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Menu for Week of March 1st

Last week was New Orleans week ... not my favorite week. The food is growing on me (and last week's gumbo was pretty delicious), but its still more of a "Jon-week." So this week was an "Audrey-week." I'll call it "California ethnic." I focused on four of my favorite California ethnic cuisines - Iranian, Jewish (...sort of a cuisine), Asian (broadly), and Mexican (also broadly).

Saturday - Homemade Sushi

Sunday - Tah Chin (Persian Rice Casserole)

Tah Chin (Persian Rice Casserole)

When I was in high school, I dated a Persian (Iranian) guy for a few months. I don't remember much about our relationship, but I do remember his mother's cooking! After we'd been dating for while, his family invited mine over for a Friday night dinner. All I remember is a chicken/rice/currant/nut casserole that was absolutely delicious. This recipe is my attempt to recreate the dish from my memory (and with the help of several websites). It may have nothing to do with what I actually ate, but hopefully it will taste good nonetheless.

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Jalapeno Jelly

My homemade jalapeno jelly is always a huge hit at parties. The fact that Jon grows the hot peppers that go into the jelly impresses people even more. The secret is that this is actually one of the easiest canning recipes I have.

Even though this is made with hot peppers (and trust me, the ones coming out of our garden are very spicy), its actually very mild when finished. To kick it up a notch, substitute a few habaneros or other spicy chilis. Three to four habaneros will make a medium heat jelly.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (1 vote)

Shrimp and Grits

For the shrimp:
8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T butter, melted
1 T cajun seasoning
dash Old Bay
dash Celery Salt

For the grits:
1/2 cup grits
2 1/4 cups water
2 T unsalted butter
1 t salt
1 t minced garlic
1/2 cup grated cheese (a 50/50 mix of cheddar and jarlsberg works great)
dash paprika

Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)

Blackened Red Snapper

4 (6 ounce) fillets red snapper
1 cup butter, melted
4 Tablespoons cajun seasoning

Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat for 10 minutes, or until extremely hot.

Dip fish into melted butter, and crust each fillet generously with the seasoning mixture. Place the fish fillets in the hot skillet.

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Nawlins Menu 2010

In celebration of Mardi Gras, we're focusing on N'awlins style food

Sunday: Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo with dirty rice

Monday: Shrimp po-boys

Tuesday: Leftover gumbo and salad

Wednesday: Blackened Snapper

Thursday: Shrimp and grits

Gumbo

Based on this Epicurious recipe.

2/3 cup vegetable oil (add in other fats for extra flavor)
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 large onions, chopped (about 4 cups)
2 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped (about 2.5 cups)
3 celery stalks, chopped (about 1.5 cups)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cajun seasoning mix

Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)

Brewing Schedule

I'm beginning to plan out my beer brewing and bottling schedule for the year. On tap (sorry) for 2010:

Early Spring: Irish Red
Late Spring: SpingBo(c)k
Early Summer: Lemon Spice
Late Summer: West Coast Pale Ale
Early Fall: Pumpkin Lager
Late Fall: Coffee Stout
Early Winter: Cranberry (?)

Greek Week (Feb 7)

This past week was a greek and mediterranean foods week. We had our favorite Brick Chicken, a new lamb dish based on this roasted, stuffed lamb concept, but using the leftover grape/port reduction from this recipe, which has been taking up valuable freezer space. Regardless, the lamb didn't turn out all that exciting.

Indian food week (Feb 1)

Indian meal with Naan

We have a few core Indian dishes we've learned how to make pretty well; but they're not quite enough to fill a week. Each time we settle on an Indian food week, we try a new dish, with ... well, mixed results.

The new recipe this week was Mughal style lamb (stew) on saffron rice. We substituted fresh saffron pasta from Eastern Market for the rice. It was OK, but not really a "keeper" .

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