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Guest Post Friday: Life is like a box of chocolates…

01 Apr

I am really excited! Today for the very first time in the short history of DimpleArts blog I get to introduce a guest blogger. My very good friend Vicky from Shrimpaholic. To say that Vicky is a lover of shrimp, is not to saying anything at all. I think her post below will give you some insight into how big a fan Vicky really is. Definitely drop by Shrimpaholic for more of Vicky’s delicious cooking and witty tales.

I never saw it. *Gasp* That’s right, I, a self proclaimed shrimpaholic, am ashamed to admit that I have never actually seen Forrest Gump. Sure the acting is magnificent, and there is incredible heart warming story, but to think that I failed to see a movie that has inspired so much greatness is just humiliation of many proportions. This greatness of which I speak? Well I can only be referring to the happiest place on earth – ~~Disneyland~~ Bubba Gumps!

Can you imagine how elated I was when I discovered a restaurant all about you-know-what?! And then to find out that there’s actually a book full of recipes?! Well let me tell you, Christmas came early this year (think February). Thanks to Amazon.com, their ability to store my credit card information, and expedited shipping, I knew that within a few days I’ll be holding that beautiful brown cardboard box we all see way more frequently than we should. No? Just me again? Common people free shipping over $25! (Sorry, slight deviation)

Now, when I was kindly asked to babble on Julia’s blog (which may have been due to judgment error) I decided that a simple link to an online reference would not suffice. Nope, just not good enough. This would be the magical moment when I debut my culinary key to happiness (cue bright spotlight and angel music).

And with that I present Bubba’s Beer-Broiled Shrimp, from The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook

the stuff:

- 2 lbs unpeeled large fresh shrimp
- 3/4 cup beer
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbs plus 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp hot sauce

what to do:

Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Combine beer and remaining ingredients in a shallow dish. Add shrimp, stir to coat, and marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hrs.

Drain shrimp and discard marinade. Thread neck and tail of each shrimp onto six skewers. Place skewers on a lightly greased rack of a broiler pan. Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat for about 3 minutes. Turn and broil an addition 2 minutes, or until shrimp turn pink.

“Now, Bubba taught me everything he knew about shrimpin’, but you know what I found out? Shrimpin’ is tough”. -Forrest Gump

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Cook and Tell: Matzo Babka

29 Mar

I know that Passover isn’t for a couple of weeks. But why wait for a holiday to use matzo?

I tend to have random urges to cook (or more like realizations that something needs to be made for dinner), so I look for dishes that use ingredients that I can easily find at home. One of these dishes is a Matzo Babka. It’s easy to make, and it is one of those dishes that can last for a couple of days. The other positive is that this dish can be made to be savory or sweet, and you can get creative with the ingredients. My Mom makes this dish all the time around Passover time with different ingredients. Sometimes she makes it with chicken and dill, sometimes with raisins.

I usually try to make a sweet matzo babka (it’s not bad with maple syrup). However, this time around I decided to make a savory version. To make it my own, I decided to include some dried dill weed and some garlic powder.

Passover Matzo Babka

Matzo Babka

Ingredients:
3 sheets of regular egg matzo (this would make a thin babka, add more matzo for a thicker version)
1 egg
Dried dill weed (to taste)
Garlic powder (to taste)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Pam cooking spray

Preparation:
Place matzo sheets in a large bowl and fill with water until matzo is covered. Let the matzo soak in the water. Drain the water once matzos are completely soft. In the same bowl, break up the matzo sheets with a wooden spoon. Mix in the egg, dried dill weed, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Coat a medium frying pan with cooking spray. Spread the matzo mixture in the frying pan to fill the pan completely, so that the matzo mixture takes on the shape of the pan. Cook in the pan until babka is golden and is lose in the pan. Gently remove the babka from the pan onto a cutting board, cooked side down. Flip the cutting board on to the pan, so that the uncooked side is on the bottom. Cook until the uncooked side is golden and is lose in the pan.

Cut babka into slices. Serve warm or cold.

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Posted in Food Photography

Mission Not So Impossible – Salmon with Soba Noodles

19 Sep

A few weeks ago my husband mentioned that we don’t have enough fish in our diet. Being the dutiful wife that I am, I of course assured him that I would make sure that we’d have fish for our next dinner.

Next dinner fell on a Monday night, and I had to keep to my promise. Not an impossible mission, but definitely a difficult one. I had about an hour and half to prepare dinner, so the dinner had to be tasty and fast to make. On the way home from work I stopped at the local Ranch 99 Market, and picked up some salmon fillets and honey garlic sauce.

To prepare the meal, I placed one salmon fillet on the baking sheet, seasoned it with some salt , black pepper, lemon zest, as well as freshly squeezed lemon juice from half of a lemon. I baked the salmon fillet for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

In the mean time I cooked soba noodles per the packet directions. Once cooked, I drained the noodles and tossed them with soy sauce and honey and garlic sauce.

I placed the soba noodles on a plate and topped with half of the baked salmon fillet. Viola…

Salmon & Soba Noodles

…dinner is served. Dinner turned out to be a success, and the mission…very much possible.

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Posted in Food Photography

Olivie

20 Apr

Ask anyone from the former Soviet republics what their favorite meal was as a child, and you might be surprised to find out that it wasn’t dessert, but a salad. Yes, you saw correctly, a salad. This salad is called Olivie and it was a staple dish at any table during a festive gathering. It is still a favorite of my and for my husband it’s not a holiday dinner, if Olivie is not on the table.

Intrigued? Well, you’ll be happy to know that it’s actually not that hard to make. There are many different variations of this salad out there, and everyone’s got their version. There is even a version of it in Spain (Ensalada Rusa), which includes tuna. But I stick to the version my Mom has always made, and I love it (and so far only heard positive feedback).

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

6 large potatoes (russet)
10 eggs
1 carrot
1/2 white or red onion
1 fresh cucumber
1 small pack of bologna
3 to 4 scallions
3 to 4 medium sized pickles
1 can of sweet peas
mayonnaise (1 and 1/2 large tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
A sprinkle of dried dill weed (or chopped fresh dill)

Boil the eggs, potatoes and carrot. Eggs should be hard boiled and potatoes and the carrot should be fully cooked through and soft (but not overcooked). As far as utensils, you’ll need a sharp knife, a cutting board, a large mixing bowl, and a peeler (if that’s how you prefer to peel your vegetables).

Once the eggs, potatoes and carrot are cooked. Peel the eggs, the potatoes and the carrot, chop all the aforementioned and place in the prepared bowl. Continue to peel and chop the onions, scallions, and cucumber and placing them in the same bowl. Chop the pickles and the bologna and add to the bowl. Finally, drain the can of peas and empty it out into the bowl.

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl, add salt and pepper to taste and mix. Add dried dill weed (if desired) and mix the ingredients again. Finally, add the mayonnaise, and mix all the ingredients until the mayonnaise is evenly distributed and all the ingredients are well combined.

So what does all this mixing get you? Take a look for yourself.

Russian Potato Salad, Olivie, Ensalada Russa

I haven’t heard of anyone walking away disappointed. A word of warning, the proportions I used will result in a very big salad, but feel free to pare it down. Just decrease the number of ingredients proportionally.

P.S. I received some commentary on this blog post with additional variations to this salad, so I wanted to add these variations here. Instead of mayonnaise some people use sour cream and for the meat component, instead of bologna some use chicken. Sometimes the carrot and onions are omitted.

Feel free to experiment with all these ingredients and see what tickles your taste buds.

Russian Salad Olivier (Russian Winter Salad)

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Posted in Food Photography

Asian Pear and Arugula Salad

15 Nov

You’re probably wondering why I haven’t been around for a while. With the kitchen remodel and the change of seasons it’s been difficult to get any day light time. My friend V, and occasional food contributor was very kind to gift me a subscription to Food & Wine magazine. I am loving my new subscription. I’ve a made a couple of things based on the recipes from F&W already (unfortunately didn’t get a chance to photograph them). Finally I was able to capture my latest dish.

This is a super easy salad to throw together. I was flipping through my first issue of F&W magazine and came upon the Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat cheese. I threw this together for a refreshing lunch for my husband and I.

Asian-Pear-and-Arugula-Sala

I very slightly modified the original recipe. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
Baby Arugula
1 Peeled, cored and thinly sliced asian pear
Slivered Almonds
Extra virgin olive oil
Honey
Chopped fresh thyme
Lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
Crumbled goat cheese

For the dressing:
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, toss together arugula, asian pears, and slivered almonds. Add the earlier mentioned dressing and toss well. Top with goat cheese and serve.

Asian-Pear-&-Arugual-Salad_