Hoisin Lamb Stirfry - 5 stars

this fantastic stirfry was also out of The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper. seriously, that cookbook is amazing. the recipes are perfectly written, listing accurate prep & cook times, serving sizes, and whether you must serve the dish right away, or if it will make good leftovers, or both. the ingredients for the dishes are listed in the order that they're added to the dish, and the step-by-step instructions are clear without being excessively wordy. there are notes in the margins that give you hints about the most important part(s) of the recipes, or areas that you can cheat in, or info about the ingredients.

however, i'll stop touting the book now, and write about this phenomenal lamb stirfry. i've never been a big lamb fan - it's always been a bit too... gamey? for my tastes. gamey isn't the right word, but it's the best way that i can come up with to describe the aspect of lamb that i've never cared for. so i researched this today, and i discovered that the sharp "gamey" flavor is caused by lanolin, which is a substance that sheep naturally secrete. the lanolin acts as a waterproofing agent and also has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties to protect the sheep. some breeds of sheep (there is one called Katahdin) have such a delicate coat that requires little shearing, and they produce very, very little of this substance called lanolin. if the sheep is raised well, slaughtered before the age of 1 and the fell is properly removed, or if it is a breed with this special low-lanolin coat, it will have a delicate taste and none of this gamey-ness that i've experienced.

after doing this research, my question is - did i finally happen to buy a cut of lamb better than any i've had before when i made this dish, or have i just never had lamb prepared very well? was this the recipe that i needed to find in order to fall in love with lamb? i plan to make lamb again this week, so i'll find out then!

one note about this recipe - i used fresh water chestnuts, and they were nasty! i've never been a fan of water chestnuts, and using fresh ones didn't change that. next time i make this, i'm skipping the water chestnuts altogether.

Stir-Fry of Hoisin Lamb with Cashews and Snow Peas
Serves 3 to 4
20 minutes prep time, 6 minutes stove time
Serve and eat immediately

The Lamb:
1 to 1 1/4 lb tender lamb (lamb steaks are ideal), trimmed of fat and connective tissue, and cut into 1/2-inch by 1-inch chucks.
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon dry red or white wine

Vegetables:
One 1-inch piece fresh peeled ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch dice
1/2 cup water chestnuts, quartered or sliced
1 handful snow pea pods, trimmed

Sauce:
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry white wine

Stir-fry:
3 tablespoons cold-pressed vegetable oil
1/2 cup salted cashews, roughly broken

1. Measure out, cut and group together each section's ingredients: In a bowl, toss the lamb with its seasonings, including the cornstarch and wine, so it is thoroughly coated. Have the ginger and garlic ready to go into the wok, and have the onion, water chestnuts and snow peas piled on a piece of paper towel, ready to go. In a small bowl, blend the sauce ingredients together. With this lineup, the stir-fry will easily come together in a few minutes.
2. Set a 14- to 16-inch wok or a straight-sided 12-inch saute pan over high heat. When it is hot, swirl in 1 1/2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the lamb and stir-fry for 90 seconds. Spread the lamb out as you cook it, so all its sides sear. Immediately remove the lamb to a clean bowl. Wipe out the wok with paper towels.
3. Heat the wok again over high heat. Swirl in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Stir in the ginger and garlic, and stir until fragrant (maybe 5 seconds), sprinkling with the salt. Immediately add the vegetables. Stir-fry for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the sauce mixture, and continue stir-frying for another 90 seconds.
4. Turn the lamb into the wok, and stir-fry for about 10 seconds to heat it through. Stir in the cashews, and turn the mixture into a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Tamarind Pork Chops - 5 stars

after eating these pork chops, i literally licked the plate. i NEVER do that. never ever. fortunately, i was home alone, with no one to witness my bad manners except the kittens. :-) these pork chops were, without a doubt, the best i'd ever had at this point. wow! the recipe is pulled from one of my new favorite cookbooks (The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper). recipe is below, reprinted without permission.

it was an easy dish - i created a glaze for the pork chops out of tamarind concentrate, garlic, and other things which i can't recall at the moment. :-) i preheated my grill pan over medium high, seasoned the pork chops with salt and pepper, and grilled them for a few minutes on each side, until they were almost done. i then brushed the tamarind glaze on both sides, grilled for a couple more minutes, and... that was it!

i made mashed baby red potatoes and a green salad to serve with it. perfect!

Tamarind-Glazed Pork Chops
serves 2-4
10 minutes prep time; 5-10 minutes grill time
Best eaten hot off the grill

Glaze:
3 generous tablespoons tamarind concentrate
2 tablespoons ground Aleppo pepper (or other sweet dried chile like ancho)
6 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons dry white wine
3 tablespoons water, or more as needed

Pork Chops:
4 thin-cut, bone-in pork chops
Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil

1. If you are grilling, prepare the grill.
2. In a food processor, puree the tamarind, Aleppo pepper, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and wine. Thin the paste with water as needed to get to the consistency of thick maple syrup. Set it aside.
3. Grill the chops over a medium fire until nicely browned, or alternatively film a large saute pan with olive oil and sear the pork over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.
4. In the last few minutes of grilling (or searing), baste the chops with the marinade, turning them once to coat on both sides. You want it to bubble and caramelize. Serve the chops with the extra marinade along side.

Shrimp Scampi - 5 stars

i've had quite the run of 5 star meals lately! lucky, lucky me. :) i did have a cataclysmic culinary failure last weekend that involved nearly burning the porch down, so that stopped my parade of fantastic meals. but, we'll not talk about that right now though.

this was the best shrimp scampi i've made to date. i stopped buying frozen shrimp (a.k.a flavorless, tough, shriveled shrimp) awhile ago, and i now buy large, fresh, peeled prawns from the fish counter at uwajimaya. they run around $11/lb, so they're an indulgence, but well worth the price. i bought ~ 1 lb for this dish, rinsed them, patted them dry and tossed them with 1 1/2 tsp Emeril's Essence, which can be found at the bottom of this post.

i put the prawns in the fridge while i prepared the rest of the meal: chopped a couple cloves of garlic, set out four tbsp of cubed unsalted butter, measured out a half cup of dry white wine and a quarter cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. i also chopped up one tbsp fresh parsley, made a green salad and boiled the linguine.

to assemble the dish, i first preheated one tbsp olive oil + one tbsp of the unsalted butter in a large (12"), heavy duty flat skillet over medium high heat. i added the shrimp and sauteed for a couple minutes. then the garlic went into the pan, which i sauteed for 30 seconds, and then i added the white wine and lemon juice and let it simmer and reduce, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes. i added the remaining 3 tbsp of butter, stirred until it was melted, tossed in the fresh parsley and seasoned with salt and pepper.

i used 8 oz of dried barilla linguine to serve with this - boiled to al dente, which takes around 6 minutes, i believe. it was the perfect amount of linguine for this particular scampi recipe. yummy!

Cedar Planked Filet Mignon & Scallops with Smoky Compound Butter - 5 stars

i stole this recipe from one of my newer favorite blogs, www.food-fire.com. every recipe i have made so far from that blog has been a full mind-blowing five star meal. this one was no different! the only issue i had was with the smoky compound butter - i ate too much of it, and it made me feel really sick. so... yea - nothing wrong with the recipe at all, just me, over-consuming. :-)

i put the cedar plank on a large jelly roll pan, poured water over the top, and placed a heavy bowl on top of the plank to keep it fully submerged in the water. i then marinated the scallops and popped them in the fridge. the smoky compound butter came next. this was the first time i've ever used spanish paprika - i *almost* cheated and used regular paprika, because the spanish version was pricey. but i didn't - and i'm so glad that i didn't! it's a completely different spice than regular paprika. it is earthy and smoky in flavor - mild, not spicy at all, whereas regular paprika just doesn't really have much flavor at all, in my opinion.

(i actually made two separate smoky compound butters - one with real butter for tony, and one with saffola unsalted margarine, for myself.)

while the scallops were marinating and the butter was chilling, i prepared the steaks and asparagus. i had some filet mignon tenderloin leftover from christmas, so i cut it into thick steaks, wrapped a piece of bacon around the outside of the steaks & secured with a toothpick. i topped them off with a generous dose of freshly ground sea salt & black pepper. i let them sit at room temp while i prepared the asparagus (chop off the ends, toss them in a baking dish with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper) and turned on the BBQ.

i won't regurgitate the cook portion of the preparation of this meal, because i think dave does a great job of it in the recipe below. however, my steaks must have been a bit thicker than his, or my bbq not as hot as his, because they required a few minutes longer to get to medium rare than dave's recipe suggests. tony likes his steak to be a true rare - bloody, almost raw in the center, so his was fine, but mine did need a few more minutes to get to medium rare.

definitely five stars, just don't eat too much butter!

For the Steaks:

2 beef tenderloin steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick or better
2 slices bacon
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Tightly wrap one slice of bacon around each steak, securing with with a toothpick. Season both sides with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

For the Compound Butter:

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup) at room temperature, divided in half
1 tablespoon Smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Melt half of the butter and pour into a mixing bowl. Add the spices and mix until until well-combined. Let cool until mostly solid. Add the remaining butter and whisk to combine. Spoon mixture onto a large ramekin, cover with a sheet of waxed paper, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Chili Lime Scallops

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper
1 lb sea scallops

Whisk lime juice, oil, garlic, chili powder, salt, and cayenne together in small bowl. Add scallops and toss to cover with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate, basting once with marinade, for about 30 minutes.

Asparagus

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Please the spears on a plate and drizzle with a little oil and vinegar. Turn to coat then sprinkle with salt.

The Cook

The goal is to put everything on the grill at the right time so that it’s all done at once. It’s important to work quickly, so have your mis en place, some warmed plates stacked nearby, and an oven set on low as a backup in case you need to stash a dish that finishes early.

Use a food grade plank that’s been soaked in water for at least an hour. Set your grill up for direct cooking at high heat (about 500°F).

When the grill is up to temperature, put the plank on by itself for about 5 minutes, or until you see the first wisps of smoke coming from the board. Flip the plank over and set it beside the grill with the warm side up.

Sear the steaks for 2-3 minutes on each side. Put the plank back on the grill with the warm side up and move the steaks and the scallops to the plank. Close the lid and cook until the steaks and scallops are right around 120°F internal, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the asparagus to the grill. Leave the lid open and grill for about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until the spears begin to brown and caramelize.

Ideally, the asparagus should be done at the same time the steaks have reached 135°F internal (medium-rare) and the scallops are opaque and have just started to flake a bit. Remove everything to warm plates, top the steaks with a pat of the compound butter, and serve.

Fat Tuesday: Shrimp, Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya - 5 stars

yes, you read the subject of this post correctly: i used shrimp AND chicken AND andouille sausage in my jambalaya! :) hey, it was fat tuesday that week, what can i say!? i spent longer than i care to admit researching jambalaya recipes in order to find one that seemed authentic, used seafood, poultry and pig. and boy, did that research pay off! it was my first time making jambalaya, and this was AMAZING.

the most obnoxious part of the recipe was peeling the shrimp. poor tony has had to listen to many, many rants about my dislike of peeling shrimp. i absolutely hate it! pre-peeled prawns are a bit more expensive, but i've decided my time is much more valuable than the few dollars i save when purchasing unpeeled prawns. additionally, shells are between 5-15% of the total weight when you purchase unpeeled prawns, so i'm not even saving as much money as thought. :-)

i needed shrimp stock for this recipe though, which requires shrimp shells to make. the recipe called for one lb of shrimp, but you really only need the shells from five or six shrimps to make the stock. in the future, i'd buy the 5 or 6 shrimps unpeeled, and the rest pre-peeled. :-)

the recipe was easy, and took maybe an hour and a half (post prawn peeling). i made it in my big dutch oven - starting on the stovetop, finishing in the oven. it was PERFECT. i am sure i've had jambalaya before, but it's never been memorable. this jambalaya had the perfect level of smoky spiciness; it was rich and moist and, well, intense! the flavors of it made my eyes roll back in my head when i took my first bite. in a good way. :-) i found the recipe in this blog.

i didn't make my own worcestershire sauce, and i did double the recipe so that we'd have lots of leftovers.

New Orleans Cuisine Recipe - Shrimp and Chicken Jambalaya

Seasoning Mix (1/4 tsp Cayenne, 3/4 tsp White Pepper, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, 1/4 tsp Thyme, 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage, 1/4 tsp Dried Basil, 1/2 tsp Black Pepper)

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Diced Andoullie
1/2 Cup Diced Onion
1/2 Cup Diced Bell Pepper
1/2 Cup Diced Celery
1/2 Cup Diced Fresh Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
3/4 Cup Enriched Long Grain Rice
1 1/4 Cup Chicken Stock with a Shrimp shell infusion (see above)
1 Tbsp Homemade Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp Minced Fresh Garlic
1/2 Cup Diced Chicken (Cooked or raw)
1 1/2 Cup Medium Shrimp (I use Louisiana)
1 Tbsp Finely Chopped Italian Parsley
3 Tbsp Finely Sliced Green Onions

Since I'm using Chicken and Shrimp I want my stock to have those flavors, real simple. I heat up the right amount of Chicken Stock and add some raw Shrimp shells to it and simmer for about 15-20 minutes! It gives it a quick little infusion.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onion, Celery, Bell Pepper).

In a Cast Iron Dutch Oven, melt the butter over medium heat, add the Andouille and cook until it just starts to brown. Add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, cook until the vegetables are tender (nothing smells better than rendering Andouille with the Holy Trinity). Add the diced Tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add the Tomato Sauce and cook for another minute. Add the Rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the Stock, the remaining Holy Trinity, Seasoning Mix, Worcestershire, and the Garlic. Taste the broth for seasoning, particularly salt. Add the Chicken, stir well and put the pot in the preheated oven. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. After the twenty-five minutes stir in the raw Shrimp, Parsley, and Green Onions, place back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until the Shrimp are cooked through. Serve with French Bread and your favorite Beer.

Sourdough Tomato & Basil Bruschetta - 5 stars

this is actually from valentine's day as well! this was my contribution as an afternoon snack to the food for the day. :-)

normally, i take a loaf of french bread and slice it crosswise into 1/2-3/4" thick slices for bruschetta. i saw a picture of a bruschetta that took a loaf of sourdough and cut it lengthwise (as i did in the picture above). it looked so tasty that i decided to try it out. and it was very good! the huge hunks of bread did make it much more difficult to eat, so if you're making bruschetta for a crowd, it's better to slice it crosswise into 1/2" thick slices.

however, if i made this for tony and myself again, i'd still slice it lengthwise as i did for the picture here. just brush a bit of olive oil on it, rub it with a garlic clove, and sprinkle sea salt on the cut side of the bread. i toasted it in the oven this time, but next time, i'd throw it on the grill face down for a few minutes instead. yum!

for the topping, i used approximately 8 roma tomatoes. i sliced the tops off the tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. i scooped out the flesh, and then chopped them into 3/8" hunks. i then diced half of a sweet white onion and who knows how many garlic cloves. probably 5 or 6. :-) for the basil, i picked all the leaves off the stems and stacked them in a couple piles. i had ~15 basil leaves. once they were stacked in piles, i rolled them up like a sleeping bag, and thin sliced the rolls, cutting parallel to the center stem of the basil leaf. that's how to get the pretty slivers of basil throughout the bruschetta topping.

i combined the tomatoes, diced onion, garlic and basil in a large bowl. i drizzled a healthy amount (healthy being a good few tablespoons, not healthy as in a very small amount) of olive oil over the mixture, and then added fresh ground sea salt and black pepper. i piled the mixture on top of the toasted bread, and voila! a fantastic afternoon snack.

Moroccan Tomato Soup with Couscous - 4 stars

first, let me say that i can't believe i didn't publish a single post in all of march. wow! i cooked & ate plenty in march, and now have a month's worth of catching up to do.

this soup is from my new year's resolution cookbook, Made in Morocco. it was a simple, quick recipe, with few ingredients. i used high quality canned tomatoes in it because fresh tomatoes are so flavorless right now. it tasted great, but i let it simmer too long after adding the couscous - the couscous swelled and lost its crunch. the flavor was still great though.

i had grilled cheese & onion sandwiches AND a salad with the soup - yummy, but way too much food. :)

(i'll add the recipe later - it's in a cookbook at home)