Shrimp Louie Salad

Jess Damuck is a recipe developer, food stylist, and self-proclaimed salad freak. All of this shines through in her first book, published by Abrams, Salad Freak. Subtitled “recipes to feed a healthy obsession,” she is certainly not wrong. In this book, recipes range from the simple to the complex, and span meals from breakfast to dinner, even a late night snack.

There were quite a few recipes that immediately drew my attention, but I absolutely had to make this one first. This salad is wonderful and refreshing, and perfect for a summer lunch with the ladies, or dinner on the patio.

Shrimp Louie Salad
Edited for clarity

3 lemons
2 bay leaves
1 t. black peppercorns
1 lb. shrimp
2 large eggs

Two heads little gem lettuce*
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
2 Persian cucumbers

¼ c. mayonnaise
1 t. tomato paste
1 t. white vinegar
1 t. Tabasco sauce
Kosher salt and freshly by pepper to taste

Fresh dill, for garnish

Prepare an ice bath. Fill a medium pot with water 2 to 3 inches below the rim and add 2 halved lemons, 2 bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon black peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Add 1 pound of shrimp and cook until bright pink and cooked all the way through – six minutes for fresh, at about nine minutes right from frozen.

Transfer the shrimp to the ice bath and empty out the pot then refill it with fresh water and return to a boil. Add the eggs. Cook for 10 minutes, then transfer to the ice bath.

Separate the leaves of two heads lettuce and tear them into bite-size pieces; wash and spin dry.

Arrange the lettuce on serving plates or a large platter. Cut one cup cherry tomatoes in half. Cluster the tomatoes in one area of each salad plate, and scatter a few about the plate. Cut one avocado in half and remove the pit. Use a spoon to peel off the skin and cut each half into four wedges. Arrange on the plates. Slice two Persian cucumbers on the bias, and cluster in one section of each plate.

Peel the shrimp but leave their tails intact. Arrange the shrimp on the plates. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters. Arrange them on the plates. Pick some small pieces of dill to scatter around the plate, along with plenty of fresh pepper and lots of lemon wedges.

In a small bowl, combine ¼ c. mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a pretty little bowl for serving alongside the salad.

*Little Gem was not available in my area, so I substituted with spring mix. 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Salad Freak from Abrams Publishing Company as part of being a member of #AbramsDinnerParty.

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Colcannon

One of the things that I really like about St. Patrick’s Day is not what you might expect. I am not talking about the corned beef here, although I dearly love it, no, I am talking about colcannon. What is colcannon you may ask? It is a delicious cabbage, leek, and potato side dish that, along with the corned beef, covers all of your Saint Patrick’s Day bases. It is simple to prepare, and so good that you will wonder why you haven’t made it in the past.

Colcannon

4 slices bacon, chopped
4 T. butter, divided
1 6-oz. pkg. Melissa’s cleaned and sliced leeks
1 small head Melissa’s organic cabbage
1 1.5-lb. bag Melissa’s Baby Dutch yellow potatoes

In a 12-inch skillet, cook the bacon until done, but not crisp. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the package of leeks. Continue sautéing, over medium heat, until the leeks are limp. Add cabbage and remaining butter. Continue to cook over medium low heat until cabbage is limp.

While leeks and cabbage are cooking, bring a large saucepan with salted water to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes and cook until fork tender 20 to 25 minutes. Drain potatoes, return to pan, and place pan on top of warm burner with flame turned off to allow steam to evaporate. Mash potatoes the way that you normally would (hand mixer, potato ricer, whisk, you get the picture). Fold ¾ of the leek/cabbage mixture into mashed potatoes, blending thoroughly. Serve immediately, topped with the extra leek and cabbage mixture.

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Irish Pimiento Cheese

I am Irish and I love pimiento cheese, and, in thinking about these two facts, I decided it was time to make an Irish version of pimiento cheese. There’s nothing wrong with being a purist, but this is really delicious. Considering it contains whiskey, I would say this is for adults only. As with all pimiento cheese, this is excellent on crackers, with crudites, or mounded on top of a burger.

