Cioppino

One of my favorite dished to make is Cioppino, or Italian seafood soup.  This is such a simple dish to serve, but rather complex to make if it's done right.  They key to a great cioppino is making a great stock that the seafood is cooked in.  I always try to keep any shrimp shells or especially lobster shells that I use throughout the year.  Sometimes you can get shells at your local market...but I've found that is getting more difficult these days.  For the stock I use:

Shrimp Shells....quite a few! 
Onion
Two Garlic Cloves
Three Carrots cut up
Three celery stalks cut up
Teaspoon of whole peppercorns
Three bay leaves
Two pinches of fennel seeds

Saute all this in a stock pot for a few minutes, then add water to cover by 4 inches.  Cook this for 30-40 minutes...no more..it will get bitter.  Once cooked, strain through a fine mesh strainer. 

Now that the stock is done, it's time to make the actual broth you will cook the seafood in.  To the stock add:

1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon of basil, marjoram, and thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste...it will take quite a bit of salt!

Simmer this for at least an hour to cook out the raw tomato taste and to let all the spices meld together.  If you like your broth a bit more spicy...add more pepper flakes...but be careful, you don't want to overpower the seafood.

Once the stock is done...it should look like the pic to the right.  Now that it's at a simmer or low boil, it's time to add the seafood.  The fun part it you get to choose whatever you like.  Usually my choices include a firm fish cut into cubes, shrimp, small clams and scallops.  Be creative and add whatever you like.  If you add it all at once...usually everything is done when the shell food opens.

Serve with toasted bread for dipping.  I forgot to take a pic of my soup, but I've included some stock photos of what it looks like.

Enjoy! 

Broccoli and Bacon Salad

I love to find things that completely surprise me, and this little dish is a winner in my books.  Here in Texas we have grocery stores name HEB.  In my local HEB they have a cooking center where store cooks / chef's take store ingredients and create something yummy.  This is usually bundled with a sale on various products...it is a store for goodness sake.  I always like to try what they have, and in most cases it's usually tasty, but not something I'd make at home.  In this case...I bought every ingredient  and duplicated this at home.  Our local chef that created this at HEB is named Suzie.  I love chatting with her and applaud her for creating this dish.  Simply follow the instructions on the card below and enjoy!  A pic of what I created is below.  

NOTE:  This makes a LOT of salad.  I halved it and it would serve 4 easily.  

TATER TOT Casserole

 Good Morning and Happy Saturday

So this is one of my favorite morning meals, I suppose because it has Tater Tots in it. This is always a crowd pleaser, and best of all it heats up so well the next day if you have some left over!

The first step in this dish is to decide what you want as your filler.  In this dish that is posted, I used cut up Asparagus, diced ham, bacon and onion.  The best part is YOU can choose anything you wish.

HOW TO MAKE:

1.  Whisk up 5 eggs with a bit of milk.  To this mixture add Salt and Pepper to taste, and if you wish add some seasonings like Thyme, Basil, etc.

2.  Saute your filling mixture of whatever you like.  (non-stick pan!)  If you want to use what I did...simply sauté the above.  When you have cooked this for about 5 minutes, add a couple handfuls of Tater Tots.  Distribute everything evenly in the pan, then mix in your egg mixture.  Immediately mix in a bit of shredded cheese, stir a bit, then sprinkle more cheese on the top

3.  Once the cheese is on, Bake in the sauté pan at 350 until the mixture is set.  This usually takes about 20 minutes.

4.  Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Using a spatula, slide onto a plate as you see above.  Slice and serve!

Additions:  Here are some things I like to top it with when serving.

a.  Sour Cream
b.  Salsa
c.  Chives

Enjoy this.....it's YUMMY!

Eat Well
Kevin

Pork Loin Roast with Garlic and Cranberry Compote

Happy New Year

So to get started in 2015, I thought I'd put up a recipe I did a few weeks ago that turned out pretty well.  What I cooked was the end piece of a complete Pork Loin I purchased and cut into chops.  The ends taper down and make a fantastic roast if you don't over cook them.  For this recipe I marinated the roast in an Italian dressing and froze it after being sealed with my food saver.  This was a super method for getting the marinade in the meat and provided nice additional flavor.  After thawing, I heavily salted and peppered the entire roast. I then seared off the meat, getting good color on it, and finished it in the oven with many garlic cloves that had been tossed in olive oil.  I used an external thermomiter and brought the internal temperature to 150 degrees.

I served this with a cranberry compote I made using fresh cranberries, sugar, some lime juice and a touch of cinnamon.  A quick sauce of asparagus, red onion and red bell peppers were also invited to the party.  I'm pleased with the way this came out and would most definitely make it agin.