Shrimp Cakes

Looking for that special appetizer for the holidays, think shrimp, here’s a bit of Cuisinart magic.  To the Cuisinart add a chopped garlic clove, fresh minced ginger, two chopped scallions, some chopped cilantro, a few slices of minced jalapeno, a squeeze of lime, then some hot sauce, kosher salt, and pepper to taste…pulse until pasty.  (If you're lacking some of the fresh ingredients you could improvise with some Asian condiments, hoisin, black bean paste, curry, or fish sauce.)  Then add an egg and a pound of shelled raw shrimp, I like the IQF easy peel variety.  Pulse until the shrimp is coarsely chopped, not mushy.  Pour out into a large bowl, mix with two cups of panko bread crumbs, form into small patties, and fry up with a small amount of oil in a large pan.  I served them with a cilantro lime sauce that I made intin the cuisinart like I would a pesto using cilantro leaves, oil, salt, hot sauce, and lime juice.  Cheers!

Turkey Soup

Don’t throw out that turkey carcass!  The post holiday dinner turkey coma is a tough one to overcome but what I like to do is break the carcass into pieces and seal them in a zip lock bag with whatever other bones are leftover and throw them in the freezer.  I was so excited to rediscover my Thanksgiving turkey carcass last weekend, perfect for a winter Sunday soup.  In a large pot I coarsely chopped and sautéed a large onion, half a dozen carrots and celery stalks along with some coarsely ground black pepper.  Once the vegetables began to brown I placed my assorted turkey components in the pot and filled with enough cold water to submerge all. After bringing to a boil I lowered the heat to a slow boil and let reduce for two hours. 

At this point I removed the bones with a pair of tongs and added some additional chicken stock concentrate to taste, I prefer Better Than Bullion.  A jar of stock paste only costs a bit more than a box of liquid stock, yields four times the amount, and will last in the fridge for months and months.  A much better way to go and you are always sure to have stock on hand.  Anyway, once cooled I pulled whatever meat I could find from my carcass and added it to my simmering soup along with a bag of arugula, a couple of cans of white navy beans, and some leftover chicken meatballs.  But just about anything goes, rice, noodles, spinach, cabbage, or some cooked sausage…and the smell of your house will make that Sunday afternoon on the couch reading or watching football that much better.  Happy Holidays!

Sausage Appetizer

This was a last minute pot luck appetizer, would work with just about any sausage.  I grilled the sausage in a frying pan over high heat until both sides were nicely browned.  With a pair of tongs I took the links out one by one and on my cutting board sliced them into chunks before returning them to the pan.  Once I could see they were cooked through I added two heaping tablespoonfuls of my favorite hot and spicy mustard, tossed for a minute then plated them with a slotted spoon so as not to pickup too much of the grease.  A little green onion for garnish.  Instead of mustard a spicy tomato sauce or a mixture of honey and hot sauce would work as well.

Italian Meatloaf

I go big on this one so there’s always lots leftover.  Preheat oven to 375 then mix together with your hands in a very large bowl: two pounds of burger, one pound of ground sausage, five or six cloves of chopped garlic, two cups of breadcrumbs or panko, a cup of basil or parsley, a chopped sautéed onion, two cups of grated mozzarella, a teaspoon or more of ground black pepper, even more of kosher salt, and a half a cup of tomato sauce saving the remainder of the jar to top your meatloaf after cooking.  Once thoroughly mixed stir in three lightly scrambled eggs then form into a four inch high by five inch wide loaf on a sided cookie sheet.  Cook for an hour to an hour and a half then top with the heated tomato sauce.  Try chorizo or a spiced sausage instead to add some spice, or sub a basil or arrabiata sauce, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Teriyaki Wings

Its football as well as party season and wings make for a great appetizer, not sure why I don’t think of making them more often, super easy.  The day before I placed my wings in a shallow baking dish with a marinade of soy sauce, my favorite teriyaki sauce, crushed garlic, Sriracha hot sauce, white pepper, salt, and a little honey.  I pulled them out of the fridge the next morning and turned over each wing so they would marinate evenly before barbequing them that afternoon.  Make sure you watch your heat and keep an eye on them as they will flame up easily…as you can see from my wings.  You could also bake them for half an hour then finish them off under the broiler.  For a dipping sauce I started with a small bowl of sour cream and kept adding Sriracha hot sauce until I reached my desired hotness, a little salt never hurts either.

Asian Tuna "Milanese"

This is a tasty seafood twist on the classic.  Have your fish market slice the tuna into quarter inch slices, skin on.  After salt and peppering each slice I grated some fresh ginger into a small bowl of soy sauce and added a little bit of sesame oil and rice vinegar to make a vinaigrette.  I poured some vegetable oil into a large pan and let heat up while I coarsely chopped a couple of cucumbers and some grape tomatoes.

