What You Should Have Eaten #52

Greek Bread Salad with Grilled Shrimp

I held off on this recipe for a week or so so I could cook it in honor of a friend who was getting married. She’s Greek, the recipe is Greek…kismet!

I was disappointed that I couldn’t also include the drink in this tribute, but I had no ouzo or metaxa in my liquor cabinet. So I made a Green Dragon, which is cognac and crème de menthe. I was not expecting this mixture to be that great, but it surprised me. I figured crème de menthe would be a better mixer with a clear liquor like vodka or gin, but it works here.

I didn’t get 20 shrimp. Now that this blog is all about cooking these recipes on a budget, my options were limited. Fresh was out of the question, so onto frozen. The bag I got still felt like a bit of a rip-off, even on sale.

Some of my personal preferences show up here: no onions, regular cucumber instead of seedless, and no olives. That last one became a rule after a horrible experience with them a few months ago. Ugh, I still have nightmares about it.

This is the first time I’ve used feta cheese. It won’t be my last.

I didn’t grill the shrimp. It was a bit chilly, plus I think I need a new charcoal chimney. I left mine out after the last time I used it, and it’s rusted all to hell. I’m not going to risk rust flakes coming off onto the charcoal and infusing into the food…if that’s even possible. Just won’t risk it. So I sautéed them instead. I covered them with garlic, fresh mint and lemon juice, added just a hint of bread crumbs (not sure why, just felt right at the time), then dumped everything in a hot pan with butter. It was spectacular.

Since I didn’t fire up the grill, that means I also didn’t grill the pita. No worries, though. I just popped them in the toaster, and they turned out just fine.

Despite being a salad almost totally devoid of any leafy greens, I really enjoyed it. Also, it was surprisingly filling.  

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas bills here and an unsure/shaky work situation. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #38

Shrimp Martinis and Manhattan Steaks

Manhattans seem to be the drink of choice for my dad, but I’ve never been that much of a whiskey lover. But you know, this isn’t bad. I was expecting the vermouth to really sweeten it up and make it undrinkable, but it cuts the bite of the whiskey perfectly.

I was talking on the phone while making this, and taking a picture of the ingredients totally slipped my mind. I used Canadian Mist whisky, Gallo sweet red vermouth and a bit of Angostura bitters. A maraschino cherry was dropped in afterwards.

I’ve been looking forward to fixing this for a couple of weeks now. Food flavored with Manhattans and martinis? SOLD!

Two-thirds of my kids will eat broccoli, but only crowns, not spears. Hey, I’m just amazed they’ll eat any part of it at all.

I know I didn’t get the right type of steaks, just regular strip steaks instead of New York strip steaks or porterhouse steaks, but those were just too damn expensive. I’m hoping that won’t affect the meal.

Yes, I know that shallots are onions, but they’re fancy onion, and I only got a small one instead of the large one that is specified, so I’m okay with it.

I have a shot glass collection. I don’t know why I started it, but whenever I go on a trip, I get a shot glass from the city I’m in. The last one I got was a Maker’s Mark shot glass from Louisville, KY.

Toast points? Is that just cutting a piece of toast into triangular quarters? Whether it is or not, that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m not all hung up on presentation with my meals, so no pitcher for the cocktail sauce. Although, my pilsner glass looks like it might work well. And correct me if I’m wrong, but this looks more like a Bloody Mary than a martini.

I tasted it, and while good, I didn’t get the required 2 cups of cocktail sauce, so it’s a bit soupy…and very vodka-y. Not that that’s a bad thing.

If I ever don’t have enough pictures to go with a meal, that means I started the cocktails too early.

This was the first time I’ve ever flambéed anything. I was a bit nervous at first, putting long lighter next to the sauce and clicking it, seeing the flame shoot up under the microwave. I blew it out before the kids saw it, then called them into the kitchen and did it again. The flame was MUCH smaller, but they freaked out. It was all-around awesome.

Well, that was quite a tasty dinner, and now I’m extremely tired. Since shrimp and cocktail sauce is a staple at Rosenblatt family gatherings, I think I’m going to have to bring a bit of THIS cocktail sauce and see what people think. As long as the young-uns are kept away from it, I think all will be well.

Probably for the rest of the month I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit it out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But my experiment this weekend proved to me that I actually AM making a spot of cash whenever the ads are clicked. So I’m going to put this little disclaimer on the bottom of all my posts for the next month or so, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #32

Italian-Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti

Tonight’s drink is a Texas Rancher. It was originally supposed to be a Mermaid, but at first I didn’t realize that there was a difference between orange bitters (which I have) and bitter orange (which I don’t have). Looks like I need to figure out what bitter orange is.

The two vermouths in this drink take away any tang that the grapefruit juice might provide. Sad, ‘cause I was looking forward to a little tang. It’s not bad, though. Not great, but not bad. I’d maybe use a bit less vermouth and pump up the gin and grapefruit juice. I’m not sure what the maraschino is doing in there.

I’ve only got 12 oz. of cherry tomatoes and not an entire pint. I hope that’s not going to make a big difference. The cherry tomatoes at my local Kroger Marketplace carry pint-sized grape tomatoes, but not cherry tomatoes.

I’m using my sweet white vermouth instead of the dry I’ve got just because I’ve got more sweet and the recipe doesn’t say which is better.

I was extremely disappointed when I learned that the produce section was out of “fresh” basil, and it looks like I’m out of the dry stuff. I guess I’ll substitute a bit of Italian seasoning and see what happens. Next year I need to start a small herb garden.

Small list of ingredients and a small recipe usually means an easy time in the kitchen. I hope that holds true for tonight. I’ve got my sister bringing over a loaf of frozen garlic bread, and I think that’ll round out the dinner quite nicely.

I went into this knowing the kids wouldn’t eat the spaghetti with anything in it, so I held out some of the noodles for them and topped it with some parmesan cheese. That’s how they like it.

Well, I thought the dinner was edible, but it wasn’t anything great. I cooked the shrimp too long, so they were tough, and when you get down to it, it’s just spaghetti. My favorite part was the loaf of Pepperidge Farm garlic bread that my sister brought over.