Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry

I think I might be the last person on earth to realize how easy stir fry is.  I've always enjoyed it, mind you.  Anything I can put soy sauce on is right at the top of my "eat this now" list.

But how easy!  The last time I made stir fry I over did it.  It was delicious and I loved every bite of it, but easy it was not.  I used too many vegetables that required too much prep-work.  Not this time though, this time I kept it simple.

That's the trick to stir fry, I think.  Keep it simple.

I started by cooking some rice according to package directions.  I used chicken broth instead of water to make it a little more flavorful.

I used to be so terrified of cooking rice.  If nothing else comes out of this cooking experiment I call Two Recipes, I now know I can cook rice with confidence.  I think that qualifies as success.

For the stir fry portion of the meal, I started by heating some oil over medium-high heat until it was shimmering.  then I added some chopped garlic and cooked for about 2 minutes.

When the garlic started to smell amazing, I added the snow peas and cooked for about 2 minutes more, until they were bright green and a little flimsy, but not too soft  I think real recipe writers call this "crisp-tender."  That sounds pretentious to me.

As this was happening I combined a mixture of soy sauce, Sriracha, ground ginger, chicken stock, and corn starch in a small bowl and set aside.  Then I added 1 pound of peeled shrimp to the hot skillet.

I let the shrimp cook for about 4 minutes, until they were starting to turn pink but were not cooked all the way through, then I added some chopped scallions and the soy sauce mixture.

I cooked this until the sauce had thickened and the shrimp were cooked through.

I served the shrimp and snow peas on top rice, with a little bit of scallions on top.  Cilantro would have been out of this world too.  Cilantro is always out of this world.

This stir fry was everything I like about Asian-inspired food.  It was a little salty, a little spicy, and very fresh tasting.

The sauce didn't drown the shrimp and snow peas, rather it complemented their fresh and distinct flavor.

Also?  Sriracha.  The Thai hot chili sauce is a revelation.  I can't believe it has taken me this long to try it.  If you like spicy food, you must have this condiment in your arsenal.  I put it on leftover steamed rice the next day for lunch and was floored.  So. Good.

Aside from my new found Sriracha love, what I really loved about this recipe is that it comes together in the time it takes to steam a cup of rice, which for me is about 20 minutes.  Even better than that, it doesn't taste like it.  It tastes like you must have spent a great deal of time and energy creating something so delicious, when really the most time consuming and energy requiring thing I had to do was peel a pound of shrimp.  It's literally throw in ingredients, stir, throw again, stir again, serve on rice.  That's easy.

Here's the recipe:

Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry (adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)


1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (more if you like things spicy!)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I'm not crazy about the flavor of ginger, so I used close to 1/4 teaspoon.  If you like it, though, by all means use more.  You really can't mess this up)
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pound snow peas
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined with the tails removed
Chopped scallions
Steamed rice for serving

Cook rice according to package instructions.  I do this by bringing 2 cups of liquid (in this case, chicken stock) to a boil, then adding 1 cup of rice and stirring once.  Then I place a tightly fitting lid on top, reduce the heat to almost nothing, meaning I look at the little light that tells me a heating element is on, and I turn it as low as it can go without that light going out, and cook until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid, usually about 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, Sriracha, ground ginger, and corn starch.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it is shimmering.  Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until fragrant.  Then add the snow peas and cook for about 2 minutes more.  Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook for about 3-4 minutes until they just turn pink.  Add the scallions.  Whisk together the soy-chile sauce mixture and add to the skillet.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes longer, or until the shrimp are opaque throughout and the sauce has thickened a bit.

Serve over the steamed rice, maybe with a little Sriracha, just for good measure.  I love this stuff.

Enjoy!

Two Recipes' first GIVEAWAY!

Did you guys know that I have super talented friends?

They're also really entrepreneurial.

And pretty.

The blonde one, Katy, and her business partner Kate, own a wildly successful Floral business in Dallas called Stems of Dallas that creates the most beautiful, lovely, feminine, special, creative, amazing floral arrangements.  If you live in Dallas and need flowers, you're silly if you go anywhere else.  For real.

Also, check out their blog.  Sometimes I just go there when I need to look at something pretty.

They were mentioned in the Dallas Morning News, which I may or may not have on my refrigerator.  It's creepy, but I'm cool with it.

They were also mentioned over at Daily Candy and in The Knot Texas June issue.  Did I mention they started this in Kate's back house?

Did I mention they're rock stars?

Did I need to?

Which brings me to my next question:

Do you love free stuff?  

Great.  Let's move on.

My other super talented, entrepreneurial friend Amy recently started making aprons out of vintage materials.  Mrs. Cochran Designs takes vintage tablecloths, pillows, napkins--anything really, and sews them into adorable aprons.  She just started a couple of weeks ago, and she already has an Etsy store and has orders just pouring in!

And, because she's nice and she likes me, she sent me one!

How cute is that?

Did you know, too, that cats with wonky ears love aprons?  It's definitely the strings.

That's not all... check it:

Yep!  That's my "logo," if you will.  She hand stitched that.  Like, by hand.  She's a rock star too.

Oh. I'm sorry. Did you want one?

Maybe this one?  For free?

Well lucky you, because Two Recipes is giving away that very same apron!  Just follow a couple of quick steps and you're entered to win!

Here's How to Enter:

First, go to Mrs. Cochran Designs Blog.  Look around, stay awhile!

Then, if you're on Twitter, follow @MrsCsDesigns and @HatsTwoRecipes!

Finally, leave a comment on this post answering What is your ideal meal?  Do you love a big, hearty pasta?  Maybe a juicy steak?  Maybe it's not in you're kitchen at all, in which case, which restaurant do you go to?  Can I come?

The contest will run until Sunday night at midnight, and the winner will be announced Monday morning!

Fun, right?

Good luck!

***WE HAVE A WINNER!***

First and foremost, you all are awesome.  Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.  I used something very official called a random number generator to pick the winner because honestly it would have been impossible to pick myself, even if I was picking blindly out of a hat.

That said, we have a winner!

Simona, lucky number 14, who said "My ideal meal varies by the day, but it would most definitely include something chocolate for dessert!" is our lucky winner!

Simona, I completely agree.  Any meal is ideal when chocolate is involved.

Contact me at hatsie.haley@gmail.com to collect your super stylin' new apron!

Thanks everyone for entering... and stay tuned!  This was so much fun, there might just be more giveaways in the future!

Crab Cakes, Sauces and Salads

After this meal, I was dubbed The Queen of Sauce.

Evidently I can whip mayonnaise or sour cream or oil and vinegar with herbs and spices into tasty submission.  

This talent of sorts comes in handy when you need something in which to dip a chip, or dress a salad, or, if you're really lucky, to top a crab cake.  I'm pretty pleased with the title, thanks very much.

By the way, crab cakes are super easy to make.  I love to order them at restaurants, especially when they're done well, and I'm happy to know that I can recreate the same experience at home.

Here we go!

First I picked through some lump crab meat to check for any stray shells.

Then I added some evaporated milk, 2 eggs, and some flour,

And mixed it all up!

I heated some vegetable oil over medium heat until it was shimmering and popped when I added a drop of water, then I put about 2 tablespoons of the crab meat into the oil and cooked until golden brown.

When one side was done, I flipped them over and cooked the other side.

When they were done I drained them on a paper towel-lined plate and started the next batch.

I served the crab cakes with some Remoulade sauce which was a crazy concoction of most everything in my refrigerator.

I also served a Romaine salad with creamy lemon dressing.

See?  Queen of sauce, baby.

Oh, and the beer bread.  The beer bread!

These crab cakes were some of the best I've ever had.  They had such a fantastic texture.  They were creamy and soft on the inside with a crunch on the outside.

So delicious.  If you like crab cakes, even just a little bit, you should try these.  They're easy, wonderful, and go great with sauce, of which I am the queen.

The queen!

Here's the recipe:

Crab Cakes (adapted from An Epic Change)


16 oz of jumbo lump crab
1/3 cup of evaporated milk
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour (start with 1/4 cup, then keep adding until the crab mixture is still creamy but not too liquid-y.  Trust your instincts)
salt and pepper
vegetable oil, enough to generously cover the bottom of a skillet.

Pick through the crab meat, squeezing any big pieces gently with your thumb and forefinger to look for any shells that may have gotten in there.  Add the evaporated milk, eggs, flour, and salt and pepper.  Mix to combine.

Heat the vegetable oil until it is shimmering and pops when you add a drop of water.  Be careful with hot oil!  Frying in batches of 2 or 3, depending on the size of your skillet, add about 2 tablespoons of the crab batter and fry on each side until they are golden brown.  This goes fast, because the crab meat is already cooked so really you just need to crunchify the outside and warm them through.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate and repeat until the crab mixture is gone.

