Shrimp Milanese with Lemon Cream Sauce

After looking at my credit and debit card history, and the amount of food in my kitchen/fridge I have determined that I spend way too much money on groceries for 1 person! So the idea is I will buy only fresh items like veggies or milk that complete recipes that can be made from ingredients that I already have. Sounds good, right? Of course, the first recipes will definitely be the easiest..let's see how this works 3 weeks from now! My first idea: shrimp that has been in my freezer for...um...a while, Parmesan , frozen spinach and zucchini I got at Trader Joe' last week. The recipe: Parmesan-crusted shrimp over pasta with a creamy lemon sauce, and some vegetables thrown in for good measure (and better nutrition).

For Lemon Cream Pasta:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced finely
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained in colander over sink
2 small zucchini, sliced horizonally into thin slices
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 box cooked pasta-linguine, angel hair, tagliatelle, fettuccine...

For Parmesan-Crusted Shrimp:
1 lb large shrimp, deveined & shells removed

1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sprinkle of dried basil and dried parsley
2 tablespoons butter

To Make Lemon Cream Pasta:
Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes, turning heat down to medium after adding, and stirring often to ensure they do not stick to pan and burn.

Add zucchini and saute for a minute on each side. Add in lemon juice, lemon zest and chicken stock. Whisk together and allow it to come to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer about 15 minutes; it should thicken up a bit at this point.

Add the spinach (squeeze beforehand to ensure excess liquid does not enter pasta sauce) and cook in the sauce for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream.

Stir in Parmesan cheese and pour sauce over cooked pasta.

To Make Parmesan-Crusted Shrimp:
Mix together cheese, bread crumbs, and spices over large plate. Coat shrimp with mixture.

Melt 1/2 butter in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of shrimp and cook for 2 minutes on each side, they should be golden. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt remaining butter and cook remaining shrimp.

Serve shrimp over lemon cream past~voila! And I didn't have to buy any ingredients to make it either...free dinner always tastes better!

What ingredients have been hanging around your kitchen for too long? Maybe with a little freezer burn, stale nature or been on the shelf and will expire if you don't use it in the next month of two...let me know your ideas! (I just may use them with my bajillion items chilling in my kitchen-pun intended)

Easy Chicken Marsala

To Make Chicken Marsala:
4 chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each, but not a big deal if they are a different size)
10 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms (I bought mine pre-sliced at TJ's)
1 small diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/2 cup Marsala
1/4 cup Sherry
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
Salt
Pepper


Preheat oven to 250.

Rinse chicken well and pat dry with paper towels. Cut off any visible fat. Flatten chicken with meat pounder, using wax paper over chicken if available.

Put flour on large plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in flour, shaking off excess.

Melt butter in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts and brown both sides. Remove from pan, set in oven dish and place in oven to keep warm.

Add olive oil to saute pan. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, parsley and thyme. Saute until juice from mushrooms has evaporated, stirring to prevent vegetables from burning.

Add Marsala and sherry to saute pan. Let mixture come to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.

Add chicken stock and chicken pieces. Cook at low simmer for 15-20 minutes, then remove chicken pieces and place on a plate.

Add milk to mushroom mixture and let simmer 10-15 minutes until thickened. Add chicken pieces to warm them up before serving.

Plate chicken breasts on 4 plates and scoop mushroom and sauce over meat.

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Shrimp, Red Pepper and Basil Pasta with Charred Zucchini

1 recipe Easy Red Pepper and Basil Pasta Sauce, a little fresh basil and parmesan cheese reserved for garnish
2 zucchini
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb large shrimp, de-veined and tails removed
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 lb linguine pasta

Prepare pasta sauce according to directions. (This may be prepared the day before serving).

Marinate shrimp in 1 tablespoon olive oil, white wine, crushed red pepper and garlic.

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat large pot of salted water on high heat.

Wash zucchini. Slice in half lengthwise and cut each half into 4 chunks. Toss in 2 tablespoon olive oil and cook in oven 15 minutes, turning once. Turn oven to broil and cook about 5 minutes until vegetables are just beginning to char. When this happens, remove from oven.

While zucchini are roasting, boil linguine until al dente. Drain, and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

At the same time that pasta and zucchini are cooking, heat up large saute pan over medium high heat. Cook shrimp for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until they turn pink. Remove from heat.

Heat up pasta sauce until simmering. Toss noodles in pasta sauce.

Place pasta with sauce onto 4 large dinner plates. Divide charred zucchini amongst plates and top with cooked shrimp.

Garnish with reserved fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

Pork Tenderloin with Blue Cheese & Mushroom Sauce

For Pork:
2 lb pork tenderloin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

For Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
6 ounces crumbled Stilton cheese
8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
Freshly ground black pepper

Place pork in gallon size Ziploc freezer bag. Pour in 1/4 cup white wine. Sprinkle garlic cloves and rosemary over pork and grind black pepper over everything. Add olive oil. Close bag and turn over a few times so that pork is evenly covered with marinade. Let marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

Take pork out of refrigerator. Turn oven to 425. When temperature is reached, place pork in 13 by 9 inch baking dish and place in center of oven. Cook 10 minutes, fat-side down. Remove pork from oven. Turn oven down to 300. Roast fat-side up about 1 hour, or until internal temperature reads 170. (For moister pork, it IS safe to roast lower, as long as it is above 145, but I like to make sure mine is done!) Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before carving.

While pork is cooking, melt butter in medium sauce pot over medium-high heat, medium heat if your butter is melting too quickly/browning. Add garlic and mushrooms and saute about 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft and liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove mushrooms from pot and set aside in a bowl. Add white wine and chicken stock and bring to boil. Turn down to simmer and add evaporated milk and cheese, whisking to make sauce uniform. Cook sauce about 10-15 minutes, until it has thickened a little. Add in mushrooms. Taste, and add black pepper as desired.

Slice pork into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Serve 3 rounds on a place and pour mushroom blue cheese sauce over pork.

REALLY good with a dry red wine, such as a Spanish Crianza!

Duck Breasts with Berry Sauce

I adore duck. The richness and fat of the duck compliment the acidity of the berries and vinegar perfectly. The rosemary is very subtle but adds complexity to this dish. This dish is my idea of heaven.

Ingredients:
4 boneless duck breast fillets, skin on
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock (or if you happen to have duck stock, use it)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries-use all three or what you can find in your freezer or local mart)
2 tablespoons butter
1 sprig rosemary
Salt and Pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sauce pot. Add sugar and mix until melted. Add red wine and vinegar and bring to a boil. Once the caramel (melted sugar and butter) has dissolved into the liquid, add chicken stock, rosemary and 1 1/2 cup berries. Simmer 35-40 minutes until the sauce is reduced. Strain into small sauce pot, pushing on the berries to release their juices. Discard remaining berry solids. Set sauce aside. The sauce can be prepared the day before and refrigerated until the duck breasts are being cooked.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Rinse duck breasts and pat dry with paper towel. Cut excess fat from breasts-do not remove the skin. Cut shallow slits in skin of duck & season duck lightly with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add duck breasts, skin side down, and cook about 4 minutes or until the skin has turned brown. Carefully turn over breasts (try not to separate the skin from the breast) and cook for 3 more minutes. Place skillet on middle rack in preheated oven. Cook for 4 minutes for medium duck breasts.

While duck is in oven, heat up sauce in small sauce pot until simmering.

Spoon 1/2 sauce over 4 plates. Place duck breast, skin side up over sauce. Drizzle remaining sauce over breasts and garnish with reserved berries.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Garlic Lasagna

This is one of my favorite fall recipes. I got it from www.epicurious.com and tweaked it to make it a little bit healthier.

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups skim milk
2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crumbled
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/3 stick butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 box lasagna noodles
1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan (about 5 ounces)
1 cup lite whipping cream (if you prefer, you can add 1 can evaporated skim milk to sauce and substitute sauce for top layer of cream).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

If you are using a whole squash, I would recommend purchasing one that is about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds. To ease peeling, stab squash once or twice to create a steam vent, then microwave for about 5-7 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel squash and remove stringy pulp inside. Cut into small cubes. Toss with oil. Roast in pan about 20 minutes, flipping it midway through cooking time. Take out when turning golden brown and easily cut with knife. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees.

When squash is roasting, simmer milk with dried rosemary over medium-low heat for 10 minutes (time starts when milk first starts to form bubbles, if starting to boil, turn heat down). Place strainer over medium bowl and strain milk.

Fill large pot with water. When boiling, add lasagne noodles and cook according to box directions, checking to make sure noodles do not stick to each other. Strain and set aside.

While pasta water is heating up, melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and turn down to medium-low to avoid browning. Cook about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in flours and stir continuously for 3 minutes. Pour strained milk into pan a little at a time, whisking into roux (flour/butter mixture). Cook additional 7-10 minutes over low heat, or until mixture thickens. Stir in squash and grind fresh black pepper to taste.

Grease a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.

Pour about 1/3 sauce into baking dish, spreading it around to cover bottom of dish. Cover with 3 lasagna sheets. Spread 1/3 of sauce over sheets and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Repeat for one additional layer.

If using whipping cream, use mixer to beat cream in large bowl until it holds soft peaks and spread evenly over top pasta layer, covering it evenly. If not using cream, use remaining sauce to cover top of lasagna.

Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of lasagna. Cover with aluminum foil, tenting slightly to prevent it from sticking to lasagna. Bake for 30 minutes in middle rack of oven. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes, or until top is bubbling and turning brown. Remove from oven and let stand about 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Parmesan Chicken

This is one of my go-to recipes. It always turns out and I usually have the ingredients in my fridge. I got it (I think) from Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. It is nicely paired with a side of baby greens with citronette dressing or a caprese salad.

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or a Parmesan-Romano blend)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Wax paper
Meat mallet

Preheat oven to 275. Place pie dish in oven on middle rack

Rinse chicken breasts under cold running water and cut off any visible fat. Dry them with a paper towel and place one breast between two sheets of wax paper onto top of a large cutting board. Pound meat on one side, then flip over and pound until it is about 1/4 inch thin (more or less). Repeat with additional breasts.

Combine flour with pepper and salt in large ziploc bag or on large plate.

In a medium-large bowl, break eggs and beat them. The bowl should be big enough to fit the breasts.

Mix bread crumbs and cheese on large dinner plate.

Using large saute pan, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium heat, if begins to sizzle/brown, turn heat down to medium low.

Coat chicken breasts evenly with flour. Dredge in egg mixture. Then place on bread crumb cheese mixture and flip, making sure the whole breast has been covered.

Place in saute pan and turn heat down to medium low. Two chicken breasts should be cooked at a time for about 3 minutes on each side. After sauteing, place in pie dish in oven. Repeat with remaining breasts, using the rest of the oil and butter. Leave breasts in oven for about 10 minutes, until table is set and you are ready to eat. They will come out incredibly moist with a crispy cheese breading.