Grilled Shrimp with Turmeric Ginger Sauce

Mood: Labyrinthine
Listening to: The Police :: Don't Stand So Close To Me

Here's another quick take on a recipe I saw that looked pretty simple and delicious. You'll need a grill and a food processor, but the whole recipe shoul only take you about 30 mins from start to finish. It's always been easier to marinate shrimp pretty quickly compared to other meats. This recipe only requires you to marinate the shrimp for even 10 mins just to get the flavors to be infused.

Ingredients: 8 garlic cloves 1 3" piece of ginger, peeled 1/3 cup of orange juice 1/3 cup of lime juice 1 tbsp. sugar 2 tsp of vinegar 1/3 cup of vegetable oil 1/2 tsp. of turmeric 1.5 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined canola spray (or oil) salt and pepper

Preparation: Serves 4

Prep the grill on medium heat

In a food processor, pulse the garlic,lime and orange juice, sugar, vinegar and turmeric until smooth. then pour in the oil

Pour 1/2 of the sauce in separate bowl and season with salt and pepper and set aside. Remaining sauce should poured into a bowl with the shrimp. Toss to coat.

Spray canola oil or oil the grill grate and arrange the shrimp on the grill until they are bright pink with some grill marks, which should only be 1-2 mins per side.

Serve with rice, place shrimp on top and top with the turmeric sauce

Panko Crusted Salmon w/ Roasted Cauliflower

Mood: Insouciant
Listening to: U2 :: Where the Streets Have No Name

We've improvised off a recipe that we got from Blue Apron a few years back. While most of the recipes were subpar, there were a few standouts, even though I seriously question the audience that they create the recipes for. They claim it takes 15 minutes at times to wash, chop and prepare 5-6 different sets of veggies and that their dishes take less than an hour, which I disagree with for the most part.

But I digress... I took what they had and made it simple so that prep work work should only be 10 mins for both parts of this dish.

For presentation, we have put some of Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce, which is amazing if you haven't tried.

Ingredients: salmon, any kind (cut into 4 2 in. filets) 1 cup panko breadcrumbs 1/4 cup dijon mustard head of cauliflowers, cut into florets olive oil 2 tsp cumin 1 tsp cayenne pepper salt and ground black pepper

Preparation: Serves 4

Preheat oven to 450°

Spray a baking sheet with canola oil

In a medium bowl, cut cauliflower into small/medium size florets. Drizzle with olive oil and cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper and toss to coat

Spread cauliflower on to baking sheet and put in oven for 20 minutes, until lightly browned; when the cauliflower is almost done, put on broil for 3 minutes

Pat salmon dry with paper towels, place on to baking sheet and season lightly with salt and pepper

Spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on to the top of the salmon and top with a light layer of panko breadcrumbs

Once cauliflower is done, put salmon in oven for 8-10 minutes or until panko is lightly browned

Serve with Lemon and enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Tostadas w/ Red Cabbage Slaw and Guacamole

Mood: Lackadaisical
Listening to: Phil Collins :: I Don't Care Anymore

It's been 6 years since I posted anything on this blog and a lot has changed... marriage, new job, house, dog, kid, global pandemic. So, there's lot of cooking happening in houses everywhere and the fact that everyone is locked down and trying to validate their sanity, it seemed like a good time to attempt a reboot of sorts. Now honestly, who knows if I still have the time or the patience for this, but cooking is still fun, so I thought I would try to lighten the mood and share some riffs of recipes that we've been inspired by in our house. Hope that you'll find something new to try out while we all wait out this madness.

Ingredients: 8 6" corn tortillas canola oil 3 avocados 8 tbsp. lime juice (divided) 3 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro 1 tbsp. cumin powder 1/2 red onion, diced 1 serrano pepper, diced

1 tsp. cayenne 1/4 cup EVOO, divided 18 medium/large shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage 1 large carrot, shredded Lime wedges and Cilantro leaves for garnish, taste salt and ground black pepper

Preparation: Serves 8

Preheat oven to 400°

Spray 2 baking sheets with canola oil and place 4 tortillas on each. Spray the top of the tortillas with more canola oil and bake until golden brown and crisp, around 6-8 mins

In a medium bowl, mash avocados and mix in 4 tbsp. of lime juice, red onion, serrano and cilantro to make the guacamole. Season with salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix cayenne, cumin, 2 tbsp. lime juice and 2 tbsp. EVOO. Add shrimp, salt and pepper and toss to coat

Grill shrimp over medium-high heat for 3 mins per side or until light pink

In a small bowl, mix cabbage, carrot and remaining lime juice/EVOO

Put tortillas on plate, spread guacamole and top with 3 shrimp each, slaw and cilantro leaves with lime wedge

Enjoy!

turkey stuffed manicotti

mood: opprobrious
listening to: lorde :: glory and gore/team

instead of making excuses for not making something for a while, i'm just going to post the recipe. it's a meat-flavoured take on ricotta stuffed pasta shells, except instead of cheese stuffed into the shells, i used turkey meat.

