Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Bundles

One night at the Hearne's [my boyfriend's family] we made a wonderful meal that included these bundles, onion dijon catfish, and loaded potato slices. These bundles were really good, however, the bacon needed to be crispier. So I would highly recommend using a slotted broiler pan.
Check out what accompanied these delicious bundles: onion Dijon catfish and loaded potato slices. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb asparagus spears

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Black pepper, a few grinds

4 slices of bacon

Directions

Oven: 400
Trim asparagus and lightly coat asparagus spears in oil. Season the asparagus with pepper. Count the spears then divide that number by four and use a slice of bacon to wrap the bundle and secure the spears together. Repeat. Place bundles on slotted broiler pan and bake for 12 minutes.
If you want to grill the bundles, place prepared bundles on hot grill and cover. Cook 10-12 minutes until bacon is crisp and asparagus bundles are tender.

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Recipe from Food Network

Loaded Potato Slices

This recipe was not found on Pinterest, it is an original Hearne [my boyfriend's family] recipe. Who doesn't love a lot of toppings? It is like a loaded baked potato, but sliced. The best part is drizzling ranch alllllll over it.
This recipe was accompanied by onion dijon catfish and bacon wrapped asparagus bundles.

Ingredients

6 red potatoes, sliced

Butter

1/2 cup shredded Colby cheese

Bacon bits

Chives

Onion, chopped

Ranch Dressing

Directions

Oven:350
Cut potatoes into slices and place in a small casserole dish with some slices of butter. Cook in oven until they become soft, approximately 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are soft, sprinkle 1/2 cup {or desired amount, more cheese is my motto} of cheese, generous amount of bacon bits, chives and chopped onion. Then smother the casserole with Ranch.

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Onion Dijon Catfish

Taylor was really hankering for some catfish, so we found this yummy recipe and went out to buy some fish. The flavor of the recipe was great. However, I knew it would need a little crunch so we added bread crumbs. I will eat any type of fish, so of course I enjoyed this and I hope y'all do too! 

This fish was prepared with other items on this blog: bacon wrapped asparagus and loaded potato slices. (check back next week for those recipes!)

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped

1/4 cup honey Dijon mustard

4 (6 oz) catfish fillets

Garlic salt and pepper, to taste

Dried parsley flakes
Panko bread crumbs

Directions

Oven: 350 degrees
In a small bowl, mix together the chopped onion and mustard. Season the catfish with garlic salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray lined with foil and coat with the mustard and onion mix. Apply a generous amount of bread crumbs to help give the fish more of a crunch. Sprinkle parsley flakes on top and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the oven to broil. Broil until golden, 3 to 5 minutes.

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Adapted from allrecipes.com

Tom Kah Soup

FINALLY! Why do I say this? Let me start with a quick back story: Any time we go visit my family in California we always order from this amazing Thai restaurant called Thai East Wind Restaurant. We usually get the same things every time we order there and one of those dishes is their Fisherman's Seafood Chowder. Now, this is the best soup I have ever had at a Thai place, so any time my mom and I go to a Thai restaurant we absolutely have to order a Tom Kah soup.
{Since the Fisherman's Chowder's base is coconut milk, Tom Kah is the soup we needed to try.}
Each Thai place we've eaten at has had delicious Tom Kah soup, but nothing has come close to that Chowder from East Wind, until recently. The time has come where we met our match. A couple of years ago my best friend gave me a cookbook called Everyday Thai Cooking, so one day my mom and I decided to conquer one of the recipes in there and boy did we conquer it. We made the Tom Kah Soup and it was absolutely fantastic; the closest we have ever had to Fisherman's Seafood Chowder! We couldn't stop raving about how amazing it tasted and that we finally found it! Though this recipe may take time to cook and effort to find the ingredients, it is sooooo worth it all. We will most definitely be making this again.

We also made some California Sushi Rolls! Check out the recipe here.

Ingredients

2 cups chicken stock 

Six 1/4 in thick slices galangal or fresh ginger

2 stalks lemongrass, cut unto 2 in long pieces and bruised

4 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half (optional)

1 tbsp palm or brown sugar

1 and a half tsp Roasted Red Chili Paste 

1 cup coconut milk 

1 cup sliced white button mushrooms

3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 fresh hot red or green chilies, preferably Thai, smashed

Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) for garnish

1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thigh cut into 1 in pieces

8 shelled and deveined medium-sized raw shrimp

18 pieces of calamari rings, cut into strips

1/2 -1 lb of imitation crab meat

White rice (optional)

Directions

Cook the white rice in a rice cooker. Put the chicken stock, galangal (or ginger), lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, palm (or brown) sugar, and Roasted Red Chili Paste in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the coconut milk, reduce the heat and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and mushrooms and continue simmering until the chicken is white and opaque, 5-7 minutes. Quickly stir in the lime juice and fish sauce. Remove from the heat and add the shrimp, calamari, and crab. Let stand for 4-5 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through. Float the chilies on the soup. Dish out rice and soup into individual serving mugs or bowls and sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

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California Sushi Rolls

I recently started to love sushi. One day my mom brought home all the makings for it and I was stoked to make some. Surprisingly, it was pretty easy. My mom usually doesn't follow recipes; she glances at them to get a reference and then puts her spin to it. So, I am not sure the portions she bought, so I found a recipe from Food Network in order to provide y'all measurements.

Below is a step by step with pictures!

Ingredients

1 medium avocado
1 lemon

4 sheets nori

1/2 batch sushi rice*

1 small cucumber

4 crabsticks

sesame seeds, toasted**

For serving:

{optional}

Pickled ginger

Wasabi

Soy sauce

*my mom bought sushi rice from a bag and we followed the directions from that. You can click here for the link where I am taking this recipe from 

Directions

Peel the avocado and remove the pit. Slice avocado into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Squeeze lemon juice over avocado to prevent browning; set aside. Peel and remove seeds from the cucumber. Cut into match stick-size pieces; set aside. Cut or tare crab into pieces; set aside. Make the sushi rice and set aside.

Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Cut nori sheets in half crosswise. Lay 1 half sheet of nori, shiny side down.

 Wet your hands with water and spread about 1/2 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori.
**This is optional, sprinkle toasted sesame seeds.

Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is down. Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab sticks in the center of the sheet.

Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside.

Cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the rice has been used. Cut each roll into 6 pieces.

Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.

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Stuffed French Bread

This yummy recipe is from Life in the Lofthouse. I stumbled upon this delicious and simple recipe and glad I did because I would definitely make it again. 

Give it a try!

Ingredients

1 loaf french bread

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 tsp minced garlic

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 tbsp milk 

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tbsp chopped parsley {optional}

Directions

Oven: 350
Slice the french bread in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the bread in the center of each halves. Place bread into a large bowl and tear into smaller pieces. Set the two halves of french bread onto a large baking sheet and set aside. Brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a large skillet. Drain any grease. Add chopped celery and garlic to skillet. Cook until the celery is tender. Add the cream of mushroom soup, milk and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook mixture for another 5 or so minutes. Add the mixture, shredded cheese {and parsley} to the bowl full of bread. Stir to combine. Once combined, evenly spread mixture into one half of the french bread. Place the other half of the french bread on top and bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

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