Shrimp with Zucchini

We are really enjoying seafood here; not too frequently, but much more than when we lived in Denver. While discussing our menu for this week, we happened upon this curry recipe from Madhur Jaffrey, our FAVORITE Indian cook. Despite the hot chili and cayenne in it, the masala was not very hot and was EXTREMELY flavorful and mild.

Funny side note. I got a serrano pepper at the market today, but we couldn't find it when it was time to make dinner. So Mrs. Mc insisted on going to the store for another saying it seemed to be an integral part of the recipe this time rather than a fire enhancer. And it definitely was. It was funny when she walked up to the cashier and presented her single pepper to him. He laughed and said that was the smallest buy he'd seen, and she replied that she planned to pay for it with all pennies. 12 cents later, pepper in hand, she arrived home chuckling about getting rid of excess pennies.

3/4 pound Zucchini

1 1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 pound peeled, deveined shrimp (fresh or frozen but dry)

3 Tbl Coconut Oil (that's what we used)

6 cloves Garlic (finely diced)

1 cup Cilantro (finely chopped)

1 hot green chili (again finely chopped)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3 small canned tomatoes (finely chopped) plus 1/2 cup liquid from can

1 tsp peeled, very finely grated fresh ginger

1 Tbl lemon juice

Scrub the zucchini and trim them. Now cut them into 4 slices lengthwise. Cut each slice, lengthwise, into 4 long strops. Cut the strips into thirds, crosswise. Put the zucchinis in bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt over the pieces, and toss to mix and set aside for 30-40 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

Put the shrimp on paper towels and dry them off as well.

Put the oil in a wide pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the chopped garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic pieces turn a medium-brown color. Put in the zucchinis, cilantro, green chili, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes and their liquid, ginger, lemon juice, and remaining 1 tsp salt. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp and stir them in. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Uncover, turn the heat to medium and boil away the liquid, if there is any, so that you have a thick sauce. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Seafood Spectacular

I know, don't check to see if you can go skiing in that down under place. It is frozen over. How do I know? I am writing another post, that's how. Since we had such a huge production today I decided (with much prodding from Mrs. M) that I should post something. It has been like a year or probably more since I wrote. I wont check.

Today we decided to make homemade ravioli with a shrimp white sauce. When I was buying the shrimp I decided to buy some little neck clams. They looked so cute and I thought, "What the heck". So I bought just under a pound for like $3.12. After tonight, we will be buying them again and in larger quantities. There are some advantages to living on the coast.

I kinda made this whole meal up so there is not much of a recipe per se to follow. So here is how it all went down.

First you have to clean out your clams. Actually you let them clean themselves out. Clams should be alive and closed when you buy them. I soaked them for 20 minutes in 1/3 cup of kosher salt (don't use iodized as iodine kills them) in a gallon of water. It was cool because they started making bubbles and coming out of their ice coma. They also spit out lots of sand and such. After a good soak transfer them to a gallon of clean water (no salt this time) and let them rest (another 15 mins or more). When you are ready to cook them I put about two cups of water (use as little as you can get away with) in the bottom of a pan. Then I put my metal strainer over the pot, boiled the water and dumped the clams in the basket. I covered them and thenchecked on them every few minutes. Once they popped open I took them out with a slotted spoon. After they were all done I put a bunch of butter, minced garlic and about a lemon's worth of juice in the water they were steamed with. Cooked that for a minute and then poured that over the clams. They were amazing and quite the hit. At least the girls like the shells. I liked the clams themselves.

So the other stuff for this meal we have done at least parts of them here. Check here for the mushrooms. Repentance and Catch Up. I also cooked up some shrimp and made a cream sauce. Thats pretty easy to tell you. Again there are no measurements. Just go with it. I put some butter in a pan, tossed in some minced garlic. Cooked that for a minute or two then threw in the shrimp and cooked them for a minute then added some cream, lemon juice and parmesan cheese plus salt and pepper. In hindsight I need to figure out a way to get the awesome garlic shrimp without over cooking them because they are done by the time you add the cream. Maybe next time I will fry the shrimp and then take them out of the pan and cook the cream and everything else until its thicker and add the shrimp back in.

We aslo made ravioli that was really good to go with the sauce. I will let you find your own homemade pasta recipe. Here was the insides.

4 oz. Paneer cheese grated (ricotta would work good too, I just didn't have any and had paneer left over from last week)

4 oz. Smoked Gouda aslo grated

2 oz or so of Parmesan grated

5 or so Basil leaves chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Mix it all up with enough milk to make it stick

We loaded each ravioli with a teaspoon of mixture and that seemed about right. It was a hit. We did learn that ravioli brings out the worst in us. I think we might need some marital counseling after this. I don't know why but anytime we make ravioli we seem to not work together so well. I think it has to do with the kids wanting to be involved and we are watching them and having struggles with the pillows of goodness etc.. In any case we and our marriage survived and it was yummy. Although maybe a ravioli press is cheaper that counseling.

