roasted shrimp and orzo salad

when warm weather hits all of a sudden and all you've been eating are soul-warming stews and braises, what do you make? how about a cooling pasta salad chockful of bright, fresh herbs? light but filling, fresh but full of flavor, a well-made pasta salad can be the perfect meal for warm evenings like those that have settled in san francisco lately.

here's a very tasty and herby pasta salad made from roasted shrimp and orzo pasta. the recipe comes from ina garten's "barefoot contessa at home" cookbook. it's a lot of prep work, aka chopping and mincing, but once done is very easy to put together. and it yields several hearty servings.

i first prepared a 1/2 pound of orzo pasta to al dente according to package directions.

while that was going, i thinly chopped 3 scallions, chopped about a cup of italian parsley, and a cup of fresh dill, thicker stems removed.

i also chopped half a red onion and deseeded and chopped a hot house cucumber.

a pound of large tiger shrimp is deveined, peeled and blotted dry with a paper towel...

and tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper. this then went into the oven to roast at 400 degrees for about 4 minutes until pink.

while the shrimp roasted, i prepared a vinaigrette for the pasta salad by combining a 1/2 cup of olive oil, the juice of 2 lemons and salt and pepper. after whisking to emulsify the ingredients, i tasted and adjusted for seasoning.

after the pasta reached al dente, i drained it and stirred in the vinaigrette...

added the vegetables and herbs, along with the roasted shrimp...

and folded in a 1/2 pound of feta cheese.

tasting for seasoning several times, i added a few dashes of tabasco to give it a slight vinegary kick. this then rested at room temperature for a 1/2 hour to blend the flavors.

plating the pasta salad with several tender shrimp and a sprig of fennel finishes off the dish.

this dish is light and healthy, but hearty enough to fill you up for dinner. the shrimp is tender. the lemon vinaigrette, tart. briny, creamy feta balances the bright and green dill and parsley. it's a great cool dish for a warm evening. welcome, spring!

grilled steak with red radishes

i tend to avoid ordering dishes that i already know how to make at restaurants. it's an issue i am dealing with. the problem is if i've made a dish, i know exactly how much it costs me to make, and i realize how much profit the restaurant is making off of me. of course, you can argue you're paying for service, atmosphere, blah, blah, blah... but it's just something i haven't figured out how to reconcile yet.

steak is one of those entrees that causes this problem for me. unless the steak is of a quality or a cut that i can't get my hands on, preparing steak is a quick and easy task in the kitchen. let me explain...

for dinner tonite, i seasoned an 8 oz cut of beef chuck flat iron steak generously with salt and pepper. i then grilled it on a non-stick grill pan over medium heat for a total of 8 minutes, flipping twice. i then tossed up a quick salad added some fresh red radishes. voila! a quick, tasty steak dinner within 15 minutes.

8 minutes for this 1 1/2-inch thick steak resulted in medium rare. perfect. i finished it off by drizzling some kalamata olive oil right over the steak.
as the steak rested for 5 minutes to redistribute juices, i rinsed radishes free of grit and sprinkled some coarse sea salt over sweet cream butter as a dip. if you've never had this, the crisp, cool, peppery bite of radish pairs perfectly with creamy butter and crunchy sea salt. a handful of lettuce and herbs tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper provides a little bit of acidity and balances the heavier protein.

cutting into the steak, it's tender, moist and full of beefy flavor. flat iron steak is a pretty popular cut these days at restaurants and is perfect for the home cook. just remember not to overcook it.

with the economy still recovering, consider having some steak for dinner this week. the cost for my steak dinner tonite? somewhere right around $4.

japanese curry leftovers remix

my japanese beef curry attempt #2 yielded A LOT of leftover curry. and while it was great tasting stuff, the palate is left wanting something a little different after having beef curry and rice for 4 meals in a row. that and i had already finished all the tasty chunks of beef and carrot, leaving just sauce in the pot. so what do i always say to do? dig through your fridge and pantry and whip up something with those leftovers!

in the fridge i found a bag of frozen peas and 1 chicken thigh, which i skinned, deboned and sliced into chunks. in the pantry i found a half box of linguine. i set a pot of water to boil, added a good measure of salt, and cooked the pasta to al dente.

after removing the pasta to a colander to drain, i slid the chicken pieces right into the hot pasta water to boil for another 10 minutes or so until cooked through but not tough. while that was happening, i reheated my leftover curry over a low flame and stirred in half the bag of frozen peas. the peas were warmed through within a minute.

i then added some curry sauce and the cooked chicken to a large bowl and tossed with some of the pasta. i then plated, garnishing with purple-tinted onigirishiba (pickled cucumber) and whole rakkyo (pickled scallions).

