Coffee Cake

My brother Jason has a thing about coffee cake.  You know those square ones from Entemann's that are dusted with powdered sugar?  He can eat an entire one by himself.  I kid you not.  He takes a knife, cuts it into bite size pieces and goes to town.  My grandparents bring him one whenever they are asked to bring a dessert for something and the rest of us are basically resigned to the face that we will never get any.  Oh well.

Jason has decided to join us for Sunday True Blood and snacks.  He took time this summer to watch all the past seasons and got caught up with the current season so a couple of weeks ago he came over for his first installment of our time honored tradition.  I couldn't think of a better way to introduce him to our Sunday night ritual than with one of his favorite sweet treats.  I hit the cookbooks to find the perfect recipe and my handy All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook did not let me down.  I have had this book forever and it has definitely produced some good recipes.  This one was no exception.  The recipe makes 2 nine inch round cakes.  We used one for Sunday night and I brought the other one to work.  It was gone by lunchtime to rave reviews.  If you are looking for a good classic crumb cake, this is one to try.

Coffee Cake
From All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Ingredients:
 Crumb topping
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Prepare crumb topping:  In a medium bowl, combines flour, granulated and brown sugars, and cinnamon until well blended.  With fingertips, blend flour mixture and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Set aside.

Prepare cakes:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula.  Increase speed to medium; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.  Reduce speed to low; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a cup, combine milk and vanilla.  With mixer at low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.  With hand, press crumb mixture to form 3/4 inch chunks; sprinkle evenly over batter.  Bake cakes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.  Cook in pans on wire racks 15 minutes.   With small metal spatula or butter knife, loosen cakes from sides of pans.  Invert cakes onto plates, then transfer, crumb side up, onto wire racks to cool completely. (I actually just let them cool completely in the pans and they were fine.)  Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

We eat a lot of bananas in our house.  Joe likes to have at least one everyday and I eat them pretty frequently too.  I also love to cook with bananas.  Banana pancakes, bread, waffles, muffins.  I love them all.  I also really like banana ice cream but it is not a flavor that is very easy to find.  When my parents bought me my ice cream maker attachment for my birthday last year they also included The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz in their gift.  It seems that my mom picked very well because I have heard so many people saying that this book is the bible of ice cream making.  I have made quite a few of his recipes so far and they have all come out wonderful.

I spied the roasted banana ice cream on my first flip through the book but I didn't get around to making it until this past weekend.  I don't know why I waited so long.  If you like caramelized bananas this ice cream is wonderful.  Full of rich banana flavor and not too sweet.  It is also a very easy to make.  My only complaint is that I wish the recipe made more of it.  It was gone in almost one sitting between 3 people.  I may double the recipe next time since it looks like my ice cream maker could fit a double batch.  If you like bananas and you like ice cream, I highly suggest this recipe!

Roasted Banana Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients:
3 medium size ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. coarse salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice the bananas into 1/2 inch thick pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2 quart baking dish.  Bake for 40 minutes, stirring just once during baking, until bananas are browned and cooked through.  Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup in the baking dish into a blender or food processor.  Add the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt, and puree until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  If the chilled mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisking will thin it out.  Serve directly from the ice cream maker or freeze for 1-2 hours.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

There is something about barbecue that I love.  The smokey flavors and sauces combined with juicy pork or beef are just wonderful to me.  Unfortunately, I do not have a smoker at home so I am always on the look out for ways to recreate the flavors and texture of barbecue at home.  I have been making pulled pork in the slow cooker at home for awhile now and have always gotten good reactions to it but I was never personally totally satisfied with the end result.  While flipping though Elisha's blog awhile back, I noticed that she had made pulled pork and hers looked so much better and more authentic than what I had been doing.  Hers looks so good, all caramelized and crispy on the tips.  I had to find out what the difference was.  While reading her recipe, I realized the difference was very simple.  I had only been adding the barbecue sauce to the meat at the end after it was pulled and she put a whole bottle of sauce in at the beginning of the process so the pork cooked in the sauce for 10 hours.  Then she added more to each sandwich at serving time.  Let me tell you, this will now be my go to recipe for pulled pork in the slow cooker.  Joe and I ate it for dinner and then for lunch for days later.  When all was said and done, I think a 3.5 pound piece of meat yielded us about 10-11 sandwiches.  And although, it is not a requirement I HIGHLY suggest added some good old fashioned cole slaw to your sandwich.  Great combo!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
From Delish

Ingredients:
1 pork butt or shoulder, approximately 4 lbs
1 18 oz. bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (We only use Sweet Baby Rays at home)
1 1/2 cups water
10 Hamburger buns

Optional add-ons:
Additional barbecue sauce for serving
Cole slaw for serving

In a 6 qt or larger slow cooker, coat the bottom of the slow cooker with 1/3 of the bottle of barbecue sauce.  Place the pork in the cooker and pour the rest of the barbecue sauce on top.  Add the water to it and cook on low 8-10 hours.

Use tongs to pull off piece of meat and layer on bun.  Top with additional barbecue sauce and cole slaw and serve.

Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls

To round out our anniversary brunch menu a couple of weekends ago I knew I wanted to do something sweet for my mom.  When I was younger and we would go to the mall together I remember quite a few times where we would share a cinnamon bun as a treat.  We both loved the gooey filling and thick cream cheese icing,  I really like working with yeast doughs and I had time on Friday afternoon to make the dough so what better to give my mom for her anniversary brunch.  So I hit the internet looking for advice and recipes and in my searching I came upon a caramel apple cinnamon roll from Annie's Eats.  Not only does my mom like cinnamon rolls but she also likes apple desserts so I thought this would be a winner.  I made the rolls exactly as Annie's recipe states but made more of a traditional cream cheese glaze/icing rather than a caramel sauce based topping.  I wanted that cream cheese flavor to shine through.  The icing was so good that we used it for our berry salad too so if you wanted to just make the icing as a topping or dip for fruit that would work too.

I left my cinnamon rolls bare since the men in the family requested them without icing.  I just served the icing on the side.  I think that worked out really well because everyone could control how much or how little of the icing they wanted.  These rolls include two pretty long resting times and can be refrigerated overnight after the second resting period so I suggest making the dough the day before you want to cook these.  I took them out of the refrigerator about 3 hours before I needed to put them in the oven and they came out great, flaky and buttery.  I wish I had taken some of the leftovers home with me but I left then all with the happy couple.  I hope you enjoyed them!

Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the cinnamon rolls:
6 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp, ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
5 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
1 cup plus 2-4 tbsp. whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature (I used buttermilk)

For the filling:
1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the glaze:
5 oz. cream cheese
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, salt and butter on medium-high speed until smooth.  Mix in the egg and lemon zest until incorporated.  Mix in the flour, year and milk until a dough forms.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed, about 8 minutes until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky.  (You may need to add a little extra flour or liquid to achieve this texture.)  Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  To make the caramelized apples, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the apple slices, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix until the apples are evenly coated.  Cook about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Set aside to cool.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon to blend; set aside.

Mist a work surface with spray oil.  Roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the dough with flour if needed to keep it from sticking (about 12x14 inches for larger rolls or 9x18 inches for smaller rolls).  Combines the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to blend.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the surface of the dough.  Evenly distribute the caramelized apples over the top of the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up the dough into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll.  Pinch the seam shut, and with the seam side down, slice the log into your desired number of rolls.  Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, place the rolls about 1/2 - 1 inch apart.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 75-90 minutes, until the rolls have grown into each other and have nearly doubled in size.  At this point, the rolls can also be covered and retarded in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.  Pull the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to let the dough proof.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in the baking sheet about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

To make the glaze, combine the cream cheese and butter in a small heatproof bowl and microwave in 15-20 second intervals until it is warm enough to whisk together.  Whisk in the mil and vanilla extract until smooth.  Whisk in the confectioner's sugar until smooth.  Swirl the glaze over the top of the cinnamon rolls or place into a dish to serve on the side.  Let cools slightly before serving.

Home Fries

Potatoes are so versatile.  As Joe likes to say, boil 'em, bake 'em, put 'em in a stew.  Anyway you slice them, I love all kinds of potatoes.  I love them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I always preferred home fries to hash browns for breakfast.  I think when home fries are cooked right they are more flavorful than hash browns.  Plus they are so much more versatile and you can add all types of ingredients and seasonings to them.  The home fries that I made for brunch were a very simple recipe with just onions and potatoes but you could definitely add other vegetables like peppers or zucchini to it too.

