Serra's Guacamole

I love guacamole.  This recipe is fresh and really good paired with a margarita and salty chips :) My favorite after work snack!

Serra's Guacamole

3 ripe avocados
1 small tomato, chopped (the size of a roma tomato)
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (clean out seeds and remove stem)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 small lime juiced
1/4 tsp cumin
Sea salt to taste

1. In a medium size bowl peel and take out avocado seed and mash it up.
2. In a food processor throw in tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro and pulse to chop but don't overdo it or else you will have a puree.
3. Mix ingredients with avocados and add lime, cumin and salt.  Enjoy!

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

These cupcake treats are easy to make and really yummy! I've been trying to improve my baking skills (yes I've actually ruined boxed cake recipes). So this past weekend I volunteered to make some treats for a friend's bridal shower. These were really fun to make and I enjoyed "testing" them out just to make sure they were ok to serve :)

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

• 1 package yellow cake mix


• 1 1/2 cups cold milk


• 1 package (4 serving) instant Jell-O pudding (I bought french vanilla)


• 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (thawed)


• 4 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cake batter and bake in 24 greased medium muffin pan cups as directed on package. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
2. Beat milk and dry pudding mix with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. Gently stir 1/2 cup of the whipped topping into pudding. Spoon about 1 Tbsp. of the pudding mixture onto bottom half of each cupcake; cover with top of cupcake.
3. Microwave remaining 1 cup whipped topping and the chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Let stand 15 min. to thicken. Spread onto cupcakes. Refrigerate at least 15 min. before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Zucchini Gratin

My neighbor Laura Heedick has an awesome garden in her backyard and had recently given me a giant zucchini. I didn't want to make the tradiditional zucchini bread so I went on the search for a new recipe to try out. Thanks to Ina Garten (my idol) I found this yummy side dish!!!

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping



• 1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)



• 2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)



• 2 teaspoons kosher salt



• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper



• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg



• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour



• 1 cup heavy whipping cream



• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs



• 3/4 cup grated your choice of cheese (I used a mix of 4 cheeses)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) saute pan and cook the onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

I'm on a shrimp kick these days, I just love the little nuggets from the sea. For the longest time I thought shrimp scampi and fra diavolo were the same thing. Basically one recipe has tomatoes and the other doesn't but has a lot of butter. I was always dissapointed whenever I ordered scampi out at a restaurant and didn't have tomatoes on my plate. Now I know why :)

Have you noticed on food network anytime they use can tomatoes they refer to San Marzano tomatoes? Since this recipe calls for tomatoesI finally picked up a can and wow! Delicious! I can really taste the difference in the sauce after using this type of tomato. I found a great story on wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marzano_tomato

Here is my version of Fra Diavolo one of my favorite things to make for dinner. The cayenne adds a great spicy tickle to your throat! My husband Scott will stand over the pot of Shrimp Fra Diavolo and eat right out of it.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

• 1 lb Shrimp of your choice


• Sea Salt


• Pepper


• Cayenne


• 1 lb linguine or spaghetti


• 3 tbsp Olive oil


• 3-4 large garlic cloves, minced


• 1 shallot, thinly sliced


• 1 can San Marzano Tomatoes


• Sherry cooking wine


• 1/2 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Peel and devein your shrimp and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to your liking. Arrange on skewers and grill on the BBQ for 3-6 minutes. Set aside once cooked.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain but do not rinse your pasta!

3. While pasta is cooking in a large pan pour in about 3 tbsp olive oil and saute garlic and shallot until tender, not burned.

4. Add San Marzano tomatoes and a few splashes of sherry cooking wine. Add pepper, and cayenne, to your liking (no salt needed since your noodles will be salty from boiling in salted water). Simmer for 30-40 minutes.

5. Add pasta and chopped parsley to sauce and toss until noodles are coated. Remove shrimp off skewers and toss in pasta. Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Orzo Pasta Salad

So I was watching food network, big surprise, and I saw my FAVE chef Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa make this AMAZING dish a few months back.  It is absolutely delicious!!! Couple changes I made to the recipe from the original that can be found on foodnetwork.com was I roasted the red onion and added a roasted red bell pepper  to the ingredients.  Roasting the veggies brings out the best flavor and the onion is not as strong if you had put it in raw.  Also, I personally love grilling the shrimp on the barbie because again you can't beat that BBQ grilled flavor vs baking it in an oven.  As far as the salt goes, make sure it's the last thing you add to taste.  The feta in the salad tends to be quite salty so you don't want to ruin your pasta salad by adding it in the beginning.

Grilled Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Salad

• 1/2 cup small red onion
• 1 large red bell pepper
• Kosher salt 
• Good olive oil
• 3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
• 1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
• 1 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
• 3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced or crumbled 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place red bell pepper and red onion (whole) on sheet pan drizzle with olive oil and roast for about 30 minutes. Once  the veggies are roasted set aside to cool and peel skin off bell pepper.  Chop up veggies and add in during step 6 below.

3. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl.

4. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

5. Season the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Arrange shrimp on skewers and grill on barbecue for 3 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!

6. Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, roasted red onion chopped, roasted red bell pepper chopped, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully.

7. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

WARNING these cookies are extremely delicious.  This is the best cinnamon sugar cookie recipe I have ever tried.  It is so easy and I bet you will finish the entire batch in one evening.  I almost did (don't judge me)! They are so soft and taste like a churro!  Makes my mouth water...

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies


Cookie-

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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• Coating-
• 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
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1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream butter with 1/4 cup white sugar and brown sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients, and mix until well blended. Roll into log shape about 2 inches in diameter in cookie sheet, wrap, and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. This dough can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix sugar and cinnamon on a flat plate or a piece of wax paper. Unwrap dough log, cut 1/4 inch slices, and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks. Baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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Creamy Buttermilk Herb Potato Salad

Summer time usually means BBQ time at my house.  If it were up to me I'd grill every night, I just love cooking outdoors.  I just recently subscribed to Cooking Light magazine and I must say they have some amazing recipes.  That's where I found this wonderful side dish to go along with my BBQ.  I love a good potato salad and this one was just amazing!  The recipe listed below makes 8 servings but, I just made half since I didn't have that many people coming over :) I highly recommend you try to find the creme fraiche (which is a thickened cream product with a mildly tangy nutty flavor) really good stuff!

Creamy Buttermilk Herb Potato Salad


3 lbs small red potatoes, quartered
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/3 cup fat free buttermilk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used Italian parsley)
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until just tender; drain.  Cool for 30 minutes.
2. Combine creme fraiche and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.  Add warm potatoes; toss gently to coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled.