Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

 Another Ina Garten winner. Must plan a bit ahead if you want the shrimp to be chilled... Whole Foods has Wild Caught frozen shrimp, that is pretty decent for our landlocked Colorado. 

Ingredients:

• 12-15 count frozen shrimp (thawed in refrigerator
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2-1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• fresh squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving tails on or off.

In a small bowl, toss the shrimp with the olive oil and the lemon pepper.

Bake at 400-degree convection roast oven for 8 minutes; pink and firm.

Cool slightly and place in refrigerator uncovered. Cover once completely chilled. Drizzle with lemon juice or when served, add lemon slices.

 Your favorite cocktail sauce. Love horseradish, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice.

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

 Farmer's Market asparagus cannot go wrong with this recipe! Easy, breezy deliciousness. Ina Garten again.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus ( about 30 large)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used lemon pepper)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 lemons cut in wedges, for serving

Directions:

I clean the thorns from the stalks with a vegetable peeler.

Lay asparagus in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with the olive oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

400-degrees convection roast for 15-20 minutes.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and return to oven for another minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Cherry Turnovers with Puff Pastry

Super easy & super good! Do not stop at just cherry; apple, peach or blueberry! My cherry pie filling recipe made 16 hand held pastries; using 2 packages pastry sheets. The turnovers will last 3 days in a air tight container or one week in the refrigerator. I made my own pie filling from scratch. I recommend making the filling ahead to allow to cool to room temperature. Thaw time for the puff pastry is 40 minutes and cut into 4 1/2 inch squares. Do not skip the Vanilla Glaze please! Thank you leftoversthenbreakfast.com!

Ingredients:

• 2 packages puff pastry (17.3 oz each)
• 2 cups cherry pie filling
• one egg plus one tablespoon water for egg wash

Ingredients for Cherry Pie Filling:

• 4 cups tart canned cherries (2 cans), drained
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons Instant Clear Gel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Sugar Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoon milk

Directions for Cherry Pie Filling:

Place drained cherries into a medium saucepan.

Combine the sugar and Instant Clear Gel and add to the cherries.

Allow to sit till liquid forms from cherries.

Cook stirring often over medium heat until thickened.

Remove from heat and add lemon juice and vanilla.

Set aside to cool to room temperature. Half of the filling maybe frozen if you want to just make 8 turnovers.

Directions for Puff Pastry:

Take the puff pastry out of the package and allow to thaw for 40 minutes. Working with one package  at a time, placing the second thawed package in the refrigerator. You do not want the puff pastry to get to warm.

Using a lightly floured surface roll each puff pastry out to 11" square. Cut each into 4 squares.

Brush all four sides with egg wash.

Place 1 heaping tablespoon cherry filling into center of square. 

Fold over to form a triangle and using a fork press along edges to seal.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet; four per cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking. Brush with egg wash over tops and edges and vent on top with sharp knife.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20-23 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool completely on wire racks.

Repeat with second puff pastry package.

Glaze completely cooled turnovers with Sugar Glaze.

Turnovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or toaster oven at 375F for 5-10 minutes until crispy and warm.

Printed

Ghirardelli Semisweet Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 I omitted the walnuts cause GKiddos. Bet it would be great to add!

Ingredients:

• 2 bars (8 ounces) Ghirardelli Semisweet Choclate Baking Bars
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons flour
• 2/3 cup broken walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Use a large knife to cut one and a half of the bars (12 squares) into one-fourth inch chunks; set the chunks and smaller bits aside separately.

Break the remaining 1/2 bar (4 squares) of chocolate roughly and put the pieces in a microwave proof bowl. My microwave has a melt chocolate button. 

Add the softened butter and bits of chocolate left from chunks and stir until melted and smooth.

Stir in the white and brown sugars, salt, baking soda and vanilla.

Add the egg and stir briskly until well blended.

Add all the flour and stir just until it is entirely blended. The dough will be stiff.

If dough is even slightly warm, let it cool for a few minutes before stirring in chocolate chunks and nuts.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-14 minutes until cookies are puffed and cracked.

Cool on pan and transfer to cooling rack to cool rest of way.

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

 

This takes a bit of steps; however, excellent if you are a jalapeno lover + cheese!

Ingredients:

• 12 large jalapeno peppers
• 8 ounce cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
• 1/4 cup green onion, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoon feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 handful of Kettle Brand BBQ potatoe chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425-degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut the peppers in half and remove seeds and membranes.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1/4 cup green onion, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.

Stuff each jalapeno half with cream cheese mixture and top with cheddar cheese.

Bake for 13-15 minutes until bubbling and golden.

While poppers are baking; crush the BBQ potato chips and add to the extra onion, cilantro and feta cheese.

Once poppers come out of oven, garnish with the BBQ potato chip mixture.

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

 Another Ina Garten fabulous recipe! I do not like raisins but these are an exception!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar (calls for dark, did not have any)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick oats (called for old fashioned)
• 1 1/4 cup golden raisins (called for 1 1/2 cups)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Place pecans on baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Cool and chop coarsely.

In electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

With mixer on low, add eggs, on at a time and the vanilla.

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.

With mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. 

Add the oats, raisins and pecans and mix until combined.

I bumped up stove temperature to 360-degrees for high altitude.

Using a tablespoon, drop mounds of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment.

Flatten slightly with damp finger.

Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Transfer to baking rack to cool.

Turkey or Chicken Parmigiano Meatballs

 

Whole Foods was completely out of ground turkey; so settled for ground chicken. This from The Modern Nonna... It made 20 meatballs. I served with Rao Sauce doctored with some red pepper flakes. Served over some spagetti... Incredibly juicy and delicious was the start of the blog. Absolutely!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey or whatever ground meat you love
• 1 large egg
• salt, pepper, Italian seasonings to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use Ian's gluten-free that I brown in olive oil and seasonings)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano

Directions:

In a bowl add all of the ingredients and mix together. Wetting your had a little helps when forming the meatballs.

You can make them as big or small as you wish.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake @400-degrees for 20-25 minutes (I did 25).