Un-fried Prawns with Mango Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Over the years I've steered away from most deep fried foods including deep fried shrimp.  My new secret weapon to achieve a crunchy crust is panko bread crumbs.  I like the fact that they are light and unseasoned so you can use them in most recipes instead of regular bead crumbs.  Because of the short cooking time associated with fish, I can still pan fry with a little butter/olive oil combination, and still feel like I've cut back on the fat.    At least these aren't dredged and soaking in oil!  These turned out light and delicate with a nice crunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. medium/large shrimp, removed from shells, cleaned and deveined

1 egg or 1/4 cup eggbeaters

3/4 cup panko bead crumbs

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1 mango, peeled and cut up

2 Tbsp fresh cilantro

a drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Dip the  seasoned shrimp in egg first, then coat with the bread crumbs.  Heat the butter and oil on medium heat enough to melt the butter.  Place the shrimp in pan and cook on one side about 2 minutes, turn and cook the other side.   Meanwhile put the mango and cilantro in the blender, puree and add a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper if needed.  Serve on the side or drizzle some over the shrimp.  Sooo good!  Serves two hungry adults.

Margherita Pasta - March Pasta of the Month

Time flies when you're having fun!  I almost let March slip by without posting my "pasta of the month".  I don't think there's a classic dish that takes the popular margherita pizza and transforms it into a pasta plate.  But, in my kitchen, anything goes!   The pizza's origin comes from Queen Margherita of Italy.  On a visit to Naples she was served this pizza depicting the colors of the Italian flag, red tomatoes, green basil and white mozzarella.  It works for me!

I love the simplicity of a few basic ingredients, thrown together to mimic the flavors of pizza minus the crust.  Since this was an experiment, I'll recommend some changes.  Use ALL fresh ingredients if you can, especially a soft mozzarella.

Margherita Pasta

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped (optional)

a big handful of fresh basil, chopped

1 - 1 1/2 cups tomatoes, cut or use cherry tomatoes

4-6 oz mozzarella, cubed

pasta of choice

pasta water, 2 ladles

red chili flakes (optional)

Heat oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions and tomatoes.  Meanwhile cook the pasta reserving some pasta water before draining.    After draining add the pasta, fresh basil and pasta water to the skillet.  Mix well and throw in the mozzarella, mixing again.  Then serve.  Super simple, but tasty!  Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top  because I love those on my pizza!

Lobster Avocado Pannini

If anyone spent any amount of time in Lake Tahoe in the late 70's and they loved seafood, they would remember the "Fish Market"  restaurant.   They were know for their lobster and crap melt sandwiches.  The BEST!  It probably seated, at best, 15-20 people, most of the seating in a semicircle belly up to the bar area.  This was prime seating because you could watch the ingredients layered into this beautiful pannini like sandwich.

For years, I thought of this place whenever I saw a lobster sandwich on the menu.  No one has come close, not even me.  But I keep trying!  Here's one of my experiments.  Very tasty, but something is still missing.  If anyone has the recipe for this Lake Tahoe classic, please let me know!

Serves 2
Ingredients:

1 lobster tail, boiled or broiled with meat removed from the shell and cut into chunks.  To make it more decadent, saute in butter first.

4 slices of sourdough or crusty French bread

4 slices of cheese (your choice)

1 avocado, sliced

 a bit of mayonnaise

a bit of butter, or spreadable margarine

This is fairly simple to assemble, like making a grilled cheese, only it's the "Cadillac" of grilled sandwiches.  A bit of mayo spread on the inside with a cheese slice, lobster, salt and pepper to taste.  Place the avocado  on top with the other cheese slice and close.  Butter one side and lay the buttered side down into a grill or smooth griddle surface.  While grilling, butter the top side and turn over when browned to cook the other side.  Yum!  This was good but I'm still "in quest" for that perfect lobster pannini!

A Surprise Sidedish - Asian Eggplant

This spicy side dish was a complete surprise to me.  Pleasant surprises usually happen around here when I start throwing ingredients into the pan.  My inspiration comes  from an entree that PF Chang's has on their menu, minus most of the sodium.    My version evolved without the Thai chilies and ground chicken/pork, although next time I'll add those along with some brown rice for a complete meal.

Ingredients:

1 Japanese eggplant (those long skinny ones)  Cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces, then quarter each piece.

