As winter ends, and what a winter it was, I look in the mirror and have noticed I have a few extra pounds I would like to shed. Noel came up with an idea...eat salads. There is a reason I married this woman, she's wicked smaht!! But how do I make a salad that I a self-proclaimed "meatatarian" would want to eat? So in the next two days I will make a salad and blog about them. That's right people you will get a back to back salad blog post.
PART 1 Taco Salad
Last night [Tuesday] Noel and I finally get to go grocery shopping, we usually make a morning out of it, but this week we were busy Sunday. First we go to Red Bone in Somerville for some "BBQ". My mom taught me if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. The water came in a mason jar as did Noel's Coke. That's cool, right? The sausage we got was good but as soon as I get my Kitchen Aid Mixer I will be able to make the same thing. SIDE NOTE I GOT A KITCHEN AID MIXER, I GOT A KITCHEN AID MIXER. It is the the best of the best kitchen tools and I CAN NOT wait to get all the attachments!!! Back to our late week grocery trip. Since it was 8pm Tuesday night we decided we only had the energy to go to Shaws, even for our produce. Sorry Russo's I feel like I have cheated on you once again and I hang my head in shame. We wanted to make simple meals this week since Sunday is Easter Sunday and I will be cooking Easter dinner. I figured what is easier than Tacos from a Taco kit? Well Noel reminds me that I am look to lose some inches from the winter gut. Thanks Honey I love you too! So I figured it would be better to make a taco salad. Brilliant. Lettuce(which I bough a pre-mix, come on buy one get one, and hence the two salad post), green pepper, yellow pepper...This already sounds healthy...plus I get my MEAT. Again Homer Simpson "Mmmmmm MEAT". We checked out the spice mix package but it was more than a buck and we have every spice in the package, so I didn't buy one this time. I did pick up large tortilla chips.
Flash Forward to tonight. I get home from work, do some dishes and start cooking my dinner. In a frying pan I put swirl of oil, one large shallot and two minced garlic cloves. Cooked until it smelled good (about a minute or two), then I added the meat. As the meat was cooking I made the spice mixture and cut up a yellow and green pepper(wish I remembered there was a red pepper too. Would have looked better with more color.) and threw them in with the meat.I know wait a second what was in the spice, I wasn't going to leave this out I swear. I mixed pepper flakes, paprika, cayenne pepper, peppadew (what is peppadew? It is a sweet piquante pepper and garlic seasoning I got at Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet in Melrose), sea salt, green pepper corns, black pepper corns and white pepper corn (thats right I uses the mortar and pestle) fresh herbs,basil, oregano, parsley, sage and thyme. As it finished I realized I was missing tomatoes. Oh the humanity, I didn't have tomatoes. Again my wicked smaht wife comes to the rescue, "Don't you have canned diced tomatoes?". Brilliant, I opened the can, drained some, not all of the juice,tossed it in the meat and cooked for another minute. As that was cooking I tossed the lettuces and chips together, should have cut up the lettuces a little more but cest la vie. I plated lettuces/chip mix, scooped the meat mixture and toped with cheese. Some where there has got to be a healthy meal here. I didn't make a dressing and I drank water. The salad was great a little spicy but good. Noel didn't like the heat but then again she's pretty picky!!
Wait isn't this the love of WINE and cooking. You got me. After the water I drank I got "thirsty" and opened Durnberg Gruner Veltliner Select. If you don't know Gruner it is a white wine from Austria. It's like Pinot Grigio had a baby with Sauvignon Blanc. Dry, crisp with granny smith apple and hints of lemon citrus.. This is a great summer wine, and a must try if you don't already know it!!! This bottle would have gone better with tomorrow nights dinner. This dinner with the meat and spice could have stood up to a red wine like carmenere, malbec or petite sirah or a rose.
Showing posts with label homer simpson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homer simpson. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Arrrrr Matey
Over the weekend Noel and I cleaned the apartment and I found a cook book that I totally forgot we even had, Seduced by Bacon by Joanna Pruess,thank you Mikey. If you read my first post you would know that I LOVE BACON!! So I went through the book and found a few recipes I wanted to try. The first one that caught my eye was on page 105; Jamaican Jerk Shrimp, Mushrooms and Tomatoes. I couldn't wait to try this out. Just a few weeks ago I bought some really nice Jamaican Jerk seasoning rub; Busha Browne's I think I only paid about $5 for it at my favorite store ever, Russo's Market in Watertown, MA. When I got it I knew I needed it but I wasn't sure what I needed it for. Well obviously it was for page 105 in this book!!
So this recipe is wicked easy to do. Cut up about half pound of BACON in half inch strips. I used the double smoked bacon that Noel and I get every week at Russo's. It's so good but a little pricey, I am sure that regular thick cut bacon would work. Dice a large yellow onion, four ounces of shiitake mushrooms destemmed and thickly sliced. So need a side note and there will be a lot of these in posts to come cause Noel does not like mushrooms, Noel doesn't like a lot of things, she is a WICKED PICKY EATER! So I used less than four ounces of mushrooms and it still came out fine. Back to the meal you are going to need two large garlic cloves, minced, two pounds jumbo shrimp. Now I used pre-cooked from Shaws but that was because they didn't have raw jumbo shrimp. I hate the store in Lower Allston but it's close to my apartment and most of the time it's adequate. Now the next ingredient is Rum, that's right I know this is "the love of wine and cooking" but sometimes and, I can't believe I am saying this, but sometimes you don't need to cook with wine. Noel had seen the Kraken black spiced rum in a store looked it up had ever since wanted to try it out so we went to a few of our local liquor stores and finally found it at the Wine Emporium on Columbus Street in the South End. It's actually reasonably priced rum and tastes pretty damn good, plus it has an octopus on the bottle and looks like the kind of bottle Black Beard would have drank from. Again, back to the recipe. Finish up with a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes 3 teaspoons of Jamaican jerk paste, one teaspoon fennel seed (this recipe was great it allowed me to buy yet another spice for my kitchen. I LOVE when that happens) salt and fresh ground pepper and last quarter cup of fresh chopped cilantro. Oh how I LOVE the smell of fresh cut cilantro!!
