Shrimp and Smoked Cheddar Grits

My wife and some of her friends went out lunch and she came back all boisterous. She begged me to make this for her (and Kate!). I went to work and asked Executive Chef Greg Strickland about grits and shrimp. Chef said of course I have a shrimp and grits recipe, this is what he wrote down. Try it my way or throw in your own flare!

 I also did this recipe as a single serving.

Ingredients-

6-7 Shrimp size 21-25
1/4lb Andouille Sausage sliced
1/3 of 1 Shallot cut into rings(originated in Central or Southeast Asia, travelling from there to India and the eastern Mediterranean)
1 Mushroom sliced
1 tsp Fresh Thyme
1 tsp Garlic minced
1 Tbl Worcestershire
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbl Butter
1/2 Cup Grits instant
1/4lb Smoked Cheddar Cheese (the key is smoked!)
Diced Tomatoes and Green Onion for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions-

1. Cook grits as directed, when done add cheese and whisk until combined.
2. While grits are going, heat a small saute pan over medium heat, once hot add sausage and cook 5-7 minutes. Add Shallots, garlic, mushrooms and thyme and saute for 3-5 minutes.
3. Deglaze with worcestershire, once it boils(which should be right away) add shrimp and cream, bring up to a boil, cook until shrimp is cooked 4-5 minutes.
4. Serve in a bowl and garnish…Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake with Cherry Mascarpone Frosting

One of my favorite times in the kitchen is side by side with my 8-year old son. Like many "fiercely independent" kids he wanted to make the cake and eat it too! I measured everything out and he mixed and frosted it himself. The frosting is a cherry mascarpone frosting(from my cupcake post) so good with chocolate (the coffee is the secret ingredient that brings out the richness). I also have to give him props as he is the photographer on this post also! We had a happy little dude….and my wife liked it too!

Ingredients-
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Buttermilk (you can use any type of milk that you have, but buttermilk gives the cake the richness that a good chocolate cake has)
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Large Eggs
1 Tbl Almond Extract
1 Cup Coffee Fresh Brewed

Directions-

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour 1 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch round pans.
2. Sift all dry ingredients into bowl of an electric mixer.
3. In separate bowl mix buttermilk, veg. oil, eggs and almond extract.
4. On low speed in mixer mix dry ingredients with whisk attachment for one minute add wet ingredients mix for 1 minute add coffee and mix until just combined.
5. Pour into pan and put into oven for 30-35 minutes or until done.
6. Remove from pan and frost with what ever you want(this frosting is the cherry mascarpone frosting from my cupcake post enjoy.

Korean Dumplings With Soy Dipping Sauce

I know I have been posting a lot of Korean food. Well there is a reason for that as a family we are moving to Seoul South Korea in July. My wife(and sometimes editor) has taken a teaching job, we are so looking forward to this move and traveling around the world. This will not be my last Korean dish I still have to work on some Kimchi.

Ingredients-
1/3lb Ground Beef
1/3lb Ground Pork
1/2 Cup Diced Cabbage(domesticated somewhere in Europe before 1000 BC)
2 Green Onions
2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 tsp Ginger Paste
1 Tbl Oyster Sauce
1 Tbl Sesame Oil
1 Tbl Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Salt
1 Pack Wonton Wrappers

Soy Dipping Sauce-
1/2 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Rice or Cider Vinegar
1/3 Cup Sugar

Directions-
Soy Dipping Sauce-
1. Add ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk.

Dumplings-
1. Put all ingredients into large mixing bowl and mix by hand(or gloves).
2. Fill a small bowl with water. Place a wrapper in one hand and wet your finger and rub over one half of the wrapper.
3. Scoop a good sized portion of meat mixture with a spoon and place in the middle of wrapper. Fold in half and seal.
4. In a medium pot fill half way with water and add some salt. Bring to a low boil over medium high heat. Place 5-6 dumplings in to water. When they float to the top, cook for an extra 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Serve hot… enjoy.

Cupcakes with Cherry Marscapone Frosting

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So who doesn't have a jar of maraschino cherries in the fridge? We did for eight months. Ok, so there where only 6 cherries left in it. Why not go out and buy another jar because that makes all kinds of sense. This way I can use up one and maybe the second one as well, wait isn't having a new jar left over in the fridge how I got here?

Ingredients-

18 oz Box of White Cake Mix.( yes I know boxed cake mix? It was on sale for a dollar a box)
1 1/2 Cups Water

1 Large egg White.

1 Tbl Almond Extract

1 tsp Vanilla.

