Pantry Pick of the Month: Marinated Artichoke Hearts/Lime Shrimp Scampi with Marinated Artichoke Hearts over Angel Hair Pasta

On impulse, I purchased two LARGE jars of marinated artichoke hearts at Costco.  What am I going to do with these?  They are my pantry pick this month.  I looked at several pasta recipes that included artichoke hearts, but in the end, just made up my own.  It turned out SO good.  Here are some of the star ingredients:

Lime Shrimp Scampi with Marinated Artichoke Hearts
1 lb. angel hair pasta
1/2 bag frozen shrimp
1/2- 3/4 cup or so marinated artichoke hearts
3-4 Tablespoons Garlic Butter
Juice of 2 or 3 limes  (more or less to taste)
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 1/4 tsp.- blow your head off a lot
Two big handfuls grated Parmesan cheese

You may have detected that I am so guessing on amounts.  I just made it up as I went along.
In boiling, salted water, cook the pasta.  While it's cooking, make the sauce:
Start with a large sided skillet or Le Cruset' pan.  Put in a big hunk of the garlic butter in a large sided skillet or Le Creuset pan.  Squeeze the lime juice right in the pan.  Add the shrimp, artichoke hearts, a few Tablespoons of the marinade from the artichokes, red pepper flakes, and a ladel full of the pasta cooking water.  Cook until the shrimp turn pink. Add the drained pasta right into the skillet and mix together.  Add the parmesan cheese and salt if needed.  Serve while hot.

PS  The garlic butter makes delicious garlic bread!

Marinated and Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks with Mango Salsa

You may have noticed I took the month of July off from this blog. My husband and I spent most of the month on the island of Kauai- celebrating his retirement.  While there, we made this grilled ahi tuna twice.  It was so good the first time, we did it again.  This is absolutely delicious.  We ate at some very nice restaurants, but my husband and I agreed that this meal that we made was the best meal we had while on vacation.

Marinated and Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks
This marinade makes enough for 2-4 steaks.

2-4 tuna steaks
1 cup (or so) POG (Pineapple, orange, guava) juice or orange juice
1 cup soy sauce (please use Kikoman brand or another authentic Japanese brand.  It makes SUCH a difference)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon(more or less to taste) garlic salt
Pepper

Put all of the marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag, close, and mix with your hands.  Put the steaks in and mix and coat until they are well coated.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Oil the grill and heat to very hot.  Put the steaks on the grill and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn the steaks over and brush them with the marinade.  Cook 4 1/2 to 5 minutes on that side.  Do not overcook.

Mango Salsa

This salsa is wonderful served with chips, too.  It makes a great topping for fish.

As with all salsa recipes, amounts are not exact.

1-2 large mango, diced

3 tomatoes, diced  (there should be about equal amount of mango and tomato)

1 small green pepper, diced

1-2 jalapeno' peppers, seeded and diced (if you like the heat, leave the seeds of 1 or both in)

a few green onions, chopped

a small bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped 

Lime juice, probably about 3 Tablespoons

Garlic salt or regular salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and put in the fridge for a little while.  It gets better as it sits.  Serve over the fish or as a dip with chips.  

Southwestern Scallops

I love scallops.  I love their firm flesh and sweet taste.  This recipe was easy and very fast.  In fact, have the rest of your meal ready when you start cooking because they will be done in no time and you want to eat them when they're hot.  The buttery sauce was delicious over the top.

Southwestern Scallops
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper
1 pound sea scallops (about 12)
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chicken broth

In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients.  Thaw the scallops (if using frozen) and pat them dry.  Rub the spice mixture over the scallops.
In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of the butter.  When melted and bubbly, add the scallops.  Cook them two minutes on each side.  They should turn opaque and get a brown crust on each side.  Remove them from the skillet to a plate.
Pour the chicken broth into the hot skillet and whisk while you deglaze the pan.  When the broth has reduced, add 1 Tablespoon butter.  Whisk and stir until it makes a nice buttery sauce.  Serve with the scallops.

Clam Chowder

Clam Chowder- there's nothing better than a good bowl of clam chowder.  There's nothing worse than a bad bowl of clam chowder. This recipe was extremely popular about twenty years ago.  I remember we made a ward cookbook and about five people turned in  this recipe with only slight variations.  It really is yummy.  Try this recipe for a really good bowl!

Clam Chowder
4 cans minced clams
1 large onion (or two small), diced fine
2 cups of diced celery
4 cups of diced potatoes
Chicken stock, as needed
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups flour
2 quarts half and half ( to "lighten" the recipe, you can use part milk to make up the two quarts)
1 Tablespoon salt
Pepper to taste
2 teaspoons sugar

Drain the clam juice into a saucepan.  Add the onions, celery, and potatoes.  Add chicken stock to cover vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
In a soup pot, melt the butter and add the flour.  Whisk and whisk and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the half and half, salt, pepper, and sugar and slowly heat til bubbly.  Keep whisking and cooking for a couple of minutes.  Then add the vegetables and all the liquid.  Combine well and cook until thickened.
This makes a big pot of soup.  Half it if you don't want that much.

Barbecued Sea Scallops

When we were on vacation in Vail, Colorado, we got in the elevator with a lady who was headed down to the grill.  She had a plate of sea scallops ready to grill.  I couldn't resist asking her the recipe.  It's very simple.  We came home and tried it the next week.  I think my favorite protein is sea scallops.  I just love their texture and slightly sweet taste.  They are expensive, though.  I bought a bag at Costco and we used about half of the bag for this recipe.
Barbecued Sea Scallops
1 bag sea scallops
Old Bay Seasoning
1 stick Drawn Butter (see how to below)
Fresh lemon or lime juice

Mostly thaw 1/2 bag of scallops.  Rub with Old bay seasoning.  Old bay seasoning is very salty and strong in taste, so don't use too much.  Let scallops finish thawing.  Barbecue on grill.  The scallops are done when the flesh has just begun to turn from translucent to opaque and it flakes easily.  Don't overcook and dry them out.  Put them on a serving platter and cover them with drawn butter* and squeeze fresh lemon or lime on them.  Serve with more of the drawn butter and lemon wedges.

*Drawn Butter
Cut one stick butter into cubes.  Slowly heat in a saucepan until the butter melts and the solids have separated and are coming to the top.  Remove from the heat.  Skim the foam and solids off the top.  You should be left with a clear, golden liquid.  Pour the liquid into a serving cup.  Let cool, then skim any foam that appears.

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Easy and Delicious Oven Shrimp Scampi

I made this for New Year's.  It was very easy and so delicious.  Serve with rice.
1/2 cup butter
About 20 large, uncooked, tail on frozen or fresh shrimp
1 package Italian Dressing mix
Red pepper flakes, ( to taste, opt.)
2-3 cloves garlic minced or mashed
1 lemon, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.  Put the butter in a 13 x 9 pan and put it in the oven while it's preheating until melted.  Remove the pan and mix the garlic  and pepper flakes into the butter.  Put the lemon slices on the butter, then lay the shrimp  on the lemon.  Sprinkle the dressing mix over all.  Bake for about 15 minutes until the shrimp are pink.  So yummy!

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Dipping Sauce

I'll never forget the first time I tasted Coconut Shrimp.  My sisters and I went out to dinner at a Thai Restaurant and ordered some.  I thought it was the best thing I'd ever tasted.  That was probably ten years ago.  Since then, I've been looking for a recipe.  I found this one and adapted it.  It is easy and delicious and healthier than the fried version. 

Coconut Shrimp

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt

pinch of Crushed pepper flakes (or you can put a little Tabasco sauce in the egg)

About 18-20 jumbo shrimp, uncooked (thawed)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup jam, any flavor
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, foil, or a silicone baking sheet.

Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl; set aside.  Mix the coconut, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  Dip the shrimp in theegg and then coat with the coconut/ flour mixture.  Place on the baking sheet.  Once all the shrimp are coated and on the baking sheet,  drizzle with the melted butter.   Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the shrimp are pink.   Halfway through the baking time, turn the shrimp over.  

Sauce:  Mix the jam and mustard together and store in fridge for a few minutes (or longer) to marry the flavors.  

Peachy Shrimp Tacos

My confession: I was standing in line, waiting to check out at the grocery store, perusing the magazines on the rack, when "Taste of Home" caught my eye. I love "Taste of Home" magazine. This was a special issue of "Taste of Home Grand Prize Winners" The best recipes from 106 contests. I looked at some of the recipes and pictures, and on impulse, stuck it in my cart.

After really looking at it when I got home, I went back and bought three more copies and sent them to my daughters. I'm sure you'll be seeing many recipes from this book from us. It's a winner and full of beautiful pictures and delicious recipes. The first one I tried was this one. I had the few needed ingredients (except the cabbage- I had to go buy that) and it looked yummy . . .and it was. These tacos took just a few minutes to make, and they were really tasty.

Peachy Shrimp Tacos

1 cup salsa

1 cup frozen peaches, thawed and diced (I really think canned or fresh would work, too)

1 pound shrimp (the recipe called for cooked, but I had a bag of uncooked in the freezer. They worked just great)

1 T. (or more) minced fresh cilantro (I just headed out to the garden and snipped some!)

1 1/2 cups shredded Chinese or napa Cabbage (I had never used this. It was really yummy. I'm sure regular cabbage would work- but this is darker and softer. I shredded it in the food processor)

6 corn tortillas (or flour tortillas or I had some hard tostada shells, so that's what I used. Taco shells would be great, too.)

In a large skillet, put in a small amount of oil and cook the shrimp (if they are uncooked) I added a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to the shrimp as I cooked it. When the shrimp are pink, Add the salsa and peaches and heat through. Add the cilantro and mix well. Put some of the chopped cabbage (about 1/4 cup) down the middle of the tortilla. Top with the shrimp mixture.