Spanakopita, baklava and creativity

Last week I really wanted some spanakopita so I got the ingredients at the store and finally made it last night. It *really* hit the spot! We had it with grilled squash, and chicken breast sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with TJ's Everyday spice grinder blend.  

I was cooking for two and had some phyllo dough leftover, so I made an impromptu almond baklava. If you make the recipe below, you will have dough leftover. I highly recommend making the baklava. It's delicious and keeps well. 

It is wonderful to feel my culinary creativity returning!

Spanakopita 

1/2 pkg phyllo dough, thawed

1 stick butter, melted

Frozen spinach, one box or 1/2 of a 1lb. bag, thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 block of feta, crumbled, about a cup

1 tbs. Italian seasoning

Black pepper, to taste 

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

Mix spinach, cheese, seasonings and about half of the beaten egg until well combined. 

Lay a sheet of phyllo dough on a cutting board and brush with butter. Repeat two more times for three layers. Cut lengthwise into three strips. 

Put a tablespoon of spinach mixture about an inch from the bottom of one of the buttered phyllo strips. Fold the bottom inch over the spinach, then roll up, flag-style, to make a triangle. Place seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. 

Repeat until all the spinach is used up. It made 9 triangles when I made it, but it could vary a bit.  Brush the tops of the triangles with butter and bake until golden brown. 

Cool slightly and try not to stuff them all in your face at once. 

Almond Baklava

phyllo sheets leftover from the recipe above, or about 1/4 of a package, thawed

1 cup finely chopped almonds (you can use whatever nuts you have on hand)

Honey

1/2 stick melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 and thoroughly spray an 8x8 brownie pan with cooking spray. 

Lay a sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the pan, folding the edges over. Neatness does NOT matter, just make it roughly the same size as the bottom of the pan. Brush with butter. Repeat. 

On every third layer, after brushing in butter, drizzle a good amount of honey over the dough before folding the edges in. 

When you've used up about half of the dough, sprinkle the nuts evenly over the butter and drizzle with honey before folding the edges over. 

Continue layering until you are out of dough, making sure to put honey on every few layers. Brush the top with butter. 

Bake at 350 until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Store at room temperature, if you have any left. 

Quiche!

It's been ages since I posted, so I thought if share what I made today: quiche!!  It's a personal favorite and I make it differently every time, depending on what I have on hand and what I'm in the mood for. 

Today's version is a store bought crust filled with provolone, chopped fresh broccoli, an onion sautéed with half a pound of snipped bacon, and a half-dozen eggs mixed with house seasoning and a splash of half-and-half. 350 for an hour or so yields this loveliness. 

Changes

A lot has changed since my last post. 

I originally left to work on writing a cookbook. However, I ended up getting  separated and am now nearing the end of a divorce. 

I really didn't think that living alone would affect my cooking at all. I cooked for two when I was married, so how different could it be to cook for one?  I learned quickly that it's a LOT different!

At first I lived mainly on defrosted meals from Trader Joe's. In the area I live, that really is the best option for prepared meals. It was convenient during the time that I spent nearly every free moment packing, reorganizing and planning for the move. 

But it got old fast. The food was tasty and convenient; but there isn't much variety, and it doesn't taste like home. So I grabbed fast food one night. Easy peasy. So easy that it got old as well. 

And so I've started cooking again. The hardest part is having to do everything myself, because when you live alone there is no animal known as "you cook and I'll clean". But even that is a small price to pay for how much better I feel when I do cook. 

Cooking had always cleared my head. The routine tasks like chopping veggies give me time to think that is beneficial and productive in way that thinking while going for a walk or sitting quietly is not. It's also a creative outlet, and sometimes even an outlet for frustration if pulverizing anything to bits is involved. 

But mostly it makes me feel good. Emotionally and physically. 

What I've been making most lately is comfort food and long-standing favorites. Things like tortilla soup and quiche and chicken Alfredo. 

Tonight I made salmon patties, greens, corn and sourdough bread broiled with butter and parm. It was delicious and so very worth it. 

No posts in a while...

I've not posted in a while because I've been busy writing a book! How exciting is that?!

Hope to be back soon!!

Grillin'

Yesterday we had absolutely gorgeous weather here in KY. So instead of a fussy Easter dinner spread, we grilled out some of our favorites!

The menu included BBQ burgers, corn on the cob, baby bella mushrooms, sweet onions and zucchini, all prepared on the grill. Plus BBQ baked beans, and macaroni salad. It was scrum-dilly-licious. And leftovers were amazing for lunch today.

For the BBQ burgers, we used hamburger parties we had in the freezer from having a cow slaughtered. Sounds brutal, but the meat is so much tastier than what you can get in the store. We sprinkled them liberally with BBQ rub and grilled them until they were meduim-well. The rub we had made up in the cabinet is the one we use most often: basic barbecue rub from The Barbecue Bible cookbook. Highly recommended!! It's good on everything. Make the whole recipe and put back what you don't use for other recipes. It keeps very well.

I like grilled veggies prepared very simply so that you can really taste the veggies and not just the preparation. I quartered and skewered the onions, skewered the mushrooms (stem to cap), and sliced the zucchini in half lengthwise. Then I drizzled them all with oil (canola, because we were out of olive), sprinkled with house seasoning, tossed them until they were coated and cooked them right on the grill until crisp-tender. There is no need to wrap them in foil - they get a better grilled flavor if the smoke and flames touch them.

For the corn, I would normally toss them right on the grill in the husks. But the ones I got yesterday were already husked, so I wrapped them in foil, sprinkled in a bit of salt, and grilled them that way. Fresh corn doesn't take long - maybe 5 minutes. You can put butter on it before the foil, but I find it melts off on the grill, so we prefer to butter it after.

The BBQ baked beans are the Neely's recipe. Easily Google-able, and easily the best baked beans I have ever had. I have used the recipe for years now and it's one of the only recipes I've never been inclined to tweak. Baked bean perfection!

The burger buns and macaroni were not homemade. They were sourced from a local butcher shop where we got the smoked pork for the baked beans. But hey - they rest of it was homemade and we love their macaroni salad.

Disclaimer on the pics: we don't usually use foil on the grill. However, our well-used grill was in pretty rough shape last year when we closed it for the season and we totally forgot about that until we opened it up for the first time yesterday and realized the grate had gotten rusty over the winter and was not usable. But we were hungry and not inclined to go shopping for a new grate, so we slapped some foil on it, poked some holes in the foil so the delicious smoke could get through, and went with it. Honestly, it didn't taste any different than when we cook the food right on the grate...it even had grill marks!!

Here's to a long and happy grilling season!!

Lemon Pepper Tilapia

Simple food is so yummy! Tonight I did a baked lemon pepper tilapia without that chemical-laden, high-salt lemon pepper seasoning. And it was so much better.

Obviously you can do this with any fish, and with lime instead of lemon. We had it with roasted cabbage (left over from last night) and Parmesan potatoes au gratin.

Enjoy!!

Lemon Pepper Tilapia

1 lb. tilapia filets
2 tbl. butter, thinly sliced
2 lemons, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a 13x9 pan with Pam. Lay the filets out in a single layer. Top filets with butter slices, salt, and then lemons. Top with black pepper.

Bake 25 minutes.


Parmesan Potatoes Au Gratin

10 russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed, and sliced thinly
2 tbs. butter, cut into chunks
Milk
Buttermilk
Parmesan

Preheat oven to 450.

Spray 8x8 pan with Pam. Put a single layer of potatoes on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Top with butter. Continue layers until you run out of ingredients. Pour milk in the corner until it is 1/2 way up the potatoes. Pour buttermilk in the corner until it almost to the top of the potatoes, but not covering them.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until almost tender. Remove from the oven. If making the fish, drop oven to 400 at this point.

Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan and put in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until potatoes are completely tender and Parmesan is lightly browned.

St. Patty's Day Corned Beef

So today, in honor of St. Patty's Day, I put corned beef in the crock pot for the first time ever. And it turned out really yummy! We had it with spicy brown mustard (we are inexplicably out of Coleman's) buttermilk mashed potatoes, roasted cabbage and Hawaiian rolls. Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

**Please Note: As you can see from the pic, the cabbage is overcooked. I would recommend *not* sitting down to play with your phone while its roasting. You just might forget about it - it happened to me. Haha! 'Twas a bit crispy, but still delicious.

The whole thing was very simple, more of a method than a recipe. But I'll share what I did below. Enjoy...and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Crockpot Corned Beef

Remove corned beef from package and place fat-side up in a crockpot. Pour 1 inch of water in the bottom of the crock. Sprinkle with seasoning packet (included). Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.


Mashed Potatoes

Peel and dice 8 russet potatoes. Cover with water, add a tablespoon of salt, and boil until tender (test with a fork). Drain and put in a large bowl with 1/2 a stick of butter and a generous splash of buttermilk. Beat with a mixer or a potato masher, adding more buttermilk as needed. The amount of buttermilk needed will vary, depending in how much water the potatoes absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Cabbage

Slice a head of cabbage into 1" thick slices, from stem to top. Do not separate the leaves - leave them in planks/cross sections. Place cabbage planks on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with house seasoning (or salt and pepper) and bake at 450 until lightly browned in the edges and tender in the center.

Chicken Tostadas

We don't like Tex-Mex food...we *love* it! So last night I whipped up some chicken tostadas for us and they were super yummy. That's the thing about cooking for yourself once you get the hang of it: the food is always yummy because you make it like you want it!!

Below is our recipe/method. Endlessly variable, of course, so use whatever you have on hand or whatever you like. I really wanted sliced avocado on mine, but this was a spur-of-the-moment dinner and we didn't have any (its hard to find perfectly ripe avocados locally - we usually buy them a bit green and give them a few days to ripen).

Jen's Chicken Tostadas

1lb chicken breast - we had tenders, but it doesn't matter because they are getting shredded anyway
1 jar of salsa - we like Pace mild picante sauce
Tostada shells - crunchy fried flat corn tortillas, in the Mexican foods section at the grocery, they look like giant tortilla chips
Toppings - we used hot sauce, tomatillo salsa, shredded lettuce, shredded extra sharp cheddar, and sour cream

Put thawed chicken in a baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Cover with the entire jar of salsa. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, take the foil off and bake until done - another 10 minutes for us. When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the oven and use a spoon to break it into bite-sized pieces and stir it up with the salsa it was cooked in. It will shred further as you stir it. We like some chunks remaining, but you can shred it completely if you prefer that uniform texture.

Now it's time to layer! We usually do a double-stack since that's what we like, but tostadas technically are only supposed to have one layer. So just do what seems right to you.

On each plate we put a tostada shell, top it with a nice scoop of chicken and spread that out - we like about an inch thickness of chicken over the shell. Hubby adds hot sauce to his chicken at this point. Top with another tostada shell, then evenly spoon tomatillo salsa over it, and top with lots of shredded lettuce, shredded cheese and a big dollop of sour cream.

Full disclosure: Hubby adores Chi-Chi's brand corn cake mix. If you haven't had it, it's a scoop of soft, sweet and slightly sticky cornmeal-based spoon bread that is studded with bits of corn kernel. I've made it homemade before, but the man loves the mix so that's what we make. We had that alongside the tostadas last night as well. You can make it in a casserole dish or muffin cups. I had never tried it in muffin cups before so I gave it a go and they turned out adorable. I forgot to snap a picture of them, though.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

In honor of Pi Day, I made a pumpkin pie smoothie for breakfast!

Ok, that's not technically true. The origins of my breakfast smoothie are actually rooted on an ER visit for my cat this weekend. He had some tummy troubles and long story short: he is fine and he HATES and refuses to even consider eating pumpkin purée.

I love the stuff, so I'm using up his pumpkin purée even though we're well outside pumpkin season. The moral of the story: when life gives you a constipated cat, make pumpkin smoothies! Or something like that... Lolz

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 cup plain soymilk (or whatever milk or milk analog you prefer)
1 cup canned 100% pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
1 ripe banana
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Handful of ice (not necessary if your banana is frozen - mine wasn't)
Honey to sweeten to taste

Whir all in a blender until combined. This makes a couple of servings of you're having it with a meal. But I had the whole thing because I had it for a meal.

Pepper Steak

I have really been craving old-school eats this week. Pepper steak sounded perfect tonight...and it was!

My mom used to make this when I was little and I have no idea how she made it. But the version I threw together tonight was amazing. Beefy and tomatoey, with lots of crisp-tender peppers over tender white rice. Winter perfection.

Recipe below - enjoy!!

Jen's Pepper Steak

2tbs oil
3 sweet peppers, halved, seeded, sliced into 1/4 inch thick crescents - I used multi-colored peppers, but all of one color is fine too
1 sweet onion, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch thick crescents
1-1.5 lbs round or sirloin tip steak, cut across the grain into 1/2 inch thick slices
1-14oz. can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup beef broth
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1tbs cornstarch
Soy sauce and black pepper to taste
Cooked rice - prepare according to package directions

Heat 1/2 of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sautée peppers and onion until crisp-tender. Remove to a dinner plate.

Add the rest of the oil to the skillet and cook the meat until there is very little pink showing. It will continue to cook after you take it out of the pan - don't cook it through at this point or it will be tough. Remove the meat to the same dinner plate as the peppers. If there is any juice in the pan from the meat, leave it in the skillet.

Add the tomatoes, stock and garlic to the skillet. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water until smooth. Pour into the tomato mixture and stir for a minute - the sauce will thicken.

Add the meat and peppers back to the sauce and stir for a minute or two, just until warmed through. Add soy sauce and black pepper to taste. Serve over white rice.

Purist Egg Salad

I am a purist when it comes to egg salad. I love it dearly - egg salad on wheat toast is one of my very favorite breakfasts and snacks. But I only love it when it is minimalist.

I'm the same with bread, I suppose. The only brand of sandwich bread I really like is Koepplinger's. It has a very fresh taste and you can actually read the ingredients label.

Below is my recipe. Not sure if you can even call it a recipe since its so simple, but this is how I do it, either way.

Purist Egg Salad
4 hard-boiled eggs*
2 tbs. mayo (Hellman's is my favorite)
Two-finger pinch if salt

Peel eggs and place in a small bowl (I use a cereal bowl at home). Use a fork to mash them up. Stir in mayo and salt. Taste it before you eat it - everyone likes a different amount of salt.

This makes two servings, so I pile 1/2 the egg salad in a piece of toast and save the rest for the next day. It keeps very well in the fridge.

*to hard boil the eggs, put them in a pan, cover them with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Cover with a lid, remove from heat, and allow to cool to almost room temperature. Drain water, cover with cold water and allow to cool completely. Remove from water and store in the fridge.

Homemade Pizza Night

There's not a lot we like to do more than come home from work on Friday, get showered and into fresh pajamas, and chill out on the couch with a pizza and Netflix.

Homemade pizza is such a treat. It's fresh, delicious and faster to make than you would think. And if you make it at home, you get to control everything! Great for control freaks like me. ;o)

Below is our recipe. We like thin crust. If you like it thicker, make a double batch of crust.

Enjoy!!


Jen's Homemade Pizza

Crust
1.5 cups flour*
1/2 pack of "rapid rise" active dry yeast
2-finger pinch of salt
1/2 cup very warm tap water
1-1.5 tbs (generous splash) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Preheat oven to 450. Stir together dry ingredients. Add water and oil and stir together with a wooden spoon. If it gets too dry to stir, knead it with your hands. Form into a ball, cover with a towel and set aside for 10-15 minutes.

After it has rested, roll out the dough and place on pizza pan. If any holes form, squish them shut. Bake for 10 minutes or until firm but not browned. Remove from the oven and add toppings.

We both like chunky marinera sauce; I like pepperoni and veggies with no cheese. Hubby likes pepperoni and sausage with lots of freshly grated mozzarella. So, we each get 1/2 with our favorite toppings.

After your toppings are on, put the pizza back in the oven until the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely browned.

*we always have self-rising flour at the house. But this dough is raised with yeast, so you can use all purpose flour. Whatever you have in the cabinet is fine.

Spring Cuppy Cakes

Cupcakes are kind of my thing. If there is one thing in life I *know* I'm good at, it's making cupcakes!

I make them for family and friends, for work and church events, and I even sell them on occasion (read: when I have time). But I almost never make cupcakes for home.

Hubby and I are both the kind of people who will eat one or two pieces of a sweet treat, then we are done. So making an entire batch of cupcakes for the two of us is usually just a lot of waste.

However, hubby requested an actual dessert today and I really wanted one too. I had some of my homemade buttercream leftover from my last cupcake venture (cake ladies always seem to have icing lying around), so I picked up a box of Jiffy yellow cake mix for us.

If you don't know about Jiffy, look for it in your grocery by the cake and muffin mixes. It comes in a small box and is basically half a cake mix - it makes 1 layer of cake or 12 cupcakes. If you can't find it, you can just use half a regular cake mix, or half a recipe of a scratch yellow cake.

The sun is shining and the first 60 degree days we have seen in a while are forecasted for this weekend. The springy weather put me in mind of springy tropical things, so I jazzed up the cake mix to match my mood.

I have two icings listed; this is because hubby and I prefer different toppings on our cupcakes. Hubby likes mounds of rich, meltingly creamy homemade all-butter buttercream; and that is the frosting I'm known for. But my personal preference is a thin layer of strongly-flavored glaze. You can certainly make both types, but if you prefer one over the other, just double the icing recipe you like best and make them all the same.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Tropical Cupcakes
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, with juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup flaked/shredded coconut

Combine everything except coconut in a bowl and mix for 2 minutes with a hand mixer. Stir in coconut until combined.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Divide the batter equally among the twelve liners. Bake 15-20 minutes - a toothpick inserted in the center should come out dry. Cool completely.

Lemon Glaze (my favorite)
Juice and zest of half a lemon
1-1.5 cups Of powdered sugar

Zest lemon into a bowl and squeeze in the juice. Add a cup of powdered sugar and stir until smooth. You want a glaze that is slightly thick, but easily pourable; the texture is nearly identical to that of milk/white gravy. Add more sugar if needed to thicken it (some lemons are juicier than others, so the amount of sugar needed will vary from lemon to lemon).

Spoon over cooled cupcakes and let dry. It will get a smooth glossy layer on top.

Lemon Buttercream (Hubby's favorite)
1.5 cups buttercream frosting*
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Powdered sugar

Stir together the frosting, lemon juice and lemon zest. This will thin out the frosting, so stir in powdered sugar a little at a time until it is back to its normal thickness.

Spread it on with a butter knife or pile it into a gallon zippy bag, snip off the corner, and pipe it on.

*you can use whatever vanilla frosting you have on hand. If you want to make your own buttercream, check out the basic recipe at www.wilton.com It has never failed me.

Rustic (and fast) Dinner

Tonight's rustic dinner is the result of strong cravings on my behalf, no doubt inspired by the cold rainy/snowy weather we're having tonight. And I did the grocery shopping after work, so a delicious filling dinner really hit the spot after a long day.

What you see on the plate is the breast and wing of a roasted chicken (check the labels - some stores really do cook then like you would, with no weird ingredients), roasted broccoli and cauliflower, cheesy garlic toast and marinara for dipping. Oh my yum this was good! And I have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

The chicken was store bought, so I just cut it up. I dug the frozen veggies out of the trunk as soon as I got home, tossed them with some EVOO and house seasoning and let them roast at 450 oven while we carried in the rest of the groceries and put them away. As soon as they brown around the edges, they are done.

And yes, you read it right, the veggies were frozen. You CAN roast frozen veggies. They aren't quite as tasty as fresh, but they are still soooo yummy and if prep stands between you and roasted veggies...buy frozen!

A few minutes before the veggies were done, I popped in the bread (garlic oil and shredded cheese - whatever is in the fridge is fine) and let the cheese get toasty.

That's it!! Here's to grocery night dinners!

House seasoning

I refer to house seasoning a lot in my recipes and posts, probably because I use it a lot! It has pretty much replaced plain salt/pepper in most all of my cooking and its good on everything. Meat, fish, veggies, you name it. If salt and pepper is good on it, house seasoning is better on it.

I cannot take credit for this one. I discovered it a few years ago in a Paula Deen cookbook. It's just 4 parts salt, one part ground black pepper, and one part garlic powder. Mix it up, put it in a container in the cabinet, and use it wherever you would use salt and pepper. It will keep for as long as the garlic keeps - but we've never had one get stale.

You can use any salt you want, I suppose. We've tried it with several types, and table salt is my favorite, mostly because it stays mixed up better and tends not to settle. If you make it with a larger salt like Kosher or flake, remember to shake it up before each use.

Green Scrambles

Green smoothies have been popular for ages now. But do you know what I'm into? Green scrambles! They are fast, filling, high in protein and most importantly: absolutely delicious!!

I used to make these with fresh spinach all the time. But last week my grocery store was out of fresh spinach - I think they actually pulled it off the shelves due to the recall - but either way, I got a bag of frozen chopped spinach instead.

Wow! Frozen chopped spinach is every bit as delicious as fresh, but it is super-easy to work with and won't go bad. So I have a new favorite!!

Below is the recipe I've been using for my morning scramble. Hubby does not share my love of greens, so this is a recipe for one. And it's fast! I let it cook while I'm packing the rest of my lunch, then I pop it in a to-go bowl and leave for the day. It reheats well, too.

Mushroom & Spinach Scramble

2 large button mushrooms, or 3-4 small ones
1 pat of butter
1tsp EVOO
2-3 cup frozen chopped spinach
House seasoning
2 eggs
Cheese (optional)

Rinse and finely dice the mushrooms. Cook mushrooms over medium-high heat in the butter and oil until they just start to change color, stirring occasionally. Add in the spinach and house seasoning (to taste) and cook until it is heated through and any liquid is cooked off. Crack the eggs into the pan and stir constantly until cooked through (this won't take long since the pan is hot). Top with cheese, if desired.

Long time...

Yesterday was the worst day I've had in as long as I can remember.  Hubby and I chat on the phone on our drives home and I mentioned to him how much I wanted a chocolate croissant...and how unfortunate it was that all the bakeries are closed in the evenings.

Guess what?!  He went to the grocery on the way home and picked up a box of croissants and a ginormous Hershey's bar so we could "improvise".

Gotta say, the improvisation was *amazing* and exactly what I wanted!  I cut a slit in the fat side of the croissants, stuffed two squares of chocolate inside and baked at 400 until they were crisp on the outside and the chocolate was melted on the inside. 

PERFECTION!!!

Sushi @ home - the Wallace Roll

As I have said before, we love making takeout at home. And as much as we like going out for sushi, it is also one of our favorite weekly dinners at home.  On one of our first sushi @ home nights, we created what is now one of our favorite rolls and we named it the Wallace Roll. Cute, right? 

On sushi night, we usually make Wallace Rolls, California rolls and edamame.  We even plate it up pretty with little dipping bowls for soy sauce, chopsticks, etc.  I haven't found a commercially available pickled ginger brand that we like, so we usually just skip that.

Give it a go! The preparation isn't difficult, but is admittedly a bit fussy.  But if you're in the kitchen with someone you love making tasty food - who cares if it is fussy??  Missing Wheel of Fortune won't kill you, I promise!  ;o)


Wallace Roll

1 cup of white rice (makes enough for 4 rolls)
sushi vinegar (if you can't find this in your Asian foods section, you can mix rice vinegar with sugar and salt)
frozen breaded shrimp
avocado
cream cheese
hoisin sauce
sweet & spicy crab
sweet wasabi sauce
nori sheets

Cook rice according to package directions and put shrimp on to bake.  While rice and shrimp are cooking, make the sweet & spicy crab and the sweet wasabi sauce.

Sweet & Spicy Crab:
1/2 cup very finely diced crab
2 tbl. sweet chile sauce (in the Asian foods section)
1 tbl. mayo
siracha to taste (we use about 1/2-3/4 tsp.)
Mix all ingredients together and set aside

Sweet Wasabi Sauce
2 tsp. wasabi paste
2 tbl. mayo
2 tsp. sugar
Mix all ingredients together, adjust according to your taste - it should be very hot and very sweet.  Thin to drizzling consistency with water.  Set aside.

When shrimp is done, set aside to cool.  When rice is done,  pour into a large bowl and toss lightly with several generous splashes of sushi vinegar.  Stir occassionally until rice is almost cool.

While rice is cooling, prep the other ingredients.  Seed, peel and slice the avocado.  Slice cream cheese and roll into strips the thickness of a pencil.

When rice is cool, sit out a bowl of water for dipping your hands and start rolling!

For each roll, lay out a nori sheet.  Wet your hands, get a good handful of rice and spread it thinly and evenly over the nori, covering all but an inch-wide strip of the end furthest from you.  Rewet your hands as needed to keep the rice from sticking. 

One third of the way from the edge closest to you, lay out your fillings in a line from left to right.  Lay down a line of avocado slices beside a line of cream cheese, then top it with crunchy shrimp.  Squeeze several strips of hoisin sauce over the shrimp and top with 1/4 cup of sweet & spicy crab.  Roll tightly, slice into 8 pieces, and arrange on plate.  Drizzle with the sweet hoisin sauce.

Palimers - only the world's best cookie

Tis the season for holiday baking!! 

My mom and I have baked together for as long as I can remember. While her iced sugar cookies are my favorite Christmas cookies from my childhood, palimers are my favorite Christmas cookies from my adulthood! 

These look and taste impressive.  They are more or less heart-shaped with flaky layers and are covered in a thin crisp layer of lightly caramelized sugar - kind of like what is on the top of creme brule.  Sooooo good! 

The recipe below is the one that I make.  It is super-easy!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/palmiers-recipe/index.html

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

One of my favorite cooking experiments is to try to recreate our restaurant favorites at home.  We discovered coconut sticky rice at a local Thai restaurant and I have to admit that I refused to look for any recipes for it for several years.  I was certain that we would fix it *too* often and end up regretting it.  For the first month after I nailed down the recipe, we actually did fix it far too often.  But now that it is more familiar to us, we can control it more.  ;o)

The sticking point (pun intended) with making sticky rice in the average American home kitchen is that we don't have the equipment or the time to do it properly.  Authentic sticky rice involves soaking the rice for a long time, then steaming it in a special bamboo steamer.  Not gonna happen in my kitchen.

The recipes below are my take on this classic dish.  I am very sure it isn't Thai-approved, but I am equally sure it is DELICIOUS!! 

The first is more authentic; but the second is my favorite because the first place I tried this dish used jasmine
rice, so that is what tastes "right" to me. 

