Smoky Shrimp and Parmesan-Polenta Cakes

A few months ago, my local Big Box Retailer cleaned up its image. Aisles were moved around and widened, new signage was installed, new carts were brought in and new foods were introduced. A month or so after the transformation, which only slightly lessened my overall aversion I have to the store, I found a tube of polenta in the refrigerated goods section near the produce. I snatched it up, fearful someone else might have their eye on it. I took it home and it sat in my fridge for a few weeks until I decided to do this cooking thing. I knew it had to be used so I found two polenta recipes to try out. Tonight was one of them.

Smoky Shrimp and Parmesan-Polenta Cakes

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
1 17-ounce tube polenta, cut into 8 (1/2-inch) slices
Cooking spray
8 teaspoons marinara sauce
8 teaspoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


1. Preheat broiler.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until done, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in wine, chives, juice, and paprika, tossing to coat. Keep warm.
3. Place polenta slices on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon sauce and 1 teaspoon cheese; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Place 2 polenta slices on each of 4 plates; top each serving evenly with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with parsley.

Looks pretty, but wasn't too tasty

I think my problem is that I'm just not familiar enough with polenta to do it right, even though I went by the directions and cooked this dish exactly as it says. I didn't like it, but I don't think it was just the polenta that did me in. It was the fact that with the marinara sauce and shredded parmesan, the polenta tasted like spaghetti minus the noodles. The shrimp were good, but I think I over did it on the smoked paprika. Oops. I was not a fan. I really wanted this dish to work but it clearly didn't. I guess it could be an appetizer, because it's certainly not big enough to be an entree, and it isn't a finger food. Plus, the cheese cooled down pretty quickly and stiffened up, but I guess that's Parmesan for you.


So as I was cleaning up the counter I spied that bag of 90 corn tortillas from Monday's Mexican Chicken Casserole. A light bulb went off. I pulled out a knife, cut a few tortillas into wedges, laid them on a cooking sheet, sprayed them with a little cooking spray and sprinkled them with chili powder and baked them at 375˚ for 8 minutes. Voila! Tortilla chips! They tasted pretty good and probably could have cooked for a minute or two longer to make them more crispy, but they'll crisp up more as they continue to cool.

Tortilla chips!

Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs

Of all the grumbling I've been known to do about living in semi-rural non-suburbia, I do have to note one sparkling diamond in the rough. About 15 minutes away, we have a spectacular Mediterranean restaurant. It's been there maybe two years and their food is wonderful. It's run by a Lebanese family, I think, and they are always so nice. Every time we go, the same girl waits on us. She's great and the Husband is totally smitten with her accent and tiny diamond nose piercing. Hmm, maybe I'll get one of those while he's away at the academy and surprise him when he gets home one weekend! Or, maybe not.

Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs

TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
SERVINGS: 4
Ingredients
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh mint
1 1/2 teaspoons zatar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Bibb lettuce leaves and plain yogurt, for serving


Light a grill. In a medium bowl, gently mix the chuck with the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, zatar, salt, cumin and pepper. Form the meat into 1 1/2-inch balls and flatten them to 3/4 inch thick patties. Grill the meatballs over moderately high heat until pink in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Wrap the grilled meatballs in lettuce leaves and serve with yogurt.

The menu at the Mediterranean restaurant offers a variation of this dish and I was so excited when I found this recipe and decided to use it for my cooking conquest. Now even though it says 'meatballs,' these are, in fact, just like tiny burgers. The prep was super easy and the ground meat and spice mixture resulted in nine meatballs, halving the recipe like I have for all of the others so far. They grilled up quickly, too, so some of them got a little crispy.


So what did they taste like? Let me just say that my picture taking skills don't do this meal justice. Good? Yeah. Really good? Uh-huh. Awesome? Yeah, I'll go there. This tasted much, much better than I had ever hoped. First off, it just had this Mediterranean smell and general taste. Know what I mean? I think it was the spices, which I'll get into in a second. I didn't purchase Bibb lettuce to go with the meatballs because I didn't want to buy a whole head of lettuce just for one dish and have to waste the rest of it when it didn't get eaten. Small dollops of the plain yogurt on top were great and it added just the right amount of moisture to some of the drier, overcooked meatballs. They were terrific and I downed all nine of them in short order.


