Low Country Boil

Serving Size: 6

Cook Time: prep 20, cook 35. allow about an hour for the water to boil

Any Special Tools Needed?: a big as pot, preferably with a strainer built in. 

Ingredients:

Old Bay (your desired amount for flavor) 2 Tablesoons per quart of water, roughly
12 red new potatoes
6 (4") smoked sausage links (basically any kind of sausage you prefer)
6 ears of corn, halved
3 Lbs of fresh, unpeeled shrimp

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all of the ingredients (with strainer in).
• Add the Old Bay and bring to a boil. This takes at least an hour so plan ahead. Adjust the Old Bay to your taste.
• When the water boils, pull up the strainer and place potatoes and sausage so the boiling water doesn't splash everywhere (this mistake has been made before). Cook on medium for 20 minutes

• Add corn (same method as before) and cook for 10 more minutes.

• Add shrimp til pink and no more than 3 minutes. 
• Drain and serve on either in a gigantic bowl or directly on a kraft paper covered table with bread and bowls of extra Old Bay.

Commentary from the Cook:
Super duper fun for summer or early fall eating at picnic tables outside. Makes it super easy to rinse off with a hose. Or serve in the bowl if you wanna eat inside at a table like a sophisticated person. Maybe have some discard bowls around for shrimp skins. If you don't have a pot with a strainer use a small strainer with handle to lower into boiling water. Would be super easy to add some crabs too if you wanted.

Steak Bahn Mi

Serving Size: 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes (1 hour of marination)

Any Special Tools Needed?: nope. Just a trip to your local Asian market. I promise you won't be sorry.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup fish sauce (don't let this scare you away from the recipe!!)
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of finely minced shallot
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 2 lbs of beef sirloin tip sliced (before cooking) into 1/8" strips
• 6 6-8" baguettes sliced in half lengthwise
• Pickled carrots (in-pickled works too), julienned
• Daikon radish (looks like a gigantic white carrot), julienned
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 2 Jalapeño sliced

Sriracha mayonnaise:

• 3 tablespoons of mayo
• 1 tablespoon of sriracha 

Steps:

• In a small bowl mix fish sauce, sugar, shallot, garlic and black pepper.
• Marinade steak in mixture from above. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour; up to 24.
• Grill steak over high heat until brown on both sides. Approx 2-3 minutes per side.
• Toast baguettes on grill, sliced side down

Assembly:

• Spread sriracha mayo
• Steak
• Carrots
• Daikon
• Jalapeño 
• Cilantro

Commentary from the Cook:

Make as spicy as you damn please.

Avocado and Grilled Corn Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

Prep time: 20min
Total time: 30min
Serves 4

Ingredients: 
5 Ears Corn, husk removed, brush with olive oil and grilled, remove corn with sharp knife
2 Avocado’s, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent browning
2 C. Tomatoes, red and yellow cherry variety or equivalent
1 Small red onion, finely diced
¾ C. Feta, crumbled
1 ½ C. English cucumber, skin on and chopped small dice

Add to a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cilantro Vinaigrette

6 T. Olive oil

2 T. Sherry vinegar (I used Champagne vinegar since I didn't have Sherry vinegar)
1 t. Garlic powder
2 T. Fresh cilantro, minced
½ t. Salt
10 Grinds of fresh ground pepper

Add all of the above ingredients in a small glass jar with a lid. Shake really well. Taste and adjust seasoning and ratios of oil and vinegar as you desire.

When ready to serve salad, add the dressing and gently toss.

From: http://authenticsuburbangourmet.blogspot.com/2011/05/avocado-and-grilled-corn-salad-with.html

Cream of Freshy Tomato Soup

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 5-6 

Ingredients
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (5 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves, plus julienned basil leaves, for garnish
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
Croutons, for garnish

Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.

2. Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons.

From Barefoot Contessa, Food Network. Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-fresh-tomato-soup-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Commentary from the Cook: I lightened it up a teensy bit by subbing half and half instead of cream. Tyler prefers to grate the tomatoes to decrease the tomato skins in the puree... SO yummy. 

Peanut Butter Balls

Makes about 70 balls

Mix together:

2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cup rice krispies
1lb (3cup) powdered sugar1/4 cup melted butter

Make balls and dip in melted:
 2 (maybe 3) package milk chocolate chips

Put on cookie sheets in fridge to harden. Enjoy!

