Shrimp Saltimbocca

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Shrimp Saltimbocca

A couple of weeks ago we took Jon’s brother, who was in town visiting, to the airport up in Baltimore. I never miss an opportunity to visit a fancy grocery store, so we all went along for the ride. Had a nice dinner, hit up the sale racks at Antrho, and dragged Uncle Trevor through every aisle at Whole Foods before dropping him off at the airport. Then we stopped by the new Wegmans location in Crofton on the way home. I always love visiting their delicatessen, and I couldn’t resist having a few slices of the most gorgeous proscuitto I’ve ever seen sliced off to take home with me. And come home with me they did…along with some awesome peppered salami and sliced chorizo. I had to fend off Jon from eating all the “gabagool” in the fridge.

What he didn’t eat, I decided to use to do a fresh spin on one of my very favorite classic Italian dishes. Traditionally, this is made with a chicken breast. Which is awesome. But our local seafood joint happened to have some gorgeous, large shrimp in this weekend and the wheels in my head started turning.

It was a little bit more time consuming than chicken breasts, just because of wrapping shrimp individually in the prosciutto. But, your efforts are well rewarded. The salty richness of the proscuitto permeates the shrimp, rendering some of it’s fat and getting nice and crispy. Then a pan sauce is made from the browned bits, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and butter. I served it over pasta, but I think it would be a wonderful appetizer or first course on it’s own. I’m so glad I remixed this one, because I think I like it better than the original!

Shrimp Saltimbocca

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled with tails left on
6 whole fresh sage leaves
6 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into 1×3 inch strips (4 strips per piece)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry vermouth or white wine
juice from 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp. cold butter
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Wrap each shrimp with a piece of proscuitto and secure using a toothpick, or by placing 3 or 4 shrimp on a skewer at a time.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add sage leaves and the smashed clove of garlic. Cook until sage leaves begin to change color and are fragrant, about30 seconds. Remove the sage with a slotted spoon.

Add the shrimp to the pan, and cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on other side until golden brown, about 3 more minutes. Remove the garlic clove and discard. Remove the shrimp and keep warm. Repeat with remaining shrimp.

If there is any excess fat in the skillet, pour it off. Add the chopped garlic, stir in the vermouth, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until it’s reduced to about 3-4 Tbsp. Stir in lemon juice.

Turn heat down to low, and whisk in the butter. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over shrimp, and crumble (or serve whole) the fried sage leaves on top before serving.

Source: adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, May 2008 via Elly Says Opa

DIY Canned Tomatoes

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DIY Canned Tomatoes

Are you guys canners and preservers too? From a young age I remember my mom peeling tomatoes and packing them into hot jars for processing. Then we used those tomatoes for soups and other dishes all winter long. One of my very favorite things is when she’d mix in a jar of canned tomatoes with a batch of baked macaroni & cheese. Talk about a simple one-dish meal that will knock your socks off…

So, I guess it was only natural that I began to “put things up”, as the old-heads like to call it. I started several years ago with tomatoes, probably because they are one of the most straighforward and easy. I remember thinking the first time I did it – that it was such a mess, that it was going to take forever, what a pain in my ass, etc. But the second time I canned, things went much smoother. You just have to find your routine and rhythm in the kitchen, and it gets easier! Now I love making different kinds of pickles, and being creative with fun flavor combinations for jams. It’s easy to get yourself hooked, so here’s fair warning!

And, the results are undoubtedly worth it. These quart jars that I packed full of local, ripe summer tomatoes are equivalent to a little more than a 28 oz can of store-bought tomatoes. As with all other DIY things we tackle, you know exactly what is going into them – which is always a win in my book. And, they’re so pretty sitting on your pantry shelf all winter long. A taste of summer at your fingertips, all year long!

DIY Canned Tomatoes

ripe red tomatoes (3 lbs. tomatoes per quart)
bottled lemon juice
pickling salt, optional
quart-sized Mason jars

Prepare canning jars and lids according to manufacturer’s directions.

Peel and core tomatoes. Cut an “X” in the bottom of each tomato, and place them in a bath of boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until skins begin to blister. Remove them to a dish filled with ice water and carefully peel the tomatoes and remove the core using a pairing knife. If the tomatoes are large, halve or quarter them.

Add 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp pickling salt (if desiered) to each quart jar.

Pack the tomatoes into jars, pressing gently on tomatoes until the juices fill in the spaces between the tomatoes. Leave 1/2-inch headspace for processing.

Using the handle of a rubber spatula or a butter knife, remove air bubbles by running the handle along the inside of the jar.

Carefully wipe rims down for any moisture and add the canning lid.

Process in boiling water bath for 45 minutes, or at 5 lb pressure for 15 minutes in a weighted guage pressure canner.

Roasted Lemon Chicken & Potatoes

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Roasted Greek Lemon Chicken & PotatoesAndrew, our oldest, just marched off to his first day of kindergarten today. Tears were shed by me, but he couldn’t have been more happy or excited to be going back to school. It’s just hard for me to swallow the pill that he’s not mine to take care of all day anymore. I’m not sure who’s going to miss him more – myself, or his little brother William.

Back to school also means busier evenings with after school activities, homework, and sports all going on simultaneously. So, a one dish dinner – in which everything is thrown together and roasted, is always a great trick to have up your sleeve for a weeknight meal. Ina’s original recipe calls for all bone-in chicken breasts, but my little ones love their chicken drumsticks, so I just use a whole cut-up chicken instead. The white wine and lemon juice, combined with the drippings from the chicken create and awesome pan sauce. And the potatoes and Brussels sprouts just soak up all that delicious flavor while they cook.

And if there does happen to be any leftover chicken, it makes the most awesome chicken salad sandwiches to go into a lunchbox the next day. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Roasted Lemon Chicken & Potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil
9 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
zest from 2 lemons
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano (I used 1 Tbsp fresh)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved
2 lbs baby red potatoes, halved
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 lemon
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Pour the sauce into a 9×13 baking dish. Add the potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and season with salt and pepper.

Pat the chicken dry and place them skin side up over the sauce and veggies. Brush the chicken breasts with the olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon into wedges and tuck it among the pieces of the chicken.

Bake uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the vegetables and pan juices.

Source: adapted from How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten

Sweet & Sour Chicken

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

We’ve been on a little bit of a seafood binge lately. Between all the crab related dishes, and that bag of clams – I feel like we haven’t had a chance to have any landlubber favorites. So, when I came across this dish on Pinterest last week, I knew I couldn’t wait a whole week to make it – and rearranged my menu plans a bit to accommodate having this for dinner one evening.

I have so many take-out favorites that I make here at home, but sweet & sour chicken was one that’d I’d not gotten around to trying out in my own kitchen. Which is surprising, because it’s one of our favorites to order. But so often it’s disappointing. The dreaded tub of orange sauce and some frozen breaded chicken pieces – and I just paid $8 for this? Ain’t nobody got time for that!

The chicken pieces are lightly breaded in cornstarch (which is great for maintaining crispiness) and quickly fried. They are then layered with red and green peppers and fresh pineapple on a baking sheet, and doused with an awesome sweet and sour sauce that’s made from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. The whole thing goes into the oven for a bit to finish up cooking and merry all those delicious flavors together. Served over a bed of rice, with a green vegetable – like snow peas or steamed broccoli, it’s a delicious dinner that you can feel good about serving to your family. And chances are, it also kicks the pants off of any sweet & sour chicken you’ve had in the past!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, lightly beaten
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 green pepper, cut into 1″ chunks
1 red pepper, cut into 1″ chunks
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

For the sauce:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp Worstershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place cornstarch in a shallow dish (I like to use pie plates) and place the beaten egg int another shallow dish.

Season chicken with kosher salt and black pepper, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, and then into the cornstarch – moving around to cover the pieces completely.

Heat the vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet (or another skillet with high-sided walls) over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken pieces on at a time, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. Fry, turning occasionally, until chicken is starting to brown. Remove chicken to a rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain while you fry the remainder of the chicken.

Remove paper towels from under the chicken, and add the chopped peppers and pineapple to the baking sheet.

To prepare the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk well to combine. Pour about 3/4 of the sauce over the chicken, peppers, and pineapple. Gently toss to combine.

Place in preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until peppers are tender and sauce has thickened up and is starting to carmalize.

Serve over rice with remaining sauce, if desired.

Source: adapted from The Center Cut Cook