CEiMB: Garlic Basil Shrimp

This week's pick for Craving Ellie in My Belly is from Margaret of Tea and Scones. She chose for us to make the Garlic and Basil Shrimp from So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week by Ellie Krieger.

I loved this dish. It was extremely easy and delicious. I mean, the whole dish takes about 10 minutes start to finish. The dish has a wonderful balance of flavors, the heat of the crushed red pepper is a good contrast to the sweetness of the shrimp, tomatoes, and wine. I used some vine ripened tomatoes I found at the grocery store instead of the grape tomatoes. I also made some toasted bread with olive oil to soak up the wine sauce. I will definitely make this again, it is so easy. A great weeknight meal. Be sure to check out the Craving Ellie in My Belly website to see what other bloggers did.

Chicken Stir-fry in a Thai Red Curry Sauce

When I lived in Chicago, I lived in an area surrounded by Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. I must have eaten Thai once a week. Now, back in my hometown, a suburb of Cincinnati, it isn't as easy to find that cuisine. Fortunately, I live by a wonderful grocery store, Jungle Jim's, that is full of many ingredients from all over the world. There is a whole aisle devoted to ingredients from Thailand. Therefore, I decided to make this Chicken Stir-fry that is cooked in a Thai Red Curry sauce. It is similar to the Chicken Teriyaki Stir-fry I made previously, with just a different combination of flavors.

I make a sauce of red curry paste, coconut milk, soy sauce and lime juice. I pour this sauce over a mixture of chicken and vegetables. It's a spicy sauce that is mellowed by the coconut milk. It is funny, I can't stand coconut, but I love Thai cuisine that includes coconut milk in almost every dish. It is important to serve this stir-fry over rice because the recipe makes a lot of sauce, and the sauce is quite thin, so you need to rice to soak it up.


Chicken Stir-fry in a Thai Red Curry Sauce

Red Curry Sauce:

• 1 14-oz can light coconut milk
• 2 to 4 Tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste
  
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• Juice from 1/2 lime

Stir-fry:

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 6 cups assorted vegetables (I used a combination of carrots, snow peas, sliced mushrooms, and water chestnuts, broccoli and bamboo shoots would also work well)
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• salt
  

For serving:

• green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• additional soy sauce
• hot cooked rice
  

Directions:

To make the sauce:

• Pour the coconut milk in a medium size bowl, whisk the milk if it has separated in the can. Add the Thai Red curry paste and whisk to combine (it depends on how spicy you want your sauce, I used 4 tablespoons, but that may be too spicy for some, start with a few tablespoons and add until desired spice level is achieved, be sure to taste as you go along). Add the soy sauce and lime juice. Set aside and begin the stir-fry.
• Note on the sauce: It really is all about personal preference. If you want it saltier, add more soy sauce, if you want more of a tart taste, add more lime juice, and if you want it spicier, add more curry paste.

To make the stir-fry:

• Add the 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. First add the vegetables that take longer to cook, like the carrots, and stir-fry until tender, then add the vegetable that cook quicker, like the sugar snap peas, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. Season lightly with salt, and stir-fry until all the vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables from skillet and keep warm. Remember that the sauce contains soy sauce, so you don't want to salt the vegetables too heavily.
  
• Next, heat the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons in the skillet and add the chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
• Once the chicken is cooked return the vegetables to the skillet, and pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Cook the stir-fry until it has come to a simmer, and everything is nice and hot.
• Serve the stir-fry over hot cooked rice and top with green onions and cilantro for some fresh flavor. Also, serve with soy sauce if additional saltiness is desired.

Green Beans and Corn with Salsa

If you are looking for an easy, healthy side dish, then this is a good choice. You simple saute green beans in a skillet, stir in corn, then add fresh salsa. I can't wait for summer to come, so I can make this again with ingredients from my garden. I used a store bought fresh salsa this time, but next time I am going to use my recipe for Pico de Gallo. This dish makes a lot, so it is great for parties and gatherings.


Green Beans and Corn with Salsa

2 lbs. fresh green beans, washed and trimmed, cut into large pieces
1 lb fresh or frozen corn
2 cups fresh salsa
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil to medium-high in a large skillet, add the green beans and saute until they become crisp-tender. Add the corn and heat through. Finally mix in the salsa, and simmer the dish until everything is hot and the flavors had blended. Season well with salt and pepper. Serve warm at room temperature.

Marble Bundt Cake

I had been wanting to make something from my copy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito for some time now, so when I was asked to make a cake for a recent family gathering, I knew this was my opportunity. I decided to make the Marble Bundt Cake from the book because it was simple yet complex. You make one batter and then add one third of the batter to melted chocolate, this is used to make the chocolate swirl.

I found this cake to be sweet and moist with prominent vanilla and chocolate flavors. I think it would be too sweet if there was a frosting on the cake, but a dusting of powdered sugars looks and tastes nice. I think this cakes goes well with a cup of coffee and makes a nice after dinner dessert. It also tastes great the next day.


