Recipe Review from 5/11/09

I know, I know, there's been a bit of a dirth of recipe reviews this past week or so. There was a post on the Ckng Lght Bulletin Board about freezing food which put me in a frame of mind to engage in another "Freezer Reduction Project" and "Cupboard Reduction Project".

This was also partially inspired by the mystery tubs of "I'll-remember-what-this-is-Oh-my-gosh-what-the-hell-is-this-freezer-burned-tub-of-stuff??"

So far I haven't done very well. I threw away two tubs of mystery stuff; I think one was some buffalo ragu but I couldn't tell under the ice crystals that had decorated the top. I did use up a box of puff pastry to make my own pasties (review below), but I forgot to add the partial bag of peas, darn it. And next week I'm baking the last of the apple pies from last fall for a Picnic Potluck at work. This way I don't have to eat a whole pie by myself.

But this also translates into very few new recipes, of which I have three from the last two weeks.

Picture from CookingLight.com

Baked Shrimp and Goat Cheese (Ckng Lght, Apr 09; modified) 3.0
I really modified this dish because it didn't make much sense to me the way it was. However, when I was doing a search for the recipe, there is a version that tosses it with linquine. This is the modified recipe that I used below.



Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked Israeli couscous

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup prechopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoon white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preparation


1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Cook Israeli couscous according to directions, set aside to keep warm.

3. Combine lemon juice and shrimp in a large bowl; toss well. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add onion to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add wine, oregano, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp mixture. Place mixture in an 8x8–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

4. Top with couscous.

5. Sprinkle cheese evenly over mixture. Bake at 450° for 12-15 minutes or until shrimp are done and cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.

This was also a recommendation:
Orzo with fresh herbs: Cook 1 cup orzo pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; toss orzo with 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.





Vegetable and Chicken Pasties
Pasties are quite the regional thing up here, and I'm convinced nearly every culture has their version of this - calzones, empanadas, samosas, just to name a few. I had one puff pastry sheet left in the freezer and some carrots, celery, parsnips and leftover chicken crying to be used up in the fridge. I roasted all the veggies, added the chicken last just to warm it up, then wrapped in the pastry and baked it till golden brown. Turned out darn tasty if I do say so, though I still prefer a regular pie crust type crust. I has some leftover veggies that I just tossed in a bowl and had it for lunch.




Mark Bittman's Noodles with Soy Broth (Ckng Lght Bulletin Board)
A regular poster on the Ckng Lght BB shared this recipe with the group a while back and I mentally filed it away as a good possibility. Well, come a very chilly, windy Friday night, not having anything thawed out and passing up pizza on the way home from work, this jiggled my memory. You can read the whole article from the link in the title - it is a very versitile recipe. I subbed raman noodles for the rice noodles; and I had EVERYTHING I needed on hand.

I did cook my raman noodle in the same liquid I would make the broth out of - I cooked them first, removed and set aside, and continue on as noted. And I did add an egg to the simmering broth before adding the noodles back in.

A VERY satisfying dish!

Egg Noodles With Soy Broth
By MARK BITTMAN

Salt

1/3 cup soy sauce, more to taste

1/3 cup ketchup or 3 tablespoons tomato paste and a pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, more to taste

A few drops dark sesame oil (optional)

A squirt of sriracha or other sauce, or a dried red chili to taste (optional)

1 pound egg noodles, preferably fresh.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. In a smaller pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil; once boiling, reduce heat so water bubbles gently.

2. To the smaller pot add soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sesame oil if using and sriracha or chili, along with a pinch of salt. Stir and let simmer.

3. Add egg noodles to large pot; fresh noodles will be ready in just a couple of minutes; dried will take longer. When tender but not mushy, drain. Taste broth and add more soy, salt, vinegar or heat as you like. Divide noodles into bowls and pour hot broth over all.

Yield: 4 servings.