Shrimp Quesadillas with Mango Salsa

This was the featured dinner item at my 4th of July shindig this year.  We spent all day stuffing ourselves with chips, guac, cookies, and a failed attempt at frozen yogurt, so we really weren't all that hungry.  Thus something simple and quick to hold us over before the fireworks.

Sadly, I do not have any more pictures for you.  So imagine if you will, a skillet on medium heat.  Take your flour tortilla and place it in the skillet to warm it on the side that will be holding your fillings.  Remove said tortilla and lightly butter your skillet.  Place the tortilla back in the pan, this time facing the other way so the outside is cooking nicely in the butter.  Having a pre warmed interior means faster cook time, which results in a less burnt exterior.

You can add your cheese almost immediately and watch it melt.  I then added shrimp which I poached in chicken broth, but you can use any pre cooked shrimp you have.  After only a minute or two the cheese should be mostly melted.  You can put a lid over the skillet for 30 seconds or so.  Then fold the tortilla over, heat about another 30 seconds, slide onto a plate, and slice into thirds.

No microwaves or toaster ovens allowed.

The salsa is much more exciting.  Get a fresh mango.  Chop it into small cubes.  Similarly chop some red onion and cilantro.  Put it all togeter with some fresh lime juice and toss to coat.  Proportion to your own tastes.  I had about 1/3 cup red onion, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mango, 1/3 cup cilantro, and maybe a tbsp or 2 of lime juice.

Serve as a garnish with chips, dillas, or any white fish, especially if the fish is blackened or spicy because the mango and lime provide a nice contrast.

Seared Scallops in a Walnut Leek Sauce with Fried Sage and Bacon

I haven't had much of an occasion to cook myself scallops lately, so I had a friend over for dinner last night who also loves bivalves as much as I do, which allowed me to try a new recipe I found in Food and Wine Magazine.  The only glitch was that the recipe called for chestnuts and wouldn't you know, but no grocer sells chestnuts in June.  This was incredibly frustrating, as I had purchased all the necessary ingredients sans chestnuts, so I opted to substitute walnuts in the sauce.  Had I planned more than an hour before dinner time, perhaps chestnuts could have been found in the city.  Suffice it to say, next time I'll plan ahead.

Sauce Ingredients bacon, 1 leek, 2 tbsp cognac, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup walnuts, salt/pepper
Other Ingredients Scallops, sage leaves, butter, olive oil


The recipe called for one slice of bacon, but that's like filling a fishbowl with only 1 drop of water, so I bumped it up to five slices.  Slice and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until properly rendered.

I removed 1/2 the bacon for garnish later, and to the pan added the sliced leek, white and green portions.  After cooking for about 5 minutes to soften, it was time to add the cognac.  I purchased cheap brandy since I'm not much of a cognac drinker, but in the future I may use white wine, or a fruit cider.  The fun part is adding the cognac and igniting it.  Please don't attempt this at home if you've never tried it before.

Typically when you ignite liquor on the stove you are using a shallow sauce pan which you can tilt into the gas flame of the stove to pick it up.  I don't have a shallow sauce pan.  I used a blow torch.  After about a minute the flame subsides, but if you want to make sure you can blow it out completely.  Next you add the chicken broth and the walnuts, or chestnuts if you are so lucky.

Let simmer for five to ten minutes, remove from heat to cool a bit, then transfer to a blender and puree.  Return to saucepan, season with salt and pepper and let sit over low heat while you prepare the scallops.

In a shallow pan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add single sage leaves and fry for about a minute, turning over once.

If you've never had fried herbs/greens before they assume a really interesting texture.  They practically melt on your mouth after an initial feeling like a thin paper.  Sage leaves, since they are naturally so thick, did not have quite the same effect of disintegration, but it was close.


Finally it's time to cook the scallops in the sage infused oil.  Make sure the oil level is low, and add the scallops to sear on the outside.  Turn over after a minute or two.  Then melt some butter in the pan and spoon it over the scallops to continue cooking for another 2 to 5 minutes.  The butter acts as a poaching liquid at this point, but keeps the scallops moist.

Finally you're ready to plate.  Serve immediately so the scallops don't get tough.  I plated the sauce first, then piled on the mashed potatoes and displayed the scallops around.  Garnish with the sage leaves and bacon.  We served with salad on the side.

All in all I would prepare this again, hopefully using chestnuts instead of walnuts.  The scallops were perfect, but we both agreed the brandy flavor in the sauce was a little more noticeable than we would have liked.  I had no problem mixing the sauce with the mashed potatoes and avoiding the strength of the brandy.  The leeks and bacon really came through too.  In the future I may skip the brandy, use less, or use a different spirit.  But if you like your sauces tasting like something from behind the bar, then you'll love this dish.

