Recipe #55 - Black Bean Salsa

How amazingly healthy does this recipe look?! I love making salsa. The tomatoes and habenaro pepper was straight form my father's garden.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Taste and add salt, pepper or more lime juice as necessary. Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer, or with grilled chicken breast as a meal.

I prepared this the day before I left for Kansas City. I stuck it in a cooler and it had time to marinade before joining my family for a taco dinner the following evening. Everyone loved it. It made a lot to. So much that we were able to have again it with brunch the next day. On our drive home, my Aunt Julie called me to ask how I made it. She wanted to make it with all the fresh vegetables in her garden. I absolutely love it when someone asks me for a recipe! Makes me feel like I got one really right. 

Rating: 9

Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16-17-ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
2-3 large tomatoes, seeded and diced 

1 haberaro pepper

1 large jalapeno pepper
2 large avocado, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Recipe #54 - Jumbo Shrimp Stuffed with Cilantro and Chiles

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Prepare an outdoor grill with a medium-high fire. Without removing the shells, slit about 3/4 of the way through the shrimp down the ridged back and remove the vein that runs down the center. Rinse and pat the shrimp dry. 

Whisk thyme leaves, lime juice, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and black pepper, to taste, in a shallow nonreactive bowl or dish. Lay the shrimp cut side down in the lime mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

In a food processor, pulse the garlic, jalapeno, scallions, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to make a coarse paste. Add the cilantro and pulse just enough to incorporate into the mixture. 

Spoon the mixture into the opening in the shrimp and close the shrimp. Grill the shrimp shell side down (to keep filling from falling out) for 3 minutes. Turn to the other shell side, cover, and grill another 2 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink and are slightly firm to the touch. Sprinkle with salt and serve. 

Now I couldn't find any shrimp in the shell, but I went ahead with the recipe with shrimp without the shell anyways. Below is a "Cook's Note" that was posted in the recipe. I can definitely understand why having the shell is so important. I didn't think that the shrimp retained as much flavor as it could have in the shell. My mother thought to was this recipe was at least a 9, but I disagree. I think that I could have made it better.  
"Cook's Note: Shrimp cooked in the shells are more intensely flavorful. Leaving the shells on provides a buffer against overcooking, a misfortune many shrimp suffer. Shrimp, even these jumbos, continue to cook once removed from the grill. It's always best to cook them just until opaque and let the delicate shellfish finish cooking off the heat. 

Jumbo shrimp in the shell can be a knife and fork sort of deal unless you're outside and it's summer and you are feeling very relaxed. Serve these with lots of napkins if your crowd is the peel-and-eat type." - Food Network Kitchens

Rating: 5 
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
16 (ish) jumbo shrimp, in the shell (about 1 1/4 pounds)
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
2 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 large jalapeno, with seeds
2 scallions (white and green parts)
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Recipe #53 - Mandarin Orange and Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding

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Dessert attempt number two: bread pudding. When I worked at a sushi restaurant in Knoxville, they served a bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream. I only had it once and wasn't the biggest fan. I found it to be extremely bland. But I saw this recipe, in the same Simply Southern mentioned previously (getting my moneys worth!), that had incorporated a fruit and it caught my interest. 

Start by chopping the chocolate bars in to tiny pieces. Then cut the bread up in to 1/2" size pieces. In a large bowl,  combine bread cubes, oranges, and chocolate. 

In a small saucepan, heat cream and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles form around edge of pan. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and orange zest. Gradually add eggs, whisking until combined. 

Pour cream mixture over bread mixture. Let stand for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking dish. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until center is set. Serve immediately. 

Two words: rich and moist. I couldn't even finish the serving above. The oranges seemed to take care of the blandness I experienced previously. It made the batter more sweet and zesty. It was so good!

Rating: 10

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

8 cups (1/2-inch) cubed baguette bread

2 (8 1/4-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained and cut in half

2 (4-ounce) bars dark chocolate, chopped

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange zest

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Recipe #52 - Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

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I found this one in a Simply Southern magazine I bought (for $7.99! Ridic, I know). But I have been getting tired of filtering through all the recipes online. It's literally exhausting. 

Preheat oven to 400º. It said to line a large, shallow roasting pan with aluminum foil, but I don't like cooking with aluminum foil. So I used wax paper to line the cookie sheet. 

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, parsley, salt, garlic powder, and pepper, whisking to combine well. Add potatoes, tossing to coat. 

Arrange potatoes in an even layer in prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally.

And they're finished. These were amazing. I served them with steak and a Caesar salad. I think that I could have left them in a little longer to make them a little crisper. Other than that. Perfect. 

Rating: 10

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Prep time: 15 mins, Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 8 -10

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

5 pounds small fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

Recipe #51 - Shrimp Tomato Cream Sauce with Lobster Ravioli

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Two firsts in this recipe for me. One, I've haven't cooked with shrimp until now. And two, I've never made a stock before. 

Peel and devein the shrimp, reserving the shells and heads. (If you've got them. I couldn't find any organic shrimp with the heads.) Chop the shrimp into bite-size pieces. 

To make the shrimp stock, combine the shrimp shells and heads, onion, and celery in a large pot. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pot, then add the lemon halves as well. Add the dried basil, oregano, thyme, peppercorns, parsley leaves and 3 cups water.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, skimming away any foam or impurities that have risen to the surface. Strain the shrimp stock and set aside. 

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the shrimp pieces until pink and almost cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and set aside. 

Add the shallots and garlic to the pan; cook and stir until the shallots have softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, salt, and ground pepper. Cook for thirty seconds, then add the white wine. Bring to a boil and cook until the white wine is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp stock to the pan, bring to a boil, and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half(ish), about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, fill a large pot with heavily salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in ravioli, and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the ravioli  floats to the top and the filling is hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well, reserving a little pasta-cooking water to thin the sauce, if necessary (which wasn't for me).  

Stir in diced tomatoes and cream into the shrimp sauce and heat through. Return the shrimp to the pan, taste the sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold the ravioli into the sauce. 

Place four ravioli onto each of the four warmed pasta bowls or plates and top with sauce. Garnish the pasta with chopped parsley and lemon zest. (Apologies for the crappy end picture above.)

Since my little sister, Teresa, moved to moved back to Memphis and in with me, I have been having to cook for 5 people. Seeing as this recipe only serves 4, I had to double it. Which worked out to my advantage because it turns out the leftovers are amazing the next day. I guess it had time to settle, because the flavors were more robust and distinct.  

Rating: 7

Time: 2 hours; Prep Time: 30 mins, Cook Time: 1 Hr 30 Min

Serves: 4

Nutritional Information: Amount Per Serving - Calories: 606 | Total Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 174mg

Ingredients:

For the shrimp stock:

1/2 pound unpeeled large shrimp

1 yellow onion, quartered 

2 stalks celery with leaves, cut into pieces

1 lemon, halved

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano 

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 

3 cups water

Fot the sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 shallot, minced 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup white wine

1 cup canned petite diced tomatoes 

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

16 lobster ravioli 

For garnish:

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsely

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Recipe #50 - Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

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THE HALFWAY POINT!!!

This is my 50th recipe! Therefore marking the halfway point in my challenge. I realized, oddly enough, that I haven't made a single desert. Seriously?! 50 recipe in and not a single sweet dish. Who am I?! Well what better time to break the streak than the 50th recipe. A healthy(ish) sweet cake made from scratch. Just reading the ingredients - yum!

Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust with flour, tap out excess. Arrange berries in a single layer in bottom of pan; sprinkle evenly with a 1/4 cup sugar.

Sift 2 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl at medium-high speed, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in vanilla and oragne zest. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating just until incorporated.

Pour batter over berries in pan; smooth top.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around egde of pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment. Dust top generously with powdered sugar and let cool completely.

I'm not the biggest fan of overly sweet cakes and this was the perfect mixture between sweet and tart. I never thought of adding orange zest to a cake batter before. I've only ever made cakes from the premixed boxes from the grocery store. It was kinda neat pulling it all together from scratch as well as experimenting with new ingredients. I'm definitely glad I chose this one for my halfway point recipe :)

Rating: 9
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 8-10
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan and parchment
2 1/3 cups cake flour (sifted, then measured) plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) fresh blackberries, quartered
1/4 cup plus 1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Special equipement: Use a 9"-10" diameter springform pan.

Recipe #49 - Spicy Seattle Tuna Rolls

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Puree chiles, ginger, sesame seeds, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a mini-processor until paste forms. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in both oils and vinegar. Season dressing with salt.

If you couldn't find tuna sashimi, you can just buy the yellowfin tuna. Add a little sesame oil in a skillet and sear all edges, about 20-30 seconds per side.

Gently add tuna to the first mixture, toss to coat.

Place nori sheets on a work surface with short side facing you. Spread about 2 rounded tablespoons rice evenly on bottom third of each sheet.

Divide tuna among rolls, spooning over rice. Top with fillings. Roll into cones or log shape, using a few grains of cooked rice to "glue" to seal.