Marble Bundt Cake
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

For the chocolate swirl:

• 6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

For the sour cream cake:

• 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces and softened
• 2 ¼ cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 16 oz sour cream
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (if desired)

Make the chocolate swirl:
In a double boiler set over simmering water, melt the chocolate. When the chocolate is completely smooth, add the cocoa powder and whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of a 10” bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and ribbon like. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and mix for 30 seconds. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl before each addition and beating only until each addition is just incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pour one third of the cake batter into the chocolate swirl mixture. Use a spatula to combine the chocolate mixture and cake batter to make a smooth chocolate batter.

Spread half of the remaining plain cake batter in the prepared pan. Use an ice cream scoop to dollop the chocolate cake batter directly on top of the plain cake batter. The dollops will touch and mostly cover the plain batter, but some plain batter will peek through. Pour the remaining plain batter over the chocolate batter, and use a butter knife to pull through the layers to create a swirl.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto the wire rack and let it cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake will keep for 3 days, tightly covered, at room temperature.

CEiMB: Peppercorn Au Poivre

This week's pick for Craving Ellie in My Belly is from Rachel of Rachel Hearts Food. She chose for us to make the Pork Au Poivre from from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger. This is a simple recipe where pork tenderloin is coated with Dijon mustard and sprinkled with a generous amount of coarse ground black pepper. The pan is then deglazed with red wine and chicken broth. I made a few changes to the recipe, unfortunately, my local grocery did not have pork tenderloin available for portioning, so I decided to go with thin cut pork loin chops. Additionally, I omitted the wine in the recipe. I didn't have an open bottle, and since I am heading out of town, I didn't want to open a new bottle for just 1/2 of a cup. Therefore, I added a 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a pat of light butter to the pan to make the sauce more robust.

This is another winner from Ellie. The sauce is so flavorful, and the black pepper adds a nice heat that burns subtly in the back of your throat. The pork is light and moist, and I added the pork back to the sauce at the end to rewarm the pork to impart more flavor of the sauce into the pork itself. I will be making this again, and I would love to try the sauce with chicken as well. I served my pork with brown rice and roasted vegetable for a delicious, healthy meal.

Thanks again to Rachel, and be sure to check out the Craving Ellie in My Belly blogroll to see what other bloggers did with their recipe.

Jerk-Rubbed Catfish with Spicy Cilantro Slaw

I was looking for a light and flavorful dish to cook for a easy weeknight dinner when I came across this recipe for Jerk-Rubbed Catfish with Spicy Cilantro Slaw in the March 2010 edition of Cooking Light Magazine. This recipe is extremely simple, I think it took me 15 minutes from start to finish to make this meal. My jerk seasoning was quite spicy, so it was a nice balance with the cool coleslaw. You can always omit the jalapeno that is in the slaw if you don't want too much heat. The natural sweetness of the catfish complimented the tangy coleslaw. I will definitely be making this again in the future.


Jerk-Rubbed Catfish with Spicy Cilantro Slaw (adapted from Cooking Light, March 2010)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and about 2/3 cup slaw)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw mix
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 1/2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper
• Cooking spray
• 4 (6-ounce) catfish fillets
• 4 teaspoons Jamaican jerk seasoning

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle fish evenly with jerk seasoning. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat; serve fish with slaw

Polenta Crusted Shrimp with Mustard and Herb Mayonnaise

I am always looking for new shrimp dishes, and when I came across this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network, I thought it looked delicious. Besides, anytime you can get crispy shrimp by baking it in the oven, I think that is a good choice. This recipe uses a classic breading technique by first dipping the shrimp in flour, followed by an egg wash, then finally dipping the shrimp into the polenta. I used a medium coarse ground polenta, and I would recommend using a finer grind, or just plain cornmeal. The flavor was really good, but the coarse ground was a bit too "grainy". When I make this again, I will used a finer grain of cornmeal. In addition to the mustard and herb mayonnaise sauce, I also made some homemade cocktail sauce. I simply use three ingredients, ketchup, prepared horseradish, and lemon juice. It is really up to you how spicy you want it, I usually add a heaping tablespoon of horseradish, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to about a half cup of ketchup. Also, the mustard and herb mayonnaise makes a lot, so I just used it as a spread for some turkey sandwiches and for some tuna salad. It will keep in the fridge for quite a while.

Ingredients

Mustard and Herb Mayonnaise:

• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Polenta Crusted Shrimp:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups polenta
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail-on
• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil (or non-stick cooking spray)
  
• Kosher salt, for sprinkling

Directions

To make the Mustard and Herb Mayonnaise:

In a medium bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, Dijon mustard, parsley, and chives. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the Polenta Crusted Shrimp:

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. Cover a heavy-duty baking sheet with aluminum foil. Combine the flour, sea salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour the beaten eggs into another small bowl. Mix together the polenta, paprika and thyme in a medium bowl. Working in batches, dredge the shrimp in the flour. Shake off any excess flour. Dip the flour-dredged shrimp into the eggs and then coat with the polenta mixture. Drizzle the shrimp, on both sides, with the olive oil. Place the shrimp on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crisp and golden. Sprinkle with the kosher salt.

Serve immediately with the Mustard and Herb Mayonnaise and cocktail sauce, if desired

CEiMB: Curried Chicken Salad

I am so excited because this is my week to select a recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly! The recipe I chose for my fellow bloggers and me to make is the Curried Chicken Salad from So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week by Ellie Krieger. It's a very simple, but delicious salad consisting of chicken and grapes in a yogurt curry sauce.

First of all, I really love the flavor of curry powder, so I was sure that I would like this salad, but I was quite impressed how well the flavors were balanced. The warm spice of the curry balances well with the sweetness of the grapes and the bitterness of the cilantro, and the almonds added a nice crunch and contrast in texture. I actually mixed my sliced almonds into my salad instead of sprinkling them on top. Many chicken salads feel heavy and rich, but this was very light. The recipe doesn't make a lot of sauce, just enough to coat the chicken and grapes, so it doesn't weigh them down, and their flavors really come through. I served my salad on a bed of spinach sprinkled with lemon juice along with toasted whole-wheat pita chips.

The recipe on the Food Network website includes instructions for poaching chicken, so I have included the instructions for that as well in case you wish to cook your chicken that way.

I want to thank all of my fellow bloggers over at Craving Ellie in My Belly for participating with me! I really enjoyed this recipe, and I hope that they did too. Be sure to check out their blogs as well to see how they made their Curried Chicken Salad.





Curried Chicken Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pounds, poaching instructions below)
• 1 cup halved red grapes
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 5 ounces mixed greens (about 5 cups lightly packed)
• 4 lemon wedges
• 4 ounces pita chips

Directions:

• For poaching the chicken: Bring the broth and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add chicken to broth and simmer, covered, for 8 minutes. Turn the heat off and let chicken stand in the cooking liquid, covered, until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the broth and cool completely in the refrigerator. Cut into 1/4-inch dice.
• Toast the almonds in a small dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant and beginning to turn golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, and curry powder. Fold in the chicken, grapes and cilantro and season to taste, with salt and pepper. This salad will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• To serve, put a scoop of the chicken salad on a bed of greens and top with the toasted almonds. Add a lemon wedge to squeeze over the greens jut before eating. Serve with pita chips.

Serving size:

• 1 cup chicken salad
• 1 1/4 cups mixed greens
• 1 lemon wedge
• 1 ounce pita chips

Easy Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

This really should just be a recipe for the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, because I made the cupcakes using a boxed mix, and all I did to improve on that was to add the zest of half a lemon to the batter. The real star of the cupcakes is the frosting. It's rich and creamy with just the right about of lemon flavor and tang to balance out the sweetness of the cupcakes. I added a Lemon Drop candy to each of the cupcakes to make them look special.




For the cake:

• 1-18.25 oz box lemon cake mix
• 1 1/3 Cups Water
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 Large Eggs
• Zest from half a lemon

For the frosting:

• 1-8 oz package of cream cheese (can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese), softened to room temperature
  
• 1/2 (or 1/4 cup) of butter, softened to room temperature
• juice from 1/2 lemon (just a scant couple of squeezes)
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 16 oz. powdered sugar

• 20-24 Lemon Drops (optional)
  

Directions:

• Bake the cupcakes according the to directions on the box, the only difference is to add the lemon zest to the batter last, and make sure that it is fully incorporated without any clumps. The cake mix I used made 20 cupcakes when the cupcake liners were filled 2/3 full. Let the cupcakes cool to room temperature before frosting.
• To make the frosting, it is very important that the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature. If they are not, there will be lumps of butter or cream cheese in the frosting, and that will be very unappealing.
  
• First, using a hand or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until they are uniformly mixed, then add the lemon juice and lemon extract, and mix briefly to incorporate.
  
• Next, slowly add the powdered sugar in batches, and ensure all the sugar is incorporated before making the next addition. If you want a stronger lemon flavor, add a bit more lemon extract at this time. If you want it sweeter, add more powdered sugar. This frosting is very versatile, and it is easy to make to your liking.
  
• You can frost the cupcakes at this time, but I like to stick the frosting in the refrigerator for an hour or so, so it will firm up, and make the cupcakes easier to frost. After frosting the cupcakes, if you wish, top with a Lemon Drop and enjoy!

CEiMB: Arugula, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly is from Maria of Half Meatball/Half Matzoh Ball Children. She chose for us to make the Arugula, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger. This is a quick and easy meal, you simply sauté onions until they are soft and caramelized, you then add arugula to the skillet to wilt it slightly. Then you top your whole-wheat tortilla or flatbread with the onion/arugula mixture, dot with goat cheese, and pop in the oven. I added some sun-dried tomatoes to the onion/arugula mixture to balance the peppery flavor of the arugula with the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes. I also added a small amount of balsamic vinegar. It really perked up the topping. I used herbed goat cheese that had basil and garlic in it. I think this tasted great. It's really quick and would make a great dinner for one or two, or it would be a great appetizer when it is cut into wedges.