Sweet Valentine's Treat

I am a bit tardy in posting my Valentine's Day treat, but if you will indulge my story and enjoy my suggestion for an excellent weekend adventure.  Spur of the moment, we decided to spend the weekend in one of our fave places....Destin, FL.  Courtesy of a few Marriott rewards, we stayed in San Destin at the Courtyard Sat and Sun.  I highly suggest getting away for a few days with your Valentine.  We explored (Seaside), shopped (Outlets), listened to music (Brass Jazz Band at Stinky's fish camp....better than it sounds), ate some excellent food (again, Stinky's fish camp and although I am not a chain restaurant fan, the food was great at P.F Changs) and watched the smallest Mardi Gras Parade ever....

Enjoy....

"Smokin" HOT Easy Post Work Edibles

Always in search of GOOD food that falls into my definition of gourmet (my very loose interpretation is food that is not a prepackaged mix of any kind--ban all hamburger helpers--and tasty, not thrown together just to shovel into one's mouth in order to satisfy hunger), I searched the other day through my bag of tricks (recipes cut out from various magazines, etc...that I have stored i.e. shoved in a drawer for perusal someday) and found what appeared to be a tasty pasta recipe involving artichokes and chopped tomatoes.  After a few tweaks (I tweak everything), I found it to be a worthy (quick) week night meal.

I must give props to the author although I have no idea which magazine that I tore the page from.....

Recipe adapted from Heather Hayes.

Artichoke and Tomato Penne (serves 4....or 2 very hungry folks)

1lb penne pasta
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 medium onion (finely chopped....I recommend food processor)
2 6 oz. jars marinated artichoke hearts drained and finely chopped (again....get that food processor out or chop, chop, chop by hand)
2 14 1/2 oz fire roasted tomatoes with garlic (do not drain)
1 tbsp italian seasoning (or a mixture of oregano and basil)
pinch of red pepper flakes (adjust for heat....a little goes a long way folks)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions (al dente)

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil on medium to low heat and add onions and garlic (saute about 3 minutes).  Add artichokes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add tomatoes and juice and cook 5 minutes while stirring.  Remove from heat and add italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.  Stir in cooked pasta and serve immediately.  Top each serving with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Hint:  next time, I might saute a few shrimp in olive oil, fresh garlic and a little basil and add to the past.

Include a BIG salad, garlic bread and enjoy....I might also add that a glass of Wente Shorthorn Canyon Syrah complements the meal well....

By the way, the salad is a mixture of greens, strawberries, mandarin oranges, goat cheese and chopped glazed walnuts....topped with a raspberry balsamic vinagrette (recipe provided in earlier posts).  This is really, really....REALLY good....now ENJOY!!!

Cool Views out the Front Windshield

So....my husband and I went to the cheese farm this weekend....yes, THE CHEESE FARM.  Where the heck is the cheese farm....where else, but Elberta, AL.  A place that if you blink, you miss your turn.  Really....our mission was to find some decent seafood and a cold beer--I wanted to check out a place in Magnolia Springs, AL (another spot that if you blink....no actually sneeze, you will miss it) called Jesse's (check out the website http://www.jessesrestaurant.com/).  So actually the cheese farm was simply ON THE WAY.

A quick turn off of hwy. 98 takes us down a long road, past a gaggle (I know cows don't form a gaggle, but trust me, this was a gaggle) of cows and another turn down a dirt road to THE CHEESE FARM (hence the picture).

 

Such a busy little place....only open on Fri and Sat 10-5.  We head to the front door of a tiny, one room general store.....open the door and ahhhhhh the smell of fresh cheese (not a good smell....trust me), but soon the smell dissipates and we are faced with 30 - 40 different kinds of cheese (all local, home grown goodness).  The proprieters will let you sample and taste anything you like (I asked my husband what they would do if we just stopped in and tried everything then said thanks and left.....probably not cool). 

I made my choices and pulled out my AMEX, but of course, cash or check only.  The conversations going on between the owners and the other guests can only be described like the Alec Baldwin skit from Saturday Night Live (Schwetty Balls....catch the rerun sometime).  I felt like I was in some small town in Vermont rather than in the middle of nowhere in S. Alabama (but totally worth the experience).

