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Broiled Salmon Bruschetta

Posted on January 4, 2011 by amydeline

After weeks of overindulging in holiday treats, I’ve been craving a good healthy dose of fresh, nutritious fare. While this new year won’t be bringing any immediate weight loss goals for this expecting mom, I can certainly focus on improving nutrition and increasing my ratio of healthy foods to cookies and Cheez-Its. Oh, Cheez-Its, how I adore thee!


But, it’s still winter, and I yearn for heavy blankets and hearty foods during these chilly months. Salads and other light dishes just don’t fit the bill right now. As such, I decided on a hearty piece of broiled salmon for my main course. Full of healthy fats and flavor, it has the same satisfying effect as a nice piece of steak.

I decided to serve my salmon over a bed of fresh, garlic-sautéed spinach with just a bit of orzo pasta and parmesan cheese. Those of you who’ve taken on low-carb diets for the new year can easily eliminate the orzo for a perfect low-carb dinner option. A generous spoonful of fresh tomato and olive bruschetta topping adds a burst of Mediterranean flavors to the dish.

If salmon is not your fish of choice, you can easily substitute another type. Broiled sea bass or halibut would be delicious. Pan-seared or broiled shrimp or scallops would work nicely too!

Broiled Salmon over Sautéed Spinach and Orzo with Tomato and Olive Bruschetta Topping

Ingredients

For the Salmon:

  • 2 Salmon fillets (about 5 ounces each)
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper

For the Spinach and Orzo:

  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
  • 3 cups Baby Spinach
  • 1 cup Orzo, cooked according to package directions
  • 1/8 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt and Pepper

For the Bruschetta Topping:

  • 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Olives, chopped
  • 1/8 cup Capers
  • 1/8 cup Balsamic
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions

Preheat broiler. Rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and cook, several inches under the broiler, for about 8-10 minutes, until the fish reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees.

Meanwhile, prepare the spinach. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s wilted. Turn the heat down the low. Add the cooked orzo and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.

To prepare the bruschetta topping, combine all ingredients in a small container with a tight fitting lid. Gently toss the mixture to combine.

To serve, place the broiled salmon over a bed of the sautéed spinach and orzo. Top with a generous spoonful of the bruschetta topping. Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired.

Bonus: Serve your leftover bruschetta topping with slices of toasted bread.

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Post Christmas Recovery and Recap

Posted on December 28, 2010 by amydeline

Well, the big day has passed. The carefully wrapped gifts have been enthusiastically unwrapped. The cookies, pies and festive dinners have been prepared and consumed, with minimal leftovers to speak of. New toys have been put through their paces and new clothes have been worn and washed. Our house guests and house pets have all made their way home and all that’s left is to launder the sheets and towels. It was a beautiful holiday filled with laughter, love, and smiles.

And now, things are gradually returning to normal. We’re slowly reclaiming the house from the holidays, sweeping up the pine tree needles, and finding places to stash the new toys. As much as I thrive on the Christmas festivities, I’m looking forward to a bit of normalcy. I’m ready to pack away the cookie sheets for a while and get back to our normal day-to-day cooking and routines.

I must admit, I’ve been feeling a bit of post-holiday indulgence remorse. I ate way too many cookies and slices of eggnog pie “for the baby”, which I’m pretty sure went straight to my hips instead. The measly remainder of holiday cookies have been officially exiled from the house and I’m looking forward to some light, nutritious meals for the sake of my hips. But speaking of the baby, we found out yesterday morning that we are expecting our third boy! Looks like my husband just formed himself a foursome for golf!

I’ll be whipping up some healthy new recipes soon. But first, here’s a quick recap of some of the goodies we enjoyed with our holiday guests.

We started on Christmas Eve Eve (does that make sense?) with a request from my brother-in-law for my Steak Bordelaise Pizza. I’ve shared this recipe for you before, back in my Pizza Dragons and Chairs of Stock post. I guess you can say this is one of my signature dishes. It’s sort of a steak dinner on a pizza crust. This is definitely not your run of the mill pizza. My pizza traditionalist father would be reluctant to call it a pizza at all, but we’re all big fans of the dish around here.

On Christmas Eve, I cooked up a Chicken Parmigiana dinner, complete with spaghetti and toasty hot garlic bread. I’ve been cooking Chicken Parmigiana on Christmas Eve in this house for many years now, long before my husband and I were married and long before this house was our house. I’ll give the Chicken Parm it’s own post with a proper recipe soon, but for now, you can take a look back at my recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana. My Chicken Parm follows the same basic recipe, only substituting breaded thin-cut or pounded chicken breasts for the eggplant. It’s a delicious meal that can be almost fully prepared ahead of time. It’s definitely a satisfying crowd pleaser!

On Christmas, we started with two easy appetizers of Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes with Basil Pesto on Baguette and Shrimp with Spicy Cocktail Sauce. You can find my recipe for Basil Pesto back in my Toasted Caprese Sandwich post. For the shrimp, simply boil large de-veined shrimp for a few minutes until they curl and turn bright pink. Or, take the easy route, as I do, and buy a large bag of frozen, peeled, tail-on shrimp and allow them to defrost in the fridge overnight. Make a quick, delicious cocktail sauce by combining about a cup of ketchup with a healthy dose of horseradish (a few heaping tablespoons), a splash of Worchestershire Sauce, splash of Lemon Juice, and splash of Tabasco.

Our Christmas dinner featured Roasted Beef Tenderloin with two sauces. I trimmed and tied a 5 1/2 pound beef tenderloin, rubbed it with olive oil, generously sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted in a 425 degrees oven for about 45 minutes. Smaller roasts will cook quicker. On the side, I served a Horseradish Cream Sauce (made with sour cream, a generous amount of horseradish, dash of white wine vinegar, salt and pepper) and a Red Wine Mushroom Sauce, which was simply an adaptation of the Bordelaise Sauce used on my Steak Bordelaise Pizza; a little less wine, slightly less reduced, with sauteed mushrooms added at the end.

On the side, we enjoyed my Cheddar Garlic Biscuits, Spicy Utica Greens, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Walnuts. Every bit was enjoyed. The brussel sprouts even managed to surprise a few apprehensive diners. For dessert, we enjoyed massive platters of cookies and Chocolate Eggnog Pudding Pie. Overall, it was a simple meal to pull off for a large group, which gave me plenty of downtime to enjoy with the kids and our guests.

It was another truly wonderful Christmas season, topped off by the revelation of our third baby boy! We are so very thankful for all of our blessings. Stay tuned for new recipes, coming up soon!

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Crab Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

Posted on December 5, 2010 by amydeline

During my college years, I bartended, waitressed, and cooked (often simultaneously) at a local bar and grill. The menu included standard bar fare; burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, french fries, chicken wings… You get the idea. Among the appetizer choices were Jalapeño Poppers; like the kind you can find in the frozen food section of your grocery store. We served the cream cheese variety; my personal favorite. During my time there, I became a little addicted to those spicy little poppers. An order for six would come in, but I’d throw seven in the fryer. Quality control is important, you know. Between those cheesy jalapeño poppers and french fries dipped in wing sauce, I’m lucky I didn’t have to roll myself down the aisle at graduation.

Until last year, those spicy frozen snacks were my only experience with jalapeño poppers. I tried the cheddar cheese variety, but always returned to my favorite cream cheese poppers. And then, during last year’s winter escape to sunny Florida, I landed upon crab-stuffed jalapeño poppers on the menu at a beachside restaurant near our temporary home. These were not the frozen and fried variety I was familiar with. These were fresh jalapeño peppers, stuffed with crab meat, cream cheese, and seasonings; then breaded and baked. The difference in freshness and flavor was astounding.

