Memorial Day Grilling

Here it is Memorial Day weekend, the opening of the grilling season. I left my Weber grill in the garage, but I do have my new Le Crueset skinny grill. I got some extra shrimp when shopping for the paella and then went out and found two recipes for citrus-y baked chicken and modified them as grilled chicken with sauce and marinated shrimp.

Shopping list:

1 or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 to 1/2 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 or 4 juicing oranges
1 lemon
4 scallions
1 shallot
1 piece ginger
Ricard or other anise liqueur
fresh rosemary
fresh mint
white wine
lime juice
Tabasco sauce

Prepare the chicken breast:

Chicken breast
1 T. lemon zest
1 T. orange zest
rosemary sprigs
salt and pepper

Slice the chicken breast horizontally, most of the way through. Sprinkle with lemon and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the rosemary on the half of chicken breast. Close breast, cover with plastic wrap and pound with a frying pan to flatten. Refrigerate.



Marinate the shrimp:

Juice the oranges, set aside 2/3 C. for the chicken sauce.

3 T. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried cilantro
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 T. olive oil
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/4 t. salt

Combine everything and cover the shrimp. Refrigerate.



Chicken sauce:

4 scallions, sliced
2 T. minced shallots
1 T. minced fresh mint
olive oil
2/3 C. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
piece of ginger
1 T. Ricard
1/4 C. dry sherry
2 t. sugar
1/2 C. white wine

In a saucepan, cook scallions, shallots and mint in olive oil until soft. Add orange juice, lemon juice, Ricard, dry sherry and sugar. Grate ginger into a sieve and press juice out. Add ginger juice to saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Spoon a little onto the chicken breast.

Add the wine and simmer while grilling, reducing by half (again).

Skewer the shrimp on bamboo skewers, or poke through with the skewer then put the shrimp on rosemary stems. This takes a lot longer, so I only did half on rosemary.

And here I am ready to grill.



The chicken takes about 8 minutes a side. Baste with the sauce occasionally.

The shrimp is much faster, about a minute and a half per side.

Here's the Yucatan Grilled Shrimp Skewers


And the Grilled Chicken in Islands Aromas


I should have made a vegetable side, but I didn't. Served with a side of pasta and a French wine.


Verdict: B
Credits: Chicken Breasts in Islands Aromas in Eating Well May/June 1993 and Chicken Yucatan in Eating Well July/August 1993
Leftovers? Yes, good cold or on a salad

Notes:

Paella rapida

I haven't been cooking much lately, but I wanted to get into the spirit of the summer season and eating for celebration. First stop, paella. This was modified to make it lowfat by taking out the sausage. Of course I added some sausage back in.

2 C. chicken stock + 3 cubes
1 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. medium shrimp
1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast sliced into 1/2" pieces
1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage, sliced
salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/8 t. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 C. arborio rice
1 jar of artichoke hearts
1 C. frozen peas
1/3 C. bottled roasted red peppers, sliced thin

Warm the chicken stock in a saucepan, set aside.

In a skillet, cook the shrimp in 1 t. of oil for 3 minutes. Set aside in a bowl. Brown the chicken and sausage in the skillet, for about five minutes. Remove from the pan and set a side in a bowl.

In another 1 t. of oil, cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Cook for a couple minutes. Stir in the rice.



Add the chicken stock. Stir, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.



Stir in artichokes, red peppers, and peas. Add the chicken, sausage, and shrimp. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.



Serve with an inexpense but old (1999) Spanish wine.

Verdict: A
Credits: Paella Rapida in Eating Well May/June 1993
Leftovers? Yes, delicious.

Notes: The original recipe had a a 14 oz can of tomatoes. I had a larger can, so I used 1 1/2 C. of rice (instead of 1 C.) and then added a couple of extra cubes of broth. (I froze a bunch of chicken stock in ice cube trays.) It worked out great.

Chicken Salad with Bow Ties and Mustard-Sesame Dressing

Another potluck dish. This chicken and pasta salad is fresh and easy.

I don't know what consists fair use, but I think this one recipe over ten years old from a defunct magazine is okay. I repeat it here since I followed it pretty closely.

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T. sesame seeds
1 4-inch piece of ginger
3 T. dijon mustard
2 T. rice-wine vinegar
1 T. sesame oil
1 1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/2 lb. snow peas
1 lb. bow tie pasta (farfalle)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced into thin strips
2 scallions, green part, thinly sliced

Poach the chicken breast: in a skillet, cover the chicken breast with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, turn over the chicken, cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Slice the chicken breast thinly and set aside in the refrigerator.

