Quick Pickles

I am a huge fan of pickles. I just made homemade quick-pickles for the first time, and they were delicious! Here's the recipe:
1 english cucumber
1 small white or yellow onion, slivered
a handful of kosher salt
1 Tbsp Paula Dean's silly salt (or black pepper and mustard seed)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp dill seed
2 tsp freeze-dried garlic (i love this stuff! in the produce section)
1/2 cup rice wine/sushi vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

Cut the cucumber in whatever size/shape you like. I did half-moons about 1/4 inch thick Sprinkle with the handful of salt and put in a colander in the sink for 20 minutes to get out some of the extra moisture. Put everything else in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Keep your face AWAY from the pan-- it will aggravate your sinuses like mad. Once it's boiling, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In a glass bowl, jar, casserole dish, etc., pour the hot vinegar liquid over the cucumbers, and stash in the fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy!

BLT Pasta Salad

if you like BLTs, but don't feel like having a sandwich for dinner, this recipe is for you. you can also change it up by adding/replacing ingredients. my version calls for one package of cavatelli/cavatappi or other short pasta you like. prepare according to package, drain and then add 3/4 cup mayo and 1/2 cup sour cream. cut 3 tomatoes into pieces about the same size as your pasta. add to pasta. put about half a package of bacon in a saute pan and crisp. when it's crispy, remove from pan and put on a paper towel to absorb any extra grease. when it's cooled, cut or crumble, and add to pasta. slice 4 green onions and add them as well. i like to defrost frozen peas and throw in a 1/2 cup or so, just for sweetness. combine everything with a spatula. add some fresh or dried parsley and/or basil. just before serving, chop about 2 cups' worth of iceberg, romaine, or butter/bibb lettuce. stir, and enjoy! salty from the bacon, sweet from the peas, tangy from the mayo and sour cream, great texture from the pasta and the tomato and lettuce. if you want added crunch, toss in some croutons! i serve this with watermelon for a light summer dinner, or you can serve it alongside other pasta salads for potlucks and bbqs. also goes great with grilled food, especially lean burgers, since it feels indulgent but isn't heavy. enjoy!

heart food

I need to say that the wonderful person who inspired my fili-paella recipe, Angel Busque, passed away Friday. She was only 32. She said I was cooler than Sandra Lee. I met her through my food, because my husband needed something to bring to a party she was hosting. So I suggest you make something adventurous, something new, something daring. Make something up. Share it. You never know who you can meet. RIP Angel.

Pesto

(I'm writing this on my phone, so sorry for the typos!)
Pesto probably makes you think of basil. But there are lots of different pestos, and they're all  equally simple to make. "Pesto" comes from the french "pistou," which means paste. almost anything can become the base for a pesto. Like most things I post here, it's not a recipe. It's a method. :) The one I made today is herb. I've got a bunch of herbs in my yard. this pesto included some leftover basil, the stems from a bunch of parsley (I dried the leaves for something else), tarragon, dill, thyme, lemon balm, onion chives, garlic chives, and savory. Chop & throw in a blender. basil pesto usually has pine nuts/pignolis, but I had some leftover walnuts in the freezer, so I chopped those up. I also grated in about a quarter cup of parmesan. add olive oil while blending until it is a loose paste. Ta da! For tonight's use, I added a few handfuls of cooked leftover edamame (shelled, boiled, and salted soybeans) just to give extra richness. I'm using this pesto on tilapia, and want to give some extra depth to this lean fish. You can use any of the following to be the base of a great pesto: basil, herbs, spinach, sundried tomato, black beans, sweet carrots, or even beets. add whatever herbs go well with your "base." for example, if you wanted to do carrots, add coriander and cumin. for beets, add chervil and dill. for black beans, add cilantro, parsley and green onion. Try something you like to eat, and play around with it. add nuts and grated cheese and oil. That is it! Easy, versatile, and a fun experiment. If you find a combination you love, please add it in the comments section!