2 Tbl Butter melted.

Frosting-

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream.

8oz Marscapone

10oz Maraschino Cherries, cherries mashed and juice saved

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar.

Directions-

Frosting-

1. Add cream, marscapone and mix until cheese is smooth. Add Cherry juice about 1/2 cup and mix for 1 minute more.

2. While mixing add powdered sugar and mix 2-3 minutes. I like a smooth frosting, if you like a thicker frosting mix it longer but watch it because you don't want it to turn into cement.
3. Mash up the cherries in a bowl and fold it into frosting.

Cupcakes-

1. Heat oven to 325 Degrees.

2. Mix Cake mix, water, eggs, almond extract, vanilla and melted butter, for two min. in an electric mixer or hand mixer.

3. Line muffin tin with muffin liners, fill about 3/4 full with batter. Cook for 15-18 min. or until done.

4. When done let cupcakes cool completely, take off paper and cut the top off of the cupcake( or leave it on and frost the top do it how you like)

5. Spoon in frosting and put the tops back on and lightly cover with powdered sugar… enjoy!

Carnita Fajitas

If I knew Carnitas where this easy to make I would be eating this 2-3 times a week. Very easy to do, it sold very well at work and my wife and son loved it as well.(It also made for great nachos with the leftovers)
Ingredients-

Carnitas
4lb Pork Shoulder bone out
5 Cloves Garlic whole(With a history of human use of over 7,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia)
2 Tbl Pepper
2 Tbl Salt
2 Tbl Cumin
2 Tbl Chile Powder
2 Tbl Sage
1/3 Cup Oil or Lard(I used Crisco)
3 Bell Peppers(any color)
1 Yellow or White Onions
Salt, Pepper and Cumin to taste

Flour or Corn Tortillas

Directions-
1. Add oil or lard to large stock pot on medium heat.
2. Sear all sides of pork, when done turn fat side up.
3. Add all spices and garlic to pot, add water to pot leaving 1/2 inch of pork showing.
4. Cover pot and turn down heat to medium-low. Let simmer 2 1/2-3 hours.
5. Pork should pull apart really easy, Leave shredded pork in pot with all of the juices.
6. Cut onion and peppers into strips. Add oil to  a large saute pan on medium high heat add pepper.
7. When peppers are cooked about halfway add the pork and saute for 4-5 min.
8. Add pork and onions and peppers to tortillas top with what ever you like.. enjoy.

Sweet Korean Potatoes with Sesame Seeds

This side dish plays well with the Korean BBQ. If I ever own a food truck these two are so on the menu.

Ingredients-
1 1/4lb Small red or white new potatoes
1/3 Cup Korean BBQ marinade(see Korean BBQ post)
2 Tbl Oil(I used grape seed oil use what you have)
2 Tbl Water
2 Tbl Corn syrup
1 Tbl Sesame seeds(Sesame seed is one of the oldest oilseed crops known, domesticated well over 3000 years ago.)

Directions-
1. Rinse potatoes, in a med. sauce pot fill half way with water and bring to a boil.
2. Add potatoes to boiling water for 4-5 min., insert knife into potato to test firmness. Potato should be firm yet easily pierced with knife.
3. Strain potatoes and set out to dry.
4. In a wok or large saute pan heat oil over medium high heat, once hot add potatoes and saute for 2-3 min.
5. Add water and marinade, cook until sauce starts to thicken.
6. Add Corn syrup, increase heat to high. Mix until all potatoes are coated with sauce and have a nice caramel color.
7. Sprinkle on sesame seeds… enjoy

Tilapia Fish Tacos with Pablano Aioli

I made this at work, we didn't have any Cabbage to make a slaw for the tacos so I made up a "slaw". The guys at work loved it(so did my wife) so I hope you try it.

Ingredients-

4 Tilapia Fillets(Tilapia were one of the three main types of fish caught in Biblical times from the Sea of Galilee, dating as far as back as 1500 BC.)
Corn or Flour Tortillas
Vegetable Oil
Flour

Batter-
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Cream (whole milk)
1 Egg
Old Bay Seasoning (awesome with fish)
Salt and Pepper to your liking

"Slaw"-
3 Yellow Peppers (or what ever color you want)
1 Med. Red Onion
1 jalapeno
3 Lemons squeezed
3 Cloves Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup Cilantro

Aioli-
3 Pablano Peppers
2 Limes Squeezed
1/3 Cup Cilantro
1 Cup mayonnaise
Pinch of crushed Red Pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions-

Batter-
1. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk, should be like pancake batter.

