Big Daddy's Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Oh, this dressing is really good! I don't believe I will ever buy dressing again.

Iceberg Wedge with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Recipe courtesy Aaron McCargo Jr.

Prep Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
* 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cored
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup buttermilk
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Dash hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
* 2 tablespoons chopped chives
* 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
* 1/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
* 1/2 avocado, diced
* 2 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions

Slice the lettuce into thick wedges. In a medium-sized bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, salt and pepper, to taste, hot sauce, chives, garlic, and lemon juice. Whisk together, then slowly fold in the blue cheese crumbles. Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. Garnish with tomatoes, avocado, and bacon. Serve.

Shrimp and Spaghetti in Coconut Broth

I'm not a big Rachel Ray fan but this recipe is REALLY good and very very simple! It's a keeper!

Shrimp and Spaghetti in Coconut Broth

* 12 Servings
*
* Prep 10 min
*
* Cook 25 min

Ingredients:

* Two 13.5-ounce cans coconut milk
* One 14.5-ounce can chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
* 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
* 2 teaspoons hot chili sauce
* Two 2-pound bags frozen, raw shrimp (31 to 40 per pound), thawed and tails removed
* 1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
* 1 1/2 pounds spaghetti

Directions:

1. In a large, deep skillet, bring the coconut milk and chicken broth to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the fish sauce, garlic, ginger, chili sauce and lime juice and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the shrimp and cook until just opaque, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and remove from the heat. Transfer two-thirds of the shrimp mixture to a bowl; let cool.

3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente; drain. Using tongs, transfer one-third of the pasta to the skillet of shrimp.
4. Cook one meal now: Toss the pasta with the shrimp mixture and simmer until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Freeze two meals for later: Divide the remaining shrimp mixture between 2 resealable 1-gallon freezer bags; seal. Divide the remaining spaghetti between 2 more freezer bags; let cool, then seal. Label each and freeze. THAW 1 bag each of the shrimp mixture and pasta per meal in the refrigerator overnight. Cook as directed in Step 4.

Tortellini and Chickpea Soup

Had this at the cafeteria at work the other day and it was so good. It also looked pretty simple as far as ingredients so I figured I could make my own variation. I started by looking it up online and the few recipes I found did indeed look pretty simple. One added spinach (the version at the hospital didn't) so I swiped that idea for my version.

One carton low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (or make your own. I had some homemade broth in the freezer)
One container tortellini
One can chickpeas, rinsed
One bunch fresh spinach (bought just the day before at the farmer's market), washed and stems trimmed, then cut into bite-sized pieces
One to two tablespoons prepared pesto sauce

Throw everything in the pot, simmer til tortellinis are cooked through. That's it! I think it would be better if I cooked my own chickpeas rather than use canned, but hey, they are a quick option.

I found a similar recipe on SparkPeople Recipes and the calorie count is pretty reasonable.

Holy Hot Tequila, Batman!

I found this recipe online and have changed it up just a bit. Was too sweet for me the way it was originally made

http://cooktobang.com/2010/05/07/i-feel-ya-tequila/

DAYUM good! Gets yer attention!

2 cups white sugar
2 cups water
4 jalapenos or serranos
2 to 4 shots tequila (I prefer gold but as you like)
Whole limes or lime juice

Pour sugar and water into a pan to make a simple syrup. Roughly chop two of the peppers and add to the simple syrup. Bring to a rolling boil and cook til sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Let cool for about 30 minutes, then strain peppers out of simple syrup. Refrigerate until chilled.

Once chilled, fill two glasses with ice. Add two shots of lime juice, one to two shots of tequila and two shots of simple syrup to each glass, stir well. Garnish each glass with another pepper if you really wanna get someone's attention.

Sounds weird, tastes good!

Mexican Rice

3 cups rice
1 can El Pato
Chicken broth to fill to 3-cup line
1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mince
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp Adobo
1 tbls oil

Cook vegetables in oil until soft. In the meantime, add rice, cumin, El Pato, broth and Adobo to ricer cooker. Once vegetables are cooked, add to rice mixture. Stir well and cook according to rice cooker directions.

Shoppin' List

Amazingly, I am having trouble finding some things I think are pretty basic. Hoping I will have more luck once I move up to the city, but that remains to be seen. In the mean time, for my own amusement (and, more importantly, so I can find what I want), this is my online shopping list for the things I use frequently and can't find around here.

Anasazi Beans

Dehydrated Refrieds

Daily Detox

Crest Vanilla Mint Toothpaste

Pico Pica Taco Sauce

Etouffee

This makes a LOT, but it's better the next day and really freezes well.

Start with a roux.

One cup flour
One stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
One medium onion, finely chopped
One bell pepper, finely chopped
Two to three cloves garlic, finely minced
Shrimp or chicken stock
Approx one pound uncooked shrimp, shelled
Approx one pound crawfish tails
Approx one pound cooked shredded chicken
One to two tablespoons Cajun seasoning
One tablespoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco (or to taste)

Slowly start to brown the flour in a heavy skillet or dutch oven. (I have a big enameled cast iron braiser). Watch that it does not burn. If it does, throw it out and start over.

Once it is a light nutty brown, add the butter and oil to make a paste. Continue to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. The vegetables can be added at this point, cook until they are softened. The roux should be a light to medium brown.

Add shrimp or chicken stock to make a thick gravy. Add Cajun seasoning and Tabasco. Add chicken and crawfish and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for another 10 minutes, until shrimp are pink and opaque.

Serve over steamed rice. Sprinkle on additional Cajun seasoning or Tabasco as desired.

Dig in!

I used the shrimp shells to make a stock. I cooked the chicken breasts in chicken stock until the meat shredded up. These are the stocks I used to add to the roux. I also used some canned low-sodium chicken broth to add since I didn't end up with enough shrimp and chicken broth while cooking. I then used the canned broth to cook the rice for a richer flavor and so I didn't have leftover stock.