Asian Tequila Lime Shrimp

I began this recipe intending on just doing Tequila Lime Shrimp, however a thought came over me about halfway through cooking the Shrimp. I should change this up a little bit. That's where the Asian inspiration happened. I can't take all the credit for the inspiration though...I was watching Jackie Chan on tv at the time.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Shrimp
2 Limes
1 Lemon
Italian Seasoning
Perfect Pinch Cajun
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Tequila

Alright, so I began by gathering the spices and Limes. The Lemon was an afterthought.

I then got my Tequila. For cooking purposes, I use Camarena as it is tasty and cheap enough to not break the bank. Take a shot of it to make sure it's still good.

I put the spices in a Ziploc bag. I don't have an exact amount since I just eyeball it. I do believe it was about 2 parts Italian Seasoning to 1 part Cajun. I then sliced the Limes and Lemon up into small pieces. Add in Tequila. Use as much as you want. I used around 1.5 cups worth. Add shrimp. Mix together. Take picture and think how awesomely tasty it looks.

Get a skillet on your stovetop going with the heat set at MEDIUM. Toss in everything in the marinade Ziploc bag. Take another picture...or shot of Tequila. Your choice.

Now I let it cook for a few minutes, pretty much until it was boiling and then changed it up. I poured out everything but the Shrimp. I added in about a 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce and 3/4 cup of Teriyaki Sauce. Sorry about the picture quality, a lot of steam was produced in this part.

Now once they turn pinkish-red the Shrimp is done cooking. Turn off heat and get ready to serve. I used a small plate with some spring salad mix to accent the Shrimp. Enjoy.

Spicy Chicken Snacktime!

This was just thrown together since I had just gotten back from Minnesota and the Christmastime holiday. It is ridiculously tasty and even opened my eyes to new flavor combinations!

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, diced
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Caesar Salad Dressing
Lime Juice
Sweet Sour Sauce
Garlic Salt
Ground Turmeric Root
Ground Ancho Chili Powder
Asiago Cheese, shredded

First, freeze your Chicken Breasts. This makes cutting it into smaller pieces so much easier. Once frozen, dice them up and put them in a mixing bowl.

Now, get your marinade ingredients.

Alright, good work. Now you mix everything together that is in the picture. I did not use exact amounts. I can say I used a large portion of the Caesar Salad Dressing and then added from there. Then I mixed everything together.

Find your Garlic Salt. Pay no attention to the hand in the picture, it's just my grubby old mitt!

Alright, now put a skillet on the stovetop and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Give it a few seconds and pour in the marinade and Chicken. Give it a healthy dose of Garlic Salt. I love Garlic Salt, so you might want to use a little less.

Now add a dusting of Ancho Chili Powder and Ground Turmeric. Mix them in.

Let it cook for a few minutes, stir a few times somewhere in there. Should be easy to taste when they are done.

I took them out, sans sauce, and sprinkled some shredded Asiago Cheese on top. It was delicious!

Chef's Original: Mixed up Breakfast

As some of you may know, I like to have my lunch and or breakfast for work cooked up the day before. This is generally done because I hate actually cooking right after I wake up since I know I'll probably burn and or cut myself. So I do it the night before. Tomorrow I needed a breakfast and this is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
1 lb White Button Mushrooms
7 XL Eggs
2 Green Bell Peppers
3 Anaheim Peppers
1 cup diced Scallions
Couscous (2 cups Couscous, 3 cups Water)
1.5 cup Pearl Barley
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1/4 stick Butter
Lime Juice
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce"
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese
Shredded Gruyere Cheese

Alright, I did do this kind of in stages. I began with starting my Couscous in my Rice Cooker. If you do not have one of these, I highly suggest picking one up! Once I got the Couscous going, I put the Pearl Barley in a small sauce pot with 4 cups of Water. I turned the heat to MEDIUM. I also diced up the Peppers and Mushrooms.

In a large saucepan I put in about 2/3 cup of Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce". To this I added 2 decent squeezes of the Lime Juice bottle, a good 1/4 cup or so worth of the Soy and Teriyaki Sauces. Turn the heat to MEDIUM.

Once this begins to boil, I threw in the diced Mushrooms. I moved them around to get some of the mixture on each one.

Now about 3 minutes later, I added in a dusting of Black Pepper and Sea Salt. Mix some more.

After about 2 more minutes, the Mushrooms should be done. Check by taste testing and make sure it's cooled when tasting. When done, place in a mixing bowl and put to the side.

I cleaned out the large saucepan and put it back on the stovetop where I left the burner at MEDIUM. It will sizzle with the water on the bottom. I threw in the diced Peppers and a good dollop of Olive Oil. Mix.

