Recipe #3: Penne Alla Betsy

Recipe: Penne Alla Betsy
Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Time: 45 minutes*
Ease: 4
Taste: 6
Leftover Value: 6
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

*The Food Network recipe says that it will take 1 hr 5 min, however I did not find it took that long.**
**Note: Some of the Food Network measurements differ from the original recipe in the book.

I am going to make a confession to you.

Before the year 2013, I had never cooked any kind of seafood.  Not even fish sticks.

It wasn't just an, "Oh, I've never made that before," type of thing either.

It was a, "Run away from it like the plague!" type thing.

If I wanted salmon, Hubby cooked it.  If I wanted scallops, Hubby cooked them.

And...that was the extent of the seafood we enjoyed here in our home.

I blame the fact that fish sticks were the only kind of seafood my mother ever served my brothers and me during our childhood.

I slowly tried to get myself into cooking seafood.  I started with salmon, and tended to dry the poor suckers out in attempt to make sure I was actually cooking them right.  Then I decided to just grab the bull by the horns, stop making excuses, and start making a better effort to incorporate a seafood meal every so often into my mix.

Thank goodness I did, or I would have had some difficulty with this one.

In all the time I've had my The Pioneer Woman Cooks book, I have avoided this recipe simply because it had shrimp in it.

What a fool I've been.

The recipe is fairly simple, so long as you can dice and don't mind cooking seafood.  

Check, and, finally, check.

I was surprised how quickly shrimp cooks.  It is far shorter than the time it takes to cook chicken.

Once the shrimp are cooked, they are set to the side while the sauce is created.  This is the only thing I hate, because it means I have to dirty another dish.  However, the shrimp are going to be chopped up into medium-sized pieces* so I suppose dirtying a dish was inevitable.

*I loved that the shrimp weren't just thrown back into the pan and were instead chopped up for this meal.

The onions and garlic are fried in oil, then this beautiful portrait is painted:

Oh heavy cream, how I love and hate you at the same time.

Once the tomato and cream mixture is stirred, the chunks of shrimp are tossed in.

Here was the first point in this challenge that I had to pull my pasta substitution.  I thought for certain that I had a few boxes of penne, but apparently, I was wrong.  Instead I used these cool cavatappi noodles that I can never resist buying.  I'm going to assume they didn't change the integrity of this meal one bit.

The sauce was rather thin, and Pioneer Woman didn't recommend this, but after tasting a little I decided to let it simmer for a few minutes to thicken the sauce.  Either way, it's delicious!

The only addition I might make in the future is to add a little more garlic and some Parmesan cheese.

Baltimore Eats: Part One: The Dinners

I'm not sure if it was the sea air, the bubble of Valentine's Day excitement, or the thrill to simply be away together from home, but Hubby and I came to Baltimore ready to eat.

Rather than take you on a day by day view of our eats, I'm going to break it into the two main categories that matter: Dinners and Desserts.

Though we were only in Baltimore long enough to technically have two dinners, our lunches were truly the quality level (and price!) of dinner food.  

We enjoyed our first meal in our room.  The restaurant at our hotel, the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, was "Explorers".  Their tag line is: International comfort food with a Baltimore twist.  We started with BBQ Jumbo Sea Scallops because Hubby is a sucker for whenever I say, "Ooo, this looks yummy....but I really want this too."  Ladies, you know you do this too.

At least, I hope you do.

We have ordered breaded scallops once before and the breading completely overpowered the scallops leaving them dry and lacking of any naturally delicious flavors.  That was not the case here.  While the Panko breading was thin and crispy, the mandarin orange sauce was what really made this dish delightful.  It soaked perfectly into the breading and added a subtle sweetness to the dish.

Now you'll have to forgive me.  I told myself over and over again as I ate my scallops that I needed to take a picture of the entrees before we began to devour them.

My tummy got the better of me and you're left with the below pictures.

Hubby and I decided to share our meals because that is how we roll sometimes.  If you can find a man who will go splitsies on meals, I say grab him while the grabbing is good.  Two for one meals for the rest of your life?  It's pretty awesome.

We ordered the Braised Lamb Shank and I have to admit that as I'm writing this my mouth is salivating rethinking the goodness of this meal.*  The lamb fell off the bone which is always a good sign.  I probably could have just eaten the lamb and the jus and been set for the night.

