Pizza Paninis

The boy has been dreaming of making these Pizza Paninis for awhile now. This was totally his doing so I have to give all of the credit to him. I have been so proud of myself for using the panini press as often as I have. I hate when cool gadgets like this get stuffed into a back cabinet never to be seen from again. Here goes to our yummy lunch!


Pizza Panini 


Ingredients

• Any type of crunchy bread
• Pomodoro sauce or marinara sauce (I found the pomodoro in the fresh salsa area)
• Pepperoni
• Shredded mozzarella cheese 
• Chopped basil
• Olive oil

1. Slice the bread and layer with pomodoro sauce, pepperoni, cheese, and basil. Drizzle with olive oil. 

2. Spray the panini press with cooking spray and slap the sandwiches on the grill. As you can see, Johnny over-stuffed the sandwiches to make his "man-wiches." Hilar...

3. Grill until the cheese is melted and the center is warm.

4. Enjoy!

Onion Dip

I love football! However, this past Sunday marked my last day of football for seven months. Sad, sad day. For the Super Bowl, we were invited to a friend's house to celebrate. I wanted to bring a hot dip but I was worried about it sitting out and getting cold. I searched online for cold dips and found one from Food Network. It was from a generic recipe list with no contributing author, so I hope I am not infringing on someone's copyright! Can recipes be copyrighted? Johnny did about 95% of the work because I had worked the night before and was too tired. Thanks doll! Let us go for it:


Onion Dip


Ingredients

• one yellow onion
• one red onion
• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup mayo
• chopped chives
• chopped green onions (1/2 of a bundle)
• Worcestershire sauce
• S&P

1. Chop the yellow and red onion. It is a ton of onions and (warning!) it will make your eyes water like crazy. 

2. Saute in olive oil over medium heat. The recipe said 30 minutes. I stopped at 20 minutes. Looking back, it could have been sauteed less to add some more bite to the dip. Try 15!

3. Chop the chives and green onions.

4. Mix the onions, chives, green onions, sour cream, and mayo. Add the Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. 

5. Enjoy with Triscuits or Wheat Thins. My one pretty serving dish was left at a friend's house, so pretend this is a cute bowl!

Seared Rib-Eyes with Fancy Salad

This recipe is a take from Giada's Everyday Italian. It feels like a fancy dinner even though it takes minutes to prepare and requires little actual cooking. You can thank jarred, pre-made roasted red peppers from the grocery for that. Giada wanted me to make my own roasted peppers but I told her she was crazy. If you really want to pass along all of the work, have your man do the steaks on the grill outside. It will make him feel macho and you do even less work. Win!

Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Arugula-Roasted Pepper Salad

Ingredients

• 2 rib-eye steaks (OK I used strip steak, same diff)
• olive oil
• S&P
• arugula
• balsamic vinegar
• jarred roasted red peppers
• parmesan cheese

1. Bring your steaks to room temp by letting them sit on the counter for a bit. Put them on a plate and blot off all extra moisture with a paper towel. 

2. Season the steaks with olive oil, S&P, and whatever other seasonings you'd like. I think Johnny put some Tony's on there too.

3. Now you can cook the steaks on the grill, in a saute pan, or in a panini press. We used the panini press. It cooks quickly because it cooks from both sides. It only takes about 4 minutes total. 

4. While the steaks are cooking, combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a 2:1 ratio. If there is enough lettuce for 2 people, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic should be plenty. Add some S&P and whisk together.

5. Chop the peppers into thin slices, bite sized.

6. When the steaks are finished, set aside on a plate to rest for about 10 minutes. That way, the juices will reabsorb. If you cut into the steak right away, all of the yumminess will flow out. Cover with foil if you're afraid they'll get cold.

7. Toss the salad with the homemade dressing and chopped peppers. 

8. You're actually done now but I just wanted to show you one more side I made. Roma tomatoes looked good at the store today so I sliced them, added some leftover basil, and toped with olive oil and S&P. Yummy!

Here is the final product. This meal turned out beautifully and was a perfect, fancy-meal dinner.

Citrus Scallops

Johnny has started his classes again for grad school this semester. That means, twice a week, I am left to my lonesome. This is one of my favorite dishes to make for one. I've made it before for the two of us and he loved it as well. I found it in a Good Housekeeping magazine and it is a keeper. The recipe suggests that you serve with a side of couscous. Buying the instant kind is a cheap and easy way to add a side. 


I know it can be discouraging to see all of these small measurements, but you really don't have to use them. It is, however, a nice guideline. Just experiment a little with what looks right, this will make all recipes easier to make (exception: baking requires exact proportions!) Please note my newest/favorite WS purchase: glass mixing bowls.


Citrus Scallops (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 6 sea scallops/person, rinsed
• 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• lettuce (I prefer baby greens or arugula with this recipe)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1. From the lemon, grate 1/4 teaspoon peel and squeeze 2 tablespoons of juice. From the lime, grate 1/4 teaspoon peel and squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice. Set juices aside. 

2. In a small bowl, combine peels, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

3. Rinse scallops under slowly running water. Pat dry on a paper-towel-lined plate. Sprinkle one side with citrus-peel mixture.

4. Finely chop 1/2 of a shallot. Set aside.

5. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add scallops. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, until opaque throughout. Once you put any meat on its heat source, leave it alone! That will give you the nice sear you see on the top three. When the scallops are finished cooking, set aside and cover to keep warm.

6. Turn the heat to low. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil and shallot. Cook 3 minutes or until tender.

7. Stir in Dijon mustard and citrus juices, scraping up the browned bits; cook one minute. If there does not appear to be enough olive oil to coat the lettuce, add more now.

8. Toss the sauce with the greens, place on plate.

9. Top the lettuce with scallops and chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Beef Stew

Yesterday, Houston went from 70 degrees in the AM, to under 40 by the afternoon. Houston weather can be crazy! They say, "If you don't like the weather, stick around awhile... it will change." The cold weather prompted the boy to want chili for dinner. While looking through chili recipes, I could not find one that I fell in love with, or one that did not require a slow cooker. I suggested beef stew, and we found a winner! I have been looking for an excuse to pull out my Le Creuset Oval Dutch Oven and it sure paid off. Last night's recipe is courtesy of my close friend, Paula Deen. I made some adjustments that I have included in my version of the recipe below. It takes a long time to cook, but is super easy. You could start the stew and then do things around the house while it cooks. Just set a timer! This recipe will easily feed 2 adults, with second helpings. If you're making this for a crowd, double or triple the amounts. 


When you start off cooking, it can be expensive to buy all of these new spices. However, the more you cook, the more you will use them over and over in different recipes. So start your collection as soon as possible. On to the food! 


Old-Time Beef Stew


Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 lb. stew beef (go to the pre-packaged beef section, like where you would find ground beef)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• dash of ground allspice (allspice is a single spice from the spice rack)
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (boxed in the baking aisle)

1. Peel and slice the onions.

2. Heat oil over high heat and add beef.

3. Brown all sides of the beef.

4. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. 

5. Turn the heat to low or medium-low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

6. While stew is (ah-hem) stewing, chop the carrots and celery.

7. After the first cooking process is complete, remove the garlic and bay leaves. Add the carrots and celery. Cover and cook for 40ish more minutes, until carrots and celery are soft.

8. When the veggies are soft, remove most of the hot liquid from the pot and set aside. 

9. In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth. This cornstarch mixture will thicken the stew.

10. Mix the hot liquid from the pot and cornstarch mixture from step #9 together. 

11. Return it all to the pot. At this point, I added a few more dashes of each spice. Finish by seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Johnny added red pepper flakes and it was great! This meal is perfect for a cold day.