Tuesdays are for Shrimp

 Tuesdays are for shrimp.

Welcome back folks! Oops, maybe that welcome back is for me eh? Many, many moons ago I wrote to you about....was it Chicken and Macaroni? So long ago it's hard to recall. 

In any event, I'm here to bring you another delicious & easy Gourmeg meal. This was a terrific meal to make with my one and only. Which, is also an awesome way to get a date at home in. Kids get something easy and fast and we eat later, cooking together.

So here's the low down. I added mushrooms to my Shrimp Scampi. Is that a faux pas? I dunno, but it was tasty!

How to make amazing Shrimp Scampi:

12oz 51-60 Shrimp per pound

Butter

Pasta

1.5 C chicken stock

Lemon juice

4 cloves minced garlic

mushrooms

Salt & pepper to taste

Wait for that delicious butter to sizzle over med/hi heat.

Throw in a handful of mushrooms & reduce heat to med.

Cook your pasta while your mushrooms saute. Multitasking!

Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over your mushrooms. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic. Running low on butter, toss in another tablespoon or so. Mo butter mo better.

Add chicken stock. Inhale amazing smells.

Get yer scrimp ready!

Add scrimp. Let em cook til pink (about 5 min).

                                               

Combine drained cooked pasta to mushroom shrimp mix. Allow to cook till sauce is absorbed into pasta.

Consume!

                                               

It's Tuesday!

This week, our favorite mac'n'cheese recipe got a face lift with some tasty chicken bites and a side of broccoli. Not new. Not even gourmeg. But DELICIOUS!

More Chicken, but this time cheesy with pasta. This recipe came from my dear friend Cheryl. Now, I'm pretty sure she didn't create this mac'n'cheese ensemble, nonetheless, I think of her every time I make it. My pasta cooking and cheese being grated remind me of the tasty lunch she served my brood after church one Sunday.

The beauty of this recipe is that it is a)low carb and b) DELICIOUS! Wait, did I already tell you that? Also, it is not finicky. You can fudge on the amounts of nearly everything and it will still turn out fabulous. Really, it's cheese & pasta: where can you go wrong?!

Again with the imperative, but still... Make this! Everyone loves it and it is very filling. Did I mention easy?

Chickened Mac'n'Cheese
by Cheryl & Meagan
Serves 4-6

13.25 oz Dreamfields pasta
1 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp. additional salt
2 large eggs
6 oz cream
6 oz water
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp butter
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Bring 2 qts water to boil in a large pot for pasta. Stir in 1 1/2 tsp salt & pasta. Cook according to package directions.

Meanwhile, mix together eggs, 3oz of cream, mustard powder, hot sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Whisk well.

Drain the cooked pasta and return it to the pot. Set the pot over low heat and stir in butter until melted.

Stir in egg mixture and half the cheddar cheese. Continue to cook over low heat, gradually stirring in the remaining cream, water, and cheese, until the mixture is hot and creamy, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add cooked chicken that have been chopped to bite size pieces.

Say Yum.

Tuesdays at the Mitchells

Tuesdays at the Mitchells

Ever feel like you're making the same dish a thousand different times? Like your recipe book has become a rolodex in your mind of "chicken-beef-pork-grilled cheese" and is set on repeat? This is my life: make the food and consume it. Clean up. Do again. And again. And again. In between the making and the consuming is the drooling over delicious recipes in Food & Wine or at my friend Deb's site ( http://smittenkitchen.com). FYI she's not really my friend in the "we know each other sense," but that's another story. 

So, here we are. 

Time for more chicken...However, this chicken was not in the nugget format. At my husband's request, one meal a week will be gourmet, or as we call it, gourmeg. At the very least, it should be a new dish.

This chicken was delicious. Adults licked their lips and children, even young children under the age of 5, asked for more. Success!

Thank you Real Simple for saving our Tuesday night from the monotony of more of whatever we had last Tuesday.

Make this soon. Your family will thank you. 

You're welcome.

Roasted Chicken and Carrots With Olives and Lemons

By  Sara Quessenberry 

Ingredients

1 

chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces

2 

pounds 

carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces (halved lengthwise if thick)

1/2 

cup 

pitted kalamata olives

4 

bay leaves

1 

lemon, cut into wedges

2 

tablespoons 

olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

1 

teaspoon 

paprika

                                                                     

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the chicken, carrots, olives, bay leaves, lemon, oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Arrange in a single layer and sprinkle the chicken with the paprika.
2. Roast, tossing the vegetables once, until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.