Thursday, May 28, 2009

Handheld Fun

Sometimes dinner is just meant to be fun and that's all it was today. Gliders, sliders, whatever you'd like to call them, I made handheld goodness made from ground turkey. No need to act like it's anything more than that. Let's get to it!

parts
1 pound of ground turkey
1 bag of King Hawaiian dinner rolls
2 teaspoons of garlic salt
1 small onion
1 1/2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
salt and pepper
sweet relish
lettuce
mozzarella cheese (optional)

how they came together
Dice onion and place in a small skillet with butter. Slowly grill onions until slightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, place turkey meat, garlic salt, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper together and knead together. Lightly pat meat into three inch wide patties and cook for two to three minutes on each side. One thing to remember when cooking these or any burger...do NOT press down. No matter how much you want to hear that sizzle, just don't do it. The more you do the drier the meat will be.

Once the meat is done, you can begin the meat delivery system. Take your dinner rolls and tear them in half. On the bottom half place one spoonful of grilled onions and then place patty on top. On the top portion, place one spoonful of sweet relish and lettuce.

Bring it together and enjoy!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Feeling Eggy

I went to the market and for some reason these wonderful brown eggs caught my eye. I mean really, how many times do eggs get noticed for anything other than something that comes out of a chicken's butt? Especially when it's not breakfast time but they called to me today.

I started looking around and saw my usual suspects of bell peppers (I'm so in love with their sweet crunch that I would marry them if i weren't already spoken for), potatoes and cheese. I held them in my loving arms and they said Gerro...do something different with us. We don't want to just be used in big tortilla or a quesadilla.

I looked down and thought, why the fugg are these vegetables talking to me, but I knew that they were right. They deserved more than the same ol same ol and so did my customers. So back I went to the kitchen with my booty and tried to come up with something different but all I kept hearing was tortilla, tortilla, tortilla. I wasn't going to break out anything flour nor corn related and then I understood....Spanish tortilla is what I was hearing.

Simple and still palatable to my customers. I knew that this would be a success but I still needed something else cause I bought far too many eggs (they were talking to me and said that they didn't want to be at the market anymore). I decided to go with something I hadn't made in years..."deviled" eggs, but since I'm an Atheist I call them simply "Eggs & Cheese."

ingredients

olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and rough cut
4 scallions
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
6oz potato, boiled , peeled and diced
3.5 oz of sour cream (you can easily use light as the cream is more for texture)
6 large eggs
6oz cheese - I prefer Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

method

Preheat your oven to 375 and grab your baking pan (7x10) and line it with foil and then with brush olive oil and set aside for a bit.

Drizzle some olive oil in your skillet and toss in your garlic. Let this crisp up and just as it's turning brown put your bell peppers in with the scallions. Slowly cook these down, roughly ten minutes . Please remember to toss lightly or stir to avoid burning. Once the peppers and onions have softened, remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl the eggs, sour cream and cheese together. Stir in the cooled vegetables and pour into your baking pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Once puffed and set in the center, remove from oven and let cool.

This is what's wonderful about using foil as a base...place a cutting board on top of the pan and invert. Peel off the foil and cut in two inch squares.

Serve either on toothpicks as an appetizer or with a green salad or tossed greens as a meal.

Eggs & Cheese

6 hard boiled eggs
3 tbsp of grated Manchego or cheddar
2 tbsp of light mayonnaise
2 tbsp snipped chives
salt and pepper

Straight forward comfort food.

Slice hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove in a bowl with the mayonnaise, chives and cheese. Place egg white halves on a plate and mix yolk mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture back into egg halves and serve immediately or chill.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Cajun Shrimp Skewers

After an up and down week in the kitchen (Monday was a seared beef with Chinese spinach, Tuesday ended up a wash, Wednesday was a mussels kinda day and Thursday was Flamenco Eggs) I had to close the kitchen down with something in line with my philosophy. Good and simple.

Paired down food that does exactly what food should in my opinion -- delight and comfort you. So I decided that I would go with a meal that has simple ingredients that don't need a lot of attention but if you give it to them, they sing arias in your honor.

Enough talk....


Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
  • 2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
CAJUN BUTTER:
  • 1 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3 drops hot pepper sauce

Directions:

Before you even think about dealing with the ingredients, check if you are using metal or wooden skewers. If metal move on, if wooden is your skewer of choice then grab 8-10 and inspect them for breaks.

After you gently run your fingers over them and find them to your liking, soak them in water. I'm talking completely submerge them and set them aside.

Now you can combine everything but the shrimp in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Place the shrimp in a large resealable plastic bag; add half of the marinade. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade for basting.

There is another way to approach this if you're like me and don't always plan one to two hours ahead. Instead of the long marinades, I just
go with my FoodSaver and force the action when and where I can.

This cuts the time needed from 1 -2 hours to 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine the Cajun butter ingredients; heat until butter is melted. Keep warm.

Drain and discard marinade from shrimp. Thread shrimp onto eight me
tal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 2-4 minutes on each side or until shrimp turn pink, basting once with reserved marinade. Serve with Cajun butter.