Tag Archives: garlic

Recipes - Entrees

Shrimp & Grits

This is one of my new favorites!  I tried this dish while on a “teacher trip” this summer; determined to re-create the dish, the first time I prepared it was at the Sharpes’ house in Florida in July.  Folks, if you are a shrimp lover, this dish rocks!

I will admit that this is a bit labor intensive so prepare it when you have plenty of time OR when you have someone to help you do the prep work.  Susie, prep help supreme, cut all the veggies for this and peeled the shrimp (YAY!).  When the prep work finishes, the cooking time is less than 30 minutes.

DO find and use the Andouille sausage when preparing the shrimp mixture as this spicy sausage from Louisiana’s Cajun cooking style provides the perfect punch to the dish. If you cannot find Andouille, use a highly seasoned bratwurst instead. Do also use the red pepper flakes for even more “hot”.  Not to worry, the creamy grits are a just-right complement for the spice of the shrimp and sausage mixture. All you possibly need to complete the meal is a leafy green salad or even a loaf of crusty French bread.

Get your shrimp and grits groove on today! You will not regret one minute of the kitchen time. This recipe easily serves 10-12 people. Four of us enjoyed two servings each in Florida with the bowl pictured above for the next day. Make a new pot of grits if having leftovers!  This is oh, so wonderful!

Shrimp & Grits

For the Grits

4 cups water
* 2 T. butter
* 6 small cloves garlic, minced (added from the shrimp pan)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 t. salt
1 cup uncooked grits (instant is fine)
2 cups Cheddar, shredded from the block

Directions: Keep the water warm on the stove in a pot with a heavy bottom so you can cook the grits quickly when the shrimp finishes cooking. When ready to serve, bring to a boil and add the cream. Stir in grits a little at a time; add the butter and sautéed garlic. Cook, 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the cheese. Turn off the heat and allow to thicken. Add cream if too thick.

For the Shrimp

1 T. Wesson oil
1 cup Andouille sausage, sliced thin
2 #’s medium fresh shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and tails snipped
2 more T. Wesson oil
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery, sliced thin
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded (or stewed tomatoes, 1 #10 can)
3 t. Cajun seasoning
1-1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T. butter
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper to taste
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Green onion, sliced, for garnish

Directions: Sauté 2 T. butter & 6 garlic cloves. Set aside for grits. Add oil to skillet and sauté sausage. Remove and set aside. Add 1/2 the shrimp and cook until pink. Remove to paper-towels and add the rest of the shrimp and cook til pink. Wipe skillet and add 1 T. oil and 1 T. butter. Stir in the 1 T. flour and cook 3-4 minutes until you have a dark roux. Cook 3-4 minutes on low. Add onion, green pepper, and celery and cook 3 minutes on med-high heat. Add the tomatoes and the Cajun season and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer all in skillet 10 minutes.

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Recipes - Salads

Panzanella


This is the second of the salads we enjoyed  at the Sharpe’s house earlier this month when we did a salad bar evening.  Panzanella is a refreshing Italian bread salad best prepared when tomatoes are at their juiciest in the summer.  We were on a “salads-for-supper” kick one evening and this tasty salad was one of our stars of the show.

There’s very little cooking required here; prepare your croutons before beginning and you’ll be well on your way.  We used part of a loaf of crusty French bread for croutons and very ripe Roma tomatoes that were begging to be used. Don’t forget the basil and the Mozzarella as they add both flavor and creaminess here.

For best results, make this salad an hour or so before you sit down to the table and serve it at room temperature. Whether eaten as a main dish or a simple side with grilled meat, this one is sure to please everyone at your table.

Panzanella

Ingredients

1/2 loaf (8 oz.) rustic bread such as a French loaf
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, sliced
10 leaves fresh basil, snipped into small pieces
1-1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese, diced or shredded

Directions: Heat oven to 350. Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch pieces and spread on a baking sheet. Bake until it is dry and slightly crisp (think croutons), about 8 minutes; remove from oven and set aside. In medium bowl, whisk vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; set aside. In large serving bowl, toss the bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, basil and the mozzarella. Add dressing and mix well. Allow salad to sit before serving, room temperature is fine.

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Recipes - Entrees

Beef & Broccoli


I needed to make a trip to the Pacific Rim Market for long rice, kamaboko, somen noodles, short-grain rice, good shoyu, ajinomoto, and a tin of savory curry powder and accomplished that yesterday then didn’t use any of that when making Beef & Broccoli today! No matter, this ono (good tasting!) dish was a popular and quick-selling daily special at my Kete-Yama’s Café on Maui. Thin strips of marinated flank steak with crisp-tender broccoli spears bound in a chicken broth and cornstarch based gravy, served over white rice, this dish is sure to please any palate.

Believe me when I say it’s a quick prep; I wouldn’t have the energy to make it tonight if it wasn’t quick to come together because I spent four hours planting in my flower beds just before coming into the house to have a shower and get my cooking hat on.  You can clean, trim, and slice the broccoli (I always include some of the broccoli stems, sliced thinly, for crunch) while the steak marinates.   Parboil the broccoli and drain and you are just 10 minutes from supper! Have your rice steaming while the meat marinates also, using short-grain rice if you have it for easier soaking up of the thin gravy, and grab pass out the hashi (chopsticks) and you’re ready to enjoy!  Use good (and pricey! sorry!) flank steak for the best results.  You’ll be so glad you did!

Beef & Broccoli

Ingredients

2 T. shoyu (soy sauce)
4 T. oyster sauce
1 lb. flank steak, sliced thinly
1 lb. fresh broccoli
2 slices fresh ginger, crushed and sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T. cornstarch

 

Directions In large bowl, mix shoyu and oyster sauce; add sliced meat and marinate for 15-20 minutes. Clean and chop broccoli and add to a pot of boiling water. Parboil for 2 minutes and rinse quickly under cold water; drain and set aside. Heat skillet and add 2 T. cooking oil. Add ginger and garlic to hot oil and cook about 30 seconds. Add and sautéed beef and stir until slightly cooked. Add broccoli and the chicken broth; toss and stir well. Dissolve cornstarch in 2-3 T. water; make a well in the center of skillet and add the cornstarch mixture. Stir until thickened. Serve with hot white rice.

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Recipes - Entrees

Shoyu Chicken

One of our most popular daily specials at Kete-Yama’s Cafe, on Maui, and still a dish that I get cravings for, especially on rainy days such as this one in Missouri today. Ready in just 45 minutes, this filling and tasty dish, flavored with shoyu (soy sauce for mainland folks), is a popular dish in Hawai’i and one which mainland cooks can easily prepare at home.  If you are using less chicken thighs than the 12 pieces listed in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook, adjust the broth ingredients.  The broth is meant for adjusting to your own liking so don’t be afraid to taste it and tinker some until you are satisfied.

Hardly any prep: only chop an onion, a few garlic cloves, and peel a 1″ slice of fresh ginger root and you’re ready to cook! Start with the water and sugar and the seasonings then taste your broth. If it is too sour, add more sugar, if too sweet, add more shoyu. If it’s just right (and it probably will be), add the chicken thighs and allow the meat to simmer in the broth. That’s it; all pau!

Hawaiian style Shoyu Chicken is traditionally served with both rice and macaroni salad, but today I am making do with just a pot of my favorite short-grain rice. Short-grain rice is much “stickier” than the long-grain rice which is more common on the mainland and it is perfect with any dish that has sauce or gravy (or any dish at all for local Hawaiian folks and myself).  Layer the chicken and a good amount of broth over a bed of rice in your bowl and sprinkle with green onion pieces. You’ll feel like you’re visiting the islands.  Aloha!

Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients:

2 cups shoyu (soy sauce)
2 cups water
1- 1″ piece ginger root, peeled
1 clove crushed garlic
1 small chopped onion
1 cup sugar
12 bone-in chicken thighs; remove skin if desired

Directions: Place the shoyu, water, ginger root, garlic, onion, and sugar in a large sauce pot. Heat slowly until the sugar dissolves. If the broth tastes sour, then add more sugar, if too salty, add more sugar or water. If the sauce tastes good, then add the chicken and simmer 45 minutes. The liquid ingredients should thicken into a very tasty sauce for serving over rice.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Blistered Green Beans

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Following this week’s cookie marathon it was definitely time for this girl and her mama to get some fresh vegetable action!  I first tried this recipe last summer, looking for different ways to use fresh green beans, and it was good then, but even more delightful in February after spotting fresh beans in our market.

Not a long prep, but do save 30 minutes for it.  Only trim the beans, spread in your pan coated with olive oil and seasonings then while they roast prepare the orange peel, use your nut chopper to chop the pistachios evenly, mince garlic and parsley you’re all set. The pistachios are a great addition, but they are hard so chop them small for ease in eating; they are a great contrast in texture to the soft beans.  The beans roasted 20 minutes, not the 15 called for in the recipe; don’t worry about the wrinkles, they will be there by the time the beans are tender and it’s just the result of their cooking up hot in the olive oil.  The roasting provides  the base of the dish’s flavor.

My flat-leaf parsley wasn’t looking too spry today so I used a bottled Herbes de Provence spice blend I have and that was just right though the fresh parsley would be good too.  Do let them settle a few minutes before adding the pistachios and orange peel garnish. The dish is savory with the olive oil and fresh garlic providing what is really a dressing so serve them warm for the best flavor.  They were a great lunch with yesterday’s leftover garlic-parmesan chicken wings from Logan’s and i’m sure that we will be saying hello later tonight for supper.

Blistered Green Beans

1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed
2 T. olive oil
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
2 T. orange peel, cut in thin shreds

Directions Preheat oven to 450. Place beans in a 15x10x1” jelly roll pan and drizzle with olive oil then season with salt and pepper. Spread beans in a single layer. Roast 15-20 minutes or until blistered and tender. Sprinkle hot beans with fresh parsley and garlic. Garnish with pistachios and orange peel. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir gently and serve warm or at room temperature.

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