Chicken Thighs in Mushroom & White Wine Sauce
This rustic chicken dish is packed full of flavor with garlic, shallots, white wine, and portobello mushrooms. I love this served with buttery noodles.
Author: Lesley at Lola Rugula
How to Decoupage using Paper Napkins
A wonderful way to repurpose, reuse, & recycle glass jars, vases, scrap wood, and more is to upcycle them with the method of decoupage with paper napkins. Beautiful!
Shrimp with Fresh Scallion Sauce
Here’s another one of my quick and simple recipes because you know how much I love them. This sauce is made with fresh scallions and it’s easy to whip together. It’s a perfect side to not only shrimp but seared scallops, steak, lamb, and fish, too. I came up with the idea for this sauce when I had trouble keeping up with the ton of scallions that I planted in my garden this year.
I add a little garlic to this, which is totally optional, and I’ve also made this with lemon juice instead of lime, which is great on seared scallops. It’s been a fun sauce to play around with so don’t be afraid to play around with it yourself.
Shrimp with Fresh Scallion Sauce Recipe
- 8 scallions, white and tender greens
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 lb large shrimp
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Prepare the sauce:
- Place scallions, garlic, parsley, lime juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, and salt in a food processor and blend well. The sauce should be creamy so add another tablespoon of olive oil if necessary
- Set sauce aside until shrimp is ready
- Place shrimp on a roasting pan or baking sheet, toss with olive oil and black pepper, and broil 1 inch from the heat for 2 minutes, flip, and broil 2 minutes more or until shrimp are cooked through
- Serve sauce alongside shrimp
As a side note, though I popped these shrimp under the broiler for just a few minutes, you can choose to pan fry them or grill them, too; do whatever’s easiest for you. I have to say that this sauce is great with smokey grilled shrimp, I just wasn’t up to grilling when I made this particular batch. 🙂
What to make with a lot of scallions? Fresh scallion sauce is an easy solution.
Enjoy!
Homemade Hungarian Pepper Hot Sauce Recipe
What to make with a ton of hot peppers? Hot sauce, of course! This one gets its kick from black Hungarian peppers & orange jalapenos. Delicious!
Refinishing an Old Wood Box
I found this cool old wood box and thought it would make a perfect refinishing product. I’m thrilled with the way it turned out.
Quick Pickled Fennel
Fresh fennel has an incredibly distinctive flavor that tastes one way when it’s fresh and a different way when it’s roasted or cooked. Even if you’re not a huge fan of the anise flavor of fresh fennel, I urge you to try it pickled which brings out an entirely new nuance to the flavor of it.
Easy Quick Pickled Fennel with Lemon Recipe
- 4 cups thinly sliced fennel, tender shoots included. I also like to reserve a few fronds for the mix.
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar (if you want to use seasoned rice vinegar, omit the sugar and salt)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- Zest of 1/2 large lemon
Directions
- Thinly slice fennel and transfer to a quart canning jar or large glass bowl
- In a small frying pan, add coriander and cumin seeds and toast over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until fragrant.
- In a saucepan, combine toasted seeds and the remaining ingredients and heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil
- Pour mixture over sliced fennel and stir well
- Cool, cover, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or overnight
This is a quick and easy way to preserve fresh fennel. The sugar adds just a bit of sweetness and the lemon adds a little brightness. If you don’t have rice vinegar, try white balsamic instead.
If you’re wondering how to use your newly-pickled fennel, it’s delicious with grilled or steamed white fish or served alongside roast beef or better yet, just toss it into your next salad. It’s a perfect pairing with summer tomatoes and I hope to share my salad recipe for that with you soon.
Fennel is easy to grow in the garden too, at least here in zone 5; just be sure to give each plant lots of space to grow. The fresh fronds from the fennel plant also make a fragrant bouquet as a centerpiece for your next get-together.
As a final note, this stores well in the fridge for weeks, so it’s easy to prepare and have on hand.
Enjoy!
Oven Roasted Eggplant with Balsamic Tomatoes
There’s just nothing more beautiful or delicious than eggplant and tomatoes picked fresh from your garden or selected at your local farmer’s market. But, if you’re anything like me, you grow (or purchase) too many and then you’re scrambling for something to make with them. …