I’ve been meaning to create my own version of those delicious, crab-stuffed jalapeño poppers ever since that Florida trip. This past weekend, I finally had the perfect opportunity. The result was a fresh, spicy, and satisfying addition to our hors d’oeuvres selection. Definitely keep these spicy little poppers in mind when you’re planning your holiday festivities. They take a little time to prepare, but the resulting fresh, spicy flavor is well worth it. They’re also a proven clear-your-sinuses remedy for the common cold.

Here’s a little tip… One of the reasons I’ve held off on making these crab-stuffed poppers is that my grocery store only carries lump crab meat in 1 pound containers, for a hefty fee. Occasionally they’ll offer an 8-ounce container, but for no great bargain. The popper recipe does not require a large quantity of crab, which potentially leaves you with a considerable quantity of pricey leftover crab meat. One option would be to whip up some Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, which make another great appetizer in miniature form. An even easier alternative, as I discovered this weekend, is to simply double the filling in this recipe and turn the leftovers into a really spectacular warm crab dip. Simply spread your leftover filling into a baking dish and bake until bubbly. Serve with chunks of baguette or crackers.

Crab-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

Ingredients

  • 18-20 Jalapeño Peppers
  • 1 (8-ounce) bar Cream Cheese, softened
  • 3/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
  • 3/4 teaspoon Cajun/Creole Seasoning
  • 1/2 cup Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
  • 1/2 cup Flour
  • 4 Eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse jalapeño peppers, cut off the stem, and cut in half lengthwise. Use the edge of a teaspoon to remove the ribs and seeds from the peppers. In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar, crab, and seasoning until well blended. Fill each pepper half with a small mound of the mixture.

To bread the peppers: Arrange a plate with flour, a bowl of the beaten eggs, and a plate of bread crumbs. Stir the salt into the bread crumbs. Roll each pepper in the flour, then dip in the egg, then roll in the bread crumbs. Place the breaded, stuffed peppers onto a baking sheet.*

Bake for about 35-40 minutes until the outside is golden brown and the filling appears bubbly.

*If desired, you can prepare the poppers to this point ahead of time, refrigerate, and bake later in the day. To keep the crab fresh, don’t prepare the poppers more than a few hours ahead of time.

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Daddo’s Tuna Burgers

Posted on November 18, 2010 by amydeline

My father calls me Amo. I call my father Daddo. My siblings are also all called by names with an -o tacked on to the end. I don’t remember when or why we began calling each other in this way, but there’s something about it which makes my heart throb with love for my family. It’s like our private family language. There’s love in that -o.

Recently, I shared my family’s top secret recipe for Connecticut Supper; a beefy, cheesy casserole-type dish, which is my dad’s specialty. But, my dad has other specialties too. And the one which most easily comes to mind is his recipe for tuna burgers. My dad’s tuna burgers aren’t actually burgers, in the traditional sense. They’re more of a tuna melt with a twist. Whatever you call them, they are delicious and make a super-simple meal, which is perfect on nights when you have no idea what to cook.

My dad prepares these foil-wrapped goodies by the dozen and throws the extras in the freezer for a quick meal anytime. I’d almost guarantee that when I visit my family for Thanksgiving, I’ll be able to find a few of these babies hiding out in the freezer. They won’t last long with me in the house!

So, next week, when you’re wrapped up with preparing pies and dishes in preparation for Thanksgiving, and haven’t a moment to think about what you’re going to eat for dinner, make these. Add a quick salad on the side. Dinner is served.

Daddo’s Tuna Burgers

Ingredients

  • 3 6.4-ounce packets Chunk Light Tuna in Water
  • 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup Olives, sliced
  • 6 slices American Cheese, chopped
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter
  • 6 Rolls (Vienna or Kaiser)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine tuna with mayonnaise until well-mixed. Stir in the olives and cheese. Split the rolls in half and lightly butter the insides of both halves. Place a mound of the tuna mixture onto each bun and tightly wrap the buns in foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the insides are warm and melty and the buns are slightly crisp.

