Shrimp Curry

I must pause to inform myself that June is prepared to walk out the front door and not look back, while July is pounding at the back door impatiently waiting to enter. Where does the time go?  As a child, I remember thinking that the days lasted forever.  As an adult, I'm fighting the clock on a daily basis in an attempt of desperation to add a few more house to my day. 

This afternoon, for example, I had a nice long list of items to accomplish before calling it quits for the day.  Of course, that entire list was thrown out the window as soon as I noticed a problem with my refrigerator. First, the freezer seem to have a bit more frost than normal on its inhabitants.  Then I noticed a lot of condensation in the refrigerator, followed by a strange feeling that the food items inside didn't feel cool to the touch like they normally would on a warm summer day.  To confirm my fears, I borrowed a digital thermometer that we use for outdoors and put it inside the fridge and placed the digital readout on my counter top so that I could keep a close eye on it.

Meanwhile, I decided it was best to prepare dinner because if it was determined that there needed to be a fridge/freezer evacuation, I had best beef up my stamina for the hours ahead of me.  So I flipped through my copy of Easy Everyday and found a simple recipe for Shrimp Curry that I just so happened to have all the ingredients for.  Mind you there are a ton of different curry recipes in the world and this has no fancy title to it, but it delivered a full and "bright" (as my husband labeled it) flavor and it was prepared and ready for eating in a very short amount of time--as long as you remember to start cooking the rice first, of course. 

Admittedly, the only ingredient I didn't have was the turmeric and had to omit this from my preparation, but honestly I didn't miss it.  I also opted to leave out the mild red chili as my husband and I have different tolerances for hot and spicy.  I provided crushed red pepper flakes for him to sprinkle on after-the-fact which he enjoyed while I was quite satisfied with my full, bright, not-so-hot & spicy flavor.  This shrimp curry was enjoyed on a bed of steamy jasmine rice with a side of naan and a glass of wine. 

I swear for that every bite of food that I enjoyed, the temperature on the digital readout for the fridge continued upwards.  As it hit the 60 degree Fahrenheit mark, I placed my plate in the sink and began the evacuation procedure, tossing my list of things to do in the drawer to be tackled another day. On a brighter note, I needed to clean out my fridge anyway.  Here's to hoping that as July barges in the back door she doesn't find the need to bring the bill for a new refrigerator with her.

Shrimp Curry
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 mild red chile, chopped (omitted in my preparation)
1 teaspoon turmeric (omitted in my preparation)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 lb frozen cooked & peeled shrimp, defrosted
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
juice of 2 freshly squeezed limes
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
rice, to serve
lime wedges for serving


For the quickest simultaneous preparation, start cooking the rice first.
Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chile, and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add the turmeric, curry powder, coriander, and cumin and mix well.
Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes, stirring well.

Pour in the tomatoes and lime juice, season, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
**At this point, taste the sauce.  If the flavors are there but not to your desired strength, you can add more curry powder, cumin, and coriander (in their respective ratios) without destroying the dish.  I added more of each as I enjoy the bold flavors.

When the desired flavor and consistency are reached, add the cilantro and serve on a bed of rice. 
Last but not last, pour yourself and glass of wine and enjoy.

Steak Continental and Oreo Truffles

I'm afraid I must interrupt my monthly feature of Easy Everyday as I feel the need to pay tribute to a friend that recently passed away.  Steve Nedzel, a friend of mine from college was lost to a tragic accident last week. At only 32 years of age, he was vibrant and enthusiastic about life.  He was the band director at a very prestigious high school, an excellent teacher, musician, mentor, and friend.  When we were in college, he and I always seemed to be cooking for the masses and we exchanged a few recipes even back then.  Today's recipe, Steak Continental, is one of them.  I think this is rather upscale cooking for a college budget, but when you love what you eat you tend to overlook the grocery bill.  This is a great summer grilling meal that I served with a salad and grilled eggplant.  Please note, this recipe has many salty components (which can be used to tenderize a less expensive piece of meat), so if you are using a quality steak or are salt sensitive, consider omitting the 2 teaspoons of salt.