Additionally, this is just thick rice pudding.  So you can make it with whatever
rice you have in your cabinet to see if you like the base flavor before buying a
package of foreign rice. If you want to try the authentic rice, the only place
I've been able to find it consistently in Louisville is at the Asian grocers.  Ask for sticky, sweet or glutinous rice - it is very short
grained, almost like a pearl. You can *sometimes* find it at Meijer or Whole
Foods....but you can ALWAYS find it at the Asian market. Also, some rices are
less sticky than others, so if it turns out too loose (it is supposed to set up
into a solid mass), just call it coconut rice pudding and go with it - it really
is delicious even if it doesn't set.

My favorite topping is salted coconut milk and canned mango. The canned variety
creamier, milder and less acidic, which is more like the actual Thai mangoes
than the fresh mango we can get a the grocery. Thai places around here
apparently special order Thai mangoes, but they are only available for a short
period.  You can have canned all year long! But you can also top it with
custard, banana, other fruits or nothing at all.  You can also play around with
the spices. 

The only thing I would recommend NOT to play around with is the coconut milk. 
Light coconut milk really isn't a good substitute in this recipe.  Get the real
full-fat coconut milk (canned, in the Asian foods aisle).

Traditional Recipe
OK, strictly speaking, traditional sticky rice is steamed in a basket.  This is
the microwave version.  :o)

1/4 C sugar
1C sticky rice
2pinches salt
1 C coconut milk

Put sticky rice in a glass or ceramic microwaveable bowl and add enough warm
water to just cover the rice.  Let soak for 10 minutes.  After soaking, put the
bowl on a place to catch spills and cover the bowl with a dish (plastic wrap
will melt) and cook on high for 3 minutes.  Carefully remove and stir the rice -some will be translucent and some will still have a white uncooked center. Cook
covered for another 3 minutes and stir it again.  The rice is cooked when all of
the grains are translucent.  Depending on your microwave, you may have to cook
it a few more minutes.

Heat the coconut milk over medium heat until it simmers, stirring frequently. 
Add sugar and salt.

When the rice is cooked through, pour 3/4 of the coconut milk mixture over it
and let stand 5 minutes.  Stir and spoon into small dishes, ramekins or forms. 
Cool to room temperature and serve drizzled with the remaining coconut milk.

**Tip**  I line my dishes with Saran Wrap before spooning in the coconut
mixture.  It sets up as it cools.  When ready for service, I unmold them onto a
plate and top with coconut milk and mango.  Very pretty!!  They keep fairly well
in the fridge if you top them with plastic wrap.  Just warm them up a bit before
serving - you want them room temp or barely warm.  The perfect serving size is
about 3/4 if a cup, (about a handful).  It looks small, but this is a very
thick, sweet and rich dessert.

**Jen's Favorite**

After trying many variations, this is the one we prefer.

1 C jasmine rice
1 (14oz) can coconut milk
1/2 C white sugar
salt
1 can mango, sliced

Reserve 1/4 cup of coconut milk in a small bowl.

Put 1 cup of the coconut milk in a small sauce pan with the sugar. 

Cook jasmine rice in a pot according to the package directions, using any
remaining coconut milk place of some of the cooking water. 

While the rice is cooking, salt the small bowl of coconut milk.  It should taste
noticeably salty, but not quite as briny as sea water.

Heat the sugar and coconut milk over medium heat until the sugar is melted.  Do
not boil.

When the rice is cooked, stir in the sweet coconut milk and spoon into serving
dishes (same as the recipe above). 

Once it has cooled to near room temperature, it is ready to serve.  Same as
above, you can serve it in the bowl or you can unmold it onto a dessert plate. 
Either way, cover the top with sliced mango and drizzle with the salted coconut
milk.


I realize after typing all this that it sounds fussy. You do have to learn to
finesse it, but you really can't screw it up...and after the first couple times,
you will be a pro.  :o) 

Enjoy!