Shrimp Burgers and Scalloped Potatoes

Date of meal: September 05, 2011
Cook: Jim
Main dish: Shrimp Burgers (Emeril’s Potluck)
Side Dish: Scalloped Potatoes (Emeril’s Potluck)
Dessert: Chocolate Brownies (Emeril’s Potluck) and homemade vanilla ice cream (Ultimate Ice Cream Book)

　
This meal is delicious. The shrimp burgers are delicious. They have the taste and texture of crab cakes. So, if you like those, you’ll like these. And the homemade tartar sauce for these would be good on anything. A little spicy, a little sweet and very creamy.

How can you go wrong with Emeril’s scalloped potatoes? Answer: You can’t. Like all of Emeril’s recipes, these are full of fattening goodness like heavy cream and full-fat cheeses.

The brownies were yummy. The perfect balance between cakey-ness and fudginess. And, the ice cream is a staple at the house. I feel that when you have a rich dessert, a simple vanilla ice cream is the perfct complement.

Measuring Liquids Tip

Forgot this tip in my last post. When I'm measuring small amounts of liquids, e.g. vanilla extract, I use the measuring cups that come with medicine bottles. This way I don't have to worry about a measuring spoon falling over or dirty an entire bowl for one ingredient.

Pictured is the homemade vanilla extract I received last Christmas from my other mom, Kathy. Basically, you put a vanilla bean in a small jar, add vodka and let it sit for a few weeks. After you start using it, you just replace the vodka as needed and occasionally give it a shake.

-Robin

Lemon-Basil Bulgar Risotto with Garlic Shrimp, Carrot Harissa Salad and Root Beer Chocolate Bundt Cake

Date: August 28, 2011
Cook: Robin
Main dish: Lemon- Basil Bulgar Risotto with Garlic Shrimp (Food Network)
Side dish: Carrot Harissa Salad (SmittenKitchen.com)
Dessert: Root Beer Chocolate Bundt Cake (thekitchn.com) and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein)

I've been a little behind on the blog, but being a band mom is surprisingly time consuming. I had to post about this meal. Neither Jimmy or I had eaten bulgar wheat before, but I had some sitting in my fridge and thought I'd better use it. For those of you who have had this before, do you have to store it in the fridge? That's where they had it at the health food store. Also, do any big grocery stores carry it? We don't have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods on this side of the river, and Kroger and Meijer employees just looked at me when I asked.

All recipes with bulgar were either salads or risottos. I love a good risotto, so I tried this one. I switched out basil for mint, because I'm not a big fan of mint. I also just omitted the mint in the Carrot Harissa salad. I just thought the bright orange salad would look so pretty on the plate with the green basil in the risotto.

We tried to pass the bulgar wheat off as a type of rice, but our youngest wouldn't touch this dish. This left more for me and Jim. This meal was delicious! I plan on making bulgar wheat risotto in the future. It's another source of protein that isn't a packaged, over-processed product. I still eat those, too, but it's nice to avoid. Also, I'm a vegetarian who doesn't like raw vegetables, but this carrot salad was so good. The harissa gives it a warmth, the lemon juice gives it tang, and the feta cheese gives it a little yummy-ness.

For dessert I tried the Rootbeer Chocolate Cake. This time, I had a little problem with dessert - the cake fell apart when I removed it from the pan.

But the delicious rootbeer chocolate icing covered all mistakes. This icing was so complex- not overly sweet, not overly chocolate, and the root beer gave it a caramel taste. This rich dessert needed the an icecream to complement it, not overpower it, so I went with a simple vanilla.

Chicken & Olive Pasta Casserole, Four-Cheese Macaroni and Chocolate Pudding Extravaganza

Cook: Jim
Main dish: Chicken and Olive Casserole (Emeril’s Potluck)
Side dish: Four-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese (Emeril’s Potluck)
Dessert: Chocolate Pudding (Emeril’s Potluck)
　

I call this meal “The Heartstopper.” When Jim said he was glad he bought 18 eggs instead of just a dozen, I knew this meal was going to be rich. Our 15-year-old had challenged Jim that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was better than the four-cheese version Jim was making. We were going to have our oldest son be the judge because both parties thought he would be impartial. Well, the judge wasn’t able to make it over because of work, and the challenger said there was no reason to cook. I think when he saw how awesome Jim’s mac-and-cheese looked, he knew who would win.

The casserole was delicious. We froze half and will be enjoying it again soon. I’m not usually a fan of the fake chicken products because the texture is never right. Whatever Jim did in this recipe resulted in a delicious meal that had the taste and texture of real chicken, as I remember it.

