Crab Bisque

 Yesterday I was soo in the mood for some soup. So I made this little delight!

Crab Bisque
From Susan Huckaby

6 Med Potatoes; peeled & cubed

1 lg (2 small) Onions; finely chopped

3 med Carrots; peeled & cubed

1 stalk Celery - chopped in cubes

2 cans Evaporated Milk

3 cans Cream of Mushroom (I used Cream of Celery)

3 cups Milk

1 lb Crab Meat; cut bite size (I used imitation)

 3 HEAPING TBS Old Bay Seasoning

Boil veggies on High in salty water for 10 - 12 mins. Drain Vegetable mixture & set aside. In the same pot add Evaporated Milk, Soup and 2 cups of Milk. Stir soup mixture til smooth and reintroduce the veggies. Return to Med - Lo heat. Add Crab Meat and Old Bay. Stir soup constantly for 5 - 10 mins. Add remaining Milk. Warm for 10 mins. Serve with Crackers/Cornbread.

This was my first time making this and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I hope you are enjoying all this food. And remember to Fancy It Up!

Meatloaf (the Food not singer)

 I made meatloaf. And when I make meatloaf I just kinda throw things in a bowl. HAND mix it. and voila it's awesome.

MEATLOAF a la Ashleigh

1 lb Ground Beef

1 lb Italian Sausage (i just get the bratwurst and take it out of the casing)

1 cup of Ketchup (more if you like)

1 egg (if your mixture is lookin' dry add another one)

Start off with about 2/3 cup of bread crumbs add more if your mixture is too wet

add some Worcester Sauce (about 1/4 cup or more)

Salt

Pepper

Italian Seasoning

Garlic

Chopped Onion

(all to taste)

pack into a loaf pan and put ketchup on top

Bake: 375 degrees for 1 hour (unitl center is 160 degrees)

I paired mine with White Rice and Black Beans. It was Amazing! Enjoy and remember to Fancy it Up!

I KNOW it's been too long!

 So it's been about 2 months since my last blog. I'm soo sorry. I've gotten so many requests to start back up. And I finally had a free Sunday to sit down and hammer these out. So here's my Amazing Dessert that I promised.  

Cherry Bars

1 3/4 cup Sugar

1 cup Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

4 eggs

3 cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 - 21 oz can Cherry Pie Filling

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together sugar, butter, & vanilla. Add eggs ONE AT A TIME, untill thoroughly blended. Add Flour and baking powder and spread about 2/3 of batter on a greased cookie sheet.

 

Spoon the Pie Filling onto the batter. Drop remaining batter over the pie filling. (This will create the stained glass effect). Place in oven for 35 - 40 mins. 

 Almond Glaze

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1 TBS Milk

1 tsp Almond Extract

Combined and Drizzle over baked Cherry Bars.

Cut and Enjoy

This is a great recipe and it's super easy. You can pretty much use any fruit pie filling, and you can substitute the Almond Extract in the glaze if you find that wouldn't be good with the fruit you are using. I hope you enjoy this and as always FANCY IT UP!

OUT OF TOWN

So this week for work I am going out of town. SO I won't be posting. SOO sorry. However I will give you my favorite Dessert Recipe. I'm makin' it for a football party tonight. SO until then...Fancy it up!

Crispy Chicken!

Tonight I made Crispy Chicken with Scallop Potatoes and Carrots! It was super yummy. I must note that cooking is all trial and error. I had planned on making some cheesy potatoes found out that they were going to take 3 hours to make AND couldn't get my sauce to thicken! I'm going to have to prefect that...so I found a much simpler version and added cheese after it was done. So if things aren't working out...don't give up...make up something better!

Crispy Baked Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)

3 TBS Mayonnaise

Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 425. Be sure you have your mayo and bread crumbs NOT in their containers...as raw chicken carries salmonella...and you don't want to contaminate your ingredients. Brush your Chicken with the Mayo and then roll it in the Bread Crumbs. Then bake for 15-20 mins. My chicken took a bit longer...so besure to check the color of your chicken prior to removing it from the oven.

Scallop Potatoes

6 Potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8 inch thick*

1 onion chopped

3 TBS butter

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups HOT milk

Preheat oven to 400. Throw potatoes and onions in a buttered 2 quart baking dish. Add bread crumbs and butter. Add salt to milk and pour over. Cover and bake for 30 mins. then uncover and bake until browned on top. 

To make the carrots just boil in water for about 10 mins until you can break them easily. Drain and add butter to taste.

CC is for Cupcake!

On Monday my mom got me a new apron! It's too cute! I also wanted to add some pics of myself so you knew who was doing all that cookin'!

ArUUUgula!

So last night I made Grilled Pork with Arugula and Tomato Salad! It's an awesome recipe and I definitely like the cookbook it came from. BEST EATS by Weight Watchers. SO it's healthy too!

