Shrimp Scampi Tacos

Shrimp Scampi Tacos

For my Saturday night dinner, I was thinking Shrimp Tacos. I had all the ingredients. But I’ve done this so many times. So, I thought…what else could I do with shrimp. The first thought was a Shrimp Bo-Boy taco, which would be good. But I’m avoiding fried foods. Then…Shrimp Scampi Taco came to me. I’m sure somebody has done this before, but I dove into the concept. I de-thawed about half a pound of high-count shrimp (I didn’t want jumbos) in water and removed the tails. I only seasoned them with crushed red pepper. I cooked down a handful of cherry tomatoes in olive oil and set them aside. In the same juice, I put a couple tablespoons of Kerrygold butter, and then about 4 diced garlic cloves. When it heated up to a slight...

Open faced tuna and olive tapenade sandwich

Open faced tuna and olive tapenade sandwich

One of my favorite Summer lunches is an open faced tuna and olive tapenade sandwich. You can buy a pre-made tapenade, but I like making a custom one to my taste. I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry/fridge. The base requirements are olives, capers and lemon juice. I hunted through my larder and came up with this… CapersKalamata olivesSun dried tomatoes (and its liquid)Roasted red bell peppersHot cherry peppersGreen onions stuffed with garlicBlack olivesOive oilJuice of 2 lemonsBlack pepper. Add fresh garlic to yours, I just counted on the garlic in the olives. All this goes into a food processor and is pulsed a few times to your desire. Made a lot so you have leftovers. Normally I’d put this on a toasted halved baguette, but I only had...

Ratatouille

Ratatouille

And then there is…Ratatouille! Whether you get your veggies from your garden, or your farmer’s market (ours was a mix of both), this is the time to make your Ratatouille. We cooked this on the griddle, but just using the heat (other than the chicken for Don) in two iron skillets to retain the juices. This very much is a vegetarian meal, but Don wanted some protein on his. So diced chicken breast was cooked separately and added on at the end to his portion. We diced up everything you see. onions, mushrooms, zuchini, peppers…whatever you like. But you need some tomatoes in the mix. The seasoning was black pepper, and whatever herbs were in the garden, mostly basil and parsley. These were tossed with avocado oil and some light seasoning…salt...

Smoked Chicken Pasta

Smoked Chicken Pasta

I have been thinking about this potential recipe for a long time. Now that I had some fresh smoked chicken, I dove in. My goal was to make a non-cream based white sauce that exploded with flavor. I think I nailed it. I have a memory of living in a desert and working in the field as a young journalist on hot days, where I was told to ‘carbo-load’ to survive. Today was VERY HOT. So I leaned into that. In two ounces of grass-fed butter I sauteed 4 cloves of garlic, I cooked this down, and then SLOWLY added 2 cups of A2 milk. With this cooking down I ground in a healthy amount of black pepper, a tablespoon of paprika and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning. I cooked this down for a few minutes. Then I added 4 large, thin shaved mushrooms and a thin shaved...

Rib eye with a fried rice side and cumber salad

Rib eye with a fried rice side and cumber salad

Tonight was going to be all about my favorite Summer side dish, the Quick Cucumber Pickle. And then I went and had too much fun for the rest of the meal, a non-asian fried rice and a chili-coffee-cajun rub rib-eye steak. The meal was incredible. But let’s go back to the cucumber side dish. It is SO simple. In a bowl add a sliced cucumber. I skin mine with a little green. Pour in a 1/3 mix of apple cider vinegar, white vinegar and water. Season as you like. I put in some garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a bit of cayenne. Put this in the fridge for at least two hours. The rib-eye was seasoned with a coffee-chili rub with my Cajun seasoning. But I wanted to pretend I was cooking healthy. So I decided to do a non-asian fried rice. Which I decided was a fried...

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

Ignore the chicken and the side of carrots. Tonight is about Zucchini Fritters. And, of course, cooked on the Blackstone Griddle. Ingredients1 large zucchini, grated. Salt, and drain till it is as dry as you can make it.1 large carrot, grated1 half of a medium onion, we did red2 eggsA few garlic cloves or few garlic leaves (optional)Some hot peppers, we did one jalapeno1 cup flour, we used almond flour1/4 tsp of garlic powder1/4 tsp of onion powder1/4 tsp of ground pepper1/4 tsp of turmeric powder1 tbsp of olive oil Mix well and form in a small handful and flatten on a hot griddle. Cook for about 6 minutes on a medium-high griddle. Sure, the chicken and carrots were good. But the zucchini patties were FANTASTIC. Serve with a tzatziki...