Make 6 Burgers

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Sweet Potato Bisque with Pan-Seared Scallops and Bacon

Posted on November 7, 2010 by amydeline

Confession: I’m a digger. Give me a pint of cookie dough ice cream and I will inadvertently eat the entire container as I dig and search for those luscious little bits of cookie dough. Just one more bite always uncovers the hint of another piece. So, I dig and eat and work with the patience of an archeologist at an excavation site, gently removing each glorious piece of cookie dough. I get lost in my work, until suddenly I’m holding an empty container. I feel both ashamed and proud simultaneously. I’m a digger.

So, you may imagine the little problem I had with those brownies I recently shared with you; the ones I so cleverly filled with bits of halloween candy; those bits of halloween candy which taunted me into consuming bite after bite after bite of chewy, fudgey brownies. I would have stopped. Really, I would have. But then I’d catch a glimpse of something; a piece of Twix, perhaps. One more bite. But wait…what’s that? Gooey, melted Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, behind which hid a few caramel-coated peanuts; remnants of a chunk of Snickers. And that’s how the brownies disappeared, one focused bite at a time.The baby in my belly is most thankful for the sweet treat.

But this post isn’t about my small digging problem. Though it is about sweets; sweet, sweet, sweet potatoes. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I’ve got sweet potatoes on the brain. And my brain was convinced that it was the perfect time for a spicy sweet potato bisque. I know. You’re probably thinking that this girl sure makes a lot of soups for someone who claims to be largely indifferent to soups. Perhaps I enjoy soup even more than I realize.

When it comes to creamy, bisque-style soups, I’ve got a little weakness for serving them with a bit of fresh seafood showcased in the center. (See my recipe for Chilled Avocado Soup and Crab Cake with Chipotle Remoulade.) A bit of crunch in the form of crispy bacon, croutons, seeds or nuts never hurts too. These little touches of flavor and texture turn a simple bisque into a simply elegant meal. I’m pairing my sweet potato bisque with a few seared sea scallops and some crispy applewood-smoked bacon for a fantastic autumn meal.

Spiced Sweet Potato Bisque

Ingredients

  • 4 large Sweet Potatoes
  • 1 medium Onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
  • 5-6 slices Bacon*
  • 3 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 cup Half and Half
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon Ginger
  • Dash of Nutmeg
  • Dash (or two) of Cayenne

*If available, I recommend using applewood smoked bacon. It’s nitrate free and the flavor is fantastic.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash the sweet potatoes and pierce the skin several times with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 90 minutes until fork-tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a large wide-bottomed saucepan or stockpot, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside for garnishing the soup. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Add the onion and garlic to the bacon grease and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are tender and slightly translucent. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the sweet potato and add it to the pan. Discard the skins. Add the chicken broth. Simmer the sweet potatoes in the broth for a few minutes. Then, allow the mixture to cool slightly. Blend the mixture until completely smooth. (An immersion blender is the most convenient tool for the job, but a regular blender or food processor will work fine. Just be careful when transferring the warm mixture to a blender or food processor.) Return the blended mixture to the saucepan. Add the half and half and stir until well blended. Add the salt and seasonings. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve warm.

Note: Depending on the size of the sweet potatoes and your desired soup consistency, you may need to add more or less chicken broth and half and half.

For the Pan-Seared Scallops: To cook the scallops, heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Pat the scallops dry and season with a little salt. (About a pound of scallops will serve four people.) Place the scallops in the pan. Let them cook for about 2-3 minutes, without disturbing. Once they’ve formed a golden-brown crust, turn the scallops over. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side, or until fully cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the scallops.

To Serve: Pour some of the warm soup into a wide bowl. It shouldn’t be too deep. Place several seared scallops in the center of the soup. Top with the crispy bacon reserved from the soup.

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Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp

Posted on September 28, 2010 by amydeline

Recently, my sister had the good fortune of taking a trip to Hawaii. As you might imagine, we’re all insanely jealous. During our conversations about the Hawaii trip, someone mentioned a food truck on the north shore of Oahu, which sells the most delectable garlic shrimp. It didn’t take too much cajoling to convince me to investigate further.

