Thai Fried Rice with Shrimp

I found something at my supermarket called “stir fry oil” that is infused with garlic, onion, and ginger. I tried it with this recipe and, meh, don’t bother. You’d be much better off steeping some garlic, onion, and ginger in warm oil for a bit before fixing the recipe.  I had some red Thai jasmine rice, but any leftover rice would work.   The fresh herbs really make this recipe work; don’t skimp on them.

2 tbsp garlic oil
2 quarter sized slices of fresh ginger
3/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 dried hot red peppers, split
1 lb shrimp, peeled
1 1/2 cups cold cooked rice
1/2 cup sliced scallion tops
1/4 cup minced fresh herbs – I had 2 parts cilantro : 1 part basil : 1 part mint
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet and add the ginger, hot peppers, and carrots. Stir fry until the carrots are nearly soft. Add the shrimp and stir fry until they are cooked through.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir fry until they are hot.  Remove the hot peppers and ginger slices before serving.

Superb Turkey Meatloaf

I got home from work this afternoon with no idea what I was going to do with the package of ground turkey that I had defrosted.  My fridge was almost bare but I did find some leftover quinoa, a lone carrot, and some wilted parsley.

Whenever I’ve attempted a turkey meatloaf in the past, I’ve ended up with a flavorless, dense, gray lump.  Not too appetizing. And how do I make meatloaf without my FODMAP ingredients like onions and ketchup?   Somehow, this combination produced a tasty, moist loaf.  I’m guessing the quinoa had something to do with it.

1 19 oz package ground turkey
1 medium egg
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup chopped scallion greens
1 grated carrot
1/2 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon garlic oil
1 teaspoon garlic tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

Worcestershire and sugar for glaze.

Preheat oven to 350  Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil.  Mound the meat mixture on the foil and shape into a loaf. Combine about 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire with a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Paint the mixture all over the loaf.  This makes the loaf a nice brown color.  Bake for 35 – 45 minutes until cooked through.  Take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Grilled ribeye with lemon-fennel-chili salt

Continuing with the celebratory weekend theme, last night we grilled some ribeye steak.  About 2 hours before grilling, I took the steak out of the fridge and rubbed some Lemon Salt with Fennel and Chili all over it.  I let it sit and then grilled over hot coals.  The recipe is from the food blog Serious Eats; one of my favorite foodie sites on the web.  The flavored salt was so good that I put it on my baked potato and my sauteed summer squash. I ended up with a bit of salt overload and am so thirsty today! But it was so good!

Birthday Shrimp

This is super easy and makes a delicious dish for a celebration.  The recipe calls for clarified butter (or purchased ghee) but you could probably use regular butter without any  problems,  just don’t turn the heat up too high. And please, use real butter. This is a dish for a celebration.

1/4 cup clarified butter or ghee
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1/4 cup chopped green scallion tops
1 lb. peeled raw shrimp
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 – 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Warm the butter in a skillet and add the sliced garlic.  Keep it on the heat until the garlic just begins to sizzle, then remove the pan from the heat.  Let the garlic steep in the butter for 15 – 20 minutes.  Remove the garlic from the butter and discard it.  Reheat the butter in the skillet and add the rosemary and scallions.  When those are sizzling, add the shrimp.  Cover the pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until the shrimp are cooked through.  Add the parsley, lemon zest, and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice and stir. Taste, add salt and pepper and more lemon juice if necessary.  This is nice served over rice or wheat-free angel hair pasta.

Modern Spice Potato Salad

The cookbook Modern Spice, by Monica Bhide, is a great inspiration to me.  Monica has a recipe for potato “tikkis” (patties) that is the inspiration for this dish.  Instead of mashing everything up and forming patties that need to be fried, I just toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve.  This can be made with Yukon Gold potatoes, purple potatoes, sweet potatoes or any combination.  Fresh pomegranate seeds would be an awesome addition to this dish, but I have no idea of their FODMAP content.

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes
olive oil
3/4 cup small diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion tops
1/4 tsp or more cayenne pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro OR 1 serrano pepper, finely minced
1/2 cup chopped lightly salted peanuts
juice of half a lemon
garlic oil

Preheat oven to 400F.  If using sweet potatoes, peel them.  Cut potatoes into chunks about 1/2 inch in size.  Toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in the hot oven, turning once or twice, until the potatoes are cooked through and starting to get a little crispy.  Depending on your potatoes, this could take from 20 –  30 minutes.  When they are done, remove from oven and toss in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Adjust seasoning.

Fish filets with Mint / cilantro chutney

This is so easy and tasty.  I served it with my Modern Spice Potato Salad.

fish fillets – tilapia, catfish, etc.
cayenne pepper
olive oil

Chutney:
1/2 cup fresh mint
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 – 2 fresh serrano peppers
2 green scallion tops
juice of half a lemon

For the chutney, put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly ground up.  Add a little water if it is not thin enough to be a sauce.  Adjust seasoning if necessary. Set aside.

Rub the fish fillets with a light coating of cayenne pepper. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Saute the fish in the hot oil until cooked through. Serve with the chutney

Hominy Vegetable Saute

Made turkey cutlets again tonight and served them with this saute.  Measurements are approximate.

garlic oil
3 carrots, diced
1/4 lb small spinach leaves (about 2 handfuls)
1 can hominy, drained
2 tbsp minced cilantro
2 tbsp minced fresh mint
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Heat the oil in a saute pan and add the carrots.  Cover and let them cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are nearly done.  Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the hominy, herbs, and fennel seed and cook until thoroughly heated through.  Add the lemon juice and season to taste.

Slow cooker carnitas for tacos

Earlier this year, we spent 5 weeks without a kitchen while ours was being renovated.  I made an awful lot of food using my slow cooker and a lot of the recipes I tried were awful.  But I did enjoy Stephanie O’Dea’s recipe for pork done in the slower cooker, carnitas. Here’s how I modified it.

3 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
cumin
salt

Put the roast in the slow cooker and douse with the juices.  Season with salt and season heavily with cumin.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred the meat with two forks, removing any large chunks of fat.

For the tacos:

shredded pork
soft corn tortillas
tomatillo salsa
finely diced radishes
chopped cilantro
chopped scallion tops
lime wedges

Salmon in Bengali Mustard Sauce

Elimination Diet

I love this dish.  I found it on Epicurious some time ago.  I serve it over rice or quinoa with a simple sauteed vegetable on the side.

FISH

3/4 lb salmon filet
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

SAUCE

1 tbsp ground mustard (I use Coleman’s dry mustard)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp salt

2 tablespoons olive oil (or mustard oil if you have it)
1/4 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
2 fresh hot chiles, like serrano or super hot bird’s eye, slit partway up

Cut the fish into small pieces (1 inch by 2 inch recommended) and rub with the next 3 ingredients.  Let marinate for 30+ minutes in the fridge. Combine the dry mustard, cayenne, and salt with a tablespoon of water and stir until smooth.  Add another 7 tablespoons of water and stir.  Set aside

Heat the oil in a saute pan.  When hot, put in the mustard seeds.  When the seeds start to pop,, add the cumin and fennel seeds.  Stir once and then add the mustard sauce.  Add the  hot chiles and bring to a simmer. Add the fish pieces in a single layer.  Simmer for about 5 minutes, until fish is just done, spooning sauce over.

Cornell Chicken

Elimination diet

I found this recipe on Patsy Catsos’ site.  I buy chicken leg quarters at my local farmer’s market.  If I don’t marinate or brine them before grilling, they can be kind of tough though still very tasty.  Normally, I do a very spicy Jamaican jerk style marinade with a sweet and spicy bbq sauce; all loaded with fodmaps of course.  I made this for supper last night and it was very good, but I think I might try boosting the flavors next time by adding some other ingredients.  Maybe some ginger and hot red pepper flakes.  Or fennel seed and lemon zest.

Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce

1 egg
1 cup canola oil
1 pint cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon Bell’s poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon pepper
6 ounces dry vermouth

Beat the egg, then add remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Marinate chicken with the sauce in the refrigerator all day before grilling. Brush chicken with marinade every few minutes during cooking. Makes enough for 20 chicken pieces. Discard marinade after use; do not reuse.