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January 29, 2009

Girls' night out: Ceviche de Cameron

My friend Fran is pleading with me to share the recipe that I made for a recent Girls Night Out because she wants to make it for an uncoming potluck. We get together to knit and gab once a month. Our January night was our holiday potluck dinner. No knitting. It happened to fall on Inauguration Night, so in honor of Barack Obama's love of Rick Bayless' food, I decided to make my version of Rick Bayless' Ceviche de Cameron (Shrimp Ceviche Cocktail). You can find his original recipe here.

Bayless lightly poaches the shrimp in the shells, then peels them, but ever since I discovered Fine Cooking's method of roasting shrimp, I prefer roasting over poaching. After roasting and cooling the shrimp, you toss them with lime juice. While the shrimp marinate in the lime juice, you make the ceviche flavorings. This dish is best served the same day that it is made. If you want to make it ahead, roast the shrimp and store them in the serving bowl, juice the limes and store the juice in a small bowl, mix the flavorings in a separate bowl; basically make all of the components, but keep them separate. About an hour before serving, pour the lime juice over the shrimp. Then about 15 minutes before serving, toss the shrimp and lime juice with the flavorings. If you make the flavorings ahead, toss the avocado with a tablespoon or two of lime juice so that it doesn't turn brown.

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Posted January 29, 2009 5:40 PM in | Comments (3)

January 28, 2009

Crunchy cheddar oat biscuits for Maxine and Rufus

The house is filled with the aroma of the Crunchy Cheddar Oat Dog Biscuits that I just baked for Maxine and Rufus, the sweet Papillons who rule the roost at the home of tomorrow's client. They are silly and make me laugh, so every so often I thank them for the way that they entertain me with a batch of homemade dog biscuits.

Homemade dog biscuits are very easy to make. And my dog friends think they are worth making. The recipe is an adaptation from Culinary in the Country. I made three very minor changes to Joe's recipe. I melted the butter because I didn't want to wait to soften it. I left out the sugar. And I used two Savory Choice broth concentrate sticks instead of the instant chicken bouillon.

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Posted January 28, 2009 6:40 PM in Cook Dates, Recipes | Comments (3)

January 19, 2009

A new way to serve Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes make a quick and easy dinner, and if you use lean ground beef or turkey, Sloppy Joes can be both delicious and healthy. Joe at Culinary in the Country inspired me to serve my favorite Sloppy Joe meat over baked sweet potatoes. Well, I had mine on a sweet potato. Tom doesn't like sweet potatoes, so he had his on a whole wheat bun.

I grew up with Manwich Sloppy Joes. But today's Sloppy Joes are homemade. Let's see, here's the ingredient list for Manwhich: Tomato Puree, Water, Tomato Paste, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Salt, Sugar, Dehydrated Onions, Dehydrated Red and Green Bell Peppers, Chile Pepper, Tomato Fiber, Spices, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Dehydrated Garlic, Carob Bean Gum, Natural Flavors. Ugh, as if high frutose corn syrup isn't bad enough, it also has corn syrup, and sugar. Spices, that's good. But lots of thickeners and fillers too.

Sloppy Joes are a wing-it thing for me. Back when I first made homemade Sloppy Joes, I did consult with the Manwich can to see the ingredient list. Mine start with sauteing a mess of chopped onions, then browning 2 pounds of lean ground beef or ground turkey, stirring in a small can (6 oz) of tomato paste, and a 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. Then since I like them tangy rather than sweet, next I add in a tomato paste can of cider vinegar. For seasoning, I use oregano, basil, chili powder, salt, and pepper.Maybe a tablespoon each of oregano and basil, a teaspoon of chili powder, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir it all up and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. If you like sweetness, start with a tablespoon of brown sugar. Taste it and adjust it to your liking. I almost always end up adding in more cider vinegar.

I'm so glad that I came across this idea on Joe's blog. I loved the tanginess of the Sloppy Joe meat over the sweet potato. It was filling and delicious. Give it a try.

