Chicken Fried Steak

Posted on February 13, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

In 10 days from now my husband and I will be celebrating our 16 year wedding anniversary. The last couple of years we have been trying to take a few days to go away by ourselves for this momentous occasion. It helps us keep our sanity for the rest of the year and allows us to remember why we fell in love in the first place before all the craziness of life/kids/business came into the picture. This year I was a little later getting started in my quest to find a place for us to stay in our sunshine state and have found that everywhere we want to go is either already booked up or it is just ridiculously overpriced. You see, February is prime season for everyone who doesn’t live in Florida to come visit here and it makes it really hard to find a place to stay.

I had come to the conclusion that we are out of luck for this year, and this is the conversation that we had about it:

Me: “I don’t think we are going to be able to go away for our anniversary this year. Everything is booked or costs way too much. It is really disappointing.”

Husband: “Well, we could always just rent an RV for a few days, it would probably be cheaper anyway, and it might be fun.”

Me: “Yea, but then we would have to find a campground or someplace to park it, and you know how I am about the whole camping thing.”

Husband: “We could just park it anywhere then. You know, like a Target or Walmart parking lot.”

Me: “Yea, cause that is EXACTLY how I want to spend my anniversary/vacation. If that’s the case then maybe we could even dress like the ‘Walmartians’ from those emails.”

Husband: “Hey, if the RV’s rockin’ don’t come a knockin’.”

This is a typical conversation between the two of us.

In honor of that conversation, and the fact that our anniversary is coming up next week, I am going to post this recipe for Chicken Fried Steak, because it is one of his all time favorite meals.

Chicken Fried Steak

  • 2-3 lbs cube steak
  • garlic powder
  • minced onion
  • salt and pepper
  • season all salt
  • cayenne pepper (optional)
  • flour
  • 2 eggs
  • whatever oil you prefer to cook with
  • 2 tbsp butter

These two tall silver things are automatic salt and pepper mills that my mom bought me for Christmas from Williams-Sonoma. They changed my life. No really, I am convinced that they spared me from getting carpel tunnel syndrome. The old ones that I had I had to turn and turn and turn to get the salt and pepper out and my hands and wrists always hurt by the time I was done cooking and I had to soak them in Epsom salts. (That might just be a tad bit dramatic.) Anyway, these are the perfect gift for someone who cooks all the time. They are my favorite kitchen tool. You fill them up with your favorite salt and peppercorns and then just flip them over and the salt/pepper is automatically ground right out! It is amazing and makes your life simple. (Williams-Sonoma has no idea who I am, I just really like these mills.)

Lay out your cube steaks on a tray and season them well on both sides with the garlic powder, salt, pepper, Season-All salt and minced onion (cayenne pepper if you like it with a kick).

If you can plan ahead for this meal, after you season them, cover them with foil and let them sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the flavors sink in.

In one large shallow bowl whisk two eggs with 3/4 cup of milk.

In another large shallow bowl/container mix about 1 1/2 cups of flour with some more salt and pepper and a little Season-All salt.

Take each piece of cube steak and dip it in the egg mixture, making sure to fully coat the entire piece.

Then dip the steak in the flour mixture, making sure to fully coat it.

Now repeat that process one more time, egg first then flour. Once you have each piece fully coated and set aside, in a large skillet, over medium heat, heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and come up about a 3/4 an inch high.

Once the oil is hot enough, (when you drop in a few pieces of flour and they sizzle, it’s hot enough) put in your cube steaks. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan.

Cook for about 2-2 1/2 minutes per side, or until it is a nice golden brown color like this.

Once you have cooked all the pieces of meat, set them aside to drain on a paper towel lined plate. Drain off all of the oil out of the pan except for about 1/4 of a cup. Make sure you keep the nice browned bits in the pan. Then add about 2 tbsp of butter.

To this add about a 1/3 cup of flour.

Using a whisk, mix up the flour into the butter/oil mixture to make a thick paste.

Once all the flour has been mixed in, slowly pour in about two cups of milk while constantly whisking.

Continue whisking until all the flour has dissolved into the milk and you have a smooth creamy gravy.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes.

Oh My Goody Goodness this is good!