1/2 cup onion, large chop

1/3 cup oil

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 tsp Chinese five spice

dash of red chili flakes

1 Tbsp plum sauce (Dynasty brand)

1 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce (Dynasty brand)

garnish of green onions and sesame seeds

In a skillet place oil and eggplant and start to brown.  Eggplant soaks up ALL liquid so you can begin to add 1/2 of the chicken broth.  As the eggplant starts to soften, add the onion, five spice and chili flakes.  Continue to stir on medium heat.  Add the plum and black bean sauce, while stirring quickly to coat the pieces.  Reduce the heat to simmer as you add the remaining chicken broth.  The liquids will start to nicely thicken.  It should be done by now.  Garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds. 

  

Mini Strawberry Jam Turnovers

Today's recipe is one that I wanted to try for Christmas baking, but never got around to it.  The other night I made another chicken pot pie and after neatly trimming the edges, I had leftover pie crust.  I don't like waste, so I formed the dough into a disk, wrapped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated until I could find a use. 

The original recipe called for 2 pie crusts, (yielding 3 dozen) rolled out, using a 3 inch fluted cookie cutter for the "turnovers".  I only had remnants of pie crust so the yield was greatly reduced, but just enough for a snack.  I wanted to try them, anyway.  Maybe for an Easter treat!  The filling I used was a simple strawberry jam, but the possibilities are endless.  I'm thinking nutella, orange marmalade, etc.  The only problem was that they were so tasty, I wanted more!  The following is the "lite" version.

Ingredients:

1 pie crust, either store bought or made with your favorite recipe

about 1/3 cup strawberry jam, or your choice of filling

flour for dusting while rolling

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375.  On a floured surface, roll out the dough until you achieve 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a 2-3 inch fluted round cutter, making as many as you can.  Reroll the scraps and repeat, making more.  Place each round onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Top each round with your filling (1/2 tsp), moisten outer edge with water and fold over, pressing to seal.  Bake until golden, about 20 minutes or so.  Cool and then dust with powdered sugar.  Voila! 

Do a Meatless Monday and Giveaway Winner

First things, first.  The winner of the giveaway is a wonderful gal from South Carolina, Ann Minard.   She has her own Italian food based blog, La Buona Cucina.   She is true to her heritage, cooking classic and authentic Italian food.  Check it out!  Thanks to those who participated.  Ann came up with the title,  Poco Questo, Poco Che which means "a little this, a little that" which seems appropriate for the way alot of my meals come together.

Today, I'm doing a "picture post" of some of the meatless meals I've had from time to time.  I usually try to reduce the meat we eat, and with prices climbing higher and higher, meatless will be a good thing!  So, sit back and enjoy or be inspired, hopefully to "delete the meat".

Meatless chili

Spring bean penne pasta

Pasta fagioli

Healthy frittata

Veggie couscous

Roasted eggplant chip and dip

Sundried tomato farfalle

Lentils and vegetable

Provencal Chicken with an Onion Fennel Sauce

Reflecting back on this past week, I realized it was quite the whirlwind!  So many ups and downs as I rode the roller coaster of life.  We're great, but extended family was experiencing joys and heartache and  the ripples reached our "safe harbor".  Plus, it's tax preparation time....such joy!

You'd think that I wasn't eating or cooking!  Nope, just no blogging for almost a week.  That's the longest stretch of silence in almost 2 years!  I'm back on track with this simple chicken recipe.  It's good enough for a quiet family meal or an elegant dish for guests!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

salt and pepper

dash of herbs de Provence

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 fennel bulb, sliced

5-6 mushrooms, sliced

handful of chopped fresh parsley

another dash of herbs de Provence

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup half and half thickened with about a Tbsp of cornstarch

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and herbs.  In a large skillet, brown the chicken thighs on both sides and remove from the pan.  Add the onions, garlic, fennel, mushrooms and parsley and more herbs de Provence.  Cook until soft but still crunchy for about 5 minutes.  Add the broth and continue to cook for maybe 5 more minutes.  Add the half and half with cornstarch and stir until thickened.  If you want more sauce increase to 1/2 cup of half and half, thickened.  At this point you can either add the chicken back to reheat or pour the sauce over them on a serving dish.

I'll be announcing the winner of the "name that dish" giveaway, tomorrow, so if you want to participate just comment on that blog post.  Midnight is the deadline!  Good luck!

