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| Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms |
I mean, wasn’t Christmas last week?
It sure feels like it was.
Oh, well… those planning to go to a favourite restaurant have, hopefully, made reservations.
But not everyone wants to go that route.
Celebrate, sure, but for many - especially after following restrictions during the past few Covid-19 years - restaurants have lost their appeal.
It wasn’t that long ago we had to prove we lived in the same house to be able to sit at the same table.
Well, food in restaurants are prepared by humans following recipes.
Recipes that can be followed by everyone.
And, if you cook at home, you won’t need to worry about masks and restrictions.
Hints:
About the Lobster Quiche…
You can also add diced peppers and chopped mushrooms.
About the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits…
Eight large biscuits can
fit on a baking sheet. If you’re making smaller biscuits, prepare
another baking sheet and make each biscuit about 1/4 cup.
Place the
biscuits in the oven as soon as possible after placing them on the
baking sheet. Biscuits that wait before going into the oven do
not plump up as high as they could.
About the Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits in a Loaf…
The flour coating helps prevent the cheese from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
Slice and enjoy slathered with butter, or serve with fruit jelly
or cheese and a cup of tea.
About the Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi…
Allow the pan to cool before adding butter. If the pan is too hot the butter will separate.
About the Chocolate Truffles…
Don't have sweetened condensed milk? No problem. Place in a saucepan
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup evaporated milk
Heat, stirring, until the butter has melted.
Let mixture cool for 10 minutes before using.
Lobster Quiche
Preheat the oven to 425º F
Place on a cookie sheet
9 inch frozen pie crust in a pie pan
Place cookie sheet and pie pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove both from the oven and lower heat to 300º F
While the crust is baking place in a medium bowl
2 eggs
Beat eggs and add
3/4 Cup milk
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash of parsley flakes
Mix well.
Place and spread in prebaked pie crust on cookie sheet
3 ounces lobster meat, chopped
5 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
1/4 Cup onion, minced
Pour egg / milk mixture over food in pie crust and return sheet and pan to oven.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted an inch from the edge comes out clean.
Let quiche stand 15 minutes before serving.
Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet.
Place in a microwave-safe medium bowl
1/2 Cup butter
Heat until butter is melted.
Set aside to cool slightly.
Place in a large mixing bowl
2 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Whisk until well combined.
Preheat oven to 425° F
Add to the melted butter
1 Cup whole milk
Stir well.
Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
Add
8 ounces mild (or sharp) Cheddar cheese, grated
Fold in until cheese is evenly distributed.
Scoop about 1/2 cup of dough and drop onto baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until biscuits are just barely golden brown.
While biscuits are baking place in a microwave-safe small bowl
1/4 Cup butter
Heat until butter is melted.
Take out and add
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Stir to combine well.
Remove biscuits from the oven and brush with butter / parsley mixture.
Serve hot.
Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits in a loaf
Grease a 9 × 5 inch loaf pan
Cut into 1/4 inch cubes
4 ounces Cheddar cheese
Set aside.
Place in a large mixing bowl
3 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Whisk together, then stir in the cheese cubes.
Carefully stir until cubes are covered in flour.
Preheat oven to 350º F
Place in a medium mixing bowl
1 1/4 Cups milk
3/4 Cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Whisk together until well blended.
Fold the liquid mixture into the flour / cheese mixture.
Stir until just combined. Do not over stir. Pour batter into the loaf pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
Let cool 10 minutes and then remove loaf from pan.
Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.
Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi
Squeeze for the juice
1/2 fresh lemon
Set juice aside.
Place in a large skillet
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Heat over medium heat. Add
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cook until tender and no longer translucent, then reduce heat.
Remove shrimp and set aside. Add
2 Tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow garlic to brown. Add
1 1/2 Cups white wine, such as Chardonnay
the fresh lemon juice
Cook until wine is reduced by half. After it is reduced add
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Reduce heat to low, then add
1/2 Cup softened butter
Add the cooked shrimp to the sauce, then add
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
Stir together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
Red Lobster Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
Butter a baking pan
Finely chop enough to make
1/4 Cup celery
2 Tablespoons onions
2 Tablespoons red bell peppers
Wash mushrooms and remove stems of
1 pound fresh mushrooms
Set caps aside, and chop half of the stems.