Irish Pimiento Cheese

 8 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

¼ c. cream cheese (2 ounces), softened, diced

1/3 c. finely diced Melissa’s roasted red peppers

3 T. Duke’s mayonnaise

2 T. Irish whiskey

2 T. minced scallions, green parts only (natch)

¼ t. smoked paprika

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Using a spatula, fold and mix until it is smooth and spreadable, about one and a half minutes. Transfer to a plastic or glass container, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

 

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Cheese and Spinach Pie

I was rummaging around in my mother’s old recipe box, as I occasionally find myself doing, and came across one of her handwritten recipes. It was written on the front and back of two 3" x 5” index cards. The fact that my mother had written this out by hand in such length indicated to me that she really liked it. The recipe was for Cheese and Spinach Pie. The recipe called for a homemade double crust piecrust. Nope. Not having it. I don’t make piecrust unless I absolutely have to (a gun is being held to my head, for example), and it seemed to me that using it in this recipe would be way too carb-laden. So I kept the filling as is, and decided to use puff pastry instead. The result was wonderful.

 This is like nothing I have ever experienced before. My friend Alycia (of the Tablescapes at Table/Twenty One blog) asked me if it was more like quiche, or more like spanakopita. Truth be told, it’s not like either one of those things. This is something unique. I enjoyed it as a main dish for dinner one night, and the next day I had it for breakfast. Naturally, it would work well for lunch. It keeps in the refrigerator, for a couple of days, but when you reheat it, make sure you do so in the oven so as not to make the crust soggy.

Cheese and Spinach Pie

3 T. butter
1 medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 8-oz. pkg. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
¾ c. dried breadcrumbs
1 t. chopped fresh dill (or ½ t. dill weed)
5 large eggs, separated
1 t. salt
Pepper, to taste
One sheet frozen puff pastry

In 4-quartsaucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion and garlic in melted butter until tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in spinach, mozzarella, ricotta, breadcrumbs, dill, four egg yolks, and salt.

Beat five egg whites until stiff peaks form. With wire whisk, gently fold egg whites into cheese mixture until well blended; set aside

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll one sheet of puff pastry into a 12” x 12” square. Place it into a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Spoon spinach mixture into the center of the puff pastry, and smooth out. Lift each corner of the puff pastry over the filling to the center until all corners meet. Combine remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water and brush over pastry.

Bake for one hour or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

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Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Toffee Glaze

I tend to indulge, perhaps overindulge, myself in magazine subscriptions. What can I tell you? I love periodicals. One of the magazines to which I subscribe is Bake from Scratch. I’m not quite sure why I subscribe to this one because, as I have mentioned before, I don’t bake, but there are so many wonderful things to look at in every issue that my subscription continues on. Last month, I found myself being unable to resist the “Bundt of the Month,” and had to make it. What a wonderful cake! Not all Bundt cakes or company worthy, but this one certainly is. The toffee glaze alone I could eat with a spoon.

Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Toffee Glaze

Ever so slightly adapted from Bake from Scratch

 

1¾ c. firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 c. canola oil

¾ c. sour cream, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. ground allspice

1 t. ground cinnamon

¾ t. ground nutmeg

¼ t. ground cloves

2 c. (¼-inch) diced peeled Melissa’s Granny Smith apples (about 2 large apples)

¾ c. roughly chopped toasted pecans

Toffee Glaze (recipe follows)

 Preheat oven to 325°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat brown sugar, oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla at medium speed until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, kosher salt, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until combined. Fold in apples and pecans. (Batter will be thick and it may seem like you have too many apples, but it will be fine.)

 Spray a 10-cup Nordic Ware Bavaria Bundt Pan with baking spray with flour. Using a pastry brush, spread any excess spray in pan, blotting brush with a paper towel as needed. Using a ¼-cup spring-loaded scoop, transfer batter to prepared pan. Tap pan on counter several times to spread batter into grooves and release any air bubbles. (The pan will be quite full, but the batter will not overflow.)

Bake until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Using a small offset spatula, gently loosen cake from center of pan. Invert onto a wire rack placed over a rimmed baking sheet, leaving pan on cake; let stand for 10 minutes. Remove pan, and let cool completely.

 Spoon part of Toffee Glaze all over cooled cake. To coat sides, drizzle with additional Toffee Glaze, and spread with back of spoon. Garnish with pecans and sea salt, if desired. Let stand for 15 minutes; transfer cake to a serving plate. Serve with any extra Toffee Glaze.

  Makes 1 (10-cup) Bundt cake

 Toffee Glaze

 1 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar

⅔ c. dark corn syrup

⅓ c. heavy whipping cream

¼ c. unsalted butter, cubed

¼ t. kosher salt

½ t. vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat; cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Transfer mixture to a medium heatproof bowl. Let cool for 20 minutes. Use immediately.

Butter Dip Buttermilk Biscuits

I love biscuits, but I don’t make them all that often. They’re not difficult to make, but there’s something about patting the dough out, cutting each biscuit into a perfect round, and carefully lifting it onto the baking sheet that I find annoying. Quite by chance I came upon this recipe. Imagine, I thought to myself, a biscuit requiring no cutting out whatsoever. Immediately I tried them. Wow! This recipe really knocked me out. Nothing is easier than stirring together a few ingredients, and dumping it into a pan full of melted butter. I dutifully cut the dough into even squares, and slid them into the oven. I don’t know that I have had a better biscuit. Crunchy on the top, chewy on the bottom and sides, and the interior is like a fluffy biscuit cloud. They make phenomenal egg and sausage sandwiches. Make these! I’m not just kidding around here.

Butter Dip Buttermilk Biscuits
Slightly adapted from thecountrycook.net

½ c. (one stick) butter
2½ c. flour
1½ T. granulated sugar
1 T. baking powder
1½ t. salt
1¾ c. of buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place stick of butter into an 8” x 8” microwave-safe baking dish. Microwave for one minute until butter has melted; set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in buttermilk. Stir with a fork until a loose, sticky dough forms. Pour biscuit dough into baking dish, on top of the melted butter. Smooth out the top as well as you can and cut the dough into nine squares using a sharp knife (this will help with cutting later when they are done).

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the dish once during baking.

These can be stored on the counter, covered, for up to two days. They will last for a week if stored in the refrigerator. You can freeze them for up to three months. 

St. Patrick's Day Lunch

It’s March! Can you believe it? I’m wondering what happened to February, and yet Valentine’s Day seems so long ago. Now that they are both behind us, it is time to think spring and St. Patrick’s Day! Not all inviting dinner tables need to be over the top, some can be beautiful in their simplicity, and such is the case with this table set for a holiday luncheon.

This table is simple, but sweet. It features green luncheon plates with matching soup cups, as well as stemmed fruit bowls, that I inherited from my second mother, Betty, when she passed away a number of years ago. Mother, Betty, and I would get together once a month. I would take the ladies on “field trips” every other month, driving them all around the city to places they wanted to see, but wouldn’t go to on their own. Each outing had to consist of a stop at a bakery. I can’t tell you how many bakeries we visited. It was great fun. Ahead of time I would make up an itinerary, include the menu of the restaurant where we were going to dine, and send it to them in an appropriately decorated envelope.

On alternate months we would dine at each other’s homes; Betty always served us using this set of dinnerware. I can’t tell you how much I miss our get-togethers, but when I’m feeling down, I get out this set of dinnerware and reminisce.

The centerpiece of this table is one I use every year. It is the leprechaun pitcher from Fitz & Floyd, filled with a pot of fresh shamrocks. A small pot of green and white M&Ms – mint flavored – sit at the base representing the pot of gold.

Crystal glasses by Mikasa were gifted to me by a friend. The table runner is from Pottery Barn; the placemats are woven water hyacinth. The white chargers (that I use again and again, and will never regret purchasing) are from Pier 1. The understated cottage salt and pepper shakers are by Magnolia Home.

Keep this simple table in mind when you get ready to set one for yourself, friends, or family. You don’t have to be over-the-top spectacular to be inviting.

  This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday