Shrimp Burgers with Special Sauce

Bridget’s #5

Shrimp Burgers with Special Sauce

This recipe comes from my dear friend Joanie.  When I lived in Bluffton, SC we became instant friends.  She has been a compass in my life, always guiding me in a better direction.  She knows everything about southern hospitality!  She is a true southern lady and I love her with all my heart.

One Friday Bridget and I pulled into the driveway of her beautiful home and she had made us shrimp burgers and we were instantly hooked!  They are inspired from a Coastal Living recipe but made memorable by this special lady!!

Serves 8

1 pound of medium shrimp. Peeled and deveined

1 T of butter

½ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 ½ cups of panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup of mayonnaise

1 large egg

1 TSP lemon zest

Salt and pepper

½ TSP dry mustard

Shredded lettuce

Hamburger buns

Special sauce

½ cup of mayonnaise

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T ketchup

½ TSP Worcestershire sauce

2 TSP sweet pickle relish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Pulse shrimp in a food processor 4 or 5 times until chopped.  Do not chop too much or you will end up with mush.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat, add celery and onion.  Sauté until tender. 

In a large bowl add chopped shrimp, mayonnaise, egg, lemon zest, salt and pepper, dry mustard, cooled vegetables and 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs.  

Combine together and form into 8 patties. Dredge the patties in the remaining ½ cup of panko breadcrumbs….this makes it extra crunchy!

On a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper cook the 8 patties in the oven for 10 minutes. 

Serve on a hamburger bun with shredded lettuce and secret sauce!

Truffle fries on the side are a must.  Here is how I did it…….

1 bag of frozen Ore Ida Extra Crunchy Fast Food Fries 

Truffle salt

On a large cookie sheet add frozen fries in a single layer and sprinkle with truffle salt to taste.  Cook in a 415 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until golden a crispy.

Made with love and approved by Bridget!

 

Corn and Crab Chowder

Bridget’s #6

One year at our beloved home in Maine we had experienced corn and crab chowder at a road side diner.  After some research I created my own version that became a favorite for many, especially my Dad and my daughter.

I hope it becomes your family’s favorite too!

Corn and Crab Chowder

2 T butter

1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 small red onion, peeled and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

Salt and pepper

2 T Old Bay Seasoning

3 T  all purpose flour

2 cups of chicken broth

4 cups of whole milk

6 sprigs of thyme

1 lemon, peeled

1 cup of sherry wine, the real stuff not cooking sherry

4 ears of corn, kernels scraped off the cob…save the cobs

8 oz of wild caught lump crab meat

In a large stock pot melt your butter on medium heat and add the next 4 ingredients.  Sauté until cooked and soft.  Add the Old Bay and the flour.  Stir into vegetables until they are covered with the flour mixture.  Cook for 2 minutes.  This will burn off the flour taste and make a nice paste that will thicken your chowder.

Important tip

I warm my chicken broth and milk in the microwave.  I think this is an important step in thickening process.  Adding cold liquid to a hot pan cools your pan and stops the cooking process.

Add your warm chicken broth slowly to your vegetables and stir until thick.  After adding the chicken broth stir in the warm milk, lemon peel, thyme sprigs and sherry.  Now the important part…..add your corn cobs!  There is a milky liquid that you will extract from simmering them in you chowder. 

Simmer your chowder for a half an hour. Remove the corn cobs, lemon peel and the thyme sprigs.

Add your corn and cook for 15 minutes.   You do not want to simmer your corn too long because it will become too soft. 

When your chowder is done add half of it to a food processor and puree.  Place back into the pot and add your crab. You are ready to serve!

Sealed with approval from my Dad and Bridget!!!  Enjoy J

Basil Lime Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower

Bridget’s #7

Basil Lime Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower

The chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast

3 limes juiced

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

3 T Dijon mustard

3 T Worcestershire sauce

3 T Soy sauce

6 green onions chopped and divided

4 cloves of garlic minced and divided

2 T basil chopped and divided

Salt and pepper to taste

Start your grill on medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees.

Slice your chicken breast length wise so you how chicken tenders.

 

In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients.  In a smaller bowl save ½ cup of the sauce for later use. 

Add the chicken to the large bowl and stir together to combine.  Refrigerate for ½ an hour but no longer.  Lime juice will cook the chicken so be careful not to leave it too long.

Place chicken on the grill and cook until done.

Mashed Cauliflower

1 large head of cauliflower; cut off the stem and used only the top part

1 box of chicken broth

1 T chicken better than bouillon

3 smashed garlic clove; peeled

¾ cup of cream cheese

Parmesan cheese

In a large pot bring the chicken broth, cut up cauliflower, better than bouillon and garlic cloves to a boil.  Cover and simmer until the cauliflower is soft, about a ½ an hour.

Drain the chicken broth and using an electric mixer blend the cauliflower with the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese until smooth.

Spoon the mashed cauliflower on the plate and place chicken strips over the cauliflower.  Spoon the extra sauce over the chicken!

This is so yummy you will make it all of the time!!!!!

Balsamic Brussel Sprouts with Blue Cheese Crumbles

Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Blue Cheese Crumbles

So to say that I am not a big fan of brussels sprouts is an understatement!  All of my life they have been boiled and mushy.  Roasting these cute little veggies is the secret to making them one of your favorites.

 

Here is how I do it……..

1 pound of brussels sprouts

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Crumbled blue cheese

Preheat your oven to 415 degrees.

Cut your brussels sprouts in half and place on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I would eye ball how much you need.  Always start small and then you can always add more.  Use your hands and mix the vinegar and oil with the brussels sprouts.  Lay the sprouts cut side down.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  I use kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  I use a heavy hand with the salt.  They needed more than you think!

I bake them between 15-20 minutes.  The balsamic makes this caramelized crust on the cut side….this is the secret to success.  Make sure they are crispy just like French fries.  When they are done sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and place back in the oven until cheese is melted.

I hope this recipe changes your mind about these under loved veggies!

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto with Pancetta

Bridget’s #8

I started making risotto about 10 years ago.  I am a big Food Network fan and I was watching Giada make her mushroom risotto and decided to give it a try and now it is my family’s favorite dish.  I have perfected it over the years and have made it my own.  I am not one for measuring so every time I make it is a little different.  Bridget is my best critic.  There for a while I was making it every week and I would ask her thumbs up or thumbs down.  I am excited to share my perfected Risotto with you!!!!

Here is how I do it:

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto with Pancetta

Stock

1 box of chicken broth

2 cups of water

2 tablespoons of chicken Better Than Bouillon

1 whole lemon

A hand full of thyme sprigs

2 cloves of garlic

4 slices of thin pancetta

1 small red onion chopped

2 large portabella mushrooms chopped

1 cup of Arborio rice

½ cup of white wine

8-10 stalks of asparagus; the tough bottom parts removed and cut in half

Either the meat of 2 whole roasted chicken breast or one rotisserie chicken; pulled and shredded

½ cup of parmesan cheese

Bring all of the stock ingredients to a simmer in a large stock pot.  Cover and keep warm.

Cook the pancetta until crisp in a large saute pan and place on plate for later.  In the pancetta grease saute the onions until soft and then add the chopped portabella mushrooms.  This is when you want to cook the vegetables until they are golden.  This is the make or break point in the flavor of the risotto.  The darker the vegetables the more flavorful!  Now not so brown that they are to the point of burning but look for the mushrooms to become a deep color and the onions have absorbed that portabella color!

At this point you will add the risotto and mix with the vegetables.  Add the wine and while stirring scrape up the golden flavors from the bottom of the pan.  Pancetta grease, caramelized veggies…… oh my!!!!

Once the wine has been absorbed into the rice, start adding your flavored broth a cup at a time.  You will see tiny thyme leaves being added to your risotto dish…this means it is going to be just right!  After making risotto for 10 years I am a firm believer that your stock should have a base flavor that the rice will absorb.  I love the combination of thyme, lemon and garlic.

You will continue adding the broth one cup at a time until you see the risotto starch forming a creamy sauce.  I like my rice soft but some of the chefs in the world like it al dente.  It is your choice.

Just before the rice is done I take out all of the solids from the stock and blanch my asparagus. 

Once your asparagus are cooked but crunchy add them to the rice as well as your shredded chicken and parmesan cheese.  Crumble your pancetta on top and you are ready to serve!

Nanny's Hamburgers turned up a notch!

Bridget’s #9

Nanny’s Hamburgers turned up a notch!

I grew up in a meat and potatoes family.  My Mom is 100% Irish……Dennelly and Maloney are my grandparents!  

Meet Bridget (yes I named my daughter after her) Delia Maloney Dennelly and James Phillip Dennelly. 