 

Posted in Beef, Chicken Dishes, Dinner, Lunch, Potatoes, Recipes | 9 Comments

Coconut Poke Cake

Posted on February 1, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

I just love the name of this cake. And the taste. And the way it made my house smell when I baked it. And how incredibly easy it was to make.

At the beginning of the January I had asked my Facebook readers if they had a good recipe for a coconut cake. It was my son’s 14th birthday and he requested a coconut cake. Around here friends and family can have their pick of birthday cakes. I am not really that much of a baker, but I have been able to do some pretty fantastic cakes making up my own recipes.

One of my readers from the good ole’ state of Indiana, Brooke H., sent me this recipe. Though I ended up making another cake from scratch for the birthday party, I made this cake the following week and we all loved it! Thank you so much Brooke for sharing this with me, it will be going into the cake rotation around here, for sure! I only changed the recipe from what she sent slightly, and that was by adding vanilla and coconut extract to the liquid portion of the cake, and I added toasted coconut to the top.

I am not much for buying and eating much that comes out of a box when it comes to desserts, however, this was so easy and so good, that I just had to make an exception! You could easily make your own white cake and substitute for the box mix. I just loved how easy and quickly this came together and thought it would be a perfect accompaniment to any dinner party. You could use your effort for the meal and just make everyone think you slaved over the dessert!

I used whipping cream to top this one, but you could really use any of your favorite icing recipes. I liked the lightness of the whipped cream topping, it really complimented the light and airy feel of the cake. I think a nice cream cheese frosting would go well too, so I may try that on the next one.

Coconut Poke Cake – Brooke H.

  • 1 package of white cake mix (or you can use your favorite recipe)
  • 1 can of cream of coconut
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk

I added these three ingredients when I made it.

  • 1 tsp of coconut extract
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup shredded coconut, toasted (I forgot to get a picture of this ahead of time)

Bake your cake according to the package directions. For this I used a 13×9 glass pan.

While your cake is baking, mix everything but the toasted coconut, with a whisk, in a medium size bowl. Make sure to whisk it until everything is well blended and smooth.

Then put your coconut on a single layer on a sheet pan. I used my Pampered Chef Small Bar Pan in my toaster oven to do this. We use our toaster oven every day and this stoneware piece is the perfect size for it.

You set the temperature on about 400 degrees and bake it for just a few minutes. You will want to stand right there and watch it, because it can burn very quickly. You just want it to look like this.

Once your cake is baked, take it out of the oven and immediately poke a bunch of holes all over the entire cake. I used a fork to do this.

Then take the liquid mixture and pour it evenly all over the whole cake.

Add the toasted coconut and then top with whatever you want to use for your icing.

We waited about 10 minutes and then dug in! It was still warm and so moist and delicious! It has definitely become one of our favorite cakes.

 

Posted in Dessert, Recipes, Sides, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

Smoky Red Beans and Sausage

Posted on January 23, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

As if it’s not obvious by now, I love to cook. It is so satisfying to spend time in the kitchen putting a little love and effort into making a meal and then having everyone who eats it love it. When they don’t like it, well, that just pretty well sucks. I dislike it immensely when I make something and it doesn’t turn out good or no one likes it. It seems easy to find great recipes, but not always to find ones that I can manipulate to make something that everyone in my house will eat. This is why I tend to just make things up as I go most of the time.

A few months ago I had some extra cans of red beans in the cabinet from a sale I had found. I set them on the counter and then starting digging around in the fridge, freezer and pantry to see what kind of meal I could come up with. I found some smoked beef sausage amongst some other random things and decided to throw together a big pot of goody goodness. I used about a pound and a half of smoked sausage and I felt like it was a little on the salty side, even when I didn’t add extra salt. It was really delicious, but just a little salty. So, when I made another pot of this over the weekend, I decided that I was going to add this chicken sausage in with a package of the beef to balance it out a little bit.

Mixing the two of these together was even better than the first time I made it will the all beef sausage. The flavors were amazing and even without adding any extra salt, the flavor was perfect. You could use all chicken if you wanted to cut down on your fat content.

