BBQ Shrimp

So I can occasionally kick-up my cooking too, and if anyone like a spicy dish try this or my Etoufee recipe. Now why they call this dish BBQ I’ll never know since it’s neither cooked on a BBQ or made with a BBQ sauce, but if you ever go to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) this is the dish you’ll get if you order BBQ shrimp.  The best part of this dish is the sauce and bread; the shrimp come second. Use fresh head-on shrimp if you can find them; they lend the dish more flavor. (Just remember to remove the eyes before cooking, as they will turn the sauce black.) - This dish was created by Chef Jason Gronlund, the executive chef for Tabasco.

5 tbsp. butter, divided
1 tbsp. garlic, chopped
12 jumbo shrimp
1/4 cup clam juice
1/4 cup beer
3 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 pinch oregano
1 pinch black pepper
1/4 Tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 loaf French bread

1. Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and shrimp to pan and sauté together until the shrimp starts to turn pink. Add remaining ingredients, except for the 3 tbsp of butter. Keep the shrimp moving around in the pan so they cook evenly.

2. Allow liquid to reduce by half, then add the remaining butter. Keep stirring the sauce so the butter blends into it evenly.

3. Serve immediately with slices of warm, crusty French bread.

Thai Beef Salad

Steak/Marinade

1 lb flank steak

1/3 cup of low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chili sauce

Salad

6 cups of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 tomatoes, sliced
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped



Dressing:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce, low sodium
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp fish sauce, bottled
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced (you can leave seeds for more spice)



Directions
Preheat grill or broiler.
Prepare marinade by mixing together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and chili sauce. Place in a plastic container with the flank steak and let marinate for at least one hour.

Dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl; mix well. Set aside.

Place steak on a grill rack or broiler pan coated with vegetable oil spray. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side for medium rare or longer until desired degree of doneness. Cover with foil and let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Cut each slice into 2-inch pieces.

Prepare salad mixture (lettuce, tomatoes green onion, cilantro and mint leaves).
Combine salad mixture, steak and dressing in a large bowl, tossing to coat.

Berry Crumble

Looking for a 4th of July dessert the is red, white and blue? Try using raspberries and blueberries.

from blazinghotwok

makes 1 large pie-sized or 6 ramekins

For the filling:

1 ½ lbs (4 to 5 cups) berries 

¾ oz (3 tbs) cornstarch

5 ½ oz (2/3 cup) granulated sugar

2 tbs lemon juice

For the topping:

4 ½ oz (1 cup) all purpose flour

2 3/8 oz (1/3 cup) granulated sugar

2 1/8 oz (1/3 cup packed) brown sugar

pinch of salt

8 oz (1 stick) cold butter, diced

1 5/8 oz (½ cup) quick-cooking or regular rolled oats

1 5/8 oz (1/2 cup) sliced almonds

Begin by making the topping. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt and butter until you get a coarse mixture. I like to add the oats and pulse a couple of times to break them up a little. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the almonds. Mix in the almonds making clumps (although it will still be pretty loose).

In another large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cornstarch and mix until all the cornstarch is mixed in with the sugar. Add the fruit and lemon juice and carefully mix, trying not to mash the fruit. Transfer the fruit into a large baking dish (or ramekins) and press the topping on. I like to make sure the fruit is completely covered. Bake in a 350F oven (on a sheet pan to catch the juices) until bubbly and the topping is golden.

Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream.