Firecracker Shrimp for Independence Day

Since fireworks are such a big part of today's celebration, I thought that this particular dish seemed appropriate. They are actually an asian dish and named becaused they resemble firecrackers. Since fireworks were also invented in China, I think firecracker shrimp can be just as American as fireworks on the Fourth of July. These shrimp are quite simple to put together and are really tasty with the three dipping sauces-strawberry, apricot, and wasabi. The part that takes the most time is making the three dipping sauces. At the restaurant I have these three sauces on hand all the time for different menu items, so it was pretty easy.

1 package egg roll wrappers, cut on the bias to create triangles of pastry.

50 shrimp, peeled and deveined with the tail still on.

1/2 cup sweet Thai chili sauce

1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine the shrimp with the chili sauce, ginger, garlic, soy, and cornstarch, and let marinate at least 1/2 hour or up to two hours.

Drain and dry the shrimp before proceeding. Nik the shrimp a couple of times on the inside curl-do not cut too deeply-just enough to prevent the shrimp from curling.

Roll the shrimp up in the won ton wrapper, sealing the edges with a slurry of water and corn starch.

Deep fry until golden and serve with dipping sauces.

Blackberry Rhubarb Pie

Cook Sister! is hosting a blogging event "Waiter there's something in my berries" which has prompted me to make this pie. You often see strawberry rhubarb pie, but not so much the blackberry rhubarb combination. To my eyes the colors are more complimentary to each other. The pie juices run a gorgeous shade of magenta with streaks of aubergine. I usually make pie dough with half butter and half lard, but since lard isn't one of the staples I keep on hand reugulaly, I tried a new recipe with butter and shortening-I did not like the results, so I won't be giving the recipe. Also, since I didn't like the way the pastry looked on the pastry board I decided to top the pie with a crumble topping instead of lattice pastry.

You will need 1 prepared pie shell.

For the filing:

5 cups sliced rhubarb

sugar

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

zest of one orange

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups blackberries

Combine the rhubarb, cornstarch, and sugar;let sit 1/2 hour to draw the juices.

In a heavy bottomed pan, over very low heat "melt" the rhubarb, stirring often until the rhubarb is softened-about five minutes-cool before proceeding.

Stir in the orange zest and cinnamon, and carefully fold in the blackberries, being careful not to smash the berries.

Pour into prepared pie shell, and top with crumble topping (recipe follows). Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 350 and bake another 45 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and thick and the crumbs are browned.

For the topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/3 cup of butter

Combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. This makes enough for two pies or one large crumble, you can freeze any extra.

Cajun Sugar Mignons


Lisa, the marvelous writer who created Champaign Taste is hosting a blogging event titled "Novel Cuisine". It requires writing a blog post about a piece of literature and some culinary fantasy inspired by said piece of literature. I'm usually too busy to participate in these events, but this one just seemed to write itself.


I came upon this steak idea one day while surfing the net and rereading "Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie" by Henry Wadsworth. I think I first read the poem in high school and it created a curiosity about the Acadians that remains fascinating to me to this day. This epic poem tells the tale of Evangeline Bellefontaine and her betrothed Gabriel Le Jeunesse set against the backdrop of the British expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia.

I think the poem remains relevant today with its themes of religious and ethnic intolerance (The British against the French Catholic) and the fact that religious cults have been around for along time-the Acadians were an isolated and unpopular sect of the Catholice church.


The poem is a bit melodramatic for current tastes in literature, but the prose is so compelling, the language so gorgeous, and the topic so current (thinking of the State of Texas raiding the LDS enclave in Texas) that it really does make it relevant.


"All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the sorrow,
All the aching of heart,the restless, unsatisfied longing,

All the dull, deep pain, and the constant anguish of patience!

And, as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her bosom,

Meekly she bowed her own and murmured, Father, I thank Thee!"

Wadsworth kept Evangeline in the Northeast, but the largest group of Acadians migrated to Lousiana, where they became the Cajuns. The Lousiana Cajuns claim the Evangeline tale as part of their own culture and struggle for freedom.

