Cheesy Shrimp Bread

It's been way too long since I've written on this blog. Way too long. 

That's not to say that I haven't been cooking. I'm still doing most of the cooking at home. And the eating too.

And that's not to say that I haven't thought about my blog either. 

Believe me, this blog was ALL I could think of. 

I think about my blog when I wake up. When I drink my coffee. When I drive to work. Oh you know, stuff like... I wonder how my blog is doing. Could someone be reading one of my posts right now? Is Google going to suspend my blog for inactivity? 

Did my blog eat? Did it remember to take a bath? I have got to check that blog out! 

What's that darn blog's password again? Why in the world did I even bother putting up that blog, anyway? (Did I not think at all that I have 3 kids that needs to be showered and changed and fed???)

You know, the usual stuff bloggers think of when they think about their blog, really. Nothing new.

Here's how I make my cheesy shrimp bread. Actually, I wasn't planning to make any sort of cheesy bread shabang. I was just really craving for cronuts. 

And while I was buying cronuts at Brioche, I fell upon this lovely focaccia bread that they had. A little overpriced in my opinion, but it looked so good. I had to buy it. Needed to buy it. I couldn't leave without it.

So now inside my ref is one lovely and very expensive bread that I have absolutely no idea what to do with. I know I have to use it quick because the shelf life is only 2 days. Yep, 2 days. As in 48 hours. 

Focaccias are great for paninis but I just wasn't feeling like making a panini sandwich.

So I made this "cheesy shrimp bread" instead.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons margarine or butter, at room temperature

1 cup shredded cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons pimiento cheese

1/2 cup sliced green olives stuffed with pimientos

1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced

1 cup shrimp

Sliced spring onions

Focaccia bread

Take a mixing bowl and put in your margarine. Mine is herbed margarine. Make sure this is at room temperature otherwise you will have trouble blending it in with the other ingredients.

Throw in your shredded cheese. I used quick melt kind. You can be fancy and use Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, or Colby. Nothing too strong because you'll want to taste the shrimp too.

Then the mayonnaise.

Followed by the pimiento cheese. I used the one you can squeeze out of tetra packs.

Throw in your diced red bell pepper,

Followed by your sliced green olives stuffed with pimiento cheese.

Mix all these good stuff up slowly.

Meanwhile take your precious focaccia bread and cut in half so that you will have a top and bottom (like you're about to make a sandwich). Then cut each layer in to rectangular pieces (I had 4 slices each layer). Lay all the pieces on a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. 

P.S. I know I don't take good pictures.

Spoon some of your cheese mixture and spread on the bread. (The bread slices are suddenly missing some because I took a couple of slices to be frozen so that I can bake it at later date). 

P.S. This is a really bad picture.

Using a tong I take my peeled and deveined shrimp one by one and put it on my cheesy bread.

Then I sprinkle some sliced spring onion on top.

I put the whole thing inside my preheated oven at 150 degrees celsius. This will bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

This is how it looks when it's done. 

Don't forget to wipe off some of the melted cheese with your bread. Have a good dinner, y'all! :)

Bacon Wrapped Salmon

You may not believe this but there is chemistry between bacon and salmon. Really. This super unhealthy cut of meat and this wholesome fish just sizzle together. Just deliciously wonderful, together. They'll leave your tastebuds tingling!

Honestly, bacon is not my thing. In fact I only started eating bacon in the last 8 years of my life, and only few and far between. Before that, it was practically nonexistent in my food repertoire.

You see growing up with a doctor made me really picky with my choice of food. Unlike most kids, I had no taste for such fatty food as fried chicken skin, or bacon. These are high in saturated fat, high in cholesterol, and very very bad for a person, my dad would say. And he's right. These kinds of food are just not worth it. So my routine when eating fried chicken is to first remove all skin, as much skin as I can. And if by some unusual cosmic event bacon is on my plate I would meticulously separate the lean meat from the fatty strip. And of course I only eat the meat.

