Shrimp Salad

If there’s one thing I love, it’s my Parker House rolls.  Sometimes, I wonder how other food bloggers can write so much.  How is it that they can keep trying the new?  What about returning the beloved tried and true every now and then?  How can we fit in new and exciting things, when I want my darned comfort foods too.

Parker House rolls are pretty much the only bread I make nowadays.  I am so-over my rye bread phase and just haven’t re-caught the bread bug.  Except for rolls, those light, fluffy, oh so delicate puffs.  I was really craving them the other day so I tried to figure out a meal that would pair well with them for when our friend Michelle came over.

I came up with:  shrimp salad!  Martin had insisted on tiny baby shrimps on a recent grocery trip and the package came labelled as “salad shrimp.”  No joke.  I took that as a sign.

I know it’s not much to look at, but the rolls so totally made the salad.  I wish I could say it was my awesome shrimp salad, but it wasn’t.

I think I picked the shrimp salad recipe because it had slashes and umlats decorating the o’s (the recipe’s official name is Shrimp Smorrebrod).  The description was open-faced sandwiches over rye bread - so Swedish sounding!

Well, it turned out to be Danish but Martin liked it anyway.  I made a few substitutions but was overall very happy with the result.   You go, rolls!!  This was a great, light summer meal.

Shrimp Smorrebrod, Melanie Style

1 lb. salad shrimp
1/4 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons horseradish, cream-style
2 firm-ripe California avocados
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 small Italian red pepper, diced
Parker House Rolls
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
Whatever salad greens you happen to have

1-  Defrost salad shrimp (yes, it’s true, they were frozen but really, can you imagine shelling shrimp this tiny yourself?)

2-  Whisk heavy cream until it holds soft peaks, then whisk in sour cream, horseradish, and salt and pepper to taste.

3-  Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then slice crosswise. Drizzle slices with lemon juice.

4-  Slice rolls.  Arrange shrimp, avocado, and onion over it. Spoon dollops of horseradish sauce on sandwiches.  Be happy as you stuff your face and bask in the summeryness.

Servings:  6

Scallops with Avocado

I saw this recipe online and immediately wanted to try it.  I like scallops and guacamole, what could be so terrible?

Well, I think I messed up on several key points.  The original recipe called for lightly toasted bread, but all I had was crackers so I made the substitution anyway.  Not a smart idea.  The crackers crumbled at the first bite and the whole structure just collapsed!

Also, I made my guacamole the way I normally like it, on the chunky side.  I think for a recipe like this, a smoother guacamole would be in order.  I think it would help everything adhere together.  As it was, the guacamole was so chunky that it sort of plopped off the cracker after biting into it.  And the copious amounts of diced red onion I added didn’t help either. 

Otherwise, this was just okay.  I felt a slight disconnect at cold, creamy guacamole and warm scallop but I think this would have been corrected by the toasted, buttered bread on the bottom.  I served these for a light dinner for Martin and I but was not overly thrilled with them.

It’s so easy to make, I won’t bother posting a recipe.  Just butter bread and slice rounds from it.  Spread toast with (a smooth!) guacamole spread, made according to personal taste.  Top with a halved pan-seared sea scallop.  Serve!

Your full potential was never realized, scallop bite-lets.

Pot Stickers, Take 2

I tried making pot stickers again recently.  I felt a little disappointed at my last attempt, mostly because my attempt at frying / steaming and steaming / frying did not come out so well.  I suspect it was because I didn’t put a lid on top of my skillet.  And, according to my dad, I didn’t use a nonstick skillet, which are the BEST for releasing those sticky pot stickers.

Well, I wasn’t going to run out and buy a nonstick pan just for pot stickers.  But I was going to try again.

This time, I tried a much simpler method of forming the potstickers.  I wanted them fat and plump and full of pork-and-mushroom goodness.  The squares, while pretty to look at, could not hold very much filling.  So let’s take a look at my second attempt, shall we?

Lay a nice chunk of your stuffing on top of your won ton wrapper.  Shape roughly into a triangle because you’re waiting for your boyfriend to take an in-focus shot.

While we’re on this picture, don’t my hands look really weird?  I mean, REALLY weird?  CLAWS!

Brush the bottom half of your triangle with water.  Growing up, my uncle and father finished the edges of their egg rolls with egg.  But the internet says water.  I guess you can pick it however you want.

Fold in half and pinch together to make plain and simple triangular pot stickers.  Not only do these take less time, but they store much more easily in the freezer, if you needed another reason.  My dad would wake up in the morning, take some out of our freezer, fry them on both sides and then steam ‘em.  In his non-stick skillet.

Build your army of pot stickers.  When I was finished, this entire cookie sheet was filled with them.

Then I had a conondrum.  My last attempt at one-stop steaming and frying didn’t work.  So I could either just steam them and save the calories - and the pain of frying.  Or I could suck it up and dirty that second pan, because ain’t nothin’ better than perfectly crisp pan-fried pot sticker.

You can guess which side won.

Bacon Jalapeno Poppers

I know what you’re thinking. “Did she just say bacon? Didn’t they ban bacon from their kitchen?!”

Yes, astute reader, we did. We had every intention of living a sad, bacon-less existence. Maybe every now and then, I would take a chance and eat it if we went out to brunch but only then! I envisioned a future crying over the limp, floppy bacon that accompanies brunches rather than my preferred way - extra extra crispy. Emphasis on extra.

Then I realized that there are other ways to cook bacon that don’t involve pan-frying (our main complaint). So Martin and I agreed that bacon could make a small return back to our kitchen only if it was cooked in such a way that it would not send clouds of grease and smokiness up in the air.

And that is how I came about making this dish. I saw it on a blog and decided it was the perfect finger food to serve some company we were having over. Unluckily for my waistline, unforeseen circumstances caused a cancellation and Martin and I had to eat these.

These were tasty good in a satisfying way. The tasty part comes from all the fat. The satisfying way comes from the fact you didn’t spend a lot of time prepping these bite-sized pieces of food. Even Martin, who will go out of his way to avoid anything potentially spicy / hot, loved these.

Here’s what you need:

Don’t judge my bacon choice! I have no clue what the “best” bacon brand is and just end up picking one at random. This generally involves “eenie meenie miney mo!”

Just slather in the cream cheese all nice and neat and wrap with half a slice of bacon. Bake for thirty minutes until the bacon is cooked and crispy to your desired crispiness and eat. Here’s what you end up with:

I am making these for a cookout we have tonight and am thinking of rolling the top of the pepper (the cream cheese part) in a mixture of Parmesan and cracked black pepper. We’ll see how that goes.

Should I be ashamed of the fact that these weren’t difficult to make, life-altering, classier finger foods? Maybe so. Am I? Sadly, no.

Pot Stickers and Back Story of My Childhood

I love Chinese food but I can probably count on two hands the number of dishes I’ve made myself. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of, but it’s just something that has never come up before. My father has worked in the restaurant business since he was in college and even owned his own restaurant for awhile. Growing up, cooking dinner fell firmly in his camp and I just sort of let him do it every night. And now that I live 3,000 miles from them, I am starting to miss some of my old favorites.

Every now and then, I’ll call him and ask for his recipe and the conversation will consist of a list of ingredients that he says to mix to taste. The first time I make something, I need exact measurements so I can figure out where to go from there. So this usually means I nod my head at what he says and then never make the dish.

One of my favorite things to eat are pot stickers. We actually don’t make them - my parents buy them 5 for $1 at our favorite dumpling vendor in NYC and freeze them. At Sunday brunches, my dad pulls them out and pan fries them. There is nothing better than dipping the dumplings into hoisin sauce, my spread of choice, and then biting into a meaty dumpling with a crispy skin. I am literally salivating now just thinking about it.

The reason we like this particular dumpling vendor is because he doesn’t use cabbage filler in his mixture, like many other places do. It’s all ground pork, crunchy water chestnuts, green onion and shitake mushrooms. So I decided I was going to try making my own dumplings and follow this recipe for success.

Mixing the filling and stuffing the won ton wrappers was easy. The hard part, I found out, is pan frying them to create the crispy skin. I know you’re supposed to boil them for water part of the time and pan fry them for part of the time. One way created crispy skins that stuck to the pan. The other way created soggy skins that stayed in tact. My plan is to call my dad and find his secret to success. Hopefully, he will say something more specific than “Fry and boil!”

Pot Stickers

1 small can water chestnuts
2 stems green onion
1 lb. ground pork
10 - 12 Shitake mushrooms
Ginger chunk, size of garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp. Soy sauce
1 tbsp. Sesame oil
Pepper
2 - 3 garlic cloves
Won ton wrappers
Water
Canola oil

1- In food processor, combine water chestnuts, green onion, mushrooms, garlic cloves and ginger. Pulse until finely minced. Everything can be to taste - for more crunch, add more water chestnuts. For a spicier kick, add more ginger.

2- In medium mixing bowl, combine with pork, soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and pepper. Mix until well blended and chill for 1/2 hour.

3- Place one small spoonful of filling into middle of won ton wrapper and form into dumpling by folding over and moistening edge to keep shape. Either fold in half completely or fold in half and then fold remaining corners up to create a square shape.

4- Chill briefly.

5- In a large skillet, pour small amount of canola oil and heat until hot. Disregard any and all advice from me until future notice because I have not yet talked to my dad.

6- Serve with hoisin sauce and enjoy!

Servings: 24 dumpling

Wow, this looks like something gross but if I name it I might never be able to eat it again. And it is good when cooked. Oh so deliciously wonderfully good.

This is actually probably too much. But it’ll help you get the picture.

Wet edges and stick top together. Looks like cannoli now.

Stick ‘em together and get ready for some dumpling action. Sweet dumpling action.

So many dumplings, just waiting to be eaten.

Deviled Eggs

For Easter, Martin and I were going to plan an elaborate Easter-Egg-Scavenger-Hunt on Stanford campus. Unfortunately, we missed the memo that told everyone to go out of town so we were forced to cancel. Instead of a scavenger hunt, we threw an Easter Potluck instead with a few close friends.

The Easter Potluck was great fun. In the spirit of Easter, Martin and I contributed a ham and deviled eggs. I am a huge fan of deviled eggs but have never made then, except for a terrible debacle I call “The Terrible Deviled Egg Debacle.” In fact, I pretty much strike that experience from my cooking experiences and call myself a Deviled Egg-making virgin.

To make this recipe, I turned to my trusty copy of Gourmet. I pretty much love this cookbook. I would like to add another all-purpose cookbook to my library, such as The Joy of Cooking or Cooks Illustrated, but have not been able to make the leap yet. So anyone with a strong preference for one should give me a good recommendation and a strong push to Amazon!

Since I was so new at deviled eggs, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, with a few small changes. I had looked up many recipes and variations and determined I wanted real, true deviled eggs, which call for a hint of spice. I didn’t want to risk adding too much, however, because of Martin’s sensitive palate. He hates eggs enough as it is and I didn’t want to give him another reason!

Also, I used sour cream in place of mayonnaise, mostly because mayonnaise is not something we keep on hand. Awhile ago, I banned store-bought mayonnaise from our fridge and did not have any eggs to make a homemade version. I liked the lighter taste the sour cream gave the filling. I added sweet relish for a bit of texture and the sprinkling of chili powder, instead of paprika, on top of the eggs was the perfect little zing.

Though I do not want to speak for all my guests, I thought these were very tasty and was a little sad there were not leftovers for me to eat later!

Deviled Eggs

6 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. sweet relish
1/4 tsp. chili powder + extra for garnish

1- Cover eggs with 1-1/2″ cold water and bring water to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and cover, letting cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 15 minutes.

2- Prepare an ice bath and transfer eggs to bath. Let stand for 30 minutes and drain.

3- Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks (it is easier to do this if you slightly bend the egg to expose edges and with finger, pop out the yolk). Place yolks in bowl.

4- Mash egg yolk with remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.

5- Fill plastic bag with mixture and cut off tip. Pipe into egg whites.

6- Sprinkle with chili powder and serve immediately. If preparing in advance, store in an air-tight container.

Servings: 12 eggs

Notes: I read a bit on deviled eggs and many people say that older eggs work better than fresh eggs. Also, the night before, it is helpful to put a rubber band around the egg case and turn the eggs on their side, which encourages the yolk to move to the center.

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Oh yeah oh yum.

Homemade French Fries

As one Miss Amy knows, I am not a fan of frying things in my kitchen. I think it has to do with the clean-up - the oil splatters everywhere and is just a pain to wipe up. She has given me many a-suggestion that involves dipping things into lots of oil on the stove and I have been unenthused.

I made an exception for these, which I thought would go well with the salmon and the mayonnaise I made. Mayonnaise, I discovered at a cute cafe in Seattle with Amy and Brian, is a great dip for french fries.

I searched around for awhile and found a recipe that battered the fries to produce a crispy outside. Many reviewers of the recipe noted that frying potatoes without the benefit of the batter produced fries that were somewhat soggy, while the battered fries were perfectly crisp and stayed that way for quite some time. I was immediately curious to try this one out.

I think next time, I will cut my fries to be thinner. I was going for a simple steak-fry like cut, but I think I prefer thinner cuts. Also, I added too much garlic to my mayonnaise so I ended up preferring ketchup over the mayonnaise. Coated in a simple flour batter, these fries were hot on the inside and awesomely crisp on the outside. I only made one large russet potato worth, which was just right for me and Martin. I felt like I could keep eating more, actually, but it’s probably good we had a physical limit, otherwise I would have just kept going and my stomach would have hated me later. These are addictive!

I think these were better than any I could get at a fast food or normal-food restaurant, because they were hot, hot, hot and oso crispy.

As for the shallow saucepan I fried them in - it did indeed splatter oil everywhere. I’m still soaking / scrubbing trying to get off all the oil. But I think these fries may have been worth it - and that’s saying a lot from me! Maybe I’ll start in on some of Amy’s recipes or even … homemade potato chips?

Homemade French Fries

1 russet potato
½ cups AP flour
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. onion salt
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
Water as needed
Vegetable oil for frying

1- Slice potatoes into French fries and place into cold water to prevent browning during preparation.

2- Mix flour, salts and peppers together. Slowly add water until mixture drips easily from spoon.

3- When ready to fry, heat oil in deep-sided skillet or pan until extremely hot. To check, drop a couple of drops of batter in to see if it starts bubbling. If not, continue to heat.

4- Dip potatoes into batter and place one by one into hot oil. Do not let touch each other, they’ll stick together.

5- Fry until dark golden brown.

6- Remove and set on drained paper towels. Serve hot.

Servings: 2

So brown and tasty, makes my belly go “Yay!sty.”

Pizza on Focaccia Bread

Oh, backlog. It feels like either I have lots to write about or nothing at all.

Today’s post isn’t so much a recipe as a “What did you have for dinner tonight?”

I’d made rosemary focaccia bread the night before and it had lost its nice softness but was still pretty tasty. I had an idea of making stuffed pizzas, but it was a little modified, as you can tell.

I split the bread in half lengthwise, smeared tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on it and then put the two pieces back together. Because I was worried about dryness, I spooned more tomato sauce on top, along with some avocado slices, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Then I baked them until the mozzarella was nice and browned.

Martin liked it but I think I made the portions too big. I wish there had been some kick to it - like, pepperoni, perhaps? I also thought that the parts of the focaccia that weren’t toasted weren’t as yummy as the crisper parts. But overall, not a bad way to use the focaccia.

Hello, hearty pizza wannabe!

Sweet Potato Puff

What’s your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes? Mine is sliced into wedges and sprinkled liberally with brown sugar and butter. And I mean, liberally!

But you can’t eat sweet potatoes that way all the time and so I searched around for this recipe. This way was rather nice - I think it might have a similar consistency to a sweet potato pie. It’s only missing a crust. The recipe called for sugar but I think sweet potatoes are sweet enough so I didn’t add any. It had a sort of fluffy texture, which I think might be where the “puff” comes from.

Overall, pretty good and tastes even better reheated (in an oven!) but I like the baked-wedges way much better.

Sweet Potato Puff

3 – 4 large sweet potatoes
¼ cup butter at room temperature
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. melted butter
¼ cup flour

1- Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line baking pan with foil.

2- Place sweet potatoes inside baking pan and bake for 1 hour, turning halfway through to ensure even cooking.

3- Remove from oven and let sweet potatoes cool.

4- Mix brown sugar, melted butter and flour together.

5- When sweet potatoes are cool, peel off skin and place in large bowl. Mash.

6- Add butter and milk, mashing until smooth and butter is melted.. Add eggs and mix.

7- Pour into baking dish and sprinkle with topping.

8- Bake, uncovered, for 45 – 60 minutes or until topping is a golden brown.

Servings: 6

Puff away, sweet sweet potato puff!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Most of the time, my recipes come from a desire to use up something that has been sitting in my fridge for what I feel has been too long. This is another one of those cases. Martin and I were about to head out to a holiday party and needed something light to tide us over. I had a cucumber in the crisper. My solution? Cucumber sandwiches.

I found some recipes online and, again, sort of mashed them together. I think they came out very sweet, mostly because I used Miracle Whip rather than mayonnaise. Also, a lot of recipes called for dry Italian dressing and I just made my own again using the recipe I’ve posted earlier. Also, I used the bread on hand (a sweet wheat) which was tasty but didn’t have the unhealthy softness of white bread. Overall, a pretty good small snack before we headed out to the party, but I’m not sure I’d make it again.

Cucumber Sandwiches

1/2 pkg. cream cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 pkt. dry Italian dressing mix
Slices of bread
1 medium cucumber, sliced thinly
1 pinch dill weed

1- Mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise and dressing mix.

2- Spread thinly on two slices of bread. Sandwich with cucumber and a sprinkle of the dill. Cut into small pieces.

Servings: A lot

Feels like pink lady tea time, doesn’t it?