All this is a rather long introduction to Cajun Sugar Mignons, a recipe I came upon while visiting A Cajun Homepage which is written by Andrew Guidroz II in Opelouses, Lousiana. Everyone knows the Cajuns are famous for their cooking, but you'll have to visit Andrew's site to get his whole story. I basically used Andrew's recipe combined with my own steak seasoning.

Cajun Sugar Mignons

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of steak seasonings (I make my own)

4 eight ounce fillet mignon steaks

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Brush the tops and bottoms of the steaks with the olive oil and sprinkle with the steak seasoning and sugar.

Heat a black iron skillet with the vegetable oil until it almost smokes, place the steaks in the hot skillet and turn the heat down slightly.

After 4 minutes flip the steaks and continue to cook another 4 minutes for a beautiful rare steak.

It makes a beautiful, black crunchy crust with a juicy interior. I served it with another cajun favorite "Maque Chou", which is an early example of fusion cooking with Native American and Cajun combinations.

So I recommend you pick up a couple of steaks, grab a copy of Evangeline, open a bottle of wine and contemplate the tragedies of yesteryear, the tragedies of today as articulated through the art of Henry Wadsworth.

Wasabi Pea and Potato Crusted Salmon with Sushi Garnishes

The folks at Marx Foods are sponsoring a salmon recipe contest to win some fresh salmon over the summer. Visist them to see some amazing salmon recipes or enter your own and join the fun.

Over the years I've collected several tasty salmon recipes, but I chose this one because it is so simple, and has alot of eye appeal. The flavors are vibrant and intense, I just love it. I hope the judges at Marx agree and send me some of their outstanding salmon.

1/2 cup of wasabi peas

1/2 cup instant potato flakes

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 eight ounce salmon fillets

4 tablespoons of olive oil

For Garnish:soy sauce, wasabi paste, pickled ginger, and Viet Namese fish sauce.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Coarsely grind the peas in a processor-leave chunky.

Mix the ground peas, potato flakes, and salt.

Brush the tops of the fish with two tablespoon of the oil, and press the pea mixture into the surface.

Place the fillets on a non-stick baking sheet, and drizzle them with the two remaining tablespoons of oil, and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes for medium rare.

Serve with sushi garnishes:pickled ginger, soy sauce, wasabi paste, and Viet Namese fish sauce.

First Tomatoes of the Season

I got these tomatoes from one of my local farmer suppliers. They came from Southern Illinois. They were pretty tasty, but not as good as the local ones will be in a few days. I simply sliced them and squeezed lemon juice on them with a couple tablespoons of fruity olive oil. I scattered sea salt, freshly ground pepper, fresh parsley and oregano with some crumbled feta across the tomato salad.

I also made a Spanish potato tortilla, which is a simple openfaced omlet. I caramelised some onions with leftover fingerling potatoes from last night. When the vegetables were crusty and brown I poured 4 lightly beaten eggs over them. As the eggs set, lift the edges gently and let the raw eggs run to the sides until the entire tortilla is set. I sprinkled some fresh chives on top and slipped it onto a serving platter.

Startini

I read about this cocktail in a recent New York Times article, and I enjoyed the story, so I gave the recipe to our bartender Crystal, and she made one for me, then we used it as a drink special last weekend. It is served in the Star Lounge in the Hotel Chelsea in NYC. The Chelsea is famous for the celebs who resided there-Edie Sedgewick and Jimi Hendrix to name two. When I was a student living in NYC and studying at the New School's restaurant program I couldn't really afford places like the Chelsea, so I would just have to fantasize about what it would be like to rub shoulders with the jet set. But we don't have to fantasize about the Startini, because we have the recipe and can make our own. And it is delicious.

1 1/2 part Vodka

1 part Cointreau

1/2 part Creme de Peche (we used peach schnapps)

1 part sour mix

splash of cranberry juice

Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.

Shake and strain into a martini glass

Garnish with a slice of Starfruit

Jicama Orange Salad with Cilantro

This salad is so refreshing. Jicama is crunchy and slightly sweet. It also sort of absorbs flavors easily. And the orange/cilantro flavor combination is one of those perfect tastes like tomato/basil, just not as well known. I dressed the salad with some lemon juice, sea salt, and olive oil.

It was perfect along side some shrimp tacos, unfortunately those photos didn't turn out.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I really enjoy cooking with eggplant. It is a vegetable that can facilitate and absorb many flavors. Everyone knows the American Italian dish "Eggplant Parmesan" when it pairs beautifully with tomato and cheese. It is also beautiful in stir fry with sesame and ginger. The French pair it with squash, peppers, and tomato for Ratatouille. The Middle East has Baba Ganoush where eggplant is blended with tahini and lemon. So you can see its versatility. So you can begin to see why I find eggplant so irresistable.

I'm not sure the provenance of this salad, alot Greek I suppose. The greeks widespread combination of lemon and oregano is always refreshing, plus sour pungent feta cheese.

1 medium eggplant, sliced, salted, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 cloved of garlic, minced

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup fruity olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Brush the eggplant slices with some of the oil and grill over hot coals until the flesh begins to soften, but not mushy

Combine the oregano, mint, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and the remaining oil to create a "lemonette".

Toss the eggplant slices, while still warm from the grill, with the lemonette.

To serve, top the eggplant salad with crumbled Feta cheese and more chopped fresh herbs.

Maple Glazed Grilled Quail

I love cooking little birds. They are so festive. I prepared these quail for a weekend special last weekend. I used a partially boned quail-the breast is deboned, but the wing, leg, and thigh, bones are intact for a nicer presentation. Often I will stuff them and serve them with a sauce, but for these, I marinated and grilled them and served them with a maple vinaigrette.

Marinade

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons of maple sugar (substitute brown if maple is unavailable)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup sherry wine

2 tablespoons minced scallions

Marinate the birds for at least 1/2 hour before grilling

Vinaigrette

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon minced shallot

salt to taste (optional)

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil

minced scallion for garnish

Combine the first five ingredients and let the flavors marry for a couple of hours, whisk in the oil.

Grill the quail over medium hot coals for about 4 minutes per side-they cook pretty quickly.

Spoon a little vinaigrette over the birds and sprinkle with minced scallion to serve.

Orange Roughy en Croute

On Saturday night I had one of the cooks make some fish fillets in pastry. This was one of the first times this cook had worked with puff pastry. He had a great time with them, carving decorations into the pastry and all. He plans on atending culinary school this fall, so I plan to keep giving him some challenging tasks this summer. We served the fish with ginger hallandaise.

New Super Food Combinations

I was reading about some of the super foods, and blueberries and oatmeal were both mentioned. I combined them in a couple ways this week. First a blueberry oatmeal pancakes. I pulled a recipe off the web and served them with maple syrup. They made a delicious and tender pancake. I can't find the recipe I used for them now, but there are alot of recipes out there for them. Second was putting fresh blueberries in oatmeal cookies-I used the recipe from the top of the oatmeal box lid. They turned out really well too.

Soft shell crab and egg for breakfast

Soft shell crab season is just beginning-so how could I resist a big box of them suggested by the fish house? Over Friday and Saturday night we sold the entire case except one. Since they perish pretty quickly, I had no choice but to bring it home and eat it for Sunday morning breakfast.

At the restaurant I served the crabs dusted with seasoned flour and fried with creole hollandaise sauce, which is a combination of hollandaise and creole sauces.

At home I used the same hollandaise only added a layer of fingerling potato and zuchinni hash topped with a fried egg topped with the crab.

I will include pictures of the crab before he died, one of the crab at the restaurant and the crab for breakfast. I will spare you all the details of dispatching the crabs and cleaning them-it was pretty gruesome and my macho staff refused to do it, which is ok because it was one of those days I felt like killing someone anyway and way better the crab than those I was angry at.

I got the idea for the creole hollandaise at the New Orleans Cuisine blog at neworleanscuisine.blogspot.com

Tenderloin Caprese

It's a cold Spring, but I am working on Summer dishes anyway. I know this salad will be marvelous when the tomatoes are ripe, but for now I bought a store bought tomato labeled "Ugly Ripe"-it is apparently an heirloon variety of tomato. It tasted a little better than the tennis balls that pass for tomatoes in the store right now, but not much. Sometimes I have to cook things out of season in order to have the menus and recipes thought out well enough to implement new dishes when the ingredients comes into season.

Ingredients

1 eight ounce fillet mignon steak

1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese

1 large tomato

salad greens

fresh Basil for garnish

Balsamic vinaigrette

Directions

In a hot skillet sear the steak and cook briefly, about 4 minutes on each side, the steak will still be rare.

Let the steaks rest for at least ten minutes while assembling the salad ingredients.

Cut the cheese into 6 slices.

Cut the tomato into 6 slices.

Cut the steak into 6 slices.

Line two dinner plates with salad greens, place alternating slices of tomato, cheese, and steak accross the salad greens.

Garnish the salad with fresh basil, and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.

Rhubarb Strawberry Muffins Formerly Known as Touch of Spring

I found the original recipe for these at the "Taste of Home" web page where they are titled "Touch of Spring". The muffins turned out very nicely, however I had to tweak the recipe a bit by adding orange zest, orange juice, orange flower water, and sanding sugar as well as changing some of the directions. They are delightful and will be part of my Mother's Day bread basket.

Rhubarb Strawberry Muffins

2 cups of all purpose flour

3/4 cup sliced rhubarb

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

3/4 cup sugar-divided


1 tablespoon baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


1 egg


3/4 cup milk


zest and juice of 1 orange


1 tablespoon orange flower water





topping


12 strawberry slices


12 rhubarb slices


2 tablespoons sanding sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In one bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. In another bowl beat the eggs with 1/2 cup sugar, salt, milk, oil, zest, juice, and orange flower water. Toss the rhubarb and strawberry slices with 1/4 cup sugar. Combine the flour mixture, the egg mixture, and fruit and mix until moistened. Fill greased or paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full, top each muffin with a slice of strawberry and rhubarb, sprinkle with the sanding sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Rosemary Red Eye Gravy

Red eye gravy wasn't something I remember growing up with-I don't think my mom ever made it. I first encountered it here in St Louis when I was cooking at the Richard Perry Restaurant. So that is how I learned it. It is traditionally a quick pan sauce made with strong coffee, usually served with ham steak. After some reading I discovered some cooks make red eye gravy with beef steaks. It seemed worth trying. I also added some Rosemary to the mix which seems untraditional but adds an interesting twist.

I first made a dry rub of finely ground coffee-I had some Starbucks dark roast in the freezer so I used that-and added some brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

for four 14 ounce steaks-rib eye, strip, or 8 ounce tenderloins

1/4 cup finely ground coffee

1/4 cup brown sugar

Freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons sea salt

I rubbed the mixture into the steaks and let them sit for 1/2 hour

I got out my favorite Griswold iron skillet and got it pretty hot and seared the steaks-lots of smoke. I removed the steaks to finish cooking in the oven.

While the steaks finished in the oven, I made the red eye gravy. Add brown sugar to the hot skillet and let it melt and caramelize slightly-this takes place almost instantly as the pan is so hot. Deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine, I then added a couple sprigs of fresh Rosemary-then add strongly brewed coffee. Scrape up all the drippings and let the mixture bubble a couple minutes. It makes a very thin but flavorful sauce similar to a jus.

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine

1 1/2 cup strongly brewed black coffee

2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

Pour the gravy over the steaks and serve with spoon bread on the side.

