Let’s cook!

Garlic Shrimp Scampi

20 colossal shrimp (I gotta have enough for my lunch tomorrow)

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 box of hard pasta – start cooking this right away

Place shrimp in a single layer baking dish.

Sprinkle with garlic, onion, parsley, butter salt and pepper.

Pour wine over the shrimp.

Turn on the broiler and place shrimp pan in, and broil for 4 minutes.

Turn shrimp and cook for another 4 more minutes.

Remove and let rest for 1 minute before you serve.

For tonight’s dinner I served the shrimp over spaghetti noodles with shaved parmessan cheese. The scampi was the sauce. Here is the plating.

Here is the close-up:

This recipe will be very impressive if you are serving guests. Another note, make sure you have all your sides ready to serve, because you want to serve shrimp scampi within 5 minutes from removing from the broiler.

Tomorrow I will post our dinner experience from Vegas.  The food was so amazing out there we kept forgetting to take pictures of the whole serving dishes, and had to take them after we had served our plates, but you will get the picture.  We had sushi one night at Shibuya and then had a 4th of July 3 course feast at Craft House, which is a restaurant owned by the celebrity chef Tom Collichio.

Happy Cooking!

Grilled Fennel Spice Tuna with Tomatoes and Eggplant

1 baby eggplant

2 tomatoes

2 tablespoons fennel seed

1 ahi tuna steak

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 big strip lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon sour cream

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and cut the eggplant in half. Season eggplant with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place face down on the cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the eggplant is in the oven, cut the tomatoes in half, toss them in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Set these aside.

Toast the fennel seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat just until they become fragrant, took about 1 minute for me.

Grind the fennel in a mortar and if you don’t have one, you can use a freezer bag and a rolling pin. Put the seeds in a freezer bag and roll over several times.

Brush olive oil onto the tuna steak and add ground fennel. Cover and refrigerate until ready to grill (this is when I start my grill after I brush the grates with olive oil).

Time to make the sauce. Cook the chicken stock with the lemon peel over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and remove the lemon peel. Transfer the stock to a blender and add paprika and sour cream.

Blend sauce until it is foamy.

Time to remove the eggplant from the oven and let the rest.

Take the tuna steak and place on the grill.

Grill the tuna until medium-rare, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the tuna from the grill and let rest.

Grill the tomatoes and eggplant until slight charred.

Put the grilled tomatoes and eggplant into a bowl and pour some of the sauce on them.

Time to plate! I didn’t chop the tomatoes or eggplant which you could do. Here is how I did my plate and I used some of the warm sauce over the tuna.

Here is a close-up:

Now you have a dinner for one and I ate every bite.

Tomorrow there won’t be a post due to a dinner I am attending with my neighbors. I will have a post on Thursday.

Happy Coooking!

Rack of Lamb

1 1/2 cups soy sauce

1 1/2 cups Burgundy wine

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic pepper

Put the racks of lamb into a large freezer bag.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Pour in the bag with the lamb and put in the refrigerator 2 to 6 hours (I did this before we went out on the lake).

Balsamic Mint Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

2 peeled shallots

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 cups olive oil

salt and pepper

In a blender, combine the mustard, mint, shallots, and balsamic vinegar. While blending, slowly add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to blend until smooth and put into a dipping dish.

Roasted Garlic Rosemary Butter

6 large garlic cloves, peeled

Olive oil, for roasting

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 stick of butter

pinch of salt

Cook the garlic in olive oil in a skillet on the stove for 10 – 15 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly. Add garlic-olive oil mixture and all remaining ingredients to a blender and blend until throughly combined.

Pour the butter mixture into a bowl and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Time to cook up the lamb. Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove lamb from marinade and grill lamb racks until desired degree of doneness. Remove from the grill and add the garlic butter and cover for 5 minutes before you carve the lamb.

Here is a picture of me carving the 4 racks of lamb. Jen took a close up of all the lamb.

Here is the final meal plated.

Next time you go on a trip and you are wondering what to make, try this recipe! We are so thankful we were able to have a weekend away, and able to enjoy some great food and friends.  Now, it’s back to reality and work tomorrow.

Happy Cooking!

Jerk Chicken
Spicy Rice
Spinach Salad

Check back tonight for the recipe and pictures.