Shrimp Ratatouille

This is my variation on a ratatouille.  I pretty much define ratatouille as a vegetable stew with a tomato sauce base.  Typically squash and eggplant are involved with other veggies, spices, and the tomato sauce.  For this variation I was lacking the eggplant but included shrimp and served it over rice with a dollop of hummus on top.

So the first step is to saute your base vegetables.  I used zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in a little olive oil until they were slightly browned and mostly softened (about 5-10 minutes).

Next I added the tomatoes.  I used canned diced tomatoes with the juice included.  Perhaps you would like to make your own sauce, or take a pre-made tomato sauce, but I find the caned variety do the trick when you add enough extra herbs/spices and the liquid cooks off.  

I added salt/pepper and thyme (and would have added oregano or marjoram had I had some) and allowed this mixture to stew for about 10 minutes before adding the shrimp and some frozen spinach.  

I let this stew for about 5 minutes until the shrimp were cooked completely.  You don't want to stew shrimp for too long because they'll end up getting tough and chewy, so add them right before you're ready to serve your dish.  I scooped this over some white basmati rice, but this is also typically a side dish in French cuisine, so without the shrimp this could go well with chicken, steak, or fish...just don't pair it with another stew because then you have too many competing sauces going on.  

Lemon White Wine Chicken Over Rice

I made a thick lemon wine sauce for some chicken tenders to eat over rice pilaf.  This way it felt like the sauce had substance, but it used lighter ingredients and flavors to be a little more subtle.

First up, I sauteed my veggies (garlic, onion, mushrooms) in a little olive oil (butter works well too).

Once softened and a little browned, if there is no oil/butter left in the pan, add about a tablespoon more and add some flour (1-4 tbsp depending on how thick and what quantity of sauce you want).  This will act as the thickening agent.  Stir everything well and you've got yourself a roux.

To the veggies/roux, add your white wine.  (Broth is also acceptable, or a combination of the two for a subtler wine flavor).  I used a pinot grigio, but chardonnay works well too (just use what you like/have).

As you stir, the sauce will thicken as the wine combines with the roux.  At this point you can add about a tablespoon of lemon juice.  This is when I added my (still raw) chicken tenders, so that they could cook in the sauce, but if you feel more comfortable using precooked chicken, that is also fine.  I put the lid over this to allow the chicken to steam in the sauce and to avoid too much evaporation.

Once cooked through, I plated the rice, added the chicken on top, then continued cooking the sauce over medium heat to get it to the desired consistency.  You can add a little more lemon juice here if you want that flavor to pop out, or more wine if you lost a lot of liquid volume while cooking.  Fresh herbs (like parsley, tarragon, thyme) would be a great addition here (I added pepper and dried tarragon because I didn't have any fresh).  If you want it to be a real cream sauce you can also add maybe a quarter cup of heavy cream or a tablespoon or two of butter.  I did not do that this time.  But once I poured the sauce over the chicken I did garnish with freshly grated parmesan.

Stuffed Cabbage

I inherited some cabbage awhile back and not having used it before, I decided to follow some Russian influences and make some stuffed cabbage.  The key for this dish is to boil the cabbage first so the leaves are malleable as you go to stuff them.  Then what you stuff them with is entirely up to you.  I used chicken, rice, and veggies for mine.

So first up, cut the cabbage in half and add the halves to boiling water.  You will lose the integrity of some of the leaves for wrapping, so some wraps may involve 2 leaves instead of 1.  But do be sure you split the cabbage in half lengthwise (so the stalk gets cut in half, otherwise every leaf will be cut in half.

Meanwhile, prepare your filling.  I cooked brown rice according to package instructions, and sauteed some red onions, mushrooms, and garlic in a little olive oil.

Once softened I removed the veggies to the sauce pan containing the rice and sauteed my chicken which I had chopped into 1/2 inch cubes.

Once the chicken was fully cooked, I transferred it too to the rice and veggies and made sure everything was nicely mixed.  I also added diced fresh tomatoes, chopped scallions, salt, and pepper.  

By this point, the cabbage was fully boiled (at least 20 minutes, but longer depending on how cooked you like your cabbage).  Carefully remove the hot cabbage from the water and when cool enough to handle, separate the leaves into individual "bowls" for stuffing.  To each leaf I added a spoonful of my stuffing and topped with freshly grated cheese.

At this point, roll them like a burrito and the next step is at your discretion.  I placed them seam-side down back into the skillet to char a little bit, but also heat through.  You could also put them in a baking dish and put them in the oven for 10-20 minutes.  I added a little broth to get a little steaming action going on, but if you have a sauce prepared, such as a tomato sauce, creamy bechamel, or something else you prefer, you can cook the wraps in the sauce.