Now, in my dream world, I’d hop on the next available Hawaii-bound airplane, with my sights set on shrimp. I’d comb that island until I discovered the mysterious shrimp truck and then I’d force myself to eat as many orders of that shrimp as necessary until I’d discerned the magical recipe. And well, if I had to drink a few fruit-garnished, tropical beverages during my travels, I guess I’d do that too. All in the name of commitment to a cause. But, considering I live in the real world, bound by time and financial constraints, I limited my research to the internet.

Identifying the shrimp truck was easy. Giovanni’s Aloha Shrimp is served out of a white, graffiti-covered truck on the north shore of Oahu. They offer three options; Hot and Spicy, Lemon and Butter, or Shrimp Scampi. It’s the shrimp scampi recipe we’re after. So, I did a bit more searching around and actually found a video, which walks through a garlic shrimp recipe, based on the famous Hawaiian shrimp trucks.

Hawaiian Sea Salt, a gift from my sis

After watching the video, I rescheduled my whole day around making these shrimp. I even dragged the kids out in the pouring rain to get down to the grocery store for fresh shrimp, which they enjoyed for the exciting opportunity to wear rain boots. The result was well worth it; tender shrimp oozing with garlicky flavor and dripping in butter sauce. In Hawaii, they serve a pile of 12 jumbo shrimp with a mound of sticky rice. I added a side of steamed broccoli to complete the meal.

For authentic Hawaiian style, use the biggest shrimp you can get your hands on. To serve it up shrimp-truck style, devein the shrimp, but leave the shells on. This makes for a messy meal, so be prepared with extra napkins. In the future, I’d probably remove the shells before cooking, so more of the garlic sauce ends up in my mouth rather than on my fingers.

Hawaiian-Style Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

  • 1 pound large shrimp, shell on, deveined
  • 3/4 cup clarified butter*
  • 1 head garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1-2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 lemon, cut into slices or wedges

*Clarified Butter is recommended, since it has a higher smoke point than regular butter. This will help to prevent the butter and garlic from burning as it cooks. For my easy photo guide to clarifying butter, click here. Two sticks of butter will produce just the right amount of clarified butter for this recipe.

Directions

Check that the shrimp have been deveined. Combine the flour, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a dish. Toss the shrimp in the flour mixture to coat. (There will be flour leftover.) Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the clarified butter and garlic. Cook for a minute or two, then add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook for 3-4 minutes on one side, then turn the shrimp and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side. Add the white wine and salt. Cook for a minute or two. Squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice over the shrimp. Serve with a side of white rice and a lemon wedge.

Serves 2

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Coconut-Crusted Tilapia with Tropical Fruit Salsa

Posted on August 16, 2010 by amydeline

Congratulations! Your taste buds just won a trip to the tropics. And they won’t even need to deal with airport security or worry about finding a bathing suit. Not a bad deal, huh? Tonight’s dinner is light, fresh and packed with tropical fruit flavor. You’ll be swaying along to the calypso music in your mind.

Tell your taste buds to start packing! Maybe they’ll even let you come along!

Coconut-Crusted Tilapia with Tropical Fruit Salsa

Ingredients

  • 4 Tilapia Fillets, approx. 4 oz. each
  • 1 cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
  • 1/2 cup Flour
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/8 cup Milk
  • Salt
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Assortment of tropical fruit, such as Pineapple, Kiwi, Mango,  and Papaya
  • 1/2 Lime
  • Cayenne Pepper

For the Salsa

Dice about a cup’s worth of tropical fruits. (I used pineapple, mango, and kiwi.) Squeeze the juice from half a lime over the fruit. Sprinkle with a dash of cayenne pepper. Stir to combine. Refrigerate.