My two girl friends that I spend most of my time with have caused me to get creative with my cooking. Vicki is a vegetarian, so when she is eating here I leave out the meat until what I am cooking is nearly finished, and then scoop her out a bowl/plate. This way she gets the meatless version but still gets to enjoy what we are having. Jenny is on a gluten free diet, so I have to be very cautious of what I am cooking with. This is one reason I switched to Better Than Bouillon products, which you can read about here.  At first I thought it would be very hard to have a GF diet, but you just have to get a little more creative. I have been able to come up with several recipes that are very tasty that she can enjoy with us!

** For the gluten free version, use a gluten free bacon and sausage/chicken product. I searched the internet and found several gluten free varieties that are sold in most grocery stores.

** For the vegetarian version, use a vegetarian version of the bacon and sausage/chicken product. Again, when I searched I found several brands/varieties available.

Smokey Red Beans and Sausage

  • 2 tbs butter or oil
  • 3 cans of red beans
  • ½ lb uncooked bacon
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • ½ – 1 tsp thyme
  • 3-4 bay leaves
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • 6 tsp chicken Better Than Bouillon (If you do not have this, you will just add 4-5 cups of chicken broth and omit the water)
  • 4-5 cups water (4 if you want it thick and 5 if you want it a little more soupy)
  • 1 ½ – 2 lbs smoked beef sausage, smoked chicken sausage, or a combination of both
  • 1tbs olive oil

Chop up your onion and red pepper.

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt your butter/oil. Add in the onion, red pepper, garlic, pepper and thyme and sauté for about 2-3 minutes.

While that is cooking, chop up your bacon into bite size pieces.

Stir in the bacon and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

If your using using the Better Than Bouillon, place your 6 teaspoons in a bowl and then add in your water and whisk until it is well blended. Then pour your broth into the pot and add your bay leaves, give it a good stir, reduce the heat to low, and cover.

While this is simmering, cut your sausage in half lengthwise and brush each piece with olive oil on both sides.

Turn on your grill to medium high and cook your sausage for about 3-4 minutes per side.

You could skip this step if you wanted to, but I just like the way the grill brings out the flavor in this stuff. Remove from the grill and cut them all into bite sized pieces.

Add this to your soup and stir it again. Cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. I serve this over rice.

Posted in Bacon, Beef, Chicken Dishes, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Recipes, Soup, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

Chicken (or Vegetable) Pot Pie

Posted on January 20, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

Ah, the sound of quiet. It is quite amazing how when you only have one kid in the house at at time how much more quiet things can be. I cherish these moments. Where I can sit here at the laptop uninterrupted and peruse the internet looking for whatever my little heart desires.

Well, that was short lived. As soon as I typed that last sentence, child number 1 ran in the door to bring me a book I am borrowing from his friend and to get more video games. Child number 2 yelled that she had pooped in the shape of a P, she was hungry and needed a movie in. Oh well, such goes life. This, my friends, is why I like to pretend to be something else most of the time.

Lately it is sort of evolving from a 1950’s housewife to someone who has super powers. Lots of them. Able to make children behave in a single bound, one flick of the wrist and all children zip their lips, one high kick and the entire house is clean and laundry is finished, and one bat of an eye and my hair and make up are done and I am out on the town with my main squeeze. Who cares if you can kick some butt, if you could do all of those things.

This is one of my favorite dinner recipes. It is one of those recipes that tastes like you slaved in the kitchen all day to make it, but it only takes about 15-20 minutes to put together and about 18-20 minutes to bake. You could even make this one up ahead of time and then top with the crust right before you bake it.

I have been making this recipe for about 12 years now. It has evolved a bit over time and I have changed up a few things that I put in it, but it is basically the same. If I am not mistaken, I think the original idea for this recipe came from a Pampered Chef cookbook I had way back when my son was a toddler.

