Lobster Rolls and Sliced Baked Potatoes

 Every September to October  we go down to Disney for their food and wine festival at Epcot. They have all of these fun kiosks of food from different countries and places. At America, they have the best lobster roll ever! They put the juicy lobster on a warmed buttered bun and it just melts in your mouth! That is my dad's absolute favorite food there, so for his birthday I thought I would make him some lobster rolls! In my new Food Network magazine, there was a recipe for two types of lobster rolls: the Maine style and the Connecticut style.

I planned on making both since each only made 4 rolls, but when we go to the store, we had a rude awakening. I did not realize how expensive lobster had become! It was about $40 a POUND! After I calculated how much lobster was needed for both recipes it came to a total of 6 lbs! So let's do the math... 6lbs of lobster at $40 a lb equals $240!!! Obviously I was not going to pay that for these rolls, so i decided to only do one type of roll  I talked with the lady to get some ideas  She suggested I take some crab meat and mix in the crab meat with the lobster.  So I bought about 1 lb of crab meat that was already cooked and decided to add that to the lobster mix.

The lobster tails that I used were not cooked and so you have to cook the meat. So I boiled a pot of water with a little salt and threw the tails in. I let them cook until they were bright red which was about 5 minutes. In order to cut the meat out I turned the tail with the back side down on a cutting board.  Then spread the tail out and take a knife and cut down the middle. Yes there will be cracking noises but no worries! Then I simply just pulled the meat out and cut it up. It was that simple!

Like I said in my last post, make a recipe yours in whatever way you can! Our family likes onions so I also added about half of an onion chopped to the mix. I think that it added a nice touch to it.  Another thing that I had trouble finding the top sliced buns. I chose to use the baby slider buns instead and they worked perfectly!

As a side to the lobster rolls, I made a sliced oven baked potato. To do this, I thinly sliced a potato and rubbed olive oil on top. Then I brushed some melted butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I baked them in the oven at 425 degrees for about an hour. My suggestion is to wrap each in foil and bake them directly on the rack. When I did ours, they were still a little undercooked, so I think wrapping them in foil would help!!

This lobster crab roll was a quick and easy recipe that would be perfect for any occasion! Enjoy y'all!

-Kym's Kitchen



Lobster Roll (Maine-Style, With Mayo)
(From foodnetwork.com)
* Indicates a personal change in the recipe 


3 lobster tails* 
1/3-1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup celery, chopped*
1/2 of onion, chopped*
sea salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Fill a large steamer or pot with about 2 inches of water. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Put the lobster tails (about 1 lb of meat) in the steamer basket or directly in the pot; cover and steam until the shells turn bright red, 5 to 10 minutes.
2.  Remove the lobsters and rinse under cold water until slightly cool. Remove the meat from the shells and roughly chop; chill the meat.
3.  Mix  mayonnaise, celery, and the zest and juice of  lemon in a bowl. Stir in the chilled lobster meat and season with salt.
4. Divide among 4 split-top hot dog buns and top with celery leaves.


Sliced Baked Potato
(from:  http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html)

Ingredients

6 Medium Size Potatoes
2 - 3 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
30 g Butter
Maldon Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C (425˚F). Put the potato on a chopping board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at about 3 to 4 mm intervals.

2. Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert the garlic in between the slits. Scatter some butter on top of each potato. Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.




**If you want to try the Connecticut style lobster roll, here is the recipe:

Lobster Roll (Connecticut-Style; Butter)
(From: foodnetwork.com)


Fill a large steamer or pot with about 2 inches of water. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Put 2 lobsters (about 1 1/2 pounds each) in the steamer basket or directly in the pot; cover and steam until the shells turn bright red, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the lobsters and rinse under cold water until slightly cool. Remove the meat from the shells and roughly chop. Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in a saucepan with the juice of 1 lemon and 1/3 teaspoon paprika. Remove from the heat; stir in the lobster meat and season with salt. Divide among 4 split-top hot dog buns. Serve warm.

Cherry Lime Delight

One of my family's favorite drinks during the summer is Sonic's Cherry Limeade.  So when I saw a recipe for Cherry Limeade cupcakes, I figured that I had to make them for my Dad's birthday! These were really a lot of fun to make and super easy! This was a recipe that would be fun for kids to make and help out with!

