Asian Spinach and Shrimp Salad With Sesame Dressing

Stumbled across this recipe here and can't wait to try it out.

1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest (grated)
2 tsp fresh ginger (minced)
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp sesame oil (black toasted)
salt and black pepper

1/2 cup spinach (baby, lightly packed)
1 lb shrimp (medium cooked and peeled)
2 oranges (peeled and segmented)
1/2 cup scallion (chopped)

Bring orange juice to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 Tbsp., about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, place spinach in large bowl, and set aside.

Whisk reduced orange juice, zest, ginger, vinegar, and honey together in small bowl. Whisk in vegetable and sesame oils and season with salt and pepper.

Toss shrimp, orange segments, and scallions,with 2 tablespoons dressing in bowl and season with salt and pepper. . Toss spinach with remaining dressing and season with salt and pepper. Divide spinach among 4 individual plates and top with shrimp and oranges.

Picnic Salads

Steam or boil a bunch of asparagus; slice on the bias. Toss with orange segments, zest and juice, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Garnish with sesame seeds. I added cut up cooked, shrimp.

Combine cooked brown rice with small, barely cooked broccoli florets and chopped pecans or walnuts and parsley. Dress with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon. This turned out a little bland and dry. I added soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. I think cut up scallions would be a good addition.

Both original recipes from Mark Bittman's column in the NY Times: "101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics".

Roasted Garlic

No time to post. Go here for great instructions on roasting garlic to spread or use. Also instructions on making roasted garlic infused olive oil.

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/02/01/roasted-garlic-three-ways/

Horseradish Dressing / Steak Sauce

1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons milk (I used whole)
2 Tablespoons horseradish, prepared
1 Tablespoon Sour Cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk together mayo, milk, horseradish, salt and pepper.

Crumbled, well-cooked bacon makes a great addition.

Add a little of the bacon grease, too. Maybe a teaspoon to taste to give it some more bacon flavor.

This is great on salad, steak or steak salad.

Maple Ginger Glazed Salmon

1 cup of pure maple syrup
4 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp dried red pepper flakes (depending on how your spice tastes)


Combine all ingredients in small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until sauce is reduced and thickened. Spread on salmon. Reserve remaining sauce. Heat to serve with the salmon.

Ideally, plank it....soak cedar plank in water for 1/2 hour. Place scallions on plank, and salmon fillet skin side down on top of scallions. Spread sauce on salmon, and grill for about 20 minutes depending on thickness of salmon.

Sauteed Shrimp With Garlic and White Wine

This recipe is from RecipeZaar.I made a small change to make it easier and it came out fine.

1/4 cup butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry white wine (a nice $5 2008 Crane Lake Chardonnay)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add in garlic; stir/saute 2 minutes.
Add in shrimp; stir/saute 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.
Season with salt and pepper, increase heat to high and add wine and lemon juice.
Bring to a boil; boil 30 seconds.
Reduce heat, add in chopped parsley; stir until heated through.
Transfer to a serving plate; garnish with parsley sprigs and serve immediately.

Notes:
Thanks to The Wine Trials 2010 for the recommendation on a good cheap white wine.

Coffee

I have a Capresso Burr Grinder. It works fine, but generates a ton of static electricity so the ground coffee flies in all directions when I pour it from the receptacle to my drip coffee maker. I use setting 3.5 for drip coffee. One thing I have started doing is to add a very small amount of water to the beans (dip my finger in water and stir the beans once or twice with my wet finger). This seems to help a little, but I would like to find a better way. Maybe the coarser grind for a press pot will help?

I just bought a 4-cup (32 oz.) French Press and am going to give it a test run.

First try on grind and amount. I am setting the grinder at 9 (coarsest) and use a heaping 1/2 cup of beans (my shortcut). Most coffee sites say use 2 level tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 oz of water. Coffee Geek says use 1 rounded tablespoon per 4 oz. For a full 32 oz. of coffee, this means a range of 8 to 10.7 tablespoons of ground coffee. My experience shows that a 1/2 cup of beans comes to about a 1/2 cup of ground coffee. 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons. 10 tablespoons = 5/8 cup.

Some great notes on French Press coffee making at Coffee Geek.

Some other notes: 4 cups = comes up to the level marked "7" on my drip coffeemaker.

Result: Worked fine, but the coffee could be stronger. More beans next time.