In a small skillet, toast sesame seeds over medium heat. Set aside in a small dish.

Finely grate ginger into a sieve over a small bowl. Firmly press liquid out with the back of a spoon (should be 1 1/2 T. of liquid). Add mustard, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and soy sauce to the ginger juice and whisk until creamy.

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Blanch snow peas in boiling water for 1 minutes. Remove with a spoon or tongs to a colander and rinse under cold water. Return water to a boil and cook pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, combine celery, red peppers, scallions and the chicken, snow peas and pasta. Add dressing and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the toasted sessame seeds.



Verdict: B
Credits: Chicken Salad with Bow Ties and Mustard-Sesame Dressing in Eating Well March/April 1994
Leftovers? Good, but not this time. The crowd ate it up.

Notes: I ended up making a little more dressing because I was afraid the pasta would soak it up before the salad was served at the potluck. I stirred a spoonful of mustard into a couple tablespoons of vinegar and a splash of soy sauce and added it to the salad. It worked out great.

Vegetable Breakfast

I have been making a vegetable egg scramble for breakfast this week.

1 whole egg + 2 whites basil and parsely, sliced in fine ribbons 1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced 1 green chilli, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced 1/3 vidalia onion, sliced 3/4 C. broccoli, chopped 1 tortilla parmesan cheese Olive oil, Salt and pepper

I boil several days worth of broccoli to pre-cook, since it takes the longest. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the garlic, then saute the peppers and onions until the onion is translucent. Beat the egg and whites with a couple teaspoons of water and the herbs and a little salt and pepper. Add the cooked broccoli to the skillet, allow a few minutes to reheat if it was cold. Stir in the eggs and the cheese. Cook a minute or two until eggs are set and the cheese is melting. Serve with salsa on a warm tortilla.

And the finished product:



Verdict: B, but dependent on the quality of the salsa and cheese
Leftovers? No.

Notes: Of course this changes with the contents of my refrigerator. Pepper jack is the best cheese for this meal.

Asparagus and penne

Yesterday I made asparagus and penne. It's an easy, tasty dish. Start the water and snap and chop the asparagus and it all comes together in the time it takes to cook the pasta.

Here's a picture of the aspargus, sauted with garlic and hot sauce in a little olive oil. The penne is in the orange pot.


Verdict: B, I love aspargus, but maybe I didn't use enough butter, it seemed a little dry.
Credits: Mom, but the recipe is essentially this one.
Leftovers? Would be great, but I ate it all.

Rainbow Trout and Red Cabbage

I made this trout recipe last year and it was tasty (I love trout) but with regular cabbage and it was a little colorless. So with the red cabbage in the box, I tried it again.

Here's the primary ingredients. Yeah, they sold me the heads and tails at Gourmet Garage. I wasn't expecting that.



Cooking up in the pan. These were large trout.



Plated with the cabbage and a glass of wine. Yes, I drink red with fish. Basically, I drink red with everything.



Verdict: B
Credits: Trout with Peppercorn Crust, Bacon and Red Cabbage at Epicurious
Leftovers? Yes, plenty. I took the fish off the skin and refrigerated two portions. Splash a little rice vinegar and eat cold the next day.

Notes: The fish were large and I used the whole cabbage, which was more than 2 cups and a small bunch of onions rather than just two.

Artichokes again, illustrated

This week I had more artichokes and used the pressure cooker again. This time I simplified a little and it was even better.

2 artichokes, lower leaves trimmed and stem cut to 1" and peeled

1 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. dried thyme
1/2 - 3/4 C. of white wine

Brown the garlic and thyme in the oil, one minute or less. Add the wine and arrange the artichokes on a rack.

Here's a shot of the artichokes ready to cook.



Pressure cook for 10-12 minutes (I went ten, but I think I like a little more done). Let sit to depressurize.

Make a sauce from 2 T. melted butter and 2 T. of the cooking liquid. Simmer for 3-5 minutes to reduce a little.

Pour a little of the sauce on the artichokes. Serve with the remaining butter on the side and a bread and cheese plate--and lots of napkins.

Verdict: A
Credits: Continued tinkering with the basic instructions at Gourmet Sleuth
Leftovers? No