We must also not overlook the dessert that I'm featuring, Oreo Truffles.  Of course when Steve recently gave me the recipe over Facebook he simply called them "Oreo Balls."  These little chocolate balls are delicious and very easy to make.  I admit, baking and dipping are not really my thing, however, these require absolutely no baking and are so easy to make I'd be lazy not to make them more often.  Actually, these are also very kid-friendly as small hands would be perfect to roll out the balls and then dip them in the chocolate.

Alas, thank you Steve for all the recipes, great times, and memories and I will surely miss your daily entertaining anecdotes on Facebook.

Steak Continental
As Steve Nedzel wrote it for me

1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon kettsup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano
3 pounds sirloin steak

Mash garlic and salt together then add the next 5 ingredients, mixing well.

Score steak 1/4 inch deep on both sides and rub in the garlic mixture.  Place steak in a large shallow dish,
cover and refrigerate 8 hours. (I only refrigerated for 2 hours and it was still flavorful)

Grill over medium coals 15 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Oreo Truffles
makes approximately 24 1-inch balls


1 package of Oreos
8 oz (1 package) of cream cheese
good quality melting chocolate for dipping (I used dark chocolate)


Take 1 package of Oreos and crush them in a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin.  Mix the cookie crumbs with 8 oz. of softened cream cheese.

Chill in the fridge or freezer for a bit, then roll them into 1-inch balls.
Dip them into the melted chocolate of your choice.

Chill and serve.

Thai Meatballs

I must admit, my food pictures have been pretty embarrassing since I started posting.  The truth of the matter is that I've been taking the pictures with my phone (the modern marvels of technology) because my camera has been missing.  I know that I was the last to use it, however, it wasn't where I left it when I went back for it.  Officially misplaced for 8 days now, I decided to think like a two-year-old and really start looking for it.  Long story short, I did find it this evening in the kids' art drawer next to the couch.  The camera was in front of the art drawer when I put it down.  I'm sure little hands were simply helping me tiddy up and neglected to mention where they put it. 

Moving on, it never fails that I plan meals that utilize the oven when the weather is hot and humid, and grilling days always seem to be cold and rainy.  Nevertheless, I stuck to the plan today and made some thai meatballs.  These little tasty treats came together in 10 minutes and baked in the oven for only 25 minutes.  Luckily, I remembered to start the rice cooker as I preheated the oven so in all, dinner was ready in 40 minutes.  This recipe can be made with either ground chicken or ground turkey.  I used turkey only because I don't generally keep ground chicken in the house and I also made my own sweet chili sauce because I only had chili paste in the fridge. (Please note that you cannot substitute one for the other.)  Honey mustard is another nice dipping option and was preferred by the kids.  These made for a tasty, light summer dinner as I served them on a small bed of jasmine rice accompanied with a glass of white wine. 

Thai Meatballs
Taken from Easy Everyday
Makes 16 - 18 small meatballs


2 oz. fresh bread crumbs
1 lb ground chicken or turkey
1 egg
2 scallions, very thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
a small handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce, plus extra for serving
Thai fragrant rice, to serve
large baking dish or cookie sheet, oiled


Preheat the oven to 400 °F.

Put the bread crumbs, chicken or turkey, egg, scallions, ground coriander, cilantro, fish sauce or soy sauce, and chili sauce in a bowl.

Mix well with your hands, then roll the mixture into small balls--use about 1 tablespoon of the mixture for each.

Arrange the meatballs in the prepared baking dish/cookie sheet.  Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Serve the meatballs straight from the baking dish with some sweet chili sauce for dipping and some Thai fragrant rice on the side.

Zucchini and Tomatoes Baked with Fontina

My husband often will say to me, "I'll cook dinner tonight.  Just leave me a recipe and put all the ingredients out on the counter."  The irony of that to me is the fact that those two statements are what usually makes cooking difficult for most people.  Half the battle is figuring out what you want and if you have all the ingredients on hand to make it. 


I took a commercial cooking class "for fun" last year with the hopes of learning a few new tricks or recipes.  Thankfully I received both, though limited in number.  However, I am still missing something in my culinary desires.  A friend once asked me what I wanted most from a culinary education.  My reply was the ability to literally throw together a bunch of ingredients with the proper herbs and spices and have it be devine.  Don't get me wrong, I love looking through cookbooks, drooling over the pictures, and tagging pages that I want to try out.  But let's face it, cooking requires planning and sometimes we just don't have the time that we want to devote to it.  I'm getting better at throwing together an unplanned meal, but I'm not where I want to be yet. 


