Mexican Seafood Saute with Avocado-Mango Salsa

Courtesy of Bon Appetit

So, i know this is called "Seafood Saute" but I just made this with shrimp since my grocery store was plumb out of scallops. but scallops would rock this dish too, and do what you will! It's your taco after all.

Ingredients for the Salsa

1 mango, peeled, pitted, diced (about 1.5 cups)
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, diced
1 large shallot, chopped
1 jalapeno chile, seeded, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
one lime's worth of juice (and more if you want, like I did, because I adore lime)

Ingredients for Seafood Taco

1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 2 medium shallots)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup tequila (we omitted this because I didn't feel like spending the cash and it was STILL amazing, but your choice)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1.5 pounds uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined (so for the 2 of us, we used a little less than 3/4 of a pound, and was plenty...totally up to you)
1 pound sea scallops, side muscles removed (totally optional, but it would be fun to try it next time)
12 green onions, thinly sliced


For Salsa: Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Cover and chill.

For Seafood Saute: Whisk first 5 ingredients in a small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup oliv oil. Season marinade to taste with salt and pepper.

Place shrimp in large resealable plastic bag. Place scallops (if you choose to make this too) in another large resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade into bags, dividing equally (about 1/2 cup each). Seal bags, turn to coat. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Drain shrimp and scallops, reserving the marinade. Pat scallops dry. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops to skillet and saute until beginning to brown, about 1.5 minutes per side. Transfer to large bowl. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet. Add shrimip and green onions, saute until shrimp are almost opaque in the center, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Return scallops with any accumulated juices to skillet. Add the reserved marinade and simmer until seafood is cooked through and the mixture is thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Transfer to large shallow bowl, garnish with lime slices if you want to be fancy about it. Serve with the mango salsa.


Like I said, you don't need to make the scallops, and it will completely cut your time and effort in half. The shrimp alone are super amazing with this recipe.

Harris Ranch's Pecan Drops

Makes 3 dozen cookies

2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup egg whites (3 to 4 large egg whites)
1 1/2 pounds coarsely chopped pecan pieces (you can do this by hand which takes a while, or mash them with something heavy, or buy pre-chopped or zazz them up in the food processor. So many options!)


1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl combine the brown sugar, salt, vanilla and pecan pieces. With a hand-mixer or your trusty Kitchen-Aid mixer(thanks Mom and Dad!) beat on low speed to incorporate the ingredients, then drizzle in the egg whites. Increase the speed to medium-low and beat for 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2. Drop the dough in rounded tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet. If the cookies aren't holding together well, you might need to beat in an extra egg white. I'd start with three, then add the fourth if your batter needs it to hold together.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack or plate. The cookies will be soft but will firm up as they cool.

Try not to devour all of them at once. Also, this is a good way to get your coworkers to think you are a culinary genius. Tricky, tricky.

Panzanella

Adapted from Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa show (via Food Network)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons good olive oil
Half a french baguette, torn into chunks (about 5-6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 red onion,thinly sliced
Handful of basil, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained

For Vinaigrette:

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons vinegar (I typically use Red Wine Vinegar, but Ina's recipe calls for Champagne)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed, and some fresh cracked pepper to your tasting.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together and set aside. I personally like to use a little jar to add all dressing ingredients then shake the life out of it. It keeps everything contained and its easy.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the toasted bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Savoy Cabbage Gratin

Adapted from Orangette and Molly Stevens book, All About Braising

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Savoy cabbage, quartered, cored, and sliced into ½-inch-wide shreds
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, sliced into ½-inch-wide pieces (I actually used a yellow onion here as I had no green onions on hand...worked just fine)
Kosher salt
1 ¾ cups good chicken stock
1 ripe Saint-Marcellin cheese (again...I just used a good-sized mixture of Parmesan and Havarti which was fantastic)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a large (roughly 10”x 14”) gratin dish, or another dish of similar size.

Melt the butter in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage and onion/scallions, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until the cabbage is wilted and just beginning to brown, which takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. Add the stock, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes.

Transfer everything in the pot into the prepared gratin dish. Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 45 minutes (this is where the braising comes in). Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the liquid is mostly evaporated, about 20 minutes more. Then remove the dish from the oven. Cut the cheese into small lumps and scatter it over the cabbage. Increase the oven temperature to 375°F, return the dish to the oven, and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted and/or bubbling, about 10 minutes.

You can serve this as a side dish but i say grab some bread and a glass of wine, and call it a day.

Lassi

Here is the simple and basic recipe that my mom and G-ma have made for decades (and probably decades before that, but that's back in the old country and I just have to guesstimate how long they've been making this for).

Ingredients:

Tub of yogurt (like I said, I use low-fat or whole-milk, but if you just LOVE fat-free yogurt, go for it.)
Sugar
Ice Cubes


A cup and a half of yogurt, plus a handful of ice cubes and a couple tablespoons of sugar are all blended together and should fill a very tall glass, or two small glasses if you're going to be meek about it. Which is silly, because there is nothing meek about the awesomeness of this drink. You just multiply the quantities for the amount of lassi you want, and, if you so choose, add some mango nectar and go crazy. YUM. As a side note, you might need a small splash of milk or water to make it a bit frothier and drinkable, but just play it by ear and taste.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Like I said, I got this recipe off another website that claims it is from Cooks Illustrated. I have my doubts. HOWEVER, it is still a good basic recipe... I took the liberty of adding dried cherries and walnuts in because it just sounded good. I also sprinkled a little sea salt on top of each cookie for an added oomph.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, (and more for sprinkling if you'd like, but if you decide to sprinkle, omit the salt here)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter a cookie sheet. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, by hand or by mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat the mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or a large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and chocolate chips (and additional mix-ins if you like: nuts, dried fruit, etc). Place dough onto cookie sheet by large spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons each), leaving at least 2 inches between. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Slide cookies onto cooling rack. Let cool, and store in airtight container.

They're good warmed up! I'm just saying.

Lemon Curd

I'd say that the basic recipe for Lemon Curd is pretty simple...I found that the easiest one was in The Gourmet Cookbook, and did just fine. If anything, I would reduce the sugar to one cup (I like it on the tart side rather than sweet) and increase the amount of zest.

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh lemon juice (this ended up being about 4 big, juicy lemons worth)
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons


Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, eggs and salt in a heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about ten minutes.

You can then either force the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a owl and discard the zest, or, like me, you just skip this step altogether because you like having your curd with a little zest in it. Cool to room temperature, stir occasionally if you like (I didn't). Refrigerate in an air-tight container until cold (I put the curd into two jars I had laying around).

Note: The lemon curd can be refrigerated, covered, for up to one week. If it even lasts that long, which I doubt, since it is so dee-lish and you probably won't be able to stop yourself from opening the jar and scooping yourself some at any given opportunity.