Tea Shrimp on Cellophane Noodles

I'm toying with the idea of going gluten free...just toying with it.  For the past few years there have been some symptoms that may suggest I have a gluten intolerance.  I've been avoiding admittance on this because of the implications; this is not a small undertaking and my hats go off to anyone dealing with this disease.

So I've decided to make a few dishes that are gluten free to have in my recipe box just in case. As I mentioned, this is a huge undertaking. For instance, I did not buy a true gluten free soy sauce for this recipe- but it is available. I think the key to gluten free is to find substitutes for the basic needs- like noodles, pasta and bread.

Bean thread, or cellophane noodles, are a great option. The second key is getting creative with flavor.  In this recipe, the use of black tea gives a great flavor dimension.

I may continue to keep eating pasta and bread until I can fully commit to an idea of gluten free; but count on seeing more GF recipes on this blog just for the fat and happy health of it.

Tips and techniques:  Timing is important on this recipe, so chop the leek, garlic and mushrooms before you begin. Having all the ingredients ready will help to avoid overcooking the noodles, shrimp or mushrooms.  Try to find fun mushrooms rather than using a button or crimini mushrooms.   I found a great mixture at Whole foods that combined alba and brown clamshell, Trumpet royale and forest namakos.

Tea Soaked Shrimp with Garlic Bean Thread Noodles

Black tea, 2-3 bags
6 shrimps, deveined
1 leek, chopped into about 1 inch pieces
1-2 cups mushrooms (see note above)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbls soy sauce (gluten free)
1 tbls honey
Chives, a few sprigs for garnish
Red pepper flakes
Sriracha sauce
2 nests of bean noodles
Fresh black pepper

Steep 2-3 bags of tea in pot with 6 cups of hot water.  Pour most (about 4 cups) of the water into a large bowl and add a handful of ice cubes.  Add the bean noodles to the bowl, set aside to soak for 10 minutes.  Pour 3/4 cup tea into a container, set aside  Add another 2 cups of water into the tea pan, leave the tea bag(s) in the pan and bring to a boil.

 In a fry pan, add a little olive or canola oil to the pan and the chopped leeks, saute until leeks begin to soften and caramelize.  Add the garlic, toss and saute another minute.  Add the mushrooms, toss and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, fresh black pepper and reserved tea, simmer.

At this point, your noodles should be done soaking and your tea boiling.  Add the noodles to the boiling tea for 30 seconds, remove using a tongs or small strainer and add to the leeks. Turn off the tea and now add your shrimp to the hot tea pan.  Cook for about 2 - 3 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink.  Remove the shrimp from the tea and add to the leek pan.  Toss and plate.

Serve with a drizzle of Sriracha sauce, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and chopped chives.

*note, I also label this as vegetarian because you could easily modify this recipe to leave off the shrimp and still have a wonderful vegetarian dish.

Brown Sugar Grilled Figs with Sweet Mascarpone Cream

I was walking through Whole Foods the other day on a mission to pick up fresh shrimp for my soba noodle dish creation.  Little green baskets filled with fresh figs caught the corner of my eye; I stopped dead in my tracks causing the man walking behind me to smack right into me  "Sorry" I said apologetically as I nodded to the figs, "but I spied a basket of fresh figs over there." He was very nice about it and asked me to grab him a basket too!

Arriving at home it was hard to pay attention to the dish at hand, the figs were calling my name.  So many options and only two of us to test it out on. Being that it's summer, I just can't shy away from the grill. A little brown sugar rub for the grill and a dollop of mascarpone cheese placed on top just as they come off the grill so that it melts slightly and becomes creamy.... ah, heaven.


I think the key to this story is that we must always be on the look out; stop rushing so much that you can't look around.  I nearly missed those figs and you all would've never seen this grilled figs with sweet mascarpone recipe nor would you see the soon to come grilled prosciutto wrapped figs recipe (equally outstanding). An open mind and open eyes make one fat and happy eater!

Tips and Techniques:  Face all the cut figs in the same direction on the skewer for easier handling.

 Brown Sugar Grilled Figs with Sweet Mascarpone Cream
3 figs (1.5 per person)
1 tbls brown sugar
2 tbls olive oil or melted butter
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
3 Tbls powder sugar
Mint leaves

Mix the oil and brown sugar in a bowl. Cut the figs in half, place in the brown sugar bowl, toss to coat well. Spear the figs on barbecue skewer, place on an oiled grill over medium high heat, turning at least once.  Gill until the figs are caramelized and have nice grill marks to them; this should only take a about 4 minutes per side.

