BBQ Pulled Pork ‘samos – Crock Pot

I wanted to surprise my Man, so what better way than for him to come home to a house smelling amazing from delicious, homemade pulled pork waiting for him in the kitchen.

Well, to my surprise he was thinking the same thing! He surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, champagne, a couple bottles of Bordeaux and all my favorite appetizers! Just shows we’re two peas in a pod!

This recipe accidentally got perfected because as we indulged on wine and appetizers, we pushed dinner back making the pork cooked a lot longer and allllll the flavor got absorbed and made it to DIE FOR!!! We sure know how to spoil one another and eat and drink like a King and Queen!!

Ingredients:

• 4Lb Pork Shoulder Roast, trimmed
• 1 pkg. McCormick Slow cooker – BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning
• 2Tbsp McCormick Smokehouse Maple Seasoning (Grill Mates)
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Steps:

1. Place pork in slow cooker.
2. Mix all ingredients until blended. Pour over pork. Cover.
3. 6 hours on HIGH. Remove pork from slow cooker.
4. Shred pork, using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker, drop heat to low and take the top off for 2 hours.
5. Continue to mix around to allow the pork to break up more and absorb the juice.
6. Kick heat up to High, put the lid on halfway for another hour.
7. Serve on sandwich rolls.
8. YUM IN THE HOOD!!!

Tortellini Chicken Soup

I LOVEEEE this dish, very similar to my Sausage Tortellini Soupthe flavors just get soaked into the noodles (and in this case the potatoes) and get better and better each day.

Honestly, I love this the next day just nice and cold. This is a really hearty, but healthy soup which can be served year round because of the amazing flavors. Feel free to mix-n-match the vegetables to whats in season. You really can’t go wrong with this dish!!

Ingredients:

• 1 whole cooked rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off
• 3-4 carrots, diced (or chop up a 2 cups baby carrots)
• 1/2 stalk celery, chopped
• 6-8 baby potatoes, cubed
• 12-16oz can small diced tomatoes
• 4-5 cups chicken broth
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt-n-fresh ground pep
• Dried – Basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme

Steps:

1.  In a large stock-pot, heat broth, juice from diced tomatoes, and remainder of the ingredients (minus chicken and tortellini) till a boil. Reduce heat to Med-Low.
2. Add chopped carrots, celery, potatoes and diced tomatoes. Simmer for ~20 mins (until tender)
3. Add chicken and tortellini and cook ~10 mins (until tortellini is al dente)
4. Enjoy!!

Lemon-Butter Chicken Meatballs with Tomatoes over Angel hair

Thought of doing something completely different, and although the original intention was something lower-fat… the sauce became a nice butter reduction… I had something in mind, and then at the grocery store saw Roma tomatoes in PERFECT ripeness (surprisingly around this time of year too…) so I started changing things as I went.

Ingredients

Chicken Meatballs:

• 1LB ground chicken
• ~1cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• ~1cup Parmesan-Romano blend
• 1 egg
• Italian Seasoning
• Crushed red pepper
• salt-n-pep

Lemon-Butter Sauce:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3-4 cups chicken broth
• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 Roma tomatoes, cubed
• handful fresh basil
• 1/2LB Shrimp -  Uncooked, de-veined and tails removed
• 1LB pasta (any long noodle)

Directions:

1. Heat a large saute pan, on Med-Low, Add butter and chicken broth. Once Butter-Broth mixture is melted, add garlic and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, mix all meatball ingredients and roll into golf ball sized meatballs, Fry in another large saucepan on High heat with Oil. Char the outsides and cook about 75% through, then drop into boiled Sauce mixture.
   • Can also Bake the meatballs at 350F for 15-20mins, but do this ahead of time.
3. Let the meatballs finish cooking in the sauce mixture while you cut-up and add the tomatoes and basil. Let cook together an additional 5-8mins.
4. Add uncooked shrimp and juice from 1 lemon (I like to throw the halves in there as well to get some more flavor) Cook until shrimp is done, ~5 mins
5. Serve over pasta, and enjoy!!

Ghiradelli Chocolate pound cake with Dark Choc. liqueur frosting

This cake was SOOO rich and moist it MUST be added to my staples… Beware Chocoholics as you won’t be able to just have one slice!!

Pound Cake -

Ingredients:

• 1 package Dark Chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 10 oz – Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips

Steps:

1. Beat ingredients for 10 min on medium
2. Fold in chocolate chips
3. Bake at 350F, 45-55 mins in Bunt pan

 

Dark Chocolate Liqueur Frosting -

Ingredients:

• 6 TB Butter
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2oz Almond liqueur

Steps:

1. Cream Butter and vanilla
2. In a separate bowl, combine powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.
3. Slowly add liqueur, then milk till frosting reaches desired consistency. Then beat another 5 mins till nice and creamy!

