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All That's Fit
Marmalade Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki Kabobs

The success one achieves with skewering meat, fish, fruit and veggies is quick, easy and delicious.  It can also be low-cal and low in fat.

 

Kabobs on the grill or baked in your oven, take little time and the small effort of chopping is worth the rewards.

 

Teriyaki/Marmalade Marinade and Dipping Sauce

Prep and cook time about 7 minutes

This marinade can be made long before hand, as it can be frozen for up to one month.

 

Ingredients

 

  • 2/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

  • 1/2 cup orange marmalade

  • 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)

  • 4 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

  • 4 dashes of Tabasco (optional)

  • 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch

 

Directions

 

  1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small to medium sauce pan.  

  2. Cook in medium-sized sauce pan on medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil (about 3 to 4 minutes).  Use a whisk to blend ingredients thoroughly.  

  3. While the above mixture is cooking, mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water.  When boiling occurs, add cornstarch mixture to pan.  

  4. Allow the marinade to boil again and then whisk again so that it does not burn.

Marmalade Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki Kabobs

Makes approximately 4 to 6 servings

 

 

Ingredients

 

  • 4 chicken breasts

  • 16 to 18 shelled large shrimp

  • 4 naval oranges

  • 2 red bell peppers

  • 1 pineapple

  • 20 snow peas

  • 8 to10 wood shish-kabob skewers

 

 

Directions

Prepping chicken, shrimp, fuits & veggies

 

  1. Clean the chicken and cut into 1” cubes

  2. Soak wood skewers in water (this keeps the skewers from burning).

  3. If necessary, de-vein shrimp and remove shells 

  4. Cut oranges into quarter and then in half once again.  Leave the skin on.

  5. Remove strings from pea pods

  6. Cut bell peppers into slices.

  7. Cut pineapple into quarters.  Cut thick long piece from each pineapple from pineapple quarters. Cut fruit from skin of each pineapples quarter lengthwise.  Do not cut the pineapple in to small pieces.

  8. Use half the marinade to marinate just chicken and shrimp. Marinade in fridge for about 1 hour.  Save the other half of the marinade for dipping.

  9. Skewer ingredients onto water-soaked skewers, mixing the various ingredients.  However, do not combine chicken with shrimp as they require different cooking times.

  10. Bake at 400 degrees.  The chicken should go in first and bake about 25 minutes. 

  11. Note: The shrimp takes about 15 minutes to bake.

 

If Grilling: 

Grill chicken skewers for about 15 minutes. Grill shrimp skewers for about 6 minutes. Turn them over half way through

 

Rice
Finger Salad Rolls

Make your favorite sticky white rice.  Form it into small mounds by pressing it into a 1 cup or ½ cup measuring cup.  To keep the shape, carefully turn the cup upside-down onto the plate.

 

 

(Eat these with your fingers)

 

Ingredients

 

  • 1 English cucumber

  • 12 leaves butter lettuce

  • 6 cherry tomatoes

  • knife 

  • 12 toothpicks

 

Directions

 

  1. Roll 1-inch sized piece of peeled English cucumber into a half leaf of butter lettuce.  Roll with the curl of the lettuce.  

  2. Close it with a toothpick and top it off with half a strawberry or cherry tomato.

  3. Drizzle or dip Finger Salad Rolls into store-bought low-cal balsamic vinaigrette dressing over bite sized salad skewers.

  4. Make 3 per person.

Asparagus Appetizers: 4 per person

(Eat these with your fingers)

 

Ingredients

 

  • 16 asparagus spears

  • 8 slices prosciutto

  • Store-bought pesto sauce

 

Directions

 

  1. Trim tough ends from asparagus and then steam.

  2. Cut prosciutto in half length-wise, then spread small amount of pesto sauce on individual slices of prosciutto.

  3. Roll prosciutto onto the center of the asparagus spears.

Tomato Mozzarella Bites: Makes 16

(Eat these with your fingers)

 

Ingredients

 

  • 16 strawberry tomatoes

  • 1 small jar of ‘perle’ sized fresh mozzarella balls

  • 16 sprigs fresh basil leaves

  • 16 toothpicks

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

 

Directions

 

  1. In this order…skewer the tomato, fresh basil leaf and mozzarella ball on to a toothpick.

  2. Dip into Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Rum Cake
Rum Cake

(From Simply Scrumptious Café- San Francisco, courtesy Donna’s Kitchen)

 

Ingredients

 

For Rum Cake

  • 1 package (2-layer) Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix 

  • 1 LARGE package Instant Vanilla Pudding

  • 4 eggs

  • ·½ cup water

  • ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil

  • ·½ cup Dark rum

 

For Rum Glaze

  • 1 cup white sugar

  • ¼ cup butter or margarine

  • ¼ cup water

  • ½ cup rum

 

Directions for Rum Cake

 

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 degrees

  1. Mix cake ingredients together at medium speed for 4 minutes.

  2. Pour into greased and floured fluted tube or bundt pan.

  3. Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. 

