Dinner Review

[DFen911]

I'm gonna be fashionably late to my own party lol! With the camping trip it put me back and can't get to the store till tomorrow.

That being said let's see what you all did!!

[cjs]

O.K. here goes!! Denise, I wrote up my review yesterday so I'm sure I've said it a number of times, but! What a wonderful, fun list of ingredients you gave us and we loved it!!
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Overall, we really enjoyed these ingredients and the dinner – Roy gave the entree a 10+ for flavor and 9+ for ease of eating (he’s never gotten the trick of tucking in the end of a tortilla to keep the goodies contained. I gave this a 10 also. But, I sure can’t take credit for the dish because as I was scrolling thru ideas that were in my Master Cook and Living Cookbook programs, I ran across this one and knew it didn’t need a thing to enhance it.

So, in essence I guess I cheated, but it sure was tasty! Baked Shrimp with Tomatillos



Served with corn and flour tortillas – I preferred the flour for this, Roy the corn.





I had posted that for leftovers I was going to add cilantro – I didn’t!! We loved it as it was.

Mango Salsa with corn – as you can see not a leaf on the cilantro was used!!



For dessert I made sopapillas with chocolate ganache – I found at the last minute I didn’t have any heavy cream for the ganache, so with trepidation , I used evaporated milk! I was surprised at how tasty it turned out. BUT, several hours later I dipped a spoon to see what was what and it had gotten very grainy, an awful mouth feel. At least it got us thru dessert in good stead.





And this ended our Denise’s Birthday Dinner – well done in choosing, Denise!!!!



The list is shorter of ingredients I didn’t use - pork tenderloin, avocado (still in the fridge after dinner that were supposed to be in the salsa!!!), dried padilla chiles, and dried chiles de arboles, and Fresno chiles, , crema de Mexicana (Mexican sour cream
You have a limited pantry - masa, , cilantro is not allowed (Muhahaha)

Here’s the recipe for the Baked Shrimp with Tomatillos if anyone wants it. I love this dish and it sure is easy and fast to put together.

Baked Shrimp with Tomatillos

Shrimp can be cooked either shell on or shell off. Cooking with the shell on will result in better flavor, but can be fussy to eat, as you have to pick off the shells as you eat them. Shelling and deveining the shrimp before cooking can add a good 10 minutes to prep time, but the resulting dish is easier to eat. This is a one pan dish, going from stove-top to oven, so use an oven-proof pan. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bak...omatillos/

2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 cup
1-2 jalapeno chiles, seeded, minced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 lb tomatillos, chopped
Salt
1/2 cup clam juice OR 1/4 cup water*
1 lb shrimp, cleaned, deveined
1 cup Cotija queso seco cheese (can substitute feta)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (I used mint/basil)
Lime juice
Black pepper
An oven-proof sauté pan or cast iron pan

1. Heat oil in the pan you will use for baking. Add the onions and jalapeños, cook for 5 minutes on medium high until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the tomatillos, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatillos are cooked through, but still hold their shape. Sprinkle salt over the tomatillos as they are cooking.

2. If using clam juice, add to pan, turn up the heat and reduce by half. If using water, just add the 1/4 cup of water without reducing. Add the cheese and shrimp. Cook in a preheated 425°F oven for 10 minutes.

3. Remove pan from the oven. If using a pan with a handle, such as a cast iron frying pan, I recommend cooling the handle with ice for safety; it's so easy to forget that pan has just come out of the oven, and you grab the hot handle by mistake. Right before serving, mix in the cilantro and sprinkle with lime juice and freshly ground black pepper.

Yield: Serves 4.

Tips
Some things taste so much better than they look. This is an odd looking dish with the orangey pink shrimp and the light yellow-y green tomatillos, speckled here and there with white Cotija cheese and green cilantro. And you might be thinking, what kind of combination is that? But hear me out. This odd assortment of ingredients is just a Southwestern riff off a shrimp saganaki,(looked this up: Other dishes that are traditionally cooked in the pan include shrimp saganaki (Greek and mussels saganaki (Greek which are typically feta-based and include a spicy tomato sauce.) which is typically made with feta and tomato sauce. One of the best received recipes on this site is for baked shrimp in tomato feta sauce. It just works. The onions and the shrimp provide the sweetness, the tomatillos or tomatoes the acidity, the Cotija queso seco or feta the saltiness, and the cilantro or parsley the bitter. Wrap some in a flour tortilla and you practically have a shrimp quesadilla with salsa verde.

Author Notes
*One time we made this we used tequila instead of clam juice, it was good too!
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Thanks Denise! And, next time I’m not adding cilantro either, but I am going to use tequila!!! 

