Not Shrimp Scampi

Really, it's not shrimp scampi. It's all the elements of scampi but different. Scampi is lemon, garlic, butter, and parsley. This is similar but I used lime and cilantro. I exchanged scallops for shrimp. I always put a pinch of cayenne pepper in my scampi but since I was going in a different direction with the lime and cilantro, I traded the cayenne in and used a pinch of chipotle chili powder. It turned out great. Everyone at dinner that night raved about it.



My favorite Shrimp Scampi recipe can be found here.

What's for dinner?

As I said last time, there will be a lot of these posts in the future. I'm going back to school. I'll still be cooking dinner, but I don't know how often I'll get to bake or create anything special. Here is where I should say something cheesy like every dinner with my family is special, but I'll spare you.

Dinner was grilled salmon with lime (we seem to be on a lime kick), roasted brussels sprouts, and spicy roasted potatoes. The potatoes were made spicy by adding a tablespoon or so of Texas Pete to the olive oil before mixing it with the potatoes.

What's for dinner?

You may start to see a lot of these kinds of posts when I don't have a lot of time to blog but I'm still cooking something.

Tonight dinner was from Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats. I can't guarantee no repeats because I do repeat our favorites. This is one of them. This cookbook has become one of my favorites. I'm no where close to making all 365 recipes, but we've probably made 25 or 30. So far they've all been good except one.




This recipe is #169. Cumin and Lime Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Creamed Corn.

SERVES 4 -6

* 2 1/4 lbs pork tenderloins
* 2 limes, juice of
* 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon ground coriander
* salt
* fresh ground black pepper
* 6 garlic cloves (4 cloves cracked, 2 cloves chopped)
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 large yellow onion, chopped
* 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
* 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
* 2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen corn kernels (or kernels cut from 5 ears fresh corn)
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Preheat oven to 500°.
2. Trim the sliver skin or connective tissue from the tenderloins using a very sharp, thin knife.
3. Place tenderloins on a rimmed nonstick cookie sheet; coat them with the lime juice, rubbing the juice into the meat.
4. Drizzle olive oil over the tenderloins, just enough to coat (about 2 tablespoons).
5. Season the meat with the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper.
6. Cut small slits into the meat and disperse chunks of the cracked garlic cloves into the slits.
7. Roast for 20 minutes; remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes, tented loosely with foil.
8. While the pork is cooking, preheat a skillet over med-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the butter.
9. Add in the onions, jalapenos, bell pepper, chopped garlic, corn, salt, and pepper; cook 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are tender.
10. Sprinkle with the flour, and continue cooking 1 minute.
11. Whisk in the chicken stock and heavy cream; bring mixture to a simmer and then lower the heat to medium-low; cook until it is thick and creamy, about 5 minutes.
12. Add in the parsley and cilantro; taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
13. Slice the rested roasted pork; serve with spicy creamed corn.

Tex -Mex Turkey Burgers! YUM!

My friend was telling me about a recipe for
Tex-Mex turkey burgers in this month's Everyday Food. She sent me the recipe but it wasn't what I was thinking when I thought Tex-Mex. I was thinking of something a little spicier than chili powder and pepper jack.

I had some ground turkey in the freezer so I was determined to come up with a recipe for a tex-mex burger. I finally settled on adding chipotles in adobo, garlic, onion, cilantro, and lime with my turkey. It turned out wonderful. Hubby and my mom both loved them and so did I. We had them on lightly toasted ciabatta rolls with avocado and fresh sliced tomatoes. This will be a new staple on our table.



Ingredients:

2 pounds ground turkey
2-4 chipotles in adobo, depending on how much heat you like
3 garlic cloves
1 med onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice

Mix everything but the turkey in the food processor so it is chopped finely. Mix in the turkey and patty out burgers. I got 10 out of mine.

Grill until done. They are juicy and delicious.

We had them with grilled yellow squash and a sweet potato mash. The sweetness of the sweet potato mash was a great counter to the spicy of the burger.

On the grill with the squash:

Salmon with Peach Salsa

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I love peaches. The fresh peaches of summer, the flavor, the scent, even the way the fuzzy skin feels. I just love everything about it. They are so good and since they are in season, they are inexpensive. I had five pounds of peaches so I tried to figure out what to do with them other than eat them whole.

I had some salmon filets to cook and I knew they would go on the grill. I started thinking how I could incorporate peaches in to a salmon meal. Peach Salsa! Perfect idea. Thanks to my garden and herbs,I had jalapenos and cilantro already. I still had vidaila onions left and I always keep limes. I knew then the salsa was meant to be.

For the salmon, I rubbed a little olive oil on and then sprinkled with a citrus seasoning blend. I grilled it until it was medium well and topped it with the salsa. It was delicious. We paired it with a pasta salad and steamed sugar snap peas.

Grilled Red Snapper

Grilled red snapper is divine. I think it is even more so when you know you're the one who caught it and you know it is absolutely fresh. Ever since our fishing trip, I've been searching for different ways to cook red snapper. I knew we wanted to try it on the grill. A lot of the recipes I found online with pictures had the heads still on the fish. I didn't think I could cook something that could look back at me, so when my husband cleaned them he removed the heads.

Most of the grilling recipes I found had the fish's cavity stuffed with a citrus, onion or garlic and an herb. For our first try, I went with what was on hand. I sliced up a lime, onion and garlic, and picked some oregano from my herb garden. I rubbed a bit of olive oil on the skin of the fish so it wouldn't stick to the grill then gave a liberal sprinkle of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

It was delicious. I can not wait to cook the others waiting for us in the freezer.

Beer Butt chicken: hold the beer but pass the margaritas

We are not beer drinkers in this house, but I love the idea of doing beer butt chicken. Since I would not want my chicken to have even a mild flavor of beer, we found something better. On a trip to Bass Pro Shop with my husband, I found a ceramic chicken holder that holds what ever liquids you want to add for flavor plus it can't tip over and spill. We have done several different liquids in the holder. (Of course now my husband thinks I love to go shopping in sporting goods stores since most of them carry cooking items. I of course make him think I only go because he wants me to, so I get points for going with him and I still get to look at cooking stuff)

Tonight we added margarita mix (it has a great citrus flavor) with limes and garlic. The chicken was brushed with olive oil and rubbed with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. In the neck, I stuff some lime slices for more flavor and to hold the steam in the chicken as it cooked.

It browns up so nicely on the grill plus it stays moist from the liquid in the holder.



See the Bass Pro label on the cooker?