For the breading I dusted each tuna steak in flour, dredged in a few lightly scrambled eggs, then coated with panko.  Once the oil is hot you only need to cook for a couple of minutes on each side, tuna is best when it’s served rare.  While my tuna was frying I tossed the cucumbers and tomatoes in a bowl with my vinaigrette then plated and topped each steak with a generous portion before serving. This is also an amazing way to cook swordfish, maybe substitute with an arugula and tomato salad with a lemon vinaigrette.

Porcini Mushroom Soup

This Porcini Mushroom soup has a lot of flavor and with just a touch of cream is far from filling.  To start I’ll soak a generous handful or two of dried porcini mushrooms in a large bowl of hot water then quarter and thinly slice a half dozen medium to large onions.  If you can’t find porcinis nearly any dried mushroom will do.  While the mushrooms are soaking I’ll sauté the onions in my soup pot with half a stick of butter for about a half an hour, continually stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot until they are brown and caramelized. 

Next I’ll grind in some fresh pepper, stir, then pour my liquid from the mushrooms into the soup pot along with some additional water depending on how many you are serving.  Save the porcinis for later.  After bringing to a light boil I’ll add some beef stock, my favorite is the Better Than Bouillon paste, and continue to let simmer and reduce for upwards of an hour.  You could also use the Better Than Bouillon Mushroom stock or a combination of both which is what I like to do. 

At this point I taste to see whether it needs some more stock and if so add and turn down the heat to a simmer.  I’ll give it ten minutes then run my stick blender through the broth to get rid of whatever onion pieces are still around then add just enough heavy cream to make it silky.  Give it another ten minutes then add salt to taste along with the chopped porcinis.  It’s best to make a few days to a week ahead of time then refrigerate or freeze.  Grating a little pecorino or parmesan over the top just before serving is a nice touch for the holidays.

Winter Pestos

The days of fresh basil are over for a while but that doesn’t mean you have to stop making pesto, winter greens work just as well.  For this version I used Swiss chard but kale, turnip, or beet greens would have all done the job, the key is to remove the major veins of each leaf then blanch and drain them thoroughly before adding them to the pesto. 

While the greens are draining I chop a generous handful of pine nuts or almonds in my Cuisinart along with a large peeled and coarsely chopped garlic clove and a dash of Kosher Salt.  Use a spatula to scrape the mixture back into the bottom of the Cuisinart before adding the drained greens.  With the cover on I start the Cusinart and drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil through the opening in the lid until the mixture is smooth but not runny.  I recommend that you add the oil slowly and keep checking the consistency…you can always add more oil. 

Finally I add a quarter cup of grated parmesan, a squeeze of lemon juice, additional kosher salt to taste, and one more quick pulse to stir it all together. This time around I tossed the pesto with my cooked pasta, some roasted cubed butternut squash, and a dozen tiny grape potatoes I dug out of the bottom of the basket at the last farmer’s market but it would have been just as great with the pesto alone or combined with just the roast squash.  I think it’s safe to say that you can throw just about anything in the Cuisinart with garlic, olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheese and it will be really good. 

Hot and Spicy Squash

Whether it's Delicata, Butternut, or Acorn, one way to prepare squash that I never get tired of is to roast it with butter and maple syrup.  However, this time around I added a minced jalapeno to my Delicata and the sweet spicy thing was real nice, not too hot at all.  After cleaning the squash I halved them to remove the seeds, cut into chunks with the skin on then placed them in a roasting pan and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  They were soft and starting to brown around the edges after about fifty minutes at 375 and at this point I added a quarter stick of butter, a couple splashes of maple syrup, and a minced quarter of a jalapeno pepper.  Once the butter melted I tossed to coat the squash evenly then returned to the oven for another ten minutes.

Turnips and Leeks

Anything with browned onions is good, and turnips are no exception.  I had just picked up some leeks so while boiling my peeled and cubed turnips I sliced and sautéed several in butter until they started to brown careful not to let them burn.  At this point I turned down the heat and added some more butter and kosher salt.  After draining my cooked turnip cubes I added them to the pan with the leeks and mashed slightly leaving them somewhat chunky.  The buttery, salty, sweet turnip thing was a super tasty combination…we don’t eat turnips often enough.

Chicken Soup with Parmesan

Sometimes you just need a bowl of chicken soup and that’s why I always have a jar of chicken stock paste in the fridge, I prefer Better Than Bouillon.  Last night after dissolving some of the stock into four cups of boiling water I added some linguini noodles that I broke up into quarter lengths, cooked for ten minutes, then threw in some chopped spinach I happened to have around.  Arugula, carrots, celery, or scallions would have worked as well, but no need for too much, best to keep it simple.  But the key to making this ordinary looking bowl of soup amazing is to stir in a quarter cup of grated parmesan before serving, half a cup is even better.

Radish, Apple, Arugula Salad

Here’s an unlikely combination and a great one for the season.  Thinly slice equal amounts of radishes and apples and combine with some loosely chopped arugula.  Toss with cider or white Balsamic vinegar, some extra virgin olive oil, and kosher salt and white pepper to taste.