Beef Goulash

My family comes from the Czech Republic so I love the classic Eastern European dishes. My mom recently came back from visiting Prague and brought some Czech cookbooks back with her. There are lots of cool dishes I wanted to try but the goulash was in every single book so I had to try it first. The funniest part of the cookbooks is that fact that all the measurements are in metric units so I had to convert everything to our system haha.

You can serve this up with a rice or potato side dish and if you want to be really traditional, bread dumplings. I love how this dish uses really Czech flavors like caraway seeds and paprika.

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
2 lbs stew beef
1 large onion, sliced
2 Tbs paprika
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
3 clove garlic
beef stock or water to cover
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp marjoram
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs flour

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil in a large pan and heat over medium high. Season beef chunks with salt and pepper. Sear beef in oil until browned.

2. Add sliced onion and saute about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add paprika and caraway and toast for 30 seconds. Cover beef with stock. Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to get up all the browned bits of flavor.

4. Simmer this mixture over low heat until meat is soft, about 1- 2 hours.

5. While beef is cooking make mashed potatoes or dumplings.

6. Once meat is soft, add a mixture of 1 tbs butter to 1 tbs flour that has been mashed to a paste to a small separate bowl. Whisk a ladle worth of the goulash liquid into the flour-butter mash (roux) and stir until smooth mixture. Add 1 more ladle worth and whisk in separate bowl. Once side mixture is smooth and well incorporated, add back the the goulash pan and mix well. Allow to cook over a simmer until sauce is thickened to your liking. Once thickened, add a squeeze of lemon and the marjoram to add some brightness to the heavy dish.

7. Cut dumplings or spoon out some potatoes and then top with the goulash and lots of extra sauce!

Shrimp Fried Rice

I was in the mood for some asian food and while looking through the cabinets I found everything I needed for this dish. I love how quick cooking this dish is!

Ingredients:
1 - 2 green onions, if you have them
1 large eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
2 cups cold cooked rice
1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce
1 cooked chicken piece like thigh or breast cut into bite size pieces

Directions:

1. Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Clean and peel shrimp.

2. Heat a wok or frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Set aside. Clean out pan.

3. Reheat pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

4. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a minute, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Add in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

4. When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg and shrimp back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

Caramel Ice Cream

This ice cream was a big hit with pretty much everyone. It almost tasted like a werther's caramel but in cold creamy form. Once you make the ice cream there's lots of awesome things to do with it like add candies or chocolate chips to the mix, make milkshakes and smoothies, and ice cream sandwiches to name a few. Something I really wanted to do with it was Caramel Apple Pie- an apple pie with a scoop of the caramel ice cream on top so the flavors are literally a combo of a caramel apple and pie. This idea then lead to maple syrup ice cream on waffles.

My first batch of caramel ended up getting really crystallized and chunky. It happened because there were too many sugar crystals on the sides of the pan. To prevent this add the sugar to the pan first and then pour the water slowly all around the pan to wash sugar off sides. Stir carefully with the fork until all sugar is covered in water but none is one sides.

If you don't want caramel ice cream but just a hint of caramel, churn the vanilla ice cream base and then swirl the caramel in before you freeze the ice cream.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base: yields about 3 cups of Ice cream (good for a standard ice cream machine)

1 cup whole milk
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream

For Caramel:
3/4 cups sugar
1/6 cup water (just measure by filling a 1/3 cup half way)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean

To Make Ice Cream Base:

1. Heat the milk in a sauce pan over medium-low heat.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow in color and the sugar has dissolved.

3. Gradually pour the warmed milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

4. Pour the mixture back into the same saucepan you used to warm the milk. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

5. Strain the custard with a very fine strainer or seive into a heat proof bowl.

6. Add the heavy cream and stir until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.



To make Caramel:

1. Heat the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat the sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and swirl the pan so the sugar melts evenly, and continue cooking until it is a dark amber color.

2. Carefully add the heavy cream (the mixture will splatter) and cook, stirring until all the caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and stir in the sea salt and vanilla.

3. Set the caramel mixture over a bowl filled with ice water and stir until chilled to room temperature.

4. Combine the caramel mixture with the Ice Cream Base by pouring the caramel slowly into the cream base and whisking constantly. Keep mixing until caramel is evenly distributed.

5. Place mixture back in fridge to cool. The cooler the mix is before churning, the better the ice cream will be.

6. To churn ice cream simply follow the directions for your ice cream machine. Once churned, place in a container with an air tight lid and freeze until ice cream is super cold.

