New England Clam Chowder

Can you believe January is already almost over!? I sure can’t….

This whole polar vortex business seems to bring about my soup making desires lately. All I want to do is curl up on the couch with a nice big bowl of hot delicious soup and watch some cheesy chick flicks. Mmm sounds pretty good right about now actually as I sit here looking out the window at the sideways snow that’s blowing outside.

This past summer we took a trip up to Cape Cod in Massachusetts where my brother and sister-in-law got married and we took the ferry out to Martha’s Vineyard and made a pit stop at Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company for some clam chowder and my-oh-my were my taste buds happy as, well… clams! Yup I’m throwing in some cheesy puns here. I could have sat there all day and ate that soup until I exploded. It was so good.  If I  didn’t have to worry about flying back to DC I would have bought multiple containers to go and stock piled my fridge with them. I haven’t gotten clam chowder out of my head since.

 

I finally decided to attempt my own version. I gotta say, it came out pretty fantastic. You can totally substitute fresh whole clams in this, but I’m on a bit of a smaller budget. This soup is sure to warm your soul and put you in couch-potato mode.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion diced
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 2 cups diced baby red potatoes
• 6 (6 1/2-ounce) cans chopped clams, undrained
• 1 bottle clam juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 qt. Half and half
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 2 bay leafs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Oyster crackers for topping!

Directions:

• In a large sauce pot add 2 TBSP of butter and melt. Add onion, celery, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and cook until vegetables are softened.
• Drain clams reserving liquid. Add liquid from clams and bottle of clam juice to vegetables. Add diced potatoes and bay leaves and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• In a separate pot, melt remaining butter and whisk in the flour.
• Add half and half and stir constantly until thickened.
• After potatoes are soft, add flour/milk mixture to pot and bring back to a boil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until mixture thickens to the consistency you like. Stir well!
• Add the clams and cook for a bout 2-3 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves before serving.

Shrimp Newburg

There are so many things you can do with shrimp.  I’m not usually a big fan of cream sauces but this one just seems to really hit the spot with me.  Cooking the shrimp shells into the sauce separately from the shrimp, I think just really helps create an extra boost of flavor! The combination of sherry and cream work so well together.  This dish only takes a few minutes to make because shrimp cooks so fast but it tastes like it took hours to create the flavor!  I hope you all enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1 – 1.5 lbs. medium raw shrimp, cleaned with shells removed (reserve the shells)
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1/4 cup sherry wine
• salt and pepper for taste
• small pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 TBSP finely chopped chives

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp shells and cook for about 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl whisk together half and half and cornstarch. Pour mixture into pan with shrimp shells.  Bring to a simmer while stirring for about 1-2 minutes.  Strain shells from sauce, press to get as much liquid out of them and into pan and discard.
• In a separate large pan melt 1 TBSP butter over medium heat and add onions.  Cook them until softened and translucent.  Stir in flour and whisk together with the onions. Little by little, whisk in the milk mixture and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, lower heat and bring it down to a simmer for about 1 minute.
• Add shrimp and stir in sherry.  Cook until shrimp is firm and pink. This should only take a few minutes so watch carefully.  Season with salt, pepper and a small pinch of cayenne pepper.
• Serve over brown or white rice.  Top with finely chopped chives.

Shrimp with cilantro, lime sauce

This is one of my favorite recipes to make.  The original recipe credit goes to: http://www.lanascooking.com  I’ve adjusted the recipe a bit, I like more juices with mine as I generally serve it over Linguini pasta.

I stumbled upon this one night when I was looking for something new to do with a bag of frozen shrimp I had my freezer.  Anytime I’m craving shrimp, I usually end up making this.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped and seeds removed (optional)
• 2-3 dashes of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1 – 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juices
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 pound shrimp, split, deveined and peeled
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 dry white wine

Directions:

• Melt butter and olive oil together over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion and jalapeno. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to turn translucent, careful not to let the garlic burn.  Add the can of crushed tomatoes with their juices, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.  There are petite diced and regular diced tomatoes, I generally like them larger in this dish so I go with the regular diced.  You can used Roma tomatoes too and dice yourself but I like the additional liquid that you get with the canned tomatoes.
• Add the shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, making sure all have turned opaque and pink.  Watch carefully, it shouldn’t take long for shrimp to cook through.  Time may vary depending on the size of the shrimp you are using.
• When shrimp are almost done, add salt, pepper, lime juice and zest and wine.
• Cook for about another minute so the flavors combine and the alcohol cooks out of the wine.
• I serve over Linguini pasta or by itself, either way it’s delicious and the flavors in this really compliment each other.

Lobster Risotto

Happy Monday and post Cinco de Mayo for those who celebrated!

It’s been a bit since my last post but I’ve a got a few good things up my sleeve that are on their way! This weekend I went out on a limb and tackled my first ever risotto.  I have to say I’ve been pretty hesitant to ever try to make it because of how much attention I’ve always hear it needs.  Lots of stirring and standing at the stove to monitor so you don’t over cook it.  But, I finally over came my fear and went for it and oh my did it turn out perfectly! I figured if I was going to make it I’d just go all-in, so all-in it was with some lobster! Our bowls were completely clean when we were done! The serving size is not quite what my boyfriend and I would say is equal to what we had, as we ate the entire thing that was supposed to be able to serve 4 people.  This is definitely not a self-created recipe and all rights to it go to a wonderful book I received at Christmas called Wine & Food a New Look at Flavor by Joshua Wesson.  It’s a great wine and food pairing book that you can find at Williams-Sonoma. Try out the recipe for yourself and let me know what you think! This is definitely something that will be a staple in my recipe box!

Ingredients: 

• 3 to 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet or yellow onion
•  pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup rich white wine
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 lb cooked lobster meat, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup peeled, seeded and finely chopped tomato
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions: 

• Heat broth in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, add salt to broth.
• In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-low heat.  Add the onion, red pepper flakes and saute until the onion is soft and turns translucent (about 4 min).  Add the rice and stir to coat with oil.  Cook for a bout 2-3 minutes.  The rice should start to turn opaque.  Pour in the white wine — the book recommends a rich white wine, something like a Sauvignon Blanc.  Add the lemon zest and juice and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Slowly add the broth to the rice mixture about 1/2 cup at a time.  This is when you need to stay at the stove and stir rice often. When the broth is almost completely absorbed by the rice, add another 1/2 cup broth and continue stirring often. This process should take about 20 minutes.  Keep about 1/2 – 1 cup of the broth and taste the rice to check for firmness.  The rice should be firm but not hard or crunchy and look creamy.  If it still tastes too hard, add remaining broth and continue to cook.
• When the rice is cooked through enough, stir in your lobster. You can use fresh lobster if you don’t mind splurging.  I used a container of lobster that you can find frozen.  It’s all tail meat already removed from the shells.  A little on the cheaper side, it’s just the same as buying crab meat but it’s kept frozen and still tastes just as good!

• Stir in the butter and tomato and adjust the taste as needed with salt, pepper and butter.
• Pour into bowls, serve and enjoy with a nice cool glass of white wine! 
  

Citrus Marinated Grilled Swordfish

Happy weekend all! I’ve been curled up on my couch recovering from a cold, hopefully you’ve all been able to get out and enjoy some of this gorgeous Spring weather! I love when the weather gets nice, it’s finally an opportunity for us to use the grill! There is something so comforting about eating something off of the grill.  I love that charbroiled taste and seeing those grill marks on my food.  I love standing outside around the grill with friends and family cooking up some delicious food.  Today however, the cooking/grilling credit goes to my boyfriend, while I relaxed with a box of tissues next to me.  I did make the marinade though, and I have to say it was pretty on point! The orange and lemon citrus flavors combined with the swordfish and that wonderful grill mark taste was so good! My only adjustment would be to let the swordfish marinate a little bit longer to absorb some more flavors — the marinate time below should be better!

Ingredients:

• 2 swordfish steaks
  
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 3 navel oranges – zest and juice
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

• In a medium bowl add salt, pepper, olive oil and zest of 1 orange.  Juice the 3 oranges and lemon and add juice to the rest of the marinade mixture. Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag and add swordfish steaks.  Make sure to any air in the bag is squeezed out and flip the bag over a couple of times while it marinades to make sure both sides is covered.  Allow to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. 
• Remove steaks from marinade and grill about 4-5 min on each side.  Careful not to over cook steaks, you don’t want to over cook them because they’ll be dried out.