This was…wonderful. Wait, I’m getting a little emotional. Hold on. Okay. I’m fine now. This recipe is from a cookbook that I’ve had for six years and have never made anything out of before. And now I’ve made this and I’m planning my dish for Cookbook Challenge4 to be from this book too. Why, it’s Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook and it’s full of pretty, sexy photos of half naked people wearing vegetables/nuts/shellfish/fruit/other as clothes (or using as props! whee!) and decadent, luscious recipes.

I’m not quite sure how in the mood a heavy sauce (by the way, I lightened it up with half and half instead of cream) and asparagus would put a person, but hey, it was a really delicious bowl of pasta all the same.

Pasta with Chicken, Asparagus & Gorgonzola:
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
8 ounces pasta — I used orecchiette (little ear pasta, but rigatoni, fusilli or even linguine would work well)
1 tbsp butter
1 big breast or 2 small chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup half-and-half or cream
red pepper flakes to taste
1 shallot, finely diced
dash of nutmeg
2 oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp fresh tarragon
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
salt & pepper
Optional: Parmesan cheese for garnish

Start your sexy, sexy culinary adventure by cutting the asparagus into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Cook the pasta of you choice until it is al dente. Then, you will set that aside too. Perhaps by the asparagus so that they can get to know each other and it won’t be quite so awkward later. You know, when they get together in the pan.

Speaking of which, melt the butter in a large pan. Add the chicken and shallots, brown the chicken 2-3 minutes each side. Next, whisk in the half and half, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg. Here, I turned the heat to medium-low and put a lid on the pan to give the chicken and half and half a little privacy. wink-wink. Okay — is it getting old yet? Let the chicken finish cooking and the cream simmer a bit, for about 5-6 minutes.

Remove the lid and add the Gorgonzola and stir in until melted. Add the pasta and asparagus and toss to coat. Garnish with the fresh tarragon and walnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese if desired. Oh! And don’t forget the wine and the crusty, sourdough bread! Or your dinner companion. wink-wink.

Actually, I was a little tentative with the tarragon but it really worked here. The sauce was also not overly abundant. I was kind of afraid the pasta would be swimming in heavy sauce but it wasn’t at all. It was the perfect amount and a great meal.

wink-wink

Stop that! It’s not even funny anymore…

Really, it’s just an excuse to post these tuna photos. jwa and I had a wonderful dinner of seared tuna, cucumber slaw and (this time) sesame noodles with bell pepper and shitake mushrooms not too long ago. The original tuna and cucumber recipes are here, which is exactly what I did for this dinner. We try to have seared tuna about once a month or so because it is so tasty.

Noodles
They are very easy. So easy, I’m just going to list everything out in paragraph form and not even like a recipe. Anarchy! Find yourself some udon or soba noodles — even spaghetti would work in a pinch. Cook them in boiling water, add a few broccoli florets about 4 minutes before the noodles are done.

Meanwhile, sauté bell pepper strips and sliced shitake mushrooms in a little vegetable or peanut oil. Add the noodles and broccoli when done and toss with a bit of sesame oil. Add some soy sauce, fresh, minced ginger and some sesame seeds. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Taste and adjust soy, oil and possibly add a little salt if needed.

This is also an excuse to rave about my new grill pan — an All-Clad LTD 12-Inch Round one. I’ve had it for about 4 months and love it. My other pan, which I also loved, finally gave up the ghost a little while ago.

Dinner
Serve the noodles with the seared tuna, dipping sauce and cucumber slaw. This is just so good and I can’t believe I love the cucumber as much as I do here. I think the secret is using an English cucumber.

Tomorrow, pasta with Gorgonzola, asparagus and chicken!

We love brunch. And I enjoy making brunch every so often. Mostly egg dishes, breakfast potatoes, English muffins and mimosas. Oh, don’t forget the mimosas! But, I like to make frittatas sometimes just because they’re fun — I get to stick my ovenproof pan in the oven. If you don’t have an ovenproof pan you don’t really need one. It can easily be made on the stove top. That’s the way I used to make them all through grad school and until pretty recently, actually.

For this frittata, I used cremini and shitake mushrooms, red bell pepper, goat cheese and fresh thyme. Our finished frittata wedges were accompanied with pepper bacon (!), scones and freshly pressed Stumptown coffee.

Mushroom, Thyme & Goat Cheese Frittata:
3-4 small potatoes (red new potatoes work well, so did little purple potatoes)
8 cremini mushrooms, sliced
8 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced or julienned
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs
3 oz goat cheese
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400.

Whisk eggs in a bowl with the Dijon mustard and a little salt and pepper.

Slice the potatoes thinly, about 1/4 of an inch in thickness. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Heat an ovenproof skillet (if you don’t have one, just use a normal skillet) and add potatoes. Let cook and brown for about 10 minutes. You should have enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Flip and stir occasionally.

While the potatoes cook, heat another pan and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Sauté the mushrooms, garlic, onion, dried thyme and bell pepper.

When the vegetables are soft and beginning to color nicely, add them on top of the potato layer in the other pan. Next add the beaten eggs and mustard. Add little clumps of goat cheese on top of the egg mixture. Let cook on the stovetop, over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, until the egg starts to set a bit along the edges.

Then, pop in the oven for about 7-10 minutes or until the eggs are all set and the top is a bit puffed and starting to get golden. If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, turn the heat to stovetop heat to medium-low and cover the pan and cook until the eggs are set and the cheese is soft and warm, 10-15 minutes. You can also slide the half-cooked frittata out onto a plate, hold the pan upside down on top of the plate, and flip it back into the pan, potato side up to cook the top. I never did it this way, mainly because I am lazy, but I hear it works very well.

Garnish with fresh thyme leaves, cut into wedges and serve.

A frittata also makes a great dinner. Another fun frittata fact — you can pretty much, just like with an omelet, put whatever combination of meat, veggies and cheese that you like in one!

Yep, Little Big Head herself! Taking a break at work to scroll through the Powell’s calendar and I see:

Giada De Laurentiis
Thursday April, 27th, 7:00PM Powell’s Books for Home & Garden, 3723 SE Hawthorne…cool. I am a little frightened of her teeth but I like her food just fine.

Now, back to the sprouts!

I tried brussel sprouts for the first time last Fall or there about. I never knew what to make of them before but jwa said they were good. I belived him. Then I found a recipe that called for braising the sprouts with butter, stock and garlic.

Hey! I like butter, stock and garlic! I decided to give it a whirl. Since then, braised brussel sprouts have become a much requested vegetable around here. We like those so much that I decided to try making them another way.

This recipe is from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I was watching that Chefography program on Food Network a while ago and was surprised to learn that Ina used to be a White House budget analyst. But, then she moved to the Hampton’s and became fabulous.

Anyway, here is the recipe, from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:
1 1/2 pounds brussel sprouts
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the ends off the sprouts and peel away any top yellow leaves. If your sprouts all look tight and green, just attend to the ends. If your sprouts are freakishly large, like the ones I got at New Seasons last weekend, cut them in half. Seriously, these things were the size of baseballs.

Mix the sprouts in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn out on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Now, if you have large sprouts cut in half, they will most likely be a little crispy on one side and tender on the other. They are still very good this way but, if left whole, I bet the whole crispy outside vs. tender inside thing is more impressive. Shake the pan from time to time, to brown the sprouts evenly. Since they were cut in half, I actually just flipped mine over halfway through the cooking time.

Sprinkle with more salt, if desired, and serve hot. Realize that brussel sprouts are awesome.

It was the day before Saint Patrick’s Day and I was hunting for a good recipe to make for dinner. Something timely. Something festive. Something with beer! I’d never made lamb stew before but I wanted to try it. I came across this recipe at the Food Network site and it looked very interesting, as I love roasted vegetables. Oh and Guinness? Well, okay then!

For this recipe lamb shoulder is the best. When I went to Zupan’s, they didn’t have any of this. The meat guy said that lamb leg meat would work for a stew and, while I browsed the aisles looking at the tasty things, he cut a pound of it up into 1-inch cubes for me. I have no idea if he was actually knowledgeable about what a good substitution for the lamb shoulder would be but I believed him. So, I guess, try to find lamb shoulder and if that fails, ask the person behind the meat counter what to use instead.

I halved the recipe, so as listed below it will feed 3-4 people. Double it up for double the servings.

Lamb Stew with Guinness & Roasted Vegetables
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound lamb shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (or lamb leg meat)
Salt
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup Guinness stout
1.5 cups beef stock
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 1/2 lb)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (about a 1/2 lb)
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 1 lb)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, plus 2 tsp chopped
1/2 cup peas, (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Salt and pepper the lamb lightly and when the oil is hot, add the lamb and brown evenly.

Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside. Add the leeks and mushrooms — sauté until soft. Add the butter and melt. Add the flour to make a roux. Turn the heat down to low, and cook the roux until it is evenly brown, about 10-15 minutes.

Whisk in the beer and stock. Add the tomatoes and the reserved lamb, bring to a simmer, and cover. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. I stirred the stew occasionally and in doing so got a face full of steam. It smelled really, really good.

While the lamb mixture is simmering, combine the parsnips, carrots, potatoes and garlic in a large bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper and rosemary sprigs. Place the vegetables in a roasting pan and roast in a 400-degree oven for 45 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the vegetables over and shake the pan a bit. When done, set aside, discarding rosemary sprigs. Some of the leaves will fall of the stem, that’s fine — just leave those with the vegetables.

After the stew’s 1 1/2 hours of simmering is done, add the roasted vegetables and the peas to the lamb mixture.

Cook for 10 minutes, then add the chopped rosemary. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with buttered and parsley-ed noodles. I used the no-yolk variety — proceed as you wish. If you can get your hands on some fresh noodles or pappardelle well, that’d work just fine.

To set a mood, perhaps put on some U2 or some Pogues or a little Damien Rice. Then, dish your stew into a bowl, on top of whatever noodle you can procure and enjoy.

jwa and I both enjoyed this and the sauce that all the beer and stock and lamb fat made was just delicious. Mmmmm…lamb fat.

This was a fun challenge hosted by Too Many Chefs, in which the aim was to create a meal in 30 minutes. A meal where you start with raw (or pretty close to being raw) ingredients and make them into something tasty — tout de suite. This was challenging! I’m used to thinking big and definitely not-speedy for IMBB and this was all about thinking in a practical and time-conscious way.

I finally decided to go with a salad because: it’s the beginning of salad-as-meal weather, it’s fast, with some chicken it can be a total meal (unless you’re a vegetarian) and I like big spinach salads!

You can really do this with any dressing that you like. My new favorite dressing is basil olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard — that would work here too. For a lighter, lemony-walnut flavor, go with the one I made for this meal, the one listed below (originally from Bon Appetite magazine).

For something a little different on those cooler nights, you could also wilt the spinach first in a pan with some walnut oil and garlic, then top with a squirt of lemon juice, the apples, walnuts and sliced chicken.

Oh and in the spirit of this theme, I used my handy kitchen timer.

Walnut & Apple Spinach Salad w/ Crunchy Chicken:
Dressing:
1 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp walnut oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Salad:
1 bag baby spinach, washed
1 apple, diced
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
A few shavings of Parmesan cheese or gruyere cheese, or crumbled feta would work here too

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (or panko — Japanese breadcrumbs or other breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 425.

To start (and honestly, before I set the timer) I laid all my ingredients out on the counter.

Okay, combine the wheat germ (or bread crumbs), thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. I really like the nutty flavor of wheat germ for this but panko would be great too. The whole chicken part of this meal is based on a recipe I saw on the jar of my wheat germ a number of years ago.

But I digress and we have a timer ticking away here.

Crack an egg in a bowl, whisk.

Next, trim any excess fat off chicken breasts. Place a breast on a piece of plastic wrap and fold over to cover, pound until a bit flat. Pound the second breast. This is basically just so that they will cook a little faster. You can skip the pounding step if you want and just let them cook about 5 minutes longer.

Place a piece of chicken in the beaten egg and coat. Then dredge it in the wheat germ/cheese coating. Repeat with the other piece. Arrange chicken on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick olive oil spray. Lightly coat the tops of the chicken with spray too.

Time check: 20 minutes to go. Whew!

Bake in the 425 degree oven about 15-20 minutes, or until done (internal temp should be at least 160 when you pull it out of the oven). While chicken is cooking, arrange walnuts on an oven-safe dish and toast for about 3-4 minutes alongside the chicken. Set the nuts aside when done.

As the chicken bakes, wash your spinach and get it into a big bowl. Next dice the apple and get the Parmesan ready.

You should also get the dressing together now. But first, let’s check the time. Eight minutes!

Whisk (or fork) the lemon juice, mustard, walnut oil and mayonnaise together.

When the chicken comes out of the oven, let it rest for a minute or two while you get the cheese and walnuts into the salad bowl. Add the dressing and toss. Then slice the chicken.

Dish the salad out into bowls or onto plates and then top with slices of chicken.

Time.

Thanks to Too Many Chefs for hosting and for coming up with a great idea for this IMBB!

Tagged with: IMBB24 + 30Minutes

***
Oh, the lamb stew got bumped this week because of IMBB — look for it on Monday!

This meal all started with a trip to Zupan’s (fancy-pantsy grocery store). I went for some tuna, I left with tuna and this spice rub. Which, just now, when I looked it up, I realized was affiliated with Michael Chiarello. I bought it anyway because I am a sucker for pretty packaging and coffee products.

But, later it dawned on me — I should have just copied down the ingredients and made it myself! So, here you go:

grey salt ( you could also probably use kosher)
instant espresso
coriander (ground)
paprika
cumin
orange zest
chile powder (chipotle or a blend)

Ta da — you’ve just saved $7.95. As far as measurements go, I’d use a tablespoon of everything, except the salt, maybe 1 teaspoon of that and the zest, again, maybe a teaspoon. Oh, and for this pork recipe, I also mixed some brown sugar into the spice rub I used — so, throw a tablespoon of brown sugar in there too just for fun. But, I am just kind of guessing on the measurements here, so it might take a bit of trial and error.

If you are not feeling that adventurous, the recipe that I ultimately found to use my spice rub with, came with its own spice rub recipe, which I will list below. You can also use whatever spice rub you know and love.

I found this recipe on Food Network and it is one by Bobby Flay. I know! I changed a lot of it, though, including: using my own spice rub, cooking it differently, using a pork loin roast instead of tenderloins, using different peppers in the sauce and using masa harina instead of corn meal for the tamales. Ha! So there!

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Chile Mustard Sauce:
Chile Mustard Sauce:
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate
3 black pepper corns
1-2 chipotle peppers
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt (can be light, but not fat free)

Combine chicken stock and chipotle pepper(s) in a blender or food processor and puree. Add to a pan with the apple juice and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and reduce to a sauce consistency, about 20-30 minutes). It can be made to this point and then refrigerated until needed. When ready, bring back up to temperature, then whisk in mustard and sour cream or yogurt and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This sauce was awesome — spicy but sweet. jwa and I both loved it.

Pork Loin:
1 pork loin roast, approximately 2 1/2 - 3 pounds
Spice rub
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dredge the tenderloin in the spice rub mixture and pat off any excess. Heat olive oil in medium oven-proof skillet. Add the pork loin and sear well on all sides — about a minute or two each side.

For the rest of the cooking, I followed something similar to how I cooked my last pork loin roast. Add 1 cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan and tent with foil. Place in the oven and continue cooking until pork is done (155 degrees), about 1 hour. When done, transfer pork to a plate and recover with foil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and slice into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal.

Spoon the yummy, yummy sauce onto a platter and top with the slices of pork.

Alternate Spice Rub:
3 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp chile de arbol
1 tbsp pasilla chile powder
1 tblsp guajillo powder
1 tsp allspice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

With this pork loin roast, I also made tamales as a side dish. Settle down. Just simple tamales. This recipe made about seven, so there were leftovers for us. They were good the next day with leftover pork and black beans.

Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese Tamales
15 dried corn husks
3/4 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
7 cloves of roasted garlic (Wrap separated cloves in aluminum foil and bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees until soft)
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp vegetable shortening , melted
3/4 cup masa harina
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (less if using dried thyme)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add the dried corn husks and weight down with a plate. Let soak until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Pat dry and set aside the best 8 husks. Cut the other husks into strips for tying.

If using frozen corn, place in a microwave safe bowl add a tablespoon of water and cook, 2 minutes or so until done. Drain excess water.

Puree the corn, onion, roasted garlic, and stock in a food processor. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the melted butter and shortening. Add the masa harina, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the goat cheese.

The mixture will seem very loose — that’s okay. Lay a husk flat on a work surface. Place about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of masa mixture in the center.

Roll up. Tie each end of the bundle with a strip of corn husk.

Arrange the tamales in a single layer on a steaming rack, cover tightly with foil or a lid, and steam over boiling water for 1 1/2 hours.

We had the pork and tamales with a simple side of sautéed Swiss chard. For true crazy decadence, put a dollop of butter on the hot tamale. Mmm!

Planning:
I made this on a Sunday, so I had all afternoon to work on it and take breaks. I roasted the garlic first, then made the sauce. Next, I soaked the corn husks. Then, if I remember correctly, came a little TV and a beer.

I made the tamales next and while they steamed, I seared the pork and got it in the oven. When done, the tamales can sit covered with foil, off the heat, for a bit. Nice. The pork also rests. Hey, this is a great time to sauté the greens.

Lastly, the sauce can get heated up and combined with a little sour cream (or plain yogurt) to finish it off.

Sit down and eat!

The weekends are all about big, tasty meals. Mondays are usually soup, the healthier the better. I try to make something extra good (read: non-fattening) for us on Monday to try and make up for things like, well, let’s see — uh, lamb and Guinness stew and espresso-spice-rubbed pork loin accompanied with goat cheese and roasted garlic tamales. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be posting about both of those meals this week.

But, here we were at a Monday Meal. I had a bunch of Swiss Chard leftover from the other night and I needed something to do with it. After some rummaging, I found a can of white beans, leftover noodles, chicken stock and an orange. “Hmmm, that all seems pretty healthy,” I thought, eyeing my food processor. Okay, so fine, I added a little cheese at the end, sue me.

Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup:
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, coarsely chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes (okay, don’t actually pinch and then risk touching your eyes, just sprinkle)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth or stock (I had an open container of stock I needed to use and had 3 cups left — I had used .5 cup the other day. if you have a new package just use the whole thing if you don’t want to have leftover stock, it’s no big deal. Oh, if you are using dry noodles, I’d just go ahead and add a bit more stock anyway.)
1/2 cup red wine (I used some open Merlot)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tomato, diced
1/2 lb Swiss Chard, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup cooked leftover noodles or 1/2 cup dry noodles
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook onions in olive oil, in a big soup pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally, until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, about a minute more. Add drained beans, broth and simmer, uncovered about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, scoop one ladle of your soup out (wherever it is in the simmering process) and put it in a food processor or a blender. Add your roughly chopped chard leaves and blend until the leaves are incorporated and it all looks kind of like a watery, olive green colored pesto.

After the initial simmering time, add the blended material into the soup and stir. Voila! It’s all green now. Add noodles (if you are using dry ones) and simmer 10 minutes more minutes or until noodles are done. If you are using leftover noodles, stir them in after about 8 minutes of simmering. Also add the chopped tomato, thyme leaves and orange zest at this point.

Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Before you are ready to eat, remove pot from the heat and stir in the cheese. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.

You could also, of course, just add the Swiss chard in pieces and let it wilt down, but I like to blend! Blend! Another idea — if you enjoy the dirt je ne sais quois taste of the red chard rib, (I don’t but jwa does), don’t discard these — chop them up and sauté in olive oil for 4-5 minutes and then use them to garnish your bowls of soup. Of course, they may sink to the bottom, then they’d probably be more like a buried treasure than a garnish.

