Black Spaghetti with Shrimp and Chorizo

My mom recently came back from a three week trip to Spain. The trip was to chaperone a school trip, but she was luckily able to spend a lot of time with a lot of family friends who live in Madrid. Her friend Nieves sent her back with, among other things, a package of squid ink dried spaghetti.

My only experience with squid ink in pasta was the amazing squid ink spaghetti dish with sopresatta, rock shrimp, and jalapeno pesto that I had at Babbo last year. I’m a huge fan of any pork and shellfish combination, and clearly love spicy food, so this dish was practically made for me. We found the actual recipe posted in Babbo’s recipe archives.

We used the recipe as a guide using what we had available. Since we don’t have Mario Batali’s means to buy fresh rock shrimp, we used medium sized regular shrimp from our trusty fish monger. We also had some spicy, cured Spanish chorizo that we used in place of the sopresatta.

We were honestly in awe of how well this dish turned out. The pasta itself was very midly fishy, as if there were just a touch of fish stock in the sauce. The jalapeno pesto was a little harsh on its own, but mellowed out nicely when it was briefly fried in olive oil and tossed with the hot pasta. With the addition of the sweet shrimp and the spicy, instense chorizo, it was just perfect.

Black Spaghetti with Shrimp and Chorizo
Adapted from Mario Batali’s Recipe

1 lb. black spaghetti
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
6 oz. fresh shrimp
1 c. sliced cured chorizo
4 tbsp. jalapeno pesto (see recipe below)
1 c. scallions (green parts only)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta until just barely al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through. Remove the shrimp and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic and chorizo.

When the garlic is toasted (but be careful not to burn it), add the jalapeno pesto and the cooked shrimp.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Toss it with the sauce and cook for a minute or so longer until the pasta is al dente.

Jalapeno Pesto

3 c. jalapeno peppers, roughly chopped
½ c. sliced almonds
½ c. red onions, chopped
Salt
½ c. extra virgin olive oil

Puree all of the ingredients in a food processor.

It doesn’t look pretty, but I promise it’s good!

Summer Rolls

I absolutely love Vietnamese summer rolls, so last weekend I decided to learn how to make them myself to get my fix. I find that a lot of places make them too far ahead of time (I’m looking at you, Whole Foods); by the time they come to me, the rice paper loses the nice chewy texture. The natural solution was to learn to make them myself!

I read a lot of recipes and kind of combined them so I could use the fillings I wanted. I usually order them with shrimp and pork, but I made them at home with just shrimp to keep it simple. I used lots of herbs – cilantro, basil, and mint – as well as some cooked rice noodles, lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. I love when they’re served with that peanuty hoisin sauce, so that’s what I tried to replicate. I used a recipe from this website, which called for hoisin sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and chilis. It turned out to be exactly what I had in mind.

All of the components can be made ahead of time. I boiled the shrimp for just a couple of minutes and shocked them in cold water to stop them from overcooking. I poured hot water over the rice noodles and let them soak for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes – just enough to get them soft, but not mushy. I find that they turn out perfectly when I rinse them in cold water when they just start to get chewy. The rest of the ingredients just require chopping. The real trick is to get them rolled correctly, which I found takes some practice.

Ingredients

Summer Rolls

Rice paper
Cooked shrimp, sliced lengthwise
Rice noodles, cooked
Carrots, shredded (I used a peeler to achieve this)
Cucumbers, cut into long, thin strips
Romaine lettuce
Fresh cilantro
Fresh basil (Thai basil would be even better)
Fresh mint

Dipping Sauce

1 c. hoisin sauce
¼ c. smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 hot chili, minced

Start with all of the summer roll ingredients ready to go. The assembly happens fast.

Dip a rice paper into a bowl of hot water (but not boiling). Remove it as soon as it gets soft (this takes less than a minute, but varies depending on how hot the water is obviously).

Lay the soft rice paper out on a plate and start adding fillings. I probably should have started with the shrimp so that they looked nicer in the end, but I just went for it with the first filling I had next to me.

On top of the lettuce, I added cucumber, carrots, all of the herbs, and a small amount of rice noodles.

After adding the shrimp, I tucked in each end as best as possible (kind of like you’re rolling a burrito).

Not the prettiest of the bunch, but still delicious.

For the dipping sauce, simply puree all of the ingredients. I may have added a little bit more rice vinegar to suite my tastes. The recipe is pretty flexible. You’ll also need to adjust the amount of chili depending on which kind you’re using and how spicy you want the sauce.

These summer rolls were a great summer starter to have with our grilled satays.

Thai Curry Mussels

Thai curry mussels are popping up on menus all over the place these days, but I feel like I’m always disappointed when I order them. They’re never spicy enough! Last weekend I made my own using some panang curry paste and coconut milk. I probably would have normally used red curry paste, but I had a half can of the Panang in the refrigerator that needed to be used. If this weren’t a last minute creation, I also would have topped with some cilantro instead of the chives I already had. It was still delicious though, and plenty spicy :)

Thai Curry Mussels

½ c. onion, chopped
1 small clove of garlic, minced
Vegetable oil
1 ½ tbsp. Thai Panang curry paste
1 ¼ c. light coconut milk
¼ tsp. fish sauce
1 lb. mussels, cleaned
Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Making the sauce was really simple. I just sweat the onions in some vegetable oil and added the garlic when the onions started to soften. Then, I added the curry paste and stir fried for a minute or so until it was very fragrant. Then, I added the coconut milk and fish sauce. After bringing that to a simmer, I added the mussels and cooked until they opened (discarding any that didn’t). They were very saucy, so we ate them with a big hunk of bread for dipping.

Pan-Roasted Cod with a Spicy Seafood Bisque Sauce

My mom picked up some amazingly fresh cod and Portuguese corn bread from the fish store on Friday night. After wrestling with what to make, I pan roasted the cod and concocted a seafood bisque inspired cream sauce to go with it.

I started the sauce with pancetta, shallots, and garlic, and then used a sweet cream sherry that's sometimes used in lobster bisque. I added hot smoked paprika and cayenne into the base of seafood stock, cream, and tomato paste for some spice, and a dash of Vietnamese fish sauce to finish. I really love using fish sauce; I think it gives it extra depth to the sauce, or “umami” as they say now. I spooned the sauce over the roasted fish and toasted some of the bread for dunking.

I was cooking in a hurry so I didn’t exactly measure ingredients, but I wanted to get down the rough recipe. We were both surprised at how well it turned out. It’s seriously a keeper!

Pan-Roasted Cod with a Spicy Seafood Bisque Sauce

Ingredients
Pancetta
Olive oil
Cod
Salt and pepper, to taste
Shallot, chopped
Garlic, chopped
Tomato paste
Cream sherry
Seafood stock
Heavy cream
Smoked paprika (hot)
Cayenne pepper
Vietnamese fish sauce
Chives, chopped
Bread

Instructions


I first sautéed some pieces of pancetta with some olive oil. When crisp, I transferred it to a paper towel lined plate, leaving the grease in the skillet.


Then, I seasoned the fish liberally with salt and pepper and then cut into two big pieces. I placed it in the cast iron skillet (with the pancetta grease and olive oil) over medium-high heat until the bottom started to brown. Then, I transferred to a 450 degree oven and cooked until it was flaky. It took no more than 10 minutes once in the oven, but the time totally depends on the thickness of the fish.

When the fish was done, I took it out of the skillet and covered with foil to keep warm. I immediately put the skillet back on the stove and added some chopped shallot and garlic. When these started to soften, I added a little bit of tomato paste and then a splash of cream sherry. After about a minute, I added probably equal amounts of seafood stock and heavy cream along with some smoked paprika and cayenne. I let this reduce for a few minutes and added just a dash of fish sauce.


