Garlic & Olive Oil Shrimp Pasta

This recipe uses ingredients that you most likely already have in your kitchen.  Frozen shrimp are the highlight of this pasta dish and it's a nice change up from the usual marinara sauce.  Make this pasta dish for dinner and your guests will think you picked up carry out from Olive Garden (minus the AWESOME bread sticks of course).

INGREDIENTS:
12 shrimp - peeled and deveined  
1/2 box Spaghetti
3-4 Cloves garlic minced
3 Tbs. Butter
3 Tbs. Olive Oil
1/2 Cup white wine
Parmesan for grating
* Yields 2-3 servings

1.  Begin by cooking the pasta according to the box.  In a large pan heat up the butter and oil.  Add the garlic and let it saute for a few minutes, being careful not to let it burn.

2.  Add in the shrimp and let them cook until almost fully pink.  Add in the 1/2 cup of white wine and turn the heat up to high.  Cook the wine for a few minutes until it has reduced by half. 

3.  Top spaghetti with shrimp and garlic butter sauce.  Top with grated parmesan and parsley.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fried Ravioli

Pasta and cheese is a fantastic combination and after deep frying it, it was even more amazing.  Are you ever looking for a new idea for pasta other than just dredging it in pasta sauce? This recipe is really easy and super cheap.  The best part of this recipe is that you can buy ppre-made ravioli and marinara in the store.

INGREDIENTS:
1 package pre-made cheese filled ravioli
1 small jar marinara
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 Tbs. dry parsley
1 Tbs. dry  basil
2 Eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
Vegetable oil
Parmesan sheep

1.  Begin by heating an inch or two of oil in a medium sized pot.  The oil should be hot enough to crisp up a piece of bread in 10 seconds.  Keep a close eye on the oil, you do not want it to overheat.

2.  While the oil is heating, Combine the egg and milk in a bowl, and the bread crumbs, panko, parsley, and basil in a dish.

3.  When the oil is ready, dip the ravioli in the egg mixture and then the bread crumbs.  Drop gently into the hot oil flipping after a minute or two until the raviolis are golden brown.  Only cook about 2 or 3 raviolis at one time.  Otherwise, the oil will cool down too much and your raviolis wont cook properly.

4.  Put the cooked raviolis on a couple sheets of paper towel to soak up the extra oil and top with shredded Parmesan.  Heat up the marinara and serve.

Steak Bits with Garlic Herb Smashed Potatoes

I've been absent this entire week, but I am officially back on the cooking schedule (I'm sure Blake is happy about this), and ladies it worked!!!!!! Blake decided he couldn't live life without my cooking and sealed the deal, a.k.a we're engaged! As you can imagine most of our week was full of dinners and celebrations with friends and family. We took an evening to ourselves and walked down town for some food at a new restaurant that just opened up in downtown Northville.  I got my inspiration for this dinner from their menu, which was very good and very tasty.  They had steak bites and mashed potatoes on their menu and I was SO excited, but then I found out that their "chop" sauce was basically just gravy.  I wanted steak, potatoes, and steak sauce not gravy.  Therefore I told Blake, "Tomorrow we shall eat steak!"

I made enough for the two of us, and we still had left overs.  Plus I froze about 1/3 of the steak that I didn't even use.  Obviously if you don't want to make your own mashed potatoes, they have a lot of pre-made containers in the grocery store these days that are pretty good.

STEAK BITS:
3/4 lb. Top Sirloin steak cut into cubes 
1/2 Large sweet onion sliced
3 Cloves garlic minced
2 Tbs. Cajun spices (This amount depends on how much spice you like)
2 Tbs. Butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

1.  Begin by heating the butter in a large skillet on medium to medium - high heat.  Add the onions and saute until tender.  Add in garlic shortly before the onions are finished being careful not to burn.

2.  Add the cubes of steak to the hot pan and cook for about 2 minutes.  Flip steak bits over in the pan until they are cooked on all sides.  (If you need to, you may drain some of the excess juices from the pan, I didn't want any gravy type sauce so I got rid of the extra juices right before the steak bits were finished).  The cooking process should take about 5-6 minutes total.

** Because the steak bits are cut into cubes, they will cook fairly quickly.  You don't want to have to chew through rubber, so be sure to not cook the steak bits too much.

3.  Pile steak bits on top of mashed potatoes and top with sauce!

GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES:
4 Red Russet potatoes (This was for two of us, with extras)
1/4 Cup Ricotta cheese (You could use sour cream or greek yogurt instead too, whatever you have on hand)
2-3 Tbs. Butter
2-3 Tbs. Milk (Add more depending on how thick or smooth you want your potatoes)
1 Tbs. Chives minced
1 Tbs. Parsley minced
2-3 Cloves garlic minced
Salt & Pepper to taste

1.  Fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil.

2. Cut potatoes into fours and add to boiling water.  Cook until potatoes are fork tender.

3.  Once the potatoes are done cooking, add to a bowl with ricotta, butter, milk, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper.  Mash with a potato masher or large fork.

STEAK SAUCE:
1/4 Cup Ketchup
2 Tbs. Honey
1/4 Cup A1 Steak Sauce
1/2 Tbs. Blackened Cajun Spices
1 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Tsp. Chili Powder 
Salt & Pepper to taste

1.  Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and spoon over steak when ready.  This could be made ahead of time.