There is a step in this recipe that calls for a lime syrup to be drizzled over the top of the cupcakes before icing them. I was a little nervous to use too much because I didn't want to make the cupcakes too tart, but I would change the way I did that. I personally would add more syrup to the cupcakes during that step! I did change the syrup just a tad and added a little of the cherry juice to the lime syrup, just to get a little more cherry in there.

Cherry Limeade Cupcake with Cherry Slice and Brulee Lime Slice

After making many of these recipes, one of the most important things that I have learned is to make it your own. Yes, follow the recipe and everything, but maybe find one or two things to either add more of, simply add or change. This is the way I have made many basic recipes, something of my own! In this Cherry Limeade Cupcake recipe, I decided to do something fun with the decorations.

The recipe does suggest that for the decoration, add a slice of cherry and lime on the top! I decided to go a step further and brulee the lime slice! I have seen this done before on Food Network's Chopped, so I decided to try it! This little touch added a nice decoration, plus one that may be a bit more edible!

 To brulee the lime slice, this is what I did:
 I made sure that the slices were fairly thin, then I sprinkled it with Turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is perfect for brulees because it is a coarse sugar.  It is also known as Sugar in the Raw.  After I sprinkled the lime, I took my brulee torch (found at World Market) and "toasted" the top until it was golden brown! It is that simple!

This is the perfect summer cupcake to enjoy at a cookout, family event, birthday party or wherever!!

As the wonderful Paula Deen says "From my kitchen to yours," ENJOY!!

Most importantly have fun!

-Kym's Kitchen


Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
(From: http://annies-eats.com/2009/02/13/cherry-limeade-cupcakes/)
Yield: 24 cupcake

For the cupcakes:
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. limeade concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

For the lime syrup:
3/4 cup limeade concentrate
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:
3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tbsp. (or more) maraschino cherry juice
red food coloring (optional)

For decorating (optional):
fresh lime slices
maraschino cherries

Directions:
1. To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two muffin pans with paper liners.
 
2. In a medium bowl combine the cake flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir together and set aside. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed. 

4. Add in the limeade concentrate and mix to incorporate. 

5. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. 

6. Add in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Mix ingredients just long enough to incorporate but no longer.

7. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack over wax paper to cool completely.

8. Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the limeade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lime syrup.  Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.

9. To make the frosting, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter and maraschino cherry juice in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth. 

10. Add more maraschino cherry juice as needed to achieve desired texture.  Add red food coloring if desired.

11. Frost cooled cupcakes.  Garnish with lime slices and maraschino cherries, if desired.

A Southern Family Dessert

Being a southern girl and raised in the South, we love our traditions and family recipes. Since we are staying at our house in North Carolina, there is a lot of fresh produce, mostly locally grown.  Yesterday we were able to pick up some great peaches and so I knew that my Pop-Pop’s homemade peach cobbler was in the plan. 

I feel like peach cobbler is one of the southern traditional, comfort desserts.

The Final Peach Cobbler Product

My Pop-Pop makes so many wonderful things from scratch and peach cobbler just happens to be one of my favorite ones!  This is such an easy recipe and one that you make your own! The recipe calls for fruit of any kind, so you can make blueberry, peach, apple, cherry, or whatever you want!

 This cobbler recipe is one that you can make and have with a nice scoop of ice cream! Another really nice thing about this recipe is that you can save any leftovers and refrigerate for at least a couple of days.  Just take out however much you want, throw it in the microwave for a few seconds and you have got a really nice dessert.  My Pop-Pop’s Peach Cobbler recipe is one that will definitely continue to be passed down.

Enjoy y’all!

-Kym’s Kitchen

Here is the recipe:

(From: My Pop-Pop)

Filling:

 3 cups of fresh fruit
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp self-rising flour

Topping

1 cup self rising flour
2 tbsp sugar
dash cinnamon
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1/3 cup oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Make the filling by mixing sugar, flour and cinnamon. Also, cut your fruit of choice into medium size slices or cubes.

