Coconut Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
2 14 oz cans light unsweetened coconut milk

3 1/2 cups canned chicken broth

2 cups chunked mushrooms
2 chopped shallots

6 tbsp finely chopped lemon grass

2 tbsp minced fresh ginger

¼ cup fish sauce

3 tsp chili garlic sauce (adjust heat to your liking)

1 thinly sliced Serrano chili

2 lbs thinly sliced chicken breast.

½ cup thinly sliced green onions

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1.In a large pot add: coconut milk, broth, mushrooms, shallots, lemongrass, fish sauce, ginger, Serrano chili and chili-garlic sauce. Cover and simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors.

2. Add chicken and continue to let simmer for 5 more minutes, until chicken is cooked.

3.Mix in green onions, basil and lime juice

Drunken Noodles

Ingredients:

We couldn't find the wider noodles,
so we used these rice noodles.

2 14 oz packages ¼ inch wide flat rice noodles ( If you can’t find these any rice noodle will do)

¼ cup vegetable oil

12 garlic cloves, chopped

¼ cup chopped fresh Serrano chillies

1 ½ pounds ground chicken

¼ fish sauce

½ cup soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

4 large plum tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges.

4 Anaheim chilies or 2 green bell peppers, julienned

Anaheim Chili- tastes and smell like a
bell pepper, but it's actually spicy.

½ cup fresh Thai basil, regular will do but I warn you, it’s not quite the same.

1. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, also known as al dente, stirring frequently. Drain.

Drained noodles

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

3. Add garlic and Serrano chilies sauté for a short 30 seconds, you DO NOT want to burn the garlic.

4. Add chicken, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar, cook until the chicken is fully cooked.

5. Add noodles, tomatoes and Anaheim chilies (or bell peppers). Toss together.

6. Move the hot noodles to serving platter and sprinkle with the fresh basil.

We have delicious leftovers for days.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops w/ Apricot Chutney

Lately I have been on a huge scallop kick, I never realized how good these little pieces of heaven are. If you decide to make them just shell (no pun intended) out the extra cash and get the good ones. We got ours from whole foods which had came in fresh that day, never been frozen. It makes a huge difference in taste and texture.

This recipe is a good as it sounds and easy to prepare and make as well. Gotta love that...

Apricot Chutney-

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp of whole black peppercorns
2 tbsp of prepared horseradish
1/4 cup of apricot preserves

Crushed Peppercorns

1. Crush peppercorns by placing them on a cutting board and pressing down on them using a heavy saucepan. (Make sure you aren't whacking the pan on the peppercorns because they will go flying everywhere around your kitchen and you will find them later on for years)

2. In a small bowl mix together horseradish, peppercorns and apricot preserves.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops-

They are so delicate they are already falling apart.
I'm drooling...

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of scallops (rinsed and patted dry)
3/4 pound of thinly sliced bacon, cut to the circumference of the scallop. (For the bacon lover that want to use a thick cut bacon, don't! It makes the cooking time unequal. An over cooking a scallop should be a sin.)

1. Preheat oven broiler, position rack on the highest level.
2. Spray a foil lined baking sheet with non-stick spray



3. Wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick



4. Place scallops on baking sheet and season them with salt and pepper

5. Cook under the broiler for about 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the scallops) until the bacon is cooked through. Turn once half way through

*Holiday Champagne Cocktail**

What girl doesn't love champagne? I like to call it big girl soda, and this is one of my personal favorites. This recipe is perfect to keep in your back pocket because its a "wow-er" and I usually have most of the ingredients in my pantry. Except champagne, of course, that doesn't last long in my home. Here's what I use:

Lemon
Champagne
Orange Liquor
Cranberry Juice
White Sugar
Cinnamon
Cayenne (Optional)


What to do:

1) Mix Sugar Rim -Pour about 3-4 tbs of sugar into a cute plate (works better if the plate has a lip or edge to prevent a mess) Then I mix in a couple dashes of cinnamon ( about 1/4 tsp) I just put enough until the sugar looks a pretty color, you can control your ratio's by taste or esthetically, which ever you prefer. I loooove anything that has a spicy bite, so that when I add the cayenne pepper. Like I said I love spicy anything, but here a little goes a long way, you really do not want to use too much cayenne. (Otherwise your lips will be more on fire than your tongue) The cinnamon and cayenne pepper is what makes it taste like the holidays. Make sure all are incorporated well.


2) Rim the Glass - Cut a lemon wedge, run it along the rim of your champagne flute and then dip the rim in the sugar. Obviously, you need to rim the glass first since you cant turn it over once you have liquid in it.


