Cooking in Denise’s kitchen

Well, I’m home from my week in Indiana and still struggling to carve out time to blog.  But there are pictures on my camera that were taken with the intention of blogging so here’s crossing off some of that list.  In fact this post was finished a week ago and needed just a few more sentences at the end and today, 7 days later, I’m finally getting it completed.
My friend, Denise, is an amazing cook.  I’ve added lots of new things to our meals.  I enjoy cooking and of course, trying new recipes is always fun.  We ate like kings while I was visiting – but you always eat good when you’re at Denise’s table.
One of my favorite dishes she prepares is fettuccine alfredo.  Pasta is most definitely in the top five category of favorites for me.  She decided to add shrimp to it this time along with scallops which her husband requested.  So were we off to hunt for scallops.  We found giant scallops in a 2 pound bag but decided neither of us felt like getting a job to pay for the cost.  A further hunt found a smaller bag, smaller scallops and a much smaller price.  Ching – ching – we now had scallops to add to the dish.
Denise wanted pan seared scallops so I Googled “pan seared shrimp and scallops” and this link had a recipe that rang the bell.
We didn’t make the mushroom hash in the recipe – for that evening we were looking for some direction to simply add the seafood to the parmesan alfredo.
Butter and garlic make Denise smile.  The smell of this meal during preparation were delicious.


 

We both like spinach so although the recipe didn’t call for it we added it on our own.


Angel hair pasta makes me smile.

We needed something ‘healthy’ to try and round out all the richness of the pasta dish and a salad provided that.

We had been to Panera Bread earlier that day (or the day before – can’t remember) and a wheat baguette was purchased.


We mixed up a dipping oil for the bread.  This recipe was one that Denise sent to Gooseberry Patch and was published in one of their cookbooks.  I told you she is a great cook!


Wa-la!  This meal was my most favorite during my time there.  The alfredo recipe is one from Denise’s daughter, Amber and included at the end of this post.




 

Pan Seared Shrimp and Scallops – recipe here.

Dipping Oil



Amber’s Alfredo

1/2 box of angel hair pasta – cooked as directed.

Heat 1 cup Half and Half cream and 1 stick butter together in pan you used to cook the pasta.  Add 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese and stir.  Add the cooked pasta and stir together – it will thicken up and turn into a heap of amazing deliciousness.

Somewhere in there Denise added the spinach that she had pan fried.