Summer Shrimp Ceviche

One bite of this and you will be immediately transported to a small cantina with an umbrella in your drink and a front row seat to the clear blue horizon of the baja in Mexico! Trust me if you can put summertime into one bite this fresh shrimp ceviche is it! Ceviche is basically a seafood salsa and the greatest thing about it is, there is no cooking involved. All you will need to do is chop, mix, and wait. You can make ceviche out of many different kinds of fresh fish most commonly it's made out of shrimp, scallops, swordfish, or halibut. What makes this salsa so unique and fresh is the fact that the fish will cook while it is submerged in the lime juice, due to the acid from the juice. If you want to bring something different and refreshing to your memorial day grill out look no further. This will quickly become your most requested appetizer for the summer!

Heres what you need to do:

Summer Shrimp Ceviche:                                       



1 lbs - fresh raw shrimp
1 - bunch cilantro
1 - jalapeno
1 - ripe mango
1 - roma tomato
1 - ripe avocado
1 - shallot
1 cup - fresh lime juice (about 9-10 limes)
1Tbs - sugar
1/2 Tbs - kosher salt








First peel and rinse your shrimp. Dice your shrimp into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Next peel and dice your mango. Then dice up your shallot, tomato, and jalapeno and add to the bowl. Remember the heat is in the seeds of the jalapeno so the more seeds the more heat! Coarsely chop your cilantro you want about a 1/2cup. Juice your limes, it's important you use FRESH lime juice. Pour the juice over all your ingredients then add your sugar and salt. Make sure the shrimp is fully submerged in the juice add more if needed. Mix your ingredients cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours. Check on it after 2 hours and give it another stir. You will see your shrimp starting to cook. When its ready your shrimp will be bright white and pink. You do not want your shrimp to have a translucent color. If it does it is not fully cooked so give it some more time!
I always add my avocado right before service this will keep the color nice and bright green. Serve in a bowl along side some hint of lime tortilla chips!
Summer is here, get excited about it and make some Ceviche!!!

This shrimp ceviche goes great with a couple Corona's and lime as well!!!

Happy Eatings Everyone,
Krystal

Make your own Ricotta..? Yes Please!!

Who doesn't love cheese? It's the best snack in the world!!  It brings back so many memories of me as a kid coming home from school and cutting up a block of cheese, putting it on top of a triscuit with some spicy mustard or one of my dad's famous canned banana peppers and chowing down! Though blocked cheese is a constant in my dairy drawer I have recently ventured out and started making my own. For a first timer I began with a pretty simple recipe making the soft and creamy cows milk cheese Ricotta! There are multiple recipe's out there for Ricotta some quicker than others. I chose an easy recipe but with a longer wait time. My motto was "all good things come to those who wait" and boy it did!

The Ricotta came out light and fluffy with a mild flavor. I spread mine over grilled ciabatta bread and topped with grilled zucchini and basil oil. It was a perfect compliment to our Sunday dinner of bacon wrapped filet's, crisp white wine and the warm spring evening air as we dined alfresco! 

Heres how I made my own Ricotta, it's a simple recipe but does have a days wait time so take that into consideration when you begin. 

A few things you will need for this recipe that you might not have around the house:

• Cheesecloth - you can find this at a Bed Bath and Beyond and some local grocery stores
• Heavy bottomed sauce pan - I used my dutch oven
• Candy thermometer or digital thermometer  

Recipe:

4 cups - whole milk
1 1/4 cups - heavy cream
1 tsp - salt
1/4 cup - lemon juice (fresh squeezed)

Place all ingredients into a heavy bottomed sauce pot or dutch oven. Bring your ingredients up to 200 degrees. Turn off your heat and cover. Place in an area where the temp stays the same. I put mine in my oven. Let sit for 6 hours. After the 6 hours remove lid you will see your curds and whey.