as you can see, the curry sauce has the perfect consistency for coating linguine noodles. the peas add color and a bit of sweet fiber while the boiled chicken meat easily took on the curry flavor, as if it had been cooking right in it the whole time. the pickled scallions and cucumbers, traditional accoutrements for japanese curry, added the right amount of sour and spice, cutting the richness of the curry.

japanese curry chicken pasta. asian fusion at its best. and i have another serving left over too. i think i'll have some now...

japanese beef curry attempt #2

so while my first attempt at japanese beef curry was good, i knew there must be a way to make it better and taste less out-of-the-box. what secrets do petite japanese moms have to doctor up pre-packaged, quick-weeknite, but oh-so-manufactured-tasting bars of readymade curry base?

i did a quick google search on the keyphrase "beef curry japanese" and came back with justhungry's excellent blog post on making japanese curry from scratch. while a little more involved in prep time than i wanted, justhungry's recipe looked solid and layered with flavor. she also conveniently provided notes on recipe variations, including how to substitute readymade curry bases. just the ticket for me. here's my adaptation of her recipe.

i first set about browning about a pound of beef chuck steak, cut into large chunks, in some canola oil in my largest dutch oven.

once that was nicely browned, i transferred the meat to a bowl to hold while i set about slicing up 4 large brown onions thinly.

into the pot the onions went to slowly saute in a bit of canola oil and sea salt. typically you want to sweat the onions down over low heat so the moisture evaporates and what you're left with are the natural sugars of browned onions. i was hungry, so i cranked up the flame to medium and stirred the onions down every few minutes. mind you, this still takes a good 20-30 minutes. but i knew this would be worth it. if you've ever had and loved french onion soup, this is how you get that sweet, oniony soup base.

once the onions have softened and started to caramelize, as in the picture below, you can move forward. letting it go another 10-20 minutes will only concentrate the sweetness and flavors, so it's your choice. into the pot went 3 minced cloves of garlic and an inch of grated ginger.

i then added a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, 3 carrots peeled and chopped into large chunks, 6 cups of water, a cube of beef boullion, 1 star anise pod, a couple of bay leaves and the browned beef with any reserved juices. now the surprise ingredient: 1 fuji apple, peeled and grated, which you see piled in the middle of the stew in the photo below. per justhungry, this provides depth of flavor. sounds good to me.

this savory concoction simmers over low heat for about 30 min or so, until the connective tissues in the chuck beef have broken down and the meat is fork-tender. by this time you basically have a great-smelling beef stew that isn't curry just yet.

you'll notice i haven't really seasoned the stew aside from the salt used to sweat the onions. readymade curry base is chock full of spices and seasoning to begin with. any extra salt and you'd end up with a inedible mess. in this step, i fished out the bay leaves and star anise pod and broke up a full package of "hot" curry base cubes into the pot...

and simmered over low heat until the cubes dissolved and the broth thickened into a rich, creamy consistency. this is the point i tasted for seasoning and decided a few cranks of the peppermill would do nicely.

time to plate! a mound of japanese short-grain white rice and a ladle or three of the japanese beef curry.

wow. much better and much more homemade tasting. the onions have broken down into a silky mess, giving the curry a rich, svelte texture and loads of sweetness and flavor. really standout. and while i can't say i could taste the grated fuji apple, there was a real depth of flavor that puts the box recipe to shame. combining caramelized beef, acidic tomatoes, spicy ginger and piquant star anise really lifted the flavor profile of this curry.

while it definitely took a bit more time in the kitchen than i expected, the benefit was a huge pot of curry that could feed a small army, and indeed fed me for almost a week! i'm considering japanese beef curry attempt #2 a smashing success. oishii!!

japanese beef curry

coming home hungry and having to eat some salty, mediocre leftovers isn't really my idea of a good time. sound familiar? so what do you do? you improvise. scrounge your fridge and pantry. doctor up the leftovers. lucky for me, i found a box of japanese curry paste in my pantry. and with yesterday's overly salty sirloin strips in hand, i decided to make japanese beef curry.

after getting the rice going, i threw a sliced red onion and a chopped carrot into a saucepan with some olive oil to brown.

once the onions started to brown and there was some nice caramelization going on in the pot...

i added 3 cups of water and scraped up the browned bits and brought the brew to a boil over high heat.

i then added the leftover sirloin strips from yesterday's meal. if i was making this from scratch, i would've added the meat during the browning process above and let the broth similar for about 15 min to cook the meat through.

aw i love all things japanese. this is basically curry boullion in a packet.

1 packet contained 6 cubes of curry paste...

which i broke up and added to the pot.

the curry then simmers over low heat, stirred occasionally, until the curry thickens...

and is thick enough to nicely coat the back of a wooden spoon.

at this point the curry is ready to be plated. whenever i see japanese curry at restaurants, it's always a mound of white rice surrounded by a moat of steaming hot brown curry.

what a satisfyingly rich meal for a cold winter's nite. i'll admit, the curry isn't the best in the world, but it's pretty tasty and spicy, a perfect foil for the overly salty sirloin leftovers. add some onions and tender carrots and you have a warm, soul-soothing dinner in less than 20 minutes.

and, you've made do with your leftovers.

marinated beef strips with lettuce wraps

pairing grilled, marinated meat with fresh lettuces and herbs is very popular in asian culture, specifically amongst vietnamese and other southeast asian cuisines. the pairing is a wonderful balance of carnivore and vegetarian, protein and vegetable, grease and fresh. it's also a great source of low-fat protein, if you're working out, and low-carb, if that's your thing. i love carbs too much for that to be my thing...

this recipe is again from chow.com and is a very quick-prep meal for a weeknite. there are a couple of things i'd change, which i'll explain at the end.

early in the afternoon, i made the marinade by combining a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons mirin, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, a clove of garlic minced, a large shallot minced (didn't have green onions) and 3 dried red chiles crumbled. i then added a pound or so of sliced sirloin beef, combined, covered and refridgerated for the afternoon.

when i'm ready to eat, i heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a hot non-stick grill pan and quickly grill the sirloin in 2 batches. i recommend grilling about 2-3 min or so and then flipping to keep it medium rare and tender.

let the meat rest a couple minutes to redistribute the juices...

and plate! fresh red leaf lettuce with 2-3 pieces of sirloin each and some sprigs of cilantro.

looks good right? healthy? tasty? yes, but... this chow.com recipe was a little off. the beef ended up being very salty and i knew something was missing as i made the marinade but decided to follow it anyway. what is missing from a typical asian marinade is the sugar. next time around, i'd beef up the marinade with a couple tablesspoons of brown sugar, some extra rice vinegar and a little more sesame oil. some lemongrass and minced ginger would also elevate the flavor profile. can't wait until next time!

wilted greens with balsamic fried eggs

who doesn't like breakfast for dinner? not i. eggs are great any time of day. i'm a big fan of gooey, cheesy scrambles in the morning, a fried egg on top of a fatburger at lunch, and over-easy wok-fried eggs with soy sauce over rice (thanks mom!).

this recipe comes from chow.com, and was a featured recipe for the week. it promises an "easy weeknite dinner" and the use of "seasonal ingredients" and just sounded really tasty. so here we go.

i first washed a half bunch of dandelion greens (you can typically find these in the section holding the chard, collards and mustard greens and they are at their best in the winter months), and pulled out 3 eggs, a clove of garlic and balsamic vinegar.

after heating some olive oil in a large non-stick skillet (don't use a regular skillet, your eggs will stick), i threw in the chopped garlic clove and the greens. salt and black pepper are thrown on top.

a few turns of the tongs, a few shakes of the pan and a hot minute later the greens are done and transferred to a plate to hold. i typically use my microwave to hold food, just to keep the heat from escaping to rapidly. a warm over works great, if your oven was on. a warming drawer even better. if only i had a warming drawer... one day in my custom kitchen. i digress.

back to the dish. a bit more olive oil and in went three cracked eggs. i also seasoned the eggs lightly with sea salt.

once the eggs were set, i carefully poured in a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. vinegar is water based and therefore causes a nice spat with the hot olive oil already in the pan. have a splatter screen handy or be prepared to wipe up your range after. it's a little messy.

once the vinegar has reduced a bit and is a bit syrupy, the pan comes off the heat and the eggs are placed over the greens, the vinegar drizzled over. a note about reducing balsamic vinegar: don't over do it. as the reduction cools, it thickens even more. in the pan it should have slightly more body and heft, but it shouldn't be syrupy when hot and in the pan. if it is, it'll have the consistency of stale honey as it cools, which isn't what you want.

two pieces of toast garnish the plate and it's time to eat. chow.com was right. this is a great tasting, easy to make dinner. the eggs are creamy and rich, the greens are slightly bitter and tender, and the balsamic reduction ties everything together, cutting the richness of the yolk and the bitterness of the dandelion greens. toasted bread mops all the leftover goodness up. yet while rich, this dish was pretty light. i'm making this again.

hm... this would also be fantastic over a bowl of rice. must be the asian in me...