GG's Tea Party - Nov 23, 2012

Chicken Mandarin Orange Spread Sandwiches

This is slightly out of order, but since I'm still playing catch up from two months ago, I'm not too worried about it.  These pictures are from a birthday party for Nick's Grandma, known affectionately as GG, held the day after Thanksgiving.  GG turned 90 this year and we celebrated in style.

Cucumber-Salmon-Watercress Sandwiches

Specifically, we had an afternoon tea party where hats, of any kind, were required.  Nick and I were in charge of organizing the finger sandwiches for the party.  Nan wanted four different kinds, one of them being a pimento cheese sandwich, because it's not a Southern tea party without the pimento cheese sandwiches.

Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

Nick and I picked out three other recipes from this list.  A grocery list was compiled between Nick and me in Minnesota, and Chip and Nan in South Carolina.  Some math was required, but Nick and Chip are good guys to have on your team when that happens.  We got the numbers figured out without incident.  Nick's parents did the shopping, plus pimento cheese making, and Nick and I did the prep work (making the chicken and salmon salads, plus the compound butter for the ham sandwiches) Thursday evening, once the Thanksgiving feast had been cleared from the kitchen.

Party Ham Sandwiches

Then, bright and early Friday morning, a whole crew of family and friends gathered around the kitchen island. Uncles worked next to nephews, sisters worked next to brothers, fathers-in-law worked next to cousins, nieces worked next to girlfriends, and everybody pitched in to make hundreds of tiny tea sandwiches in record time.  We had so much help, in fact, that I had nothing to do besides answer the random question and stand back and admire the flurry of activity, as inside jokes and friendly barbs flew back and forth across the counter.  The rookies were included into the fold as though they had always been there, and the whole, wild and crazy assortment of family members became a happy, and quite efficient, team.   It was my favorite moment of the whole weekend.

Shrimp Tacos - Sept 9, 2012

I don't remember what inspired this dinner idea.  I think I was looking through our How to Eat Supper cookbook and came across directions for cooking frozen shrimp to ensure they have good flavor and texture.  The process involves boiling lime juice, along with the squeezed lime halves, in a pot of water.  Anyway, I tried the technique and it worked out fine.  I can't say I noticed any more flavor than usual, but then I'm probably spoiled for frozen shrimp forever after our trip to Folly Beach earlier this summer.  Nothing comes close to those fresh shrimp we ate at the beach.

 

These were good tacos, though.  Nick and I topped them with shredded cabbage, fresh tomato salsa, and cilantro.

Frogmore Stew - July 4, 2012

 

No frogs, no stew.  This dish is also known as a Lowcountry Boil, and it was at the top of my list of must-have local food on our recent trip to South Carolina.  The somewhat misleading Frogmore name comes from the town this is supposed to have originated in, however, that could be just a bunch of bologna (or kielbasa as the case may be). Most origin stories get convoluted and embellished over time.  This happens everywhere, of course, but in no place more charmingly than in the South. 
  


Regardless of what you call it, it is amazingly delicious.  Fresh shrimp, kielbasa sausage, new red potatoes, and corn on the cob all boiled together and seasoned with Old Bay.  We got our shrimp from a local supplier right in Folly Beach, called Crosby's.  All told, we purchased 11 pounds of freshly caught shrimp throughout the week.  We ate peel-and-eat shrimp with cocktail sauce, shrimp omelettes, and shrimp tacos, but the Frogmore stew was by far my favorite of the week.

 

Often this is served dumped out on a newspaper wrapped table, like steamed crabs in Maryland, but we opted for plates.  I can't think of a better beach house meal.

Seared Scallops with Pan Sauce over Parsnip Puree - May 24, 2012

After a recent visit to a neighborhood restaurant, I was inspired to make this meal.  Nick and I had two deliveries worth of CSA parsnips, and this was the perfect use for all of them.  I followed the instructions for pureed vegetables in How to Cook Everything.  This simply involved cooking the parsnips in boiling water for 15 minutes, straining, and blending in the food processor with a little reserved cooking water and some butter until they got to the creamy consistency that I wanted.

