Bang Bang Shrimp

Another of my favorite "copycat" recipes from Foodnetwork.com. This is so yummy and light enough to make all summer. Love it!


Ingredients
For the Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce (such as sambal oelek)
2 teaspoons honey
Kosher salt
For the Shrimp:
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined
Bibb lettuce leaves, for serving
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
Directions
Make the sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, chili sauce, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl; set aside.

Prepare the shrimp: Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a shallow bowl. Whisk the flour, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.

Working in batches, dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, dip in the beaten eggs, then return to the flour mixture, turning to form a thick crust. Fry the shrimp in the hot oil until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.

Toss the shrimp with the prepared sauce. Arrange the lettuce in a shallow serving bowl or on individual plates. Top with the shrimp and garnish with scallions.

Photo by Stephanie Foley

Bang Bang Shrimp

Marinated Cucumbers

So many cucumbers, so little time...I love, love, love cucumbers. Right now they are growing almost out of control in our garden-so I have been looking for a few new recipes. Here is one of my favorites. This goes with any meal and is delicious as a snack!

You might also add imitation "krab" for a more hearty portion!

Marinated Cucumbers

1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, about 1/8 tsp each

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers and onions. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients, cover and shake well. Pour over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Marinated Cucumbers

So many cucumbers, so little time…I love, love, love cucumbers. Right now they are growing almost out of control in our garden-so I have been looking for a few new recipes. Here is one of my favorites. This goes with any meal and is delicious as a snack!

You might also add imitation “krab” for a more hearty portion!

Marinated Cucumbers

1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, about 1/8 tsp each

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers and onions. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients, cover and shake well. Pour over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Sweet Baby Back Ribs

Once upon a time, I came across a recipe for Baby Back Ribs and have used the same method to make ribs ever since. It's incredibly simple and the results are fantastic!

Here is the recipe (for four people):

2 racks baby back ribs
kosher salt
one large bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (or more if you like them extra saucy!)

Turn each rack of ribs upside down. Cut each rib from the rack individually. Place the cut ribs in a large stew pot, cover with water and a liberal amount of kosher salt (about 2 tbsp), and bring to a rolling boil. When the pot comes to a rolling boil, skim the fat from the top of the pot with a ladle at least twice. Continue boiling for 75-90 minutes, or until the rib meat begins to separate from the bone, exposing the bone ends.

Preheat the oven to Broil.

Place a layer of tin foil over a large baking sheet. Strain the water from the boiled ribs into a colander.

Squeeze the bottle of BBQ sauce into a large bowl. Using tongs, coat each rib in the sauce bowl, then place on the foil-covered baking sheet. When all the ribs are coated and placed on the baking sheet, broil until blackened tips begin to form on the ribs.

Serve with potato salad or side of your choice. Enjoy–with plenty of napkins!

Sweet Baby Back Ribs

Once upon a time, I came across a recipe for Baby Back Ribs and have used the same method to make ribs ever since. It’s incredibly simple and the results are fantastic!

Here is the recipe (for four people):

2 racks baby back ribs
kosher salt
one large bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (or more if you like them extra saucy!)

Turn each rack of ribs upside down. Cut each rib from the rack individually. Place the cut ribs in a large stew pot, cover with water and a liberal amount of kosher salt (about 2 tbsp), and bring to a rolling boil. When the pot comes to a rolling boil, skim the fat from the top of the pot with a ladle at least twice. Continue boiling for 75-90 minutes, or until the rib meat begins to separate from the bone, exposing the bone ends.

Preheat the oven to Broil.

Place a layer of tin foil over a large baking sheet. Strain the water from the boiled ribs into a colander.

Squeeze the bottle of BBQ sauce into a large bowl. Using tongs, coat each rib in the sauce bowl, then place on the foil-covered baking sheet. When all the ribs are coated and placed on the baking sheet, broil until blackened tips begin to form on the ribs.

Serve with potato salad or side of your choice. Enjoy–with plenty of napkins!

Favorite Copycat Recipe: P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps...Amazing!

This has been my absolute favorite dinner to make this summer. It is so yummy and tastes (to me) just like the PF Chang's Original! This isn't a super quick recipe-takes me about an hour, but is totally worth it. Just keep in mind if you are using peanut oil for the first time-it gets very hot-very QUICK! I try to make the pan "just hot enough" to stir fry-a slight bubble to the oil in the pan instead of sizzling. The crispy noodles are not a must-have for me, so I usually omit them. There are many ingredients in this recipe that weren't pantry staples, but after three times making this recipe (and other similar recipes) these items have become regulars on the grocery list.

Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine:

For the Chicken:
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Noodles:
2 bundles cellophane noodles
Peanut oil, for frying

For the Stir-Fry:
4 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
4 scallions; 2 minced, 2 cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms,stemmed and diced
3/4 cup diced water chestnuts
Small lettuce leaves, for serving
Soy sauce, chili paste and/or hot mustard, for serving

Directions
Prepare the chicken: Whisk the egg white, cornstarch and rice wine in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces, the rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl, then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.

Fry the noodles: Pull the noodles apart into sections. Heat 3/4 inch peanut oil in a medium saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer registers 380 degrees F. Working in batches, press the noodles into the oil with a spatula until they puff, 5 to 10 seconds. Drain on paper towels.

Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the skillet; when almost smoking, stir in the garlic, ginger, jalapeno and minced scallions, then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the sugar and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallion pieces and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and chicken and cook 1 minute.

Make a bed of noodles on a platter and top with the chicken mixture. Serve the noodles and stir-fry with lettuce leaves and soy sauce for dipping.

Favorite Copycat Recipe: P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps...Amazing!

This has been my absolute favorite dinner to make this summer. It is so yummy and tastes (to me) just like the PF Chang’s Original! This isn’t a super quick recipe-takes me about an hour, but is totally worth it. Just keep in mind if you are using peanut oil for the first time-it gets very hot-very QUICK! I try to make the pan “just hot enough” to stir fry-a slight bubble to the oil in the pan instead of sizzling. The crispy noodles are not a must-have for me, so I usually omit them. There are many ingredients in this recipe that weren’t pantry staples, but after three times making this recipe (and other similar recipes) these items have become regulars on the grocery list.

Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine:

For the Chicken:
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon chinese rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Noodles:
2 bundles cellophane noodles
Peanut oil, for frying

For the Stir-Fry:
4 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
4 scallions; 2 minced, 2 cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms,stemmed and diced
3/4 cup diced water chestnuts
Small lettuce leaves, for serving
Soy sauce, chili paste and/or hot mustard, for serving

Directions
Prepare the chicken: Whisk the egg white, cornstarch and rice wine in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces, the rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl, then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.

Fry the noodles: Pull the noodles apart into sections. Heat 3/4 inch peanut oil in a medium saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer registers 380 degrees F. Working in batches, press the noodles into the oil with a spatula until they puff, 5 to 10 seconds. Drain on paper towels.

Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the skillet; when almost smoking, stir in the garlic, ginger, jalapeno and minced scallions, then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the sugar and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallion pieces and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and chicken and cook 1 minute.

Make a bed of noodles on a platter and top with the chicken mixture. Serve the noodles and stir-fry with lettuce leaves and soy sauce for dipping.

A fruitful summer :)

A trip to the grocery is not always the most fun or exciting item on my to-do list. But in the summer, when the fruits and veggies are diverse and plentiful, it's so much fun to try new things. Our 11 year old is especially fond of fruit..he once ate a pint of wonderfully sweet, ripe blueberries in a sitting. He then asked me if I had added sugar to the berries and I explained that the berries contained "natural sugar". He was a bit perplexed (he might subsist on packaged pop tarts, brownies, and the like if it were up to him :) but that conversation prompted me to begin searching for new and exotic fruits in our quest to add more "natural sugar" to our diets.

One week I purchased five new fruits, and each night we sampled one new fruit from the bowl. Not only was it fun and a great learning experience, but dessert was ready-made...by nature!

