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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