Raisin Bran Chip Cookies

I'm always looking for a healthy alternative to sweets.  I do have a sweet tooth!  I found this recipe right on the back of hubby's cereal box, and it looked worth trying, but tweaking!  This is what I came up with.  It's worth mentioning that they didn't last a full 24 hours!  Oh no...that just means they satisfied that sweet tooth!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

2 Tbsp water

2 egg whites slightly beaten (I used egg beaters)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups raisin bran

1 cup flour

1/4 cup nuts,  chopped (I used pecans)

1/4 cup or less mini  semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix the sugar, oil, water, eggs, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  Add the cereal and flour stirring well.  Add the nuts and chips.  Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.  Remove and cool completely.  Store in a tightly covered container.  (I skipped that part, they disappeared quickly)  Makes between 2-3 dozen cookies.

Name That Dish! It's Giveaway Time!

What do you do with your leftovers?  Do you toss them or attempt to make something edible for a future meal?  Once in a while I have leftover Italian or chicken sausages.  You can get pretty creative with leftovers..anything goes, well, almost anything.  I do have limits.  I don't serve leftovers to guests.

For this meal, I went to the refrigerator to clean it out  (just kidding) find what I could create from 3 lonely sausages, a fennel bulb, one apple and a partial onion.  This is the result.  I'm not sure what to call this, so, if you can come up with a catchy name, you'll win the giveaway!  That easy.  Just comment with your idea..  Thanks for reading.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1 fennel bulb, cleaned, and sliced

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

1/4 -1/2 onion, sliced

1/4 tsp salt

a sprinkle of Herb de Provence

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp maple syrup

2-3 precooked (leftover) sausage of your choice

1 Tbsp parsley

sprinkle of pepper

In a large skillet melt the butter with olive oil.  Add the fennel, onion,  apple and salt.   Sweat these until slightly soft but still crunchy.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 10 minutes on medium/low heat.  You can easily omit the meat and substitute the chicken broth for a vegetarian fare.  Enjoy..it's sweet, spicy and crunchy! 

Don't forget to comment, now, for your chance to win.  I'm limiting this giveaway to the United States, this time!

Panko Crusted Baked Cod

You, too, can cook like a chef and achieve a beautiful, healthful meal at home.  Lately, I've been watching, "Chopped" on TV.  It's the show that gives a chef four completely weird and random ingredients in which to work their magic.  They're judged on taste, appearance and creativity.  And they must come up with an appetizer, main course and dessert, provided they aren't "chopped" along the way!   It's interesting to see what they come up with in 20-30 minutes.  Of course, I'm the "armchair chef" always thinking  how I would transform those same ingredients.  I know, that's weird, but that's the way I am!  Getting to the dessert round would be easy; I'm sure I'd choke trying to create a dessert!  Not enough practice!

Getting back to the cod.  I made this complete dinner somewhere within the time frame, without getting chopped!   Ingredients were cod, mango, kale and couscous.  I ran out of time as I was preparing to make a mango sauce for the fish.  Oh well...next time!  Believe me, though, the cod was simple, crunchy and moist at the same time!  Good stuff!

Ingredients:

2  pieces of cod, cleaned,  de-boned and pat dry

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs on a small plate

a drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

a sprinkling of garlic powder

a pat of butter on top of each cod piece
 (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a baking dish add a drizzle of oil.  Season the fish.  Brush the fish with oil on both sides.   Dredge and coat the fish in the panko crumbs.  Lay them in the dish and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until done.  If you want a crunchier finish, top with a pat of butter and broil for a minute or two.  Serve with couscous, sauteed kale/spinach mix and sliced mango.  Done!

Artichoke Pesto

Why not "shake it up" a bit.  Pesto doesn't have to be so traditional, especially when you don't have the right ingredients.  I adapted this pesto recipe from Giada's  book, "Everyday Pasta".   I switched out the frozen artichokes for well drained canned variety and used pecans instead of walnuts...why not?

Pesto goes a long way. Not only does it make a quick meal mixed in pasta, but you can use it to garnish chicken, steak or prawns, or use as a spread on a sandwich or pannini.   It freezes very well for future use.  So, give it a try...

Ingredients

1 can of artichoke hearts, with or without leaves, drain and rinse well

1 cup Italian parsley

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted or not

zest and juice of one lemon

1 garlic clove

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup Parmesan cheese

In a food processor combine all the ingredients except the oil and cheese.  Pulse to mix, scraping the sides a few times.  Drizzle in the olive oil while mixing.  Mix the cheese in and serve over warm pasta or store in small portion size freezer containers.  If freezing, you may need to add a drizzle of olive oil after thawing.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  I used less salt and pepper than the recipe called for.  You can always add more to taste.