3. Sprinkle mixture over fruit in casserole dish.

4. Take 2 tbsp of butter and dot the top of mixture
5. Make the topping mix and spoon on top of the fruit. 

6. Sprinkle sugar and a little bit of cinnamon on top.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Stuffed with Scampi Shrimp

I think it is pretty obvious that our family loves shrimp. Being on the coast, we are fortunate to get some amazing seafood and shrimp just happens to be our favorite. When I found this recipe (on Pinterest) for not shrimp scampi but scampi shrimp, I knew that I had to try it!

Before and After

This was a fun recipe to make! You get to butterfly shrimp and then stuff them with an amazing mixture. The stuffing itself smelled so good! The recipe calls for breadcrumbs of your choice, so I decided to use Panko breadcrumbs. I thought it was neat that the "liquid" used to bind everything together was sour cream! It really added a nice flavor and taste to the mix. The recipe calls for chopped shrimp in the actual stuffing mixture, so after I added the shrimp, the mix seemed a little dry. Therefore I added a little more breadcrumbs and some more sour cream, which fixed everything. I know that there are some people who do not like lemon on their seafood (this included my dad), so I would leave the lemon juice out of the stuffing and put it maybe on the side.

One of the little thing that I learned making this dish was that the recipe calls for 1lb of shrimp and then another 16 jumbo shrimp.  I bought 1.5 lbs of the regular, not previously frozen, not cooked shrimp and it was enough for both.  After deveining and shelling the shrimp, I chose my 16 shrimp that I was going to stuff, and then used the rest in the stuffing mix. I know that shrimp is not the cheapest, especially if you are not near the coast, so I hope that this helps! 

The Final Product

I knew that there needed to be something to put the shrimp on, so decided to make some fettucini with my own garlic butter sauce. I thought this was a perfect accompaniment to the shrimp. This was such a great meal and is one that I will make again real soon! 


Hope you enjoy trying this scampi shrimp! Bon a petit!


-Kym's Kitchen


Here are the recipes:
(From: http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/01/10/scampi-stuffed-and-roasted-shrimp/)

Scampi-Stuffed Roasted Shrimp
recipe adapted from Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone
(serves 4)


For the filling:
1 lb medium or large shrimp, peeled, deveined and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup breadcrumbs- panko, finely crushed crisp rice cereal, any kind is fine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Remaining ingredients:
16 jumbo shrimp- (about 1 lb)peeled, deveined, and butterflied
2 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 425°F.
2. Start by making the shrimp filling. Peel, devein, and then finely chop 1 lb of medium or large sized shrimp. You want the pieces very small so that they blend well with other filling ingredients.
3. Mix the shrimp with finely crushed crispy rice cereal (a la Rice Krispies), panko bread crumbs, or traditional bread crumbs. Any style works well here. Add 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, 2 cloves of garlic, a dash of hot red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sour cream. Use your hands to work all ingredients into a uniform and well blended ball.
4. Now prepare the jumbo sized shrimp for stuffing. You’ll need about sixteen of them if you plan to serve four people. These, too, should be peeled and deveined, but be sure to leave the tails on for presentation. Butterfly them by running a sharp knife along that curved indentation that runs down the backsides of the shrimp. You’re not cutting all the way through, just far enough in so that you can open and spread the bottom of the shrimp out into a wide circle.
5. You want the tail end to stick up and arc over. The cut side should be split and facing down on your cutting board, almost creating a little lap for the filling. Place these prepared shrimp on a baking sheet that has been well greased with olive oil.
6. Now take tablespoons of the filling mixture and mound it onto the laps of the jumbo shrimp, pressing so that the mixture stays in one clump when you take your hand away. Repeat this process with all remaining shrimp and filling, laying each on that greased baking sheet. Brush each prepared shrimp with a light coating of olive oil and set the pan in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the shrimp is pink and opaque.
7. I recommend serving the shrimp with lemon slices and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. I also think it would be nice to serve each individual shrimp on a lemon slice if you were to serve them as an appetizer.

Kym's Butter Garlic Sauce

1 1/2 Stick of unsalted butter
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. chives

1. Melt butter and garlic on the stove
2. Once the butter is melted add the chives and stir
3. Pour sauce over noodles or brush on slices of bread to make garlic bread

Springing for Shrimp Spring Rolls

For dinner the other night, I thought I would go with an Asian theme. I found a simple recipe for shrimp spring rolls on Food Network's website. It was a Guy Fieri recipe so I knew it had to be good!! I ahve never made anything like these before so I knew this was going to be a little bit of a challenge.  

