A Veritable Smorgasbord

It's been a busy couple of days food-wise so I thought I'd put everything in one post for your viewing pleasure.

After running errands on Saturday we got home well after lunch but too early for dinner. SP had a roast beef sandwich but I was jonesing for a quesadilla:


... stuffed with a mixture of pepper Jack and cheddar cheeses, salsa, scallions and cilantro. A dollop of sour cream for dipping and I had a mighty tasty snack. While we were eating we noticed our friend, Fat Rabbit, had returned. He stayed in our backyard for a couple hours.


Since we had both eaten a large snack we weren't too hungry for dinner, but we had a small brick of mozzarella cheese in the fridge. Last time I made mozzarella sticks I forgot to double-dip them in the egg and bread crumbs and they disintegrated once they hit the oil. This time they turned out perfectly:


I served them with marinara sauce and a dusting of grated Pecorino cheese.


We had planned to make Philly cheesesteaks for dinner last night so we had them for lunch this morning along with some homemade fries:


The fries weren't crispy enough and the Cheese Wiz we bought was a little overpowering, but overall the sandwiches were quite good. I also cooked some onion to go along with the thinly sliced beef. When the weather is dreary out (like it is today with the Nor'easter we're having) I like to bake. I don't know where I got this recipe for Chocolate Chip Coffee Streusel Cake (if you read my blog and it was you, let me know), but I decided to make it this afternoon.


I had a piece for a snack after it came out of the oven and it was really good. I don't have much experience with coffee cake and SP said he wished it had more cinnamon flavor, but I really liked it.


After the heavy lunch we had I didn't feel like making a heavy dinner, which meant my original plan for Smokin' Dave's Cafe's Fiery Cajun Shrimp Alfredo went out the window in favor of good ol' shrimp scampi:


I marinated the shrimp a la The Food Pornographer in about 10 cloves of minced garlic, oil to cover and some red pepper flakes. Then I cooked the lot in a hot skillet until the shrimp just turned pink and then I took them out so they wouldn't overcook. To the oil and garlic I added a 1/2 cup of white wine and the juice of one lemon. That simmered while the pasta cooked and then once the pasta was done I added it to the sauce and let it all cook together. Some chopped parsley was thrown in at the last minute and then the shrimp went back in to reheat quickly before serving. It was spicy, lemony and very, very garlicky. Yum!