For the Coconut-Crusted Tilapia

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. In a bowl or small baking dish, beat together the egg and the milk. On a plate, combine the flour and coconut. Season the tilapia fillets with a bit of salt. Dip the fillets in the beaten egg mixture. Then, press the fillets in the flour/coconut mixture to coat both sides. Place on the baking sheet and lightly spray or drizzle with a bit of oil. Cook for 10-12 minutes until cooked through and the coconut begins to toast. Top the fish with the tropical fruit salsa. Serve with basmati or jasmine rice.

Serves 4

Coconut-Crusted Tilapia with Tropical Fruit Salsa

And did you notice the really adorable quilted hot pad under my plate? It’s a handmade gift from one of my readers! Thanks Mary Jo!

I especially love the flying pig!

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Salmon, Corn, and Tomato Pasta in Pesto

Posted on August 10, 2010 by amydeline

I have leftover basil pesto in my fridge from Friday night’s Wine and Cheese soirée. It would be a crime to let it go to waste. So, I planned a dinner around it. A few salmon fillets that have been chillin’ in my freezer and some candy-sweet summer corn sealed the deal. A handful of ripe baby tomatoes begged to join and I couldn’t resist. Voilà. Dinner.

Salmon, Corn, and Tomato Pasta in Pesto

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Salmon Fillets
  • 3 ears Corn
  • 2 cups Baby Roma Tomatoes (or other small, sweet tomatoes), cut into halves or quarters
  • 1/2 cup Basil Pesto, recipe here
  • 1 box Rotini (or other pasta)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season salmon with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until fully cooked. When cool enough to handle, cut into small pieces. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook corn for 8 minutes. Cool in cold water. Cut the kernels from the cob. Cook the pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Drain. Toss the warm pasta with pesto, corn, salmon, and tomatoes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if desired.

Serves about 6

Simple. Fresh. Delicious.

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Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

Posted on July 26, 2010 by amydeline

Today’s a very special day! Right now, at this very moment, you are reading my 100th blog post! Wow! One hundred posts! Where in the world did the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was spending all of my free time tending to my imaginary mafia.

Change a diaper. Beg for untraceable cell phones and illegal transaction records. Play legos. Save up enough Thai Baht to buy a Nguhea Sniper Rifle. Clean up the play-doh that’s been rubbed into the carpet. Try to collect the last faberge egg for my Moscow collection. Console a crying baby. Spend 24 million rubles on a musk ox. All in a day’s work.

Then, I abandoned my mafia and entered the blogosphere. Now I alternate between toys, cooking, temper tantrums, food photography, snuggling, recipe writing, laundry, editing, bath time, and menu-planning. I suppose that being The Gourmand Mom is a much more productive role than Mafia Wars Mom.

So, you may be wondering what else has changed during these past 100 posts.

Well…

Writing recipes feels a whole lot easier than the first few posts that I fumbled through. I hope they’ve become easier for you to follow.

I’ve baked more bread products than I ever did in my pre-blog life. In fact, I had to buy a new cover for my dining room table, since the old cover seemed to be harvesting yeast which my three year old so kindly scattered across the table.

I’ve gained back a couple of the pounds I worked so hard to lose. Going to have to fix that. But it’s been for a good cause and I had fun doing it. Perhaps I can file for some sort of blogger’s compensation for my troubles?

My love of cooking has been completely reinvigorated.  Having a forum for sharing recipes and stories about food has been truly fulfilling for me. Thank you for being my audience.

Having an audience has forced me to add even more variety to my cooking. Since I’m guessing you don’t want to read about the same recipes every week.

My children have become the most skilled toddler sous chefs. I think I need to find little aprons and chef’s hats for them.

Through practice, my photography has become more purposeful. Now, rather than taking a hundred pics to get five that are post-worthy, I take about fifty. Though I’m still quite the novice photographer, I’m getting better at judging lighting and approximating camera settings.

It’s been a fun hundred posts. I’m looking forward to writing a hundred more!

