shrimp risotto with bacon and corn

Back during the heat of summer I made this dish.  It was 101° and the heat index was 110°.  I hadn't been cooking much because I just didn't feel like it.  But this day I was hungry for something different and in the mood for rice.  I wanted to make a pot pie recipe I found but didn't have puff pastry on hand so I decided on this.  I had just bought some fresh local corn, and I had all the rest of the ingredients for this dish.  This turned out so good, will make it again, but maybe leave out the bacon.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups chicken broth (or as needed)

4 slices bacon, halved widthwise then lengthwise into 4 mini slices each (16 pieces)

12 jumbo shrimp (16-20 count), peeled, deveined and tails removed

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup corn kernels, if fresh, blanched or thawed if frozen

1/4 cup heavy cream

Cayenne pepper, to taste

1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Place broth in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

Cook bacon strips in a sauté, frying or other shallow pan over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving bacon drippings. Crumble half of the strips into small pieces. Reserve remaining strips for garnish.

Season shrimp with salt and black pepper. Add shrimp to bacon drippings and cook 1-2 minutes per side or until pink and firm. Transfer to the plate with the bacon. Wipe out pan.

Heat butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the onion 4-5 minutes or until softened, being careful not to brown the onion. Add the red bell pepper and cook 2-3 more minutes.

Stir in the garlic and rice and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring slowly but constantly, until the rice is slightly translucent, being careful not to brown it. Add the wine and cook, stirring until evaporated. Add the chicken broth in stages, about a full soup ladle at a time and continuing to stir until the rice is creamy and has reached the al dente stage, about 18 to 20 minutes. (You may not need all the broth.)

Stir in the crumbled bacon, shrimp, corn kernels, heavy cream, cayenne pepper, cheese and parsley. Heat through. Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with bacon strips. Serve immediately with more grated cheese if desired.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve.
Donna

Chocolate, coconut cranberry bundt cake

I have so many whole cranberries in the freezer I'm always looking for something new to do with them.  This cake sounded really yummy.  I took this to my friends house one Saturday back in September when I went to her house for one of our crafting sessions.  I always try to bring some sort of treat because my friend really doesn't like to bake.

Adapted from the here
ingredients:

1.5 cup all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 lemons -zest only 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups fresh cranberries -or dried (I used frozen whole and cooked down, then cooled") 6 oz dark chocholate -roughly, chopped (use what you like) 1 package  cream cheese -softened 3/4 cup coconut oil 1.25 cup sugar 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 3 eggs - Pam Baking spray -for greasing pan before the icing

Instructions: 

1. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest, shredded coconut, salt, cranberries and chocolate. Lay to one side for later. Spray bundt pan with Pam. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. In stand mixer, mix cream cheese and coconut oil until smooth and creamy, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add sugar to cream cheese mixture and blend until combined, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add vanilla & coconut extract to mixture and blend about 30 seconds or so.
5. Add eggs (one at a time) to mixture, blending each until just combined.
6. Add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture, blending until just combined, about 1-2 minutes.
7. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake about 60 minutes, or until wooden skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for about 30-40 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire rack. 

Icing:

4 oz soft cream cheese

1/2 cp confectionery sugar (make as tart of sweet as you like)

2/3 TBL soft butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 TBL half n half

Combine above for icing, mix with electric mixer  and get to the consistency you like.

This was an easy and great cake to make.  Will probably make it again sometime.

Thanks for stopping by,  have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to DO ALL the things You L♥ve.

Donna

Golden Raisin-oatmeal cookies w walnuts

I made these awhile back.  A very tasty cookie and well worth making.  Hope you try them.

Ingredients

 ¼ cup unsalted butter 

6 tablespoons neutral flavored oil (canola, melted coconut, etc.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup plus

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 large egg

2 cups old fashioned oats + ¼ cup hot water

1 cup all purpose flour

 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

 ½ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup each: dried golden raisins, chopped pecans or walnuts, chocolate chips

Instructions

 1. Preheat the oven to 350.

 2. In a bowl, combine butter, oil, and vanilla. Mash until butter is soft. Add in sugars and stir to cream them together, and then stir in an egg. 