Now, these spices. Most everyone has salt, cumin, pepper, garlic and maybe even dried parsley on hand. But the thing that threw me was the spice Zatar. I was positive I would never find it here where I live. I looked it up online and it was available through Amazon for about $5, but I didn't feel like paying that much for an unknown substance. So I was mentioning this quandary to a co-worker on Tuesday and another co-worker overheard our conversation. She enlightened us to an international market near our office that carries lots of imported foods and spices. Eureka! So this afternoon, I went out there and basically hit the gastronomic jackpot. Spotted Dick and Garam Masala and Vegemite, oh my! I could have spent hours and lots of money in this place. It's this little store in a nondescript warehouse with four aisles of the most wonderful and strange food products you could ever imagine. For instance, I found a bag of dried fish. And, folks, that's what it was. It looked like a bag of dried anchovies or minnows all staring at you through the plastic, begging for you to reconstitute them and let them free in the nearest creek. Weird candy, Jesus candles, Chinese black beans, Nutella, guava paste and tons of other foods I've forgotten. But one of the aisles was full of little bags of spices. To my amazement, I found a spot labeled 'Zatar.' To my horror and dismay, there was none left. So I found the store manager and asked him if he had any more in stock and lo and behold, he went behind the counter and gave me a bag of green zatar. As in, gave it to me free of charge. Gratis. He said, "You can have this. Just take it home, you know, see if you like it." I was incredulous. And because of his generosity, I purchased $10 worth of things I really didn't need, but it all looked good and fun. So now that I know this little store exists, I'll be there much more than my wallet would appreciate, I'm sure, but I know every trip would be worth it.


So that's the story of zatar and Middle Eastern Meatballs. This recipe is a total keeper and I can't wait to share it with the Husband when he gets home.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

More rain, and another long commute home. Today I really wanted to sit on the couch, but once again the kitchen won. While I prepped for this meal, I wolfed down another serving of last night's Mexican Chicken Casserole because I always get home hungry and I have to eat a little something before dinner or I get irritable. And, you know, no one wants that.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 breast

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup olive oil
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup water
10 to 12 tomatillos, husks removed and cut in half
½ medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 serrano or jalapeno peppers
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup low fat sour cream
Juice of 2 limes

Combine the oil, juice from one lime, oregano, and black pepper in a shallow glass baking dish. Stir. Place the chicken breasts in the baking dish and turn to coat each side. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight. Turn the chicken periodically to marinate chicken on both sides.

Put water, tomatillos, and onion into a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the tomatillos are tender. In a blender, place the cooked onion, tomatillos, and any remaining water. Add the garlic, peppers, cilantro, salt, and the remaining lime juice. Blend until all the ingredients are smooth. Place the sauce in a bowl and refrigerate.

Place the chicken breasts on a hot grill and cook until done. Place the chicken on a serving platter.

Spoon a tablespoon of low fat sour cream over each chicken breast. Pour the sauce over the sour cream.

I was really hoping to like this. It sounded good, and it was another healthy recipe I found. I also halved this recipe, but I only cooked one chicken breast instead of two. I used halved measurements of the marinade and did that in the fridge last night, but the chicken didn't take on much of the flavor. There was a little taste of the lime in the chicken, but overall it was weak. Before I grilled the chicken, I pounded it and salted and peppered both sides. The chicken looked to be drying out a little on the grill, so I actually brushed the chicken with the green chile sauce that I made in the blender. I think that helped to keep the chicken a little more moist than it would have been. I also had a lot of leftover green chile sauce when I put the desired amount on my chicken breast, and I discovered it was pretty good as a salsa with tortilla chips. Who knew? However, I think the sauce was the only redeemable part of this dish. I just wasn't impressed. I think it was the lack of flavor in the marinade, which could be pumped up easily, and while it says to blend the sauce until smooth, I think I would have liked it more with a few small chunks in it.

So, overall, not a huge fan of this recipe. I'll hold onto it, though, because I think it can be tweaked.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Thanks to driving rain, a longer commute than normal and a trip to the grocery store, I arrived home at 7:20 tonight. That's two hours after I left work. I normally have a long commute, but tonight was really an eye opener in that I will still have to cook even if I don't want to. I would have loved to just sit on the couch after braving that mess, but the kitchen awaits. So, I donned my best knock-around clothes (a 10-year-old college party shirt and track pants), fed the beast:


*urp*

... and got to work.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (4.5 oz.) cans chopped green chiles, divided
1 3/4 lbs. skinned, boned chicken breasts
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup (2 oz.) tub-style light cream cheese
1 (10-oz.) can enchilada sauce
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 oz. tortilla chips, crushed

Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid; cool chicken. Shred meat with two forks, and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles and onion; sauté 3 minutes or until soft. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and enchilada sauce; stir well. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place four tortillas in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes
eight servings (about 1 cup per serving).