Now time to cook. First take a shot of rum. Why not, it's been a long day hasn't it? You deserve a quick shot of rum. Take the bacon put it in a heavy casserole (I used my new favorite thing ever, my dutch oven) and over medium heat render half the fat. In words of Homer Simpson "agagagagaga bacon fat". After you have drooled over the bacon fat, add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and saute until onion is slightly colored and make sure to stir this so nothing burns. By this time your kitchen smells great!! Add the shrimp over med-high heat and cook until pink on both sides turning over often. Now take another shoot of rum..... come on, why not? This is why we cook isn't it? Pour the 1/3 cup of rum and scrape the browned bits. Cook for about a minute or two just long enough to slightly reduce the liquid. Stir in the tomatoes, jerk paste, fennel seeds, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add in the cilantro and simmer for five minuets. Now your whole house should smell amazing!!
I served this with rice noodles to give it a more interesting look, and a quick brussel sprout/bacon mash. This is so easy to make. Cut up bacon in small pieces, render some fat off, add diced carrots and let cook for two maybe three minuets just enough to soften the carrots a little. Add the diced onions, diced celery and a little minced garlic and cook just until you can start to smell goodness. Now add the diced brussel sprouts. Cook for about five minuets and just before you think they are done I like to cover and let them steam for another minuet or two. This is an awesome side dish that I like to put with everything.
Since I cooked with Rum this time and not wine, I made a rum drink to go with our meal. This one was not only easy but quite tasty. Two ounces rum, one ounce amaretto and a splash of coke. When it comes to mixed drinks, I eye ball everything. An ounce is about a two second pour.
Serve the Jerk Shrimp and sauce over the noodles and plate the mash. Viola a meal that pirates and land lovers can both enjoy.
So this recipe is wicked easy to do. Cut up about half pound of BACON in half inch strips. I used the double smoked bacon that Noel and I get every week at Russo's. It's so good but a little pricey, I am sure that regular thick cut bacon would work. Dice a large yellow onion, four ounces of shiitake mushrooms destemmed and thickly sliced. So need a side note and there will be a lot of these in posts to come cause Noel does not like mushrooms, Noel doesn't like a lot of things, she is a WICKED PICKY EATER! So I used less than four ounces of mushrooms and it still came out fine. Back to the meal you are going to need two large garlic cloves, minced, two pounds jumbo shrimp. Now I used pre-cooked from Shaws but that was because they didn't have raw jumbo shrimp. I hate the store in Lower Allston but it's close to my apartment and most of the time it's adequate. Now the next ingredient is Rum, that's right I know this is "the love of wine and cooking" but sometimes and, I can't believe I am saying this, but sometimes you don't need to cook with wine. Noel had seen the Kraken black spiced rum in a store looked it up had ever since wanted to try it out so we went to a few of our local liquor stores and finally found it at the Wine Emporium on Columbus Street in the South End. It's actually reasonably priced rum and tastes pretty damn good, plus it has an octopus on the bottle and looks like the kind of bottle Black Beard would have drank from. Again, back to the recipe. Finish up with a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes 3 teaspoons of Jamaican jerk paste, one teaspoon fennel seed (this recipe was great it allowed me to buy yet another spice for my kitchen. I LOVE when that happens) salt and fresh ground pepper and last quarter cup of fresh chopped cilantro. Oh how I LOVE the smell of fresh cut cilantro!!
Now time to cook. First take a shot of rum. Why not, it's been a long day hasn't it? You deserve a quick shot of rum. Take the bacon put it in a heavy casserole (I used my new favorite thing ever, my dutch oven) and over medium heat render half the fat. In words of Homer Simpson "agagagagaga bacon fat". After you have drooled over the bacon fat, add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and saute until onion is slightly colored and make sure to stir this so nothing burns. By this time your kitchen smells great!! Add the shrimp over med-high heat and cook until pink on both sides turning over often. Now take another shoot of rum..... come on, why not? This is why we cook isn't it? Pour the 1/3 cup of rum and scrape the browned bits. Cook for about a minute or two just long enough to slightly reduce the liquid. Stir in the tomatoes, jerk paste, fennel seeds, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add in the cilantro and simmer for five minuets. Now your whole house should smell amazing!!
I served this with rice noodles to give it a more interesting look, and a quick brussel sprout/bacon mash. This is so easy to make. Cut up bacon in small pieces, render some fat off, add diced carrots and let cook for two maybe three minuets just enough to soften the carrots a little. Add the diced onions, diced celery and a little minced garlic and cook just until you can start to smell goodness. Now add the diced brussel sprouts. Cook for about five minuets and just before you think they are done I like to cover and let them steam for another minuet or two. This is an awesome side dish that I like to put with everything.
Since I cooked with Rum this time and not wine, I made a rum drink to go with our meal. This one was not only easy but quite tasty. Two ounces rum, one ounce amaretto and a splash of coke. When it comes to mixed drinks, I eye ball everything. An ounce is about a two second pour.
Serve the Jerk Shrimp and sauce over the noodles and plate the mash. Viola a meal that pirates and land lovers can both enjoy.
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