striving for perfection.

So, ever since we got to Georgia, I've been adapting a more Southern-style of cooking. I think it's because I'm surrounded by that kind of food environment and it just seems to make sense to cook that way. Even my eating habits are turning Southern: The polenta that I used to cook all the time turned to grits, hummus makes a rare appearance in my fridge, and I seem to be buying a whole lot more butter. Because of this, I've switched to light butter to make myself feel better.

Speaking of grits . . . I was surprisingly having a hard time trying to make a decent pot of grits. I just assumed that using my favorite polenta recipe would be fine but it's surprisingly NOT. The texture is off, especially for shrimp and grits, and it's much stiffer than I wanted it to be. I've tried several different recipes, and each time I get closer and closer to my ideal pot of grits.

Today yielded success.

My perfect grits? Always savory that that specific mouth texture. These grits are exactly how I want them: soft and fluffy with just a bit of tightness and texture. While they aren't flavored with anything specific, per se, they're still flavorful and taste like grits. The best part? Even if you put it in the fridge, they stay the same consistency even when you reheat it the next day! Yay!!

For the shrimp, I decided to make it more in the Françias-style of cooking. So fancy, I know . . . but not really! Thanks to my recent binge-fest of an old series of Jacques Pépin: Fast Food, My Way, I've been taking some notes and renewing my love of French cooking. It's kind of like Southern cooking but with a more funny accent, lol.

I like how in one episode, Monsieur Pépin added some chopped mushrooms to his shrimp casserole so that it'll soak up the shrimp flavor. He also did a ragù with tomatoes and onions similar to this recipe, but much more reduced. And man, does that man use a lot of olive oil!!

So, taking ideas here and there, voilà ! Shrimp and grits, my way. :D I did forget to add some peas to the shrimp, though. I think that would've made it über-françias, along with some oil-cured olives as a garnish. Eh, c´est la vie ! No? :) Bon appétit!

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Creamy Garlic-Tomato Shrimp
(makes 4 servings)

24 pcs jumbo shrimp (peeled, deveined, and butterflied)
2 tbsp bottled garlic
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch (about 8 sprigs) fresh thyme
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup finely chopped white button mushrooms
1 to 2 pcs thick sliced deli ham, finely chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped grape tomatoes
1/4 cup low fat half and half
1/2 cup chopped parsley
low sodium chicken stock, as needed
salt and pepper, to taste

 
Marinate the shrimp:
Combine shrimp, garlic, Old Bay seasoning, onion powder, and paprika. Add olive oil to moisten the shrimp then season with ground pepper. Chill for a minimum of 2 hours up to overnight.

Make the shrimp:
In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil with the bunch of thyme. When the oil is fragrant and hot, add shrimp (reserve any leftover marinade) and cook until lightly browned on both sides (about 6 minutes). Remove shrimp from pan and set aside; discard the thyme.

In the same pan, add shallots, mushrooms, and ham. Season with salt and pepper. When vegetables start to brown and the ham becomes slightly crisp, add the tomatoes and any leftover marinade from the shrimp. Reduce heat and cook until tomatoes break down to a paste (about 10 minutes).

Return shrimp to the pan and toss to incorporate. Stir in half and half and parsley. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, then add chicken stock to thin as needed.

To serve, portion out 6 shrimps per person and top over grits or pasta with additional parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for garnish.

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My Perfect Grits
(makes 4 to 6 servings)

1 cup coarse ground grits or polenta (white or yellow)
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 to 2 tbsp light butter
1/4 tsp dried parsley
ground pepper, to taste

 
Bring water, half and half, and salt to boil. Slowly stir in grits/polenta, reduce heat to low, then cover. Cook 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and parsley, then season with pepper to taste.

For Savory Cheese Grits: Stir in 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 1/4 tsp onion powder, a dash garlic powder, and a dash smoked paprika to cooked grits.

rollin' for breakfast.

I had some leftover ready-made pizza dough sitting in the fridge so I decided to try and make some breakfast rolls this morning. I was tempted to make something sweet, but the need for a savory breakfast in the morning decidedly won out. Plus, the recipe sounded interesting and I was in the mood for eggs anyway.

Reading through the recipe, this seemed simple enough. I decided to add more spices and onion to the filling to make these rolls more flavorful. I didn't have any breakfast sausage so I swapped it with some thick-sliced deli ham. Then, all I did was roll out the dough, layer on the fillings, and bake that sucker for 30 minutes. Yum!

I do wish my rolls were more big and fluffy, though. But that's more my fault than anything, really. If I had used a similar dough like the kind called in the recipe, I'm sure I would've gotten big, fluffy rolls as well. As for the taste, they were pretty good! Nice and savory especially with all that onion added in. I do wish that I had more cheese in these rolls, though, so next time I'm doing the full one cup. So would I make these again? Definitely!

