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Archive for the ‘Main course’ Category

Shrimp Scampi

Posted in Main course, pasta, Seafood, tagged , , , , on August 9, 2010| 18 Comments »

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi is elegant, intensely flavored and surprisingly easy to make. It seems like a complicated dish because it’s usually something you would choose to order at a nice restaurant and not something you would think of to make at home. And the shrimp and pasta does not have to swim in butter like some places like to serve them. There wasn’t a lot of butter in this recipe to begin with but I cut it back even further and it is still delicious. I love Shrimp Scampi and serve it quite often, try it, I really think you’ll like it.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound angle hair pasta

3 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large shallot, finely diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

1/2 cup pasta water, reserved

Directions:

Cook angle hair pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Saute the shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes until shallots are translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, add them to pan and cook until they turn pink, 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice to pan and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil and once butter has melted return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley, cooked pasta, grated cheese. Add reserved pasta water if needed. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Tyler Florence

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Butter Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Comfort food, Main course, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2010| 15 Comments »

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

This is an absolutely delicious chicken dish; I just can’t stress that enough. Truly, this is one of my favorites. You can make it with or without the whipping cream or you can use half and half instead, I have made it either ways and it’s equally delicious. This dish is also great to make ahead of time, as a matter of fact, the flavors are more intense the following day. Try serving this with Jasmine Rice if you can find it at your local grocery store.  Also, I cut back on the amount of butter. Come to think of it, should we still call this Butter Chicken then?

Ingredients:

4 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

5 Garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground Coriander

1/4 teaspoon Cumin

1/4 teaspoon Cardamom

1 whole Lime, juiced

1 whole Onion, diced

2 tablespoon Butter

2 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 can (14.5 oz) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Tomatoes

a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

1/2 cup Whipping Cream

1 bunch chopped Cilantro, to taste

Serve with Jasmine Rice

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place in a large zip lock bag or bowl. Add first 8 ingredients to the chicken and mix it up well. Marinate 12-24 hours in refrigerator.

Saute onion in butter and olive oil until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add whipping cream and cilantro just before serving over Jasmine Rice.

Source: The Pioneer Woman, originally posted on Tasty Kitchen by lillieknits

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Excellent Meatballs

Posted in Beef, Comfort food, Italien, Main course, Pork, tagged , , , , , on July 25, 2010| 8 Comments »

Excellent Meatballs

Excellent Meatballs

I have been trying and trying for years to make a tender and tasty meatball but they always came out too firm. I want my meatballs to easily fall apart when you dig into it with a fork. So what was different this time you ask me ? Well, I think the most important part is that I got equal parts veal, pork and beef directly from the butcher instead of using one of those “meatball” ground meat packages from the grocery store that supposedly have equal parts of all three meats in it. Also, the meatballs get browned and then baked plus I like to let them simmer in the sauce for at least 1 hour. These meatballs are so tasty and Anne Burrell also mentions another really important point and that is to test taste (why didn’t I think of that) a mini meatball before cooking them all up. Adjust the salt if needed! Now finally I got myself a tender meatball that I’ll be confident in serving for my guests.

Ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch of crushed red pepper

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground veal

2 large eggs

1 cup grated Parmigiano

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup water

Directions:Coat a large pan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium-high heat. Season the onions generously with salt and cook for 5-7 minutes. The onions should be translucent but have no color. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley, bread crumbs and onions. Season well with salt. Mix using your hands squishing the mixture. Add water and do one final squish. The mixture should be quite wet. Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini hamburger size patty and cooking it. The patty should taste really good.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Shape the meat into desired size. I prefer them slightly larger than a golf ball. Coat a large pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookies sheet and bake them in oven for 15 minutes or until cooked all the way through. If using right away, add meatballs to your favorite marinara sauce. If not, cool and freeze.

Source:  Anne Burrell

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Best Marinara Sauce

Posted in Comfort food, Italien, Main course, pasta, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2010| 7 Comments »

Best Marinara Sauce

Best Marinara Sauce

I love love love tomatoes and Marinara sauce. I would eat it 7 days a week if they let me. But they won’t let me. Actually, truth be told, I eat a tomato every day for lunch and my coworkers love to point it out to me and so I never hear the end of it. 🙂 But I can’t help myself, lunch just dosn’t seem right without my shiny little red friend. Sorry, got a little sidetracked there.

Now for the Marinara sauce. This is without a doubt the very best Marinara sauce that I have tried out so far. This has become a favorite in our house and I’m happy to report that even my son likes it (and that’s saying a lot because he is used to only the best from his grandmother who makes a mean pasta and meatball). If you have a food mill this is a breeze to make, if not, it’s a little more work but well worth the effort. This sauce freezes really well so I always make a big batch and keep it in the freezer for easy use. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 pound diced pancetta

2 large Spanish onions, diced

Kosher salt

4 large garlic cloves, minced

4 (28 ounce) cans Italian diced or plum San Marzano tomatoes

Directions:

Coat a large sauce pot with olive oil and add diced pancetta. Bring the pot to a medium-high heat and cook pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes. Add onion and season generously with salt, stir to coat with olive oil. Cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes stirring frequently. The onions should become soft and translucent but have no color. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes stirring frequently.

Pass the tomatoes through a food mill or if you don’t have a food mill simply just pulse the tomatoes in a food processor to break them up and then press the tomatoes through a sieve. Make sure to press until you have a dry paste left in the sieve. This part can be a little bit of a workout. Make sure to scrape all the delicious pulp off the bottom of the sieve or the food mill. Add the tomatoes to the pot and rinse out 1 of the empty cans with water and add the water to the pot (about 2-3 cups). Season generously with salt (season in baby steps) and taste it to make sure it is seasoned enough. Let the sauce simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.

Serve sauce right away or cool down and then freeze.

Source: Anne Burrell

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Korean Skewered Chicken

Posted in Asian, Chicken, Grilling, Main course, tagged , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010| 15 Comments »

Korean Skewered Chicken

Korean Skewered Chicken

I love to try new foods, new flavors. When I made this recipe it was my first encounter with the Asian Pear. The pear is absolutely delicious, so crispy, almost crunchy and sweet. Just thought I would share that with you, but this post is not about the Asian pear, it’s about these skewered chicken and they were very delicious indeed. The original recipe gives different basting instructions than what I ended up doing. The men in my life (husband and son) were hovering around the kitchen like a pack of wolves, which usually means that they’re hungry (I must admit that I was pretty hungry too), so I decided not to take the extra 10 minutes to make the basting. Instead I whipped up my own consisting of 2 tablespoons Thai style chili sauce and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and that is what I used to baste the chicken with instead, and it turned out fantastic! Did this recipe just become Thai chicken skewers instead of Korean chicken skewers? Ladies and Gents, don’t get all rowdy now but I think we just had an “A HA” moment here. Anyway, the original recipe suggest that you save the chicken marinade, strain it and simmer until it thickens and become saucy (about 5-10 minutes). Then use the sauce for the basting. Next time I make these chicken skewers, I will make the sauce the Korean way, hungry or not. I promise, maybe.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into bite size pieces)

3 garlic cloves (grated)

1 inch ginger (grated)

1/2 small onion (grated)

1/2 Asian pear (grated)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 green onion (chopped)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

For basting:

2 tablespoon Thai style chili sauce

2 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a zip lock bag and marinate for 1 hour. If using wooden skewers, soak in water. Skewer the chicken on wet wooden skewers or on metal skewers and set aside. Mix 2 tablespoon Thai style chili sauce with 2 tablespoon soy sauce to make basting sauce. Grill chicken until cooked, about 5 minutes per side basting it with the marinade as you go. Enjoy

Source: adapted from Closet Cooking

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Lou’s Baby Back Ribs

Posted in Main course, Pork, tagged , , , on July 12, 2010| 9 Comments »

Lou's Baby Back Ribs

For Mother’s Day we drove up to visit my In-Laws at their house where my Father-In-Law served the most delicious Baby Back Ribs. I asked him if he would share the recipe and he was more than happy to do just that. So for Father’s Day celebration my In-Laws came down here to visit and I decided to make Lou’s Baby Back Ribs and it turned into a fun family cooking affair. We had a great time cooking the ribs together and it turned out to be a weekend filled with lots of good food as well as good company. 

This is my Fathers-In-Law’s Baby Back Rib recipe. The ribs are full of flavor and baked tender in the oven for two plus hours. At the end, the ribs are placed under the broiler to give the outside a nice crisp.  There are no set ingredient amounts, simply just sprinkle on an amount to your liking. The ribs were served with; red and white rosemary roasted potatoes and a spinach salad with heirloom tomatoes, candied walnuts, dried cranberries with a raspberry dressing. Delicious dinner! 

Baby back ribs ingredients

Ingredients: 

Baby back pork ribs 

Molasses 

Salt 

Pepper 

McCormick pork rub 

Paprika 

Dry mustard 

Brown sugar 

BBQ sauce (your favorite brand) 

Ribs with all ingredients before baking

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Remove excess fat from ribs. Coat both sides of ribs with molasses and then sprinkle a good amount of salt, pepper, pork rub, paprika and mustard. Finally press on a generous amount of brown sugar. Place ribs on a large baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Cook in preheated oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and drain off excess liquid, then apply BBQ sauce and place under broiler for 4-5 minutes keeping a close eye, careful not to burn. 

Source: my Father-In-Law Lou 

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Joe’s Teriyaki Shrimp

Posted in Main course, Seafood, tagged , on July 9, 2010| 4 Comments »

Joe's Teriyaki Shrimp

This recipe is my husband Joe’s concoction. His preferred medium to work with is metal but when he does work with food, it turns out great. His shrimps are absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to whip up. For this particular dish I prefer to use the store-bought minced garlic in the jar and dried Cilantro. These are great for grilling as well. Serve with Cocktail Sauce.

Joe's Teriyaki Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients: 

1 lb large or jumbo shrimp 

1/3 cup teriyaki sauce 

1/2 tsp mustard (Grey Poupon) 

1 tsp garlic 

1/2 tsp cilantro 

Directions: 

Peel deveined shrimp and place in a bowl or a zip lock bag. Add teriyaki sauce, mustard, garlic, cilantro and let marinade 10 minutes. Spray a large pan with cooking spray and preheat to medium-high heat. Place shrimp in a sieve to drain off liquid. Place shrimp in the preheated pan and cook for 3 minutes (1 1/2 minute on each side), do not over-cook. Serve with cocktail sauce.

Source: Joe Gentile at Gentile Forge

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“Gosh darn delicious” Hamburger

Posted in Beef, Grilling, Main course, tagged , , on July 2, 2010| 4 Comments »

Gosh Darn Delicious Hamburger

Gosh Darn Delicious Hamburger

Hamburger season has officially arrived and with your favorite beer safely secured in one hand, fire up your grill with the other. If this is complicated, put the beer down for just one minute so you can use both hand to fire up your grill. We are all about safety here at My Danish Kitchen. 🙂 So, do you really need a recipe for a hamburger ? Maybe some do, but most of you probably don’t. Anyway, this hamburger just turned out so gosh-darn-delicious and with my camera sitting within reach I just had to take a picture of it, and the rest is history. Enjoy and Happy Grilling.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pound ground beef

1/4 medium onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Parsley 1-2 tablespoon, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon steak seasoning

Directions:

Add the chopped onion to a small pan with a little olive oil, cook over low heat to caramelize onions. When almost done add the garlic for 1 minute until fragrant. Let cool. Place ground beef into a medium bowl and add parsley, salt, pepper, steak seasoning and cooled onion/garlic mix. Now roll up your sleeves and with clean hands dive into the meat mixture and squish it all together. Once thoroughly mixed, form thin patties slightly larger than your bun size to allow for shrinkage during cooking. Sprinkle the outside of patties with a little salt, pepper and steak seasoning. Cook on your grill and serve with your favorite toppings. Enjoy.

Gosh darn delicious Hamburger

Ready for grilling

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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Teriyaki Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Main course, tagged , , on May 27, 2010|

Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken

These Chicken Nuggets have a wonderful Teriyaki flavor and a very thin breaded coating. If you don’t have the seafood breader, flour with do perfectly fine. I do not add any additional salt to this recipe since the Teriyaki has plenty of salt in it. The Nuggets are quick and easy to make after a long day at work. Served with a green salad or a side dish of Orzo makes it a light and tasty meal.

Ingredients:

3 pieces chicken breasts, skinless, boneless

1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

3/4 cup seafood breader (House Autry), or Flour

2 tbsp water, cold

Cooking spray

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts up into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces. Place in bowl, add teriyaki sauce and let marinate for 10 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and coat with seafood breader. Shake off excess breader. Spray pan with cooking spray. Cook chicken nuggets uncovered over medium heat, turning to brown all sides. Then add 2 tablespoons cold water to the pan and immediately cover the pan with a lid. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy.

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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Chicken Enchilada

Posted in Chicken, Main course, Mexican, tagged , , , on May 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

Chicken Enchilada

Chicken Enchilada

So what did you make for Cinco de Mayo? I know I know, that was like a month ago  😦  but better late than never. I made these yummy Chicken Enchiladas and the real flavor in this dish, is in the sauce. So if you have leftover sauce make sure to serve it at the table. This is an adapted recipe and I made quite a few changes. I love the subtle lime flavor which pairs really well with the banana peppers. Tart!

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 – 3/4 inch pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2/3 green bell pepper, chopped

3 large button mushrooms, sliced

10 banana pepper rings, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sugar

8 oz tomato sauce

8 oz water

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

1 lime, juiced

1 cup feta cheese

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup fresh minced cilantro

8 (6-inch) soft tortillas

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine oil, onion, green pepper and mushrooms in a large pan. Heat over medium heat until softened, 8-10 minutes. Add banana peppers, garlic, chili, cumin, sugar and salt, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, water, diced tomato and lime juice. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.  Add diced raw chicken to tomato sauce and simmer covered until chicken is cooked through, about 10-20 minutes. (Chicken can be pre-cooked in a separate pan if desired).

Strain sauce into a small bowl and reserve chicken mixture. Add feta cheese, 1/4 cup sauce and cilantro to chicken mix, stir to combine. Place tortilla on a flat surface and fill with 1/3 cup chicken mix. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in greased baking dish. Pour sauce over rolled up enchiladas and top with cheddar cheese. Place  in oven uncovered for 7 minutes, then cover with foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until heated through.

Source: adapted from Pink Parsley

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