Shrimp Spring Rolls

 First of all, the recipes ingredients were easy to find with the exception of the rice paper. I went to Publix to look for it in their Asian and ethic food section, but no luck. We talked with the manager and said to either try the area that they make sushi or World Market. The sushi area didn't have it so we decided to take a trip to World Market. Well, lets just say that it will definitely not be my last time there!! That place was amazing! But anyways, we looked through the food area and there they were. Now, the package did not say "rice paper," but "spring roll wrappers."

When it came to actually making the rolls, it was fairly simple. Since it was my first time using rice paper, I was not sure what to expect. Once the paper was soaked in the water (one piece at a time for no more than 10 seconds) it turned pretty sticky. I worked kind of fast that way the wraps wouldn't stick to the surface. I would absolutely do what the recipe says and line up your ingredients in the order they are added to the roll. It made everything go a lot smoother. Rolling the shrimp rolls was fun, but took a little practice to make them look really good. Now, I will warn you, the rolls did taste a little bland without a sauce or something else to go with it.

The recipe did not have anything to go with them, so I came up with my own thing! That is fun of cooking if I do say so myself!  I chose to just cook some Minute Rice to have with the rolls. There also was a recipe for a sauce, but it called for peanut butter and pomegranate juice (along with other things), but I just wasn't sure about it. So, I made my own sweet 'n sour sauce (I'll put the recipe below). The rice and sweet 'n sour sauce went perfectly with the shrimp rolls!

Hope you enjoy making these cute little shrimp spring rolls! Bon A Petit!

-Kym's Kitchen

"Springing Shrimp Rolls" 

(From: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/springing-shrimp-rolls-recipe/index.html)  

Ingredients:

1 pound (21/25 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 ounces maifun noodles (thin dried Chinese noodles)
1/2 English cucumber, seeded and julienned matchstick-size (about 3/4 cup)
1 carrot, peeled, julienned matchstick size carrots (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup julienned matchstick size jicama
2 green onions julienned, matchstick size to about 1/2 cup
2 cups thinly sliced crosswise Napa cabbage from about 1/2 of a head
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
12 (8-inch round) sheets dried rice paper

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons pomegranate juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin

2 teaspoons garlic sambal

Directions: 

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, add shrimp and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until cooked through, but not tough. Set in an ice bath. Slice shrimp in half from tip to tip and set aside. In a small bowl, pour hot tap water over noodles and set aside to soften, about 10 to 15 minutes. While noodles are soaking, prepare vegetables and herbs. Drain the noodles and cut with kitchen shears into 4-inch lengths. Set aside.

 2. Prepare an area to work easily for assembly of rolls. Line all vegetables and herbs in front of you along with shrimp and noodles. Have a roll of clear plastic wrap handy. A silicone baking sheet works well as a nonstick surface to work on, but you can use a clean cutting board as well. Fill a shallow bowl (a pie dish works great) with warm tap water and submerge 1 rice paper round into water for 10 to 15 seconds to soften.

3. Gently remove rice paper sheet from water, place on work surface. In the center of rice paper, place 3 shrimp halves (striped side down) on rice paper. Top with 1/4 cup noodles. Top with 2 sticks cucumber, 2 sticks carrots, 2 sticks jicama, 3 pieces green onion, 3 tablespoons napa cabbage, 4 tablespoons bean sprouts, and a pinch of basil and cilantro. Finish with 3 more pieces of shrimp, striped side up. Fold rice paper up tightly over filling, fold in ends, and continue rolling, finishing seam side down. Place in plastic wrap and roll so that the rolls can set up and not stick to each other.

4. Repeat to create the rest of the rolls. Refrigerate rolls for 20 to 30 minutes, before serving.


Sauce With Recipe

1. In a small bowl, vigorously whip peanut butter with a fork until easy to stir. Stir in hoisin sauce, pomegranate juice, soy sauce, mirin and sambal until combined well. Cover and let stand at room temperature until ready to serve.