Pointers:

1. Once you get the powdered sugar in, it is almost impossible to stir.  Waash your hands really good and use ‘em!

2. Depending on the peanut butter, you may have to add more powdered sugar.  If too sticky, add more.  If too crumbly, add more peanut-butter.

3. You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in with milk chocolate.  It’s all about what you prefer!


Commentary from the cook:  I made these at Christmas time.  Suren brought them to work and errbody loved 'em!

Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad with Green Onion Vinaigrette

From Spark Recipes

Serving Size: Makes 8 side servings

Ingredients:

4 green onions
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoons ground coriander
1 pounds brussel sprouts
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned, or 3/4 cup mandarin oranges
1/2 cup cashews, toasted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. For dressing, chop green onions, keeping the white parts separate from the green tops. In a blender, or food processor, combine the white parts of the onions, oil, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, and coriander. Cover and blend or process until smooth; set aside.

2. Trim brussel sprouts thinly*. In an extra-large bowl combine brussels sprouts and the green tops of the onions. Pour dressing over sprout mixture; toss gently to coat. Add orange sections, cashews, and salt; toss gently to combine.

Commentary from the cook:  This quickly went from "cold brussels" to "one of the best things I've ever made.  It's soo good.

Gnocci alla Sorrentina

Serving Size: 4-6

Cook Time: Some serious time, a couple hours

Any Special Tools Needed?: a potato ricer. We tried to do without (since they cost $30+) but it was really hard to get the potato super smooth with a masher.

Gnocchi Ingredients:

3-4 Russett potatoes

About 1 1/3 cups of flour

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt

1 egg

• 
  

Sauce Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil 

3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved 

3 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (can also use two 28 ounce canned and peeled tomatoes) 

2 teaspoons salt

4 basil leaves

Extras (a must):

Fresh mini motz balls

Fresh grated Parmigiano cheese

Gnocchi Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350
• Bake the potatoes whole and in their skin for 70 mins
• As soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, halve them, scoop out the center, and put through a food ricer.

• Spread the riced potatoes in a single layer onto a working surface and let cool completely, about 25 minutes. 

• Once the potatoes have cooled, sprinkle 1 cup of the flour and the salt over the potatoes. 

• Gather the mixture together to form a well. Add the egg into the middle of the well, and lightly knead the mixture together just until all ingredients are combined and it forms a ball. (This should take no more than 2-3 minutes.)

• Divide the dough into six pieces.
• Roll each piece out into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Give each piece a quick roll into a ball. 
• Create ridges in the gnocchi by rolling them onto a fork (If you have a wooden “gnocchi board,” use this instead.) 
• Cook them right away or freeze them. (If you’re freezing them, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet into the freezer. Once they are individually frozen, you can place them together or on top of each other in a bag or container.) 

Sauce Steps:

• Over medium heat, heat the olive oil and gently sweat the garlic in a saucepot, 3-4 minutes. 
• Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar and increase the heat to medium-high. 
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook off the liquid for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t scorch. 
• Place the tomatoes in a colander to drain, reserving the tomato liquid. Run the tomatoes through a food mill. (The larger the holes in the disk, the chunkier your sauce will be.) If you prefer a sauce with a fine texture, you can process the tomatoes in a food processor. 
• Return the sauce to the pot, add the basil leaves, and cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, until it reaches the desired consistency. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved tomato juice to it. Remove the garlic and basil before using.

Throw it all together:

• Bring about 8 cups of well-salted water to a boil. 
• Heat the tomato sauce. 
• Place the gnocchi in the boiling water a few at a time. (You want to always keep the water at a boiling temperature.) 
• In a sauté pan, heat 1 cup of the tomato sauce. 
• As soon as the gnocchi rise to the top of the water, drain off the water and place them into the sauté pan with the tomato sauce. Mix together. 
• The gnocchi should be only lightly coated with tomato sauce. Place half the gnocchi in a shallow ovenproof casserole dish. Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Sprinkle with the Parmigiano cheese. 
• Place under a broiler until the mozzarella is melted and slightly golden, about 7 minutes. 