Which leads me to my next point: food pairing.  Does it really matter if you found the perfect recipe for baked halibut if you can't figure out the proper side dish to serve with it?  Food pairing is my second most difficult challange aside of an unplanned entree.  Cookbooks are often divided into sections: Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Fish, Poutry, Beef, Vegetarian, etc.  This is great for finding that entree but leaves you to your own devices to put together a meal.  Once in a while I find a cookbook that does a decent job at cross-referencing food, meaning that they will list appropriate side dish options with the recipes included in the same book.  I love that and wish more authors would consider that option.  That is what I really like about the food blog Dinner du Jour.  Recipes are presented as meals, sometimes even with a dessert pairing.


I worked backwards for today's Easy Everyday recipe. I selected a vegetable side dish and then racked my brain for an entree to accompany it.  This is another quick and easy summer recipe (are you detecting a theme in my posts yet?) and will be even more popular in my household as the garden bulks up its produce.  I paired this with a homemade reuben sandwich complete with rye bread, saurkraut, and thousand island dressing.  The corned beef cooked in the crock pot all afternoon so that dinner came together in less than 45 minutes at the end of the day.  This recipe originally calls for 3-4 tablespoons dried bread crumbs to be sprinkled on top before baking, but I personally never remember to do it and obviously I don't miss it too much.

Zucchini and Tomatoes Baked with Fontina
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 6

6 medium zucchini
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil, plus extra for sprinkling
~30 cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz. fontina cheese, sliced (you can substitute with any salty, melting cheese)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
shallow ovenproof dish, greased


Preheat the oven to 325 °F.


Halve the zucchini lengthwise and trim a little off the uncut sides so that they will sit still like boats.  Using a teaspoon, scoop out the soft-seeded centers, but not too much.  Arrange the boats in a row in the prepared dish.


Put the garlic, olive oil, and some seasoning in a bowl, stir well, then brush over the cut surfaces of the zucchini. (I actually used a garlic-infused olive oil for this step)  Arrange the halved tomatoes in the grooves.  Season well, then drizzle with olive oil.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the zucchini is soft when forked.


Remove from the oven and arrange the cheese over the zucchini and tomatoes.  Return the dish to the oven for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese.  Alternatively you could use a broiler setting to brown up the cheese, but be sure to keep your eye on it!  Serve immediately while the cheese is still bubbling.

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach Bake

Whenever I watch a movie or television program that involves a prisoner on death row ordering their last meal ever, it doesn't take me but 2 seconds to know what I would order (not that I'm planning to be on death row anytime soon). I have a small, guilty (and sometimes embarrassing) pleasure in that I love macaroni and cheese.  I'm sure I've tried them all but in the end I always come back to the blue box that is Kraft (the spiral noodles are my favorite).  I don't even know why.  Sure, it's enriched white pasta with processed powdered cheese but I will eat it without a second thought and defend my bowl to the end when I see my daughters coming towards me with a spoon for a bite.  I've even gone so far as to put in the blender after 3 occasions of oral surgery where I could not chew anything.  (It doesn't look so hot, but if you close your eyes it tastes the same.)

In any case, sometimes I need a grown-up version of mac & cheese to serve when entertaining.  This recipe fits the bill as you can use a whole-grain pasta and the spinach adds a strong nutritional component.  This is another super easy recipe that works well for a crowd.  As long as the kids don't have an aversion to anything green in their food they usually gobble it up without hesitation.

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach Bake
Taken from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

8 oz. macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
15 oz cooked spinach, well drained (frozen spinach also works well here)
3 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
large ovenproof dish

Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from the heat, and mix in the flour to make a roux.  Return to a low heat and slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Drain the macaroni and add to the sauce along with the spinach, seasoning, and half the cheese.   Mix well.  Pour the mixture into the ovenproof dish, scatter the remaining cheese on top, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until golden.




(I confess that I didn't take this picture.  Sometimes the hunger is too overwhelming for the family that I forget to take my own picture. I have borrowed this photo from the cookbook Easy Everyday. But I swear it looks just like the photo and tastes just as good as it looks!)

