Scrumptious Eats

August 19, 2020–When I saw the picture for the chile and garlic shrimp in my Aug/Sept 2020 issue of Cooks Country I immediately knew they would be on my plate, and more importantly; in my stomach, in the not too distant future! The Chef, Morgan Bolling, made a bold statement at the beginning of there article, “Quick-cooking shrimp and ultraflavorful dried chiles team up to kick the midweek dinner blues to the curb.” I can tell you that she was not incorrect in her assessment. The ingredient list is pretty short and with the exception of the chiles you should have everything in your pantry and your garden.

First you make the sauce which is comprised of gauajillo chiles, water, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic cloves.

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After deseeding the peppers you cut them into about 1-inch pieces and cook over medium heat until fragrant.

Once the chiles are fragrant you transfer them to a blender until finely ground. Be careful when you remove the lid because there will be fine chili powder in the air. Next add the water, Worcestershire, garlic, and salt. You blend this until smooth then set aside.

Now it is time to prepare the shrimp. You need about 2 pounds of the 21-25 per pound extra large shrimp that have been peeled, deveined, and tails removed. I always save my tails for use in seafood stock for my seafood bisques. Pat the shrimp dry, set aside, mix your seasonings, then sprinkle both sides of the shrimp.

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Heat some olive oil over medium high heat in a 12-inch skillet. Once the skillet is just smoking cook half of the shrimp until the underside is brown but the top is still raw. Move to a bowl and cook the remaining shrimp.

Sauce some sliced garlic in the now empty pan until fragrant. Add the reserved sauce and shrimp. Cook until done.

Once shrimp is cooked, remove from heat and add lime juice and butter.

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Chef Bolling recommends you sprinkle on some fresh cilantro and enjoy over rice or with warm tortillas. I tried them both ways; they were good but for my taste I would definitely add more spice or hotter chilies. These are a good second to the Shrimp Mozambique I made a while back which just happens to also be another Cooks Country creation.

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May 3, 2020–I do not remember exactly where I had my first arancini but I’m pretty sure it was somewhere in Europe. I made these once before for a housewarming in 2013. Arancini are a cheese-filled Sicilian snack. Traditionally you would make them from left over risotto. You use the risotto to make cheese-stuffed balls, then coat them with breadcrumbs and deep-fry them. It is a VERY laborious task but once you make them you will immediately have new friends. They are great as an appetizer or a main meal. I had some arborio rice that I was trying to get rid of so I decided to make a batch. This is A LOT of work so before you undertake this task make sure you have the time and patients. First thing first, let’s make some risotto. You can find numerous recipes on the inter-web. I’m unsure where I got this one from but it required the items below.

Traditionally you would warm up your broth while prepping the rice. In one of the recipes I saw they added a bay leaf, I decided to also add the steams from the mushrooms.

While they were simmering I sautéed the mushrooms followed by the garlic and shallots, then the rice until it turned translucent.

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Next I added the vermouth until it was absorbed. Normally you would add about 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and stir it until it was absorb. The inter-web had a no stir version where you add all of the stock, reduce to low, and simmer until it is absorbed.

Once the rice was the right consistency I stared in the chopped mushrooms then three different types of cheese until it was creamy.

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I had some green onions that I had lying around so I decided to add those for a pop of color.

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If you wanted you could just end here and enjoy a big bowl of mushroom risotto. From start to finish, I’ve invested about 2 1/2 hours which includes the time to take pictures.

The next part goes a bit faster especially if you have some help. The risotto needs to cool for a minimum of one hour. I used a procedure from Serious Eats. Set up your mise en place of chopped mozzarella cheese, Italian breadcrumbs, and a flour/water slurry.

The process is straight forward. I used a cookie scoop to dose out equal sized balls. Once the balls were formed I filled them with a piece of cheese, rolled them in the flour/water slurry, then the breadcrumbs.

At this point you can freeze the balls or fry them up until golden brown.

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Once cooled, enjoy with some fresh basil and your favorite homemade or store bought Mariana sauce or pesto.

March 27, 2020–I saw this recipe for General Tsao’s Cauliflower in the Winter & Spring 2020 issue of Ingrain Magazine. I have no idea how this magazine arrived in my house but it was a welcomed addition to the many cooking magazines I already receive. In my continuing effort to eat ‘healthiest’ I decided to try these out. With the exception of the cauliflower, I had most of the ingredients on hand. I did have the hoisin or the sweet soy sauce so I improvised.

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As the article states, they used cauliflower as a substitute for chicken to provide a modern day twist on General Tsao Chicken. They also provided a dipping sauce that is “loaded with all of those loud umami flavors that made the dish a classic” and can be used on numerous other food items.

After breaking down the cauliflower head into florets I combined the flour, garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Since the sauce can be refrigerated for up to five days I decided to make it before frying the florets. After dissolving the cornstarch and water to a pan, I added the remaining ingredients for the sauce. As I mentioned I didn’t have sweet soy sauce so I used equal parts brown sugar and regular soy sauce as recommended by the recipe. In place of the hoisin, I used gochujang and tahini pastes and garlic

Now that the sauce is ready, it is time to mix up the batter with some water until it looks like pancake batter.

Set up your batter station and fry up your cauliflower.

I had some sugar snap peas so I fried up some of those also. As you can tell by the pictures, if you didn’t know this was cauliflower, you would think it was chicken especially with the sauce. I will definitely make this again.

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March 22, 2020–I first saw this recipe when I did keto a few years back but never added it to the meals I made. It popped up again in an email from Tasty so I decided to try it out. Three simple ingredients: Eggs (separated), cream cheese, and cream of tartar.

