Fun with Asian style fried foods

One Sunday Shells and I were bored and wanted something fun so we decided to cook up some Asian style food.  I decided to go with an "egg roll" and some spicy shrimp, so I headed to the store to figure out what I was going to go with.

Shopping List:

5 oz boneless pork tenderloin

10 21/25 count shrimp

6 large shiitake mushrooms

1 carrot

2 large jalapeños

1 pkg wonton wrappers

Slice the pork, carrots and shiitake mushrooms into thin slices and sauté until cooked, set aside.

To make the egg rolls, set out a small bowl of clean water and heat a sauté pan with 1/4" of oil (grape seed or canola).  Put a mixture of the filling into the wrapper diagonally and fold the top and bottom in and then the sides.  Directions are usually on the won ton wrapper packaging.  Brush lightly with some water to ensure a seal.

Fry the egg rolls, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides and then serve with the dipping sauce of your choice.

For the shrimp, de-shell the shrimp except for the last section (with tail) and de-vein.  Thinly slice the de-seed the jalapeño and then thinly slice lengthwise.  Cut the wonton wrapper in half across the diagonal, and lay them point up.  Put the shrimp in the middle, tail down and about 1/2" from the point, with two strips of jalapeño.  Fold the point down and then fold the sides in, using a brush and clean water to ensure they seal closed.  Fry until golden brown and then serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.  Enjoy!

Fantastic Shrimp Poppers!

I decided to have some fun with the "stuffed pepper" concept during our recent Cinco de Mayo party. Typically I will use a mix of cheeses and bacon for the stuffing, but for this I decided to go a different way and use whole shrimp!

I found some nice long & wide jalapeños and bought some medium shrimp and pepper jack cheese to go with them.  First I cut the top off of each pepper and then I seeded and de-veined them.  I grated some of the cheese and pushed it to the base of each pepper.

I then peeled each shrimp, leaving the tails on, and wrapped them with thin slices of the cheese before stuffing them into the peppers.  I used a bit more of the cheese between the shrimp at the top of the pepper and then cooked them in a standing rack in a 400F oven.

I served the peppers sliced in half and with a batch of "taco shop" guac in the middle of the plate.  Dip in and enjoy!

Surprisingly light: fish and pasta for summer

Once summer time rolls around I like to do a lot of grilled or broiled fish, but I don't always want a heavy bean or potato starch to go with it.  Typically I'll use pasta instead, with a nice light sauce that I make up depending what's handy and fresh.  I did a couple of dinners the last two weeks that were a great example of this.

For this first dinner, I started with a small can of tomato sauce and some garlic.  I mashed some fresh garlic and then put that and the sauce into a small sauce pan over medium-low heat.  After about 5 minutes I added a tablespoon of water, about 1 tablespoon of diced fresh basil, and a pinch each of dried oregano, salt and pepper.  I plated the pasta, fish & veg and then topped everything off with the sauce before adding a dollop of ricotta to the pasta.

For this second dish I wanted to make use of some shrimp I had in the fridge so I roughly chopped them and then tossed them into a hot pan with some sliced garlic and butter.  I cooked the shrimp and garlic this way for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid sticking.  I turned the heat down to low and added a half cup of white wine.  I allowed the wine to cook down a bit while I was cooking the rest of the meal and then I plated everything but the sauce.  Once I was ready I removed from heat and stirred in a tbsp of ricotta cheese until just melted and then I spooned the sauce over the dish and was ready to enjoy!

Seafood, mostly, dinner!

After three weeks in a row on the road, eating steak, I was craving some seafood.  Now, for me, craving seafood does not always equal healthy ... but I think I did pretty well with both for this meal.

For the first course I did melted cheddar toast points topped with a pan fried clam.

 For the second course I grilled up a bunch of shrimp and calamari tubes with asparagus.  Little salt, pepper and lemon juice is all you need here.

For the next course I lightly poached some oysters in a butter wine sauce.  This is a very simple way off cooking oysters where they still maintain that almost raw consistency, but you don't have to worry about that whole "raw" thing. 

 Shishito peppers, pan fried, tossed with sweet chili sauce and sriracha.  A little messy to eat, but most tasty food is!

Remember when I said this dinner was seafood?  Well, pork belly is basically a seafood, right?  RIGHT?  Even if it's not, I grilled up a couple pieces of pork belly and served them with taco shop guac! 

 Scallops wrapped in bacon?  Nope!  Scallops wrapped in pork belly?  You say it's the same thing, I say potato.  Either way, who cares?  They were grilled and awesome!

For the last course, I stuffed some morel mushrooms with a shrimp, scallop, avocado and red bell pepper.  I then grilled the mushrooms until cooked through and then served them with a bit of the mushroom broth that I had warmed up.

Overall this was not a complex dinner, but man was it tasty.  Give it a try and see for yourself, enjoy!

Sometimes a nice Chinese dinner is just the thing!

Despite the fact that we had just had Chinese food the night before, when I asked Shells what she wanted for dinner a couple of weekends ago she didn't hesitate to say "Dumplings!"  Never one to say no, I headed off to the store to figure out what to make.

I decided I wanted to have some fun with this dinner, so in addition to dumplings I pulled together the ingredients for shumai and some spring rolls.

For the shumai, I went with a very simple filling of scallops and shrimp.  When I prepare this I try to dice the shrimp a bit more finely and the scallops a little larger so that the shrimp cook a little faster.  You don't have to do this, but I find that it helps make the scallops a little less rubbery.

I tossed the ingredients together and then filled them into wonton wrappers, pinching them up into a package with an open top.  To cook them I used a bamboo steamer until the shrimp were pink.

For the next course I went a little different and made a fried spring roll.  At this point our dinner deviated a little bit from the traditional as well.

For the stuffing of these spring rolls I roasted a batch of short ribs and then combined the short rib meat with sliced carrots and shiitake mushrooms.  I had pre cooked the mushrooms, but not the carrots to ensure that they would provide a little crunch in the finished product.  To cook them I put about 1/4" oil in my wok, heated over medium high heat and then fried the spring rolls, turning three times to ensure each side was cooked evenly.  If you use more oil you can cook them quicker, but then you have more oil to dispose of!

The finished product was crispy and delicious, especially dipped in a mix of sweet chili and sriracha.

For the final course, it wasn't really a surprise what I was going to make.  Our dumplings are a tried and true crowd pleaser, so of course I wouldn't change a thing ... right?  RIGHT?


Wrong!  Rather than go with our traditional pork stuffed dumplings, I decided to change it up and go with a ground veal filling.  I still mixed it with the traditional bok choy and other ingredients, and I still cooked them with a combined steam and then fry preparation.  At the end of the day they looked, and tasted, just as good as always!

It's winter, that means soup!

Soup is one of my favorite things to make on a nice cold day.  The longer you let it sit and simmer, the better all the tastes come together and the better it will make your whole house smell.  Soup is also great because you can really make it to be anything you want by adding whatever catches your fancy.

My favorite winter time soup starts with a bean base.  I just grab whatever 12, 14, 15 (or whatever number the packaging calls out) bean soup mix I can find to start the soup.  When I cook this, I use my 12 qt stock pot, but you could easily use something smaller if you choose to.

Hearty Bean Soup w/ Sausage, Shrimp and Kale
1 pkg 15 bean soup mix (discard flavor package)
1 - 1.5 lbs sausage (cut into chunks)
3/4 lb 30-40 ct shrimp (shells removed)
1 bunch kale (roughly chopped to about 2 inch pieces)
1 box (26oz) Pomi chopped tomatoes
2 pkgs Goya Sazon
1 tsp salt
Additional Salt and Pepper to taste
Crusty bread and shredded parm for garnish

Before beginning you'll want to put the bean mix into a strainer and check carefully for any stones that may have made it into the packaging with the beans, and then rinse the beans.  To start I put the beans into my stock pot and then fill the pot about 1/4 full with water.  Some people like to soak the beans overnight to get them tender ... I find that this means you can't let them cook as long then and so you can't build up all of the flavor.  I add the tsp of salt and then bring the beans and water to a boil for about 5 minutes (stirring frequently) before turning down to a low simmer.

While waiting for the beans to return to a simmer, you have another choice to make in regards to the shrimp and sausage.  You can put both directly into the pot (uncooked) and they will cook throughout the process, but I find that this can sometimes make them feel a little water logged.  I like to cook both the shrimp and the sausage in a saute pan first, getting a bit of a crust on the outsides and keeping them from absorbing as much water.

Once the beans are simmering, add the pomi tomatoes, kale, shrimp, sausage and the seasonings.  Stir everything well.  Now this is the most important part ... partially cover the pot so that some liquid can evaporate, ensure the temperature is low enough that it will lightly simmer but not boil or burn, and WALK AWAY!

Feel free to check back every hour or so to make sure you're not losing too much liquid and give it a little stir.  This is also when you may want to take a little sample to make sure the sausage still tastes ok :-)  After about an hour of simmering the soup is technically ready to be served, but I like to let it simmer for at least 4-5 hours to make sure all of the tastes merge together perfectly.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a little bit of parm on top of the soup in a bowl, serve with crusty bread and enjoy!