Remoulade Sauce 


1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons of hot sauce (I used Cholula)
1 1/2 tablespoons of whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of capers, drained
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Paprika

Mix all that mess together and taste for seasonings.  This really was an experiment, so if you want to add something, you go right ahead.  Let me know how it goes!

Creamy Lemon Dressing (adapted from Bon Appetempt)


1 tablespoon vinegar (I used cider because it's what I had)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt
black pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of light cream

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients then taste for seasonings.  Whisk in the olive oil and light cream.  Serve atop crisp Romaine leaves.  Yum

Serve this, with the Remoulade sauce and crab cakes, and wait until someone calls you the Queen of Sauce, then bask.  I'll share the title happily.

Enjoy!

Beer Bread with Garlic, Parmesan and Rosemary

Great news!  

I baked and it wasn't a disaster!  

And it's not a cookie!  

And I want to share it with you!  Because, if you're like me, then when you hear the words garlic, Parmesan, Rosemary and bread in one recipe, you will design a meal just for the excuse to make it immediately.  

Oh, and? I want you to be happy, and this bread will do just that.

Does it bother you that I start sentences with a conjunction, like "and," or "also?"  Sorry.

Let's make bread!

First I roughly chopped up a whole head of garlic.  You heard me.  A whole head.  That's all of the cloves.

I also chopped up a bunch of rosemary and grated about 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Then I sifted the dry ingredients into a bowl.

I added the garlic, rosemary and cheese and stirred just to combine.  Then I cracked open a bottle of Coors Light and poured it into the dry ingredients and let it sit for a couple of minutes so the dry ingredients could soak up the beer.  After it had sat for a while, I stirred it all together!

So, I don't have a bread pan, and instead of going out to buy one, I went on K's roof and soaked up some much needed sun.  Don't worry though, the pull of garlic, Parmesan and rosemary was too strong, and I improvised.  I used the pie pan I used for my blueberry pie and made a circle of bread instead of a loaf of bread.

I poured some butter on top for good measure, and sprinkled it with kosher salt, then baked it for 45 minutes.

Yum.  You don't even know how good this smelled right out of the oven.  Think fresh baked bread meets garlic and rosemary.  Maybe you do know how good this smelled.

This bread is kind of dense and spongy.  It's also a little reminiscent of cornbread, but not as crumbly or, well, corny .  It's garlicky and salty and a little sweet... it's just so good.

Make this, eat this warm, with butter, and maybe some crab cakes, which I will tell you about very, very soon.

Here's the recipe:

Beer Bread with Garlic, Parmesan and Rosemary (adapted from Food 52)

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (if you want, you can substitute 1 cup of white flour with whole wheat flour)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling on top

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 head garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup (or less, depending on your love of rosemary) of chopped rosemary leaves

One 12 ounce can or bottle of beer (whatever you have on hand.  I ain't no beer snob)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and chop the garlic and set aside.  Remove rosemary leaves from the stems, roughly chop, and set aside.  Grate the Parmesan cheese and set aside.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl.  Add the garlic, herbs and Parmesan cheese and stir gently to combine.  

Pour the beer and let it sit in the dry ingredients so they soak up some of the beer.  Then stir until just combined.  The dough should be sticky and thick.

Grease a bread pan (or pie pan, if you're like me and you like lazy afternoons in the sun more than Target) and add the dough.  Pour the melted butter on top and sprinkle with more kosher salt.  You could also sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.  That would be amazing. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the bread feels firm to the touch.

Serve warm, with butter, please.  Under no circumstances are you to worry about your garlic breath.  You're better than that.

Enjoy!

Rigatoni with Green Vegetables and Avocado

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I don't pay for cable TV in my apartment.  I get the basics, like ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, and, oddly enough, The CW (xoxo, Gossip Girl, duh) because that's what came with my building.  I do not, however, get the Food Network.  For the most part I've been dealing with this by sneaking 5 minute snippets of Giada or Ida when I'm over at K's house, which I have to do while he's not looking because cooking shows aren't his thang.  I've also been getting a healthy dose of food inspiration from food blogs.  So, you know, I've been getting along just fine I guess.

I really love the competition shows on the Food Network, like Iron Chef and Next Food Network Star.  However, I do not care for the baking competition shows like Cupcake Wars.  Really?  I don't care how many catty, crazy women you combine in one kitchen, it's not hardcore. They're cupcakes for Pete's sake!

Anyway.

Last night I made a pasta that was inspired by the good competition shows in which the hosts give the chefs some crazy set of guidelines, ingredients and time constraints and the chefs have to produce something gourmet.  My guidelines?  All of the star ingredients must be green.  My time frame?  30 Minutes.  I was really hungry. 

Introducing Rigatoni with Green Vegetables and Avocado, or Green Pasta.

I started by boiling some heavily salted water for the pasta.  

Meanwhile, I chopped some asparagus on the bias (diagonally) and minced up some garlic.  I also got some frozen peas out of the freezer to start thawing a bit.

I heated some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and added the asparagus and cooked for about 4 minutes.

Then I added the minced garlic and cooked for about 2 more minutes, until the garlic was fragrant but not burned.

Next come the peas.  The last time I cooked with frozen peas, I, for some reason, violently ripped open the bag and peas went everywhere.  Peas are small and round and will roll places you never thought a pea would roll.  I found them all over my apartment.  This time, I very carefully opened just the corner of the bag of frozen peas and then very carefully poured about half of the bag into the skillet and then very carefully stirred. Thankfully, no peas were harmed (or lost) in the making of this dish.

I let this cook until the peas were no longer frozen, then I added some lemon zest, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

That's my hand.  And those are my once-manicured-now-chipped nails.  Sorry Mom.  Lets move on.

I let the veggies and lemon zest get to know each other for a couple of minutes then I added some half and half and the juice of the lemon and turned the heat down to medium-low.

While that was simmering and reducing and thickening, I added my rigatoni to the boiling water and cooked until about 2 minutes from al dente.  Then I reserved about 1/2 cup of pasta water, drained the pasta and put it back into the pot.  I added about 2 large handfuls of arugula on top of the hot pasta and then the peas and asparagus mixture on top of that.  I splashed a little bit of the starchy pasta water into it so it wouldn't get too dry, and tossed to combine until all the liquid was absorbed, about 2 minutes.

I removed the pasta from the heat and added a tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce and about 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.  I tossed to combine until the butter and cheese were well incorporated.

So, that's a great pasta dish.  It's ready to serve, right?  

Wrong.

See, while all this was happening, I also halved an avocado and cut it into cubes. When the pasta was finished, I put it in a bowl, sprinkled some more Parmesan cheese on top and some salt and pepper.  Then I topped with avocado.   Yep.  Avocado.

Avocado on hot pasta.  

What happened was this:  the pasta was perfectly cooked to al dente, the peas were sweet and delightfully mushy, the asparagus were a little firm, and the avocados were soft and creamy.  It was a texture-extravaganza in a bowl.

  

I need to talk more about the avocados though.  I really can't describe how they took this pasta from great to HOLY COW WHAT AM I EATING.  They were like softened butter.  Butter!  Is that weird?  I don't think so.

Also, the shape of the pasta, with its large tubular-ness, is perfect because it catches some of the peas inside the pasta tubes.  Avocado and asparagus on the outside, peas on the inside--it's like a flavor-explosion every time you take a bite.

Also, avocado rules.

Here's the recipe!

Rigatoni with Green Vegetables and Avocado (serves 4)

1 box of rigatoni

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 a bunch of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces on the diagonal

1/2 bag of frozen peas

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of arugula (about 2 large handfuls)

Lemon zest and lemon juice of one lemon

1/3 cup half and half (I used fat free)

1/2 teaspoon Salt 

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper (depending on your heat tolerance)

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 an avocado, cubed, per person

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.  Add 1 box of rigatoni and cook until about 2 minutes from al dente.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in large skillet and add the asparagus.  Cook for about 4 minutes, add the garlic, and cook for 2 more.  Then add the frozen peas and cook until they are bright green and no longer frozen.  

Add the zest of one lemon, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Cook for about 1 minute then add the half and half and the lemon juice.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce has thickened and the asparagus is tender.

Halve an avocado and cut it into cubes.

When the pasta is drained, return to the pot and add the arugula.  Pour the pea and asparagus mixture over the arugula and add some of the starchy pasta water if it looks dry.  Toss for about 1-2 minutes until the pasta finishes cooking and the liquid has been absorbed.  Remove from the heat and add the Parmesan cheese and butter and toss until well incorporated.  Adjust seasonings if needed.

Serve hot, in bowls with the cubed avocado on top and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and some fresh cracked black pepper. 

Sit back and wonder where avocado pasta has been all your life.

Enjoy!