As the sauce was cooking, I just sliced the bread and toasted under the broiler. This type of bread is new to me. It’s a little bit sweet, but not sugary sweet like the cornbread you’re probably used to. It’s also very dense, so it’s perfect for sopping up the extra sauce.


To serve, I spooned the sauce over the fish in shallow bowls and topped with some chopped chives and the crisp pancetta. I totally forgot to add the pancetta until after we dug in, but I highly recommend it!

Bucatini with Tomatoes, Olives, Marash Pepper, and Shrimp

I realize that this is yet another post about a tomato recipe, but Matt had a huge bag of them in his apartment that needed to be used last weekend. His fault!

I also wanted to use the Zingerman’s Marash pepper flakes he got me from his trip home to Ann Arbor the prevous weekend:


The bottle describes it as having “amazingly full flavor with just a moderate amount of heat.” I tried a little before using and it definitely had a kick, but not enough to stop me from using a sizeable amount in my meal. Also, it was insanely delicious. I decided to make a tomato sauce with the pepper flakes, some red bell pepper, and olives with bucatini pasta and shrimp. If you’ve never had bucatini, it’s kind of like thick spaghetti but with a hole running through the center like a tube. Not only is it really fun to eat, it’s nice and sturdy so it holds up well with a thick tomato sauce.

¾ lb. bucatini
½ c. red bell pepper, chopped
½ c. shallot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
Red pepper flakes (generous pinch)
Olive oil
12 black olives, sliced (I used canned, but we both agreed that it could have benefited from some better quality ones…and maybe more of them)
3 ½ c. peeled and seeded tomatoes, roughly chopped
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Shrimp (3-4 medium per portion)
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

1. Cook the bucatani until al dente in salted water and reserve some of the pasta water.

2. In a large sauté pan, sauté the pepper, shallot, garlic, and pepper flakes in some olive oil until soft. Add the olives and sauté for a few more minutes.


3. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add some kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Cook these down until they become sauce-like.

4. Add the pasta to the sauce with a little bit of the pasta water.


5. Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and saute in some olive oil.

6. Top the pasta with a few shrimp, some chopped parsley, and another dash of pepper flakes. The shrimp is of course optional - the vegetarian went without.

Here’s another view of the final dish. It was pretty tasty!

LOST Premiere Party

I’m back! Given that I’m kind of a LOST freak, I thought it fitting to start back up by blogging about the LOST-themed food I made for the premiere.

I stretched the theme a little to make it a good excuse to buy some sushi-grade fish, so I made some Tuna Poke and Hamachi Carpaccio. I also had to throw in some of Hurley’s ranch dressing (ranch composite, anyone?) and Katie supplied the Dharma beer. Yep, we’re cool.

*Sorry for the photo quality. I forgot my camera so these are taken from a camera phone.


Ok – enough of the LOST chatter and onto the food.

I had a hard time finding sushi-grade tuna and Hamachi, so I actually ended up at the sushi section of Whole Foods asking for thickly sliced tuna and very thinly sliced Hamachi. They seemed awfully confused about my specific requests, but it worked!

Hamachi Carpaccio

I’ve had Hamachi Carpaccio served with very thinly sliced jalapeno before and it’s one of my favorite dishes. When I’ve had it, it has been served with some kind of ponzu sauce. I bought some ponzu and simmered it for about 5 minutes with a clove of garlic and a piece of ginger. To assemble, I arranged the sliced Hamachi around the plate and topped each piece with a slice of the jalapeno. I placed a small bunch of cilantro in the middle and poured some of the fully cooled sauce over the fish.


Tuna Poke

I made a fairly basic tuna poke but did my best at measuring the ingredients so I'd know for next time:

2 c. roughly chopped sushi-grade tuna
½ large shallot (or 1 small), finely chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
Peanut oil
Sriracha
Wasabi
Sesame seeds, toasted

Mix the shallot, sesame oil, soy sauce, and tuna very carefully as to not break up the tuna too much. Add a tiny bit of peanut oil until it gets to the right consistency and siriacha and wasabi to taste. I topped it with some toasted sesame seeds and served it over some cucumber and lettuce. We simply ate it with potato chips, but you could serve over crispy wontons (or even plain is good).


Happy LOST watching!

Guacamole-off

When I heard last week that a couple of my co-workers were organizing a “guacamole-off” at work, I knew I would have to come up with a winning recipe. I’m usually a purist when it comes to guac, but I figured I’d have to make something a little different to make mine stand out. I decided to put some mango in it and add some habanero hot sauce to counteract the sweetness. I also found some key limes at the store that I thought would give my guacamole an interesting twist. It worked – I won!

I created the recipe the night before using one avocado and just recreated it in the morning with four avocados. It made for an easy but yummy dinner over with some pan-fried catfish.

Key Lime Mango Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
1 clove of garlic
¼ tsp. kosher salt
2-3 tbsp. mango, chopped
2 tbsp. red onion, chopped
Juice of 1 ½ key limes
½ tsp. habanero hot sauce
1-2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

Chop the garlic and smash into a paste with the salt. Add the rest of the ingredients and mash until desired consistency.

Post-Thanksgiving Tapas Night

My family and I usually feel like different flavors the night after Thanksgiving (too soon for straight-up leftovers!). We started off thinking that we’d make my grandmother’s turkey croquettes with our Thanksgiving leftovers, and this turned into a little tapas night.

We made some clams, spicy limas with chorizo, and patatas alioli to go with the croquettes. We served it all with sliced baguette and a simple salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. As much as I love a traditional Thanksgiving, this kind of food has a special place in my heart.

Patatas Alioli (potatoes with garlic mayonnaise)


1 c. olive oil (we sometimes use a mixture of olive oil and vegetable oil)
½ - 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped (depending on how garlicky you want it to be)
1 large egg
Lemon juice
Potatoes (we used two russets, but you could use different types and as many as you like)
Salt
Hot smoked paprika

Steam the potatoes and let cool to room temperature. Slice in 1/8-1/2 inch slices.

Meanwhile, make the alioli by pureeing the olive oil, garlic, and egg with a hand blender. When it has emulsified, add a small squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

To serve, arrange the potato slices on a platter and spread each one with some alioli. Sprinkle each with some salt and spicy smoked paprika.

We usually put out the leftover alioli for bread dipping…but it’s seriously good on everything.

Turkey Croquettes


4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
1 c. whole milk
1 ¾ c. cooked turkey (or chicken), finely chopped
¼ tsp. celery salt
Pinch of cayenne
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg
Breadcrumbs

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat and add the milk. Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook until the sauce is very thick (almost like dough). Add the turkey, celery salt, cayenne, lemon juice, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Spread this mixture out on a plate and put in the refrigerator until completely cooled and hardened.

When the dough is chilled, roll into balls about the size of a large egg. Beat one egg with a drop of water. Lay the breadcrumbs out on a plate and, if using unseasoned breadcrumbs, season with salt and pepper. Roll the croquettes into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs, back into the egg, and finally into the breadcrumbs again.

Deep fry the breaded croquettes in a combination of vegetable oil and olive oil. We don’t actually take the temperature of the oil; we just test the oil with a piece of bread. If the bread fries lightly in the oil, then the oil is ready. Fry the croquettes until golden brown on the outside. This makes about 9 medium croquettes.

Spicy Limas with Chorizo


My family makes these limas often, but we never really use a recipe. The basic method is to sauté some chorizo in olive oil, add a package of frozen limas, a healthy splash of white wine, a couple of bay leaves, and some red pepper flakes. Simmer it until the limas are soft, but not mushy. We used a spicy Portuguese chorizo instead of the Spanish chorizo we usually use, so you can really use any kind of cured sausage. You will want to adjust the heat with the pepper flakes depending on the heat of the sausage that you use.

Clams with Saffron Sauce


Again, my mom makes these all the time but doesn’t really follow a recipe. Start by soaking the clams in some water, cornmeal, and salt to clean them. Sauté a little bit of chopped onion in some olive oil. When the onion is soft, add a good amount of white wine and either some clam juice, seafood stock, or water. Add a pinch of saffron or some sazón seasoning (which is a good, cheap alternative), a large handful of chopped parsley, a clove or two of chopped garlic, and some red pepper flakes. Add some salt and pepper, to taste. When the mixture is simmering, add the clams and close the lid until the clams have opened up. Finish off with another small handful of chopped parsley. Make sure you have plenty of bread to soak up the sauce!

Sole Meuniere

Having recently read Julia Child’s memoir and seen "Julie & Julia", I have been wanting a good excuse to make Sole Meuniere. For those who haven’t seen the movie, Sole Meuniere was Julia’s first meal when she moved to France and what inspired her to learn French cooking. I thought it was the perfect meal for last Thursday: my friend Lina and her boyfriend Bobby’s quick stop in Chicago on their big move from NYC to California. My roommate Katie and I wanted to make them an easy but nice dinner after their long drive and to also celebrate the fact that we were seeing them for the first time in over a year!

My roommate made her famous mashed potatoes, which she makes with Yukon golds, milk, butter, and just a touch of sour cream. I also made some steamed haricot vert for a little freshness to go with the rich fish and potatoes.

I didn’t exactly follow a recipe for the sole. Instead, I just did some research online and went at it. The dish is ideally made with Dover sole, which is rather expensive and difficult to come by. I had to settle with regular sole from Whole Foods. The sole is lightly coated in flour, pan fried in butter, and then topped with a brown butter and lemon sauce.

I read an article on the food in "Julie & Julia" that reveals the secret to the dish: a thin coat of Wondra flour. I seasoned the flour with salt and pepper, lightly coated the sole filets, and pan fried in butter. I used about a pound and a half of fish and only fried two fillets at a time, so I put the cooked fish in a 200 degree oven to keep warm while I cooked the rest. When the fish was done, I added some more butter to the pan, the juice of one lemon, and just a little bit of lemon zest. I poured the sauce over the fish and garnished with some chopped fresh parsley.

It all turned out great, but I think I will try to not brown the fish so much next time. There were no complaints, though :)

Lobster Fideua

(As you can probably tell, I’m a little behind on blogging on all of my cooking while I was in Boston because we kind of cooked non-stop, but here goes my last post from my trip.)

My parents met in Spain and lived there for some time before I came along and, as a result, I grew up eating a lot of Spanish food. Paella was always our big special occasion meal, and my dad makes an amazing paella. Sometimes he likes to switch it up and make a Fideua, which is basically a paella made with noodles called fideos instead of rice. Fideos are short noodles that come in little nests and can be found in the international aisle of most grocery stores:


We had my cousin Amy, her husband David, and their new baby James over for dinner on my last night in Boston and we decided to make Fideua for the occasion. Well, my dad really did the cooking and I did the picture taking. I have made a couple of paellas, but I haven’t mastered it like he has. It takes practice to get it perfect!

He started with a base recipe from The Food and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas, but adapted it to use the types of seafood we wanted. We wanted to use lobster (because it was a special occasion!) and we supplemented that with shrimp, clams, and mussels. To boost the lobster flavor, he made a lobster stock instead of the fish stock that's normally used. The recipe might look a little complicated, but the basic method is in the steps below. The detailed recipe follows.

1) Sauté the lobster tails and shrimp in a paella pan to par-cook and remove
2) Sauté a tomato mixture in the same pan
3) Add the noodles to the pan and sauté
4) Add fish/lobster stock that has been simmering with saffron
5) Cook for a few minutes on the stovetop and add the lobster, mussels, and clams
6) During the last few minutes of cooking in the oven, add back in the shrimp and lobster claw meat
7) Garnish with lemons and fresh chopped parsley

Note: We often make paellas on an outdoor grill, but it was actually too hot to cook outside that night so we put the paella pan over the stovetop and transferred to an oven. The recipe can easily be done on a grill, though.

Lobster Fideua

4 small lobsters
1 lb. large shrimp, shelled
1 lb. mussels
1 lb. clams
White wine
Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp. smoked paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne
4 medium tomatoes, skinned and chopped
12 c. fish and lobster stock
Pinch of saffron
24 oz. fideos (two bags)
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

To prep the lobster, you will first need to kill them. I won’t go into detail about how to do that here, but there are some simple instructions here. Then, remove the tails and split them.


We used the claw meat in the Fideua and the rest of the shells to make the lobster stock. To make the stock, combine a cup of white wine and a about two quarts of water in a big pot and bring to a boil. Add the lobster claws and bodies to the pot. Remove the claws after about 10 minutes, take the meat out, and set aside for later. Simmer the rest of the contents in the pot for another 20 minutes and strain.

To prep the mussels and clams, soak them in cold water and a little bit of cornmeal and salt for about a half hour. This will help remove the sand.


Start by simmering 12 cups of fish stock with a large pinch of saffron. We used the lobster stock we made and added extra store-bought fish stock to make 12 cups.

Next, season the lobster tails with some salt and pepper and sauté in some olive oil over medium-high heat in the paella pan (and don’t skimp on the olive oil!). You really just want to par-cook them, so remove after a couple of minutes.


Season the shrimp and do the same thing. Shrimp don’t take long to cook, so they will probably be mostly cooked at this point.

Then, sauté the tomatoes, garlic, paprika, and cayenne for a few minutes. Add some more olive oil if needed.


Add the noodles, breaking up the nests as you add them. Saute them for a few minutes.


Add the stock and cook until the noodles are no longer soupy but some liquid remains.


Add the lobster tails, clams, and mussels on the top and transfer to a 350 degree oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and the remaining lobster meat during the last few minutes of cooking.


Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley. Done!

Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge

I entered the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge on a whim last week with my Seared Scallops with Pappardelle and Saffron Sauce recipe that I posted back in March. The contest asked for a recipe that would pair well with one of their three wines: Prosecco, Pinot Grigio, and Chianti. I thought the richness of the sauce and the scallops would pair well with the light, slightly sweet Prosecco.

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Winning Combination?

Well - I got a call today to let me know that I was a semi-finalist! This means I have to present my dish to judges (including Fabio from Top Chef!) next Wednesday at the Signature Room. Wish me luck!!

PS: If you watched Top Chef New York, then you know Fabio's thoughts: “Ees not top scallop!” I hope it will be!

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

I was contemplating breakfast on my walk home from the gym the other morning and started craving smoked salmon. I had to stick with my standard ham sandwich breakfast that morning (yeah, I eat lunch food for breakfast), but I went to the grocery store after work and crafted this smoked salmon sandwich to have for the rest of the week. The possibilities are endless, but I decided on a filling of smoked salmon, herbed goat cheese spread, arugula, and cucumber. I also lightened up the goat cheese by adding some non-fat greek yogurt and lemon juice. It’s a great incentive to get myself out of bed in the morning!

½ c. non-fat greek yogurt
4 oz. herbed goat cheese
Juice of 2 lemons
1 shallot, chopped
Ground black pepper
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Arugula
Smoked salmon
Wheat bread

For the spread, combine the yogurt, goat cheese, lemon juice, and pepper in a food processor. Stir in the chopped shallot.

For the sandwich, spread a thin layer of the goat cheese spread on both sides of the bread. Add a layer of cucumber, a thin layer of salmon, and top with the arugula.