*This could also be due to the fact that it is 8:40 pm as I write this and I've yet to have dinner yet. 

Did you happen to notice those little orange balls?  As in the pan fried sweet potato gnocchi balls?  Sweet potatoes can be hit or miss for me.  It all depends on how they are prepared.  I like sweet potato pie, I don't prefer sweet potato fries.  

This sweet potato gnocchi was incredible.  I would never had thought to pair it with something like braised lamb shank, but--wow!   

We were clearly in a meaty mood because we also ordered a 12 ounce Rib Eye Steak.  This was really Hubby's pick.  I had been eyeballing the Herb Roasted Chicken with Wild Mushroom Risotto, but he vetoed it and went with the steak.  For a steak, it was just alright.  It was a little too chewy, but was still flavorful and juicy.  The Sharp White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes made the steak worth our while.  It's pretty difficult to ruin mashed potatoes, but this place did everything more than right to them. 

Don't hate me forever, but this was the only dinner I pictured.  I still have major issues with taking pictures of my food in public.  Sometimes, I have no shame.  There are some meals that I know will be legendary, therefore requiring a picture.  Other times, I remember what I've heard about how some restaurants and chefs feel about such things as people taking pictures of their food rather than just sitting down and enjoying the meal.

Here are the other dinners we had and where we had them.

I think the best way to describe them is through a mini Orange Strainer rating system.  So here goes.  

Ratings and categories are as follows:

• Time in restaurant: 1= way too long, 5= average, but I was getting fidgety, 10= so short it was scary
• Restaurant atmosphere: 1= boring, 5= nothing to write home about, 10= this is the mood I want in my kitchen/dining room
• Taste of food: 1= I paid for this?, 5= I can cook just as good, 10= my mouth is still tingling from the deliciousness
• Price: 1= cheaper than eating at McDonalds, 5= average for eating out, 10= for that price I'll make it myself!
• Leftovers?: Were there any?  This could be a good or a bad thing.
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?: To visit again or not to visit again?

Restaurant #1: Phillips Seafood

What we ate: 

Appetizer: Crab Cake Minis with homemade tartar sauce

Hubby: Ultimate Crab Cake

Me: Sweet Basil Pesto Penne with Chicken*

*I know, I know.  I'm at a seafood restaurant, one that even has the word seafood in its name, and I order Italian.  In my defense, I didn't want a big meal and I knew I'd be eating seafood for dinner.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

• Time in restaurant: 5,  For the lunch hour, it seemed that the service moved slow.  However, we did get a complimentary chocolate covered strawberry.  It was frozen in the center, but beggars can't be choosers.
• Restaurant atmosphere: 10,  The dining area was open, with a view of the kitchen.  I got to sit on a cozy seat, so I was happy.
• Taste of food: 6,  I knew I shouldn't expect too much with my meal, because obviously seafood is their specialty.  The crab cake minis were typical to crab cake standards.  Hubby's ultimate crab cake consisted of pieces of jumbo lump crab meat topped with Panko bread crumbs.  Very different from the typical crab cake, but different in a good way.
• Leftovers?  Hubby ate all of his, I had more than half my food left.  It wasn't worth trying to save, especially considering I knew I wouldn't eat it.
• Price: 10
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?  Down the Drain.  There weren't enough pluses about Phillips that would make me want to visit it again.  The main deterrent was the cost for the quality. 

Restaurant #2: Rusty Scupper

What we ate:

Hubby: Filet Mignon

Me: Chesapeake Chicken

• Time in restaurant: 10, It was obvious that most couples had saved Saturday night for their special dinner.  The restaurant was packed with couples, yet we didn't have a wait at all.  We were seated immediately, served within ten minutes of placing our order and finished and out of the restaurant within 40 minutes.  Though we didn't feel rushed, the quick pace was rather confusing.
• Restaurant atmosphere: 10, Most of the restaurant is window, looking out into the harbor.  There was live entertainment which, to me, is always a plus.
• Taste of food: 10, My chicken was delicious, yet the menu described Chicken Chesapeake as being stuffed with crab.  However, my chicken was just topped with jumbo lump crab.  Still delicious, just not matching to the description.
• Price: 5
• Leftovers? No leftovers! 
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?  Keep it in the Strainer!  Though Hubby was a little sad they didn't have any steamed crabs to offer, I thought the food was well worth the price.

Restaurant #3: Costas Inn

What we ate:

Hubby: Scallops

Me: Salmon St. Michael

I chose this restaurant after our meal at the Rusty Scupper when I realized just how badly Hubby wanted to have steamed crab, specifically blue crab, during our trip to Baltimore.  It was a major let down when he asked our waitress and first, she had no clue if they had any crab, and then the other waitress she asked bluntly answered that they did not have any.  We put together that this was due to the snow storm that had occurred just days before our trip.

• Time in restaurant: 5
• Restaurant atmosphere: 1, The restaurant was a huge room with a diner feel.  The waitresses did not seem up to the quality of the owners.  They poorly communicated with tables (our neighboring table was getting up in a huff) and forgot portions of our meal (I didn't realize I was missing my rice pilaf until I was halfway through my salmon).
• Taste of food: 5, I was in love with my salmon, however, Hubby told me that anyone could make salmon taste that delicious considering it was sitting in lemon butter.  He may have been speaking out of annoyance from the lack of crab, but I also did note that I didn't enjoy his scallops as much as my salmon.
• Price: 6, For lunch, it was pricey.  For dinner, it was typical.
• Leftovers? No leftovers!  
• Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer? Keep it in the Strainer! 

Hubby's 29th Birthday Dinner

Hubby turned 29 on Saturday....I feel so bad for him.  I've managed to celebrate my 25th birthday three times so far, yet he keeps moving on up in age.

Deciding what to do for his birthday in means of gifting and celebratory dinner has been a constant battle ever since I've known him.  He never knows where he wants to go to eat and never can name anything he wants to get.

I can't imagine living in such a world.

I can rattle off ten different restaurants I've been wanting to try and create a four-page list of things I want at a moment's notice all while my birthday is still months away.   

Hubby is a special case, I suppose.  Even more so because this year after I had already prepared myself to have to make all his choices for him, he decided to be extremely decisive.  He told me affirmatively that he wanted to go clothes shopping for his birthday present from me.

Such words make a wife's heart jump for joy.

1. Because that meant I didn't need to stress over what gift to get him.

2. Because he wanted to go clothes shopping.

3. Because, brilliant genius that I am, I recognized that if he was going clothes shopping, that meant I was going clothes shopping.

The birthday boy donning his new facial hair, a look that made him fit in quite well with the Gordon's frozen fish guy.

But this post is not about the uncontrolled shopping that hubby and I both did.  It is about the food we ate in the midst of trying to hit every single store we wanted to go to within a five-hour time period.

Hubby made this experience rather interesting for me because he picked to go shopping at the Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  His birthday fell on Saturday, a day I have commitments that keep me at home until 1:30 pm.  This meant we didn't reach Rehoboth until 4:00 in the afternoon.

My prior experience of outlet shopping dictates that it occurs in the early morning and lasts until late at night.  How was this trip going to turn out successful with out shopping starting at 4:00?

But again, this post is about the food we ate.  I'll just tell you that the shopping, in the end, turned out to be a success.  I know this to be true because I bought just about as much as hubby did.  I felt bad for a minute, then when I realized he didn't care, I was at complete inner peace.

While Hubby had been gracious enough to pick out the location where he wanted to go shopping, he was not as helpful in picking our place to dine.  After I narrowed the search for him, he chose Big Fish Grill.

I love places that don't take reservations, don't you?  Their website warned that they did not take reservations and that on Memorial Day weekend they suggested getting there early.  Considering we had only reached Rehoboth at 4:00 pm, we planned to shop until at least 5:30.

5:30 quickly turned into 6:00, then 6:15, and we ended up at the restaurant around 6:30.  The parking lot was packed and I began having a mini panic attack that we would find ourselves waiting all night to eat dinner rather than finishing up our shopping.

We were quoted 45 minutes to an hour wait, which all things considered, wasn't too bad.  Hubby came up with the brilliant idea that if the wait was long we would head back to the outlets (which were five minutes down the road) and keep shopping.  We figured there wasn't a chance that the packed restaurant would under quote the time, especially on Memorial Day weekend, so we headed back shopping.

While standing in the checkout line at Nike, Hubby received a text from the restaurant telling us that our table was ready.  (Can I just take this moment to say that I'm loving that restaurants are starting to use texting instead of those buzzy things to let you know your table is ready?  It's brilliant.  Simply brilliant).

I shouted curses at the restaurant for being so time efficient, rushed to pay for a pair of sneakers for Hubby, then we flew into our car to zoom down the road hoping to still be able to claim our table.

Fortunately, the restaurant didn't cling too tightly to their printed two minute warning for coming in when notified that your table is ready.

This made me wonder if they also didn't cling as tightly to the "no reservations" warning.

This is something I will not think about at this moment.

What seemed when we first entered to be a tiny fish restaurant turned out to be a very large one as we were escorted to the left side which held even more seating.  The restaurant was decked ceiling to ceiling and wall to wall with fish which I needed Hubby to explain to me that they were not real fish because real fish would not be so flawless.

I had assumed that, I just wanted to be sure.

Hubby ordered the Maryland Crab soup because he thought for a second we were in Maryland.

I'm not sure what that detail has to do with anything, I just thought I'd share.

He wasn't too impressed.  Then we had and appetizer of hand breaded tilapia fingers.  Hubby found them to be much better as he defined the soup as tasting as it "could have come from the can" but the tilapia fingers he said clearly had a breading that was created in house.

Although the tilapia was good, at this point I was a little worried.  Did I pick a stinker?  How could I have done that?  And on his birthday?

Then our entrees came and the angels in heaven danced for joy.

Yes, it was that good.

When it comes to picking my meal, I do not tend to be daring, at all.  I want to be daring, but I will typically go with a safe choice because I don't want to be disappointed with my meal.  It will ruin my entire night.  It's really that important.

Yet tonight I left my fate up to the waitress.  Something I also do not tend to do.  I knew I wanted scallops, so I gave her the option of their hand breaded fried scallops (an item that had a little blue fish symbol indicating that it was a popular item there) and a special of the day: scallops, shrimp, and lobster with asparagus in a tomato cream sauce.

She chose the latter.

While I feared what was to come, the instant I sunk my teeth into the soft scallops I knew she had made a good choice.  I've always said that scallops are the filet minon of the sea.  These were the type of scallops that made me make such a claim.  I'm not usually a shrimp gal, and I typically go for crab over lobster but even those aspects of this dish were superb.  The cream sauce blended all the flavors together beautifully and made me want to give our waitress an I-love-you-so-much hug.  Yet I refrained.

Now, Hubby's meal.

I have to say, I was jealous.  Hubby's meal was my very first choice, yet I avoided it because I order a similar meal in Cape May at Oyster Bay.  Their meal is filet minon topped with jumbo lump crab and it makes me reconsider my thoughts about not really wanting to ever live at the shore.

Don't judge a book by it's cover.  I know this is not the classiest picture, and I deeply apologize.  I had already dug into my meal when I realized, duh, I needed to take some pictures.  Neither of our dishes were really picturesque at that point, yet Hubby had done less damage to his.

Let's start with the cream colored peaks to the right of the broccoli.  Hubby gave me a bite of this and in the first instant I seriously thought he had just given me a scoop of the lobster sauce that is adorning most of the plate.  As I let it sink in, I realized the creaminess I was tasting was the most delicious mashed potatoes I have ever eaten in my entire life.  They were beyond creamy, with a slightly peppery flavor.  In that moment I was ready to send my plate back and ask for just a bowl of the mashers.  Then I looked back at my scallops and decided I was really okay.

Hubby's meal doesn't end there.  His filet minon was topped with lobster which was absolutely divine, but the true winner was the steak itself.  It was so moist I'm pretty sure a butter knife would have sliced through.

The food being outstanding would have been enough, but the other point I must mention is the price.  We ended up paying $76 (not including tip) for our entire meal.  All things considered (soup, appetizer, seafood pasta, steak and seafood entree, and drinks) that price is fantastic.

After dinner, we still had an hour left to finish up our shopping.  We then drove around searching for ice cream and wound up at Gelato Gal.  Despite the confusing smell of smoked salmon (which we learned was another one of their delicacies) and the older hipsters who were in front of us in line, we left delighted by their award winning Chocolate Zen flavor of gelato.

Somehow that wasn't enough.  I had been mesmorized by the Candy Kitchen as we passed it coming in.  We simply had to stop in on our way home.

We chose our chocoalte sparingly.  M&M bark, a chocolate covered oreo, milk chocolate champagne truffles, and tirimisu truffles filled our bag and were quickly emptied from our bag as we drove home.