2. When ready to serve, evenly spread remaining napa cabbage on serving platter. Remove rolls from refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap and slice in half on the diagonal. Place half the rolls on their sides on the platter and the other half on their ends, standing up. Serve with peanut sauce.

Sweet 'N Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tbs Brown Sugar (light tastes the best) 

2 1/2 tbs Ketchup

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp cornstarch + 5 tsp water

Directions:

1. Mix Ketchup, Brown Sugar, Soy sauce, and Vinegar

2. Heat until it boils

3. Mix the cornstarch with the water

4. Add the cornstarch until thick

5. Serve

Jack Daniels and Chocolate? A Perfect Combination

What do you do when you love to cook/bake? Try new recipes? Experiment with new things? And want to share all of it? Of course... start a cooking blog! I am excited to share new recipes, old recipes, family recipes and of course anything I learned in the process!

To start it all off...
Jack Daniels Chocolate Cupcakes with a Chocolate Ganache Filling and Chocolate Buttercream Icing! If you are looking for something to curve your chocolate craving, look no further than this rich, decadent and an amazing little bite. I found the recipe on Pinterest (which is where I find most of my recipes) and thought I would try it out!

Jack Daniels Chocolate Cupcake Mini

It was a very simple recipe with 3 different "parts" (recipe follows).  There was a recipe for the actual cake itself, one for the ganache, and then one for the icing. After I made the batter for the cake, I realized that I had enough for not only 12 big cupcakes, but for 24 mini's too. I think that the big cupcakes were almost too much so I would suggest making smaller cupcakes or the minis like I did. I added a cute little touch at the end and shaved some chocolate on the top, since there wasn't enough chocolate to begin with! Lol These were perfect with a dish of vanilla ice cream, a cup of coffee, or just by themselves if you like rich chocolate!

 When it came to making the icing, I had a nice learning experience. The recipe calls for butter softened, not melted. I used some butter that we had froze and just threw it in the microwave like I normally would. I was not paying any attention to it and the butter melted. I thought that I could still use it so I put it in with the vanilla pudding like the recipe says. After 5 min. of "whipping", it was still the same liquid that I started with. I tried everything to fix it: adding a whole bag of powder sugar, dream whip packets, and eventually whipped cream! It turned out "ok" but I definitely learned a good lesson! If the recipe calls for soften butter, then it better be soft not melted!!

This is just the first of many recipes I plan on trying! Stay tuned for more! Next up... Shrimp Spring Rolls!

-Kym's Kitchen


Here is the recipe for the cupcakes:
(From: http://www.cafemom.com/group/416/forums/read/14359112/Jack_Daniels_CUPCAKES_O_M_G)


Chocolate J.D. Cupcakes
 2 Cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (3.75 ounces) coco powder
2 cups (14.5 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup super strong coffee
1/2 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In separate bowl (I use a 4 or 8 cup measuring vessel) combine the eggs, coffee, whiskey, buttermilk and oil.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into prepared cupcake cups...(I use 4 ounce souffle cups also known as nut and portion cups) I only fill half full and they come right up to the top.
Bake in preheated oven about 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
Cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Whiskey Ganache
 16 ounces good quality dark chocolate 65-72 %, chopped into small pieces 1/4 inch or less.
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
Instructions:
place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set aside.
heat heavy cream until just boiling.  Pour over chocolate.
Cover chocolate and cream for 2 minutes to allow chocolate to soften.  Uncover and stir with whisk until smooth and silky.
stir in butter until fully incorporated.
stir in whiskey until fully incorporated, cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Whiskey Buttercream
1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1- 3 ounce package white chocolate, vanilla or cheesecake instant pudding mix
2 cups Dark Chocolate Whiskey ganache
1/2 cup sifted dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
more whiskey to taste
Instructions:
In stand mixer beat the butter and pudding mix together on medium high speed for 5 minutes or so.
Turn off, add the ganache, cocoa powder and heavy cream.  Beat for another 5 minutes.
Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time, tasting as you go until it is sweet enough for you then beat on medium high for at least 5 more minutes.
If it isn't a strong enough whiskey taste for you add Tablespoon by Tablespoon of whiskey until it is to your liking.