The Traveling Epicurean



Baked Coconut Shrimp

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Baked Coconut Shrimp

Who needs to go thru all the trouble of deep frying when homemade coconut shrimp can taste this gourmet and be BAKED.   You don’t get that heavy fried taste …… it’s lighter, fresher and so flavorful with the crispy caramelized coconut.  This Baked Coconut Shrimp recipe is from Bobby Deen with some minor altercations from me.  I wanted to add a little more flavor and more volume so I made the addition of sweetened coconut, Italian seasoned bread crumbs and Siracha instead of Tabasco.  I really like to have a hot pepper jelly to go with coconut shrimp this particular one made from Beth’s-Farm-Kitchen called “Mighty Hot Pepper Jelly”.  Their web site is www.bethsfarmkitchen.com and you can pick up the jelly and the shrimp locally at a favorite fish market of mine Star Fish Market in Guilford, CT.  This homemade gourmet baked coconut shrimp recipe is such a quick and easy recipe and you’ll just love the results.  There isn’t any fussing or flipping over of the shrimp during the baking either because the bottom side does get the caramelization.  Also your hot pepper jelly will of course be in that thick jelly form and you’ll want to put the jelly into a bowl and heat it in the microwave for 15 seconds to smooth out the consistency so it makes for a nice dipping sauce (it should be room temperature when serving).  After heating the jelly briefly give it little whisk and that should do the trick!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. med/lg shrimp ( peeled and deveined with tails off too!)
  • 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 cup sweetened coconut
  • 2 lg egg whites whisked til lightly frothy
  • a dash of Siracha or Tabasco in the EGG WHITES (Siracha is hot chili sauce found on shelf at store where tabasco is sold)
  • S&P
  • Pam canola oil spray

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400º.
  2. Spray cookie tray with canola oil.
  3. Place all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a fork.
  4. Add a dash of Siracha or Tabasco to the frothy egg whites-Optional.  Add and coat raw shrimp with whisked egg whites.
  5. Then dredge shrimp into the dry coconut mixture and place onto the cookie sheet in rows approx. 1″ from each other.
  6. VERY IMPORTANT:  spray a coating of Pam canola oil over all the coated shrimp and place into the oven.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes.  (No need to flip shrimp).
  8. Using a spatula remove shrimp from cookie tray and place onto a serving platter flipping them over now to show the caramelized side and serve with your favorite hot pepper jelly.
  9. Don’t forget to warm the jelly briefly and whisk it to get that nice smooth consistency serving it room temperature with the shrimp.

 

 

 

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

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Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

These bacon wrapped water chestnuts are sweet and savory. You have that slightly smokey and salty flavor from the bacon, a sweet candy-like carmelization from the brown sugar, a little kick from the dry mustard and a lovely crunch from the water chestnut. All those amazing flavors packaged up in one little morsel!

Nut or vegetable?  Well I will tell you – a water chestnut is actually an equatic vegetable grown in marshes. Didn’t you always want to know that?   This water chestnut recipe came about from a Trader Vic’s recipe called Rumaki . Except this original recipe was done with chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon with a wet marinade.  Now don’t get scared away . Even though I do love chicken livers sautéed with lots of chopped garlic and a crusty baguette this recipe is made without the liver or wet marinade for that matter.

It is some what comical too because your guests will think they are bacon wrapped scallops at first glance.  These homemade gourmet little morsels are a must try for the holidays. Your guest’s will love them. In fact, you better grab one before the tray goes out because it’s coming back empty!

