Seafood, Vegetarian

Cajun Shrimp

Leave a comment

Cajun Shrimp

Whenever I go to New Orleans I over eat. It’s that combination of ingredients that you get in NOLA classic dishes that can’t be beat. With Cajun spice, shrimp and green onions this one really comes together.

Cajun Shrimp

Ingredients:
  1. ¼ cup soy sauce
  2. 3 tbsps. olive oil
  3. 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  4. 1 tbsp. brown mustard
  5. 1 tsp. Cajun spice mix
  6. 2 tbsps. brown sugar
  7. 2 minced garlic cloves
  8. 2 tbsps. butter
  9. 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  10. Salt & black pepper
  11. sliced green onions
Thoroughly mix the first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the sauce and blend with the butter for a few minutes.

Cajun Shrimp

Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes until the shrimp are done. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper is needed. Soy sauce can be salty. Cajun Shrimp
We served it with spelt and it also goes well with rice. Add some chopped green onions and a dash of hot sauce.

Cajun Shrimp

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Soup

Escarole and Potato Soup

Leave a comment

Escarole and Potato Soup

Escarole and potato soup – sometimes my mother made it with soprasade and other times with beans. You can try it with both. That one clove of garlic was my idea, not my mother’s.

Ingredients:
  • Olive oil for frying
  • ½ lb. soprasade cut into thin slices
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 2 pealed potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 6 cups coarsely chopped escarole
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 diced plum tomatoes
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Put the soprasade in a pot with some oil and cook for a few minutes – don’t brown. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent and soft. Add the garlic and potatoes. Add oil if yuou need it. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the washed escarole. It may seem to overflow the pot but add ½ cup of water, cover and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until it wilts. Stir until all ingredients are well mixed.
Add the tomatoes, the stock, and vinegar. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Check for seasoning and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese.

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Seafood, Soup, Vegetarian

Shrimp and Bean Soup

Leave a comment

Shrimp and Bean Soup

My doctor says everyone should eat more beans and greens and less red meat. I’m trying, so here’s another bean and something recipe – Shrimp and Bean Soup. This one is from Evelyn. She adapted it from an old family recipe. You can use any kind of dried beans you like. I’m using Goya’s habichuelas blancas (small white beans).

Shrimp and Bean Soup

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. beans (not canned)
  • Olive oil for frying
  • 2 cups Italian coarsely chopped trinity
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 lb. medium shrimp
To start – Pick through the beans and rinse them. Put them in a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil and turn off heat. Let them sit for one hour. Or you can let them stand in 4 cups of cold water overnight.

Shrimp and Bean Soup

In the meantime – Hear some oil in a large pot. Cook the trinity until it’s soft, about 10 minutes. Add 6 cups of water, the beans, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the beans are tender.

Shrimp and Bean Soup

Shrimp and Bean Soup

Remove a cup of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor and return them to the pot to thicken the soup. Add the Worcestershire sauce. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, add water. Put the shrimp in the pot, stir and cook for 5 – 8 minutes until done. Serve in individual bowls with a sprinkling of olive oil.

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Meat

Sausage and Bean Stew

Leave a comment

Sausage and Bean Stew

This is another Melissa Clark recipe. She keeps coming up with good ones. Although the ingredients are mainly Italian, this reminds me of chili.

Sausage and Bean Stew

Ingredients:
  • Olive oil for frying
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage cut into ¾ inch slices
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 & 1/2  cups Italian trinity
  • 2 diced garlic cloves
  • 1 lb. cannelloni beans rinsed
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 1 large rosemary sprig
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tbsps. balsamic vinegar plus more for serving
  • Salt and black pepper
Place the sausage in the freezer for 20 minutes. This makes it easier to slice and hold its shape. Brown the sausage in oil in a stock pot. Remove when done and leave the oil and fat in the pot.
Add the tomato paste and cumin to the pot and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the trinity and garlic. Cook on medium until the vegetables have softened.Sausage and Bean Stew
Stir in the beans, 8 cups of water, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Bring it to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the beans are cooked – about 2 hours.
Sausage and Bean Stew
It’s easier to remove the herbs if you tie them together.
Sausage and Bean Stew
At this point remove about a cup of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor and return them to the pot to thicken the stew. Return the sausage to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, taste and adjust seasoning.
Sausage and Bean Stew

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Miscellaneous, Pasta

World’s Rarest Pasta

Leave a comment

World’s Rarest Pasta

I came across an interesting pasta article by Chris Colin, originally published in Saveur and republished in Pocket – On the Hunt for the World’s Rarest Pasta.

On the Hunt for the World’s Rarest Pasta
“Delicate and impossible to replicate, su filindeu (or the “threads of God”) is a pasta made of hundreds of tiny strands by a single woman in a hillside town in Sardinia. She’ll make it for you too—if you’re willing to walk 20 miles overnight.”
The complete article here –  On the Hunt for the World’s Rarest Pasta

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Pasta, Vegetarian

Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe

Leave a comment

Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe

This one is adapted from a Melissa Clark New York Times Wednesday Food Section recipe. It’s quick. You can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil water and make the pasta.

Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. small pasta (ziti, rigatoni, etc.)
  • 2 cups parsley, leaves and tender stems
  • 10 anchovy fillets packed in olive oil, divided
  • 1 small bunch scallions, white and green parts, chopped
  • 2 tbsps. capers, drained
  • 3 tbsps. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 broccoli rabe, trimmed stems and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • ½ cup chopped fresh tomato
  • 2 tbsps. butter
  • ¾ teaspoon grated lemon zest
  •  Pinch of red-pepper flakes
  •  Salt and black pepper
  •  Ricotta, for serving
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until almost done. Save one cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
While the pasta cooks, coarsely chop the parsley, 6 anchovy fillets, scallions, and capers all together and set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, add oil, remaining 4 anchovies and half the garlic  Cook, stirring, until anchovies start to dissolve.

Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe

Add the broccoli rabe, tomato, about two-thirds of the parsley mixture to the pot. Add some of the pasta water and cook until the broccoli rabe is wilted and tender.Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe
Add the butter, lemon zest, remaining garlic and red-pepper flakes. Toss until the butter melts then add the pasta and mix with the greens adding more pasta water if the mixture seems dry. Check for seasoning.Pasta with Parsley and Broccoli Rabe
Remove to a serving dish and add and mix the remaining parsley mixture. Drizzle with olive oil, and serve with ricotta.

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Desserts

Biscotti all’Arancia (Orange Cookies)

Leave a comment

Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies

Biscotti all’Arancia (Orange Cookies)

Biscotti all’Arancia are an easy to make cookie. I got the recipe from Lidia Bastianich.
Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies
Ingredients:
  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup plus 1 tbsp.sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsps. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsps. orange juice
  • 2 tbsps. lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. orange zest
For the glaze:
  • 2 ½ cups confectioners sugar, or as needed
  • ¼ to ½ cup orange juice, or as needed
Cream the butter and sugar – Place the room temperature butter and sugar in a bowl and force the sugar into the butter with the back of a wooden spoon until the mixture is creamy.Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies
Beat the eggs, one at a time in a separate bowl, and blend into the creamed butter.
Add the vanilla, the lemon and orange juice, and the zest and mix well.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl and then mix it with the butter/egg mixture to make dough. Wrap the dough in Saran, and let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies
Roll the dough into four logs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter and 10 to 12 inches long. Freeze the logs for 20 minutes, until firm enough to cut without losing their shape.Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies
Cut the logs into ½ inch rounds, and place on parchment-lined or buttered baking sheets. Bake about 15 minutes. Remove and let the cookies cool on a wire rack.
Glaze the cookies – Whisk the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl with the orange juice to make a smooth glaze. Dip a cookie tops in the glaze; it should stick to the cookie in a thin layer. If not, adjust the consistency of glaze with more juice or confectioners’ sugar. Dip the top of the baked cookies in the glaze, and let them dry on a wire rack.
Biscotti all’Arancia - Orange Cookies

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Meat

Pork Marbella

Leave a comment

Pork Marbella

Marbella, typically made with chicken is very good with pork too. I’m using sliced tenderloin but you can also use chops. This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit

Pork Marbella

Ingredients:
  1. 2 lb. pork tenderloin – ½ to ¾ in. slices
  2. Salt and pepper
  3. 1 cup dry white wine
  4. ½ cup prunes, pitted and cut in half
  5. ½ cup green olives, pitted
  6. ½ cup brown sugar
  7. ½ cup capers
  8. ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  9. 4 smashed garlic cloves
  10. ¼ cup olive oil plus more for frying
  11. 1 tbsp. butter
  12. ¼ cup chopped parsley
Season the pork slices with salt and black pepper. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325o.
Mix ingredients 3 through 10 in a bowl. Add the seasoned pork and let it marinate, refrigerated for 3 hours to overnight.Pork Marbella
Remove the pork from the marinade and blot dry with paper towels. Lightly brown in a large pan with olive oil.Pork Marbella
Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the marinade, including the olives and prunes. Place on the middle rack in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, turning the pork after 10 minutes. Finish with the pan under the broiler for 5 more minutes.
Place the pork, olives and prunes in a serving dish. Discard the garlic. With the pan on medium heat on top of the stove, whisk in the butter and parsley and stir for a few minutes while the butter melts and the sauce thickens. Pour the sauce over the pork, olives, and prunes and serve.Pork Marbella

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Pasta, Vegetarian

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

2 Comments

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

This recipe is adapted from one I found in Bon Appetit. It’s hardy and makes a good winter dish.

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Start a pot of water for the pasta.
Begin by browning the mushrooms in oil. Do this in one-layer batches. Mushrooms have a lot of moisture and if you put too many in the pot at one time, they’ll steam instead of brown.Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Remove the mushrooms from the pot and add the shallots. Cook until translucent and soft, not brown. Return the mushrooms to the pot, season with salt and pepper and set aside until the pasta is ready.
Cook the pasta until almost done. Use any kind you like. We got this colorful pasta as a Christmas present. They’re colored with carrots, spinach and beets.
Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce
When the pasta is almost done drain and transfer to the pot with the mushrooms and toss. Add the cream and one cup of the pasta water and simmer for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and then add the lemon juice and zest, parsley, butter, and toss. Serve with additional grated cheese.

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp

Seafood

Sword Fish Sicilian Style

Leave a comment

Sword Fish Sicilian Style

Sword Fish Sicilian Style

2 things you should know about sword fish – 1. It’s expensive and 2. Don’t over cook it.
Sword Fish Sicilian Style
Sword Fish Sicilian Style
Heat oil and add salt.black and red pepper. Add the onion and simmer until it’s soft. Add the garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Pour in the tomato puree, stock and peas.
Sword Fish Sicilian Style
Simmer while browning the swordfish in another pan. Pour the sauce over the fish, add a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve.Sword Fish Sicilian Style

Click here for updated GALLERY III

Portfolio  and  Yelp



Reveries and Recipes