The Traveling Epicurean

sour cream

Curry Shrimp & Snow Peas

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Curry Shrimp & Snow Peas

Curry shrimp & snow peas is a luscious dish with a complex sauce that tastes like you spent all day on it! I serve up this yummy creation with fresh chopped dill and jasmine rice. Basmati is my other go to rice. This curry shrimp dish is made with snow peas, coconut milk, white wine, curry, turmeric, coriander, sour cream, half and half, chicken broth and fresh limes.

For goodness sake, don’t waste your time with an instant rice with no texture or flavor. Making good jasmine or basmati rice couldn’t get any easier just follow the directions on the label. When I make rice I always turn off the stove five minutes early. I then stir the rice and let it sit for ten minutes with the cover on. When you are ready for the rice give it another stir, add a tablespoon or two of butter, a sprinkle of salt and voilà.

One of the best things about making this incredible curry shrimp and snow peas is getting it done in fifteen minutes. A good time saver when cooking with shrimp is to buy already peel and devein shrimp. Make sure to get good, meaty shrimp from your local seafood store where all they sell is seafood. Considering the shrimp takes on a main roll in this curry shrimp and snow peas you better darn well get some decent shrimp and make your efforts worth while!

Before serving up this velvety curry shrimp and snow peas you will probably have time to make some appetizer’s like my best guacamole ever, or black bean & mango salsa, or baked sweet potato fries with my green goddess dipping sauce. For dessert, maybe something sweet but on the lighter side you should try fresh berries in a dreamy cream or my fresh berry granita!

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Ingredients for Curry Shrimp & Snow peas -(makes 6 servings):

  • 1 lb large good meaty shrimp from your local SEAFOOD store- peel & devein (better results if you don’t use pre-packaged frozen shrimp)
  • 1 1/2 cup fresh snow peas
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
  • 1 clove garlic put through garlic press
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup half & half
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 3 tbsp sour cream
  • juice from 1 1/2 -2 limes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (if you don’t have turmeric or coriander use 2 1/2 tsp curry)
  • 1/2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
  • 4 cups cooked rice – Jasmine or Basmati rice cooked to directions
  • fresh dill – 1/2 cup chopped coarsely added to cooked rice

Directions:

  1. Remove tail shells from all the shrimp and set aside
  2. Cook Jasmine rice and set aside
  3. Add coconut oil or olive oil and chopped onion to a large sauté pan on med/high heat
  4. Add in curry spices, and a sprinkle of salt stirring with onions sautéing for 2 minutes
  5. NOTE: Adding in curry now with onions will elininate potential of curry becoming grainy
  6. Add in garlic and stir
  7. De-glaze with wine
  8. Simmer and reduce the sauce for 2 minutes
  9. Add chicken broth and bring back to a simmer
  10. Add in snow peas and simmer 1 minute
  11. Add in coconut milk, whisk to mix
  12. Add in half and half, bring back to a simmer for 2-3 minutes
  13. Add in 1 tbsp butter and all of the raw shrimp simmer for 3 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through
  14. Whisk in 3 tbsp sour cream and just warm through
  15. Take off heat and squeeze juice from 1 1/2 fresh limes
  16. Taste and add sprinkle of salt if needed
  17. Add fresh chopped dill to Jasmine rice and serve with Curry Shrimp & Snow Peas
  18. Optional: Add a few dashes of Siracha, Franks Red Hot or Tabasco to heat it up a little

 

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

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Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing


BLUEI can’t think of anything more annoying then being out at a restaurant where they serve up a beautiful mescaline salad or heirloom tomatoes with blue cheese dressing from a bottle! My homemade gourmet blue cheese dressing recipe is gosh darn easy to make and all done in the food processor!

I have been making this homemade blue cheese dressing for over 20 years and it’s one of my favorite recipes. I love all blues whether they are pungent, and or creamy from Stilton, to Maytag, Danish, and Gorgonzola, and to die for sweet and creamy Cambozola. Last but not least is my Italian Gorgonzola Dolce which I make an incredible pasta sauce with (that’s not really “last” …the list of great blues goes on and on). Not to stray from the homemade blue cheese dressing recipe but you really ought to check out my gourmet Gorganzola Dolce Cream Sauce & Fresh Thyme that I serve on pasta or gnocchi featured on May 15, 2014 which you can make in 5 minutes blind folded!

The Chart House Restaurant makes one of my favorite blue cheese dressings and that’s where my recipe was hatched from. Of course, I changed up amounts, procedures and ingredients adding in several others until I got the taste I wanted and this is how I have been making it for over 20 years. My homemade blue cheese dressing is slightly chunky, on the creamier side where you sprinkle extra crumbled blue to the top of your salad at the end. The consistency is really a matter of personal preference. You can actually make it as smooth or chunky as you want by “pulsing” only when blending the ingredients in the food processor. You can also pulse til smooth in the food processor, then throw in a handful of crumbled blue and finish with a gentle mix using a spatula… it’s your prerogative to change it up how you see fit. I offer up the great list of ingredients and now you can be creative on texture!

buffdipI always make this dressing when I make my chicken wings or when I buy blue for my Buffalo Chicken Dip that’s always the first appetizer gone at my parties! Serving the blue cheese dressing up with the chicken wings and all of my favorite veggies on the side you can’t go wrong. Another great dinner idea would be layering grilled beef or chicken fillets, a couple of thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes, a drizzle of my homemade blue cheese dressing and a sprinkle of crumbled blue with crispy chunks of bacon on top of that … hot diggety! When you see how easy and crazy good this blue cheese dressing is you will never be happy with bottle again!

icemohitoYou may want to add in some other yummy appetizers like Homemade Salsa, or Spanakopita with Metaxa Mojito’s, and for an entré try Homemade Potato-Ricotta Gnocchi, easier than you think to make! You certainly shouldn’t forget dessert of Honey-Dripping Baklava or Death by Chocolate Meringue Pie! 🙂

 

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup of Gorganzola, Danish or Maytag crumbling blue cheese
  • NOTE: lately I love using PRE-CRUMBLED Gorganzola or Blue  Cheese, comes in a convenient plastic container
  • PLUS 1/3 cup blue cheese extra for mixing in after pureed and sprinkling on top for garnish when you plate the salads
  • 1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbsp each olive oil & “seasoned” rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Siracha
  • 1 tsp Colemans Dry Mustard
  • 1/4 tsp each salt & pepper
  • 1 Recipe Buffalo Chicken Wings

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Put all above ingredients into food processor except 1/3 cup blue cheese and pulse slowly for 15 seconds until you get the desired smoothness
  2. Pour a medium size bowl,  2 tbsp of crumbled blue and sprinkle the rest on top

After all this cheesiness  you may want to try my Perfectly Chocolate” Hershey Cakes, my chocolate crackle cookies, or chocolate pecan pie! YUM!

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Cucumber Salad

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Cucumber Salad

This homemade cucumber salad is my version of tzatziki sauce which is a Greek cucumber yogurt dip except I use 1/2 Greek yogurt and 1/2 sour cream. My mother has been making this dish since I was little although mine is a somewhat different version. You can have it as a side with lunch or dinner or even jazz up chicken and steak sandwiches or vegetarian dishes with humus and mango salsa and or guacamole…YUM! . It’s really refreshing and bright on your palate. The Vadalia onion, which is the sweetest, is a wonderful addition to a Tzatziki sauce and fresh dill is always best. The cucumber and onion can be grated instead of sliced to make it more of a sauce then a side dish.

I use thinly sliced cucumbers instead of grating here, garlic, onion and cumin granules in this gourmet sauce which really develop nicely in flavor as you let them sit for a bit. This homemade cucumber salad is certainly not for summer only! I promise you will be delighted with my cucumber salad  recipe…let me know what you think. Enjoy.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cucumbers peeled with thin stripes left on them (only 3 – 1/4 ” stripes) AND sliced PAPER thin on Mandolin or carefully with a knife
  • 1 lg Vadalia onion sliced paper thin with mandolin or sharp knife
  • 1/2 c. Greek yugurt
  • 1/2 c. sour cream
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp garlic granules
  • 1 tsp onion granules
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt to release water from cucumbers and onions
  • s&p to taste at the end

Directions:

  1. Put sliced cucumbers and onion into a lg Ziploc with 1/2 tsp salt and let sit for 1-2 hrs. or over night
  2. Gently squeeze cucumber-onion mixture and drain liquid from Ziploc
  3. Put into a lg mixing bowl with the next 8 ingredients like in photos
  4. Mix with spatula
  5. Add desired s&p
  6. Can chill and serve or serve immediately …mangia mangia