In our house, home fries are not only a breakfast dish.  I make them a lot for dinner too.  This method only takes about 20 minutes to cook so we often pair them with steaks, burgers or grilled chicken.  They taste just as good, maybe better, reheated in a pan the next day.  By the way, sorry for the seemingly blurry photo.  That is actually steam coming off the potatoes and this is the only picture of them that I took.  I will have to take a better picture next time I make them.

Home Fries
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

4 medium potatoes (I prefer to use Yukon gold), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. olive oil

In a large skillet that has a lid, over medium-high heat, saute onions and olive oil for 2-3 minutes until the onions begin to soften.  Add in potatoes, salt, pepper and garlic powder and mix to coat potatoes in olive oil.  Cover and let potatoes cook, untouched, for 5 minutes.  Remove lid and mix up potato and onion mixture.  Replace lid and cook, untouched, for 5 minutes more.  Repeat this process until the potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft and cooked through on the inside, about 20-25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Saturday was my parents' 28th anniversary.  It feels like just yesterday that we threw them a big 25 anniversary.  Time is really flying by.  Joe, David and I decided to make brunch for them to celebrate.  Normally it would have been dinner but Mom had to drive David to the airport to leave for vacation that night so brunch worked out much better.  To satisfy everyone's favorites we created a menu with nice variety and I think it was a success.  I know that Jason, who was away for the weekend and missed it, really liked it based on the picture message I got yesterday showing him wolfing down the leftovers!

Mom tends to go for the sweeter breakfast meals so for her I made caramelized apple cinnamon rolls with cream cheese glaze, although we kept the glaze on the side per the request from all of the men at the table.  We also had a berry salad (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries) which was great on its own but also terrific with the cream cheese glaze.  Dad is an egg man so for him we made a vegetable frittata.  We rounded the meal out with thick cut bacon and home fries because who doesn't like bacon and home fries?  To top it off and celebrate we had mango or peach bellinis (sparkling wine mixed with mango or peach nectar), yum!

Vegetable Frittata
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
8 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet oven proof over medium high heat.  Saute onions and peppers for 2-3 minutes, add tomatoes and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes.  Whisk until combined.

Pour eggs over vegetables in skillet and sprinkle cheese over egg and vegetable mixture.  Place skillet in oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and cut into slices.  Serve immediately.

Onion Strings

We met up with friends for dinner last Friday.  Before going out, we got together at our house for a round of drinks and David decided he wanted to make a small appetizer to have before going out.  After some searching, we decided to work together and make these onion strings because they looked sooo good.  And boy were they.  All of us wound up in the kitchen eating them as they came out of the oil.  There was no time to transfer them to a pretty plate and serve them so I apologize for the lousy picture.  I was lucky to get this one.  Next time we make them we may add a little more cayenne pepper to the breading but other than that they were great.  We let them soak in the buttermilk for close to 3 hours which most likely helped make them very tender.

Now we just ate them plain but these would probably be fabulous on burgers or in salads or toppings for a baked potato soup. I think I am going to eventually try using them in all the above ways!

Onion Strings
From The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:
1 Whole large onion
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups all-purspose flour
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1.5 quarts canola oil
Black pepper to taste

Directions:
Slice onion very thin.  Place in a baking dish and cover with buttermilk and soak for at least an hour.  Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil to 375 degrees F.  Grab a handful of onions, throw into the flour mixture, tap to shake off excess and drop into hot oil.  Fry for a few minutes and remove as soon as golden brown.  Sprinkle with salt and/or pepper if desired.  Repeat until onions are all fried.

Cheesecake Brownies

In addition to the "regular" brownies that I made for Dani baby shower this week, I also wanted to do something else.  I was trolling the internet and saw a recipe for Halloween cheesecake brownies where they used food coloring to make the cheesecake orange and I thought that it was a great idea.  Only since we knew Dani was having a girl I could make them pink.  I didn't like that recipe though since it used packaged brownie mix and I didn't want to use packaged mix.  I did a little more digging and decided to use this recipe from Annie's Eats as my guide.

The end result was tasty but not exactly what I was looking for.  I wish there was a little bit more brownie base and like Annie said, it was difficult to swirl the two batters together.  Don't get me wrong, they tasted wonderful but just not exactly how I wished they had come out so I am still on the hunt for the perfect cheesecake brownie recipe because I can't think of a better flavor combination that those two.  So if anyone has any recipes that I could try out, send them my way!