These recipes for shrimp skewers and glaze, I found on Epicurious the other day and thought they looked really good. It was one of those, “Oh, I think we’re having that for dinner tomorrow” moments. It just looked all fresh and healthy and kind of light. Okay, this was in the pre-risotto phase but bear with me here.

The original recipe was for outdoor grill cooking but I used my grill pan. If you make these outside, it’s pretty much the same thing — 3 minutes per side. Oh and if you make these outside on the grill, you’ll want to soak your skewers in water for 30 minutes before assembling or use metal skewers.

Shrimp, Mango & Red Pepper Skewers
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper
36 jumbo shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled, tails left intact, deveined
2 red bell peppers, each cut into 12 pieces
2 firm but ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into cubes
twelve 12-inch bamboo skewers
Garnishes: Lime wedges and fresh, chopped cilantro

Mix olive oil, ginger, pepper flakes and garlic in large bowl. Add shrimp, bell peppers and mangoes; toss to coat. Alternate bell pepper, mango and 3 jumbo shrimp on each of the skewers. I ran out of bell pepper before shrimp and mango, so one of my skewers was just mango and shrimp. That was okay.

Heat a grill pan and cook shrimp until done, brushing with glaze during last 2 minutes. This will be about three minutes per side. I brushed with glaze before turning over on second side.

I found that my shrimp were not laying completely flat due to the mangoes and peppers. Therefore, they weren’t really cooking completely. An easy way to fix this was to cover the pan. That way, if they didn’t cook with direct heat from the pan surface, they cooked from the heat present inside the covered pan. They still got a few nice lines on them from the grill pan and turned pink so it worked out fine.

Cook the skewers in batches and keep finished skewers warm on a plate, covered with foil until ready to eat.

Guava-Lime Glaze
1 can guava nectar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (I only had port wine vinegar so I used that — that’s why my glaze is a little dark)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Combine nectar, orange juice and vinegar in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 30-40 minutes. Keep a close eye on this as I almost had a boil over of epic proportions. Imagine cleaning some of that off your stove top. Yikes! Cool completely. Mix in lime juice. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

You can also, completely guilt-free, just buy a jarred marinade or glaze instead and use that on the shrimp.

Coconut Risotto
1 can light coconut milk
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 - 1/2 tsp Thai chili paste or red pepper flakes (to your taste really, if you like things spicy, go crazy, if not, be timid)
1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, trimmed, washed, and sliced
1 tsp lemon grass paste (if you don’t have this, don’t worry about it. You could also just simmer a piece of lemon grass in the coconut stock too)
1 cup arborio rice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper to taste

This I decided to make at the last minute instead of plain coconut rice. Well, it wasn’t really at the last minute, as risotto isn’t really a last minute type of undertaking, but it was when I was getting everything together to start dinner. I realized I had everything to make risotto and just sort of winged it as I do love the creamy. As I mentioned before, this is one of the things I love most about risotto (besides the creamy) — once you get used to making it, you can pretty much just make recipes up.

So, for this version, begin by combining the coconut milk, chicken stock, lemon grass paste, chili paste (or pepper flakes) and the piece of ginger in a pot. Bring it up to a simmer. Next, in a heavy bottomed soup pot, add the olive oil and sauté the leeks and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes (medium heat). Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Begin to add the simmering liquid in 1/2 cup portions, stirring until all the liquid is absorbed before adding more. When you get close to the end of the liquid, fish the ginger out and discard.

Edited to add – Oh, if you have some white wine open, go ahead and start with a 1/2 cup of that into the rice (before adding and coconut-stock). I just didn’t have any white wine open and red wine didn’t seem like a good idea for this risotto.

You can cheat a little here and not stir constantly but try to stir every couple of minutes at least. This will allow you to get the shrimp going while still making the risotto.

You will probably go through most of the liquid. When you’re getting close to using it all, give the risotto a taste and see if it’s done. It should be creamy and soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on a plate and place 2-3 skewers alongside. Garnish with lime pieces and cilantro. Serve more chili paste on the side, if someone you know is like jwa, who is slightly insane and likes things crazy-spicy-hot. Laugh a little when he burns his mouth and begs for more wine.