A Double "Do"

Oh Yes.  Oh Yes indeed.
It was a "double do" dinner.
Translation = delicious.  

"Mom, can we have it again and again?"  

They still use this phrase, not realizing its childhood origins.  

My husband even chants it.  

"Oh, hon, this is a double "do".  

The  incredibly handsome Aussie,Curtis Stone, from the TLC program "Take Home Chef" has made his mark in our kitchen tonight.  

I looked around for him at Whole Foods today to see if he would do my shopping for me, pay for my gourmet  grocery bill and ride home in my car. (I keep my trunk clean!)

Oh, and don't forget the requisite stop at some place like Williams Sonoma on the way home.

For my "little something".

  But... 

sigh... 

Curtis must still be dilly-dallying in L.A. 

for whatever reason.  

It was all for the good probably.  

As I didn't 

"dress up".  

(Anyone who has seen his programs knows what this means) 

Yes, I know, tonight's repas doesn't exactly score an "A" in the "healthy for you" resolution department but...

Life is short?

You only live once?

Heck...

Eat well, then die????

Somehow, I predict that is not what the scale will be murmuring to me in the morning. 

This recipe can be found on the TLC website for the cooking show "Take Home Chef".  It was the dinner cooked for lucky Karin, Episode 33.

Happy Sunday

before...

dreaded Monday

Fresh Linguine with Garlic Shrimp and Homemade Pesto:


1 1/2 bunches fresh basil leaves
4 oz/100g pine nuts, toasted
1/2 c/70 g freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 c/100ml extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
12 cherry tomatoes on the vine
9 oz/255g fresh linguine
2 garlic cloves, minced
20 large shrimp,peeled and deveined
1 oz/25 g Parmesan cheese, shaved (for garnish)


Pesto:
Grind the basil, pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese with a mortar and pestle until a smooth paste forms.  (I used the blender).  Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.  Cover the pesto and set it aside.


To Prepare the Pasta and Shrimp:
Preheat the oven to 450F/230C.  Place the vine of tomatoes in an ovenproof skillet.  Drizzle 1 Tbsp/15 ml of oil over the tomatoes then sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and pepper.


Roast the tomatoes in the oven until they are heated through, about 8 minutes.  meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the linguine to the boiling salted water and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking.  About 2 min.


While the linguine cooks, heat the remaining 3 Tbsp/45ml of olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and shrimp and sauté for about 3 min. or until the shrimp are just cooked through and the garlic is tender.


Add the pesto to the shrimp mixture.  Drain the linguine, reserving about 1 1/2 c./355 ml of the cooking liquid.  Toss the linguine in a large bowl with the shrimp and pesto mixture like you've never tossed before in order to coat the linguine and shrimp with the pesto, adding enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten the sauce so that it coats the pasta evenly.


Using a two-pronged carving fork, swirl some of the pasta around the fork.  Slide the pasta off the fork and mound it in the center of a plate.  Repeat for each serving.  Arrange the shrimp and roasted tomatoes around the pasta.  Garnish with the shaved Parmesan cheese and serve.  Yum!  A definite do again for our family.

Menu 18: Summer at Its Best

This is a really wonderful summertime menu. Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil, a loaf of crusty bread, your favorite salad or the Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella, and Corn Salad on my June 27, 2009 blog, with a delicious Berry Crumble for dessert. If you want to fancy it up a bit, you could add a first course of cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup from my August 3, 2009 blog. Happy eating.

Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil
I love the ease of cooking shrimp in their shells. Peeling and deveining shrimp is not one of my favorite kitchen activities. But I also love sucking the juices off the shrimp before peeling them at the table. And the peeling them myself slows me down and makes me anticipate and then fully appreciate their luscious flavor.

