The recipe list

For Just do it challenge #3, I cooked a full meal (appetizer, drink, meal, and dessert) for the family. A couple of you requested the recipes, so here you are:

1. Mango black bean salsa

* 1-2 red peppers
* 1-2 yellow peppers
* 1 can black beans, rinsed (very important)
* 1-2 mangoes (peaches can be substituted)
* green onion- one bunch (is that what this is called?)
* cilantro- one bushel/bunch
* cumin
* extra virgin olive oil (I refuse to do a Rachel Ray by writing EVOO)
* lime juice

Chop up all vegetables into small pieces. Put in bowl. Sprinkle with cumin. Add lime juice and a swirl of olive oil. Taste. If you want it more tart, add more lime juice. If you want more zing, add more cumin and olive oil. Serve with lime chips. Swoon.

2. Peach sangria

* 1 Bottle of white wine - (I used Riesling)
* 1/2 cup Peach Schnapps
* 1/4 cup sugar (or less, depending on how sweet you prefer your Sangria)
* 2 sliced peaches (frozen peach slices work well)
* 1/2 mango peeled and sliced
* 1/2 liter of ginger ale
* a few sliced strawberries

Pour wine and Schnapps in the pitcher and add sliced peach, strawberries, and mango. Next add sugar and stir gently. Chill mixture for at least one hour. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving. Garnish with umbrella or strawberry. Drink while pretending you are in the tropics.

3. Fiery shrimp

* 2 sticks butter- melted
* 2 sticks margarine- melted (you can use 4 sticks of butter, but this way is slightly healthier. That's at least what I told myself.)
* ½ cup worcestershire sauce
* 4 tablespoons black pepper
* 1 tsp. ground rosemary
* 2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
* 2 tsp. salt
* 3 cloves of garlic- minced
* 4 lemons- 2 juiced and 2 sliced
* 5 pounds of raw shrimp

Heat oven to 400. Mix all ingredients except shrimp and lemon slices. Add ½ cup of sauce on bottom of a baking dish. Layer shrimp and lemon. Leave room at top. Pour all sauce on top of shrimp. Bake uncovered in oven 15-20 minutes at 400, stiring after 5 minutes and checking on it often. Serve immediately with hot, crusty bread and a salad. Be prepared to get buttery fingers.

4. Profiteroles with ice cream

* 1 qt coffee and 1 qt vanilla ice cream- I used Haagen Daz because my thought is life is short: splurge on the good ice cream!
* 3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
* 3/4 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet. Bring butter, water, and salt to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, then add flour all at once and cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well with an electric mixer after each addition. Scoop out warm mixture onto cookie sheet to about the size that you want your profiterole. I made them about the size of a scone. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes total. Prick each profiterole once with a skewer, then return to oven to dry, propping oven door slightly ajar, 3 minutes. This is very important so that they are light and airy. Cool on sheet on a rack. Cut in half, put ice cream in middle, and replace top portion of profiterole so that you almost have an ice cream sandwich. This is delicious if you use both vanilla and coffee ice cream; it just gives it a more complex flavor. Top with dark chocolate sauce (jar is fine). Garnish with strawberry or whipped cream. Congratulate yourself on cooking oh-so-French dessert.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you venture to cook any of there. I'd love to know how they turn out for you!