Shrimp Stuffed Peppers, Ragout, Waldorf Failure

A couple of new dishes for you this week.  Plus, Sally got me interested again in trying to win some recipe contests, so I thought I show you some of the high spots and the not-so-high-spots of creating winning recipes, as we go along.

Shrimp Stuffed Peppers

This is a sort of Latin/Caribbean take on the classic stuffed pepper. Instead of ground beef, I used salad shrimp; and rather than European spices I used Latin flavors, most notably in the rice.  Pretty simple to make, tasty, and filling.  Mexican Chorizo is almost more of a seasoning than a sausage.  When you cook it, it melts down into a flavorful semi-liquid that seasons everything around it.  A little goes a long way.  Spanish/Latin Chorizo is a cooked sausage, more like a hard salami than anything, and it makes great sandwiches!

4 Red Bell Peppers, topped and gutted

2 cups Jasmine White Rice

1 packet Badia brand Sazon Tropical tm  spice blend

8 oz Salad Shrimp, or larger shrimp peeled and chopped

1 stick Celery, diced

1/2 white sweet Onion, diced

1 cup frozen Peas or Peas & Carrots

2" piece of Mexican Chorizo, chopped

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese, divided

Combine the rice and Tropical seasoning with water and cook until fluffy and tender and seasoned. While that's going on, dice the veggies, and saute them with the shrimp and chorizo until the onion is translucent. Cool everything in the fridge so it won't melt the cheese in the next step

Toss to combine the cooked rice with the veggies and half of the cheese. Pack the rice mixture into the peppers, top with additional cheese.  Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until things are melted, browned and yummy.

Vegetable Ragout over Cheesy Polenta

Don't be scared! This looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's a very simple dish to prepare!

Not a stew or a stir fry, a ragout is a naturally thickened saute or simmer; in this case all vegetable. You could add some spicy sausage or a bit of ground beef if you want, but this is a rich, filling dish all by itself, served over Cheese Polenta (which southerners call White Cheddar Grits).   Any combination of vegetables that you love will do; these are what I had handy.

for the Ragout:

1 smallish Eggplant, cubed

2 sticks Celery, chopped

3/4 cup Onion, chopped (I used a mix of green onion and sweet white onion)

1/2 cup fresh Tomato, chopped

2 whole medium Carrots, chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

3 cloves Garlic, minced

4 oz (half box) sliced Crimini mushrooms

1 Tbsp Capers

1/2 teaspoon each:

    Celery Seed
    Thyme (dried)
    Oregano (dried)
    Black Pepper
    Dill Weed

for the Polenta/Grits

1/3 cup Grits, Quick, not Instant, I like the Jim Dandy tm brand

3/4 cup Half & half

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup Shredded White Cheese

White Pepper to taste

When you've got all the veggies chopped, throw them in a deep-sided skillet, along with a cup or so of water and the herbs and spices. Bring to a simmer and cook long and slow, adding water as necessary to keep things from burning. You want the end result to be falling apart but still somewhat chunky.

Near the end of the veggie cooking, make the polenta/grits (takes about 15 minutes). Bring the water/cream mix to a boil, stirring so it won't burn. Add the grits and keep stirring for 5-7 minutes as things cook, swell, and start to thicken. When mostly thick, add the cheese and some white pepper, and stir again to melt all that yummy cheese into the blend. Taste and add more pepper if you want.  Cook until really 'stiff', then plate.

Plate a bed of the polenta/grits, and ladle the ragout over the top.  Top with shredded cheese, if you please.

 

Simple Salad with Tuna

It's been hot and really humid here lately.  Summer seems to have started in April, and escalated!  Sally got to craving a nice leafy salad, so last night for dinner here's what I made:

1 head Romaine, Chopped

1 bag mixed Baby Greens

1/2 cup thin sliced Carrots

1 bunch Green Onions, diced

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1/4 box Yellow Cherry Tomatoes, halved

3 Tbsp hulled Sunflower Seeds

1 can Solid White Albacore Tuna, divided 

Sally dressed hers with Raspberry Viniagrette.  I put Bleu Cheese dressing on mine.

Waldorf Failure

As I mentioned above, I'm getting started competing in recipe contests again.  The Calif. Walnut Board and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC have combined to create a Waldorf Salad Revised contest, with the grand prize a variety of things including having your recipe served on the Hotel's menu.  So, my idea is a Tropical Waldorf salad.  The recipe must contain walnuts, apple and celery; the sky's the limit for whatever else contestants want to add.   I'm adding Jicama, mandarin orange segments and a couple 'secret ingredients', and making a mango flavored yogurt based dressing.

My first version was a huge failure.  We ate token helpings with Friday's dinner.  We critiqued it, and I threw the rest away.

Lesson #1 -- don't shred or grate the ingredients.  As Sally said, it looked like worms on the plate.  The modern Hotel version is julienned (thin sticks) of veggies, and I thought I'd go a step bigger.  Now I'm going back to the more traditional bite-sized pieces.  

Lesson #2 -- even though California Walnuts is a sponsor, and the dish must have them, don't put too many in the dish.  Also use 'pieces' rather than halves.  Too many, and they are so bitter they'll kill all the other flavors.

Lesson #3 -- don't use Mango Nectar to flavor the yogurt.  It's too thin, and to get good flavor you add so much the dressing is too thin.  In Round Two I'll used pureed mango 'meat' which is much thicker

Lesson #4 -- don't add Daikon.  I thought the tangy-ness of the radish would add to the flavor, and it doesn't.  

Lesson #5.  I still would like to add something like sliced grapes, but there doesn't seem to be any tropical fruit equivalent that I can used.  Lychees wouldn't have enough flavor.  Jaboticaba are too rare to make a good ingredient.  I'm thinking about Muscadine grapes rather than the more usually northern green grapes.  What do you think?

Your Favorite Sandwich??

Another contest I'm entering is a Build A Better Sandwich recipe, sponsored by one of the well known bread baking companies (not Wonder).  I asked Sally what the best sandwich she'd ever eaten was, and she gave me a really good idea that I can build on.   So I'll ask you, Gentle Readers.  What is the all-time best sandwich you've ever had?  Not a burger or a 'dog, but anything else will do.  If an idea you give me leads to a win, I'll share some of the prize with you.