Although I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate it, the four-cheese macaroni was amazing. Totally worth never knowing the fat or calorie count on this one.

Dessert was a little tricky for Jim again. He said there was an error in the book and had to re-make the pudding. He read part of the recipe to me to see what I thought. The book said to beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and to combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk in a saucepan. Jim put the egg yolks in the saucepan, too. I’ve made this mistake with ice cream before, so I understood his confusion. Basically, if you add the eggs before you heat, you can easily make scrambled eggs in the custard. The second batch of pudding was so rich and creamy, and the layer of crust and homemade whipped cream made this dessert tres magnifique.

Panko Fried Sole

Cook: Robin

Main dish: Panko Sole (William Sonoma Food Made Fast Asian)

Side dish: Asian Asparagus Salad (tasteofhome.com)

Side dish: Wasabi Mashed Potatoes (care2.com)

Dessert: Baked Rice Pudding (allrecipes.com)

Dessert: Jasmine Green Tea and Honey Ice Cream (mostly my concoction. Used a recipe from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream as the base.)

Jimmy and I always want to get to Findlay Market early on Saturday mornings, but now that our kids are older, we can sleep in. So, we usually don’t make it out of the house until at least noon. This Saturday was no different. Instead of eating at the market, I had a halfpricecincy certificate for Melt in Northside. This is a great place for vegetarians, as well as their omnivore husbands, friends, whomever. My sandwich was good, but I was most excited about the nachos. I just can’t find good nachos that don’t have meat in them. Melt’s were made with a bean-based chili, but it had a very Cincinnati-chili taste to it with hints of cinnamon and a little sweetness. They serve the chili on Sunchips, which was fine by me. If you know of any other places to find yummy veggie nachos, please tell.

We were able to head to Findlay Market with full bellies, which always makes for smarter shopping. I needed only a few ingredients: sole, asparagus and cream. It’s nice now that we have a pretty stocked pantry. Here are a few pics from Findlay Market that day.

A band playing outside.

Madison’s, our favorite place for fresh herbs and the gelato is pretty good, too.

Frank’s Fish & Seafood - I bought the sole here. After he weighed out the amount I needed, the clerk tried to sell us the remaining sole at a discount. We declined and the clerk loudly lamented: I can’t even sell you my soul at a discount.” It was pretty funny.

I made the sweet-and-sour sauce for the fish. Cornstarch was used as a thickener. To use, the directions normally tell you to mix the cornstarch with room temperature or cold water or milk, and then pour the mixture into the hot ingredients. This recipe skipped this step, and so did I. Result: clumps of cornstarch in the sauce. I was able to whisk most of them out, but it was a pain. Any advice on working with cornstarch, or an easy way to remedy lumps of cornstarch? See the offending white lumps? Those aren't bubbles.

Overall, this meal was a “Meh.” The fish was good. The asparagus was OK, it was really good when Jimmy added it to a pasta dish later in the week. The wasabi mashed potatoes were not a hit. We love wasabi with sushi or in mayo, but did not like it in mashed potatoes.

The baked rice pudding was alright. I love rice pudding, but I think I’ll use a stovetop method next time to really draw the starchiness out of the rice. I really liked the rice pudding when I added a little milk and cinnamon, heated it in the microwave and ate it for breakfast.

The ice cream was basically inedible. Jim said it was too flowery. I thought it was bitter. This was a disaster for my first real improvisation with ice cream. Jeni’s ice creams are always fantastic, and the recipes I followed in the book have turned out really well, with the Gravel Road (Salty Caramel with Smoked Almonds) being the best ice cream I’ve ever made. So, I don’t blame Jeni, I just let the tea steep too long in the ice cream base. It was a lesson learned.

Robin

Shrimp Etouffe and Lemon Squares

Cook: Jim

Main dish: Shrimp Etouffe (Emeril’s Potluck)

Dessert: Lemon Squares (Emeril’s Potluck)

Miscellaneous: This is a five-beer meal - Jim drank two beers while making the Lemon Squares on Saturday and three beers while making the Shrimp Etouffe on Sunday.

Although Jim worked Saturday and we couldn’t make it to Findlay Market, he was still a trooper and agreed to cook this week. He’s almost out of recipes from Emeril’s Potluck that he can adjust for the vegetarians in the house, but still had Shrimp Etouffe (which he pronounces Es-twou-fee - cute). This may be the only recipe in this book that doesn’t call for cream. It does start with a roux. (I love that Jim can now say confidently that he’s making a roux and know what he’s talking about.)

Jim says many of the ingredients are similar to the Shrimp Creole: Creole seasoning, cayenne, green peppers, etc. This one has fewer tomatoes and isn’t as saucy as the Shrimp Creole. He made a few adjustments to the recipe - we don’t ever have white rice, so he substituted brown rice. If you sub brown rice for white, be sure to allow extra cooking time and watch to see if you need to add extra liquid. We didn’t have any shrimp stock, so he used vegetable stock. We have learned that fresh shrimp really does make a difference in recipes, but we didn’t have time shop for that, so he used frozen bags of peeled and de-veined shrimp. As long as you don’t overcook the shrimp, just 5-7 minutes, they’re usually still tasty. The next time we use fresh shrimp, we’ll get the kind we need to peel and make our own shrimp stock to freeze.

For some reason, desserts give Jim trouble, they always taste delicious in the end, but the journey to that point can be a little bumpy. His mom didn’t have him by her side in the kitchen when he was growing up, so there has been a bit of a learning curve. (Parents, please let your children cook with you, even tiny hands can “help” by adding cups of water or rolling out their own little piece of dough. I’m so thankful my mom always let me “help.” Now, I just know how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon and how to make buttermilk from regular milk, but most importantly, I‘m not afraid to improvise in the kitchen.) Anyway, off my soapbox and back to Jim’s dessert. I knew he started the Lemon Squares Saturday night and was almost finished with the crust when I went to bed. When I woke up Sunday morning, I saw this:

Notice all of the lemon filling on the counter? I pretty much knew what happened, but still asked Jim about it. Now to give Jim credit, the book says “transfer to a wire rack to cool,” which normally means you flip the dessert out of the pan onto the rack. Another possible factor: although he only had two beers while making this dessert, he had a few more before starting the recipe. Lesson: Don’t drink and bake. This morning he realized that he could have used the parchment paper that was placed under the lemon squares with extra sticking out of the sides to accomplish the “transfer” without the pesky effects of gravity.

The Lemon Squares were delicious and had a great by-product: Jim bought an entire bottle of limoncello (which he pronounces “lemonsello”) for the two tablespoons needed in the recipe. I plan on making good use of the rest of the bottle this summer. It’s in the freezer getting acquainted with a bottle of vodka right now. I think they’ll be great friends.

I had some extra cream, whole milk and strawberries that wouldn’t make it the week, so I made up a batch of strawberry ice cream. It was pretty good, but the Lemon Squares stole the show.

Welcome to Sunday Nite Suppers

Jim and I decided in late 2010 to start trying a new recipe every week starting in January 2011. We didn’t know how this would play out, but we were sick of week after week of spaghetti, fish sticks and frozen pizzas. We still eat those, but now we have one meal a week to really look forward to and usually plenty of leftovers for a lunch or two.

This has evolved to a bigger event than we expected. We now make at least a main dish and a dessert, sometimes a special salad or side dish is thrown in, too. We try as often as possible to visit Findlay Market for our ingredients.

This has become a great way for us to spend time together (Findlay Market wine tastings are a favorite), discover new foods we love (Jim’s Shrimp Creole, shown in our profile pic, is possibly the best meal I’ve ever had) and increase our skills and comfort level in the kitchen (there’s a lot more improvising during the previously boring weekday meals).

We’ve had a great response from family and friends to the pictures I’ve posted on Facebook. So, I decided to start a blog to tell some of the stories, share photos and links to the books or websites for the recipes. I’ve included a calendar that lists all of the recipes we’ve tried so far. I’ll go back and blog about them as time permits.

A few things to know about us:

• Our youngest son and I are “mostly meatless,” we both eat fish, but that’s about it. When the recipe calls for ground beef, we use meat substitute crumbles or tempeh. Our youngest won’t eat soy products either, so he makes his own food (ramen) on nights we use meat substitutes.

• Jim has been making his way through Emeril’s Potluck book, so don‘t look at Jim‘s recipes for anything low-fat. I think he’s almost finished with this book, and will be moving on to Guy Fieri’s “Food” next. I have a few cookbooks and quite a few blogs and websites I use. Following in the vein of his “Friday Night Music Night,” Jim highlights all of the recipes he’s tried in the book.

• We alternate weeks, and whoever cooks, the other person cleans.

• Jim tends to be more skilled at main courses and side dishes , where I excel at desserts, especially homemade ice cream.

Our table is always open for guests, just let us know if you’d like to join us for a Sunday Nite Supper.

-

Robin