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Whip the egg yolks and softened cream cheese until combined. I added salt, pepper, and some Italian spices to amp up the flavor. In the other bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk/cream cheese mixture.

Scoop dollops of the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees until golden brown.

Allow to cool for about an hour then enjoy just as you would with most traditional breads…sandwiches, toast, mini-pizzas, the options are endless.

February 29, 2020–The final ‘from scratch’ dish I made for the Classic was Shrimp Ceviche. It took a lot of prep slicing all of the ingredients but the flavors melded well. Will definitely make this again.

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Mix everything in a large bowl with the juice from the lemons, limes, and orange. Add some chopped cilantro and avocado (I forgot to add) then grab your favorite chip, cracker, or spoon 🙂 and enjoy.

February 28, 2020–I will DEFINITELY be making this again. The hardest part is allowing it to marinate for 4 to 24 hour hours; oh, and finding some of the ingredients. I added the guajillo chilis, Worcestershire sauce, Gochujang paste, and tamarind sauce (not picture) to the basic recipe from epicurious which only had the serranos, tamarind paste, brown sugar, and salt.

Step 1: Dice and deseed the chilis then whisk all the ingredients and 1 tablespoon oil in a shallow baking dish until sugar is dissolved. Step 2: Add steak, turn to coat, cover, and chill at least 4 hours. That’s it!!! Told you couldn’t be easier. You can even marinate it up to 24 hours in advance so all you have to do is cook it the next day.

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Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cut the meat into manageable pieces, cook steak until deeply browned, 2–4 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Transfer steak to a cutting board; let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.

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Pair with baked beans, your favorite tequila, or with eggs for breakfast.

February 16, 2020–Since I still had some venison remaining from my Crock-Pot BBQ Venison AND I had some scraps of pasta dough remaining from my Uovo in Raviolo AND I had some extra ricotta filling, I decided to make some venison some ravioli. I used my ravioli cutter and my ravioli maker so they came together pretty quickly.

Although my ravioli is pretty good I have always thought about frying it instead of boiling it. It is a pretty straight forward process. While your oil is heating, you dip your fresh or frozen ravioli in buttermilk to coat, letting excess milk drain off. You then dredge it in your favorite breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet until you’re ready to fry.

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Once you have all of your ravioli battered you fry a couple at a time until they are golden brown then place on some paper towels to drain. Enjoy with your favorite homemade or store bought marina sauce.

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February 17, 2020–I have wanted to make this dish since I first saw it on an episode of Martha Stewart. I, of course, used various recipes. The fresh pasta from Serious Eats, the ricotta filling from Tasting Table, and an adaption of the preparation of this amazing dish from Serious Eats.

I basically followed the same procedures from my Pasta at Home cooking class–why mess with perfection? The ricotta filling was herby. It was made up of whole-milk ricotta, basil leaves, finely grated Parmesan cheese, sage leaves, finely chopped chives, lemon juice, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, garlic, and Kosher salt.

You basically take all of these ingredients for a whirl in your food processor until they are combined.

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After putting this filling into a piping bag I cut out some 3-inch circles. Next I piped a circle of the filling onto the pasta and put a dab of it in the center to hold the egg yolk.

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Put a little water around the edge then cover it with another circle.

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While the water came to a boil I made the pan sauce using pancetta, finely chopped shallot, dry white wine, unsalted butter, and lemon juice & zest.

Sauté the pancetta in a skillet until fat is rendered.  Once the pancetta is lightly browned transfer it to a plate.  Cook the shallot until softened then add the wine, scraping up any browned bits.  Cook until wine is almost evaporated.  Remove from heat and return pancetta to each pan.

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Cook the raviolo for about 60 seconds. Return the skillet to the heat, add the raviolo, lemon juice, and some pasta water. Swirl until the mixture is emulsified.

Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese, then ENJOY!

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February 17, 2020–You can always find interesting food and cooking items on the Food52 website. When I saw this tortilla I knew I can add it to my weekly breakfast menu since it could be premade and reheated. It comes together pretty fast and cooks just as fast. In fact, I think it takes more time to set up your mise en place.

Combine the potato chips, ham, peppers, thyme, eggs, and salt and black pepper in a bowl and let sit to allow the chips to soften in the eggs, about 5 minutes.

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Heat the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add the egg mixture and cook, without stirring, until the bottom begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to the broiler, and broil until the top is set but still slightly jiggly (not sloshy) on top, about 3 minutes.

Cut into wedges or small squares to serve warm or at room temperature. I topped mine with some ricotta filling, left over from my Uovo in Raviolo, and sriracha.

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February 13, 2020–This is the first time that DR gave me a venison roast from one of his trips. After a long search on the inter webs I decided to adapt a recipe I found on the Game & Fish website. Although I had bacon, I also had some ham hocks looking for a home so I used those instead.

Brown the ham hocks and onion in the Crock-Pot until the ham hocks are slightly crispy; remove the mixture and drain.

Brown each side of the venison with the remaining grease. 

In a bowl, mix the ketchup, lemon juice, brown sugar, ground mustard and garlic. Pour this mixture and the bacon and onion mixture over the venison and cook on low for 10 hours.

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When done, turn the Crock-Pot on high.  In a bowl, whisk the cornstarch and beef broth together and add to the Crock-Pot, stirring well.

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Cover for ten minutes, shred venison, give it a final stir, and it’s ready to serve by itself, over rice, pasta, in a sandwich…so many possibilities, like the meat filling inside of ravioli!!