Tortellini with Shrimp and Lemon-Wine Sauce

I made this so long ago I had to rack my brain in order to post it. Then it alllllllllllll started coming back to me and my mouth began salivating as I reminisced. At the time I didn’t have fresh rosemary, but that would have made an AWESOME addition. It should also be served over any long-noodle pasta, but I had some tortellini I wanted to use up, and surprisingly the cheesiness wasn’t overpowering.  It’s DEFINITELY rich though, so although it’s amazingly delicious, you will get filled up after one bowl!

Ingredients:

• 1LB Tortellini
• 1LB Shrimp (uncooked, peeled and deveined, 41-50 count/lb)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup white wine
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt-n-freshly ground pepper
• Optional – 2 TB fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook tortellini according to package directions until al denté.
2. Meanwhile; pour cream, wine & minced garlic into a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until reduced by half.
3. Add uncooked shrimp, cayenne and salt-n-pep to mixture and reduce heat to Med. (Add rosemary if desired)
4. Once shrimp are mostly cooked, stir in parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Keep on heat until Parm is melted through.
5. Toss noodles with some of the sauce, then ladle Shrimp-Sauce mixture over each individual bowl.
6. Bon Appétit!!

Fettuccine Shrimp & Chicken Alfredo

I made this for a Holiday party to feed 16 girls. It’s definitely a splurge because of the amount of BUTTER in it, but it’s soooo creamy & delicious you just cannot RESIST!!

For some extra holiday flair, I died the noodles while they were boiling. All you do is add some drops of food coloring to the water when you throw in the pasta, and VOILA!!! Adds a nice extra touch and is super easy. For the red and green intensity, I added about 10 drops/pound of pasta.

This might become an addiction… Blue pasta HERE I COME!!

This recipe makes a LOTTT so adjust your quantities as needed.

Ingredients:

• 2LB Fettuccine Noodles
• 1LB Shrimp (uncooked, peeled and deveined, 41-50 count/lb)
• 1/2 LB Chicken (uncooked, tenders or breasts, cubed)
• 4oz Milk
• 1 Qt heavy Cream
• 8oz Butter
• +2 TB Flour
• 12-14oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese, Romano, Fontina blend (ratio is totally flexible)
• 2 TB minced garlic
• salt-n-pep to taste

Directions:

1. On medium heat, melt down butter and garlic, add flour. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn!
2. Whisk in the heavy cream and milk until hot.
3. Slowly add the freshly grated cheese and stir around (I used my whisk to help stir). Add some salt-n-pep and turn heat down to low. Continue to stir to make sure everything melds together.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, start cooking the chicken with a little garlic, salt-n-pep and some olive oil.
5. When chicken is about half cooked (still has pink in the center) Add the shrimp.
6. Keep moving this around and add a ladle of the sauce to it.
7. Once your sauce is consistent and has reach your desired thickness, you can either serve individually with adding the sauce and shrimp mix separately, or toss some the sauce with the pasta and add the shrimp and chicken.
8. There will be more sauce than pasta, so don’t mix it all in together at once!
9. ENJOY!!!

Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups

This dish was SOOOO fun and really enjoyable to make. It’s super easy and I think this is a great base, so it can easily be doctored up a bit!

I like how it’s a ‘stuffed’ theme, but not the extent of work that stuffed shells requires. I’m already crafting my next dish as we speak….

It did get a little tight in the kitchen with the counter space needed for the noodles to lie-out/cool down… I have a few stools for the eating area that I used as little tables haha. But I can’t complain because my Condo is the most counter space I’ve EVER had (and bless the Lord for the garbage disposal…)

Ingredients:

• 1LB lasagna noodles (stay away from the ‘no boil versions’)
• 15-23oz Ricotta
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 12oz fresh spinach
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2tsp crushed red pepper
• salt-n-pep t.t.
• 24oz marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cook lasagna noodles till al dente, prep your counter area with wax/parchment paper and cooking spray. When noodles are done, drain and lay flat, make sure none of the noodles overlap (they’ll stick like crazy!)
3. Saute the spinach and garlic with olive oil over Med. heat, add salt-n-pep.
4. Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, egg, parm, crushed red pep and more salt-n-pep to taste.
5. The spinach will be ready when it’s wilted, yet still bright green in color (once it starts darkening too much it’s been overcooked) pull the spinach out, and strain slightly if there is a lot of oil on it. Then mix it in with the ricotta blend.
6. Prepare a casserole dish/pan with 4-6oz of sauce spread evenly on the bottom.
7. Now’s the FUN part!! Scoop a few spoonfuls of ricotta mixture onto the lasagna noodles and spread to cover from edge to edge. (Make sure you don’t put a TON on, it’ll start to ooze out the sides!) then roll up the noodle and place seam down in the casserole dish. repeat.repeat.repeat….
8. Pour remaining sauce over noodles, sprinkle the mozz over top, cover the dish with aluminum foil and back ~30 mins.
9. In the last 5 mins of baking, you can remove the foil to make some of the edges crispy.
10. Buon Appetito!!