Blackened Shrimp with Pineapple Salad

This recipe comes from my parents, and unfortunately I don't know the original source (which pains me, as a librarian) but I believe it may have been published in Cooking Light. The flavors reminded me a lot of shrimp tacos I had once made, with a pineapple salsa.  

Pico de Gallo

1.5 c diced pineapple

1.5 c diced mango 

1/2 c chopped red onion

1/2 c chopped bell pepper

2 T chopped cilantro

1 t chopped green chili

1/4 t salt

Shrimp

1.5 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 T paprika

1 t sugar

1 t cumin

1 t oregano

3/4 t garlic powder

1/2 t dried thyme

1/4 t salt

1/4 t chili powder

4 t oil

Prepare pico de gallo by combining all ingredients.  For shrimp, combine spices in a bowl and toss shrimp in.  Let sit for a few minutes.  Heat oil in a large pan and sautee shrimp until done.  Serve with pico de gallo.

Asian Cabbage Slaw

This recipe comes from The Washington Post.  It's a great spring and summer salad to serve as a side dish with some grilled fish or chicken.  It's light and crunchy in all the right ways and leftovers are great to take to work for lunch.  

1/2 c veg oil

2 T vinegar (rice or balsamic)

2 T sugar

1/2 t salt

1/4 t ground black pepper

1 package ramen noodles (oriental), broken into small pieces, plus seasoning (YES, ramen noodles, I mean, seriously, how cool is this salad?  I love ramen noodles!)

1/2 head cabbage, chopped

2 T toasted sesame seeds

1/3 toasted sliced almonds (or peanuts)

4 scallions, chopped

In a bowl, combine oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper along with the ramen seasoning, and stir.  Add cabbage, ramen noodles (not cooked), sesame seeds, nuts and scallions.  Toss and let rest 10 minutes.  Serve at room temperature.

Doggie Treats

Our Chutney is one spoiled pup.  Organic, human-grade food and treats, custom fabric bed from Wiley Wagg (I love that store), water and food bowls signed by the artist (that really made me laugh), that kind of ridiculous stuff.  My husband and I have officially turned into "those" kinds of people. OK, myself more than him.  Chutney has a best friend in our neighborhood, a Westie, and they could basically be sisters, it's the cutest thing.  Her mother and I have become fast friends and she shares with me all kind of helpful information on raising a healthy and happy pup.  My neighbor baked up these doggie treats from scratch and they are deelish (Chutney thinks so).  I love being able to give our pup healthy, all natural treats.  The recipe comes from her mother in-law.  She also shared with me a cookbook for dogs (don't you dare roll your eyes) and I can't wait to try more recipes.  

1.5 c all purpose flour
1/4 c quick rolled oats
2 T baking powder
3 T canola oil
2 T honey
2 T skim milk (add more if needed)

Preheat oven to 400.  Stir together the flour, oats, and baking powder, then stir in the canola oil and honey, and slowly add the milk to form a stiff dough.  Roll dough out and poke holes evenly across surface of the dough.  Cut into shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool biscuits, and let your pup enjoy.

Seekh Kabobs

These are some traditional Pakistani kabobs.  I brought these to a friend's potluck brunch because when I saw the rest of the menu (donuts, bagels and cinnamon buns) I thought, hmmm, we could use some meat.  I'm pretty sure our neighbors thought we were nuts since we were grilling meat at 9 in the morning.  Or, they were jealous?  I served these with some dipping sauce which was just a combination of some yogurt, tahini, garlic and lemon juice.  

2 lbs ground beef (preferably 80/20)

1/2 onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

fresh green chili, chopped

T garlic paste

T ginger paste

2 T kabob seasoning (Shan brand is great)

a mix of other spices you like (I added cumin, red chili powder)

salt, pepper

T chick pea flour if possible

You want to combine the meat with all the ingredients and divide into four sections.  I used four large skewers (not petite bamboo skewers, large hard core metal skewers) and patted the meat in long patties around the skewer.  After grilling, I slid them out and cut them into bite size pieces.  

Lemongrass chicken

I know, that's of one of my less exciting pictures.  I was uninspired behind the lens, what can I say.  Is it OK to call this lemongrass chicken even though I didn't use any fresh lemongrass?  I had a head cold this past week which made preparing this a little difficult since I couldn't taste nor smell.  Not that I taste raw chicken but when I marinate things I judge what I'm making by the smell.  My husband came home from work and swore it smelled good, grilled these up, and swore it was delicious.  It tasted good to me, but my taste was also a bit muted.  I used lemongrass powder in this marinade, which is a great pantry item - perfect in teas and soups and chicken dishes.  

4 chicken breasts, large cubes
2 T lemongrass powder
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 small onion
1/2 green chili
2 T fish sauce
2 T sesame oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt, pepper

 Combine everything (uh, except the chicken) and pulse in a food processor until smooth. Marinate chicken in the marinade for a few hours, if possible.  Skewer and grill.   

Curried Chicken Salad

I love a good chicken salad.  Love. I love curried chicken salad.  Marvelous Market makes some great curried chicken salad.  They also charge an obscene amount of money for said salad.  Anyway, I made chicken salad.  For the first time evaaah.  How crazy is that?  I didn't bother looking up a recipe, I just wanted to go with my instincts and try and mimick store bought salads I've had.  I did, however, find inspiration from the lovely Ina Garten who always roasts her chicken for chicken salad.  This is some pretty darn good chicken salad, if I do say so myself.  My husband can't stand mayo and is anti grapes with chicken and he loved it.  We fought over who would take the leftovers for lunch.  This chicken salad is just the way I like a good chicken salad to be.  I should probably just start making this every weekend to have for lunch everyday instead of wasting money on the expensive store bought, no? 

4 chicken breasts, with bone, with skin (hugely important, people)
1/4 c sliced almonds (or any kind of nuts you like)
1 c chopped red, seedless grapes (or less, if you are anti grapes)
1/4 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped red onion
1 T mustard (any kind)
2 T curry powder
1 t paprika
1/2 c mayo
olive oil
salt, pepper
water

I'll be honest with you, I did not stand there and measure anything, so those are my estimates.  You just want to eyeball everything.  It is quite possible I put a bit more mayo in there.  You can't judge me, I'm a huge mayo fan.  You could add in some plain yogurt to lighten things up. 

Preheat oven to 350.  Lay chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for about 40 minutes.  Toast nuts on a pan for a few minutes, or in the oven.  Let chicken cool and remove from bone and skin, cube.  Toss into mixing bowl.  Salt, pepper and add some olive oil.  Stir in mayo and mustard and curry powder.  Toss in grapes, celery, red onion and nuts.  Stir in about 1/2 c of water to thin the salad out so it is more silky.   

Mustard Roasted Fish

I remember watching Ina make this once, and I had also seen it in the Washington Post Food Section like, over a year ago (those links are to the original recipes).  I've basically kept it in the back of my mind since then.  This is a total 15 minute dish from start to finish.  Love.  I didn't have shallots lying around so I left those out, and I used sour cream instead of creme fraiche.  I used tilapia, but you could really use any white, flaky fish.


Mustard Roasted Fish (adapted from Barefoot Contessa)


4 tilapia fillets
T fresh lemon juice
1/4 c sour cream
2 T dijon mustard (real Dijon, I love Trader Joe's)
1 T whole grain mustard
t capers


Salt and pepper fillets and place on foil lined baking sheet.  Preheat oven to 425.  Combine sour cream, lemon juice, mustard in a small bowl.  Drizzle some olive oil.  Spread over fillets, sprinkle capers over, bake for 10 minutes.  

Tandoori Chicken with Morels

This was another wonderful result of having fun with morels.  It's my Indian take on Chicken Cordon Bleu.  I stuffed chicken breast with sauteed morels, some gruyere and a spread of pesto and grilled them up.  I loved the flavor combination of this, but the pappardelle was the winner for me.  Incidentally, this chicken makes wonderful panini the next day. 

2 chicken breasts

.25 oz dry morels

T tandoori masala 

t garlic paste

t ginger paste

2 T yogurt

T pesto

slices of gruyere

salt, pepper, butter

Slice chicken breasts (not all the way through) and marinate overnight in yogurt, garlic and ginger and tandoori masala.  Add some olive oil and salt and pepper.  

Drain morels that have been soaking in water for four hours (you may use the broth for another dish) and chop them up.  Sautee in some heated butter in a pan and salt and pepper.  Stuff chicken breasts with morels, some pesto and a slice of gruyere.  Grill for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.      

Morel Pappardelle with Braised Beef Short Ribs

If braising beef short ribs just to make a pasta dish sounds like a bit much, I actually recommend brasing short ribs on a Saturday and then making this pasta on Sunday.  No really, do this next week.  You will thank me.  This pasta dish was heavenly.  When my husband declared he wanted braised short ribs I knew what I wanted to do with the leftovers, and I knew just the perfect addition to take it up a notch: morels.  They are earthy, they are meaty and I knew they'd pair perfectly with the silky soft meat and silky soft noodles.  This, I decided, would be my entry into Marx Food's morel challenge.  Ok, so that's not entirely true as I had another recipe idea, made them both and after a taste test, picked my own personal winner.  I'll post the runner up as well. 

I'm a huge morel fan, so when Marx Food's selected me to compete I was really excited for the challenge.  They shipped me an ounce of their finest dry morels and I stared at them on our kitchen counter for a week, willing them to perform well.  Since the morels are dry, you want to rehydrate them in water.  The water becomes infused with their flavor so I wanted to reduce this stock down to create a densely morel based sauce for the pasta.  Garam masala gives the sauce a really exotic layer.  It's woody and floral.  I loved it.  It's like you are sitting in a cedar cabin, in a field of beautiful flowers, grilling some meat.  I mean, that is seriously what this dish tastes like.  If that sounds weird to you then I won't make this for you when you come over.   

8 oz pappardelle (I got mine from Trader Joe's)
.75 oz dry morels
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c cream
1 T butter
1 t garam masala     
1 lb braised short ribs, pulled off with fork

Soak morels in about 2 cups room temperature water for 4 hours.  Strain out the morels and pour the broth through a coffee filter.  Heat some oil in a large cast iron skillet.  Sautee onion and then garlic for a few minutes.  Pour in morel broth and let simmer and reduce.  Salt and pepper.  Chop morels and toss them in.  Add butter.  Stir.  Pour in cream and let thicken and reduce.  Add garam masala and let cook.  Toss in short ribs.  In a large pot of boiling water add pappardelle and let cook for about 8 minutes.  Strain and stir into sauce for a few minutes.     

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Oh my.  These tasted as though they flew out of a restaurant kitchen to be served.  Just for me.  The first bite actually took me away for a minute.  And then I snapped back, looked at my husband, made an audible "mmmm" and thanked him, because he made them.  These were prepared in a slow cooker, though I wouldn't recommend doing this on a weekday if you work.  It's more of a weekend meal because I certainly am not the type of person that wants to get up in the morning and sear meat at 7 am.  So do what we did and get this going in the morning and then go shopping for new spring wardrobes all day while your parents puppysit.  I highly recommend it.  These short ribs just fall off the bone and are so tender and savory.  They are exactly how I dream of beef short ribs when I order them at restaurants.    

3 lbs beef short ribs
3 sprigs thyme, removed from stem
2 T kosher salt
1 T ground black pepper
1 t paprika
1 T garlic powder


Dry rub the short ribs with these ingredients and marinate overnight.  

1 onion
4 cloves garlic
3 ribs celery
1 carrot
32 oz veal stock
1/2 bottle cabernet (quality you want to drink)
1 sprig thyme

Chop the veggies and garlic and place in bottom of slow cooker.  Heat some oil in  large cast iron skillet.  Sear meat on each side. Really sear, you want a nice brown to them.  Place meat into slow cooker, bone side down. Pour stock and wine in.  Add thyme. Sprinkle in just a dash of salt.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, meat should fall easily off bone with a fork.  Skim some fat and oil off top.  Gently remove meat from slow cooker and place in oven safe dish in the oven to keep warm.  Pour liquid into a sauce pan, adding half the veggies and discarding the rest.  Add t garam masala, t salt, t garlic powder, t chili powder (if you like).  Let sauce reduce by half, about 10 minutes. Add about 1/4 cup cream.  Sauce should become thick like gravy.  We served this with blue cheese garlic mashed potatoes (uuh, heaven!) and haricot verts.