My dog Maverick is in a deep depression.

  His other mom, Katie, decided to leave us for the great north Idaho.  He is so sad, he can barely bark when people leave the house anymore.  Before Katie left, she and Maverick were able to have one last photoshoot.   Here are some of my favorites:

 Twins!

I am not sure what this has to do with pineapple, coconut and shrimp fried rice, but I just really wanted to post this modeling session. 

 Katie, if you are reading this please come back soon.  We miss you very much!

I saw an idea for shrimp fried rice in a cute hollowed out pineapple on Rasa Malaysia and thought I would try to expand on her recipe.  If you haven’t been to Rasa Malayasia and you like Asian food, please go now, you will never look back! She is amazing.  Anyways, I made a few additions (coconut, pecans) and scrapped the shrimp paste, because I think that stuff smells disgusting.  This makes a great side dish or even a meal if you add a salad.  And for all of my seafood phobic friends out there, you can certainly substitute the shrimp with chicken, beef or tofu.

Pineapple, Coconut and Shrimp Fried Rice

Printable recipe here

1 whole pineapple
8 oz of raw shrimp chopped (deveined, tails and shells removed)
8 oz. steamed white rice
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 fresh red chili (seeded and cut into small pieces)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 cup coconut milk (lite or regular)
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons pecans chopped
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
Cilantro leaves for garnishing

Cut pineapple in half.  Carefully cut around the edges of the pineapple while still keeping the out skin in tact.  Reserve half of the pineapple shape for a serving dish.  Use about 1 cups of chopped pineapple for the rice. 

 Set aside.

Heat oil in large fry pan over medium heat.  A wok is best, but a frying pan will definitely work great.   Saute garlic and red chili until just fragrant.

Add shrimp and stir-fry until shrimp is almost all the way pink. Add rice, pineapple pieces, pineapple juice, coconut milk, coconut and stir.

  Then add fish sauce and dark soy sauce and stir.  Let cook about 5 minutes and then stir in pecans.  Spoon into pineapple half and serve immediately garnished with cilantro.

Happy father’s day to all of the wonderful dads out there!  Today was a little rough for me.  I can’t believe it has already been five months since my dad passed away.  I miss him so much everyday – sometimes it seems like he was making Jav and I margaritas and ribs just yesterday.  He was the best dad in the whole wide world and I still feel so lucky to have had him as a dad even our time together was cut short. 

I thought I would pay tribute to my dad today by posting his favorite barbequed salmon recipe.  For the longest time, this is the ONLY way I would eat any seafood.  I would always ask for extra sauce and loved it because it tastes just like candy.  My dad always said that he got the recipe from an old Native American friend who cooked it on the reservation – I am not sure how true that is, but the recipe is fantastic. The ingredients might seem a little strange, but I promise it is great! 

Salmon Buying Tip (my humble opinion):

For this recipe I used Atlantic salmon from Costco, only because it was convenient.  However, I would have preferred to use Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon – Skin-on.  Why skin-on you might be asking?  Because it is much better for the grill and I think it has better flavor.  You will notice I don’t have grill marks in the photos.  It is because I used a skinless fillet and that makes it not conducive to turning skin side down on the grill.  The skin will hold the meat together.  Also, please do not fall into the trap of buying $25-30/lb Copper River Salmon.  The Copper River just has great marketing, not necessarily the best fish.  My favorite brand of frozen fish is Orca Bay – I am a little biased because I did used to work for them, but they process great fish!  I personally prefer to buy frozen salmon unless I know it just came off the boat.  The freezing process is incredible now and locks in freshness that is hard to beat.  Plus a lot of the fish labeled fresh at the seafood counter in the grocery store is actually just thawed out.  You never know how long it has been sitting there.  Sorry for the rant.  More questions? Just ask.

Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do! Love you dad!!

My Dad’s Barbequed Salmon

Printable recipe here

1 Large Fillet of Salmon

½ Cup Brown Sugar

Juice of two lemons

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

2 Cloves Garlic minced

Couple of good shakes of Lawry’s seasoning salt

¼ Cup Olive Oil

Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. 

Pour ¾ of mixture over salmon in a large dish.

 Reserve the rest of the sauce. Marinate for 30 minutes.  Preheat grill.  If you aren’t using skin-on salmon then lay your fish on a sheet of double-thick aluminum foil. 

Cook salmon for 3-5 minutes per side (if you can’t flip it then 6-10 minutes total). If you use skin-on then cook directly on the grill without the foil. Baste fish with remaining sauce. 

 Don’t overcook the salmon.  It should be flakey and juicy. 

Enjoy!

Love,

Lindzee

Hi all! It has been awhile since my last post, because things have been a bit frenzied for me. My dad lost his 18 month battle with cancer on January 15th. He was a wonderful dad and teacher who always had an incredible zest for life. He never gave up his fight against cancer and was the most positive person I have ever met. Even though I only spent 29 years with him, I consider myself the luckiest girl in world to have had him as a father. I will miss him so much.

Here I am with him:

Both of my brothers (Travis and Ryan) came home last week along with CJ (Sister-in-Law) and Cooper (Travis’s son). The service and reception was wonderful and unbelievably special. I am positive my dad was there lighting up the room. The day after the service we all went back to my mom’s house and had a Shrimp Taco night while helping my mom clean out some of the closets and fix some stuff around the house.

Here is Travis trying on his old letterman’s jacket:

The boys also tried their luck with my mom’s hula hoop:

Cooper pretended to like the tacos.

Not sure why he has a carrot in his hand?

Trav and CJ made some guacamole:

I have made these tacos for years. It is a copycat recipe of the Anthony’s restaurant in Seattle fish tacos. I use shrimp, but you can substitute with Mahi Mahi, Cod, Halibut or any other whitefish. With the exception of Tilapia. Tilapia is disgusting. See my about me page.

 Grilled Shrimp Tacos

2 lbs Shrimp Peeled and Deveined
8-10 Taco Sized Flour Tortillas
Shredded Lettuce

Marinade

1.5 Cups White Wine
½ Cup Lime Juice
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic Minced
3 Tablespoons Chopped Herbs (basil, oregano, whatever you wish)
1 Teaspoon Salt Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and marinate shrimp for 1 hour.

 Do not marinate longer or you will have ceviche. :) The lime juice will cook your little shrimpies. Prepare sauces below while shrimp is marinating. Grill shrimp over low-medium for 5 minutes or until pink.

 Grill each tortilla for 1-2 minutes. Assemble taco by adding shrimp, Pico de Gallo, shredded lettuce, guacamole and Pico de Gallo mayo sauce.

 Add some cheese if you are feeling frisky. 

Pico de Gallo Mayo Sauce

1 Cup Pico de Gallo (Recipe Below)
3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth.

Guacamole

½ Cup Pico de Gallo (Recipe Below)
2 Whole Avocados Peeled and seeded
1 Garlic clove minced
3 Tablespoons lime juice
Tabasco to taste
Lots of salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients by smashing with a fork.

Season to taste

Pico de Gallo

6 Large Tomatoes Chopped
1.5 Red Onion Chopped
3-4 Jalapeños seeded, veined and minced
3/4 Cup Cilantro Chopped
2 Garlic cloves minced
¼ Cup Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together.

Enjoy!

Love, Lindzee

Sunday night, Katie and I had some friends over for din din – Michelle and Regan.  Aren’t they cute?

And Jav and Katie were there too…

After assessing my current food stock, I had some frozen shrimp, cheap vodka, leftover wine, cheese and pasta. Typical. 

 I decided to try a little experiment and make some shrimp stuffed pasta shells with tomato basil vodka sauce.  I love creamy basil vodka tomato goodness and paired with shrimp made it that much better.  They turned out really well!

Shrimp Stuffed Shells with Tomato Basil Vodka Sauce

Filling:

1 Box uncooked large pasta shells

2 Pounds of raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed

1 Shallot chopped

1 Garlic cloves chopped

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ Cup Dry White Wine

Salt and Pepper

1.5 Cups Ricotta Cheese Part Skim

1 Tablespoon chopped basil

¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan

Boil pasta shells in salted water until partly tender but still a little firm.  About 7-8 minutes.  Drain and immediately separate shells to a greased baking sheet to prevent sticking together.  Set aside to cool.

Chop shrimp into bite size pieces. 