Posted January 19, 2009 8:13 PM in Weeknight Saviors | Comments (1)

January 14, 2009

Israeli Couscous with Cauliflower and Pine Nuts

The Israeli Couscous with Cauliflower and Pine Nuts that I made for today's client was so delicious that I had to go home and make it for our dinner. Boy was I glad that I just happened to have some cauliflower at home. For my client, I paired this dish with Chicken Saltimbocca. We had it with Pan-Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pinot Noir-Pomegranate Molasses Reduction.

If you haven't tried Israeli couscous, you must. Where I shop, I find it located with the Jewish foods in a 12 ounce bags. It's also called pearl couscous.

Today's recipe was a modification of a recipe that a personal chef colleague shared with me. Toast a few tablespoons of pine nuts using your favorite method. I like to toast them in a 350F oven. Then cut up two small heads of cauliflower into bite-sized florets, toss them with a bit of olive oil, season with black pepper and roast the cauliflower at 425F until golden brown, about 20 minutes. You want the cauliflower to brown slightly to add some golden brown color to the dish.

While the cauliflower is roasting, chop an onion, and saute it in a bit of butter or olive oil. Then add the couscous (I used 1 1/4 cup couscous), saute the couscous for a few minutes, then add 1 3/4 cups chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it is boiling, cover the pan, lower the temperature to a simmer, and cook the couscous for 10 minutes or until the broth is absorbed and the couscous is tender. Take the pot off the heat and let the couscous sit for 5 minutes. Chop up a few scallions and a few tablespoons of parsley and stir that into the couscous. Now stir in the roasted cauliflower. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simple. Delicious. Try it.

(Here's a link to the recipe that this was based on.)

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Posted January 14, 2009 8:37 PM in Cook Dates | Comments (2)

January 10, 2009

Leftover Makeover: Baked Potato Croquettes

Remember me? I'm back after a very long absence. My last update was before Thanksgiving. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is always busy, add in the NH ice store that took away our power for 8.5 days, we got power back 4.5 days before Christmas. And then there was Christmas, and New Years. You know how it goes.

Today I made potato croquettes for the first time. My mother used to make fried potato cakes from leftover mashed potatoes when I was a kid. In fact, they were the only way that I ate mashed potatoes. I wasn't a fan of mashed potatoes the first time around, but I loved my mom's potato cakes made from leftover mashed potatoes.

I had some leftover mashed potatoes with corn and chives in the fridge, so I decided to make baked potato croquettes from them. I looked up a few recipes on the web and found a few that baked, rather than fried the croquettes. All of them added egg to the potato. I started out with potatoes that I had mashed with sour cream, then stirred in fresh minced chives and defrosted frozen corn kernels. (I served them with a southwestern meatloaf earlier in the week.). I had about 4 cups of potatoes left. I mixed in 3 eggs and some chili powder. I wasn't sure how many eggs to add, the mixture was a little too loose, so I added in a small handful ot panko. Two eggs would have been perfect.

To form the croquettes, I used a 1/2-cup measuring cup to scoop up the potatoes, then formed them into a large, flat patty. Some of the recipes I saw called for forming the patties, then refrigerating them before rolling them in bread or cracker crumbs. My patties were holding together well and I'm impatient, so I seasoned some panko with sweet hungarian paprika and coated the patties with the panko mixture.

To bake the croquettes, I lined a sheet pan with nonstick foil (I love this stuff for oven frying), sprayed the foil with olive oil spray and placed the croquettes on the foil. After spraying the tops with more olive oil spray, I baked them in a preheated 400 oven for 25 minutes. The panko coating is golden and crispy and the potato centers are nice and creamy.

This is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes. They are forgiving and the seasoning can easily be adapted to complement whatever you are serving them with. I bet they would be great with some cheese. Or how about curried potato croquettes or cumin-scented croquettes?

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Posted January 10, 2009 6:04 PM in Test Kitchen, Tips, Techniques & Tools | Comments (5)

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