Ingredients: 1 lb. turkey meat 1/2 yellow onion, diced i package of manicotti shells 2 tbsp. dried basil 2 tbsp. dried oregano 1 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. ground black peppercorns 1 tsp. chili powder 24 oz. spaghettic sauce 6 garlic cloves, minced 12 oz. shredded mozarella cheese 2 tbsp. olive oil

Preparation:
- pour olive oil into sauce pan and add onion. cook until slightly translucent and then remove from pan
- add turkey meat to pan and cook until meat is browned
- drain meat and add onion, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, black pepper, and chili powder
- add 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce to the meat mixture, mix thoroughly and set aside
- boil 4 quarts of water in a separate pot and add manicotti shells
- drain pot and let manicotti noodles cool
- preheat oven to 425
- in a 9x13 dish, coat with olive oil and a light layer of spaghetti sauce
- begin to pack the manicotti with the meat mixture and then place into the dish
- once dish is filled with all the stuffed shells, cover with mozarella
- put foil over dish and place in oven for 20 mins.

the ingredients in the recipe are enough for 4 people.

boneless tandoori chicken

mood: semiotic
listening to: front line assembly :: ghosts/heartquake

ever since i began this blog, people have been asking me to create indian dishes and there is one in particular that people have asked for. well, thanks in large part to my father-in-law, it's finally here. we started with the base recipe that he provided and amped it up with some zing! this is simple, tasty and just required a little bit of preparation, but it's guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face... especially those of you who've been asking for something like this.

Ingredients: 2 lbs. chicken breast tenders, in halves 1 lg tub of yogurt 1/2 red onion, minced 1/2 bunch of cilantro, minced 7-8 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp. of salt

4 tbsp. tandoori masala powder 1 tbsp. paprika 1 tbsp. turmeric powder 1 tbsp. ginger root, minced t tbsp. chili powder 2 tbsp. olive oil

Preparation:
- slice onion and cilantro and blend into puree
- combine onion/cilantro puree with yogurt, garlic, ginger, tandoor masala, paprika, turmeric, chili, olive oil and salt into large bowl
- place chicken into yogurt marinade and pierce with a fork. let chicken marinate for 5-6 hours, piercing with fork every 2 hours
- after marination, heat up the barbeque and grill chicken pieces
- serve with lemon, juiced over chicken and with rice and yogurt

the ingredients in the recipe are enough for 4 people.

aloo bhaji (batata bhaji)

mood: vituperative
listening to: blut aus nord :: epitome xvi/epitome xvii

after an eight month lag that is attributed to laziness, i'm posting a recipe from my childhood. this was such a great dish growing up and there were so many different ways to make it and all kinds of vegetables that could be added to it. i made an aloo gobi last year which had cauliflower added and this time i added some peas to add some color. it's very easy to make and to adapt to your own taste and you can eat it with naan, tortillas or just plain rice.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp. of olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 1 tsp. of asafoetida 1 tbsp. of ground cumin 1 tsp. of turmeric 1 tbsp. of salt

1 tbsp. of amchoor (dried mango) powder 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 tbsp. of ground coriander 1 tsp. of mustard seeds 2 cups of frozen peas 1 tbsp. of gochugaru (korean red chili powder)

Preparation:
- heat oil in large skillet
- on medium heat, add mustard seeds and asafoetida and let simmer for 1 minute
- add in onion and stir until the onion becomes translucent
- add in turmeric, cumin, coriander, amchoor and mix for another minute
- add in potatoes and salt and stir then cover for 5-10 minutes
- add in gochugaru and peas and stir, then cover again for 5 minutes
- keep stirring until potatoes become slightly soft

the ingredients in the recipe are enough for 4 people.

channa masala

mood: heterodoxic
listening to: the naked and famous :: punching in a dream/young blood

a few people have been asking me to make add some indian dishes to the blog and while i have 1 or 2 up, i have been slacking for sure. i have been recently experimenting with a few new dishes and so there are more to come in the near future. for now, this dish is a staple and usually a go to every time i eat out at an indian restaurant. it's always been delicious and i always wondering what it would be like to try making it myself. it's a fairly simple recipe that requires a lot of different spices, so you will most likely have to get to an indian market before trying it out.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp. of canola oil 1 large onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp. of ground coriander 1 tbsp. of ground cumin 2 tsp. of cayenne powder 1 tsp. of turmeric 5 roma tomatoes, diced 1 cup of water 2 15 oz. cans of garbanzo beans, drained

1 tbsp. cumin seeds 1 tbsp. of amchoor (dried mango) powder 2 tsp. of paprika 1 tsp. of garam masala 1 tbsp. of salt 1/2 lemon, juiced 2 green chili peppers, minced 2 tsp. of ginger, minced 2 tbsp. of chili powder

Preparation:
- heat oil in large skillet
- on medium heat, add garlic and onion and sauté until slightly brown
- on medium-low heat, add coriander, ground cumin, cayenne powder and turmeric
- after stirring for a minute, add in tomatoes and cook until slightly brown
- add in garbanzo beans and water and cook covered for 5 minutes
- add in cumin seeds, amchoor powder, paprika, garam masala, salt and lemon juice then stir and cover for another 10 minutes
- add in chili powder, chili peppers and ginger and stir and cover for 5 more minutes

the ingredients in the recipe are enough for 4-6 people.