Frugal Fridays - Multitasking

I think I may have mentioned my aversion to hot weather. Hot, sticky weather is even worse. Cooking of any kind ranks pretty low on my list of things I get excited about when the temperature gets about 85º. But when I landed another catering job at work this week, I found myself standing over a hot oven with the temperature outside a whopping 91º and the humidity level… well, I don’t even want to know what it was.

And so to minimize, even slightly, the amount of time spent sweating through food prep, I decided to buy enough extra to eat off of one of the salads I was preparing. At least dinner would be taken care of.

This salad is light but filling, and paired with a little baguette smeared with butter and sprinkled with a bit of sea salt, made for a very satisfactory dinner.

Greek Orzo Shrimp Salad
Adapted from Wives with Knives

1 red bell pepper
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
¾ lb orzo pasta
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and chopped
½ cup Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 scallions, finely sliced
½ lb peeled shrimp
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs white wine
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp dill
3 Tbs course ground Dijon
1 cup crumbled Feta

Line a small baking sheet with foil and add the bell pepper and tomatoes. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the tomatoes and cover loosely with one end of the aluminum foil, leaving the bell pepper exposed. Place under broiler and scorch the pepper on each side, turning once each side is blackened. Remove from oven and place the pepper and tomatoes in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to steam for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil to keep from sticking. Place in serving bowl and allow to cool.

In a skillet over medium, heat 2 Tbs of olive oil. Add pepper flakes and garlic, cooking and stirring for a minute, or just until garlic begins to soften. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook until shrimp begins to brown on one side. Flip over and cook for about another 30 seconds. Add 2 Tbs white wine and cook just until wine evaporates. Add shrimp to the pasta.

Peel the skin from the bell pepper, remove seeds and cut into strips (I only used about half of the pepper and saved the remainder for another time). Add to pasta and shrimp, along with the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and scallions. Stir to combine.

In a jar, or another small container with a lid, combine the ½ cup olive oil, white wine vinegar, dill and Dijon. Season with salt and pepper. Place lid on container and shake vigorously until the mixture has emulsified.

Sprinkle Feta cheese over pasta and pour vinaigrette over the top. Stir just until combined.

Cost Breakdown:

Bell pepper - $ .99
Tomatoes - $1.50
Orzo - free (see what a good coupon shopper I am??)
Cucumber - $ .75
Olives - $2.00
Scallions - $ .11
Shrimp - $2.50 (another sale item)
Seasonings, etc - $ .60 (guesstimate)
Feta - $1.00 (on sale)
Baguette - $2.49

Total for enough to feed 4 people - $11.94, or $2.99 per serving

Frugal Fridays - Frugality and Flexibility

So, you may have noticed that I’m posting last week’s Frugal Fridays on Monday.  What can I tell you?  It was a busy weekend.

This is actually a continuation of the last post.  As I mentioned, my college roommate was in town, and I prepared dinner for her.  During the course of our catching up, I found out that she was neither a fan of shrimp or olives - both of which I had intended to use for dinner.  But no matter, I left the olives out of the primavera and made a chicken bisque instead of the planned shrimp bisque.

So, obviously, that left me with two items that needed to be used in addition to a few odds and ends left over from the previous dinner, mainly:

Lettuce

Heirloom and grape tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

The remainder of the parmesan biscotti

So, I decided to round up a quick meal using what I had on hand and ended up with this:

One of the things I really love to do with Kalamata olives is to roast them, which is what I did here.  Roasting them concentrates their brininess, and you get the added bonus of the occasional crunchy bit, which happens to be MY personal favorite.

Anyway, here’s what I did:

Shrimp and Rotini Salad with Roasted Kalamata Olives

¼ lb rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions

½ cup balsamic vinaigrette (mine happened to be store-bought), divided

½ cup Kalamata olives, or a mixture of various

1 medium heirloom tomato, cut into large chunks

½ cup grape tomatoes

¼ cup roasted garlic (whole cloves)

Olive oil

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil**

½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt & pepper to taste

Shaved Parmesan cheese

Red-leaf lettuce (or whatever kind suits your fancy)

Heat oven to 400º.  Combine olives, tomatoes and roasted garlic on a small baking pan. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (just enough to coat).  Sprinkle with a couple of pinches of salt and freshly grated black pepper.  Place in oven and cook about 10 - 15 minutes, or just until fragrant.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes and ¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  When pan in hot, add the shrimp mixture.  Allow to cook about 3 minutes, then stir and continue to cook another couple of minutes just until the shrimp is cooked through (don’t overcook).  Set aside and allow to cool.

Combine the cooked pasta, the roasted tomato mixture, and the shrimp mixture in a medium mixing bowl along with the remaining ¼ cup of vinaigrette.  Stir to combine.  Serve over lettuce with shaved Parmesan.

**  My sun-dried tomatoes were actually a ‘tapenade’ and had spices.  If you’re using plain sun-dried tomatoes, consider adding some basil to this for extra flavor.

* * *

I don't really have a breakdown of the cost here because I was just using up what was left from another meal.  To me, frugality is not just about saving money, but making the most of what is on hand.

I can tell you that the shrimp was $3 a pound, so I used about $1.50 worth.  Using a fourth of a box of pasta amounts to about 15 or 16 cents, since I usually buy it when it's no more than 50 cents a box.  The olive and roasted garlic mix was the biggest 'splurge' at about $2 for the amount I got.  Just as a rough guesstimate, I imagine I spent a grand total of around $5 on this meal, feeding two of us.

Island Time

I will have to say that the inspiration for this month’s dinner didn’t come from the weather, which has been pretty dismal so far. And while I’m extremely grateful not to be living somewhere that’s currently underwater or blanketed in debris from the latest killer tornado, the ever-present rain this Spring has been a little bit… disheartening.

In spite of that, we opted for a little Caribbean inspiration for this month’s dinner. If nothing else, the bright colors and warm weather flavors at least hinted at the promise of better weather.

I hear August is looking promising.

I will have to say that although we still had enough food to feed a small army, we at least were more in the neighborhood of a small regiment than an entire platoon.

No idea if that made a bit of sense.

Anyway…

Carley’s menu was inspired by the cookbook Modern Caribbean Cuisine by Wendy Rahamut. First up was Coconut Crusted Mahi Mahi with a Pineapple Salsa. Carley said the fish pieces were dipped in a little flour, egg and coconut and then simply fried in oil. They were really light and tender, and the salsa was a great pairing.

Pineapple and Fresh Herb Salsa

1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
Juice of 2 - 3 large limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped chives
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 hot pepper, seeded and chopped

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving with fish or chicken.


* * *

Next was a rice dish which had a nice, subtle spice to it but a lot of flavor all the same.

West Indian Spinach Rice with Nutmeg and Peppers

2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pimento pepper, seeded and chopped
½ hot pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cups fresh spinach leaves, cleaned, dried and chopped
1 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup rice
2 ½ cups water
1 Tbs butter

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and add the onion, garlic and pimento. Sauté a few minutes until softened. Add hot pepper and spinach. Cover and cook until spinach is tender. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Add rice and stir to combine. Pour in stock, stirring gently. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Gently stir in butter.


* * *

I believe these were my favorites. The recipe calls for optional cheese, which I don’t think Carley included in hers. If she did, it was very subtle. Anyway, they were REALLY tasty and would make great picnic fare as well. No utensils required!!

Shrimp Arepas with Spicy Tomatoes and Cheese

2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
½ cup butter

2 Tbs vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 hot pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup chopped chives
¼ cup French thyme (fresh)
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese (optional)

To make the pastry, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and sugar. Add the butter and rub it into the mixture. Add enough warm water to make a soft dough. Divide into 16 pieces and cover with a damp dish towel.

To make the filling, heat oil in a sauté pan. Add the garlic, pepper and onion and cook until fragrant. Add the shrimp and cook for a few seconds, then add the chives and thyme and cook for a few more minutes. Add the tomato sauce and season with salt. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes, then add the cilantro (and cheese, if adding). Set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 375º. Form each piece of dough into a ball. Press down each to form 4 - 5” circles. Fill with cooled filling mixture, then fold into a half moon shape and place on a baking sheet. Brush the arepas with oil and bake for about 20 minutes.


* * *

To get us in the island spirit, I decided to try out the new ice shaver I was given. First I froze a couple of different juices (one was a mango/orange blend and the other was a pineapple/coconut blend) in ice cube trays. We used a combination of the two types of frozen juice and added gold and coconut rums to the shaved ice. This was ladled into glasses with fresh pineapple spears and topped with a rosé champagne (for color). I will have to say, they were pretty tasty.

Next up for me were a couple of appetizers. I’m a big fan of gazpacho and love to try it in different variations. This was a pineapple-cucumber gazpacho…

Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho
adapted from New York Magazine

1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
4 cups peeled, chopped English cucumber
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
3 Tbs thinly sliced scallions (use mostly the white part)
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1 tsp sea salt
½ cup Italian parsley, chopped
3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely chopped macadamia nuts for garnish

Combine all ingredients except nuts in a large bowl. Add in two batches to a blender. Using a pulse setting, blend the ingredients until combined but still a bit chunky. Stir in macadamia nuts.

Allow to sit in fridge for at least an hour to combine flavors before serving. Garnish with additional scallion and jalapeno, if desired.


* * *

The next appetizer was a shrimp cocktail using a spicy mango sauce rather than a traditional cocktail sauce. I peeled all but the tails from some large shrimp and boiled them for a couple of minutes in a court bouillon mixture. I served the shrimp and the sauce cold.

Mango Sauce

2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded and diced
1 ¼ cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs freshly grated ginger
1 Tbs ketchup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground English mustard
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Add vegetable oil to a saucepan. Cook onion and garlic briefly over medium heat, then add the ketchup and spices. Add mangos and water to the mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Cool slightly and blend using an immersion blender.


* * *

For a main course, I opted for a Jerk Chicken, which I marinated and baked. The weather didn’t cooperate enough to grill it, although that’s the method I would have preferred to cook it. The chicken was garnished with fresh pineapple chunks and sat on a bed of fried plantains. The plantains were easily prepared by cutting them into 2” chunks, frying them in a bit of olive oil until brown on one side, and then I smashed them down to form coins, cooked a bit longer on the first side, and then flipped them over to finish cooking on the other side. Then they were simply seasoned with some sea salt.

I also sautéed a head of Napa cabbage with some onions and a sweet and sour sauce. Nothing terribly special, and at the time of this posting, I haven’t actually found the recipe I used!

Jerk Chicken
adapted from Epicurious.com

3 scallions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 habanero chiles, stemmed and seeded, then finely minced
¼ cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs Kosher salt
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs fresh thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
3 lbs chicken (I used boneless breasts)

Combine all the ingredients but the chicken in a gallon sized plastic freezer bag. Close the bag and shake a few times to combine the mixture. Add the chicken pieces, seal the bag and then turn once or twice to make sure chicken is completely coated. Place in fridge and allow to marinate, turning once or twice, for about 6 hours. Allow chicken to come to room temperature before cooking.

Preheat oven to 375º. Remove chicken from bag and place on a baking sheet lined with foil, making sure not to crowd the pieces. Place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or until just cooked through. Turn broiler to high and allow the chicken to brown for a minute before serving.


* * *

For dessert, Carley made a wonderful lime cheesecake with a chocolate crust. I would like to add a photo here, but it appears we were so quick to scarf it down that we didn’t take any. Suffice it to say, it was good. Really good.


Caribbean Black-bottomed Lime Tart

20 chocolate cookies
2 Tbs chopped almonds
4 Tbs melted butter

1 lb cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup sour cream
1 ½ Tbs lime zest
¼ cup fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 350º. To prepare the crust, finely crush the cookies and almonds in a food processor. Add the melted butter and combine. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until ready for use.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Gently beat in the sour cream, lime zest and juice.

Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 40 - 50 minutes until the cheesecake is slightly puffed and the center is set. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

I Did a Bad, Bad Thing

I remember the first time I had Honey Walnut Shrimp. I was with a friend at a local Chinese restaurant, and he’d ordered it, although it wasn’t on the menu. And so for a while I thought it was this super secret item that only a fortunate few knew about. Then I saw it on menus all over the place.

Anyway, as I continue to placate O2’s aversion to meat, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and make my own Honey Walnut Shrimp at home, which turned out to be remarkably easy and quick enough to make it a mid-week friendly meal. I served this with a side of baby bok choy which was flash fried with a bit of garlic (ok, a LOT of garlic) and then steamed slightly.

Don’t ask why it didn’t make it into the picture.

Have I ever mentioned my short attention span??

Squirrel…

Anyway, if you're of the low-fat, low-calorie foods ilk, click on, my friend.  We're talking sugar, mayo and fried things.  And I'm not about to apologize.

Honey Walnut Shrimp

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, smashed
1-¼ lbs raw large shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1/3 cup corn starch
½ - 1 cup canola or vegetable oil (enough to cover the bottom of a pan)

½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup walnuts, halved (I used chopped)

¼ cup good quality mayonnaise
1 tsp honey
2 tsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp black sesame seeds
¼ cup green onion, chopped

Combine garlic, ginger and shrimp in a bowl. Stir well to combine and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and swirl pan until mixture starts to turn an amber color. Add salt and walnuts. Continue to cook and stir the walnuts (the sugar will crystallize and become a ‘sandy’ consistency and then will begin to melt again. When sugar has melted, spread walnuts onto a cookie sheet. Separate into a single layer and allow to cool.

In another bowl, combine the mayo, honey, condensed milk and vinegar.

Heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, add the salt, pepper and corn starch to the shrimp and stir to combine. When oil is hot, drop the shrimp into the oil. Cook and stir until shrimp begins to turn opaque and becomes golden on one side. Flip over and cook the other side just until it begins to brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Add the shrimp to the mayo mixture and toss to combine.

Serve the shrimp over cooked rice and garnish with sesame seeds, green onion and the candied walnuts.

Super Fast

The question I hear most often from friends who aren’t quite as food-obsessed as I am is ‘Do you always cook like this??’, usually in response to a full-blown meal that I’ve pulled out all the stops for.

The answer is simply… no way.

Yes, I enjoy cooking. Yes, I probably cook more than the ‘average’ home cook. And YES, YES, I find myself wanting to throw together something quickly with little fuss.

I just happened to snag a really cheap pineapple last week and before it wasted away in the fridge (pineapple, in spite of its tough exterior, is pretty delicate and won’t last long once you bring it home). A quick dash into the store on my way home netted me some shrimp (already cooked), and I threw in stuff I had around the house.

It wasn’t ‘authentic’ or probably even all that well-planned, but it was tasty.

Make some.

Pineapple Fried Rice

About 2 cups cooked rice (I threw one of those microwave packets together and used it)
2 - 3 Tbs vegetable or canola oil
½ cup thinly sliced onion
2 cloves garlic, mashed
½ tsp curry powder (optional)
½ tsp dried chili flakes
½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (I purchased the pre-cooked variety)
2 - 4 Tbs soy sauce (to taste)
1 Tbs ponzu sauce (optional)
About 1 cup fresh pineapple, cubed
2 Tbs green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the onion over medium heat until it turns translucent. Add the garlic, curry and chili flakes, and continue to sauté another minute, just until garlic begins to soften. Add the cooked rice, pineapple and shrimp to the pan, then pour in the soy and ponzu sauces. Cook and stir until everything is heated through and the soy sauce caramelizes slightly. Stir in basil and green onion and serve immediately.

Spring Rolls for Spring

This was one of those recipes that evolved slowly from inception to realization. Carley made these beautiful spring rolls for our trip to the river, and ever since, I’ve been thinking about making some of my own.

That idea was spurred along after O2 watched Food, Inc. in class and decided that her already lagging meat appreciation had just dwindled to practically nil. Her and her sister were never ones for having large chunks of meat put before them, anyway.

In trying to accommodate her horror over the condition of feedlots and slaughterhouses, I thought I’d pick up some shrimp for dinner. And since those spring rolls were still fresh on my mind, I thought I’d play around with some fillings.

To accompany the rolls, I put together a quinoa with a little dried mango and spices to mirror the filling in the rolls. I also offered up a store-bought sweet chile sauce as well as a quickly concocted peanut sauce… Which turned out to be not so great. The problem was using jarred peanut butter. You know, one of the big name brands that contain stabilizers and what-not. They melt just fine, but when you add the liquids to them, they turn into paste.

And it turns out, this really wasn’t the right accompaniment for these, anyway. The chile sauce, however, was just the perfect thing.

The quinoa, although (I think) a success, was also a little heavy-handed for the spring rolls. The quinoa itself was feather-light, but the spices made this a more appropriate accompaniment to a more substantial main course. Ah, well. You live and learn.

That said, O2 scarfed down the spring rolls, globbed on the peanut sauce, wolfed down a substantial portion of the quinoa and declared the meal ‘awesome’.

Take that, McDonald’s.

Ok, so bear with me. There are a lot of parts here, but once everything was put together, they went together very quickly. And the quinoa is 20 minutes start to finish.

Sesame Rice Noodles

½ package rice noodles
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp black sesame seeds

Cook the noodles according to package directions (mine took 10 minutes). Drain and return to pan. Add the sesame oil and seeds, mix well and set aside.


Garlic Shrimp

¾ lb medium-sized raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp Ponzu sauce (optional)
2 tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
1 - 2 tsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed

Add all ingredients to a shallow dish and allow to marinate for about 10 minutes. Heat a skillet, wok or grill pan to medium-high. Add the marinated shrimp and flash fry just until cooked through. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside to cool.


Shrimp and Mango Spring Rolls

Garlic Shrimp (see above)
Sesame Rice Noodles (see above)
1 small red bell pepper (or orange, or yellow, or a combination), cut into matchstick pieces
1 mango, peeled and sliced
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
About 6 large basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 package rice paper wrappers

A shallow dish filled with hot water

Prepare and assemble all of your filling ingredients.

To prepare the rice paper wrappers, plunge one sheet into the hot water and allow to soften for about 30 seconds. Remove from the water, spread out on a work surface and fill (I prepared one at a time because they’re a bit sticky, and you won’t be able to stack them).

Arrange the filling ingredients across the lower edge of the wrapper, leaving about 1 inch of space. If you want your fillings to ‘show through’ more, put the noodles in the middle and start and end your stack with the more colorful ingredients.

Fold bottom edge over the filling, pulling it back towards you to make it more compact, then fold over the two sides and continue to roll forward until the entire sheet has been rolled. Repeat (I think I made about 8 rolls).

Mango Quinoa

2 tsp canola oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
½ stick cinnamon
3 cardamom pods, seeds removed and smashed
1 cup quinoa
1 ¾ cup water
3 pieces of dried mango, cut into small cubes
2 leaves fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade

In a medium saucepan, bring the oil to temperature over medium heat. Add the garlic, cinnamon and cardamom and sauté for about a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the quinoa and continue to sauté another minute or so until the quinoa begins to toast. Pour in the water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow to sit another 2 minutes. Using a fork, fluff the quinoa and then carefully stir in the dried mango and basil.


Note: As you can see from the picture, there was NO BASIL in my quinoa because, well, I was hungry, and it was all I could do to snap a quick photo, much less remember to put everything into the dish that I intended to.

A Weekend Away

So, let’s just say that life as of late has been… interesting. And sensing my need to unplug and unwind, G & C generously offered a little weekend getaway at a cabin down in Vida, right on the McKenzie. It was definitely sigh-worthy.

Just see for yourself…

On the way down, O2 and I made a little detour to pick up some of these…

You know. For the kids.

Since this month we were celebrating both mine and G’s birthdays, we opted for a Tapas Extravaganza. And as I mentioned before, we had holy-moley-was-it-good-cheesecake.

Which we didn’t get photos of. Because I think when we saw it in its amazing-ness (caramel, hazelnut, oh…. my), any thought other than diving in went out the window.

We had a few blasts from the past, like the potatoes from our chocolate night, and these…

As you can see, we had quite the spread…

Carley’s Menu

Eggplant Meatballs with Almond Butter Sauce
Feta Stuffed Dates wrapped in Pancetta (these were also a marvel)
Tofu Artichoke Dip (also great, I might add, stirred into pasta - C’s idea)
OMG Caramel Hazelnut Cheesecake
Vietnamese Spring Rolls (look how pretty)

Carri’s Menu

Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Jalapeño Poppers
Butternut Squash/Spinach Gnudi
Corn Fritters w/ Shallot and Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
Butternut Squash/Apple Puffs
Meyer Lemon Pesto
Cocoa Spiced Potatoes
Arancini

Ok, I honestly thought I had 5 items to bring. At some point during the preparation process, I added more. I apparently have this unconscious fear of not having enough to feed everyone.

We should have invited the neighbors. There’s was PLENTY…

Since there was a grill at our disposal, I put together some jalapeño poppers and little shrimp skewers. I kind of threw a bunch of stuff for a marinade in a plastic bag, so I’ll see if I can try to recreate the recipe…

Shrimp Skewers

1 lb cleaned and deveined medium shrimp
½ cup soy sauce
1 Tbs Ponzu sauce (optional)
½ tsp dried ginger (use fresh if you have it)
2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tsp sesame oil

Thread shrimp onto skewers (I used 2 shrimp to a toothpick). Combine remaining ingredients in a sealable bag. Add shrimp skewers. Allow to marinade for 30 minutes to an hour. Cook or grill to your liking.

* * *

A friend from work has been kind enough to share some of the hazelnut oil he’s pressed himself. The second bottle I received was a hazelnut truffle oil. How amazing is that? I’ve been mulling over how I wanted to use it for its maiden voyage, and this was what I came up with.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Gnudi

2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup cooked and mashed butternut squash
15 oz container fresh ricotta
½ cup flour
1 large egg
½ cup Grana Padano
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, mashed
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
¼ cup red wine
2 Tbs Balsamic vinegar
¼ cup fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade
½ tsp black pepper

Optional: truffle infused oil

Preheat oven to 350º.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a sauté pan. Add spinach. Cook over medium heat until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool. Squeeze any excess moisture from spinach. Chop.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the chopped spinach, butternut squash, ricotta, flour and egg. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the cheese and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the same sauté pan you cooked the spinach in, add 1 Tbs olive oil. Heat pan on medium and add the garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Pour in canned tomatoes. Add red wine and balsamic vinegar. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil and pepper. Pour into a square glass baking dish.

Form ricotta mixture into balls and place in baking dish. Bake until top is brown and crispy, about 35 minutes. Drizzle with truffle oil.

Corn Fritters w/ Shallot and Sour Cream Dipping Sauce

10 oz package frozen corn
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk

Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in corn kernels. Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a small amount of butter and an equal amount of olive oil. Make small, silver dollar sized dollops of the batter. Cook until bottom is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the fritter and cook the other side until it is golden, another couple of minutes. Place on cookie sheet in a warm oven until all the fritters are cooked. Serve with sauce.

Sauce

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 shallot, minced
1 green onion, cut into thin slices
Salt and white pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and season to taste.

Butternut Squash, Apple and Sage Puffs

1 box puff pastry, defrosted
4 oz cream cheese
2 Tbs grated parmesan
1 clove garlic, minced
1 granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1 cup cooked and mashed butternut squash
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbs fresh sage, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Flour for dusting work surface
Small dish of water

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese, parmesan and garlic until well combined. Add the apple, butternut squash, olive oil and sage. Mix thoroughly. Season to taste.

Lightly flour a work surface. Unfold the first sheet of puff pastry and lay out on work surface. Lightly roll out with a floured rolling pin (the dough should be the same rectangular shape) with the long edges at the top and bottom. Cut dough from top to bottom into four equal strips. Cut each of these in half crossways.

Working one strip at a time, place 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling towards one end of the dough strip (leave about ¼”). Using finger, wet the edge of the half of the dough strip that has the filling. Fold the other half on top of this and crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat with remaining strips.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Arrange puffs on a baking sheet , leaving about ½” or so of space around each. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and puffed up. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Meyer Lemon Pesto
(makes 1 cup)

1 Meyer lemon (remove center membrane, seed and cut into pieces)
1/2 cup fresh basil (packed)
1 clove garlic
2 Tbs toasted walnuts
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (grated)
3 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything into a food processor and blend.

* * *

I don’t really have a recipe for the arancini. I took some leftover risotto I had made, added an egg to bind it, and then made little provolone stuffed disks with it. I rolled this in flour, then in egg and finally in panko breading. I cooked them in a little olive oil. That’s it.

All Photos Courtesy of CHP

My Back and a Night of Basque

Remember my mention of Vertebrae.Fail? Well, just shortly after that, I went into Epic.Vertebrae.Fail. No need to go into details. Just suffice it to say that cooking was not an option.

If you cook on a regular basis, at one point or another, you get to the point where you’re sick of your own food. Or at least feeling like you’re just regurgitating the same recipes over and over (hmm… maybe not the best choice of words there). Well, after 3 weeks of take out, rotisserie chicken and rice, and Eggo’s, I can tell you that I was just DYING to get back in the kitchen.

I ended up having to cancel a scheduled monthly dinner with G & C, much to my frustration. Since they were available the following weekend, we decided to reschedule, and there was just no way on earth I wanted to miss that.

We did manage to pull off another stellar dinner. However, what we didn’t manage to do was take much in the way of photos. As a matter of fact, I have photos of very little of the dinner. ACK!

So you’ll just have to take my word when I tell you we had incredibly yummy fare, and I’ll share with you some of the recipes, along with the few photos I did get (some of them taken the following day with the leftovers).

Our theme for the evening was Basque cooking - something I was completely unfamiliar with. Carley had had it on a number of occasions. Once again, those Mediterranean type of flavors struck a chord with me.

Carley contributed a chicken dish nestled in a bed of spinach and topped with onions and roasted (?) peppers. So moist and delicious. There was also a potato ‘salad’ of sorts with crab (mmm….), and a cassoulet type of dish using chickpeas (ok, so I may have mentioned before that I’m not much into legumes, but these were really tasty - and I caught hell from Offspring 2 the next morning for not taking a larger portion as leftovers). But I could write sonnets about the olive bread she bought. The day after our dinner, I was kicking myself for not asking if I could keep a slice or two. Then I opened up the fridge and found she had left me about half a loaf! I’d like to say that I was generous and shared.

But you probably know better.

I wasn’t sure what my limit was going to be for standing and decided to make a number of small dishes that I could make ahead of time. That gave me two days to take it easy and put everything together a bit at a time. So if you’re looking for some make-ahead dishes, these are some good options.

The first item I put together was dessert (priorities, right?), and I wish I had a photo because it was pretty to look at once it was all dressed for the ball. It was a cake made with olive oil and semolina and then drizzled with a citrus/honey sauce and pistachios. And it was dressed with a side of Greek yogurt and strawberries. Good in theory. However, in converting the recipe from metric measurements, I don’t think I got everything quite right. It was dense as it should have been, but a bit on the dry side, and my sauce didn’t sink in like I wanted it to. I seem to have problems with glazes.

Anyway, next up was this very simple tomato salad….

Chorizo and Tomato Salad

3 tomatoes, cut into chunks (I used 2 Romas and an heirloom variety of some kind)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
About 4 Tbs good quality olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs Sherry vinegar, divided
1 Chorizo sausage, casing removed and thinly sliced (make sure it’s more of a firm sausage, rather than the kind that kind of dissolves when you cook it)
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Add tomatoes and green onion to a bowl. Pour 2 Tbs olive oil and 1 Tbs vinegar over tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and allow to sit.

Meanwhile, add remaining 2 Tbs olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook and stir until chorizo is browned. Add garlic to the skillet and stir just until garlic begins to take on color. Add remaining vinegar to the pan and remove from heat. Stir mixture, scraping up any bits from bottom of the pan. Pour over tomato mixture.

***
Another easy (super easy) make ahead dish were these stuffed piquillo peppers. You could really add so much to them and customize them however you want. I actually had some nice green olives I was going to add, but the next day I realized I had forgotten all about them. I included them in the recipe, anyway.

Stuffed Piquillos

1 jar roasted piquillo peppers
1 Tbs olive oil
¼ cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 cup fire roasted tomatoes
½ cup chopped green olives (mine were Moroccan, I believe)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice
½ - 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese

Heat oven to 375º. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Lightly oil the bottom of a glass (square) baking dish.

Add onion to skillet and sauté just until translucent. Add garlic and cumin. Cook and stir until cumin is fragrant and garlic softens. Add tomato, olives, cooked rice and seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in half of the shredded cheese.



***

The next item on my little tapas lineup were these meatballs. The sauce reminded of me of one of my favorites (Romesco). And again, super simple.

Albóndigas en Salsa de Almendra
adapted from Williams-Sonoma

½ lb each ground pork and beef
2 slices bread, soaked in water and squeezed dry
¼ cup onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 Tbs Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup slivered, blanched almonds
2 Tbs Italian parsley, roughly chopped
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of saffron

2 Tbs olive oil
½ cup onion, finely chopped
½ cup white wine
2/3 cup chicken stock

In a large bowl, combine the meat, soaked bread, onion, garlic, parsley, egg, paprika and cinnamon. Season to taste. Mix all ingredients until combined, but do not overmix, or the meatballs will be tough.

In a skillet, heat (medium heat) enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Make ping-pong sized meatballs and place in skillet, giving them room in between so that they’re not crowded. Cook, turning the meatballs as they brown, until they’re cooked through. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Pour out any remaining oil from pan.

In a mini chopper or mortar and pestle, add the 2 cloves garlic, almonds, parsley, paprika, pepper and saffron. Chop or crush until mixture is well combined and almonds are broken down into a paste.

In the skillet you cooked the meatballs, add additional olive oil and heat over medium. Add onions and sauté just until translucent. Pour in white wine and chicken stock, add meatballs, and then stir in the almond mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Pour into serving dish and serve immediately.

***

This next dish I’d like to try out when our weather improves and it’s time to head outdoors and do some grilling.

Prawns with Garlic Chips and Preserved Lemons

1 lb large prawns, peeled and deveined
2 Tbs olive oil
½ tsp paprika
2 Tbs sliced garlic
2 tsp finely chopped preserved lemon
2 tsp finely chopped Italian parsley
Fleur de sel to finish

Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. When the oil begins to smoke, add the prawns. Cook on one side for 2 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. Remove prawns to a serving dish. Add paprika and garlic to still hot oil and cook until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat. Pour mixture over prawns, add lemon and parsley, and stir to combine. Finish with fleur de sel.


***

I had two more dishes, and of course, got no photos. I know it sounds like a lot for someone having a tough time standing for any given length of time, but each dish went together VERY fast, and I just kind of swept in, threw one together, and then camped out with a heating pad.

I made some no-frills roasted baby fingerling potatoes and served them with a garlic-saffron aioli. Very simple. And because you can just never have too many potatoes, I decided to throw in these Croquetas as well…

Apple and Shallot Croquetas

1/2 TB butter
2 1/2 tsp flour
1/2 c milk
salt & pepper

1 c leftover mashed potatoes
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 c dried apple, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 TB lemon juice

2 eggs, beaten
2 c panko breadcrumbs
1 Tbs dried parsley

vegetable oil for frying

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, using a wooden spoon, blend the flour into the butter, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk, continuing to stir. Turn up the heat to medium and begin whisking vigorously until all of the lumps are removed and the sauce thickens. Let boil for 1 minute while stirring and remove from heat. Season with the salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, shallot, apple, cumin and lemon juice. Pour in béchamel mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.

In a skillet, add vegetable oil to about ½” depth. Heat over medium heat. Meanwhile, add 2 eggs to a bowl and beat thoroughly. In another bowl, add breadcrumbs and dried parsley.

Make small (about ping-pong ball size) balls from the potato mixture. Dip each in beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs. When oil is hot, add croquetas to the pan. Cook and turn as each side browns. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Going Solo

Cooking for myself does not necessarily mean cooking a simple meal. I'm every bit as likely to coax a risotto and pork roast along on a Wednesday night as I am to toss a bag of popcorn in the microwave. But for the most part, my solo meals fall somewhere in between.

I picked up some shrimp when I was at the store because... well, just because. I had a vague idea of what I wanted by the time I made it to the produce department. Peeling the shrimp actually took longer than putting the whole thing together, especially since I decided to forego the side of rice I had planned.

It's still a step up from eating Häagen-Dazs over the sink.

Honey Sesame Shrimp

1 small onion, chopped
1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup snow peas
1 Tbs canola oil
½ tsp chile flakes
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
¼” chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined, rinsed and then patted dry
1 Tbs sesame seeds (I used a combo of regular and black)
2 Tbs Sake
3 Tbs Soy sauce
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs Thai sweet chile sauce
½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder

In a wok or large frying pan, heat the canola oil over medium high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the onion, broccoli and snow peas and stir fry just until onions begin to turn translucent. Remove vegetables to a bowl, leaving the remaining oil. Add chile flakes and sesame oil to the pan. Allow to heat briefly and then add garlic and ginger. Sauté, stirring frequently, just until garlic softens and begins to turn golden. Add Shrimp and continue to sauté just until the shrimp begins to turn opaque. Add the sesame seeds and continue to cook for another 30 seconds or so. Deglaze pan with sake. Add soy sauce, honey, chile sauce and 5-spice. Cook and stir until liquid reduces slightly, making a glaze. Add vegetables back to pan.

Serve with rice.

A Milestone Birthday

Offspring #1 turned 21 today.  Oy.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the entire concept and the idea that she'd rather have top shelf vodka than Barbie dolls (although, to be truthful, she was never really a huge fan of those).

Anyway...

Over the weekend we had a family get-together for her.  And I was so wrapped up in getting everything together that I managed to only snap a few pictures.

At her request, I made Shrimp Wraps with Mango Salsa.  And in addition to her birthday 'cake', which was actually a key lime pie, I made her White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Fudge.  There were many other things there as well, but alas, no photos.

The wraps had a number of components, including a revisit to the Toasted Parmesan Flatbread from the previous weekend.  Just thought they'd make a nice substitute for tortillas.

I had eleven people to feed, so I made double batches of everything.  The amounts can be cut down for smaller numbers of servings.  Once the flatbread was ready to go, the next component was a coconut rice flavored with a bit of cumin.

Gingered Coconut Rice

2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 cups long-grained rice
1 14 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
1 14 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth (or substitute water)
1 tsp salt

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.  As soon as oil gets hot, add cumin and ginger and sauté just until fragrant.  Add rice and stir to coat with oil.  Continue to stir and cook for a minute or two and allow the rice to toast slightly.

Add coconut milk and chicken broth, plus enough water to bring the total amount of liquid to 4 cups.  Add salt.  Turn heat up to medium-high and stir a couple of times to completely incorporate the liquid.  Allow to come to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 16 - 18 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir to incorporate the coconut milk solids, which will settle on the top.

Garlic Shrimp

2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp (I used small 55 - 60 count to better fit in the wraps)
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
3 - 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste (I like to use a course salt here)

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke.  Add chili flakes and garlic.  Sauté just long enough for the garlic to start toasting.  Immediately add shrimp (if your pan is small, do this in a couple of batches so the shrimp flash fries and doesn't steam).  Cook and stir until shrimp is just cooked through.  This will only take a couple of minutes.

Mango Salsa

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 ripe mangos, cut into small cubes
1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
1/2 small red bell pepper, diced to the same size as the onions
1 lime
Salt to taste
(you can also add some finely chopped cilantro to this)

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl.  Zest the lime and add to the mixture, then add the juice from the lime as well.  Season.


** We set up a buffet and allowed everyone to assemble their wraps according to their own specifications.  Also had avocado and olives on hand to add to the mix.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Fudge

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup)

1- 12 oz. pkg. white chocolate chips

1 jar (7 oz.) Marshmallow Creme

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 tsp. vanilla

Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large heavy saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil until a candy thermometer reaches 234° (about 4 minutes), stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate chips and marshmallow creme; stir until completely melted. Add nuts and vanilla; mix well.

Pour immediately into the prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. Let stand at room temperature 4 hours or until completely cooled; cut into 1-inch squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature