Garlic Shrimp and Orzo

• 1.25 lb to 1.5lb shrimp, shelled/devined
• 1 tbs olive oil.
• 1 lemon + zest
• 1lb veggies (asparagus, snap peas, or broccoli, etc) thinly sliced
• 2 cups orzo
• 5 tbs butter
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• salt
• black pepper
• parsley, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large dutch oven, heat over medium high heat. Melt 3-4 tbs butter. Stir in garlic until fragrant then add dry orzo and mix until butter browns and orzo looks toasty.
2. Mix shrimp with juice and zest of one meyer lemon, some salt, black pepper, and olive oil
3. Add chicken broth to orzo, 1-2 tsp salt. Mix and cover for 10 min.
4. Uncover. Add asparagus and shrimp. Add some water if too dry. Stir to mix well. Cover for another 5 min.
5. Uncover. Salt to taste. Mix in chopped parsley. Continue stirring until veggies are fork tender and shrimp is opaque. Stir in another tbs or so of butter and serve.

Vietnamese Clay Pot Salmon (Ca Kho)

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2-3 salmon steaks
2. 3 tbs fish sauce
3. 1 tbs dark soy sauce
4. 1 tbs mirin
5. 2 tbs brown sugar
6. 1 tsp ginger minced
7. 3 cloves garlic minced
8. 2 large shallots minced
9. 2 stalks of green onion, chopped
10. white and or black pepper.
11. optional: coconut water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Marinate salmon in fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin, half the garlic/shallots/ginger. 20+ min. Remove fish and separate from marinade, wiping off any bits of aromatics.
2. In heavy pan/dutch oven/clay pot – heat oil and add 2 tbs brown sugar, stir until caramelized and brown in color.
3. Quickly sear salmon on both sides until browned. Remove from pan.
4. Add aromatics back in. Quickly stir until fragrant. Add fish back along with marinade. Add 1 cup of water or coconut water. Braise on medium low heat for 10 min. Uncover for 5 min to reduce liquid,
5. Top with green onions, few cranks of black pepper, and serve.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb pasta
• zest from 1 meyer lemon (2 if small)
• juice from half a meyer lemon
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup cooked veggies (spinach or sweet peas or sliced asparagus, etc)
• salt/black pepper
• olive oil
• red chili flakes
• optional protein: grilled chicken, pan fried salmon, etc

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta 1-2 min less than instructions in big pot of boiling salted water.
2. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, zest, juice, 1 tsp salt, some black pepper
3. Reserve some pasta water. Drain pasta. Put pasta back in pot. Add ricotta mixture.
4. On low heat, mix in sauce to evenly coat pasta, slowly adding in reserved pasta water to thin it out a bit to preferred consistency.
5. Mix in veggies and olive oil.
6. Serve and top with protein and or red chili flakes and or extra grated parmesan.

Gyudon

What to do with left over hot pot beef? GYUUUUUDON.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb thin sliced beef, thawed and chopped into 3” pieces.
• 2 small onions thinly sliced
• 1cup or ~300ml dashi stock
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• mirin 2-3 tbs
• soy sauce 3 tbs
• sesame seeds
• grated ginger
• green onions, thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat dutch oven on medium high. Add a bit of cooking oil (or just some of the fatty ends of the beef) and saute onions until just soft.
2. Add dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar. Cover and reduced heat to medium. 5-10 min. Uncover to stir as needed.
3. Once onions are translucent and tender, bring heat to high. Separate beef and add to pot, stirring to brown all meat. Reduce uncovered and on high for 5 min.
4. Add 1 tsp of freshly grated ginger and stir in, cook another 1 min.
5. Spoon over cooked rice, sprinkle on sesame seeds and freshly chopped scallions.
6. Options: Add Japanese pickles and soft poached egg.

Neapolitan Beef and Onion Ragu

From the Serious Eats recipe: Pasta alla Genovese

NOT a quick weekday dinner, but I miss slowing down and making a nice long braise on a cold day. Not to brag or anything, but the three year old took one bite and said “hoo-ray! You win!” at me. Dutch oven is a must. This low liquid braise wont work in a multipot.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5-1.75 lb beef chuck, cut in 4×3” large pieces
• cooking oil/lard
• 3 lb yellow onions, sliced,
• 2 small carrots diced
• 1 celery rib diced
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine, divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb pasta

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Generously salt beef and set aside for 30+ min.
2. Prep veggies.
3. Heat oil/lard in dutch oven over med high heat. Add carrots and celery and lightly salt. Saute until soft. 3-5 min
4. Add 1/3 of the onions. continue to saute until soft but not browned, ~another 5 min.
5. Add tomato paste and 1/3 cup of wine. Stir to mix well.
6. Place beef on top of onions so beef has no direct contact with pot. Add remaining onions on top of beef along with bayleaf. Salt. Cover pot and keep at a gentle simmer for 1 hr.
7. Uncover and gently prod bottom of pan to make sure nothing sticks. Try to keep a layer of onions on the bottom. Flip beef if top is a bit dry. Things should look a bit more damp as water from the onions release.
8. Cover and continue to gently braise for another 2-3 hr. Longer, if meat is tough. Check every 45min or so to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Once beef is tender and offers little resistance to the back of your spatula, remove meat and set aside to cool. Toss bay leaf in trash.
9. Add the other 3/4 cup of white wine. Simmer with cover off. Salt to taste if needed.
10. Cut beef with kitchen sheers to 1.5” pieces. Add back into pot. Stir and break up half of the beef, keeping several bite size pieces. Simmer another 15 min for sauce to thicken. (It’s not a soup! it’s a pasta sauce!)
11. Undercook pasta in a separate pot by a few min. Drain and add pasta to sauce. Mix and cook another minute or so. Add pasta water a bit at a time if too dry.
12. optional: Top with grated cheese and parsley.

Miso Scallion Salmon

Super easy salmon rice bowl.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 filets of salmon, skin on
• 2 tbs white miso paste
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs mirin
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 3 scallions chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

Marinate salmon in all the above ingredients. 30min. (If short on time, just brush on right before cooking. It’ll be fine.)

Cook rice.

Cook veggies.

Heat skillet over med high heat.

Add oil, heat until shimmering.

Place salmon, skin down, in skillet. Don’t touch. Let the fish cook, bottom up, until the opaque part almost reaches the top.

Add a pat of butter while frying if you’re feeling indulgent.

Turn off heat. Flip and let the residual heat cook the top of the fish. (Or to avoid flipping, cover the fish and let it steam for a min or two. )

Serve over rice and veggies. Skin side up.

Buttery Shrimp Rolls

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• optional: baking soda for brining
• 3-4 hot dog buns (potato)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2-3 tbs scallions, chopped
• 2 tbs celery, chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt
• 1 tsp horseradish or dijon mustard

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Optional: brine shrimp for 15-60min in 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Apparently it makes the shrimp more plump and snappy. I was running late from work so I skipped this step.
2. Boil water in a pot. Add shrimp. Boil 2-3 min or until just cooked through.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter then place hot dog buns open side down. Toast until golden brown.
4. Drain shrimp into a large mixing bowl.
5. Toss in all the other ingredients, salt to taste.
6. Pile shrimp onto toasted/buttered rolls

15 min dinner!

Peach Galette

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 cup yellow peaches, sliced
• 1 tbs corn starch
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs butter chopped into tiny cubes
• 1 package pie crust, thawed

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven on 400F. Mix first four ingredients and arrange in middle pie crust, leaving 2 inches on edges. Fold in edges over the filling. Optional: brush beaten egg on edges then sprinkle with sugar. Top peaches with bits of butter. Bake 25-30min.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Multipot version! I lost a valve gasket on my Zavor multicooker pot last week and it’s been awfully time consuming cooking the old fashioned way! Now I realize just how much I rely on this contraption. Rice, pasta, stews, steamed veggies etc. I must use this thing at least five times a week.

Ultimate comfort food in our family: beef noodle soup. It use to take hours to slowly simmer the beef to optimal tenderness. But now it takes less than an hour!

INGREDIENTS

• Two beef shins (~1.5lb)*
• 1 onion diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 thin slices of ginger
• 1/2 can diced tomato
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 star anise
• Peel from 1 orange
• 1 tbs doubanjiang (bean paste)
• 1/3 cup Soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice wine (michiu)
• 3-4 cups Water

Very important to use beef shins! It’s the only way to get melt in your mouth silky morsels of beef. The key is that beef shin is marbled through with connective tissue which melts when it’s braised.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Select Sauté mode. Add a bit of cooking oil once inner pot is hot. Sauté aromatics: onion garlic ginger. 3 min or until onions just soft. Stir in bay leaf and anise pods. 1-2 min.
2. Add rice wine, let it burn off for 2min. Add soy sauce, tomatoes, orange peel, doubanjiang, beef shins, and enough water until beef is almost submerged.
3. Lock and pressure cook 30 min.
4. Remove beef and slice thinly against the grain.
5. Lock and pressure cook 20 min. (Optional: add roll cut carrots now if you want to sneak more veggies for your kids)
6. Serve over chewy noodles or green onion pancakes for dipping. Top with fresh chopped scallions, a dollop of sesame oil, and some preserved mustard greens.

Photo cred for this last one goes to my sister.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

My little one is quite a picky eater. The only thing she’ll consistently finish is mac and cheese! So I’ve been buying these tiny single serve trays of butternut mac and cheese from FreshDirect that cost $6 each. In an attempt to save money, I stupidly decided I could easily make a huge batch and serve it to them all week for the same price. Did it taste amazing? Yes. Did it save me money? For sure. Was it worth the hour it took to make it then clean up while the kids cried and clung to my legs and everyone was late to work/school?

No.

But maybe next time I’ll make this after they go to bed.

Live and learn.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2lb pasta
• 2 cups+ freshly grated cheese (I used what was in the fridge: aged cheddar, gouda, Parmesan)
• 2 cups chopped butternut squash
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2+ cups milk
• 3 tbs butter
• 2 tbs flour
• 1-2 tbs fresh herbs, minced (we had chives. Sage or parsley works)
• Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Reheat oven to 420F. Peel and chop squash. Toss in oil and shallots and pour into baking pan. Roast ~20min until browned and fork tender.
2. Undercook pasta by 2min (instapot 1min)
3. In large pan, melt butter. Slowly stir in flour and make a roux. 2min. Lightly salt.
4. Nuke milk 1min. Slowly stir into roux until just thickened.
5. Mash up roasted squash and mix into roux.
6. Stir in grated cheese and fresh herbs
7. Mix in pasta until evenly coated.

Notes: could I leave out the roux and just add milk into roasted squash? Healthier but less yummy. Will try this next time.