Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche

Say that you like cooking and catering and enjoy that as a side job with the bonus of added income.  The question that comes up is how do you get that word out?  Advertising opportunities don't just pop up, mostly with catering it is word of mouth which takes time to build.  Kris and I have been working on business cards.  We have some ideas but really haven't settled yet but more important than that is getting people that may buy your food to taste it.  Sure my friends like it when I put a dinner together and I love doing that but lets face it my friends are like me, none of us are rich and most can throw together a meal, which leaves the question still of you to reach that other audience.

Kris works at the corporate office for a large corporation, for their holiday gathering she asked if I would make something a little different to set out with business cards.  Here it is Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche!  For this buffet is is served on fresh mesculin with some flatbread. 

You will need
3/4 of a pound of bay scallops (those are the small ones)
3/4 of a pound of shrimp peeled and devained
Juice from 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1 orange
2 TBS Olive oil
1 green pepper julienned
1 red bell pepper julienned
1 red onion julienned
1 tsp Chipotle chile powder
1 tsp Red pepper flakes
chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
and, kind of a strange one here, some ketchup

Clean shrimp removing shell and tail, I cut mine in half lengthwise.  Bring a pot of water to a boil then put in your shrimp and scallops to blanch for about 10-15 SECONDS.  I keep mine in a strainer so I can pull them out quickly drop them in ice water then lay them on a sheet pan and put them into the fridge.

Juice the citrus fruit into a large bowl then add the shrimp, scallops and olive oil and toss then add the peppers, onions chili powder and pepper flakes.  Toss it all together again and refrigerate for an hour or so then taste, add your cilantro, salt and pepper and the ketchup somewhere between a couple of tablespoons and 1/4 cup.  Toss one more time and serve.

This one has a couple of oddities in it, first is the blanch for 10 seconds, It really works well on the shrimp when the dish is ready to serve it has the wonderful pop of texture but since it is only the 10 to 15 seconds almost all of the "cooking" comes from the acid in the juices.  The ketchup, you want to add enough to turn the liquid into something like a citrus barbeque sauce.  It coats everything with a sweet tangy flavor that plays well with the chipotle and red pepper.

This one is served on spring greens with a flatbread, it really worked best for the venue it was in.  If at home I like to add some avocados when I am done.

Shrimp Scampi (My refrigerator broke III)

I do have to admit that our new addition is a good looking refrigerator, though we took it down a peg with the Batman magnets and various papers and artwork that we hung on it.  Now it looks less like a handsome stranger and more like a member of the family.

When the old one went down one of the things that I had to use was the half a bag of shell on shrimp.  I have been beating myself up for not buying them deveined to begin with.  So I left the bag of them in the back of the freezer until it turned into a refrigerator when I was cleaning that out I just couldn't bring myself to throw shrimp away like I did the Tater Tots or freezer burned pita bread.  These guys ended up being Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Basil Linguini. 

The Pasta
2 cups Semolina Flour
2 Large Eggs
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 Package of fresh Basil
3 Cloves of garlic
2 TBS water
Kosher Salt

Mince Garlic and fresh Basil together, add a little Kosher salt and smash into a paste.  Put Semolina Flour into a mixing bowl, add eggs and olive oil then add the garlic, basil paste and mix together.  This mixture will  most likely be kind of dry so add your water to this to get the consistency that you want.  I don't think there is a better way to tell if it is OK than "psychic feel"  When it is all mixed together kneed for about 5 minutes on a lightly flowered surface then tightly wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for about an hour.

When you are ready put it through the pasta press, pressing to be a little bit thinner each time through until it is where you want it then cut into fettuccine sized noodles and hang until you are ready.

The Shrimp
1/2 pound raw shrimp (more or less) cleaned
4 TBS butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Peel and devein a whole mess of shrimp, this was a little bit less than a half pound, or you could just buy them deveined then you don't have to mess with this annoying process.  Melt butter in a skillet then add garlic and saute until tender.  Add shrimp and cook until almost done (just starting to turn pink) then add wine, red pepper and fresh parsley and cook until done just a minute or two more, salt and pepper to taste.  Pull shrimp out with a slotted spoon and set aside, covered so it stays warm keep the juices for the pasta.

For the pasta bring a quart of water to a boil then add fresh pasta and a little salt.  Boil until tender, about 5 minutes.  I have to admit that I am having some trouble getting fresh pasta cooked just right, it seems that there is only about 1.2 seconds between half cooked and mush.  I am getting closeer though, but not ready to take the fresh pasta on the road yet.  When it is done (or as close as you can get it) drain then add to the juices and butter from the shrimp and saute over high heat for a few minutes.  Dump the pasta onto your serving plates then add the shrimp to serve.

Shrimp and Grits

A few days ago I was at my one of my regular haunts (you know the grocery store) and picked up some dandelion greens.  I am not sure why I got dandelion greens, they were there and looked all green and well... if you have a yard you know what they look like.  I have never eaten them before but am always ready to try something new.  So I tossed them in my cart and went on my way.  As I walked around the store I started to think of my grandmother on my dad's side, Grandma Tip, short for Gwendolyn (don't ask me how Southerners come up with nicknames).  I thought of her because I understand that she made her own dandelion wine and something the family called potato peel whiskey it involved rotting vegetable trimmings, a slow cooker and a hose (sorry to say both of those recipes are lost).

Anyway I started feeling all nostalgic and Southern and at the same time and picked up some grits. I used to hate grits, "Wow Dad, breakfast tastes exactly like wet sand, thanks" It is a wonder I wasn't slapped a little more often.  As an adult now I like them; bacon, eggs, grits with a little cheese can really do it  for a meal... my turn to force them on my kiddos right? I'll tell you all how that worked out.

Anyway, stories about grandma Tip are the things that family legends are made of I thought I would share one of the milder ones.  Most just don't seem appropriate for a family show like this blog but this one passes the PG test...

Grandma Tip was about five feet tall and couldn't have weighed more than 96 pounds she was sitting at the kitchen/dining room table in her trailer home chain smoking unfiltered cigarettes when Grandpa Jesse came home from work (he drove a truck and was gone for a few days at a time).    My Grandpa said something along the lines of, "Tip, I'm leavin' ya' I got another woman and we are moving in together."

Now mind you this would have been the mid 1950s in rural Kentucky, so it is hard to imagine a woman in Grandma Tip's position doing anything else...  She started screaming like a banshee then grabbed the razor strop off the kitchen wall (where else would you keep it?) and took it to Jesse then grabbed her shot gun and ran outside.  There are no actual witnesses to the rest of the story because she set Jesse's car on fire before running down the driveway on her way to the woman's house and sending her out of town...

A few months ago I was going through my picture box, yes I have a Tomato box filled with pictures.  They are in no order at all, pictures of my parents when they were dating are on top of my 12 year old's second birthday party, in the same pile as Mr. Man as a baby and my kindergarten class picture.  I pulled this one out of a stack of hundreds and Kris saw it and said, That's Grandma Tip isn't it?

"How did you know?"
Kris answered that she looks like the person in the stories that I have told.

On to a recipe... of sorts it is more in the honor of  Southern roots than anything the family made, like I said they were in rural Kentucky and didn't have things like shrimp available.

This is enough for two
Start with the grits
Bring two cups of water to a boil then add the grits, I just eyeball it but it is about a quarter of a cup plus two Tablespoons.  Stir it all together and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes.  You can set this aside and keep it warm while you do the rest.


The Shrimp
Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet
Add two of cloves of minced garlic cook until soft but not burned
Take your shrimp (peeled and deveined) enough for two; saute until done
When those guys are done set aside covered with foil

The Dandelion Greens
In the pan that you coked your shrimp add a little more butter (ok a couple of tablespoons) some salt and pepper and saute until done to your liking.  There are really no measurements here either, the rule of thumb with sauteed greens is to use twice as much as you think you need and you will get almost the amount you wanted.

To serve dish up your grits top with dandelion greens and then shrimp, feel free to salt and pepper as needed and, since this is southern cooking add a little butter.