Commentary from the Cook:
We did this for a date night and it was great because it was relaxing since the gnocchi process is tedious so we were able to listen to some tunes, drink some wine and have a lot of fun doing it. We made the sauce first and set aside, then quickly heated it along side the gnocchi when they were ready to boil. To make for less mess, do the sauce in an oven-safe pan so cut down on the dishes. They came out amazing, we froze half and ate half. I'll let you know how the frozen batch tastes.

http://www.napoliunplugged.com/gnocchi-alla-sorrentina-a-taste-of-sorrento.html

Spicy Fish Tacos with Avocado-Yogurt Sauce and Pickled Onions

Author: Isabelle Boucher

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  40 mins

Serves: 4

These lightened-up fish tacos trade in battered fish and full-fat sour cream for pan-fried spicy fish filets and a flavourful avocado and yogurt sauce

Ingredients

Spicy Lime-Chipotle Fish:

·         2 tbsp fresh lime juice

·         2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

·         2 tsp chipotle powder (or chili powder, if you prefer)

·         1 tsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp sweet paprika

·         ½ tsp salt

·         1 lb fresh haddock fillets (or any other firm white fish - I use Tilapia)

Avocado-Yogurt Sauce:

·         1 large ripe avocado, pitted and roughly chopped

·         ¼ cup plain yogurt

·         1 tbsp fresh lime juice

·         ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro

·         ¼ tsp salt

·         ¼ cup water

Tacos and Garnishes:

·         12 small corn tortillas

·         Shredded cabbage

·         Pickled red onions

·         Cilantro sprigs

·         Finely julienned radishes

·         Lime wedges

    Instructions:

          Marinate the Fish:
1. In a small bowl - Combine lime juice, olive oil, chipotle powder, cumin, paprika and salt.  Stir until smooth.
2. Pat the fish dry and rub both sides with marinade.  Transfer to bowl/plate with remainder of marinade and refrigerate.

     Prepare the Avocado-Yogurt Sauce:
1. In food processor or blender combine the avocado, yogurt, lime juice, cilantro, salt and water.  Process until smooth and creamy.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

    Cook the fish:
1.  In a large skillet cook the fish in olive oil.  Cook until opaque and flaky (4-5 minutes per side).  Use a fork to break the filets into large chunks. 

     Prepare the tacos 
1.  I like to put all the ingredients out and let everyone make their own.  Plus the chicken gets chilly quickly to this seems to be the best way.  

I also added pickled onions using the recipe below - they are a MUST!

Mexican-Style Pickled Onions

Adapted from Epicurious

1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic
1 tsp Mexican oregano

Blanch the onion slices in a large saucepan full of boiling water for 1 minute, then drain.
Return the onions to the pan, along with cider vinegar, salt and as much cold water as needed to barely cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute.
Pour onions and brine into a clean glass jar. Smash the garlic clove with the side of a knife, and add to the jar, along with the oregano. Chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before serving.
Pickled onions will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator – aside from posole, they make a great condiment for a simple cheese plate, and can also be used to perk up your favourite sandwich (try them with roast lamb or chicken).
(This recipe is really best when made with red onions, which will take on a gorgeous magenta pink colour as they sit in the brine. That said, regular white onions will taste just as good, despite the fact that they won’t be as pretty.)

Commentary from the cook:  I made these once and then made them twice more in the same week... win!

Pad Kee Mao

Serving Size: 4-6
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Any Special Tools Needed?: nope - I just used all the same kind of soy sauce instead of wasting money buying two different kinds.

Ingredients:

• 1 packages 1/2-inch-wide flat rice noodles (14 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon smashed small Thai chilies
• 1/2 pound chicken breast, thinly sliced
• half large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 large plum tomatoes, each cut into thin wedges
• 1 large green pepper, sliced into strips
• about 4 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon black soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons golden mountain soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed holy basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon vinegar

Steps:

• Soak the rice noodles according to the package. Hint: you should fill a bowl of very hot water (from the faucet, not boiling) and soak the noodles until they are soft. If you use boiling water, the noodles will get too soft. Keep the noodles in the hot water until you are ready to start making the dish. You may also want to cut the noodles as sometimes they become too long.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the minced/chopped garlic and chilies until it becomes fragrant. Constantly stir the mixture to ensure that it doesn’t burn. This should take 30 seconds. Add the chicken, green peppers and onion. You may need to add a few tablespoons of water to help things not stick.
• When the meat has browned and is more than halfway cooked, add the noodles and tomatoes. Add the soy sauces, sugar and oyster sauce. Stir well to mix. The noodles will take about 3-4 minutes to soften.
• Add the basil & vinegar. Stir to mix. When the basil is wilted, the noodles are ready to serve.

Commentary from the Cook:
This was one of the best, most spot on recipes I've ever cooked. It was super-duper easy and was as good/if not better than take out thai.