Spicy Thai Cornish Hen

I love Food & Wine magazine. Of all the subscriptions I have, it is definitely the one I get most excited about. Once it arrives, I flip through and mark all the recipes I plan to try.  When the July issue arrived, I knew there were many things I would try. The first was the Spicy Thai Marinade with Basil and Cilantro.  Although the recipe showcased steak, I decided a Cornish hen would be the perfect protein to feature the marinade.

Ingredients:

¼ cup basil leaves

¼ cup cilantro leaves

8 peeled garlic cloves

2 tablespoons sambal oelek

2 tables Asian fish sauce

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

½ cup vegetable oil

1 Cornish hen

In a food processor, pulse the basil, cilantro, garlic, sambal oelek and fish sauce until finely chopped.

Add the lemon and lime zests and oil. Pulse until the marinade is smooth.  Rinse and pat the hen dry.  Place it in a mixing bowl and pour the marinade on the hen. Rub the marinade on the outside and inside the hen.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes so the flavors sink in.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the hen in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  

You want it to cook but not dry out so keep a close eye on it.  The finished hen should have a brownish tint on the outside and the juices should run clear.  

Carve and serve with yellow rice.

Again another simple dish that just required a little bit of planning.  I highly recommend it!

Hungry yet?

Spicy Thai Red Curry Shrimp

I’ve always said if you are what you eat then I would turn into a spicy Thai shrimp plantain.  So one night a few weeks ago, I thought I should combine some of those ingredients.  I bought some Thai curry paste and whipped up a delicious meal for myself.

Ingredients:

14 oz can Thai Coconut Milk

1 tbs Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs brown sugar

2 Thai chilies

1 tbs Sambal Oelek (ground fresh chili paste)

1 pound large shrimp

½ cup frozen vegetables

1/3 cup water

In a large skillet, simmer the coconut milk with the red curry paste over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the fish sauce, brown sugar, chilies and Sambal Oelek.  

Then add the shrimp and frozen vegetables.  

Cook the shrimp for 3 – 5 minutes until pink.  

Serve over white rice.

This was suuuuch an easy recipe to make and totally worth it.  Feel free to adjust the spiciness to your liking.

Hungry yet?

Mr. A & Ms. A are married!

It feels like it wasn’t long ago that I had the pleasure of spending a nice weekend with Mr. A & Ms. A (still not the same A). So how excited was I when their wedding day finally arrived! Everyone looked wonderful. Mr. A was swaggerific when he made his way up the aisle, and Ms. A was stunning and certainly wowed the on lookers in Battery Park.  While I was thrilled that everyone looked great, I was also excited about how great the food looked and tasted. The cocktail hour was filled with so many delightful appetizers.  The Seared Tuna was one of my favorites.

Served on a carved piece of cucumber and topped with a tropical salsa, I loved every bite.  I unfortunately found myself eating so many of these I may have actually eaten a ½ pound of tuna.  I stayed away from the Lamb Chops but they looked magnificent.

They also disappeared quite quickly. I wonder what they were topped with. Looked like chimichurri to me, but how can one really know if you don’t eat it.  Perhaps one of the guests will leave it in the comments. These little puffs were a pleasant surprise.

I was convinced they would be filled with mushroom, but instead it was duck confit.  OH heavens! I definitely popped a number of those in my mouth.  Where there is shrimp, I find happiness.

These shrimp sat on a dollop of guacamole and were served on a tortilla chip.  YUM! I had no objections to the selection at the cocktail hour and although I may have missed a few items, I was already feeling satisfied when I sat at the dining table.  A colorful salad was served.

I’m typically not big on the idea of having a bunch of cold leaves served, but on occasion there are a few ingredients that make the prospect of a salad more appetizing. On this occasion, the blood oranges were it! They were so sweet and juicy. I definitely wish I could have picked the oranges off of every plate.  Our entrées soon arrived.  The Beef apparently was out of this world.

I wish I knew more.  It was a beautiful looking dish. Plated on a bed of mashed potatoes and what looked like some nuts.  I opted for the Chilean Sea Bass.

It was magnificent. The rice was also a fantastic accompaniment. My only disappointment was that there was so little rice.  Eventually it was time for dessert.  They were very creative and decided to serve two types of desserts at every table.  The only problem with that is each person didn’t get both.  In my case, that was just not an option. I regrettably had to borrow someone’s dessert. Luckily he was fine with it.  The Chocolate Mousse was spectacular.

