Teriyaki Shrimp Fried Rice

What do I do when I have leftover rice? Stir-fry!  It's a very simple and quick dinner.  Take the meat and veggies you have, choose your sauce/spices, heat it all together, and you're done.

I started with a little garlic and chopped red onion in some butter.  Then I added the asparagus.  After about 5 minutes I added corn and spinach and the raw shrimp.  After everything was sauteed to my liking, I pushed the veggies/shrimp to the side of the pan and added the already cooked rice to the skillet.  I let it cook a little in the butter and then added teriyaki sauce.  After another minute or two I mixed everything together and cooked over medium-high heat to give the rice a nice little crunch.

Finally, I pushed the rice/veggies/shrimp to the edges of the skillet and in the middle I cracked an egg.  I scrambled it by itself and when it was fully cooked I mixed it all together.  I added a little more teriyaki sauce to my liking, and in about 10 minutes I had a fully seasoned, fresh cooked stir fry dinner.

Pasta Primavera

As a child, nothing on the pasta menu sounded more gross than a bland pasta surrounded by veggies.  Hence, I don't think I've ever knowingly ordered pasta primavera.  But I guess when you're an adult you realize vegetables don't have to taste bad, so I decided to combine a smorgasbord of fresh ingredients to make a delightful pasta that the child version of me wouldn't hate either.

Ingredients: Garlic, Onion, Zucchini, Asparagus, Mushrooms, Corn, Spinach, Shrimp
Sauce: White Wine, Broth, Goat Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, 1tsp Flour

So i basically chopped all my veggies.  In a little bit of olive oil I sauteed the garlic and onion.  After 3-5 minutes I added the asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Once thoroughly cooked I moved the veggies to the side and added a little flour to create a roux.  I then added the white wine (I probably used about 1/2 cup).  To cut the strong flavor of a wine sauce I added some chicken broth to also reduce/thicken.

At this point I added the raw shrimp, corn, and spinach to cook through.  I added goat cheese to the sauce last, then threw on the cooked rigatoni.  I mixed everything well, poured in a bowl, garnished with parmesan and felt like a good kid for eating my veggies.  Since we know I love cream sauces, using cheese and wine/broth as a base rather than cream itself gave me the same thickening effect, but with a little less guilt.  Highly recommended.

Reduction Sauces - Steak and Potatoes

I purchased two filet mignons so I had two nights of steak and potato dinners.  The first I served with asparagus, the second with zucchini.  And for the sauce, two reduction sauces with garlic and mushrooms and then a garnish of french fried onions. 

The first reduction sauce was a port reduction.  I used a tawny port and added about a cup to a skillet of sauteed garlic and mushrooms and cooked until it was reduced.  The second reduction sauce was balsamic and I did the same thing.  

The asparagus I cooked in a skillet with a little water, salt, and pepper.  The zucchini I seasoned and cooked with a little olive oil.  For the filets, I heated a skillet over medium-high heat, salted/peppered the meat, and seared the steak for about 2 minutes on each side. 

Dish up the potatoes, green veggies, steak, pour the reduction sauce over the potatoes/meat, and garnish with the onions.  Steakhouse dinner at home and you didn't even need a grill. 

Brownies

I made brownies from scratch for the first time ever.  I typically avoid baking boxed brownies, because they end up too cake-like for my taste.  I like them gooey, fudgy, moist.  So it surprises me that I had never attempted brownies from scratch before.  But I wanted something sweet, had come into possession of some cocoa powder, and found a simple recipe online that I figured was worth a shot.

Combine:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 cup melted butter
and as many chocolate chips as you want

Don't overmix, pour into a baking dish lined with parchment paper, and bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  These aren't cakey, and they still taste good the next day.

Chicken Curry Soup with Rice

I was feeling quite under the weather last week, so obviously for dinner I had to make the quintessential chicken soup.  Opting for rice instead of noodles, and a bit of a kick to really help drain those sinuses (tmi?) this chicken curry soup was born.

I found a spice bottle in our spice rack with a hand-written label on it that said "curry powder".  There are lots of types of curries, all with very distinct flavors.  I didn't really know what I was getting, but I figured I'd never met a curry I didn't like, so I would have at it.  Turns out this one resembled the Indian curries I'm accustomed to.  It worked out.

So first I sauteed the garlic and shallot in a little olive oil, then added 1/2 cup of brown basmati rice (uncooked) to coat in the oil mixture.  Then I added the curry.  Probably about 1 tbsp (it's better to under-add the spices at first, then go back for more if you need them).  I mixed and heated everything through to really let that flavor infuse as much as it could.

Then I added the chicken broth (maybe 3 cups worth? sorry, i never measure) and sliced carrots.  This would allow the rice to cook in broth instead of water, and the carrots to soften. 

The rice would normally take about 20 minutes to cook, so after about 15 minutes I added the raw chicken.  I used sliced chicken breast meat.  I added this later because I worried that if it was stewing too long it wouldn't stay as tender, so closer to the end point was when I wanted to start it poaching.

Once done, the rice was falling apart, the carrots were soft, the chicken tender, and the broth with just the right amount of kick.  You can add more broth as you find necessary, and I added a little bit of pepper and dried tarragon.  Suddenly being sick didn't feel so bad. 

Beef Stroganoff

 

Beef Stroganoff is a pretty easy fixin, because it's really nothing fancy.  The sauce is beef broth and sour cream, but Stroganoff plays the role of comfort food well and is a nice change-up if you're making pasta again but want to alter the sauce/toppings.

