium Ascorbate, Garlic Powder, Sodium Nitrite, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, BHA and BHT and Citric Acid Added to Protect Flavor]Water, Soy Protein Isolate)Rehydrated Pasteurized Process Nonfat Mozzarella Cheese (Water, Nonfat Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes, Citric Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B6, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Phosphate)Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Dried Whey, Defatted Soy Flour, Dried Onion, Spice, Methylcellulose, Rehydrated Enzyme Modified Cheese (Water, Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes)Natural Flavor.

How do you mechanically separate pork from chicken?  That is just plain scary. Do they grow Porkens and then separate them?  Maybe they grow Chigs?  What is mozarella cheese substitute? I don't know.  Anyway, I made the pizza rolls above. They were a hit. They were pretty easy.  I am still experimenting with the wrapper and shape but the inside tasted like a pizza roll.  I didn't really measure this time just went for a consistency thing.  You could make this for as many "rolls" as you want.
 
The Ingredients:
Pot sticker wrappers (next I am going to try won ton wrappers and pizza dough rolled very thin)
Reduced fat pepperoni slices, diced
mozzarella cheese
Marinara Sauce (I really like Mario Battalli's brand)
vegetable oil
 
The method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Chop pepperoni into very small dice. Add cheese and marinara sauce until thick consistency (like peanut butter) is achieved.  Take a wrapper and starting in a corner add about a teaspoon of filling. Brush edges with water and fold over to make a triangle. Press edges with the tines of a fork to seal.  You can also make rectangles.  Add oil to just cover the bottom of a non-stick skillet.  Heat over med-high until hot.  Add the pizza roll and cook for 1 minute per side. Remove to a sheet tray and bake for approximately 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them. 
 
I will update this recipe as I try other wrappers.  Enjoy!

Kale Chips

Benjamin walked into the kitchen last night.  He looks at the cookie sheet with these glistening kale chips on it and says "Ewwww. What are those?"  Then he proceeded to eat them like, well, like chips. Mark ate the rest of them.  Seriously, these are good and satisfy the craving for something crunchy and salty, well, kind of like a chip. Really.


The Ingredients:

bunch of kale torn into chip size pieces (no stems)
1-2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt

The Method:

Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees
Toss ingredients above in a large bowl until all leaves are coated with vinegar and oil. Place in a single layer on cookie sheets.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and enjoy!!!

Foil Wrapped Potatoes

This post goes out to Val who mentioned that it's been about a month since I posted the Wine-Can Chicken recipe and stated I would post the potato recipe the next day. Thanks for being so patient, Val!  This is not really a recipe but more of a method I use to avoid 1) heating up the kitchen in the summer and 2) doing dishes.  Foil is good like that.  This is also a great method for potatoes and other veggies when camping.

The Ingredients:

4-6 large Yukon gold potatoes (or any other potato you have on hand)
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
6-8 garlic cloves, peeled
4-6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Lawry's Season Salt (or kosher/sea salt)
pepper to taste
1 tbsp chopped rosemary (optional)
Heavy duty foil

The Method:

Tear off 2 large pieces of foil.  Wash potatoes and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.  Place the potatoes on the foil. Sprinkle onion and garlic over the potatoes. Add the olive oil and butter. Season with Lawry's and pepper.  Fold the foil one piece at a time into a tightly sealed package.  Place on grill over high heat for 10 minutes. Flip and cook over high for 10 more minutes.  Move to cooler part of the grill and continue cooking for another 30-40 minutes.  Potatoes will stay hot until you unwrap them.  You can also do this in an oven on 400 degrees.  Top with a bit of sour cream and enjoy!!!

Wine Can Chicken

OK. I know there is no such thing as a wine can but this is really wine can chicken.  Poured a beer for Mark into a frosty mug, more on that later, then filled the can with white wine, lemon juice, garlic, onions and herbs.  After seasoning the chicken I mounted/stuffed/stuck the chicken on top of the can and grilled it. The best part was using the liquids in the can to make a pan sauce to serve with the chicken. I also did foil wrapped potatoes as a side dish, which I'll post tomorrow.

Yum.

I need to confess about the frosty mug.  We don't have any beer mugs in the house so I took a water glass, stuck it into the ice bin for a few minutes and pulled out.....this.  (Insert picture here)

The Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb roasting chicken
2 lemons
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sprigs basil
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 can of beer (give the beer to someone)
6 oz. white wine (enough to fill the can about 3/4's full)
Lawry's season salt
pepper
olive oil

Here is what you need! Simple!

All stuffed and ready to grill!

The Method:
Preheat grill or get BBQ ready using indirect heat method. (one side hot, the other warm)
Remove innards from chicken.  Rub chicken with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with Lawry's and pepper. Massage so oil and seasoning is covering all parts.  Slide you hand under the skin on the breast to loosen the skin. Place 2 sprigs of rosemary and 4 sprigs of basil under the skin of both breasts.  Pour the wine and juice from both lemons into the can.  Stuff the cavity of the chicken with 1-2 used lemons.  Add the remaining herbs to the can along with the garlic. Place the chicken onto the can and place on a pie plate or other pan that can withstand heat.  Place on the cooler side of the grill.  Grill for 45-60 minutes until internal temperature of the chicken is 170 degrees.  Rotate occasionally to ensure even browning.  Let rest for 15 minutes covered with foil.  To make the pan sauce, add any chicken juices and contents from the pan into a saucepan, remove herbs and garlic, bring to a boil until reduced.  Add 2-3 tbs heavy cream or 2-3 tbs of butter and serve.

Firecracker Eggrolls

I took this picture on my iPhone at Scott and Cindy's house last weekend.  Technology is amazing.  These are easy appetizers to make with leftover (squeak) pork and habanero pesto from my previous blog.  I also made a pineapple soy dipping sauce to go with these egg rolls. 

The Ingredients:

shredded pork

habanero pesto

egg roll wrappers

1 package shredded cabbage

cilantro

vegetable oil for frying

2 cup pineapple juice

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 inch of ginger, peeled and sliced into rings

4 tbsp soy sauce (I use reduced sodium soy sauce)

1 tbsp siracha or Thai chile sauce

The method:

Smear a teaspoon of the habanero pesto on the bottom of the wrapper, top with shredded pork, cabbage and cilantro.  Fold the wrapper closest to you over the ingredients, fold in the sides and roll.  Repeat many times until you run out of ingredients.  Add oil to heavy skillet, enough to come up halfway on the egg rolls.  Heat over medium high until bubble form when you dip a corner of an egg roll in the oil.  Add egg rolls to the pan in batches, cook until golden on both sides.  Drain on paper towel line plate.  Serve warm with dipping sauce.  To make the dipping sauce:  Add pineapple juice, garlic and ginger to a saucepan, heat over medium high until boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half.  The sauce should be thick, like a glaze.  Remove from heat, remove garlic and ginger with a slotted spoon.  Add soy sauce and siracha.