To serve, I plated my wraps and added a dollop of sour cream (which is often served with stuffed cabbage at Russian restaurants, only it is a slightly different consistency than the sour cream available in US supermarkets).

Burritos

What's better than a meal you can eat with your hands, and is teeming with flavors and ingredients?  For when you don't want to be constrained by forks, burritos are a sure bet.  If you really want to do these right, I recommend getting large, thin four tortillas that are easily foldable.  I did not have those.  All you need to do next is choose your fillings and go to town.  I went with ground beef.

For this meal I began by sauteing the ground beef with some red onions and corn.  Once fully cooked I added the taco seasoning.

If you don't mind the extra fat contact, skip the part where the taco seasonings tell you to drain the fat and add water to the beef.  It tastes way juicier if you use the meat fat.  But if you don't want a complete calorie bomb for dinner, go ahead and ditch the fatty juices.

Once your meat is cooked, assembly is all that is left.  To prepare the tortillas, put them in the oven on low (200 degrees or so) to warm and soften them.  You can do this while the meat is cooking.  Then grab a plate and throw on your toppings.

Add the cheese to the warm tortilla so it will slightly melt and then be melted again by the heat of the beef.

If adding beans or rice, add them next before the meat.  I was lacking beans and I also forgot about the rice until the end so it was added a little out of order.

Cold ingredients come next.  Starting with the tomatoes.  And followed by the fresh avocado.

 

You can also do pico de gallo and guacamole in lieu of tomatoes and avocado, but at this stage add whatever veggies you want.  Lettuce works too.  

 Here's the rice I forgot to add earlier.  

The final touch is anything saucy.  I added sour cream and some salsa verde.  Then all that is left is to fold and wrap.  Fold the two sides in so they touch the toppings.  Grab the back flap and pull it over and around the innards, pushing the fillings inside as much as possible.  Continue to roll until your wrap is complete.  As you can see in the first image, my burritos were a tad overstuffed for these tortillas, so I had to keep one end open.  As long as you have one burrito butt to avoid food getting all over your hands you should be good. 

Potatoes, Shrimp, and Veggies over Rice and Lettuce

This was an interesting dinner I made about a month ago.  For some reason I was craving potatoes (well, aren't I always?), but also kind of wanted something fresh and salad-like.  So I figured I'd assemble pretty much everything fresh in my fridge on top of lettuce, but added some rice for texture and substance.  It was pretty good.

Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, potatoes, basmati rice, shrimp, red onion, garlic, tarragon, cumin, coriander, salt/pepper, yogurt sauce to garnish

Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes.  I chopped into ~1 inch cubes, but do whatever you prefer.  Then, just as if I was preparing breakfast potatoes I cooked them in the skillet with a little bit of olive oil and added the tarragon, salt/pepper, cumin, and coriander.  Let them cook for about 20 minutes to cook through, and if you want you can periodically add a little broth that will be absorbed and soften the insides. 

Once primarily cooked, I added the red onion, a little garlic, and the shrimp to the pan.  Saute until the shrimp are pink and the onion softened.  I opted to chop my shrimp for the sake of having more shrimp scattered throughout in smaller bites.  It makes the shrimp go further.

Once cooked through you can assemble your meal.  I layered lettuce on the plate first, covered with the rice (it was leftover from a previous dinner so I just reheated it), piled the potatoes/shrimp on next, topped with fresh cucumber and tomato slices, and finally drizzled the sauce over.

The sauce was also leftover from a previous meal (see: Salmon w/ a Zucchini Yogurt Sauce).  It's basically a combination of 1:1 yogurt and mayo.  Then you throw in diced zucchini and chives, but really you can add whatever you like.  Or make your own yogurt sauce. 

So this dish is kind of like a salad, kind of like an mediterranean burrito bowl, but the combination of hot/cold, heavy/light makes for a tasty, hearty meal.

Mediterranean Inspired Beef and Rice stuffed Zucchini

This dish was an attempt to recreate Middle Eastern inspired flavors in my kitchen that pretty much lacks typical spices/flavors/ingredients for that type of cuisine.  But really if you just throw some hummus on top, that counts, right?  I kid, I kid.  But it certainly doesn't hurt. 

The inspiration for this meal was to use the ground beef in my freezer.  Add some rice, veggies, and the right spicing, and you've got yourself a meal! 

Ingredients: ground beef (1 lb), 1 large zucchini, 1/4 white onion chopped, 1/2 lb mushrooms chopped, 1 can tomato paste, basmati rice, cumin, coriander, salt/pepper, toast/hummus/asiago cheese garnish

Begin by browning your beef.  While cooking, prepare the zucchini.  I cut the zucchini in half, halved it lengthwise again, and used a melon baller to scoop out the insides.  Save the insides for the stew and the outer portions for the presentation.

As the beef is browning, add the chopped mushrooms and onions to cook in the heat and fat from the meat. 

Once the meat is browned and the veggies are tender, add the zucchini innards (they'll take less time to cook than the onions/mushrooms).  Cook another minute or two then add the can of tomato paste and your spices.  Add spices to your desired tastes.  And if you're lacking tomato paste, I'm sure you could use tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes instead.  This just gives a stronger flavor.  Once everything is mixed, I put the zucchini boats on top of the beef stew to cook them a little too. 

I put a lid over the skillet and let everything steam for about 15 minutes.  The flavors melded and the zucchini softened.  To begin arranging the meal I started with some toasted sourdough bread.  You could use pita, lavash, whatever you have.  The bread was just a means to sop up extra stewy goodness.  I put two zucchini boats on the plate and filled them with the cooked basmati rice. 

I then covered the zucchini + rice mixture with the beef.  I garnished with some hummus and freshly grated asiago cheese.  A bizarre combination, yes.  Perhaps we should call this a fusion dish.  Anyway, garnish with whatever you'd like...fresh herbs, cheese, yogurt sauce, or nothing at all. 

So you could just as easily serve this without the zucchini boats and just have larger chunks of zucchini cooked in with the beef.  Serve it all over rice.  Or throw together some pita sandwiches with some beef stew, rice, hummus, fresh lettuce and cucumber?  Feel free to go to town with this one. 

Halal Style Chicken and Rice

As a new New Yorker, I was unaware of the phenomenon that was the halal cart on practically every street corner in Manhattan until moving here a few months ago.  So tonight's dinner is inspired by the chicken and rice you can buy off the street for $5 a pop, 24/7, with that oh-so-divine yet oh-so-mysterious "white sauce".

To construct my "knockoff chicken and rice" I created a lettuce base, topped with saffron infused rice mixed with cilantro, and finished with my chicken and veggies.  But let's not forget the white sauce garnish.  We had "dined" at one of the halal carts a few nights earlier, so we had leftover white sauce in a to-go container perfect for adding to our own meals throughout the week. 

For this version I used romaine lettuce.  (Here's an unnecessary picture of the pre-assembled lettuce on the plate.)

 

I prepared the yellow saffron rice according to package directions but added in about 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro toward the end of the cooking.

For the chicken, I chopped some yellow onion, mushrooms, scallions, garlic, and chicken breasts.  Add a little olive oil to a skillet, saute the onion, garlic, and mushrooms until softened.  Throw in your chicken.  Now at this point I added my spices: cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and ground black pepper. 

I went for cooking over a dry heat with dry spices to mimic the fresh-off-the grill aspect of the halal carts.  I threw the scallions in toward the end to cook a little.  But ultimately, the chicken and veggies were quite darkened and had a nice kick to them. 

I scooped my rice on top of the lovely bed of lettuce showcased above.  Then came the chicken/veggies.  And finally what street food meal is complete with the sauce?  A little googling yieldss mixed theories as to the contents of this sauce.  Some say mayo/vinegar.  Some say cucumber/yogurt.  Our version of the sauce had many black specks in it (and no cucumber to be found), and the taste was reminiscent of ranch dressing.  So use whatever sauces/dressings you like.  The lettuce lets you pretend you're having a salad, while the rice reminds you that you're having a heartier meal. 

Shrimp, Vegetable, and Bacon Stir Fry over Rice Pilaf

Another pretty simple stir-fry over rice...with the addition of my favorite condiment: bacon.  Choose your veggies, saute them in olive oil, add your seasonings, serve over rice. 

Always cook your veggies in the order of what will take the longest to soften to what will take the quickest amount of time.  I always start with the garlic and onion.  Then I'll add the zucchini and asparagus.  Once they're to a good level of doneness I'll add the raw shrimp which I chopped, and when it's almost cooked entirely I'll add the corn and spinach since they don't really need to cook, just be warm. 

For seasonings I added a little cumin, coriander, and salt and pepper.  I could've gone for a wet marinade, but I wanted to keep it simple and let the flavors of the ingredients provide the flavor.  And then, since I can't resist, I threw in some chopped cooked bacon at the end for what I like to consider a nice fusion flair. 

Coq Au Vin

Don't ask me how to pronounce it because I always butcher the name, but this is your classic chicken and red wine dish.  Wine sauces pretty much make anything taste classy and I often serve this over rice for nice dinners and the occasional weekend meal. 

