Shrimp Kabobs

Brady and I went to Kansas City a couple of weeks ago to visit my family and friends and go to the Royals vs. Twins game. On Sunday before we headed back to Chicago my mom and dad made us a great lunch. My dad grilled pork steaks (a family favorite) and my brother and I made shrimp kabobs. My brother came up with these kabobs and they are awesome. I love the combo of sweet and spicy and they are incredibly easy to make.

Shrimp Kabobs

Serves 4
1 pound uncooked shrimp, shellled and deveined
1 package of andouille sausage
2-3 large jalapeno peppers
2 cups cubed fresh pineapple

Heat a grill over medium high heat. Once the grill is hot, put the andouille sausage on the grill for about 5 minutes then set aside to cool slightly. Once cooled enough to touch, slice into 1 inch thick pieces.

Next, cut the top off the jalapeno peppers and use a small paring knife to cut out the seeds inside. Then slice the pepper into 1 inch thick rings.

To assemble the kababs, thread a piece of shrimp, a piece of sausage, a pepper ring, and then a piece of pineapple through the skewer. Repeat two or three times for each kabob.

Grill the kabobs for about 4 minutes on each side.

** If using wooden skewers, soak the skewers in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes prior to assembling the kabobs. This will keep them from burning on the grill.

Sonoran Shrimp Scampi

So here's a spooky story. Last Friday I was heading home from work and talked to Brady on the way about our dinner options. He had found a chicken soup recipe but because it's Lent I suggested something with fish or seafood. I told Brady that I had a good shrimp pasta recipe at my apartment that I had made years ago but since we were going to cook at his place he said that he would just look for recipe on the internet. So low and behold, I get to Brady's and guess what recipe he bought ingredients for??? You guessed it, the recipe that I had in mind! So weird but I was happy that Brady came across this recipe because I forgot how good it is!

Picture from Epicurious

Sonoran Shrimp Scampi
** from Epicurious

Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 poblano chiles
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeds removed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups whole wheat farfalle, cooked
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large pot of water, boil the pasta according to directions 

Place chiles directly over the burners of a gas stove and roast over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until skin is charred and chiles soften, about 10 minutes. Or broil in the oven until skin is charred and chiles soften, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a paper bag or ziplock bag. Let steam for 10 minutes and then remove peel and seeds. Slice thinly; set aside.

Sprinkle shrimp with half the salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large pan over high heat. Cook shrimp, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook about 1 minute. Stir in poblano chiles, red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, lime zest and lime juice. Cook until liquid reduces by half and shrimp are no longer translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce until slightly syrupy. Stir in pasta. Top with cilantro and serve.

Valentine's Day Steak and Lobster Dinner

Valentine's Day has never been a favorite holiday of mine- quite possibly because it brings back memories of kids buying carnations for their crushes in grade school and the only boy that I would get one from was my brother. In the years past I have gotten over the trauma of not being anyone's crush in grade school but I still never acquired a love for February 14th. My idea for Valentine's Day was to avoid the crowded restaurants with love themed prix fixe specials and cook a nice meal with Brady and that is exactly what we did and it was honestly the best Valentine's Day!

For our restaurant style dinner we decided to go with steak and lobster. Neither are foods that I would typically order from a restaurant but it sounded fun to make something a little out of the ordinary. We thought the steak and lobster turned out great. I made a salad and a dessert at the same time which was probably a bit ambitious. Making four dishes in my tiny kitchen is just asking for disaster, but we survived and the only thing that didn't was the burnt salad croutons (minor in the scheme of things).

I do have to say though that while I am not a huge fan of the holiday I definitely didn't mind the hot pink roses from Brady and the giant chocolate heart from one of the little boys in my class :)

Lobster Tail Steamed with Champagne and Orange
** from Cooking Light
print recipe

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 15 minutes

4 slices of orange
2 lobster tails
2 tsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1/8 c. chopped fresh fennel fronds (the green part, not the bulb)
1/2 c. dry champage
1/8 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut out two large pieces of parchment paper. On each piece of parchment paper, layer two slices of orange, a lobster tail, 1 tsp butter and a little of the fennel. Sprinkle each with salt.

Pour champagne over each of the serving packets. Fold the parchment paper around the ingredients, using folds to seal each packet closed. Place the packets on a baking sheet, and bake for 12 minutes. To serve, drizzle the tails with the juices from the packet.

** I would recommend threading the lobster tail with a wooden skewer that has been soaked in water prior to cooking. This will keep the tails from curling during cooking.

Steakhouse Steaks
** from Barefoot Contessa

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 (2 inch thick) filet mignon
1 T. oil
1 T. sea salt
1 T. fresh cracked peppercorns
2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400. Heat a large cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the filets dry with a paper towel, brush each with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

When the pan is extremely hot, add the steaks and sear on all sides; about 2 minutes per side (top, bottom and sides). This should take about 10 minutes total.

Remove the pan from the heat and arrange the steaks in a baking dish. Top each with 1 tablespoon of butter and place in the oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, to 120 degrees for rare and 125 degrees for medium rare. Remove the steaks to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes.

Shrimp with Roasted Corn and Poblano Polenta

Yesterday meteorologists throughout the Midwest had their dreams come true. "Blizzard 2011" hit and brought Chicago a lovely 20 inches of snow, thunder, lightening, and tsunami style waves along Lake Shore Drive. The upside of the snowstorm was that I got a snow day!!! This never happens in Chicago, I thought for sure I would be braving the 50 mile an hour winds and trekking to school today but thankfully they closed the schools. Not only have I been incredibly productive today: finished lesson plans for next week, did my taxes, and started a paper that's due next week, but I had time to cook dinner last night! 

With minimal groceries in my house and zero desire to run to the grocery store my options were a bit limited. I googled the few ingredients that I had in my house and stumbled upon a recipe for Shrimp with Roasted Corn and Poblano Polenta. This dish was incredibly fast and tasted great. I love polenta but if you aren't a big fan you could use arborio rice and make risotto instead.

Spicy Shrimp with Roasted Corn and Poblano Polenta
** from Elly Says Opa blog
print recipe

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 20 minutes

8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 poblano pepper
3/4 cup roasted corn
2 tsp. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth (may want to add extra if you want a thinner consistency)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne papper
1 tsp chili powder

Preheat broiler, one heated broil poblano pepper and corn on a baking sheet for about 4 minutes. Flip the poblano pepper and roast for another 4-5 minutes or until the skin of the poblano is blistery and black.  Put in the poblano pepper in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Once cooled, peel and dice.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat  Add the garlic and stir until just fragrant.  Stir in the chicken broth, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste; bring to a boil.  Slowly whisk in the polenta – it will absorb the liquid almost immediately.  Add the diced poblano and corn.  Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

While polenta is simmering, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with PAM cooking spray. Once the skillet is hot, add the shrimp. Season shrimp with cumin, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Saute till done, about 3 minutes. 

Remove the polenta from the stove and stir in the cheese and reseason if necessary.  Spoon polenta into bowls and top with sauteed shrimp.

Lobster Mac and Cheese

I came across this recipe for Lobster Mac and Cheese awhile ago and after months of talking about it and speculating how wonderful it would be Brady and I finally made it this past Sunday.  It was everything we had hoped for; it was delicious!  Many of the lobster mac and cheese recipes that I came across used tons of butter, cream and cheese.  This recipe is on the lighter side but is still creamy and loaded with flavor. 

We served our lobster mac and cheese with a black olive and provolone stuffed chicken breast.  Brady found the recipe on eatingwell.com and it tasted great. This is a low calorie dish that was easy to throw together while making the mac and cheese.  I will definitely be making this recipe again, with our without the lobster mac and cheese!

Lobster Mac and Cheese
** adapted from Healthy.Delicious
printable recipe

Serves 2-4
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1/2 lb rotini pasta

1 tsp olive oil
1 leek, cut into half moons
1 T. flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup skim milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup fontina, shredded
black pepper to taste
3 lobster tails (about 1.5 pounds), steamed
1/4 cup panko (japenese bread crumbs)

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add leeks and sautee until they begin to soften. Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add milk, and cook until it begins to thicken – about 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg and cayenne and cook another minute or two. Stir in fontina and allow to melt. Set aside.

Remove lobster meat from the shell. Set aside a few nice looking pieces to use as garnish, and roughly chop the rest. Stir chopped lobster into the cheese sauce. Fold pasta into the sauce. Season to taste with black pepper.

Spray the insides of 2-4 ramekins or crocks with cooking spray. Fill with lobster and pasta mixture and top with panko. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until panko begins to brown and crisp up. To serve garnish with small pieces of reserved lobster.

** To steam the lobster I used a steamer insert in a medium size saucepan.  I added about a cup of water to the saucepan and then laid the lobster tails down in the steamer.  I steamed on medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until the lobster shells turned red.  To remove the meat I used kitchen scissors to cut open the shell and then pulled the meat out.  I promise this is not as scary or difficult as it sounds!  Having an uncooked lobster tail waived in your face is much more traumatic...

Provolone and Olive Stuffed Chicken Breasts
** adapted from eatingwell
printable recipe

Serves 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes

1/8 cup shredded provolone cheese

2 T chopped California Ripe Olives
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup panko, Japanese breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with sides with cooking spray.


Combine the provolone, olives and pepper in a small bowl.

Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one half of the cheese filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with remaining chicken breast and filling. Hold each chicken breast half together and dredge in panko. (Discard leftovers.)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to the prepared baking sheet, browned-side up, and bake until it is no longer pink in the center or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 20 minutes.

Cilantro Lime Linguine with Tequila Shrimp Sauce

While in Seattle over Labor Day I came across a homemade pasta stand in Pikes Market.  Pappardelle's Pasta sells over a 100 flavors of dried pasta and fresh sauces and pestos.  I thought that it was just a local company but apparently they sell at farmers markets all over the United States as well as sell their pasta online.  For those of you here in Chicago, Pappardelle's has a stand at the French Market. Definitely check out their website, if nothing else they have great recipes that you could easily use with your own store bought pastas.  I bought a cilantro lime linguine and found a tequila lime sauce recipe online that ended up complimenting it perfectly.

Cilantro Lime Linguine with Tequila Shrimp Sauce
 ** adapted from Philis Carey's recipe in Fast & Fabulous Chicken Breasts
Serves 4

For the pasta: 
1 Ib shrimp
8 oz. dried pasta- we used cilantro lime linguine but you could use any variety

For the sauce: 
1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 c. chicken broth
14 1/2 oz. canned tomatoes, diced, undrained
3/4 c. tequila
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground corinader
1 T. chili powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
6 T. fresh lime juice (I forgot the step, oops!  We ended up just squeezing large lime wedges over our bowls and luckily it still tasted great)

For garnish: 
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. queso fresco, crumbled

Peel shrimp and set aside.  Add oil to a pan and saute onions.  Cook them for about 5 minutes or until they're nearly tender. Add the minced garlic and stir briefly (about a minute). Then add chicken broth, tomatoes, tequila, chili powder, cumin, coriander and cayenne. Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce has just begun to thicken slightly, no more than 15 minutes. (You actually want ample soupy-sauce as the pasta absorbs some of it.)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta till al dente, about 6-8 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.

Add the shrimp to the tequila sauce and cook till no longer translucent, about 3 minutes.  Stir the lime juice into the sauce.  If sauce seems too thick add some of the reserved pasta water until desired consistency is reached.  Toss pasta with sauce and serve garnished with chopped cilantro and cheese.

** Excuse my sloppy photo, I only took one picture because we were both starving! 

Shrimp and Summer Vegetables with Pistachio Pesto

I actually created this blog months ago and then life got busy (all good things) and I put it on the back burner for a bit. But I am back and ready to start blogging about the good food coming out of my small apartment kitchen.

This past Saturday I ventured to the farmers market in Lincoln Park. I went without a plan (which was a bit challenging as I love a well organized list) and ended up finding the majority of the ingredients for what turned out to be a great summer dish. It started with a bunch of fresh basil and after a few laps around the farmers market, Shrimp and Summer Vegetables with Pistachio Pesto was born!

For a fun side dish we made Bruschetta with Fresh Ricotta, Honey and Pistachios. This dish is my successful recreation of an appetizer at Frasca, a local pizza restaurant in Lakeview. It was wonderful but I don't think I can brag too much as there are only 4 ingredients!
















Shrimp and Summer Vegetables with Pistachio Pesto
**Pistachio Pesto recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Prep Time: 30 minutes- Although I am not going to lie, it took Brady and I close to an hour due to some technical difficulties with the Cuisinart.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
For the pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 Tbsp, shelled, roasted pistachios (you could also substitute pine nuts)
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese

For the pasta:
8 oz penne or fusilli pasta (I used fresh homemade pasta from the farmers market and while fantastic I am sure the dish would be just as good with dried pasta)
1 pound fresh medium size shrimp, deveined and shells removed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 yellow heirloom tomato, halved and then sliced
1 red heirloom tomato, halved and then sliced
1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and then sliced

Directions
Start by boiling water in a large pot. Combine basil, pistachios, salt, and garlic in a food processor. Process until smooth. Transfer basil mixture to a small bowl and set aside.

Slice tomatoes and squash and wash and devein the shrimp. Add pasta to boiling water. While pasta is cooking heat a medium size skillet with 1/2 T. olive oil and saute minced garlic. Once garlic is browned add sliced tomatoes and squash and saute. Add shrimp to the skillet and cook till done- about 4 minutes.

Remove 1/4 cup of pasta water and add to the basil mixture as well as 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Drain pasta water and add the vegetable/shrimp mixture to the pasta, toss pasta with pesto sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
















Bruschetta with Fresh Ricotta, Honey and Pistachios

Fresh baguette
1 cup fresh ricotta (Don't use the ricotta that you would buy in the dairy section next to the sour cream. Try and find the fresh stuff, it made a huge difference. I found mine in a small container in the deli section.)
Honey
1/4 cup chopped pistachios

Directions
Preheat oven to broil. Slice the baguette and place on cooking sheet. Broil for 5 minutes on each side. Monitor the bread as you don't want it to burn, just get nice and toasty.

Spoon about a 1/2 Tablespoon of ricotta onto each piece of bread. Sprinkle each piece of bread with chopped pistachios and then drizzle with honey.