JGE 23 – Shrimp and White Cheddar Grits

Good Day,

And I am back.

I thought I was going to attempt my hand at Stir-Fried Chinese Egg Noodles with Shrimp and Asian Greens for supper tonight. I had already thawed out a pound of shrimp. And in keeping with Mother Hubbard I went to the pantry cupboard to search out some Chinese Egg Noodles.

Well staring me right in the face was a box of Quaker Quick Grits and right beside was a bag of Aunt Jemima Old Fashioned Grits. I had bought both at some point when I thought I would be somewhat adventurous. I think that I have tried to cook grits about twice in my life.

It then hit me, as I heard my sister softly challenging me, (from about 600 miles away), to try my hand at some Shrimp and Grits. Why the hell not? I thought I would try something a bit different from my go-to Asian stir-fry.

Of course I went on line and I did a “Shrimp and Grits recipe” search. Results tendered equaled 527,000 possibilities.

I read through a number and did some extraneous clicking and searching and I thought that I could pull off my version of a Shrimp and Cheese Grits recipe.

My ingredients –

For the Grits – 1 cup Aunt Jemima Old Fashioned Grits, (she definitely beat out Quaker Quick Grits); 2 cups Half and Half; 2 cups Chicken Broth; 2 tablespoons butter; sea salt and freshly ground pepper; 4 ozs of White Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

For the Shrimp – I lb. Shrimp; 2 tablespoons Butter; 2 tablespoons bacon grease; 1 onion; 4 small cloves of garlic; 2 tablespoons Parsley; freshly ground pepper; and 1 teaspoon of my homemade Scotch Bonnet relish.

I cooked the grits mixture for about 18 minutes and the shrimp and ingredients for about 7.

White Cheddar Cheese Grits and Spicy Shrimp decorated with some Cherry Tomatoes.

Damn was that good. And it was so good, that I would have to say that my sister is right… damn right.

I enjoyed and Jim's gotta eat.

Jim

JGE 22 - Scotch Bonnet Relish - Hot!!!

Good Day,

Well yesterday I completed the second harvest of my Scotch Bonnet pepper plants. Thank you very much J and B. To date I have harvested about four dozen peppers.

A new batch of Red Scotch Bonnet Relish has been concocted.

Scotch Bonnets (about 2 dozen), 2 large cloves of garlic, I red onion, 1 yellow onion, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, ½ cup of vinegar. All blended in my food processor…and my lips are burning. The purple red of the red onion created the orange color.

An earlier batch, Yellow Scotch Bonnet Relish, was brewed with about 2 dozen Scotch Bonnets, 1 yellow onion, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and ½ cup of vinegar.

There’s something about the Scotch Bonnets that just make the relishes so, so good.

Scotch Bonnets are hot. They have a heat rating of 100,000-350,000 Scoville Units. In comparison most Jalapeño peppers range somewhere between 2,500 and 8,000.

It looks like there is going to be another harvest in the next couple of weeks.

Guess I am gonna lead-line my stomach. But the relish is so good. Really good!

Jim's gotta eat.

Jim

JGE 21 – Supper Tonight – Spicy Chicken, Sautéed Bok Choy with Mushrooms, Steamed Rice, and Banana Cake

Good Day,

Well guess what? Jim's gotta eat.

I was feeling extremely “chef-analogous”. And today, as it is getting colder in this State of endless sunshine, I noticed that the bananas on one of bunches that I had cut were getting ripe. I immediately thought Banana Cake. Forget the bread I wanted cake. Let me eat cake.

I discovered a recipe, a very simple one on a search of the Internet. Simple with a limited amount of ingredients: Bananas, of course, Eggs, Sugar, Butter, Baking Powder, Flour… and I added some Vanilla Extract. Mixed then 55 minutes in a 350° F oven. Damn, it is a good looking Bundt cake, from scratch.

My entrée, Spicy Chicken with Peanuts. Ingredients: Oil, Garlic, Shallots, Green Chilies, Dry-Roasted Peanuts, Chicken, and Green Onion. Sauce: Soya Sauce – Sweet and Regular, Fish Sauce, Sugar, and Water. Mise-en-place and then prepped my wok.

Side of Sautéed Bok Choy with Mushrooms. Ingredients: Baby Bok Choy, Oyster and White Mushrooms, Green Onions, Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt and Pepper, Oil, Coconut Milk.

Tandem woks.

Dueling woks. Ambidextrous.

Entrée and side served over steamed white rice.

Dessert – Homemade Banana Cake with Strawberry Sauce and Coffee.

I am satiated, and here's three for one.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

JGE 20 – Malaysian Chicken Curry – My Twist

Good Day,

I really had a hankering for some sort of curried chicken dish last night. I had some thawed out chicken breast and also some thighs just staring at me on the third shelf in the refrigerator.

I sometimes check Rasa Malaysia – Easy Asian Recipes website for ideas. I recently came across one which appears to have just been posted. And I really do like this site.

And of course I tweaked the list of ingredients and their quantities somewhat based on what I had in my kitchen: Onion, Oil, Yellow Curry Powder and Red Curry Paste, Chicken – boneless breast and thigh, Chicken Broth, Potatoes, Hard-boiled Eggs, Coconut Milk and Salt.

I fried the chopped onions in the oil and then added the curries. Next I threw in the cut up chicken. I used boneless and skinless. After a couple of minutes I added the chicken broth and brought the mixture to a boil. I then reduced the combination to simmer and added the potatoes and the hard boiled eggs. Yes and in this case the chicken went first.

I set the timer and took The Pack for a walk. We try to walk a mile every early evening. Usually takes somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes.

I added the coconut milk. I heated up some leftover rice and put everything into a bowl.

Excellent. And so simple.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

JGE 19 - Shchi - Russian Cabbage Soup (Щи)

Good Day,

Okay what does one do with Napa cabbage, carrots, onions, dried Shitake mushrooms, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Turnips, Dill, Pepper and Salt, and green onion, butter, Rice Wine Vinegar, and Chicken and Vegetable broth?

Well that’s my Chopped list of ingredients. It’s my version of Shchi…albeit Russian Cabbage Soup. Oh and that’s pronounced, via Google Translate as a short “shay”, and through Wikipedia, “sheef”. The Cyrillic is Щи.

Dried mushrooms are reconstituted. Everything chopped, sliced, grated, and prepped.  Potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and herbs and spices are put into a large pot with chicken and vegetable broths, and mushroom water.  Pot is brought to boil then set on simmer to soften potatoes, turnips, and cabbage.

Chopped onions and grated carrots are fried in butter.  Sliced mushrooms and onion and carrot mixture are thrown into main pot.

The chopped green onions are added.

Supper is ready. Served with bread, crackers, or whatever your fancy.

And a dollop of sour cream.

One could say that I have been on a kick lately to try as many types of soups, chowders, stews, and such. Next to try Stone Soup.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

JGE 18 – Thai Chicken Coconut Soup and Salad

Good Day,

For supper, as usual I wanted something more than the mundane. I wanted something different, something exotic and something easy, damn easy to make… And something that would not take me too long. Period.

I had thawed out a couple of chicken thighs. Next I cut them in thin strips and placed them in a glass dish to which I added some fish sauce and lime juice. I set that aside for a short bit.

I next prepared the other ingredients; mushrooms, parsley, chili peppers, left-over rice, chicken broth and coconut milk…not cream, milk. (There’s one hell of a difference.) As I didn’t have any lemon grass in the house I substituted some lemon juice.

I brought the chicken broth to a boil, and while that was working I thought that I should make myself a side salad.

I have been making my own salad dressings for quite some time now. In this case I wanted something that would not compete, flavor wise with the Chicken Coconut Soup. I started with some olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, onion powder, dried basil, salt and pepper. I whisked the ingredients and created a simple emulsion. Next I found some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and celery. Everything was prepped and then tossed with the dressing.

When the chicken broth had reached a boil I immediately reduced the temperature down to low and added the mushrooms, the chilies, the rice, the chicken, the reserve of the marinade, and the lemon juice. I waited and made sure that the chicken was done. I then turned the temperature down to simmer.

So many times I have added coconut milk to a very hot pot that the coconut milk and the broth separate. This time, with a low temperature, I slowly added the coconut milk and the chopped parsley. Yoicks, it worked. The coconut milk did not separate.

Salad and soup…great meal.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

JGE 17 – Yakisoba Japanese Chow Mein – Sort of

Good Day,

Wanted something light, but filling. Hell I have been burning about 650 plus calories each day on my Schwinn 150. And this young man, sort of, was hungry.

I had taken out about ½ pound of ground pork from the freezer and had thawed it out overnight in the refrigerator. Scanning through the Internet with the terms “Asian ground pork recipes” I found about 1,090,000 results and hits. I found a number that had noodles and the ground pork, sort-of a Chow Mein.

After reading a number Yakisoba recipes that I highlighted I checked through my kitchen and found some comparable ingredients to make a sauce.  These included: Sesame oil, Soya sauce, Oyster sauce, Asian cooking wine, salt and pepper.

I set the sauce aside.

Next I broke up the thawed ground pork and sprinkled with some salt and pepper.  This I also set aside.

In the refridgerator and the pantry I found some Cabbage, Carrots, Shitaki mushrooms, Red onion, Ginger, and Garlic.  I am sure that I could have added or substituted other items.  It all depends what I found.

I prepared, chopped, sliced, hacked, grated the vegetables. I set them aside.

Two squares of Ramen noodles and a small package of Bonito flakes were grabbed,

Now remember all those things that I set aside, I heated some Peanut oil in my old Wok, (thank you B&FR), I broke up the Ramen noodles and threw them in to soften and fry.  I removed the sort of done noodles and then added the ground pork.  Once the pork was no longer pink I removed it.  I added a bit more Peanut oil and then started throwing the prepared vegetables into the pot.  In regards to my wok cooking I learned that one of the secrets is to cook everything quickly, on high, but in order of hardness.  Spelling that out, cook the hardest vegetables first and then progress down to the softest.  The degree of hardness sort of depends how they have been prepared.

I added the cooked pork and the noodles and continued to stir fry.  I added the sauce, but it looked as if I had not made enough sauce. I added some Chicken broth just to moisten the concoction a tad... I guess if I had added too much I would have had a stew or noodle soup for supper.

And here is the final product.

 

Oh I know that I am not taking any pictures for a magazine...but I was hungry.  I snapped a picture with my iPhone and sat down to eat.  I had two bowls full.  Do I have to write that it was good?  Of course, why do you think I ate two bowls full.  This was my version of Yakisoba, a Japanese sort-of Chow Mein.

Enjoy,

Jim