Tag Archives: dinner

Garlic Shrimp and Snow Peas

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Garlic Shrimp

Garlic Shrimp
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This one’s based on a Tam family recipe. Growing up, each perfect, pink shrimp had to be closely guarded on your plate. Turn away for even a moment and that was it. Your shrimp which you’d been saving all meal was in your smiling cousin or uncle’s mouth.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb shrimp
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 shallots
  • 1/4 lb of snow peas
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of corn starch

Prep

Peel and devein your shrimp.  Mince the garlic and finely slice the shallots. Salt and pepper the shrimp in a shallow, add the corn starch and stir. De-string the snow peas.

Shrimp, garlic, shallots

Cooking

Blanch the snow peas in some lightly salted water for a minute and transfer them to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Snow Peas

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large saute pan and heat it on high heat until it shimmers. Add the garlic and shallots and bloom their flavor for 20 seconds. Add the shrimp in a even layer.

Blooming

The shrimp will be ready to flip when they’ve turned white on the sides. Flip the shrimp and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes. Give the shrimp another hit of soy sauce, salt and pepper and that’s it. In terms of plating start with a bed of the peas and spoon the shrimp on top.

Garlic Shrimp
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Roast Chicken

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Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken
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An oven is an amazing thing. A magic box that you put things in and delicous comes out. You can have no culinary skill. I being a case in point. Well, the oven can fix that. Roast chicken is a very simple succulent juicy entree that can go with a variety of sides.

Ingredients

  • 1  whole  medium to small chicken
  • salt and pepper
  • parsley for garnish

Prep

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Remove your chicken from packaging and rinse it out.

ProTip: Most chickens sold whole come with giblets and a neck. Probably not the set that your particular chicken  was born with, but that’s besides the point. They’re usually stored in the body cavity. Remember to remove these and set them aside for gravy or sauteing.

 

Pat the chicken dry. Sprinkle a good amount of salt and pepper into the body cavity. Truss the chicken if you have some butchers twine.

Trussing the chicken pulls the legs to the body, which makes the density of the bird more consistent and results in more even cooking, but if you don’t have twine it’s fine. It’ll still be edible.

Look at that rack

Liberally salt and pepper the outside of the bird, place it in a shallow roasting pan and we’re good for prep.

Salt and Pepper

Cooking

Put the chicken in the oven. Thats it! That simple. You’re well on your way to giving Thomas Keller a run for his money. At this point you may start drinking or entertaining or whatever you like. The most important thing to do is to not open the oven. Don’t baste it. Don’t open the door to say hullo. Let the oven do its magic.

At about 45 minutes start checking the chicken for doneness. The chicken will be done when the breast meat has reached 165C or the juices from the body cavity run golden and clear, not pink. If its not done at the 45 minute mark give it another 10-15 minutes and check again. Let the chicken rest for 15-20 minutes.

Resting

Garnish with some parsley and carve.

 

Roasted Chicken
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Pan Seared Tilapia and Sugar Snap Peas

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Seared Tilapia and Sugar Snap Peas

Seared Tilapia and Sugar Snap Peas
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A quick and easy weeknight dinner that takes less than 40 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

  • 1-2 tilapia fillets
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 a pound of sugar snap peas
  • 1/2 of one carrot
  • 4-5 button medium mushrooms
  • salt and pepper
  • soy sauce
  • half a lemon

Prep

Ingredients

Slice the mushrooms. De-string peas by snapping the stem end and pulling the fibrous side away. Julienne the carrots. Mince the garlic. Rise off the tilapia and pat it dry. Season with pepper and some soy sauce.

Cooking

Warming Oil

Start with a table spoon or two of vegetable oil in a large skillet. If you have a wok please do this in the wok and get the oil screaming hot. If you’re using a nonstick pan like me when the oil is shimmering and flows freely add the garlic and carrot and stir for a minute or so. If you have a wok don’t add anything until the oil just starts to smolder.

Stir Fry

Add the mushrooms and peas and continue to stir fry for another minute. Now add a tablespoon or two of water. Things should start to get steamy and everything will cook through. Season with pepper and a dash of soy sauce.  Set the veg aside in a covered container to stay warm.

Peas and Carrots

Clean the pan and add a few table spoons of olive oil. Again when the oil’s shimmering add the fish.

mmm sizzle

Since the fillets are generally very thin the fish will cook very quickly. In 3-4 minutes the first side should be golden brown. Flip the fish and continue cooking for another 3 or so minutes until the other side is browned. Blot the fish on a bit of towel.

Plating

To get the cool accents on the plate before you place anything dip the back of a spoon in some soy and drag it across the place at a angle. Spoon a small heap of the veg onto the center of the plate. My fillets were pretty wide so I cut them in half and laid them on top of the veg at an angle. Squeeze a little lemon juice onto each piece of fish and you’re good to go.

Seared Tilapia and Sugar Snap Peas
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