Final product

Keep in mind that I halved this recipe, since it's just me here at the house now. I'll be taking lots of these leftovers to work for lunch in the following days, but I want to minimize the amount of food I have laying around. This recipe halved easily and I didn't have any problems. I ended up using a little more chicken broth in the very first part of the recipe just to make sure I had enough liquid in the pan to cook the chicken. When the cooking liquid-milk-cheese-cheese-enchilada sauce came together, it looked really soupy. I was afraid I would have to reduce the amount I put into the casserole, but as soon as I added the chicken it thickened up nicely. I used a few extra corn tortillas when doing the layering, considering the only option to purchase corn tortillas at my Big Box Retailer was in packs of 90. Ninety corn tortillas? The hell am I going to do with 90 corn tortillas?!

Once the dish was assembled, I popped it in the oven uncovered. Looking back, I should have covered it while cooking because the cheese that was on top of the dish came out of the oven looking a little rubbery. It tasted fine, but some foil on top probably would have prevented that. When it came out it was bubbling and cheesy and smelled really good. I conveniently bypassed the instructions to let the dish sit 10 minutes before you eat and immediately dug in, searing the roof of my mouth with molten chicken-cheese mixture. I'll survive. Besides, by this point it was 9:10pm and I was hungrier than a French runway model. The chiles were apparent, but in no way hot (spicy hot, that is). The casserole was not soupy at all and I think the tortillas had soaked up a lot of the moisture, as the tortillas toward the middle of the dish were soggy. However, everything mixed together so well that the soggy tortillas didn't bother me.

Overall, I would cook this again. Halved, this makes a perfect dinner for two with a little leftover for the next day. It's also from Cooking Light so it's not horrible for you. I had to make just a few adjustments in my recipe, again, for items I didn't have at my local store (regular evaporated milk as opposed to evaporated skim milk) but all in all, this is a keeper.

*A note on reheating this dish - zapping leftovers in the microwave is a fine way to reheat, but it really does a number on the cheese and tortilla chips on top. The cheese got a little more rubbery and the chips lost their crisp and got tough. All in all, it was still good and not reason enough for me to never nuke any leftover Mexican Chicken Casserole again. This stuff is hella good even the second (and third) time around.

House to myself and another possible reduction in recipes

The husband is out the door to the police academy, sanity somewhat in check, and I am ready to start my cooking conquest as of tomorrow night. When I began this idea, I was prepping for 70 different recipes. That soon went down the toilet after realizing that would be a new item every night - doesn't leave much room for error or freedom during the week. So then I reduced it to 50 recipes which would leave the weekend open for going out, or would allow me to switch around nights and not have to cook every single night after I got home from work. As the last few days have ticked down and I've tried my best to come up with 50 recipes, I appear to be stuck at 45 recipes, including Fried Green Tomatoes which may not work out if I can't find any green tomatoes in the dead of winter. And this was even after I poured through the last Southern Living and asked the husband what he wanted to eat when he gets home this coming Friday night. It's an oldie but a goodie. Just a small handful of the recipes I'm making are ones I have made before, but this is my blog and I say an old recipe still counts. So, nyah-nyah-nyah.

One of my first projects will be to clean off my kitchen counter near the stove. It's currently cluttered with mail, opened and unopened, small appliance chargers, random junk, and a large meat grinder that has not been used in many months. That will be the first thing to go. I can't cook if I have a cluttered space. Next, I need to pick out the recipes I'll have this week. I already have Friday out of the way - Hot Chicken Casserole, a request from the husband and his great-aunt's recipe. For the others, I suppose I could choose four numbers between 1 and 45, and the corresponding page would be the recipe to cook for the week. That sounds like it might work.


...picking numbers randomly...


Okay, I chose 6, 21, 30 and 39. The corresponding recipes for those page numbers are:

6. Mexican Chicken Casserole - Okay, I'm happy with that.

21. Grilled Chicken with Green Chile sauce - No problem there. Two chicken dishes already, though. I just won't cook them one right after the other.

30. Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs - Cool. We went to a local Mediterranean restaurant earlier this week and they had this on the menu. I'm excited about trying this.

39. Smoky Shrimp and Parmesan-Polenta Cakes - I happen to already have a tube of polenta on hand and since I'll only use half of it for this recipe, I'll have to use the other polenta recipe soon.

Next thing is to make a grocery list and go shopping. I guess I'll see this week if my menus will be expensive, or if I can trim it back any. I'm already a coupon person, so I know that will help keep costs down a little. Also, I'll be taking lots of this stuff as leftovers for lunch the next day, so I won't need lots of lunch-type food.

This starts tomorrow! I'm ready.