Cook. Craft. Enjoy.

What? A Post?

I know, I know .. I haven't updated the blog in ... oh ... way more days (months) than I'd like to admit.  I could give some excuses, but I'm not about excuse so, I'm just going to say I think I'm back.  :)

While I did make a nice Thanksgiving dinner, I still wasn't in a blogging mood so I didn't get any photos of it... so I'll have to make this first post about what I made Travis and I for dinner tonight ... shrimp and potatoes.

The recipe was one I modified from November's Everyday Food magazine ... Shrimp with Scallions and Crispy Potatoes.   The original recipe uses curry powder as the seasoning and while I would have enjoyed that, Travis isn't a big curry fan so I opted to dump some Old Bay Seasoning on it instead.  Diced potatoes stir fried with some scallions and then mixed with shrimp .. easy and delicious.

That's Some Spicy Shrimp

If you've been reading for a while, you've probably noticed that I don't cook much seafood.  The unfortunate part is that no one in the house likes it except for Travis and I -- and I feel it's a waste of my time to make something for just he and I when I'd have to turn around and create something different for everyone else.  (Not to mention the incredible mess that would make.)  However, since my brother comes over on Saturday nights to join us for dinner (and he likes seafood), I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe:  green shrimp curry.

Basically it's shrimp simmered in a coconut green curry paste sauce and then topped with sliced chilies, fresh basil leaves and strips of cucumber.  It was so delicious -- but it was also very very spicy.  My brother and I both agreed that we liked the green curry taste but would love to try the same recipe using red curry paste instead ... the flavor is a little richer.  Definitely something I'd like to repeat!

Up and Running Again

Yeah!  My iMac seems to be back to working again (after replacement of its logic board and hard drive).  All I can say is thank goodness for backups.  Luckily we kept a drive specifically for backups (and it backed up daily) so I didn't lose anything.  And the best part?  I can start blogging again!

This first post back I'm going to share with you what we had for dinner oh, about a week and a half ago.  When my brother comes for dinner I try to do something a little out of the ordinary and that night I decided to tackle coconut shrimp.

There are many, many, many recipes for coconut shrimp out there.  Originally I was going to use the one in my Fried and True cookbook (written by Rick Rodgers) but finally opted to go with one from Emeril on the Food Network site:  Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Habanero Chutney (it was the habaneros that won me over).

How was it?  Good.  Well, very good.  The chutney had just enough zing to it to spice up the shrimp and the shrimp fried up nice and crispy.  The only change I would make next time is to not mix in the coconut with the batter -- I think it would be better served by dipping it into the batter and then rolling it in the coconut before frying.  Not something I'll make again soon (not healthy at all!), but it would be great for appetizers at a party (as long as I get a bigger deep fryer).

Fajitas, Anyone?

Yesterday I decided I was changing the way I am grocery shopping -- at least for this week.  Normally I'll make a menu for the week, purchase everything on my list and then things will come up and we'll end up not having half of what was planned.  (Or as Travis has often told me, "why do you even bother to come up with a menu?")  Taking that to heart, I'm going to try shopping daily for the food we need.  This way I know that what gets bought will get used and as long as I only buy what I need, hopefully there won't be much difference in our grocery bill.  BTW, out of curiosity, how do YOU shop?

Starting today with my new plan, I decided this morning to make fajitas.  Luckily there wasn't too many ingredients I needed at the store:  green and red peppers, shrimp and tortillas; and dinner went together quickly and easily.

Fajitas aren't something I usually make at home and I don't know why.  I used Paula Deen's recipe and while the chicken was flavorful, I wasn't too impressed with the shrimp.  Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it just tasted like unseasoned shrimp to me.  Next time I think I'll go with all chicken or all steak.

Fish!

Tonight's dinner was another in an attempt to add more fish and seafood into our diets.  I originally wanted to find cod for a recipe I saw in this month's Everyday Food magazine, but my grocery store this morning didn't have any so I opted for orange roughy.  I cooked it basically the same way as I would have the cod -- lightly cover with olive oil, salt and pepper, put a piece of proscuitto around it and broil for 10-12 minutes.  I also sauteed some spinach for it's bed and added a squeeze of lemon juice for some brightness. 

This is a great, quick and easy way to prepare fish.  The saltiness of the proscuitto complimented the delicate flavor of the orange roughy well.  A repeat for sure!  This is also my submission to Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day for the spinach -- great way to get your veggies in.  Go check out her site tomorrow and see what else people came up with!