** For the vegetarian version just omit the chicken.

Chicken Pot Pie

  • 4 cups of mixed vegetables, I either used frozen (thawed) or canned (3 cans = 4 cups)
  • 1 pound of chicken breasts
  • 1 cup of gravy
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • ½ cup onion, chopped
  • ½ green pepper, chopped (optional)
  • 4 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls

Aah! Bisto is a product from the mother land. If you have never tried it, you must go find some in the grocery store. My best guy friend (well, he’s really more like my brother from another mother) JB is from Wiggan, England and he introduced me to this several years ago. Since I tried it I have never used another gravy, it’s THAT good. They are little granules that you add to very hot water and whisk up. We can find it here in Central Florida in most of the Publix grocery stores in the English section. If you can’t find Bisto, you can use a small jar of canned chicken broth for this or your own version if you make it. You just need about one cup.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat on the stove and add your chicken. Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from heat and place on a chopping board to cut into bite sized pieces.

While your chicken is cooking, melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter in large saucepan and add onion and pepper and sauté until soft. I didn’t have a green pepper on hand this time, but I usually put some in.

Add in your veggies and stir well to combine with the onions and peppers. Generously season with salt and pepper, and stir again.

Then add in your gravy and shredded cheese. Stir well again to combine and heat thoroughly.

Place in 9×13 baking dish. I this one below from Pampered Chef. I love using the stoneware from PC, you can see this one of mine is well seasoned. I have had it for about 13 years.

Unroll your crescent rolls and take 2 of the triangles and put them together to form two rectangles. Push the seams together with your fingers to make one piece.

Then take your two rectangles and push the seams of those together to make one large piece. Then take a pizza cutter (or a pastry wheel) and cut long strips out.

Then take each strip individually and go around the outer edge of the pan first.

Once you have the edges covered, you can start to take the strips and lay them lengthwise across the whole pan.

This should use up your first package of rolls. Then take out the next package and do the same thing as above, only this time, leave the two rectangles separated, as below, and then cut them into strips.

Now you are just going to layer these across the width of the pan. You can see that I am not about making this look fancy. You may want to take the time to make this look beautiful, like lattice work across the top, I just don’t really care what it looks like as long as it’s covered!

Set your oven to 350 and cook this for about 18-20 minutes. It takes longer to cook than the 12 minutes if your just cooking the crescent rolls by themselves. When it’s done it should be golden brown across the top like this.

All that’s left is to cut, serve and eat! I hope you enjoy this one!

Posted in Chicken Dishes, Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

Pasta Fagioli

Posted on January 18, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

Around here we rarely go out to eat. I cook so much and try to make everyone’s favorite meals, so there really is never a point to eating out. When the occasion comes around that we do go out, we usually end up eating the same thing at the same restaurants we visit. We are quite creatures of habit around here in that way.

I have only been to the Olive Garden twice in the last two years and both times were when my cousin David came to town from Idaho and we met there with his brother, Jeff, in Tampa. Now that I think about it, we all got the same thing both times! I remember this because Jeff loves the Alfredo sauce they serve there and I have the recipe for it and gave it to him. I will have to post that recipe soon as well.

One reason I love food so much is that it always brings back memories to me like the one about my cousins at the Olive Garden. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face and I can remember the smells of the food, the funny things we laughed about, and how much I love and miss them. Food, it truly is good for the soul.

Anyway, to get back on track here, I always get soup and salad. The soup is always pasta fagioli, because I love it! I love the flavors of the sausage, beans and pasta mixed in with all those veggies. I am always trying to come up with new recipes, especially for dishes I like to eat at restaurants. So, I checked out the pasta fagioli closely that last time I ate there and wrote down everything in it so that I could make it at home.

It is actually very easy to make and doesn’t take a lot of time to cook because you cook everything else separate while the beans are cooking and then add it all together.

** For the vegetarian version, leave out the sausage and use the vegetable broth.

** For the gluten free version, use a gluten free pasta in place of the Ditalini.

Pasta Fagioli

  • 3 cans cannellini beans
  • 2-3 medium bay leaves
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small sweet onion
  • 3-4 celery stalks
  • 4-5 carrots
  • 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 – 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 6 cups water
  • 6 cups of either beef, chicken or vegetable broth (I use Better Than Bouillon brand)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/2 lb Ditalini Pasta
  • Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Drain and rinse your beans.

Chop up your carrots, onion and celery.

In a large soup pot combine beans, bay leaves, broth and water. Place on stove over medium-low heat, cover and let simmer.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage and break up into small pieces, then put aside on a cutting board.

I don’t know about you, but when I cook sausage like this I can never get it into very small pieces. So, once it’s cooked I transfer it to a cutting board and use a sharp knife to chop it all up.

In the same pan you browned sausage in, heat the oil and garlic over medium heat.

Add the onion, carrots, celery, parsley, and Italian seasoning, and cook for about 5 min or until they are softened.

Then add the tomatoes, sausage, salt and pepper and simmer, stirring for about 20 minutes.

Then add the veggie and meat mixture to the pot of beans. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Then add pasta and cook for about 12 minutes until pasta is done. Ladle into bowls and add shredded cheese.

Posted in Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Pasta Dishes, Pork, Recipes, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 4 Comments

Cream Cheese Enchiladas

Posted on January 11, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

These babies are good. Really good. I can’t tell you how many recipes for enchiladas I have tried that we just did not like. Once recipe took me nearly two hours from start to finish. I thought for sure those were going to be the be all end all recipe. When we finally sat down to eat, none of us were really impressed. It was quite disappointing considering how long I had spent in the kitchen. I figured there just had to be a better way.

Finally, about two years ago, I decided to just throw together everything I thought that we would like and make my own recipe for these. The cream cheese definitely takes these over the top. If I serve these with a Spanish or Mexican rice I will add corn into them. If I serve them with this Corn Casserole, I leave out the corn inside. I posted about this corn casserole this week and you should definitely try it, it is really delish.

I hope that you will enjoy these as much as our family does!

** For the Vegetarian version add the corn and substitute black beans for the chicken.

Cream Cheese Enchiladas

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 – 10 ounce cans enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
  • 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
  • 1 pound of chicken breasts (1-2 tbsp oil or butter)
  • 1 cup frozen, fresh or canned corn kernels (optional)
  • 4 oz. diced green chiles
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 – 10 count package of flour tortillas
  • sour cream and/or guacamole for dressing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13 dish with cooking spray.

Add about 1-2 tbsp oil or butter to a pan over medium heat. Season your chicken with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin and add to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked all the way through and juices run clear.

Remove from heat and place on a cutting board. Take two forks and shred the chicken.

While your chicken is cooking, chop up your green onions.

In a large bowl mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, and 1/2 of one can of the enchilada sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup of each type of cheese, (corn and black beans if you are using those), cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper, green chiles and half the scallions.

When the chicken is cooked and shredded you will add this to the mixture. Stir it up really well so that everything is coated. This is where I usually taste it to make sure that it is seasoned as well as I like it.

Spread the other half of the first can of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Then lay out your first tortilla flat on your cutting board.

Spoon some of the filling into the middle of the tortilla.

Roll the bottom side of the tortilla up over the filling.

Then roll the whole thing up to the top like this.

Take this and place it seam side down in your baking dish.

Just keep repeating the whole process until you have all 10 filled and placed in the baking dish. Once your done, pour the remaining can of enchilada sauce over the top of the filled tortillas.

Then sprinkle them all with the remaining 1/2 cup of each kind of cheese.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for about another 5 minutes until the top of the cheese is completed melted.
Remove from oven and top with more green onions, sour cream or guacamole. Serve with your favorite side dish.

Posted in Cheese, Chicken Dishes, Dinner, Lunch, Mexican Inspired, Recipes, Vegetarian | 20 Comments

Corn Casserole

Posted on January 9, 2012 by ohmygoodygoodness

I hope that you have all recovered from the holidays! It feels like a whirlwind that came and went so fast it’s almost like it never even happened. I am still trying to figure out how in the world 2011 disappeared so quickly. I guess the older I get the faster the time goes. I am thinking I better start making up some great ‘stories’ now for my grandchildren. You know the ones…how I had to walk 20 miles in the sleeting snow and rain just to get to school and how bread only cost 10 cents a loaf. Oh, wait a second, those were my grandparents stories. I guess I better rethink that.