I also consulted Mr. Bittman for the scallop recipe.  He says to use half butter and half olive oil in the saute pan and cook the scallops over medium-high heat for about two minutes per side.  The pan sauce is just lemon juice added to the pan after the scallops have been removed, combined with all the delicious brown bits and the remaining fat, and cooked for another two minutes until it all forms a nice glaze.  We garnished our bowls with fresh parsley.  The whole meal was incredibly delicious and couldn't have been simpler to make.

Jerk Seafood Hobo Packs - April 1, 2012

Nick did these up on the grill a couple weekends ago.  This marks our first grill out of the 2012 season!  These seafood hobo packs are an old favorite of ours, but we rarely make them because you really need more than two people to enjoy the feast.  Luckily, my sister Nat has been crashing with us the past couple weeks, so we had an extra plate at the table.



I also made up a fresh green salad with some spinach and ramp greens, dressed simply with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was such a treat to enjoy some local greens!



The hobo packs are served up family style from a big bowl after just 10 to 15 minutes on the grill.  This is a perfect beach house rental meal, since all you need is some aluminum foil and access to fresh shell fish (those last three words are really difficult to say out loud).  No fancy cooking equipment is required, with the exception of the grill.  It's a good idea to have some crusty baguette on hand to sop up all of the delicious broth left in the bottom of the pile of mollusks.  That's the best part, after all.

Crab Cakes - September 12, 2011

Last month Richie brought me some amazing crab cakes from a hidden out-of-the-way place in the Baltimore area. I have been craving them ever since. Unfortunately, since corn is an ingredient in most crab cakes by way of the bread crumbs and mayonnaise I knew that I would probably need to make my own in order to revisit that taste. To my great surprise, these crab cakes were not only tasty but easy!

I referred to a recipe in the Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe to get me started and then modified for taste and allergies. First, I made sure to use Whole Foods 365 brand breadcrumbs and substituted Vegannaise for the mayonnaise. Then I tweaked the seasonings. Old Bay Seasoning contains celery which I'm still avoiding, so I used Penzey's 4/S Seasoned Salt. I used fresh dill as well as four green onions from the patio garden and added in a bit of a green pepper from our plant that broke off in the hurricane.

Finally, I needed some kind of sauce. I adore tartar sauce, but didn't have corn-free pickles on hand to make it. Instead, I mixed some more Vegannaise with some fresh parsley and thyme - also from the patio garden - and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Voila! Delicious, corn and celery free crab cakes! Definitely a dish I will make again.

Parmesan Risotto with Shrimp and Green Beans - August 8, 2011

For once, Richie is traveling for work this week while I'm home alone... usually it is the reverse! That means that you will see me preparing dishes with ingredients that I love, but my picky eater love does not! Tonight that is shrimp.

I've been wanting to try to make risotto for a while. I don't know a lot about it really, except that people are always getting sent home from Top Chef for making a bad risotto. Just the other night one of the contestants on the Next Food Network Star (yes, I am a food-related-reality-TV junkie!) was embarrassed by having none other than Wolfgang Puck take her to task for making a poor risotto and gave her an on the spot lesson.

I'm not sure what Chef Puck would have thought of my risotto, but my inexperienced palate thought it was tasty. I kept it very simple, basically following the recipe in The New Best Recipe book, but cut the portion in half since I was the only one eating it tonight. The ingredients were chicken broth, butter, onions, rice, white wine, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. I can see how people would screw it up as it requires lots of attention. Just one second seemed to elapse between it having plenty of liquid and being boiled dry.

To complete my meal, I pan seared some shrimp with salt and pepper, and threw in a few steamed green beans from the CSA for color and crunch. Simple, delicious!

Even though I cut the recipe in half, I still have some leftover. Considering experimenting with making arancini... Stay tuned!

Seafood Hobo Packs - June 14, 2010

Jerk Seafood Hobo Packs

Every so often, Nick needs a seafood fix. The influences of growing up on the Chesapeake, with healthy doses of vacation spent on the Carolina coast have had a long reaching effect on his palate. Being a life-long Midwesterner, I haven't cultivated the same appetite, although I'm always happy to eat the results of his seafood cravings. Saturday brought us to Coastal Seafoods, where we stocked up on clams, shrimp, and monkfish. Sunday evening, Nick made this recipe, with some modifications based on ingredient limitations, and fired up the grill. Since this makes a large quantity, we invited some friends over to share, making it a Cafe Rushmore event. Delicious!