4th of July Surf & Turf

Mike and I spent the 4th of July this year in my hometown and Mike's college town...Santa Cruz,Ca. We had great day hanging out with our Santa Cruz friends and family. We started out the day at Harbor Cafe, no surprise there. It's our favorite Santa Cruz spot. Our friend Dan owns the cafe, he bought it from my Stepdad Jerry two years ago. This cafe is our version of Cheers. We run into so many friends when we are there, it's so much fun. they have a huge, beautiful patio and the best breakfast in the West. If you are ever in Santa Cruz, stop by Harbor Cafe for breakfast, you won't be sorry...tell them Jenn sent you.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach with friends. We went to our friends Chris and Caroline's for a Surf N' Turf BBQ. WOW. Amazing friends, Amazing food. We were lucky enough to get lobster tails and marinaded skirt steak for a great price from the Fish Lady. I don't have much of a recipe to offer you all for this delicious meal because it was so so simple.
Here's the menu:

4th of July Surf N' Turf
Steamed Lobster Tails
BBQ'd Skirt Steak
Fruit Salad

Caroline steamed the lobster tails, husked the shell off, squeezed some lemon over them, dipped them in browned butter, and ate them. It was our intention to serve the skirt steak and the lobster together, but the lobster was ready a couple minutes before the steak, and we couldn't resist eating them right then. It was decedent, so delicious.

As for the skirt steak, we threw it on the grill, and brushed it with it's marinade, that's it!


The fruit salad was simple too. It consisted of Mango, raspberry, blueberry, kiwi, and nectarines.

The end....

Corn Cakes with Grilled Shrimp & Roasted Guacamole

I love this blog. It has been so fun to post recipes and learn food photography. One of my favorite aspects of blogging is the amazing community of food bloggers. I had no idea there were so many people doing the same thing I am doing. It is my new favorite past time to look at the food blogs I have bookmarked and search for new fun food blogs. The other day I found this hilarious blog, Average Betty, she combines cooking with sketch comedy and she cracks me up. Her unicorn fritters jumped out at me...YUM, corn cakes with shrimp and mashed avocado...sounds like my perfect meal. I made them last night and they rocked my world. They were so good and really easy to make.

Corn Cakes with Grilled Shrimp and Roasted Guacamole

Corn Cake
(adapted from Average Betty recipe)
2 c. organic roasted corn, removed from cob
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1/4 c. organic cilantro
1/4 c. white onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1/2 small organic red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. organic almond flour*
2 organic & cage free eggs
1/2 tsp. honey
dash garlic powder
dash cayenne pepper
dash chili powder
dash salt

Combined roasted corn, red bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, almond flour, and honey. Crack eggs into mixture and stir together until well blended. Add garlic powder, cayenne, chili powder, and salt.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Scoop corn mixture into small patties and place on skillet, let brown about 30 seconds and flip with a spatula.

*almond flour is a substitute for flour. Regular flour works great too, I'm just trying to stay away from white starchy food. You can make almond flour really easily by throwing almonds in your food processor and grinding them until fine, about 20 seconds. Be careful not to grind almonds for too long or it will begin to turn into almond butter.

Grilled Garlic Shrimp
10 jumbo raw shrimp
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 large clove garlic
1 lime, juiced
salt

Marinate shrimp for at least 30 minutes in a mixture of olive oil, pressed garlic, and lime juice, and salt. Skewer shrimp and place on grill until shrimp turn pink.

Roasted Guacamole
1 organic avocado
1/4 c. organic cilantro
1/8 c. roasted tomato salsa (I like Trader Joe's Salsa Del Cabo)

Mash avocado and mix in cilantro and roasted salsa

I absolutely loved this dinner, and so did Mike. I had two corn cakes left over and turned it into an amazing breakfast. I heated up the corn cakes, poached an egg, made some more guacamole and topped it off with a chipotle raspberry BBQ sauce. It was delicious. I love when leftovers become a whole new fabulous meal. Try this recipe out, you won't be sorry you did. Thanks Average Betty!

Summertime & the Livin's Easy

I make fish taco's at least once a month. I make them all different ways, but this Tropical Mango Mahi Mahi Taco just tastes like summer. The refreshing mango salsa is what makes this taco a hit on hot summer days.

Tropical Mango Fish Taco's
mahi mahi (or any white fish)
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1 organic lime, juiced
corn tortilla
green cabbage, shredded
organic avocado
mango salsa *see recipe below
sweet chili sauce

Marinate mahi mahi in olive oil, chili powder and lime for 30 minutes. Pan sear mahi mahi for 5 minutes on each side. Heat tortilla's in oven on low heat (200 degrees) for 5 minutes. Place mahi mahi inside tortilla on a bed of cabbage. Add 2 slices of avocado followed by a generous amount of mango salsa. Drizzle sweet chili sauce. Enjoy!

Mango Salsa
1 ripe organic mango
1/4 cup organic cilantro
1/4 cup organic black beans
1 TBSP fresh ginger, pressed
1/8 cup red onion, finley chopped
1/2 organic lime, juiced
*play around with the measurements to make this salsa how you like it. Just don't put too much ginger or the flavor takes over.

Cut mango into small squares. My Stepmom, Grace, once taught me to slice a grid on the mango half. It's an easy way to cut a mango. Toss mango with chopped cilantro, chopped onion, and black beans. To press the ginger, I use a garlic press. Mix in the pressed ginger and squeeze half a lime over the mango salsa. Stir together.

As a side dish for these taco's I made a Sweet Potato Salad. Sweet Potato's are my new favorite thing! I'm obsessed with sweet potato fries at restaurants. At home, I can't seem to reproduce a good sweet potato fry without a deep frier, so at home, I settle for roasted sweet potatoes. I love the way they taste when they are roasted and crisp. I made this salad last Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I've been thinking about making it for my Graduation BBQ Party this weekend, so I wanted to try it out tonight to make sure I had the recipe down.
It is actually VERY similar recipe to the mango salsa.












Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
serves 2
4 c. sweet potatoes
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 cup organic black beans
1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup organic cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
feta cheese, optional but recommended
salt & pepper

*again, play around with the portions. I never really measure this stuff, I just throw in what seems like the right amount. You want the sweet potatoes to be the "star" or the dish and the black beans, cilantro, and onions to be the "chorus."

To roast sweet potatoes, Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Skin sweet potatoes and cut into 1" squares. Mix sweet potato squares with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast in over for 30-40 minutes, until sweet potatoes are browned and crispy. You may want to stir sweet potatoes half way through roasting. Mix roasted sweet potatoes with cilantro, black beans, and red onion. Squeeze lime juice and mix into salad. Sprinkle with feta cheese. (I'm dairy free right now, but when I serve this for guests I always use feta.)

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYBODY!

Ragin' Cajun

A few years ago Mike picked up this amazing spice at a local Santa Cruz market, Shopper's Corner. Cajun Dust Blackening Spice has turned out to be a magic spice. It makes anything it touches terrific. It goes great on chicken, fish, tofu, and shrimp. It's the only spice you need to make a flavorful dish. I love using this seasoning on shrimp and making a cajun shrimp & avocado salad. YUMMY!
I saw Tilapia at the store tonight and couldn't resist an opportunity to use cajun Dust. This is one of my go to dinner's. It's easy and quick to prepare. The ingredients are light, nutritious, and fresh. weighing in at less than 200 calories for the whole meal, there is plenty of room for dessert.

Cajun Tilapia with Broccolini & Cauliflower Mash

This recipe is so simple.
The tilapia is sprinkled with cajun blackening spice and pan seared in a skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side.
The broccolini is steamed for 5 minutes.

Cauliflower mash is one of my favorite side dishes, especially when i am trying to stay away from eating too many carbs. I originally tried it after seeing it in a South Beach Diet recipe book. This dish tricks me into thinking I am eating mashed potatoes. It's easy to make too. Steam cauliflower, add a tiny bit of milk or soy milk, a dash of salt & pepper, then mash it with a masher or use an immersion blender until you achieve a smooth consistency. You can add anything to this dish that you'd put in mashed potatoes. It is great with some butter, grilled onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, or green onions....or all of that together. Tonight I made it simple, I used 1 slice of canadian bacon and green onions. This mashed Cauliflour idea may sound strange, but I'm telling you, it is delicious! Believe it or not, Mike asks me to make mashed cauliflower all the time, he loves it. I once brought it to a BBQ and it was a big hit with all my friends. Try it sometime, you just might like it!