3) Mix the cocktail - Put a splash of both the cranberry juice and the Orange Liquor ( I used Triple Sec because that's what I happened to have, but normally my husband and I like to use Grand Marnier ) into the glass. I use about a half shot of each, but it varies on glass sizes and personal taste. Then fill the rest up with champagne carefully to not spill on that yummy, sugary rim.

Enjoy!

Salmon and Roasted Veggies

This recipe was one I came up with on the fly. It was delicious and healthy to boot!

So easy!!

Here's what you'll need:
Salmon fillets
Carrots
Red onions
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Orzo
Lemons
Fresh parsley
Fresh dill

Start by preheating your oven to 400°. Chop up the carrots and onions to roughly the same size (to make sure they cook evenly). Add chopped veggies to a bowl drizzle the olive oil and balsamic along with salt and pepper. Then give it all a good toss and make they're coated evenly. Place veggies on foil lined baking sheet and roast for about 20-30 mins. Stirring half way through.
After the veggies begin to look like they are shriveling up take them out and nestled the salmon fillets on top of the veggies, skin side down. Season the fish with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
Put back into oven and let and let cook until salmon is done to your liking.
Meanwhile bring a medium size pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo, keeping in mind that these little rice shaped pastas will almost double in size. While the rest is cooking away, mens the parsley and dill. (If you don't have these herbs improvise and use what ever you have that you think will pair well!)
When orzo is al dente (Def: to the tooth) drain it off and give it a toss with the herbs and lemon juice. Taste it to see if it needs any extra seasoning and it's done! How easy was that and it creates the perfect bed for the salmon!
Serve and enjoy!

Crêpes

Crêpes are basically a paper thin, French pancake. Sounds simple enough, so why make and eat a thin french pancake when you can eat good ol flapjacks! Well, because theyre french of course! Just kidding! Two reason actually...

One; they are extremely versatile, you can choose to make they savory or sweet. My husband and I love to go to crêpe houses for brunch. We have tried all sorts of different crêpes, from classic like strawberries and Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut) to a chicken curry crêpe. It’s the perfect canvass for any topping or filling you can dream up.

Two; they are perfect for entertaining because they need to be prepared ahead of time. The batter needs to set for at least an hour to as long as overnight and in the mean time you can dice, chop, or whip your toppings all ahead of time. That way when your guests show up all you need to do is pull everything out and set up a sweet and savory crêpe topping bar. Then your guest can serve themselves and you can partake in the fun.

Crêpes

Ingredients:

½ cup water (I used filtered)

½ cup whole milk

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

Prepare the batter-

In a blender, whip the eggs then add the flour, salt, water, milk, and vanilla. Blend until everything is combined and smooth. Move to a covered container and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

Make the crêpes –

Over medium heat melt about one tablespoon of butter in a 9 inch pan. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter into the pan, and quickly swirl the pan around so the batter covers the bottom. Once the crêpe starts to bully and brown, it’s time to flip it. Flipping the crêpe is the touchiest part of the whole crêpe making process. You can use a spatula or flip it in the air. The easiest technique for me was to loosen it crêpe using a rubber spatula until it easily slides around in the pan. Then sliding it back and forth, give it one big thrust and flip it in the air. Let it brown of the other side, then move to a piece of waxed paper.

Topping Ideas-

Here I spread Nutella, folded it up and then tossed fresh starwberries in sweetened condensed milk. I finished it with drizzling more sweetened condensed milk and dusting powdered sugar over the top.Yum!

Sweet-

Spread with Nutella, fold into fourths. Top with strawberries and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spread with Nutella sprinkle with shredded coconut, fold into fourths. Top with sliced bananas and whipped cream.

Spread with butter, fold in fourth and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spread with peanut butter and jelly, fold in fourths.

And the list goes on…

Savory

Swiss cheese, shredded chicken with cranberries sauce folded in fourths.

Pepper jack cheese, avocado, black beans with salsa.

Monte Cristo crêpe– Gruyère cheese covered with thin ham slices folded in fourths and drizzled with maple syrup. (I came up with that one)

Anything you would put in an omelet!

Don't worry, I'm back!

Hey everyone!

Sorry that I have posted anything for a while. There was an error that wasn't allowing me to make posts, but all seems to be running smoothly now!

In less than two weeks, I am off to France and Spain for my honeymoon! We are so excited and eager to leave.

Right now I am in the process of getting ready to post a few French and Spanish inspired recipes. In hopes of expanding my cooking knowledge and recipe box to get us prepared for what kind of delicious food to expect in Europe.

So check back soon for some good stuff.

Life is good people...