“Camarones” Enchilados / “Shrimp” Creole

2 Mar

When I was in Miami recently, I visited this Chinese market where they sold many soy based products, like the ones I usually buy when I go to Chinatown in NYC.  I brought with me 2 bags of “shrimp”…  why?  Because my aunt in Miami makes the most awesome Enchilado de Camarones or Shrimp Creole and I missed tasting these flavors a lot.

I did not have time to make this in Miami, so I interviewed my aunt for her recipe… and being from the same family, she also cooks without measurements, so this is my interpretation of her recipe.

 camarones-enchilados

“CAMARONES” ENCHILADOS / “SHRIMP” CREOLE

1 cup of tomato sauce – I use Viter Fried Tomato Sauce
2 tbs of sofrito
¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
½ cup of water
1 bag of soy “shrimp” product, defrosted
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste
Drizzle of olive oil
2 roasted sweet bell peppers, sliced thin

 

  1. In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the sofrito and sauté lightly for a few minutes.    Add the tomato sauce, vinegar, water, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook for about 5-8 minutes.  The idea is to cook the tomato sauce and impart the flavors for the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Add the “shrimp” to the tomato mixture and braise in the sauce for about 20 minutes at medium-low heat.  Cover so the sauce does not evaporate much.
  3. At the end, add the sweet bell peppers and turn off the stove.  Leave covered for about 10 minutes until the sauce cools down a bit before serving.

 

Serve over whole grain rice and a side of sweet baked plantains.  The sweet taste will balance the salty/tart taste of the tomato sauce of the “shrimp”.

The funny thing… I made this dish for a group of friends who are NOT vegetarians.  Some of them knew these where not real shrimp but some of them didn’t.  They devoured the whole dish.  None of the “shrimp” were left.  My friend Kristina has not failed to mention to me once after this how delicious the sauce was…  to me that spells SUCCESS!!!

If by any chance you have some sauce left over and you do not want to throw it out… cook some baby potatoes in the sauce and serve over rice again.  They will taste delicious…

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Green Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing

28 Feb

Ever since I went to Miami for Xmas, I have been hypnotized by Meyer Lemons…  a friend of mine brought them to our yoga retreat and never used them.  I looked at them everyday – how yellow they were, their soft skins in contrast with regular yellow lemons or limes.   We do not have Meyer lemons in Puerto Rico, so I was mostly intrigued by how they would taste.

meyer-lemons

According to most chefs on the Food Network, Meyer lemons are like a cross between a lemon and an orange, because they taste that much sweeter than a regular lemon.  I have substituted Meyer lemon juice in recipes my mixing lemon and orange juices.  But I had never actually tasted one in real life.  So after a little asking, she gave me some lemons and brought them home…

Meyer Lemons taste a tad bit different than regular yellow lemons – their juice is not as tart, but is not necessarily sweeter.  But now that I have these beautiful lemons, what do I do with them…  let’s see how a vinaigrette will taste like…

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GREEN SALAD WITH MEYER LEMON DRESSING

The juice of 1 Meyer lemon
2 tsp of mustard with horseradish
About double of the amount of lemon juice you have
Salt and Pepper to taste
5-6 lettuce leaves
½ cucumber, peeled and sliced

 

  1. In a small glass jar mix together the lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Shake well or whisk together all the ingredients until an emulsion forms.
  2. Wash the lettuce well and dry.  Combine with the cucumber slices.  Add a drizzle of the dressing and toss to coat.

 

Enjoy as a side salad with a delicious Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart.

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Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

27 Feb

I’m sorry for leaving you a bit in the dark for a few weeks…

I was just away on back-to-back trips – one for business to Houston and one for a skiing vacation in Vermont.  During both trips and also the time in between I was so busy I just was not inspired to write…  but I was inspired to eat and cook.  So I collected and photographed a bunch of recipes I made or ate during that period and here you’ll have them all.

This is something I made for lunch a few weeks back.  You know when you learn about a new recipe, something that just entices you in such a way that your mouth salivates… and then you realize that you have ALL the ingredients available at home.  It was a beautiful moment…    This is based on Ina Garten’s recipe for Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts.  I saw it on Food Network and the next day I had it for lunch.

But I have to be completely honest; this recipe has a little bit of not-so-good karma attached to it…  It’s made with refrigerated puff pastry, something I do not use often, but I do from time-to-time and I have never been able to find it in a whole-grain or whole-wheat version.  So, this is a sporadic treat… if any of you is able to find whole wheat puff pastry – let me know where I can get it…

 

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TOMATO AND GOAT CHEESE TARTS

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
1 onion, sliced
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
A squirt of apple cider vinegar
The leaves of 2 small sprigs of thyme
3 tbs of Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 ounces of garlic and herb soft goat cheese, crumbled into small pieces
2 slices of the best tomato you can find, the larger the tomato the better
8-10 slivers of Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
 
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F.  I use my toaster oven for this…
  2. Heat a small drizzle of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic.  Cook for about 10-12 minutes until the onions are soft and cooked, but not browned.  Add salt, pepper the apple cider vinegar, thyme and cook for a few minutes longer until the onions have absorbed the vinegar.
  3. While the onions are cooking, prepare the puff pastry.  You need to leave it defrosting in your fridge overnight to be able to handle it now.  Unfold one of the two sheets that come in the package – do this carefully as the pastry can tear easily.  Unfold it onto a lightly floured surface.  With a rolling pin, roll the pastry so yo can fit 2 saucer plates inside it. Using the saucer plate, cut out 2 rounds of pastry, and set onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I can fit these two in the baking tray of my toaster oven.
  4. Using a small paring knife, score the puff pastry rounds with a 1/4″ border.  Prick the inside of the circle border with a fork.  Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese within the scored circle. 
  5. preparing-tomato-tart
  6. You will now divide all the remaining ingredients and place within the scored circle of each tart shell…  Place the cooked onions on top of the Parmesan cheese, add the crumbled goat cheese on top of the onions and then place the tomato slice on top of the goat cheese.  Now drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of the tomato and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a few extra thyme leaves.  Using a vegetable peeler, slice a few thin slices of Pecorino Romano cheese and place on top of the tomato slice.
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  8. Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes.  When you see the puff pastry has a nice, golden color just turn off the oven and leave it inside there for a few minutes.

 

Serve this with a nice green salad for a spectacular, very Provençal  lunch.  This would work great for a gathering with friends because it’s so simple and quick to make. And not to mention DELICIOUS!!!

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Arugula Pasta Salad

11 Feb

Because eating more salads is one of my New Year’s resolutions… this is one of the versions I came up with.  They not all have to be with only fresh vegetables, you know.

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ARUGULA PASTA SALAD

¼ pound of whole wheat pasta – I used penne, but any short tubular pasta will do
1 fresh tomato, peeled and diced small
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
5-6 fresh basil leaves, torn small or cut thinly
About 3 tbs of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, smashed
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
2 handfuls of arugula leaves, washed well and dried
½  cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced small
  1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic clove, salt and pepper.  Mix well together and let the mixture marinate while you set up the rest of the ingredients.  While you’re preparing the rest of the ingredients, toss the mixture every so often to mix well.  You can do this a bit in advance if you want to let the mixture marinate more time… that’s up to you.
  2. Set water to boil pasta.  Boil pasta in plenty of salted water according to package directions.
  3. While pasta cooks, wash arugula lettuce well and spin dry.  Set aside.
  4. When pasta is ready, drain well and return to pot where you boiled it.  Add the tomato mixture, removing the smashed garlic clove, and coat well.  Add the parmesan cheese and toss together.
  5. Serve the lettuce in a salad bowl and place desired amount of pasta on top of the lettuce.  The olive oil in the marinated tomatoes will be your salad dressing.  Add the cucumber and sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top if you’d like.

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Garlic-infused Mashed Potatoes

8 Feb

I once saw Tyler Florence do mashed potatoes boiled in a mixture of cream and milk.  He infused the liquid with lots of flavors – bay leaves, garlic and salt, among others.  This is my rendition of those potatoes…

I used half and half – partly because I already had it in my fridge, partly because that’s exactly same thing as mixing equal parts of milk and cream…  why buy two things if you can buy only one.  What I liked about adding the garlic whole and letting it cook with the half and half is that it mellows the strong taste of garlic…  giving it a smoother, almost roasted, taste to the mashed potatoes.

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GARLIC-INFUSED MASHED POTATOES

About 10-12 fingerling potatoes – I would also use Yukon Gold or Red Bliss Potatoes, which are my favorites
About 2 cups of half and half – enough that would cover most of the potatoes
1 bay leaf – fresh or dry
2 medium garlic cloves – smashed and with the peel removed
Salt to taste – I used about 1 tsp
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper – optional
 
  1. Wash well the potatoes  – It is very important to wash well the potatoes because we will not discard the liquid they’re being boiled in.  Cut them in half or even thirds if the potatoes are a bit large. I usually do not cut my potatoes too small, but because we’re boiling them with the same liquid we’re mashing them in, none of the nutrition will be “drained away”. 
  2. Add the potatoes, half and half, salt, bay leaf and garlic to a large pot.  You might think the pot is too large, but this is to prevent any spillovers.  I tend to cover my pots when I boil potatoes, but because we’re doing it in a dairy product, only half-cover the pot for now.  This will help bring the liquid to a nice simmer/ light boil.
  3. Boil the potatoes for about 30 minutes, until they’re fork tender.  Fingerlings tend to be a bit tougher than Yukon Gold’s or Red potatoes… just so you know.
  4. When the potatoes are done, cover the pot and let them be for about 10-15 minutes.  The steam inside the pot will ensure they’ll be thoroughly cooked and the liquid will not be as hot for you to handle the mashing…  this is experience talking here.
  5. When the time has elapsed, discard the bay leaf, drain some of the liquid out (this will make the mashing a bit easier) and mash potatoes with remaining liquid with a potato masher.  Add more of the boiling liquid if you see they’re not as creamy as you would like them to be.  I use most of the half and half when I make them.   As you’ll see, the garlic is soft enough and mashes easily into the potatoes.
  6. Check for seasonings.  Add more salt if needed.  Add cracked pepper is using.

 

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