I decided recently that our family should make a better effort to eat more seafood and less crap like deep fried nuggets of chicken fat. Not that I wasn’t trying to be healthy or anything, because that would be called a D-I-E-T, which is against my religion, culture, gender and overall cellular structure.

Looking for inspiration, I browsed some of my favorite food blogs and drooled over a dish that took a humble comfort food and paired it with lobster. So, my kids and I headed off to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish.

The rugrats had fun poking at the lazy crustaceans in the tank, trying to guess which one the seafood monger would clumsily capture with his primitive wooden rake. A feisty three pounder was stuffed a plastic bag, weighed, priced and dropped in our cart. Off we went to pay, stopping briefly to pick up a hunk of nice cheese and a box of pasta.

Now, I have nothing against the teenage workforce manning the checkout line, but I feel very strongly that I simply must write these 3 letters.

Dear Ritalin:
When a customer gently places a bag of squirming lobster onto the conveyor belt, the appropriate response is not, “Oh shit, dude. You really gonna kill it and eat it?” Because a smart customer (for example, myself) will shoot right back with, “Why yes, pimple-ass, that is the plan. I might even torture it first with long, sharp objects before dunking it head-first in a vat of boiling hot water. Wanna watch?”

Dear Pep Squad Reject:
When that same bag is handed to you to place back into the cart, the itty-bitty buggy-boo with rubber bands on its claws really isn’t a ferocious, drooling elephant man who wants to tie you up and lick your toes. Please don’t scream. You’re scaring my kids. You’re even scaring the freakin’ lobster.

Dear Parents:
I implore you to introduce the world of live seafood to your children at an early age. Teach them where our food comes from and how to properly handle and cook it. If you’re vegetarian, maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea for your kids to work at supermarkets where they might just come in contact with raw animal carcasses and squealing lobsters. Maybe a job at the mushroom petting zoo would be more appropriate.

Omnivorally yours,
Steamy Kitchen

wanna bite?

Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese

Serves 4-8

Pasta
1/2 cup butter + more for ramekin
1/2 cup flour
2 cups half and half
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cayenne
pinch of ground black pepper
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups gruyere cheese, shredded
1 lb dried elbow pasta

Lobster
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 lb lobster meat, chopped (steam lobster 1 minute, remove meat, chop. Lobster will finish cooking in the oven)
3 tbs grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350F.

1. Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water until 1 minute shy of done. Drain well.

2. In meantime, with medium saucepan on medium-low heat, melt butter and add flour a little at a time, whisking constantly for 3 minutes to make a roux. Add half and half, a little at time, whisking to combine. Cook 3 minutes until sauce has thickened. Turn off heat. Add cheddar and gruyere, salt, nutmeg, cayenne and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add cooked pasta to pan, stir to combine.

3. Butter 8 small ramekins or a large baking dish. Spoon pasta/cheese mixture into dish, up to 2/3 full. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

4. While pasta is baking, melt 2 tbs butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Turn off heat and add lobster meat, parmesan and panko bread crumbs. Toss to combine. When pasta is baked, remove from oven, Top pasta with a spoonful of lobster mixture. Set oven to broil, return ramekins to oven for 8 minutes, until lobster cooked through.

I teased about this awesome package that I got and asked for several testers to help out with product testing. Thank you to the 15 testers to responded! I sent each of them 1-3 samples of tsp spices, and they each cooked with the spice and gave me a short 2 sentence review.

You guys rock.

What is tsp?

tsp spices are organic spices in perfectly measured, freshly sealed, single-use packages. Each tin comes with 12 spice packets - each 1 tsp of the spice. Their products, “packets of pure adventure,” make measuring spoons obsolete and also protect spices from light and air to ensure freshness and the fullest flavor. A reprieve from spice cabinet chaos, these one-teaspoon spice packets are stored in tin cans that look great displayed on the kitchen counter, which makes them a perfect gift for home cooks.

Dried spices lose their potency after 6-12 months and the more light and air that gets exposed to the spice, the shorter the shelf life. Simply put, if you’ve still got that ground ginger in the back of your pantry, inherited from old Aunt Martha, your food is gonna taste like… well… crusty Aunt Martha. Nasty. I love the concept of tsp, because I only open what I need. the rest stays fresh and sealed.

(photo from tsp spices)

Such fancy packaging…are they expensive?

$7-$9 a box (12 tsp per box) - which is about 30% more than I pay for non-organic supermarket spice. However, I’ve learned something this year. Rather than go find the best deal possible, I’ve decided that I want to buy less and splurge on things that are beautiful, lovely to use and good for my family. I want to really savor and enjoy the things I have in my home, especially in the kitchen. Let me tell you, these spices are gorgeous.

Actually, when I first opened the package, I said out loud to Scott, “Damn. All this packaging - so wasteful! What’s the point of organic spices if you’re going to waste earth’s resources for the packaging?”

And of course, Scott replied, “Stop bitching. Reuse the boxes.” So now my boys’ matchbox cars smell like Oregano.

What did I make with the tsp spices?

The most awesome braised chicken ever. Oranges, garlic, and a blend of tsp ginger and coriander.

Ginger, Coriander and Orange Braised Chicken

inspired by flipping through Nigel Slater’s Appetite which has been sitting on my desk for the past 2 weeks because I can’t stop looking at it. I love his style of cooking - “a small handful of crabmeat per person” “ginger root - a small lump.” Nigel’s book teaches you how to improvise and create a dish all your own. Forget following recipes word-for-word, he gives you a template and teaches you which flavor combinations work well and when is it done.

Each recipe also has variations at the end. The “Chicken, Garlic and Herbs” recipe (this is the recipe my Ginger, Coriander and Orange Braised Chicken is based on) has options for:

• a buttery finish
• a creamy finish
• use this same recipe to cook lamb with garlic and lemon
• or even pork steaks with apple and creme

Anyways, I highly recommend this book. And hey, if Jamie Oliver says, “Nigel is a genius” then I’m totally sold.

You can substitute skin-on chicken breasts for thigh. Cut back the simmer time just a bit as the breast will cook faster than the bone-in thigh. Best to check it around the 17 minute mark, timing really will depend on how big and thick your breasts are.

6 chicken thighs, skin-on
1 orange, cut into 8 wedges
6 cloves garlic, smashed with side of cleaver
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup white wine
2 1/2 tsp soy sauce
cilantro to garnish

In a small bowl, combine the ginger, coriander, salt and pepper. Season chicken on both sides with the spice mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. In large dutch oven or deep skillet, heat 1 tbl olive oil on high heat. When hot, place the chicken, skin side down to brown for 1-2 minutes. Turn heat to low,throw in garlic and orange sections (give a nice squeeze as you throw them in to get the juice in the pan). Add wine. Cover and simmer on gentle, low heat for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to plate, leaving the sauce in the pan. Turn heat to medium-high and add soy sauce. Cook for 3 minutes until thickened. Pour on top of chicken, garnish with fresh cilantro.

Free tsp spices

Really! Just for you! tsp is sending me 3 twin packs. So, 3 lucky ducks will get a beautiful set of spices.

How to enter

Just comment below and tell me what is your favorite spice combination? That’s it! If you want to link to one of your recipes, feel free to link away.

Contest is open until Saturday March 1st at 10pm. I’ll be combining entries on Cooks Kitchen and on SteamyKitchen.com, and we’ll pick 3 winners using the nifty random number generator.

That’s it! Good luck!

I’ve never been a interested in cooking traditional BBQ, mainly because I do not like what I cannot control, and in this particular case, the BBQ grill is outside of my domain with a fat “trespassing renders marriage contract null and void“ sticker on the front. But to have my husband be in control of a hunk of brisket roasting away for over 6 hours in a pad-locked container with a 3 inch crusty, scratched plastic window is just way too much stress for my Type-A personality to handle. I’d just rather not subject myself to that kind of torture.

So, when I was asked to cook alongside Ray Lampke, the famous “Dr. BBQ” for a charity event to benefit The Crescent City Farmers Market in New Orleans, it was no big deal. So what if he’s a BBQ Grand Champion with a couple hundred awards under his belt, can he pleat perfect dumplings one handed, fold laundry with the other and fend off 2 whining kids? Think not.

