Some Like It Hot...Some Don't - 3 Days of Food Network Recipes

Last week, I was on a Food Network kick. Nothing fuels my passion for cooking more than watching an episode of Giada or Paula, or perusing the network's website for the top rated recipes. I tried to mix it up a little, choosing one shrimp dish, one beef dish and one chicken dish to prepare for the week. Since I made R.R's Spit Fire Shrimp first, I will start with that recipe. I made it last Monday, which was a day completely filled with chaos. I spent the morning running errands, bringing my son back and forth to pre-school, peeling my daughter off of chairs and chandeliers and tending to mountains of laundry. In short, my attention span was very limited.
I completely rushed to get dinner on the table. It took some time because I was intermittently cooking and prying my kids apart as they fought over Thomas the Train.
My kitchen smelled divine and the shrimp looked mouth watering. My husband can not wait for anyone else to start eating, so he dove in immediately. I noticed he wasn't commenting, just chewing slowly and thoughtfully. Then I noticed something funny. My husband is normally pasty white. I watched as his neck turned crimson and the heat moved up to his cheeks, then his forehead. Sweat dripped from his brow. He took a giant gulp of orange soda and said, "Wow! Spicy!" Now, I knew it would have a kick, I just didn't know how much of a kick. I took a bite. My eyes teared. My nose started to run. I breathed fire and nearly singed the dog's tail. In my case, I loved it. It is the kind of spicy I truly appreciate. As we finished dinner, I had a a moment of clarity. I had forgotten that I only made a half batch of shrimp for the recipe, so the sauce was a double dose of fire breathing hotness. OOPS! Up next: Bobby Flay's Grilled Bracciole

Rachael Ray's Spitfire Shrimp from foodnetwork.com
1 lime, juiced

2 ounces (1/4 cup) hot cayenne pepper sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon crab boil seasoning
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 pounds jumbo shrimp peeled and de-veined* (I used frozen)
12 to 15 blades fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
Directions
Preheat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.

Combine lime juice, hot sauce, cumin, red pepper flakes and seafood seasoning blend.
Quickly saute garlic and shallots in oil and butter for 1 minute, add shrimp and cook 3 minutes, tossing and turning frequently. Dump pink, firm, cooked shrimp from hot pan into hot seasoning blend and toss in seasoning mixture to coat shrimp evenly. Garnish with chopped chives. Serve warm or chilled.

R. Ray Day 3:Garlic Lovers Shrimp with Garlic over CousCous

We've all been sick in my house, started with a virus and ended with a cold. Hence, the reason my 3rd entry on Rachael Ray dinners is late.  Anyhow, we are on the mend, I am back to cooking and getting ready for the upcoming holidays. The only thing that puts a slight damper on my love of cooking and eating is the weight gain. While I am holding steady at my current weight, my sweet husband is not as lucky.  So, I am trying to prepare more healthy yet tasty meals for the blog.  Fear not, I will still be making sweets for my neighbors and little ones, so there will be plenty of great treat recipes coming up.  Also in my future is a blog feature on an idea I have for a kiddie holiday party. It doesn't necessarily have to be an all out party, but it is a great theme to base a day of cookie baking and tree decorating upon. So, keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.  Now, back to the recipe. This recipe, by far, was the easiest to prepare and fits right in the 30 minutes or less category. Definitely tasty and I LOVED the couscous! My husband and children won't touch it again, but I am infatuated. I had never had it before and really enjoyed it. I cheated a bit and used a prepared box of quick cooking couscous and it only took about 5 minutes.  You can find those particular products in the rice aisle or international foods aisle.
Garlic Lovers Shrimp
(From foodnetwork.com)

12 to 15 cloves garlic, cracked away from skins

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan

2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 pounds, 30 pieces, jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, ask for easy peel shrimps

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Black pepper

1 toothpick, optional  
Process garlic in food processor to finely chop. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and butter. Add garlic and crushed pepper flakes to oil and butter. Season shrimp with salt and toss to coat. Add shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until pink and heads curl to tails. Add black pepper, to your taste. Serve immediately.

Day 2 of Rachael Ray: Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken Sammies with Pico- Guac

Ever make a recipe that made someone a believer? If you have been following my blog, you know that my husband is the pickiest man on the planet. He drives me nuts. He will not touch guacamole with a ten foot pole and I LOVE it. Avocado is one of my favorite foods.  I found this recipe in Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book(I have re-named it the 'Big Orange Bible') and decided to see if I could convert my husband to a guacamole fan. Mission(sort of) accomplished. While he wasn't thrilled about trying some of the pico-guac off of a spoon, he loved it as the sandwich topping. So, while he may not be the biggest avocado fan, he has certainly warmed up to it after I made this recipe. But of course, I did make one change to the recipe. My chicken cutlets were not defrosted enough, so I used a pound of ground chicken. I personally think the ground chicken absorbed the seasoning much better than a cutlet and gave the sandwich a more 'burger-like' feel. I also lightly toasted the rolls to give the sandwich some crunch.
Rachael Ray's Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken Sammies w/ Pico- Guac
from rachaelraymag.com(called 'Go Green Sammies')

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

2 scallions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Grated peel of 1 lime plus juice of 2 limes

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

Salt and pepper

Four skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 avocados

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 small plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped

2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, grated or finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

4 hamburger buns or crusty rolls, split and toasted

1 head bibb lettuce or green leaf lettuce

Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

In a shallow dish, combine the EVOO, cilantro, scallions, thyme, lime peel, half of the lime juice, and the hot sauce; season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Grill the chicken until cooked through. In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, red onion, tomato, jalapeños, garlic, lemon juice and remaining lime juice; season with salt. Top each bun bottom with lettuce, a chicken breast, a mound of guacamole and a bun top. Serve with the tortilla chips.

2 or 3 Days of Rachael Ray;Day 1:Steakhouse Shepherd's Pie

I have always been on the fence as to whether or not I was a Rachael Ray fan. On a whim, I bought her Big Orange Book, which is a bible of 30 minute meals and then some. She is now one of my heroes. If you don't own a copy of this book, I highly recommend you drag your self to the bookstore or get online and order it. Pronto. There are so many meal ideas in this book, it's crazy! So I have chosen to do two, possible three dinners, from her book. Rachael and I share a passion: steakhouses. So when I came across a recipe that combined all of her favorite elements from a steakhouse meal, I needed to get to work. Her Steakhouse Shepherd's Pie did not disappoint. It was, in my humble opinion, labor intensive. Then again, I can't chop onions and chives as fast as Rach. My best novice advice concerning this recipe is to read it over and set up all you pots and ingredients before you start. I also did not have an oven safe skillet, so I had to transfer my meat to a Corningware, but I can assure you the pie turned out fine. The only other let down was that I had to omit the mushrooms(my favorite) since my husband turns green at the mention of them.

Rachael Ray's Steakhouse Pot Pie   
(From foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients

2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Salt

1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices good quality bacon or peppered bacon, chopped

2 pounds ground sirloin

1 onion, chopped

1/2 pound button mushrooms, quartered

Black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 egg yolk

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled

3 to 4 tablespoons chives

1 teaspoon paprika 

Instructions 

Place potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water and bring up to a boil. Season water with salt and boil potatoes until tender, 12 to15 minutes. Heads up: save a ladle of starchy cooking water just before draining. Heat a skillet with high sides over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, half a turn of the pan and the bacon. Crisp bacon and remove to paper towel lined plate. Add sirloin to the pan and caramelize the meat, 4 to 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and onions and cook until tender, 6 to 7 minutes more then season with salt and pepper.While meat cooks heat a small sauce pot over medium heat and melt butter, whisk the flour into butter, cook 2 minutes then whisk beef stock into flour, add Worcestershire and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Thicken 6 to 7 minutes. Pour gravy over meat and turn on broiler. Temper egg yolk by beating it with the starchy potato cooking water. Place drained potatoes back into the pot you cooked them in to dry them out a little. Mash potatoes with egg yolk and sour cream then fold in crumbled blue cheese and chives. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and spread across the top of the meat in an even layer. Garnish the potatoes with paprika and place under broiler to crisp and brown the potatoes, 2 to 3 minutes. Crumble reserved bacon over top. Serve immediately right from the hot skillet.