In honor of such a momentous occasion, I’ve been saving something special for you. My favorite food in the whole world is macaroni and cheese (or ‘Ronis and Cheese, as my little guy calls it). And I don’t discriminate. I love ALL macaroni and cheese, whether it’s frozen, from a box, or made fresh from the finest cheeses. I like it baked or creamy. I like it smothered with cheese and bread crumbs or not. Just give me any macaroni and some form of cheese and I’m a very happy girl.

Today is a special day though, so a special macaroni and cheese is in order. And I’ve got just the thing to turn something sort of pedestrian into something elegant and worthy of a celebratory meal. That’s right… Lobster!! Lobster makes everything fancy. Now, once we throw lobster into the mix, we need to pay special attention to the cheese selection. Now would NOT be the time for American cheese or Velveeta. They’ve certainly got their place in the world of mac and cheese, but it’s definitely not here. Now’s the time for smooth cheese with grown-up flavor. I’m using three of my all time favorite cheeses; Gruyere, Fontina, and Brie. You can substitute other cheeses, if desired. Try gouda, chevre, provolone, asiago, or sharp cheddar.

Our sauce starts as a basic Bechamel Sauce, which is simply a white sauce, made with milk that is thickened with a roux. (Check out my roux guide by clicking here.) The thickened milk is then seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Bechamel is one of the five French mother sauces, meaning that many other sauces can be made with a base of bechamel. To our bechamel, we’ll melt in the delicious cheeses. Finally, we’ll toss the macaroni with the sauce and warm lobster meat. If you feel like racing lobsters, go ahead and buy some live lobsters, steam them, and collect the meat. Or, do as I did and buy a container of frozen lobster meat. You grocery store may also sell lobster tails, which can be steamed.

Before we get to the recipe, I want to let you in on a little secret. I made the macaroni and cheese on Saturday when we had people over. And I actually sort of botched it. Not a complete botch, but a definite error of convenience. My prime focus at the time, was on the burgers. My intention was to submit the burger recipe for a contest. So, I wanted to be able to devote all of my attention towards working out the timing and flavor balance of the burger components. Then the storm came, which totally turned the burger plan upside down. Anyway, I prepared the macaroni and cheese earlier in the afternoon and stuck it in a baking dish, figuring that I’d bake it in the oven to reheat with a little extra cheese melted on top. As I should have anticipated, the pasta drank up most of the sauce during the baking. It was still very flavorful, but not the creamy mac and cheese I’d intended.

Never fear though. The recipe I’m writing for you does not include a baking step. So, your macaroni and cheese will be creamy and delicious. If you do want to prepare it ahead of time, I’d recommend tossing the pasta with just a bit of sauce. Then, refrigerate the bulk of the sauce and the pasta separately. You can reheat both and combine, along with the lobster, when you’re ready to eat.

This is good, good stuff. If there were a way to send food through the world wide web, I’d send you each a taste and a glass of celebratory champagne. But since that’s not possible yet, I’ll share my recipe instead. Then you can whip yourself up a batch of fancy ‘Ronis and Cheese.

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 box Pasta, such as Campanelle
  • 1/2 cup Gruyere
  • 1 cup Fontina
  • 1/2 cup Brie
  • 3 cups Milk
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 3 Tbsp Flour
  • 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp Cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 pound Lobster Meat

Directions

Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside. In the same pot that you cooked the pasta, whisk the butter and flour together over medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. This is your roux for thickening the milk. It should have a pasty consistency. Remove the roux with a spatula and set aside. Add the milk to the pot. Bring the milk to a simmer. Then, begin to whisk in the roux, whisking until smooth. Allow the milk to simmer with the roux for a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Whisk constantly. Add the nutmeg, cayenne, and salt. Turn down the heat to low. Add the cheese and stir until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if desired. Add the lobster meat and the cooked pasta to the hot sauce. Stir for a minute or so until it’s well combined and hot.

I hope you’ve been enjoying this blog during these first one hundred posts. Let me know how you’ve liked it so far and if there’s any way I can serve you better! Thanks for reading!

