Let's Just Hanging Out

Let's Just Hang Out

This month's theme is Let's Just Hang Out and Make It Easy. All of us are busy during the Fall month's with our children's activities, sports and work so Kathi-Anne hosted a wonderful night of hanging out with the girls in her beautiful new home. Come check out all the "Easy" foods we prepared (no stress dishes) ...we have some humorous people in our group so see who came up with the funnest easiest dish tonight:

Pomegranate Mango Gaucamole

Prepared By Cathy

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe avocados
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 serrano chili, finely chopped, including seeds
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 3/4 cup diced peeled mango
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions:

1.Cut the mango in half lengthwise. With a small sharp knife score the flesh both horizontally and vertically. Pushing on the skin of the mango, flip it inside out and cut off the flesh from the skin.

2. To remove the pomegranate seeds, cut the pomegranate in half and submerge in a large bowl of water then gently peel to remove all of the seeds.3. Halve, pit, and peel avocados. Coarsely mash in a bowl. Stir in onion, chiles, 1/4 cup lime juice, and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, then fold in pomegranate seeds, mango, and cilantro. Season with salt and additional lime juice.

Hot Crab Cream Cheese Dip

Prepared By Debbie

Ingredients:

• 2 packages Crab Delight (Imitation Crab Meat)
• 1 8 0z package Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• garlic powder

Directions:

Chop or shred crab meat into small pieces. In a mixing bowl, mix together the crab meat, cream cheese and mayonnaise until well combined. Place dip into a baking dish. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 mins or until bubbly.

Serve with crackers.

Thai Chicken Satay Skewers

Recipe From Allcooks.com, Prepared By Jen

Chicken Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 servings)

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 heaping teaspoon grated gingeroot
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Marinade Directions:

1. Reserve 3 tablespoons mixture for dipping sauce; cover and refrigerate
2. Add 2 tablespoons water to marinade and pour over Chicken.
3. Cover; marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, stirring mixture occasionally. (very salty if marinated overnight)

Peanut Sauce:

Bring to boil over Medium-high heat stirring constantly:

• 3 tablespoons reserved soy sauce mixture
• 3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk or Coco Goya Cream of Coconut (I prefer Sweetened Coconut Milk – stronger Coconut flavor & sweeter taste)
• 2 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

Simmer uncovered 2 – 4 minutes or until sauce thickens

Grill or Bake Chicken in oven

1. Soak 8 (10- to 12-inch) bamboo skewers 20 minutes in cold water to prevent them from burning; drain. Prepare grill for direct cooking.
2. Drain chicken; reserve marinade. Weave 3 to 4 chicken strips accordion-style onto each skewer.
3. Brush chicken. Discard remaining marinade.
4. Grill skewers on uncovered grill over medium-hot coals 6 to 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, turning halfway through grilling time or bake at 350 in oven.

Serve with warm peanut sauce for dipping.

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

Prepared By Kelly

Ingredients:

• 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)

Dipping Oil for Bread

Dipping Oil for Bread
like Carrabba's®
The perfect blend of herbs, spices, garlic, and red pepper
mixed with olive oil and serve with crusty bread cubes.

Prepared by Kelly

Yield: 1/2 cup
Prep. Time: 0:05

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper (I would 1/2 this amount)
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary (I wish I used fresh - a little strong dried)
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic (I used powder, didn't have granulated)
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I doubled the olive oil)
  

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except oil, on a shallow bowl or plate. Pour olive oil over.

Notes: Serve with fresh-baked bread for dipping.