Here you can see we have taken out our frustration on these poor ravioli.

Here is the final dish with all the elements.

What to do on a Friday?

This is a first for Mormon Cook. I am writing this post on my phone via email. Tonight was one of those nights where we didn't desire to make what we had planned and we are cutting back on eating out. So Mrs. MC brought some supplies to my mom's house (we also wanted to be out of the house) and said make something. So here is the invention. I call it Butter Braised Herb Chicken. (This was taking way to long on the phone, I switched).

So here is how it went down. I started by frying some whole fresh herbs in the pan with some olive oil. I used a couple sprigs of Rosemary, Thyme and Sage. Fry these for a few minutes and then pull out. Add to the pan two cloves of garlic chopped. Fry this for just a little bit. Don't let it brown or it will get bitter.

Next put the chicken in the pan. I used three skinless breasts. You could use almost any chicken but this worked well. Cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Then add back the herbs on the top of the chicken. Add a few tablespoons of butter and cook 2-3 more minutes until butter is melted and foamy. Next add enough chicken broth to cover the chicken half way. Cover and cook until the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken and the most of the herbs, let a few leaves and such stay behind. Add about a cup of milk and return to boil. Make a thickener by mixing milk and flour and add thickener like you would for gravy until the sauce hits the thickness you want. Now return the chicken to the pan and cover with the sauce. Thats it. It was yummy.

On the side we had Broccoli done a la melting pot. We have decided after eating it as Melting Pot in their broth fondue that we like broccoli this way. So in order to do it I put three cups of chicken broth in a pot added bunch of chopped cilantro and three limes cut in half, squeezed into the pot and then added peel and all into the pot. Boil this for about 5-10 minutes and then strain all the stuff out and boil your broccoli in it. Its amazing.

Pleasant Pheasant

So this one time I went hunting and shot some pheasants and quail. Having done this often while growing up I was excited to show my new wife how to dress these birds. I have a picture somewhere of them laying on newspaper in the front room of our apartment. Needless to say Mrs. Mc was not all that impressed with the procedure. She didn't really want to eat any of them after seeing me skin and gut them. One would think this would put Mrs. Mc off game birds entirely for the rest of her life, but being the creative genius I am I have figured out a way to make Pheasant pleasant to her palate.

You will need some pheasant, diced up into about 1/2" cubes or smaller, a sheet of puff pastry and some carrots, onions, celery, cooked rice, diced apple and spices. The process is quite simple. Make a mirepoix with the carrots, onions and celery and sweat until the onions are clear and translucent. Then add the apple and cook for a few minutes. Add in the pheasant and cook until the pheasant is done, usually only takes a few minutes, its rather lean and the pieces are small.

Once you are happy with the doneness of the bird I add the spices. I use cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, salt, garlic powder in varying combinations until it tastes good. It should be sweet but also savory. Think pumpkin pie and all the good fall crunchy leaves under foot flavors you can imagine and you will get the idea. Finally toss in the rice and mix it all together. This is the filler. It can be eaten alone but adding it to the pastry makes it even better.

Next put your sheet of puff pasty on a baking sheet and cut it in half width wise. This should give you pieces like the ones in the photo. Then you simply fill your pieces and carefully roll them up with the seem at the bottom. Bake these on about 400 until they puff. Cut them up and eat them. It makes a very nice dish and it looks pretty too.

Repentance and Catch Up

So its been a while since there has been a post and Mrs. MC has been begging me to begin again. I looked over the pictures and realized that I don't even remember how I cooked some of this stuff so I decided that as a means of cleansing the past and starting fresh a new I will simply post pictures of what we have cooked with some descriptions and then moving forward, especially now that I should be working from home more and thus cooking more, I will be more diligent in posting.

These photos are from a Vindaloo we made from one of Madhur Jaffery's recipies. If you like Indian food and really want to learn how to cook it, do yourself a favor and buy her Indian Cooking book. This book is amazing. We have yet to find something that wasn't good in here. Everything is well worth the effort. As with any Indian from scratch recipe I recommend reading it and prepping all the spices first so you can work fast. Anyway, this was a lovely Vindaloo. A little hot but next time we will make it hotter.

Next on the catch up docket, Cathedral Windows. These are a tradition from Mrs. Mc's family and we make them every year just like they did. We however are chocolate snobs and instead of using Chocolate chips or Hershey's nasty chocolate we use Cadbury's Dairy Milk, except now that Kraft has bought out Dairy Milk we are apprehensive about its future quality. Anyway this is the only good use I can think of for those weird fruit flavored colored marshmallows.

I made my own fish and chip batter! I used Flour, Sparkling water, baking powder and some spices I think. It was way simple and the batter turned out great. The pictures make we want to make this again. This time I will note the recipe and post it.

