Bang Bang Shrimpies

Now I have to apologize because in my attempt to rise to tiktok stardom, I completely forgot to take a still shot of the best shrimp I've ever had- but if you need proof of how amazing my shrimp looked, head on over to my tiktok to check it out @lyssious ;) 

Ingredients:

Shrimp
- 1lb. Bag of Deveined Shrimp

- 1 cup of Buttermilk

- 1 Egg

- 1/2 tsp. of Garlic Powder

- 1/2 tsp of. Paprika

- 1/4 tsp. of Salt

- 1/4 tsp. of Pepper

- 1 cup of Cornstarch

- 1/2 cup of Breadcrumbs/Panko

- Vegetable Oil 

Sauce

- 1/2 cup of Mayo 

- 1/2 cup of Sweet Chili Sauce

- 1 tsp. of Minced Garlic

- 1/4 tsp. of Pepper

- 2 tsp. of Rice Vinegar 

- 1 tsp. of Siracha 

- 1 tsp. of Parsley 

Directions:

1. So making the breading is very important, we don't want it to slide off (almost lost me a cookoff once) so make sure that you are really soaking these shrimp.

2. We are gong to add the buttermilk, egg, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper into a bowl. Mix it all up and set aside for the moment.

3. Now we are going to create our dry breading mixture. Add the cornstarch to your breadcrumbs/panko, and then also add all the seasonings: garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

4. Let both sit while you create the sauce, just to make sure you keep an eye on them while frying! Here we are going to mix the mayo, sweet chili, garlic, pepper, rice vinegar, siracha and fresh parsley all together at once.

5. Now it's time to fry babbbby. Like I mentioned previously, we don't want the coating to slide off so make sure it's drenched before dropping it into the vegetable oil. Once they begin frying, keep a close eye on them so you can flip. They will be a golden brown when finished.

6. Add to a large mixing bowl and pour your sauce over top!

Creamy Red Curry Pasta

I'm quite unsure how many of my posts have began with "GUYS IM RELALY EXCITED ABOUT THIS", so just add this one to the list. One of the restaurants I frequent (Matter of Taste) has the besssssst mussels I've ever tasted, and this is the honorable mention to the broth it's cooked in. I obsess over this sauce, like I'm not kidding, after housing the entire plate of mussels I have them box the sauce and I put it on anything I can for the next week. I have been on a quest to figure out this damn recipe for years now and I think I got it down. ALSO check out my tiktok (@lyssious), I'm trying to keep up to date with the young kids (and my videos look way better than my pictures tbh) !

Ingredients:

- Any Package of Pasta  (I got these extra large Paccheri from target after looking foreveeeeer)

- 1/2 cup of Chopped Onion

- 4 Cloves of Fresh Garlic

- 1.5 Tbsp. Thai Red Curry Paste

- 1 Can of Full Fat Coconut Milk

- 1 Lime

- 1 Tomato

- 1 Tbsp. of Sugar

- Basil/Cilantro

- Red Pepper Flakes

- 1 tsp Salt 

- Chives (optional)

- Burrata (optional) 

Directions:

1. Alright y'all, we're gonna start with the sauce. Make sure that you oil or butter your pan and throw your onions in and cook them down a bit, and then throw in your garlic. 

2. Next you're going to want to add in the Thai Red Curry Paste. This is pretty thick so just mix it in with the onions and garlic and make sure its pretty spread out. 

3. Then we hit emmmm with the cream! The full fat coconut milk makes this sauce sooo creamy, so make sure you get it all in there!

4. Now this next step is sooo important, you want to juice the ENTIRE lime in here. Whenever I watch cooking shows, they always mention the balance between dishes and how acid is so crucial to a dish, the lime adds the acid that this thick dish so badly needs.

5. This is where we can start to have fun with it, here you can add some tomatoes, red pepper flakes, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, some sugar and salt! ALL of these ingredients are optional, however these ingredients add so much flavor. 

6. Boil your pasta and add to the sauce when complete- save a little bit of pasta water to mix in (idk why ok, tiktok told me to do that so I do it now- and so will you).

7. Pasta is NEVER complete, without cheese. So what better than to top my favorite sauce, with my favorite cheese? Burrata paired perfectly with this because it balanced out the heat really well. 

8. Top the rest with some chives and impress literally anyone you've ever met :)

Carne Asada Street Tacos

Ohhhhhhh yes, what better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than with authentic Mexican cuisine? Don’t be intimated by the after product, street tacos are super fun to make and customize! Grab a margarita, make some white corn guacamole and lets eat some freakin tacos!!!

Ingredients:

- Skirt Steak (or whatever cut you desire honestly, just make sure its thin cut)
- White Corn Tortillas
- Queso Fresco
- Red Onion
- Cilantro
- Jalapeños

Marinade:
- 1 Jalapeño
- Chopped Garlic
- FRESH Cilantro
- 1 Orange Squeezed
- 1 Lime Squeezed
- 2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

1. You’re going to want to marinate the steak for at least one hour, if not overnight.
2. Once the steak has been marinated, place it on a low heat grill for approximately 3 minutes each side. Make sure you get a nice char on it, this is for a medium rare cook.
3. Let steak sit while you fry up corn tortillas.
4. Chop steak into strips and place in tortillas, top with your favorite toppings (I like queso fresco, onion, cilantro, jalapeños and salsa verde)
5. Imagine you’re sitting on a beautiful beach in Cabo San Lucas and enjoy :)

White Corn Guacamole

If you’re anything like me, you know that while the main ingredient in guacamole is avocados- a mushed avocado just doesn’t taste the same. Now, don’t get me wrong avocados are fucking amazing, and so is quac BUUUUUT for me guacamole has to be extra, over the top, spectacular! So I don’t just simply mash an avocado and throw in some onions, no baby, we go all out for this one. So get ready to spend 10 extra minuets to make the best tasting guacamole you’ve ever had, you’re welcome!

Ingredients:

- 4 Avocados 

- White Corn (you can use yellow to but like... white corn slaps)

- Cherry Tomatoes

- Red Onion

- Jalapeños

- Cilantro 

- 1 Lime

- Salt

- Pepper

Instructions:

1. Alright so hears the deal, you can make your guac anyway you want. That’s why above

I didn’t list any measurements. Once you mash your avocados (leaving some delicious 

chunky bits) just start adding as much of whatever you desire! Don’t like tomatoes? Leave

them out. Wanna add black beans? Put that shit in there! The best part about cooking is the 

creativity it lends out. So sit back and enjoy your delicious guacamole with some chips and 

A margarita- and turn your home into the trendiest cantina in all of quarantine!

Sesame Ginger Salmon Salad

Oddly enough, I’m not really big on putting fish into salads, but something about these sounded like they really paired well to dinner. PRO TIP, if this seems a little over ambitious for you, there is no shame in just buying one of the premade salad mixtures from the store, just limits your creativity. Overall this recipe was fairly simple, and turned out pretty damn good! 

- Salmon Filet 

- Ginger 

- Garlic

- Soy Sauce (1/2 cup)

- Brown Sugar (1/4 cup)

- Honey (3 tbsp)

- Sesame Seeds

- Green Onions

- Green and Red Cabbage

- Kale

- Shredded Carrots 

- Green Peas

- Nuts (Cashews, Almonds, or Peanuts) 

Instructions:

1. Start by browning some minced garlic and ginger in a pan.

2. Cook salmon about 4-6 mins on each side to desired level.

3. When the salmon is cooked, add in soy sauce, brown sugar, and honey and let it thicken. Let cooked salmon rest while you make the salad. 

4. Cut up cabbage and kale, then stir in carrots, peas, and which ever nuts you’d like. 

5. Mix salad together and begin plating, place salmon on top and pour the sauce lightly overtop salmon and salad as dressing.

6. Garnish the top with sesame seeds and green onion!

Baklava

This is going to be extra short and simple because if I need to explain to you why baklava is the best dessert ever created, you’re simply not worthy of enjoying it. LET IT BE KNOWN, baklava is not as hard as people make it out to be!

- 1(16 oz) Package of Phyllo Dough

- 3 cups of Pecans, Walnuts, or Pistachios (personally I like to use all 3) 
- 1 Stick of Butter
- 2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
- 1 cup of Water

- 1 cup of Granulated Sugar

- 1/2 cup of Honey

- 1 tablespoon of Vanilla Extract 

*Optional* Orange

Instructions:

1. PRO TIP, I always forget to thaw my phyllo dough- so MAKE SURE you take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temp for 3 hours (otherwise you’ll be making baklava at 1:30am).

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Unroll the phyllo dough and cover with a damp cloth so it stays moist and doesn’t dry out.

4. Either pulse together your nuts or just smash them until you get a crumble consistency, add the cinnamon to the nuts.

5. Melt the stick of butter and use a pastry brush to coat the bottom of your pan generously. Quickly place two sheets of the phyllo dough down and then coat the top of the phyllo dough with butter again (use a pastry brush). Continue this process of adding two sheets and topping with butter an additional 3 times (8 total sheets) to create the “base”.

6. When you have your base created, bush the top with butter and spread out a thin layer of the nut/cinnamon mixture over top. 

7. Then place two sheets of phyllo dough on top of the nut mixture and repeat this process until your desired thickness has been reached.

8. Now to make the top, basically you’re just recreated the base. Do the set of placing two sheets and coat with butter a total of 4 times (8 sheets).

9. Brush the top layer of phyllo dough with butter and cut your pastry.

10. You will bake for 50 minutes total!

11. With 15 minutes left, start making the only simple syrup, add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a pan and bring to a boil. When it begins to boil, add in your honey and vanilla (for a special ingredient i like to squeeze a little bit of orange into the syrup as well) and let it simmer until the pastry is done cooking. 

12. Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the syrup overtop while still warm.

13. Let it cool for a few hour or preferably overnight (I like it chilled) and there you have, the best dessert ever created, enjoy!

Mushroom Rigatoni

Mushrooms we're always one of those things that I never really liked but had every intention of wanting to like. I kid you not, one day I woke up and tried a mushroom, loved it, and ever since then my life seems to make a little more sense. Now I make excuses to use mushrooms as much as possible and when the idea popped up in my head for a creamy mushroom rigatoni I simply couldn't resist. If you're someone who doesn't like mushrooms, try this recipe and learn to like them- it's cheaper than therapy! 

- 4 tbsp of Butter

- 2 tbsp of Olive Oil

- Fresh Chopped Garlic

- White Onion 

- 2 packaged of MUSHROOOOMS

- 1 cup of White Wine (I used my ~fav~ Sauv Blanc)

- 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth 

- 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream

- Package of Rigatoni Noodles

- 2 Tomatoes 

- Chives

- Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

1. I read somewhere online once about how the flavor balance when you mix butter and olive oil together makes for a unique taste when making a simpler dish, so for this recipe I decided to mix the two. Heat both in the pan until the butter is melted and then throw in as much fresh chopped garlic and white onions as you desire. Cook until the onions have softened up.

2. Add the packages of mushrooms and cook until a nice golden brown color has developed.

3. Add white wine to the pan and let it cook until it has reduced to about half.

4. Then add the chicken broth and simmer until it has also reduced some.

5. Finally add the heavy cream and let boil until sauce thickens to desire consistency (if you want a thicker sauce, make a cornstarch and water slurry and add to the mixture).

6. While sauce thickens, boil rigatoni noodles.

7. When the sauce has finished add the sauce mixture to cooled noodles.

8. Plate the mushroom noodle mixture, top with fresh diced tomatoes, chives, and shaved parmesan cheese!

Valentines Day Sugar Cookies

Alright y'all, I can't lie- I am NO Betty Crocker. Ironically enough, I did just use Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix for this recipe (the best of all mixes) and they turned out bomb. I would give you all the instructions but honestly I'm not gonna waste your time or worry about copyright infringement soooo just go buy yourself a package (leave in the oven for 6 1/2 mins- this took lots of trial an error, you're welcome). Anyways, the real star of the show here is the FROSTING and everybody knows that! Again, my expertise is not in baking so don't judge me for using the mix they sell at Hobby Lobby for icing. Shoutout to Hobby Lobby though because after my last trip there I have been searching for a reason to try out their 30+ shades of food die. At the end, this was really just an art project but what I learned was to just water down the frosting as much as you would like to get it to spread and then have a harder one for actual piping! I know this isn't my usual step by step, but I knew I had to go off for the ~luuuuurv~ holiday. Most importantly just have fun with the decorating, if art isn't really your thing that's alright this isle *disclaimer this is not #sponsored by Hobby Lobby but if you're from Hobby Lobby and want to #sponsor me HMU* had literally ANYTHING you could want to put on a cookie, cupcake, baklava you name it. This was just a new fun project to try and it was actually pretty simple and fun. Happy Valentines day everyone!

xoxo lyssious