How-To-Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a great addition to almost any recipe. However, they yield so much liquid when cooked the juice can take over the flavor of a dish. We learned a nifty trick from a Cook's Magazine to microwave the mushrooms until cooked to get all the liquid out before adding them to your favorite recipe. You get all the mushroom flavor and versatility without all the juice!

Just put the desired amount of mushrooms in a microwave-safe container with a tight fitting lid. Microwave on high until cooked through - about four to five minutes, depending on the amount. Drain the liquid and cook as normal! This is a great way to start out mushrooms in wine sauce, as pizza toppings or to pasta sauces!

OMG Shrimp

I LOVE shrimp. I mean LOVE them. They are so juicy and delicious and suck in whatever flavor you cook them with. My mom buys them from fishermen on the side of the road where she lives at the beach, but I prefer a pre-peeled and deveined version. They are delicious fresh, but I find the $5 frozen bag from Wal-Mart does the trick just fine. 

Roasting the shrimp makes them extra tender and juicy!

Baby girl and I have had a nasty cold all week, and John has been amazing taking care of both of us. I finally started to feel better yesterday and finally felt like cooking again! I cam across a recipe for roasted shrimp with lemon, garlic and herbs from Cinnamon Girl Recipes that I had to try. The original recipe calls for thyme, which I had none of so I improvised and changed things up just a little. I had some leftover spice blend from a Christmas leg of lamb that I pulled from Epicurious. This spice blend is so versatile, and has a smokey, lemoney smell to it, so I thought it would go nicely with the lemon in this recipe. I was right! I also added mushrooms and served this over orecchiette pasta. 

You will need:

1/4 cup Olive Oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 lemon, zested and sliced thin

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon Tabil Spice Blend

prepared mushrooms - as many as you want!

salt & pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large roasting pan or baking dish, add the olive oil, zest of the lemon and spice blend. Whisk together to blend well. Let this cook together in the oven for about 10 minutes, until fragrant and hot. Once done, add the butter, stirring it in until it melts. Then add the lemon slices, mushrooms and shrimp. Stir all ingredients until well coated. Put back in the oven for 10-12 more minutes until the shrimp are pink and starting to curl. Do not over cook!!! Serve over your favorite pasta, rice, vegetable, or just eat it right out of the pan if you can't make it to the table! It is that good. Enjoy!

We need a new camera something fierce.

Trader Joe's Reserva Chilean Cabernet

Let me just preface this - this wine costs $3.99. It is not going to drink like a 2005 Howell Mountain cab, so we aren't even going to place it in the same bracket. We are going to look at this objectively, and take this wine for what it is - which happens to be NTDB... Not Too Dang Bad!

We have actually bought this wine a few other times before doing this post, and each time we've have enjoyed it. There's not a whole heck of a lot going on, but it is rich, it's jammy, the dark red and purple fruit are right there for you to taste and it's incredibly drinkable. The flavors blend nicely into a ripe and supple mouthfeel while giving a decent, although short, finish. It is very smooth, and isn't going to offend. This would be a great introductory cab for those people who tend to shy away from a heavier wine.

It's a perfect party wine - you won't feel bad pouring it for anyone, but you may want to put it in a decanter if you don't want to brag about your thriftiness.

Mimi's Mexican Rice

Our bestest buddy from California, Mimi, shared this delicious recipe for Mexican rice when we were all living together in Sonoma. I had tried for years to perfect this fluffy, savory and slightly spicy rice, but my results always ended up a lump of starchy, sticky, flavorless mess. Mimi's recipe is so easy to make, and can be easily modified with other ingredients to make it a meal. Serve this with any kind of Mexican dish or just add some black beans, roasted corn, cilantro and a dollop of sour cream for an easy meal! Now if only I had a freezer full of her mama's tamales...

1 cup of white rice
1 can of spicy V8 juice
1 medium onion grated or very finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
1 chicken flavored bullion cube
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter

In a medium pot or dutch oven (my preference), put in the butter and rice over medium heat. As the butter melts, stir the rice around so it's well coated. Add the onion and jalapeno. The rice will start to sizzle and a few pieces will start to brown. When the browning starts, add the water, bouillon cube and V8, and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and let it cook down until all the liquid is absorbed. If the rice is soft but there is still liquid left, just take the top of the pan off and let it reduce.

We added kale to make it a meal!