Shrimp Scampi

My niece and nephew visited the other day with their father and as his birthday is coming up (along with Father's Day), I decided to teach them one of his favorite dishes.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 oz white wine

3 tbsp. minced garlic

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 package of shrimp (12-16 oz)

8 oz of pasta

1 bunch of parsley

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Optional:

1 bunch of green or 1/2 of a medium yellow or white onion

Instructions

Gather ingredients.  You want everything at hand when you start because it goes fast.

Heat water for pasta.

Finely chop parsley removing stems.

Chop onion if used.

Prepare shrimp.  If precooked and frozen, then thaw in a pot of cold running water.  Otherwise shell and remove tails, devein and place shrimp in a pot of cold water.

Once the pasta water is boiling, add pasta.  Now everything goes quickly!

Heat olive oil in pan.  Once a drop of water sizzles when dropped in the oil it is ready.

Add onion to pan.  When cooked (translucent for yellow or white onion):

Add garlic and parsley.  Stir.  Cook for 4 minutes.

Add lemon juice and white wine.  Stir.  Cook for 2 minutes.

Add shrimp.  Stir a lot.  Cook 3 minutes if using precooked, else until pink/white (no longer translucent).

Add parmesan cheese.  Stir.  Let cook for 1 minute.

Remove immediately from heat and place in bowl.  Cover.

Pasta should be done by now.  Drain and place in bowl.

Sever pasta and then dish out the scampi on top.

Enjoy!

Suggestions for sides:

Steamed spinach

Sauteed mushrooms

My favorite Cocoa Cookie

For the last year I have been working on a personal baking project a cooking that tastes like a cup of cocoa, not too sweet, a little salty and intense chocolate flavor.  After a lot of research and a numerous experiments, here are the results:

• Set the oven for 350 degrees
• In a mixing bowl put:

1 egg
1/4 cup of a stout beer (I use Guinness)
3/4 cup of olive oil
4 tbsp. cocoa
3/4 cup of sugar (I prefer unrefined sugar, demerara has a slight molasses flavor)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

• Blend thoroughly.
• Mix in:

1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp crème of tartar
2 cups of flour (use any combination of the following to 2 cups)
regular flour
almond flour
oat flour
coconut flour

• I find the best flavor and healthiest is with the following:

1 cup almond
1 cup oat

• Coconut is sweeter, and a high in triglycerides.
• Oat flour takes more time to set.

• Mix thoroughly, depending on the humidity, temperature and mix of flour, you make need to add up to an additional 1/4 cup of flour.
• Let set for 10 minutes.
• On your cookie sheet:
• Roll out to about a 2" diameter cylinder. 
• Cut the roll in half with a sharp knife, repeating until you 
• have discs 1/2" to 3/4" thick.  
• Place the discs about 1 inch apart on your cookie sheet (you may have as many as 48 disks).

You can add a filling if you want:

• Make a depression in the center of each cookie.  Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the filling into the center of the cookie.
• Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.

Fillings:

• Take a 1 qt pot
• Add dried or fresh fruit
• Add tincture (see below)
• Add 3 tbsp. of lemon juice
• Add 1/4 tsp of salt

Fruit and tincture mixtures:

• Cherry and Cinnamon (add cinnamon with the cherries)
• Apricot and Rosemary (tincture required)
• Plum and Anise (tincture required)

To make tincture:

• Take a small pot (1 pt)
• Heat about 1 cup of water
• Add spice
• Leave on the heat, steeping for 10 to 20 minutes (usually 1 tsp. of the spice will suffice).
• Using filter paper or a wire strainer, pour the tincture into the pot with fruit.
• Add additional water to float the fruit.
• Heat until the fruit is thoroughly rehydrated or, in the case of plums, they fall completely apart when you stir them.  Reduce (let the water evaporate under low heat) until the fluid is a bit thicker.

Enjoy!

Variations on Shortbreads

I admit it.  I am a cookie monster...  and a bit of a connoisseur at that.  I got so fed up with the artificial and tasteless junk being pushed out by the big bakeries and manufacturers this winter, that I decided to just start making my own.  Having been away from the cooking/baking world for a while I decided to start simple:


I love good shortbread cookies because they are buttery, not too sweet, a little salty and easy to make.  One basic recipe:

2 Cups of flour
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of salt

• Chop each stick of butter into small pieces (about 8 1 tbsps. pieces per stick)
• Add everything but the flour
• Cream ingredients (blend at high speed)
• Add and mix flour(set blender to low speed before adding flour)
• Drop dough onto a long sheet of  plastic wrap.
• Trim into a log shape cutting and shifting pieces as necessary
• Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and roll on a flat surface until you have a log about  3
  " inches in diameter.
• Use a knife to cut 1/2 inch sections
• Place on a baking sheet and shape into rough disks
• Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes

Starting with this basis, I began researching how to adapt it to include some of my favorite things:  Cocoa (not too sweet and a bit salty), cherries and walnuts.  Skipping several weeks of experimentation, here is the final version:

Cocoa, Cherry Walnut Shortbreads
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tsp of salt
6 tablespoons of Hershey's Cocoa (if using some other cocoa use enough to make 3 servings)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/3 to 1/2 cup of water (depends on a few things discussed below)

2 cups of flour

8 oz of dried tart cherries
1/2 cup of walnuts (opt)
1/2 cup of golden raisins (opt)

The cherries can be prepared several ways:

1. Use them as is (dry).  This will make them tougher in the cookie.
2. Rehydrate them:  Heat to a simmer in a small pot for about 30 minutes using just enough water to float the cherries and keep them from burning.  If you do this, save the resulting juice and use this in place of the water required for the recipe.
3. As per option 2 except add 1 tsp of butter and your cinnamon for the recipe here instead.

Using rehydrated cherries will reduce the amount of water/juice required by 1/8th to 1/4 cup.

Likewise the walnuts can be used several ways:

1. 1. Use large pieces that you drop onto the cookies.
2. Grind into smaller pieces that can be sprinkled or just mixed into the cookie dough.
3. Fine grind into an almost flour that you mix into the dough (but this will require adding a bit more water - think about 1-2 tbsps.

Next:

• Mix all ingredients except for the water, flour, cherries, nuts and raisins in a bowl (exclude cinnamon if you are using option 3 for the cherries).
• Cream the mixture (mix at high speed).
• Slow mixer to low speed and add flour.
• Slowly add water (or juice from cooking the cherries, and if using rehydrated cherries, use no more than 1/4 cup of the juice) until the flour is absorbed and you get a nice evenly textured dough.
• If using option 2 or 3 for the walnuts, mix them in now.
• Lastly add cherries (if they have been rehydrated, cool them down first) and let them blend for only a few seconds.  If you rehydrated them you may need to add a bit of flour to the mix and the retained juices will spread into the batter as you mix them in.
• Use plastic wrap, and bake per regular shortbreads (14-15 minutes).
• If the dough is a bit runny (typically from adding warm cherries to the dough).  Place the dough in the refrigerator until it firms up (about 30 minutes).  If that doesn't work, add a bit of flour.

Notes

• We need to add the water/juice because of the cocoa.  It steals the absorptive ability of the butter.  Also fine ground nuts have the same affect.
• You can replace apricots for the cherries (think a sacher torte cookie) and continuing that thought...
• Consider a cream cheese style topping:

Cream Cheese Topping

8 oz of cream cheese

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of raw sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

Place ingredients in mixing bowl.  Cream until smooth and thoroughly blended.

Fried Rice

I decided recently to branch out a bit into oriental style cooking.  Starting out with that well known American dish, chow main, and then into the real thing.   I did a Thai style beef broccoli and then decided to get a little adventurous with Fried Rice.  After perusing the web for some good recipes, I assembled the following as a general purpose recipe.  It has become a family favorite and is a great way to get kids  to eat vegetables and picky eaters to try 'new' things.  I hope you like it.

Fried Rice with whatever protein you want.

Cooked Rice

1 cup of rice

2 1/2-4 cups of water (less if using a covered pot - more if open (escaping steam) to avoid boil over)

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp olive or sesame oil

Fried Rice

Cooked Rice (as above)

1 tbsp. of oil (should be a high temp oil – virgin olive oil is safest/best)

1 lb of  uncooked protein (shrimp, fish, beef, pork, chicken) or 12 oz precooked.

Optional (1/2 cup of broth – chicken (for chicken or pork), beef(for beef), miso(for fish) or barbecue sauce(for pork))

1 medium white onion

1 bunch of green onions

1 tablespoon Sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup of vinegar –

Rice vinegar

White wine vinegar

White vinegar

                (I like 1 tablespoon rice, 1 tablespoon white wine, 2 tablespoons White vinegar)

¼ teaspoon Sugar (white, brown or raw)

Ginger (chopped raw4  tablespoons shredded, 2 tablespoons minced, or ½ teaspoon powered)

Garlic (fresh (1 crushed clove), minced in oil ½ tablespoon, or 1/2 teaspoon powered)

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Peas, Carrots and possibly Corn or broccoli (frozen is cheapest and easiest for this)

Pepper

 

Other Vegetables you can add:

1 Baby Bok Choy - chopped

4-8 oz  chopped Shitake mushrooms (optional, don’t forget to toss the stems)

Chopped Broccoli (optional)

4 Eggs

 

 

Preparation

 

 

Make Rice:

1. Put Rice, water, salt and oil in a medium sized pot.
2. Put on low to medium heat.  This will depend on your stove.
3. Cook just until done.  Rice should not be starchy.

Or
      Use a rice cooker.

Chop Veggies
Chop all the unfrozen veggies, break into 4 groups: white onions, frozen, unfrozen and green onions.

 

 

Prepare Protein
Chop the meat into small pieces (about ½-3/4 inch cubes is ideal).

 

Prepare Sauce 

Take a bowl and mix vinegars, sesame oil, sugar, pepper and soy sauce and stir.  Let sit.

 

Start Cooking

1. Take a large skillet and coat with a thin layer of oil.  (I generally drop in a tbsp. and then spread with a paper towel.
2. Place skillet on range on med/med high heat.  Let heat for 1 minute.
3. Add meat, and broth if desired.  Cook on High, tossing regularly to avoid burning and for a uniform cooking.  If meat is precooked, about 2 minutes, if uncooked, 5-7 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with salt to taste (generally ¼ tsp) and add black pepper if desired.
5. Remove to a separate bowl.
6. Put white onion in skillet.  Cook for 2 minutes.
7. If using frozen veggies, add them now else wait 2 more minutes.
8. Add all other veggies except green onions and shitakes.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Toss frequently.
9. Add rice.
10. Add 4 eggs.  Stir them into the rice (1 minute).
11. Add green onions and shitakes.  Cook 1 ½ minute.
12. Add sauce.  Mix well.
13. Cook until sauce is evenly distributed amongst everything and there is just a bit of liquid left.   Stir frequently (no more than 5 minutes).

Serve hot:

Recommend serving with a white wine or apple cider.


Notes
I found the vinegar to be a nice add.  It brings out the flavor in the veggies and helps break down the starch in the rice - particularly if you have overcooked it a bit.  Precooked shrimp works well here and cheap meat cuts (stew meat - either pork or beef) are better than leaner cuts - Aldi's is a great place to acquire chicken or shrimp.  In Chicagoland , Mariano's is a great place to source most of the less common items required for this dish. 

 

A Beef Brisket variation

Here is a recipe I came up with when I decided to try my hand at a beef brisket.  Flavorful.  While this takes considerable time, the effort is small and the rewards immense.

Ingredients
Red wine - (I used a marsala - cooking grade)
Beef brisket (about 4 lbs)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon bay
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup Worchester sauce
garlic powder or crushed/minced garlic - the more the merrier
1/4 teaspoon parsley
one package of onion soup
1/4 cup of your favorite mustard (I used oriental dry mustard, but Dijon or plain yellow works as well)

Optional (for a more barbecue like flavor)
1 can of tomato sauce
2 ounces of melted dark chocolate (70% or better)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Clean and dry brisket.  Remove the layer of integument if necessary (easier to do it now).
2. Cut off any excess fat (on the top).  Leave no more than a 1/4 inch layer.
3. Place brisket in roasting pan.
4. Add all other ingredients.  Add water to cover the brisket.  Mix thoroughly.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours to marinade.
6. Set oven between 250 and 300 degrees.
7. Take  pan from the refrigerator, uncover and temporarily remove the foil.  Remove any excess fluid above the brisket.  Reseal the foil.
8. Cook until you can break the brisket apart with a fork in the middle.  Typically between 6 to8 hours.
9. Remove from heat, let sit for 1 hour.  Using large turkey forks, remove from pan and place on plate.
10. Collect the juices from the pan and decant and dispose of the fat.  Cook the juices until you have a sauce at a desired thickness.  Set in a gravy boat to serve with the brisket. 
11. Carve or just pull the brisket apart and serve.  You can shred and freeze the leftovers.

