October 15, 2011

Wow! Another quick week has come and gone, and I forgot to post on Friday night! So, here it is Saturday morning, and I have three new recipes for you. Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin was a hit with everyone at the table, quick and easy to put together, and smelled great all day while it was cooking! Warm Caramel Apple Cake was my first attempt at an upside-down cake, and we all thought it was delicious! It was best the evening that we made it, but still moist and scrumptious even a few days after! And, the star of the week (in my opinion), Shrimp Fra Diavolo! My son Owen loves shrimp, and he takes after his dad when it comes to spicy food, so he devoured his dinner! Ryan and I loved it as well, and it was easy to put together. One thing I will say is that the house smelled like garlic the next day as well since there was quite a bit of garlic in this recipe.

I am not sure what is on the menu yet for this week, but hopefully some recipes that work out. Enjoy the fall weather!

New Recipes
Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin
Warm Caramel Apple Cake
Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Ingredients

* 1 lb shrimp, deveined and peeled
* salt
* 1 tsp red pepper flakes
* 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 4 tbsp mined garlic
* 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1 lb spaghetti or linguine
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* pepper

Directions

1. Cook pasta as directed.
2. Toss the shrimp with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook until pink, just about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the cooked shrimp and set aside. Let the pan cool for 2 minutes.
4. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan with the garlic. Cook over low heat for about 8 minutes, moving the garlic around so as not to burn it.
5. Stir the remaining red pepper flakes, tomatoes, wine, sugar and 3/4 tsp salt to the garlic. Bring to a simmer and cook about 8 minutes.
6. Add the shrimp back to the sauce, along with the parsley. Cook about 1 minute until the shrimp and heated through.
7. Serve over pasta, and enjoy!!!

Notes
This recipe definitely has some kick, but we loved it! Serve with a salad and some crusty bread to sop up some of the sauce and you will have a fabulous meal! We cut the ingredients in half because only 2 adults and one child were going to eat the meal, and it worked out well.

Warm Caramel Apple Cake

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine
* 1/4 cup whipping cream
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
* 1 box yellow cake mix
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice


Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, cook butter, whipping cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 13x9-inch pan. Top with sliced apples.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and apple pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Carefully spoon batter over apple mixture.
3. Bake 40 - 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan. Place heatproof serving platter upside down on pan; carefully turn platter and pan over. Let pan remain over cake about 1 minute so caramel can drizzle over cake. Remove pan.
4. Serve and enjoy!!!

Notes
This cake is best enjoyed the day it is made, though it still tastes great for a few days after. Keep it covered and it won't dry out.

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

* 2 pounds pork tenderloin
* 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
* 1 cup water
* 3/4 cup red wine
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 3 tablespoons minced garlic
* freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray to make clean up easier.
2. Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker.
3. Mix soup packet, water, wine, and soy sauce. Pour this over the pork, turning the pork to coat.
4. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible.
5. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 5 hours.
6. Remove pork from crock pot and cut or shred. Serve with cooking liquid on the side, or make into gravy on the stove with flour or Wondra.