Shrimp Beurre Monte

Butter-poached shrimp.  Obnoxious.  Delicious.

Ingredients

12 large or jumbo shrimp or prawns

5 cups court bouillon 

1/2 pound of butter, or 2 sticks (yes you heard me), cut into chunks

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. 1.Peel and devein shrimp and add shells to court bouillon.   I’ve talked about court bouillon before.  If you don’t remember click here for a refresher.  Basically simmer water with onion, parsley stems, peppercorns, carrot and lemon or vinegar.  Like a stock, but not really.  Helpful?
2. 2.After that has simmered at least 20 minutes kill the heat.  Strain.  Immediately add the shrimp and cook until just barely cooked (2 minutes or so).  Remove shrimp and set aside.
3. 3.Move 1/2 cup of the strained court bouillon to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  Once it simmers kill the heat and start adding the butter chunks and whisking.  Almost like a beurre blanc.  It should emulsify.  Salt and white pepper to taste and add the shrimp back in, coating them with the sauce and letting them sit in the sauce for a minute or two to warm up.
4. 4.Plate and serve with a sprinkle of parsley.

**Technically the shrimp were not poached in butter.  But it tastes good this way.

Triple Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Yesterday I went to the gym.  Then, as I do every time I go to the gym, swung through Trader Joe’s for the essentials:  wine and cheese.  (Please note that I have a fully stocked wine fridge.  I need to buy a bottle every day to replace the hole left by the last one I drank).  Then, I came home and made these cookies and ate about 10 (five in cookie dough form, five in cookie form).  Luckily there were plenty left over to gift to my friend for his birthday, which was their original purpose.

What do you bake for someone who works between the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel Air?  I mean, they are exposed to yummy food every day.  I figured making up a cookie that was totally over-the-top-luxurious would be just the thing.

Ingredients (Qty: 32 large cookies)

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar, preferably light

2 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff thank you very much)

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup natural (ie not Dutch-process) cocoa powder, I like Ghiradelli’s

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips (buy nice chips or blocks of chocolate to break apart yourself)

1 cup white chocolate chips (ditto)

1/3 cup chopped dried montmorency cherries (or bing cherries, as they are more available)

**Time out for learning (yay!).  Dutch-processed cocoa beans have been washed with a solution that neutralizes their acidity.  This makes them, and their post-pulverization powder, darker and mellows the flavor.   In baking, you will see most natural cocoa powders are paired with baking soda, as the alkali cancels some of that acidity.

Method

1. 1.In a mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt until.... creamy.  Duh.  Add the vanilla and eggs and beat well to combine.
2. 2.Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a separate bowl (you can sift, I don’t like to sift for most cookies) and add to the butter mixture in three separate parts, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
3. 3.Add the chips and cherries and stir until just combined.
4. 4.Drop cookies at desired size onto an ungreased cookie sheets.
5. 5.Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  Maybe more (probably not less) depending on your oven, if you use convection, etc.  I did notice that they baked well at 350 in my other oven, so try that if you want.
6. 6.When ready, allow them to cool slightly and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    how am i ever going to have a successful cookbook when i’ve been giving my recipes away for free?

Soba, Edamame, and Dashi Dipping Sauce

The idea of cold noodles may seem a little weird (if you’re not Japanese), but I’ve tried it, and like most things I stuff in my face, I like it.

In Japan cold pasta is often topped with a leek-type veggie and dipped in sauce.  Pretty plain, but good, especially if you have a hangover.  Danny is obsessed with noodles so I thought I’d throw this together.  I am obsessed with edamame so there ya go.

It actually ended up more like this, because I was too lazy to dip continually:

Ingredients

**makes 8 small Asian servings, or 4 average-sized American servings, or 2 Amanda servings

dipping sauce

2 T yuzu

4 oz soy (I used way less because salt is not my friend, hence the light color)

3 oz mirin (ie sweet sake.  ie yum)

16 oz dashi (I will put the dashi recipe at the bottom of this blog post)

one package of soba noodles (they usually come in one pound)

wasabi

Method

1. 1. Combine all ingredients and mix together thoroughly.  Easy.
2. 2. Cook soba noodles in salted water according to package directions.  Rinse with cold water.  Toss in edamame beans.
3. 3.Dip noodles in the traditional style or throw them all together like the lazy people do.  I just threw my wasabi dollop into the dashi dipping sauce.

**Traditional soba noodles are cooked differently from western pastas.  The noodles are thrown into boiling water, returned to a boil, then cold water is thrown in, and it is then cooked until al dente.  BUT, I have found that the Asian mart sells soba noodles that instruct you not to do this.  So like I said, cook them according to package directions.  Thank you.

Dashi 

2 cups water

4x4 piece of kombu (dried kelp)

1/2 cup bonito flakes

Method

1. 1.Put kombu in water, soak 10 minutes, and then bring to a simmer.
2. 2.Remove kombu (can reserve for another use) and add bonito flakes.
3. 3.Soak bonito flakes for 10 minutes and then strain.  Resulting stock is dashi.

Shrimp Toast

Shrimp toast, sometimes called prawn toast, is a common Chinese dim sum dish; although I went to dim sum yesterday and they didn’t have any.  Boo.

This version has a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top, which is a variation used frequently here in the US, in the UK and Australia.  You can bake instead of deep frying, but deep frying tastes better... always.

Ingredients for 16 pieces

8 slices of sandwich bread

shrimp mixture

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup water chestnuts

2 T cornstarch

2 t rice wine

2 stalks green onion, finely sliced

1 t salt

1 T sesame seeds

1 tsp paprika

green onion, for garnish

hot oil, for deep frying

Method

1. 1.Trim crust off each piece of bread and slice diagonally into two triangles.  You should have 16 pieces.  Duh.
2. 2.In a food processor combine all ingredients for shrimp mixture and pulse into a paste.  You should chop the green onion (scallion) ahead of time because it doesn’t always process well and you want small pieces.  Just do it.
3. 3.Make sure you have some 325-350 degree oil ready to fry.
4. 4.Spread the shrimp mixture evenly among the 16 pieces of bread, making sure it covers the whole surface and is slightly mounded up in the middle.  Be generous. 
5. 5.Sprinkle paprika and sesame seeds on the shrimp mixture and push in gently (otherwise the seeds will just float off in the oil)
6. 6.Drop the bread pieces, shrimp side down into the oil and fry for 25-30 seconds.
7. 7.Turn over and fry on the other side for 25-30 seconds, until light golden brown.
8. 8.Turn one more time and cook the shrimp for a few more seconds if its not golden brown in color.
9. 9.Remove from oil onto paper towels to drain.  Serve hot with sweet chili sauce and garnish with green onion slices.

                                                                     

Barley with Porcini and Ham

Barley was the first domesticated grain in the near east.  It was used to make beer and that beer was used as currency.  Facts.

Don’t discount barley because of a confusing Sting song.  Its good.

This will make 10 portions.

Ingredients

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

4 fl oz water, hot

1 fl oz oil

4 oz onions, small dice

4 oz celery, small dice

10 oz barley

2 1/4 cups beef stock (or chicken stock, or veggie stock if that’s your thing)

4 oz cooked ham, small dice

salt

Method

1. 1.Soak mushrooms in hot water until rehydrated and soft.  Drain mushrooms and squeeze moisture out, but reserve the soaking liquid (strain if grainy or chunky).  Finely chop mushrooms.
2. 2.Heat oil in a medium to large saucepan. Saute onion and celery until soft.
3. 3.Add barley and saute (as if you were pearling rice for pilaf or risotto)
4. 4.Add the stock and the mushroom liquid.  Bring to a boil and stir in the chopped mushrooms and ham.  
5. 5.Salt to taste.
6. 6.Cover tightly and either cook on top of the stove over low heat or in the oven at 325 degrees until barley is tender and liquid has been absorbed.  About 35 minutes.
7. 7.Fluff before service.  Salt if necessary.