JGE 26 – Snow Crab and Shrimp Boil

Good Day,

Publix had Snow Crab Legs on special…and I, well you know me, I just got a craving for a crab boil. Oh did I tell you that I do a lot of the grocery shopping at Publix.

Oh yeah, Publix was ranked by The Daily Meal  as the 4th best supermarket chain in the country, based on national survey data this January 2015. (Number 1 was Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods number 2, and Costco 3.) Nice to know that I can, if I had to, walk to both Publix and Whole Foods.

My ingredients – Snow Crab Legs, Shrimp, Corn, Onion, Red Bliss Potatoes, Chicken Andouille Sausage, Old Bay Seasoning, Beer, Butter.

With everything in place; I think the phrase is “Ingrédients mis en place”, I began the boil. Water, Beer and a fair amount, about 1/3 of a cup of Old Bay Seasoning. Once the brew was boiling I added the Chicken Andouille Sausage, the Red Bliss Potatoes, the chopped Onion, and the Corn. I turned the burner down to about medium and let everything cook for about 15 +/- minutes until the potatoes were done to my liking. Of course, I had to taste.

Next I put in the Snow Crab legs and the frozen Shrimp. I turned the stove burner down to low, covered the pot, and melted the Butter in the microwave.

Damn was supper good.

Oh yeah. I had a Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownie for dessert. And my blood sugar count this morning dropped by 8 points to 96.

You know that Jim’s gotta eat…and I did.

Oh tonight, I think I am gonna try and make Bubble and Squeak.

Enjoy,

Jim

JGE 25 – Banana Grand Marnier Challah French Toast

Good Day,

Last night I had a sweet craving. I wanted something different for supper. I hankered for something that was completely away from meat and potatoes. I had a craving for French toast.

And of course it’s me, and I just didn’t want French toast that was a “let’s-dip-the-bread-in-scrambled-eggs, fry-it, and and-serve-it-with-Maple-Syrup-French-toast”. I wanted something different and quick

After searching online for a bit I noticed a number of French toast recipes using Challah Bread. I decided to borrow the recipe I found from Tori Avey.

So I got me a loaf of Challah bread from Publix.

My ingredient list: Strawberries, Orange Juice, Sugar, Challah bread, Eggs, Milk, Grand Marnier, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Salt, Vanilla, Flour, Salt, Sweet Butter.

First I sliced the Strawberries and combined them in a bowl with some Sugar and Orange Juice. I let that sit for a while.

Next, in a blender I combined the Eggs, Milk, Grand Marnier, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Salt, Vanilla, Flour, and Salt. I poured that mixture into a glass baking dish. I cut the bread into 1-inch slices and put some butter into a medium warm frying pan.

Oh yeah, I warmed up the oven to 200°F so that I had someplace to keep the cooked slices warm while I continued cooking.

I soaked the Challah bread slices in the egg mixture in the glass baking dish and then threw a couple of slices into a buttered frying pan.

I cooked them until I thought they looked done and then place them in on the baking ray in the oven.

Once completed I placed a couple of slices of French toast on a plate, spooned over some Strawberry Orange mixture.

And then ate.

Damn was that plate of Banana Grand Marnier French Toast good. And I mean good.

And did I mention that my early morning blood sugar count dropped 7 points?

What can I say? I love to eat.

Jim

JGE 24 - 50-Cloves of Garlic Soup

Good Day,

How did I start on this concoction that I wanted to try and eat? I have been fighting with, and diagnosed with having the flu, and plain turkey and plain toast and antibiotics is boring. Boring... especially if you're a person like myself who still likes to eat no matter how I feel.

Doing a Google search I searched on the phrase "Foods that are good for one with the flu?"  It turns out that there are over 116,000,000 hits provided by Google. My blurred vision immediately connected with a link to "Garlic Soup - 100x Stronger Than The Best Antibiotics On The Market". I found a recipe for the Garlic Soup and it asked for 50 cloves of garlic.  Better get out the parsley, the mouthwash, and the breath-saver gum.

First of all I have to say that I cheated. I used 51 cloves of garlic...and I realized that I was not going to peel and prep my gloves of garlic so I bought a container of already peeled garlic cloves.  All I had to do was chop off the little bit at sort of dead end.

And instead of describing and writing out all my steps are are some images that I did.  The ingredients included - 51 Cloves of Garlic, 2 tablespoons plus more of Olive Oil, 2 tablespoons of Butter, 2 Onions, 1 tablespoon of Fresh Thyme (no stem), 6 cups Chicken Broth, more fresh herbs - I used Marjoram, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, 3 cups of Stale Bread, and I cup Sour Cream.

My images -

At this point I used my immersion thing-a-ma-jig that can chop and blend, as best as possible all the ingredients in the pot together.

Then I had my Brew - 50+1 Cream of Garlic Soup...

In conjunction with the antibiotics, I've downed two bowls of soup since.

Does it work?  Hell if I know.  This wasn't a scientific experiment. I just wanted something different than plain turkey breast and dried toast with my Ginger Ale.

I feel much, much better. And Radar is always trying to figure out how to get any scraps that fall from the cutting board.

I love to eat,

Jim

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