Mine will be more along the lines of, “Can you believe we used to only have 4G when your mom and dad were kids? Hard to believe that now we are speeding along at 100G. All these newfangled gadgets just blow my mind. Well, what’s left of it anyway after I raised your parents. How about I go and get you some ice cream and 20 pounds of candy, get you all wired out and then take you back to your parents!!” Ha! I will show my kids one day!

Anyway, back to this corn casserole. I love this stuff. I make it with my cream cheese enchiladas, it goes perfect. I will post the recipe for that this week, so stay tuned. This is super easy to make and doesn’t take long to cook. You could serve it as a side with just about anything you want to.

***Since I posted this recipe the first time, I have started making this casserole as a side dish to all of our Mexican inspired dinners. It tastes just like the awesome little corn cakes you can get in the Mexican restaurants. Make according to the directions below, but instead of putting in a casserole dish, grease two regular size muffin tins and add the mixture to the tins  about 3/4 of the way full. Bake according to directions. They turn out so crispy on all sides and are perfect even for an appetizer!

Corn Casserole

  • 1 can sweet corn, drained (you can use the southwest style corn if you want to)
  • 1 can cream-style corn
  • 1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix (you know, the one in the little blue box)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
  • Add 1 – 4 oz can of chopped green chilis and some red pepper flakes if you like it with a little KICK!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together all the ingredient until well combined.

Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Sometimes I use my glass pie pan too.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve warm with your favorite meal! Enjoy!

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Mexican Inspired, Recipes, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 76 Comments

Fried Shrimp a la Vance

Posted on December 30, 2011 by ohmygoodygoodness

It is amazing sometimes how the simple things in life are sometimes the best things. I have been to fancy restaurants and had fancy meals and they didn’t always taste that great. Then I have eaten something that was ridiculously simple and easy to make that tasted like a million bucks. That is kind of how I feel about these shrimp. Very simple, only a few ingredients and easy to make, but so delicious that you just can’t stop eating them once you start.

The other day I was talking about some of our Christmas traditions as far as food is concerned. Another one of them is that on Christmas Day we always have my famous steaks and fried shrimp. This year we added these green beans to that menu and it was perfect.

If you like shrimp you will definitely love these and if you really want to impress your family and friends, this is just the recipe that will do it! If you try it, let me know, I would love to hear what you think!

** To make this gluten free just skip the flour and use only corn starch. The ketchup I used is not gluten free, but there are varieties out there that are that you can substitute. The horseradish and Old Bay seasoning are gluten free.

Fried Shrimp a la Vance

Your going to need Old Bay Seasoning, corn starch and flour for the batter

Then you need some uncooked shrimp. I usually buy these frozen at my local wholesale club, just because they are cheaper and I always have them available when I get the urge to make them. I just let them thaw and then peel off the shells and rinse them off. These are the colossal size but I usually just buy the medium. This is 1.5 pounds.

For the sauce you will need Cayenne or red pepper, horseradish and ketchup. Basically you will use equal parts of the ketchup and horseradish and then you can add in the red pepper according to how spicy you want the sauce. You can also add in a little bit of mayo to offset the horseradish if you want to. I never measure this out and I forgot to do it this time to give you an exact recipe for it. Just start with equal parts and go from there according to your taste and adjust accordingly. Just use a small whisk to make sure all the ingredients are well blended and smooth. 3-4 tablespoons of each is usually enough for the 1-2 pounds of shrimp I cook.

Crack open a couple of eggs and whisk them up in a large bowl. Coat all the pieces of shrimp in the egg mixture. I always throw in all the shrimp at once in this bowl because it is big enough to hold the whole 1.5 pounds. Just make sure every piece is coated well.

Mix in equal parts of flour and cornstarch and then season those with the Old Bay seasoning. You can add as much or as little as you want to. I never measure this either but start with about 3/4 a cup of flour and 3/4 cup of cornstarch and then shake in the Old Bay until you can see it in the flour mixture. I like to use a container with a lid for the battering the shrimp. I just throw in a few pieces at a time, put the lid on and give it a few good shakes until the shrimp is coated. Take out those pieces and lay them aside and continue the process until the shrimp are all coated in the batter.

