shrimp burgers and slaw

Just a fantastic meal. Make in order below. The burgers come together quickly so you want to have everything else ready to go.

Mango Slaw:

2 cups of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 mango, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup honey
salt & pepper

Combine everything and mix by hand. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Herb Aioli:

1 cup of mayo
1 garlic clove
half a lemon
assorted herbs (chive, basil, oregano and sage work well)
salt & pepper

Microplane the garlic into individual blender cup, squeeze lemon into cup and let rest for 5 minutes. Add herbs and 1/4 cup of mayo and pulse until well incorporated. Add to the remaining mayo with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Shrimp Burger:

1 pound of raw shrimp
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp garlic
1 tsp Hatch chili powder
1 shallot
3 fresh chives
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup gluten free panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
oil
3 gluten free buns

Throw everything except the breadcrumbs and egg into a food processer and pulse until a paste forms with some chunks of shrimp. Remove to another bowl and add the breadcrumbs and egg and mix until combined. Shape into 3 patties on a plate and refrigerate for 15 minutes for the patties to set.

Add oil to a nonstick pan on medium high heat and sear shrimp burgers on each side for 1 minute and browned. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan and cover to steam the burgers for 2 minutes. Flip and re-cover for 2 more minutes. 

Wipe out pan and toast gluten free buns and then cover to steam.

To plate: Smear each side of the buns with the aioli, add the burger and then a pile of the slaw. Serve with additional slaw on the side. 

watermelon mint salad

After grazing my way through Whole Foods and sampling this I bought all the ingredients and it was super easy and delicious. It also seems like it would be tasty on an actual salad.

2 cups watermelon
a spring of mint
fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp honey

Cube watermelon. Cut the mint into thin strips. Stir the olive oil, lime juice, honey and pepper together until fully combined. Mix everything together.

fig & honey heaven

It's fig season and I couldn't be happier! Usually we just roast them in the oven with some honey but the below recipe is an even better version of that.

Fresh figs
1-2 tablespoons of butter
2-3 tablespoons of honey
fresh whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and trim both ends of the figs. Put the figs, cut side up, in a baking dish. Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave, add the honey and heat another 30 seconds. Whisk to combine. Drizzle the hot honey butter over the figs and roast in oven until very soft, 15 minutes.

Add the cooked figs to a bowl, top with whipped cream and drizzle with the honey butter sauce from the bottom of the baking dish.

Adapted from Food Network

sticky chicken

Finding something for us to eat is hard enough, but also trying to feed two kids can be a seemingly insurmountable problem sometimes. Fortunately we came up with something that everyone devoured - so much so it looks like we might be making it once a week. And since we usually have most of the ingredients on hand we can throw it together at the last minute, which makes it taste even better.

Homemade Grilled Chicken Teriyaki

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered garlic
8-12 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)

Combine everything but the chicken to make the marinade. Toss chicken in marinade to coat and let marinate for 15 minutes. Brush grill with oil. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

Serve with sushi rice.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

ricotta dessert-fest

We haven't tried any of these but we love all of the ingredients so we can't see how they won't be good. They're definitely on the list to be done soon, but since we were driving away from the grocery store when we came up with the recipes, we don't have all the ingredients at hand just yet.

Chocolate Pallina

ricotta
honey
banana (optional)
70% (Guanaja) Valrhona chocolate feves

In a bowl, mix the ricotta with honey and (optionally) mashed banana until thoroughly combined. Wet hands. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it in your hands like a meatball. Freeze the ricotta balls at least an hour. Melt the chocolate slowly over low heat. Do not bring to a boil. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Using a spoon, quickly dip each ball into the chocolate and place on wax paper. (Alternately, spread a thin coating of chocolate on the wax paper, place all of the ricotta balls on the chocolate layer and then drizzle chocolate over the balls to coat.) Refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate hardens.


Bocca Sesso con Pesche

ricotta
honey
fresh peaches
butter
70% (Guanaja) Valrhona chocolate feves

Melt butter in a frying pan. Heat sliced peaches in the butter until slightly softened and warmed through. Melt the chocolate slowly over low heat. Do not bring to a boil. Divide peaches into dessert bowls. Add a scoop of ricotta. Drizzle with honey. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Serve. Die of the deliciousness.

spicy chicken wing sauces for saucy

Chicken wings can do no wrong - especially when they come from the Cherry Tree. We were inspired to make our own and came pretty durn close. Here's what we came up with:

Honey Hotness:

1 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup of wildflower honey

Cherry Tree:

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup wildflower honey
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayo

For each, combine all ingredients. Cook wings. Coat wings. Eat.

this isn't your momma's home-cooking

Over the course of a week I had three amazing home-cooked meals, all with new ingredients or new cooking methods. I'm very lucky to have friends who love to cook and are really good at it. I just hope I can recreate these in the future.

Lamb Chorizo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:
2 links of lamb chorizo
1 store-bought package of sweet potato gnocchi
1 sweet potato
2 roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of frozen okra
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth

To roast the tomatoes: turn oven to the lowest setting, cut smallish tomatoes in half, place in baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven for at least 3 hours. The longer they roast the more intense the flavor will become.

Heat the sweet potato in the microwave to soften, about 5 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place these on a cookie sheet and broil first for 6 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 5 minutes.

Begin boiling water for gnocchi. When water boils, add gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes or until they float.

Brown the chorizo in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute before adding the frozen okra, tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the  gnocchi and sweet potatoes. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Ladle into a bowl and top with parmesan cheese if desired.


White Fish with Red Chilis and Lime

Ingredients:
1/2 pound white fish
cornstarch to coat
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 limes
zest of 1 lime
2 red chilis
peanut oil


Pork with Roasted Vegetables and Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:
2 pork chops
roasted vegetables: peppers, red onions, eggplant, portobellas
grape tomatoes
1/2 cup balsamic fig vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or 1 cup if you don't also have balsamic fig)
1/4 cup brown sugar
ricotta


Sweet Hot Apricot Chicken (SHAC)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs
1 10 oz bottle of apricot fruit spread
6 teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot
2 teaspoons wildflower honey
salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons bacon fat

Heat bacon fat in frying pan. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Brown both sides of chicken in the bacon fat. Meanwhile, combine apricot fruit spread, Frank's Red Hot and honey. When chicken is brown, pour apricot sauce over chicken in pan and simmer until chicken is cooked through and slightly orange outside. Raise heat on stovetop and continue boiling sauce until it reduces. After 10 minutes of reducing add butter and stir in. Cook for another 3 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and devour.