Shrimp Risotto

I love shrimp in rice and pasta! I feel like I'm being healthy and it tastes so satisfying. This meal could be used as a side dish because it tastes good warm as well as at room temp. It is also really filling and can totally pass as a main dish. Want to add some veggies? Here are some suggestions: broccoli, peas, green beans, and artichoke hearts. Once you get the basic idea of risotto feel free to play around with different meats and veggies to create different flavors and textures.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup arborio rice
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 large onion, chopped
10-12 shrimp (frozen and thawed or fresh)
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

serves 2

Directions:
1. Place chicken stock in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.

2. In another large saute pan add olive oil. Add thinly sliced garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add shrimp to pan and saute 1 minute then flip and cook another minute. Remove shrimp and garlic from pan and set aside.

3. Add butter to pan that shrimp was cooked in and melt. Add onions and a pinch of salt, cook on low heat until translucent.

4. Add rice and a small pinch of salt and allow to cook with butter and onions for 3 minutes. You want rice to brown a little but not burn! try to stir a lot so it won't burn.

5. Add 2 ladelfuls of warm stock to pan. It will bubble violently but don't worry just keep stirring.

6. The trick to a good risotto is to keep adding stock when the rice has absorbed what was already added. Keep stirring! It'll take about 20 minutes to add all the stock. When most of the stock is added start tasting the rice to make sure it's tender and cooked.

7. Once rice is finished, add Parmesan cheese and stir. Then stir in cooked shrimp and garlic.

8. Serve and garnish with snipped chives or parsley and extra cheese.

Deviled Eggs

It's July 4th and there's lots of parties going on. Yay! My neighbors are throwing a party and my mom didn't want to go over empty handed so I decided to make something really quick and delicious, deviled eggs. I love that this takes only an hour and most of that is waiting for water to boil and it can be made ahead of time! I did it a few hours before the party, the morning of but you could easily make them up to 2 days before, cover them really tightly with plastic wrap, and then refrigerate until you're ready to party. I know I'm definitely going to make this one again because it has few ingredients, can be made ahead, and is a real crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

12 eggs
3-5 tbs mayo (light mayo if you're watching calories)
1 tbs dijon mustard (or any really good, spicy mustard)
salt
pepper
paprika

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a pan that is big enough to hold them in a single layer with some room between them. Fill pan with cold water so there is at least 1 inch of water above eggs.

2. Bring pan to a roiling boil, cover with a lid and then turn off heat. Let eggs continue to cook in hot water for 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove eggs from water and put in an ice bath (ice bath= a bowl of cold water and lots of ice) to stop the cooking.

4. Once eggs are cooled, peel off shells. I did this by cracking egg gently on a hard surface and then using the cracks to take pieces off.

5. Once all eggs are peeled, wash them!!!! You don't want someone to bit into a shell while eating a creamy egg

6. Slice cleaned and peeled eggs in half, long ways. Remove yolks and put in a bowl. Set aside egg whites.

7. Mash yolks with mayo, mustard and salt and pepper. Make sure to taste the yolk mixture to make sure it has enough seasoning for the whole egg.

8. Lay all the egg whites hole up and fill with yolk mixture. I found a really cool piping tip (star tip) to pipe out the yolk in a nice design. If you don't have one, put all the yolk in a small plastic bag. Cut a tiny hole in one corner and squeeze yolk out of corner like a pastry bag. Bonus with this method-no clean up, just toss the bag!

9. Once eggs are assembled finish with a tiny pinch of paprika for color and a little extra kick (this is optional!)

10. Place all the eggs on a nice platter and store in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, until it's time to party!

Shea Center Appetizer Party

SALMON GRAVLOX WITH MANGO SALSA


JALAPENO SOUFFLES AND CRAB CAKES WITH CAPER LEMON SAUCE


JERK CHICKEN WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA AND PESTO SHRIMP WITH GUACAMOLE AND BBQ SAUCE


CAPRESE SKEWERS WITH TOMATO, MOZZARELLA, AND BASIL


DESSERT TRAY WITH LEMON AND CHOCOLATE TARTS AND CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES



One of the things I love to do is help out the Shea Center where I used to work. Every year they auction off an appetizer or dinner party and some years they sell 2 or 3 at once! yikes! But it's always really fun! I cook with an employee there, Susan who is a really good cook and combined we make some really delicious food. We spend all day friday prepping everything and then put everything together on the day of the event. The big hits of the night were the jalapeno souffles and the jerk chicken. The chef found all these recipes online and I'll put up as many as I can find. : ) The dates and caprese skewers are explained below because they are so simple to make but they have to be made the day of the event.