Lobster and Shrimp Pot Pie

This is the best way to stretch a lobster, or to use the leftover shrimp from another recipe. (Or in this recipe, both!) I find that as long as you're going to use it or freeze it the same day, look for "manager's specials," which typically will expire in a few days but are a great value. I was making this just for me and my husband, but I always make a ton extra of anything I cook, so you could probably feed 6 hungry people with these measurements. In this case, I got two split lobster tails for less than $10.00. I also had a half-bag of 31-40 cooked shrimp in the freezer. Ta-da! Lobster and shrimp pot pie! :) You'll need one puff pastry sheet, four ribs of celery, one medium onion, 6 baby potatoes (whatever kind you like or have around), 7-8 white button mushrooms or creminis, one stick of butter, 16 oz. of chicken stock, about 1/4 c. cornstarch or flour, and I had some leftover corn in the fridge, so I threw that in too. Saute the celery, onions, potatoes, leftover corn, and mushrooms in the stick of butter in a very large skillet, or, if you don't have one, a big pasta or soup pot. Just stir more if you don't use a shallow pan. Thaw your lobster, cook it just enough to get it out of the shell, and cut into bite-size pieces. Thaw the shrimp if it's frozen, and if you're using 31-40s (that means that there are 31-40 shrimp per pound), halve them. Once your veggies are starting to get soft, toss in your shrimp and lobster. Whisk together the chicken stock (you can use seafood or veggie if you don't eat poultry) and the corn starch or flour, then add to the veggies and seafood. Add salt, pepper, and/or Old Bay seasoning. I used Old Bay and Paula Deen's Silly Salt, which I LOVE. (Some stores carry it, or you can order it online. It's salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, thyme, mustard seed, and a few others, and somehow goes with everything.) Crank your heat to med-high/high for a few minutes to get the stock up to boiling, in order to thicken the sauce. Pour the whole thing into a casserole or lasagna pan. The deeper the pan, the more you'll serve with each piece, so if you want to feed an army, use a shallow pan. Put the pan you use (I go with a glass 8x8" pyrex dish with a lid for leftovers) on a baking sheet, because it always seems to dribble a bit in the oven. Cover with your 1 sheet of puff pastry, and make a few slits in the pastry to release the steam that will build up. Put it in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Let it rest when you take it out for at least ten minutes (don't worry, it won't get cold), and then serve!
You can also add carrots, parsnips, peas, or leeks. Or, substitute the seafood with leftover rotisserie chicken or seared eggplant. Like most things I try to post here, it's not a recipe, it's a method. Take the component parts, switch out the ones you don't like with things you love, and don't be afraid to make it up as you go. :)

Marinade Merriment

I just did a teppanyaki/hibachi dinner for friends. I want to give you the marinade recipes, because they are easy,  flavorful, and impressive! First, I roasted shell-on shrimp, then peeled, butterflied and deveined them. They went into a plastic bag with canola oil, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, celery salt, and black pepper. I quartered large sea scallops and put them in a bag (sensing a theme here?) with grapeseed oil, Old Bay, kosher salt, and pink pepper. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were cut into bite-size chunks and bagged with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Steak, in the form of excellent quality beef stew cuts, was bagged with grapeseed oil, sliced green onions, oyster sauce, tempura or soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger. Everything was cooked quickly on a tabletop griddle/grill, using only the oil in the marinades to cook it. High heat, allowing the marinades to sear extra flavor into the proteins. I served these one meat/seafood at a time, after fried rice and seared zucchini, mushrooms, and onion. I offered salad, but everyone preferred the meat. ;)

Lamb Stew

Lamb can be a little daunting. This is a great introduction for people who haven't had it before, or even people who generally aren't lamb lovers. No mint jelly here! Start with some chicken stock-- about 2-3 cartons. Add some sauteed carrots (one bunch), onions (2 medium), and mushrooms (8 oz. package). In a soup pot, put two large yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks, in cold water and bring to a boil. They're ready when they are just barely starting to soften. Repeat the process with two sweet potatoes prepared the same way. Now for the lamb. If you haven't already, get to know a good butcher at your local market or grocery store. Ask lots of questions-- what cuts are good for which kinds of dishes and how to prepare them-- they're professionals in their line of work! For this stew, I used 2 lamb steaks and 1 lamb shank. Lamb steaks aren't easy to find, so you could do the whole thing with 4 lamb shanks, or, if you have that great butcher, ask for lamb stew meat. When lamb is trimmed, the trimmings are cubed and often inexpensive, but not kept in the meat case. Some markets will even do it for you if you call ahead. Sear the meat, cubed into bite-sized pieces, in grapeseed oil-- it has a high smoke point and gives a great sear before the smoke alarms go off. Throw everything together in the chicken stock. Add 1/2 tsp. of rosemary and 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder, let everything marry together, then add salt and black pepper to taste. If you like, a few splashes of red wine and/or worcestershire sauce will deepen the flavor even more. Simmer on the stovetop for up to 2 hours. You may want to strain out the rosemary if the leaves are tough. And that's it! It is a great fall/winter soup and I hope you enjoy it!