Banana Sour Cream Bread

**** Makes 4 loafs!****

Ingredients

1/4 cu sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cu butter
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas
1 (16 oz) container of sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp groun cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cu flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 egrees. Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a sm. bowl, stir together 1/4 cu sugar and cinnamon an ddust pans lightly with the mixture.

In a large bowl, cream butter an 3 cups of sugar. Mix in eggs, mashe bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda an flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.

Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1 oz garlic, minced
2 oz diced onion
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp old bay seasoning
1 oz parshley flakes
1 oz dried mustard
sprinkle of paprika
sprinkle of garlic powder
sprinkle of chili powder
1 lb crab meat
1 raw egg
1 cup of bread crumbs
cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

In a large pan saute butter, garlic, onions and peppers until tender. Let cool. In a large bowl combine mayo, lemon juice, old bay, parsley, mustard, and the sprinkles of seasoning. Set small amount aside for dipping sauce. In a separate bowl mix crab meat and egg (being careful not to break the crab meat). Combine the 3 mixtures together. Toss and mix gently. Add more bread crumbs if needed. Should be able to make a patty with the mixture.

Form into 3 inch patties and 1/2 inch thick and saute in non-stick pan until golden brown on both sides.










Serve with rest of the mayo dipping sauce and a lemon wedge. Garnish with tomato and a cilantro leaf!

Shrimp and Spot "in" Chowda... By P.K.

First, buy some crappy fishing gear at the local fishing hut then head out to the nearest highway run off. Next, attempt to fish while getting attacked by invisible bugs until you're about to give up.

Of course the last cast you land a fish..... PK and I named him Spot b/c he was a spotted trout... and at the same time we thought... "WE gotta eat Spot... in a Chowda, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm".

See Spot caught.




Spot made the cut at 15 inches long. Poor Spot.



See Spot Bleed out.



See Spot de-scaled.




See Spot Fillet.



See 2 Spots.




Ingredients:

2/3 stick of butter
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 lb of shrimp w/ the heads on.(y'all)
Fresh catch of the Day (aka Spotted Trout if you caught it off the dock by my house!)
1/2 cup minced Onions
3 cups diced red potatoes
6 cups of corn kernels
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch of Old Bay seasoning
3 cup milk (we used skim, but PK recommends whole milk)
1/2 quart heavy cream
2 tsp pepper and salt to taste
Shrimp Stock: (use shrimp heads and shells only)

Rip heads and shells off shrimp, separate into a sauce pan. Cook heads and shells covered with water, add cayenne pepper and old bay seasoning then cook over medium heat until it reduces by half. Then stain the heads and shells from the stock and set aside.








In a large sauce pan (I am talking big for soups sauce pan), saute butter, onions and garlic until the onions are transparent. Then add shrimp stock, potatoes and corn until the potatoes are tender (about 10-15 minutes).

Add shrimp and Spot to the chowda for approximately 10 more minutes (see Spot cook).


Finally, add enough milk and cream to cover the vegetables and reduce until desired thickness. Add pepper and salt to taste. Serve hot!



PK and I gave this a 9 out of 10. I ate an entire bowl before PK had 1/2 of his!

Seafood Arrabiata for you and for me!

Shall-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la la Ti Da! Seafood Arrabiata! Now folks, this is not for the chef who is weak of heart, oh no, it is for one of courage, enduring fortitude, and a bottomless hunger. PK is that chef... well, he's 1/3rd of that chef has he always brings an appetite when he steps into La Cocina Berard!

Ingredients:

8ish oz. uncooked linguine
2ish tbsp extra virgin oil oil
10 bay scallops
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 tsp red pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can petite cut diced potatoes, drained
1 can of clams with juice (Pk wants me to emphasize "tuna can size")
12 littleneck clam
12 mussels
2 tbsp fresh parsley

Directions:

Clean both mussels and clams and debeard mussel. Let clams, mussels, and scallops sit out covered at room temperature. This will help to have everything cook evenly.

In a large saute pan, saute olive oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, clams w/ juice and red pepper flakes.

In a sauce pan, begin to boil water with a dash of pepper, salt, and olive oil for flavoring. Then add the linguine and cook al dente.

Now, add littleneck clams, mussels, and scallops to the saute pan. Cook until clams and mussels open up. (mussels will open before clams).

Bob and Jane's Oven Roasted Potatos & Sweet and Salty Salmon

Ingredients

1/8 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried majoram
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1.2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F

2. In a large bowl, combine oil, and all the spices. Stir in potatoes until evenly coated. Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.
3. Roast for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning occasionally to brown all sides.

Sweet and Salty Salmon















Directions:

Score the Salmon filet without breaking the skin (both horizontally and vertically) with each score being approximatly 1 inch apart. Cover the Salmon with Kosher salt on the meat-side of the salmon only. The skin side remains down throughout the entire process. Cover the fish with brown sugar making sure to get it within the scores of the salmon. Let marinade in a baking dish for approximately 8 hours. Grill the fish skin-side down (never flipping the fish). Fish should be flaky. Time to cook depends the thickness of the fish, atmospheric pressure, (for every 20 degrees below ISA cook it an extra 5 minutes ~ says Bob),and the general temperment of the cook.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder!-by Bonnie and Erin

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 slices Canadian bacon (about 2 ounces), chopped
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch dice







2 cups chopped clams*
2 cups clam juice (Bonnie and I just used the water from boiling the fresh Quahogs)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
Water, to cover
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the Canadian bacon, onions and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes.
Add the potatoes, clams, clam juice, thyme and water, to cover. Bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Sarah and Jeff Marcus Tomatillo Sauce---aka Green Salsa!

Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillos (2 lbs or so)
garlic (3,4 cloves)
yellow onion (finely chopped)
serrano peppers (8,10)

Peel and rinse tomatillos.
Roast the tomatillos and serranos in a very hot oven on a baking sheet until they are dark brown.
Remove and allow to cool.
Add onion, garlic to the tomatillos and blend in a blender (or food processor) with some water until the salsa is desired consistency.
Add salt to taste.

Rocky Point Manhattan Clam Chowder

Now, I know what my fellow Rhodies are thinking.... "Erin is my savior... I have been looking for a bomb recipe to make Rocky Point Clam Chowder!!!"

For all my non-Rhodies (native Rhode Islanders), I guarantee that you will love this recipe if you like seafood as much as I do.











Quick Background... Rocky point was my mostest favorite Childhood Amusement park. In fact, I think in total my mom must have taken us there for at least 14 birthday parties in our family alone. In fact, one birthday party of mine comes quickly flooding back to the forefront of my memory banks... Sara Wags- remember driving back at midnight from Rocky Point and getting stuck on the tippity top of the old Jamestown bridge because of a car accident. I think mama and papa Wags were pissed that we got you home so late. Anyway, Rocky Point was the birthday event of choice and when you watch this 80s commercial... it becomes pretty apparent why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uu96wqhGqI

So... I looked up the recipe for their infamous Manhattan Clam Chowder. I could only find it in bulk so I figured out how to make it more home-friendly. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 pound salty pork
1/4 medium onion (about 1/2 cup)
1 can chopped clams plus the clam juice (if you can add some more clam juice, the better it will be)
3 medium size potatoes (I used ordinary Idaho potatoes--the brown ones)
3 big pinches of Paprika
1 large can of Tomato Puree
8 large Quahogs or clams
3 large pinches Old Bay Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to Taste!

Directions:

Before cooking, soak quahogs or clams in cold water for approx 20 minutes to let them naturally "spit out" or filter out any sand.

Steam clams in approx 4 cups of water. Once clams open up, they are cooked. If the clam doesn't open then throw away (that means it was dead before you cooked it and definitely not good to eat). Extract clams and dice to small chunks. SAVE the water that you used to boil the clams as this will be the main part of the soup broth.

In a large soup pot, cook pork until browned. Add onions and cook until tender. Add the potatoes and let them cook for a couple of minutes before you add the clam water, tomato puree, canned clams plus juice, spices and diced quahogs.

Let cook for approx 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

The soup should not be thick so add more clam juice as necessary.

Makes approx 6 servings and better the second day!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
unsalted butter to greese pan (approx 1 ounce)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
6.5 ounces chopped dried fruit (I used cranberries, rasberries, and blueberries)
*** I also added about 1/2 cup of ground flax seed ---Love this stuff!

Butter 9x9 inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, wheat germ and flax seed (optional) onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occassionally.

In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and salt into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until brown sugar is completely dissovled.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn the mixture out into the prepared baking dish adn press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in airtight containter for up to 1 week.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup Honey
3 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/4 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking dish and set aside.

In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat, stirring.

In a large bowl stir together oats, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and salt. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until comined well.

On a large baking sheet, spread the granola mixture evenly in a thin layer. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes to keep from sticking or burning, until golden brown or crips, (about 20 minutes). DO NOT OVERCOOK; The granola will crisp more when cooled. Cool granola in the pan on top of the stove and stir in the raisins. When the granola is completely cooled, place in a large bowl.

Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is at a boil. Remove from the heat and pur the mixture over the granola, stirring to coat well. Cool slightly and press into the prepared baking dish and let cool completely and harden. Cut into 1 1/4 by 4 inch bars and serve at room temp. Keep in air-tight container for up to 1 week!

Sara and Luke Miller's Bean Dip!!!

1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 package of cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1-2 green onions, chopped
olive oil, drizzled over depending on your taste
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tb cumin
1 Tb coriander
salt pepper
1 lime

All of these ingredients can be adjusted according to your taste. I don't follow a recipe anymore, I just start with the bean, corn and tomatoes and use the other ingredients according to how I want it.

You can add, avocado, mango when in season (the store canned mango just mashes up into the dip), chopped jalapenos, pineapple, or whatever you like. It's great on salads, fish, and with tortilla chips.

Hope it turns out great!! It's my favorite...just made some yesterday.