  4. Cool in pan 15 minutes; then remove.

 

To make Rum Glaze

  1. Combine sugar, butter and water in saucepan, stirring while mixture boils 5 minutes.

  2. Add rum and bring to boil again.

  3. Carefully spoon warm syrup over warm cake.

 

D's Artichoke Dip: Serves 6
D's Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

 

  • 1 cup or 1 jar chopped marinated artichoke hearts (from jar and drained)

  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise

  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

  • 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

  • Optional- a dash of Tabasco for zing

  • 1 French bread mini baguette for dipping

 

Directions 

 

  1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES

  2. Mix ingredients in a bowl; then place in a cooking dish.  

  3. Bake for 30 minutes.  

  4. Slice baguette into thin slices and toast for dipping.

Winter Salad
Winter Salad

Ingredients

 

  • 2 – 4 oz  bags mixed baby greens 

  • 2 pears (Bosc, Bartlett or D’Anjous) Could also use strawberries or raspberries etc. however, they are out of season and are costly

  • 1 red bell pepper

  • ½ cup honey or molasses-glazed slivered almonds (usually purchased in 7 oz bag)

  • 1 - 7 oz container crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese

  • 1 bottle Annie’s Natural Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing (or use another brand)

  • 1 bottle dressing Girard’s Champagne dressing (Try not to substitute this)

 

Directions

  1.  

  2. Wash the bagged spring greens.

  3. With vegetable peeler, peel and cut the pears into small bite-sized pieces.

  4. Cut up the red bell pepper into manageable mouth-sized slices.

  5. Place above ingredients into large salad bowl.

  6. Just prior to serving the salad, mix together  ¼ to 1/3 cup Girard’s Champagne dressing and slightly more than 1/3 cup raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  It’s easy to ‘over dress’ this salad so add the dressing slowly.

  7. Toss with salad ingredients then finally add the slivered almonds and crumbled cheese.

Kitchen Cut-Ups
Kitchen Cut-Ups

Dicing, deveining, peeling and prepping favorite fresh foods can be tricky.  To demystify how to shop, chop or mash‑ here’s the scoop on how to cut up many of our labor intensive but delicious delights.

 

Chopping Onions

 

If you’re like me, onions are a staple ingredient for many homemade meals.  Perfectly chopping them into small diced squares is quick and easy by following these instructions.

 

  1. With a sharp knife, peel and cut the onion lengthwise.

  2. Place the flat side of the cut onion down.

  3. Now hold the onion just below the rood end and make vertical and even slices.  Do not cut through the root end where fingers are steadying the onion.

  4. Now hold the onion with your fingers, again just below the root; then cut the onion 2 more times lengthwise so that the knife is parallel with the cutting surface.  Try to make even slices.  Again, do not cut through the root end.

  5. Finally, while still holding the root end of the onion, cut across the former slices to make neat diced squares.

 

(Garlic can be minced the same way, using fewer cuts.)

 

Pitting Avocados

 

I love avocados, but scooping out the pit and flesh can get messy.  Here’s the best way to preserve and scoop avocados.

 

  1. With a sharp knife, cut the avocado lengthwise, going around the pit.  Now separate the halves and squirt the flesh with lime juice to prevent it from browning.

  2. Tap the knife blade into the pit and carefully twist the knife to remove the pit.

  3. Use a large spoon to scoop out the avocado’s flesh.

 

Slicing and Dicing Bell Peppers

 

Avoiding the seeds when cutting up bell peppers is key.  Here’s the best way to cut and chop these delicious and often sweet peppers.

 

  1. Holding the bell pepper with your fingers, set the narrow end (stem side up) on end. 

  2. With a sharp knife cut along the curve of the bell pepper from stem (top) to bottom.  You want to make the cuts to avoid the seeds, so make sure to cut only along the curve of the pepper.

  3. Turn the pepper and repeat this process until all that is left is the pepper’s core.

  4. Lay the pieces of the pepper flat and with knife, cut away any inner white membranes.

  5. Now cut these larger pieces lengthwise into smaller strips.  If chopping into smaller pieces is desired, stack the longer strips and cut crosswise.

 

Deveining Shrimp

 

Buying shrimp in the shell is less expensive than buying them already shelled.  This means you’ll also have to devein the shrimp yourself.  It’s really no big deal and quite easy.

 

  1. Using a pair of kitchen scissors cut along the back curve of the shell and also into the flesh of the fish.  This will expose the dark narrow shrimp vein.

  2. Now remove the shell to separate it from the shrimp.  You may leave the tail on the shrimp if you like.

  3. Using the tip of a pairing knife gently pull out the dark, thin vein.  Rinse the shrimp prior to eating or cooking.

 

Asparagus Tips

 

Selecting fresh asparagus is the first step in preparation.  The tips should be closed and dry.  The non-tip ends of the asparagus should NOT be dried out or woody looking.

 

For thick spears

  1. Cut off the at least 1.5- to 2-inches from the bottom of the asparagus spears.

  2. Using an ordinary vegetable peeler, peel off some of the tougher skin.  Many times this area will be white instead of green.

  3. Now steam the asparagus on high for about 13- to 14- minutes.  Steaming time may vary according to bunch size.  13- to 14- minutes is usually the correct cooking time for one grocery store bunch.

 

For narrow or thin asparagus spears

  1. Snap off about an inch of the ends with your fingers.  Cutting the ends with a pairing knife is also okay.

  2. Now cook’em up in a steamer.  One grocery store bunch takes about 11-minutes with the burner on high.

 

 

Peeling Fresh Tomatoes

 

Spaghetti or other sauces that taste best with fresh tomatoes require the good cook to peel the skins off the tomatoes.  Here’s a quick, fast and easy way to do it.

 

  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil

  2. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.  Use ice cubes to make the water icy cold.

  3. With a sharp knife, cut an “x” in the bottom of each tomato.  Carefully put the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 30 seconds.

  4. After 30 seconds, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Now set the tomatoes in the bowl of ice water and allow them to cool slightly.

  5. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to touch, remove them from the ice water and use a sharp knife to remove their loosened skins.

My best,

© 2017 by Jill Slater

Website designed by Jahana Moledina

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