Place your cheesecloth over a bowl and pour your mixture into the cloth. lift up your cheesecloth and let the liquid strain through. You are going to let your cheese strain over night so find a place where you can hang your cloth. I tied mine around the faucet of my kitchen sink so it could strain directly down the drain.

                                                                                                                                                                        

      After you let your cheese strain over night open up your cheese cloth and you will have homemade Ricotta! Wrap in plastic film or place in an air tight container and refrigerate. From here you can do whatever you would like with your cheese. If you want to make into a fresh spring bruschetta like I did it's really simple.
First slice up some fresh bread (I used ciabatta) brush with good olive oil and a little salt. Grill on both sides of the bread until warm and crispy. While you are grilling the bread you will also want to grill your zucchini. Slice your zucchini length wise into about 1/4 in thick pieces. brush with good olive oil and salt and pepper each side. Place on grill for about 3 minutes on each side just enough to get some nice grill marks. Take your bread and zucchini off the grill. Spread your Ricotta over the bread and place the zucchini on top. Drizzle with basil oil.

Basil Oil:

1 cup - fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup - olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Blanch your basil leaves in boiling water just for about 1 minute. Place in a bowl of ice water immediately after. This will keep the nice bright green color. Drain your basil leaves and put in a blender with olive oil and salt. Blend until smooth.

                     Now I know this doesn't look as put together as some of my other foods but believe me the flavor makes up for it! A perfect side dish or appetizer for any grill out!!

Happy Eatings!!!!

Tips:
Add fresh chopped herbs to your ricotta to add flavor or you could mix with some goat cheese and stuff in pasta shells!

Mothers Day...BRUNCH

Happy Mothers Day! To all the wonderful hard working mothers out there. Today is the day to sit back relax and eat anything your heart desires! This mama's heart desires smoked salmon and a poached egg. It's my own play on Eggs Benedict. First I start with making homemade vegetable cream cheese that I put atop a toasted everything bagel and then the layers begin with sliced ripe tomato's, a couple leaves of fresh spinach, beautiful smoked salmon, and to top it off a perfectly cooked poached egg. If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life this would be at the top of my list. There is just something about a poached egg, the creamy yolk that oozes out with the prick of your fork and becomes a complimentary sauce to the entire dish. Of course this will be accompanied by a mimosa or two....   Here's to you mom's and here's how to make this dish!

Vegetable cream cheese:                         

1 shallot - diced
2 carrots - diced
1 stalk celery - diced
2 radishes - diced
1/2 red bell pepper - diced
8oz cream cheese at room temp
pinch of salt

With an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add all your ingredients and blend until your cream cheese is smooth and everything is incorporated.

Thats it. I like to store mine in the refrigerator for a few hours so the flavors come together.

 Now for the somewhat tricky part only if you have never poached an egg before. Here is how:

Use a large shallow pot or sauce pot and fill half way up with water. Put your water on med high heat, you DO NOT want to bring your water to a boil or even to a simmer. I poached my egg at about 150 degrees. Rule of thumb is you should be able to put your finger down in the water and pull it out without burning it. You will see small bubbles form at the bottom of the pot and steam will be coming off the top. I also add about 1 Tbs of white vinegar, this helps stabilize your egg. Next rule, when the water is ready do not just crack your egg into the pot...you will have to start over! Crack your egg into a small bowl then submerge your bowl with the egg down into the water. Let the water come up into the side of the bowl then slowly pull the bowl out leaving the egg down in the water. I let mine poach for 5 minutes exactly. Use a slotted spoon to retrieve your egg and place on a towel. Let cool slightly and then it's ready to plate!

Here is the finished product with that beautiful silky sauce of the yolk that is so bright and creamy!

I topped mine with fresh dill and finished off with a little chive oil!
Happy Mothers Day! From one mom to the next it's an incredibly hard and wonderfully rewarding job a job that will never end nor will we want it to!
Have a great day and remember to eat what your heart desires...I know I will!!

Happy Eatings Mommy's!

Sunday Dinner - Perfect Herb Roast Chicken

Sunday dinner is not only made popular by Italians or the kids from the Jersey Shore, but is also something we cherish here at my house. It should be a family affair for all households. Throughout the busy week, you may not always have time to sit down as a family and have a good wholesome meal. Although I always try to make it a point to have a home cooked meal for my kids, we do not always have all four of us at the dinner table. My husband works most evenings but Sundays are always his day off. I look forward to Sunday every week and I always have something in mind that I want to cook for the family. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, the only thing that matters is that the food tastes good and that my whole family is around the dinner table!
Here is a great dish that is light on the wallet, delectable on the pallet, and will leave you with some nice leftovers for the week.

Perfect Herb Roast Chicken:                                                                                                                 
                                                                                
1 - 4-5lbs whole chicken
1 - bunch parsley
1 - bunch thyme
2 - sprigs tarragon
1 - lemon
1 - whole round garlic halved skin on
1 - stick unsalted butter at room temp
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400

First I make an herb butter. You can use whatever herbs you have around the house. Once your butter reaches room temp, place it in a bowl. Finely chop about a 1Tbs of parsley, thyme, and tarragon, add to butter. Zest your lemon in the butter as well and mix so all ingredients are incorporated. Rinse your chicken and remove any insides. Place in a roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper inside the carcass. At the opening of the bird on the breast side, run your index finger underneath the skin but above the breast. Once you have stretched the skin enough grab your butter and place between the skin and breast. Try to push the butter as far back on the breast meat as possible without tearing the skin. Sometimes I push the butter back and then I message the skin on top to get the butter all over. Use the rest of the butter and rub all over the outside of the bird. Then salt and pepper the entire bird. Slice your lemon and garlic in half and stuff inside the bird along with the rest of your herbs. Place the bird in the oven uncovered and cook for 1hour and 30min or until your thermometer reads 165degrees. Baste your bird throughout the cooking process with the pan drippings. If the bottom of your pan seems a little dry add about 1cup of water. Once your bird is cooked remove from the oven, cover, and let rest for an additional 10 minutes. The resting period is very important. This allows all those succulent juices to re-distribute throughout the bird so when its time for you to cut into it the bird will be moist and juicy! If you do not allow to rest and just cut right into it all those juices will just pour out onto your cutting bored and be wasted. The combination of the herb butter, garlic, and fresh lemon is a perfect pairing with poultry. I also use this method with my turkey for Thanksgiving though I do use different herbs. This chicken will come out perfect and moist every time!
I served mine over a sweet corn and asparagus succotash and topped with basil oil! Pair with a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc and that is one beautiful Sunday dinner!!!

Happy Eatings Everyone,
Krystal

Cinco de Mayo!!!!

May is my favorite month not only because it's my birthday month, but it also includes Cinco de Mayo!! Cinco de Mayo is just like our 4th of July but for Mexico, basically just another reason to get together with friends to eat and drink! There is no better meal to eat on Cinco de Mayo than fish taco's!
  Living in San Diego has spoiled me when it comes to amazing and authentic Mexican food. My absolute favorite thing to do out there was to go down to the beach, park myself at a local spot called Southbeach and order up the best fish taco's around!! This also included multiple Dos Equis which I highly recommend you get to accompany this meal (the lager not the amber). Now that I have moved back to the mid-west the authentic Mexican restaurants are few and far between so I have been trying multiple ways to re-create my favorite meal! So far this is the best I have come up with. A quick, refreshing, and colorful fish taco that will have your friends and family coming back for more!
 There are two salsa's on this dish and you need them both here's how to make them:

Corn Salsa:                                                                     
4 ears fresh corn on the cob still in the husk
1 red bell pepper- diced
1 cup fresh cilantro - rough chopped
juice of 4 limes
Put your oven on Broil and have the oven rack set in the middle not to high.

First clean and husk your corn. On a foil lined baking sheet lay your corn still on the cob and place in the oven. You want to roast your corn, the kernels will start to brown and that is what you want. Once I see the browning start I turn my corn so that each side gets roasted evenly. This is a pretty quick process so keep an eye on your corn. When your corn has a nice caramel color take out of the oven and let cool. In the meantime dice your red bell pepper and chop your cilantro and place in a bowl. When your corn has cooled cut the corn off the cob like so ...

Just run your knife down each side until the cob is totally cleaned. Add your corn to the red pepper and cilantro mixture and then add your lime juice. Stir and refrigerate over night. This will allow the flavors to really develop. It doesn't sound like much but the sweetness of the roasted corn with the tart lime juice and the crisp red pepper is all you need!

Salsa Verde:

 9 Tomatillo's husked and cleaned                                     
1 jalapeno
1 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup water
salt



Husk your tomatillo's and rinse them. You can find tomatillo's in any local grocery store these days in the produce section next to all the tomato's. They will have a green husks around them and when you peel the husk off they will be sticky so be sure to rinse them well.  Quarter your tomatillo's and put them in a blender along with the rest of your ingredients. I always halve my jalapeno and I only remove half of the seeds. I like my salsa verde with a little kick! Just do a pinch of salt. Blend your ingredients until smooth and that's it! Fresh salsa verde.

For the fish I usually use Mahi. It's a mild white fish and it's perfect for this dish. I can always find it in the frozen seafood section and the fish is always individually wrapped so you can use exactly what you need. Just thaw your fish, place in a baking dish and season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice. I use the juice from about 2 lemons. Sometimes I add Ancho chile seasoning for a little spice. Bake your fish at 350 for about 25 min until your fish is cooked through. You could also pan sear the fish.

I like to make my own flour tortilla's but store bought is just fine. Make sure to heat your tortillas before you serve them. Just use a flat skillet or any good saute pan and heat your tortillas about 2 min on each side. I top my taco's with my two salsa's, Mexican crema (sour cream is fine, add a little lemon juice to it), and a couple cilantro sprigs. Then serve with lime wedges and fresh slices of avocado's!

Enjoy and happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!


Tips:
Any white flaky fish will work in this recipe as well as shrimp. If you are not a seafood lover you can use flank steak or chicken.


Happy Eatings Everyone,
Krystal

Quick Weeknight Side Dish

Having 2 young boys always keeps me on my toes. They are going at 110% from the moment they awake to the moment they crash out at night. My oldest Riley has recently become obsessed with the character Indiana Jones.  Here is a picture of us just the other night playing a game called: Indiana Jones Treasure Hunt with bad guy Spiderman/ Hide n Seek and jump out and shoot mommy until she plays dead and we laugh.

As you can see we are all dressed up as specific characters that Riley wanted us to play. On a side note my son Riley has been wearing his outfit for over 2 weeks now. The only time he is not dressed like that is when I make him put on clean clothes to go to school, which he takes off immediately when he gets home and puts his outfit right back on! With all the excitement going on in our household whether it's treasure hunting, playing indoor baseball (a real favorite of mine!), drawing maps, or just drawing on my walls, couch, and kitchen cabinets (my 2 year old) sometimes I don't always have a full on meal planned out for dinner. So when in doubt go to the homemade baked sweet potato fries....
These sweet potato fries are a hit in my house, my kids love them, they are quick and easy to make and they are good for you!


Here's how I make them:

Pre-bake your oven to 425

2 whole sweet potato's
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs Chinese five spice
Kosher salt

Peel your sweet potato's and cut horizontally down the center. Lay your potato's cut side down and slice lengthwise. You want thick cuts so about 1/2 inch slices like so.

Next lay each slice flat and slice again down the center..

 

Depending on how large your sweet potato's were sometimes I will cut the fries in half, but you don't want them to be to uniform looking. I love the big thick cuts and the rustic look of the homemade fries. After you are done slicing up your fries place them in a mixing bowl and add your vegetable oil. I use about 1/4 of a cup you need enough to coat all your fries. Then add your Chinese five spice and salt and toss. You want each fry to have an even coat of spice and salt so toss well.

Place your fries on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. I always flip my fries over after 10 minutes then again after 15 minutes. The smaller fries can burn so keep an eye on them but I like mine a little crisp. That's it a quick delicious and healthy side that you and your kids will love!

Happy Eatings!
Krystal

Herb Garden - A gift that keeps on giving...

Spring has sprung and it is time get your herb garden planted! Since yesterday was Earth Day I decided there was no better excuse then to go out and purchase my herbs for the summer. I started growing my own herbs last summer and it was so rewarding. I love cooking with fresh herbs, it brightens up the simplest dishes and brings them to life. Here are a few herbs that I will be growing this summer and a couple of tips on how to grow and use them...

BASIL:
Officially one of the most popular herbs and one of my personal favorites. Basil most commonly used in tomato sauces, caprese salads, and margarita pizzas, is a great herb to start out with in your garden. You can grow basil in the ground or in a pot by itself. Make sure it gets plenty of sunlight and do not plant your basil if there is still a threat of a frost it will kill it. Once you have planted your basil water it once a day, if planting in a pot I always water until I see the water draining from the bottom of the pot. Basil leaves will start to turn yellow if over watered so keep an eye on that. Once you are ready to harvest your basil pinch off the stem right above where a pair of leaves are. Also basil plants will flower, if you see a flower be sure to remove it, the flowers will cause the leaves to lose their flavors.

MINT:
This is my first season growing mint so we will see how well I do. I make so many desserts I had to have it in my herb garden. I will also be planting mint in a pot by itself. It tends to grow rapidly and it can overcome some of the other plants. Mint needs full to partial sunlight and also needs to be watered once a day. I have also read that mint can attract some pests so I will be sure to get some all natural and safe pesticide spray. Mint can be used for multiple dishes or even in drinks. You can also just rough chop the leaves and add them to your dinner salad!

ROSEMARY:
Another one of my favorite herbs Rosemary has a deep woodsy flavor and I absolutely love to cook with it! Rosemary needs lots of sunlight and does well in dry humid weather. When you are watering your rosemary be sure to let the soil dry between each watering. Trimming your rosemary will help it flourish, you want to trim just above the leaf joint and only trim a small amount at a time. When I lived in San Diego we had a huge Rosemary bush right outside our door and anytime we had the door open the fresh aroma would fill our house and it would make me want to cook! Here is a great tip to adding flavor to your everyday mashed potato's:
 When I have my potato's in a pot boiling I always start another pot of 1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 milk. I add a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary, a quarter of an onion, and a smashed clove of garlic. Bring this to a very low simmer (do not boil) you just want to warm and flavor your cream. Once your potato's are ready for mashing strain your cream and add to your potato's until they are whipped and creamy add salt and pepper to taste!

PARSLEY:
The herb in the pot on the left is Parsley. Also another common herb and something that is great to have around the house. I grew parsley last year and that is why I put it in the same pot with my rosemary. I found it was pretty delicate to grow and it does need partial shade because the leaves will burn in to much sun. Since Rosemary is a very hardy herb and doesn't need to be constantly watered the two do well together. You also don't want to over water your parsley. Give it sun for about 6 hours a day and then place in the shade. Living in Ohio we have a lot of humid summer days so partial shade for the rosemary will be just fine.
 So there is a few tips on great herbs to grow in your own backyard or back deck in my case. Another great thing about having your own herb garden is that you don't have to keep spending the money at your local grocery store. You can just walk outside and clip a couple sprigs of this and a couple sprigs of that, exactly what the recipe calls for, no waste! 
Happy Eatings!!
Krystal