[cjs]

Forgot to mention - if you make the shrimp dish, late harvest Chenin Blanc was just a wonderful match.

[Mare749]

Looks good to me, Jean! Sounds tasty too!

Okay, here goes:

So, the first thing I had to figure out was what to do with tomatillos. (Finding them was also a challenge, but finally got them at the West Side Market) I found a recipe online for tomatillo salsa verde and loosely followed it. First I roasted the tomatillos, then combined diced white onion, lime juice, a pinch of sugar, some salt and a minced jalapeno pepper. This was so good! Now I was really excited.

Next, I took a pork tenderloin and made ¼” slits all over it, then put it in a Foodsaver bag with some of the salsa verde to marinate overnight. Best idea ever. Ron built a nice hardwood charcoal fire and added some mesquite chips for smoke. He cooked the pork for 25 minutes over indirect medium heat, turning it once, and it was perfect. We let that rest, tented, for at least 10 minutes.

I cut up chunks of sweet onions and Poblano peppers, drizzled with olive oil, and wrapped them in foil to put on the grill at the same time the pork was going on. Because we were cooking with indirect heat, I didn’t want to open the grill to turn or flip anything, so the foil was convenient. My mission was to keep this dinner stress free and have fun. Of course, we had a couple of cocktails while we were doing this.

While the meat was resting, we grilled the corn on the cob. When it was done, I brushed with a combination of butter, salt, and the salsa verde. These were delicious even after they got cold. For the salad, I cut up a mango into small cubes, added some minced sweet onion, a little minced jalapeno, then a diced Hass avocado. For the dressing, I used olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lime and a little salt and pepper, then placed the salad on a small bed of crisp lettuce. Another winner.

Using the pork, onions, peppers and a bit more of the salsa verde, we made wraps using fresh tortillas that I got at the West Side Market. (I just didn’t have the energy to make them myself) We both loved the way this dinner turned out and I’m so glad that I participated and tried something new.

[cjs]

darn, I have to go cook dinner - be back with a glass of wine and sit and read this!!

[Gourmet_Mom]

Looks so good ladies! Well done!!!

[Harborwitch]

This was an amazing dinner. First off, I didn't use the pork, fresno chiles, hot sauce, or the chocolate.

First off I roasted corn and the tomatillos on the grill until the corn was getting toasty and the tomatillos were soft.



While those were cooling I toasted the chile d'arbol and when they were cool I ground them into a chile powder.






When the tomatillos were cool enough to handle they went into the food processor with a half an onion, Mexican tarragon, salt, and a jalapeno until it was smooth.

The prawns were marinated in a mixture of Mexican tarragon, lime juice, and grapeseed oil. When I was ready to grill them I put them on skewers and dusted them with the chile d'arbol powder.

I made one of my favorite Salvadoran foods, pupusas - but I twisted them. I brought a small pan of water to a boil and added the dried pasilla chiles and let them soak until very soft. I drained them saving the water and discarding the chiles. I used the hot water from the chiles to make the dough for the pupusas.

For the filling I cut the corn off the cob and put it in the food processor with cotija cheese, onion, a bit of garlic, fresh oregano and jalapeno. I processed it until it was a nice consistency and used it to fill the pupusas.

I made a "salad" using some onion, jalapeno, avocado, lots of lime juice, and a mango we got at the Mexican grocery.




The mango was on a stick, cut in a pretty pattern and dusted with chile powder. They sell them as a snack, I called it a short cut.

Just before dinner I grilled the pupusas, the boys grilled the shrimp, and I heated the tomatillo salsa and plated:

Tomatillo salsa, the salad, grilled shrimp, and pupusas with crema. We were happily full and really didn't need dessert.





I will say I wish I had used a lot more of the fresh tarragon. What a lovely fresh flavor with the sweetness of the mango and the shrimp!

[labradors]

Still confused as to why everyone is already posting. I'm not even ready, since I was following what the original post said:

Quote:

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Due Date - August 15th. You can do it anytime, just don't post results till the 15th

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Today is the 12th, NOT the 15th!

[cjs]

I already addressed this screwup - so just enjoy yourself Labs!!!


Maryann - looks and sounds great. I'm so glad you had fun with this. We sure did!!

Yours too, Sharon - this was a fun list of ingredients that's for sure!!!

So, everybody else - hang on until Wednesday and you'll make Labs a happy man.

[Harborwitch]

I thought it was the 15th too - but I just ran with Jean's direction.

This was a really fun list. The best thing was that a certain person who does not like avocado or mango darn near licked his plate!