Back to Barramundi

I ordered in more Barramundi. It is such a delicious fish, similar to sea bass but a little denser. Very mild sweet flavor and it is a sustainable fish unlike the sea bass. I was going to prepare Florence Fabricant's recipe printed in the New York Times this past week. She brushed the fillet (she used Halibut, but I figured it would work well with Barramundi as well) with molasses and seared it and served it with mushrooms. She created the recipe to pair with some Pinot Noirs they were reviewing. The dish did not work for me, so I reverted to my old stand by of grilling served with ginger vinaigrette plus some wasabi and pickled ginger. The asertive vinaigrette is mellowed with sesame oil and really brings out the sweetness of the fish.

Second Platinum Chef Competition

Last year a group of eight Monroe County high schools formed a conference for culinary competition. This year, the group grew to 10 schools. Some of the schools don't even have a culinary program, but only an after school club, where they cook with and learn from an advisor.

I was asked to be one of the judges again this year

It is so much fun to observe these kids. Teams consist of 5 members and two dish washers. They are judged on several levels, including sanitary and safety, knife skills, creative use of ingredients, presentation, teamwork, and taste. Outstanding individuals are recognised as well.

Ten schools was a bit daunting to get through. In the end the judges (there were five of us) were all pressed for time in analysizing all the different categories. I also had less time to take photos.

The competition took place on the gym floor, where 10 individual staging kitchens were set up. So the equipment wasn't the best, but the kids really made the best of what they had. The bleachers were full of students and family members observing and taking pictures.

One of the smaller schools without the formal culinary program won. Their passion for what they were doing showed and won them the trophy.

Bulgogi-Korean Barbequed Rib Eye Steaks

When I was in second or third grade, we had a Korean minister come to the little Methodist church that my family attended. Reverend Sun was his name-Han Yung Sun I think was his full name. He and my father became good friends and my family found itself in church alot during his tenure. A couple of times Reverend Sun would make Korean food after church on Sunday. Our tiny little church basement got smokey with exotic aromas and what was unusual flavors for small town Mid-America in the 1960's. The noodles and thin strips of beef that emerged from the kitchen were a revelation to say the least.

I don't recall Reverend Sun's noodles enough to even try to recreate them, but the beef must have been Bulgogi-and it surely must be one of the signature dishes of Korea. I decided to revisit my Korean food memories and create a Sunday lunch for some friends. Instead of thin strips of beef, I used whole rib eye steaks grilled outside over real charcoal.

I accompanied the steaks with three flavorful and unusual Asian salads. Sesame-corn salad, Eggplant, and Carrot. For dessert Dan and I made a chocolate lamb cake-since it is close to Easter-we shared the steps in creating a "black sheep" .

Oysters

During my recent vacation, I did cook one evening in the kitchen of my parents condo. Before I left St Louis, I froze some Rib Eye steaks and shipped them with dry ice to the island (you just can't buy decent beef in most places without alot of research), fresh shrimp and oysters are another story. They are abundant and delicious. We picked some up from my mom's favorite shop along the gulf in Port Isabel. Next we picked up some cauliflour from a farm stand. So we started dinner with oysters while I grilled steaks out by the pool and made a cauliflour gratin (from Barefoot In Paris cookbook bu Ina Garten).

We also had a salad with succulent avocados and tomatoes-also purchased at the farm stand. The cauliflour, avocados, and tomatoes were brightly flavored with that unmistakable vine or tree ripened and just picked freshness.

I topped the oysters with a crumb and crab mixture and ran them under the broiler briefly.

South Padre Island

I've been on vacation recently. My folks stay on Padre Island during the winter (for over 15 years now), so I use it as a mid winter get away myself. It was cold and snowing in St Louis as I left. It was 80 degrees and partly sunny on the island when I arrived. Of course we went to Mexico a couple of times. We ate a a rather fun restaurant called Angel's. Located on the third floor of an atrium building. Many of the restaurants are similar. Sort of fancy in that the waiters are in tuxedos, and there is usually live music-in this case an organist. They have the usual touristy food, but also more fish dishes and goat-which you don't see on the US Menus. They serve Margarits with olive garnish and were also selling many Bananas Foster with great showmanship. It was lots of fun.