The menu consisted of:

-Salmon Gravlox w/mango salsa (make 3 days before, add mango to salsa day of)
-Jalapeno Souffles (make day of is best, make early in day and reheat with cheese later)
-Dates Of course- Mejdol Dates stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in basil and proscuitto. Eventually broil at 400 fro 3 minutes until cheese bubbles and proscuitto is crispy. (make day of)
-Crab cakes w/ lemon mayo sauce (make sauce cakes except don't add crab till day of)
-Cilantro pesto shrimp on avocado chipotle toasts (really tostitos scoops)
-Caprese Skewer- small tomatoes, bite size pieces of mozzarella, basil leave, and balsamic vinagrette (make day of)
-Jerk Chicken skewers (marinade night before, cook day of)

For Dessert we made:

Mini lemon pies and dark and white chocolate tarts
chocolate dipped strawberries.

We were able to make the tart shells the day before then fill them and cool the day of. The shells were just store bought pie dough cut into small rounds and baked in a mini muffin pan. To make them look really pretty we added fresh berries to the pies and found a really cool silver serving tier tray.


JALAPENO SOUFFLES by Sara Moulton

The beauty of these little souffles is their resilience. You can make them a day ahead, toss them in the refrigerator, and then just top with cheese and reheat them when your guests arrive. People aren't usually served mini-souffles, so they will be charmed. Indeed you might find yourself reaching frequently for those mini-muffin tins. You can minimize just about any cake or muffin. If your jalapeno lacks bite (as so many do these days), just reach for a pickled jalapeno, either your own homemade version, or your favorite store-bought brand. I always keep a jar on the door of the refrigerator to toss into those dishes that need a little perking up.
Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the tins
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons very finely chopped pine nuts
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
6 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large egg, separated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter a nonstick mini-muffin tin with 12 (1/8-cup) wells that measure 1 3/4 inches in diameter and 3/4-inch deep. Mix 1 tablespoon of the flour with 1/2 the pine nuts in a small bowl. Dust the tins with the flour and nut mixture. Tap out the excess.

Melt the 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons flour and the jalapeno. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and add the cheese, salt, pepper, mustard, and egg yolk. Cool to room temperature.

Beat the egg white until firm but not stiff. Stir a 1/4 of the white into the cheese sauce. Gently fold in the remaining white. Spoon into the prepared tins and bake until puffed and golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Cool in the tins on wire racks. When cool, run a small knife around the edge of each souffle. (The souffles will fall as they cool.) They can be prepared up to a day in advance and refrigerated. Bake in the muffin tins in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 5 to 7 minutes before serving.


JERK CHICKEN

Marinade:
4 whole green onions, ends trimmed
2 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3 serrano chiles, minced (include seeds for extra spice)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs cider vinegar
Chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Directions:

Char green onions on the grill or stove burner. Chop when cool enough to handle. In a food processor combine all the ingredients for the jerk marinade. Add chicken and marinade over night.

On the day of the party, remove chicken from marinade and thread onto metal skewers. Grill for a few minutes until chicken is cooked through and has nice grill marks. Rest chicken on the metal skewers and when cool enough to handle place on small wooden toothpicks or skewers.

At the party we served the chicken with a pineapple salsa but you could also serve it with some marinade that you reserved originally. (don't use marinade that had raw chicken in it over night). This is better if its served warm but still tastes really good when its at room temp.

Steak and Eggs

If you ever want a really filling breakfast with lots of protein, this is the meal for you! I personally love steak so getting an excuse to eat it in the morning is good to me. Thank goodness I went on a big hike in the forest by my friends cabin after this meal! haha

Ingredients:

1 steak
3 eggs
2 slices of potato already pre-cooked
butter
salt and pepper


Directions:

1. Pull steak out of fridge and season with salt and pepper and allow to come to room temp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

3. Place a large pan over high heat with a dab of butter. Place the steak and cook on one side for about 4 minutes or until a nice brown crust forms.

4. Flip steak and cook on other side for another 4 minutes. If steak isn't done to your liking at this point, place it in the oven and allow to cook.

5. While steak finishes cooking, start heating up the already cooked potatoes. I cut mine up so they looked a little more like breakfast potatoes.

6. When steak is done, remove it from the oven and place somewhere to rest for 5 minutes.

7. As steak rests, cook eggs to your liking. We did scrambled but you could also do fried eggs with a runny yolk.

8. When eggs and potatoes are done, put on a plate and then thinly slice the steak and serve all together!