SPARK MY INTEREST

I like Rachael Ray. One thing I love about her dishes is that it’s not time consuming when you make them. The Saffron Scallops are pretty good. This was the first time I worked with scallops.

This dish is easy to make, but its gorgeous color and mouth-watering flavors really make it look impressive.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 mango, chopped (about 1 cup)
½ cup white wine
¼ teaspoon saffron threads
Grated peel and juice of ½ lime
Pinch crushed red pepper
Salt
1-¼ pounds sea scallops
Snipped chives, for garnish


In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until translucent. Add the mango and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the wine and saffron and simmer to reduce, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Using a food processor, puree the mango mixture. Return the puree to the skillet and stir in the lime peel, lime juice, crushed red pepper and ¼ cup water. Season to taste with salt; set aside.
In a large, heavy skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add half the scallops and cook about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining butter and scallops. Transfer to a plate.
Bring the mango sauce to a boil and pour a spoonful on each plate. Place the scallops on the sauce and top with the chives.

Shrimp & Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo — my friends’ favorite. Pretty much everytime we have a girls-night-in, they always request this. I learned how to make this dish from my bestfriend’s mom. However,  I tweaked it a little and added few vegetables, not just for taste, but for color as well.

*This is for tonight’s dinner but I made some extra sauce for tomorrow. My friend, Maris and possibly Jhayzel might come over for our usual Friday get together.

Mini Meatball Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
½ cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls
½ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups water
1½ cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini
1 pound triple washed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth. When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve. Adjust your seasonings. Serve soup with crusty bread or grilled 4 cheese sandwiches.


Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
3 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, cracked away from skin
8 slices crusty Italian semolina bread
1 cup shredded provolone
1 cup shredded mozzarella
½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano
1 cup shredded Asiago
[All of these cheeses are available in specialty cheese case and dairy aisle already shredded]

In a small skillet over medium low heat, combine oil, butter and garlic. Cook garlic in butter and oil gently for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove garlic butter mixture from heat.

Place a large nonstick skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Using a pastry brush, brush 1 side of 4 slices of bread with garlic oil and place buttered side down in skillet. Top each slice with equal amounts of the 4 cheeses, distributing them equally over the 4 slices. Top each sandwich with another slice of bread brushed with garlic butter, buttered side up. Flip the grill cheese sandwiches a few times until cheeses are melted and gooey and bread is toasty and golden. Cut grilled 4 cheese sandwiches from corner to corner and serve.

-Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

I love how kids are, when they like to do something, they do it with determination. :)

*72 days before Christmas.

Audrey Bag - Chocolate Leather (Eira’s photo when she was 6 months)

Get yours at Gina Alexander, Inc. You can place your order through me to get 40% discount! :) Great gift for the Holidays for your parents, in-laws, friends, etc. E-mail me at yza@ginaalexander.com for details. Thank you.

How do you LIKE your eggs? ;P

“It takes two to quarrel, but only one to end it.”

MONOPHOBIA; an abnormal fear of being alone.

“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.”

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.

:D

“Heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners.”
- Mitch Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Meniti Bianglala)

Up, up and away. :)

“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.”

-Benjamin Franklin