Thai Shrimp Halibut Curry

I realize this photo isn't super awesome, but this dish sure is.  It's flavorful, slightly spicy and super easy to make.  The leftovers are even incredible.

My father-in-law gave us several large pieces of frozen halibut from his fishing trip last year, otherwise, halibut's not usually in our food budget.  Thank you, Carl!!!

I can not wait to make this again! 

Sorry for the boring post, but my kids are ready at the door to head out and have some fun. 

Momma must oblige.

Thai Shrimp Halibut Curry
Bon Appétit  April 2011
by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
Epicurious WebsiteYield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

3 large limes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-to 3/4-inch dice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen brand)
1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
16 to 18 ounces halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
8 peeled deveined uncooked large shrimp (8 to 10 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Finely grate enough peel from 2 limes to measure 1 1/2 teaspoons. Squeeze enough juice from 2 limes to measure 2 tablespoons. Cut third lime into wedges.

Heat vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped shallots, diced red bell pepper, and minced ginger; sautè until shallots are tender and peppers soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons lime peel, and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Simmer gently, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle fish and shrimp with salt and pepper. Add fish and shrimp to curry sauce. Return to very gentle simmer and cook just until fish and shrimp are opaque in center, 5 to 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in cilantro and basil; serve with lime wedges.

Rice Krispie Easter Eggs...sort of

There's a commercial that shows a beautiful, calm, smiling mother and her two clean, well groomed little children making Rice Krispie treats in the shape of hollow eggs filled with M&M's.

I thought to myself...'self...there's no reason you couldn't do this with your children...it looks like a piece of cake.'   Let me tell you, I wish I'd have been making cake.  At least I generally know what to expect with cake.

This project was a little more elusive, however. 

We had dinner plans earlier tonight with our dear friends Jon and Misti.  They have two little boys too so I thought, hey, perfect opportunity to copy the fabulous Rice Krispie idea from the TV!  With all the supplies in hand, we started the project shortly after dinner.

We washed and coated several large plastic Easter eggs with cooking spray, then made a batch of Rice Krispie Treats according to package directions.

Next, we attempted to fill each half of the eggs with the mixture while leaving an indent in the middle.  The indent is where the jelly beans were meant to go. 

What a mess!  I'm sure Rice Krispie brand would blame it on the fact that I used generic cereal...gasp!
We tried oiling our hands and using sheets of waxed paper as some type of mitt.  Nothing seemed to work except good old fashioned perseverance. 

This next series of extremely unflattering photographs show you my range of emotions during this project. 

First was...'Really?'

Then came 'What in the world?'

Finally was just plain 'You gotta be kidding me perfect Rice Krispie commercial lady, this is impossible!'

Our patience did pay off in the end and the plastic eggs ended up filled.  We then took our sticky, half naked children and lined them up at the counter.

They filled each egg with a few jelly beans and then stuck the halves together. 

Look at that focus.

Here's Jacob's tutorial...

Baby Maron really liked the jelly bean part.  Jack...you're just plain cute!

This is what Christian's face looks like when I ask him to say 'cheese.'

Whew!  They shockingly turned out and pleased the crowds.  Try this at home...if you dare.

Climbing Trees

My boys discovered the glory of tree climbing last week.  The cluster of juniper trees on my mother and step-father's property have a gentle incline and are perfect for little guys to learn to climb on.  I'm pretty sure those trees are all my seven year old thought about the entire two days we were there.  The best part of it all was the smell.  Both the boys and the dog smelled like juniper trees for days.

You may be wondering how they smelled like juniper trees for days if I were a proper mother and bathed my children regularly. 

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. 

All I know is that I kept grabbing them for a hug just to sniff their hair.  To me, they smelled just like little boys should...like trees and dirt and adventure. 

Creme Brulee

So, I originally planned to photograph the entire meal my really, really ridiculously good-looking (Zoolander fans out there?  Yes? No?) husband and I made a couple weeks ago.  All I managed to get were two pictures of the bistro fries because I was too enthralled with watching him instead of thinking about picture taking.  I've never seen such focused dedication in the kitchen than watching Brad scrape the inside of a vanilla bean.  Whew!  Be still my heart.  After almost 9 years together, my heart still pitter-patters when my fella walks in the room. 

Fortunately, I was able to come back down to earth long enough to snap some photos of our tasty dessert.  We often order creme brulee at restaurants and would like to consider ourselves aficionados, though I'm sure we're living in La La Land when we (by 'we' I mean 'I') say that.  

Soon, I plan to re-create the pretzel crusted chicken with Dijon dill dipping sauce he made the same night.  Di-vine!!!

Creme Brulee
Alton Brown, 2005

Ingredients

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Window Scape

This is my new kitchen window scape.  The glass bubbles are from CB2 on-line.  I love them!  My mom gave me some fishing swivels and some colored wire to hang them up with.  The vases and glassware are from Ross and TJ Max and the plant is the only one that's lasted more than a year in my house.  Obviously, I need to invest in some photo editing software, but I couldn't wait to share it all with you! 

Notice I didn't photograph my sink full of dishes. 

Oreo's

Yes, I realize I've been posting a lot of sweets lately, but I really couldn't resist making these for my boys.  They were a lot easier than I thought and will be something I'll definitely make again.  They're from Smitten Kitchen.

Oreo's fall in the category with Doritos and Corn Nuts and cream soda for me.  I have a hard time resisting any of these tasty treats.  This homemade version wasn't quite the same as the store bought ones, of course, but they were still fantastic and hit the spot. 

Besides that, they were super fun to make.  Next time, maybe I'll do double stuffed.

Homemade Oreos

From Smitten Kitchen.com

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

Chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2.In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

3.Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

4.To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

5.To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.


Browned Butter Whipped Cream Frosting

They say 'necessity is the mother of invention.'  How else would we have these amazing inventions?

Sometimes you start making a dulce de leche cake for your dear friends 30th birthday party and you end up with something, well...not a dulce de leche cake.  Dulce de leche is similar to caramel and one way to make it is made by reducing sweetened milk over heat for a long period of time.  I obviously did something wrong because I ended up with a glob of rock hard caramel that had to be heated up over steam just to loosen it from the bowl.  There was no way this glob was going to whip in with cream to make a frosting.  I couldn't even get my big kitchen knife through it let alone my Kitchen Aid blade.  What a mess!

Perhaps one day, I'll attempt dulce de leche again.  Unfortunately, it was 5:00 on the day of the party and I didn't have time to try again.  Before I panicked, I called my handy dandy mother.  We brainstormed and after realizing my pantry was sadly stocked, decided my only option other than a trip to the store was to brown some butter, add some flavors and whip it in to cream.  We were both hopeful when I hung up the phone.

Hallelujah it worked! Thank God for mothers!  This frosting is light and fresh but has the rich flavors of cinnamon and browned butter that are still quite decadent.  I'm not a huge fan of regular frosting, so whipped cream frostings are right up my alley. 

What they say about inventions must be true.  You see, I needed a tasty solution and we (by 'we' I mean my mom) invented a new frosting.  Perhaps it's already been invented, but I've never heard of it anyways. 

Browned Butter Whipped Cream Frosting

1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 inch vanilla bean

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 inch vanilla bean
3 cups whipped cream

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until butter turns a light golden brown.  Remove from heat and add the cinnamon and vanilla extract.  Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the soft, blackish insides; add this to the butter.  Stir the butter mixture and allow it to cool to room temperature. 

Meanwhile, whip the cream in a chilled mixer bowl with chilled beaters.  Place whipped cream into a separate bowl and wash out your mixer bowl.  Add the butter mixture to the mixer bowl and slowly beat in the powdered sugar and milk until well combined.

Gently fold the butter mixture into the whipped cream.

This amount frosted and filled a 3 layer 9 inch cake with plenty left over.