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.

slow cooked beef chili

mood: punctilious
listening to: jk flesh :: devoured/earthmover

so, if you look back over the course of this blog, the first recipe i ever did was chili, but i admit to myself now that i cheated when i made it that time. i used a chili seasoning packet, which i'm extremely mad that i did now, so i decided to retry this dish without any mix packets and use a slow cooker that i was given as a gift. this slow cooker made this one of the easiest things that i've ever made and allows for a lot of creativity.

Ingredients: 2 15 oz. cans of red beans, drained 2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce 6 oz. can of tomato paste yellow bell pepper, diced red bell pepper, diced 4 roma tomatoes, diced 2 jalapeno peppers, diced 2 lbs. ground beef, cooked and drained medium onion, diced 1/4 cup of cilantro, diced

6 large garlic cloves, sliced 1 tsp. of cumin 1 tsp. of coriander 2 tsp. of chili powder 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper 1 tsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce 1/4 cup of white vinegar 3 tsp. salt

Preparation:
- slice and dice all vegetables and place into a slow cooker
- pour beans, tomato sauce and paste as well as spices into slow cooker
- brown meat, drain and put into slow cooker
- cook on low heat for 6 hours, mixing every once in a while.

the ingredients in the recipe are enough for 6-8 people.

kung pao tofu and shrimp

mood: contumelious
listening to: animals as leaders :: tempting time/the price of everything and the value of nothing

i've always loved kung pao chicken... i mean who doesn't. i've tried kung pao beef and pork before, but it just didn't compare. pf changs introduced me to kung pao scallops which are amazing, but i wanted to see if there was a way to infuse something different that i hadn't seen before. i decided to try working with tofu as i've done some stuff with it before, but it's never quite come out the way that i've wanted. the same can be said for shrimp, but one thing that i saw in the store that i've never used before was bok choy. i have to say that i'm a fan and going to finding some more uses for it in the future.

Ingredients: 2 bok choy, stem cut off and rinsed 1 red bell pepper, long slices 1 orange bell pepper, long slices 1/2 medium onion, long slices 4 green onions, sliced 1 tbsp of fresh ginger, minced 4 large garlic cloves, sliced 1 small can of water chestnuts 4 tbsp of cilantro, diced pinch of fennel handful of peanuts 3 tbsp of canola oil sriracha sauce salt

Marinade: 2 tbsp white cooking wine 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with water extra firm tofu, 1 in. cubes cooked/peeled shrimp, tails removed Kung Pao Sauce: 3 tbsp white cooking wine 3 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp sesame oil 3 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with water 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp of garlic chili paste

Marinade Preparation:
- mix cooking wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch/water mixture together
- put tofu and shrimp in a medium size bowl and coat with marinade
- mix all items, cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes

Kung Pao Sauce Preparation:
- mix cooking wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, brown sugar, chili paste and cornstarch/water mixture together and set aside.

Main Dish Preparation:
- preheat oven to 350°
- cut bottom stem off bok choy and rinse under water
- remove tofu from bowl with slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet
- place tofu into oven for 10-12 minutes
- remove shrimp and put into a pan and cook on medium-low heat
- in a large wok, heat canola oil and fennel seed on medium
- add in garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds
- add in peppers, onions, bok choy, water chestnuts and cilantro and cook for a few minutes
- pour in kung pao sauce and peanuts and then add in baked tofu (which should be slightly browned) and shrimp and mix together
- cook and mix for another 5 minutes
- add salt for taste and serve with brown rice