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Breakfast Rolls
(adapted from The REAL Housewives of Riverton)

1 pkg ready-made pizza dough
4 eggs
1 tbsp milk
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 to 3 slices ham, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese
olive oil

 
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

In a bowl or a glass measuring cup, combine egg, milk, parsley, and spices. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and beat together until well combined. Set aside.

In a large skillet, drizzle some olive oil and saute garlic, onion, and bell pepper until slightly browned. Pour egg mixture over the contents of the pan. Let the eggs cook for up to a minute or until the bottom starts to set, then flip by sections. Repeat the flipping every few seconds until the eggs are firm but still moist. Remove from heat, transfer to a plate, and set aside.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Sprinkle on egg mixture, chopped ham, and shredded cheese. Roll tightly, pinching the ends together, then cut into even 12 sections with a sharp knife. Transfer to a well greased pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12 rolls.

pizza, big island style.

speaking of creative leftovers...my ham, although freakin' delicious, seems to be the one item that i struggle to be creative with. Maybe it's because i don't really eat a lot of pork...but so far, it's been multiple sandwiches, scrambles, benedicts, breakfast burritos, and other morning-type dishes. it seems like whenever dinner comes around, my poor ham takes a back seat to the turkey. for shame! so what's a cook to do? well...epiphany hit and the pizza light bulb went on! a hawaiian pizza to be exact. with barbecue sauce, of course.

and what a great opportunity to clean out the little leftover crap that was sitting in the fridge! mixed some leftover pizza sauce with some barbecue sauce...got some bell peppers, bits and pieces of onions from sandwich stuff, and olives from the enchiladas. the dough i made from scratch from my favorite recipe, but modified it to make a half batch.

so in went a handful of ham, a small can of pineapple rings i chopped, and a couple of cups of random leftover grated cheese (an italian and a mexican blend). seasoned it with some pepper, onion powder, and paprika and in it went to the oven for thirty minutes or so.

my reward? well...even though it was in the oven for a tad too long, it was a definite win with pizza for dinner! with ham!! granted it didn't make much of a dent with the ham sitting in the fridge, but at least that's one thing that i can add for possible choices in the future. actually, i feel slightly dumb for not thinking about it sooner, lol. well...then again, i guess i'll know not to get so much ham next year, right? :)

sufferin' succotash, it's cordon bluey!

i've been looking at different things to do with chicken since, a). i cannot cook red meat cuz it ends being tougher than hell and even harder to chew, and b). my significant other isn't partial to fish and pork. So that leaves me with chicken. not that that's a bad thing...chicken is probably one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. and now, a recipe i've been itching to try: chicken cordon bleu!


mmmmm....rich and tasty. :D
so let's start off with the side. i've been looking to make some succotash since it's just one of those things that we *never* made in my house growing up. It was either frozen corn with a little bit of butter or it was mixed veggies straight out of the freezer bag. i was intrigued when i went online a week ago and found pictures of succotash while perusing corn recipes.



reading through the recipes of succotash, i gathered that it's basically whatever veggies you have in the fridge, plus some spices for flavor. sooo, that's exactly what i did. what the succotash ended up entailing were brussels sprouts that were about to go bad, half a red bell pepper i randomly had lying around, leftover corn from dinner a couple nights ago, some onion, some frozen edemame, garlic, grated cheese, dash of worcestershire sauce, and dear old salt and pepper. throw in some rosemary, saute it for a bit, and wah-lah! instant side!


and now for the main course. i would have to say that the most enjoyable part of making this dish was pounding the hell out of the chicken. :D lol, what an awesome stress reliever! and not to mention that i scored the meat tenderizer from the local dollar store, whoo-hoo! hey, if it gets the job done and i didn't have to pay and arm and a leg for it, then to that, i say huzzah. go-go-cheapo ranger! ;) ps, check out my cute slat and pepper shakers...they're bunnies!!



first of all, let me say that putting together the cordon bleu is a bitch to do. period (hey, that rhymed!). it may have to do with the fact that i used chicken thighs instead of breasts but...wow. mucho respect for cooks that actually make it look picture perfect. that is some serious sewing skills with toothpicks. but i digress...

And the second show of respect are for those that make it "golden brown". argh! mine got caramelized!! D': yes, heat is too high, blah blah.....at least they didn't go up in flames and burn the whole apartment complex down. that would've been bad, to say the least.

cookin' in style. :D

and last but not least, a pic of me cutting the veggies. it was date night and i wanted to surprise the boyfriend with a pretty outfit, fixed hair, and perfume a'la cordon bleu, lol. i'm glad he enjoyed it. :D