Author: The Blind Guy Cooks

Spaghetti con Gamberi (Spaghetti With Shrimp)

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Seafood plays an important part in the Italian diet; especially in the southern regions. Here is a simple, quick recipe that uses shrimp but can also use langoustines which is a small lobster. It also contains yaki nori which is a roasted seaweed that most people will recognize from sushi. When you first taste this dish you are greeted with a sweetness coming from the cherry tomatoes which is then replaces with a bit of spiciness.

Ingredients

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
11/2 cups dry white wine
Kosher salt, to taste
10 oz. spaghetti
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
1 sheet yaki nori (roasted seaweed), cut in slivers; optional
Juice of 1 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Heat ¼ cup oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes, chile flakes, and garlic; cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add wine; cook until reduced by half, about 6 minutes. Add shrimp; cook, turning once, until just pink, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add spaghetti, and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain, reserving ¼ cup cooking water, and add pasta to skillet along with cooking water, remaining oil, parsley, nori, and juice; cook, tossing, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

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Spaghetti alla Carbonara is another dish who’s origin is quite muddled. One story has the dish originating with Italian coal miners. There may be some truth as the Italian word carbonara means coal burner. Another story says the dish originated during World War II when the Italian people were given bacon and eggs from the US soldiers. This story holds merit as the recipe doesn’t appear in Italian cookbooks until after WWII.

Regardless of origin, this dish is one you will want to make again and again.

Ingredients

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz. thinly sliced guanciale or pancetta cut into ½” pieces
2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
1 ¾ cups finely grated Parmesan
1 egg plus 3 yolks
Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. spaghetti

Instructions

Heat oil in a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Add guanciale or pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Add pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Blend together the egg and yolks with 1 and ½ cup of Parmesan; set aside. Transfer guanciale/pancetta  mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly, you do not want the oil to begin cooking the eggs; add the Parmesan and egg and yolks mixture and stir to combine; set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until al dente, 8–10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup water; drain pasta and transfer it to guanciale mixture. Toss, adding pasta water a little at a time to make a creamy sauce. (You may not need the whole cup of water.) Season with salt and pepper; serve with remaining Parmesan.

Kabobs: A Given on “National Something on a Stick Day”

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Today is National Something on a Stick Day.  National Something on a Stick Day doesn’t necessarily mean food on a stick. It is a day when you simply put something on a stick and display it. However this is a food blog and human beings have been putting all kinds of food on sticks for centuries so naturally I thought of making kabobs.

Tonight I made my Garlic – Rosemary Beef Tenderloin Kabobs with Bacon Wrapped Asparagus. I know this is somewhat of a repeat but it is a recipe that begs to be repeated. I made a slight change in the oil used this time and was very pleased with the results. I have been using walnut oil a lot lately in place of olive oil; especially in situations of higher heat. Walnut oil has a higher smoke point and there for doesn’t give off flavors as quickly. I think it worked very well with this recipe.

Garlic – Rosemary Beef Tenderloin Kabobs

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup walnut oil
  • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 teaspoons fresh rosemary
  • 1 pound beef tenderloin, trimmed and cut into approximately 1” cubes
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 Onion cut into large chuncks
  • Mushrooms (Your choice. I prefer Baby Bella.)

Instructions

  1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large shallow dish or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add beef. Cover or seal, and chill several hours, turning occasionally.
  2. Remove beef from marinade, discarding marinade.
  3. Using bamboo or metal skewers, alternate beef, onion and mushroom.
  4. Sprinkle evenly with pepper, and let stand 30 minutes letting beef come to room temperature.
  5. Grill over medium hot coals 10 to 12 minutes turning frequently to cook all sides and meat is cooked to desired doneness.
  6. Remove the kabobs from the grill and let rest 4 to 5 minutes before serving.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients

Bacon
Asparagus (4 to 5 spears per person)

Directions

Wrap one slice of bacon around four to five spears of asparagus per serving. Grill over direct heat turning frequently until bacon is cooked and asparagus is tender; 5 to 10 minutes depending on heat.

Pan Roasted Salmon Bread Salad

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Here is an surprisingly delicious and unique way to prepare salmon. The idea comes from Food and Wine magazine. Total time from start to table is less than an hour.

Ingredients

Ciabatta bread (12- 14 ounce loaf), cut into large chunks
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1 lemon, halved lengthwise and very thinly sliced (you cannot slice these too thinly)
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 pounds center-cut skinless salmon fillet, cut into 2-inch chunks

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°. In a large roasting pan, toss the ciabatta chunks with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast for about 5 minutes, until the bread is lightly toasted.

In a large bowl, toss the tomato halves with the garlic, capers, lemon, parsley, crushed red pepper and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Stir the tomatoes into the toasted bread. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to soften and break down.

Meanwhile, in the same bowl, toss the salmon with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Nestle the salmon into the bread and tomatoes, spooning some of the tomatoes on top. Roast for about 6 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked through. Serve right away.

A take on Chimichurri

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Chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce used on grilled meats and other foods. It is a staple on dinner tables there much like we would use a steak sauce. The only difference is that it doesn’t drown out the flavors of the meat but adds complexity. True chimichurri is very finely chopped. Tonight what I did was a more coarse chop with a few additional herbs.

Ingredients

½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley
½ cup fresh curly parsley
½ cup fresh cilantro
two sprigs fresh rosemary leaves removed from stems
two tablespoons fresh oregano
one tablespoon fresh thyme
3 gloves garlic minced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
several grinds fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

Mix all herbs together and chop as finely as you desire. Move to glass bowl large enough to hold. Add remaining ingredients and stir together. Sit aside for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld.

Serve over grilled meats or vegetables. Left over chimichurri may be refrigerated for several days. Remove from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Bonus Post! Guacamole!

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I’ve been making a lot of things with avocados lately so I have been buying a lot of avocados. I have also been able to work on perfecting my guacamole.

Here’s what I did for my guacamole tonight:

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados
1 tomato, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large jalapeño pepper, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
A few dashes of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Juice from one lime

Directions

Combine all ingredients in suitable bowl. Mash avocados with a fork and stir together until well combined. Some chunks of avocado should remain

Here is an informative site that explains how to buy avocados. Avocado Central

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Here’s a very easy soup that is just a little out of the ordinary. It’s a nice change of pace from chilli with all the great Southwest flavors. I feel the freshly sliced avocado adds a wonderful element and the chipotle peppers gives a nice smoky flavor to the soup.

Ingredients

2 14.5 ounce can tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut up
2 clove garlic
4 tablespoons fresh, chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
8 cups chicken broth
1 ½ lbs cooked chicken breast shredded
2 or 3 chipotle peppers and a little adobo sauce from the can

Serving additions

shredded Monterey jack cheese
avocados sliced into strips
Tortilla chips
Sour cream

Directions

In blender or food processor combine undrained tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, chipotle pepper and sugar. Cover and blend till nearly smooth. Put mixture into a large pot with chicken broth and chicken. Bring to boiling. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

When serving, in this order, put crunched tortilla chips in a bowl with cheese, avocados, and sour cream. Ladle soup over; serve immediately. See picture below.

Thai one on! Panang Tofu Curry

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Tofu gets a bad rap. It gets put down without justification. But before you wrinkle your nose. Before you say yuck. Before you say anything let me simply say you must try this tofu dish. Tofu has an amazing ability to absorb the flavors of what ever it is cooked with. In this case it is a spicy chili paste, turmeric, and cumin. Some people are turned off more by the texture but I think tofu can best be described as having a texture like scrambled eggs. Just give it a try. You might like it.

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons finely grated peeled ginger
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
1 cup water
1 13-½- to 14-ounce can organic light coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves or 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice and 1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lime peel
1 tablespoon (firmly packed) brown sugar
 14-ounce package organic firm tofu, drained, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 ½ cups ¼- to 1/3-inch-thick slices peeled carrots (about 3 medium)
1 large red bell pepper, cut into ¾-inch pieces
 
Directions
 
Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, ginger, and garlic; cook until shallots are tender, about 6 minutes. Add peanut butter, turmeric, cumin, and chili paste; stir until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup water, then coconut milk, lime leaves, and brown sugar; bring to simmer. Season sauce with salt. Add tofu, carrots, and bell pepper; simmer over medium heat until carrots are tender, adjusting heat to medium-low if beginning to boil and occasionally stirring gently, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and serve over rice. 
I prefer to serve this over brown rice.

Tuna v.2: Pan Seared Tuna with Avocado

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Tonight while in a store picking up a few last minute items needed to make tonight’s dinner I ran into a friend. She asked what I was making for dinner and I told her seared tuna steaks with avocado. Her response was, “You must have a lot more time than I do!” Here’s the funny thing: I returned home a little after six, changed clothes, checked on the batch of Sauvignon blanc wine I have fermenting and then started cooking. Susan and I were finished eating and cleaning up before seven.

Cooking tuna steaks are so quick; two minutes per side and they’re done. These were absolutely delicious.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons grated ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
juice from 2 limes
¼ cup soy sauce
Several grinds of freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup walnut oil
2 tablespoons Canola or similar high temperature oil
2 Ahi Tuna steaks
1 ripe avocado
 
Directions 
In a bowl, whisk together the cilantro, ginger, garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and walnut oil. Set aside.
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and coat with two tablespoons of Canola oil. Sear the tuna for two minutes on each side.
Transfer the seared tuna to plates and serve with the sliced avocado. Drizzle the sauce over the fish and avocado.

Beef Stroganoff over french fried potatoes with dilled sour cream

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Foods change. Immigrants learn to improvise with ingredients when moving to a new land or substitutions are made when a recipe travels to a new land when the original ingredient is not readily available. Beef stroganoff is no exception. Beef stroganoff originated in Russia. From there it migrated to China were it was served with rice. Later, beef stroganoff came to the United States where the dish was served over egg noodles. So what starch was beef stroganoff originally served with in Russia? Believe it or not, french fried potatoes.

I like to serve my beef stroganoff over hand-cut, french fried potatoes with a dollop of dilled sour cream. I will share my tips for making great fries in a future post. Here’s my beef stroganoff recipe:

Ingredients

1 ½ Pounds beef tenderloin or sirloin top loin
4 Tablespoon butter
1 Large onion, thinly sliced into half moons
½ Pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tablespoon oil
¼ Cup flour
1 ¼ Cups beef broth
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Teaspoons freshly chopped dill
½ Cup sour cream

Directions

A couple hours prior to cooking place the steak in the freezer to slightly freeze. Freezing the steak for a couple of hours helps to firm up the steak allowing you to more easily slice the steak. Also, take all but two tablespoons of the sour cream and stir in the dill. Refrigerate sour cream allowing the dill and sour cream to marry.

Trim beef of all fat and slice thin strips against the grain.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan and fry the steak about three minutes. There should be a considerable amount of red showing on the meat. Remove steak from pan and set aside. Melt remaining butter and sauté the onions until translucent, about five minutes.  Add the sliced mushrooms, and sauté 2-3 more minutes.  Lightly salt and pepper onions and mushrooms as they cook.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.  In same pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil, whisk in the flour and add beef bouillon to make a gravy-like sauce.  Stir in the Dijon mustard and two tablespoons of sour cream. return the beef, onions, and mushrooms and simmer 5 minutes more.  Adjust salt and pepper seasoning.  Serve over french fried potatoes and top with dilled sour cream.