Dishes I Miss Having~

Today I found The Danish Kitchen blog.  It is a bit like My English Kitchen, which I think is really good because she posts every day and since her time is several hours ahead of the USA, we get to see what is cooking in Britain.  One of the dishes I miss not only in the home but at restaurants is a good seafood salad.  The Danish Kitchen presented one on her blog and here it is:

March 19, 2012 by mydanishkitchen

Shrimp And Crab Salad

I have been looking for a really good seafood salad and I think I finally found it. This recipe is super delicious! I kept the Old Bay down to just a scant 1/2 teaspoon because often times I think the Old Bay is just too overpowering and it ends up ruining the gently seafood flavors. And of course dill, seafood and lemon juice is a match made in heaven. The flavors enhance the more time you let it rest in the refrigerator so I would recommend you make it several hours before serving. This recipe gave me at least four generous servings. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
4 ounces cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp
4 ounces cooked crab-meat
1 hard-boiled egg, finely diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup celery, finely diced
1 small shallot, finely diced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
1/2 scant teaspoon Old Bay
Directions:
Peel, devein and cook shrimp until pink (2-3 minutes). Once shrimp has cooled off, cut into bite size pieces and set aside.

In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, celery, shallot, lemon juice, dill and Old Bay, stir to combine. Add shrimp, crab meat and egg. Toss gently to coat with mayo sauce, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour. Serve on fresh bread, crackers, pita wedges or whatever your heat desires.
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Some people are able to run out to buy fresh crab at the thought of a special dish, but in Ohio if we want something good and quick, we buy Great Blue Crab Meat.  It is around $16.00 a can for 16 ounces, and it is very good.  I stock up when it is on sale at Giant Eagle for just over $9. a can...still a lot, but my friend, Ruth Smith, spent $16. a pound for fresh crab 25 years ago when I was with  her  and I will never forget that extravagance...it was really special. She actually bought two pounds of it and it brought me to my knees! She lived in Gettysburg, Pa. and her fish monger was exceptional and so was she.  Now I use this in a pasta dish for special family parties with a homemade Alfredo sauce .

On the can is this recipe:

Great blue crab-stuffed cherry tomatoes
30 ripe cherry tomatoes
1/2 pound of crab meat
4 tsp. sour cream
1 tbs. chopped parsley 1 tbs. finely diced onion
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. seafood seasoning (like Old Bay)
1/8 tsp. white pepper
With your finger or small spoon, carefully remove about half of the tomato pulp from each cherry tomato. Combine the above ingredients and the saved tomato pulp and fill each of the tomatoes...serve right away or save in the refrigerator for up to an hour.

I miss things with rhubarb--just a touch and only once a season.  Cook's Corner in the Columbus Dispatch had an interesting recipe called rhubarb custard bars.

Crust
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar8 tablespoons chilled butter, cut in small pieces
To make the crust combine flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry blender.  Press the mix into prepared pan and bake 15 minutes at 350 until crust is lightly brown.
Meanwhile, make the filling:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups skim milk
3 large eggs
whisk the filling items well and add the rhubarb (fresh)
Pour filling into crust.  Bake around 40 minutes or until set.  Cool to room temperature
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping thawed (I don't know that I will go the fat-free route with rhubarb)
To make the topping combine sugar, cream cheese and vanilla in a bowl.  Beat with a mixer until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over baked filling. Cover and chill at least an hour and then serve cold.
Lindsay L. Columbus
                                                 DISHES I INTEND HAVING
In case you are not reading the English Kitchen, here is another great idea from Marie.  It can be a sweet or savory treat.  This one is savory, but to change it up, forget the savory and do the round loaf with cinnamon, sugar and butter.

Pluckit bread: I have made this four times since this post and it has rushed off the table in no time. EASY and special.  We are having this with drinks right off the bat on Memorial Day.

This round bread is sliced cross ways down TO but not through the loaf.  Fill the slits with cheese, garlic, onions, salt pepper, more cheese and bake it covered in the oven, then uncover and bake a few more minutes to brown it slightly.

*Onion, Garlic and Cheese Pluckit Bread*Makes one large DELICIOUS loaf
Printable Recipe

This makes a fabulous party food, or side dish to an Italian meal. Your family will love, Love, LOVE this!

1 large round un-sliced Boule loaf of bread
16 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese, sliced thinly
4 ounces of butter, softened
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp of hot sauce
4 to 6 spring onions, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Place a large piece of foil on a baking sheet.

Cut the boule of bread lengthwise into cuts, 1/2 inch apart, cutting all the way through to the bottom but NOT through the bottom. Leave the bottom intact. Turn the boule 90* and make cuts again in the same way, making sure that once again you don't cut all the way through the bottom of the loaf.

Stir together the softened butter, onion powder, poppy seeds, hot sauce and chopped spring onions. Spread this mixture down into the cuts, all the way through the loaf, reserving a couple of TBS for the end. Tuck slices of the cheese down into the cuts also. Place the bread onto the foil wrap. Brush the top of the bread all over with the remaining butter mixture. Wrap the foil over top of the bread to completely enclose it.

Bake for 15 minutes. Loosen the foil and uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve hot at the table. Allow people to pluck their own bits to eat.

I don't miss having this, because I make it when ever I like, but in surfing the cooking blogs I found this slow cooker recipe for lasagna from Mulberry blog.

Slow Cooker Spinach Lasagna

2 containers (16 ounces each) cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
16 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 jars (24 ounces each) Newman's Own Pesto and Tomato Sauce
12 large lasagna noodles, uncooked

--In medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and spinach.
--In slow cooker, spread 1 cup tomato sauce. Layer 4 lasagna noodles, broken to fit, then 1 cup pasta sauce and 1/2 of the spinach/cheese mixture; repeat. Top with remaining 4 lasagna noodles and 2 cups tomato sauce. Cook covered on LOW 5 to 6 hours.
--Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover and cook an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

From Mulberry Spot (blog)

I surf cooking blogs and found this one. You ladies who still work outside the home might like this recipe. I've found if you cook lasagna one day and reheat it to serve the next day, it cuts beautifully like the picture above. If you serve it the same day you cook it, it does not serve as prettily, but tastes just as good--pretty or not.