Category Archives: Food

Shrimp de Jonghe

I don’t know about you, but shrimp is a favorite protein here, at least for our son (it doesn’t sit well with me). On my ‘to make’ pile is a generic recipe for an old favorite we’ve never tried, which is basically shrimp in a butter bread crumbs topping. So, here I go.

Instead of getting raw shrimp and cooking it, I bought pre cooked frozen shrimp. I was in a rush, so I didn’t thaw them or remove the tails- I will next time to both reduce the water and make it easier to eat.

But here is 12 ounces of shrimp divided in six cute little oven ramekins we bought when we got married, but just started using.

Now to the topping, a buttery boozy stuffing. Half a cup of melted butter was the perfect amount. I added three sliced garlic cloves and two sliced scallions, which was more than the recipes called for and I will be doubling those and adding some garlic powder as well. I used all the dry Sherry in the house, 1/4 cup. Then two tablespoons parsley and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper. And 1 and 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs.

And topped with about 2 tablespoons of the basically boozy stuffing to be baked until warmed through.

Baking.

Served, with buttered pasta and buttered spinach. A lot of butter in this meal. πŸ™‚ I can’t remember how long they baked for, but it wasn’t more than 20 minutes.

They were a hit. I certainly think they need a little more flavor, but they did feel very festive and elegant. I would be happy to throw these together for a dinner party.

And I’d probably throw just a bit of Worchestershire sauce in the butter. Just a bit. But this was a keeper.

‘homemade peanut brittle’

Recently, relatively speaking, this peanut brittle recipe made the rounds on Facebook. I have never had any luck making peanut brittle, and Hex likes it, so since this one looks a little different, I will give it a try. I have a pound of peanuts on hand in the cabinet (well, 15.5 ounces). I am hoping I can get dinner on and clean the kitchen and supervise the boy who is working on math while working on it. Wish me luck!

So, everything is prepped. The buttered pans are in the oven that I heated to 200 to just take the chill out. In the past, cold pans have been an issue, chilling the syrup too soon. I did all this after starting the sugar because there is plenty of time waiting for it to come to temperature. Plenty of time.

This is my current candy thermometer. As you can see, it’s losing it’s numbers, but hey, it’s cheap. And I have used it for deep frying as well.
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The pot was a present from my mom. I <3 you mom.

Post adding peanuts:

Well, so far, so good. Not burned, not clumpy. After they cool, we’ll see how it is.

And success. Not only the best I have ever made, but a really good brittle. Hex is happy, which is good, because he deserves to be happy.
We agree, it needs to be more salty. So I will add probably 1/4 tsp of salt to that vanilla, water, soda blend at the end and try that out.
Certainly a keeper!

And if you have been scared of making candy, don’t be. People have been making candy long before we had all these tools to help. Just do it! πŸ™‚ Even just to say you have.

Bean burgers

Back to my plan of cooking through my clipped recipe file! I have been cooking, just not updating. So anyway, I remembered about the idea when looking through the old posts, and although a bit late today, I will jump right in. With tonight’s dinner, bean burgers.

These were printed off the internet, with no quantities to the ingredients. And I just changed what I did see to round it out more. They smell great, and I can’t wait to cook them and eat them! Trying to serve with polenta and a green salad and some sauteed cauliflower (it’s in the fridge).

Polenta is in the Instant Pot. I have been making a lot of polenta lately because I accidentally bought an extra package of cornmeal and am trying to eat through it. The Instant Pot makes polenta simple and hands off, so now I am making polenta all the time. πŸ™‚

Here’s the recipe for the polenta, barley, and salt potatoes. πŸ™‚

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I chopped up some celery, cauliflower and tomato to cook fast in some butter. The lemon and scallion is to finish it off the heat.

So tasty! I made these a few hours ago, and put them in the fridge as is. They held together well and flipped nicely. There is an egg in them so it’s not vegan. I bet aquafaba would work, but I went with the egg.

Oil is ready to cook in when it thinks out and shimmers. You want to leave space for the burgers to cook and not steam.

Those will go for 5min and then be flipped. Five more and then dressed on the plate.

That’s the spiced mayonnaise, and pickled cukes that go on top. It was a hit, although DH suggested the cucumber be chopped like a relish to make it easier to eat with the burgers. Or croquettes— coquettes are breaded and have a crispy outside nad a creamy inside. That’s way more what these are like than a ‘burger’.

And the recipe:

3 cloves garlic

1 cup cilantro leaves whir in processor (or chop?)

I used 3 cups of leftover beans from the Make Your Own Beans I posted earlier.

1 T soy sauce

1 T rice vinegar

1T dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp siracha

pinch salt

whir together until mixed but still chunky. add

1 egg (or 3 T bean juice) and whir until mixed. You do NOT want a paste.

put into a bowl and mix in ~ 3/4 cups of bread crumbs (until it holds together) Let sit while making the condiments. Then make into patties (I made 7), and bread with a mix of

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

3 T sesame seeds

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Refrigerate several hours. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat, add burgers, and fry on each side about 5 minutes, turning once until golden brown.

Serve topped with a dollop of mayo and spoonful of relish.

Relish:
1/2 diced cucumber (1/2 a medium sized one) with seeds removed

1 T rice vinegar

1/2 tsp brown sugar

a bit of lemon zest

pinch salt

let sit to cure

Mayonnaise

1/3 cup mayonaise

3 T cilantro, minced

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/3 tsp siracha

mix well.

And for lunch today, a cold crumbled burger on green salad. Still good!