Shrimp Made Easy

Open-Faced Shrimp Sandwiches:

As a young adult who barely has time to cook I often find it difficult to add a lot of variety to my diet. This especially comes in the way of protein due to various factors such as cost and time. If you find yourself in a similar situation, or just want to try and new recipe, next time you go grocery shopping pay attention to when shrimp goes on sale. It is an easy way to add variety to your choices of protein that isn't as strong in seafood flavors as fish.


Ingredients:
1/2 lb. of shrimp
1 yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1tbsp. of butter
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
(some dried basil or oregano if desired)

To start in a large saucepan sauté yellow and orange bell peppers and onion in olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper. Once the onions and bell peppers are softened add in shrimp. Add in garlic, and a pinch of garlic poweder as well. Addition salt and pepper may be needed at this time. Once the shrimp are fully cooked, markey by their turning pink in color and gaining a firmer texture, prepare your pan for the oven. 

Turn the oven onto broil and spread a piece of aluminum foil over a baking pan. On the pan, coat two slices of sourdough bread with olive oil and vinegar. This will add a nice flavor to the bread. Then sprinkle on the shrimp mix that you made and top with lots of shredded mozzarella cheese. Stick the whole thing in the oven until the bread is lightly browned around the outside and the cheese is melted. Then Enjoy! 

This would pair nicely with a light arugala salad. 

Making my co-workers like me

I have to start this post with a confession: I shamelessly stole this idea from my older sister, Catherine. Ok, now on to the recipe!



I love cheesecake. I hate trying to mess with actually making it. It's time consuming, its delicate, it's a lot of work. I do not like a lot of work.

So I would much rather use boxed cheesecake mix and dress it up so people THINK I spent a long time on it. So really, this "recipe" is actually all about presentation.

I made a dozen tiny cheesecakes in mason jars. Yes, mason jars. Brilliant, right? (thanks sis), and took them into the magazine where I work, killing two birds with one stone. Bird #1: Make the staff like the new photo intern (me) and bird #2: get them out of my fridge so I don't eat them all (Laura doesnt like cheesecake. It would have fallen entirely on my shoulders).

These are super simple to make...just mix up the cheesecake according to the box, but instead of putting it all in a pie plate, put it in the jars! I got my set for like 6 bucks at Wal-Mart (don't judge).

Garnish with whatever berries or other toppings you like. If you're using fruit (I used strawberries), cut it up small and mix with a couple spoonfuls of sugar and let it sit while you're mixing up the cheesecake. So good!

 

Recipe:

* Two boxes of instant cheesecake mix

* Milk (or whatever the box calls for)

*Berries or other fruit to garnish

*2 TBS sugar

Wash and cut the fruit into small pieces, mix with sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Prepare the cheesecake filing according to the instructions on the box

Prepare the crust from one mix and spoon it into the jars, a couple of tablespoons per jar. 

Spoon half the prepared filling into each jar, then add another layer of crust, then another layer of filling.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Before serving, spoon berries or other fruit over top of cheesecakes, place lids on and revel in the cuteness!

The easiest chocolate tart I've ever encountered

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could eat fudge in a tart shell? No? Well....sometimes I do. Sorry.


 If I'm not the only one who has dreams of swimming in a large vat of fudge (ok, I don't really, but that does sound amazing sometimes, doesn't it?), I have the solution for you!


I found this recipe on a cooking blog as a guest post from a favorite cooking and baking blog of mine, http://bunsinmyoven.com/.
I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first, as the last time my boyfriend and I tried to bake something from this particular blog, our chocolate chip wrapped oreo cookies turned out as brick-wrapped oreo cookies due to the recipe calling for 3 1/2 cups of flour.

But this recipe was so very easy, I decided to try it for my little sister's graduation party, and it was such a success I'm thinking about making one a week. If only, if only.

Start with a tart shell, either pre-made or, if you're more adventurous than I, make your own. I just used puff pastry dough and pressed it into a tart pan. Make sure the tart shell is completely cooked before pouring in the filling or it will be gummy and the hardened filling will come out without the crust attached. Not that I would know or anything.


Bring 1 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream to a simmer (I accidentally used a cup and a half and it still turned out ok, so this isnt a magic measurement or anything) and the pour if over 12 oz of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips in a glass mixing bowl. Mix them together, pour into your shell, and let is set at room temperature for 2 hours. Decorate with raspberries (or strawberries, or almonds, or blueberries, or whatever you like to put with chocolate) and refrigerate at least one hour until serving. Store it in the fridge right up till you serve it so it doesn't get too soft.

THAT'S IT! Easy right? And so good!

 

Recipe:

Tart shell (either make your own from your favorite recipe or buy one pre-made)

1 1/4-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

12 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

fruit and/or nuts to garnish

Bake tart shell according to directions on box or your own recipe.

Bring cream to a simmer then pour over chocolate in a glass mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk until smooth, creamy, and slightly thick. Pour filling into baked tart shell and allow to set for 2 hours at room temperature.

Decorate with garnish of your choice and refrigerate for at least one hour until serving.

Serve and bask in the compliments!

"It's (not) Complicated" Strawberry Chocolate Croissants

 Often when watching movies filled with delicious food, I find myself inspired to copy their creations in my not so movie star life. Recently when watching two middle-aged adults with the munchies make chocolate croissants in "It's Complicated", inspiration hit! However, I can never leave things alone and have to make it my own, hence various changes to the delectable occurred.

                  Easy As Pie! First things first, grab some croissant rolls dough from your local grocery fridge section, strawberries, Hershey's dark chocolate bars, almond slivers, unsalted butter, salt, flour, sugar, and nutmeg. If you want you can buy frozen phillo dough for the triangles, but I find it easier to unroll the pre-made Pillsbury ones. Pre-heat oven to what the croissant roll package tells you, probably will say about 375 degrees. Mix together the sugar, salt, flour, nutmeg, and some butter, to make the streusel mixture that will go inside. Set that aside and melt the chocolate down in a bowl. The microwave is an easy way to do this just make sure not to burn it. If you put it in for 30 seconds at a time and then take it out and stir it the mix will hold up better against burns. While this happens cut the strawberries into thin slices that will fit inside the rolls. Set those aside, along with the melted chocolate, and melt a Tbl of butter in a bowl (this will be brushed over the tops). 

 Next on a flat, floured surface unroll the dough into triangles. Start by spooning in chocolate at the wide part of the triangle, then put two-four slices of strawberries on top, followed by a sprinkling of streusel mix, and a few slivers of almonds. Your filling is now done. Starting at the filled end roll the dough up in to a croissant.   

Make sure the filling is not spilling out of the sides. If it is you are putting too much inside and will not have those aesthetically pleasing treats that match their taste in beauty. Fold the ends into a crescent shape and place on a greased pan. Brush the tops of the croissants with the butter and pop in the oven for about 12 minutes ( should adjust baking time according to package of the dough). 

 Kick back and watch them bake, but not burn (yes that burnt to a crisp look that looks awful on over tanned Jersey Shore house mates looks bad on desserts too). When they come out of the oven you can take a spoon full of left-over chocolate and drizzle it on top for extra added decadence.     

                                      

Now Enjoy! A mastery of chocolate goodness to take you to the movies or to a blissful sugar comma.

Ingredients: 

3 tbsp sugar 

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt 

2 tbsp butter (plus another tbsp for melting and brushing on top) 

16 croissant rolls 

8 miniture bars of dark chocolate Hershey's chocolate (about 4 oz of chocolate  total)

1 small package of almond slivers 

1 pack of strawberries ( you will probably only use about 8 strawberries)  

Instructions above!