Sunday Supper: Shrimp & Green Grits

OK. It sounds a little out of the ordinary, but these creamy, buttery, cheesy grits are delicious on their own loaded with butter, cream, spinach, chives and basil.  Not for the faint of heart, or calorie counters, but once in awhile this is a delicious indulgence.  When topped with succulent shrimp, it's awesome.
Here's how we do it after the jump.

Eat This: Pork Filled Asian Dumplings

I love Asian dumpling.  Pot stickers are a favorite and this is my own interpretation.  I used this as a boiled dumpling, but you can also pan fry and steam as well.  These are really delicious; a bit tedious, but well worth the effort.

Eat This: Jambalaya with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Jambalaya With Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

I love New Orleans and all the food associated therein.  One of my favorites is Jambalaya. I’ve had so many variations over the years, but this one is a real favorite and so easy. This recipe was adapted from food.com – Check out their recipe for “Jambalaya With Shrimp and Andouille Sausage”  I made a very few minor tweaks and this turns our really nicely.  You will note the addition of the “heat” via the Jalapenos.  I like spicy, so temper accordingly. 

Serves: 4 very hungry people.

Ingredients

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I use EVOO because I like the flavor)
1 cup chopped onion (use the most flavorful – I think a nice yellow is best)

1 large minced shallot (It gives another layer of flavor)
1 cup chopped red, orange or yellow bell pepper (I don’t like the taste of the green ones – too strong)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I use 1 tablespoon of a roasted garlic puree from NapaStyle.com)

1 (or 2) large seeded and minced Jalapenos
6 ounces Andouille sausages, sliced
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon paprika (I use a smoked Hungarian paprika)
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water (or white wine)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I used a sundried tomato puree instead)
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I really like Tabasco Chipotle)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, un-drained (I used the ones with garlic as well)
3/4 lb peeled and deveined medium shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I substitute 4 green onions very thinly sliced)

Directions:

Step 1

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, minced garlic, minced Jalapeno(s) and sausage; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Step 2

2.  Add rice and the next 7 ingredients (through bay leaf); cook 2 minutes.

Step 3

3.  Add broth, water, tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, and diced tomatoes; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. NO PEEKING – let it simmer covered and don’t lose the steam and heat.

Step 4

4.  Add shrimp (I drop them on the top and immediately cover to let them steam; cook 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley (or green onions).

Eat!

Serve with a crisp white wine and an arugula and shaved Parmesan salad with a vinaigrette. Delicious.

Eat This: Sunday Fish

Italian salmon with tomatoes and herbs and redfish in lemon butter.

Two fish for dinner this evening:  one redfish, pan roasted in a simple butter and lemon and salmon cooked in the Italian manner.  Both delicious. Both easy. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Using two oven proof pans; I used one Calphalon all stainless and one non-stick (which I used for the redfish).

So here's how I did it:

Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil - you will need 1/4 Cup.

One can of fire-roasted tomatoes and fresh oregano (you can substitute dried but I like the taste of fresh) - about 1/4 Cup loosely packed fresh oregano or 2 Tablespoons dried.

One fresh redfish fillet - As small or as large as you like - this one was 1# and at $14/lb. was very nice.

One half of a salmon fillet (fresh, wild caught) - this was about 1# as well.

Combine the fresh oregano, tomatoes and the sun-dried tomatoes.

Add 2 Tablespoons capers, drained, 1 Tsp. garlic powder, 1 Tsp. onion powder, 1 Tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, 4 Tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 Tsp. black pepper, 1/2 Tsp. Kosher salt and

... five chopped green onions. Substitute fresh garlic and onion for the powder (my original recipe called for the powder)

Oh yeah, and a glass of wine while doing this is almost required, right?

For the salmon, put the tomato mixture in the pan and sit the salmon fillets on top.

Spoon about 3 Tablespoons of the mixture on top.  For the redfish, I combined 3 Tablespoons of butter and 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice.  Pour the butter mixture over the redfish fillet and shake freshly ground pepper over the top.

I roasted the pans together for 25 minutes.  Be sure to check at 20 mins. Overcooked fish is nasty.  The saving grace is that both these recipes are really forgiving.