Here are the fruits we sampled, favorites first:


Cherimoya = Custard Apple: This South American tropical fruit is shaped like a pine cone and has a gray-green, scaly skin. The soft white pulp inside has large black (inedible) seeds and tastes like a creamy blend of tropical flavors.


Lychee: This popular Chinese fruit is about the size of a walnut, with a bumpy red shell encasing white translucent pulp that's similar in texture to a grape. The flavor is sweet, exotic, and very juicy. Don't eat the shell or the seed.


Prickly Pear: The pulp of these cactus fruits is a brilliant red or, occasionally, a yellowish green, and it tastes a bit like watered-down watermelon. Cooks exploit the color by adding slices of the pulp to fruit salads, puréeing it and straining out the seeds.


Guava: These bruise easily, so markets usually sell them while they're still hard and green. Allow them to ripen at room temperature until they become yellow and very aromatic, then either eat or refrigerate them. Don't peel, just remove the seeds.


Passionfruit: This aromatic fruit has a tart, tropical flavor. The red is more highly esteemed than the more acidic yellow or sweeter purple. They're ripe when their skins are wrinkled. The seeds are small and edible, so leave them in if you like.

A fruitful summer :)

A trip to the grocery is not always the most fun or exciting item on my to-do list. But in the summer, when the fruits and veggies are diverse and plentiful, it’s so much fun to try new things. Our 11 year old is especially fond of fruit..he once ate a pint of wonderfully sweet, ripe blueberries in a sitting. He then asked me if I had added sugar to the berries and I explained that the berries contained “natural sugar”. He was a bit perplexed (he might subsist on packaged pop tarts, brownies, and the like if it were up to him :) but that conversation prompted me to begin searching for new and exotic fruits in our quest to add more “natural sugar” to our diets.

One week I purchased five new fruits, and each night we sampled one new fruit from the bowl. Not only was it fun and a great learning experience, but dessert was ready-made…by nature!

Here are the fruits we sampled, favorites first:


Cherimoya = Custard Apple: This South American tropical fruit is shaped like a pine cone and has a gray-green, scaly skin. The soft white pulp inside has large black (inedible) seeds and tastes like a creamy blend of tropical flavors.


Lychee: This popular Chinese fruit is about the size of a walnut, with a bumpy red shell encasing white translucent pulp that’s similar in texture to a grape. The flavor is sweet, exotic, and very juicy. Don’t eat the shell or the seed.


Prickly Pear: The pulp of these cactus fruits is a brilliant red or, occasionally, a yellowish green, and it tastes a bit like watered-down watermelon. Cooks exploit the color by adding slices of the pulp to fruit salads, puréeing it and straining out the seeds.


Guava: These bruise easily, so markets usually sell them while they’re still hard and green. Allow them to ripen at room temperature until they become yellow and very aromatic, then either eat or refrigerate them. Don’t peel, just remove the seeds.


Passionfruit: This aromatic fruit has a tart, tropical flavor. The red is more highly esteemed than the more acidic yellow or sweeter purple. They’re ripe when their skins are wrinkled. The seeds are small and edible, so leave them in if you like.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I've come across some pretty amazing recipes lately courtesy of Food Network Magazine. This is one of my favorites-tying together all of my family's favorites in one dish. It's creamy, cheesy and a little bit spicy, and feeds a house full! It's definitely a weekend meal for me, as it took close to two hours start to finish. But the end result and leftovers were well worth the effort!

Ingredients
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup hot sauce (preferably Frank's)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 pound yellow sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half, then add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.

Spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni. Pour the cheese sauce evenly on top.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley. Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but I’ve come across some pretty amazing recipes lately courtesy of Food Network Magazine. This is one of my favorites-tying together all of my family’s favorites in one dish. It’s creamy, cheesy and a little bit spicy, and feeds a house full! It’s definitely a weekend meal for me, as it took close to two hours start to finish. But the end result and leftovers were well worth the effort!

Ingredients
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup hot sauce (preferably Frank’s)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 pound yellow sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half, then add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.

Spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni. Pour the cheese sauce evenly on top.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley. Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.