My Nana taught my Mom to make the best gravy. We say my Mom can take anything and make gravy from it. At Thanksgiving she is the only one allowed to make the gravy!  That is another subject for another blog. 

This is a recipe my Nana use to make for my Mom and her brothers and sister.  They grew up in Port Washington, Long Island NY in a small house.  The two girls shared the same bedroom, my Mom being the youngest of four,  and her two brothers slept on pullout sofas.  They also shared the one bathroom with their parents.  Times were tight with money but my Nana knew how to make it work!  Hamburgers and gravy went a long way for a little bit of money.

I have taken this recipe my Mom made from her mother’s recipe and turned up the volume!!!  Now it is #9 on Bridget’s top 10 favorite recipes.  It seems it is being handed down from generation to generation!!!!

Check it out………

When my mother would make this she would brown the hamburgers and onions and add water and let it simmer and then thicken it with cornstarch to make the gravy.

Here is my ‘turned up a notch’ version…….

Serves 4

1 ½ pounds of ground beef-I use 90% lean formed into 4 pattys

1 red onion cut in half and sliced

1 small box of baby bella mushrooms sliced

1 box of beef broth

2 tablespoons of beef better than bouillon

1/2 cup of good red wine-anything you would drink will do!

6 fresh carrots cut in 1” cubes

Fresh thyme sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup of cornstarch

Brown your hamburger patties in a large iron skillet.  I always use an iron skillet when I need to brown anything.  My Nana used one, my Mom uses one and now I use one.  This will be the first thing I buy my daughter when she has a house.  There is nothing like the sear and golden goodness you get from this pan. 

Add your sliced onions and cook them down until they are soft.  

Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are golden and add the beef broth, beef bouillon, red wine, carrots, thyme sprigs and salt and pepper.  Let this simmer on the stove for approximately an half an hour.  This allows the hamburger meat to absorb all of the flavors.

When you are ready add the egg noodles to boiling water.  They do not take long to cook so do this part at the end.

In a coffee or measuring cup add the cornstarch.  Slowly add water to the cornstarch to create a heavy cream consistency.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture….before your eyes you will have decadent gravy!!!

Serve over the egg noodles.

Handed down by generations and approved by my daughter Bridget.  

Shrimp Risotto

As you get to know me you will find out that I am a risotto maniac!

When my sister Wendy brought me this recipe I thought......I have to make this!

Here is how I did it.....

Serves 6

The stock

1 box of chicken broth 

2 cups of water

2 tablespoons of better than bouillon-chicken

The shells of 1 pound of shrimp

The dark green parts of 2 leeks. Make sure they are cleaned thoroughly 

1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns

1/2 cup of sherry/I buy Fairbanks sherry in the wine section of the grocery store.

1 lemon cut in half

10 sprigs of tarragon

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Simmer for a half an hour.

Once the flavors have married together strain the solids and keep broth on low with a lid on. I am a firm believer that the flavor you put into your broth will absorb throughout the aborio rice. 

The risotto

6 strips of fresh bacon

White parts of 2 leeks. Slice them and let soak in water so all of the grit settles to the bottom. 

1/2 cup of sherry

1 1/2 cup of arborio rice

Lemon peel

Frozen green peas. Add as you like!

A palm full of Tarragon leaves

Pinch of Cayenne pepper. The more you add the hotter the dish. 

1teaspoon of fresh nutmeg

Parmesan cheese

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crunchy. Remove bacon and add your soaked leeks. Cook leeks until just golden. Add the aborio rice and let it absorb the leek and bacon flavors. 

At this time I peel a whole lemon and cut the peel into extremy thin stips. They almost look like flat tooth picks. I have learned that if you want major lemon flavor this step is the trick. As the risotto cooks the lemon peel breaks down and creates that strong lemon taste. 

Add sherry wine and once it is absorbed started ladling the broth one cup at a time. This is my favorite part. I love to cook risotto with a crowd. With a glass of wine in hand adding the broth is a great time to chat with friends. This is the key part to making great risotto. As you add the broth you will notice the starch from the rice creating a creamy deliciousness!

Keep adding the broth until the rice is soft and creamy. Tasting is the best way to know it is perfect!

Once the rice is just right add the shrimp and stir until pink and cook through. Add peas, tarragon, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese. 

You are ready to serve!!

Approved by my Sister Wendy!!!! Also her husband Frank. He said this was the best meal I ever made. What do you think?