We met last week to shoot a few pics to market the event and at first glance, the razor-sharp spiky blonde hair, trophy belly, baggy black shorts, flavor-savor beard and a killer watch tattoo where time stops at 5:01pm was everything I had expected from a man who carried a name, Dr. BBQ, with swaggering authority.

While grilling skewered shrimp for the recipe below, Dr. BBQ casually mentions that he’s the new Executive Chef of Southern Hospitality Restaurant in New York. Holy hickory! I’m only ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION from Justin Timberlake who owns this restaurant.

How can I not embrace this larger than life chef who’s on a first name basis with a celebrity that I’d throw my lusty, naked body at? Apparently, the mere thought of SexyBack caused immediate brain damage and I ended up saying stupid things like, “do you ever get mistaken for Guy Fieri’s dad?” Ouch. I think I just insulted my one degree. Can I CTRL-Z that comment?

About the charity event:

This event is part of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) “Gives Back” Charity to help restore the hurricane damaged The Crescent City Farmers Market. Join me and 7 other chefs as we cook an 8-course meal in an intimate cooking demonstration and food-gasm event at Rolling Pin’s studio kitchen in Brandon, FL. Only 35 seats are available. One of the chefs participating is none other than Giuliano Hazan, IACP’s 2007 Cooking School Teacher of the Year and son of grande doyenne of Italian cooking, Marcella Hazan. Enjoy a feast and help a good cause. I’ll be cooking Crispy Crawfish with Sweet Chili Jam. Dr. BBQ will be cooking his famous Dr. BBQ’s Barbecued Barbecue Shrimp, recipe below.

The Rolling Pin in Brandon, Florida
Tuesday, March 11^th 6:30pm $150-$175 per person
For tickets, call (813) 653-2418 or register online at www.rollingpinonline.com

Dr. BBQ’s Barbecued Barbecue Shrimp

From “Barbecue All Year Long Cookbook”

Serves 8

½ lb unsalted butter
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbl freshly ground black pepper
1 tbl paprika
1 tbl Louisiana hot sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced
½ cup beer
Bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 1 hr
2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp Dr. BBQ’s Creole Seasoning

Prepare grill to cook direct and medium high. In large skillet on stove, melt the butter on medium heat. Add all other ingredients, except for shrimp and Creole seasoning. Bring to simmer and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Skewer shrimp with double skewers so they can be flipped easily. Season with Creole seasoning. Grill 1-2 minutes per side, depending on size of shrimp. Remove from skewers and add shrimp to the pan with spiced butter mixture and toss. Return to stove over med-high heat and bring to simmer until shrimp is cooked through. Taste and season with salt if necessary. Serve with lots of crusty bread for sopping up the sauce.

If there’s one thing that I absolutely cannot stand, it’s wasting vibrant, perky produce. But when a recipe calls for only 1 tbl of fresh, minced herb and the store only sells them in gargantuan bunches, my palms sweat as I begin planning my week’s menu all around this stupid little herb, just so every last bit of it gets used. Cooking is no longer fun when I have to come up with concoctions like Chocolate Parsley Ice Cream, Oooey, Gooey, Caramel Oregano Buns or even Lucky Charms with Marjoram Sprinkles just to avoid the guilt of being a wasteful human being and risk bad veggie karma.

Wouldn’t it be cool if produce stores sold herbs by the fraction of an ounce? Like, I could go and pinch a teeny, tiny little bud of dill that weighed 2 grams, because that’s all the recipe called for. I’d gladly pay double the price just so I don’t have to open my refrigerator door and have this dill monster shaking its now soggy, flaccid fist at me, screaming, “Curse you, vegetable sinner!”

Last fall, inspired by my friend, Jan, I began planting my own herb and vegetable garden to combat this problem. I had visions of running outside on a whim, caressing my beautiful, lively herbs, inhaling its sweet, grassy fragrance, and only plucking what I needed for tonight’s supper. Dreamily, I purchased 3 tomato vines, 6 different herbs, a selection of 4 gourmet lettuces, broccoli, 3 chili peppers, and 3 lime trees. I could hardly wait!

It’s been 4 months. So, you wanna know what really happened? Well, the plants grew fast and furious – the tomatoes shot up 3 feet in one month and started popping out hundreds of green tomatoes, the herbs went hopping mad and took over the entire side of the lanai, especially the mint, which began its hostile takeover of garlic chives. The colossal broccoli leaves cannibalized all available sunlight and left poor chili peppers to crane its neck this way and that just to reach a spot of warmth.

The garden totally consumed me – from figuring out what to do with a bucket of lettuce leaves every other day to scolding mint bully to back the hell off of chives. I began giving away bouquets of herbs to friends, neighbors, the mailman. I left bags of tomatoes in unlocked cars at the gas station. I hid herbs in my purse, pouncing on anyone browsing in the herb section, “Hey, ya want some free herbs?” And no, Thai Basil is not smokable.

It was bad, outta control bad. Thankfully, the “Giant Arctic Florida Freeze of 2008” happened in January and the frost took down about half of my crops.

BEFORE AFTER ARCTIC FLORIDA FREEZE

I KNOW! I KNOW! Slap me. I bragged about my tomato harvest on Christmas Eve! Some weather god up there must have heard me say, “neener neener boo-boo!” and POOF! The Giant Arctic Florida Freeze was all my fault. I take full responsibility and in the future will think twice before rubbing the Florida sunshine in someone else’s freezing behind.

Well, in the end, peace has once again descended upon the Steamy Kitchen household and a happy medium with my garden has been discovered. The frost left me with straggly bits of cilantro and mint, a few peppers and a big bucket of fallen green tomatoes. My good friend, Jeremy of Cork Restaurant in Sarasota, FL shared with me his recipe for Green Tomato & Jalapeno Chutney Jam. It’s heavenly sweet heat slathered in a simple grilled chicken sandwich.

In case you are wondering…

We Tampa Bay Floridians are a bunch of wussies. Keep in mind that The Giant Arctic Florida Freeze happened early January, which is normally the middle of winter in the United States.

NEWS HEADLINES: because our reporters have nothing else to sensationalize

“Tampa’s Massive Arctic Blast”
“Tampa Braces for Deep Freeze”
“Record Lows as Tampans Prepare for Winter Freeze”

The freeze indeed did happen. Just for like 2 hours. REALLY! For 2 whole entire hours, the citizens of my community did not know what to do. We were scared and held each other tight.

THE REALITY

January 2nd: flip flops, shorts
**January 3rd: flip flops, jeans, light jacket, socks**
You don’t believe me? OMG. Watch this short clip - if you look realllly hard, you’ll find traces of The Giant Arctic Florida Freeze. And it only froze under that tree cuz a homeless man must have pissed under it.

The famous 2-headed broccoli

but only one of them tasted sweet…the other tasted slightly mischievous

2nd photo - from left to right…alligator pond, herb box, salad greens, broccoli, lemongrass

Green Tomato and Jalapeno Chutney Jam

from Chef Jeremy of Cork Restaurant
This isn’t a typical sweet breakfast jam - this is a savory, sweet and spicy jam great on sandwiches, grilled fish/chicken. Think of cranberry sauce on turkey type of combo.

Simply AWESOME.

4 jalapenos, stems & seeds removed, sliced
1 cup loosely packed cilantro and mint steams and leaves (the ratio of each is up to your taste)
2” section of ginger, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
½ cup cider vinegar
2 tbl soy sauce
1 lb green tomatoes (skin removed and chopped)
3 cups sugar

In a blender or food processor, blend the jalapenos, herbs, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and cider vinegar till smooth. Add the mixture to a heavy bottom pot with the sugar and tomatoes. Place on the heat, bring to a simmer and cook on low till glossy and thick, about 15 minutes. Make sure you stir occasionally to avoid the jam from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Dark Chocolate, Toffee & Macadamia Bark
Yields 1 lb

½ box of graham crackers
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
½ lb butter (2 sticks)
3 cups dark chocolate chips (or your favorite chocolate bars, broken up in small pieces)
1 cup toasted & roughly chopped macadamia nuts (or other nut if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a lipped baking sheet with a layer of tin foil. Arrange a single layer of graham crackers in the pan without overlapping. In a small saucepan, melt butter and add the sugars. Whisk  to dissolve. Let boil and simmer for 5 minutes on low. Very carefully pour mixture onto the graham crackers, working quickly with a spatula to even out the layer. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and evenly spread out the chocolate chips and leave it to melt for 5 minutes. Using spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly. Top with chopped nuts. Let cool. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Break pieces. Share with the world.

As if you guys aren’t already sugar’d out after Thanksgiving, I’m sharing my quick-fix snack, Rolo Pretzel Turtles. In a matter of 10 minutes, I can satisfy my sweet tooth, my salty tongue and my inner instant grat-brat. Can you imagine anything more heavenly than glorious chocolate hugging a salty pretzel, topped with a crunchy toasted nut and oozing with warm caramel? All in one bite.

Life does not get any better than this.

Rolo Pretzel Turtles

Rolo chocolate candies
Mini pretzels
Nuts - toasted pecans/almonds/hazelnuts/walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350

1. Upwrap your Rolos. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top with a Rolo.

2. Bake in oven for 3-5 minutes, until the chocolate just begins to melt. The Rolo should be soft but not completely melted.

3. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and immediately squish the chocolate with a nut. Watch the caramel oooze out.

IMPORTANT:  Eat as many as you can while they are still warm. Go ahead, I give you permission to stuff yourselves with sugar.

Different variations of this mixture is found all over the Middle East and North Africa.  While I’m not an expert in their foods, I have a feeling that each family has their own signature concoction of Dukkah, varying in the type of spices or nuts used. I was introduced to this aromatic condiment by my good friend and amazingly talented Chef Jeremy of Cork Restaurant in Sarasota, Florida.

Jeremy generously gave me a huge canister of the spice mixture.I begged, bribed and pleaded for the recipe, but no recipe. So I simply asked his lovely wife Jules to nag the crap out of him until he released his secret. It worked. And I’m sharing it with you.

I’ve installed another new feature on this site, called Smell-a-Blog. Just put your nose really close to the screen and sniff. It will instantly transport you on a spice trail to Egypt. Don’t worry about looking stupid … nobody’s watching. I promise … just breathe it in:

Jeremy’s Egyptian Dukkah Blend

1 lb Almonds or Hazelnuts

3 1/2 oz chili flakes (preferably Aleppo)

1 oz garlic powder

3 oz cumin seed (toasted and ground)

3/4 oz lemon zest (zested with a microplane and dried in the oven at 175F)

1 oz Malden salt (see note)

Roast your nuts in 350F for about 15 minutes or until fragrant. Watch the nuts - don’t burn!  After cooling, rub as much of the skins off as possible.  Rough chop the nuts in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse the food processor until they are fully incorporated. Cool, store in container with tight lid on countertop. I promise it won’t last long - you’ll use it on everything!  Try sprinkling on salads, steamed vegetables, roasted chicken, fish or shrimp, topping for a roasted garlic & broccoli soup,  

Notes: I have never used Malden salt, which is large, flaky and light. Since I can’t find at stores here nearby, I’d substitute sea salt. I haven’t had time to do research on Malden salt - does anyone know much about it?  And how much sea salt to substitute with?  In the meantime, I’d start with 1/2 oz of sea salt, taste and then adjust.

Here are two of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy this condiment:

  Roasted Cauliflower with Dukkah

1 large head of cauliflower (or broccoli)
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher or sea salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp)
2 tablespoons Dukkah

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Trim cauliflower florets.  Toss with olive oil

2. Roast for 15-20 minutes until top edges are golden brown. Season with just a bit of sea salt. Just before serving, sprinkle with Dukkah.

Bread with Olive Oil and Dukkah Dip

Take a piece of pita, naan or bread, dip in beautiful olive oil and then touch the nut/spice mixture.

By the way, this is a Baby No Knead Wheat Bread with 1/2 c whole wheat + 2 1/2 c bread flour. After its little nap, I divided the dough in half. One part was wrapped and frozen, the other was baked for 25 minutes covered, 12 minutes uncovered.

***

I’m not the only one who smokes eats Dukkah!

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