Irish Food for St. Patrick’s Day Slideshow: bonappetit.com.
Okay, St. Patrick’s Day is just a few days away and it is only a matter of time before we make corned beef and cabbage and all the other traditional parts of the meal. However, if you want to try something different, Bon Appetit has 21 recipes that are Irish-inspired that will be just as great. Check them out and see if you want to give any a try!
While I have been cooking regularly and keeping up with trying new things, I have been bad about blogging and putting them online. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day to do everything I need to do anymore, which really only gives me the weekends to blog. Hopefully I can get around to more than just that, but we’ll see how it goes.
We did make a couple of things this week that are old stand by recipes that I am sure many people have made before. They are both very simple recipes that are not only easy to make but easy to clean up afterwards and they taste awesome. The first of these I made early on in the week and it was just a simple Shrimp Fried Rice. I love this recipe because it is a great one pot meal to make. If you have leftover rice already, most of the work is already done for you and you can get it done even faster.
Shrimp Fried Rice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 pound peeled and deveined small shrimp, thawed if frozen
8 scallions, whites chopped, greens thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
3 cups cold cooked white rice
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season the shrimp with salt and cook, turning once, until just opaque in the center, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the same skillet; add the scallion whites, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook until the rice is crisp, about two minutes. Push the rice to one side of the skillet; add the eggs to the other side and cook, stirring and working them into the rice mixture, about 1 to minutes. Add the peas, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and the cooked shrimp. Cook, tossing constantly until the shrimp and the vegetables are heated through, about 1 minute. Top with the scallion greens and serve.
I actually added some mushrooms and water chestnuts to this to make it a more filling meal. The original recipe I got from Bon Appetit calls for edamame, which I did not have, but feel free to add it if you like. The great thing about a dish like this is you can really add whatever you want to it to make it a meal. If you don’t like shrimp, add some boneless chicken or pork. You could go all vegetarian and just add some vegetables to it like snow peas, corn, zucchini or whatever you like. Since it is all one dish, clean up is a breeze.
The other recipe for today is one we make once in a while. It is for a simple, quick batch of Banana Muffins. We used Bisquick to make these and we had some overripe bananas on hand already, so it makes baking these quite simple.
Quick Banana Muffins
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the baking mix in a medium bowl and break up any lumps. Combine the egg, bananas, brown sugar, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract with the mix and stir thoroughly until well blended. Fill paper lined muffin cups of a muffin tray until about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.
Of course, these are great for breakfast with your morning coffee or just to have as an afternoon snack. We left the chocolate chips out for ours, but you can use them, or some walnuts or pecans if you like. You can really use other fruit too if you wanted blueberry or some other berry muffin.
That’s it for today. I promise to have some other recipes this week. I have made a bunch of things and have recipes for them, I just haven’t had time to post anything, so I will get to some of them this week for sure. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your Sunday and enjoy your meal!
Between my being sick and then Sean being sick, I haven’t had much time to do any real meals during the week, let alone doing any blogging about the meals. Since we are all finally starting to feel better around here, I though today would be a good day to try and get things back to normal around here and cook some good meals. I have had some flounder in the freezer and was looking for something to do with it when I came across this recipe in America’s Test Kitchen’s cookbook “Quick Family Cookbook.” I like this cookbook because it gives me some good meal options that can all be made in under 45 minutes, which make thhem great for any weeknight meal when you may not have a lot of time or energy to put into your meal but still want something made at home. This is a simple fried fish with Southwestern corn, though to be honest I eliminated a lot of the heat from this meal since Sean and Michelle both don’t really care for spicy food. Nonetheless, it’s a good recipe that you can play around with and use a variety of fish with if you have some on hand.
Cornmeal Fried Fish and Southwestern Corn
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces chorizo sausage, chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine
1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
4 cups frozen corn
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 (12 ounce) skinless flounder fillets, cut in half lengthwise
1 cup vegetable oil
Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper, jalapeno, shallot, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the bell pepper begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl and cover.
Meanwhile, mix the flour and cornmeal together in a shallow dish. Pat the flounder dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper., then dredge the fish in the cornmeal mixture, pressing gently so it adheres to the fish.
Wipe out the now-empty skillet with paper towel, add the vegetable oil and return to medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Lay the fillets in the skillet and cook until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the fish to a paper towel-lined plate. Let the fish drain briefly, then serve with the corn.
You could really use any fish fillets you like for this meal – catfish, sole, tilapia, trout, snapper – you name it. Ialso added some other colored peppers to the corn to make the meal look a little more festive since I wasn’t using the chorizo or the jalapeno. You could serve this white rice or brown rice and you would have quite a nice meal.