Heat in large frying pan
2 Tablespoons butter
Add chopped mushroom stems, celery, onions and red bell peppers
Sauté for 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and cool for about an hour.
Slice into enough pieces to have a piece for each mushroom cap
6 slices white cheddar cheese
Add to the sautéed vegetables
1/2 pound crab meat, chopped
2 Cups oyster crackers, crushed
1 large egg
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix well.
Preheat oven to 400º F
Place mushroom caps in buttered baking pan stem side up.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of stuffing in each mushroom cap.
Cover each cap with a piece of sliced cheese.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is lightly browned.
Chocolate Truffles
Yield: 6 dozen truffles
Place in a large saucepan
3 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
Stirring regularly, cook over low heat until chocolate melts.
Remove from heat and stir in
1 Tablespoon vanilla
Pour into a medium bowl, cover and chill 2 to 3 hours, or until firm.
Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in any of
finely chopped toasted nuts, flaked coconut, chocolate or coloured sprinkles, unsweetened cocoa, confectioners’ sugar or coloured sugars
Chill 1 hour, or until firm.
~~~
In 2004 the gang at CKUW’s ‘2000 & Counting’ decided to give their mature views on Valentine’s Day. I was a mere child of 53, but they allowed me to add my two cents worth to the presentation. Now that I’m 72 I find that some of the ideas are still good.
Wishing you and yours a lovely Valentine’s Day!
Ah, February in Manitoba. Time to heat things up with Valentine's Day. The love in the air is as thick as exhaust fog. Hurrah for L' Amour! If saying L' Amour reminds you of Dorothy, Bing and Bob going on a road to someplace exotic then you've probably eaten your own weight in Valentine chocolates.
And you have the love handles to prove it.
Lighten up. Really. Celebrating love doesn't require a ten course dinner followed by a honking big high-fat dessert. We've just eaten through the holiday season. We all have more cholesterol and sugar flowing through our veins than we need.
Remember those resolutions?
Maybe the poet had the right idea when he wrote, A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou. All you need to add is a lovely country location. Picture it. You and your sweetie enjoying an easy on the waistline picnic. Then, for dessert, laying back and watching the fluffy white clouds floating on the breeze.
Okay… This is Manitoba, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain and can freeze skin in less than two minutes. Let's get real. This is not the time anyone sane sits in the snow.
But, by golly, this is a new millennium. If you're like me, you've followed traditions for over fifty years. It just may be time for a change from the dinner out, followed by a show rut. Why dinner? This is Valentine's Day, not a fundraiser. Are you having a guest speaker? Do you need to plan seating for 500? Do you think love only blooms under candlelight?
Think outside the box.
Why not celebrate with a special lunch or breakfast? It's February. The mornings are dark. The moon doesn't set until 10:00 a.m. Face your chairs west and start humming When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie. Think of Cher in the movie Moonstruck. Who knows what can develop after a candlelit breakfast of buckwheat pancakes, an egg white omelet and mimosas?
And what about that show after your Valentine feast? No problem. Can you say matinee? Let's be honest. Comfortable chairs and darkened theatres have put more than one senior Romeo - or Juliet - to sleep. Please, we hear enough snoring at home. We want to stay awake, see the show, do some cuddling and finish the popcorn. Give yourself a fighting chance. Early or late, the show's the same. Go early.
Life is complicated today. Meetings, odd work shifts, Sunday shopping and relatives, both young and old, have made life a scheduling nightmare. Can your daughter help it if her mother-in-law's birthday is on February 14? Have pity on the girl and go to the family gathering. You already have 20 hours of must-do activities scheduled for the big day. You're seeing red, and not in heart shapes.
Think VCRs. If you can tape and enjoy a show at your leisure then surely you can pick another day for a private celebration. I have friends who toasted the New Year on January first while watching the ball drop on The Tonight Show rerun at 9:00 p.m. Your sweetie is a reasonable soul, right? Be different. It's legal. The Valentine police will not come pounding at your door.
Te quiero.
Je t'aime.
S'ayapo.
Ich liebe dich.
There are many ways to say I love you and to celebrate.
Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy!
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