IMG_4416If you are on an appetizer roll you ought to try my Crab Cakes with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing, or Baked Spinach & Feta Spankopita Triangles with Metaxa Mojito’s are to die for, Homemade Salmon Gravlax are one of my all time favorites and so easy to make with fresh dill sprigs and vodka or eau de vie! My “Steakhouse” Cream Spinach is a huge crowd pleaser. For dessert, a Best Blueberry Pie with My 5 Minute Pie Crust always calls out to me! ENJOY! 🙂

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cans whole water chestnuts ( Geisha – approx 18 per can)
  • 1 lb. Boar’s Head bacon (sliced into 3″ strips)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp  Colemans dry mustard – (if you like it less spicy only use 1 tbsp)

Directions: 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375º
  2. Whisk brown sugar and dry mustard together in a medium size bowl
  3. Slice up the bacon into 3″ pieces
  4. Wrap each water chestnut on the bacon strip and roll-up,
  5. Then roll it around in the brown sugar mixture, you will need to press down a little to help the mixture adhere
  6. Place the appetizer’s seem side down on a cookie sheet
  7. You can use a silicone baking mat or Silpat to bake the bacon wrapped water chestnuts on, DO NOT USE FOIL because it will be stuck to the waterchestnut!
  8. Bake for approx. 15 minutes
  9. Do not flip them over
  10. The bottoms will be more caramelized then the tops so flip them over when you plate them to see the carmelization
  11. Be sure to let them cool a pinch before eating because the chestnuts get pretty hot along with the sugar
  12. These are a great party item because you can prep a day ahead, BUT DO NOT DREDGE them into the brown sugar mixture until right before you put them into the oven or they will get watery
  13. Just wrap chestnuts in bacon, place onto a cookie tray and pop them into the frig until you are ready for them

 

Best Mango-Avocado Salsa Ever

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Best Mango-Avocado Salsa Ever

This truly is the most amazing salsa ever!  In fact I found salsa difficult to photograph so I took many pictures of the finished salsa worried that you won’t be able to tell how delicious it is just by looking at the pictures.  Gotta love those sweet and hot flavors together and just knowing that it is all so good for you makes it even better, if that’s possible.   I make this for friends when they come over it’s the first thing gone.   There really is nothing like refreshing mango-avocado salsa in the hot summer months but why should we have to wait until then when we can enjoy ripe mangoes in the winter too!  When I go to the market to buy mangoes this time of year they are usually not quite ripe enough to eat right away.  It’s one of those things where you need to plan a few days ahead so you have time to leave them on your counter to fully ripen.   It’s definitely worth the 2-3 day wait for the mango to soften slightly and the juicy flesh to turn a deep golden color and taste as sweet as honey.  Be sure not to let them get too soft….better to be slightly soft then mushy because that lovely golden flesh starts to turn brown.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 lg mangoes chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1 avocado chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 2 med/lg size tomato’s or 5 small tomato’s chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1/2 vidalia onion (or yellow) FINELY chopped
  • 1 FINELY chopped jalapeno
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
  • a dash of Siracha (optional)
  • S & P

Directions:

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. We really love to eats this salsa with blue chips.
  3. I have also served this salsa up on the tips of endive leaves, and or with a cooked shrimp on top of that ….yum!
  4. I must warn you this salsa is highly addictive……consume at your own risk! LOL

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TIP:  There is an easy way to get the pit out of a avocado which I have displayed in the pictures above.  After running the knife around the flesh of the avocado against the edges of the inside pit… put the knife down and twist the avocado halves and pull apart. Then stick the knife into the pit and do the same thing holding on to the knife with one hand and carefully twist the avocado pit and it will pop right out.  Then knock the pit off onto the board away from your hands.  This can be a little tricky the first time so I would advise that this would be for an adult to try.   Finally, Insert a large spoon and scoop the avocado along the edge of the avocado skin to remove avocado flesh.

Frozen Berry Smoothies

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Frozen Berry Smoothies

Making homemade fruit smoothies takes less than 5 minutes!   They are healthy, satisfying, and scrumptious. What’s great about this smoothie is you use the frozen bags of fruit from the freezer section at your market.  The frozen fruit and the Greek yogurt make up the thickness in the smoothie.  You don’t have to worry about what season it is…..you can make them through out the winter.  AND my very picky kids love them…what’s better than that!  They say the smoothies remind them of my Fresh Berry Granita…..yeah!