Next up Stuffed Mushrooms. This recipe I can tell you. Its something I have done a few times before. I take the Cremini mushrooms and remove the stems and leave the cap with the little depression where the stem was. Then I chop up the stems, some red bell peppers and some garlic. I fry up a wee bit of sausage, preferably hot italian and once the sausage is cooked I throw the cut up stems and red peppers into the mix and saute them. Once that is all cooked I let it cool for a minute and add some parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs to the mix. Then I stuff the mix on the mushrooms, splash some olive oil on the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkle some salt on that. Place the mushrooms in the pan with the stuffing facing up, then bake at like 350 until the crumbs brown. I have added extra crumbs to the top before as well. Its yummy.

Finally we made these awesome Chocolate cookies. I raided all the chocolate we had in the house as it called for copious amounts of the brown gold as attested by the piles on the scale. These combined into an amazing cookie. Again next time I make them the recipe will be here.

So that is my catch up post. I am sorry there are no recipes but hey sometimes you have to make a cut and start over. That is what I am doing. If you want any recipes to these things post a comment and I will dig through my memory or files and find one.

Potato Salad from Scratch

We decided to make potato salad and to do it totally from scratch. We leaned on our good mentor Alton Brown for the basics and lifted a recipe from the foul mouthed Scottish Chef Mr. Ramsey for part of it as well. Here is the scoop . . . Pun intended.

2.5 Lbs. Red potatos

3 Tbls cider vinegar

3/4 cup homemade mayonnaise (see below)

1 Tbls chopped fresh Dill

1/2 Tbls minced garlic

1/2 Cup diced red onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

2-3 eggs hard boiled and chopped

First take the potatos and cook them whole. Place them in a pot and bring to a boil, then simmer until you can easily slide a fork into them. Then immediately remove them and dump out the water and place the pot under the cold faucet and either ice them to cool them or run cold water over them to cool them. Once they are cool use a dish towel to rub the skins off them. I found doing this under water works really well. Just put a potato in the middle of the towel and then stick it under the water and rub until the skin is all off. Then slice the potatoes how you like them. I like thicker small chunks. Place your sliced potatoes in a zip lock bag and toss them with the vinegar. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning chop all the remaining ingredients and place them in a bowl. Then make the mayonnaise. This is really the secret to this dish as it add amazing flavor and texture that you cannot get from a jar and it is not hard to make. Here is how you do that.

3 egg yolks

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 cup oil

1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place the egg yokes and mustard in a food processor, blend just until combined. Then, this part is a wee bit tricky, turn the processor on and slowly drizzle the oil in until you get an emulsification. You will know because the motor will change sounds as the concoction goes form liquid to mayo consistency. I drizzle real slow like about a 1/8 inch stream at most. Once your mayo is together add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Do not all the salt, pepper or lemon ahead of time, your eggs will break down and not emulsify.

Add your homemade mayo to the chopped ingredients and mix until well combined. Then fold in the potatoes. Don't stir them as you will break them all up, unless you like it this way. Salt and pepper to taste and viola, amazing potato salad.

Davis Family Japanese Secret Yum Stuff

This is a guest post my Mrs. MC.

So we steal recipes. It is true. And then we make them our own. That is a good preface for what follows. On a trip to Utah, I stopped by the Davis household and was served this for lunch; some of the best leftovers I've had. First is the Davis version, pure and unchanged. Following that is what we did tonight. As for what to call it, I'm at somewhat of a loss. I am sure it is in the stir-fry category, but I don't know the name. Anway, so I don't have to call for the recipe anymore (just calls for things like hooking siblings up) we are putting it down on paper. . . um internet.

2 Stalks Celery

8 oz Mushrooms

1 Green Bell Pepper

2-3 Chicken Breasts

Cook the chicken and then the vegetables before hand.

4 cups Water

1 tsp Sugar

1 Clove Garlic

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

Dump this on the chicken and veggie mixture and bring it to a boil. While it's getting there, combine

4 TBLS Cornstarch

1 TBLS Water

Turn this into a slurry and when *AND ONLY WHEN* the pot is boiling, add this slurry. It thickens almost immediately. Serve this over noodles or rice.

A word about rice. In the McLean Clan, there are really only 2 kinds of rice; basamati and now (thanks to the Davis Clan) Cal-Rose. We can do Jasmine, but really the others are IT. If we want dry rice, it's basamati and if we want sticky rice it's Cal-Rose. Don't skimp and use plain white rice and don't ever even consider that awful, repugnant stuff termed "minute rice". Please, don't make me roll over in my kitchen!

Anyway, now that we're past that, here is what we did. The sauce is the same, but I really like vegetables, so they are loaded in this. We have overdone it before, so I'm not advocating too many, but this seemed to hit perfect tonight. Good Ratio.

2 Carrots, julienned

2 ribs Celery

4 oz mushrooms

3/4 cup Broccoli

3/4 Red Bell Pepper (the rest was eaten beforehand!)