Paella

A true chef would surely laugh at this rice dish I am passing off as Paella. True paella is usually made in a paella pan, I used a skillet. Good Paella is baked at the end and has a thin crispy crust on the bottom. Yum! Paella has been on my mind lately, it seemed like a culinary challenge. I wanted to see if i could pull off. When I started looking for Paella recipe's I wondered what the difference was between Paella, Risotto, and Jambalaya. Despite the obvious difference in the region the recipe originated from, the three dishes seem quite similar to me. I think the differences lie in the staple seasonings used in the dish, and in the meats used. Spanish Paella traditionally uses saffron, Italian Risotto uses garlic and parmesan cheese (at least in my version), and Creole Jambalaya uses cajun seasoning and hot sauce. BUT I have had saffron risotto before, so that throws my whole theory out the window. In the recipes I looked through, it appears that Risotto's are stirred continuously where as paella's are left alone to simmer. I think this constant stirring releases the starches in the rice giving Risotto a creamier texture. Truth be told, I have NO IDEA what the real differences are, this is just a guess. Any way, I found this recipe for a 1 hour Paella on Epicurious. It turned out well, however, in true Jenn form, I barely followed this recipe. The paella needed liquid added every 5 or 10 minutes in order to cook the rice, I adjusted the spices and the proteins. Also, the traditional Paella "crust" never really materialized. I suggest using a base recipe and then letting your own taste buds be your guide to making your own unique paella.



Paella
serves 4

1 quart organic low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cup short grain brown rice
1 breast organic chicken
3 sliced canadian bacon, chopped
1 package of Trader Joe's mixed seafood blend (shrimp, scallops, calamari rings)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup peas
10 cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup green onion
1/4 tsp saffron threads
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp italian seasoning
salt and pepper
spike

Start by briefly sauteeing onions, peppers, and garlic, and olive oil in a large skillet. Stir in paprika, saffron, and red pepper flakes. Add 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/4 cup white wine, & 1 1/2 cups brown rice. Simmer for 1 hour. While simmering continue to add chicken broth at 1/2 cup increments when the rice mixture has absorbed the liquid. If chicken broth runs out, switch to water. When rice becomes tender add the remaining 1/4 cup white wine, pea's, and tomatoes, cook for 10 more minutes. In a separate skillet pan sear the lightly salted chicken breast. Chop up chicken and add to rice. Add chopped canadian bacon to rice mixture. Sautee seafood mixture in 1 TBSP olive oil and italian seasoning. Once seafood is cooked add to rice mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle spike as a final seasoning. Serve and sprinkle green onion rings on top of paella.

Grilled Polenta with Veggies

Another quick meal. Grilled polenta with veggies and tomato sauce. This dish seems a little strange, but it is soooo yummy and quite healthy. I use Trader Joe's pre-cooked polenta, but it is easy enough to make too.

Grilled Polenta with Veggies

pre-cooked polenta
organic veggies; carrots, cauliflower, broccoli (any veggies you like)
organic tomato sauce (any kind you like)
arugula
raw walnuts

Cut polenta into rounds about 1 inch thick. Grill on a grill pan for 10 minutes or until warm all the way through. Steam veggies. Heat tomato sauce. Make a bed of arugula and put a small amount of tomato sauce in three spots on top of arugula. Lay a grilled polenta circle on each tomato sauce spot. Garnish each polenta circle with additional tomato sauce and a walnut. Top dish with grilled veggies and additional crumbled walnuts.

It is surprisingly filling and so easy to make.

Oh yeah, I forgot, feta cheese goes really well sprinkled on top of this dish. Unfortunately I am dairy free for a while and am not eating cheese. BUT, if you make this dish, sprinkle feta on top and it is 10 times yummier.