Tag Archives: recipe

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Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined without tails
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons white wine
  • 2 tablespoons brandy

Preparation
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Dredge shrimp in flour mixture.

In a large skillet, sauté dredged shrimp in olive oil for 5 minutes over high heat. Toss shrimp often to prevent burning. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a serving dish, leaving the oil in the pan.

In the same pan, sauté the garlic, shallot, parsley, and oregano over medium heat for 3 minutes; stirring constantly. Spoon the mixture over the shrimp. Return pan to the heat. Preheat your broiler for medium heat.

Pour the wine and brandy into the skillet and ignite with a match or lighter. When the flames die down, stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet; pour over shrimp.

Place the serving dish of shrimp in a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes.

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Pasta with Lobster, Wild Mushrooms, and Cream

Ingredients
This can be prepared with 20 ounces of large raw shrimp instead of lobster, if you like. Peel and devein the shrimp, then sauté uncovered in butter until opaque in center, about three minutes. Cut each shrimp lengthwise in half.

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 2 10- to 12-ounce frozen lobster tails, thawed
  • 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup (packed) thinly sliced fresh basil
  • 6 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 1/3 cups whipping cream
  • 1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
  • 12 ounces fettuccine
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (about 1 ounce)

Preparation
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lobster tails and sauté until shells are bright red in spots, about 5 minutes. Cover skillet; reduce heat to low and cook until lobster is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Using slotted spoon, transfer lobster to work surface. Using heavy large knife, cut each tail lengthwise in half. Remove meat from shell. Cut meat crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.

Return same skillet to medium-high heat (do not clean). Add mushrooms, half of basil, green onions, and garlic; sauté until mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Add cream and clam juice. Boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add lobster (or shrimp if using) and simmer 1 minute. Stir in remaining basil. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain well. Return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and add cheese; toss over low heat until warmed through, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

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Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients

  • 20 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
  • 1 tablespoon (about) chopped fresh rosemary
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • 10 bacon slices, cut in half crosswise
  • Crumbled Stilton cheese, or other blue cheese

Preparation
Arrange shrimp on baking sheet. Sprinkle with rosemary, ground black pepper, and several splashes of vinegar. Wrap each in bacon, covering completely; secure with toothpick. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill on sheet.)

Preheat broiler. Broil shrimp 4 to 5 inches from heat source until shrimp are cooked through and bacon is browned, watching carefully to prevent burning, about 5 minutes per side. Remove toothpicks. Transfer shrimp to platter. Sprinkle hot shrimp with cheese and serve.

Makes 20.

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Creme Brulee French Toast

Ingredients
Although the Diehls use large slices from a round loaf of bread and remove the crust, we also tried the recipe with a baguette, leaving the crust on, and found it just as delicious. At La Maison, challah is often the bread of choice.

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 8- to 9-inch round loaf country-style bread
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350° F. and bring bread to room temperature.

Bake bread mixture, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve hot French toast immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

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Bananas Foster

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 strip lemon zest, 1 to 2 inches long by about 1 1/2 inch wide
  • 2 large, firm, ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise and then crosswise
  • 4 tablespoons dark rum
  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream, divided among four bowls

Preparation
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest; stir to dissolve the sugar, about 1 minute. (If the heat is too high, the butter and sugar will separate instead of combining to form a sauce.)

Add the bananas and spoon some sauce over each piece. Cook until the bananas are glossy and golden on the bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn the bananas and continue cooking until they are very soft but not mushy or falling apart, about 1 1/2 more minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the rum and wait until the rum has warmed slightly, about 5 seconds. Wave a lit match over the pan until the rum ignites, shaking the pan to distribute the flame over the entire pan. When the flames subside (this will take 15 to 30 seconds), divide the bananas and sauce among the four bowls of ice cream and serve.
NOTE: While the bananas cook, scoop the ice cream into individual bowls so they are ready to go once the sauce has been flambeed. Before flambeing, make sure to roll up long shirt sleeves, tie back long hair, turn off the exhaust fan (otherwise the fan may pull the flames up), and turn off any lit burners (this is critical if you have a gas stove).

Serves 4