Here's the Recipe:

Grilled Pork with Arugula and Tomato Salad

Weight Watchers Best Eats pg. 76

 1 1/4 lbs. of pork tenderloin*

4 TBS lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

8 cups arugula

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

*I used butterflied pork chops, worked great and I didn't have to slice anything

(I'm tellin' you how I did this not exactly how the cookbook says). Wisk together Lemon Juice, garlic, salt black pepper, olive oil, and vinegar in a bowl. Take half and add it with the pork in a plastic bag (ziploc), seal (letting all air escape) and let it set for about 40 mins - 1 hour. Turning bag to get all parts covered. Spray your pan with nonstick spray and cook on each side for about 3 mins, until the pork is no longer pink.


Half the tomatoes and toss them in with that Arugula (this looks kinda like spinach but tastes a bit less bitter). I added Mandarin Oranges to add a bit of citrus to the meal and it helped finish the meal superbly! Add the rest of the Marinade/Salad dressing to the bowl of salad and serve together.


This meal was sooo good! I can't wait to make it again. Until next time...Fancy it up!

Scamp Scamperi

Last night I was looking at what I had "planned" to make only to find out that I hate the cookbook that I was using. It is called the 4 Ingredient cookbook. Which I've used before. However in all the recipes I've looked at it calls for more than the 4 ingredients listed. I've had to improvise soo much. SO I'm not using that anymore. So to improvise I made Shrimp Scampi! It was delicious. I used the Food Network's Recipe It was a great recipe and instead of Vermouth I used white cooking wine. I laid the shrimp on a bed of angel hair pasta cooked in parsley water. (That fancy for I poured parsley and extra virgin olive oil in the water and let it boil). Man was it taste-y! Tonight I'm makin' Pork chops. Until a few hours from now. Fancy it up!

Cookie Monsters

So I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger lately. Sunday we just had left overs for dinner. And actually we had left over Pork Roast and my Mom poured the Peanut Sauce over it with rice! It was fab! Monday We had Cheeseburgers ... BUT for dessert we had Cookie Monsters! Really it's a cookie about 3 times the size a regular one and then you just add all these delicious things to it! Mom kept hers simple with just chocolate sauce and ice cream. I once put cinnamon toast crunch on mine it was soo awesome! Until next time...Fancy it up!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Today, I made something we've NEVER had before...EGGPLANT! I once tried it in Spain but I hadn't had it since. I figured it was high time (that's fancy for about time) that I attempted to make it. I looked for different recipes and settled on one in the 4 Ingredient Cookbook. Eggplant, Tomato, and Mozzarella Mountains. These were fun to make. They didn't really go over as a resounding success but for the most part people liked it, they just didn't love it! But here are the pictures anyways!

This is the first layered stack!

This is a finished stack!

Make sure you keep them held together!

I added a side of pasta tossed with Pesto. I didn't know how filled we would be!

Eggplant, Tomato, and Mozzarella Mountains

The Utlimate 4 Ingredient Cookbook pg. 259

1 Eggplant, cut into 8 slices

2 slicing tomatoes, cut into 8 slices

1/2 lb mozzarella (preferably buffalo [that's fancy for fresh]), cut into 8 slices

1/3 cup of pesto

Broil the Eggplant slices under high heat until browned on both sides. Put 4 slices onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Put a tomato slice and cheese slice on each one. Make a second layer of each, adding pesto between slices. Skewer (POKE) with a stick. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Transfer stacks to individual serving plates. Carefully remove the sticks. Top with a generous spoonful of pesto. Serve warm or cold. Serves 4.

I've been told either you like eggplant or you don't. But in this case I'm pretty sure we just need to try it in different dishes before we make our final decision. Tomorrow will bring more Fancy dishes your way, until next time...Fancy it up!

Makin' Dough!

Yesterday, I got really busy after dinner...and OOPS forgot to post. And I was doing soo good! ANYWAYS...we made personal pan pizzas. It was tons of fun. We made the dough and then we each flattened it out with our favorite toppings. We just used store bought spaghetti sauce...no need to get crazy makin' pizza sauce HA! 

Here's some pictures for your Fancy Selves!

We doubled the recipe, it doesn't look like a lot. But it made four pizzas.

TOP THAT!

I should note that you should put some Extra Virgin Olive Oil on your pan before starting!

Remember YOU make your own shape! This was Gramma's, Still looks good!

NOW Enjoy!

PIZZA DOUGH
 Betty Crocker's International Cookbook Pg. 162

1 pkg. active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBS olive (or veg.) oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, oil, and 1 3/4 cups of flour.

Turn onto well-floured surface; Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. 

(Knead in enough of the remaining flour to prevent sticking.)

Divide into halves. Pat each half into circles on lightly greased cookie sheet (or pizza stone) with fingers.

Spread with sauce. Sprinkle with toppings. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 mins or until crust is brown. 

Enjoy everyone! and Remember to Fancy it up!

WHAT?

So today I didn't make dinner because, well, I came home from work early and I haven't felt good at all!!! So tomorrow we are makin' personal pizzas (HOMEMADE) it's going to be fabulous and don't worry lots of pictures will be taken! SIDENOTE: I must give a shoutout to my sister Arica who gave Arin her old camera and then when Arin got her new camera gave me Arica's old one. So that's how my lovely pictures get on my Fantabulous (that's fancy for fantastic and fabulous) blog! Until tomorrow...Fancy it up!

