Superfast Seafood Pie

 Comfort food season is coming to a close, so I wanted to share this one before the weather turns hot. 
In less than an hour, you can have a seafood pie every bit as good as restaurants make.

1.  Pie crust
2. Can of diced potatoes, drained
3. Scallops
4. Cream of Shrimp condensed soup
5. Can of crabmeat, drained


Saute scallops until they are firm and lightly browned, about 10 minutes on med-hi.

Press bottom crust firmly into pie plate.
Fill with potatoes, scallops, and crabmeat.
Pour soup in even layer - use as-is from can, do not dilute with milk.
Spread top crust and crimp edges.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Cover crust edge with foil and bake another 15 minutes.  Serve hot.

Other combinations are possible - you can use Cream of Potato if you don't like shrimp; you can saute other seafood or fish instead of scallops.  There are lots of ways to customize and still get a nice mix of flavors.  You can add spices, such as thyme, marjoram, saffron; I put a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning on the scallops.

Veggie Shake & Bake!

This is an easy one to toss on the grill or in the oven as a side dish or a veggie main dish.


Peel large carrots, cut into big pieces.

Small (fingerling) potatoes - cut in half.  I got the kind that has red, yellow, and blue potatoes, but any small potatoes will work.

Large onion - cut into large pieces.

I threw in the broccoli florets just because I had some, but any fairly crunchy vegetable would work.  They should all take about the same amount of time to cook.

If you want to make this into a non-vegetarian main dish, throw in some ham cubes.

Toss all into a plastic bag or container.  Drizzle with olive oil and shake to coat.

Sprinkle in any or all of the following:  rosemary, celery salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cooking wine.

Dump into metal pan or onto foil with the sides folded up.  Grill on low or bake at 375F for 2 hrs.  Stir occasionally.

The point is to roast slowly, which brings out the natural sugars in the veggies and adds a lot of flavor.

Savory Corned Beef

Hooray for corned beef season!  I don't celebrate St.Patrick's Day, but do appreciate the time of year when the grocery store is stocking large corned beefs.

There are several ways to cook a corned beef , or any other corned - which means marinated in brine - meats that you might have.  Corned venison is a good example.  Corning is used on meats that have a lot of connective tissue, which is what makes them have a tough texture.  The brining step helps break down that connective tissue, but the meat still needs to be cooked after.


Corned meats can be boiled, slow-cooked in a crock pot, or tenderized in a pressure cooker.  I am a pressure-cooker user so that is my preferred method.  The meat and spices are brought to 15 lbs of pressure for 1 hour; by then the meat is cooked thoroughly but not quite finished.

The key to tender, flavorful corned beef is to roast the meat after the liquid-cooking stage.  Regardless of how you boil your beef, you will get a better end result if you slice it into a baking pan and roast at 350 for about a half hour.  The slices can be just rough slabs - enough to allow the heat to get to the remaining connective tissue.

Bake until the meat surfaces are sizzling hot and the edges are a little crispy.  Turn slices and roast for another 8-10 minutes.  This brings out the natural sugars in the meat and the end result is savory and flavorful.

With pressure-cooker methods, the meat is cooked first and then removed.  The veggies are then added to the broth left in the cooker, and brought to pressure for 10 minutes.  This is the perfect timeframe for roasting the meat.

If you use a boiling method, leave the veggies in the pan to stay hot while you roast the meat.

I like the way the pressure cooker cooks all the veggies to the ideal softness all at the same time.  As soon as the veggies are done and the meat is roasted, serve with dijon mustard.

Gluten Free Kielbasa Bake

Slice up red potatoes and kielbasa.  


Bake in greased baking pan @ 350 for 40 minutes.  The oils from the kielbasa will add flavor to the potatoes.  Stir once after 20 minutes.
 
Saute chunks of green or red pepper in saute pan with olive oil.


Salt & pepper to taste.



Add to baking pan with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.




Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.


For a spicier version, use hot kielbasa, a hot italian pepper, or sprinkle with red pepper flakes.


Serve with garlic bread.