.coconut shrimp w/ spicy pineapple apricot sauce.

This weekend I catered a sweet 16 party. My friend, Darleen, asked me about a month ago if I could make the cake and then she asked if I could help with the food. Of course! I love doing this kind of thing. Her daughter was having a murder mystery party called "The Lethal Luau". How fun, right?

On the menu they decided on: Coconut Shrimp, salad and rolls, Huli Huli Chicken w/ rice, and then cake.

Check out the cake! It was a lot of fun to make.





Okay.. back to the shrimp. I had a recipe I've been dying to try and when she said coconut shrimp I secretly went "Yes!" I even bought a little extra so I could make some ahead of time for Jim, Paige, and myself. Seriously.. these were perfection.

You could buy these pre-breaded and frozen, but that would be a mistake. You just can't compare these to those and they don't take long at all to make. So if you're looking for the perfect appetizer for parties or dinner, try these!


Begin by making the sauce. Easy easy easy!!

I made a bunch for the party, and you really don't need a ton of this. I'll give you the recipe for the smaller batch. This will be the right amount for about 2 dozen shrimp.

1/2 jar pineapple preserves
1/2 jar apricot preserves
the juice of half lemon
3 Tbsp Thai chili sauce

If you want added heat, add 1 Tbsp horseradish.

Put all of this in a saucepot and heat on medium. This will melt the jams and mix everything together. Set aside.


You'll need three separate bowls for the breading.

In one bowl (far right) put 1 cup flour and 2 tsp baking powder.

In another bowl, break and mix two eggs.

In the last bowl, put 2 cups panko (japanese style bread crumbs), 1 cup coconut flakes, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp allspice.


Take your peeled and deveined shrimp and put in the flour, coating both sides. Shake any excess flour off.


Dredge in the egg, shaking off any extra.


Lay in the breadcrumb/coconut mix and press the breading on both sides to make sure it all sticks.


Heat some oil in a pot, fry daddy, or wok to 360*. Carefully lower the shrimp into the oil. I fried up about 5 at a time. If you're using a wok, you can put 10-12 in. Fry until the shrimp is nice and golden (about 3-4 minutes)


Set on a paper towel to drain any excess oil off.

Serve warm.


NOTE: You don't want to make these too far ahead of time because then you'll have to re-heat and run the risk of having tough, chewy shrimp. Spoon some of the dip into a bowl or martini glass and put in the middle of a plate. Scatter the shrimp around the glass or bowl and serve. If you want a little decoration, put some fresh pineapple wedges on the plate and a hibiscus or plumeria flower.

These were a BIG hit at the party! Thanks so much for letting me cater your shin dig, Alexandra and Darleen! xo


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_98gvtsmjdv

.white chocolate blackberry brownie bites.

Hello Fay. Yes.. *that* Fay. Tropical Storm Fay. She decided to come for a visit and it looks like she has finally calmed down some. It has been raining and blowing like crazy outside. Our house backs up to a wetland and it's normally dry dry dry, but the water has crept up to our grass!

Paige has been out of school the past two days so I've been thinking of things to do with her while she's home. One thing we did was make dessert to go with our dinner. These little yummies were ooooh so good.

My sister, Marcia, used to sell Pampered Chef and one of the recipes she made quite often, are their little tuxedo bites. I kind of got the idea based off of those, but changed the filling from their cream cheese/whipped cream mixture, to a white chocolate macadamia mousse. And instead of the cherry on top, I used a fresh blackberry. Very delicious!

These would be great for a party since their bite-sized. You could probably make these in regular muffin sized pans, but it wouldn't look as pretty, in my opinion. :)



Begin by making one brownie mix as directed on the package.


Pour into a mini muffin pan about half way up. (it is tough getting a picture while you're trying to pour. LOL)

Put in a 350* and bake until the tops are domed and baked all the way through.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.


Using this handy tool from Pampered Chef, press the centers down to make them into little cups.

Let's make the mousse now.

Put 2 eggs and 1/3 cup sugar.

Put the bowl on top of a saucepan that has about 1" of water in the pot. You don't want the bowl sitting in water so you don't need that much.

Whisk vigorously as the water comes to boil. The steam will cook the eggs and we want this nice and fluffy. Keep whisking until a thermometer reads 140*.


Remove the bowl from the double boiler and add a bag of Mauna Loa white chocolate chips w/ chopped macadamia nuts. If you don't want nuts, add 6 oz white chocolate. Mix until the chocolate melts completely.


Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Put in the fridge and allow to cool completely.


Once the chocolate has cooled, put 1 cup cream in an ice cold mixing bowl.


Whip on high until firm peaks form. My pictures are light or dark! Fay gave me very poor lighting all day. Sorry about that.


Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate/egg mix. Don't overbeat. Put this back in the fridge and let chill for 3 hours.


Carefully pull all the brownie bites out of the muffin pan. Now I remember why I hate this stupid pan. LOL... they stuck SO BAD!


Transfer the mousse into a piping bag and squeeze some into each cup.


Place blackberries (or strawberry, or raspberry, or cherry!) on the center. Chill for about an hour before serving.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_100gs4zvftw

.curry chicken with rice.

When I was a teenager, my mom got a recipe from my great grandmother for curry chicken with rice. She called it curry chicken.. but that is too undescriptive. It conjurs images of the soupy indian dish, which this isn't. About a year ago, I emailed my mom asking her to get me a copy of it, because I was craving it. I don't like curry normally, but this has very subtle flavor, which paired with the veggies and chicken is perfect!

She told me she had no idea what I was talking about, but checked anyway. She couldn't find it. Well, fast forward to about a month or two ago, I get a card in the mail from my mom and tucked inside was..... THE RECIPE! She really DID have it! HA! (see mom, it WASN'T just my imagination!) Not only did she give me a typed copy of the recipe, but she attached a copy of the original written by my Grandma's own hand! She passed away almost 7 years ago so this is something I'll treasure.

I needed to take a dish to a potluck and thought I would make this. I doubled the recipe so what you see in the photos? Cut in half. :)



Cook 2 chicken breasts.


Chop up when cool to handle.


Cook up some rice. You can use white or brown. You'll need 2 cups (cooked).


Cut up some green bell pepper. 1/2 cup worth.


Dice up 1 cup onion.


Chop 1 cup celery.


Mince 2 cloves garlic.


Slice 1 cup mushrooms. You can take the easy way and buy them presliced like I did.


Heat a little oil in a skillet and saute the garlic for 30 seconds.


Add the onion, pepper, and celery.


Season with salt and pepper.


When the onions are soft and transparent, add the mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

Add 2 tsp curry powder. Mix well.


Put the rice in a large bowl.


Add the chicken and sauteed veggies. Mix well.


Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup.


Mix everything together really well. If you want, add 1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds. It gives this dish a little crunch.


Dump everything into a casserole dish and bake at 350* for 1/2 hour.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_99c4j5t7gp

.chicken parmesan.

Do you ever have those nights when everything you had planned for dinner goes wrong and you wind up going out to eat? Well, I was having one of those nights. One of the major ingredients I was going to use for a dish went bad so it sent me scrambling. I had some leftover italian sausage links in the fridge, and I had french bread just aching to be garlic'd up and toasted. Love me some garlic toast!





The original dish called for chicken, so I thought I would make chicken parmesan, and do a whole italian dinner plate thing.





If you've never made your own marinara, you really should try. It can be made in half hour and is perfect as the topper for your chicken. Let me show you how.








Dice a little onion, chop some parsley, and mince some garlic.








Dice up some roma (or plum) tomato. Make sure you remove all the gooey seeds first.








You're going to need a can of tomato sauce and tomato paste.








Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Saute up the onion, garlic, and tomato for a minute.








Very blurry picture, but pour in a little white wine to keep the onion and garlic from burning.








Add the whole can of tomato sauce, and only half the can of tomato paste. If you buy the small small can of paste, you can put the whole thing in.








Add your parsley, salt, pepper, a dash of sugar, and some crushed fennel seed (just crush them in your hand as you put them in the pan).





Lower the heat to simmer and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.








Take your chicken breasts and put them on cornstarch dusted saran wrap. Put a little cornstarch on top of the chicken, then put another length of saran on top. Pound with a mallet or heavy skillet until the breasts are slightly flattened.








In one dish, put an egg and whisk with a fork. In another, put some herbed breadcrumbs. Now if you actually plan ahead of time, leave some bread out to dry overnight and use the cheese grater to crumb the bread (or use a food processor). Fresh crumbs are so much better than the boxed kind you get at the store.



Dredge each chicken breast in the egg.

Then put into the breadcrumbs to coat completely.

Voila. Coated chicken breasts.

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and sear both sides of the chicken about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown.


Pull from the pan and put in a baking dish. Top with the marinara and some grated mozzarella cheese. Pop in a 350* for 20 minutes.



Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_101dcjphwdh