24x24 Shrimptastic

Yummmmmm!!! That is all.

(Riesling poached Shrimp with Citrus Slaw)

Ok ok I have more to say than that, but seriously. Wouldn't you be saying that too if you got to make and eat all this:

(Beer battered shrimp with cajun marmalade)

(Shrimp Vol au Vents with Mushrooms)

(Scampi style shrimp & Garlic Fettuccine Alfredo)

(Coconut crusted shrimp with mango-curry chutney)

(Amaretto shrimp) - somehow I missed taking a picture of the crab cake stuffed shrimp, those were GOOD!

Thanks to Foodbuzz, I got to participate in another 24x24. This time with Chef Tom and his mad shrimp identifying and cooking up skills. (sounds pretty impressive eh?)

Here he is showing Beth how to make bloody mary bread sticks (they have tomato paste and celery salt in them- and yes he's using a pasta machine to cut them into shape).

The class was at the NY Wine and Culinary Center, which is all about sustainability, keeping it local, and educating the public about all things delicious. I also learned that they are a not for profit last night, who knew!?

Some interesting facts I learned during class:

• The most common shrimp you'll find in the US are black tiger shrimp, most of which are farm raised in south east asia. This means they have a more mild flavor due to their pellet food eating as apposed to wild shrimp that get to live it up in the ocean.
  
• Shrimp aren't classified by size, it's by a count range, aka the number of them you get in a lb. 13-15's are larger than 90-100s...oh come on it's not hard math.
  
• There are things called U4's - that means under 4 per pound, talk about serious fatty fatty 2x4s!!
• The texture of shrimp doesn't change with their size.. you might think those little ones are tougher, but nope, you're probably just cooking the crap out of them. Stop that by the way. Shrimp don't take long to cook, only a few minutes per side in a pan, anymore than that and your eating rubber... bleh.
  
• Reason why you can't refreeze things after thawing: The shrimp are commercially IQF (individually quick frozen) which is taking their temp down to freezing in 20 minutes flat, so ice doesn't form the same way as when you do it at home. At home they are freezing slowly and all those little moisture particles are forming into ice shards, tearing apart the insides of your not so tender anymore, shrimp. Re-freezing: don't do it.

Now I know you all want some of those recipes from class right? Here were my top two favorites:

Amaretto Shrimp - I got to make this one!!
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs amaretto (lets face the facts, I used a much larger amount)
1 1/2 Tbs honey
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together and set aside

For the shrimp we used 24 large raw shrimp (peel and deveil, leave tail on)
1 1/2 cups cornstarch seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds for garnish

Dredge shrimp and shake off excess cornstarch. Heat a large saute pan over high heat until hot. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Sear shrimp on both sides until shrimp is pink and just begin to curl. Remove from pan and place in bowl, toss with amaretto sauce and chopped nuts.

Coconut shrimp with Mango-Curry Chutney
Chutney (this stuff was AMAZING, the spice kinda knocked my socks off)
1 Tbs red onion finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped mango
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp minced jalapeno
1 clove garlic minced
2 Tbs fresh cilantro
2 tsp toasted curry powder

Saute onion in a small amount of oil, add rest of ingredients and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Shrimp
1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined, tail on
salt as needed
2 cups coconut
2 Tbs flour
2 egg whites, lightly whisked

Season shrimp with salt on both sides. In a small bowl combine the coconut and flour. Dip shrimp in egg then dredge in coconut mixture. Fry in hot oil until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve with chutney.

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Lentils, shrimp, sausage, need I say more

Did the title catch your attention? If you are anything like me you would have clicked on it in .0001 seconds flat, because I love all three of the above ingredients... mix them together... oh baby!! I saw this recipe over at the Beantown Baker (she rocks, go and visit her). I knew I could adapt it to make John eat some (easy sub out the chorizo for jalapeno chicken sausage, or any spicy chicken sausage). I keep telling him, for example tonight at dinner while I mowed some nice rare steak "buddy, you are so missing out." His loss, more for me to eat!

The other thing I changed with the recipe is I added more garlic, nixed the carrots, and I also doubled the lentils so mine is less of a stew and more of a goulash. These stuff is SO GOOD!! Dried lentils are also crazy cheep so there's another added bonus! I roasted up some asparagus to top off the dish, not necessary but they went really well with it :)



Chicken sausage, Lentil and Shrimp Goulash - adapted from Beantown Baker
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, peeled & diced
2 clove garlic, peeled & minced
2 spicy chicken sausage links
1 bay leaf
1/4 t smoked paprika
1/8 t chipotle powder
1 14-oz can diced fired roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 c low-sodium broth (i used mushroom)
1 1/2 c dried lentils
salt to taste
20 cooked shrimp (i used frozen and just thawed them out first)

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, garlic & sausage. Cook until the onions are translucent.
Stir in the bay leaf, paprika and chipotle & cook for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, chicken broth & lentils. Bring to a boil.
Cover & reduce heat to simmer. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
If the stew is a little dry add a little more broth. Test for seasoning & add salt if needed. Stir in shrimp & cook until just heated.

CHOW!!!!

These stuff tastes better the longer it sits and marinates. I make a big batch and then pack it up in containers for John to bring to work for lunch. Totally quick and easy... and only dirties one pot! Gotta love that part :)

REMINDER: if you took part in the jam exchange tomorrow (my birthday!!) is the last day to ship your stuff out please!!! Can't wait to see what I get :D

Soup to warm you up

I don't know about you but it's been COLD here. And the other day we got all types of snow and the plows didn't seem to be out at all. What's up with that? It took one friend an hour and a half to make it into work! That's just wrong.

