Garides Tourkolimano (Greek Shrimp)

Greek cuisine is something I have not dabbled in much at home except for the occasional Greek salad. I love Greek food so it is one of those things that is on my list to start cooking. I decided I wanted shrimp for dinner and happened upon this recipe from Kevin from Closet Cooking by way of Tastespotting. I have noticed that Kevin takes a look at this site from time to time so I'm happy to share something from his site. Garides Tourkolimano sounded like the perfect simple recipe to get me cooking some Greek food. This dish was light, delicious and quick.

Ingredients

Makes 4 appetizer sized servings

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 large tomato (diced)
• 4 green onions (sliced)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 splash hot sauce1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup feta (coarsely crumbled)
• 1 handful parsley (chopped)
• 1 cup feta (coarsely crumbled)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the shrimp and saute them for a minute on each side and set aside.
3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add the tomato and green onion and saute until the tomato starts to break down, about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the shrimp, wine, herbs and season with salt and pepper and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and gently mix in the feta.
7. Cover and allow to rest for 3 minutes.
8. Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Original recipe from Kalofagas.ca-Greek Food & Beyond.

Amazing Sun-dried Tomato Cottage Cheese Muffins

This is all around an awesome recipe. These muffins are super moist and flavor packed. You would swear there was a ton of butter in them. . . but no. They are high in protein, low carb, and loaded with good fat from the almonds and antioxidants from the tomatoes. They will fill your kitchen with the smell of pizza when baking and will remind you of a flavorful quiche when you eat them. Give these a try and let me know if you liked them as much as I did.

Ingredients

Makes about 10 muffins

• 1 cup plain cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour. Original recipe used soy.)
  
• 1 cup finely ground almonds (just grind the almonds in the food processor)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), chopped
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper or silicon baking cups.
   

2. In a mixing bow put the cottage cheese, all but 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, water, and eggs, and salt, then mix all together.

3. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with batter, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until set, risen, and golden brown. Serve as hot or at room temperature(I liked hot).
   

Recipe from Vegetarian Supercook by Rose Elliot.

Rhubarb Chutney

Our lot here at the Lowe residence is pretty small and I already have it overflowing with plants, which means there is not much room for vegetables(lucky for me my parents have a huge garden). One vegetable I did make room for was rhubarb, however. I absolutely love rhubarb. I have a great rhubarb muffin recipe that I will share sometime and nothing makes a better crisp than rhubarb in my opinion. I also love to eat it just slightly sweetened like applesauce. Just this week I was looking at my rhubarb plant and thinking I better make something with those beautiful red stalks when a few minutes later I was flipping through my latest issue of Everyday Food, and there was my answer, rhubarb chutney. It was super simple to put together and I really can't believe I had not thought about using rhubarb like this before! It was awesome on pork chops.

Ingredients

Makes 2 cups

• 1 tablespoons olive oil (recipe called for 2 tablespoons)
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon peeled minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (recipe called for one cinnamon stick but I did not have any)
  
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (recipe called for sherry vinegar again I substitued with what I had on hand)
  

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Add rhubarb, raisins, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon stick(or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon). Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb begins to break down, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and stir in vinegar. (To store, refrigerate, up to 5 days.) Serve with ham or pork.
   

Recipe adapted from May 2009 issue of Martha Stewart's' Everyday Food.

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

So a few weeks ago I was in Cost-Co and they were giving out samples of this Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce made by Fischer & Wieser. It was really tasty but I passed it up because it was eight or so dollars and did not think I needed it at the time but last week Cost-Co was again giving samples away and I ended up bringing a bottle home. Eight or so dollars is also not too bad for 45 ounces. Cost-Co was just serving the sauce on a cracker with cream cheese. That is really good but I could not wait to put it on meat and other things. I have so far put it on barbequed chicken, turkey sandwiches and from the advice that came on a little recipe pamphlet, made an awesome salad dressing using one part sauce and one part balsamic vinegar.

The recipe pamphlet also said that it was great on pork so I decided to put it on a roasted pork tenderloin. I love pork tenderloin. It is a very healthy cut of pork. It is just about as lean as a skinless chicken breast but can be oh so much more moist and flavorful. Along with the quick couscous it was a very quick yet impressive dinner.

The ingredients for the sauce are basically raspberry jam, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and vinegar. So I think I'm going to try making my own sauce next time. If it turns out well I will probably make a blackberry version this summer when my mom and I make all our jam. I will also be able to control the amount of sugar that goes into to it and it will be a lot cheaper. You could probably make it with a fresh raspberry puree but you would probably want to thicken it with tapioca or some other thickening agent. If you see it at Cost-co however, give it a try it can liven up many dishes.

Ingredients

Serves 3-4

• 1 1 pound pork tenderloin
  
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
  
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
  
• pinch of pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup or so Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Rinse the pork tenderloin with water and pat dry. In a small bowl make a dry rub by mixing the herbs, spices, and salt. Rub the pork generously with the rub (you may not need to use all the rub depending on the size of your tenderloin. Just coat generously but you don't want it to be too salty).

3. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork tenderloin to the pan and sear quickly on all sides. Remove from heat and place in a shallow roasting pan in the oven and cook for 25 minutes or so until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees. Remove from oven and let the meat rest 10 minutes before cutting so the juices redistribute. Top the cut tenderloin with the roasted raspberry chipotle sauce and serve.

Recipe from me.

Homemade Butter

It has been years since I have made homemade butter. When I was a kid we had a milk cow and often made butter from all that cream that "Katy Girl" gave us. We did not have TV growing up but we often had movie nights and my mom would give us each a jar filled with cream and had us shake and roll it around during the movie. A few minutes into the movie and we each had a jar of butter. A little while back I decided to start buying raw whole milk again which comes with a nice two or so inches of cream on top. So I am now making my own butter again. I just skim the cream off the top put it in a jar and shake until it all comes together. It takes awhile but you will get butter. The liquid that separates from the butter is butter milk which I save and use as well. You can also make butter using a food processor or mixer but I enjoy the jar method. After you drain off the butter milk I run the butter under cold water until all the butter milk is removed and press out all remaining liquid. You can then add any sort of flavoring, salt, honey etc. So next time you have some leftover cream make butter! It is really easy!