Slaw-
1. Cut Peppers and onions into long strips.
2. Deseed jalapeno and 1/4 inch dice.
3. Med. dice Cilantro.
4. Mince Garlic.
5. Place all ingredients into a Med. bowl, squeeze Lemons, salt and paper to tasteand mix. Refrigerate when done.

Aioli-
1. Grill Pablanos until the outside is charred. Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap(or use Tupperware or a baggie). Wait 15-20 Min. then pull off the skin of the pepper.
2. Cut Cilantro Med. dice.
3. Cut Pablano into 1/4 inch pieces.
4. In a Med. mixing bowl add all ingredients and squeeze limes and whisk.
5. Put Aioli into a blender and blend for 1-2 Min. pour into a squeeze bottle or pour into a bowl and refrigerate.

Tilapia-
1. Put oil into med. saucepan and put over med.-high heat.
2. Cut Tilapia fillets in half length wise, put fish into flour and coat all sides. Dredge fish into batter and put into oil, cook fish until 145 degrees.
3. Cut Tilapia into 1/2 inch strips.
4. Place half of the Talapia into tortilla, the other half into another tortilla, put on slaw and aioli… Enjoy.

White Chocolate and Strawberry Bread Pudding

We went to a friend's house for a Super Bowl party(that is why it's a paper plate…but it is also known as the poor man's pudding dating back to the 11th century so I suppose that it is fitting)  a nice easy dessert would be bread pudding . You can put just about anything you like into it. My favorite is butterscotch chips. Luckily the bread pudding turned out a winner unlike the Broncos!

Ingredients-
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup Whole Milk
1 5oz Sweetened and Condensed Milk
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Egg Yolks
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1lb Strawberries
1 11oz bag White Chocolate Chips(White chocolate is not chocolate in the strict sense as it does not contain cocoa solids)
1 Loaf French Bread(or any bread you like)


Directions-
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, brown sugar and salt.
2. Add cream, milk and sweetened condensed milk and whisk.
3. Cut bread into 1/2 inch size pieces.
4. Cut strawberries into quarters.
5. In a 9X13inch pan add bread and white chocolate and strawberries.
6. Pour in batter, cover with foil and cook at 325 degrees
7. Cook for 45 min. bread pudding should not jiggle and be firm, center should not have any liquid
8. When done(it may take longer then 45 min. it is done when it is done so be patient) cut bread Pudding into 3X8 pieces.

Creame Brulee French Toast

We are a breakfast kind of family. My little man would eat french toast morning, noon and night! This recipe is a rich spin on creme brulee (my wife's dog is named Brulee which tells you how much she love the stuff!). It feels like dessert for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients-
8 Egg Yolks
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
2 Tbl Vanilla(Vanilla is the second most expensive spice after Saffron)
1 French Baguette cut into 3/4 inch wide pieces(use what ever bread that you have. I will sadly admit to using plain white bread before. Challah is awesome with it as well.)

Directions-
1. Separate yolks from egg whites and put Yolks in med. mixing bowl.
2. Add Sugar and whisk.
3. Add Cream and Vanilla and whisk...you want the batter to be the consistency of thick tomato soup
4. Cut Baguette in to 3/4 inch pieces
5. Heat a large saute pan with a little butter (or what ever you use for French Toast) over medium heat.
6. Dip bread into batter make sure both sides of bread get a good coating. Place into hot pan.
7. Cook 3-4 min. per side( it should have a darker crust then normal).
8. Plate with fresh fruit( and of course butter and syrup) and Enjoy.

Brussel Sprouts Sauteed with Bacon

So I'm not a big  brussel sprouts fan but I love it with frickin' bacon. The layers of the brussel sprouts absorb the fat from the bacon and make this traditionally boring veg succulent and melt in your mouth. 

Ingredients-
1/4lb Thick cut Bacon
2lb Brussel Sprouts
1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar(Traditional balsamic vinegar is produced from the juice of just-harvested white grapes)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions-
1. Slice bacon into 1/2 inch strips
2. Cook bacon on med. heat in a large saute pan until 3/4 done
3. While bacon is cooking, cut ends off of brussels and cut in half.
4. Take out bacon pieces and save, add brussels to bacon fat.
5. Cook until brussels are soft, a charred outside is ok (I like it more charred my wife A LOT less...yes boys she tends to win this argument).
6. Add bacon and balsamic cook 3-5 min.
7. Salt and Pepper to taste and... Enjoy!