For days like this everyone should just stay home and make up a nice pot of soup. This is super easy, fast, no fuss soup. No boiling for hours, just toss it all in the pot to heat up, and you're good to go. I added turkey kielbasa and shrimp to mine, but you could easily leave them out and have a nice vegetarian soup.

I'd like to thank Donna and Frank for the awesome new bowls!!
I love these things.

Beantastic Soup
spray or drizzle of olive oil
4 scallions green and white parts chopped
1/2 cup salsa (i used medium heat)
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 can low sodium black eye peas (not rinsed or drained)
1 can low sodium red beans (not rinsed or drained)
2-4 glugs Franks Red Hot (more or less to taste)
2 cups low sodium vegetable stock (I LOVE wegmans low sodium vegetable and chicken stocks, you can find them in the organic aisle, they are flavorful and only have 4% sodium per serving!)
1/2 a package turkey kielbasa sliced
1/2 lb frozen cooked shrimp thawed and tails removed
chopped scallions for garnish
thickly grated sharp cheddar cheese for garnish

Saute kielbasa in a soup pot until nicely browned, add garlic, ginger and scallions until aromatic (1-2 minutes)
Dump in half the beans and mash with a potato masher, then dump in the rest of the beans in un-mashed.
Add vegetable stock and red hot and stir to incorporate. Simmer until heated through (about 5 minutes). A few minutes before serving add the shrimp (you want them to heat up but not over cook since they are already cooked).
Serve topped with scallions and grated sharp cheddar.

This soup is done in under 30 minutes start to finish.

If you can't find low sodium beans, it's ok, just drain and rinse one can and not the other. That will still give you a little of the thickness with some less salt. If you used both full on sodium without rinsing, it may be a bit overpoweringly salty.

Chow!

shrimptastic

Sunday nights have turned into sauce night for me and John. This past week we made skinny pasta and topped it with turkey kielbasa, shrimp, and mushrooms in a red sauce. Easy, fast, and delicious!

Cook the pasta (whole wheat for me!) according to the package, I like mine aldente yum! Slice up the turkey kielbasa and mushrooms and toss in a sauce pan with a little olive oil spray. Toss them around until they are nice and browned, at this point plop in a jar of your favorite sauce (in a pinch wegmans Diavola sauce is the hands down best in my opinion, spicy!) Stir and turn the heat down to low. I used frozen cooked shrimp so once they were defrosted I just tossed them in the sauce for the last few minutes to warm them up.

This meal goes from start to finish in 20 minutes. Top with some parmasian cheese or a little parsley and you are good to go! I also added in a bunch of spinach into mine for a little added boost.

Chow!

Cook Book Typography

I mentioned this last week and never got a chance to write about it. In grad school Neva and I took a typography class together. One of our first projects was to make a salad to bring in to share with everyone and then create an art piece using letter forms to recreate our salad. I chose ambrosia... here is what I created typographically to represent ambrosia salad... which is super tasty!!

Our final class project was to create a cookbook using typographic elements to help a person read the recipe easier. A lot of recipes can be rather confusing the way they are presented... Here are a few pages from my cookbook. Hope you enjoy!! (click on the images to see a larger view)

I titled the book Snow on my Oatmeal (for those of you who don't know my last name is Snow... I know super fun). I also used a splatter of B's to create the look of flour spilled across the page... I don't know about you but I always get flour everywhere!

I used dotted lines to separate the ingredients and instructions within the groupings of ingredients. I also used the left hand side of the book spread to create letters into objects that represented the recipe... so in this example we have little typographic shrimp!

And in this example we have little typographic cookies! You have to try this recipe for Anzac biscuits!!! They are super tasty... but very very stick to your teeth sweet.

Chow!

Spicy sprimp or tofu "sushi roll"

I have a secret love affair with sushi. It's true! Oh sushi how I love you!! But sushi is an expensive date. Hence why I love California Rollin's 3 rolls for $12 sundays. YUM I'll be going there this sunday with matt and john woohoo yum! Anyway back to my make shift in a pinch "sushi rolls" they are super easy to whip together and very tasty!

Spicy sprimp or tofu "sushi roll"
1/4 cup fat free mayo
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
16 large shrimp or a container of baked tofu
1 Japanese cucumber, quartered lengthwise
head of romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 cups prepared brown rice

Mix the ingredients together to blend. Using a leaf of romaine, put a spoonful of brown rice in the middle. Place a piece of cucumber lengthwise ontop of the rice then place 3 tablespoons of the spicy shrimp mixture along the cucumber. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and roll the lettuce leaf up to form a burrito type packaging.

I also steamed up some edamame to have with these. so good!

yum yum yum

Shimp marsala

So while I was home a month or so ago I had made this "dish for one" and it was delicious. I kicked the mom and dad out of the house so they could have a nice date night and promptly started walking around the kitchen grabbing stuff that looked good together. In the end it was fantastic! Serve it up with some nice fresh bread and you are good to go!

Shrimp marsala for one
small handful of linguine (about 1.5 servings)
10-12 cooked frozen shrimp defrosted
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
2-4 shakes red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup marsala wine
few sprigs fresh parsley ripped into small pieces

Bring pot of water to boil and cook linguine according to pasta box. Set aside.

In your favorite saute pan heat olive oil then add garlic, red pepper, black pepper. Saute until lightly browned. Add shimp and toss to coat, pour in wine and cover to steam for 30 seconds. Remove cover and add in parsley. Stir, then pour over cooked linguine and toss to coat.

Enjoy a super fast and easy meal with a nice glass of wine (no not the cooking marsals wine, go buy yourself something nice haha)