PS I'm always looking for new recipes and such. Fancy That! fans I wanna hear from you! Tell me what's your favorite dish to make? 

Baked Potatoes

I'm sure you all were wondering what on earth I could reveal to make these potatoes different from any other baked potatoes!

I'll tell you I love potatoes! As Samwise Gamgee says, "Potatoes, mash 'em, boil 'em, stick 'em in a stew." Seriously, you can do soo much with Potatoes! Today I baked mine. However, it's like pulling teeth to have people eat the skins, and I was doing a bit of research (that's fancy for googling) and I learned that the skin's where most of the nutrients are. So a few years back, I was like what could I do to make these things taste delicious? I'll tell yah, it was a stroke of genius what happened next...


First, I took a tub of butter and coated each potato in it. (Now I just spray the aluminum with PAM.) Then, I took garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and I sprinkled the skins with each (PAM helps the spices stick). Then I baked like normal. The outcome was a delectable finish to any potato. Now we don't have to pull those teeth to get anyone to eat their skins. 


Here are some pictures for you to get the idea!

WASH YOUR POTATOES! I can't stress that enough.

Get the spices you'd like to crust your potatoes with!

Lay out your Aluminum

STAB YOUR POTATOES! this is VITAL (that's fancy for important)

Spray your PAM and sprinkle your spices...

Lay your potato down and WRAP that potato tight!

Add your toppings and enjoy!

(I tried to get a good pic of the skin, but it didn't work too well) 

Well tomorrow is Roasted Red Pepper and Tuna Salad...we will see how it goes! Until tomorrow...Fancy it up!

Thai Chicken

SIGH! Thai Chicken. It was a huge success. EVEN Gramma liked it and it has a slow heat to it (she's not fond of spicy foods). It's fairly simply dish. Just get A Taste of Thai Peanut Sauce mix from your local grocery store. Brown up some chicken. Cook up some rice, add a few veggies (in my case we did Broccoli) AND (in the words of Emeril) BAM! you have Thai Chicken. You can do all different variations of this dish...with rice noodles, with steak, with pork, with turkey, with onions, with ANYTHING! I love the peanut sauce it's simply the easiest one I've used (not that I've used many) hahah! Mom says that this is one to keep on the books, she's started to <3 the ones we like. hahah this will get a BIG heart!

As usual I got some pics: 

This is the peanut sauce. It just adds soo much color to the plate.

 

Rice, Chicken, Broccoli and Peanut Sauce... YUM!!

The PERFECT bite!

A satisfied sampler (that's fancy for eater)!

Arin's probably the toughest critic, that's fancy for picky! Now you know it's good!

 Well my avid fans. I hope you get as much success from this one as I did! Tomorrow is Baked Potatoes...hold on I have a special way to bake these Hot Ones...Until tomorrow...Fancy it up!

AEbleskievers

Tonight I made AEbleskievers (that's fancy for Pancake Balls). I'm pretty sure they are Dutch. We got this recipe from our good friends the Allred's. We met them in Japan and have remained close since! They are fun and you can put whatever you'd like on/in them.


Here are some Pics for your viewing pleasure:

This is an AEbleskeiver pan and helps get the round shape.

Not sure what else you could possibly make in this...

You have to turn them about three times to get them fully cooked...

Things move fast as you are cookin' them!

Finally you have a finished product. 

Here Andrew choose Chocolate Syrup drizzled about them.

Recipe:


AEbleskievers

2 cups buttermilk*
2 cups flour
4 yolks
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 TBS sugar
4 TBS melted butter
4 eggs whites, stiff

*if you don't have buttermilk you can make sour milk with 2% milk and white vinegar. about 1tsp per cup. let it sit a while to let it curdle a bit.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, except egg whites. Beat egg whites until stiff (while beating periodically stop to see if you can make little mountains with the beaters, once that happens make sure there's no more liquid in the bottom of the bowl. when in doubt Google stiff egg whites and check out some pictures). After they are stiff, FOLD them into the main batter... this will give a frothy, light look to the batter. Heat up your pan and start cooking...If you'd like detailed instruction on how to turn them, let me know I'll see if I can't make a video.

 Tomorrow THAI CHICKEN! I'm so stoked! Until next time, Fancy it up!

 

Starting Fancy That!

So let me tell you a bit about the creating of this blog. I'm an avid Food Network fan and after watching this season of Next Food Network Star I came up with the concept of what I wanted my food show to be: FANCY THAT! w/ Ashleigh Page... In this show I would help regular joe's (jane's) sound fancy...example: "Today I made a crème brûlée..." When that's just fancy words for Burned Cream. As I've been thinking about this concept I've gotten big into making a Menu for our family. SATURDAY I spent most of the day planning meals for all of September.

Many of our meals are new recipes for our family and things we don't normally eat, cause I'm getting tired of the same things every week. So I thought each night I would tell you, my AVID fans, if the dish was a success and list the recipe. I'm super excited to get started. My first meal will be Tuesday where we will have...Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce (which I first made in New York, and is delicious). So until next time, Fancy it up!