Strawberry Dumplings

Just in time for Mother's Day, a decadent, wonderful dessert!  It won the Grand Prize in a Reddi-Wip Contest, so I'll give you that version first, followed by an even richer, more sinful version.  Both are heavenly (and super easy, too).
Scroll down for a photo of me holding a plate of them.  I'm sitting on the staircase of our house in Iowa, and our third son, Cassidy, can hardly wait to dig in!

16 square wonton wrappers
8 fresh strawberries, trimmed and cleaned
oil for frying
powered sugar
Reddi Wip

Place one strawberry on each of 8 wonton wrappers.  Moisten edges of the other 8 wrappers and cover strawberries, pressing to seal edges and form dumplings.  Fry in skillet over high heat, turning wontons frequently, five minutes or until golden brown.  Drain dumplings, dust lightly with powdered sugar, and serve with Reddi Wip.

OR...
Use filled strawberries!  Simply beat 6 oz. of softened cream cheese with 1 & 1/2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Then hollow out the berries and pipe this creamy mixture into them.  (You'll have lots of filling left-- use it for additional berries that you don't fry.)

Iowa Short Stack Omelette

Today I thought I'd share the first recipe I ever entered in a contest.  It won 2nd place and I was thrilled!  We had just moved from L.A. to Iowa so Bob could be the evening TV news anchor, and I'd read about an egg cookoff in the local paper.  I've always liked cooking and goodness knows I love to play with my food, so I came up with an idea that's actually current for today, almost 20 years later.
Today the hottest trend is a cake with a zillion thin layers, and now you can impress brunch guests with an OMELETTE stack, every bit as pretty as a cake (see the photo below).  I layered it with Iowa products such as ham and cheese, and called it the Iowa Short Stack (but there are other variations I've listed below).  I surrounded it with flowers and berries, then sliced it into wedges.  Bingo-- gorgeous enough to be a centerpiece, and a fun way to serve an omelette to a crowd.

Here's what you need:
2 eggs
1 tsp. water
1/8 tsp. salt
1 dash pepper
2 tsp. butter
6 thick slices of ham
6 slices of your favorite cheese
1 small onion, sliced and grilled
1 chopped tomato, or a scoop of thick salsa
Garnishes: Fruit, berries, flowers, or parsley

1. Beat eggs lightly with water, salt and pepper.  Coat a hot, 7-inch frying pan with butter, tilting pan to coat evenly.  Add egg mixture and shake pan to spread eggs across surface. Lift with spatula to allow uncooked eggs to flow beneath if necessary.  When surface is set, turn omelette out of pan onto serving plate.  Repeat to make 3 more omelettes.
2. Assemble the stack: Place first omelette on serving platter.  Cover with ham slices, overlapping as necessary.  Top with second omelette.  Cover with cheese slices.  Add third omelette.  Cover with grilled onion.  Top with final omelette and place tomato or scoop of salsa in center. Surround with garnishes.  Cut into wedges.  Serves 4-6.
Variations:
* Sour cream, mild green chilies, avocado, and black olives
* Crab, Jack cheese, bacon, and sauteed mushrooms
* Flaked salmon, spinach, hollandaise sauce, and green onions
* Sausage, mozarella cheese, pizza sauce, and mushrooms

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Okay, this one has a video I made for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, so get ready to drool as you watch how easily this no-bake pie comes together.  Peanut Butter Cream Pie is rich and delicious, too-- perfect for company or week nights.  I first heard of this recipe from my sister-in-law, Sherri Hilton, but there are dozens of variations of it online as well.  The original called for superfine sugar, but I made some modifications (powdered sugar instead of superfine sugar, for example), and also created some variations you can try, listed below the recipe.
Click here to see the demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6RcW5nBIew

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 Cup powdered sugar
2 Cups whipped topping, thawed (or whipped cream)
1 graham cracker pie crust, homemade or purchased
Optional: Additional whipped topping, chocolate shavings, peanut butter cups

1.  (What?  Only one step? Yep.) In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, melted butter, and sugar until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping, then spoon into crust and chill.  When ready to serve, cover with additional whipped topping and garnishes as desired.
VARIATIONS:
Make this pie in a brownie crust (just mash cooked brownies onto bottom and sides of pie plate.)
Make this pie in an Oreo crust.
Make this pie in an oatmeal cookie crust.
Prepare two chocolate cream pies, then divide this batter atop the chocolate layers.
Smooth this over brownies for a creamy top layer, chill, then slice.
Use this batter in a trifle-- with crumbled brownies, whipped cream, and crushed peanut butter cups.
Top a cheesecake with this batter, chill thoroughly.

Easy Shrimp Scampi

Happy Shrimp Scampi Day! 

Yes, I am celebrating this little-known holiday, and you should as well.  Cooking Contest Central  at http://cookingcontestcentral.com/contests/category/deadline/ has asked me to post a Shrimp Scampi recipe for you and I jumped at the chance to show you just how simple (and fast!) this dish can be.   I have created the most slam-dunk easy recipe for Scampi that you have ever seen.  It’s so simple—just two ingredients—that I can’t even enter it in a contest.  It would be like entering breakfast cereal in a contest—you pour it in a bowl and you add milk—uh, okay, we all knew that.

So believe me, even non-cooks can make this, and dazzle their guests.  Granted, shrimp are not cheap.  Prawns and jumbo shrimp are even less cheap.  But they’re a whole lot less expensive than certain cuts of meat, and way below the cost of crab or halibut these days.  Choose whatever size shrimp you like, and then watch them as they cook so that you can serve them just as they become pink and opaque.  Do not overcook seafood.  Ever.  I have spoken.

WORLD’S EASIEST SHRIMP SCAMPI

Enough Shrimp for 4 people (3-4 jumbos per person, or 8-10 small guys per person, your choice)—peeled and deveined

4 Tbsp. bottled pesto sauce

OPTIONAL: ¼ Cup butter, if you want the sauce to be thinner for bread dipping (if tossing with pasta, double butter and pesto)

OPTIONAL: a squeeze of fresh lemon

Directions:  If you read any scampi recipe, you will notice that the sauce ingredients read like the label on a jar of pesto sauce.  So why not just use pesto sauce? This is a great step-saver!  If you want it more garlicky, I guess you could add more, but never overwhelm delicate seafood flavors with sledgehammer spices.  Please.  Heat the pesto sauce in a skillet over medium-low heat.  If you want to thin it with butter, or even more olive oil than is already in the pesto, now would be the time to add that.  Place the shrimp in the skillet, add a squeeze of lemon if you wish, and let them cook just a minute or two per side, then turn them, watching until they are fully opaque.  Ta-da!  The shrimp are done and so are you.

Note: Some people like to leave the tails on because they think shrimp are prettier this way.  HOWEVER… this only leaves you two choices, both undesirable in my opinion.  Choice Number One: You must cut the tails off with a knife, leaving some shrimp inside the tail and wasting that delicious shrimp meat.  Or, Choice Number Two: You will pick up the shrimp, lightly bite the tail to release all the meat, but then end up with greasy fingers.  I vote for completely peeling the shrimp before you cook them, which makes life much easier for your guests.

             

Mini Pear Crisps

Cooking Light had a "Fire it Up" Grilling contest not long ago, and they selected my Mini Pear Crisps for a layout in their magazine.  Since we're all just going outside after winter and enjoying outdoor cooking again, I thought this would be the perfect time to share a unique grilled dessert.
Here are six great things about this recipe:
 
1. It's so easy kids can make it.
2. It can cook while you're enjoying the main dishes you just barbecued.
3. It's fun to do at a picnic or campout.
4. You can substitute apples for the pears (they can stand in for each other in any recipe, by the way)
5.  You have no dishes to wash afterwards.
 6. You can top it with ice cream, and that alone makes it a winner.
Scroll down for the photo...

MINI PEAR CRISPS
1 Cup oatmeal
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/3 Cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup cold butter
1/2 Cup chopped pecans
1/2 Cup raisins
8 pears, peeled and sliced
vanilla ice cream, optional

1. In a large bowl, stir the first five ingredients.  Cut in butter until crumbly.  Stir in pecans and raisins.
2. Divide sliced pears among 8 greased, disposable foil tart pans (about 4 inches wide). Sprinkle with oatmeal mixture.
3. Prepare grill for indirect heat.  Grill crisps, covered, over indirect medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until pears are tender.  Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.

Individual Lemon Ginger Cheesecakes

     Who loves cheesecake?  Who hates how long it takes for one to bake and then chill? (Are you noticing an impatient streak in my cooking?)  The solution is to make individual ones that cook up in a jiffy and chill just as quickly.  TIP: When you need to chill something, pop it in the freezer to cut down on chilling time.  Just don't forget and come back tomorrow to a rock-hard baked good.
     This cheesecake won a prize at a cookoff in Iowa, but alas, I have no photos.  Hey, if you can't visualize little cheesecakes you have a problem far greater than needing to cook in a hurry.
     But here's what makes these even more fantabulous: They have a crust made from gingersnaps instead of graham crackers.  AND they have the zing of lemon.  Or you can substitute lime and call them Key Lime Ginger Cheesecakes.  You do realize that this is happening all over the world, right?  People are calling things Key Lime and they've never even seen a real lime from Key West (they're a bit yellower).  Whatever. The truth is that Meyer Lemons are also a zillion times better than regular lemons, but if you live where you can't get them, don't sweat it.  Just use any lemon or any lime.  I'm telling you, this recipe will come out SCRUMPTIOUS regardless.  And it's super easy-- complicated recipes rarely win contests, so you can count on me to save you ingredients and steps whenever I can.  Here we go:

Crusts:
1 Cup gingersnap crumbs (make these in your blender or food processor)
1/4 Cup melted butter
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Filling:
3 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 Cup sugar
4 eggs
1/3 Cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
curls of lemon rind for garnish, optional

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 18 muffin tin cups with cupcake papers.  Mix gingersnap crumbs with butter and brown sugar, and press into bottoms of papers.  (Not up the sides).  Do not bake (yay!)
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and rind. Beat thoroughly.  Pour onto crusts.  Bake 20 minutes, cool, then chill.  Top with curls of lemon rind.
I'm not going to tell you how many this makes because you should have been paying attention.  Serve them after dinner to your delighted guests, and keep some in the fridge for tomorrow and the next day, if you can hide them from your kids.  Good luck with that. 

Jamaican Seafood Chowder

For a few years there it seemed I was creating tons of recipes with Jamaican Jerk Seasoning in them-- it figured into that delicious Eggs Benedict that won me a killer trip to France, and now it figures into a delicious chowder that won a Caribbean cruise for the family.
If you like seafood, you'll love this-- and it's so easy because there's no meat to cook up ahead of time.  It's both creamy and spicy, but not so spicy that it overwhelms the flavor of the seafood.  It was sponsored by Chicken of the Sea, so I used several of their products and the result is truly scrumptious:

1 (6 oz.) can Chicken of the Sea shrimp, drained
1 (6 oz.) can Chicken of the Sea crab meat, drained
1 (6 oz.) can Chicken of the Sea minced clams, drained
1 (6.5 oz) Rice-a-Roni Red Beans and Rice mix
2 Cups lite sour cream
3 Cups milk
4 Cus grated pepper jack cheese (or use regular Monterey Jack for a milder version)
2 Tbsp. Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (Schilling/McCormick)
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (5 oz.) can mild chopped green chilies
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Cup grated cheddar cheese, optional

In a large kettle, prepare rice according to package instructions.  Over moderately low heat, add shrimp, crab, clams, sour cream, milk, pepper jack cheese, and jerk seasoning.  Heat until cheese melts, but do not boil.  Stir in corn, chilies, and lime juice.  Serve hot, sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Add some crusty bread and you'll feel transported to a fisherman's wharf in the Caribbean.

Savory Beef & Cheese Roll-Ups

Okay, all the world has had those nifty little appetizers made from beef and cheese rolled up in a tortilla and then sliced, right?  But I betcha you didn't have 'em before 1995, because that's when I won 3rd place in the National Beef Cookoff with this original creation.  They can be cut in half and served as sandwiches, or just keep on slicing and make them hors d'oeuvres-- but this is how it all started:

1 lb. well-trimmed deli roast beef, thinly sliced (shoulder is good)
2 (6 oz.) pkgs. garden vegetable flavored soft spreadable cream cheese
4 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 Cup shredded carrots
1 Cup Monterey Jack cheese
8 leaves green leaf lettuce

Spread cheese evenly over one side of each tortilla; top each with 1/4 Cup shredded carrots and 1/4 Cup Jack cheese.  Layer lettuce and deli roast beef over carrots, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge.  Roll up tightly; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 30 minutes-- or up to 8 hours-- before serving.  To serve as sandwiches, cut each roll diagonally in half.  Serves 4 (serving size: 2 roll-up halves).