Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386), Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386), and Blender mayonnaise (p. 579)

I am being seriously punished for writing these posts so much later than when I actually cooked the dishes. This post (and about ten others) are going to be more like memory exercises!

Josh and I both love shrimp.

A lot.

Unfortunately, shrimp in landlocked Colorado can be quite expensive. So when I stumbled on a great shrimp sale, I was extremely excited to dust off the ole' TJOC shellfish chapter and see what I could find.

I started with Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386). First, I ground rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, whole peppercorns, and salt in my spice grinder. I added the mixture (which even at that point smelled spicy and delicious) to melted butter, along with a whole bunch of minced garlic:




I added peeled shrimp to the spice mixture:



Once cooked, the now-heavily-spiced-shrimp were removed from the pan:



Beer and chicken broth were added to the cooking mixture, which was then boiled for a couple minutes:



The shrimp were added back into the cooking mixture and heated through:



This dish was extremely good. It was extremely heavily spiced and flavorful--delicious, although not "barbecued" in the traditional sense (or really in any sense, I'm not exactly sure where the "barbecue" in the title comes from). The recipe looks long and complex but was actually quite easy once it got started. And when I dipped bread in the extra sauce it was amazing.

I also decided to make Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386). Josh is a big fan of the pre-made shrimp at Whole Foods, I always complain that it's way too expensive, so I figured that I could make the shrimp myself.

I laid peeled shrimp on a baking sheet and drizzled olive oil over them (I know I deviated from the recipe here but I didn't want to get another bowl dirty).



I broiled the shrimp for a couple of minutes and then flipped them over and broiled the other side:



Done! Incredibly easy. Easy and delicious. I think this might be my go-to recipe for simple shrimp from now on. I liked the flavor and texture of broiled shrimp more than boiled shrimp. And the lack of added flavors made the shrimp a perfect base for a sauce (in my mind, most items are the perfect base for a sauce, I love sauce)! I decided to make remoulade sauce with Blender mayonnaise (p. 579).

I placed an egg, dry mustard, salt, a bit of ground red pepper, sugar, and vegetable oil in the blender:



I blended it and, with the blender running slowly, first added vegetable oil, and then lemon juice:



And more vegetable oil:



And I blended until thick. Incredibly simple and much easier on the wrists than making traditional mayonnaise. It was tasty, although I rarely feel the need to make mayonnaise from scratch. Making mayo from scratch is pretty impressive to people, so it's a nice item to add to your repertoire of skills.

Feta dressing (p. 576)

The salad dressings in TJOC have always been my go-to for easy recipes to knock out. Unfortunately, I have made most of the dressings that look good to me already. So when I spotted Feta dressing (p. 576) I was excited. I love feta! Everyone in the house loved feta (Mom and Josh) so I figured I had a winner.

It was easy. I combined feta, red wine vinegar, oregano, and a little salt and pepper in a food processor:



I slowly added olive oil:



And it was finished! It actually required more olive oil than the recipe called for because my feta was rather dry. Believe it or not, the dressing was actually sort of bland. I think it needed some "kick"--either red pepper or garlic or something extra. I also think it would work better as a dip than as a salad dressing.

And now two random pictures:

Josh, changing the oil on his car, and using a puppy pee-pad to catch drips. For some reason, I find this hysterical:



We have a lot (a LOT) of puppy pee-pads left over because we decided to skip that step of housebreaking. Any other puppy pad uses you guys can think of?

Our two dogs, on each side of a bewildered Muggy (my mother's dog). In the time since this picture was taken, little Lestat took down the screen door. You wouldn't think a 7-lb papillon could do that but you'd be wrong.

Pan-roasted pork tenderloin (p. 503) and Herb pan sauce (p. 547)

Josh and I couldn't find a ham on sale for Easter (our preferred holiday dish) so we bought what I thought at the time was a pork tenderloin. And (this is extremely embarrassing as someone in the meat industry like myself) it was not a pork tenderloin, it was just cut to resemble one. I should have payed more attention (although, in my defense, Josh actually is the one who picked up and put it in the cart).

I decided to make Pan-roasted pork tenderloin (p. 503) and I made sure to make it in a non-nonstick pan so I would have pan drippings. I seasoned my pork "tenderloin", adding it to a skillet with butter and olive oil. I seared it on all sides and then lowered the heat to cook it.



I realized at this point (while the outside was overcooking and the inside was still raw) that because my pork "tenderloin" was not actually a tenderloin, it wasn't the correct size so I split it for more even cooking:



An easy method for tenderloin preparation, it would undoubtedly have been better with a real tenderloin.

