Bacon Scallops/Water Chestnuts Rolls

Also known as Rumaki, this is a great appetizer recipe that is easy and tasty!  This recipe calls for water chestnuts, but you can also wrap scallops, pineapple, tater tots, chicken livers, and oysters.  The possibilities are as endless as  your imagination! 

Rumaki, an appetizer that dates from the 1940's (served at Tiki Bars such as Trader Vic's) recently made an appearance on the TV series Mad Men, when Betty Draper served it at a cocktail party.  I don’t like chicken livers and would never knowingly eat one; but when rumaki was on the buffet table at a wedding reception a few years ago, I ate several of the bite sized morsels before I was told that I was eating chicken livers!  Yep, it was that good… even with chicken livers! Let the smiles begin!

Since the cooking time is the same, sometimes I do a combination of water chestnuts and scallops.

INGREDIENTS:

·         1 pound scallops or 2 cans water chestnuts, drained

·         1 pound bacon, each slice cut in half*

·         ½  cup light mayonnaise

·         1 cup light brown sugar (or ½ cup Splenda brown sugar)

·         ½ cup chili sauce (I used Heinz)

·         1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
        Wooden toothpicks (soaked in water for 5-10 minutes to prevent scorching)

DIRECTIONS:

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

·         Wrap each scallop or water chestnut with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. 

·         Place on wire rack on large cookie sheet (the rack drains any bacon grease so that the bacon is crispy). For easier clean-up use a silpat liner or line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

·         Bake for 30 minutes until bacon is crisp. Remove from oven and top with sauce.

·         Sauce: In a small bowl, blend the mayonnaise, brown sugar, chili sauce, and Worcestershire sauce until smooth and well combined.  Spoon this over the scallop or chestnut rolls and return them to the oven to bake for 25 minutes. 

*I used Costco's Hormel pre-cooked bacon to cut down on both grease and baking time; if using pre-cooked bacon, adjust baking time in half.  

Zucchini, Tomato & Bacon Frittata

What’s for Sunday brunch?  How about a frittata using fresh veggies from the farmer’s market?   I still have zucchini and tomatoes from my most recent farmer's market shopping spree, so I want to use them today.  This recipe makes about 4 servings as I used a small cast iron skillet.  Served with blackberry kuchen and English muffins with home made strawberry jam, this was a perfect brunch.  It would also make a nice Sunday supper.

INGREDIENTS:

1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil

½ large zucchini, thinly sliced & quartered

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 medium tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped

½ cup shredded Gouda cheese (or cheese of your choice)

3 slices bacon, cooked & broken into bite sized pieces

4 large eggs

¼ cup low fat milk

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add olive oil to 9-inch cast iron (or oven proof) skillet and heat over medium heat.
• Add onion and zucchini and saute until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.  
• Add tomato and cook another couple of minutes.  Add salt & pepper to taste and Italian seasoning.  Set aside to cool a bit.
• In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and mustard and blend well.  Add cheese and bacon and stir until well combined.  Salt & pepper to taste.
• If necessary, drain vegetable mixture and return it to the skillet.  Spread evenly over the bottom of the skillet.  Pour egg mixture over the veggies.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Cut into wedges and serve!

Chicken Spinach Gouda Roll-Ups

Servings 5 to 6

The combination of thin chicken cutlets, tomatoes, Gouda cheese and spinach makes my mouth water!  These are a few of my favorite things so I put them together to make an easy and delicious Sunday supper.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
  
INGREDIENTS:

1¼ pound thin-cut, boneless skinless chicken cutlets (5 to 6 cutlets)

9-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

4 ounces Gouda cheese, shredded

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

5-6 slices bacon

1 15-ounce can diced Italian style tomatoes with juice

1 Tablespoon melted butter

Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

·        Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

·        Lightly grease cooking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.

·        Pour diced tomatoes with juices into prepared pan.

·        Squeeze spinach dry and combine well in small bowl with gouda cheese, cream cheese and salt & pepper.

·        Lightly salt & pepper the chicken breasts and spread the spinach mixture over each, leaving about a 1-inch border at the bottom of each cutlet (about ¼ cup mixture for each cutlet).

·        Roll each cutlet tightly and wrap each with one slice of bacon.  Secure with toothpicks.

·        Arrange in baking dish, brush with melted butter and top with sprinkling of Panko crumbs.

·        Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with herbed orzo and side green salad. 

Squash, Zucchini, & Tomato Gratin

It's summertime and the living is easy or so the song says!  It's really summertime and the veggies are yummy!!!  I just came home from the farmer's market with a load of summer squash, zucchini and tomatoes and an appetite for a light gratin.  This one doesn't use butter or milk or loads of cheese so you get the full taste sensation from the vegetables. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 zucchinis, sliced in 1/4 inch slices 
• 2 medium yellow squash, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• French fried onions to cover (about 1 cup)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray (or grease with olive oil). 
• In medium skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat & add the onions, sea salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning and cook until the onions are caramelized, about 10 minutes. Next add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.
• Layer the dish with half of the tomato slices and then all of the yellow squash slices. Sprinkle with half the grated Parmesan. Pour the caramelized onion mixture over in a even layer. Then, add the zucchini slices and the final layer of tomatoes. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  This dish is delicious served warm from the oven or at room temperature.