I then added some Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper to the mix. I want to say a good dusting, maybe a dash less. Mix.

Once that's done, which should be about 3 minutes total, put in a mixing bowl.

Eggs time. I whisked the 7 Eggs together first. Using the same saucepan, cleaned out again, I put in the Butter. Once that was mostly melted, I added in the whisked Eggs.

Right away I added in the Scallions. I put in about a 1/4 cup's worth. I also added a good amount of both Cheeses listed above.

You should know how to cook eggs, so follow that plan. Look, they're done!

Now just plate how you want. I plated them differently. One way was with the Mushrooms and served on a Tortilla with a dash of Italian Herb Mix. The second way was on the Couscous.

Chef's Original: Spiced Okra Onion Soup

This was just sort of thrown together after work today when I got home. I heard some amazing news about an issue in my life and decided that I would cook to celebrate. Well this is the result.

Ingredients:
12 Okra
4 Scallions
9 Boiler Onions
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Sherry
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Turmeric
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Paprika
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese

Alright, I began by gathering some of my ingredients. I don't say all because some just happened to be in arms reach and found their way into this recipe.

Next I threw the Butter into the large saucepan I use for almost everything.

I chopped up the white portions of the Scallions. I then chopped the Boiler Onions in half. Now, this is where I turned the heat to MEDIUM for the Butter.

Once the Butter was mostly melted, I added in the spices. Just a heavy pinch or two of each and maybe a little more Ground Black Pepper than that. Then I tossed in the Scallions and Boiler Onions.

Mix them up!

Once they were going strong, I sliced up the Okra and threw that into the saucepan. Stir.

Once the Boiler Onions are noticeably soft and caramelized everything should be done so turn the heat off.

I chose to plate this dish in a new bowl I picked up the other day and decorate the edging on it with some hot sauce making a pattern. I topped it off with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix and Shredded Asiago Cheese. Enjoy.

Appetizer: Mushroom Mania

Today after a long week at work, I decided to try some fun cooking. That thought process ended with a decision upon the Mushrooms I had in the fridge. Well, if you have not noticed I cook them a lot. A whole lot. This time I varied it up a little bit by cooking them in 3 different ways for one plate. Boom.








Ingredients:
1 lb Button Mushrooms

Asian Spiced:
1/3 cup Port
1/3 cup Sherry
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Lime Juice
Sweet Paprika
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Garlic Salt

Local Herbed:
2 sprig Rosemary
1/4 cup Oregano
3 sprig Thyme
1/3 cup Olive Oil

Decadent Dessert
1/4 stick Butter
1/3 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Orange Liquor
1/2 cup Cilantro Leaves

PART 1:
Alright, so I will take you through this recipe one part at a time to avoid confusion. Note, the Mushrooms I sliced up into one big bowl and took out about 1/3 for each recipe.

I'll start with the Asian Spiced Mushrooms. I began by gathering the materials.

Turn the heat to medium. Then use a small sauce pot and poured in the Port, Sherry, Soy Sauce, and Lime Juice. I added in the spices mixed together. I used like a spoonful of each, maybe 2 of the Garlic Salt. Stir together.

Once the liquid starts to steam a little bit, add the Mushrooms and make sure they get coated by the mixture.

Now, they should take about 7 minutes to get properly cooked/spongey feeling.

I chose to take them out and place them in a ramekin but a small bowl should also suffice. I then put in the microwave so it stayed warm until all 3 were done.

PART 2:
The second one is the Local Herbed Mushrooms. I call it this because the herbs I used were from my personal garden. I began like usual, gathering my ingredients.

Now I stripped the leaved off the Rosemary and Oregano, while the Thyme I just cut up into smaller pieces. I then put a small saucepan on the stove, turned the heat to medium, and poured in the Olive Oil.

I then added the herbs.

Once that began to simmer, I added in the Mushrooms.

This recipe should take about 7 minutes as well, make sure to stir.

Do the same as Part 1 in keeping them warm once you take them off the stovetop.

Part 3:
This last part is the Decadent Dessert Mushroom portion. I call it this because when it was sampled, a comment about how it tastes like a dessert stuck with me. Sounds fitting.

I began by gathering the ingredients.

Now, using a small saucepan I added the Butter and turned the heat to medium.

Quickly after the Butter began to melt, I added the Lime Juice, Orange Liquor, and Cilantro Leaves. It looks amazing to me, maybe I should make a drink with all but the Butter?

This should take about 8 or 9 minutes since it took me a little longer than the other 2 parts. Make sure to mix it around.

Now, once this is done just turn the heat off and move to an unused burner.

The end part here is where you plate all 3 Mushroom Recipes. I went in the order listed above, however I overlapped their cooking times using different burners as well. Enjoy.