1 pound large or medium shrimp, in their shells
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic or more if you are a garlic lover, slivered
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon crushed red peppers or ½ teaspoon smoky hot paprika
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse the shrimp and pat them dry.
2. In a skillet large enough to hold all the shrimp in a single layer, heat the oil over moderately high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the garlic, thyme, crushed red peppers or paprika, salt and shrimp. Toss to coat with oil, cook, stirring occasionally, just until the shrimp are pink, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, and with a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a warmed serving platter or to warmed individual plates. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, sprinkle lightly with the parsley. Serve immediately with paper napkins and plenty of bread to sop up the sauce.

3-4 servings for dinner
Adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria

Individual Blackberry Crumbles
I wanted to include this recipe before berries left the Farmers' Markets around the country. Right now in Sonoma, blackberries from Andrea Davis' stand at the Friday market are at their prime but she's worried that the cold weather we've been having may slow down the ripening and sweetening. You'll remember her from my October 8, 2009 blog about her Quarter Acre Farm. Let's hope we have a spell of hot weather so those berries continue to thrive. And the tomatoes.

3 cups blackberries or comparable amount of blueberries or raspberries or a mix of all three
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour plus 1 tablespoon
½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons oats (quick-cooking or regular)
2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Serve with vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone mixed with a little sugar and milk or cream.

1. Place the berries, sugar and 1 tablespoon flour in a bowl and stir to mix. Divide the berries into four shallow ovenproof bowls.
2. Place the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, oats, and remaining flour in a bowl (you can use the same berry bowl) and mix well. Add the butter, rubbing it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can also use a pastry cutter.
3. Sprinkle the berries with this mixture. Bake at 400ºF. for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve warm with one of the suggested toppings.
You can make this in one larger container, such as a gratin dish, without any changes.

4 servings
Adapted from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food

A Taste of Vietnam with a Touch of Thai

If you are new to Vietnamese/Thai food, I suggest that you start with the soup. It makes a gorgeous simple dinner with the addition of a salad. And it takes no time at all to fix. The Shrimp and Black Rice Salad is also a great dinner to which you can add a simple salad. But there is a little more fuss to it. The Cauliflower with Garlic and Pepper can be a vegetable side dish with any dinner, Vietnamese or not. We had it with cracked crab and it was delicious.

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup

I made this for my daughter-in-law when she was healing from surgery. I think that it hastened her recovery.








1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 14-ounce can chicken broth
6 quarter-sized slices fresh ginger
1 stalk lemongrass, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, sliced thinly
7 ounces tofu, sliced, optional
1-3 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Thai chili paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopper fresh cilantro

1. In a medium saucepan, mix together the coconut milk, broth, ginger and lemongrass. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add the chicken, optional tofu, mushrooms, lime juice, and fish sauce, salt, sugar and chili paste. Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Check for salt, adding if necessary. Remove the lemongrass pieces as best you can.
3. Pour into bowls and garnish with basil and cilantro.

You can make a vegetarian version by substituting 7-14 ounces of tofu for the chicken, vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and soy sauce for the fish sauce.

4 servings
Adapted from Jiranooch Shapiro’s version in December 2008 Sunset Magazine

Shrimp and Black Rice Salad with Vietnamese Vinaigrette
I was eating some leftovers of this dish on a plane ride from SFO to NYC. A friend, who was seated across the aisle from me, leaned over and said “Watch out. There are lots of people on this plane who would do anything for a bite of your lunch.” I think that included my friend.

For the Vietnamese dipping sauce/vinaigrette:
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 red or green jalapeno or serano fresh pepper, seeded and minced
1½-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice (about 1 lime)
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the salad:
1 cup black rice
Note: The brand I get at the supermarket is Lotus Foods A World of Rice Forbidden Rice: The Emperor’s Exclusive Grain Imported from China
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled
Salt
Juice of ½ lemon

1. To make the sauce, mix all the ingredients together.
2. Cook the rice by bringing 1 2/3 cup water to a boil, add the rice, and cook for 40-45 minutes. You can also follow the instructions on the package.
3. Poach the peeled shrimp in simmering water to which you have added the juice of ½ lemon.
4. Let both the rice and the shrimp cool somewhat. Place the rice is a shallow serving bowl. Stir some of the sauce into the rice. Arrange the shrimp on top and spoon more sauce onto them. Serve at the table with additional sauce in a bowl on the side.

2-3 dinner servings
Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer

Cauliflower with Garlic and Pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
2 tablespoons fish sauce
6-8 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
2 tablespoons coarsely shopped fresh cilantro, dill or mint

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower to the pan and cook for 1 minute, toss well, exposing all sides to the hot pan. Once the cauliflower is nicely browned, add the garlic and stir well to combine.
2. Add the fish sauce, water, sugar, pepper, and green onions to the pan. Cook, tossing often until the cauliflower is tender, but not mushy, about 5 or more minutes.
3. Just before serving, stir in the fresh herbs, transfer to a shallow serving bowl and serve hot or warm.

4 servings
Adapted from Nancie McDermott’s Quick and Easy Vietnamese

Menu 7: Spanish dinner

 Spanish cuisine has been greatly influenced by the Moors, who crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco in 711, conquering most of the country in 7 or 8 years. It is believed that the Moors were Arabs and Muslims. Along with their culinary traditions, they brought knowledge of architecture, science, and engineering. Their influence on farming and cooking was extensive. They introduced saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, bananas, peaches, apricots, eggplant, artichokes, cumin, coriander, almonds, henna, and madder. They were excellent water engineers, devising ways to bring water from the mountains to the valleys by means of trenches and channels which you can still see today in the Alhambra in Granada. They created terraces which made farming possible on steep hillsides. They were conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 and forced to leave Spain. A few were asked to stay to run the water systems. To this day, their extraordinary culinary and architectural treasures remain.

The following Spanish menu consists of shrimp with an almond, pepper and tomato sauce called Romesco which in our house rivals pesto in popularity. This sauce is as good on the potato tostones as it is on the shrimp. A green salad with a citrus vinaigrette would be great along side.















When I was in Spain in 2004, I organized a sherry tasting in Cordoba for the group from First Congregational Church of Berkeley. If you are up for it, drinking some sherry with this dinner (dry and chilled for the main course, sweet and sticky like Pedro Ximenez for dessert) would be really fun. Have some white wine on hand, just in case—like an albarino--or a good pink (to match the shrimp). Check out The Spanish Table’s sherry selection in Berkeley, Santa Fe, Seattle and Mill Valley. Kevin, the wine purchaser in Berkeley, says that his blog would be helpful.

Shrimp with Romesco Sauce
This sauce takes a while to make. I have tried simpler versions and the flavor is, well, much less interesting. This one is worth the effort.















   
Romesco Sauce:
1 large ripe tomato or 3 Romas, cut in half
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Novas Secas dried pepper
1 Choricero dried pepper or 1 Ancho dried pepper
Note: Other dried peppers can be used, like mild New Mexico, but they shouldn’t be especially hot.
½ cup water
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 thin slice of crusty bread
¼ cup slivered blanched almonds
½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon smoky sweet paprika or regular paprika

1. Roast the tomato and garlic on an ungreased roasting pan at 350ºF for 30 minutes.
2. Place the dried peppers in a saucepan with the water and 3 tablespoons of the vinegar. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the peppers and save the water.
3. Place the roasted tomatoes and the softened peppers in a food processor and process until smooth. Put the contents through a sieve to remove the skin and seeds. Stir and press with a rubber spatula to extract as much of the goodness as possible. Return the strained mixture to the food processor.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet and fry the bread until golden on both sides. In the same oil, fry the almonds until golden.
5. Add the bread, almonds and roasted garlic to the processor. Process until smooth.
6. With the motor running, pour in the ¼ cup oil, the remaining teaspoon of vinegar, the smoky paprika or regular paprika, and the salt and pepper. You can add some of the pepper soaking liquid if the sauce is too thick. The sauce should be the consistency of guacamole.
7. Place in a bowl and serve at room temperature.

The Shrimp:
1½ pounds shrimp in their shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oil, add the salt and shrimp, and stir fry until pink, or just done.
2. Serve hot or at room temperature with the Romesco Sauce. Serve with paper towels. Peeling the shrimp is a messy and delightful business.

Note: The sauce can be made a day in advance. The shrimp can be made a couple of hours before if you want to serve at room temperature. I usually serve them directly from the pan while still hot.

4 servings for dinner, more as tapas.
Adapted from Penelope Casas’ Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain

Potato “Tostones”

Flattened before frying

Crispy after frying

2 pounds small potatoes (about 20), like Yukon gold
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Olive oil
Coarse sea salt

1. Place a steamer basket in a large pot filled with an inch of water. Add the potatoes to the basket. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Steam until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife, about 20-25 minutes. Don’t overcook or they won’t hold together when flattened.
2. Remove the basket and let the potatoes cool enough to be handled.
3. Gently squeeze the potatoes, one at a time, between your palms so that they flatten slightly but remain in one piece. Some will break but they can still be used.
4. Pour ¼-inch oil into a medium frying pan on medium high heat. Add the potatoes in batches to avoid crowding. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Fry on both sides until crisp and browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
5. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Arrange on a platter and sprinkle with sea salt.

6 servings
Adapted from “Recipes,” by Susan Spungen. This recipe was published in the July 22, 2007 New York Times Sunday Magazine

Eating Light....ish?

Cooking in warm weather can be so difficult for a comfort food addict like me. It just doesn't seem right to make the baked pastas, casseroles and savoury pies that I love to make in colder weather. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of summer foods that I love but it just isn't what I crave after a long day that leaves me wanting nothing but fatty carbs (there is no logical reasoning for this - it's just what I do).

Fortunately, living in Canada there isn't a very long time span that this is actually a real problem. Especially this summer, there have been plenty of cold, windy, rainy days where I don't have the least bit of a problem with whipping up some soup or mac and cheese for dinner. But...still. I find I have a greater tendency to fall into cooking "ruts". Especially without access to a barbeque.

Luckily I've recently discovered quinoa. A friend of a friend made a delicious quinoa salad awhile back, and since then we've made a few variations of it for dinner. This recipe has an asian feel to it with the shrimp, ginger and sesame, plus a bit of sweetness from the pineapple. It's nice in that I can still feel like I'm getting my carbs (since it's a GRAIN salad) without feeling like I've just gained 5 pounds nad is great as leftovers for lunch (it actually tastes better after its been sitting in the fridge for awhile and the flavours have had a chance to soak in). And apparently it's good for you too. Score!

Summer Shrimp Quinoa Salad

1/2 cup quinoa (about 2 cups cooked)
2 cups frozen edamame beans
1/2 cup canned or fresh pineapple tidbits
2 stalks green onions

Shrimp (I think I used about 12 but I'm really not sure)
salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds, for garnish

Dressing
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp pineapple juice

1. Whisk dressing ingredients together until combined, and set aside

2. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and add quinoa. Cover and let cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, re-cover and let sit for about 10 minutes.

3. If the shrimp that you're using is frozen (as mine was), run it under cold water, and leave for about 10 minutes to drain. The shrimp should start thawing out pretty quickly. Or if you actually think ahead (as I rarely do) you can take it out and defrost it in the fridge for a few hours.

4. Stir fry the shrimp over medium heat in a skillet until cooked through. I poured some of the dressing over it while cooking so that it absorbed some of the flavour.

5. Cook the edamame beans until they're not frozen anymore. The ones I use are pre-cooked so they don't actually need to be cooked, per se. I just microwave for less time than I normally do (like...1 minute instead of 4). Remove the beans from the pod if you're using ones in the shell.

6. Slice up the green onions up to the dark green parts

7. Throw the quinoa, shrimp, green onions, pineapple tidbits and edamame beans in a large bowl

8. Add dressing, a bit at a time, until it looks wet enough for you. This would be completely to your preference so just keep going until it looks and tastes right. Season to taste and garnish with sesame seeds

Seafood Recipes

Here are a few ways to cook seafood on the "Barbie"

Marinated Grilled Shrimp
"A very simple and easy marinade that makes your shrimp so yummy you don't even need cocktail sauce! Don't let the cayenne pepper scare you, you don't even taste it. My 2 and 4 year-olds love it and eat more shrimp than their parents!!! It is also a big hit with company, and easy to prepare. I make this with frozen or fresh shrimp and use my indoor electric grill if the weather is not good for outside grilling. Try it with a salad, baked potato, and garlic bread. You will not be disappointed!!!"

INGREDIENTS
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
skewers

DIRECTIONS
1.In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
2.Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3.Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.
from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Firecracker Grilled Alaskan Salmon
1.In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
2.Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3.Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. submitted by Christine L.
INGREDIENTS
8 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
1/2 cup peanut oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons green onions, chopped
3 teaspoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
1.Place salmon filets in a medium, nonporous glass dish. In a separate medium bowl, combine the peanut oil, soy sauce, vinegar, green onions, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, sesame oil and salt. Whisk together well, and pour over the fish. Cover and marinate the fish in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
2.Prepare an outdoor grill with coals about 5 inches from the grate, and lightly oil the grate.
3.Grill the fillets 5 inches from coals for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at the thickest part, or until fish just flakes with a fork. Turn over halfway through cooking
from http://www.allrecipes.com/

SOUTHERN BARBECUED CATFISH
1/4 C. ketchup

2 T. light molasses

2 t. red wine vinegar

1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce

4 (6-oz. each) catfish fillets

Preheat broiler or grill. In small bowl, combine ketchup, molasses, vinegar and Worcestershire. Place catfish fillets, skinned side up, on rack in broiling pan or grill. Brush half of sauce on catfish.

Broil or grill catfish for 4 minutes. Brush remaining sauce on fillets (do not turn) and broil until fish is just opaque throughout, about 4 minutes longer.

Serves 4.
from http://www.thatsmyhome.com/

BARBECUED MARLIN FILLETS

4 marlin fillets
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
a shake of all purpose seasoning
¼ cup chopped basil

Place marlin in a bowl along with the soy sauce, honey, seasoning and basil. Mix well.

Preheat a char grill or barbeque. Add fish and cook for about 4 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking.
from razzledazzlerecipes

Mandu wraped Shrimp

Joe McPherson From Zen Kimchi wrote this recipe in the Korean herald so I decided to try it out for a dinner party . It was so good everyone wanted more. The recipe was originally inspired by steamykitchen.com. Check it out here

ZenKimchi Marinate
Before cooking marinate them. In a bowl, mix a spoonful of gochujang (red pepper paste), a quarter cup of mirim (rice cooking wine), the juice of a lemon and a half bottle of soju.

I totally had no time for a marinate I was not quite as prepared as I would have liked to be.
To make it easy I cut the the man du wrappers in to strips .Don't forget to slice the intestine pipe out of the back of the shrimp.
Serve with some sweet chili sauce.

Quick Salad

Quails egg and Spinach

Cucumber and tomato

Spicy Shrimp , Spinach and yellow peppers

Season Shrimp (I use Cajun from home )

Fry or grill shrimp

Cajun Seasoning

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup salt
• 1/4 cup ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder

Sea Food Pasta

Recipe 

Shrimp 

Smoked salmon 

Garlic 

cream 

white wine 

Red peppers

Mushrooms 

Bacon fat

Pasta

Parsley 

Basil

Peel shrimp ,

cook peppers mushrooms garlic  ,

Then cook shrimp in bacon fat.

add peppers mushrooms , wine , cream ,parsley and basil.

Add cooked pasta and smoked salmon.