Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Creamy Corn Fettuccine with Blackened Shrimp

almost-sauceless-creamy-corn-fettucine-with-blackened-shrimp-a-delicious-meal I love Fettuccine Alfredo, but during the summer months it's a little heavy. It doesn't mean I still don't crave it.

I have made "Lighter" Fettuccine Alfredo and a quick "weeknight" version of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Both are fabulous but I still wanted something lighter, something more summery with a kiss of sunshine. After racking my brain, I decided charred corn, basil an eensy bit of cream (1/4 cup) and some lemon juice would make a perfect summer alfredo sauce. Okay, honestly I didn't even know if it was going to work.

But it did! It's not heavy and almost seems "sauceless" but at the same time it's creamy. I know that's hard to imagine but you'll get it once you taste it. Let's just call it an anomaly.

I am currently into shrimp, mostly in tacos, but they seem to be appearing in my other dishes too. I couldn't resist topping this very summery pasta with some blackened shrimp.

Let me set the stage, a bite of the shrimp, with its cajun flavors, the sweet corn and bright lemon taste in the pasta...it's heaven and summa' all in one bite. You will make this again and again.

Girlfriend’s Plum Cake

plumcake I love this cake. I think of it as a dessert for a minor event, like when a couple of girlfriends come over for dinner or I’m celebrating an insignificant birthday, say, turning forty-three. (Okay, fine, so that happened a while ago.)

This recipe is easy and vey forgiving. I am a crabby cook, which is to say that after preparing a couple of courses I am often in a high state of irritability when faced with creating a third, as in dessert.

Once, when making this cake in a fit of impatience, I threw all the wet ingredients in a food processor, even the milk, which actually requires a more gentle, gradual entry. After I hurled in the flour mixture, the batter looked like something you use to make sidewalks but it all turned out beautifully.

I made this one with plums (which I bought way too many of at the Farmer’s Market) but you can use other fruit—peaches, pears, whatever. And if you have any patience left (I didn’t), make some whipped cream to go with it.

Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls

This was our breakfast Sunday morning. Aren't they cute? They were very, very good. It's the whole egg and the toast combo all together in one nice package.

These are so easy to make and wouldn't they be splendid on a brunch buffet table? The best part, you can easily make two, ten, a hundred, whatever your needs are at the moment.

I think there are a lot of variations you could do nicely with this recipe, such as, swap out the Parmesan cheese with grated Gruyere or crumbled blue cheese to give a different taste. Use feta and substitute oregano for the other herbs for a Greek flavor.

I used sourdough but I think this would also be nice with onion or brioche rolls as long as they are sturdy.

Any way you put these together, they will be great.

Favorite Find - Le Bon Garcon

lebongarcon I lost my sweet tooth long ago. Except for one thing. Caramel. I just can't resist it. That doesn't mean I always love it though. Plenty of people are trying to capture my heart and tastebuds, but few rarely capture my imagination. Le Bon Garcon is one of them. Though apparently they captured Oprah's love first. I didn't know that when I got the opportunity to try Justin Chao's creations. Originally an architecture student, he traded in the drafting table for a kitchen one and found his passion in pastry. After studying in Paris and returning to Los Angeles, he formed Le Bon Garcon, which uses Plugra butter and no preservatives in their hand-crafted and wrapped caramels. You may think you've had amazing Salted Caramel. You'd be wrong. But I wasn't surprised I LOVED that one, I mean come on. It's salt and butter, people.

I was intrigued by the Rosé (a seasonal flavor only available until 9/15), as I didn't know caramels came with other flavors and this blend of raspberry, lychee and rose essence just sounded so perfectly ethereal. And it is. Light and lingering, perfectly summery. I was going to skip the Mango, which is blended with cardamom and ginger. Even though I like all those things, I couldn't wrap my head around mango caramel; however, it is one of his signature flavors, so I gave it a shot. Holy cow! This one blew my mind. It's so intense, like a Starburst from my youth, but so much more classy and luscious and mangorific. The Macadamia was also good, but I like my caramel unadulterated by nuts. The Man thought it was great. To each their own. Even the packaging was lovely - simple yet colorful and fun. If you have a caramel lover in your life, they need to know about Le Bon Garcon. Excuse me while I go get another piece. http://www.lebongarcon.com

Chocolate-Peanut Blondie Bites

Next to chocolate chip cookies, brownies and blondies are some of the most popular sweet treats. Unfortunately most people bake them from boxed mixes when in fact they are too easy to make from scratch. You can find all the ingredients you need in your pantry. One of my most popular recipes on this site is my best brownies. I love the rich dark chocolate brownies, but I also love blondies just as much. I make them quite often. They might not be as well known as their chocolaty counterpart, but there just as good—if not better.

This recipe is my go-to, all-in-one blondie recipe. I adapt this recipe over and over again. Here it's made with chopped semisweet chocolate and chopped peanuts. Chopping the chocolate results in fudge-like blondies. Use chocolate chips and the blondies will turn out a bit more cake-like since the chocolate won't melt as much. Any chopped nut can stand in place of the peanuts. Instead of milk or dark chocolate, try white chocolate, carob, peanut buttter chips, butterscotch chips, or toffee chips. Variation is encouraged.

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Comfort Foods and Indulgences