 Sauté shallot and garlic cloves in the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. 

 Add wine and shrimp. Cook until pink.  Don’t overcook though.

 Drain remaining liquid and combine shrimp, ricotta, basil, parmesan and salt and pepper. 

Set aside.  Make the sauce.

 Vodka Sauce:                              

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Shallot chopped

2 Garlic cloves chopped

½ Cup Vodka (you can use the cheap here. No Grey Goose allowed)

16 oz Whole peeled tomatoes in juice (blended up in blender)

½ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

4 Tablespoons basil chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

¼ Shredded Parmesan

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan.

Add shallots and garlic and cook about 2 minutes.  Add vodka and cook 1 minute more.

Then add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add whipping cream and basil and cook for 1 minute more.  Season to taste.

Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. 

Stuff each shell with about 2 Teaspoons of shrimp filling until full.  Stack in baking dish in a single layer and cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until warm and bubbly.  Sprinkle with any remaining basil.

Love,

Lindzee

On Saturday, we had a small impromptu dinner party with some close friends.  Katie, Javi, Crissie, Nick, Cortnay, Idoia, Michelle and Reagan all agreed to come for a night of fun and A LOT of red wine drinking.  By the end of the night everyone had purple teeth and a full stomach.

Here is Michelle and Cortnay.  They are pretty.

This is me pretending to look like I know what I am doing.  But accidently serving the whole group ridiculously raw meat.  More on that later.

 Here is Javi, never too far away from a computer. Lots of wine on the table.

Javi and I went to Costco earlier that day and spotted some amazing U-15 Mexican Shrimp at a great price.  I imagine most people know this, but U-15 is the amount of shrimp per pound or in this case “under 15 or less”.  

We also spotted some ridiculously good looking Fletcher’s thick cut bacon.  I always make my specialty garlic grilled shrimp, but thought I would try some bacon-wrapped shrimpies too.  The garlic shrimp is cooked with the shell on because it adds more flavor and keeps the meat moist.  But it would be a pain in arse to peel a shrimp wrapped in bacon, so I peeled and deveined half of them first. Here is a little cheesey demonstration on how to peel and devein shrimp. Not sure if this is the RIGHT way to do it, but it works well for me: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHW7qvAu2k

BTW, I never mind the veins and don’t understand why people get grossed out by them.

Both of these shrimp recipes turned out spectacularly!! We also had some Flank Steak and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, but those recipes are coming in later posts.

Lots of Garlic in these shrimpies!

Grilled Peel ‘n Eat Garlic Shrimp

1 Pound raw large shrimp shell-on head-off

5 Garlic cloves chopped

1/2 Cup olive oil

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Rinse shrimp off with cold water and drain well. 

 In small bowl pour sea salt over garlic and rub with a fork to make a paste. 

Whisk in olive oil. 

Reserve 1/4 of olive oil mixture for the bacon-wrapped shrimp and pour the rest over the shell-on shrimp in a ziplock bag.  Marinate in fridge 12-24 hours.  Remove from bag and place 4-5 shrimp each on wooden skewers that have been soaked in water. 

 Grill on medium until opaque.  Don’t overcook. I mean it.  Peel ‘n eat.  Don’t make this on a first date – it gets messy.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

1 Pound large shrimp peeled with tail-on

Olive Oil and garlic mixture left from above recipe

1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Teaspoon Cajun seasoning

8-9 pieces of thick-cut bacon reserving 1 or 2 pieces to eat while cooking

Whisk together olive oil mixture, Dijon, lemon juice, brown sugar and Cajun seasoning. 

 Pour over peeled shrimp.  Marinate for 30-45 minutes.  Don’t marinate longer or you will cook the shrimp.  The lemon acts as a cooking agent – This is how ceviche is made. 

Meanwhile, pan fry the bacon for 4-6 minutes. 

It should be somewhat cooked but not crisp as you need to wrap it around the shrimp.  Cut each piece of bacon in half and wrap one half piece around the middle of each marinated shrimp.  Secure with toothpick. 

I made the mistake of using colored toothpicks which turn your shrimp the color of the toothpick J.   Grill on medium until shrimp is opaque.  Please do not overcook these either. 

Thank you for your cooperation in advance of this matter.

Love,

Lindzee