I licked my spoon several times until it was clear there was no more chocolate…just metal.  The other dessert tasted like custard but I can’t be sure.

All I know is I definitely finished mine.  And then of course there was the cake.  Regrettably I am missing an image of the full cake and them slicing it with a sword ..yes, a sword.  I did manage to get a picture of my second only slice. 

The cake was fluffy and incredibly delicious. It was definitely worth the wait.  Overall the wedding was beautiful and delicious! Congratulations to Mr. A and Ms. A! 

Lobster Fra Diavolo

Ramadan Kareem! In an effort to be more mindful during this month (and hopefully going forward) I hope to post more recipes. I haven’t experimented in my kitchen in quite some time but I hope to host an Iftar once a week. Hopefully, it’ll work out.  Anyway, I figured it would be appropriate to start off the month with a recipe post.

Earlier this summer, in a quest to make lobster, I bought a couple of stockpots. About a week ago, I contemplated buying a paella pan. Of course a friend reminded me about my unused stockpots.  Not to be shamed by unused kitchen equipment, I hustled to the fish market that evening.  I came back with this little guy.

Just the site of him made me remember how much I love lobster!! I boiled enough water to cover his head and added about ¼ cup salt.  Once the water came to a boil, in he went!

Head first of course. I covered the pot and cooked him for about 7 minutes.  Then out he came and I threw some cold water over him so he wouldn’t overcook.  

At that moment I realized I had not done enough preparation for my fra diavolo sauce so I whipped together a half hearted version.

Ingredients:

1 1- 1 ¼ lb lobster, cooked

2 tbs olive oil

1/8 cup red pepper flakes

1 garlic, chopped

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

salt and pepper to season

Heat oil then add red pepper flakes.  Cook flakes for 1 to 2 minutes then add garlic and onion.  Next add tomato sauce and bring to a boil then put on low heat for 15 minutes.  Last step is to add the lobster.  Let the sauce cook with the lobster for 5 – 10 minutes.  You don’t want to overcook the lobster but you also want to make sure it has enough of the flavor of the spicy tomato sauce.

I served it on a bed of spaghetti with a few of the legs and couldn’t have been happier. 

I’m glad I got a chance to make it because now I can buy my paella pan! 

Hungry yet?

Milano Grille - Bridgewater, NJ

OH wow, I can’t believe how far behind I am on the blog! I guess work has been a lot more hectic than I realized and this has certainly been a summer filled with weddings. My weekends have been way busier than winter and spring.  A few days before her wedding, we rehearsed for Ms. K’s (now Mrs. L!) wedding.  After standing in the heat and taking in the beauty of the venue, we went to Milano Grille for dinner.  The restaurant is easy to miss if you’re driving too fast down Route 202/206, but luckily I caught it and turned just in time.  The staff was extremely friendly and I was thrilled when our appetizers arrived. 

Calamari and shrimp! They were obviously after my heart. I ate it pretty quickly and was thrilled when I realized there was more to go around.  They also served some stuffed mushrooms.

Those were slightly less appetizing but I guess it’s nice to have something for the non-shellfish people.  The entrees were also pretty good. I was feeling out of character so I ordered a white sauce! Well technically I should say it was a non-tomato based sauce.  The tilapia with scallops and fettuccine seemed like a good idea.

It tasted pretty good but was slightly under salted. It was cooked in a white wine sauce that likely had some flour to help thicken it.  It definitely got better with each bite, which leads me to believe they likely didn’t cook it together for as long as they should have.  Unfortunately when you serve food before the flavors have really meshed together you’re left with uneven flavor, which is precisely what this dish suffered from.  The Chicken Parmesan looked spectacular.

I definitely had a couple of moments of food envy. Bright tomato sauce! I would have loved to sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on that and just go to town.  A few other appetizing dishes landed on some plates.  The Chicken Marsala was served two ways.  One with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

The other on a bed of fettuccine.

Not bad I say, not bad at all.  Overall everyone seemed happy with my meal. My happiness increased exponentially when it was time for dessert.

A nice slice of Tiramisu that I couldn’t help devouring even though I should have left the restaurant half an hour earlier for my drive home.  I loved every bite and could have eaten a few more if they had let me.  Overall Milano Grille was a good restaurant. Definitely not one of the best I’ve been to but they were gracious hosts and their food was satisfying. If you’re ever in that neighborhood, don’t hesitate to stop by for a bite.

Hungry yet?