Shrimp Tostada Bites

We got the idea for this recipe from an appetizer we really like at Z Tejas. This recipe is one we sort of made up as we went, so the measurements aren't really exact.

Ingredients:

1 two-pound bag frozen shrimp, thawed and tails removed
5-6 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro Pesto
4-5 large flour tortillas (burrito size)
cooking spray
4 avocados
1 roma tomato, chopped
3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
fresh lime juice
salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Chop thawed shrimp into small pieces (about the size of your thumbnail). Place in mixing bowl and stir in 3-4 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro pesto. Cover and marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With a 2-inch biscuit or round cookie cutter, cut tortillas into mini circles. Place on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the tortilla rounds. Bake in oven for about 6 minutes. Watch closely and if any begin to puff up, flatten them with a fork. Broil them until they are lightly browned. When they're done they will be hard and flaky, almost like a cracker.

For guacamole, mash avocados in a bowl. Add chopped tomato and onion. Stir together and add fresh lime juice and salt, to taste.

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium to medium-low heat and add marinated shrimp. As shrimp cooks, stir in another 1-2 Tbsp. pesto. Cook until shrimp is light pink.

To assemble, top tortilla round with a small scoop of guacamole and 2-3 shrimp pieces. Arrange on serving platter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Ginger Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For this appetizer, I took this recipe I found for some wraps and decided to just take the recipe for the filling and turn it into lettuce wraps instead. They were SO good! They had so much flavor and tasted really fresh. I will definitely be making these again. They are also nice because you can make the filling way ahead of time and just let it chill in the fridge. So easy!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil
6 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves, cooked (we just baked them with a little salt and pepper on them)
1 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I just used 3/4 tsp. ground ginger instead)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Lettuce leaves (I used iceburg because I like the crunch:)

Directions:

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Place chicken, cucumber, and bell pepper in a large bowl; set aside.

Whisk together sugar and the next 6 ingredients (sugar through garlic) until smooth. Add peanut butter and water; whisk until smooth, scraping sides. Add peanut butter mixture to chicken mixture; stir well. Add cilantro, and toss well. Serve with lettuce leaves.

Pecorino Romano with Apples and Fig Jam

We also made these for New Year's Eve. We actually made them for the first time about 3 years ago, when we really started getting into cooking. They are so good. I love the combination of the salty cheese, sour apple, and sweet fig jam on the crunchy bread. Definitely one of my favorites! Oh and we ommitted the brandy and it didn't really seem to mess up the consistency or anything.

Ingredients:

6 dried figs, halved
1/2 cup simple syrup, (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
24 baguette slices
Olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 large apple (Granny Smith or Braeburn), thinly sliced into 24 slices
1/4 pound chunk Pecorino Romano, for shaving 24 pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs, simple syrup, and brandy. Bring the mixture up to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Place the fig mixture and the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend, pulsing a few times, until pureed. Set aside.

Place the baguette slices on a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon grated Pecorino Romano. Bake until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted and golden, about 7 minutes.

Top each slice of toast with 2 teaspoons of fig jam, a slice of apple and a piece of shaved Pecorino Romano. Transfer the toasts to a serving platter and serve.

Simple syrup:

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar

In a saucepan combine water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Take pan off heat and cool the syrup. Any extra cooled syrup can be saved in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Triple Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

We also made these for one of our New Year's Eve appetizers. So good and super easy!

Ingredients:

48 medium (2-pounds) white mushrooms
1 package (10-ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
Salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Using damp paper towels, wipe mushroom caps clean; remove and discard stems, or save for another use. In colander, squeeze liquid out of spinach until dry.

In large bowl, mix spinach, feta, cream cheese, green onions, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until well combined. Fill each mushroom with heaping teaspoon spinach mixture; top with Parmesan.

Line baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Transfer mushrooms to baking sheet; bake 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is golden brown.

Baked Lemon Pasta

I found this recipe one night when I felt like making dinner but didn't feel like going to the grocery store:) There are just a handful of ingredients and most of the stuff you probably already have in your fridge.

Ingredients:

1 pound thin spaghetti
4 Tbsp. salted butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole lemon, juiced and zested
2 cups sour cream
½ teaspoons kosher salt, or more to taste
plenty of grated parmesan cheese
flat-leaf parsley, chopped
extra lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.

In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.

Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.

Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)

When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Chocolate Chip Mexican Wedding Cakes

I made these cookies a few weeks ago for my mom to take to a charity lunch. This is one of my favorite cookie recipes. They are like miniature chocolate chip cookies with a twist. They have only a few ingredients and I love the warm flavor the cinnamon gives them. They have a smooth, almost flaky texture. They are super easy to make but are also pretty enough to be served at a party. You can use any kind of nuts you want. I have made them with pecans and hazelnuts. Also, they don't brown as they bake so just bake them for the given time and they should be done.



Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup finely chopped nuts
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour, nuts, and cinnamon. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set and light golden brown on bottom. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Microwave remaining chocolate chips in heavy-duty plastic bag for 30 seconds; knead. Microwave at 10 to 15 second intervals, kneading until smooth. (*Note: I usually just melt the chocolate in a small bowl and then transfer it to a plastic bag. It's easier to tell if it is all melted that way) Cut a tiny corner from bag; squeeze to drizzle over cookies. Refrigerate cookies for about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Baked Broccoli & Tortellini Casserole with Roasted Bell Pepper Creame

I made this pasta a few weeks ago for my cousin's baby shower. I found the recipe a few years ago but had forgotten about it until I was looking through all my old recipes to find one to make for the shower. It is a bit labor intensive but the results are so worth it :) It has become a Payne family favorite!

Ingredients:

6 ounce Chicken Breast

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

9 ounce package of refrigerated cheese or meat-filled Tortellini

2 Cups of frozen Broccoli florets

1 large Red Bell Pepper

1 1/4 Cup of Cream

2 Tablespoons of Butter

5 ounces of whole Parmesan Cheese, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

1 teaspoon of Pepper

4 cloves of Garlic

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon Oregano

1/4 teaspoon Basil

1/4 teaspoon Thyme

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Directions:

Salt and pepper the chicken (to taste). Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and sauté the chicken on high heat until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and let cool. Once cool, cut into strips and set aside. (*I just cooked my chicken in the oven while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. Its less work that way :)

Cook the tortellini according to package directions, drain and set aside.

Defrost the broccoli by placing it in a large bowl and pouring hot water over it. Drain water and pour more hot water over it. Repeat this until broccoli has defrosted. Then drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to broil/grill (the highest top-heat setting available).
Place the red bell pepper on a rack the closest to the top that is physically possible. Broil each side of the bell pepper for about 5-8 minutes or until it has completely blackened and burned. Turn and repeat for each side and the bottom. Then, remove to a cutting board and let cool. Once cool, scrape off all blackened skin, the core and seeds, and cut into strips. Save about 2 strips (enough that when diced you get 2 tablespoons worth); set aside. Place the rest in a food processor and puré; set aside.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, combine butter and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute, and then add cream, salt, pepper, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese chunks. Stir constantly until the Parmesan has melted and combined into the cream sauce. Lower the heat it it starts to stick to the pan.
Add puréed and diced roasted bell pepper and mix in. Dump the tortellini, broccoli, and chicken into the skillet with the sauce and mix well. Pour into a medium-small casserole dish.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs with oregano, basil, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and then mix in melted butter. Sprinkle this over the top of the tortellini mixture. Broil/grill 4-6 inches from top heat for 1-2 minutes of until the topping has turned golden brown.

Makes 4 servings.

(Recipe and picture from here)