Grilled Garlic-Herb Shrimp

The recipe below came from Milk Street Magazine. I forgot to follow their tip of patting the shrimp dry before applying the sauce, but it didn’t seem to cause any problems. I will definitely make this recipe again, though I’ll reduce or omit the extra salt they said to add in step 4.

A simple puree of fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil does double duty in this recipe. It first coats the uncooked shrimp as a quick marinade. Then, with a splash of lemon juice stirred in, it’s drizzled on as a sauce after cooking. One large bunch or “clamshell” container of tarragon should yield the amount of tarragon leaves needed for this recipe. You can serve the shrimp on the skewers with crusty bread and a vegetable side, or slide them off the skewers and add them to grain or leafy green salads.
Ingredients
  • 1½ pounds jumbo shrimp (21/25 per pound), peeled, deveined and patted dry
  • 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil
  • ⅓ cup lightly packed fresh tarragon
  • 3 medium garlic cloves
  • 1½ teaspoons grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
  1. Thread the shrimp onto eight 8- to 10-inch metal skewers, dividing them evenly; skewer each shrimp in a C shape, piercing through 2 points. Place the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet or in a large baking dish.
  2. In a blender, combine the basil, tarragon, garlic, lemon zest and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pulse until chopped. Scrape down the sides, add the oil and puree until bright green and almost smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl.
  3. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. For a charcoal grill, ignite a large chimney filled ¾ full of coals, let burn until lightly ashed over, then distribute the coals evenly over the grill bed; open the bottom grill vents and the lid vent. Heat the grill, covered, for 5 minutes, then clean and oil the cooking grate. For a gas grill, turn all burners to high and heat, covered, for 15 minutes, then clean and oil the cooking grate.
  4. In another small bowl, stir together ½ cup of the herb puree, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, then slather onto the shrimp, coating both sides. Grill the skewers until the shrimp turn opaque and are lightly charred, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until the shrimp are just opaque, about another 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Transfer the skewers to a serving platter. Stir the lemon juice into the remaining herb puree and drizzle over the shrimp.

Tip: Don’t forget to pat the shrimp dry before coating them with the herb puree; too much moisture will prevent it from clinging to them.

Cold Pea Soup with Herbed Oil Swirl

YIELD
6 servings
ACTIVE TIME
35 minutes
TOTAL TIME
60 minutes, plus chilling

INGREDIENTS

    • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 1 medium onion, chopped [Or substitute leek]
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
    • 2 (16-ounce) bags frozen sweet peas (6 cups) [Recommend petite peas]
    • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/2 cup Herbed Olive Oil

PREPARATION

    1. Melt butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 6–8 minutes. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 2 cups water, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Add peas and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 2 minutes.
    2. Remove pot from heat. Rebecca recommends letting it cool before stirring in the yogurt so it doesn’t curdle. Either way, the next step is to stir in the yogurt. Purée soup in a blender or in the pot using an immersion blender, thinning with water if soup is too thick, until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a resealable container, cover, and chill at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
    3. Divide soup among bowls and top each with a swirl of Herbed Olive Oil.

Do Ahead

  • The soup can be made and chilled for up to 2 days.

Spaghetti Puttanesca

I mostly followed this recipe, though I used about a teaspoon of green peppercorns instead of the 1/4 cup of capers the recipe called for (I accidentally grabbed the wrong jar at the store). I also used a mix of kalamata and large green olives. My instinct was to use more than the four anchovy fillets specified, but I decided to not stray from the recipe in that area. In retrospect, I think the sauce could have benefited from more. Jesse, Travis, and I did not let the surplus anchovies go to waste, however, eating them on delicious rye crackers.

Ingredients
  • 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 4 anchovy fillets, chopped
  • 1 (28-oz.) diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 c. kalamata olives, pitted
  • 1/4 c. capers
  • 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 lb. spaghetti
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
Directions

In a large skillet or pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add anchovies and cook until fragrant, another minute. Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to package directions, until al dente; drain. Toss spaghetti in sauce and serve with Parmesan.

Tom kha salmon: ต้มข่าปลาแซลมอน

Originally from this site:

https://importfood.com/recipes/recipe/238-tom-kha-salmon-prepared-by-the-prime-minister-of-thailand

Notes:

  • I doubled everything when making this (ie two pounds salmon, etc), except the fish sauce, since fish sauce is a great divider.  I ended up putting 8-9 tablespoons fish sauce in the doubled recipe, and quite a bit of salt to make up for the lack of fish sauce.  I probably didn’t quite double the galanga root and kaffir lime leaves, either.
  • I just used some Thai chili flakes in lieu of powder, since I’m not sure what Thai chili powder is.
  • I used 8 cups vegetable broth + 4 cups water, in lieu of the chicken bouillon.
  • It takes quite a while to mortar-and-pestle garlic and coriander seeds into a paste, but it sure is fun, if you put something funny on youtube and pound away.

Ingredients:

1 Cube Chicken Bouillon
1 Pound Salmon Cut into Bite-Size chunks
1 Teaspoon Coriander Seed
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Thai Pepper Powder
1 Cup Sliced Fresh Galangal
1/4 Cup Sliced Fresh Lemongrass
1/4 Cup Kaffir lime leaves, sliced
1 Cup Fresh Mushroom (more if desired)
26 Ounces Coconut Milk
7 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
lime juice (I used two or three limes in the doubled recipe)

Steps:

Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add chicken bouillon. In a mortar and pestle pound the coriander seed, garlic and Thai pepper powder into a paste. Add the paste to the boiling stock. Add salmon, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and stir. Add mushrooms, followed by coconut milk. Season with fish sauce (more or less as you prefer). Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Ladle into a serving bowl and season with lime juice (quantity as you prefer), then sprinkle with mild fresh chilis such as jalapeño, red and yellow bell peppers, or any mild chili peppers in season.

Samak suggested that this be served with a special mix of steamed rice. Simply mix 80% uncooked jasmine rice with 20% uncooked sticky rice, rinse, and steam together in a rice cooker. We love this combination too! Ladle the soup over a bowl of the steamed rice, and enjoy this excellent Thai soup–from the Prime Minister to you.

Smoked Tuna and Roasted Vegetable Baked Mac & Cheese

I’m finally getting around to writing this post several months after I actually made the dish, so my recollection of the details is a bit fuzzy.

  1. I roasted up a couple sheet pans of veggies – mushrooms, summer squash, broccoli, purple carrots, and butternut squash.
  2. I made a cheese sauce with way too much cheese.
  3. I boiled some pasta, your standard elbow macaroni noodle.
  4. I mixed the paste, veggies, and smoked tuna into the cheese sauce, which was difficult since I used too much cheese and the sauce was very thick.
  5. I baked the resulting mixture in the oven for a while at some temperature.
  6. We ate it, and it was good.

I loosely followed this recipe (scroll down past the author’s life’s story and you’ll find the ingredients and directions):

Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

Eritrean Shrimp Thingie

From an old NYT restaurant review (I doubled it):

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium red onions, thinly sliced
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
5 very ripe and juicy tomatoes, chopped coarsely
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil (1 bunch)
15 pitted dates ( 1/2 cup), cut crosswise in thirds
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 pound medium shrimp (16 to 20), shelled and deveined
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups cooked basmati rice
1. In a large, heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, and saute until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and continue sauteing, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, for 2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. [Uh, more like 25 minutes… -Ed.]
2. Add basil, dates and coconut, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes. Add the half-and-half, cover and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add shrimp to sauce. Cook, covered, until shrimp turns pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese, and then the rice, and serve immediately.

Salsa Romesco with Grilled Vegetables

I looked at several romesco sauce recipes, and no two were the same. I finally settled on this recipe with some minor adjustments.

  • 1 1-inch thick slice of crusty bread, crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 large tomato
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 2 medium red bell peppers
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Place almond, garlic, bread and tomato on baking sheet and place in the oven. Roast almonds until fragrant and bread is crusty and just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove almonds and bread and continue roasting garlic until soft and tomato until tender, about 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and remove skin from tomato and peel garlic.
  2. While other ingredients are roasting in the oven, roast peppers over an open flame on a gas stove or grill until the skins are blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let sit until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Remove charred skin, seeds, and cores.
  3. Place bread, tomato, almonds, peppers, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Purée until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt and cayenne pepper as needed.
  4. Place in and airtight container and place in the refrigerator until cool. Store refrigerated up to 5 days

I used three roma tomatoes instead of the one large tomato called for in the Serious Eats recipe. I also used lemon juice in place of the vinegar (because vinegar is the devil), and chipotle chili powder instead of cayenne. I couldn’t see the sense in buying crusty bread, cutting the crust off, and toasting it so it basically has a crust again, so I just left the crust on.

I toasted/roasted everything on the gas grill instead of in the oven, and grilled up some carrots, zucchini, and romanesco broccoli to serve with the sauce. It ended up a little thicker than I wanted, so I added a bit more olive oil and a little water to thin it down. The romesco was smoky and delicious, and the leftovers were used up quickly as a spread for sandwiches and a dip for chips and crackers.