I don’t have a picture of this, but the next process is to deep fry them. You can use whatever kind of oil you prefer and you can fry them in a skillet or in a deep fryer, whichever you have. Shrimp cook pretty fast and you don’t want to overcook them or they will taste weird and who wants to eat weird tasting shrimp? You are going to cook them for about 2 or 3 minutes at the most, or just until you can see through the batter that the flesh is pink.

Remove from the oil and let drain on paper towels. Serve with the sauce. These are little bites of OhMyGoodyGoodness for sure!

Posted in Appetizers, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Products, Recipes, Sauces, Seafood, Sides, Snacks | 13 Comments

Bekah’s Spinach Artichoke Dip

Posted on December 29, 2011 by ohmygoodygoodness

I love spinach dip as an appetizer. I have tried it so many times as various restaurants and parties and I like it, but I always felt like it was missing something or that I needed another ingredient to make it what I really wanted.  So, a few years ago I got to experimenting in the kitchen and this is what I came up with. I feel like it has all the flavor combinations I love and the cream cheese just takes it over the top.

I entertain at my house a lot and I don’t like to have to spend all my time in the kitchen when my guests are here. I try to come up with things that can be made up ahead of time and then just put in the oven when my friends arrive. This is another one of those dishes that you can make up the day before or morning of your get together and then cook right when you need it.

If you have leftovers or want to use about half the recipe, this makes a great stuffing for chicken breasts or steaks. You can also add cooked pasta to it and then put in a serving dish and bake.

** This recipe is gluten free and vegetarian.

Vance’s Spinach Artichoke Dip

  • 1 – 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup mayo
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 – 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained well and chopped
  • 1 – 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained completely
  • 3 green onions chopped thin
  • ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • few dashes of hot sauce, optional
  • Salt and pepper

Make sure that you drain your spinach completely. I put my colander in the sink and then place the spinach in there to drain and then use my hands to fully squeeze out all of the liquid from it.

Add all ingredients to a large bowl.

Mix all ingredients together until well combined and transfer to a baking dish. Bake in a 350° oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot with tortilla chips,  baked pita or bagel chips or crispy toasted bread.

Posted in Appetizers, Dips and Spreads, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Sides, Snacks, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

BLT Wraps with Honey Mustard Sauce

Posted on December 28, 2011 by ohmygoodygoodness

The BLT. I don’t know many people who don’t like the combination of bacon, lettuce and tomato on a sandwich. It’s so simple, yet so delicious! To me it is one of those comfort foods like grilled cheese and tomato soup that just warms the soul.

I started making this version about a year or so ago and honestly, I don’t think I have made them on bread since. Yea, they are that good. The combination of the home made honey mustard sauce just really makes the whole thing better.

These are perfect game day food or for an appetizer for a party. You can make the bacon up ahead of time and they don’t take long to put together, so it is a quick and easy meal even if your in a hurry.

These pair great with potato salad (I will post my recipe soon) or this Black Bean Salsa and chips.

** For the vegetarian version, you can substitute the veggie bacon.

BLT Wraps

  • 2-3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons creamy dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons course grain mustard
  • 3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 package of medium size flour tortillas
  • 1-2 pounds bacon, cooked crisp
  • green leaf lettuce leaves
  • 1-2 tomatoes, sliced

These are the combination of products I use for the honey mustard. I like the texture and flavor of both kinds of mustard in this recipe. I didn’t give total specifics on the honey or the mayo, only because people like their honey mustard different. Just go with the 4 tablespoons of the mustard and then you can add in the honey and mayo to your taste. Just add them all to a small bowl and use a whisk to make sure all of the flavors are combined well. I am not a huge fan of honey mustard, but when I started making my own, I loved it! It is so much better than anything I have ever purchased pre-made.

Lay out your tortillas and spread the honey mustard sauce across them.

Top each with, 2-3 slices bacon, lettuce leaves, and 2-3 slices of tomato.

Fold one edge of each tortilla over the filling, roll up tightly and put them, seam side down, on a cutting board. Then cut each roll into 2 or 3 sections. Arrange them on a serving platter and get ready to watch them disappear!

Posted in Appetizers, Bacon, Dinner, Lunch, Products, Recipes, Sauces, Sides, Snacks, Vegetarian | 2 Comments