Cook. Craft. Enjoy.

Not Pasta

Back in November I talked about picking up a packet of those premeasured spice cards for salmon - McCormick Recipe Inspirations Asian Sesame Salmon.  I said I wouldn't be buying the spice cards again but lo and behold another one jumped into my cart this past weekend. This time it was the Mediterranean Herb Crusted Tilapia.   

While the spice cards are on the expensive side ($1 each), I justified it with the fact that the back of the card has the recipe with spice amounts so you can recreate it without again buying the card.  (A tip from one of the commenters on my original post.)  Included in the spices were minced garlic, marjoram leaves, ground mustard, basil leaves, oregano leaves and coarse black pepper.

Make Mine Sushi

Anyone that's a regular reader of my blog knows that I like to experiment with newly found grocery items.  Sometimes I just buy the stuff and it sits, and sits, and sits (sigh) but for the most part I get up enough courage to try something new and different.  This past weekend at Wegman's, I came across these:

Interesting, no?  Here's their website ... while I didn't find their website until after I'd made these, they do have some good recipes for different types of sushi rolls. 

PPN: Tuna Pasta Salad

This doesn't look like the base of your normal tuna pasta salad, does it.  Lucky for me, this is exactly what I created earlier this week when I set out making a healthy, filling lunch.

I am awful about making food for myself.  Someone wants me to make them something?  Wonderful!  99% of the time I'm happy to oblige.  Eggs or pancakes for breakfast?  No problem unless they're just for me.  Lunch I'd rather throw a piece of turkey and cheese on some bread and call it done than go to anything more elaborate.  Unless, of course, I'm cooking for someone else.

I have.to.stop.this.  I have to realize that what I put in my mouth is worth just as much as what I want to feed someone else.  So one of my resolution goals this week was be nicer to me.  Take the time to make what I want to eat even if that involves cleaning up a little afterwards.

I told you I'm also trying to get more vegetables into my diet and this salad goes along perfectly.  Add that I needed a post for this week's Presto Pasta Night (hosted by 6-time hoster Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and as you know created by the lovely Ruth at Once Upon a Feast) and voila, a tuna pasta creation.

Roasted Dinner

I know this won't surprise you, but one of my "resolutions" for this year is to get back to eating healthy and get down to a healthy weight.  I'm taking these goals a little at a time and committing myself to doing the best I can.  That means I won't be perfect, but I will slowly retrain myself how to eat right again.

One of the things I have gotten bad about is getting enough fruits and vegetables in my diet.  I still remember clearly someone saying that if you focus on getting in 6 servings of vegetables and at least 2 servings of fruit the rest of your day will go okay because you won't have those "I'm so hungry" moments.  The past couple of days have shown me that there's a lot of truth in that statement.

McCormick Recipe Inspirations Asian Sesame Salmon

Honestly, as most cooks, I have way too many spices.  I enjoy having different ingredients to choose from - and I am definitely not one that shys away from flavor.  That's why I was a little surprised when I picked up a package of McCormick Recipe Inspirations.  If you've been by the spice aisle in the grocery store I'm sure you've seen them.  Packaged on a "card" they have 6 spices and give you simple directions on the back on how to use them.

The one I picked up was for Asian Sesame Salmon and had sesame seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger and red pepper flakes.  The directions on the back wanted you to bake the salmon but I opted for a different approach:  grilling

PPN: Angel Hair Pasta with Clams

Remember Presto Pasta Nights?  The wonderful blogging event that was started by Ruth over at Once Upon A Feast back in March of '07?  Well, thankfully it's still going strong (on #237!).  Ruth, I'm glad to see the event you created has lasted - and that I can once again become a part of it.

My first post of PPN was Pad Thai, and I remember it fondly.  I contributed weekly up until life, health, and a host of other issues got in my way - but I can feel my passion for cooking and blogging back and it's a good feeling - one that I plan on keeping for as long as I can.

This week my submission is Angel Hair Pasta with Clams:

This was a dish I am almost embarrassed to say I made last January and meant to blog but didn't.  It was something out of the ordinary for us - sometimes I'm hesitant to try things figuring that the kids won't like it - but something that was a hit.  Believe it or not Liam LOVED the clams (he, who used to be the world's pickiest eater!) and even Adrienne had good things to say about it.

Why did I buy this?

For shrimp I've been buying the bags of frozen.  Usually they're a better price and I don't really notice a quality difference (especially since most supermarket shrimp was originally frozen to begin with).  A couple of weeks ago, however, I wasn't really paying attention and bought a bag of medium size that still had the shells attached (sigh).  Now if they're jumbo size I can see the ease of peeling 15 or so shrimp per pound but 60?  Um... no thank you.  I knew I needed to use them, though, so off to the 'net I went in search of a recipe.

At first I thought I'd just boil them in beer and eat them like that but hey, if I'm going to boil them, let's make it a party and make a REAL shrimp boil.  I came across this recipe from the folks at Old Bay and decided on that.  It's really a very easy recipe.  Gather the ingredients:

Mix it all together until it looks like sludge (honestly I was worried about it at this point ... it didn't look very appetizing):

and then serve it in a couple huge bowls so everyone can feed themselves:

All in all not a bad meal.  I have to say that eating the shrimp was ALMOST more trouble then it was worth just in the peeling but I pretty much figured that.  Everyone decided it was easier to just peel them in big batches and then get down to the business of eating.  There's only a handful of them left today and I think for lunch I'll peel them and stick them in a hoagie roll (hey, I'm learning the PA lingo) with some mayo, sprouts and heirloom tomatoes (okay, so you can't take the west coast completely out of me).

My only other comment is Tuesday night I made more of the pretzel bread and while it was great that night it didn't save real well for the next night.  I think it was probably the salt that you sprinkle on the top -- made the bag it was resting in a little too humid and made the bread a little too mushy.  Hmm.. that doesn't make much sense but trust me, eat it the day you make it.  :)

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).