Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Guide to Seafood








Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_cg_seafood_guide/0,3100,FOOD_27337,00.html


Shrimp Fried Rice


The few secrets for good fried rice are to use high heat, minimal oil, and add the rice little by little so that the pan's temperature stays hot. Using leftover rice is best—the dryness facilitates frying—but if you need to cook the rice first, dinner can still be on the table in minutes. Feel free to swap the shrimp with other proteins such as chicken or tofu.
About the author: Blake Royer lives in Brooklyn and spends most of his free time cooking and writing about it at Serious Eats and on The Paupered Chef. From 9 to 5 weekdays, he works as an assistant book editor in Manhattan.

Shrimp Fried Rice

- serves 2 -
Ingredients
1 egg
2 cups cooked rice
4 scallions, sliced
1 carrot, grated
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
10-12 cooked (or uncooked) shrimp, deveined and chopped
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice from half a lime
Procedure
1. If cooking rice, do so first, then rinse well to cool.
2. In a wok or large nonstick skillet, heat the oil until just before it's about to smoke, then add the ginger, carrot, garlic, and three of the scallions. Stir constantly until just fragrant, only about 15-30 seconds at most.
3. Add the shrimp. If raw, stir until cooked through; if pre-cooked, move on to the next step immediately.
4. Add the rice, handful by handful, stirring constantly to fry.
5. Make a hole in the middle of the rice and crack the egg into it. Stir quickly but gently, incorporating more and more rice until the egg is well-distributed.
6. Add the soy sauce and lime juice, then season with salt and pepper (or more soy sauce). Top with the last scallion.


Monday, July 21, 2008

Strawberry Milk Shakes

July is National Ice Cream month and strawberry ice cream is my favorite ice cream flavor . . . here is one of my favorite things in the world, Strawberry Milk Shakes . . .

I substitute no fat half and half for the milk and strawberry frozen yogurt and omit the sugar when I'm seriously dieting.

1 1/2 pints strawberry ice cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh strawberries (or frozen)


Directions

Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender until the ice cream begins to break down, about 5 pulses, then blend on high until completely smooth.

Serves 4


A fabulous variation to this recipe to make an Orange Freeze . . .

use Orange Sherbet instead of ice cream, omit the strawberries

Make it richer by adding some vanilla ice cream . . .



Saturday, July 19, 2008

Cottage Cheese Fruit Salad

This is one of those recipes that is so versatile and adaptable to your taste and dietary needs. It is what I make to take care of my sweet tooth when I'm seriously dieting . . . it is excellent even when made with no fat cottage cheese and sugar free jello.


Here is the basic recipe . . .

24 ounces cottage cheese
1 (12 ounce)container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package orange flavored gelatin mix
2 (11 ounce)cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (20 ounce)can pineapple chunks, drained


Blend together the cottage cheese, whipped topping
and gelatin. Add the oranges and pineapple; mix well
and refrigerate until chilled.


Variations . . .

Strawberries with strawberry flavored gelatin

I love adding walnuts and coconut to any combination
(sorry, I don't measure - I go by how it looks in the bowl)

Fruit cocktail is excellent with any flavored gelatin

Experiment with different flavors and fruits



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