HungryChris

Kimchi bokkeumbap with sweet peppers and leftover kielbasa. HC

On sale again this week, so I picked out a few of the smaller ones for experimentation. HC

Baked stuffed shrimp, my way. These are the U-15 fresh Gulf shrimp that were on sale and inspired this effort. These are some big boys. Normally I will use the U 16-20 size, but these gulf shrimp looked and smelled so fresh, I had to go with them. When buying shrimp for stuffing, you must find raw shrimp, that are not peeled and deveined (easy peel) because the shell has been cut on those. They are fine for shrimp cocktail and most other uses, but not good for stuffing. I find that your typical steak knife does a good job cutting down into the shrimp from the leg side, being careful to stay in the middle of the shrimp and going all the way to, but not through the shrimp shell. Clean the vein out under running water. As a general rule, a typical serving is 4 stuffed shrimp and I like to use 2 shrimp, cut up into pea sized pieces in the stuffing for every serving. This means that for each typical serving , 6 shrimp are required, 4 shrimp to be stuffed and 2 that go into the stuffing.. Here are the 8 shrimp that will be stuffed and the other 4 that will become part of the stuffing tonight. Normally, I use U-16 to 20 for stuffing and one sleeve of Ritz crackers is just about right, but these are U-15's and a bit bigger, so I went with one sleeve and a quarter of crackers to do the job. I crush the crackers by hand and try to leave the biggest pieces as big as a large kernel of corn. To this, I add about a half cup of grated Romano cheese and 3 chopped green onion tops. Keep in mind that a big part of the aroma and flavor of this dish comes from a combination of the grated cheese and the dry sherry, so don't even think about using that stuff in the cardboard can from the fridge. In a small fry pan, I combine 1 small chopped shallot, 2 cloves of finely minced garlic, 4 raw shrimp (cut into pea sized pieces) 4 TBS of butter and several dashes of smoked paprika to get a cheerful color. Sautee this over medium high heat until the shrimp are fully cooked, adding a splash of dry sherry towards the end. Add the contents of the fry pan to the stuffing mix and deglaze the pan with a bit more dry sherry, adding that to the mix as well. Mix the stuffing and added pan deglazing offerings and you should have a mixture that can be easily formed into the shrimp stuffing. Having worked for years in restaurant kitchens, I find the sizzle platter, ubiquitous there, to be an essential part of my kitchen and the absolute ideal platform for this effort. I put about a quarter inch of water (or dry white wine) in the base to assure that while the stuffing bakes, the shrimp meat steams and bake in a 375 F oven for about 35 min. The shrimp are done just about the time the liquid is exhausted in the bottom of the sizzle platter. HC

Poof! Korean BBQ chicken leftovers become chicken in red curry with jasmine rice. HC

Crispy scrapple with fresh salsa and tomato bruschetta with a few wisps of prosciutto di Parma, thanks to a recent visit to whole paycheck. HC

Last night the weather cooperated, so I managed to do my Korean BBQ rotisserie chicken on the grill and included leftover scalloped potatoes and some peas. HC

I think it would be great! I think of scrapple as fried porcine polenta and find the whole concept of associating scrapple with purists kind of amusing, as I view it as being made with whatever is left over after the good bits have been packaged. I buy it in frozen bricks and the idea of making your own is much more of a purist approach than mine. HC

The prosciutto panino and marinated mushrooms with pickled onions makes toasties with a flavor combination pretty hard to beat, but the crispy scrapple and fresh salsa makes one hell of a run at it. HC

The plan was for Korean BBQ rotisserie chicken, but rain at the last minute moved the event indoors. Kielbasa, Brussels sprouts and scalloped potatoes. HC

Home fries with peppers and onions, some badly scrambled scrapple and poached eggs on toast. HC

Greek salads with garlic, chili and lime shrimp skewers, HC

TJ's Truffle Mousse Pate and Aldi's Prosciutto Panino HC

Mortadella and kimchi sandwich and a cup of homemade clam chowder. HC

Taco salads with nachos, cheese and onion and fresh salsa. HC

I have started to have night visitors in the garden. Word must be out that the fence is down. They trim the pepper plants like hedge clippers. Meanwhile. Little Hercules, ( my nick name for the zucchini that refuses to give up) is still doing it's thing! HC

Shake and Bake pork chops, Brussel sprouts and acorn squash. HC

I admire your courage! It is an undertaking that I will take on, but one that I have put off repeatedly. Best of luck and and speedy recovery! HC

I had some green bell pepper left over from making a big batch of stuffed cherrystone clams for the freezer, yesterday so I included it in my breakfast. No apologies to you GBP haters. Get help!! HC

I decided to try growing garlic this year. I have been told that mid October is when it should be planted around here, so that is what I did. I was happy to see it coming up yesterday. Also, when I use green onions, it is usually for the green tips and I used to throw the rest away, but now I have a few places that I just shove the unused root part into the ground and end up buying far fewer green onions. HC

Porterhouse steaks were on sale this week, so guess who jumped in. Here are the ones I picked: Deb likes hers cooked to death, so I show you my own very rare version. The chives are pretty much shot for the season, so I switch to chopped green onion tops for the sour cream this time of year. HC

More than a few restaurants and pubs around here have this or something similar to this on the menu as an app. It's a portabella mushroom cap that has been filled with this product and baked. http://www.alouettecheese.com/products/garlic-herbs-soft-spreadable-cheese How they finish it, varies. I like to put grated parmesan cheese to get a bit of browning in the oven, then a drizzle of balsamic vinegar at serving. HC

Dinner was another cecchetti meal last night. Homemade pork gyoza with dipping sauce, baked garlic and herb Alouette stuffed portabella caps that were dusted with grated parmesan cheese and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic with soft butter and hot French baguette slices. HC

SV pork tenderloin sandwich. Spicy ranch dressing on a French Baguette add the sliced pork tenderloin a layer of marinated zucchini ribbon and some sliced marinated mushrooms call it lunch HC

Pepper steak on Jasmine rice. I can't resist adding a bit of gochujang to this, because it adds the interesting, get your attention, kick it seems to need. The steak I used here was chuck blade steak, which I find just about perfect for this when sliced thin and briefly cooked. The peppers are from my garden, which has eluded the frost so far, but it's only a matter of time. HC

Pork tenderloins are on sale this week for $1.99pp, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to try another sous vide. I did this one at 133.5 F for 3 hours. I chose rosemary and garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper as additions. My intention was to prepare a product to be served cold, as a sandwich meat. This one cost a whopping $3.22. Here it is with the silver skin removed. 2 cloves of garlic and 2 rosemary sprigs per. I like to bring the bath up close to temp on the stove. Set the timer for 3 hours, once it's back up to speed with the added cargo. Here is the finished product after being chilled in an ice bath. Nice notes of rosemary and garlic, relatively juicy and not overly pink. I believe this will make great sandwiches. It does want for a bit of salt, but that can be added to the sandwiches. HC