Cheesecake Brownies
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the brownies:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the cheesecake:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 drops red food coloring (or your color of choice)

Directions:
Line a 9-inch suare baking dish with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides.  Mist lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth.   Remove from the heat, then beat int he 2/3 cup sugar.  Mix in the eggs.  Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract and mix until just incorporated.  Do not over mix at this point.  Gently fold in the walnuts.  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

To make the cheesecake layer, in a separate bowl beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add in the food coloring, one drop at a time, and beat until you reach your desired color.  Drop in large dollops evenly over the top of the brownie batter.  Use a dull knife or a spatula to swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter int he center of the pan is just set.  Let cool completely, then life out with the foil and peel away.  Cut brownies into squares.  Refrigerate when not serving.

Roasted Potatoes

In my hunt for different way to prepare traditional side dishes I cam across this potato recipe from Brown Eyed Baker and it fit perfectly with what I was making for dinner last night and I had everything I needed for it at home so I thought I would give it a try.  I served them with baked chicken cutlets.  Wow, are these good.  Flavorful and crunchy.  They will definitely be a staple in our house!

Roasted Potatoes
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
3 medium size potatoes (I used yukon gold)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. seasoned bread crumbs
1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
Various seasonings of your choice (I used sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dried rosemary)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking dish with foil and lightly spray the foil with non stick cooking spray.

Slice the potatoes into wedges and place in a bowl.  Toss in olive oil until coated and then add all remaining ingredients and toss again until evenly coated.  Bake in preheated oven 30-40 minutes or until desired degree of crispiness, turning wedges over once halfway through baking.  Serve immediately

The Baked Brownie

One of my coworkers is having a baby and we threw her a small shower at work this week.  When we asked her what her favorite dessert was, she replied brownie.  A nice rich, fudgy brownie with a crispy crust and no chocolate chips!  I told her no problem.  My go to brownie recipe has mini Hershey kisses in it so I needed to find another recipe to make for her.  To the internet I went and came across a post from Brown Eyed Baker where she listed her top 10 favorite brownies and the Baked Brownie was her number one favorite brownie recipe.  The picture she posted looked like everything that Dani was looking for so I knew this was the recipe.  By the way, the cookbook that the recipe came from looks tremendous.  I think I may have to break down and buy it.  The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of espresso powder but I didn't have any so I didn't use it.  I still think they came out great.  I imagine the espresso powder would just give you that hint of coffee flavor in them so if you are looking for that flavor go for it, otherwise it is OK to leave it out.

I made the brownies while Joe was at work and he was drooling over them by the time dinner was over so I let him have a taste later that night and he gave it his seal of approval and ate it with a nice large glass of milk, which, according to him, is the sign of a great brownie, who knew!

The Baked Brownie
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass or light-colored baking pan.  Line the pan wiht parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.  Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars.  Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan.  The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.  Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined.  Add the vanilla and stir until combined.  Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture.  Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway thorough the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.  Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper.  Cut into squares and serve.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

Garlic and Herb Pasta

I may have been living under a rock all my life.  It was not until a few months ago that I ever tried those spreadable cheeses like Alouette and Rondele.  I served the garlic and herb flavor for our Mad Men dinner party earlier this year and it was so good.  I think I ate the leftovers all by myself.  So when I came across this recipe at Stephanie Cooks I knew it was something that I had to try.  I love pasta, I love the cheese, what more could I want?  I went to the grocery store to pick up the cheese and found that Alouette makes a light version which is half the fat and calories.  Score!  Now I liked the idea of using the cheese but I wanted to change it up a bit and also wanted to add some protein to the recipe.  I had some frozen shrimp in the house so I used them but I am sure this would taste great with chicken or another kind of seafood if you like.  Joe loved this too and was surprised when I told him that the base of the sauce was spreadable cheese.  I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Garlic and Herb Pasta
Adapted from Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta, cooked al dente
1  14.5 oz can low sodium chicken broth
1 6.5 oz container light garlic and her spreadable cheese (I used Alouette brand)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium onion, cut into large chunks
3 cups broccoli florets
1 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
8 oz cooked shrimp, tails removed
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a large baking sheet with foil.  Spray foil with nonstick spray.  Combine grape tomatoes, onion and broccoli in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.  In empty pasta pot, over medium low heat combine chicken broth and garlic and herb cheese.  Whisk together until smooth and cook until warm, about 2-3 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook an additional 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add vegetables and pasta.  mix until well coated.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.  Serve hot.