1/3 cup Fresh Green Beans

Oh and I used Tofu. Often we use chicken, but when we use tofu, it's best to marinade it in something like chicken broth with rice vinegar and sesame oil, ground ginger, red pepper flakes and brown sugar. Then bake it on 350 for 1/2 hour or so, turning them when they begin to brown. This gives them a really nice texture that my 2 year old can't get enough of.

The humungous bonus of this dish as per Davis family recipe is that it really is done within a half hour! Ours took longer since we baked tofu, steamed broccoli, carrots and green beans, in addition to stir-frying the other veggies. It's great their way; it's great ours!

Gnocci in a tomato cream sauce

We went to Buca de Beppo a bit ago and ordered gnocci.  As we ate it, we analyzed what was in it and have made our own version that is different in 2 minor aspects: it's not as smooth (which can be solved by running it through a sieve) and the taste is just slightly different (but wonderful!).  Here is our recipe:

Cut carrots, celery and onions small in the amount of a 1:1:2 ratio and sautee with a bit of olive oil making a mire poix.  Once it is "translucent", add spices such as oregano, basil, fresh garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper and sautee for a minute longer.  Then add a quart of tomatoes (I guess about 2 bit cans of tomatoes) and some brown sugar or honey for a bit of sweet twang.  Let this simmer while you boil water for the gnocci.

Right before you boil the gnocci, transfer your tomato base into a blender and puree it on high for a minute or two.  Then put it back into the saucepan and add about 1/3 ratio of creme and stir to combine.  Make sure you don't heat this up too much, a soft simmer will suffice.

Gnocci cooks for a very short amount of time, look at the back of the package, usually about 2 minutes.  Don't over cook it or you'll have mashed potatoes.  

Transfer the cooked gnocci into the saucepan and mix with the sauce.  Plop the whole amount onto a serving plate/dish and add fresh in water mozzarella cut into chunks and cut basil leaves. Have it with a salad and it's a wonderfully healthy (minus the creme) and tasty meal!

Message 3 of 6

Hi my love. I am glad you made it
This far. I sure love you and hope you
Are having fun. Message 4 is just around the corner or is it around
the blogger.

Chile Relleno with Chipotle Asado Sauce

This is one of our favorite recipes! It's another vegetarian one and is worth the effort!  I think we have never tried anything at a restaurant even close to how good this is!  Give it a try and you'll be hooked.

Chile Relleno with Chipotle Asado Sauce

• 4 fresh poblano chiles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups quinoa, rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and remainder julienned
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup grated asadero cheese
• 6 egg yolks
• Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For Chipotle Asado Sauce:

• 12 ripe tomatoes, preferably Roma
• 1 small yellow onion, julienned
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobo or 5 re-hydrated dried chipotles
• 3 cups heavy cream

Handle chiles with latex gloves or with kitchen tongs, avoiding contact with skin or eyes.

To make the Chile Relleno:

Preheat oven to "broil" 

and roast the chiles until skin blackens, making sure to turn frequently. Remove chiles from the oven and place into a stainless steel mixing bowl. Peel the outer skin, being careful not to tear the flesh of the chile. With a sharp paring knife, make a long slit the length of each chile and then gently remove and discard all of the seeds.  Set the chiles aside while you make the filling.

Heat the oil in a 4 quart saucepan over medium high heat and saute the onion until translucent. Add quinoa and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Add salt, pepper, and water to cover about 2 inches over quinoa. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Turn out onto a baking sheet and allow to cool. In a clean pan, saute the mushrooms in butter over high heat. Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper and allow to cool. In a bowl, combine the cooled quinoa and mushrooms with asadero cheese, eggs, thyme leaves, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stuff each of the chiles with the filling mixture until they are very full and then set aside while you make the sauce.

To make the Asado Sauce:

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.

Quarter the tomatoes and then place into a stainless steel mixing bowl and combine with the onions, garlic, oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn onto a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven about 15 to 20 minutes or until the tomatoes and onion start to turn black. Remove from the oven and process mixture in a food processor, working in batches if necessary. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the processed onion-tomato mixture with the chipotles and heavy cream and heat over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and keep the sauce warm until you're ready to serve.

To serve:

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the stuffed chiles into the oven and roast for 20 minutes or until heated through. Ladle enough of the warm asado sauce on 4 dinner plates to form large pools and then place 1 chile relleno on each plate and serve.

Tofu Lo Mein

Mrs Mc (that's me) is taking

over this blog temporarily.  My wonderful husband has been so packed with work and church stuff that he's been neglectful of his creation.  But I want to share some recipes, so I'll just fill it in for him.  Either way it means we're not going to lose the recipes we put in here and that is a major concern for me with as many little kids as are running around looking for papers to draw on.  So here is a vegetarian recipe that I made tonight that is wonderful!  I think my "baby" sister will really love it, so here it is Sis!