Now my mother didn't like the nori sheets very much at all. She dosen't like the texture. So I put together a little tuna salad over rice. She loved it. And I did too. It made me want to rewrite this whole recipe around this tuna salad. A-mazing.

Rating: 7
Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
4 green Thai chiles (or serrano peppers if you can't find the latter), stemmed, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated, peeled, fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more for seasoning
1/4 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 pound sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna fillets, cut into 1/8" cubes
4 toasted dried nori sheets, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 cups (about) cooked short-grain rice, cooled
Assorted fillings, such as sliced scallions, English hothouse or Persian cucumber, avocado, cilantro leaves, and/or chive blossoms.

Recipe #48 - Italian Sausage Spinach Pie

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This one was a suggestion from my little sister TJ. She had it at a friends house and wanted me to give it a go. So here it goes...

In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Separate one egg and set the yolk aside. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg white and remaining eggs. Add spinach, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, salt, garlic powder, pepper and sausage; mix well.

Line a 10-inch pie plate with bottom pastry. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cute slits in pastry. If desired, make your own design from the pastry scraps; place on top crust. Beat water and remaining egg yolk; brush over top of pie.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

And it's finished! Although TJ said it wasn't as good as the one she had before, I think it turned out pretty well. Two things I would have done differently: 

1. After I thawed the spinach, I squeezed out a lot of the juice with a paper towel. It made the mixture a little dryer than I would have liked. 

2. There was a lot of mixture left over. Almost enough to make another pie. Also, I think the spinach to sausage ration was pretty off. It was very spinachy. To solve both problems I would add an extra half pound of sausage to the mix. It would balance out the mixture and add enough to be able to make a second pie.  

Rating: 7

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 2 pies - about 6 servings per pie

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds bulk Italian sausage

6 eggs

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and slightly squeezed dry

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (10 inch) pastry for a double crust pie

1 tablespoon water

Recipe #47 - Bulgar and Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers

I had a pound of ground beef left over in the fridge from Taco Night and needed a beef recipe. My friend Jen McGee gave me the idea a few months back about making stuffed bell peppers. I stumbled across this one in a Good Housekeeping Magazine. This recipe was written for a busy family's schedule. The ingredients listed below are doubled so that you can freeze half for later (which I ended up doing).

Cut 3/4-inch slice from top of each pepper; reserve tops, including stems. Remove seeds and ribs, and cut a thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they will stand upright. Arrange 4 peppers and their tops (separately) on same microwave-safe plate. Cook, uncovered, in microwave on high 4 minutes. With tongs, transfer tops to paper towel. Microwave peppers 4 to 5 minutes longer or until just tender. Invert peppers onto a double thickness of paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining peppers and tops. 

In a microwave-safe large bowl, combine chicken broth and bulgur. Cook, uncovered, in microwave on high for 12 to 15 minutes or until bulgar is tender, but still slightly chewy and most of the broth is absorbed. 

Meanwhile, in a deep 12-inch skillet, heat oil on medium until hot. Add onion and garlic, and cook 5 minutes or until onion begins to turn golden, stirring frequently. Remove 3/4 cup onion mixture and reserve. Add beef to remaining onion in skillet and cook 6 to 8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking up beef with side of spoon. Remove skillet from heat. 

 Add bulgar, spinach, dill, 1 cup crushed tomatoes and 3/4 cup feta. Mix well. Fill peppers with bulgar mixture, using a generous cup for each; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup feta. Replace pepper tops (optional, I didn't).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wipe skillet clean. In same skillet combine remaining crushed tomatoes, reserved onion mixture, salt, and coarsely ground black pepper; heat to boil on medium-high, stirring occasionally.

Divide tomato sauce evenly between two 2-quart shallow casseroles or 8" by 8" glass baking dishes. Place 4 peppers in each dish with foil and bake 35 minutes or until peppers are hot. Prepare second dish for freezing (see Thawing and Reheating Tips). 

The top of the pepper is solely decremental and can be discarded prior to eating. I loved this recipe. I liked that it didn't taste like Mexican or Italian food, but had elements of both. It's hard to place flavor wise. The original recipe didn't call for Italian sausage, but I felt like it needed it. Plus, I had some left over from Vanellis Deli (aka the best Italian sausage in the world). It definitely made the recipe more flavorful than the bland unseasoned ground beef.

Rating: 8
Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yields: 2 casseroles
Ingredients:
8 large red, yellow, orange and/or green peppers, with stems if possible
2 cans (14- to 14 1/2-ounce) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups bulgar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed with press
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage
1 package (10-ounce) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup (loosely packed) fresh dill, chopped
2 cans (28-ounce) crushed tomatoes
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper