Marinated Grilled Shrimp

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/8 cup ketchup
1/8 cup chili garlic sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or red pepper)
2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
skewers

In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, ketchup, chili garlic sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.

Serves 6

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Just to prove that there wasn't THAT much butter in the butter cookies ;)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour (or use all-purpose and take out 1 Tbsp for each cup - so remove 3 T)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch tube pan.
Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light. Stir in the vanilla and the almond extracts. Add the flour and the eggs alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chicken Thighs Athenian

I'm giving the whole recipe, but I made this with pilaf and thought that the potato mixture really wasn't necessary - and that's what requires most of the effort in this dish! The fam loooved these :)

Estimated Times
Preparation Time 25 mins.
Cooking Time 35 mins.
Standing Time 30 mins
Serves: 4 (2 thighs each)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed, dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 fresh chicken thighs

2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/4 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, oregano and pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken thighs to bowl; turn to coat with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile cover potatoes with water in a saucepan and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender; drain. In a blender or food processor, combine potatoes, oil, crushed garlic and vinegar. Blend until smooth; add yogurt and mix well; keep warm.

Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Coat saucepan with remaining oil; sauté chicken thighs over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes on each side; reduce heat and add marinade.

Cover and cook, turning often, until chicken is tender, about 25 minutes. Serve potato mixture with chicken.

Greek Penne Chicken and Pasta

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot with boiling salted water cook penne pasta until al dente. Drain.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat melt butter, add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium- low. Drain and chop artichoke hearts and add them with their juice, diced tomatoes, feta cheese, fresh parsley, lemon juice, dried oregano, and drained penne pasta to the large skillet. Cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Season with salt and ground black pepper. Serve warm.

Jam-Filled Butter Cookies

I'm back with all my unhealthy eating ways! My sister swears Europe has a much classier name for these cookies, but this is what allrecipes calls them.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fruit preserves, any flavor (I used seedless blackberry)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

This makes 36 cookies.

To fill in the jam, I followed some of the reviews and put it in a sandwich bag with a tip cut out.

Lentil Soup

This is a great pantry-cleaner recipe. I added everything at once, contrary to my traditional prep, with the bagaar at the end. I used a mix of black and orange lentils (masoor?).


Ingredients:
1/2 cup masoor daal
1/2 cup kaali daal
2 cups water, plus some later
approx 2 tsp minced garlic
approx 2 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp olive oil
1 celery stalk, chopped
approx 1/2-3/4 cup chopped carrots
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
here is the real 'andaaza' part:
cumin
coriander (i added almost a tablespoon of each - and i run them through one toast cycle in the toaster oven to get them hot and smoky)
about 1-2 tsp red chili pepper
salt

Technique:
Bring to boil, then set for simmer. Upon final taste test, modify your spice level. I added freshly made garam masala and a tad more salt (to appease my husband), otherwise it was great!