Kiss My Grits!

I don't know what to do with myself. After school activities are in full swing now, and Mondays is karate day. The beauty of karate day is that our oldest takes karate at school. Which means no rushing to the car pool line and then rushing somewhere else (it also means his poor little brother is stuck in aftercare for a while longer, but an extra hour of playground time never hurt a kid). Which also means I have an entire extra hour on Mondays to do something incredibly productive, like write a blog post.

When I was in Atlanta last week (and DH and the kids were eating bagels for dinner), Atlanta Mom and I made this shrimp and grits recipe. Let me just say, I am a total and complete shrimp and grits snob. It's amazing how many people get it flat out wrong, and try to turn it into something fancy. But leave it to Paula Deen, she of Savannah fame, to get it just right. This is the perfect shrimp and grits recipe, quite possibly the best I've ever had. Sorry no picture - we inhaled it so fast no one thought to document it.

Shrimp and Creamy Cheddar Grits
6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (might want to make it 7 slices if you can't help yourself from snacking on it once it's sitting there on the counter, all chopped and tantalizing...)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (Atlanta Mom got Paula's recommended Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, and it had some serious kick to it. We decided we might dial this back a bit next time.)
1/2 cup dry white wine (Whatever you're drinking that night)
1 pound large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (wild caught, not farmed!)
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives (I think we left these off. We didn't miss them.)
Creamy cheddar grits (recipe follows)

Cook your bacon, set aside. Once it cools, chop it up and force yourself not to just eat it then and there. Drain the pain, leaving about 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings in the pan. Add peppers, garlic, and Creole seasoning, and cook 2 minutes. Add wine, cook 2 more minutes. Make sure heat is on medium-high, and add the shrimp until pink and firm. Do not over cook! They should take about 2-3 minutes to cook. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and chives. Serve over cheddar grits and sprinkle with the bacon. Delish!

Cheddar grits
32 ounces chicken broth (either a box of Kitchen Basics, or your own homemade, if you have it)
1 cup water
1 cup stone ground white grits (All Southern cooks have their favorites; I love Bob's Red Mill Grits) (Do not use instant or any kind that are not stone ground.)
1 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp white cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (Paula calls for white pepper, which is very popular when you use the white cheddar cheese with the grits, but I don't think it makes a bit of difference in cooking and wouldn't buy some just for this. Regular black pepper is fine.)

In a medium saucepan, combine chicken broth and water, bring to a boil. Add grits, stir until combined. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently for an hour. Stir in half-and-half, cook for 45 minutes or until desired consistency. Remove from heat, add cheese, butter, and pepper. Stir well. Ladle into bowls, top with the shrimp, and ENJOY.

Not Lost In Translation

This is one of those evenings when I'm so tired I am having trouble staying upright. It's only 8:30pm as I type this, yet I could so happily crawl into bed and fall asleep right this very moment. But, dear readers, I promised you shrimp pizza, and shrimp pizza you shall get.

This pizza is one of our all time, very favorite meals. I have been making this forever, and it's one of my husband's most requested dinners. But since we've been on this grilled pizza kick, I haven't made it. Honestly, I was worried it wouldn't do as well on the grill, since the shrimp needs time to cook, and all the pizzas I do on the grill are pretty quick-cooking. But we were missing it, and shrimp season will be over before too long, so I decided to try it last week.

Hello, fabulous.

It was so good. Better, even, than in the oven. The downside is that the prep for it is a smidgen time consuming. But I promise it's worth it. If you don't want to grill your pizza, this does great on one of the thin Boboli crusts you can buy at the grocery store.

Ingredients

12 large, wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined, and cut in half horizontally (as if you meant to butterfly them and got carried away) (this makes the shrimp thinner, which helps it cook more quickly on the pizza)

3 Tablespoons butter

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro

1 shallot, finely chopped

pinch of ground pepper

1/3 cup of good white wine - whatever you're going to be drinking with the pizza that night

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 chicken boullion cube

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 white onion, finely sliced (the thinner the better so it will cook a bit on the grill)

Directions

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, and cilantro and cook until light brown. Stir often so it doesn't burn! Add pepper, wine, and lemon juice. Cook approximately another 5 minutes, stirring often - you want the liquid to reduce down so it's a bit thick. Remove from heat, and whisk in the last 2 tablespoons of butter (now might be a good time to put your cardiologist on speed dial) (hmmm...I know a good one if you need a recommendation...)

Follow instructions for grilled pizza. Once you flip to the second side, quickly brush on your butter/wine/lemon sauce. Top pizza with the shredded cheese, then shrimp, then onion. Close your grill, and if you're using a gas grill, turn the heat down to low. Leave covered for 8 minutes or until shrimp are a lovely pink and no longer translucent at all. Do not overcook! You may want to check the pizza crust once or twice to make sure it's not burning and scoot it over to a cooler spot on the grill if it gets a little scorched.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

One Fish, Two Fish

Here we are in Week 1 of my fabulous meal planning, and I'm already making changes. I promised the recipe for fish tacos, and that's next, but I'm also including my recipe for black beans and rice, which I ended up serving with the tacos instead of the avocado. Avocados are temperamental little buggers, no? And lesson learned - not a good side to plan to serve with fish unless you buy them ripe the day you plan to eat them. I bought 3 on Sunday (at the ridiculously dear price of $1.29 each, ugh) but they weren't quite ripe on Monday. Any other meal I would just push back a day, but not so much fish...don't need that sitting around the fridge, waiting on a few fussy avocados to be ready for the party. But all's well that ends well, because I spied a can of black beans in the pantry and remembered how much we all love black beans and rice, and that worked out much better.