3. In a separate bowl, combine oats and hot water and let it sit for 5 minutes until oats are slightly softened. Add them to the wet mixture. 

4. Add in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine it all with the wet mixture. Add in your mix­ins (no more than 1 cup of total assorted mix­ins). 

5. Refrigerate dough for at least 10 minutes.

 6. Measure out tablespoon­sized cookies, and bake them onto parchment lined cookie sheets for 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden. 

7. Let the cookies cool fully before removing them from the baking sheet.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve.
Donna

Do Nothing Cake

I was trying to decide what to make for my Monday work treat but didn't really want to get into doing a lot of work, so stumbled upon this on FB.  I had all the ingredients on hand so thought what the heck.  Was worth making and everyone loved it.  So I think this would be a good one when you have a crowd for dinner.

Cake :
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 large can (20 Oz) crushed pineapple with juice
Frosting :
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup sugar
1 can (5½ ounce) evaporated milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut

Powered by Chicory

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, Whisk together all the batter ingredients until just combined.
3. Pour into a greased 13×9 baking dish, and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick, inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don't overbake.
4. While cake is still baking, prepare the frosting.
5. Heat the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk in a small saucepan until boiling.
6. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
7. Remove from heat and add in the coconut and pecans.
8. Remove the cake from oven, and using a kabob skewer or wooden spoon handle, or some similary-sized object, begin poking holes in the cake.
9. You need holes so that hot frosting has plenty of room to get down and soak the cake.
10. Pour frosting over the hot cake, spreading it out to make sure it’s all evenly dispersed.
11. Allow cake to cool for a bit before cutting.
12. Due to the frosting seeping into the cake, it is very moist!
13. Enjoy

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve.

Donna

Peanut Butter Brownies

I made these a long time ago.  I saw the recipe on FB, one of my friends had posted and the recipe is super simple.  I made a double batch so we could have some with Sunday Dinner and the rest to take to work for the crew.....they love anything peanut butter and chocolate.  I thought it strange that these didn't have any eggs, or a leveling agent.

Here is the recipe for a single batch (makes 9x9)

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cut cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2-3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°

In a bowl mash bananas then add sugar and mix with a fork til combined.  Add melted butter (save 1 tbl for spreading on pan and also 1 tbl cocoa to dust pan. I lined my pan with parchment and also did this step )
, vanilla and mix again.  Add flour, salt, mix then add cocoa, add nuts.  Mix well but don't overmix.  Spread mixture into pan getting into all the corners.  With an small ice cream scoop place 4 scoopes on top of batter, with a flat knife drag the pb through the mix, first one way then the other this will give you a nice pattern.
Bake for 20=25 minutes until tester comes out clean.
ENJOY!!

thanks for stopping by, have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve,
Donna

Lime and Blackberry bundt cake

I first saw this on Pinterest but they had made muffins, I decided to do it in a bundt cake.  I was ok, might make it again because it was fairly quick to put together.  I may try it in muffin form next time.

adapted from here

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 cup lime juice { you can use lemon if you want }
• 2 tablespoons lime zest
• 1 1⁄2 cups white sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lime yogurt (I used regular plain yogurt)

icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar (more if needed)

zest of 1 lime

juice from 1 or 2 limes

1 tsp 1/2 n 1/2

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F
2. Grease and flour bunt pan.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Slowly beat in sugar.
4. Add eggs, one at a time.
5. Add lime juice and zest; mix well.
6. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.
7. Fold in dry ingredients into egg and butter mixture. Mix just until blended.
8. Add in the yogurt last and mix again.
9. Bake for 40 minutes or until done.
10. Ice cake when cooled.

Thanks for stopping by,  have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve.

Donna