pasta with anchovies, garlic, etc.

The other night I got a gift from my friend Tracy... Tracy is married to Corey Woodruff, an awesome photographer who is responsible for our Food Blog Mafia portraits. Well, Tracy makes some fantastic pottery, and she made me a little dish that grates garlic!! Have you ever? It's so awesome.


The next night I was on a mission to make something that involved grated garlic. Googling "grated garlic" I found this Gordon Ramsey recipe for spaghetti with anchovies, garlic, etc. etc. The anchovy is what made this a winner, as I had tried to get STL Bites' Bill Burge to split an anchovy pizza with me a couple nights before and he refused... I had been craving the salty buggers ever since!


Here is my interpretation of the recipe:

Linguine with Anchovies, garlic, etc.

-8 oz. linguine, cooked
-2 Tablespoons olive oil
-1 2oz. can of anchovies, drained and chopped
-4 cloves garlic, grated
-1 large shallot, chopped fine
-1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
-Splash of white wine
-Italian flat leaf parsley
-Zest from 1 small lemon
-about 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
-2 Hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped


-Cook the anchovies, garlic, and shallot in the olive oil until the shallots are softened and the anchovies have mostly dissolved. Add the butter and cook until it melted. Add a splash of wine, and let reduce slightly. Toss in the cooked pasta until well coated. Toss in the Parmesan, lemon zest and parsley. Serve, garnished with eggs. Makes 2 generous servings.

This is a very simple and quick dinner, but so rich and packed with flavor. Very satisfying. I don't recommend bringing the leftovers to work to eat in your cubicle the next day though... smelly. Yummy, but smelly. Sorry Co-workers!

leftover steak? Nam Tok beef!

I had in my possession about 10 ozs. of leftover, perfectly-grilled flank steak. I wanted to do something with it other than just eat it straight. I decided to try an replicate my favorite Thai restaurant dish, Nam Tok beef. Spicy, sweet, sour, savory... Nam Tok beef has so many flavors yet they all work together to make... a party in your mouth :)

Leftover Steak Nam Tok Beef

-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 large shallot, chopped fine
-1 green chile, chopped fine
-juice of 2 limes
-2 Tablespoons white vinegar
-1/2 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
-3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
-1 Tablepoon sugar
-1 Tablespoon honey
-small handful of cilantro, chopped
-10 oz. medium-rare grilled flank steak, sliced into thin strips

Combine first 9 ingredients, add the beef strips. Let the beef marinate in the fridge while you cook rice and shred cabbage. Serve Beef and marinade cold over rice with shredded raw cabbage. Makes 2 servings.

chipotle shrimp tacos with jicama-mango slaw

It's patio-sittin' season! And lately I keep having a hankering for seafood tacos. I was flipping through the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living this morning, and they had sliced tropical fruits, such as mango, sprinkled with chili pepper as a snack idea for a Cinco De Mayo party. This sweet-spicy combo was on my mind as I perused the grocery store. I always have chipotles ready to go in my fridge, so I decided on that as my spicy... Shrimp were on sale, so I went with that as my taco base. I picked up some jicama for some crunch. And what transpired were easy to make, spicy, light, sweet and nicely textured tacos, perfect for enjoying on the patio with a refreshing beer.

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos with Jicama-Mango Slaw

-1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
-1 canned chipotle pepper, chopped fine, with 1-2 Tablespoons of the adobo sauce
-2 teaspoons cumin
-1/2 teaspoon smoke paprika
-1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
-1 Tablespoon Tapatillo hot sauce
-juice of 1 lime
-salt and pepper
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 Tablespoon olive oil

-1 medium jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
-2 mangoes, peeled and cut into matchsticks
-Zest and juice of 1 lime
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-handful of cilantro, chopped fine

-corn tortillas

Combine the shrimp with the chipotle, adobo, cumin, paprika, oregano, hot sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper, and let marinate about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the slaw and set aside.

Heat the garlic and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until the garlic just starts to brown. Add the shrimp, with marinade, and cook, turning often, for about 5-8 minutes, until the shrimp is pink and fully opaque.

Serve the shrimp on warmed tortillas with the slaw.

sesame edamame salad with almonds

I needed to make a salad for a family BBQ, but was short on time. I had edamame in the freezer, and decided that it would make a great base for an impromptu salad. It turned out well... quick, healthy and tasty!

Sesame Edamame salad with Almonds

-3 cups shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions, and cooled.
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1 teaspoon sesame oil
-1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
-Juice of 1 lemon
-2 tablespoons sesame seeds
-1 Tablespoon soy sauce
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 cups baby greens
-Salt and pepper

Combine the first 8 ingredients. Toss in the greens and add salt and pepper to taste.