The results:

Salmon in tomatoes and herbs.

Redfish in lemon and butter.

Thanks: Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving Day 2012

I love Thanksgiving.  Old standard recipes give way to new favorites.  This year I did a turkey brined using a recipe from Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman.  Her brine recipe was awesome and the green beans with tomatoes are now a new standard.  I can't believe that my perfectly browned, lovely turkey produced a really out of focus photo. My bad.

Orange peel, bay leaves, brown sugar, fresh rosemary and more made this an amazing brine.

Fresh 12# turkey took a snooze overnight in its delicious brine bath.

Brined, rinsed nd slathered in butter and citrus rosemary grey salt this bird was ready to rock.

Uncooked green onions and celery gave this dressing a fresher texture and taste.

Badly blurred, but beautifully browned bird.

Dressing after 2 hours at 300 degrees.  Crispy and delicious.

The wine du jour.

Green beans and tomatoes courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.

Savory: Sausage and Green Onion Quiche

Simple and rustically beautiful, this is the perfect answer to the age old question: “Do real men eat quiche?”   The answer is a resounding YES!  This hearty, delicious, rich, anytime egg and cheese dish is perfect for a late morning brunch or a main dish with a salad for dinner.  The basic quiche recipe can be used for any variety of things: broccoli and bacon or crab and green onion, whatever you like.  My best tip for variations is to be sure that when you use something that has a high water content that you sauté first to get rid of some of the water or the pie becomes soggy and grainy in the middle.  Mushrooms are especially waterlogged so I cook them until they are dry and brown – what a great concentration of flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1# bulk sausage (I love Hot Italian Sausage in this recipe)
• 2 bunches small green onions (about 1 cup)
• 6  Eggs
• 8 oz. grated Swiss cheese (or your favorite. NOTE: creamy cheeses do now work well ie: blue or cream cheese and some cheddar varieties are too greasy)
• 1 Cup heavy cream
• 1 Cup half-and-half
• 1 Tsp. Salt

Quiche Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  Spray a 1.5” deep casserole with straight sides, or even a spring form pan.

2. Brown the bulk sausage (or whatever type) you use, breaking apart the chunks and making sure that it is completely done.  Drain in a strainer set over a bowl to remove excess grease.

3. Clean and chop the green onions. Chop to a ½”- 3/4” dice.  Sauté the green onions in the same un-cleaned pan where you browned the sausage.
 

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and half-and-half.
 
5. Fold in the cheese, sausage and green onions, reserving a half cup of the cheese to top the pie.
 

6. Pour the mixture into the pan; top with the remaining cheese and bake 15 minutes at 425ºF.

7. Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF and bake for an additional 45 minutes.  Allow to sit for 15 - 20 minutes before cutting.  Store covered in the refrigerator.  Individual slices are great to freeze for quick meals.

Quick Eats: Spicy Chicken and Broccoli

Refrigerator surprise turned out to be Spicy Chicken and Broccoli served over steamed rice.  Chicken thighs, broccoli, green onions and a sweet & spicy sauce tinted with garlic chili paste.  Peanut garnish gave it some extra crunch.  Delicious.

Let's Eat: Perfect Salmon Every Time

I love fresh salmon. In the past I've had challenges making it just right.  But I found the holy grail of roasting a whole side of salmon.  Easy Peasy.

In the past I spent a long time skinning the fillet. No more.  Now I line a heavy half-sheet pan with aluminum foil.  Rest the salmon skin side down.  After cooking, you use a heavy spatula or a fish turner to lift the flesh and the skin sticks to the foil! Easy to dispose and even better, cleanup is ridiculously easy.

I started with a whole fillet of Copper River salmon. Fresh. Nice.  Dried dill (I forgot to buy fresh), minced green onion tops (they have a lot of flavor.)

Thinly sliced lemons and a little roasted garlic grey salt and that's it.  Don't over think it.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while you get the salmon ready.  Pop it in for 12 minutes.  NO LONGER.  It comes out just a tiny bit on the rare side, but after you let it sit, covered with a sheet of foil for 10 minutes, it is perfect.  Really. It's idiot proof.

The finished product. It was DELICIOUS.