Holiday Recipes

It's that time of year when our food begins to change.
But it is for the better!

Holiday Shrimp Scampi
Serves 4

This dish can be served anytime, but the red and green elements really play up a Christmas theme. It's simple and elegant and really FAST. You can make this in just a few minutes to really impress your guests.

12 jumbo shrimp (Peeled and deveined. Leave their tails on if you want to be fancy.)
1 bunch of green onions, diced thinly, with some of the green parts
1 tablespoon of garlic
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbl lemon juice

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. At the same time, add the green onions, the red and green pepper and the parsley. Sauté on Medium heat until the onions are tender and the green and red peppers have loosened up a bit but still have bite to them. Add the shrimp. Cook the large shrimp until they are no longer opaque in the middle. This should take about 3 minutes. They will curl in the process. Take the shrimp out of the pan with a tongs and set them on the serving plates 3 to a plate. Balance the third one up against the other two to give your presentation depth. Add the white wine to the skillet and turn it on Medium High so it boils. Boil down the mixture for 1 full minute and add the lemon juice. Now spoon this sauce over the shrimp and Voilà! If you are serving the side salad, you can have the salad all plated and ready to serve before you begin to cook the shrimp scampi. This will allow you to get the dish to table while the shrimp are hot.

Side salad for Holiday Shrimp Scampi
One cup (maximum) assorted baby greens per person
1 chopped red pepper to add color

Dressing:
1/4 cup walnut pieces
2 Tbl mustard (Dijon, preferably)
2 Tbl red wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste (Optional; just a dash will do it.)

In your blender, grind up the walnuts, 2 tablespoons of mustard and a drizzle of the olive oil (just enough to get the blender moving). Grind until well chopped. Then, in a small stream, add the rest of the olive oil. This will make a thick dressing and more than you need to dress the 4 small salads. Save the rest to use in another salad or as a sandwich spread. Lightly dress your greens and toss. Put them on the plate and top with the red pepper bits. Grind a bit of salt and pepper on top (optional).
Enjoy!

And here is a holiday favorite.

Candy Coated Pretzels

Ingredients:
Pretzel logs (the ones that are about 12 inches long)
White chocolate, milk chocolate or even dark chocolate, melted (You'll need enough melted chocolate to fill at least the bottom 3 inches in your double boiler.)
Sprinkles, jimmies and chopped nuts (Nonpariels, chocolate ants, that sort of thing. You choose.)

Process: Melt one kind of chocolate at a time in the top of a double boiler. Take the chocolate off of the flame and tip the bowl so you can coat at least one half of your pretzel log by twisting it in the chocolate. You can roll almost the whole pretzel if you want to. The only part that won't be coated is where you are holding the pretzel. Be careful you don't burn yourself on hot, melted chocolate. Let the excess drip off. Have your dipping ingredients each lined up on waxed paper so you can roll the pretzel in the coating when it comes out of the warm chocolate. Choose one dipping ingredient for each pretzel and roll it so the dipping ingredient catches onto the chocolate. Then transfer your pretzel to a clean sheet of waxed paper. You'll need plenty of waxed paper for this project, depending on how many pretzels you want to make. If you're not making too many, you can set your coated pretzel logs on cookie sheets covered in the waxed paper and transfer them to your refrigerator to set up fast. They will set up just fine on your counter too, but in room temperature setting up takes longer--maybe even several hours. After they're set up, gently peel each pretzel off the waxed paper. You can put these out on a pretty tray for a simple dessert at Christmas time or substitute them for Christmas cookies.