Escabeche

Check it out! I'm guest posting this delicious number over at the beautiful Michelle Judd's Blog, Taste As You Go.

Saucy Mama + Nila Rosa's First Giveaway

A heavenly piece of salmon transformed into my favorite sandwich.

Salmon is a pretty amazing fish to me. The flavors are bold on their own and unlike most white fishes, you don't have to add alot of seasoning to make it taste amazing.Usually the rule is to cook salmon with something acidic such as lemons to cut through the fattiness, but when paired with bold items such as bacon and avocado, it can turn into quite an amazing meal.

There was a call for foodbloggers awhile ago to try out Saucy Mama's products and come up with a recipe to be entered into a contest. I was very interested in her sauces, so I decided to enter my name and give it a shot.One day, I was pleasantly surprised to find a package on my doorstep. Thank you, Saucy Mama! She has a line of several marinades and vinaigrettes that are seriously amazing. For the salmon, I paired it with the parmesan-garlic marinade. The marinade was the perfect addition to the fish. When I have the sandwich next time around, I will be sure to have bottles of Saucy Mama parmesan-garlic in stock.


Salmon,Avocado,and Bacon Sandwich
Makes 1 sandwich

4-6 oz. salmon fillet
1/4 of avocado,sliced
3 strips bacon,cooked
3 slices tomato
1 ciabatta roll
Saucy Mama parmesan-garlic marinade
salt and pepper

1. Season salmon with salt and pepper. On a preheated grill, place the salmon. While cooking, baste salmon with parmesan garlic marinade. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.*

2. On the ciabatta roll, place the salmon fillet. Flake the salmon, so it covers most of the bread. Layer on the bacon, avocado, and tomato and enjoy.

*Tip: Cook salmon 10 minutes per inch

Now on to fun stuff. Where I get to give away stuff. This is my very first giveaway and I am quite excited about this one. With the amazing sauces, I was sent extra to giveaway to my blog readers,so this is what I'm giving away. I will have three winners. The grand prize winner will receive an assortment of Saucy Mama's products as well as a few extra surprises(woohoo!). The other 2 winners will receive a bottle of Saucy Mama's lime chipotle marinade which is a seriously amazing sauce for chicken fajitas.

Here's what you have to do to enter.

1. Leave a comment on this entry telling me what you would do with the Saucy Mama sauces and a way to reach you (e-mail or blog).
2. You get an extra entry if you tweet or stumble or whatever. Just come back to this post to let me know.

Contest ends Monday, September 7th.

Happy Cooking! : )

Sweet Potato,Crab, and Corn Soup

Every year, I come across different flavor combinations that I’ve never heard of. When you hear the name, you think “wow”, that is going to taste very..interesting. But you try it and it’s all you crave.I wonder if any famous food combinations were considered “interesting” at first.

Peanut butter and jelly?

Sweet and sour chicken?

Cheddar cheese and apple pie? (ok, I admit. I have yet to try this combination)

The combination of sweet potatoes and crab is one that I heard while in school. A classmate told us he was planning on making this soup and we all were skeptical on the outcome, but were amazed once we had our first taste.

Now that I think back to this day, I wonder how many flavor combinations I’ve missed out on.

Do you have any favorite flavor combinations that are considered “interesting”?

Sweet Potato, Crab, and Corn Soup

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup diced white onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups medium diced sweet potatoes

2 quarts chicken stock

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 lb. crab meat

1/2 cup minced parsley

Salt and pepper

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.

Add sweet potatoes and chicken stock. Let simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Blend soup using an immersion blender or blender. Add corn, crab meat, and parsley. Heat thoroughly. Season to taste.

Tamarind Glazed Shrimp

Everyone has a favorite product that they use in their kitchens. My favorite product is a jar of tamarind concentrate. Tamarind is a pod-like legume that is used in Asian, Latin, and Caribbean cuisines. It can be used in a number of applications from desserts to savory entrees. It has a tartness to it and it will give a curry or a soup another depth of flavor. You can buy tamarind in different forms. You can buy it whole and separate the pulp yourself, you can buy it in bricks with the fibers and seeds still inside, or you can buy it in a concentrated form. For ease, I use the concentrate. One teaspoon will stretch pretty far. You can buy a jar online for $6-$8 dollars if you don't live near any stores that carry it.

