Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Shrimp and Sausage Wraps

By a popular request, here are the wraps I made to go with the Kiwi Apple Salsa (below).
  • 2-3 tablespoons peanut oil (or other vegatable oil)
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 andouille sausage, diced
  • 1 tablespoon Patak's Hot Curry Paste (cumin, curry, or chili powder will do)
  • 1½ cups rice (make with chicken broth)
  • 12 (½lb) raw medium sized shrimp, de-veined and de-tailed
  • Tortillas
  • Kiwi Apple Salasa (my homemade salsa) or any other sweet & spicy salasa
    (Mango?)
  1. Saute bell pepper, onion, and sausage in oil.
  2. Mix in curry, rice, and shrimp; saute until shrimp is done.
  3. Serve on warm tortillas with salsa.
Serves 4-6 (approximately enough to modestly fill 12 tortillas).

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Kiwi-Apple Salsa

I wanted a sweet and hot salsa, like a mango salsa, for some sausage and shrimp wraps I made. My local store didn't have any mangos, and the papyas were huge. So I poked around the roduce section and decided to make the salsa out of apples and kiwis. The results were amazing. In the batch I made I retained all the seeds of one jalapeno, which resulted in a sweet salsa with a sucker punch (medium to hot).
  • 1 gravenstein apple
  • 3 kiwis
  • ½ onion
  • cilantro
  • 2 jalapanos
  • 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 pinches salt
  1. Finely dice jalapenos, removing all seeds and some of the interior. (Retain and add
    to increase heat.)
  2. Peel and finely chop apple and kiwis. Finely chop onion and cilantro.
  3. Combine all ingredients.
  4. Optional: use a food processor or blendor to make it smooth. (As a garnish, the original
    batch was left chunky.)
Makes approximately 1½ cups (12 oz.) of salsa. Double or triple for a large group.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Kevin's Lemon Chicken Fajitas

My friends often crave and rave about these fajitas. "It's easy to make-- you can do it yourself!", I say. So here is the recipe. The "secret" is in the simple marinade. Remember, you can't rush the marinade; for the great flavor, it will take the 2 hours.
  • 1.5 pounds Boneless Chicken Breasts
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • Few pinches of kosher salt
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (or other vegatable oil)
  • 2 bell peppers (mix it up-- red, green, yellow)
  • 1 large onion
  • Tortillas
  • Salsa
  • Avocado
  1. Combine chicken, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and oil into a container. Marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.
  2. Chop up onion and bell pepper.
The Grill Option
  1. Place vegatables in foil packs. (Expect 2-3 packs.)
  2. Grill chicken and place packs of vegatables on grill at the same time. Flipping vegatables once. Remove packets when chicken is done.
  3. Cut chicken into strips and serve with tortillas, salsa, guacamole, etc.
The Cast Iron Skillet Option
  1. Toss vegatables with a bit of oil. Fully heat cast iron skillet (3 or so minutes). Toss in vegatables and leave alone for a minute or two so, until vegatables get "roasted"/carmalized. Saute until done. Place in bowl and set aside.
  2. Place chicken in cast iron skillet without oil. Leave in place for 2 to 3 minutes for "roasting"/carmalization. Flip chicken, again leave for a few minutes. Cook until done.
  3. Cut chicken into strips and serve with tortillas, salsa, guacamole, etc.

Serves: 4

Other Options

  • Include other vegatables in foil packs such as mushrooms, squash, etc.
  • Cut onion and bell pepper into large pieces and place directly on grill, instead of using foil packs.
  • For marinade, use lime juice instead of lemon juice, or both.