I found myself with two remaining thinly sliced steaks, so I cut them into strips.  I also chopped some garlic and shallot, and had I stocked my fridge properly, mushrooms would've also been invited.

Start by sauteing the garlic and shallots (and mushrooms) in a little bit of butter or olive oil.  Then add your steak strips and cook until browned on all sides.  

Next it's time to make the roux.  Move your ingredients to the side of the skillet so that the butter finds itself alone on the opposite side.  Add some flour.  Depending on how much butter/grease you have, add about a tbsp of flour and mix it with the grease until a roux forms (the firm combination of flour and oil that is mostly solid).  

Add your beef broth at this point (as much as you want sauce on your pasta...1 cup? 2 cups?) Don't worry, thanks to the flour the broth will reduce and thicken so you may need more than you initially add.  

Once you cook the broth down to the desired amount of sauciness, add your sour cream to taste.  About 1/4 cup - 3/4 cup should be plenty.  Mix and then add your final touches of fresh herbs.  I recommend dill.  I did not have dill so I went with tarragon.  It helps to have a little bite to combat the beefy/creamy taste of this dish.  

Pour your meat/veggies/sauce over freshly cooked pasta (egg noodles work well for this, but I just had regular fusili), garnish with herbs if you'd like, and serve!

Rice and Beans

This was one of those "what can I throw together with existing ingredients, but that is very dense because I'm very hungry" meals.  Lacking tortillas, I figured I could make what I would normally put in a burrito, but eat it like a stew-y mush.

Rice and beans.  A good starting point.  I only had brown basmati rice, though, so we'll call this a bit of a fusion dish.  Basically I cooked the rice according to the directions.  In a separate skillet I heated a little olive oil to cook the garlic and onions.  Then I added a can of black beans, which I partially drained.  As the beans cooked, the liquid diminished, so I thought I'd maybe treat this like a black bean soup, and I added some chicken broth, which too cooked off eventually.  I added the sliced chicken to basically poach in the liquid, and once no longer pink I added the rice.  I now had a soupy mixture, so I added the juice of 1/2 a lime and cooked until the liquid was reduced completely (only about five minutes or so).  To finish it off I added a bunch of fresh cilantro and scallions, poured it in a bowl, and melted some cheese on top.  It definitely did the trick and filled me up.

Balsamic Marinated Steak with Pesto Mashed Potatoes

I bought these weird thinly sliced steak strips that called themselves sandwich strips.  I figured I'd marinate them, grill them, put them between some bread, and do the whole sandwich thing.  Well, my bread went bad, but I was hungry, so I figured I'd treat these steaks how I normally would a skirt or a flank steak.

I went for a balsamic-based marinade, so into the ziploc bag went the balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper, rosemary, garlic, and a touch of olive oil.  Into the fridge it went while I sliced some red onion and scallion (onion overkill? probably. but they were all i had in terms of complimentary produce).

I then made some mashed potatoes, because nothing goes better w/ steak than potatoes.  I mashed with cream cheese and pesto sauce, rather than milk and cheese, for a little variation.

Finally, it was time to cook the steak.  It took about three minutes since it was so thin, and I didn't want to overcook.  Heat the skillet over medium-high heat.  Add your steak, red onions, and the juices.  Cook the steak about 1-2 minutes per side.  Turn over, repeat.

Plate your mashed potatoes, lay your steak atop them, and drizzle with some of the red onions and reduced balsamic vinegar marinade.  Garnish with some fresh scallions if you're feeling like your breath won't be pungent enough already.

Spiced Shrimp with Avocado Corn Salsa

My friend hosted a dinner party last weekend and I volunteered to bring an appetizer.  The entree was turkey chili, so I wanted something that could compliment that and provide a little something different.  Now I'm embarrassed to say I did not take a picture of my finished product (mostly because it was in her kitchen surrounded by people I just met and I didn't feel the need to whip out my camera to document a bowl of shrimp).  So here's a stock photo from the internet, but if you look below you can see the blurry image of my bowl of salsa with shrimp dangling around the rim!

Look at that lovely bowl of appetizer holding it's own amidst a sea of lavish tableware.  Ok, enough about my lack of photography, here's how you make it.

Take your raw, peeled, deveined, butterflied jumbo shrimp and put them in your dry rub with a little olive oil and garlic.  I used cayenne pepper, paprika, ground coriander, dried oregano, cumin, pepper, diced garlic, extra-virgin olive oil.  Toss the shrimp to coat and place in the fridge until ready to grill (at least 30 minutes). 

Next prepare the salsa.  Dice your red onion and tomato first.  Then add your corn and chopped scallion.  I added the avocado, cilantro, and lime juice last, so as to avoid browning of the avocado.  Again, toss to coat and store in the fridge until ready to serve.  

I brought the uncooked shrimp and salsa to the dinner party and grilled the shrimp on the stove there.  You don't really need to oil the skillet since there's oil in the shrimp marinade.  Using tongs and a grill pan, cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until the shrimp is cooked through.  Arrange shrimp surrounding the salsa.  Rather than scoop the salsa with the shrimp and eat with your fingers, I recommend a fork.  The spiciness of the shrimp coupled with the cool and citrusy salsa make for a perfect pairing, and also go nicely before a hearty turkey chili.