Japanese Fresh Corn Soup

I know what you are thinking...soup in summer?!  Absolutely!  As quoted from the book, "This is a variation on a traditional Japanese summer soup, prized for the fresh taste of corn--and very easy to make."  Seeing as how I'm from the Midwest, corn is a specialty around here so a recipe using fresh corn is perfect.  Did I mention that this soup takes all of 15 minutes from prep to service?

Alas, it is still too early in the year to get good local sweet corn.  The weather has been so wishy washy that some of the farmers only got their crops planted last week.  I am also not the type to indulge in the cellophane-wrapped corn that often appears in the grocery store.  I prefer to hand-pick and shuck my own corn so that I can guarantee my family is eating quality local produce.  Who knows where cellophane corn comes from anyway?  That being said, I was forced to use frozen corn this time around but it still tasted amazing.  If it was this good using frozen corn, I can't wait for the fresh corn later this summer.

Japanese Fresh Corn Soup
Adapted from Easy Everyday
Serves 4

4 ears of fresh corn or 2 cups fresh (or frozen) corn kernels
4 cups hot chicken stock
4 egg yolks
4 scallions, sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
cracked black pepper for serving


Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the corn ears and simmer for about 2 minutes.
Drain corn.  Hold the corn upright on a cutting board with the blunt end down.  Run a sharp knife down the cob shaving off the kernels.  Reserve a handful of kernels for serving, blanching them in boiling water for 2 minutes.  Add the remaining kernels to the hot stock.

If using frozen corn, simply bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the frozen kernels.  When the stock returns to a boil and many of the kernels are floating, remove a large spoonful of the kernels with a slotted spoon and reserve them for serving.  Remove from heat. 

From either method above, puree the remainder of the stock and kernels using an immersion blender if you have one, otherwise a blender will suffice.  Press the puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a saucepan.  Repeat process as needed until all the stock and kernels have been pureed and strained into the saucepan.  Reheat the mixture until bubbling and then turn the heat off.

Beat all 4 egg yolks in a mixing bowl and then slowly add them to the hot soup stirring quickly (the hot soup will cook the eggs).  Add in the soy sauce and mix well.  Divide the soup among serving bowls and garnish with the scallions, reserved corn kernels and pepper to taste.

Bread and Butter Pudding

I suppose the irony of this blog is in the title, "Guest Chef in the Kitchen" alluding to the fact that the cookbook that I am featuring has a popular or established chef behind it.  Truth be told, one of my most favorite cookbooks, and the one that is highlighted this month, has no popularity at all.  In fact, there is a single page in the back of the book with a list of credits for each recipe.  For the 19 names that are listed there I do not recognize a single one of them.  Makes no difference to me because the food looks and tastes fantastic!


This first book, Easy Everyday is a true gem and I once spotted it for sale in the Le Creuset store.  I've made many recipes out of this book with not one failure.  I've also shared some of the recipes from this book with another wonderful food blog, Dinner du Jour, highlighting dishes such as Rigatoni with Pork and Lemon Ragu, and Chicken and Bacon Pot.  


Yesterday my mother handed me a bag of stale croissants.  They were the picture-perfect kind with the delicate butter flavor too good to just throw in the compost.  So what do restaurants do with stale bread?  Bread pudding!  So despite the 90 degree weather plaguing the area, I turned on the oven to produce a finished product in less than 40 minutes.  Beautifully-crusted, golden-brown comfort food--enjoyable even in the heat of the summer sun.  (Did I mention that the kids loved it as well!)

Bread and Butter Pudding
adapted from Easy Everyday: Simple Recipes for No-fuss Food
Serves 4


1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
6 slices of brioche bread, or 3 large croissants, chopped into bite-sized chunks
1/3 cup golden raisins
freshly ground nutmeg or cinnamon/sugar combo to sprinkle on top
4-6 ramekins (depending on their size), well greased


Preheat oven to 350°F


Put the milk, cream, vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar into a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves.


Put the eggs into a bowl and beat well.  Stir in 2-4 tablespoons of the hot milk mixture to warm the eggs, then stir in the remainder of the hot milk.  You should have a custard-like mixture.


Lightly toast the bread and divide between the prepared ramekins and sprinkle with the raisins.


Pour in the custard, grate a little nutmeg (or cinnamon/sugar) over the top, then sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until firm.  Let cool a little, but serve warm.