Happy Mardi Gras! Shrimp n Grits

So a friend of mine called me at the last minute because she'd decided to throw a Mardi Gras party at another friend's house. "We need Southern food," she said. "What're you bringing?"

Now, considering that my friend is originally from Texas, I personally thought *she* would have been the official judge in that category. My family's Southern, but I was born and raised here in California. But hey, what do I know? I decided to make it easy on myself and make shrimp and grits.

This particular version is pretty and tasty. Just make sure you season the grits before you cool them (a mistake I made on the first batch). This can easily be modified for people with food allergies too. Issues with MSG? Swap the cajun seasoning for good old salt and pepper or come up with your own spicy blend. Can't have shrimp? Cook up some chicken and cut it into pieces. No dairy? Skip the cheese.

Shrimp N Grits

3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
Cajun seasoning or salt and pepper
1 1/4 cups grits or cornmeal
Shredded cheddar cheese
Cooked shrimp (large, at least 24 of them)

Spray an 8" square pan and a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to "broil" and place a rack at the top.

Combine the water,seasonings and salt till boiling. Slowly pour in the grits or cornmeal, and start whisking as you pour. Continue whisking until there are no lumps. Allow grits/cornmeal to cook for five minutes or until thickened. Once thickened, quickly pour into the square pan and allow to cool completely.

Slice cornmeal into squares and place on the cookie sheet. Add cooked shrimp to the top of each square and add shredded cheese. Place cookie sheet into preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Happy birthday Deka, or the Fried Pickle Extravaganza

A dear friend of mine celebrated her birthday last weekend. She's from Texas, and one of her culinary addictions is fried pickles. Sure, you can get them from your local Hooters, but as good as they are, they're just not the same unless they're homemade.

I brought the pickles to her birthday party, and they were a big hit. I think all the guests tried at least one, and with the ranch dressing, they were awesome. Even the cup of pickles I didn't fry disappeared. They say everything's big in Texas, and I guess fried pickles are no exception.

This recipe was originally found on Foodily. I took out the cayenne, but feel free to add as much (or as little) as you like. Enjoy!

Fried Pickles

2 cups dill pickle chips
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups finely crushed saltines
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
In a large plastic food-storage bag, mix together the flour, salt and black pepper. Place the pickle chips in the bag and shake until they are well coated.

Mix together the eggs with the buttermilk. Place the crushed saltines on a plate and mix in the cayenne and dill weed. In batches, dip the flour-coated pickles into the eggs and then lightly dredge in the saltines. Place cracker-coated pickles on a large plate or sheet. Repeat until all the pickles are coated.

In a large, heavy skillet heat 1/2 inch of oil on medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees. Cook the pickles for one minute or until golden brown, turning once. Depending on the size of your skillet will probably have to do in several batches. Drain on paper towels.

Serve immediately with your favorite ranch dressing.

You are what you eat... or is it the other way round?

Stolen from Michael Procopio at Bay Area Bites:

"Let's pretend for a moment you were asked to translate yourself into a plate of food.

If you were to turn the phrase "You are what you eat" on its ear and attempt to eat what you are, what exactly would you be eating? What would it look like if you laid bare all those little bits of yourself-- your own, personal ingredients, I suppose-- and put them on a plate for all the world to see?

And what would you taste like? Would everyone want a piece of you? Would you wind up as bland and dry as Zweiback toast? Or would you be so off-putting that you'd just sit there, scorned, like a half-melted aspic on a cruise ship buffet table? It's a little unnerving to think about.

Unnerving, but interesting."

I wonder what I would be? Maybe a nice hearty beef stew? or a frilly sort of strawberry tart? Maybe something rich and diet busting, like Chocolate Stuff?

This definitely will take some more pondering...

Zucchini Hummus

I ran across this recipe in Relish Magazine while trying to use up some leftover zucchini in my fridge. This stuff was really, really good--make sure you add the right amount of spices for best results.I made a second batch to take to a party full of folks with various food issues, and it disappeared like a bankroll in Vegas.

Zucchini Hummus

1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1 cup coarsely chopped zucchini
2 garlic cloves (or more)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 cup basil
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a creamy paste is reached. Add more seasonings to taste.

Basil and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

A dear friend invited me over to hang out for a while, and his wife (an absolutely FABULOUS woman) made dinner. Among other things, she made another "refrigerator velcro" dish--quesadillas. "I love basil," she said as she put the plate down. "We always run out." As you can see, I wasn't sure if she was talking about the basil or the quesadillas. After I tasted her version, I had to go and make one of my own.

Basil and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

1/4 cup goat cheese
4-6 Italian basil leaves
4 corn tortillas

Warm a tortilla in a pan until slightly crunchy on one side. Remove it and spread the goat cheese onto the tortilla. Add half the basil leaves, and spread more goat cheese on another tortilla. Put the two tortillas together and toast the uncooked side. Repeat with the other two tortillas. Cut into wedges and serve. Serves two as a dinner or four good friends as a snack.

Spam Musubi, Chicken Nuggets and Sweet Potato Fries

My poor fiance was sick today, so I made him breakfast. Dinner was even better, but you'll see that in a second.


As far as breakfast, I have to blame Andrew Zimmern for this one. We were watching the Hawaii episode, and all of a sudden my man got a craving for spam musubi. We didn't have the right kind of rice, but we had everything else, so...


Spam Musubi in a Bowl

1 cup brown rice

1/2 can Spam

Salt and pepper to taste


Cook the brown rice according to the package directions (usually 3 cups water to 1 cup rice, cook till the rice grains swell and burst and the water disappears, about 30 minutes). In the meantime, cut the Spam into small cubes and brown them in a pan. Put the cooked rice in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and add the Spam. Serves three.


Dinner was a reasonably speedy affair. I found chicken thighs in the freezer and made short work of them. Thank goodness for YouTube videos...


Chicken Strips


6 chicken thighs, sliced into strips

2 cups breadcrumbs

2 cup panko breadcrumbs

4 eggs

3 cups oil

Salt and pepper to taste


Heat the oil in a pan. Meanwhile, beat the four eggs in a bowl and lightly season with salt and pepper. Combine the breadcrumbs and season them as well. Dry the chicken strips and dip them first in the egg, then cover them with breadcrumbs. Fry them in the hot oil till golden brown. Serves three.


The sweet potatoes... what can I say? I turned them into french fries, my favorite side! YouTube came to my rescue again. It's the best way to figure out how to slice a root vegetable into fry shapes.


Sweet Potato Fries

1 1/2 sweet potatoes, sliced into sticks

1 cup cornstarch

Sugar (or Splenda) and salt to taste


After the chicken strips are done, lightly coat the sweet potatoes with cornstarch and fry them in the hot oil till golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar (or Splenda) and salt to taste. Serves two.

Bruschetta

So bruschetta is an Italian hors d'oeuvre of sorts--slices of bread with tomatoes, basil, and sometimes balsamic vinegar. A few folks add salt and pepper to their bruschetta; to me, if the produce is good, it's not necessary, but hey, what do I know? As I was roaming around forums, looking for questions to answer, I stumbled across a woman who was looking for a bruschetta recipe similar to the one Amy Adams (Julie) serves her husband in "Julie and Julia". I Googled up a recipe, and then found myself thinking about it for the rest of the day. On my way home, I made a quick detour to the store, made a slight alteration to the recipe, and here it is. My fiance and I ate the entire baguette, by the way, so be forewarned. This is some good stuff.


What was the last food that you craved?


Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

3 ripe tomatoes on the vine

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil1

4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 smallish baguette French bread or similar Italian bread (get the Safeway homemade baguette with sea salt--you won't have to add anything to your topping)

1/4 cup olive oil


Cut the tomatoes in half and get rid of the seeds and pulp. Dice them. Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat and move the rack to the highest position.

3 While the oven is heating, Put the tomatoes, garlic, and 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat both sides of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet. Do these in batches if you need to. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can do the traditional method. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice.


5 Put the bread on a plate. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping oneach slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes,do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy--but it may not last long enough to get to the soggy stage ;) .