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Posted in Cheese, Food, General Rambling and Such, Main Course, Sauces, Seafood, Things I Love and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Pan-seared Scallops with Pina Colada Salsa and Coconut Rice

Posted on July 6, 2010 by amydeline

Many moons ago, my husband and I found ourselves in Italy, in the middle of a heat wave. The beautiful city of Rome is overflowing with fountains; cool, refreshing, swim-worthy fountains. Unfortunately, it’s also full of fountain police, whistles constantly in mouth, ready to blow at the first hint of a toe touching the water. When in Rome…don’t go in the fountains! Torture on such a hot day. But, sweet relief came in the form of little kiosks, selling big icy chunks of fresh, chilled coconut and iced bottles of water. I can still envision the towers of fresh coconut pieces, cool water running down over the artfully arranged displays. No coconut fountain police in sight. Sweet, sweet coconut relief.

So, whenever the weather gets hot, I think about coconut. It’s definitely hot out there today! I think a little coconut is in order.

Never hand your baby a coconut. He will assume that it's a hairy ball and will throw it at your knee. Trust me.

Recently, my sister and brother-in-law posted pictures of a dinner they enjoyed at a fine restaurant on Skaneateles Lake. My sister had a juicy grilled pork chop with mashed potatoes, beets, carrots, and asparagus. The picture made me hungry. My brother-in-law’s selection didn’t have quite the same effect. The dish he ordered featured seared scallops alongside a bed of sautéed spinach and a strawberry pastry. Everything on the plate was drizzled in a bright pink sauce which looked like it was made of strawberry yogurt. I stared at the picture trying to make the dish work in my head. My brother-in-law said it was delicious and that the tart strawberries in the salty pastry complemented the sweetness of the scallops. Sounds sensible enough, but I’m still having a hard time with the dish. I love the combination of fruit and seafood, especially during the hot summer months. Strawberries with scallops makes sense to me. And, I like strawberries in spinach salad, so I guess that pairing makes sense too. I think my issue with the dish lies more with the creamy, sweet-looking sauce and the dessert-like appearance of the pastry sitting next to the scallops. But, what do I know??

In any case, I must still have scallops and fruit on my mind, because as I was trying to come up with an interesting way to use the coconut I was craving, scallops dominated my thoughts. I tossed around the idea of somehow cooking scallops in the fresh coconut water, but I didn’t imagine a very nice texture resulting from that preparation. So I decided to pan-sear the scallops and combine the coconut with a bit of pineapple, orange, and lime for a pina colada inspired salsa. Not wanting to let any of the yummy coconut go to waste, I reserved the sweet coconut water to use in cooking the rice. The result was a light, fresh dinner on a hot summer day.

Tending to the fresh pineapple and coconut take a little time, but it’s worth it. Though my vote definitely goes towards using the fresh fruits, you could easily substitute canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, and unsweetened shredded coconut for the salsa and canned coconut milk for the rice for a really quick, delicious summer meal.

Pan-seared Scallops with Pina Colada Salsa over Coconut Rice

Ingredients

For the Scallops:

  • 1 pound Scallops
  • 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper

For the Salsa:

*To supreme an orange, cut off the top and the bottom. Place it on a hard surface and cut off the skin and pith. Then, use a paring knife or other sharp knife to cut out each orange segment between the membranes.

Orange Supremes

Directions

To prepare the salsa, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix to combine. Taste. Add salt and pepper, if  desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To cook the scallops, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Pat the scallops dry and season with a little salt. Place the scallops in the pan. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes, without disturbing. Once they’ve formed a golden-brown crust, turn the scallops over. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until fully cooked and translucent.

Prepare the rice according the package directions, substituting fresh coconut water for part of the water. Throw in a couple small chunks of coconut for added flavor.

Serve the scallops on a bed of the coconut rice and pina colada salsa.

Serves 4

4 Comments

Posted in Food, Main Course, Rice, Sauces, Seafood, Side Dishes and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
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