In the meantime, mix the mascarpone cheese and the powder sugar until well combined.  Plate the figs, add a dollop of the cream and top with a few mint leaves. Serve immediately.

Grilled Summer Lasagna

Delicate pasta with layers of hot cheesy tomato-y goodness, lasagna just can't be beat ... in the winter.  Let's admit a heavy and hot dish, albeit superbly tasty, just doesn't work in the summer.  But with the wave of a magic wand, a few fresh herbs and bright veggies,  a summer lasagna is born.

This is a fun option for a summer picnic or barbecue.  And you won't have to heat up your kitchen. It's an elegant fat and happy summer meal.

Tips and techniques:  If you don't have a grill, you can also oven roast the zucchini.  Or go completely fresh and use the zucchini raw.  The freshest, home grown ingredients will yield the best flavor. This serves 2 along with a side salad.

Grilled Summer Lasagna

1 large Zucchini
1 large Tomato
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh basil
2 tbls fresh thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil

Slice the zucchini lengthwise and then slice the tomato.  Be careful to slice these the same thickness; using a mandolin works the best.  Try to slice about 8 slices out of the zucchini, that should put your thickness about 1/8 " thickness.  Mix the olive oil, half of the fresh basil and thyme together; then marinate the zucchini and tomato slices in the oil for about 20 minutes. Mix the ricotta, Parmesan, garlic powder and remaining fresh herbs.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Next, grill zucchini slices (reserve the oil) and cool slightly. Now assemble the lasagna. Begin with two slices of zucchini, top with 2-3 slices of tomatoes, and a layer of ricotta cheese.  Grate a bit a fresh Parmesan and pepper on top of the cheese.  Repeat.  Top the final layer of cheese with two zucchini slices.

Drizzle the dish with a few tablespoons of the marinade oil and a few sprinkles of fresh basil and parsley.  Enjoy!

Red Pepper Salsa

Today Dave declared he was making eggs with salsa.  'Sounds great, but we don't have any salsa' I smugly quipped. 'There's a tomato in there, you can make some' Dave replied.  He was quite serious too.  This from a guy who doesn't want to be an inconvenience; it was a rare statement.  I could do nothing but rise to the request.

He was right, we indeed did have a tomato, along with one jalapeno pepper, a lime and some parsley.  These ingredients were screaming for a salsa.  After removing those ingredients from the fridge, a stray red bell pepper stood silent; it looked so lonely I just couldn't leave it in the cold dark fridge alone, so in the salsa it goes.

Quite honestly, there is nothing super secret or different about this salsa recipe, it uses all the typical base salsa ingredients and it goes together in about 10 minutes.  It's a combination of a fresh salsa and a roasted salsa without the long wait of the full roasting.  My red pepper salsa was ready at the same time the eggs were, we ate and went about our day.  Simple.  Another fat and happy request complete.

Tips and Techniques: If you do have time and want to further roast the tomatoes and the red pepper, drop them on a cookie sheet and into the oven until the skins burst. They become sweeter with roasting. If you want a milder salsa, do not use the full jalapeno after roasting it.  Start with half and then add more according to your taste.

Red Pepper Salsa 

1 lime
2 large tomatoes
1 jalapeno
1 red pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup rough chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt

Pan roast the jalapeno and garlic. Do this by simply placing them in a dry fry pan on medium high heat to sear the skin.  Toss often and be careful not to burn the garlic.

Remove garlic clove, cut the tomatoes into 4 quarters and add to the pan (skin side down).  The goal is to just add a hint more flavor by a quick roasting. Don't toss them, just let them sit in one spot, that spot will become dark- remove from heat just before that spot on the tomatoes turn black. Should take just a few minutes.

Finely chop the onions and red pepper.

Place jalapeno and garlic in Cuisinart, blend until finely chopped. Add tomatoes and salt, pulse until all combined and tomatoes are chopped up. Pour into a bowl.

Add chopped onions to bowl.  Add half of the red peppers to bowl and the other half to the Cuisinart. Add the parsley and juice of one lime to Cuisinart - blend until finely chopped.  Add to bowl. Mix and serve.

Ginger Watermelon Summer Cooler

I'm a water drinker.  I shy away from extra drinks like juices, energy drinks and sodas.  I save my liquid calories for tea, coffee, wine, gin ... and beer. 

But if ever there was a time to splurge on fun drinks, this is it- summertime. You can pretty much juice any fruit, add simple syrup, a splash of vodka and voila!  A super refreshing summer cocktail is on your lips in no time.

In this case I chose watermelon - it seemed like a nice option for an afternoon get-together.  Plus, I like to think this is a slightly upscaled version to the classic 'soaked watermelon'; you know what I'm talking about, the watermelon sprouting the upside down vodka bottle...   Stop by the farmers market, or better yet- Stanley's Vegetable Market, pick up a melon and make yourself a fat and happy cocktail worth splurging on.

Tips and Techniques:  Juice the watermelon in the morning, it takes a few minutes to get this all chopped up and juiced.  Read the labels, look for a juicy, seedless watermelon; if you have a melon with seeds, remove them before blending.

Ginger Watermelon Summer Cooler

1 small seedless watermelon
Ginger simple syrup (recipe below)
Juice of 1 lime
Ginger ale
Vodka

Begin by making the simple syrup first, you will need this to cool before adding to the drinks (this can be done the day before, just store in the fridge.)  Chop up the watermelon, removing the rind.  Save a few slices for garnish on the glass.  In batches, place the melon in a blender and blend for just 5-10 seconds.  Be sure to remove any seeds before blending.

Set a strainer on top of pitcher, strain the juice into the pitcher.  Use a spatula or wooden spoon to push the juice out of the pulp.  Throw the pulp away and blend another batch. I juiced 8 -10 cups of melon juice and still had half of a watermelon left over, it was plenty for a party of about 10. Cut up any remaining watermelon, grate fresh ginger over the top and serve in a pretty bowl.

Add in the lime and ginger simple syrup. You may like more or less so add in half of the syrup first, then taste and add to your liking.  The melon juice itself is pretty sweet, so don't add the whole batch of syrup without tasting, I only used about a cup of the syrup.

To mix:  Fill a cocktail glass with ice, fill the glass 2/3rds full with the melon juice.  Add 1 oz of vodka and top off with fresh ginger ale and give it a stir.  Serve with a little watermelon wedge.


Ginger Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 fresh ginger, cut into pieces (about 1/4 cup)

Add all ingredients in a saucepan, heat on medium until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat and let cool, this will allow the ginger time to steep.
Strain out the ginger, store in the refrigerator to keep it cool until ready to use.

Blueberry Sorbet

I have a bad habit of buying more fruit than I eat; it can be a real waste of money.  Luckily I'm also pretty frugal and I use my freezer to no end.  Just before any fruit goes bad, I clean it and throw it in the freezer.  This becomes the base to many sauces, gravies, pies and sorbets!

It's 90-something outside, the humidity is dripping off me and I need something frozen but feeling like the dairy in ice cream is too thick and will weigh me down today.


So I'm making a quick and easy blueberry sorbet. It's as simple as freezing fruit and blending it together with a bit of sugar. No ice cream maker needed, a Cuisinart or even a blender, will work great!  The addition of lemon and almond flavoring gives a reminiscent flavor of a blueberry pie... frozen.

Next time you're in a pool of heat and need a refreshing treat - pull that fruit out of the freezer and cool yourself off with this fat and happy sorbet! Do I even need to mention the great nutrients you will be getting from the fruit...?

Tips and Techniques:  When you freeze fruit, wash it and cut off any bad spots first.  Place the fruit in a heavy freezer zip lock bag and lay the bag flat in the freezer so the fruit doesn't freeze in one solid clump.  This will allow for ease in using and measuring.   

Blueberry Sorbet

2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 cup simple syrup
1 tbls lemon zest
1 tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

Make the simple syrup by heating 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.  Add all ingredients into the Cuisinart (or blender) and blend on high until the blueberries are all chopped up and have formed the sorbet.  Taste, if you like things sweet, you may want slightly more simple syrup.  Use immediately or store in the freezer until ready to use.

Soba Salad with Peanut Sauce

There are times when our meals call for something lighter, something milder on the body.  For those of us who are meat eaters, it's important to enjoy a few meals/days of meatless entrees.  Let the internal system have some time of rest.

The tricky part is will you be left hungry and wanting more after the meal?  I think part of this is a mindset, so first set your mind right.  You don't need meat with every meal- you just don't.  Second, be sure the meatless meal you are making is hearty and flavorful.

This cold soba salad covers the ask.  Soba noodles are from buckwheat flour - they resemble spaghetti noodles in size except that they are brown in color with a nuttier taste. Since it is a Japanese noodle, it seems only fitting to mix this with a soy peanut sauce.  The use of peanut butter helps to make this a 'stick-to-your-ribs' meal and offers protein to boot.  The soba noodles themselves offer a great amount of protein as well.  The veggies are interchangeable - throw in what you on hand or what is in season.  This dish can stand on it's own or serve with a light side salad tossed with an oriental dressing.  You and your body will feel fat and happy!

Tips and Techniques:  Try creamy or crunch peanut butter, or get really crazy and use almond or even sunflower butter.  Serve by tossing all the ingredients together and serve the sauce on the side. Make and serve the day of, the flavors do not deepen if left overnight.  The flavors are best at room temperature rather than chilled.

Soba Salad with Peanut Sauce

2 bundles of soba noodles
1 heaping cup carrots
1 cup cucumber
1 heaping cup red pepper

2 Tbls sesame flavored chili oil or (sesame oil)
2 Tbls grated ginger
2 Tbls grated garlic
1 Tbls soy sauce
1 Tbls red wine vinegar
3 heaping spoons of peanut butter
1/4 hot water

Begin by bringing 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot While that is heating, chop the veggies- cut the carrots, cucumbers and red pepper into matchstick size pieces (long and thin).  Add the soba noodles to the boiling water, cook until just before al-dente (refer to the package for timing.)  Just before you drain the noodles, add the carrots and peppers to the boiling water ( I like adding the veggies to the water just to ease the crunchiness slightly.)  Drain everything, rinse really well with cold water, set aside.

Make the dressing next- add the oil, ginger, garlic and soy sauce to a small fry pan.  Simmer for about 2 minutes just to help soften and release the flavors of the garlic and ginger. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar and peanut butter.  Whisk together while drizzling in the hot water.  Add just enough water to make the sauce thin enough to toss.

Toss the sauce with the noodles, veggies and cucumbers.  Top with toasted sesame seeds or crushed peanuts if desired. Serve.

Brazilian Corn Corn Stew

I'm going to tell you something that may shock you.  Ready?  I hate cilantro.  Not just dislike - but a deep hatred. Crazy coming from a 'foodie', right?  There are very few foods I dislike, and none more than cilantro.  It's pungent and overused in my opinion.

However,  I do understand that most people love it.  So when the the Gozamos Food Editor asked me to create my version of a Brazilian dish to help celebrate the magazines' Brazilian month, I broke one of my own rules and brought cilantro into the house.  Not that I think Cilantro completely defines Brazilian cooking, but it did come to mind as all the other fresh, vibrant ingredients danced in my head.

The base of this recipe is absolutely dependent on fresh, extremely flavorful ingredients; corn so sweet it doesn't need butter or salt when eaten alone, peppers that tease the back of the throat and fresh ginger that tickles your nose.  The outcome was quite lovely; if I made this again for myself however, I would substitute parsley for the cilantro.

Pick your poison- parsley or cilantro, I won't take offense to which one you choose because either way- you will be fat and happy with this Brazilian stew.  Oh, and if anyone wants to take the remaining bunch of cilantro off my hands- just give me a call!  It will be a while before I use it again!

Tips and techniques:   You get a bigger flavor boost from grilling the corn and peppers first, the extra little smoky flavor mixes with the coconut milk and takes it over the top. 

Brazilian Coconut Corn Stew

2 cobs of corn
1 red pepper
1 poblano

1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup white, diced
1 large shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbls fresh grated ginger
1 lemongrass stalk
1 can of coconut milk
1 can black beans (optional)
 2 limes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley)

Grill the corn, red and poblano pepper.  Scrape the blackened skin off from the peppers and remove the seeds.

Stand the corn on end in a large shallow bowl or a cutting board.  Carefully slice the corn off the cob; squeeze any juice out of the cob you can.

Saute the onions in oil until the edges begin to caramelize.  Add the garlic, shallots and ginger, continue to saute.  Bruise the lemongrass (do this by cutting the stalk into a 2 or 3 sections and then bending each stalk several times to release the flavor) and add along with the garlic for about 4 minutes.

Add in the diced peppers, the corn, black beans (if using), and the coconut milk.  Let the stew simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove the lemongrass stalk, squeeze on lime over the stew and sprinkle in the cilantro. Serve with a lime quarter.