I haven’t made a Barefoot Contessa recipe in a long time. I did watch her episodes on Food Network, where she was staying in California for vacation. Usually I like her recipes, but I thought most of those were a little too fancy for me. Sometimes her recipes can be rather high class, but this one was just perfect! We like to keep bags of frozen salmon from Sam’s Club in the freezer and they only take like 2 hours to defrost.

I’ve been wanting to use my cast iron skillet more, but they’re always such a pain in the butt to clean. Plus, I don’t know what to really cook in them. I see the Pioneer Woman using hers all the time too. She cooks food like scrambled eggs in hers and I wonder how she gets them clean all the time? This recipe requires using a cast iron to cook the salmon. You cook the salmon on both sides for 2 minutes and then transfer the salmon to the oven to finish cooking. I had my oven set to 400 still and the salmon was still rare. Ended up having to cook it for almost 7 minutes. There was only one oven temp mentioned in the recipe, so who knows which one she really used. These sandwiches were delicious.

Recipe from Ina Garten

Ingredients

8 slices applewood-smoked bacon (8 ounces)
2 ripe avocados, seeded and peeled
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
¼ cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Four (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skin on
Good olive oil
4 individual ciabatta rolls

Direcyions:

Baby arugula leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and lay the bacon on the rack. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until browned. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.

Meanwhile, prepare the guacamole. Place the avocados, lime juice, scallions, red onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a mixing bowl and mash roughly together with a fork. Taste for seasoning; it should be very highly seasoned. Set aside.

When the bacon is done, heat a dry cast-iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes. Pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels, brush them all over—top and bottom—with olive oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the fillets in the skillet skin side up and allow them to cook without disturbing them for 2 minutes exactly. With a metal spatula, carefully turn the fillets and cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven for 2 minutes (time it carefully!). Remove the salmon to a plate and cover it tightly with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

While the salmon rests, cut the ciabatta rolls in half crosswise, place them cut side up on a sheet pan, and toast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly toasted. To assemble the sandwiches, place the bottoms of the ciabatta rolls on a board and spread each with 2 rounded tablespoons of guacamole. Remove the skin from the salmon fillets, cut each fillet in half crosswise, and place both halves on top of the guacamole. Add 2 slices of bacon, a handful of arugula, and a sprinkling of salt. Spread another rounded tablespoon of guacamole on the underside of the top bread and place on top. Continue arranging all the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half diagonally and serve warm or at room temperature.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so sick of Winter. Where I live we have 3 seasons: Winter, Flooding, and Construction. There are huge piles of snow every where and that is finally starting to melt. I can barely see where I’m drivng, you have to keep on inching forward in your vehicle hoping that you don’t get hit. I need to get a taller car some day.

This will probably be my last batch of soup for awhile since the weather is starting to warm up. I love how this soup starts off with cooking some bacon. You know anything is going to be good if a recipe starts off that way. I also love the smell of onions and bacon cooking together in a pot. Someone needs to make a candle smell like that. The addition of pesto was very nice in this soup too. Ina was spot on putting that in there. The only thing I wish I would have had, was a nice piece of crusty bread to go a long with it.

Recipe from Ina Garten

Ingredients

Good olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, 1/2-inch-diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) carrots (3 carrots)
2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) celery (3 stalks)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 (26-ounce) can or box diced tomatoes, such as Pomi
6 to 8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti
8 to 10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup good dry white wine
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
Garlic Bruschetta (recipe follows)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. The soup should be quite thick but if it’s too thick, I add more chicken stock.

Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach, and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad). Cook just until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the white wine and pesto. Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste. Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top. Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot.
Garlic Bruschetta:

1 French baguette
Good olive oil
1 clove garlic, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the baguette at a 45 degree angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.

Ingredients

1/2 cup gold tequila
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno pepper (1 pepper seeded)
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 whole (6 split) boneless chicken breasts, skin-on

Directions

Combine the tequila, lime juice, orange juice, chili powder, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill with coals and brush the rack with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, and grill them skin-side down for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove from the grill to a plate. Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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I’ve never had a bottle of Tequila up until now. I’m not really much of alcoholic, but you should see our pantry down stairs. Full of different types of liquor!

On my facebook page, I put for my status one day that I really wanted a margarita. One person was rather in shock, that I put that there, because they thought I didn’t like to drink. WRONG. Which I don’t really, not a big fan of going to bars either. I like to drink when I go out to eat though.

Alcohol in food is a different story. Wine only tastes good to me when it’s made in Beef Bourguignon or some kind of stew or pasta sauce. Tequila isn’t a drink I like to take random shots of, but would rather use it in a marinade like this chicken recipe. We made this chicken when it was only 6 degrees outside. I’m desperately wanting it to be Spring again, but we still have oodles and oodles of snow mountains to get rid of.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

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The French sure knew what they were doing when they made this sandwich. I didn’t add an egg on top of it though,  then it would have been a Croque Madame. Ham was even on sale this week at the grocery store, honey ham that is. Not Virginia Baked ham. Still good stuff.

We went to Sam’s Club this weekend and stocked up on a bunch of bulk items. I bought some gruyere cheese since it’s cheap. Even though I’ve made this sandwich and mac and cheese with my gruyere cheese, I did buy some healthier foods like Salsa, frozen  Jumbo shrimp, and Edamame. I love Sam’s Club, and I think my brother does a little bit too much. He walked out of there singing “We bought in bulk, we bought in bulk, yeah!”

Ingredients

Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus 1 1/2 teaspoons
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Directions

Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

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I love Shrimp Scampi, and it’s my favorite shrimp dish. I bought these shrimp at a very high end grocery store here in town and was kind of disappointed in how small these were. They were medium-large sized shrimp and at a another grocery store shrimp comes in that size there, and they’re  twice as huge. These were little tiny, itty bitty shrimp that almost looked like the baby ones you can buy. Not impressed! I think I will stick to buying Colossal shrimp at Sam’s Club.

Usually on the weekends, I like to try making something new. I’ll search for recipes to make during the week and then buy the ingredients at the grocery store on Friday mornings. Our usual day to go shopping. Hopefully, I find something soon so I’m not making multiple trips back. Anybody have any suggestions? I was thinking of making Hollandaise sauce. I’ve never had that before.

Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? Ina Garten serves 4-5 2 TB good olive oil, plus extra to cook pasta 1 pound lean ground sirloin 4 tsp minced garlic (4 cloves) 1 TB dried oregano ¼ tsp crushed red pepper … Continue reading →