Clutching my little brown sack, full of the best the cheese farm has to offer, we head out to find that cold beer.  We drive about 30 minutes further West on Hwy. 98 and pass the one road to anywhere in Magnolia Springs (the road to Magnolia River, where mail is still delivered by boat--only place in the U.S.).  After a quick u-turn, we find our pot of gold (or mug of golden barley hops) at a place called Jesse's.

A couple of Stellas (in cold, frosty mugs) and one hamburger, one grilled tuna sandwich AND the best homemade onion rings ever.....

Then....we explored the area a little more....beautiful ancient oaks and old Southern shotgun style houses....

What did you see through your windshield this weekend?

Hot Shrimp....Cool Salad

When is a salad cool (AND I don't mean the temperature)?  Throw on a few cajun grilled shrimp, sliced California Haas avacados and a few cukes for good measure....Oh and, by the way, dress it up with an avacado ranch dressing--yes....you have a COOL salad for 2....

Recipe courtesy of Danyell....

2 plates of mixed greens (amount your choice)
1/2 avacado chopped
1 cucumber chopped
2-3 green onions chopped

Divide everything among two salad plates

3/4 lb peeled raw shrimp
cajun seasoning (anything you have on hand....)
olive oil

spray or pour a small amount of olive oil on shrimp and dust with cajun seasoning.  Heat small (about 1 tbsp.) olive oil in large grill pan (or cast iron skillet OR you can skewer the shrimp and do on the barbie).  On medium heat, place the shrimp in grill pan (turn after 3 minutes and grill on the other side for approx. 3 minutes).  Pull the shrimp off the heat immediately and let cool slightly then divide up and place on top of the salad.  Top with avacado ranch dressing.

Avacado Ranch Dressing

1 1/2 tbsp. Ranch Seasoning
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup milk (fat free fine)
1/2 avacado

Mix in food processor and let chill in fridge for hour or two.

Enjoy!!!

Feed Your Soul

Today, feed your soul....check out your local NPR station.  Just go down low enough on your dial until you hear the melodic, dulcent tones of an interviewer talking with Salman Rushdie OR giving extended coverage to some normally unknown world plight OR playing tunes that you normally only hear in the dusty, murky depths of a hole in the wall jazz club somewhere in the city....explore funk, soul or rock and roll, you can find it all on NPR http://wuwf.org/radiotv/wcx.shtml

Sublime Eats

Scamp, crushed pecans, a touch of olive oil, and a sublime beurre blanc sauce....may I use the word orgasmic?  In celebration of the Grammy awards last Sunday, I prepared sustinence for two that escapes adequate explanation except to say that I give thanks to the Gods for this Gulf of Mexico seafood that generously bestows upon us meals that may be fit for Kings and Queens, but soon to be consumed by us commoners.  This bounty requires some extra effort, but well worth your time and tastebuds:

Start with a Goat Cheese and Mandarin Orange Salad w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette

approx. cup or two of mixed greens for two
5-6 slices of mandarin oranges on each
1-2 tbsp. chopped glazed walnuts
2-3 tbsp. goat cheese crumbles

Raspberry Vinaigrette (Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay's Grilling For Life)

1 small shallot
1/4 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients in food processor or bowl with wisk.  Slowly add oil until emulsified.

Next, the entree....Pecan-Crusted Scamp (adapted from ESP Pensacola's Fiesta Seafood Cookbook)
2 cups milk
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup crushed pecans
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
4 (8 oz) scamp fillets (or grouper)
1/4 cup olive oil
splash of white wine

Whisk milk and eggs in bowl.  Mix the flour and next 5 ingredients in a shallow dish.  Dust the fillets with the flour mixture then dip in the egg mixture.  Repeat the process for double breading.

Heat the olive oil in large oven proof saute pan (cast iron is excellent) and add the fillets (medium heat) for 3-4 minute per side or until golden brown.  Drizzle with splash of wine. Bake at 400 degree oven for 4 minutes.

Serve over smashed sweet potatoes drizzed with honey.  Optional:  spoon small amounts of beurre blanc sauce over top of fish and sweet potatoes.

Serve with crusty whole-wheat italian bread and a glass (or two) of quality chardonnay (suggestion--Chalk Hill Chardonnay--pricey, but worth every drop....). 

Enjoy....