Tofu Lo Mein

Ingredients: 1 pound reduced-fat firm or extra-firm tofu, frozen, thawed, and squeezed dry 

Nonstick cooking spray 

10 ounces linguine pasta 

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed fresh garlic 

2 cups small fresh broccoli florets 

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

1/2 cup sliced scallions 

SAUCE 

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth 

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce 

1/4 cup white grape juice

 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 

2-3 teaspoons sesame oil 

1 teaspoon ground ginger 

2 teaspoons cornstarch

 Directions: 

To make the sauce, place all of the sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch in a small bowl, and stir to mix well. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and place the cubes in a shallow nonmetal container. Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture over the tofu, toss to mix, and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the cornstarch to the remaining sauce, stir to dissolve the cornstarch, and set aside. 

Coat a large nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Drain off any sauce that the tofu has not soaked up, and spread the tofu cubes in a single layer on the sheet. Spray the tops of the cubes lightly with the cooking spray, and bake at 375ºF for 10 minutes. Turn the cubes with a spatula, and bake for 10 additional minutes, or until the cubes are nicely browned, crisp on the outside, and chewy on the inside. Remove the tofu cubes from the oven, and set aside.

While the tofu is cooking, cook the pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain well, return to the pot, and cover to keep warm. 

Coat a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Place the skillet over medium-

high heat, and add the garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper, and scallions. Stir-fry the vegetables for about 4 minutes, or until crisp-tender, covering the skillet periodically if it begins to dry out (the steam from the cooking vegetables will moisten the skillet). Add a few teaspoons of water or broth to the skillet only if necessary. 

Add the tofu, and toss to mix well. Add the pasta, and toss to mix well. Stir the reserved sauce, and add it to the skillet. Toss the mixture for a minute or 2, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Serve hot. Yum!  

For a little extra kick, we

pulled out our hot red chili sauce that we love in egg drop soup and mixed some in.  It gave it a delicious kick!  Hope you'll try it too! 

 

 

Cream, Sausage and cheese, What more can you ask for

This little delicacy was one of my, I am tired of the same way of making this dish lets totally change it. I usually make a hot Italian Sausage spaghetti from time to time. Usually however, it is a red sauce tomato base. I was tired of that and so I tried something and what came out of it was wonderful. So for starters I got two Hot Italian Sausages (brat size) from Sunflower Market. If you live in Denver and have never been to Sunflower you are missing out. So anyway, here is the list of things you need. 

2 Hot Italian Sausages

Chopped Fresh Basil some for the sauce (about 4 big leaves) some for the top. 

Lemon Juice

Mushrooms about a handful

Half a tomato or so

Garlic to taste, I use 3 cloves or more

Real on the block Parmesan cheese

Cream

Butter

Angel Hair Pasta

Fry the sausages making sure to get them nice and brown and get the pan good and dirty, not black but brown dirty. Once the sausages are done remove them and set them aside to cool slightly. If you have an assistant that person can cut the sausages in bite size pieces for you. Back to the pan. Deglaze the pan with enough lemon juice to leave some on the bottom. Add some butter, how much is up to you. I like butter. Then toss in the mushrooms, tomato, garlic and basil. Throw the cut sausage back in and let everything cook together until the mushrooms are soft. Then add the cream and stir in cheese to taste. Cook it all until the cream reduces and starts to thicken. Think thin gravy. While all this is happening you might want to cook your pasta as well. So once the sauce is done, toss the drained pasta with it. Spoon out on serving plates and top with cheese and more fresh basil. Enjoy. 

Apples, Shrimp and Basil, a Perfect Kabob

We make these anytime shrimp goes on sale. In Colorado, that is not very often but we make then when we can. Here is what you will need. 

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon strawberry jam
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 Gala apples, cored and cut into eighths
• 16 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Basically mix all the ingredients except the apples and Shrimp together as a marinade. Then pour it over the shrimp and apples. Marinade for at least a half hour then build your kabobs. Grill them over medium heat until done. Enjoy. Very quick. Very simple. Very Nice. 

Mrs. MC's Magic Muffins

Mrs MC has discovered a recipe for these delicious muffins. They are so good they have reduced our oldest to a life of thievery. Actually she was just really happy to eat them. They are pretty healthy and full of good ingredients. So here is how they are made. 

1 1/2 cups of White flour (we use unbleached)

3/4 cup Whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oat Bran

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Baking soda

1 teaspoon of Baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons of Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon  Nutmeg

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce

1 cup Plain yogurt

3/4 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Honey

2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

1 cup shredded Zucchini (drained after shredding)

1 cup shredded Carrots

1/2 cup Raisins

Thats quite a list of ingredients but it is worth it. 

So, oven at 400 defrees F. Muffin cups as you wish, we use a silicone muffin pan. This recipie makes quite a few dozen. 

In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. We like our nutmeg fresh so we grate it ourselves like this. 

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, oils, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey and vanilla. Combine the two bowls and mix, then gently fold in the remaining ingredients. Scoop into the muffin pans and bake for 18-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. We usually dump these out over a towel and start scarfing. Enjoy. 

Don't Trifle with Peace

So Mrs. MC is preggers and was craving trifle of all things. I make my trifle in the Scottish Mormon style. That means no liquor and a spongy jelly (jello) base. Mrs MC actually made this following my guidance. I did the final decorating, hence the title. So the basic parts of a trifle are the Jello layer, the Custard layer and the cream layer. You can embellish the top however you desire. Here is how we made ours. 

First place Lady Fingers in the bottom of a bowl. These are sometimes tricky to find so I buy a big package when I find them. They are like dried sponge cake. I have used the Little Debbie strawberry cake rolls in a bind but nothing compares to the real deal. 

Mix up a package of your favorite Jello. I usually use Strawberry but I have seen all sorts of flavors even chocolate. Pour the hot Jello over your ladyfingers and place bowl into the fridge to set. 

The next layer is the Custard layer and by custard I mean custard. You can use Pudding but it is really too sweet to get the authentic Scottish taste. Trifle is typically British in that it is not deadly sweet like most American goodies. It is more rich and fattening. 

Here is our recipe for homemade custard. You can use Bird's custard powder if you like or there are other custard recipes that don't use cornstarch online. Ours seems to work good. 

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup of Sugar

2 tbls. corn starch

2 cups of Milk

1 tsp of vanilla

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together and beat until well blended. In a saucepan, dissolve the corn starch in 1/2 cup of the Milk. Add the rest of the milk and vanilla and bring to a boil slowly, stirring constantly. Once the milk has barley started to boil temper it into the egg mixture. This is done by mixing small amounts (about 1/8 cup at a time) to the egg mixture and stirring it in. This allows the eggs to come to temperature without curdling. Once about half them  milk is in you can then add the eggs into the main pot. Return to heat and boil, slowly again until the mixture thickens, about two minutes. Pour into a cool bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the custard to keep a skin from forming. Cool in refrigerator until firm. 

Once the Jello is set and the custard is cool it is time to assemble your trifle. Do yourself a favor and whip up real whip cream. I have never had cool whip on a trifle but I can imagine that it is disgusting. I only add a small amount of powdered sugar in keeping with the less sweet British theme. Carefully add the custard on top of your Jello layer, then the cream. Thats it and it is amazing. 

Cheerio the noo. 

Kafta Kabob Kills the Kompetition

I made these a few weeks back and just haven't had a chance to post about them. This is a simple and tasty Middle Eastern Treat. The ingredients are as follows:

1 LB of Ground beef or lamb or a mixture of both. I like it mixed.

4 Cloves of Garlic

1 Tbs of Kosher Salt

3 Tbs of grated onion

1 bunch of parsley

1 Tbs Coriander

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne, we cut this back for the kids

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 or 2 whole lemons

1 head of green leaf lettuce

1 or 2 tomatoes

1 Cucumber (English if you can, smaller seeds more meat)

Start by smashing the garlic with the back of a nice broad knife like a chefs knife or something. Then sprinkle on a pinch of salt and grind this to a pulp with the back of the knife. I then mix this with the grated onion and a couple of teaspoons of chopped parsley. Then I add this mixture to the meat and mix, by hand is the best (use rubber gloves). Then I add the spices and a few grinds of black pepper. Mix this all together and form the meat into little sausages and put these on skewers. Stick them in the fridge if you can for a while to congeal around the sticks. Grill them until they are done. Basically I like to cook these all the way to well done. They hold together better that way. 

While those are grilling, cut the lettuce into shreds. Think taco lettuce with its nice long strands. Chop up the tomato, cucumber and as much parsley as you like. Mix the salad bits together and squeeze the juice from your lemons into it with a little salt and pepper. Thats it. The nice lemony dressing brightens up the greens and make this amazing. 

The final step is to load up your pita with a piece of Kofta, some salad and humus or other Middle eastern topping of your choice. Enjoy. Alf-mabruk on your Middle Eastern meal. 

Now to the Irish Side of the Family

So we are actually only like 1/8th Irish but that 1/8 comes out pretty well in the Red Hair. Actually my Swedish Grandma is where the Red hair comes from. Weird. Anyway for St. Patrick's day Mrs. Mc wanted something different instead of Corned Beef and Cabbage. So we decided to try what I teased her about it being Breakfast for Dinner. Corned Beef Hash. I don't care if it was Breakfast it was awesome. I guess she stole the recipe from Tyler Florence. So thanks Tyler. 

Here it is.

First you make some Herbed Root Vegetables.

2 Tablespoons of EVOO (Sorry couldn't resist I think its stupid too, for anyone with a brain that Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 pound new potatoes, Scrubbed (we used fingerlings MMMMM)
1 pound baby carrots, trimmed, scrubbed
1 pound baby turnips, trimmed, scrubbed (we couldn't find baby ones so we just cubed regular ones)
1 pound baby parsnips, trimmed, scrubbed (we couldn't find baby ones so we just cubed regular ones)
Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the olive oil and butter into a large pot over medium. Once the butter is melted add the veggies and toss them to coat with the oils. Season with salt and pepper and add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer with lid and cook until the veggies are tender. About 20 minutes. (We halved this part of the recipe and it worked great)

Now to the Hash and Sauce!

Hollandaise Sauce:
2 egg yoks
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons of Water
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 lemon juiced
Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Again we halved this, we didn't need a cup of butter sauce. Put the egg yokes, Mustard, cayenne and water into a blender. Blend together and then slowly and I mean slowly like a drizzle pour in the warm butter. You are going for an emulsion. Once the butter is integrated use the lemon juice and salt and pepper to flavor the sauce to your liking. It will taste like lemony spicy butter when its right. Who doesn't like butter sauces?

Keep the Sauce warm. Ours was warm enough just on the counter. Just don't put it in the fridge.

Onto the Heavenly Hash

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped corned beef (please buy real corned beef and not the can stuff, is that even meat?)
2 cups of your Herbed root veggies chopped up
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and pepper
4 Eggs for poaching and 2 Tablespoons vinegar for the same purpose

Heat the oil and cook the onion on medium until soft (about five minutes) in a non stick skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients except the eggs and vinegar. Stir around for a minute then leave unstirred and cook until the bottom gets brown and crisp about 5-10 minutes. 

While that cooks poach the eggs.


This is done by filling a large skillet with water, adding the vinegar and some salt and bringing it to a boil. Then you reduce the water to where it is barely bubbling and then using a small bowl carefully crack each egg into the bowl and introduce it into the water. I kinda let the water seep into the rim of the bowl and then gently kinda let the egg float off. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the egg is set to your liking. I like mine runny. Mrs Mc likes em stiff as cardboard. Remove them with a slotted spoon and dry briefly on a paper towel.

Now assemble the master piece. Put some hash down (I actually made 4 leaf clovers with some sauce first-it was an attempt to get the kids to eat it), then an egg and top with sauce. Amazing. Truly.

Some Scottish Treats for Ya

On Sunday we decided to make one of my favorite Scottish dinners. I have to confess considering my penchant for fresh ingredients, this is one meal that uses two prepared ingredients, sorry. But it is delicious and easy. The main dish is Steak Pie and I almost always serve it with Roast Tatties and cheap and easy frozen peas. This week we added Neeps (Turnips) to the mix although I found out that the Neeps I have been using are the wrong ones. I guess they use Rutabagas which are yellow in Scotland. Och well.

Here it is.

Steak Pie

3/4 - 1 lb Steak, something tender- Top sirloin is good, sliced into strips like fajitas
1 package of Brown Gravy mix, go with a good brand, if you can find Bisto (Scottish Brand) then by all means.
1 Sheet of Puff Pastry, thawed according to instructions
1 Medium Onion
Salt, Pepper, Spices (Garlic granules)

Its real simple. Cut up the onion how ever you like. I usually do thin rings. It doesn't matter. Fry that in a wee bit of olive oil until it gets soft and starts to brown. Add your meat and cook to desired doneness. Salt and pepper and add any spices you would like. Now mix up the gravy according to instructions. Its usually a cup of cold water to the packet. Pour the Gravy over and cook until it starts to thicken.

Pour the Meat and gravy mix into an 8 X 8 or similar dish and cover with puff pastry. Bake at 400 until the pastry puffs adn browns. Then its time to tuck in. This is seriously amazing.

The potatoes are pretty easy too. I put them in the oven about 15 minutes before the pie.

Cut some potatoes into nice bite size cubes. Boil in salted water until they yield but are not soft enough for mashed potatoes. Drain and empty into a mixing bowl. Pour enough oil to to coat the potatoes and mix them around to get oil all over them. Pour them onto a baking pan (I think metal is best but anything works), salt and bake at 400 until the bottoms are crispy. Yum.

The neeps are easy as well. I just boiled them until they were tender and drained them, added some salt and butter. Good Scottish comfort food. Now if I could only get some Haggis.

Its even better the day after

We had our friends over last night for a Curry. He served in the same mission as me about 5 years before, so he knows his way around a good curry and we wanted to treat them. I modified a recipe found in Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking book and it was brilliant. A bit spicy so you may want to reduce the cayenne but it was nice. Here is how it happened.

First I do all the prep work before I start cooking. There is nothing worse than starting to fry a curry and scurrying around trying to find and or grind a spice on the spot while your onions burn. So I am going to break this into sections so you don't have to think about how to break it up. Here is the recipe so you can make sure you have everything. The staged directions follow with my additions to make this curry superb.

3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 inch piece cinnamon stick
3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
2 medium-sized onions, cut into fine rings
4-5 cloves garlic, cut into fine slivers
1 teaspoon peeled, very finely grated fresh ginger
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
2 fresh, hot green chilies, split in half lengthwise

First put the coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, and peppercorns in a pan (preferably cast iron) and dry roast them over medium high heat until they just start to brown. They will let off a sweet smokey aroma that is amazing in this curry. Let them cool slightly and then grind them in a coffee grinder or mortal and pestle or what ever grinding apparatus you have. We bought a cheap coffee grinder for this. It makes us feel slightly apostate but we hide it in the cupboard.

Put those spices in a small ramekin or dish.

Next put the Mustard seeds and cinnamon stick in another small dish.

The original recipe called for bone in chicken so if you are using that then just skin it and prep it. We used boneless and used about 2 and half pounds of to accommodate for lack of bones. If you use boneless then cut the chicken into cubes and set aside.

Dice up the onions and garlic and put them in a bowl together.

Cut the tomatoes and grate or mince the ginger and put them in a bowl together.

Now put the Turmeric, Cayenne and salt in a small bowl. Remember to reduce the Cayenne if you want it milder.

You can measure out the lemon juice before hand if you want, I did.

Open the can of coconut milk and skim the cream off the top and put it in a bowl. The brand we buy is made in like Thailand and is about 1/3 cream so it is awesome. You are trying to get the cream and the watery milk separated. I then poured the milk into a bowl and filled the can up with water. You can do this when you add it later but I wanted everything prepared.

Split the chillies and set aside ( I omitted these due to the heat I was getting already without them, unless you like it scoarching hot I would leave them out, they go in at the end and add a minor note to the dish.)

Now that all the prep work is done it is time to start cooking. Add the oil to a good heavy bottom pan and heat on medium high. Once the oil is hot add the Mustard seeds and the cinnamon stick. Fry these until the mustard seeds start popping. It only takes a few seconds, then put in the chicken. Make sure the chicken is fairly dry or the oil will turn watery. Brown all the chicken in the oil stirring it to coat it with the mustard seeds. Then remove the chicken to a bowl to rest. In the same oil add the garlic and onions and cook until they are light brown. Now add the tomato and ginger and cook until the tomato is soft. Turn the heat down a touch and add all the spices and the lemon juice. Stir fry this for a minute or so and bask in the aroma. Then add the chicken back into the pot and stir fry it until it is good a coated in the spices and onions.

Now add the coconut milk (not the cream) and about a half can of water from the coconut milk can. I did a full can and it was too watery since I am going to add more liquid in a second. Let that come to a simmer and cover and cook about 10 minutes.

Here is my tasty divergence. Add about a 1/3 cup of cream and three big dollops of yogurt to the mixture. Then I threw in about 1/2 cup of golden raisins; these are much different from normal ones, and can not be substituted by said black raisins. Stir this in and let simmer until the chicken is done and the curry is thicker than gravy. Add the coconut cream at the end and stir in for about a minute. Remove from heat and enjoy over basmati rice.

This curry was a little hot but awesome and then next day it was even better. The raisins give it a little sweetness and the cream and yogurt tempered the heat and added a creamy texture to it. Definitely worth the effort.

No Seriously, Cream Cheese Pizza

We make pizza about once every other week. It has been so long since we ordered delivery that I can't remember when it was. Making your own pizza has a couple of major advantages. 1st is probably healthier for you. I am anti-processed foods and I can guarantee that dominos uses canned sauce. 2nd you can put what ever you want on it. Our favorite combo is Bacon, Red Onions, Mushrooms, Pineapple and Fresh Basil. Last Friday (yes I am getting behind in posting but you are getting two tonight) we made it with all the above and cream cheese. I had this once on a Pizza in Greeley Colorado when I was in High School. It is amazing. The colder it is the easier it is to cut but just cubing it and dropping it on there is heavenly.

So of course you start with a good dough. This is Sarah Speciality so I will just reproduce the recipe. Ask her if you need further assistance.

2 Tablespoons of Sugar
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Warm water (warm enough for yeast about 105 degrees max)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon of Instant Yeast

Combine all the ingredients into a mixer, preferably a bosch and mix together with a paddle mixer. Once it comes together knead it with the kneading hook for 10-15 minutes. This is the most important step. Don't skip it or shorten it. Once it is kneaded roll it on a lightly floured surface into a ball and place it in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of Olive oil and toss the ball around to coat it. Cover and let rise until double. We actually proof our in the oven. Turn the oven on to like 200 and let it preheat, then kill the heat and put the bowl in with a pan of boiling water on the rack below. In Colorado in the winter this is almost a necessity. At least in our drafty apartment it is.

While that is rising you can prepare the sauce. I use a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce (yes I know it is canned and processed but I can't get mine that pureed). I put it in a small sauce pan and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic granules, the same about of basil and oregano and then I add about a 1/4 or more of a teaspoon of ground nutmeg and about a tablespoon of honey. This makes a sweat and flavorful sauce. Bring that to a boil and simmer for a bit.

Finally punch down the dough and roll it out. We 1 1/2 this recipe and make two good size pizzas. Spread it with sauce and load the toppings and cheese (Do I need to say Motzerella here? Only use the yellow stuff for color if you're a crazy detailed looks person, like Mrs. Mc). Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until the crust looks done. Enjoy.