The best part was that the tenderloin gave me terrific drippings for Herb pan sauce (p. 547). I added shallots to the pot and cooked them until softened. At that point I added chicken stock and stirred and scraped to get the browned bits up:



I added Dijon mustard, Cognac, and bay leaves and kept stirring until the gravy was slightly thickened. I added heavy cream and cooked until the gravy was reduced by half:



Stirred in parsley:



And was done!

I love gravy. I love all sauces. I always forget about delicious gravy. This gravy was shallot-y, and pork-y, and all things great. It was incredibly easy, too, and you could leave out the heavy cream if you didn't want those extra, super tasty calories. Until recently I've been afraid to make my own gravy because it seemed difficult (you always hear stories about lumpy gravy) but it really isn't. Try it if you haven't!

Swiss steak (p. 482) and Meat pan gravy (p. 546)

I've always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about Swiss steak (p. 482) but it's completely due to my mother. Apparently mom got sick on Swiss steak as a child and has not only never been able to eat again but also never wanted to see anyone else eating it (in fact, I think even saying "Swiss steak" makes her a little sick). So I think the only time I've ever had Swiss steak has been in a TV dinner.

The recipe looked simple. I rubbed garlic on a bottom round steak, then pounded as much flour...



...into my steak...



as it would hold.



This was problematic because every time I hit the steak, flour went everywhere. It made a huge mess. Does anyone have a solution for this problem? I will say, the dogs were grateful for the mess, because they were trying to convince me that flour all over the floor was the most delicious thing ever.

I browned the pieces, which wasn't easy because they didn't really fit in the pot:



I added chopped onion, carrot, and celery (no bell pepper due to my hatred of bell peppers). The tomato was optional so I didn't include it, even though Wikipedia insinuates that the tomato makes the Swiss steak.



At this point I realized the whole thing was supposed to go in the oven. Crap. I transferred it to my ovenproof pot and popped it in the oven. It went from this:



To this:



Time for the Meat pan gravy (p. 546). I removed my meat from the pot.



I poured off all but a few tablespoons of drippings and whisked flour into them:



I then added back my pan juices (I didn't have to add anything because I had exactly a cup of pan drippings):



I simmered the gravy until it was thickened:



The whole thing was delicious! The gravy was absolutely perfect. No lumps, the perfect thickness, and easy, what more could you want? I'm usually really intimidated by gravy making so this was good for my self confidence.

The Swiss steak was surprisingly good! It's a good method for using a economical piece of meat but still having a tender end-product. I made mashed potatoes and it was a hearty, cheap, and tasty meal that resulted in terrific leftovers.

Random fact:
"The name does not refer to Switzerland, but instead to the process of "swissing", which refers to fabric or other materials being pounded or run through rollers in order to soften it." (Wikipedia)

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Pineapple glaze (p. 583) and Fish loaf (p. 106)

I had (yet another) ham, which meant (yet another) glaze. I thought Pineapple glaze (p. 583) looked promising.

Glazes are always easy. I mixed chopped pineapple, brown sugar, and ginger together:



And slopped it on the ham:



As you can see, a lot of the pineapple fell off, which probably insinuates that I did not chop it finely enough. This wasn't my favorite glaze, although I did like its sweetness. It was okay but nothing special and it wasn't as good as some of the other TJOC glazes. There also didn't seem to be enough of it--if I made it again, I would use a double batch.

There are very few foods I absolutely will not eat. In fact, I can only think of one--canned tuna. I hate tuna. I hate the taste, I hate the smell, I hate everything about it. Fresh tuna at a sushi restaurant? Delicious. In a can? Nope. So when I saw Fish loaf (p. 106) I knew I was going to have to make it for somebody else.

Like ham loaf, this is another super retro recipe. I've never even heard of anyone making a fish loaf. Even so, I would stick with the ham loaf for your Mad Men party because this might gross people out. Even the idea is strange.

I tore up a few slices of white bread, threw them in the food processor, and pulsed it so crumbs were produced:



I added an onion and celery and mixed:



I then added butter and an egg. At this point I started to worry that the food processor may be too small.



I added in several cans of tuna, lemon juice, oregano, red pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. I packed it all in to a buttered loaf pan:



And baked it:



I certainly didn't try it. Josh said it was strangely soft. He wasn't a big fan. I think the bread made it sort of mushy. It looked much better the next day after sitting (far improved texture) and Josh said it was okay on bread with mayonnaise. I think tartar sauce also would have improved it. A fish meatloaf just seems bizarre to me.

Has anyone ever made a fish loaf before? Would you eat a slice of this one?

Spinach or watercress dressing (p. 573), Creamy caraway dressing (p. 577), and Green goddess dressing (p. 576)

I have gotten to the point where I have already made most of the salad dressings that actually look good to me, some of them many, many times. The dressings that are left over tend to be...odd. But I thought I would knock some of them out.

Josh had eyed the Spinach or watercress dressing (p. 573) recipe for quite a while. I have no idea why, I thought it looked exceptionally strange. Why is there chopped spinach in a salad dressing? It was certainly easy.

I whisked lemon juice, tarragon vinegar (the tarragon vinegar is a bit of a theme, I found a bottle of it on clearance at the grocery store), salt, and pepper together:



I added olive oil in a steady stream while whisking:



I stirred in my two cups spinach leaves, finely (or finally) chopped:




It was a very strange salad dressing. Very strange. It tasted like it already had the salad included, rather than just being dressing. And I think that TJOC can be too heavy handed with the olive oil--but I feel that way about all of their vinaigrettes too. I liked the bright green color.

I have been interested in the Creamy caraway dressing (p. 577) for quite a while. Caraway is such a strong flavor that I couldn't imagine it in a salad dressing. I whisked together sour cream, lemon juice, caraway seeds, coarse-grain mustard, shallot, and thyme in a bowl, and then added a bit of olive oil, while whisking:



The caraway was certainly bold in the dressing. It reminded me of eating pumpernickel bread in salad dressing form (I'm guessing that doesn't make you hungry!). That being said, it was pretty good. TJOC recommends using it on potato salad and I think that could be really interesting and different. In fact, I might have to experiment with that in the future. I also think it could be a delicious spread on tiny rye bread slices for a cocktail party--especially with a little cucumber on top.

I have very little experience with Green goddess dressing (p. 576) outside of dipping meat/seafood in it at The Melting Pot.

I minced anchovies. Or, more accurately, attempted to mince. They really sort of dissolved.



Appetizing, right? I mixed them with garlic, mayonnaise, sour cream, minced chives, parsley, lemon juice, tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper:



The dressing was good but you better like the fishy, salty taste of anchovies, because it comes through loud and clear in this dish. I didn't really like it but Josh thought it was extremely good. I think green goddess works better as a dip than as a dressing.

So, readers, what are your favorite salad dressings? Are any of these three on your list?



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Bday1: Japanese steakhouse ginger dressing (p. 575), Carrot puree (p. 266), and Mustard glaze (p. 583)

I decided to make a big meal for Josh's birthday, so there will be three posts in total.

When planning the meal, Josh and I both love ham, so that was an easy choice for the protein. It also seemed like a nice salad and some sort of vegetable, some sort of carbohydrate, and a cake would be a great idea.

I have been incredibly intrigued by Japanese steakhouse ginger dressing (p. 575) in TJOC for a long time. I love Japanese steakhouses. I've eaten at at least a dozen of them, in both Japan and the US (oddly different and the same). My favorite American teppenyaki joints are Ohana Steakhouse in Des Moines (I LOVE their scallop sauce) and Sapporo Steakhouse in Daytona Beach, Florida. I've eaten at those two many, many, many times and they never disappoint.

I combined celery, carrots, peanut oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, onion, sugar, soy sauce, catsup, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce in my beautiful Vita-Mix blender:



Final product:



On some lettuce:



This dressing was EXACTLY like the ginger dressing at most of the Japanese steakhouses that I've been to in the US. In fact, it was a dead ringer. The dressing was good--it had a light kick due to the ginger and hot pepper sauce but was fairly sweet with a nice peanuty undertone. Plus, even with the giant list of ingredients, it was super simple. Throw everything in to a blender or food processor and finished.

I had high hopes for Carrot puree (p. 266) because a carrot/mashed potato mix sounded absolutely amazing. I love carrots. I love potatoes. What could be better?

I placed a half pound of sliced potatoes in water and boiled them for about five minutes:



I added sliced carrots and cooked until the vegetables were tender. The potato/carrot mixture was then drained, returned to the pan, and mashed. I added heavy cream, salt, butter, and pepper:



Absolutely delicious. The mash was creamy and smooth. The carrots elevated the dish from simple mashed potatoes and the cream made it seem slightly decadent. I loved the carrot puree and will absolutely make it again. It was also amazing leftover.

I decided to make a Mustard glaze (p. 583) for the spiral sliced ham I was making. I mixed brown sugar, mustard, and honey:



Slathered it on the ham:



This glaze was probably my favorite so far. The sweet mustard flavor complimented the ham perfectly. I saved the glaze as a dipping sauce and it was great for days. I also really like easy glazes and this one was incredibly simple and made with stuff I already had on hand.

Random fact:

• Robert Timothy French started work for a spice merchant at 21. When he was 60, French bought a flour mill and bakery with his son, starting the RT French Company, where they sold spices, including powdered mustard with turmeric. They introduced their French's cream salad mustard in 1904 (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 398)