Angel-hair Pasta with Garlic Lemon Sauce, Mushrooms, Shrimp, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Good Evening!

Piyush and I just finished supper, so I thought I'd post about it real quick.  It's been a busy week and luckily it's bound to start slowing down soon.  I have a lot of baking coming up this weekend though, I'm glad about that, but really I could use a little break.  Tomorrow when I get off work I have to bake a cake for Piyush to take to his office for a Holiday party.  I want to do something different and something with a little holiday flair.  He only gave me one rule...no fondant.  Apparently he's not fond of it?  Or maybe his co-worker's aren't.  I'm not sure.  I always tell him that if they don't like it, tell them to peel it off.  There is plenty of frosting below it.  I suppose they feel rude if they throw away part of the cake, haha...I'm not sure.  I'm not a fan of the taste of fondant either, but it sure looks pretty.

Tonight for supper I decided to do a little experimenting.  I had some lemons left over in the fridge from the cake I made last week and I was craving brussel sprouts.  I decided a pasta would go well with both the ingredients.  Call me weird, but I really am not a huge fan of pasta.  Maybe I haven't had really good stuff yet, I don't know, but it just doesn't usually make me all that excited.  Oh, and I can't cook it.  It's one of the only things I really can't conquer. 

Tonight I came close.  This pasta was fantastic, and it smelled so yummy!

Give it a try, and tell me if you try anything different.  I'd love some new ideas!

Angel-hair Pasta with Garlic Lemon Sauce, Mushrooms, Shrimp, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 box of angel hair pasta
• 1 1/2 tbsp. garlic paste (you could use a few cloves of chopped garlic instead)
• 1 very large scallion
• 1 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 c. shredded, fresh parmesan cheese
• fresh mushrooms
• 1 lb. fresh brussel sprouts
• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper, more to taste
• fresh, italian parsley

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Clean and sort through the brussel sprouts.  Cut them in halves.  Mix 1/3 c. olive oil in a large zip-lock bag and add in 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper.  Add the brussel sprouts and toss to coat.  Once they are equally coated in the oil lay the spouts cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes or until the tops are blackened and soft to the touch.  Go ahead, taste one!  I promise you won't regret it, and you'll be able to tell if you need to bake them longer.

2.  Meanwhile heat some oil in a fry pan and saute the scallion, add the mushrooms and 1 tsp. lemon juice.  Add some pepper.  Once the mushrooms begin to cook through and are nearly done add the shrimp.  Saute until the shrimp are fully cooked. 

3.  Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  This should take around 5 minutes.  While the pasta is cooking make the lemon sauce.  To do this, mix together the juice of two lemons and 1 cup of olive oil.  Keep one cup parmesan cheese on the side, ready to throw into the mix.   If you'd like, you can even grate the cheese in with the lemon and oil mixture.  This is what I did.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Once the pasta is finished cooking, add the lemon sauce (make sure to keep the pasta on low heat), cheese, mushrooms, shrimp, and brussel sprouts.   Chop some fresh italian parsley and throw that in there too!

Toss everything gently so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed. 

5.  Garnish with freshly chopped italian parsley and serve with fresh garlic bread.  Enjoy!

Really Easy Jambalaya

I'm really not all that familiar with jambalaya, or with cajun food for that matter.  I've had gumbo before, I think; when I was a little girl at girl-scout camp.  Aside from that, I have no idea about anything cajun.

A couple weeks ago my husband decided that he was craving Jambalaya.  I had two options.  I could go to the store and buy one of those rice packet things where you just add water and meat, or I could figure out how to make it myself.  Since those rice packets scare me- who knows what half of those chemical ingredients are?, I'd rather not eat them.- I decided to take the second route.  Piyush was away at his chess tournament and I knew he'd be hungry when he got home so I decided to surprise him with a gigantic pot of spicey goodness...and I do mean gigantic.  This recipe made enough to feed at least 12 people.  I should mention, it also freezes well.

The recipe comes from a book entitled Cajun Cooking by Arlene Coco, well, the outline of the recipe does at least.  I changed it quite a bit because I didn't have crawfish and had no idea where to find them this time of year in Rochester.  She entitles the recipe "Spottfair Jambayala."  I also like to mess with recipes...and this was no exception.

I'm going to post the recipe according to how I prepared it, and not according to the actual recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rice
• 6 cups water
• oil, a few tbsp - enough to saute the vegetables
• 1 tbsp. butter
• About 5 to 6 stalks celery, diced
• 2 onions, I used one purple and one yellow, diced
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 3 tablespoons garlic paste
• 2 cans diced tomatoes and their juice
• 1 tbsp. italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. Cajun spice mix
• Parsley
• About 1.5 lbs shrimp
• 1 ring smoked turkey sausage

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Rinse the rice and mix with the water.  Pour in a casserole dish and bake in the 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.  Be careful not to let the rice get dry though.  Let the rice rest for 20 minutes after removing from the oven.

2.  In a fry pan or a dutch oven melt the butter.  Add the sausage and the shrimp.  Season as you desire.  I added some red chile flakes, cumin powder, corriander powder, pepper, some more cajun seasoning and a few dashes of hot sauce.  Stir fry until the meats are cooked through and the spices smell fragrant. 

3.  In a very large dutch oven or big pot heat the oil.  Saute celery, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium high heat until soft.  This takes about 10 minutes.

4.  Once the vegetables are soft add the diced tomatoes and juice, italian seasoning and sugar.  Mix in the cajun spice blend and cook for about 20 minutes more on a low simmer.

5.  Add the meats, parsley and rice to the vegetable mixture and cook on low heat for a few minutes until everything is nice and warm.

Serve your jambalaya warm with many hot sauces to choose from. 

What I really love about this dish is that every person that eats it has the opportunity to make it as spicy as they want it. I don't have to worry about putting in too much chile powder, or not enough.  It's also a very filling dish, and super economical.  I highly recommend this, Piyush even gave it an A+, you know it's good when he gives something an A+.  That NEVER happens!

Enjoy!!!

Aloo Posto & Prawn Malai Curry

(Potatoes with Poppyseeds and Creamy Shrimp Curry)

This meal was delightful!  The shrimp curry was really awesome---believe me!  I don't even like shrimp and this has quickly become one of my favorite curries to make.  This meal is traditionally Bengali, or so I have been told.  India is much like the United States in the fact that cuisine varies from region to region.  For example, if you order pizza in Chicago it won't be the same as pizza in Texas, or New York.  It's the same in India.  If you order a dish in the east, chances are very likely it won't be anything like the dishes in the south. 

Most Americans are used to eatting North Indian Dishes; dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala (which is actually British, although I guess this may be argued), Rogan Josh, Mutter Paneer and Chicken Briyani.  My husband was raised in Mumbai, so I'm sure there will be a few Maharashtrian dishes such as Pohe and Pav Bhaji making appearances on my blog. 

Aloo Posto

• 4 Tablespoons Indian Poppyseeds (these are white in color)
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" cubes
• 2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower/olive cooking oil (I usually use much less, use what you are comfortable with)
• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise and deseeded ---This will just give the dish flavor and not much heat.  I usually leave the seeds in and chop the chiles up.
• Salt to taste.

Directions

1. Put the poppyseeds (postu) in a bowl and add enough warm water to cover it completely. Soak for 5 minutes. Now grind in a food processor or with a stick blender to get a smooth paste. You can also use a mortar and pestle as it is done traditionally but it takes time and effort! Keep postu paste aside for late use. This step is hard.  I actually recommend using a coffee or spice grinder.  Keep some water in with the seeds though so that your end product is a paste.

2.  Meanwhile, boil the diced potatoes until they are almost cooked.  You don't want to cook them all the way, because you will be frying them later.  You could also steam the potatoes if you'd like, although this won't yeild a traditional aloo postu, or so my husband said when he realized I decided to steam them.  They turn out just fine though! :-)

3. Heat the cooking oil in a pan on medium heat. When hot, add the slit green chillies. To make the dish hotter you can grind the green chillies to a paste. If using whole green chillies, wait for the spluttering to stop after adding them to the hot oil. When this happens, add the diced potatoes to the pan. Stir fry until fully cooked. Add salt to taste. You might need to sprinkle some water over them as they cook, to prevent burning or sticking to the pan.
 
4. When the potato is cooked (soft), turn off the heat and add the postu paste and stir well. Spoon into a dish and serve.

This is really an easy dish to make.  It doesn't really strike me as something I would make when someone requests Indian food, but let me tell you....it packs a lot of flavor.  I'm sure if you tried it, you'd like it!
 

Shrimp Malai Curry

• 1 lb. large shrimp
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons oil, or to your judgement
• 3/4 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 5 whole cloves (I grind mine before throwing them in, but you can leave them whole)
• 7 cardamom pods
• 5 Indian bay leaves (I have used regular bay leaves, and those work fine as well)
• 3/4 inch piece of ginger, grated or about 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped or about 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon chili powder - be careful with this.  I put this in to taste.
• 3/4 cup lite coconut milk - skim the "cream" off the top and use that, preferably.  It will make the dish taste more authentic.

Directions

1. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails intact.  Or, be lazy like me...go to Sam's Club and buy a giant bag of precooked shrimp where all that work is already done for you.  Put them in a bowl, add the lemon juice, then toss them together and leave them sit for around 5 minutes.  Rinse the Shrimp under cold water and pat dry.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the onion until lightly browned.  Add the turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves, ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant.  About one minute, or so.  Add the chili powder, coconut milk and salt to taste and slowly bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 2 minutes.  Add the shrimpies and return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the shrimp are cooked through and the sauce is thick.  

Usually after I have added my shrimp I let it simmer for around 15-20 minutes and just kind of forget about it.  It needs some time for the flavors to blend and for the sauce or "gravy" to thicken.  This curry is wonderful.  I honestly don't like shrimp.  I am 25 years old, so it has taken me a quarter of a century to find a recipe that makes shrimp taste yummy to me.  I promise, you'll LOVE this curry! 

One of the most important tips I've learned about cooking Indian food is that you really have to taste your food as you cook it.  The levels of spices can either make or break a recipe and what tastes good to one person can be overwhelming to the next.  Be careful when adding chili powder, salt and yogurt to recipes.  Those are the three ingredients that tend to mess with my food on occasion. 

I hope some of you enjoy these recipes as much as I did!  Let me know if you try them and how they turned out, I'd love to hear if you tried anything differently or if you have your own take on these recipes!