Swiss Chard, Mushroom, and Feta Fritata

  

I was in charge of bringing breakfast to our weekly Tuesday morning meeting at work a few weeks ago.  Typically people pick up a box of bagels.  If we're lucky they pick up breakfast pastries from somewhere more exotic.  And on the very rare occasion we get a homemade version of  a breakfast crumble.  Not being one to settle for store bought breakfast, and wanting to abandon the carb heavy trend that has been set, I decided to make something more suited to my tastes.  I'm an eggs and bacon kind of girl, so a fritata seemed perfect.  Though, I also made banana bread so people could have the familiar starch option to fall back on. 

The fritata was the best way to serve eggs aside from bringing in a plug in skillet and making made to order omelets in the conference room.  I baked it about 90% the night before, put it in the fridge, and finished it in the oven the next morning before work.  This is ideal for parties or early mornings when you want as little to worry about the day of the meal.  

I decided to prepare a vegetarian fritata, seeing as that would be safest.  I figured feta cheese was less polarizing than goat, but the swiss chard would give it a fun kick slightly stronger than spinach.  

a pile of stalks compared to a still intact leaf of swiss chard

My favorite part of preparing chard is removing the stalks.  You basically grab a hold of the thick end with one hand, and with your other hand, lightly cup over the same end of the stalk and slide up.  The leaves will be almost entirely removed.  Since the stalk is so thick, you don't want to just cut off the bottom, you want to get rid of all of it.  Be sure to rinse and dry your chard, and you can either tear or chop into large pieces.  

Meanwhile, slice your onion and mushrooms.  I used 1/2 a yellow onion and 12 oz mushrooms.  Saute in butter to soften.

 

I would use bacon fat had I included meat in this dish, and if you have a stronger morning palate, feel free to throw in some garlic.

Once softened, throw in the chard to wilt it.  Some people may add water to wilt their greens, I found this unnecessary and didn't want to have to drain too much of the chard after cooking.  

Once wilted, there will be some residual liquid from the leaves.  Typically people tell you to wilt greens alone, then wring them dry, but I wanted all the flavors to infuse together, so instead I strained the entire mixture to remove excess water/butter.  

Meanwhile in a large bowl I whisked 12 eggs.  I added some salt and pepper, the chard/mushroom/onion mixture, and finally about 6 oz feta cheese.  I combined everything well, then poured into a greased glass baking dish and baked in a 325 degree oven for 50 minutes.

Make sure the eggs aren't overcooked, remove, cover, refrigerate, and the next morning reheat in the 325 degree oven for 10 minutes. 

Filet Mignon with Bearnaise Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, and Bacon

This meal is not for the faint-of-gut vegetarian watching his cholesterol.  I'm almost embarrassed putting this online, but it was such a deliciously decadent dinner, and people pay a lot of money to clog their arteries at steakhouses, so here's how you can inch your way to heart disease from your own kitchen!

A good steak relies first on its cut, then on its preparation.  You can't go wrong with a filet (cut from the tenderloin of the cow), the most tender portion of meat on the cow.

Woo hoo! Meat Anatomy Lesson!

The tenderloin is typically the most expensive cut of meat from your butcher.  If you're making this for a special occasion, splurge.  Go to the butcher counter rather than the pre-packaged section.  But if you're like me and wanted to treat yourself one night because you walked 1.2 miles (it doesn't matter that you walked to the shopping mall, it still counts!), then look for the discounted meats sold at the end of the week that are close to "expiring" and marked down.  Throw it in the freezer, and you've got nothing to worry about. 

Step 1: Thaw the meat.  Since this is such a good cut of steak, don't defrost in the microwave and risk cooking it a little.  Defrost on the counter all day, or in the fridge overnight.  Trim away excess fat.

Step 2: Season.  Since this steak was served with a strong sauce, a little salt and pepper on each side was all I used.

Step 3: Cook.  I do not have the luxury of a grill, so I utilize pan-searing to cook my meats.  Get the pan nice and hot, a good medium-high setting on the stove will do.  You can lightly coat your pan with oil or butter to avoid sticking.  Throw on your steak.  Cook about 2-3 minutes per side to get a nice seared exterior.  At this point I transfer to the oven to heat through to my desired doneness (rare).  It's up to you whether you stay on the stove or move to the oven, or use a grill.  Just don't overcook your steak!

Step 4: Prepare your sides/sauces.  People often serve bacon wrapped tenderloins.  Rather than wrap mine with bacon, I cooked the bacon and served it on the side.  I made mashed potatoes ahead of time, but make the Bearnaise sauce right before serving.  I make the sauce from a packet.  It's delicious.  You need butter and milk.

Step 5: Plate, add your desired amount of sauce, eat, enjoy the resulting food coma.

