Summer Picnic Ideas

We are headed to an outdoor concert this weekend and the venue is famous for elaborate outdoor picnics. Can't even wait.  It's going to be like a fancy shmancy tailgate which just has my name all over it.  Picnics are tricky.  You have to pack things that will travel well, that will do well at room temp for awhile (read: won't kill your guests), and is conducive to longs spans of wine drinking.  I went deep into the Hardly Housewives archives and found the following ideas.  YUM. 

1. Avocado Black Bean Salsa.  This is money.  You know why?  It's totally fine at room temp and it actually gets better the longer it sits since it continues to meld and marinate.  The only problem?  It won't even last that long. 

3.  Cucumber and Salami Tea Sandwiches.  These are cute and dainty.  Not the best choice for room temp, so you would want to keep these cool and then eat them early on in the picnic.  BUT AREN'T THEY SO CUTE?  So cute. 

4. Roasted Rosemary Marcona Almonds.  These are the bomb.  And so easy to make and just fancy enough to make your picnic seem all the more special.  Serve these next to some cheese and meat and you'll have a beautiful spread. 

5. Zero Guilt Cookie Dough Dip.  OMG.  A dessert that tastes like cookie dough, that you can feel good about, AND it'll be totally fine at room temp?  HELLO.  Picnic perfection right here.  

6.  Asparagus Puff Pastry.  This looks divine (haven't tried Caitlin's recipe yet!) and think it would be lovely for a fancy little spread.  

7.  Parmesan Panko Breaded Chicken Fingers. Fried chicken is a picnic must. It's awesome at room temp, just make sure it doesn't sit out for too long, especially in the sun.  I like the idea of doing chicken fingers because eating off the bone is extra messy...especially if you aren't near a sink. 

...speaking of chicken...

8.  Buffalo Chicken Crostini. Not good at room temp?  I challenge!  I've had these at room temp and they are delish. AND since you cook them with the cheese, they stay together and don't fall apart during transport.  Boom shaka laka. 

Ok that's all I got.  I'll be sure to take some pics and share whatever it is I throw together this weekend. 

Stay hungry! 

French Onion Dip

This weekend we went out to dinner with some dear friends to a new(ish) restaurant in Chicago called the Tortoise Club. Per usual, I scoped out the menu a few days before and they had something yummy listed - homemade french onion dip with sea salt and vinegar chips.  I couldn't wait to try it. When we went to order it, however, they were out! W...T...F.  Anyway, it was stuck in my head so I thought I would whip it up myself and it came out great!  Score.  

Start by melting butter and a little olive oil in a pan. 

Next, add your shallots, garlic, and vidalia onions.  I love all of these ingredients...I mean, how can this dip not be good.

 Break up the onions so they cook nice and evenly...like this.  Add some salt and pep.

The trick is to cook the onions low and slow...you have to be patient here.  I cooked them over low/medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring every few mins. 

If the onions start to stick (which they will) add a little water to loosen them up, about two tablespoons at a time. This will help deglaze the pan a bit too.

Remove the onions from the pan and let cool.  While cooling, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic powder, Worcestershire and balsamic vinegar.  If you only have Worcestershire, use that. I like the tang of the vinegar, but don't go out of your way.  It's subtle.



This is optional, but I like green onions so I added some to the dip to freshen it up a bit and add some color.



Once the onions have cooled off, give them a rough chop and then add them to the rest of the ingredients.  Taste it and season appropriately with pepper and a little salt, if needed.

Cover and set aside in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or until it's nice and chilled and set up.  This is important because it takes a bit for the flavors to meld.   

YUMMMYYYY.  This was so delicious!  Never, ever ever ever, buy premade onion dip again.  This is soooo much better.

Here's the recipe YA'LLLLL.

2 Tbs of Butter
1 Tbs of Olive Oil 
2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped 
1 Large Shallot, Chopped 
2 Large Vidalia Onions, Sliced 
2 Cups Sour Cream
1 Cup Hellman's Mayonnaise 
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbs Worcestershire
1 Tbs of Balsamic Vinegar 
2 Tbs of Chopped Green Onions 
Salt & Pepper to Taste 

Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, and shallot.  Work the onions to loosen up the rings.  Lower heat to low/medium and saute for 20-30 minutes or until onions are a deep golden brown.  If onions stick, add a little water to deglaze.  Set onions aside to cool.  In a mixing bowl, add sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic powder, Worcestershire, balsamic,  and green onions.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Once onions have cooled a bit, give them a rough chop and then add them to the rest of the mixture.  Cool in the fridge for 2-3 hours at least, but can cool for up to 24 hours.  Serve with sea salt and vinegar chips, celery, or any other goodies you like.

Stay hungry!

Healthy "Crab Cakes"

OOOO these were so good.  SO good.  Light, crispy, deconstructed, fancy shmancy crab cake endive bites.  All the flavor with a whole lot less guilt. 

We were having friends over this weekend for a heavy steak dinner.  Steak + cooking at very high temps = high drama.  So not only did I want to make an appetizer that was light and wouldn't crush every ones appetite, but something that was easy to make ahead and assemble quickly.

Charlie and I made crab cakes at a cooking class a few weeks ago and they were so delicious, that all I've been thinking about is that flavor.  That fresh seafood, crunchy buttery flavor.  Since we were having steak, hash browns, wedge salad, and a mess of other things, I thought I'd make a slightly less horrifyingly fattening version.  SCORE.

With the crunch of the endive, I promise I'll never go back to the deep friend version.  These were so much better.

Here's the recipe peeps:

4 Heads of Endive
12 Oz of Premium Lump Crab Meat (Fresh is best or canned in the fridge section) 
1/4 Cup Hellman's Mayonnaise 
1-2 Tsp of Sriracha 
1 Garlic Clove, Finley diced and worked into a paste 
2 Tbs Finely Minced Chives, plus more for garnish  
1 Tbs of Dijon Mustard 
1 Tsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce 
1/3 Red Pepper, Finely Diced 
1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice 
1/4 Cup of Panko Bread Crumbs, seasoned with salt & pepper
1 Tbs of Butter 
Lemon Zest 

Trim and clean the endive, separate and set aside the best leaves.  Drain crab and rinse gently with cold water, pick through grab and discard any rogue shells.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Add all the ingredients to the crab except of the lemon zest, Panko and butter.  Gently mix everything together, careful not to pulverize the crab - you want to leave nice big chunks.  If possible, chill crab mixture for two hours. Right before serving, melt butter over medium heat and add breadcrumbs that have been seasoned with salt and pepper.  Once they become golden brown, set aside.  Fill endive with a dollop of the crab mixture and then top with a little bit of bread crumbs and additional chives.  Finish with a little lemon zest and ENJOY.

Stay hungry!

Hardly Housewives St. Patrick's Day Recap

St. Patrick's Day in Chicago this year was an absolute ball...and HEY!  I managed to stay married.  Charlie might have even been the more intoxicated one...not sure...sort of hard to tell.  Anyway, we had a great group of friends over and spent the entire day eating and drinking.  Here's a quick recap of the dishes that got us through the day:

 

I had to make SOMETHING healthy so I decided to make a rainbow veggie tray with homemade dill dip.  So, this might not look that hard, but it was so annoying to make.  The vegetables kept sliding everywhere and it's not as easy as you'd think to make a rainbow with clouds and a pot of gold out of all edible ingredients.  It looked cute though and that's all that matters.

 



 



The corned beef was the MVP of the day.  I hit up my good friend Danny for his recipe and MAN was it good.  It was super simple: I just seared it on both sides and then cooked it low and slow - 12 hours at 200 degrees.  I'll do a separate post on it because, well, this baby deserves its own blog...but for realzzz.  It was one of the best things I've ever eaten.  I gave Charlie a bite and he goes OMG WHAT DID YOU JUST GIVE ME.  HOW CAN SOMETHING TASTE SO DELICIOUS.

I should have made four.   It was that good.

So dumb dumb can't figure out how to rotate this picture, but I'll share it anyway.  This was a super simple pasta salad I whipped together with pesto, peas, and bowties.  I think I underestimated how many people dislike peas.  When we were cleaning up there were little plates with mini pea piles everywhere.  What is wrong with you guys?  Peas are delicious.

 

 

This was the cheesy corned beef bread before it went into the oven.  I doubled the recipe which I would highly encourage you to do if you make it.  It's ridiculous.  

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW TO ROTATE PICTURES ON BLOGGER.  Anyway, these were corned beef cabbage roles with mayo and dill and other awesome stuff.  My girl Madalene brought these over and they were sooooo good.  They were crunchy and Irish and divine.

 

 

Just because I like to make things super complicated on myself, I thought I'd also make some mini shepherds pies.  They had flaky phyllo crusts with layers of beef, corn, mashed potatoes and parsley butter.  The parsley butter was my Mom's idea.  Good call Mom. 

 

These were legit.  I was actually pretty proud of myself.  I'll do a post on these bad boys too. 

 

My friend Cori is always good for something deliciously sweet.  She made these super thin buttery crispy amazing I ate four cookies.  They were gone in like three seconds flat.

I hope you guys had an AWESOME St Patrick's Day and are recovering nicely. 

Stay hungry!

St. Patty's Day Appetizers

OOOO St. Patty's Day.  Just my favorite day in the entire world.  Besides Saturdays.  I really love Saturdays.  I know it's not for another month or so but if you're anything like me (never admit that) then you are already planning and thinking about some St Patty's Day appetizer ideas.

Check out these Potato Skins with Bacon, Cheddar, and Shallots from The Comfort of Cooking.  Looks AMAZING.  Love this little pop of green from the green onions.

Obviously Closet Cooking, one of my favorite food bloggers, comes out with something as ridiculous as Guinness Braised Onion and White Cheddar Quiche.

This is a favorite in our household.  In fact, I often make this little appetizer o' lurve year round.  Check it. Cheesy Corned Beef Bread.

Corned Beef Reuben Sliders from A Southern Soul.  I'm just ticked off I never thought of these on my own.  GOODNESS they look so good.  I will 1,000 percent be making these next month.

I've been dying to make a cheddar beer dip and why not with Guinness?!  Check out The Curvy Carrots Guinness Beer Cheddar Dip.  NOM.

What are your favorite St. Patty's Day appetizers?  

Stay hungry! 

Cheeseburger Dip

Well.  Just guess what I made last weekend....

 

 ....just the BEST DIP EVER.  Seriously.  I had to put it away and then cut both of my hands off because I couldn't and wouldn't stop eating it.  Oh, then Charlie tried it and then he got down on one knee and proposed.  Again. 

 I love Closet Cooking, so I thought I'd try out a variation of his Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip.  Mine doesn't include bacon so it's healthy. HAHAHAHA just kidding.  About the healthy part. 

So I started by browning ground beef with some blackening seasoning.  Blackening seasoning is my new go to - it has salt, spice, and extra flavor - perfect for some multi tasking. 

There we go.  Nice and brown.

While the beef is browning, stir up some sauce for the dip.  I mixed Greek yogurt (sour cream works well too), mayo, ketchup, mustard, ketchup, and a finely chopped garlic clove.

After the beef is done browning, mix in a block of cream cheese...

...and then pour in the sauce you made...

Give it a taste.  Charlie is obsessed (like OBSESSED) with mustard so I added some more.

Ta daaaaaaaa. Wait.  We're not done yet.

Next, add some finely shredded cheese on top.  I used Colby cheddar...but you can use anything you want.

Oooooo la la.  I baked it at 375 for 18 minutes and this is what I got.  Golden melty gloriousness.

A burger is not complete until I have it fully loaded - that's right - pickles, onion, lettuce and tomato.

 I love the contrasting flavors and textures.  Hot bubbly dip, topped with cold crispy fresh veggies.  YUM.

Serve with some crusty baguette and give yourself a long, long hug.  Because you are awesome for making such a baller dip.   Can we just have a moment of silence for the one on the right.  Just look at that overflowing of cheesy goodness.  I can't.  I mean I just can't even handle it right now. 

Cheeseburger Dip Recipe 

1.25 Lbs of Ground Beef (85% Lean) 

1/2 Tsp of Blackening Seasoning 

1 Block of Cream Cheese 

1/4 Cup of Fat Free Greek Yogurt (or sour cream) 

1/4 Cup of Hellman's Mayonnaise 

2 Tbs of Ketchup 

1 Tbs of Yellow Mustard 

1 Tbs of Worcestershire 

1 Clove of Garlic, Finely Chopped 

2 Cups of Shredded Colby Jack Cheese 

1/2 Cup of Sliced Pickles 

1/4 Cup of Diced Onions 

1/2 Cup of Diced Tomatoes 

1/2 Cup of Chopped Lettuce 

Preheat oven to 375.  On the stove top, brown ground beef with blackening seasoning.  Drain grease and add back to skillet.  Add cream cheese and mix together until melted completed.  Mix together the yogurt, mayo, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire, and garlic.  Add to beef and cream cheese.  Taste - add more mustard, or anything else that you'd like.  Add shredded cheese on top and then put in the oven and cook until cheese is  bubbly and melted - about 15-18 minutes.  Top with chopped veggies and serve immediately with crostini, crackers, or whatever else you'd like. 

Stay hungry! 

Super Simple Spicy Shrimp

Charlie was gone this weekend so I knew I was going to be cooking a) mushrooms or b) seafood.  It was snowing all day Saturday so I decided to work with what I already had.  Shrimp it twas. 

Shrimp is such a great go to.  It cooks super fast and it can be made a million different ways.  Oh, it also keeps great frozen. I was in the mood for some kick so I decided to fry up some spicy shrimp and dip it into a Sriracha laced dipping sauce.  Yum.  I'm drooling up in here. 

This sauce was delightful.  I could have drank it.  I just threw together some fat free Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, fresh lemon zest, garlic, some finely chopped red and yellow bell peppers, Sriracha, and seasoning salt.   I gave it a little whisk and voila!   Dipping sauces don't really need to be carefully measured.  Just throw some stuff together and try it...see what it needs...and adjust.  Don't worry - I included exact measurements at the bottom.

You can really use whatever shrimp you like for this.  I usually buy frozen that have already been split and cleaned and thaw them out in the sink.  Obviously fresh is the best, but this is what I had on hand.  It's usually just me eating them, so it works well to buy them frozen and just take out what I need.

After thawing them out in the sink, I patted them down with a paper towel and tossed them with some blackening seasoning.

Charlie and I went to a cooking class on Friday and fell in love with grape seed oil.  It's a super light flavored oil and has a higher smoking point than olive oil, so it works well with searing at a high heat.  So I cranked the heat on high, added some oil, and then when the oil was glistening, I added the shrimp.  Grape seed oil and seafood were just made for each other.  Trust.

I think cooking seafood at a high heat for a lower time, helps form that nice outer crust.  Soft seafood is no bueno.   These came out beeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaautiful.

This makes such a simple, super quick (low carb!) appetizer.  

Just wait til you see what I did with the leftover shrimp.  YUM.

Super Simple Spicy Shrimp Recipe 
Shrimp:
2 Cups of Frozen or Fresh Shrimp, Thawed
1 Tsp of Blackening Seasoning
2 Tbs of Grape Seed Oil

Sauce:
1/4 Cup Fat Free Greek Yogurt
1/4 Cup Hellman's Real Mayonnaise
Zest from 1/2 Lemon
1-2 Tsp of Sriracha
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
2 Tbs Each, Finely Diced Red and Yellow Bell Peppers

Once thawed, pat shrimp with a paper towel.  Toss with blackening seasoning, set aside.  Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside and chill.  Heat skillet over medium high heat and then add grape seed oil.  Let pan heat up until oil is hot and glistening.  Carefully add shrimp, one at a time and flip ounce shrimp turns pink and opaque, about 2 minutes.  Cook other side until shrimp curls and shrimp is cooked all the way through.  Serve immediately while hot with chilled, spicy dipping sauce.

Stay hungry!