Author Archives: gregorysmart3

Poached Shrimp in Old Bay Butter

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This shrimp recipe is very simple and very quick to prepare and makes for a great appetizer. You can also use the Old Bay Butter to toss steamed crabs in before you serve them.

To Poach the shrimp you combine water, wine, pickling spice, garlic, and parsley in a pot then bring mixture to a boil. The measurements for each ingredient is going to depend on the size of the pot you are using. I just eyeballed everything until it looked right. Let the mixture boil for 4-5 mins to allow the flavors to develop. (see picture below)

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After mixture has boiled remove pot from heat and add shrimp. Poach the shrimp for ~ 5 min until the shrimp are pink and firm. Then remove the shrimp from the poaching liquid and set aside (See pictures below)

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Next melt butter in a small sauce pan. After butter melts add sherry and Old Bay. Simmer for 30 seconds to cook off alcohol in sherry. Add shrimp and coat with butter sauce then serve and enjoy. The shrimp should be lightly coated with the Old Bay Butter, not soaked in it. This dish is very quick and simple and a fun alternative to traditional steamed shrimp. To see a full list of ingredients and approximate measurement follow the link to the recipe page. Enjoy!

Poached Shrimp in Old Bay Butter

Chicken with Spicy Ginger Soy Reduction

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Asian chicken

I recently experimented with creating an Asian inspired sauce for chicken. I was surprised at how this sauce turned out, reducing the soy sauce brings develops a very savory flavor in this sauce and the addition of the garlic chili sauce lends a nice heat. The only downside to this sauce is that it is a bit thin, to fix this you need to add some flour to bring it to your desired consistency. You can serve this dish with Spicy Ginger Noodles and snow or snap peas.

Chicken with Spicy Ginger Soy Reduction

Spicy Ginger Noodles

Canada Trip Recap Part 2: The Keg Steakhouse and Bar

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keg

Our first night in Toronto we stopped for a late dinner at the York Street location of The Keg Steakhouse and Bar. The Keg was your typical higher end steak house and the food was on the same level as a Ruth’s Chris or KC Prime. I ordered the baseball ribeye, my choice was highly influenced by the World Baseball Classic being on one of the televisions. The steak was cooked to perfection and tasted great. What really set The Keg apart for me was the service. We told our server Lisa that this was our first time in Toronto and had just arrived in the city earlier that evening. We asked her to recommend a few places for us to visit and at the end of our dinner she brought out a list of bars, clubs, and other restaurants that she felt we should visit. We made use of this list throughout our stay in Toronto. If you ever find yourself in Toronto and are looking for a good dinner with great service I would highly recommend going to any of The Keg’s locations.

The Keg Steakhouse and Bar

Canada Trip Recap Part 1: Anchor Bar

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photo 1 photo 2 photo 3

Last weekend my friends and I took a road trip to Toronto Canada. On the drive up we stopped at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, birthplace of Buffalo wings. The atmosphere of the bar is incredible. The bar is decorated with old license plates and other Americana that gives the bar a home town feel. The waitstaff was very friendly and the service was great. Because buffalo wings were invented here we ordered a bucket of their classic hot wings. The wings were delicious. They were cooked perfectly and the sauce had great flavor and just the right amount of heat. I have wanted to go to this place for a while now and was glad we went out of our way to stop at the Anchor Bar, the birthplace of Buffalo Wings

Anchor Bar

Cooking Class Week 5: Shell Fish

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oysters

Tonight’s class focused on shellfish. I finally learned how to properly shuck an oyster. It took a few attempts but by the end I was able to pick up the technique. To shuck an oyster you hold it in a towel in your hand, cup of the oyster facing down. You then take the oyster knife and push it through the heel of the oyster. Once the knife gets through the heel you twist the knife to pop the shell. You then move the knife across the top shell to separate it from the oyster. Then after taking the top shell off you cut the oyster free from the bottom shell. I chose to cook Oysters Florentine tonight in order to practice the shucking technique.

The chef also taught us a few simple recipes for shrimp, clams, and crab that I will highlight in future posts

Off to Toronto for the Weekend

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Flag_of_Canada

I’m headed up to Toronto, Canada for the weekend so there will be no posts over the next few days. However Toronto is an incredible food city so I will be doing a recap of all the bars and restaurants I go to once I get back. I am also looking to find some inspiration for some new dishes too. Enjoy your weekend and have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Guinness Reduction Part 2

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steak and shrimp

Inspired by St. Patrick’s Day I worked on perfecting the Guinness pan sauce that I made a few weeks ago. Before cooking the steaks I took 4 cups of beef stock, carrots, celery, garlic, and onions and placed them in a saucepan; I then reduced the broth by half to build more flavor in the stock. After fortifying the stock I cooked the steaks in the pan. I sauteed half a shallot then deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of Guinness. I reduced the Guinness by 2/3 then added the fortified beef broth. I simmered the sauce for ~2 min then added 1tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbs soy sauce, salt, and chopped fresh parsley. I let the sauce simmer for another 2 min then added 1 tbs unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp truffle butter. I then did a final taste to get the salt level right. I then served the sauce over the steak.

To cook the shrimp I took a cast iron skillet and cooked 4 pieces of bacon. I then added the shrimp, which I seasoned with Old Bay and cooked them in the bacon grease.

Guinness

Cooking Classes Week 4: Fish

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Snapper1

Week 4 has been my favorite class so far. First we were taught how to scale and skin a fish. Then, instead of following a recipe from the book the chef taught us a few techniques how to cook fish; grilling, sauteing, and butter roasting. After going over these techniques we were able to experiment with seasonings and sauces to pair with the fish.

I chose to butter roast snapper fillets. I seasoned the snapper with white pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, dill, and Spanish paprika. I then preheated the pan. As the pan was heating I lightly coated the fish with canola oil, then when the pan was hot I placed a tablespoon of oil in the pan. I then placed the fish in the pan, turning the heat down after 30 seconds. When the fish turned white halfway through I flipped the fish and added 4-5 tablespoons of butter to the pan and turned down the heat. As the butter melted I basted the fish with the butter for 1-2 min until the fish was done, squeezing lemon juice over the fish at the very end.

After removing the fish from the pan I drained out most of the butter and added a chopped shallot and garlic. I then deglazed the pan with white wine and reduced it by 3/4. After reducing the wine I added spinach and sauteed the spinach. I served the fish over the spinach.

Grilled Garlic Chili Snapper

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snapper

I have wanted to try this recipe for a while now but could not find banana leaves to wrap the fish in. I gave up on finding banana leaves last night and improvised by just wrapping the fish in tin foil, in the future I will make this dish with the banana leaves and upload new pictures becasue this picture does not do the dish justice. The ginger soy marinade on the fish gave a subtle flavor that carried throughout the dish and complimented the garlic chili oil that is poured over the fish at the very end. When picking a chili to use in the oil find one that is tolerable to eat. There are big pieces of pepper all over the place and you do not want to make it too spicy to eat. The recipe called to deseed the pepper but I left the seeds in one pepper and removed them from the second one to give it a bit more kick. I would recommend making this in the summer when it is warmer out, it has a great tropical feel to it.

Grilled Garlic Chili Snapper

Pan Cooked Chicken in Pale Ale Bacon Reduction Sauce

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Pale Ale chicken

Tonight I continued my series in cooking with beer. The beer featured in this recipe is the Blue Heron pale ale from the Mendocino Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs, NY. I chose their pale ale because I thought its flavor would work better with chicken. Their beer is also great for drinking. The pale ale very good but my favorite beer the have is the red tail ale.

The recipe for the sauce has the same proportions for many of the other pan sauces I have made. You can get creative and switch out different ingredients to build new flavors.  Their pale ale and the bacon in this sauce worked great with each other and built a very complex flavor into the sauce. You can also use this sauce with beef or pork. However if you are making it for beef substitute beef broth for the chicken broth. You can find the recipe below as well as a link to the Mendocino Brewing Company’s website.

Pan Cooked Chicken in Pale Ale Bacon Reduction Sauce

Mendocino Brewing Company