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

My apologies for the extremely long blog hiatus.  Would you believe I went the entire month of April without making a single new dinner item?  Lots of restaurants and boxed meals meant a little neglect for LND.  Now I've got a little backlog from May that it's probably about time to address.  So I bring you: pork tenderloin.

I'm a fan of baking pork tenderloin and then slicing it before serving.  I find the pork remains rather juicy/tender this way, and one of my biggest gripes about pork is that it can be prepared and served too dry, ending up like shoe leather.  Baking the pork tenderloin in its entirety at a low enough heat and not overdoing it is the key.

This meal is rather simple.  Purchase a tenderloin, and season accordingly.  If you plan on using a wet marinade, soak at least overnight (I opted for a simple teriyaki marinade).  If using a dry rub, you don't need to let it sit before you bake.  Place your tenderloin in a roasting pan and heat in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness and desired doneness.

Interesting fact about trichinosis: it is actually killed at 145 degrees Fahrenheit, which translates to a medium-rare pork.  But the FDA or whoever is so worried about undercooked meat that they scare us into thinking pork has to be completely well-done to be safe.  I know if I was served pink pork, I'd be a little nervous.  Thanks a lot government scare tactics.  The best way to check doneness is to use a meat thermometer.  Determining temperature based on color and how cooked the meat is isn't the best.  If you're still wary about eating rare pork, let it go to 150 or 155 degrees.  A nice medium to medium well.  The flavor and juiciness will turn you into a believer that overcooking pork is no longer necessary.

Once out of the oven, slice and serve.  I quickly seared the pork slices after I cut them because I was starving and they weren't cooked enough, hence why the picture indicates a charred exterior on all the slices.  Don't be lazy or start cooking this meal when you're already starving.  It still tasted great, but I lost a little bit of the juiciness thanks to my impatience.

Enchiladas

This was my first foray into enchilada making, and I wanted to make everything from scratch, including the enchilada sauce. I never really knew what went into the sauce, but now I'm pretty much an expert.  And yes, they were delicious so I will make these many more times in the future.

The roommate and I made these the other night at midnight.  Perhaps we are insane, but midnight enchiladas are something everyone should try at least once.  And they reheat well too, making for good lunch the next day. 

For the sauce, I basically followed this recipe.  I heated oil in a saucepan, added the flour, then added the chili powder.  I didn't have any chicken stock or broth, so I ended up just using water.  And instead of having ten ounces of tomato paste, I only had six.  But I did have oregano and cumin!  So this is what it looked like:

While the sauce simmered and thickened, it was time to prep the filling.  First we sauteed 1 tbsp garlic with 1 chopped shallot in a little olive oil.  Once nicely softened and lightly browned I added the corn.  

After about a minute to heat through I added a can of diced tomatoes.  I then washed, peeled, and sliced the raw shrimp into halves and added the raw shrimp to the skillet.  After about five minutes the shrimp were pink and the filling was ready.


Now I apologize for the lack of pictures at this point.  It was midnight. I forgot about my camera while my hands were coated in enchilada sauce, but just pretend you can see what I did next.  First coat the bottom of your baking dish with some of the enchilada sauce.


Microwave the tortillas for half a minute to a minute to soften them and prepare them to be rolled.  We in total used five flour tortillas.  Coat the tortillas on both sides with a thin layer of enchilada sauce.  We did this on a plate so as not to make too much of a mess elsewhere.  We then sprinkled fresh monterey jack cheese over the inside of the tortilla.  Next, scoop about 1/2 cup of the filling into the center of a tortilla.  Roll/fold the tortilla to encase the stuffing, and place into the baking dish, seam side down.  Repeat for the rest of your tortillas.  Once your baking dish is full, cover the enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce.

Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese generously on top and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  

A peak inside the enchiladas after coming out of the oven

Sprinkle freshly chopped scallions and cilantro on top of the enchiladas once out of the oven.  When serving, add a dollop of sour cream, or perhaps some guacamole/avocado and enjoy your midnight fiesta!

Taco Bake

This is another recipe my mother used to make a lot.  It's fairly simple, but it's quite good thanks to the combination of flavors and textures.  It would probably be easy to make a vegetarian version of this.  I'd suggest a can of chopped tomatoes, zucchini, black or pinto beans, and any other vegetables you enjoy with Mexican flavors.  But for you meat-eaters out there, go for the ground beef.

Ingredients: 1.25 lbs ground beef, 1 can tomato sauce, 12 oz corn, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1/4 cup water, 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix (1 egg and milk for the corn muffin mix), 1 can French's french fried onions, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start by browning the ground beef in a skillet.  Once cooked, drain most of the fat and add the packet of taco seasoning and water.  Add the corn and the can of tomato sauce and mix.  Once heated through, pour mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish.

