Scallops, mushrooms, arugula, and AMAZING trail mix

What possessed me to cook on this scalding hot day without air conditioning, I may never know.  Heck I was just trying to clean up and was dripping with sweat and nothing was even on!!!!!


Tonight I used recipes from Paula Deen and Claire Robinson.

Pan Seared Scallops with Pineapple Salsa (Linky) I did modify it a bit
Scallops (I used 3/4 of a pound)
1 Can pineapple chunks
1 cucumber
1/4 of a red onion
4 Tbsp of fresh cilantro
Zest of a lime
1 lime juiced
1/2 jalapeno
4 tbsp of hot sauce (I am sort of addicted)

The scallops literally take 5 min.so start the salsa first.  Finely chop the pineapple, cucumber, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. Throw into a bowl.  Add zest, hot sauce and lime juice.  Mix.  I refridgerated mine to integrate the flavors.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over Medium heat.  Make sure the oil is hot before adding scallops.  Rinse and dry scallops.  Season with salt and pepper. Place scallops into hot pan and do not touch for 3 minutes.  Flip and do not touch for an additional 2 min. Serve.

Garlic Portabello Mushroom Gremolata
Batch of gremolata (1 can of anchovies, 2 large cloves of garlic, zest of one lemon finely minced and mixed together)
Precut package of baby portabello muschrooms
1/2 onion sliced to your liking.
2 Tbsp Philadelphia Cooking Cream Garlic flavor


Gremolata

First off that cooking cream is awesome.  I highly recommend it.

In a small skillet heat some olive oil.  When hot add onions and cook til just starting to absorb some color.  Add rinsed mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.  Cook down til mushrooms are at your preferred consistency.  Add the cooking cream and heat through 1-2 min.  Remove from heat and toss with gremolata.

Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinegarette
1-2 cups of baby arugula
1 lemon
olive oil (I eye ball it)
Block of fresh parmesan cheese

whisk together lemon juice and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss over arugula and shred parmesan cheese over the salad.

But I am not done.  Claire Robinson made this trail mix the other day that I was dying to try.....so I made that to.  Again I fiddled with the recipe, but the original is linked here


2 cups of uncooked, unsalted pumpkin seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup raw or unsalted sunflower seed kernels (the recipe calls for raw, I found roasted unsalted and used them)
1/2 cup pecans
1 package of craisins (I used cherry flavored)
6-7 tbsp of syrup (recipe calls for maple, I used store brand pancake syrup)

 Mix your pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans and syrup into a bowl and mix well.

Line a baking sheet or two with parchment and spread the mixture out flat.

Bake at 325 for 20 min, stirring 3-4 times or until the seeds are golden brown.

Cool completely in pan.  When cool, break apart and place into a bowl. Add craisins and mix.  Seal in air tight containers.

THIS MIX IS ADDICTING. I could eat it all now!!!! However, I will show restraint and eat it in "moderation."

Best part of the night....I didn't destroy my kitchen!!!!

Tuna Tostadas

So I don't know about where you are, but it was about 100 degress today.  My central air unit is kaputz and due to be replaced Friday.  I wanted a dinner that required little to no cooking. I didn't even feel like reheating leftovers.  So I made tostadas.  Tostadas are crispy tortillas that are used as a sort of pizza.

You'll need: (makes 3 tostadas)

3 Corn tortillas
1 can of Tuna fish
1/4 of an onion
1 lime
Jalapeno cream cheese (take cream cheese, cut up some pickled jalapenos, mix well and refriderate)
4 slices of crispy bacon ( I nuked it)
Tomatillo Salsa (see recipe here)
Feta/Goat cheese (I used both)


The only cooking I had to do was to bake the tortillas.  You can also fry them if you'd prefer.

Preheat oven to 400Take the tortillas and brush with oil.  Sprinkle salt or whatever seasonings you'd like.  Bake for 6 mins on one side.  Flip and watch closely as the tortillas start to brown (2-4 min) Remove from oven allow to cool.

Tuna mixture

Drain one can of tuna and put into a bowl. Finely dice the onion and add to bowl.  Squeeze juice of 1/2 a lime onto onion and tuna.  Stir well.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cheese and let sit for 5 min.  Prior to assembling your tostada, juice the other half of the lime.  Mix well.

Assembling your tostadas:

Place desired amount of cream cheese on your tostadas.

Then place your tuna mixture on top of the cream cheese.

Crumble your bacon on top.

 Finally top with tomatillo salsa

so easy, so delish.....these will easily become a staple in my diet......

I'm noticing a huge Mexican theme this week.....I do love Mexican food!!!


Well time to clean my kitchen, well mostly do dishes from the last couple of days.....I love to procrastinate!

Mexican Monday

So I was searching Food Network for something to cook tonight and I came across these. So I decided to plan a meal around the jalapenos and focused on Mexican.

Tonight my menu was:
Bacon-Apple-Jalapeno Pop 'ems (Linked above)
Fresh tomatillo salsa
Steak
Grilled Fries.

Lets just say my lime and cilantro stashes took a hit on this amazing dinner, topped off with a beer.

I didn't picture take effectively so bear with me.

Tomatillo Salsa:

1 1/2 lbs - 2 lbs of Tomatillos
1/2 an onion
2 jalapenos
Juice of 1/2 a lime.
4 small-medium cloves of garlic (NOT PEELED)

Clean tomatillos (remove paper like husk and rinse to get the stickiness off the tomatillo).  Halve the tomatillos and place on a baking sheet flesh side down.  Take the onion and divide into 4 quarters, place on baking sheet. Place the jalapenos (whole) on the baking sheet with the cloves of garlic unpeeled.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Broil the veggies for 5-7 minutes or until  skins start to brown.

Remove from broiler and place all the tomatillos and onions into a blender or food processor. Remove the seeds from the jalapenos and place in blender.  Squeeze the garlic out of their paper into food processor.  Pulse until combined, but still chunky.  Add the 1ime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse well.  Refridgerate.


Chilli Lime Steak

2 limes (juiced)
1 large clove of garlic minced
1 1/2 tsp of ancho chilli powder
2 Tbsp of fresh cilatro
2 small steaks

Whisk together lime juice, garlic, chilli powder, and cilantro.  Pour over steaks and marinate for 2 hours.  Cook to preferred liking on hot grill.

Cilantro Grilled Potatoes (1 made this for just me so I used only 1 potato)

1 red skinned potato cleaned and cut into fries (skin on)
2 tbsp of Olive Oil
1/4 c fresh cilantro
1/2 lime juiced

Take cleaned and cut potatoes cover and toss with olive oil, cilantro, and lime juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.
Take a piece of foil and cover the burners of the grill you plan to cook the potatoes on.  heat grill, dump fries and all seasonings onto the foil lined grill.  Grill about 20 min or until cooked through.

The Pop 'ems were my favorite part of this dinner.  I added cilantro to the cheese mixture to stay with my flavors for the night.  The recipe is from Food Network's Aarti and they were delish.....here's the link again Bacon-Apple-Jalapeno Pop'ems

The final dinner plate that was oh so yummy!

MAN Pasta

I decided to call this concoction MAN Pasta because every man I've ever known would go nuts over this pasta.  It's got meat, beer, and cheese.  What more could a man ask for, but a woman to cook it LOL.

What you will need:

1 bottle of your favorite (his favorite) beer
1 lb of sausage (hot or sweet, I used hot)
1/4 of an onion
2 tbsp of Horseradish
3 large cloves of garlic grated
Olive oil
Feta cheese or your favorite Parmesan cheese
2 cups pasta (I am in love with the quick cook pastas)

Heat a large skillet on medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Chop your onions to your desired texture.  Add chopped onion and grated garlic cloves to hot oil.  Remove sausage from casing and press into small patties.

As the onions start to brown, add 1/2 the bottle of beer.  When beer begins to boil, add the sausage to the beer. Add 1 tbsp of horseradish and mix.  Add the remaining beer and allow to cook uncovered until about 1/3 of the beer remains.  Add the remaining horseradish and heat til hot (1 min.)

Cook and drain pasta. Place pasta in a separate bowl and dump the sausage and beer sauce to the pasta and toss.  Top with favorite cheese. I used garlic and herb flavored feta cheese.

I needed a bit more salt to this dish so I added some garlic salt at serving.   So in my intro when I started this blog, I told you I was a mess.  The picture below is typical of my kitchen after ANY cooking I do.  Heck, I even have an apron that says "Chef Mess."

Happy Eating!

Buffalo Blue Cheese Burger with a Goat Cheese Salad

You'll need:

Burgers (frozen or homemade, I used a frozen, store bought burger)
Franks Red Hot Sauce
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Plum Tomatoes
Onion (you choice)
Lemon
Goat Cheese Crumbles.

Firs I took my burger and poured hot sauce over it and put it in a plastic bag.  I marinated it for about 1/2 an hour

Cook on the grill until done and add blue cheese crumbles.  Allow the cheese to melt.

Top with additional hot sauce and enjoy on a bun.

The Goat Cheese Salad is easily the most delicious thing I've made.  I made this for just me.  I took 1 plum tomato and an even amount of onion chopped.  Be sure to squeeze your tomato to make the salad less watery.  I then took 1/2 a lemon and juiced it over the tomatoes and onion.  I let this sit while the burger cooked.  Add salt and pepper .  When just ready to serve, top with a desired amount of Goat Cheese and mix well to be sure the cheese is covered with the lemon juice.

This was a super quick and easy dinner to prepare.  It's delish....

A Grilled Dinner

So last night I started craving clams.  I had seen them grilled on Food Network, so I decided to try.

I made grilled clams, grilled corn, and grilled peaches for dinner tonight.

You need:

1-2 dozen little neck clams (or more if you'd like)
1/4 C butter (can't have clams without butter)
Ears of Corn on the Cob (as many as you'd like to eat)
2-4 fresh crushed garlic cloves
Garlic based seasoning
Peaches (halved and pitted)
Brown sugar for sprinkling

Throw scrubbed clams directly on the grill and cook until well opened (5-10 minutes)

Shuck corn and coat with desired garlic based seasoning.  Throw directly on hot grill.

Cook until you  get a decent char on multiple sides.

While cooking melt butter with crushed garlic for clam dipping!!!! I also dip in hot sauce!!! GO FRANK'S RED HOT! Serve everything while hot!!!!!

So after I ate, I threw the peaches on the grill.  Halve the peaches and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar.  Place cut side down.  Grill for 3-5 minutes or until warm and soft throughout.



This was a really easy meal to cook and super yummy. I have never had corn that came so cleanly out of the cob before and this is not Jersey corn.  The grilled peaches were amazing as well.  Clams are relatively easy to cook, so that was nothing.  I was not happy about how the peaches looked coming off the grill, but I also think I picked too soft of a peach to grill.

Happy GRILLING!

WELCOME to The Grub Tub!

So you've chosen to read about my adventures in cooking and baking.  Each entry will have recipes and pictures.  My facebook friends will not have to suffer through their diets looking at my food, unless they choose to. I don't cook everyday, but I will post a couple times a week.

Sit back and enjoy the ride, because in my kitchen, things always get messy