A nice simple meal that is great for any dinner. We are getting back to the meal plan this week after I go shopping tomorrow. We have gotten away from it lately and haven’t been planning things out and I feel we actually eat better from a health standpoint when everything is planned out for the week, so we are going to try and get back to it and try to get back to one meatless meal for the week, one fish meal, one stir fry, one chicken and one lean meat. I’ll have to see how things go at the market tomorrow to see what I can pick up and go with it, so check back tomorrow and see what we have for the week. until then, have a great day and enjoy your meal!
The One And Only Commander’s Palace Bananas Foster Recipe | Food Republic.
Bananas Foster is my absolute, all-time favorite dessert. I have tried a few different recipes over time, but Food Republic has this recipe from Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, the home of Bananas Foster. Give it a try and you will want to have it this way all the time!
The Dinner Kit Is Served – NYTimes.com.
This is an interesting article in the New York Times today regarding these home delivery services that allow you to get an entire meal delivered. All of the ingredients and the recipes are included with the meal and everything is packed fresh and delivered to you. You just need to prepare the meal yourself. I do find this as an interesting alternative for some people who would like to make their own dinner but may not have the time to put in to get all the ingredients or find the recipes on their own. I was wondering if anyone out there may have given this a try before and what they thought of it? Feel free to leave your comments on what you think of the process and if you have tried it, how has it worked out for you.
My personal opinion on it is kind of split. While I do think it gives some people a chance to eat a home cooked meal instead of getting take out or dining out all the time, I think there are a few flaws in the services. From what I can tell, there does not seem to be much of an option if you are cooking for a child. This seems to me to be a service designed for a single person or a couple where both partners work but still want the home cooked meal. The meal choices seem somewhat limited and lacking. While it’s true that I am lucky enough to have the time to prepare meals on my own for my family, not everyone has this luxury so I can see the appeal. I also think it is a bit pricey for what you get. If you had the time, you could get the ingredients on your own and probably for a better price. Personally, that would be the way I would go, but I do enjoy the entire cooking process and some people may just want it streamlined for them so it can be easier.
I think it presents an interesting option for people who want a meal at home but feel pressed for time. What do you think? Check it out.
With the big game coming on Sunday, many people are having different types of parties. I have posted different snacks that are good for football parties in previous posts, but this is something I just made this week for dinner but would also be great not just for football parties, but for any party. The basis of the recipe is from Scott Conant of Scarpetta restaurants and Food Network’s Chopped. I found this stromboli recipe on Food Network’s site and altered it a bit to fit what I had on hand. In his recipe, he makes the pizza dough himself. I don’t have the time or space to make dough, so I used store-bought pizza dough and I think it turned out fine, so do what you like best. You could use any pizza dough recipe you have I think and get good results.
Stromboli
1 pound store-bought or homemade pizza dough
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 bunch fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper
4 meatballs, pre-cooked and sliced
2 Italian sausage links, cooked through and sliced
1 small onion, sliced and sautéed until soft
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1/4 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Tomato sauce, warmed, for dipping
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Lightly brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Lightly flour your countertop and the pizza dough and roll the dough to a rectangle.
Place half the cheese, the basil, garlic powder, pepper, meatballs, sausage and onion in the middle of the surface of the dough. Fill two-thirds of the surface, leaving the bottom third and a little of the sides empty. Top with the remaining cheese and salt to taste. Roll the sides of the dough over the filling and then seal the ends and edges with your palms to make a loaf. Transfer to the oiled tray. Rub a little olive oil over the top of the dough. Place the tomatoes, salt and pepper on the top. Cover the tray with plastic and let it sit for 15 minutes to rest.
Place the tray in the oven and bake for a total of 45 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the pan 180 degrees. Bake another 20 minutes, then turn the pan again and bake the remaining 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cutting board to allow the loaf to cool. Slice and serve with tomato sauce on the side for dipping.
There are dozens of different ways you can go with this recipe. You can fill the stromboli with anything you like really. You can use different meats, vegetables or cheeses depending on what is to your liking. I saw many recipes that use salami, provolone, eggplant, peppers and more, so use whatever you like best.
It can make a nice dinner with a simple salad or will be great for any party that you may have. It is even better as something to bring to party you are going to.
That’s it for today. As I have said, I do have a stockpile of recipes of things I have made recently that I have not had a chance to post, so I hope to get to some of them over the coming days. until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I love mussels myself. They are great in a paella, served over rice or just by themselves. I have seen them for some pretty good prices lately and you can get them pretty much year-round now. They may a great appetizer or a great entree. Don’t shy away from them and think they are too hard to cook or tough to make. It just takes a little bit of prep work and cleaning on your part and just a bit of cooking and they will taste great. Williams-Sonoma posted this on their blog about, cleaning, serving and storing mussels along with a few simple recipes. Check it out!
Fun, unusual and forgotten designations on our calendar.
Happily Ever After Lives Here
a little bit naughty a little bit nice
Letting Life Lead
a blog to share with you the best
onedadskitchen 