Super Easy Grilled Shrimp

Rick and I decided to grill out last night (yum steaks!!) and for an easy starter, I decided to grill some shrimp that I had in the refrigerator that I was afraid were about to go bad.  This recipe was inspired by this one from Food Network's Barefoot Contessa.  I made some changes based on what ingredients that I had on hand in my kitchen.

Here's what I did...

Super Easy Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients

• 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 sweet onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
  
• 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves
• 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of one lime
• Bamboo skewers

Directions

Soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes.

Mix all of the ingredients (minus the skewers) in a bowl and marinate the shrimp for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator.  Skewer the shrimp on the bamboo skewers.  Heat the grill to medium heat and grill the shrimp for around 1 minute per side.  Grilling time depends on the size of the shrimp (larger ones may require a little more time).

Enjoy!

Adventures in Baking...Inservice Cupcakes!

At work tomorrow, we have an inservice in the CTRC for one of our new studies.  Something that they do in adult rheumatology (where I came from) that I am continuing to do in peds rheumatology is to bring food to the inservice.  Not only is it a treat for the CTRC staff, but it also gives me an excuse to try out new recipes!  Last time, I made a savory snack, but this time, I thought I'd make one of the yummy treats from this Taste of Home booklet/magazine that I got over the summer.  I had thought about making the cupcakes that were on the cover, but I wanted to do something a wee bit similar since I needed to tweak my slides for the inservice a bit this afternoon.  I came up this recipe as an adaption of one for peanut butter cupcakes that was in the booklet/magazine.  I really liked the recipe, but I wasn't feeling the peanut butter frosting.  I decided that instead, I would mix a like Nutella in with the vanilla frosting.  It was the perfect way to use the end of the Nutella that I had in the pantry!

The Hidden Surprise in the Middle!

Here's what I did...

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting....aka Inservice Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 box of white cake mix with instant pudding (will require vegetable oil and eggs)

18 miniature Reese Peanut Butter Cups

1 can of vanilla frosting

Nutella

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into each paper-lined muffin cup.  Place a peanut butter cup in each and then fill 2/3 full with the remaining batter.

Bake int he oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of frosting with 1/3 cup of Nutella until smooth.  Frost cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Rick's B Day dinner

Yesterday was Rick's birthday, and for dinner, I decided to do pork chops.  Rick is a bigger pork chop fan than I am which may explain why we don't have them that often.  Publix had them on sale which also helped with the decision.  I got the ones that had the bone were about an inch thick.  Even though it's a week night, we decided to grill them.  Thanks to my handy-dandy grilling app on my iPhone, they turned out perfectly.  I swear that is the best $1.99 I've spent in my life!!  Everything turns out so much better than if I'm guesstimating how long to grill things.  

Anyway, for their preparation, I marinaded them in low sodium Teriyaki sauce for about an hour.  I also marinaded a chopped green pepper, zucchini, and half of a sweet onion in the sauce (in another container of course).  Normally, I would make the marinade myself, but it was a week night which means less time.  It was starting to get dark (dern you shorter days!) when we made it out to the grill, but they turned out great!  In order to keep them from drying out (my huge fear when it comes to cooking pork), I basted the pork with the sauce that was in the bottom of the veggie bowl.

I was a bad girlfriend, though because I opted for one of those store bought cookies that I wrote "Happy Birthday, Rick" on instead of baking anything, but we all know that I'm not a baker and again, it was a week night!!!  We're gonna be heading to Awendaw to See Wee for dinner this weekend, too.  Yum!!!!

Saturday Salsa Fresca

Those that know me well know that I disdain uncooked tomatoes.  It's something about that smushy, mushy core with the seeds that just kills me.  I don't mind them cooked, and I love them in salsa.  I've never successfully made salsa fresca. I haven't tried in a while, and my last attempt was way too chunky.  I have a food processor now (of course, I've had it for quite a few years now...yes, it's been that long since I made salsa) which should take care of the chunky problem.  I modeled my salsa after my favorite salsa fresca in the world which is found at Carrburritos in Carrboro, NC.  Mine had a few changes (I used lime instead of lemon because I had one here).  I decided to give making salsa another try as a way of using some of the jalapenos that my dad gave me last weekend.  I liked the end product though I think that next time I will use a sweet onion instead of a red onion because it was a wee bit onion-y.  Rick really liked the lime in it, and I agree.  It just adds something that is often missing from most store bought varieties.  A big improvement over my last salsa adventure!

Before

Here's what I did...

Salsa Fresca

Ingredients

5 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced

1/2 onion, chopped

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1 lime (or lemon)

Directions

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend together.  Refrigerate and serve.  

Enjoy!

Introducing....Our Lowcountry Kitchen

After a some thought and some playing around with blog design (well, sort of), I am proud to unleash Our Lowcountry Kitchen upon the blogworld!  While I liked my old name, I decided that it was time for a change.  I hope that you like it, too.  I found the pic for our button (coming soon!) and headliner on the web somewhere, and I'd like to give props to whoever did it because it is beautiful and perfect for my blog.  Someday in the future, I'm probably going to have a professional create a design for me, but until then, here we are! 


It may be a few days before I post any new recipes.  Sometimes, life happens, you know?  Last week, I traveled back up to NC for a funeral, and today I had a root canal so it's been a rough week or so for me.  College football starts this week and fall is right around the corner!  I'm looking forward to the lower humidity but not the shorter days.


Thanks for stopping by!!!