Indian-Inspired Shrimp

Ok, I stumbled across this recipe and became obsessed.  I just had to make it, I looked at other recipes, but the whole time I knew I was going to make this one.

How it's supposed to look:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup ghee or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups finely chopped red onion
4 to 6 green chiles, seeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (13.5-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Steamed basmati rice, for serving

Directions:

Set a 14-inch saute pan over medium heat. Add the ghee and toast the mustard seeds and cumin until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the onions, chiles, ginger and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are slightly caramelized, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook for 2 minutes more. Pour the diced tomatoes into the pan and cook until reduced by about half, 3 to 4 minutes. Raise the heat to high, and add the coconut milk. Cook the coconut milk until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Season the shrimp with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt. Add the shrimp to the pan, stirring often, and cook until curled and pink, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and season with the remaining salt. Serve the shrimp over steamed basmati rice.

How mine looks:

Conclusion:

This was a bit of a mistake. I tried my best to lower the ingredients to match a meal for one person as opposed to a meal for 4-6, like the recipe calls for.

The biggest mistake was the can of dice tomato. I'm in LA, newly moved out here and trying my best to not spend a lot of money. Which means that I purchased the cheapest brand of diced tomato. I usually use Del Mante diced tomato, but I used Safeway Brand for this and the chicken cacciatore. Both recipes tasted a bit salty and a bit off. The shrimp somehow tasted worst, because there's a lot of tomato products called to be in it.

Tomato weird aftertaste aside, I knew that the meal would have been delicious. The flavors were fine and the apartment smelled like an Indian resturant. Unfortunatlely the damn tomatos ruined everything.

This is a recipe I will try again, this time with a better can of diced tomatoes or perhaps I'll dice my own tomatoes.

Naomi Fried rice

How it's supposed to look:

So, I moved back into my dorm. It's not so exciting, but I'm a senior and that's pretty cool. My good friend and I were supposed to go out to dinner and it didn't happen, so I cooked. I decided to make a different kind of rice and decided on fried rice. I searched the internet for something easy and not so bad eat and found the below recipe.

How Mine looks:

Rice Stir Fry recipe via allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen broccoli florets, thawed
• 3 green onions, diced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Stir in rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute broccoli until tender crisp, and add scallions. Remove from skillet. Scramble eggs; return broccoli mixture to pan. Stir in cooked rice, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Conclusion:

So I really enjoyed this! It didn't taste the way you would think, but it was really really good. It was even better the second day after being warned in the pot. I also added greenpeppers and put a bit more soy sauce in it than the recipe calls for, because I wanted it to have that browning look. I also sauteed some shrimp and put some cajun seasoning on it. Ever notice that food tastes better when it's left over for the next day?

Reliving the old childhood

The other day I was food shopping. There I was minding my own business when BAM! There it was, eggplant. Suddenly I was transported to Mrs. Rappaport's kindergarten class "E is for Eggplant." So without a recipe or knowing what the hell to do with an eggplant I picked it up and decided I would relive my youth.

How it should look:




Fried Eggplant with Shrimp

How mine looks:



Ingredients

* Flour (1 cup)
*Eggplant (I used about 1/4 of it)
* Black pepper
* Cajun seasoning
*Salt


Directions

Pare eggplant and cut in thin slices. Mix the black pepper, cajun seasoning and salt in with the flour. Dredge egg plant slices in flour, place in a small amount of hot oil to brown each side. Season with salt and pepper. Drain on paper towels.


Saute' Shrimp

Ingredients

*Shrimp (as much or as little as you want)
*Garlic powder
*cajun seasoning
*Adobo all purpose seasoning
*Onions

Directions
Cut up the onions and place it with olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Use wooden (or anything besides metal) to mix it in the oil. Saute the shrimp in some vegetable oil, seasoning it with the garlic powder, cajun seasoning and adobo and letting it cook in.



Conclusion:

I've discovered that my childhood recollections of eggplant and what I did are not the same. I wish I could Mrs. Rappaport and ask her exactly how she prepared it for us all those years ago, because she did not fry them. I cut my eggplants like french fries and fried them pretty brown and while my sister loved them and ate what I could not, I am not a fan of the way it was prepared. Whether I'm not a fan of eggplant is yet to be decided. I still have 3/4 of the eggplant left, so I'm going to have to find a way to prepare it.

Also, after the failure that was my cajun shrimp, I was pretty proud of how my shrimp came out. It's the way I've been making shrimp for all this time and it still works. If you have some shrimps and only a few minutes, Saute it with garlic powder and other ingredients you may like.

My sister enjoying a eggplant fry

My first failure.

How it's Supposed to look:

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I got the idea to make Cajun shrimp. I had this bag of shrimp that was just sitting in my freezer and I bought this new cajun seasoning. I've made a lot of "cajun "chicken in my day, so I knew I had the ultimate combo.


Cajun Shrimp recipe via http://shrimprecipe.org/

How mine looks:

Ingredients

• 2-3 pounds large shrimp

• 2-tablespoon olive oil

• 2 ½ tablespoon of paprika

• 2 tablespoon salt

• 2 tablespoon garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon black pepper

• 1 tablespoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon cayenne powder

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

• lemon wedges

• freshly chopped parsley

This is a healthy dish suitable to all seafood lovers. The recipe is easy to cook and requires less effort. The preparation time for this recipe is 15 minutes and cooking time takes 20 minutes.

The ingredients needed for this recipe are listed above

In a container add the paprika, salt, garlic powder and mix it well. Again, add pepper, onion powder, cayenne powder, dried oregano, dried thyme and mix it well. Use this as an essence for this recipe. Store the essence in a separate container.

Clean and wash the shrimp and place them in a platter. Now sprinkle the essence over the shrimp. Now heat the saucepan on the stove. When the saucepan is heated, add olive oil in it. Now transfer the shrimp to the saucepan. Sauté the shrimp for 1-2 minutes until it turns pink. When the shrimp turns pink, transfer it to a bowl. Sprinkle the freshly chopped parsley over the shrimp. Serve the dish with lemon wedges.

Conclusion:

Ok, So for my shrimp, I decided to mix all the ingredients together in a bowl put the shrimp in the bowl and shake it up. Instead of just using the cajun seasoning i also used, papika, peper, garlic powder, etc, all btw are in the cajun seasoning. SO, as you may have guessed my shrimp was salty! Like my little sister who puts salt on everything spat it out and threw it in the garbage salty. I had to mix it really good in my rice and have a large glass of juice in order to eat it. And yes, I ate it! Shrimp's too expensive to throw away.

Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguine

How it's supposed to look:


So a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to get back to my first love, which is Pasta. Pasta, which is how I gained a bunch of the weight I'm currently on the diet to lose. But I love it. It was probably the simplist thing I've cooked. No special seasoning, nothing special I really had to buy. In fact kind of anti-climatic. I was like 'I'M GONNA COOK TODAY!' so I did. And when I was done, I was like "oh, that's it?" Here is a recipe for what I made.


Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguine

How Mine Looks

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package linguine pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute garlic about 1 minute. Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.
3. Mix shrimp, butter, parsley, and basil into the saucepan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguine, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.

Conclusion:
I have NO idea what lemon zest is, so I used Lemon Pepper seasoning. Worked well, my family liked it. A little too much lemon for me, I like my sauces. Also, I added some squid to it. Not that I'm a fan of squid or anything, I just saw it in the supermarket and said, hmmm, my family didn't like that as much.

Shrimp Quesadillas and Tomato Rice

How it's supposed to Look:




For the last few weeks, my really good friend Oscar and I, have been in nonstop discussion about how we have to cook together. We're always throwing recipes and foods out at each other and saying We should make this!!! Finally we got together, with our friend Jasmine, to cook.

Unfortunately, I am currently unemployed and have limited funds. Which sucks, because I could not cook the fancy meal we had planned. We decided to go mexican. Making everything from quesillas to flan, but that did not happen exactly. We had to economize. So we made Shrimp Quesadillas and a new recipe for my tomato rice.

Shrimp Quesadillas recipe via http://planetgreen.discovery.com/f
(note we exchanged black bean salsa for sour cream and could not find quacamole





How Mine Looks:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red or green pepper, sliced
1/2 pound medium shrimp, (26-30 count)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and Pepper
8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup Fresh Tomato Salsa
1 cup Guacamole
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
Corn and Black Bean Salsa, recipe follows

Method:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the peppers. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the shrimp, season with cumin, salt and pepper. Cook until golden and just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat and drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons of the remaining oil in the pan. When hot, add one of the tortillas. Spoon over tortilla, 2 tablespoons fresh tomato salsa, 1 tablespoon guacamole, and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Divide the shrimp into 4 portions and add one portion on top of the cheese. Top with another tortilla and press down. Cook, undisturbed, until golden brown and crisp on the bottom, about 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully turn to the second side, and continue cooking until golden on the second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Transfer to a large plate or cutting board, cut into wedges. Repeat with the remaining quesadillas.

Tomato Rice Recipe 2 via. allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.
2. Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Conclusion:

The food was good. I really enjoyed it. I have never made a quesadillas before, but I had a good time making it. We really filled the quesadillas with peppers and shrimp and so they were kind of a mess, but a good mess. I wish we could have browned and made the tortillas crisper, but it didn't matter in the larger scheme of things.

Jasmine is against vegetables, so I made a tomato rice that has no carrots, tomatoes, etc, just onions. Which meant the rice was less flavorful. I was very disappointed in the rice, the last time i made it, it was soo much tastier. Also, I used to cans of tomatoes so when I poured it into the pot I thought it was too much. So I added another half cup which was a mistake, it sucked up too much juice and left the rice less flavorful then it should have been. That did not stop us from cleaning our plates though!

Also, can I say cooking as a team is so much better then cooking alone. Oscar is AMAZING at cutting up the ingredients. I suck at cutting onions, peppers etc, and he cut it up like a pro. Also, this entry is so much better cuz we have multiple pics, which I couldn't do if we didn't have Jasmine there. Whenever I'm cooking I think, I wish I could get a pick of this, but of course I can't because my hands are dirty, etc.