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups frozen berries (I use medley-if seeds bother you buy 1 bag of stawberries and 1 bag of blueberries
  • 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup Ocean Spray “Cran/Pomegranate” juice or unsweetened apple juice
  • juice from 1/2 lime

Directions:

  1. Place all of the ingredients into the blender and purée!
  2. You will need to stop the blender and stir once to move frozen berries around, then finish with the puree.
  3. If you want it a little thinner just add a little water or juice.
  4. Pour the mixture into a glass and serve with a spoon.

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Easy Pulled Pork Sliders

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Easy Pulled Pork Sliders

I love my easy pulled pork slider recipe because it works in an oven or in a crock pot!  There are so many different versions of pulled pork out there but this one is super easy because we use pork tenderloins instead of a pork shoulder. You just have the moist and delicate meat of the tenderloin pulled apart in seconds and mixed with a homemade BBQ sauce made in mere minutes that’s sweet and tangy!

The Easy Pulled Pork Sliders are made with tenderloins instead of a giant pork shoulder. The reason I love to do this is it’s so darn EASY! The tenderloins are cut in 1/2 then coated with a mixture of light brown sugar, Colemans Dry Mustard, onion & garlic granules, s & P. Placed into a large baking dish with a small 7.5 oz. can of cola poured into the dish. The Coca-Cola helps to keep it moist and gives it a little caramel flavor. It’s baked for 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours, cooled and shredded apart. At that time the Bourbon BBQ Sauce has finished simmering and just waiting to be poured of all the pulled pork and warmed thru…YUM!

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Ingredients:

Directions: 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325º
  2. In a medium size bowl whisk together the light brown sugar and all the dry spices
  3. Wash and dry pork tenderloins, cut in 1/2 – across and place in baking dish
  4. Rub the brown sugar mixture all over pork tenderloins
  5. Add 1 cup coke to the baking dish and put into the oven, leave uncovered
  6. Bake tenderloins for 1 1/2 -1 3/4 hour until falling apart
  7. Remove from oven and let pork cool to touch
  8. Begin to pull apart pork in the same bake dish with 2 forks to the desired size
  9. Add the pulled pork tenderloin to a med. size pan and mix with BBQ sauce
  10. Add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce at a time until you have the desired amount for the consistency you want
  11. Pulled pork sliders are incredible with a little crunch from some broccoli slaw
  12. Serve on dinner or Hawaiian rolls w/Broccoli Slaw & a drizzle of my Green Goddess Sauce

FOR PULLED PORK WHILE YOU SLEEP:

INGREDIENTS: NOTE – If you have extra brown sugar/spice mix because you’re making 1 pork butt just store in Ziploc baggie for next time!

  • 14 lbs. (approx 2  6-7 lb.) Boneless Pork Butts
  • 2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp garlic granules
  • 1 tbsp onion granules
  • 1 tbsp SMOKED Paprika (Spanish)
  • 1 tbsp Chipotle spices
  • 1 tsp Colemans dry mustard
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper
  • 1tsp finely ground Italian seasonings
  • 2 cups coke & rootbeer OR 2 coke OR 2 rootbeer
  • 1 lg vidalia onion sliced into 1/2″ slices
  • 1 stalk celery cut up into 3″ pieces

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Pre-Heat oven to 275º
  2. Add all dry spices and sugar to a bowl and mix thoroughly
  3. Place onion and celery pieces in the bottom of a lg 18″ x 13″ x 3″ approx. and place the pork butt(s) on top
  4. Rub brown sugar/spice mix all over pork butt(s) and lay the pork so the fat side is facing up
  5. Cover tightly with foil for 8 hrs. WHILE YOU SLEEP!
  6. In the morning remove from oven and let cool so you can handle the meat
  7. Remove all the fat and place in a bake dish
  8. Skim fat off pan juices and add 1-2 cups of the juice back to pork to desired moistness
  9. Add Homemade BBQ Sauce to desired texture ….enjoy!

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Broccoli Slaw

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Broccoli Slaw

In this recipe I am using pre-pakaged broccoli slaw from the store.  Sure you can shred it yourself but sometimes with all our hectic schedules running here and there it’s nice to be able to take a short cut and still have great taste.  Cole dressing is super simple as you will see below. I upped the mayo to 1/3 cup from 1/4 and the sugar from 2 tbsp to 3 tbsp because I like it a little saucier but I will leave that up to you!

You really ought to try my EASY Pulled pork sliders with this slaw and don’t forget the homemade BBQ sauce with Bourbon….outrageous!

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Ingredients – NOTE For a LITTLE LIGHTER SAUCE USE 1/4 CUP MAYO AND 2 TBSP SUGAR:

  • 4  cups broccoli Slaw (you can buy pkg slaw at the store)
  • 1/3 cup mayo ( I use Hellmans only)
  • 2 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tsp Siracha or Tabasco (Siracha is a hot chili sauce sold next to Tabasco at the store)
  • S & P

Directions:

  1. Place all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix and serve.
  2. This slaw goes great with my Easy Pulled Pork Sliders done nice and easy in a crock pot.
  3. And if you have a little extra time you can add a Green Goddess Sauce to the sandwich that can actually be done a couple days ahead and while you are at it don’t forget the Homemade BBQ Sauce!

 

Green Goddess Sauce

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Green Goddess Sauce

I love to make sauces especially this green goddess sauce.  Sauces are one of my favorite avenues of cooking and I’m always mixing things up to find the perfect one.  The inspiration for this sauce came from a food truck episode on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives a couple of years ago.  I have tried since then to find the recipe but cannot so this is one of my versions of a green goddess sauce.  I remember her sauce having a mayo base and maybe other herbs.  I really like the tang you get from using Greek yogurt in this one.  You can use this sauce with so many dishes….fish, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, re-fried beans and the list goes on!

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Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup mayo (I use Hellmans)
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 garlic clove put thru press
  • 1/2 jalapeño diced
  • 1 tsp. grated vadalia onion ( or yellow onion)
  • 1 tbsp each lime juice, sugar & “seasoned” rice wine vinegar
  • 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • s & p
  • dash of Siracha or Tabasco (Siracha is a hot chili sauce sold next to Tabasco at the store)

Directions:

  1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender an purée and you will probably need to stop and stir everything a couple of times to get it going but do not add any more liquid (you will see that once it gets going it will be just right).
  2. When you begin to purée start to drizzle in 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, it will help the sauce to emulsify and become fluffy and smooth
  3. You can make this ahead of time and keep sauce in a plastic container and refrigerate.  It stays nicely for days in frig.  Yum!
  4. This green sauce is absolutely delicious on so many things …… be creative.
  5. Try it with Sautéed Chicken Breasts and Spinach or on Crock Pot Pulled Pork sandwiches, BBQ Pork Wraps, Sautéed Chilean Sea Bass or as a dip for Baked Coconut Shrimp!

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Baked Yukon Potato Fries

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Baked Yukon Potato Fries

My kids are so picky about eating.  They actually love all meat and fish.  For example they have been eating lamb lollipops since they were 2 years old and they are 11 and 9 now! Lamb lollipops are a rack of lamb seared and slightly baked, then sliced and served with the bone wrapped in a folded over piece of paper towel for the handle….hence  “lollipop”.  I have the difficult time of getting them to the vegetables!  So when I make these baked fries it makes me really happy to say they love them.  I know they’re not greens but they do eat them with ketchup and that’s a vegetable, right?  Ok, don’t go there ……I know how much sugar is in ketchup….baby steps ok?  These fries are delicious…..you’ll love them too and they are nice and easy.  See my Greek Yogurt Remoulade Sauce to dip these yummy fries into!

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Ingredients:

  • 4 Med. size Yukon potatoes sliced and pat dry with paper towels
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic granules
  • 1/2 tsp onion granules

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 450º.
  2. Slice potatoes in 1/4″ sticks or wedges
  3. Dab with paper towels to dry excess potato moisture (starch) IMMEDIATELY or they will turn brown and layer cut up potato fries in between layers of paper towels while you are cutting
  4. NOTE: if any of the fries do turn brown just quickly rinse and blot dry
  5. Toss all the cut up fries onto a cookie sheet
  6. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp garlic, onion and salt
  7. Mixed with hands and then spread out into even layer on cookie sheet
  8. Bake for 35 minutes BUT check at 30 minutes…No need to flip because the bottom gets cripsy….just leave them alone til the end.

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Greek Yogurt Remoulade

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Greek Yogurt Remoulade

Having a homemade gourmet dipping sauce as tasty as this and made with greek yogurt is pretty much a no brainer for me.  This sauce has the tang from the yogurt, a little sweet from the ketchup and a nice spice from the fresh garlic and Siracha…..yum.  You need to try this sauce with the  Baked Yukon Potato Fries recipe.  It’s such a nice combination and a change up from plain ketchup!  The gourmet remoulade sauce is outrageous on sandwiches too.

You may want to try this on jumbo crab cakes too:

Jumbo Crab Cakes
Jumbo Crab Cakes

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

    • 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
    • 1/3 cup Hellman’s mayo
    • 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. ketchup (6 tbsp)
    • 3 dashes of Siracha – OPTIONAL (Siracha is a hot chili sauce sold next to the Tabasco at the store or what ever your favorite hot sauce is!)
    • Juice from 1/2 lime
    • 1 lg. garlic clove (put thru press )
    • 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar (I use “seasoned” rice wine vinegar)
    • Freshly chopped chives to sprinkle on top of finished remoulade

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DIRECTIONS:

  1. Whisk all of the ingredients except the chives in a mixing bowl, then top with chopped chives.

 

Sautéed Chicken Breasts and Spinach

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Ingredients:

  • 4 med. size chicken breast ( washed and pat dry with paper towel)
  • Olive oil and S & P
  • 8 oz. pre-washed fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup white wine (optional- delicious for another layer of flavor)

Directions:

Chicken: 

  1. Pre-heat to 375º.
  2. Heat pan to med/high heat and add 3 tbsp olive oil.  
  3. After a few minutes when pan is hot add chicken and saute for 5 minutes til golden and flip.  
  4. Continue to cook for another 8 minutes til golden in color.  
  5. Depending how thick your chicken breast are you can either flip again for an additional 2-3 minutes or place into the oven for approx. 8 minutes.  
  6. OR if u have the white wine on hand flip chicken back over for the last 2-3 min. and pour in 1/2 cup of white wine and cover immediately.  
  7. Let steam for 3 minutes then remove cover to let wine evaporate for the next 3-4 min.  
  8. This addition of wine gives you another layer of amazing flavor and you won’t need to put it into the oven again just cover with foil for a few minutes til you are ready to slice and plate.

Spinach:  Place fresh spinach into med. size pan with 2 tbsp water put on med heat and cover for a few minutes.  You’ ll start to hear the steam, lift off the top and begin to toss around with tongs or a fork for approx 1 min. til slightly wilted and remove from heat.  Put into ice bath to shock spinach (or briefly run cold water on it) It helps to keep vibrant green color til you are ready to plate dishes.  Gently squeeze out water and place on paper towel on a dish til u need to plate the dinner.  The easiest way to re-heat spinach is put it in a small pan with 1 tbsp of butter on top and warm thru just for 2-3 minute, add salt & pepper (or put into microwave very briefly ….don’t need to cook it ….heating thru only).  Then place small mound in the middle of the plate and place sliced up chicken right on top.  Drizzle my Green Goddess Sauce recipe around chicken on plate and mangia!