Zucchini Noodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Earlier in the year, large shrimp was on sale for an abnormally low price ($5.99/lb) at the supermarket. It is likely due to excess supply and schools/restaurants were closed for the past two or three months. I procured several pounds of this and froze half of it in manageable serving sizes.

For this dish, I enough for one serving. Though in retrospect, I feel like I just made a shrimp dish with a side of zucchini noodles. I'm using the Veggetti spiralizer which is essentially a pencil sharpener for carrots, zucchini, and smaller squash.

The Foodening Blog: Zucchini Noodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients

8 oz raw shrimp (per person), peeled and deveined
1-2 raw zucchini per person
1 tbsp olive oil, for frying
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine, chicken broth, or dry vermouth
dash of red pepper flakes, to taste
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Prepare the zucchini by trimming the ends off the squash and using either a mandoline or a spiralizer to transform the zucchini into thin noodle-like strips.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add shrimp in a single layer, season with sea salt and black pepper. Add garlic. Cook for one minute on each side. Remove shrimp from pan to a plate.

Deglaze the pan by adding vermouth. Add red pepper flakes, vermouth, unsalted butter, and lemon juice. Let simmer for about a minute more.

(optional) Add zucchini noodles to the pan and stir until coated in the sauce.

Remove from heat. Stir in the shrimp. Transfer all to a plate or bowl and serve.

Sweet Garlic Grilled Chicken

Yes, two sets of directions on the same recipe means that I've done this recipe twice. Once on an outdoor gas grill and again using a gas oven broiler.

TheFoodeningBlog - sweet grilled garlic chicken

Chicken Marinade

6-8 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c brown sugar
2 tbsp raw honey
1/3 c light soy sauce
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 c water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs organic chicken parts (I used drumsticks)

Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or overnight. 

The leftover marinade is quite watery. You can reduce it to a 'sauce' by adding 1-2 tsp cornstarch and simmer it until it thickens. Then use this sauce to baste the chicken as it cooks.

Heat: 300 F
Time: 30 total (15 minutes each side)

Above heat/time is for an outdoor gas grill.

To broil in a gas oven:

Heat: 500 F
Time: 10 mins one side, 10-15 mins reverse side
Distance to flame: 2nd rack from the top

Garlic Bread Sticks

Let's say that you have a bag and a half of unused hot dog buns. What to do with them? For the most part, it is just bread and not just any sort of bread. It's the kind of bread that one eats meat with. Why not add a some garlic powder and butter?

There are two ways to do this. The first is to use tin foil and bake them until the butter melts and the garlic powder gives its essence to the bread.

The second method is by stove top and is just as easy to do. First you need a flat grill pan or 10" skillet. Basically, a pan large enough to accommodate four halves of hot dog buns.

By the way, the same can be done with leftover hamburger buns too.

Ingredients

hot dog buns, halved lengthwise
unsalted butter
garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste

Directions

If your hot dog buns don't already come split in the middle, do so with a sharp knife and slather the flat sides of the buns with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.

Place butter-side down onto a hot skillet and fry until the bread is lightly golden brown. Remove from heat and eat.

Brussels Sprouts in Garlic Butter

I think I should write down this recipe ratio before I forget. The oven was busy, so this batch got sauteed in a pan with olive oil and butter. I'm guessing on the portion sizing since not everyone who attends a party will eat these.

Feeds: 8-10 adults

Ingredients

2 lb fresh brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and halved
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed flat with a knife blade
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional, about 1/4 c)

Directions

1. In a nonstick skillet, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Stir in garlic cloves until the oil is fragrant. Remove garlic from the pan and add sprouts, cut side down.

2. Let the sprouts cook until lightly browned. For two pounds, you'll have to work in batches to get everything evenly cooked until sprouts are fork-tender; about 8 minutes.

3. Before removing from the skillet, add salt, black pepper, and half the grated Parmesan cheese. Give the vegetables a quick stir before removing them to a plate. Sprinkle more cheese on top, if desired.

Lemon and Sage Buttered Clams

Was at the U-district farmers market today and picked up two pounds of fresh clams (manila and savory, harvested from the Hamma Hamma River Delta in the Hood Canal) from a seafood vendor.

This is a good cooking liquid for clams:

1/3 c freshly made garlic-sage butter

1/2 lemon peel, no pith, thinly sliced

juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (or substitute with a dry sherry)

1/4 c water

You'll need a covered casserole pan for this. Since most of the cooking happens with the lid on. If the clams are fresh, like these were, all the clams should open within 2-3 minutes of cooking. Don't cook them for longer than 5 minutes, or the meat will be tough and chewy.

Cheers!

Garlic-Sage Butter Spread

I'm sure there are better ways to prepare this. If you don't have a food processor, you can certainly let the butter soften at room temperature before mixing in the roasted garlic or fresh sage. For this recipe, I used a stick of unsalted butter (1/2 c) and sea salt to taste. A little bit of salt goes a long way and helps add a contrasting taste to bring out the other flavors mixed into the butter.

Lop off the top of a garlic bulb with a sharp knife and wrap the bulb with aluminum foil. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the bulb before closing up the foil. This can go into any baking cycle on Thanksgiving day, but it needs to roast for at least an hour, if cooking at 250 degrees F; or 40 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees F. The garlic should be spreadable on its own once it's done.

For the sage part, I minced three whole fresh sage leaves.

Let the butter soften to room temperature and mix in roasted garlic and fresh sage. You can then spoon this butter into decorative butter moulds and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This butter can be used to cook with chicken or fish. Guests used it on the buttermilk biscuits and beer bread.

Rosemary-Garlic Roasted Yams and Sweet Potatoes

I really don't get why Americans would put a layer of marshmallows on top of an already sweet root vegetable; perhaps to get the kids to eat it? to salute industrialized manufacturing? to pad the coffers of the corn industry? At any rate, this recipe ignores all of that marshmallow nonsense.

Depending on how many guests you have, it is likely that you'll either have a few leftovers or a lot. This side dish is for people who don't necessarily care for mashed potatoes for their starch allotment at Thanksgiving; like me. I don't like putting a serving size estimate on a side dish since it doesn't really reflect a true serving size when paired with a larger holiday meal. A whole yam or potato is the typical serving size for an adult.

Ingredients

6-8 medium-sized yams, any variety, peeled and cut into 1" wedges
1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in to 1" wedges
3-4 small sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves only, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. In a very large bowl, combine peeled yam and potato wedges with garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Mix with hands or a large spoon to evenly coat the wedges.

2. This may need two rimmed baking sheets, depending on the amount of cooked. Spread into a single layer on a prepared baking sheet (either use a Silpat, or a buttered baking dish, otherwise the wedges will stick to the bottom of the sheet)

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the wedges are fork-tender.

Roasted Game Hen

This is probably one of my favorite types of poultry to cook. It is really easy to carve up and quick to roast with the addition of basic pantry ingredients and herbs. The meat is usually enough to feed one to two people. In this recipe, I used marsala wine. You could also use a dry white wine or chicken broth. For the poultry seasoning, I used Mrs Dash's Salt-Free Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning blend.

Ingredients

One raw Cornish game hen, carved

1/2 c. marsala wine

1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lemon, juiced and zested

sea salt, to taste

poultry seasoning, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. In an 8" x 8" baking dish, toss chicken with olive oil, garlic, salt, lemon juice and zest.  Place chicken pieces skin-side down. Sprinkle rosemary and poultry seasoning on top. Pour wine on top of chicken. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes.

2. Serve while hot over rice, pasta, or with crusty bread.

Pickled Garlic

At last weekend's Farmer's Market in Vancouver, I sampled some of the pickled garlic from the Garlic Lady booth. I tried the barbecue smoked and the spicy Italian pickled garlics. There was definitely smoky flavor in the BBQ one, but it didn't quite taste like what I thought it would taste like. The spicy Italian was much better tasting. Here is my attempt at making pickled garlic.

Ingredients

1 c. distilled vinegar
1/3 c. organic granulated sugar
1 c. peeled cloves with ends trimmed (about two garlic bulbs)
1 tsp Italian seasoning or herbs de provence seasoning blend
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp dry mustard

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved and the liquid is boiling. Add garlic cloves and boil for five minutes.

2. In a clean glass jar add the seasoning, celery seed and dry mustard.

3. Transfer garlic to a clean glass jar and fill the jar with the hot vinegar liquid so that it covers the top of the garlic. Let the jar cool and sit in the refrigerator for at least three weeks before opening.

Garlic in a jar

Sure, garlic in a jar is nothing new. You can get it at the grocery store, peeled, minced, or sitting in some funky liquid like olive oil; but garlic is pretty darn cheap and it only takes a few seconds to prep garlic this way rather than buying some pre-packaged stuff. Want to keep garlic fresh like when you bought it, but live in a climate where your garlic either sprouts like mad in the cupboard, rots in jars in the cupboard, or goes all wonky on you in the fridge? Try this method, then decide what's best for your cooking style. 

Keeping Garlic Fresh 

Take a clean glass jar with a screw-on lid. Take a garlic bulb (or several bulbs if you bought in bulk). Take the outer paper layers off the bulb, the ones that encase the bulb but not the paper that encases the cloves. Break apart the bulb into individual cloves. Put the cloves into the glass jar, screw the lid on, and put the jar in the fridge. That is it. When you need garlic for whatever purpose, simply prepare the garlic cloves as you normally would.

Grilled Ginger-Lime Chicken

I wonder why people call this dish grilled when it isn't grilled at all but fried in a skillet. I suppose that, in some context, it is like having a grilled cheese sandwich. The ingredients are pretty basic to an Asian kitchen, and by omitting the chicken, you can swap in shrimp, firm tofu, or another meat. Although, I don't think this is a good flavor combination for turkey.

Ingredients:

5 chicken drumsticks*
2 pieces of ginger, peeled and minced
3 (or more) garlic cloves, diced
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
EVOO for frying

Directions:

1. Combine lime juice, salt and pepper together in a bowl
2. Add olive oil to skillet and lightly brown ginger and garlic
3. Remove ginger and garlic from the oil and set aside
4. Add chicken to skillet and fry on medium-high heat until lightly browned on all sides.
5. Add a scant 1/4 cup boiling water to chicken. Cook covered until clear juices come out when the meat is pierced with a fork or knife.
6. Add ginger, garlic, and lime juice to chicken and stir until flavors mingle. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with steamed brown rice or noodles.

*The Trader Joe's packages of natural chicken drumsticks only come five to a pack.