First, the fish tacos. (Side note: I love tacos for family dinners in general. Serving tacos lets me feed the whole family the same meal, but everyone can fix them exactly how they like them. Makes it easy to make everyone happy). These are so easy it's not even a real recipe. This is per taco.
Ingredients:
1 small flour tortilla
1 cod fillet (about an inch thick)
One generous pinch of taco seasoning (I just used good old McCormick)
One lime slice
Your toppings of choice: diced tomato, shredded Mexican cheese blend, shredded iceberg lettuce, sour cream, salsa
Directions:
Wash fish and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides of the fish with taco seasoning, squeeze lime juice over the fish. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter and about one tablespoon of vegetable oil (not olive oil). Add fish, cook approximately 4 minutes. Flip, cook approximately 2 minutes on the other side. (Cooking time with fish is the hardest thing to get right. You want your fish cooked all the way through, to the point that it flakes easily but isn't dry). Remove from heat, let stand for a minute or two, and then flake with a fork. Build your taco as desired.

Next, black beans and rice. I've blogged a different recipe for these before here, which is naturally delicious, but after playing around with the recipe some more over the past few months, I actually like this one a bit better.
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 gloves garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes, according to taste. (I try not to make this too spicy so the boys will eat it, so I do just a pinch. If I weren't making it for little ones, I'd make it a generous pinch, or maybe 2)
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup long grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Saute onion until translucent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Add water, rice, black beans, and salt. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer until all the water is absorbed. (Note - I often have to add just a bit more water to get the rice and beans to the slightly-overcooked-consistency that seems to make them taste just right).

Enjoy!

Salmon by the Seat of Your Pants

Seafood and I have had a love/hate relationship. For the longest time, I hated it, and had a hard time even trying it be be polite. Seafood restaurants were nothing but a source of stress for me, as I sat there eating saltine crackers and ordering the overcooked chicken. But after years of living on the coast, I now love it. Shrimp, tuna, salmon, scallops, flounder...YUM. Still, I struggle with the sustainability issues and mercury problems, which makes it hard for me to know what to order, what to buy, what is generally okay to eat. These days we stick primarily to shrimp (OH!! Have I ever blogged my shrimp pizza? I don't think so...stay tuned for that...) and flounder.

For a long time we were on a big salmon kick. It was one of the first fish I learned to eat, and would order it at restaurants and make it at home once/week. But, as often happens when you get on such a food kick, both of us are a little sick of it. So when I made this recipe the other night, I must admit I didn't really have much enthusiasm for it. That said, it was good, and if you're currently on a salmon kick, it's worth trying.

Okay, one more salmon confession.

I lost the recipe.


I swear it was in the kitchen with all my other "to be tried soon" recipes, and then it wasn't. So when I made it, I had to do it from memory, which is always a little suspect. But still, it came out good, and I've been making salmon long enough and often enough that I wasn't worried about the method.

Salmon by the Seat of your Pants
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
A dash of olive oil
1 garlic glove, minced
A dash of dried ginger (actually, I do remember the recipe called for fresh ginger, but my goodness, what could be more high maintenance? I don't have the patience for that)
Pinch of pepper
Bigger pinch of kosher salt
2 salmon fillets



Whisk it all together. The sauce should be just the slightest bit syrupy, so if it's not, add a bit more honey. Pour over the salmon and let sit for at least 30 minutes, I think all day would be fine. Preheat your broiler, and put the salmon on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Pop the salmon under the broiler for 7-9 minutes. Voila! Dinner is done.

Go-To Dinner, Part III?

Oh so tired tonight. I've already finished cleaning out the school bags and lunch boxes, I've duly entered all the upcoming events in the family calender, and I've put artwork on the bulletin board and laundry in the washing machine. I still have to ransack the house for a white pillowcase that can be used for an art project at school (seriously, we couldn't get more than 2 days notice for that one?), do some ironing, and make tomorrow's grocery list. This is why I should drink sweet tea at dinner, not wine...

Where was I going with all of this?

Not sure (did I mention I'm a bit tired?). But I did have a recipe I wanted to share. I got this from a friend of a friend years ago (Lissa - are you reading??), and have not made it in ages. I was actually on the phone with my husband this afternoon, telling him he was going to have to stop for something on the way home, when I came across some flounder in the freezer and remembered this recipe. It's ridiculously easy, and since flounder is so nice and thin it thaws quickly - no need to plan ahead for this one. I literally pulled it out of the freezer at 5:15 pm, and we were sitting down to dinner at 6.

Baked Flounder

6 flounder fillets, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup milk
Seasoned bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Place tinfoil on a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Dip flounder in milk, then coat in bread crumbs. Put on cookie sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt and less liberally with pepper (you don't want the fish to bite you back). Drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes, then broil for just a couple minutes more to give it a nice brown finish.

I serve this with rice and peas, and my kids LOVE it. Happy eating!

I'm Back!

We are back from a fabulous summer vacation and staggering under the massive amounts of mail, e-mail, and just general stuff that piled up while we were away. I am too tired to think, let alone type coherent sentences, so forgive the randomness of this post.
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I didn't cook a single meal while on vacation. Not one. Unless you count toasting bagels as cooking a meal. The break was nice.
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I did see the movie Julie & Julia. Great movie, amazing food shots, but also made having a food blog seem a bit silly. I spent half the movie wondering if Nora Ephron was making fun of me.
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A quick and easy seafood recipe: take a tilapia fillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Wrap it gently with 2-3 thin slices of prosciutto, saute in a little olive oil for 2-3 minutes each side, depending on thickness. So good. (You may think that since you are wrapping it in salty prosciutto you don't need to salt it. You would be wrong).
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Happy eating!