Lobster Grilled Cheese

 

It’s funny how one small thing can snowball into a day's worth of work. I succumbed to a sale on lobster tails at my local market. I bought three of them, and when I got home, I wondered what the heck I was going to do with these. The first one I cooked in the air fryer. Lobster perfection. The second I turned into lobster salad, also delicious. The third I used in a grilled cheese sandwich, unusual, right? I had read an article about a guy who made a lobster grilled cheese sandwich, and being a fan of both lobster and grilled cheese I wanted to give it a try. The bread that this concoction was on was jalapeño cheese bread, so before I could even make my sandwich, I had to bake a loaf of bread. Honestly, it took me until 2 o’clock in the afternoon (I’d arisen at 8 AM) to make one sandwich.  It was a good one, even though for the most part, it was a breeze to put together. I’ve heard that sourdough is a tasty replacement for the jalapeño cheese bread, so if you’re interested in trying this, I would certainly consider going that route.

Lobster Grilled Cheese 

 1 6-oz. lobster tail, diced

2-3 T. butter

2 T. garlic paste

Old Bay seasoning

Fresh chopped parsley

Jalapeno Cheese Bread

2 slices Havarti cheese

2 slices smoked Gouda cheese

 Place a medium-size pan over medium high heat. Add butter and garlic paste. Once the butter has melted down and blended with the garlic paste, add diced lobster meat. Season to taste with Old Bay seasoning and parsley.

 After your lobster has finished cooking, set mixture aside.

 Place two slices of bread into a heated pan with a bit of melted butter, placing two slices of Havarti cheese on one half and two slices of smoked Gouda on the other. Then place reserved lobster mixture on top of one piece of bread, topping with the remaining piece. Toast until golden brown and cheese is melted.

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Blueberry Cosmopolitan

 

This week’s cocktail is another beauty. The color blue here is so lovely, thanks to the combination of Curaçao, and an ingredient new to me, blueberry juice. It’s very refreshing on a hot day, and this past week has been HOT! Easy to prepare, just shake everything together in a cocktail shaker with a lot of ice, strain, pour, and enjoy.

Here it is served in a vintage martini glass that used to belong to my parents. Be sure to pin the picture so as to save the recipe to your cocktail Pinterest board.

Italian Noodle Bake

 

There are days when I’m not particularly interested in cooking, so I figure that if I’m going to put forth the effort, I’m going to cook for the masses. By masses I mean that I’m going to make enough to provide me with not only the day’s meal, but tomorrow’s as well, in addition to having leftovers to freeze for the winter. This is a good one. It also goes together in about 30 minutes if you are wise with your time. Get your water boiling while you brown your ground beef, and while the beef is simmering, beat together your soft cheeses. It’s good with a side salad, and a crusty roll. Hearty and satisfying for the men in your life, the kids will love it, and you will love the ease.Italian Noodle Bake

1 lb. ground chuck

1/8 t. Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 t. garlic salt

¼ t. Italian seasoning

1 24-oz. jar pasta sauce, any flavor

1 large Melissa’s shallot, chopped

½ c. sliced black olives

1 12-oz. pkg. medium egg noodles, prepared according to pkg. directions

1 8-oz. container sour cream

1 8-oz. container ricotta

3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 16-oz. pkg. shredded mozzarella

  Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 inch casserole dish with PAM; set aside.

Brown ground chuck; add garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Drain meat, return to pan. Stir in spaghetti sauce, shallot, and olives, and simmer 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine sour cream, cream cheese, onion, and black olives; mix well.

In prepared baking dish, arrange half of the noodles, followed by the meat mixture, followed by the sour cream mixture, and finally by the remaining noodles. Top with cheese and bake 25 minutes.

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Peach Butter Dip Biscuits

 

I am a big fan of butter dip biscuits. Prior to making these I have made the original recipe, the Cheddar Bay recipe, and the blueberry recipe. Having tasted all of those, I can say with certainty, that these are my absolute favorites. They go together easily, and in just over half an hour you will have a delicious breakfast treat, salad accompaniment, or, with a scoop of ice cream, a wonderful dessert. I altered the glaze by replacing the 3 tablespoons of milk with an equal amount of peach schnapps. Outstanding! It doesn’t taste boozy, just gives it loads of delicious flavor. If you don’t want to take this route, use milk instead of the schnapps.

Peach Butter Dip Biscuits

For the biscuits:

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter

2½ c. flour

¼ c. sugar

1 T. aluminum free baking powder

2 c. heavy cream

1 t. vanilla extract

1 15.25-oz. can diced peaches, drained and patted dry

1 c. powdered sugar

3 T. Peach Schnapps

 For the biscuits:

 Preheat oven to 450°F. Place stick of butter into an 8” x 8” microwave-safe baking dish. Microwave for one minute until butter has melted; set aside.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

Pour in heavy cream and vanilla extract. Stir until a sticky dough forms. If batter still looks dry, add a bit more of the heavy cream until you have a sticky dough.  Gently stir in diced peaches.

 Pour biscuit dough into baking dish (right on top of the melted butter.) Some of the butter will run over the top of the dough. Spread out the batter evenly as well as you can.

 Cut the dough into 9 squares. This is not optional. It aids in cutting the biscuits after they are baked. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 30-35 minutes, rotating dish once during baking. If the top gets too dark, cover with a piece of foil. I never do that because I like my top a bit crunchy. Biscuits should be golden brown and when you insert a toothpick in the center to check for doneness.

For the icing:

 In a bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and schnapps. Drizzle on top of the warm biscuits.

 Allow the biscuits to cool slightly then slice and serve.

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Chicken Divan

 

The 28th of this month would have been my mother’s birthday. Every time that rolls around I can’t help but think about all the good times we had together as our small family of three, and with our extended family. A lot of those memories revolve around food. One of the things that my mother made, and that I always enjoyed was chicken divan. I had not made it in about 20 years so I thought its preparation long overdue. It was better than I remembered. I had cooked my chicken the day before and cut it up, as well as cleaning, and breaking up my broccoli into florets, so it was a breeze to assemble. You can make this early in the day and wait to bake it until dinnertime. If you are baking it straight from the refrigerator, add 10 minutes to the baking time.

  Chicken Divan

2 c. cooked chicken, cubed
2 c. broccoli florets

1 Melissa’s shallot, minced

1 c. shredded Gouda cheese

2 T. unsalted butter
 2 T. flour
1 c. chicken stock
1 c. whole milk
½ t. seasoned salt
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
½ c. breadcrumbs

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9” x 13” baking dish with PAM.

 Scatter chicken, broccoli, shallots, and 1/2 c. cheese in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

 In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add stock and milk, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in salt, pepper, and remaining cheese.

 Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli mixture. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve warm.

   

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Dinner at the Shore Tablescape

 

Despite the fact that the calendar insists there are three more weeks of summer, once September hits, it’s over for me. My official first day of fall is September 1. I’ve noticed a change in myself; I’m starting to gravitate towards fall colors, I bought pumpkin to make quick bread, and I’ve been digging out my favorite throws to launder and have at the ready. Why am I mentioning this, you may ask? I mention it because this will be my last table of the summer. I had actually started another summer table in pink and green with flamingos, but I just wasn’t feeling it, so I took it all down in favor of something more autumnal.

 

What I brought forward here from last week's tablescape is the salmon colored glassware. As I mentioned last week, it fits quite suitably on a table with an ocean theme, based upon name alone. 

The star of the show is the Dario Farrucci Italian ceramic pitcher at the center.  Isn’t he a cutie? The flowers came in a vase (that I donated) from Amazon (I chose the Burgundy arrangement, and it matched perfectly), to which I added fresh olive branches that I snipped off of my tree.

  

The table covering is from Williams-Sonoma, as are the matching napkins and crab plates. I love this combination. The woven placemats form the base of the plate stack on top of which I have painted tin chargers, and rustic brown plates that I found here. Next to the place setting are little fish dishes (from World Market) to do use for butter pats.

 

The hammered flatware is by Mikasa and I found it here. Joining the salmon colored ice tea glass is gorgeous cobalt blue stemware.

  

While dining at this table I enjoyed a new (to me) recipe for a clone of Chi-Chi’s enchilada casserole made up of crabmeat enchiladas. It was very delicious and the plate was perfectly appropriate. 

Be sure to come back next time to see what elements of this table I brought forward into my first table of fall.

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  This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Woot! Woot!

I must say that I am really enjoying my cocktail of the week. No surprise that indulging in them has put me in a pretty good mood. This one is delicious! Fruity and refreshing, it honestly doesn’t taste as though there’s any alcohol in it at all. The flavors blend together so well as to make a wonderfully satisfying drink. As always, pin the top picture and you’ll have the recipe forever.

 

Enjoy!