There are many variations on how to prepare this, but I tend to follow a few standard procedures.  1st: acquire your wine.  NEVER use "cooking wine".  This is the most vile of all liquids and should never be used for cooking ever.  Now that I've cleared that up, make sure you always use wine you would be willing to drink (in this case it's ok to have bad taste, as long as it's wine meant for drinking).  I like to use the cheapest wine I can find (2 buck chuck?).  This time I used a nicer Italian red.  It doesn't matter, just cook with the taste you like. 

Begin by pouring an entire 750 ml bottle of wine into a bowl/sauce pan.  Add your raw chicken and any sliced veggies you will be using.  This time I used carrots, onions, garlic, and zucchini.  Throw in a bay leaf for flavor.  Heat this mixture on the stove for about five minutes and you'll end up with a lovely purple juice.  

Let this sit for up to a day in the fridge, or you can be lazy like me and cook everything right away.  Heat a sauce pan over medium high heat and add some bacon.  This is the best part of the coq au vin in my opinion, but you probably already knew that.  Remove your bacon strips, drain on a paper towel, and use the bacon grease to cook your chicken.  Drain the chicken from the wine, pat dry, and add to your pan.  Cook on both sides for about 5 minutes.  You can cook it entirely through, or not, since it will stew for awhile later. 

When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan so you can chop it up.  Next, you'll want to drain the veggies from the wine, but don't discard the wine!  You'll then saute the vegetables in the remaining bacon grease (add more butter if you need). 

Once the veggies are good and cooked, push them to the side and add some flour to the pan to create a roux.  I added maybe about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.  Then slowly start adding your reserved wine marinade while stirring/whisking.  The sauce will thicken as it's added.  Once you have all the wine in the pan, add your chicken back and add any seasonings you want (I opted for tarragon and pepper). 

Let this stew for awhile until the sauce reduces by about half or more and the carrots are soft.  I was watching a football game while this reduced, so it maybe had 45 minutes on the stove before halftime.  At the end I mixed in the bacon that we had previously cooked and I ripped up into bite sized pieces.    Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or whatever else you like.  And feel free to add any other vegetables you want.  I often use pearl onions instead of chopped onions, and I love mushrooms in my coq au vin, but sometimes you just have to settle for what you have. 

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.

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.

Cilantro Chicken over Saffron Rice

I have dubbed this meal "Chicken Irene" in honor of last night's impending hurricane while the meal was being consumed.  Luckily there was no damage and my 6 gallons of bottled water did not need to be utilized.

So this is pretty simple.  Prepare saffron rice according to package instructions.  The package looks like this:

I then chopped 1/4 of an onion, about 10 mushrooms, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 large chicken breasts, and 1/2 cup cilantro.  Add some butter to a saute pan and cook the garlic, onion, and mushrooms first.  Once softened add your sliced chicken.  Cook until no longer pink and add a pinch of the cilantro, salt, and pepper, to the pot.

I added about 1/2 of the remaining cilantro to the fully cooked rice and mixed.  Plate the rice, then top with the chicken mixture, and garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro.  I was lacking any sort of sauce for this dish so for a little extra flavor we gave ourselves the option of mixing in hummus.  These portions served 3 people.

Cornish Game Hens with White Rice and Bacon

This recipe has been a mainstay for family dinners for as long as I can remember.  The best part about this is the rice.  It's buttery on the bottom of the baking dish, but the rice on the top gets crunchy and it's pretty fabulous. My mother hates to cook, but she makes good food, and this recipe is one she's perfected.  A quick phone call the other day to ask for proportions and tips, and we were ready for our feast. 

Ingredients: cornish game hens, white rice, butter, onions, salt/pepper, bacon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

This is a pretty simple dish, and you can obviously spice it up if you want other flavors, but we were going for simplicity.  So first, prepare the rice according to package directions.  I used long grain white rice, but you can use any rice you prefer.  I made 1 1/2 cups of rice which yielded 3 cups since my baking dish couldn't hold too much more than that.  For the last 5 minutes of cooking i added diced onions and a tablespoon of butter to the rice. 

When the rice is ready, spread about 1/3 of it on a baking dish.  Stuff the birds with some rice and place them on top of the rice in the baking dish. Fill the rest of the rice in the open areas of the baking dish. 

Now, butter these guys up.  Rub the birds with butter and place little cubes on/in the rice.  I used about 2 tbsp total for this part, but in retrospect I could have used more.  The final, though maybe unnecessary touch, is to drape a slice of bacon across the breast of each hen.  As we know, everything tastes better with bacon, and this adds a nice extra flavor.  But you certainly can roast these hens without it. 

Finally, season with salt and pepper, put in the oven, and bake for about an hour to an hour and a half.  I went for the longest time, just to make sure everything was cooked through, and the butter helped keep things moist.  To serve we typically cut the hens in half with kitchen shears and pile on the rice.