Sneak Peek: August 2011

Coming in August 2011...5 original Diva recipes! We decided yesterday that next month's theme would be "Original Recipes." That's right, people...we're taking it to the next level!

Turkey Tacos with Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa

For this month's Iron Chef Supper Club, I drew avocado out of the hat. Eeks! It's not easy to find an avocado recipe that is not a dip or a sandwich so I decided to put my own spin on a few recipes I found.

First, I found P-Dub's recipe for Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa. I thought this sounded delicious, but it wasn't going to cut it as a meal. I figured it would make a delicious topping for tacos, though! My next dilemma was that I wanted a homemade taco seasoning...no packets full of preservatives for my Divas! I came across this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker's blog (love the blog too, by the way!) that was just what I was looking for.

Here's what I ended up with...

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix (the recipe makes enough to season 7 lbs. Make the whole thing and store it...or don't! It's up to you!)
1/4 cup water
Taco shells

Directions
Brown turkey in a large skillet; drain. Add taco seasoning mix and 1/4 cup water. Simmer over medium heat until liquid reduces. Serve on taco shells with the salsa and your favorite taco toppings.

Enjoy!

Creamy Asparagus Pasta - by The Big Cheese

This month I was so excited to use asparagus as my "Iron Chef" ingredient!



Ingredients

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pint light cream
1 pound linguine pasta
1 lemon, juiced

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes; drain.
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add linguine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and transfer to a serving dish.
Stir lemon juice into asparagus mixture; pour mixture over pasta.

Until the next dinner...

Thai Peanut Noodle Stir-Fry

Can you believe it?!?! Wine Diva is posting??? It's been ages, but I'm posting my July Recipe. My ingredient for the Iron Chef Edition was Sugar Snap Peas. I wasn't super thrilled with this at first. The two main foods I don't usually enjoy are beans and peas. But that's what happens when you go on vacation during a Diva get together :-) I do enjoy eating raw snap peas with veggie dip, but I figured if I walked in today with 5 bags of peas and 5 bottles of ranch dressing, I would be impeached from my position! So... I figured that I like stir-fry and can eat whole pea pods that way, which led me to find the Thai Peanut Noodle Stir-Fry at Allrecipes.com... and it has some sake in it, which is kinda wine-ish, right? (Don't worry Lil' Cheesy Nugget, the alcohol cooks out!.. By the way, isn't a cheesy nugget kind of a cheese curd? I love those things.) :-)

Ingredients

• 8 ounce package uncooked noodles (I used Thai rice noodles)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup broth (I used chicken, but you can use vegetable to make it vegetarian)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (I omitted this ingredient… technically, because some of the ladies don’t enjoy the extra heat, but emotionally it was in mourning of the moving of Spicy Diva :-(
• 2 tablespoons sake

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• *I added chopped chicken breasts/tenderloin
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar snap peas

Directions

1. Bring water to boil in a pot.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch into the vegetable broth until dissolved. Whisk in the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, ground ginger, and red pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sake and keep warm.
3. Place noodles in boiling water. Cook for about 4 minutes. (If you choose to use spaghetti noodles, follow package directions.)
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion (I also added the chicken at this point); cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, and sugar snap peas. Reduce heat, cover, and steam until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Toss the vegetables with the peanut sauce and pasta to serve.

Cheesy Chivey Chicken

I was searching for a recipe that included cream cheese for this months Iron Diva Challenge and made a few minor adjustments to a recipe I found on All Recipes.com.
Cream cheese and bacon...Sounds good to me :)

Cheesy Chivey Chicken

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons dried chives
1 clove garlic, minced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast pounded thin
4 slices bacon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Precook bacon for a few minutes (microwave, pan, oven...whatever you want)This will just ensure that it gets crispier as it cooks in the oven because lets face it -crispy bacon is happy bacon.
2.In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, chives, and garlic. Divide the mixture into 4 balls.
3.Place 1 cream cheese ball in the center of each chicken breast(that you have already pounded thin). Roll the chicken over the cream cheese, wrap with a slice of bacon (that you have precooked a bit), and secure with toothpicks. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish. Pour the butter over the chicken.
4.Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
5. Broil for a few minutes at the end for a crispy finish to the bacon.

Pictures will be posted soon.

Until next dinner...

Sneak Peek: July 2011 "Iron Chef Divas"

This month we all thought of an ingredient we like to cook with. We wrote them down on paper and drew out of a bowl to see who was cooking with each ingredient for our July DTD gathering.

In case you are wondering what some of the recipes for the upcoming month will be...here is your sneak preview. We are meeting this week so be sure to check back next weekend for full recipes and details of our July Dinnertime Diva gathering!

Cheesy Diva: Asparagus
Recipe: "TBD"



Saucy Diva: Cous Cous
Recipe: "One Pot California Chicken with Cous Cous"



Dessert Diva: Avacado
Recipe: "Ground Turkey Tacos with Corn and Avacado Salsa"



Gourmet Diva: Cream Cheese
Recipe: "Cream Cheese, Garlic, and Chive stuffed Chicken"




Wine Diva: Snap/Sugar Peas
Recipe: "TBD"



Until next dinner...