Tamarind glazed shrimp

1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup. hot water
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 Tbs. honey
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 lb. shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 C. + 2 tsp. Cornstarch
Oil for frying (vegetable or olive)

1. In a small bowl, fully dissolve the tamarind concentrate in the hot water. Mix in the soy sauce, honey,pepper, sesame oil, and 2 tsp. cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Heat a medium saute pan over high heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Dredge the shrimp in the cornstarch.I used a bowl with a cover and shook the shrimp in the cornstarch. It's much easier and kinda fun that way.
3. Once the pan is hot, shake off excess cornstarch and lay the shrimp one by one in the pan. Shrimp doesn't take long to cook. It will take about 1 minute for each side. Basically, once it turns pink, it's done. Take the shrimp out of the pan and drain on a paper towel.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat the tamarind sauce*. As soon as it starts to boil and get thick, add the shrimp,toss, and enjoy.

*If you prefer a lighter sauce, then don't heat up all of it. You can cover it and put it in the fridge for later use. It's great for other proteins such as chicken or fish as well.

What is your favorite product to use in the kitchen?

Shrimp Stir Fry (Saving Time)

The beautiful thing about stir fry is how easy it is to throw together. Vegetables, a protein,and the spicy sauce. I made this for lunch/dinner using the spicy sauce. It took maybe 15 minutes for me to get the vegetables chopped up and everything cooked. Quick to throw together and I was able to quickly go back to procrastinating.

Shrimp and Mussels with Coconut Broth

For our internship, a friend and I decided to apply to Walt Disney World. We finally got through the first round of interviews and had to speak with the chef who did the hiring of all the culinary interns. My friend went through her interview first, so we discussed it and the questions that were asked. One of the questions that took me by surprise was “What is your favorite spice or herb and tell me about it” Ummm. I’m not sure. All of them? What do you say at that point? It IS an interview, so what do you say. Do you show off your knowledge of exotic spices and say saffron or do you keep it safe and say dill? There are many awkward interview questions out there, but they always have some sort of reason or answer at the end. So what spice did I come up with? Turmeric. It’s a spice that I used once before, but I enjoyed how the color it made my food. That day, I searched online and found out anything I could tell him. I finally came up with a speech and was ready for my interview the next day. Well, he never asked me the question. Doh! Nowadays, I use it a lot in my foods. Word of advice, don’t touch your clothes afterwords unless your hands are clean. Staining is not your friend.

It's not often that I get someone to cook for. Whenever I hear that someone is coming over, I get excited and dive into my cookbooks and notes looking for the perfect dish to cook. It has to be perfect. It has to be beautiful. I want them to enjoy it. My best friend Christina came over last friday for the evening. We planned to have dinner, then go to a concert. Anberlin was playing for those that are curious. What does someone have as dinner before a concert? I could go simple with a burger and fries or chinese takeout, but I needed to cook something. I walked around the store for half an hour checking out the fresh proteins. They had some really good shrimp, but the guy in front of me bought all the shrimp. Bastahd! There went that idea. I searched the seafood area again and noticed bags of mussels. The february issue of bon appetit wrote on a dinner and it included mussels, so of course, I was craving them for weeks. I like to call it a sign from above. You can't test it. One must go with the flow and buy the mussels or suffer dire consequences.

Shrimp and Mussels with Coconut Broth

2 ½ lbs. Prince Edward Mussels, scrubbed and beards removed

1 lb. raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups chicken broth (I prefer this flavor)

1 cup coconut milk

2 Tbsp. onion (minced)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 tsp. turmeric powder

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. Parsley (minced)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt & Pepper

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Saute’ onions and garlic.

2. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, turmeric, lemon juice, and parsley. Bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add mussels and shrimp to broth and cover. Steam for 3 minutes or until mussels open and shrimp turn pink.

4. Make sure to discard unopened shells and serve as desired.

5. Pouring the broth over steamed rice makes for a very delicious dish.