Pork and Shrimp Burgers

Things have been a little slow around here for a few weeks, I have just been a little off my game lately.  It happens to us in the winter sometimes, Kris and I have a tenancy to go "underground" and hibernate just a bit, we don't see much of our friends, mostly we go to work then have dinner and go to bed.   We all have the worst case of that late February cabin fever.  You know how it goes you get the 2 or 3 nice days in a row, you pull out the windbreaker and start to feel like it is spring then get up for work one morning and end up spending 40 minutes scraping a half inch of ice off of the car windows.  I know it is going to happen, something like that has every year since... well... birth but it always is a kick in the b well it just isn't fun. Let me try to say it right.  On a normal day when I see just about any food related occurrence in my life (and I have a lot of them) I start to think of how I can describe them here, some make the cut most don't.  The past month or so I haven't, I have just been off...

That being said I think I have pulled my self out of my self inflicted funk, the recipes and a bunch of pictures are already.  Every time I look at food my mind starts to think of how I can fit it in here, there so it is just a matter of my fingers keeping up with the rest of me.  This recipe is a mixture of something that I thought sounded good on a show I saw on Food Network and a recipe that I had.  When I tasted this it ROCKED!  Really a great Spring/Summer dish, bright, vibrant and spicy without a hint of anything heavy too it.  I love a food pickled slaw with a dish to add that bright POP to a meal this one ended up being a great mixture when it was all put together...

The Slaw
1 cup Rice wine Vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup shredded Diakon
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 TBS chopped Cilantro
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the vinegar and sugar until the sugar dissolves.  While that is going put the rest of your ingredients into a bowl, add the vinegar sugar mix and stir together until coated.  Put into the refrigerator until cold.  Quick warning... as a condiment this is really good, spicy and bright, it worked great on these sandwiches but the pepper flakes do make it HOT when I tasted this out of the bowl I thought I had gone too far,  if you are unsure cut back some.

The burger patties
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
1 small onion chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs

I will be honest I may have used a little less than the 1/2 pound shrimp because I was getting sick of deveining them (note to self buy them deveined already, doing it yourself is a pain in the butt).  Put your raw trimmed shrimp into a food processor until they are well chopped but not too much, when you cook them you want some larger bits for texture.  Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together, then form patties (I made three but I wanted them a little large because well I was hungry and the kiddos weren't going near this one).  Place the patties on parchment paper and refrigerate for about half an hour until firm.

When it is time to cook put the patties on the grill and cook for maybe 5-6 minutes on each side until done.  I buttered a couple of buns and toasted those on the grill too.  To assemble put a little Sriracha mayo on the bottom but then the burger patty then the slaw.  Serve with a little Sriracha mayo on the side.

Spring Rolls

I mentioned before that My middle daughter Miss El visited us between Christmas and New Year this year.  When she was here the last time she was telling me that she wanted to try something different.

"You know those things with the wrappers... not egg rolls but with the vegetables and stuff inside, they are cold and have shrimp and stuff."

Of course Spring Rolls!  I pulled the wrappers out of the pantry and we played around with them for a bit.  They are odd little things, when they are fresh from the box they are dry brittle circles but soak them in warm water for a few minutes and they become slippery but sturdy and extremely pliable wraps for a light lunch.

Anyway Miss El, Miss Lu and I decided to make some.  I laid out the ingredients in bowls for us, they were
Salad spring mix
Shredded carrots
Julienned chicken
Shrimp sauteed in garlic butter
Wasabi vinegrette
Italian dressing

Wasabi dressing is simple to make and adds a bit of bright pop to these the ingredients are:
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Powdered Wasabi
3 Tbs Rice Vinegar
3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Water
a splash of soy sauce
Mix it all together and BANG you have a bright dressing for salads or something like this!

Take your Spring Roll Wrappers and soak for a few minutes until pliable.

Fill with your favorite ingredients and roll (burrito style)

Shrimp in Paper

This is one of my favorites,when I was updating the menus at a little Italian restaurant that I friend of mine owned this is one that I put onto the menu. When the package of dinner comes to your table it is like opening a present. You tear open the parchment and and the scented steam pores out it is a fun experience. It is really a beautiful dish too I couldn't do it justice in my pictures, I may have to sign up for a photography class... anyway the effect in real life is cool you open up the parchment and think something like "wow that is cool... it smells great" you see the picture and think "bag of garbage" sorry.