But one time in college, when I had settled in a dorm and ate with all my other peers in the dining hall, the unfamiliar smell of bacon wafted over to greet me. And much to my surprise my peers went on to put bacon on their plate, the really crispy but not burnt kind (which I still can't figure out how to make because mine's either sloppy, or burnt). I had to have some myself. And oh they were so good! That was when I started to appreciate bacon. And since then, I would have bacon. Very occasionally. And only if I can't help it.

I mix together about a tablespoon of kalamansi juice, two tablespoons of light soy sauce, a tablespoon of ground mustard, and a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Okay let's take that step by step.

First, the squeezed kalamansi juice.

Then the two tablespoons of light soy sauce. Or whatever this is that I found in our fridge that tastes something like soy sauce but not quite. But plain light soy sauce will do.

Then a tablespoon of mustard powder.

Lastly a dash of garlic salt, and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Mix together until the sugar has dissolved.

I pour this sauce on my salmon fillet.

Then I wrap the bacon around my salmon.

This will go to the broiler for 15 minutes, exactly.

While waiting....

This is my daughter Brie. Yep, after the cheese. Isn't she just adorable? She did that hair thing herself!


After exactly 15 minutes, take the salmon out of the broiler.

Transfer to a plate. You can pour some of the greasy but flavorful sauce on top, if you want.

And you don't have to have that bacon. My husband and I took ours out.

And you may ask... so what was the point of wrapping that bacon around that fish in the first place??? The point was, ladies and gentlemen, was to make sure the salmon doesn't become too dry and flaky. That was the job of the bacon. And now his job is done and you can throw him away.

But if you do throw him out you'd feel really guilty... so just give him to your dog, Spot. Or Pluto. Or whatever his name is.

Chicken Quesadilla

It has been a great Christmas and a great new year.  And post new year too, if I may add. Once again my 2012 books ended beautifully, with so many happy memories.

Unfortunately, my tummy also kept plenty of happy reminders during the holidays. Believe me, it shows.

It's time to kick off the new year with some non-fatty, healthier choice of meals. Well... slightly. If only to undo all that fatty, not so healthy choices I made in the holiday food selection.

I remember eating a lot of quesadillas in the U.S., owing much to the  South American influence in the country. I don't recall ever eating in an American restaurant that doesn't serve some sort of fajita or burrito or quesadilla.

In college, quesadillas and burritos were some of my favorite choices of frozen food. It's quick to reheat and easy to eat while studying.

So here I am making chicken quesadillas a few years later.

I start by roasting chicken breast. I just rub them with garlic salt and stick them in the oven at 150 degress Celsius for about an hour.

Then I separate and discard the bones. I shred the lean white meat. I have about 2 and a half cups.

I chop up 4 pieces red peppers and 1 large piece of green pepper.

I transfer my chicken and my peppers to a ball. To that I add half a cup of store bought onion vinaigrette dressing. Because it's what I've got. You can use just about any type of creamy salad dressings. Ranch works best. Cesar isn't bad at all.

I mix them all up.

I grab some tortillas and lay them flat on my work area. I use 9-inch sized whole wheat tortillas. Whole wheat because, I want to start this year by making healthy choices. And besides, I can't taste the difference between whole wheat and white.

Spoon half of your chicken mixture to one side of the tortilla.

Top with shredded cheese. Actually I hate shredding cheese because it makes my muscle ache so I use cheese slices that I just cut up. It works fine anyway. If you have shredded cheese though, mix it with your chicken before spooning to tortilla. Oh and use soft cheese, or cheese that melts quickly. You can use mozzarella, cheddar, swiss... or a mixture of all 3. I use good old American white cheddar cheese.

Fold the other half of the tortilla to cover. Lay on a baking sheet. Repeat to the other tortillas. I made 12 in total.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 150 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese melts.

I made a few extras and I'm going to wrap each one in aluminum foil and then slip them inside my freezer bag. They will go inside the freezer so that anytime I want one, I'll just grab a piece, unwrap the foil, and stick it in the microwave for a minute. And I'll have instant chicken quesadillas!