Paella

Can't remember how I made this, but it was awesome.

UPDATE: Just made this again. Different version using crab and no scallops but it was equally delicious.

Ingredients:
4 links chorizo - crumbled out of casings
1 medium onion - diced
2 jalapenos - minced
1/2 roasted red paper - diced
4 cloves garlic - minced
1 C abroio rice
1 1/2 C vegetable stock
1/2 C water
1 t hot paprika
pinch of saffron
1 16 oz. can of lump crab meat
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup of chopped cilantro for garnish

Process:
1. In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable stock, saffron, and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer.

2. Add chorizo into a large cast iron skillet and brown with olive oil for 3-5 minutes and remove to cool. Add onion, jalapenos, red pepper, and paprika and saute and scrape up fond from bottom of the pan, another 3-5 minutes. Add garlic for another 30seconds.

3.Add rice and toast rice for 2 minutes. At this point you're basically making a rissoto. Ladle in 1/2 cup of broth at a time until absorbed. The whole process should take 20 minutes. Half way through (10 minutes for all you math wizards) add half of the crab and half of the chorizio back into the pan.

4. When the rice is tender, finish the dish with the rest of the crab, chroizo,peas and cilantro. Serve with red wine.

Moroccan Steamed Mussels

This meal seems impressive, but its easy and actually pretty cheap to make. The broth is delicious, make sure you have crusty bread on hand for soaking it up.



Ingredients:
2 T EVOO
1 T garlic, chopped
1 T paprika
1 T coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 C tomato juice
1/2 tsp chili flake
3/4 lb yukon gold potatoes
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 2 lb bag of cultivated mussels
2 tsp chopped cilantro
Pinch of saffron

Process:

1. In a large pot, combine oil, garlic, paprika, coriander and cumin, cook on medium heat for about 1 minute. add tomato juice, chile flakes and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil. Add potatoes and and carrots, return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Place mussels in bowl and rinse. Remove any that have gaped open slightly. If they close the are alive and save to eat.

3. Increase heat to high and add mussels to pot, cover and cook for 5 minutes. remove lid and discard any mussells that remain closed. Add cilantro and serve with crusty bread.

Baked Calamari

On Christmas, Beth and I made some baked calamari as an appetizer. This healthier version turned out pretty well. I really wanted to get some fresh squid, but after going to 4 separate specialty markets in Columbus, I found its not "in season". So, we used a frozen package of pre-cleaned calamari from Giant Eagle ($3.99) and it was still pretty good. The key here was roasting our own red peppers for the dipping sauce. I always thought it was okay to use jarred roasted red peppers (especially if you are using them in a recipe and not eating them by themselves) however after making this recipe and tasting how sweet they were, I will be roasting my own from now on.

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray
2 red bell peppers
7 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 habanero chile, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt, plus additional to taste
1/4 cup whole wheat panko
1/4 cup medium stone ground cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
fresh ground black pepper
1 egg
1 lb cleaned squid tentacles and bodies
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedge for garnish

Process:

1. Turn broiler on to high and place oven rack about 8 inches from heat source. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Cut sides of bell peppers away from cores so you have 8 flat pieces; discard core and seeds. Place on baking sheet, skin-side-up, and broil until skin is completely black, 10-12 minutes. Transfer bell peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel all black skin away from peppers and chop.

2. Turn off broiler and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic on a piece of aluminum foil and mist with cooking spray. Gather up edges of foil and pinch together at top. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Open foil packet and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and add cloves to a blender. Add bell peppers and habanero, and puree until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small bowl and season to taste with salt.

4. Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. In a gallon sided ziploc, combine the panko, cornmeal, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Slice squid bodies into about 1/2 inch pieces. Pat squid dry with paper towels. Dip a quarter of the squid in egg, shaking off excess, and add to bag with panko mixture. Seal bag and shake well to coat. Spread squid on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Repeat with remaining squid. Bake for 13-15 minutes until squid is opaque and slightly firm. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with cilantro, dip in sauce and eat it up.

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

Another great Good Eats recipe by Alton Brown. It's awesome. The roux trick is a great idea if you have the extra time, and it allows you to prep all the other ingredients while you wait. The only thing I might do is cut back on the salt because I used chicken stock for the rice cooking liquid (also added red beans into the rice with some old bay seasoning.) which made it a little saltier than normal. I'm looking forward to the leftovers.


Ingredients
•4 ounces vegetable oil
•4 ounces all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 pounds raw, whole, head-on medium-sized (31-50 count) shrimp
•2 quarts water
•1 cup diced onion
•1/2 cup diced celery
•1/2 cup diced green peppers
•2 tablespoons minced garlic
•1/2 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomato
•1 tablespoon kosher salt
•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
•1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•2 bay leaves
•1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and browned
•1 tablespoon file powder
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the vegetable oil and flour into a 5 to 6-quart cast iron Dutch oven and whisk together to combine. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, uncovered, and bake for 1 1/2 hours, whisking 2 to 3 times throughout the cooking process.

While the roux is baking, de-head, peel and devein the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a bowl and set in the refrigerator. Place the heads and shells in a 4-quart saucepan along with the 2 quarts of water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour or until the liquid has reduced to 1-quart. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid into a container, discarding the solids.

Once the roux is done, carefully remove it from the oven and set over medium-high heat. Gently add the onions, celery, green peppers and garlic and cook, moving constantly for 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Gradually add the shrimp broth while whisking continually. Decrease the heat to low, cover and cook for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the shrimp and sausage and stir to combine. Add the file powder while stirring constantly. Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes prior to serving. Serve over rice.

Shrimp and (why is Jeff posting this before Simpkins?) Grits

So after sleeping in until 1130 or so today I needed some breakfast, and the kitchen was bare. Then I remembered a bag of a few frozen shrimp, and some polenta way in the back of the cupboard, so with no other options I had my first go at shrimp and grits. Turned out pretty great, I can only imagine what professional (like those made by chris simpkins) S&G taste like. I didn't have any cream, but the polenta was still much better than my first attempt, also the only cheese I had was parmesean, but it is the King of cheeses, so it did the job.

Polenta was made with water, polenta, salt, pepper, butter, and parm.

For the grits I sauteed some onion, bell pepper, and shitake together. Then I added garlic and the shrimp that I seasoned with salt and cayenne. Sauteed that for a minute then I through in a splash of white wine and finished it off with a pat of butter. Poured the shrimp mix over the polenta and topped with some parm and parsley. Not bad for an impromptu first go. Would have been dank with some white cheddar and bacon fat of some sort. So come on Simpkins, show me how its done...

Fish tacos with mango/pineapple salsa

I hope this makes everyone happy...I made some fish tacos (with grilled Mahi Mahi) topped with homemade mango and pineapple salsa. I kept the fish simple because I didn't want to overpower the rest of the flavors. The sweetness of the fruit complimented the hot peppers well. Turned out really good. I topped them with lettuce, cheese, and homemade guacamole (Jeff's version minus the jalapeno).

Salsa:

1/2 red onion chopped fine

2-3 juiced limes and zest

Fresh diced tomatoes (I used the cherry tomatoes)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 serrano pepper diced(be careful, this was really hot so I stripped some of the seeds out)

Fresh mango

Fresh pineapple

Cilantro

Parlsey

Salt and Pepper

Good with Chips as well on the side

THREE INGREDIENT THROWDOWN!!

CHALLENGE: Come up with a dish more delicious and inspiring than mine! And you only get three ingredients!!!!! It's crazy, I know. Maybe I'm still a little nuts from March Madness. Maybe all the new Butler bandwagon fans have finally pushed me over the edge, I mean, I'm all for them as well, but where did they all come from? Anyway, the idea just came to me as I was walking through Trader Joe's sulking about Andy's recent slap in the face. To say we don't care, wow. Jeff, I hope you are as insulted as I am. Romer, I hope you post something...anything. So, the only way for us to man up in this situation is to have a throwdown. A three ingredient throwdown.



Recipe:
1) Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara
2) Trader Joe's Frozen Shrimp
3) Trader Joe's Organic Polenta (the kind that is pre-rolled into a log)

Warm the marinara over low heat. Cut slices out of the polenta log. Fry polenta slices with butter in a skillet (preferably cast-iron) over moderate heat. When done frying the polenta, throw in the defrosted shrimp and warm up. Assemble. Lay down the polenta, place shrimp on top of polenta, then top with marinara.

This was delicious and crazy simple. It would make a wonderful appetizer for a dinner party.

Sushi Fridays

Since Leeann is Catholic, she can't eat meat for the next few Fridays until Easter. So we have instituted "Sushi Fridays" in our house. Presented here you will find a spicy shrimp roll, crab and avocado roll, and a squid roll. I made a topping of toasted panko bread crumbs and eel sauce for a few of the rolls. Since we all know sushi and what goes in the rolls, I will only post the recipe for the eel sauce, which turned out great. The toasted panko bread crumbs were a very nice addition, providing a nice crunchy contrast to the rolls.

Eel Sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions: Pour in a saucepan and reduce by half. Boom....eel sauce.

Pappa al Pomodoro: Tuscan Bread Soup with Mussels (Guest Post by Leeann)

Ingredients:
2 cans peeled San Marzano tomatoes – lightly crushed by hand
2 loaves ciabatta - crusts peeled off and very, very stale
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped jalepeno
1 big can chicken stock
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Splash of red wine
Lots of basil
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan – a chunk for grating and the rind for the soup (We omitted the grated parm because of my "Lenten promise.")

Preparation:
Have all your vegetables chopped and bread sliced into 1-inch cubes.

Heat about 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add onions, garlic and jalepeno. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender.

Add the tomatoes and remaining juice, salt and pepper, parm rind if you’re using one and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and let it cook for a half hour or so.

Add ciabatta cubes and let the bread soak up some tomato, then start adding your stock. It’ll need a lot so just sort of eye-ball it. Continue adding stock to your desired consistency. At this point, we added a healthy shot of red wine, along with a ton of basil, and seasoned again with salt and pepper. (Also added thyme and oregano.)

Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, then allow to simmer for a bit. Then toss in a pound of mussels, cover, and allow the mussels to open up, about 5 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and grate with some parmesan cheese if you didn't give up cheese for Lent (and regret it!). Top with some more basil and olive oil. Enjoy!