It it really simple to make, on the bottom is Cous cous that is really simple for the two I made:

3/4 cup Cous cous
3/4 cup boiling chicken broth

Put the dry Cous cous in a bowl add the chicken broth cover and let sit for about 5 minutes then fluff with a fork.

Take a 12x12 inch piece of parchment, spray the bottom with a little pan spray then, on each sheet put:
3/4 cup Cous cous
2 TBS Diced Onion
2 TBS Diced Bell Pepper
5 ounces of raw peeled Shrimp
2 TBS Pesto Sauce (I just bought some at the grocery store, I like to make it myself, but that wasn't happening this week)Pull up the sides like a big Hershey's kiss tie it up and put into a hot oven for 20 minutes. The shrimp is perfectly done, everything is infused with the Garlic and Basil flavor and odor, The cous cous comes out with a little bite to it but flavorful and light. It is great.

It makes me a little sad, because it really is
a cool dish, I just couldn't get the right picture

Spring Rolls

I have been feeling like such a slug lately, a couple of days ago I woke up with my eyes all crusty, once I managed to walk/stumble/stagger to the bathroom mirror I found the reason... Pink eye or some other evil attack on my eyes and sight. Over the next few days this turned into a cold.

In a few posts I have mentioned that I have kind of a precarious hold on my "man card" to begin with... Once you brag to your buddies about your new stick blender or kitchen torch it is pretty much shot. In some ways I am rather proud of that, one of them being that on the rare occasions that I do get sick I just suck up and go. In the four years that I have been at my job I have used 1 sick day, I think now that if I do come down with a debilitating illness I can take up to 5 weeks off, before I use them all up. Like vacation days I am almost afraid to use my sick days, I know, it makes no sense.

Instead of shuffling around the house in a bathrobe carrying a hot water bottle I like to pretend that everything is "just fine" turns out that may be even more annoying. Were I just sick and laying on the sofa at least my insanity would be localized. The way I am I go to work and act like I am "just fine" but do a half assed job at best. Then go home and shovel the walk or some other goofy task that I probably wouldn't do if I were well, but I have to prove that I am "just fine." That being said I have about 5 dishes lined up in my kitchen to prepare for this blog but every time that I go in there I just shuffle back and forth between the refrigerator and counter wondering what to do, it is all so confusing. Usually I can't think of anything, you know like open the refrigerator door, or clean off the counter eventually I just give up and sit down to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy for the 107th time that day (Mr. Man's Favorite).

Anyway, this dish is actually a one I made late last summer but just never found it's way to this Blog, it is really good and easy to do... maybe I started on my fall root vegetable kick the next week. A few years ago I used to work with some caterers around the Chicago and I saw Spring Rolls come up at a lot of events, depending on what you put inside them they can be inexpensive and face it, they look all fancy-pants. These are simple to make Spring Roll Skins are available at any Asian Grocery Store. These are kind of strange creatures they transform from brittle, extra thin communion wafer like thingies to extremely pliable gluey wraps by soaking them in water for just a few seconds.

Ok they look like something from Invasion

of the Body Snatchers here but they are good.

This isn't really a recipe since it is basically a sandwich that you are making, The ingredients are:Spring Roll Wrap (one per roll)

Cooked Shrimp (4 per)

Julienned Carrots and Cucumbers (small bunch per)

Mesculin Salad Blend (handful per)

Wasabi Vinaigrette (1 TBS per)

The Wasabi Vinaigrette is easy here is how you make it:
1 TBL Wasabi Powder
1 TBL Honey
3 TBL Olive Oil
3 TBL Rice Wine Vinegar
2 TBL Water
1 TBL Salt
Mix it all up with a fork and it is ready to go.

Soak the wraps for a couple of minutes then in each one put the four shrimp topped with carrots, cucumbers then a generous handful of salad mix top with the Vinaigrette then wrap like a burrito. These will keep overnight if you want to just cover with a damp paper towel plastic wrap. If it is just for your snack eat-up!