Prepare the corn muffin mix according to package directions.  Mix in 1/2 can of the french fried onions.  Spoon atop the ground beef mixture in the casserole dish, creating a box around the center.  The corn muffin mix will expand as it bakes, so this technique should yield even cooking.

Bake for 20 minutes.  At this point, open the oven and sprinkle the remaining french fried onions and the shredded cheddar cheese on top.  Bake for another 2 minutes until the cheese melts.  Remove from the oven, scoop, and serve.

Shrimp, Bacon, and Goat Cheese Salad

It apparently came as a shock to most of my friends and family that i made a salad for dinner last night.  Ok, it shocked me too.  But i have so much leftover lettuce that's going bad!  So what do you add to vegetables to make them taste better?  Bacon! 

I'm pretty sure you don't need my help knowing how to make a salad, but this is what I put in it:  shrimp (poached like in the previous blog entry), bacon, diced shallot, corn, and a mix of fresh baby greens.  I made the dressing with 2 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar, and whisked with salt and pepper and some freshly chopped basil.  Pour the dressing over the salad, toss, and at the end add the goat cheese and toss once again.  (The goat cheese is what makes the dressing in the above picture look more like a ranch, because I tossed it too much and it lost it's individual clumps...still delicious though.)

The magic touch, however, was when I scooped the bacon onto the lettuce, I didn't drain first on paper towels.  That way some residual bacon grease ended up wilting the greens, and in my opinion really improving their taste.  

Open Faced Shrimp Melt

Okay, so I realize this is very similar to the shrimp melts I posted a couple months ago, but it was so delicious last night that I felt the need to document and share.  This turns the appetizer portion into a meal.  Add whatever you like on your sandwich, and use two slices of bread if you want.

Ingredients: Shrimp, tarragon, white wine, water, scallions, mayo, lettuce, bacon, bread, cheddar cheese

First, prepare the shrimp.  Always start with raw shrimp.  It's cool if the shrimp is frozen, as long as it isn't cooked already.  That produces the best texture and taste.  I poach the shrimp in a 1:1 mixture of white wine and water with about a tsp of dried tarragon over medium heat.

I left the tails on for the poaching, but you don't have to.  After about a minute or two on each side, your shrimp should be cooked through.  Remove from the poaching liquid and set aside to cool.  Once cool, remove tails and chop into thirds.

Meanwhile, cook your bacon, toast your bread, and prep your lettuce.  Thinly slice a scallion and add it to a mixing bowl.  Add the chopped shrimp to the scallions and coat both with mayonnaise.  Use as much or as little as you like.  I probably used 1 to 2 tbsp.  Add a little salt and pepper and if you want more tarragon you can add that too.  A splash of lemon juice or chives are also suitable additions.

Assemble the sandwich.  Bread.  Lettuce.  Bacon.

Now it is up to you how you want to melt the cheese on your sandwich.  I usually put the shrimp mayo mixture on top of the bacon and coat with grated cheddar cheese, then place the entire sandwich in a toaster oven to melt the cheese.  Last night I instead opted to heat just the shrimp with the cheese on top so as to not cook the toast, lettuce, or bacon any more.  Once the cheese was melted, I scooped the cheesy shrimp on top of the bacon.


I ate with my hands, but obviously if you're classy you'll use utensils.  I'd also suggest throwing some avocado on top, but I alas did not have any.  Ideally, I would serve this on a dutch crunch roll, but the shrimp is so good it can work with whatever bread you give it.

Tarragon Potato Latkes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream

This was last night's dinner, but I'd recommend it for brunch.  This is a very simple potato latke recipe, so if you have another that you prefer, keep doing what you're doing. 

Ingredients: 2 potatoes, 1 shallot or 1/2 a small onion, 1 egg, 1 tbsp flour, 1 tsp dried tarragon or 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, salt and pepper
Toppings: smoked salmon, sour cream or creme fraiche, tarragon to garnish

Begin by grating the potatoes, I used russet, and the onion or shallot with a coarse cheese grater.  Place grated potato in a dish towel and ring out all the water.  Place potato and shallot in a bowl.

The potato may start to turn color, so you can add a splash of lemon juice if you aren't able to work quickly and tend to the potatoes immediately.  Next, whisk your egg and add it to the bowl, followed by the flour.  Once mixed, season with salt, pepper, and tarragon.

Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a skillet.  Form potato mixture into little balls and place in heated oil over medium to medium/high heat.  Press down to flatten.  Cook about 3 minutes on one side then flip over.  Continue cooking until you've reached your desired level of brown doneness. 

Once cooked, you may drain on a paper towel, or not if you don't care about a little residual oil.  Top with a dollop of sour cream, any amount of smoked salmon you want, and a sprinkle of tarragon.