White Chocolate Cardamom Apricot Rosemary Chocolates

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make a new confection for her upcoming birthday party.  She had previously sampled my white chocolate cardamom orange truffles, and requested something of a more seasonal nature - apricots.  So I got to work.  I contacted my muse, and bounced my ideas off of her, and came up with something I thought people would like.  I was going to try to do an apricot rosemary gel filling, but through experimentation, determined that I didn't have the right equipment, additives or the time to do these properly so I decided to simply swirl the two together which worked out quite nicely.


White chocolate mixture
6 bars of good quality white chocolate
15 cardamom pods
1 cup of water

Apricot/Rosemary/Lemon Gel
8 large apricots (not too ripe)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of rosemary (lesser amount if fresh)
1-2 tablespoon of lemon juice (lesser amount if fresh)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
water as needed (minimum 1 cup).

Optional
ground pecans - lightly salted
ground cashews - lightly salted

Implements
fine strainer
1 double boiler
1 medium saucepan
1 small pot
teaspoons
wax paper
chilled plate
storage containers
small sharp knife
1 small bowl

1. Place white chocolate in a double boiler at lowest heat and melt.
2. Using a small sharp knife and a plate, split the cardamom pods and collect the seeds in a small pot.
3. Add the water to the pot and simmer for at 15 minutes.  Then strain out the seeds and continue heating until volume is down to 1/2 cup or a bit less.
4. Mix this into the melted white chocolate.
5. Wash and split apricots, removing the pits.  Place is a blender and reduce to significant bits.
6. Put blended apricots in a medium saucepan, cover with water.
7. Add rosemary, salt, sugar and lemon juice.
8. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent any burning.
9. Continue until the apricot bits fall apart and the mixture begins to take on a somewhat uniform consistency and texture (30-45 minutes).  Add water as necessary to prevent burning.
10.  Sift in 3 tablespoons of gelatin.  (One at a time and then stir slowly).
11. Let cook another 15 minutes.
12. Continue until mixture is quite thick.
13. Cool in refrigerator until mix starts to gel.
14. Remove chocolate mix from heat.
15. Slowly stir in the apricot mixture.  (While we want a uniform distribution, we don't want them fully blended - think small apricot swirls in the chocolate).
16. If you are going to do a nut covering, ground the selected nut and mix with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Raw nuts are recommended.  Place in small bowl.
17. Put a plastic glove on your off hand (I use the latex free medical gloves you can pick up at any drug store).
18. Take a teaspoon and spoon up a half teaspoon full of the mixture.  Form into 1/2-3/4 inch balls.
19. If you want to add a nut covering, drop in the ground nut bowl and roll until the confection is completely covered.
20. Place the confection on wax paper which is placed on top of a chilled plate.
21. Put plate in refrigerator to set.
22. Once set, place in storage container lined with wax paper, you can do multiple layers as long as you put wax paper between them.
23. Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.  Serve slightly chilled.

My favorite variation so far is the one wrapped in pecans, but am looking forward to trying the cashew variant which should be a bit more subtle.

Enjoy!

A great little boombox - the Eton Rukus

For a while now I have been wanting to start teaching ballroom at my condo building's health club and also start a ballroom evening on the Summerdance floor at Michigan and Harrison.  One of the major impediments has been finding a good boom box.

I wanted something that was light, had rechargeable batteries, would run at least 4 hours, and which I could drive from my phone or my windows compatible mp3 player device via a mini phone plug connection (device dates from around 2003).  It would also be nice if I could charge the mp3 player from the boom box via USB.  Lastly, it had to be reliable, lightweight, and inexpensive.

The Rukus, manufactured by Eton, was the perfect fit for me.  It is lightweight, has a Bluetooth, USB (for charging devices) and AUX input, a solar panel to keep the battery charged and fairly good sound quality.  Easy to use - the Bluetooth setup to my phone took less than a minute.  While a little pricy with the solar panel option (list for $149, but you can get it for $129 by shopping around), the ability to recharge my phone or mp3 player while out and about made the $50 dollar solar panel premium a good value.  It lacks a radio or CD option, but since I don't need those things, it didn't matter.

During my first test, I put Viva la Vida on my cell phone and then walked all over my condo and it never dropped the signal nor quality even through the walls at 40'.

From my experience so far, I have found only one shortcoming.  You have to be careful with and play with the AUX cable connection to get a good signal.  The problem appears to be with the quality of the jack used for this.

As to the sound quality - pretty good for a small lightweight boombox.  It has a bass boost button which is useful for outdoor areas, and the highs are not badly distorted even at max volume.  Not high fidelity, but good enough for some backyard or beach music.