Copycat Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

    1lb peeled and deveined shrimp
    Brown paper bag
    Cooking oil
    For The Sauce
    1 cup mayonnaise
    2-3 Tablespoons honey
    approx 1/4 Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (we use Kikkoman's) adjust to taste.
    For The Shrimp Batter
    3/4 cup flour
    1/2 cup corn starch
    2 Tablespoons garlic powder
    Salt and pepper to taste
    1 egg
    1 cup of buttermilk (can also substitute with milk)

Instructions

    Mix ingredients for sauce and sit aside.
    Mix egg and buttermilk and let shrimp soak in the egg/milk mixture for 15-20minutes.
    Once the shrimp have soaked, dredge in flour and fry in hot oil. (Shrimp only take about 3-5minutes at most to cook.)
    Remove shrimp and place on brown paper sack. (This absorbs excess grease and keeps the shrimp crunchy.)
    Place a few spoonfuls of sauce in large bowl and toss with shrimp until coated.
    Serve over a spring mix salad or baby spinach.

Thanks to Carrie With Children!

An entire Olive Garden Meal Made At Home!

An entire Olive Garden Meal Made At Home! Prefect for that special date or occasion! Thanks, Sisterstuff!

 

Olive Garden Hot Artichoke-Spinach Dip Copy Cat Recipe:

(Recipe adapted from cdkitchen.com)

8 ounces cream cheese
14 ounces Artichoke Hearts, drained, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Spinach frozen chopped, or steamed
1/4 cup Mayonnaise, not Miracle Whip (I substituted this with fat free sour cream!)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
OR
1 tablespoon Basil Fresh
1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper, to taste

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Cream together mayonnaise (or sour cream), Parmesan, Romano cheese, Mozzarella, garlic, basil, and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach (careful to drain this well), and mix until blended. Store in a container until you are ready to use. Spray pie pan with Pam, pour in dip, and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is browned. Serve with toasted bread.

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli:
(Recipe from Food.com)
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes , undrained
1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans , drained (I skipped this, not a fan of red kidney beans!)
1 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans , drained
3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
3 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons pepper
5 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
8 ounces pasta

Directions:
Brown beef in a skillet. Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. During last 30 min on high or 1 hour on low, add pasta.

**This makes 12 servings, so you could definitely cut it in half if you are making it for only a few people.**

 

Olive Garden Garden Fresh Salad Recipe:
Olive Garden Salad Dressing:
1/2 C. Mayonnaise
1/3 C. White Vinegar
1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp. Corn Syrup
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt - or one clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Blend all ingredients together and chill until ready to use. The dressing will be a white color, but will taste very similar to Olive Garden's House Dressing.

Olive Garden Salad Mix:
1 bag American Blend Dole Salad
4-5 slices Red Onion
4-6 Black Olives
2-4 Banana Peppers
1/2 C. Croutons
1 small Tomato Quartered
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Place bag of salad in bowl. Place red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons on top of salad. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top. You can add more or less of each ingredient depending on your preference.

Olive Garden Breadsticks:
(Recipe adapted from Recipe Dose)

Camille made these breadsticks a few weeks ago so I knew they would go perfect with our Olive Garden meal. Because I was short on time, I used Rhodes Rolls frozen dough, thawed it, shaped breadsticks, brushed butter on top, sprinkled on garlic salt and cooked it at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes. They still tasted so good, and you wouldn't know they weren't made from scratch!

Here is the actual copycat recipe Camille used:

 

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups of water
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
4 cups of flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast (one packet)
2 Tbsp butter, melted
Non-stick cooking spray (preferably butter flavored)
Garlic salt for topping

Procedure:
1. In the mixing bowl of dough mixer, mix together 1 1/2 Tbsp softened butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water and make smooth soft dough. (If you don't have a dough mixer, simply mix ingredients together in a bowl using a large spoon. When dough becomes too hard to mix using that, pull out of pull and knead on a floured surface until dough is smooth. I kneaded mine for about 5 minutes and it turned out fine)

2. When dough is ready make elongated shape of bread sticks having 1 1/2” thickness and 5-6" long.
3. Place these sticks on a greased baking sheet by keeping 2-4 cm distance in between sticks cover the pan and let them rise to double in size for 60-80 min (keep in a warm place for faster rising).

4. Meanwhile preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Brush breaksticks with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 18-20 min until they are barely lightly golden on top (don't over-do it!). Serve warm breadsticks with marinara sauce for dipping.

 

Easy Chocolate Dipped Strawberries:

1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

4 Tbl. vegetable oil

1 pkg. strawberries

1 pkg. white chocolate chips (optional, only if you want some white chocolate on top)

2 Tbl. vegetable oil (only if you are using white chocolate chips)

Aluminum Foil

Baking Sheet

 

Line baking sheet with foil and set aside. Wash and dry all of your strawberries. Add whole bag of chocolate chips & 4 Tbl. of oil to a saucepan over low heat. You'll want the heat to be as low as possible! Whisk chocolate and oil together constantly as it melts. Hold each strawberry by the leaves and dip into chocolate. Make sure to not get the leaves! Gently set each dipped strawberry on foil lined baking sheet. After all of the strawberries are dipped, place baking sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes.

If you want white chocolate on top:

 

Melt 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips and 2 Tbl. of vegetable oil on Low heat. Constantly mix with whisk until completely melted. Use a spoon to drizzle white chocolate on top of each strawberry. It will look like a disaster! Place baking sheet bake in the fridge until ready to eat. Remove from sheet and serve.

Hope you have a lovely night in!

 

Meal Adapted from SisterStuff.Com

Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian Sausage (spicy if you prefer more heat)
• 5-7 slices of bacon
• 5 medium russet potatoes
• 2 c kale, chopped
• 1 c heavy whipping cream
• 1 qt water
• (2) 14 oz cans of chicken broth
• 1/2 large onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Crumble the sausage onto a baking sheet. Bake the sausage in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Place on paper towels to drain. 
2. Cook the bacon and crumble into small pieces. I baked my bacon. Slice the potatoes between 1/8? and 1/4?. I used the thick setting on my mandolin. Just make the slices about the same size so they cook evenly. Dice up the onion and mince the garlic. Throw the potatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and water into a large pot on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through. 
3. Prepare the kale by chopping into bite sized pieces. Kale is wonderful for soups because it holds up to the heat so well. It’s also delicious! Add the sausage, bacon, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. During this time the potatoes will start breaking apart into smaller bite sized pieces because they are so tender. Turn the heat to low and add in the kale and heavy cream. Let the soup heat through and serve. We like to serve this soup with some grated Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious!

Copycat Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion

Ingredients

Dip:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon drained horseradish
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia (about 1 pound)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 gallon soy or corn oil
Kosher salt

Directions
For the Dip: For the Onion:

Combine all of the dip ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Slice the onion (see below). Whisk the flour, cayenne, paprika, thyme, oregano, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a bowl. In a small deep bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and 1 cup water.

Place the onion in a separate bowl, cut-side up, and pour all of the flour mixture on top. Cover the bowl with a plate, then shake back and forth to distribute the flour. Check to make sure the onion is fully coated, especially between the "petals." Lift the onion by the core, turn over and pat off the excess flour; reserve the bowl of flour.

Using a slotted spoon, fully submerge the onion in the egg mixture (spoon on top, if necessary). Remove and let the excess egg drip off, then repeat the flouring process. Refrigerate the onion while you heat the oil.

Heat the oil in a large deep pot over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 400 degrees. Pat off excess flour from the onion. Using a wire skimmer, carefully lower the onion into the oil, cut-side down. Adjust the heat so the oil temperature stays close to 350 degrees. Fry about 3 minutes, then turn the onion over and cook until golden, about 3 more minutes; drain on paper towels. Season with salt and serve with the dip.

How to Slice a Bloomin' Onion

1. Cut off 1/2 inch from the pointy stem end of the onion, then peel.

2. Place the onion cut-side down. Starting 1/2 inch from the root, make a downward cut all the way through to the board.

3. Repeat to make four evenly spaced cuts around the onion.

4. Continue slicing between each section until you have 16 evenly spaced cuts.

5. Turn the onion over and use your fingers to gently separate the outer pieces.

Photograph by Kate Mathis; Illustration by Brown Bird Design