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!!!